Making of Documentry

poster

album cover

evaluation music video

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?


We tried to capture real forms and conventions of a real music video throughout our video. We did this by looking into a lot of other videos we felt was of a similar genre and style. The two videos that caught our attention the most where oasis- wonderwall and the horrors - sea within a sea. There where aspects and conventions in both these videos that really stood out to us and that we felt would suit the genre and sound of our track. From watching oasis - wonderwall we really liked the static performance that took place throughout the video. We thought the idea of static performances would really suit our genre. From watching the horrors - sea within a sea we where hugely inspired by the lighting and projection featured in the video. we felt this was a very creative and unique idea, not featured on many other videos.
We felt combining the concept of conventions from both these videos (lighting and static performance) would give a very interesting contrast but at the same time really suit and represent our indie rock genre. We really wanted static performance and thought by having this lighting and projection it would give the viewer something else to concentrate on. 
From watching a lot of other videos in all genres we noticed a high percentage of videos had a lot of close ups. we made sure to get in as many as we could without it becoming repetitive.
As well as getting inspiration from these two videos, we also watched another oasis music video "shakermaker" which featured both performance and a weak narative which just included shots of the band walking round together and doing everyday ordinary activities (playing football in parks, going round shops), giving the audiance an insight to what there life is like. we really liked the idea of this, as we felt it would break up our performance shots nicely, and prevent the audiance getting bored and tired of repetitive shots. we also like it as we didn't want to have a very detailed story line as we felt it wouldn't really suit or fit our genre. 


How effective is the combination of your main product and ancilliary texts?
Our 3 products relate to each other very well, and show clear representation of the same band, and album. we used shots from our music video for both the album cover and poster. Although we felt there was danger that this may give the impression the album is focused more towards the music video on its own rather than an album as a whole. Despite this issue we felt by doing this, we felt it would be good to give the album and songs on it a similar look. We didn't want our poster, album or video to be misleading and not show any resemblance between each other. we looked at alot of other artists and noticed that alot shared a similar idea by showing features and conventions from there videos on there album covers and posters. For example we looked artists such as plan b, who is wearing the same outfit on all videos from the album defamation of strickland banks. he continues the same theme on his video, and also his album cover, posters and other products relating to the album. by keeping the same image and theme the audience starts to relate this image to the band, therefore having strong publicity and advertising.


What have you learned from your feedback?
On the initial pitch the overall feedback gave us the idea there was not enough structure and general ideas for the plan of the video, that we were a bit lost and would end up filming footage that doesn't relate and work well together.
When it came to rough cut feedback it was clear to what the strengths and weaknesses where to our video. We were told the lighting was a very strong part of the video, and were advised to make the most of it. People were a bit confused to parts of our video, down to the whole piece lacking structure. People felt we needed more performance shots instead of the lighting shots, to break it up a bit. Some class members where also confused to why we had static band members ether side of the singers performance and didn't really felt it worked.


On the final cut class members felt we had taken earlier advice on bored from earlier advice. We added in other performance shots like we were recommended to do, of our singer performing in different locations. Overall we received positive feedback on the final cut, class members felt it was a well structured professional looking piece. Although some still felt the static band members did not work. 


4.
We used blogger throughout the whole process to keep record of everything we had done. It really helped us keep organzed and on top of everything we needed to do. Everything is saved and recorded with a time and date, which made it easy to go back to planning and find exactly what we wanted.
Photoshop came in very handy through the process, and was used on every stage. We used it for the development for our projection in the music video as well as our ancillary products. Photoshop aloud us to get the right image for our dvd cover. we added on affects to get the right look.
Final cut express was used to edit our music video. it aloud us to be very free with getting our music video to exact feel we wanted it. although we did have a few issues during the process. Due to the file format of our video it meant that every time we moved or changed a clip it would need rendering again. The time it would take to render clips was also extremely long. This dramatically slowed the down the whole editing process. 

james cooper evaluation

James cooper the pooper scooper

 In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In our music video we used conventions similar to that used in videos such as “The horrors- sea within a sea” such as low saturation colour effects over our clips. We also included the Britpop genre of the song with our lighting having red and blue lights (colours of the British flag). Another convention we used is having a lip sink, in our lip sink most of the singing is quite expressionless and sitting down we did this because it is one of the conventions of our genre, we emphasised this by having a big lightshow with lots of movement during the “solo” part of the song, this gives the impression of not really caring.

