Question 4 - How did you use media technologies in the contruction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Question 4 evaluation

View more presentations from beejheason.

Question 3 - What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Audience feedback was very useful on how we could make our video better, its good to get feedback from all forms of people as it helps you make your video appeal to a wider audience.

Alot of our feedback said that our video was a "clear grime genre", this we liked as its exactly what we wanted to do, get a strong message across of what genre our text is. Another said in media context that "the mise en scene and costumes suited the music very well and also targets our audience greatly", we felt it was vital that we achieved this as without doing so you cant hit the genre your aiming for and without having a clear genre then the video becomes confusing to the viewer.

After our cast decided they werent fully dedicated to the video at a late stage which was very annoying, we had to act quickly, so I had to take up the role and we only managed to record on college premises, this we felt lowered our video standard and was frustrating as we knew our end product had so much more potential. This was pointed out by one member of the audience they said "the locations were minimal and repetitive, however it worked with the song choice", We knew someone would point this out but it was good to also get positive feedback from a negative situation, it showed us that we did do a good job for our troubled position.

When we first edited the video to fully black and white we werent sure as colour i felt was an attraction in video's, but after we finished and watched it all back it did suit the video and its genre, this was noted numerous times by our audience and was a relief to know it was a beneficial decision. Others felt that the idea wasn't very original neither was the finished product, it's a shame as when we had our cast set up we wanted to give the video a storyline but as mentioned we couldn't do so. Their was a strange feedback which said our video was comic and they seemed to dislike the small bag I was wearing in numerous scenes, i believe this member had a oppositional reading, they didn't agree with the values and messages in the text, i also felt they had an abberant reading where they werent equipped the cultutal capital to fully understand the text, grime mainly supplies lyrical pleasure, something which this member must not of recieved.

Grime as a genre has been broadcasted to all its fans and has taken on its stereotypical features as a mass media product, this is also known as the hypodermic needle theory, each feature like the urban look, the casual clothing etc. is also something produced from the originality of the music, the creator set this look and spread from there which slowly became the genre it is today, some people have the cultural capital to understand it and some do not, this is why i recieved mixed feedback but gladly majority positive.

Question 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

The combination of both my main product and ancillary tasks is vital keeping a brand image, mixing it up confuses the consumer and doesn't maintain the genre's aesthetics.

Throughout my production i tried to keep a coherent look, i felt i achieved this to a good extent by having black and white, urban appearing digipak and keeping this look through the main text, for example, the back cover of my difipak is also the same scene as the first shot of the actor in the video, also we kept the black and white look thorughout the print productions and the video, by maintaining this look it not only sticks to the genre we picked but also gives our overall product a branding, this coherent look is also known as house style, we got this by sticking to the style guide, a set of rules that link up to define the house style.

The only set back was the fact that the model on my print production is different to the actor in the video, this is because our cast members dropped out after we realised they werent dedicated to the task, highyl frustrating as it is we adpated to the situation, al though we made this change we kept the similar laid back posture and proxemics throughout the whole production. The costume used in the digipak was alot more formal and smarter than what was used in the video, but we managed to keep the same props and locations, we also only used natural lighting during the task which we felt was important to make the video seem authentic, also stereotypically grime videos do not use false lighting or many strong effects, this helped us target our audience and fit the genre. The text used in the digipak had a similar serif styled font to what was used in the video, however we introduced red into the video as it gave it some sort of colour to stop it from being boring black and white throughout.

Marketing wise we promoted the product well through the digipak, a major setback though was that i failed to produce an advert on time, this would of promoted it a lot more, it also stopped me from showing a price, however by maintaing the same location in the digipak and video i set the place of the product well, and as the product goes in general i believe i marketed it well, as it targets the correct audience, fits the genre and has a house style.

As all my tasks were in black and white the use of colour codes was not needed, i only used one other colour which was red for the writing which had the colour code of #FF0000, i checked the code of each piece of text which came up on the screen during the video and made sure they all matched.

In conclusion besides the minor setbacks i felt that overall my product maintained a branding look and house style with coherent features as it maintained the same style, images, fonts and linguistic style.

Question 1 - In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media texts?

final video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqvC4qwpGBE

Filming progress update

We have now got up to 30 seconds recorded and edited and the video is starting to come together, we now just need to obtain the rest of the footage and get editing, camera;s are now becoming more available as most other students have finished recording so getting the task finished should not be such an ordeal.

Filming progress update

We currently have no footage, we attempted it at one stage but not all the cast could make an appearance, this problem has consistently ran through the week, also the low availability of camera's has made it difficult to start. We now intend to persist with obtaining a camera and get some footage filmed and edited.

Digipak

Moodboard

Time management update

• So far time management has been OK.
• The focus group meeting was on time but the feedback a day to late, however, the feedback is now on my blog, on time.
• We seemed to have missed out taking photo's of cast on chosen locations, but have made up for this by taking pictures of cast members in similar locations to what we desire.
• The comments on the cast members was also a bit late, but have now been uploaded in good detail.

Comments on cast members

• We've chose these cast members as they are part of our close group of friends making them the most reliable to be able to take time out to film the video with us. Although our artist has black skin, we failed to find a black friend who could take his role, we had one candidate but simply wouldn't be dedicated to making the video which I feel is a vital factor to choosing the cast.

• Also some friends drive as well making them important to being able to take us to different filming locations and transporting the the equipment. The main cast member who will play our artist also knows majority of the lyrics already making it an easier task to get lip-syncing nailed.

