SP - Evaluation Question 1

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

SP - Evaluation Question 2

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

Here is part two of my second evaluation question that is a Prezi PowerPoint Presentation. Simply view as a slideshow, or alternatively hold the mouse and drag to scroll around.

Evaluation Question 2 on Prezi

SP - Evaluation Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Here I have used the YouTube annotation tool to dicuss some audience feedback I gained on our latest rough cut (Sample Footage 7) from our target audience which in this case was my A2 Media Studies class.

Here I have filmed our secondary target audience giving us feedback on our lastest rough cut (Sample Footage 7) that was uploaded to YouTube

SP - Evaluation Question 4

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

 

 

ALL - Music Video Final Cut

ALL - Final Digipak Cover

We now have a completed Digipak which can be seen below:


Front Panel (and spine)

Back Panel

 Inside Panels

ALL - Final Magazine Advert 1

ALL - Final Magazine Advert 2

WS - Our Two Magazine Adverts

Following audience feedback on our first magazine advert, it became apparent that producing two different adverts may be beneficial to our group for a couple of reasons:

   

1. The background image on magazine advert 1 is a screenshot from the game Mass Effect. While we thought that this looked quite appealing, it is arguably more suitable for our secondary audience as the link to the gaming aspect of our video is heavily emphasized in the background image. Apart from that, it seemed to be very positively received and therefore something that we wanted to persevere with. To allow us to keep this advert we decided to create another one that would be tagged as the "main advert" and would hopefully be more appealing to the Primary Target Audience. 
2. This wasn't the only problem with advert 1, however. Because the background is an unedited screenshot from the game 'Mass Effect' it isn't really our image and therefore in breach of copyright. The second advert is completely our own and shows an image that we created ourselves completely. 

Target Audiences

Both magazines are targeted at a specific audience, with Mag Ad 1 being targeted at our secondary target audience (25-40, predominantly males) and Mag Ad 2 being targeted at our Primary Target Audience (15-24, again predominantly males).

Mag Ad 1

When designing the first magazine our intention was that this would be aimed at our primary target audience. However following feedback from the class we found that people felt it would appeal specifically to people who enjoy gaming due to the obvious links with that part to our video. The average age of gamers in the UK is around 35-40 and is therefore part of our secondary target audience. We didn't want to get rid of this advert completely however as the feedback received was generally very positive. We also felt that this advert would still appeal to any fans of the band as it incorporates a sci-fi type theme which is very common in videos and products from Muse.

Mag Ad 2

Due to the feedback we received we decided to create another magazine advert aimed more precisely at our Primary Target Audience. For this we left many of the conventions the same and the layout very similar, with the major alteration being the change in background. We felt this reflected the different audience, our video and a theme that will appeal to our primary target audience. The themes common between our video and this image include the isolation of the protagonist and the distortion of his mind, shown here through the use of layers. We feel that this, added to the first magazine ad and the different themes shown there, we cover a whole range of themes from our video and themes that are commonly used by the Muse band, and therefore areknown to be successful in the industry and with our target audience in particular.

Similarities and Differences

Similarities

Despite the adverts having different target audiences there are still quite a lot of similarities between the two:

• A number of conventions of magazine adverts are present in both, examples including the name of the band being central and bold at the top, a picture of the digipak (the product it is advertising), tour dates, the name of the album and release dates
• The layout of the two products is very similar, with only things such as wording changed.
• Both adverts make use of a particular theme from our video (although different themes in each advert).
• Both adverts have a sci-fi type feel to them.
• Both adverts include the Facebook and Twitter logos, as well as web adresses for the band and production company.
• Both adverts include the same tagline (10 Year Anniversary Special Edition).

Differences

There are also a number of differences between the two adverts:

• The differing background image is obviously the key and glaring difference between the two. We feel and hope that this can ensure we target different audiences, advert two for our primary target audience with the first advert for our secondary audience.
• The date for release ("In Stores Now" for Advert one & "12-09-12") shows two different styles that we have seen from magazine adverts we have looked at - one worded and one numerical.
• The theme that each advert is based on is different. Advert 1 is based on the sci-fi/gaming aspect whilst Advert 2 is based more on the ideas of isolation and distortion of the protagonist's mind.