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

In our ancillary product we tried to keep with the same theme as our music video. An example of this is the reference to vinyl records and record players. In our music video at the start we show a record player spinning as the song starts up and later on a clip of Nathan holding a vinyl record of spoons. In the inside of the album cover on the CD and around the CD there is a picture of a record player as if the CD is a vinyl. This was done as it shows that the music is trying to imitate older (80s) music. Our CD cover it’s self shows a hooded man with lots of bright light behind him. It is very difficult to make out who the man in which gives an element of mystery and shows that the band doesn’t really care about being on the front cover. The front cover is also looks old, washed out and very grainy this was done to give a feeling of the album being old which fits with the rest of the theme.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

We learnt that during the rough cut stage we needed to make a lot of changes. A lot of these changes were general mistakes such as in our projection we had text in the top right corner saying “DVI” which made the product look very unprofessional. Another change we needed to make during the rough-cut stage was that the order of our clips was not ideal. An example of this is that we should have had clips of guitar playing come in when the guitar starts in the song. Also we had our small bit of story line at the beginning of the video whereas it would be more satisfying for the viewer for Nathan to find the record at the end of the video as it rounds things off better. People also got confused as to what the “walking” was about, we tried to make it more clear in our final cut by have the clips space closer together so it gave a feel of more continuity.

How did you use new technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Blogger – We used blogger to document the stages of our production this give us a clear plan and record of what we had done so that we could refer back to our past work clearly when it came to doing an evaluation it also helped us organize our work and show when we had done certain things.

Photoshop – We used Photoshop to edit the pictures for our projection as well as putting together our Ancillary products. Photoshop was useful as it had a lot of features that allowed as to keep our CD covers in the same theme as our music video such as light filters and contrast settings.

Final Cut Express – We used Final Cut Express to edit our music video. Final cut express was good because it allowed us to put effects over our music video to change the feel of it to how we wanted. We did have a few problems with final cut express in that every time we moved something in our video, because of the file format of our video, we had to render the video each time and rendering can take up to 10 minutes for longs clips.  This vastly slowed down the editing process of our music video.

evaluation

Nathan winter

Timed evaluation questions.

In what ways dose your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In our music video we have try to make it look as professional as possible. However to do this it meant lots of planning and getting good equipment, such as: full hd Cannon camera, light rig, projector and also most importantly a good location.  Our music video used many conventions of professional projects. “The horrors - sea within a sea “ was one of the videos that inspired us the most. With it being pretty simple to make but also being and interesting and different video to others out there.  Oasis and blur videos were also band that we took inspiration from. This is because e they are from the period of time in which we wanted to base our music video in. therefore we got many costume set and lighting ideas from them. Although we may not of liked some of their videos we needed to get an idea of what the atmosphere was so we could repeat and express this within our production.

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

Overall I believe the combination of our music video and digi pack cover fit well together. There styles are the same; such as the colour and layout. It is a very simple colour scheme being mainly in black and white with sepia effects over the top. The images used on the digi pack are unique and reflect that of the video with the use of lighting and camera angles being stretch to their full extent.

The digi pack contains images of which are used in the video, overall both products fit to that of the genre of music. Brit pop/ 90s music. With the correct type of clothing of which was worn in the 90 this helps create the same atmosphere.

However you have to include modern technologies into both products for them to sell. Therefore geo reader barcodes and special bonus features are included in the digi pack.  Also by using new effects and lighting in the music video it makes it look professional and up to date while also emphasising the 90s feel.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Getting audience feedback is always helpful as they can point out mistakes or errors in the production while also expressing how the video comes across. Because you are making the product you may be blinkered to what the product actually comes out as. Therefore when we received our audience feedback we changed and enhanced most of their suggestions. These included ideas like how the speed of the shots in the first part of the video was quick and snappy, also looking good and fitting to the music compared to the middle sector where some of the shots where too long. Therefore we upped the tempo of the shots. Added new clips and also put some of the scenes in slow motion to create a better effect.

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Technology is always changing; therefore it affects the looks, contents and designs of media product. However because we wanted to create a 90s atmosphere within our product we could use these technical advances to enhance the effect while also improving the quality of the video. By using a brand new HD camera and also using “Apples” final cut editing software we were able to use all types of effects and video transitions to create the atmosphere.

