Evaluation Task 4 (The use of media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages)

The ethos of our music video is the regeneration of old ideals, and the recycling of them into new ones. Applying specific emphasis on todays music industry's continuous production of similar artists, favouring the concept of image and quantity rather than art and quality. We encapsulated this through the embodiment and symbolism of the junkyard, which became an increasingly essential aspect to our performance and narrative through both locational shooting and studio shooting (with the utilising of green screen technology).

Pre-production 

During our research and planning stage the use of media technology not only helped to define and chisel our video concept into a production level, but was in fact the core material we built upon. The largest technological anvil used in the process was the internet, specifically the websites Youtube, eBolgger and Wikipedia. Youtube was a fantastic insight into 'mod' world we were trying to establish, allowing us access to a variety of music deriving from the genre and era, but also film clips in relationship with the subculture such as Quadrophenia: link to clip. Wikipedia opened up a window of specifics of the culture,  where youtube was lacking slightly, in the areas of their characteristics such as: fashion, clubs, music, dancing, amphetamines, scooters, gender roles and conflicts with rockers.  Once our idea was finally formulated, we were then able to express and address the concept through eBlogger, a website allowing its members to upload and share information and opinions as frequently and as extremely as they desire. The information you can share ranges from a piece of writing to a video display, allowing a diverse exhibition of thought. Through the grounding of our storyboard animations, we were confident a potential video plot and narrative was in place, which then concluded with the decision to film our sketched sequence.

Post-production  

In the process of creating my band poster for Infernal the layering technique was employed in my utilising of the programme Photoshop. This enabled be to merge three photos, each portraying an individual band members face, into one portrait, slicing up the features to convey a single entity (furthering the thematic element of recycling). In the creation of the CD digipak photoshop enabled me to import pictures from Google, and with the burn effect and alteration of the saturation levels tarnish the image to depict an older vintage feel to the pack, as is achieved in the editing of the Union Jack flag displayed. Photoshop enabled me to crop, resize and correct colours on my imported pictures, but also allowed me to develop a font of my own, such as the tattoo calligraphy depicted as the logo draped across the front cover of the CD. The software has developed my computing skills but also my technological creativity, and proved to be a vital tool in the post-production stages.

My Own Personal Cd Digipak

My Own Personal Edit

Feedback on Evaluation Task Three Audience Feedback

So far so good you have clearly collected the data and began to formulate some comments on what the audience have said - and received criticism well.  You do need to complete the feedback and address the question set for evaluation, particularly in applying negotiated, preferred and oppositional readings.  DO consider how you would use this audience feedback and how this could be applied to develop your work further.  Can you please complete over the weekend and do you have results of any focus group or video interview?

What Have you learned from your audience feedback?

The comments provided by the various youtube members gave the group an insight into what was successful, but more importantly what was unsuccessful about our music video. It is clear that the general consensus was that "The narrative didn't work with the music", that we "maybe graining the concept/narrative footage" and "that it might have been a bit too easy to shoot Matt at the end however...", which the group is quite willing to accept. However there were more compliments then there were critcisms, such as "Like the styling of the 60s performance aspect - great clothing and the body language is spot on", "Good and Clear music video shoot in a fitting location",  "the location of the narrative was good and I like the whole James Bond theme going on. The editing was subtle and I thought the lead singer was well casted." etc.

We sent round a questionnaire regarding the video.