ALL - Fifth Vodcast: DCRUP and MANGR

RS + SP - Ninth Podcast: Target Audiences For All Products

ALL - Sample Footage 7

WS - Role of Feedback

With any media product feedback is essential to make sure it is the best it possibly can be and to ensure that it is suitable for the target audience. It also increases the chance that any mistakes will be picked up on and gives an unbiased opinion on how the product can be improved. It is also beneficial in that it gives you increased options in what to do, as you receive new ideas but you don't have to use them.

There are an increasing number of ways to receive feedback on media products due to the advances in technology and digitisation. We are fortunate that our primary target audience is 15-24 as this allows us to get feedback from our fellow class members very simply. They are also in a similar position in trying to make their own videos and so understand the issues involved, what is realistic and what is out of range for what we can achieve. With a combination of males and females in the class we received feedback from both genders on our work. The age of this feedback group was 17 or 18 so quite in the middle of our primary target audience meaning we got a balance between the younger end of the range, but also some insights into how the older and more mature people of our Target Audience may respond. This was our main source of feedback.

 

To get our work out to a wider audience we also made use of the advancing technology and equipment/websites that were available to us. The main one of these was YouTube where all of our sample scenes/rough cuts were posted. This allowed a wider range of people to view our work, both fellow students from other schools doing similar courses and general people who may be interested. By using the tag tool on YouTube we also increased the chances of the work being seen by people searching for the song, band or anything connected with our video by the tags that we included when uploading. This method of receiving feedback also led to us getting valuable feedback from a past student who went through this process last year.

 

 

Early in the course shortly after forming our group we created a Facebook and Twitter page so that people could "like" or "Follow" to keep up with any updates we wanted to give out. We took advantage of these by posting sample scenes or rough cuts early in the production process to allow any fans to see what we were doing and how our sample footage was coming on. By posting them we gave fans the opportunity to feedback and give any advice they felt might help us. This allowed us to request feedback from a wider target audience extending, unlike the class feedback, to our secondary target audience. This was also the case with the feedback on You Tube.

WS - Magazine Ad Relationship To Video

Our Magazine Advert

In a previous blog post I have looked at the similarities and links between our digipak and our music video. They are two out of the three items that make up our overall "package" with the third product being a magazine advert. Throughout the creation of all three items we have being trying to keep similarities and links between them all to show that they make up one package. Some of these links may be obvious, while others may be deliberately more subtle so that our Target Audience may understand them, but may also keep a bit of enigma for other audiences/potential buyers.


As stated in the post regarding our digipak, there is a couple of themes that we tried to keep running throughout all three of our products to link them together. One of these themes is gaming. The background to our Magazine Ad is a screenshot from Mass Effect which is the same game that we have taken a screenshot for for our Digipak. This links in with the whole theme of gaming that is present through all three products, but is clearly shown through the video format. This is the clearest link between our magazine ad and the video.


The picture of the Digipak on our magazine ad is another link between all three products. The Digipak contains our music video and displaying it on the magazine ad links them all together.


Another key theme that we tried to get running throughout all the different parts of the package is the idea of isolation. This is a huge and key part to our music video, though it proved quite tough to transfer this to our magazine ad. We had an idea where we split a picture of the protagonist in half so that it was half real person, half avatar to show how that is a major part of his life and his desire to be like the avatar. For a number of reasons however, this wasn't possible. We still feel like the space aspect of the background for the magazine ad works in a similar way to show isolation though. Space is obviously a large open space with no known human life which signifies the loneliness and isolation aspect within our video.

WS - Digipak Relationship to Video

Digipak Front Cover

As well as a music video for our chosen song we have been tasked with creating the video but also two ancillary texts: a magazine advert and a digipak. The brief that we had at the start of this project was to create a 'package' meaning that we need to link the individual products together  in some way to make them into an overall single package.


One way that we thought we could do this is by using a theme that runs throughout all three of the products. Obviously with them been for very different media formats they are each going to have their own conventions and major differences between them all. There are, however, ways in which we have linked them together to make them into a combined package.


The theme that we eventually decided on to include in each product is the gaming aspect. The protagonist gaming is a major part and idea in our music video as it is how we really show his isolation and desire to be more popular and powerful; the gaming world is his ideal world and his escape from reality. As it is a major theme in our video it seems an appropriate way to link the three products together and this can be seen on the front cover of our digipak with the avatar and background. This is a screenshot from the game Mass Effect which most of our gaming footage is from.

