Evaluation (Cassie)

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our media product has a variety of different forms and conventions. We did a lot of research and we got most of our inspiration from other music videos. From our research, we managed to find out the different form and conventions of what a typical love song should include. We used this to plan and produce our own music video. A typical love song has lots of close ups of the artist and couple. Our music video has a narrative about a typical couple meeting and falling in love. we used locations that were seen to be everyday locations, this made the video more realistic and conventional. Normally in a love song, the video will be directly linked to the lyrics. The pace of the song should match the pace of the video and this is what we did with ours. The pace of the music video is slow and conforms to a long song. We use a variety of shots and locations to make the video more interesting and to keep the video from getting boring. The use of different shots and lighting sets the mood for the love song and sets the emotion. The song that we chose was Way Back into love by Haley Bennett which is thought of as a typical love song. The song is a duet by Hugh Grant and the lyrics talk about finding love. The video was simple to plan and produce as the genre of the song is well known and there is many ideas that we could use and devlop. Bad Day by Daniel Powter was an inspiration for what we wanted for our music video and we got many ideas from it. No air by Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown helped us to piece together our narrative as well as giving us ideas for editing. We used split screens and slow motion shots which they use in their videos and we thought this was a very good idea. The song we chose, Way back into Love, didn’t have an original music video apart from the movie that it is in, we found it harder to come up with ideas as we had no starting point. we found this challenging as that meant we couldnt get ideas from the origional music video. Our music video contains the romantic couple and they meet and fall in love. This is our narrative. Its suits teh lyrics very well. We have used lots of shots of the artist with a range of lip synching. This is used in other music videos as it makes a signature for the artist. We made our video for all audiences by making it suitable for everyone. We really liked the piano playing from Bad Day by Daniel Powter and thought it would make a good opening sequence. In my own opinion i feel that our music video conforms to the typical conventions of a love song.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
Our digi-pack was mostly influenced by our music video, song and research of other products. It was made to sell the artist, along with the song and our products had colours that show the colours of love. the products are simple, however they keep the audience interested and wanting to buy the video. we used silhouttes to show the artist but keep her a mystery, this was to keep the audience keen and interested. Our poster gives a new image to the artist showing her as a new star. The silhouette was our main way of doing this. The background was to put the impression accross of the artist being unique and individual. Our DVD cover gives the audience an insight to what the song is about, it has girly images and colours, to show that she is the main singer. The objects we used were things such as roses and hearts. We wanted to attract people to the artist, we did this by using an image of her face but distorting it, keeping that mysterious context. A clear link between our ancillary task and music video was really important. All of our products flow together and this makes the digi pack more interesting and buyable. The main reason for making them all connect is to keep the audience interested in buying the products, if they didnt flow then the buyer would get confused and wouldnt be interested.

What have you learnt from your audience feed back?
All feedback received was taking into consideration and recorded on our blog. We reffered back to it all when it came to our final editing. We took everything said into consideration as we found it very useful in making our video successful. We focused on the feed back when we went out to do more filming. People said that the couple in our msuic video were uncomfortable together, therefore, we filmed most parts again to make sure the couple looked interested, this kept the flow of the video. Also people said that we didnt have a clear narrative, this meant that we had to re think what we had already done and go over it so we had a clear narrative to stop the audience getting confused in what was happening. We filmed a lot of the parts again to keep the continuity. Another suggestion was that we needed more footage of the artist singing this was suggested by Tanya, so we refilmed lots of different angles of the whole song with both artists singing together and separately. We also re filmed the piano part as the piano looked very unprofessional. The change in feedback from out rough cut to our final piece was a big improvement and we took all comments into consideration. Feedback was really helpful as it enabled us to hear what people thought of our music video.
We also had feedback on our ancillary task which was positive. The group liked the simplicity of the products. Overall, our feedback played a big part in the succes of our music video.

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research planning and evaluation stages?
You tube and access to the internet played an important role in our planning and research. The internet enabled us to gather inspiration for our video. We used blogger on a regular basis to keep a track of whatwe were planning and every stage of our filming, this was to look back at and help us to improve our initial ideas and produce the final piece. We needed itunes to play our song as we filmed and this was important so when it came to editing we would be able to match the lip syncing to the origional song, this was just an easier way and made things more efficient when it came to editing. We also found that a tripod helps a great deal when filming, when we filmed out test footage the camera was wonky and this meant that when we came to do the split screens, the shots didnt match up, this was obviously a big deal when it came to the final piece as everything has to match up or the video looks bad.
We used final cut for all our editing as this is a really godo and easy way of editing a music video, it helped us a lot in the production of our final products.
The rest of our tasks were done on photoshop as we could plave any picture into it and edit it to what we wanted, i think it played an important role in the making of our prducts.
In my opinion , without the new media technologies, we would not be able to produce the things that we did, they are very important when making the products that we did.