Here are the questions that we asked and the most common answers for each question
1.      Did you like the song, the kind of music or maybe the lyrics? Please say why
-Yes because of the peacefulness and flow of the song
-No not really but liked the video though
2.      In what way did you think the band was represented what do you think they might stand for?
-Sexual magnetism might be one part of it
-Like the kinks I guess, mood boy band
3.      If you would compare the bands and their image to similar bands what would you think of?
-The kooks- elegant but having a kind of rock style in their own way
-Boy band that goes against the mainstream can’t come up with a band though
4.      Would this be the kind of music you would normally listen to, buy CD’s and see in concerts?
-Not maybe concert but the downloading the CD, yes sure
-Yes I absolutely would love to have creative CD covers
5.      What narrative did you believe was shown and what it was all about?
-Drama, hero, victim, bad guy
-kidnapping or something similar
6.       Was the video entertaining, why or why not?
-Yes thanks to the amount of things happening and the long periods of the story
-Yes I really thought the video was tension building and also suited the location
7.      What do you think could be improved and why?
-I would have found it more intresting if there was a greater change in the time change during the narrative to see that time is passing
-Maybe casted the walking guy better, I mean he is walking slow
8.      Any other comments?
-the singer is very well casted
-I really liked that they used the theme about recycling and regeneration that is today a big issue

Other audience feedback links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDRBZ_ODfDo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi1QHm0gBy0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USKIaLZ3ESU&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Klc51Dw66NY

Feedback on evaluation task two

This is a good slide rocket presentation, quite smart in places, I like the link to the You tube interview.  You assess your group product well and have a clear understanding of the branding of the band and it's campaign release.  You make very good links between the MV and the ancilliary tasks.  A good prep completed well done.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks? your main product

My slide show can be found on this site http://portal.sliderocket.com/BKHHC/Copy-of-How-effective-is-the-combination-of-your-m-(2)_3

Evaluation task 1 – poster

The third media product our group produced was the poster for the band.  Once again the main singer is in focus and looking at the camera supported by two guitarist and a drummer in the background.  This is similar to the music video which does the same thing.  The James Bond style image is also presented along with the title of the group, the recording logo and Facebook and Twitter emblems at the bottom.  Once again, paradoxically as we are promoting the song, “I’m not like everybody else” we are using common popular idioms to promote a view that runs against the norm.  

We also needed to make sure that our poster can be used in a digital format and that it is instantly recognizable and understood.  For example it can also be viewed on computer screens both large and miniature such as mobile telephones.

We also chose to make the link between the movie; “The Agent” and the music video placing it at the bottom of the poster.  Hopefully the promotion of one will complement the other and vice versa.

 

Evaluation of the Digipak

The Digipak makes the important link between the brand or persona of the artist we created and the consumer’s physical ownership of their product.  We have tried to incorporate many themes and ideas that the band is trying to promote with the conventions of a CD or album cover.  We have used the recycling logo layered over the top of many different items that can be recycled or reused.  This is beneath the heading “Infernal” which is the name of the group.  We have used the images, text and colour of the cover in an attempt make it attract people in a high impact way much the same as the video does.  

 

The back page of the cover includes a list of the songs on the artist presented in a traditional way.  Once again this is over the top of the image of a junk yard.  This helps to establish our brand as the audience will identify with the themes of the group are presenting.  From another perspective it is another method of conveying a subliminal message to a group of people who are merely attracted to the group for its music alone.

Evaluation task one – Narrative, Lyrics and Structure

 Our group was influenced by the James Bond movies when developing the structure of our narrative.  This is reflected in the clothes and costumes used.  Please see the picture below.

The group have modeled themselves on the appearance of James Bond; black suit and tie, clean shaved with oiled combed back hair.

We were also highly influenced by the film Stormbreaker that was also shot in a junk yard using the elements of the set effectively creating tension and focus to the narrative.  We also included a victim that used the conventions seen in the film; a gag, ripped clothes and high impact emotive obscure screen shots to emphasize the vulnerability of the actress, who is about to entertain the audience.  Andrew Goodwins principles of; “Smooth, efficient, structural design” were used to develop a relationship between the visuals and the music.

 
 We have also attempted to used close up miming of the lyrics in the music video in an effort to create realism.  This is an important aspect of the production as is reinforced by Goodwin “The artist acting both as narrator and participant helps to increase the authenticity however the  sync and other mimed actions remains at the heart of music video.  The audience need to believe this is real.”  