Digipak Back Cover

Another way we link the digipak to the video is on the back cover with the image of our protagonist the "Muse Nerd". The image in the background is the same as on the front panel and therefore is still linking with that same theme from the game, but with the additional link through the character. The image of the protagonist is clearly edited on (because the setting is obviously not from the real world) which also links with the video where layering is important to create the feeling of space, fantasy and this ideal world which compares with the real world where the protagonist is alone and isolated.



Isolation is another theme that can be linked to both the video and the digipak. The image shows a large open space with nobody in sight except for our protagonist on the back cover and the avatar on the front. This shows the theme of isolation that is also a major part of our video, along with the gaming aspect in the Narrative.


A very different way in which the two link as a package doesn't relate to what can be seen in the video but just to the video itself. On the front cover of the digipak is a sticker advertising what can be seen inside the digipak including stating that the music video comes as part of this video. This shows a direct link between the two products on the front cover of our digipak.

WS - Role of Narrative in our Music Video

It is a common convention of Alternative Rock videos to combine Narrative and Performance aspects to a video. This is something that we are trying to replicate in our own video as it seems to be a key convention. 

From looking at videos in our genre, we also found that a theme of isolation and loneliness was quite common, two examples of this been Jesus of Suburbia by Green Day and Jeremy by Pearl Jam. The idea of a Narrative is also to have some link to the lyrics of the song. For these reasons we decided on a Narrative based on a person who is obsessed with Muse - the "muse nerd". Throughout the narrative we show this obsession through him listening to music by the band, the use of album covers and magazine covers (these are not all from Muse, but a number of them are) and at one point through dressing in the same way as a band member. As well as the obsession of Muse, the protagonist is also very lonely and isolated, an idea that we changed to from bullying as we felt bullying was exceptionally hard to realistically portray with the actors available to use and made for a weak storyline.

The Narrative is intercut amongst the Performance aspects of our video and is filmed in a number of locations, another thing very common in our genre. The Narrative part of our video is vital and is what would hopefully make people want to watch the video more than once.

Another key point to our Narrative is a gaming theme, where the protagonist is playing computer games because in this virtual world he can be powerful and popular, two things that he isn't in the real world. Throughout the narrative the audience should pick up on the differences here and the contrast of the two to see just how different the two 'lives' are. 

Pressure and depression builds up on the protagonist throughout the video, culminating in a  suicide scene at the end of the video. This is also the case in the video Jeremy by Pearl Jam that I referred to earlier. The reason we chose this was because we thought it was a powerful end to our Narrative and we wanted something strong at the end to try and entice people to watch the video more than once. The mixing up of game footage, real life footage and time lapses during our narrative would also hopefully achieve the same thing by being interesting, but also slightly confusing to someone watching it for the first time.

The role of Narrative in our video is very different to the original and official Bliss video by Muse. Obviously we weren't going to simply copy their video, nor would it be possible for us to  do with our budget and us not having the equipment to replicate it. The idea that we have taken on though is to re-brand the idea and song and so we have gone for a very different approach. This approach is to link the narrative to the lyrics through the overall idea. We feel like we managed that with our final idea with scenes revolving around loneliness and isolation.

RS - Budget

During the production process we had camera's and tripods provided by the school meaning that we didn't have to invest in those to do filming. However I do own an HD camera myself and when the school cameras were fully booked we did use that camera instead. The quality is not as good as the school cameras as it only has 3.3 megepixels whilst the school ones have 4.0 megapixels. I also have my own tripod that we used throughout the production process because of it being easier than booking out a tripod from the school each time and having to haul it around school all day until filming in the evening. However we did come up to a problem when my tripod was accidently broken by a Swillob member late in the production process so we had to buy a new one as that one could not be replaced. We also spent money on bus fares to and from shoots whilst filming on the bus too for some coverage.

This brought the totals to:

3 x £1.80 = £5.40 (Bus Fares. E.g for 1 shoot!)

1 x Tripod = £40

SP - Evaluation Q1 Draft

In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop Or Challenge Forms And Conventions Of Real Media Products?

What Are Conventions:

• Conventions of real media products are what the audience are expecting to see.
• These codes and conventions are commonly used and differ within a format or genre and different meanings are created from these texts. 
• However the audience has a part to play in the interpretation of this conventional material and can create their own reading form their understanding of the text. 
• All of these points relate to the theory of Stuart Hall who said that meanings and conventions within a text might have a preferred reading from the people who created it but then the audience might their own opposition reading of the same convention in the text. 

