Showing posts with label martin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label martin. Show all posts
Friday, 9 December 2011
Friday, 2 December 2011
Individual Response
Q1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The main conventions of a hip-hop music video were not really used as a guideline for us as we created our video. For example, the clothing we were wearing throughout the video was more of a retro style, whilst still using expensive and well known brands such as Nike and Ralph Lauren. This differs from a more conventional hip-hop video as you would normally expect to see the artist in flashy and modern clothes, with hugely expensive jewelry on show; promoting the artist in a visual way, you would also expect to see young, good looking women somewhere in the video, again, this would promote the artist visually. Props in a conventional music video would include expensive jewelry and money, showing a 'rags to riches' theme in some ways. We chose not to dress our characters in our best set of clothes as we felt it would differ from the tone and background of the song, the fact that neither the song or artist are that well known meant we were free to explore a less conventional world of hip-hop culture. In our video we focused more on the underbelly of society, with urban streets and alleyways being our main setting, rather than 5* hotels and sunny beaches. Again, we thought this suited the flow of the song better, almost due to the lack of popularity amongst the wider community.We also took inspiration from our studied director; Jonathan Glazer, who's previous music videos almost play out as a short film, with some lip syncing added in, an example of this is Richard Ashcroft: A Song For The Lovers. Clear comparisons can be made from Jonathan Glazer's work to our video, with a similar layout used as well as certain camera shots.
Q2) How Effective Is The Combination of Your Main Product and Ancillary Texts?
Our magazine advert and DVD cover both feature the same font, colours and graffiti background featured in our video, this is an example of positive continuity and is important as it makes all 3 products and themes featured more relatable to each other. The font used throughout our products is appropriate to the hip-hop genre, this further promotes the artist in a continuous fashion showing underground style throughout. Both the magazine advert and DVD cover almost act as an introduction to our music video, we introduce the basis of our video in our digipak using images of microphones and money together, this intrigues the audience into wondering why we would use seemingly basic images as such a big part in the pack. By doing so, it begins to introduce the main plot of our video in which microphones are a substitute for illegal drugs, using the props on our cover also effectively points the audience towards the narrative, rather than the artist as the video is based more on the narrative itself than the characters involved.
As a group, we feel there could have been small improvements could have been made to our products, especially to the magazine advert, although we still maintain belief that our products promote both the artist and video, a stronger magazine advert wouldn't have done any harm. For example, I feel we would have benefited from more time to edit the advert, we could have tweaked effects, such as using tools to brush over the harsh lines between pictures to make for a more aesthetically pleasing advert. Other than these small errors, I feel that we have created a very effective and interesting set of products.
Q3) What Have You Learnt From Your Audience Feedback?
We have come along way from our initial feedback, without the chance to receive the feedback I feel our video would not be anywhere near the standard we have now achieved.
The main consensus after viewing our pitch was that we had a 'mediocre' idea, which needed to be altered away from the stereotypical 'teenage boy' culture if we were to reach high marks. The initial storyline actually included dealing drugs, however after consideration we removed the profanity of drugs but still kept the same idea, expanded it, and ended up with what we feel is a much more appropriate solution with the microphones being a substitute. By doing this we were still able to keep the foundations of our original idea of which we felt really strongly, and we also made it much more appropriate to the audience whilst still maintaining a sense of realism. After creating our rough cut, a new level of feedback could take place. We could see our own ideas being formed before us and we used the feedback to mould and control it. W received notes informing us the shots were too long, with not enough variety of angles, this helped us to push our marks towards the higher bands. Planning our rough cut was when the idea of microphones and rapping being illegal came into shape, after audiences viewed our piece, they much preferred this change as it made it more appropriate whilst still being understandable. Our peers also thought the video would become a better, more rounded piece if we added lip syncing in, to make it more like a music video rather than just a story with music over the top. WE decided this would be a good idea and so added lip syncing to the choruses. This made it more like a music video, whilst still enabling us to continue with our original idea of focusing on the narrative.
After working with the feedback and using it constructively, we feel we have collaborated to make a well rounded, engaging music video, which uses and also challenges typical hip-hop conventions in relation to the music played. The audience was particularly positive about the subtle twist using the microphones, but said some shots were a bit shaky and the mugging scene wasn't very clear. In hindsight, we could have switched from handheld shots to the tripod in places, as well as selecting clearer places to shoot the mugging scene from.
Q4) How Did You Use in the Construction and Research, Planning and Evaluation Stages?