Photoshop is what we used to create our ancillary tasks. It is very easy to use while also being a professional piece of software

Instead of keeping all our planning and ideas on paper (no doubt at least losing one piece) all of which will be uploaded and posted on our Blogger. This means that we can access our information from any computer. We are also able to go back and edit each blog. Therefore saving time while keeping it looking neat and organised.

james cooper evaluation

James cooper

 In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In our music video we used conventions similar to that used in videos such as “The horrors- sea within a sea” such as low saturation colour effects over our clips. We also included the Britpop genre of the song with our lighting having red and blue lights (colours of the British flag). Another convention we used is having a lip sink, in our lip sink most of the singing is quite expressionless and sitting down we did this because it is one of the conventions of our genre, we emphasised this by having a big lightshow with lots of movement during the “solo” part of the song, this gives the impression of not really caring.

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

In our ancillary product we tried to keep with the same theme as our music video. An example of this is the reference to vinyl records and record players. In our music video at the start we show a record player spinning as the song starts up and later on a clip of Nathan holding a vinyl record of spoons. In the inside of the album cover on the CD and around the CD there is a picture of a record player as if the CD is a vinyl. This was done as it shows that the music is trying to imitate older (80s) music. Our CD cover it’s self shows a hooded man with lots of bright light behind him. It is very difficult to make out who the man in which gives an element of mystery and shows that the band doesn’t really care about being on the front cover. The front cover is also looks old, washed out and very grainy this was done to give a feeling of the album being old which fits with the rest of the theme.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

We learnt that during the rough cut stage we needed to make a lot of changes. A lot of these changes were general mistakes such as in our projection we had text in the top right corner saying “DVI” which made the product look very unprofessional. Another change we needed to make during the rough-cut stage was that the order of our clips was not ideal. An example of this is that we should have had clips of guitar playing come in when the guitar starts in the song. Also we had our small bit of story line at the beginning of the video whereas it would be more satisfying for the viewer for Nathan to find the record at the end of the video as it rounds things off better. People also got confused as to what the “walking” was about, we tried to make it more clear in our final cut by have the clips space closer together so it gave a feel of more continuity.

How did you use new technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Blogger – We used blogger to document the stages of our production this give us a clear plan and record of what we had done so that we could refer back to our past work clearly when it came to doing an evaluation it also helped us organize our work and show when we had done certain things.

Photoshop – We used photoshop to edit the pictures for our projection as well as putting together our Ancillary products. Photoshop was useful as it had a lot of features that allowed as to keep our CD covers in the same theme as our music video such as light filters and contrast settings.

Final Cut Express – We used Final Cut Express to edit our music video. Final cut express was good because it allowed us to put effects over our music video to change the feel of it to how we wanted. We did have a few problems with final cut express in that every time we moved something in our video, because of the file format of our video, we had to render the video each time and rendering can take up to 10 minutes for longs clips.  This vastly slowed down the editing process of our music video.

outside

inside

Final Cut

classification

every media project is given an age classification by bbfc.
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/
the classification age depends on many things such as the words within the lyrics the contents of the music video and the images used on the album cover.
therefore i have rated "spoons" song "Don't you eva" as a PG, this is because although the song does not contain swear word or any explicit images. it does include flashing lights and issues that concern adults not that of children.

mise en scene research

mise en scene is described as every thing that appears in front of the camera.  this includes costume props lighting sets actors. it also includes the movement and positioning of the actors aswell as props.

Set design 

An important element of "putting in the scene" is set design—the setting of a scene and the objects (props) there in. Set design can be used to amplify character emotion or the dominant mood of a film, or to establish aspects of the character.

Lighting 

The intensity, direction, and quality of lighting have a profound effect on the way an image is perceived. Light (and shade) can emphasise texture, shape, distance, mood, time of day or night, season, glamour; it affects the way colors are rendered, both in terms of hue and depth, and can focus attention on particular elements of the composition.

Space 

The representation of space affects the reading of a film. Depth, proximity, size and proportions of the places and objects in a film can be manipulated through camera placement and lenses, lighting, set design, effectively determining mood or relationships between elements in the story world.