Music Video Format Conventions:

• There are usually a wide range of camera shots and angles that are used to give variation and in some cases to show emotion if close ups are being used.
• Fast paced editing is common to keep the interest of the audience and to include all of the shot variety. 
• Related to that point is shot length as the shorter the shot, the quicker the pace of the music video will be. However depending on the genre there may be a varying shot lenghts.
• Linear/Non-Linear editing can effect the narrative sections because it may follow a continuous pattern as one thing follows another or it may follow the discontinuity pattern.
• Also related to editing is cutting to the beat of the song.
• Lighting is also a main aspect to any music video and it varies on the genre.
• Goodwin's Theory points out that in every music video that there is either performance, narrative or concept and in several cases a mix of the two. 
• Performance music videos are just focusing on the band playing the song at a location. In these types of music videos you will find heavy use of lip syncing the lyrics of the song and focusing on the front man. 
• Narrative music videos are basically a storyline that may or may not link in with the lyrics of the song. Usually in these types of music videos you have several locations and different costumes + props are used to signify the mood/theme of the song.
• Concept music videos are when special effects are used to make a completely random idea where there is no link between the lyrics and what is happening on screen. Layering may also be used, not only for concept videos, to give a complete sense of randomness.
• Other conventions of music videos include diegetic openings and breaks at the start and during the video respectively. (Examples: Micheal Jackson - Thriller, Kanye West, Tenacious D - Tribute, Oasis - Wonderwall, Depeche Mode - It's No Good)
• Male/Female gaze is common in music videos depending on who the audience is and sexual themes also are heavily used.
• Framing is key to making a music video look interesting.
• Choreography is used across alot of genres to again appeal to the audience and links in to male/female gaze.

Alternative Rock Genre Conventions:

• There is a often a mix of both performance and narrative sections.
• In performance sections, focusing on the frontman is common in our genre.
• Usually there is extremely fast paced editing which is used in both the narrative and performance sections.
• This also means that are short takes and there are alot of variety of camera shots/angles.
• Quite often black and white effects are used to either signify flashbacks or just to add a different effect to the video.
• Editing to the beat also occurs alot in music videos in the alternative rock genre.
• Specific to the artist 'Muse' there are usually sci-fi aspects used and a futuristic theme i used throughout all of their music videos. (Example: Muse - Sing For Absolution)
• Relating to this 'Muse' use quite alot of special effects to acheive this futuristic theme.
  

Conventions We Have Used In Our Music Video:

• In our music video we have used both performance and narrative sections.
• We have also used fast paced editing with short takes and a wide variey of camera shots and angles.
• We have used a futuristic sort of theme as we have used game footage from 'Mass Effect' which also adds to the sci-fi convention Muse tend to follow.
• We have used layering to also acheive a sort of distortion effect and sometimes this adds to a futuristic the effect
  

Digipak Conventions:

• Front with the album artwork accompanied with the artist name and the album title (Example: Muse - The Resistance)
• Back cover typically with the tracklist including time of the songs. The back cover also typically contains: (Example: AC/DC - Iron man 2)
• Bar Code
• QR code (becoming more common)
• Smallprint with copyright laws written
• Website for the artist
• Twitter/Facebook sites (becoming more common)
• Usually the bands record label logo can be seen
• Inside the digipak there is sometimes text displaying the names of the composers for each song in smaller print than the song title
• There is sometimes a small handout which contains further artwork, maybe some images of the artist playing live or possibly lyrics
• The actual CD can usually be found in the main part of the digipak in a plastic holder with two panels to each side
• Some digipaks have two cd's within the card case. One for the actual CD and another for behind the scenes or some sort of DVD
• Stickers are usually found on the front of the digipak saying "includes "...." in this album!"
• The outside of the digipak can use very bright and inviting colours to make it attractive on the shelve and then use darker colours inside the actual digipak.
• Digipaks are seen as the LP's of this century and can be seen as a collectable like LP's as they are much more interesting than a standard jewel case. 
• The spine of the digipak usually has the artist name, album name

Alternative Rock Genre Conventions:

• Difference in colour between the front panel and all the other panels
• Tend to have a similar front and back panel with the inside being different
• Black and white shots for the inside of digipak
• Album artwork on the front of the digipak
• Artist name at the top of the digipak in bigger, bold font
• Sticker
• Tour Dates
• Booklet/Leaflet inside (Example: Muse: Origin Of Symmetry)
• Bar Code
• QR code
• Smallprint with copyright laws written
• Website for the artist
• Twitter/Facebook sites