Magazine poster Final

Digipak research

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.



We like this because it is very simple and dull however it catches the eye because of the bold colour which stands out.



We liked this one because it conforms to our ideas it has a heart which is a convention of a love song, we also liked the idea that there is a picture on the cd. This gives you an insight into the genre of the song we liked this idea we also liked the idea that it doesn't have the performer on the cover which gives it some mystery.



This is very simple and to the point. We didn't like this one too much we want to use it as an indication of what we don't want. We want our digipak to stand out. PIZAZ!

Peer anaylysis

We would write feedback on the goodwin analysis, however there is not enough information to write comments on so we are just going to write a comment on our overall video.

Our music video includes typical love song conventions for example the subtle hearts in the background of the performers whenever they meet. They also seem very in love especially when they kiss at the end, there is usually a kiss in a love song.

There is a link between lyrics and visuals, the singer is lip syncing and it is in time with the visuals. There is also a story throughout the video which is based around the lyrics.

There is a link between the music and the visuals. The piano at the beginning matches the piano in the music. Also the pace of the video is slow like the pace of the music.

There are some close-ups of the performer singing which is a requirement for the record label. there sre not that many close-ups of the male singer however he is in most of the shots, he is not seen as the main performer.

The main characters look into each others eyes which demonstrates thier love. There is not any voyuerism however the two performers are looking back on their past from before they met.

There was a slight intextual reference to Daniel Powters video, Bad day. Because of the split screens. Also the song that we chose was writen for the film, Music and Lyrics.

Feedback

Teacher comments

Cinematography
*Well framed, but needs more close-ups of performer

Editing
*Piano dissolve at the beginning was effective
*More balance between performance and the story is needed
*Don't overuse shots

Mise en scene
*Appropriate to the genre
*Could do with more abstract or themed images to punctuate the other footage

Genre Convention
*Evidence of appropriate conventions
*Could use a usual motif or image to more symbolically represent the song

Whats missing?
*Needs more footage of the performer directly addressing the camera

Feedback...

Peer feedback:

Cinematography: Comments on standard and appropriacy of camera angles, movement and distance.
Good
*Lots of different shots; good shot variation
*Good shot variation and length-different shot types during singing together
*Split screens good
*Good establishing shots
Bad
*Mix it up at the end, gets a bit boring, shots too long.

Editing: comments on transition types, order and lip syncing.
Good
*Good use of split screens- makes it interesting
*Good standard of editing, always in sync with the tune.
Bad
*Could use different shots at the end
*Some of the shots were too long
*Too many fades

Mise-en-scene: comments on locations, costumes, props etc. Appropriate to genre?
Good
*Nice use of locations; makes you want to continue watching
Bad
*Change kiss at the end- awkward, boy looked nervous
*Piano doesn't fit with music
*Change the location from college
*No story, no middle; how did they actually meet?

Genre conventions: use of other genre conventions, What are they? Are they appropriate to the genre of music?
Good
*Typical 'love' story conventions
*Very focused on the two characters
*Like the hearts in location
Bad
*No chemistry

Rough Cut

Next Step

Through editing our rough cut and looking back on our footage we feel that when we need more of is close up shots of the singer. We need more lip syncing and a fill shot of the whole song with each character singing throughout.We have also found that in some bits of our rough cut we have had to use the same shot for a long time so it would be better if we have a more variety of shots. We think that the best day would be Wednesday as most of us are free for a long period of time so we can make sure we get enough footage!

Callum Getting Ready

These Shots are also gap fillers for the narrative allowing the story to continue but also to show that him and Sheridan both take time getting ready which also links to *Love* as they could be trying to look nice incase they meet someone during their time out.

Wake Up Sheridan And Callum!

Both characters in different beds waking up giving a type of introduction to the narrative of the song just like other music videos introducing their characters and it also links characters together, getting up at the same time hints towards they are going to meet each other some time which makes these shots pretty deep about characters, if they don't look happy could also be linked with *Love*

Getting Ready Shots

These shots are in all at the same time layered together to speed up the time Sheridan is taking to get ready so the audience don't loose interest in the music video it also helps go from one scene to another a kind of gap filler building up narrative.

