Friday, 16 December 2011

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

Blogger

We used Blogger in order to organise and present our course work


Benefits
Blogger allowed quick and easy changes to be made and viewed by our teachers. Another benefit of blogger is that it it allows pictures and videos to be added to work easily making it easier to illustrate my points. It also gave easy opportunity for feedback from peers and teachers. 

Difficulties
After typing a document up in word it could sometimes prove difficult to copy and paste this into prezi while keeping its original formatting. Another difficulty is that to use Blogger you need to have an Internet connection which is not always available  

Prezi
Prezi is a presentation device which allows the east integration of ideas, pictures and videos.


Benefits
Prezi allowed me to show the flow of ideas as well as an easy you to complete redial analysis. This helped a lot in the evaluation because it allowed me to make an document with the pictures and videos I needed to be viewed at the point required in the presentation    


Difficulties
There was also no spell check in the program meaning that you had to proofread Prezis yourself. This meant that human could cause words to be spelled wrong.


Apple Macs

Apple Macs were how we completed our work as they had the programmes that we used such as Final cut and Photoshop 


Benefits
The Apple Macs had professional standard software Which allowed us to produce professional standard media products. Websites such as youtube that were restrictes on other computers weren’t restricted meaning that we had easy access to websites that were a great help to use during the planning and evaluation stages of our task.


Difficulties
Difficulties that we encountered whilst using the Apple Macs, include the lack of a right click button making a lot of production tasks difficult, Safari's inability for to properly render HTML, the desktop that was cluttered with work from previous years throughout the project, the inefficient cooling mechanism that made the Mac extremely hot while rendering our project, the locking of certain applications by technical support and the lack of a word processor that matches the windows version. These followed through all the planning, production and evaluation tasks. 


Digital Cameras
These were high quality cameras that meant we could film professional standard footage.


Benefits
Despite their professional standard quality these camera are still lightweight and easy to use which benefited our production when filming.


Difficulties

The cameras could only be used for a short while and moving footage to be edited took a long time
.

Final Cut This is professional standard software that allowed us to edit professional standard products making full sue of its range of effects and editing techniques.

Benefits
Final cut was professional standard and allowed us to use all the tools that we needed in order to complete our product.


Difficulties
Difficulties that we encountered using Final Cut was that it made tasks more complected then they needed to be. 


Photoshop

We used Photoshop in order to create our Digipack and Digipack advert editing the pictures that we took or made.

Benefits
Photoshop is easy to use and allowed a large range of picture editing techniques making it easier to create professional standard products

Difficulties
Photoshop is difficult to get the hang of but easy once you know what you are doing this meant that some time needed to be used just learning how to use the programme.

YouTube
We used this video-sharing site to share our focus groups and our music video, and to analyse and research existing music videos.

Benefits
Youtube was extremely helpful during the planning part of my coursework because it allowed easy access to videos to Analise. It also helped with the uploading of our final products 

Difficulties
Some videos on youtube did not allow embedding this meant that we would have to link the videos which was not as aesthetically pleasing also Youtube was blocked on certain computers meaning we did not always have access to it

Thursday, 15 December 2011

Friday, 4 November 2011

04/11/2011

We added a shot of of lead singer Tom to the opening sequence we also added some transitions to our establishing shots

Monday, 31 October 2011

31/10/2011

We edited the narrative shots that we have filmed over the past few weeks these we once again added effects to make the shots fit in with the performance as well as changing the speed of some shots to make it fit with the establishing shots

Wednesday, 26 October 2011

26/10/2011

We filmed more narrative today in the form of the house shots these were easier because we had more control over what happened.

Friday, 21 October 2011

21/10/2011

We began filming the narrative side of the video with our actor Simon we began by filming him getting off of the bus this difficult because it was outside our control this took us three tries because the bus would go to the wrong place or Simon would have to get off the bus too quickly.

Wednesday, 19 October 2011

19/10/2011

Continuing editing we found that our lead singer had made mistakes with some of the lines which we had not noticed during filming we then decided that we would have to go back to scream and re-film

Thursday, 13 October 2011

13/10/2011

We now edited the footage shot at scream studios we added effects to the video in order to darken the shots to link them better to the establishing shots.