Conventions We Have Used In Our Digipak:

• Name of artist at top
• Limited edition sticker
• Same colour scheme on front and back panels
• Links between front and back
• Picture of protagonist in music video
•  Different theme and colour scheme for inside panels
• Track lists
• Special edition DVD information
• FB and Twitter links
• QR Code
• URL's to social media sites 
• Swillob Prdouctions company logo
• Copyright info

Magazine Ad Conventions:

• Artists Name in large, bold font at the top of the ad
• Album Name usually the same size font as the artist name but not in bold
• Album Artwork (Example: Muse - The Resistance)
• Web Address of artist, record labels and ticket retailer
• Colours compliment each other
• Twitter, Facebook and Youtube pages
• Tour dates
• Record Labels
• Says the format it is available in - CD and download
• Font Variation
• Theme of the artist - fits with the lyrics and albums
• Information about the album (usually says "Including" followed by the singles released from the album)
• QR Codes
• Introductory sentence to grab the audience's attention 'the wait is finally over...'
• Thumbnails
• Photo of the CD/Product/Merchandise
• Format (CD, CD + DVD, CD + Vinyl or Digital)
• Either release date, out now or pre-order

• Artist website
• Name of hit single included in the album
• Image of the band

• Labeled as limited addition to increase sales

Alternative Rock Genre Conventions:

• Artists Name in large, bold font at the top of the ad (Example: Muse - Absolution)
  
• Album Name usually the same size font as the artist name but not in bold
  
• Album Cover
• Twitter, Facebook and Youtube links
• Tour dates
• Record Labels
• Information about the album (usually says "Including" followed by the singles released from the album)
• QR Codes
• Either release date, out now or pre-order

• Artist website
• Name of hit single included in the album
• Image of the band

• Labeled as limited addition to increase sales

Conventions We Have Used In Our Magazine Ad:

• Artists Name in large, bold font at the top of the ad
• Futuristic, sci-fi background image
• Tour Dates
• Photo of the digipak
• Sentence to grab the audience's attention 'In stores now'
• Album Name usually the same size font as the artist name but not in bold and at the bottom of the ad
• Twitter, Facebook logos/ links
• Information about the album (10 Year Anniversary Special Edition)

Conclusion:
Not only have we used the common codes and conventions within our genre we have also developed and challenged them in each format of our texts. Even though generally we have sticked to what is commonly found when an audience is looking at these texts we have also in places challenged conventions especially in our digipak and mag ad.

SP - Evaluation Q2 Draft

How Effective Is The Combination Of Your Main Product And Ancillary Texts?

Similarities Of Our Package:

• Gaming aspect is featured in all of our texts as it is heavily used in our music video with the protagonist playing games on his computer. On the digipak the front and back covers feature a background that is a screenshot from the game 'Mass Effect'. Also on the front cover is an avatar from the same game. Finally on our mag ad the background is again a futuristic sci-fi image that is related to the gaming theme.
• There is also a large focus on the 'muse nerd' (protagonist) in our package due him featuring in nearly every aspect of our music video. He is also on our digipak front cover and in the inside panel.
• Lonliness is related to the muse nerd point as in every text the protagonist is signified as being lonly an cast out form his family and friends
• Muse is obvioulsy features alot especially in our music video with posters, digipaks, hoodies etc all featuring and in our digipak/mag ad the logo is used to outline the artist.
• We have used someof the same fonts in  our digipak and mag ad due to the fact we wanted to keep some continuety and it looks very good.
• On our digipak and mag ad we have used new media and social networking in all of our ancillary text incluing QR codes, Twitter and Facebook logos/links
• 
  

Differences Of Our Package:

• Obvioulsy the format of each product is completely different.
• Some of our target audiences could be interpretated very differently due to the average gamer being in his mid 30's where as our primary audience is 15-24. Also our  mag ad could go in several different magazines which will all have different audiences
• We have used digipaks in music vid which are all from different genres and not just from our alternative rock genre
• We have used several different locations throughout our music video including some scenes at school, in Ilkley and in Addingham.
• In our digipak we have used track lists whereas in our mag ad we only used tour dates and no mention of any best selling tracks etc.