Cafe Shots, Apart And Together

One of these shots in a cafe they don't notice each other as seen in shot 1 but as they start talking in shot 2 you find that the heart is in the background hinting towards true love, these shots create the narrative and built it up to the climax of both of them in the Studio

Bench Shots

These bench shots are also taken within the Cambridge green, where both characters are sitting on the bench not noticing one another, with the heart on the tree just like the bus stop window, it makes it look like they keep bumping into each other by accident but it feels like fate for the audience watching

Bus Stop Shot

These shots are taken in Cambridge city center where they notice each other but not the heart in the background on the bus stall's window making it like a subliminal message which carry's out throughout the music video its a good shot because of the busy street and buses going past, creates a busy atmosphere within the music video which is challenged with the whole park shot which is empty.

Studio Shots

Studio shots were also taken in the music room but in a different area of the room on music box's giving the hole studio feel and look, the plain white wall keeps the audience interested in Sheridan, so people don't loose interest in her and look at objects in the background

Filmining experience....

Yesterday we spent the day filming our rough cut footage. We began by filming in the music block for shots of the piano and some lip syncing with Callum and Sheridan. We then went into town to get some different shots of the characters walking down the street, sitting at the bus stop/bench, in a cafe etc. We tried to get lots of different angles and scenes in our footage and made sure we got lots of footage overall just in case. We decided to change some of our ideas for example Sheridan dropped some books instead of her purse. We tried to follow our first ideas as best we could but it was quite a challenge so we have made some improvises and changes. Our heart symbols idea was harder than we thought to achieve but we have done our best! We also had a couple of issues with location as we needed permission to film in shops or the Grand Arcade, which we didn't have so couldn't do so, and we should have thought a little more about lighting as by the time we got home to film the 'waking up' scenes it was dark!! :( But overall we are happy with the footage we have managed to get and have decided Wednesday is a good day for any extra filming as it was very helpful as we had all day.

p.s. Thanks Callum for all your help in our music video :)

Deadlines

• Music Video Shooting Deadline: Monday 19th October 9am
• Music Video Rough Cut Deadline: Last lesson of week ending 23rd October
• Music Video Final Deadline: Last lesson of week ending 13th November

• Ancillary Products Deadline: Last lesson of week ending 27th November

• Evaluative Writing Interim Deadline: 9am to Moodle Monday 7th December
• Evaluative Writing Final Deadline: 9am to Moodle Monday 14th December

Overall....

Characters:
Sheridan Goff =Female character
Callum Hughes =Male character
Hannah Deeks =Piano player

Props:
Small, unique heart symbols to be in background -Drawing/graffiti on hand/neck or wall/mirror
Makeup -eye shadow, foundation, lipstick etc =for Sheridan to apply at the beginning
Toast/toaster? For beginning =girl and boy eating breakfast
= Introduce Callum
Purse
Note with heart on
Ipod =sheridan to wear when walking around
Books =for sheridan to carry

Location:
Town/street =Cambridge
Studio/piano=Long road
Bedroom =Haverhill (Callum's house)
Kitchen =Haverhill (Callum's house)
Bathroom =Haverhill (Callum's house)

Shots (simplified):
Woman playing a piano -Beginning and throughout when appropriate
- Only shots of hands and from behind
Beginning -Shots of female character =putting on makeup, getting out of bed
= Singing
Introduce male character = putting toast in toaster/eating toast
Both characters leave =singing together
Shots walking down the street, on the bus, sitting on bench etc
Hearts in the background as signs/recognizable symbols
Female character drops her purse, male picks it up
Later gives the purse back, she looks inside ta-da a little heart on a piece of paper from the man
Meet in the Studio together = sing together, with the piano player in the background

Editing:
Lots of split screens
Realistic shots
Different angles
Cut to rhythm of music when possible
Bright contrast
Use of slow motion

Props

Prop List

A list of our props we will be using:

• A guy holding a sign
  
• Bags (when they pick them up)
• Ipod
  
• Toaster
• Piece of paper
• Piano
• Purse

Costumes

A list of the costumes we are using:

• Normal, casual winter wear- everyday clothing
• The same costumes will appear throughout the video
• The man holding the sign will be dressed in rags etc..
• People who will walk around town will be in their normal clothes as we cannot change this!!

Locations

We will first film in two different houses, mainly in the bedroom and the kitchen:

The next shots will be done in town, in the street..



The shots that will occur and flick back tpo throughout the music video will be a piano in the studio room.