The foundations of our product was based around our blog, everytime we came up with an idea, whether it be about camera angles or costumes, we would write it on the blog. Even out of college hours we were still able to access the technology and brainstorm ideas individually, whilst still allowing the rest of the group to see. If we didn't blog our ideas and progress, the whole process would have been allot harder to move forward with out altercations along the way.
Another piece of technology we couldn't have lived without, especially in the construction stage, is Final Cut Express. This was used from the moment we uploaded our first clip, to the last adaptation of contrast. My skills on Final Cut Express have developed more so this year than any previous, I have learnt how to fine tune every detail including transition length, colour control and play speed. All these new skills combined with basic shot cutting made this video a much deeper experience than previous projects, with a free flowing and quick cutting tense watch as the intention.
Photoshop was used to create the digipak. Before this year, we had very little experience in using it effectively so we were thrown in at the deep end. However, knowing that we had to work quickly and effectively in order to create a worthy digipak enabled us to knuckle down and take full advantage of the opportunity for more available marks. The chemistry of the group grew as we were all to the technology, and so all helped eachother in finding the best nad most suitable tools and effects for our pictures. We quickly found a font appropriate for the pack and set to work manipulating its colour, size and even some aspects of its shape in order for it to compliment other aspects of the cover and advert.
The main conventions of a hip-hop music video were not really used as a guideline for us as we created our video. For example, the clothing we were wearing throughout the video was more of a retro style, whilst still using expensive and well known brands such as Nike and Ralph Lauren. This differs from a more conventional hip-hop video as you would normally expect to see the artist in flashy and modern clothes, with hugely expensive jewelry on show; promoting the artist in a visual way, you would also expect to see young, good looking women somewhere in the video, again, this would promote the artist visually. Props in a conventional music video would include expensive jewelry and money, showing a 'rags to riches' theme in some ways. We chose not to dress our characters in our best set of clothes as we felt it would differ from the tone and background of the song, the fact that neither the song or artist are that well known meant we were free to explore a less conventional world of hip-hop culture. In our video we focused more on the underbelly of society, with urban streets and alleyways being our main setting, rather than 5* hotels and sunny beaches. Again, we thought this suited the flow of the song better, almost due to the lack of popularity amongst the wider community.We also took inspiration from our studied director; Jonathan Glazer, who's previous music videos almost play out as a short film, with some lip syncing added in, an example of this is Richard Ashcroft: A Song For The Lovers. Clear comparisons can be made from Jonathan Glazer's work to our video, with a similar layout used as well as certain camera shots.
Q2) How Effective Is The Combination of Your Main Product and Ancillary Texts?
Our magazine advert and DVD cover both feature the same font, colours and graffiti background featured in our video, this is an example of positive continuity and is important as it makes all 3 products and themes featured more relatable to each other. The font used throughout our products is appropriate to the hip-hop genre, this further promotes the artist in a continuous fashion showing underground style throughout. Both the magazine advert and DVD cover almost act as an introduction to our music video, we introduce the basis of our video in our digipak using images of microphones and money together, this intrigues the audience into wondering why we would use seemingly basic images as such a big part in the pack. By doing so, it begins to introduce the main plot of our video in which microphones are a substitute for illegal drugs, using the props on our cover also effectively points the audience towards the narrative, rather than the artist as the video is based more on the narrative itself than the characters involved.
As a group, we feel there could have been small improvements could have been made to our products, especially to the magazine advert, although we still maintain belief that our products promote both the artist and video, a stronger magazine advert wouldn't have done any harm. For example, I feel we would have benefited from more time to edit the advert, we could have tweaked effects, such as using tools to brush over the harsh lines between pictures to make for a more aesthetically pleasing advert. Other than these small errors, I feel that we have created a very effective and interesting set of products.
Q3) What Have You Learnt From Your Audience Feedback?
We have come along way from our initial feedback, without the chance to receive the feedback I feel our video would not be anywhere near the standard we have now achieved.
The main consensus after viewing our pitch was that we had a 'mediocre' idea, which needed to be altered away from the stereotypical 'teenage boy' culture if we were to reach high marks. The initial storyline actually included dealing drugs, however after consideration we removed the profanity of drugs but still kept the same idea, expanded it, and ended up with what we feel is a much more appropriate solution with the microphones being a substitute. By doing this we were still able to keep the foundations of our original idea of which we felt really strongly, and we also made it much more appropriate to the audience whilst still maintaining a sense of realism. After creating our rough cut, a new level of feedback could take place. We could see our own ideas being formed before us and we used the feedback to mould and control it. W received notes informing us the shots were too long, with not enough variety of angles, this helped us to push our marks towards the higher bands. Planning our rough cut was when the idea of microphones and rapping being illegal came into shape, after audiences viewed our piece, they much preferred this change as it made it more appropriate whilst still being understandable. Our peers also thought the video would become a better, more rounded piece if we added lip syncing in, to make it more like a music video rather than just a story with music over the top. WE decided this would be a good idea and so added lip syncing to the choruses. This made it more like a music video, whilst still enabling us to continue with our original idea of focusing on the narrative.