SP - Evaluation Q3 Draft

What Have You Learned From Your Audience Feedback?

How We Gained Feedback:

• Asked our media class
• Teacher
• Media Technician
• Parents
• Yyear 13's
• Year 12's
• Male and Female

  
Feedback On Our Music Video:

1. Our class mates thought that the music video was filmed and edited in such a way that it was more like a film opening like last years brief rather than a music video. 
2. They thought that it was too slow paced and didnt really grab their attention.
3. As i have briefly touched on our primary audience thought that most of our shots were far too long and needed to be cut down to make it more fast flowing to match with the quick music. They also said that if we did this our scenes would be shorter because just like the shots they were too long. 
4. The school scene didnt go down too well either because people thought it was abit cheesy and didnt suit the purpose of our music video.
5. The general feeling from both the people in our class and our Media teacher is that our footage wasnt interesting enough. They got bored too quickly and wouldnt want to watch it again. The shots needed cutting down as did the scenes and the mise-en-scene was bland and bare.
6. When our Media teacher stopped our music video around 1:30 minutes in we realised that nothing had actually happened. This was a big reality check and we realised that maybe our footage so far needed to be scrapped and we should start again. 

Feedback On Our Digipak:

Front Panel

• Downsize the circular sticker
• Make sure all logos are in line with each other
• Sticker should focus on details about the DVD due to it being special edition
• The Muse logo should be made bigger

Back Panel

• Too many tracks on the CD? Try and cut this down
• Maybe advertise as a bonus CD rather than bonus tracks
• Include a Behind The Scenes and a Full Live Performance with venue and date on as it is Special Edition
• Try the same colour scheme for the font as is seen on the front panel
• Barcode number needs to change to something more realistic

Inside Panels

• Make the shots of protagonist larger and/or clearer
• Try make a background image on the corridor look out of place to fit in with sci-fi theme.
• Work on the idea of writing on the noticeboard
• Try link the inside panels to the outer panels more 
• Move further away from realism, more to Sci-Fi idea

  

Conclusion:

• Feedback has played a massive part in the editing process as we have gained several comments from different people that has helped us improve each of our products. 
• Some of the feedback we didnt agree with and we didnt implement in to our final products (Examples: Too much orange on digipak, Need to link inside panels to front and back) 
• Our final vision was completely different to what we had planned at the start and each aspect has been heavily scultped by audience feedback which has played a massive part.
• We have around 5 Sample Footages which gives an indication how many times we have filmed + how many times we have changed and tweaked our footage to what our audienvce thought.

SP - Evaluation Q4 Draft

How Did You Use New Media Technologies In The Construction And Research, Planning And Evaluation Stages?

• Internet:
• Research in to Muse, Alternative rock genre etc
• Gaining feedback and promoting our music video on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube 

• Websites:
• Blogger (Last years A2 blogs/This years A2 blogs, Music videos blog etc)
• Muse website
• Wikipedia (Not always reliable)
• Twitter/Facebook/YouTube again

• New Sofware:
• Final Cut Express
• Photoshop
• iMovie 11

• Techniques Learned:
• Final Cut Express (Distortion, Double Layering, Transitions, Colour Enhancing)
• iMovie 11 (Importing and Exporting new footage)

• New Hardware: 
• HD cameras
• SD cards

• YouTube Channels:
• How we gained feedback from other users and especially past A2 student who left a comment
• Analytics (number of hits we got, break down of gender, nationality etc and genral video breakdown)

RS - Bands challenging Genre Conventions

The first video is called "Existo Vulgore" by Death Metal band "Morbid Angel". As for a death metal band you would expect a typical video to contain:

 

• large ammounts of performance footage 
• long haired "moshers" headbanging in beat with the song 
• editing is very fast pace and matches the beat of the song. 
• dark lighting 

 

In this case, the video challenges these conventions and instead has:

 

• very long takes
• has a silent movie theme to it
• contains titles at the start like an old movie
• black + white
• blurred effects
• still has performance

 

This next video is called Ohne Dich (Without You) by Industrial metal band Rammstein. For a music video from this genre we would expect to see:

• dark lighting
• performance
• violence
• sexual themes

 

Instead with this music video we get:

 

• the entire video is narrative
• almost no performance (only a few lines lip synced)
• bright and vibrant locations
• violence (but not in the typical way of the genre)

 