Wednesday, 12 October 2011

12/10/2011

Today we went to Scream Studios in order to film the majority of our video, The Performance shots, we had  room 10 within the studio however we changed this because we felt that it was wrong for the video we then changed to room 5 which had a much better feel

Thursday, 6 October 2011

06/10/2011

We now edited the shot that we re-filmed and added it to the sequence this helped the sequence come together as it now made more sense linearly this made sure that the opening sequence tied in with the rest of the video

Tuesday, 4 October 2011

04/10/2011

Today we were ordering our shots as well as making adjustments to the speed in order to give the video a more slow feel. We needed to go and shoot some more footage as there were changes that needed to be made  in order to give the video the feel that was needed. one shot was too bright even with the application of effects so this shot was re-shot 

Monday, 26 September 2011

26/09/2011

Today we were editing some establishing shots trying to darken them to achieve a dirtied effect to some avail. This was because we believe it would go well with our video. We eventually decided that using a colour corrector and threshold this worked because it made the shots darker and gave it a more grimy feel. 

Thursday, 15 September 2011

Shooting Schedual

Session - Practice shots, practice lip syncing. 12th Sep
Session - Ensuring that locations are suitable. 15th Sep
Session - Begin filming the storyline. 23rd Sep
Session - Continue filing the storyline. 18th Oct
Session - Stock Footage 20th Oct
Session - Main filming session. 29th Oct
Session - Main filming session. 8th Nov
Session - Filming the final parts. 10th Nov
Session - Finalising 11th Nov

location list

We will be filming in a variety of locations, some of these locations are as follows;

- Bus stop 23rd Sep
- Long Road 23rd Sep
- House (dark - represents both the rock genre and the characters emotions) 18th Oct
- Specifically bedroom 18th Oct
- Several smaller roads -18th Oct
- Scream Studios - 29th Oct 8th Nov

Props list

The props we will be using are as follows;

- Bag
- Picture
- Guitar x1
- Drum Kit x1
- Bass x1
- Microphone x2
- Amp x2
- Microphone Speaker x1
- Drug 'look-a-likes'

Target Audience

The target audience for our music video, 'Wheels' by Foo Fighters, consists of, most obviously, fans of the 'alternative rock' genre, and also fans of the 'Foo Fighters'. The main age group that we are targeting will be within the age range of 16-24. Our audience will be mostly made from students and possibly fans of other rock genres. People who play instruments, such as guitar and bass, may also have a strong interest in our video considering the instruments going to be used within it.

This is mainly aimed at young people, this is because the lyrics portray when a girl breaks up with a boy and then he finds someone else and moves on, and some young people may be able to relate to this in some way.

Our music video will offer some of Richard Dyer's theory needs to our audience

Escapism
Entertainment
Education
Identification

Conventions of music videos

Intertextuality

Intertextuality
Intertextuality is refrencing other texts within your media texts this could be other artists or film and television an example of this is the video for Material girl by Madonna in which Madonna appered as Marylin Monroe in the dimonds are a girls best friend video


Intertextuality in our video for Wheels by Foo Fighters we have been influnced by the original video as well as other Foo Fighters songs and other bands such as My Chemical Romance, All American Rejects and UverWorld 

Laura Mulvey 'Male Gaze' Theroy

Laura Mulvey a feminist came up with the theory that all media text is shot from the prospective of a heterosexual male and that woman and homosexual men are forced to view from this perspective.

This causes an inequality of power because it gives to much power to men because woman are seen as unimportant an inferior to men and only there for the purpose of sex.

This also relegates woman to the status of objects only for the purpose of sex this is done through shots lingering on woman's chests and the way woman are dressed.

This is done through the encoding of the text. This means that it is done purposely by the person who creates the text and is then decoded by the viewer in a certain way 

Media Theory Andrew Goodwin

In Andrew Goodwin's book Dancing in the Distraction Factory (1992) he identified some key theories surrounding media texts.


- Genre signifiers 
- The demands of the record label
Link between lyrics and visuals 

- Voyeurism
- Intertextual Reference
- Link between music and visuals

Genre Signifiers:
These are signifiers that show what the genre of a media text is. These can be both visual or through the music. theses are often related to the category of music video that is being played like Rock to performance or Pop to Narritive

Demands of the record label:
The record label will try to sell the band above all else this is also trying to sell the lead singer/performer this is usuall done through a lot of close ups of this person. The record label may influence the music video if the wish to try and use sex to sell a band this may be through the use of costumes or by adding of characters

Link between lyrics and visuals:
The visuals are used to amplify the lyrics whether this be through a performance or a linked narritive. Sometimes visuals may appear to have nothing to do with the lyrics this is done because this also amplifies the lyrics through contrast  


Voyeurism:
This is how people are reperested in media texts. This theroy is linked with Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theroy (see laura Mulvey post)


Intertextuality
Intertextuality is refrencing other texts within your media texts this could be other artists or film and television an example of this is the video for Material girl by Madonna in which Madonna appered as Marylin Monroe in the dimonds are a girls best friend video