Focus group feedback

We held a focus group meeting in our college canteen, it consisted of 5 people who we knew liked the genre we were doing in our video. This is the feedback :-

• They enjoyed the music video we had chosen, they are fans of the genre.
• They felt we weren't specific enough on what we were actually going to do in the video.
• A good idea, but not very original, seemed like a typical grime video.
• May be difficult to film on streets if in a busy area e.g. pedestrians, cars etc.
• Felt we needed to choose the right urban locations for the video to be a success.
• We're not very convinced on where we're going to film.

Technology targets

• Figure out what each tool's function is within photoshop.
• Work out how to use the specific effects needed in our video production from the edit suite.
• To be able to easily manipulate depth of field on the camera when filming.
• Acquire the effect of vibration with the beat in the music video.

Creativity

Creativity is having original ideas of value, so this means its unique but also is useful, this is the definition from Sir Ken Robinson, he also said " if your not prepared to be wrong you'll never be creative." its plays a huge role in the media industry as something that is unique, original can be seen as something of value instantly. A stereotypical saying is 'think out of the box' this is in fact a way to develop your creative skills, thinking of something different, against stereotype is a good way to discover a new idea.

Photos of cast members

Pitch Feedback

Targets:-

• Use more entropic features, video seems to be a stereotypical grime video.
• Consider ethnicity of main performer and other cast members, maybe ask artist if its acceptable to use a white male.
• Think through filming times e.g. night/day & risk assessment.
• Practice filming in low light.
• Think fully on plot of video.
• Need to get further in the decision process (decide what we're definitely doing in our video)

Digipak

Digipak is a patented style of compact disc or DVD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI Media, a MeadWestvaco, Inc.resource, which acquired the original trademark holder, IMPAC Group, Inc., in 2000. MeadWestvaco licensed the name and designs to manufacturers around the world.

History

Digipaks typically consist of a gatefold (book-style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside. Since Digipaks were among the first alternatives to jewel cases to be used by major record companies, and because there is no other common name for Digipak-style packaging made by other companies, the term digipak or Digi-Pak is often used generically, even when the media holder is a hub or "Soft Spot" rather than a full plastic tray.

Digipak-style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums and the tall DVD Digipak (DVDigipak) is used as a premium package for DVDs and DVD sets. Because such packaging is less resistant to abrasion than jewel cases, it tends to show signs of wear relatively quickly. Licensed digipak manufacturers such as domestic U.S. printer and disc replicator Oasis Disc Manufacturing recommend coating the raw printed paper with a protective UV coating, thus ensuring greater longevity.

Although less vulnerable to cracking than a jewel case, the disc tray inside the package (particularly the "teeth" of the hub which secure the disc in place) remains rather brittle and is prone to cracking if the package is crushed. Digipak-style cases grew in popularity among record labels and recording artists in the early 2000s.

Manufacturers have sought to reduce environmental impact and improve functionality by introducing recycled components into its trays; one has announced a 100% post-consumer PET tray made from recycled bottles, which also eliminates the need for the brittle "teeth". Many printers use recycled or sustainable material for the board stock.

Music Video Research

Entropy & Redundancy

Video Skills Audit

Storyboarding- My storyboarding I feel could be much better than what I've previously produced, to me it drags on and I don't find it the most interesting task, but if put 100% effort and concentration into this I believe my skills would develop greatly in the area.

Reconnaissance- Currently I don't really understand what Recce is but the details within the subject I understand e.g the location of lighting, possible noise sources, health & safety, but my knowledge on this could be extended simply by asking a fellow student or teacher as not much information needs to be given for me to understand what it is.

Blocking/aerial view plans- So far at my time at WSFC I have not had the chance or the need to use aerial shots etc. so I believe once I start using them, which I'm sure I will over the next year, I'll understand completely what there about.

Organisation & logs- I'm completely capable of fulfilling this subject well, it's just getting going which I can't do, I waste time with simple things and over the next year I intend to stop this from happening by listening to what needs to be done and doing it as quickly and to the best possible standard.

SFX- This is also something I have not had the chance to use or required it, but the chance will arise this year and I feel its a attribute I'm keen on learning throughout the forthcoming year

Busted video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u47HBDltZag

Post-Production

Obviously the camera was important and particularly useful, but i feel that it did better than just recorded our work, we used it to test shots and how they looked and allowed us to view numerous shots helping us pick out the best possible shots for our video. Adobe Premier Pro cs4 was the most important tool during editing as simply we wouldnt be able to edit without it, thanks to this software we could look at all our shots edit them in various ways from speed to fade's, it allowed us to add audio of music to cover un-neccessary noise's so you could experience the full effects of lip-syncing and watch an overall better quality video.

Research & Planning

Throughout production we used multiple plannng tasks, i would say the most useful was the storyboard as it gave us a clear and easy understanding of what our video was expected to look like. I felt like we should of done more planning as a group, as the majority of the time we were just generally using the storyboard and then telling eachother to get into postition, even though it was organised it could of been more precise and worked out than what we had done. During the A2 year i expect to be using many more various planning methods such as group discussions, computer research and studying the video itself.

Digital Technology

My knowledge of production technology has developed dramatically since i first started the task, before i didnt have a clue how to work standard video camera's, but now i can use high quality ones easily and i have a full understanding of the equipment involved, even small things like uploading video's to youtube and blogger have all benefitted me, i didnt even know what software was used for editing before i began, now though not only do i know it but i also have quite a good understanding of how to use it aswell. During the A2 year i would like to develop my skills at editing alot more as i feel i have got to grips with the technology but i would feel better if my skills were advanced, also i want to expand my knowledge on media in general, which im pretty sure i can achieve in the following year.

Lip Syncing