RS - Magazine Advert

SP - Updated Production Schedule

Updated Swillob Production Schedule

SP - Feedback On Rough Cut 6

• Firstly there was flashing to black between shots in our opening and throughout our music video which was really distracting for our audience.
• Our class mates also thought that the opening dragged on abit and that we should shorten some of our original shots, use multiple layers to quicken it up and maybe cut with performance to make it more interesting. 
• They also encouraged us to only show Rob getting out of bed and pick up one peice of clothing instaed of all of them because we are doing a music video and it doesnt have to be a linear sequence.
• In our school scene someone pointed out that we could animate a zoom on the magazine that the 'Muse Nerd' is reading and use multiple layers on this shoot of all of the shots that follow it.
• One of the biggest peice of feedback on our music video was that we need to try and replicate the exact shots with the CD covers because then they will link together much better and make more sense to our audience. They also said that we should use the cross disolve transition rather than fade to black because it breaks the link between the two shots. 

•  Another peice of valuable footage is that we could try and enhance the colouring on the shots that followed the 'Fly From Here' CD cover 
• Our primary audience also told us to try and start with shots that are further away from our protagonist and then slowly get closer to close ups revealing his identity.
• With regards to performance footage someone proposed that in our next rough cut we should multiple layer footage of the band playing over some shots that have free space in the background.
• We were also told that sometimes we should allow the lower opacity shots to run on for longer and over more shots than we already have.
• Finally we should make the loner aspect more obvious by using less shots so it doesnt drag on as much and isnt as boring.

ALL - Sample Footage 6

RS - Recent Sighting of Muse

During the summer of last year Muse had been rumoured to be playing the opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympic Games and expected to play with Elton John. There was an article released last year that can be seen here. We will have to wait and see what happens in the near future.

Recently fans spotted Matt Bellamy in London and posted this on the "Muselive" Forums:

"Ok so here's the news:
- Recording is going really well, he kept emphasizing on "really" - he seemed extremely excited.
- They were asked to play the Olympics - he seems like he didn't mean to say that haha but yeah so there's a good chance!
- They'll start gigs in September
- The album will be finished in late April/May and it will come out in either September or October depending on how things go
- The picture Tom (close friend of the band) tweeted were song names but he said that some will be changed and that they were all really drunk when that was posted"

The band have also been rumoured to be recording for the new Bond film "Skyfall" however no news is yet to be released about that only a small poll on who the public want to see record the new soundtrack. Muse missed out by one place to Adele. Source.

ALL - Sample Footage 5

WS - Full Rough Cut Update

We now have a deadline for a first full rough cut of tomorrow (Friday 2nd March). By this point we need a complete cut of our music video, though we will have the chance to make alterations to this after it has been looked at.


Unfortunately by this deadline we will not have all the footage that we need for the complete video. We have previously filmed some performance footage although it was of a poor standard and we decided that we would re-film this footage. This hasn't happened yet for a number of reasons (band members pulling out, locations not available when band members were and vice versa) and we are hoping to do this as soon as possible. For the purpose of this exercise however, we are looking to include the previous performance footage that we filmed though we want to stress this won't be the footage we use in our final product.


Other problems regarding this task is the sheer amount of footage and scenes that we have and working out the best order for these clips on screen. This is much trickier than we expected and we are now having to experiment to find an order that works. During editing we have come across issues with the order of clips (for example the protagonists sudden change of clothing) and are having to work on ways to get around this. This is slowing down the editing process for us at the moment.

ALL - Signifiers Within This Shot In Our Music video

 

• Graffiti - Run down area, Criminal
• Hoodie - Teenager, Middle class
• Jeans - Middle class
• Alone - Outcast, No friends
• Snow - Purity, Winter, Cold
• Crewcut - Middle class
• Ruined Converses (Chucks) - Working class 
• Hands in pockets - Typical teenager
• Superdry - Typical teenager
• Under the Bridge (RHCP) - Hiding from someone, Trying to get away from someone
• Dying grass/Moss on the wall - Run down area, Had no attention in a while
• Pebble Beach - Middle course of the river, Inside of a meander bend,

SP- Distortion In Final Cut Express

Today we continued editing our new footage that we filmed before half term. We have around an hour and a half worth of footage which we needs to edited down to around four minutes and now that we are focusing on using Final Cut we are continuing to learn new new tools and techniques all of the time. 