After working with the feedback and using it constructively, we feel we have collaborated to make a well rounded, engaging music video, which uses and also challenges typical hip-hop conventions in relation to the music played. The audience was particularly positive about the subtle twist using the microphones, but said some shots were a bit shaky and the mugging scene wasn't very clear. In hindsight, we could have switched from handheld shots to the tripod in places, as well as selecting clearer places to shoot the mugging scene from.
Q4) How Did You Use in the Construction and Research, Planning and Evaluation Stages?
The foundations of our product was based around our blog, everytime we came up with an idea, whether it be about camera angles or costumes, we would write it on the blog. Even out of college hours we were still able to access the technology and brainstorm ideas individually, whilst still allowing the rest of the group to see. If we didn't blog our ideas and progress, the whole process would have been allot harder to move forward with out altercations along the way.
Another piece of technology we couldn't have lived without, especially in the construction stage, is Final Cut Express. This was used from the moment we uploaded our first clip, to the last adaptation of contrast. My skills on Final Cut Express have developed more so this year than any previous, I have learnt how to fine tune every detail including transition length, colour control and play speed. All these new skills combined with basic shot cutting made this video a much deeper experience than previous projects, with a free flowing and quick cutting tense watch as the intention.
Photoshop was used to create the digipak. Before this year, we had very little experience in using it effectively so we were thrown in at the deep end. However, knowing that we had to work quickly and effectively in order to create a worthy digipak enabled us to knuckle down and take full advantage of the opportunity for more available marks. The chemistry of the group grew as we were all to the technology, and so all helped eachother in finding the best nad most suitable tools and effects for our pictures. We quickly found a font appropriate for the pack and set to work manipulating its colour, size and even some aspects of its shape in order for it to compliment other aspects of the cover and advert.
Day Plan
today we are filming our group responses to the evaluation questions. Our responses have been developed through a combination of the best parts of all of our answers, creating an overall answer from the best ideas and conflicts. This makes our group answer a good conclusive response that should satisfy the demand of the questions as we thought in depth of the different conventions we met, developed and challenged.
Our task is to put the answers into the form of a video, making it more media related.
Our task is to put the answers into the form of a video, making it more media related.
Friday, 25 November 2011
Friday, 18 November 2011
What should be included in a magazine advert and DigiPack
Magazine Advert
- Pictures of the 'artist'
- Age Ratings
- Information about artist and song
- Release Date
- Matching Themes
DVD Cover
- Bar Code
- Matching Themes
- Age Rating
- Possible pictures from video
- Pictures of scenes and/or artist
- Artist and song name
- Reviews
Analysis of Eminem DVD cover
not eye catching
simplicity at its finest, doesn't need to cram the cover with information due to his standing fame and popularity.
pictures from music video for each song, shows the audience the genre and feel of what the DVD is about
tracklisting
age rating
Dark, representing his lifestyle
simplicity at its finest, doesn't need to cram the cover with information due to his standing fame and popularity.
pictures from music video for each song, shows the audience the genre and feel of what the DVD is about
tracklisting
age rating
Monday, 14 November 2011
Background of our story
When planning our video we decided to try and represent the culture that surrounds hip hop which is the genre of the song we chose. We thought we would try and include violent and drug culture but then we decided we could be more clever and try and link it more to the song. We decided to make our video about buying microphone's illegally like a drug deal. The background to the story is that rapping is illegal in the UK and there is a black market for rappers to get hold of microphones. This is similar to the BBC children's drama 'Bootlegged' which was about the government banning chocolate and the black market that emerged after this point.
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Ideas for magazine and DVD cover
These are some of the ideas for photos we could use for the magazine/ DVD cover. We decided to capture this whilst filming our music video footage as we were in the appropriate setting for the genre of our music track. We thought it would be effective to use the same setting as featured in our music video as the audience will be able to relate to the video and characters. We have used one of the antagonists form our music video as the character on the front of the DVD/Magazine cover as this allows the audience to relate to the characters in the video.
We captured a range of pictures so we could choose from a variety of poses/backgrounds that fit most appropriately when we come to publishing/developing the Magazine/DVD.
Editing Ideas
After going through some of our footage, we have thought out some potential knew editing ideas.