 

The chorus line, “I’m not like everybody else” was an attempt to make a statement in keeping with our projected image of going against the norm.  Ironically in order to create a platform for this message to be heard we need to do several things that are agreeable to most young people, such as the tune, rhythm and beat, and visual image of the group.  In essence, in order to get our message heard (which is contrary to popular opinion) we needed to use popular (normal) opinion. 

 

Evaluation task1 1 – In what ways do your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

 

Keith Negus identifies 11 common generic conventions of Popular Music

Ø    The explicit and unashamed promotion of the artist’s image as a specific product with a brand identity, ready for mass production.

Ø    The featuring of the artist (almost without exception)

Ø    A wide and extensive use of shot types, camera angles and movement

Ø    Repetition of reoccurring thematic elements and generically specific iconography

Ø    A possible narrative structure

Ø    A possible performance element

Ø    The flexibility to disregard Realism

Ø    Shots cut tightly to the beat of the track

Ø    Use of special effects

Ø    A carefully constructed Mise en Scene appropriate to the content and tone on the track

Ø    High impact instantly.

Our media products use, develop and challenge these forms and conventions.  I  will elaborate on how;

Ø    The explicit and unashamed promotion of the artist’s image as a specific product with a brand identity, ready for mass production.  Our group develop a video which established a pop star image.  The clothing, is simple and formal with all members of the group wearing similar clothing, giving the appearance of unity.  The posture of the group gives focus to the main vocalist with the guitarists and drummer not generally looking directly at the camera.  This presents the group in an unashamed way with a distinctive and unique identity.  

   

Ø    The featuring of the artist (almost without exception).  Our video is approximately three minutes long and feature the artists exclusively.

Ø    A wide and extensive use of shot types, camera angles and movement.  We use  a wide array of camera shots and angles to present our video in as realistic a way as possible to maximize the promotion of the artists.

Ø    Repetition of reoccurring thematic elements and generically specific iconography.  Our main themes behind the production of this video were recycling and reuse, hence the production of the video in the junk yard.  The mise en scene combines synonymously with the constant subliminal message of recycling and reusing – to create the concept of re-use and recycling using a mod culture.

Ø    A possible narrative structure.  Our music video production is presented in a narrative form with the screen shots carefully edited so as to create synergy between the music and video in order to create a narrative.  In the creation of this narrative we realized that the viewer will bring to the video their own personal experiences that are triggered by the music video and in so doing extract a narrative or meaning from the music video.

 

Ø    A possible performance element.  Our groups performance in the junk yard is the pinnacle of our production and what we are presenting to the world.  Most media packages do this – attempt to blend video image with music in a way that is both entertaining and attractive  to the viewer. Our performance entailed the use of green screen so that the narrative and performance were taking place on the same location.  We combined this with after affects using different screen shots and angles.

Ø    The flexibility to disregard Realism.  Our video was shot on a Sunday as this was the only day that the junk yard closed.  In this small way, we have disregarded the reality of an operational junk yard which paradoxically is a prime example of the themes and ideas behind the group.  In essence we have combined many of the elements above to create a realistic concept or idea, by using artificial means.  This idea is suppoted by Friske (1987) who states, "What passes of reality in any culture is the product of the culture's codes, so reality is always encoded, it is never raw." People will derive meaning from the junk yard, even though it is not open and operating as it should.

Ø    Shots cut tightly to the beat of the track.  Firstly we agreed on a production of the audio.  Then we took many video takes and shots from many different angles and views before bringing this all together with the final editing.  Certain screen shots and views were made to sync with the beat of the track.

Ø    Use of special effects.  We used the green screen as well as fading in and out to present the narrative.  It was important to get the right balance of special effects in order to present a realistic message to our viewers.

Ø    The mise en scene seeing the whole group together in a junk yard where focus is given to the singer fits together with the track to create a high class music video.

All of the above elements combine to create high impact instantly.  Upon viewing the video you are immediately develop an awareness or understanding of the brand or image that the group is presenting to the world.