Costume 

Costume simply refers to the clothes that characters wear. Using certain colors or designs, costumes in narrative cinema are used to signify characters or to make clear distinctions between characters.

Acting 

There is enormous historical and cultural variation in performance styles in the cinema. Early melodramatic styles, clearly indebted to the 19th century theater, gave way in Western cinema to a relatively naturalistic style.

 

transition types

there are lots of transition types that can be used in our music video.
these include CUT: this is the most commen transition and is just two clips placed next together that instantly change into the next shot.

MIX/DISSOLVE this is a gradual fade from one shot to another. they create a much more relaxed feel and are commonly used to create the effect of passing time.

FADE: this is when a shot/scene fades into a solid colour.  a fade to black screen is commonly used in films not so much in television.

WIPE: one shot is progressively replaced by another shot in a geometric pattern. there are many types of a wipe effect from a straight line to complex and circular shapes.  wipes are normally used to show change in location.

email

Dear Hilary Okun,

My name is Nathan Winter I am currently studying at Longroad Sixth form College in Cambridge, England.
I am currently in my second year and study media. For my project this year we have to create a music video for an upcoming artist/band in England. The reason i am emailing you is because we (myself and my group members alex and james) have chosen to do one of "spoons" songs (dont you eva). I understand that you are head of publicity at ANTI-records and that you have a very important job to do. By sending this email to you i have probably taken up some of your precious time. I just wish to say that the guys in spoon have created a great song and i hope for them to see our final piece on youtube in a month or two and see what they think of it. Thankyou for your time.

yours sincerely
Nathan

what left to do?

we have still have stuff to do! :O
this include finalising and getting our music video to the standard we are expecting and working towards.
also the album cover needs to be tweaked, such as the colour contrast and the album name and song names need to go on the back. the publishing rights and also company names need to be adde to the final piece.

target audience

spoons target audience is varied, this is because there music style is of that produced in the 90s such as brit pop like bands such as oasis blur and the stoneroses.
however they also appeal to teenagers who liked such bands as those above. therefore they are appealing between anyone who lived in the 90s to teenages today therefore it is difficult to create a specific class of audience.  we need to include modern features in the album cover and music video aswell as reflecting on the videos and album covers of the 90s.

filming schedule

were going to start our setup and layout of our filming at 3oclock however im going to go and collect the lighting and smoke machine while alex and james setup the garage with blue sheets to match the background and clear out the floor space to put in the cinema seats.
we will then spend 30 mins setting up the lights to get them in exactly the correct position for filming.
then is costume, making sure we have the correct genre/ look of clothing.

we are firstly going to shoot the whole song in one shot angle to use as our base shot. we eill be using a pre programmed light setup with the projection playing in the background.
we will then with another camera equipped with a fish eye lens shoot close ups from several angles of me singing. we will do at least three different shots of each angle so we can be sure weve got all the footage that is needed.  more footage is better than not enough.  while we are shooting the main base shpot we also have a time lapse being shot which if we want can be placed within our music video, but is really just to show how we have produced our media project.

rough cut feed back

guitar to guitar playing, also in time, (jase is out of time)
not really in an order all just been thrown together, needs more shape and structure
bring in walking earlier, need lots of movements fast cuts for start, will give good contrast for when singing starts.
Some people thought the fact that band members didnt show much movement made it a bit boring, we disagreed.
others felt that no movement worked and that because we are purposely static that it worked. we agree on this and is how we wanted it to be and feel that movement would ruin it and ruin the
Lighting was very popular. people felt that some long cuts of in the lighting where to long, we agreed.
we feel we need to add more edits and ajust the coulours of some shots, like on the shot of front man walking on his own through town is very bright doesnt fit in. This clip needs to also be added in earlier.
overall there is not enough structure to the video, needs much more movement, quicker cuts. At the minite there is alot of footage being wasted. right now it has just all been chucked in a doesnt really feel like a music video.

Rough Cut

This is our rough cut we have only properly edited the beginning.

album cover (rough cut)

This is our album cover rough cut. We have taken a screen grab from out music video. We felt it looked good as an image and also gives the audience an idea of what the bands image is like. we looked at other covers from the bnd and felt this image had a similar feel and look and suited the bands genre and style. alot of the other album covers from the band used alot of black white and red, we may edit our cover to suit this stle lter on.

Spoon album covers