Firstly during the scene where Harry does a robbery, we have shot a POV shot from the victims perspective. We have slightly slowed this shot down to emphasis the shot, creating an effect that this shot is shocking when it is viewed.
Another idea we have had, is to re-wing and re-play the shot where Harry has his cigarette knocked out of his mouth. We will possibly include this to show a bit of humor, and also to reinforce that this action has sparked an instant hatred between Tyler and Harry. This is an idea we are not yet settled upon whether to use it, or not.
Lastly we are aiming to include a split screen when Harry and Tyler are composing their texts. This has been done to cement the fact that two different people are sending text messages to the same person. This is effective as it aids in creating a narrative that is easy for an audience to follow
Firstly during the scene where Harry does a robbery, we have shot a POV shot from the victims perspective. We have slightly slowed this shot down to emphasis the shot, creating an effect that this shot is shocking when it is viewed.
Another idea we have had, is to re-wing and re-play the shot where Harry has his cigarette knocked out of his mouth. We will possibly include this to show a bit of humor, and also to reinforce that this action has sparked an instant hatred between Tyler and Harry. This is an idea we are not yet settled upon whether to use it, or not.
Lastly we are aiming to include a split screen when Harry and Tyler are composing their texts. This has been done to cement the fact that two different people are sending text messages to the same person. This is effective as it aids in creating a narrative that is easy for an audience to follow
Ensuring Camera Safety
As the weather was rainy, we have used an old t shirt folded and laid upon the camera to make sure that we didn't get the camera wet and create a problem for the camera
Props We Have Used
We have included a few props throughout our music video. We have used these to make our footage seem more realistic.
Firstly we have used a mic through out our video. This is because it is very necessary as the video narrative strongly involves microphones.
Secondly, we have used a fake cigarette that is slapped out of Harry's mouth. This is played out like this to give Harry a further motif to mug Tyler.
Lastly we have included a Car within the video. We initially didn't want to use a car, as we thought it quite cliche. After discussing the matter, we thought we would include the car but use it not to make a huge 'gangster' 'show off' effect, but just to assist the footage in trying to achieve the clear narrative we wanted.
Firstly we have used a mic through out our video. This is because it is very necessary as the video narrative strongly involves microphones.
Secondly, we have used a fake cigarette that is slapped out of Harry's mouth. This is played out like this to give Harry a further motif to mug Tyler.
Lastly we have included a Car within the video. We initially didn't want to use a car, as we thought it quite cliche. After discussing the matter, we thought we would include the car but use it not to make a huge 'gangster' 'show off' effect, but just to assist the footage in trying to achieve the clear narrative we wanted.
Continuity That May Appear
We have discussed any issues that we may have during the editing to make sure that we know of any discrepancies that can possibly occur.
Firstly, the weather is different over the different days of our shooting. Although they wasn't hugely dissimilar, there was much more rain and puddles during day 2 of shooting. This is an issue that may be spotted, but cannot be helped by us as a group. Martin has tried to edit the colours in the two different shoots to make them seem more as one.
As well as this we recognize that Harry has had a hair cut between the two shoots. To try and overcome this, we tried to include shots that would require Harry's hood to be up, so audience members wouldnt spot it as a major difference as the music video has been played out.
During editing, we will continue to check for continuity to ensure it doesn't occur.
Firstly, the weather is different over the different days of our shooting. Although they wasn't hugely dissimilar, there was much more rain and puddles during day 2 of shooting. This is an issue that may be spotted, but cannot be helped by us as a group. Martin has tried to edit the colours in the two different shoots to make them seem more as one.
As well as this we recognize that Harry has had a hair cut between the two shoots. To try and overcome this, we tried to include shots that would require Harry's hood to be up, so audience members wouldnt spot it as a major difference as the music video has been played out.
During editing, we will continue to check for continuity to ensure it doesn't occur.
Continuity Prevention
As we have shot our footage on separate days, we have focused a lot on ensuring we keep any continuity as UN-noticeable as possible.
As we have filmed, we all used the exact same costumes that we originally wore on the first day.
This ensures that no blaring differences will appear when the footage is viewed.
As well as this, we have checked that shots don't over lap EG the same thing happened in two different shots. This adds to our narrative as well, to make sure that no differences will corrupt the final version.
As we have filmed, we all used the exact same costumes that we originally wore on the first day.
This ensures that no blaring differences will appear when the footage is viewed.
As well as this, we have checked that shots don't over lap EG the same thing happened in two different shots. This adds to our narrative as well, to make sure that no differences will corrupt the final version.
Making Shots Realistic
When filming we have ensured we have acted as professional as possible.