Today we have learnt how to use the Distort tool which is usually used to distort an image in the Canvas Viewer. What we wanted to do was to superimpose the footage that a close friend of ours and a fellow media student had taken on his PC of the game "Mass Effect" and put it over the footage we had taken on Rob Shaw's computer. Ben Hudson has a better quality PC which allows him to play smoother game footage so he volunteered to film footage of Mass Effect for us because it wouldnt be as jerky as if Rob Shaw filmed it. Instead we filmed shots of Rob Shaw playing another game knowing we could superimpose the footage Ben had filmed for us over the top of it.

 

Using a tutorial I found on the internet we were able to distort Ben's footage by clicking on the crop tool and holding the mouse button down for a few moments so it expanded the toolbar to show us the distort tool. The distort tool makes an image or a clip be surrounded by something called a "wireframe" which allows us to manipulate the footage by using the wireframe. 

Click here to view the tutorial I found on the internet and even though all the information on there wasnt all relevant, we were able to pick and choose the details we wanted

RS - Placebo Mag Ad Deconstruction

Placebo - Battle For The Sun

• Artist name - largest font on the page + central
• Album name underneath in smaller font + central
• Release date at the very top in Day/Date/Month format
• Tour Date at 02 Academy. With "sold out" image layered of the top, special guest along with the special guests band logo underneath
• Advertising the "special edtion album" "includes Trigger Happy Hands...." highlighting the fact that it is the special edtion of the album so there are extra features to lure hardcore fans in
• "Redux edition" - different colouring of the cover to the standard edition
• Where you can order the album from
• Band Url
• Everything is cental

RS - Pendulum Mag Ad Deconstruction

Pendulum - In Silico

• Artist Name - Largest text at the top of the advert
• Album name included but in very small font at the bottom
• Very large album artwork image in the middle
• Tour Dates + When they go on sale + where to get them from with url links, phone numbers etc
• Band Website is very small at the bottom of the page (slightly cut off when scanning)
• No reviews of the album at all
• More of a tour advert rather than a digipak advert - links to artists going more for ticket sales rather than album sales because of digitisation and people downloading albums instead. Artists make most of their money from touring so they are aiming for that with this advert
• Bottom left is a small image of the album cover (just the same as the main image but without all of the tour dates etc)

WS - Looking at a Magazine Ad from Muse

"The Resistance" Magazine Ad

Because the band that we are looking at and using for our own music video are still active, it seems appropriate to look at an example of a magazine advert from this particular band. The particular example that this blog post will look at is the advert for the Muse album, The Resistance. 
One thing that is apparent immediately here is how little is on the poster. There is a large image, the band's logo in bold, the name of the item in bold as well as the date of release and the band's website noted at the bottom. The lack of 'clutter' does make the poster quite eye-catching; it is quick to look at and doesn't take up so much time as a poster with a lot of information on would which may encourage people to skip on through the magazine.


One thing that is absolutely necessary for a magazine Ad is for it to be noticeable immediately and capture it's Primary and Secondary Target Audiences. This advert is one example that will definitely be noticeable to fans of the band. Much of this is to do with the bands name and logo in the top left corner. Because it is a bold font and by itself with nothing around it, it really stands out and anchors the poster as coming from the band Muse.  

"The Resistance" Album Cover



Something significant about this poster is that it is almost identical to the album cover, with the date of release and the Muse website information added. Whether this is a common thing in the industry I am not sure and hopefully will discover by looking at further examples. Even though I am not sure whether it is something that occurs throughout the business, I do think the idea of having the Magazine Ad the same as the album cover is good as it directly links the product and means the customer knows what they are looking for when trying to buy the product once it comes out. Though it may not work in every genre, I think it is an effective idea for this particular genre.

 

 



One thing that has to be noticed from looking at this poster is the lack of unnecessary information. The design does not include anything unnecessary and provides basic information; this both keeps some sort of mystery about the album as well as not overpowering the reader with information. For our own magazine ad this is something that we could look into, although we need to demonstrate a number of skills. This could be quite a challenge, though if done correctly could look very effective and professional.

In summary I think this is an effective magazine advert, though I could understand why other people may see it as boring and a poor advert. This emphasizes the importance of the Target Audience and how different audiences can see the same product in two different ways. Whilst I also think it is a good example to look at for our own product, the style isn't necessarily one that we want to follow as we are looking to show a number of different skills in the creation of our own magazine advert.