We have checked each shot to ensure we have no issues such as leaving unwanted props EG the tripod in any of the films.
Whilst filming we have made sure no direct eye contact has been made with the camera, no faces have been pulled, no laughing and no talking during shots have happened. We have checked for this, as in previous projects we haven't checked thoroughly and shots are unprofessional, hence the reason for double checking.
We have checked each shot to ensure we have no issues such as leaving unwanted props EG the tripod in any of the films.
Deciding on New Locations
During our film, we have decided to change locations as we went along.
This is because we found more suitable locations, and also ones that would better suit our needs eg; not enough people.
We have swapped the original cashpoint for a LLoyds TSB cashpoint which has a more urban setting surrounding it.
Also we have used Cambridge City car park also to shoot our car scene instead of the original setting of a known car park from one of the members of the group.
We believe the change in locations have made our footage better, and suit the genre of the footage better than the original ideas.
This is because we found more suitable locations, and also ones that would better suit our needs eg; not enough people.
We have swapped the original cashpoint for a LLoyds TSB cashpoint which has a more urban setting surrounding it.
Issues That We Faced Whilst Filming
We faced many issues whilst filming.
Firstly when we first shot footage, our camera battery died. This meant that we could not continue filming after we had initially planned to film more in one go. To get around this, we planned another filming session to enable us to shoot the missing footage.
Secondly, we didn't have enough members to film the shots we wanted to shoot. We used the tripod to our advantage to shoot when we thought we needed another person. By shooting the clip when we was getting ready, we got the camera into position and are planning to cut the unnecessary clips out that we don't need.
Lastly when shooting there was a downpour of rain. As we needed to shoot using the tripod, we constructed a cover from a t-shirt to completely protect the camera from any rain, , meaning the camera stayed in good working order, but also no rain interrupted the lens of the camera
Firstly when we first shot footage, our camera battery died. This meant that we could not continue filming after we had initially planned to film more in one go. To get around this, we planned another filming session to enable us to shoot the missing footage.
Secondly, we didn't have enough members to film the shots we wanted to shoot. We used the tripod to our advantage to shoot when we thought we needed another person. By shooting the clip when we was getting ready, we got the camera into position and are planning to cut the unnecessary clips out that we don't need.
Lastly when shooting there was a downpour of rain. As we needed to shoot using the tripod, we constructed a cover from a t-shirt to completely protect the camera from any rain, , meaning the camera stayed in good working order, but also no rain interrupted the lens of the camera
Creating a Narrative That is Easy for the Audience to Follow
During filming we constantly thought out how to try and make the narrative we have created easy to get across to the audience.
We have constantly tried to link shots together as we change scenes, meaning we have allowed a story which is easy to follow when viewed by the audience.
By constantly viewing recorded film, we saw how we could effectively link scenes together to therefore create an effective narrative.
We believe by constantly thinking about our shots, planning them and constructing the shots to play smoothly together we have created an effective narrative that any audience could follow.
We have constantly tried to link shots together as we change scenes, meaning we have allowed a story which is easy to follow when viewed by the audience.
By constantly viewing recorded film, we saw how we could effectively link scenes together to therefore create an effective narrative.
We believe by constantly thinking about our shots, planning them and constructing the shots to play smoothly together we have created an effective narrative that any audience could follow.
Monday, 7 November 2011
The Autuer Theory
The Auteur theory is a way to analyze a film or other media forms.
This theory was created by Andre' Bazin, a French
Andre believed and held that films should reflect the personal vision of a director.
Andre was a film critic
If a director is an auteur, they are known to have full control and authority and will be left to be the leader of the production of the film or music video.
The auteur has connotations of the power that an author has of the writing and publishing of a novel.
If a director is an auteur, there will generally be a resounding theme within other works in their portfolio and similar shot types, cuts and special effects being used.
This theory was created by Andre' Bazin, a French
Andre believed and held that films should reflect the personal vision of a director.
Andre was a film critic
If a director is an auteur, they are known to have full control and authority and will be left to be the leader of the production of the film or music video.
The auteur has connotations of the power that an author has of the writing and publishing of a novel.
If a director is an auteur, there will generally be a resounding theme within other works in their portfolio and similar shot types, cuts and special effects being used.
Goodwin's Points
The main points that are used to analyse music videos according to Goodwin are
- Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for a boy/girl band)
- There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting).
- There is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting).
- The demands of the record label will include the needs for lots of close ups of the artist(s) and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style)
- There is frequently reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes etc.) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
- There is often intertextual reference ( to films, TV programmes and other music videos etc.
This is an important element of music video analysis and helps when considering points while watching a music video.
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