Link between music and visuals:
The link between music and visuals are similar to that of lyrics and visuals. They reinforce eachother either through the contradiction or the link between them

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Digi-Packs


Types of Music video

Performance 
This is the simplest form of music video which is the band or artist performing their song. this is usually done to promote the band as simple and avoids the requirement of big budgets. This type of music video is usually associated with the Rock and Metal Genres. An example of this is Shinobi Vs Dragon Ninja by Lostprophets  


Narrative
This is a music video with a story which is used to amplify the lyrics whether or not the two are related or not. This is more common among solo artists and if it is done by a band then the focus of the video will usually be either the lead singer or someone outside the band. this is most common in the Pop and RnB genres. An example of this type of music video is Misery Business by Paramour. 


Concept 
This is where a music video has a concept running throughout the video wether this be something with in the video or the editing technique. These music videos do not usually feature the band or artist. This type of music video does not usually have any specific genre linked to it. An example of this type of music video is Move Along by The All American Rejects           

Sunday, 11 September 2011

Questionnaire - Audience felling torwards music videos

The aim of this questionnaire is to find out:
- What type of music videos people like
- Why they like them
- What they don't like about some music videos
- What they think of our ideas so far




Questionnaire


Q: What style/type of music video interests you?


A:


Q: What do you like about that style of music video?


A:


Q: What is it about other styles you don't like?


A:


Q: Could you give two examples of music videos, one of which you like and the other of one you don't like?


A:
A:


Our Ideas:


Q: Do you like our ideas so far? (If yes what? - If no, what would you change?)


A:

Equipment list

Equipment used

- Camera x2
- Tripod x2
- Laptop x1
- Final Cut Express
- Adobe Premiere
- Adobe Photoshop

Sunday, 19 June 2011

Music Video analysis Move Along



The music video for the song Move Along is a great example of a concept music video as throughout the video short sharp cuts are used with the singers face remaining in the same place. The technique of keeping the singers face in the same place throughout the video gives an idea of the repetitiveness coupled with his expression it gives an idea of boredom. The lyrics of this song work well with the shots because they also reflect the idea of boredom lyrics such as "When everything is wrong we move along" and "Move along move along just to make it through" matched with the video make it seem as if the singer is just getting on with life and not doing anything fulfilling.

The Performance element of this music video still fits in with the concept element as it still uses short sharp cuts. shots throughout the music video add to the idea that the singer is having a bad time the shot of him having his engagement ring returned and losing the football game. This use of Amplifying the lyrics with the video draws in the viewer and creates empathy towards the lead singer. This use of creating empathy works well because it means that the viewer is drawn in wanting to see if things start to go better.     

Friday, 17 June 2011

Music Video analysis Shinobi Vs Dragon Ninja

Shinobi Vs Dragon Ninja - link

This is an example of a performance music video with only small element of narrative in the people running towards the concert. As the the whole video features the band playing i believe that this video is used to promote the band. By placing the band on top of a multi-story car park this makes the band appear to still be in touch with their roots before they were famous and also adding to the Alternative image that they try to feature.

By featuring crowds of people running towards the band this makes it seem as though the band appear to be playing a spontaneous concert they are so popular that they still draw a crowd. The crowds are encoded because they make people think that they want to be like these people so people will decode this as popular and watch more videos by this band as they wish to be popular.

In conclusion this shows that the bands use of a performance video make them seem more alternative but the use of crowds make them seem popular reaching both people who want to be popular and those who want to be different

Thursday, 16 June 2011

Music Video analysis Misery Bussinss




This is an example of a narrative music video with performance elements by featuring the band in a high school scene it makes them appear relatable with their target audience. The band feature throughout the video but only in the narrative side right at the end. By making the band take on the mean girl this makes them appear to be heroes making them more desirable.

This video follows the conventions set out by Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze theory.
The video uses quick cuts however those of the lead singer last slightly longer and feature more close-ups then of any other band member this also shows how the record company try to sell the lead singer show in Andrew Goodwin's theory. The use making the band appear to be heroes also sells the band because high school can be a difficult place and most people wish there was a hero to help.

In conclusion this music videos follows both Laura Mulvey's and Andrew Goodwin's theories and focuses heavily on selling the band



      

Friday, 10 June 2011

Copyright letter

Dear copyright holder,

We are A-Level students that are in the process of creating a music video, this letter is a request for permission to use a track by the Foo Fighters called 'Wheels'.

If you were to grant us permssion to use this track, we promise that it would only ever be used for educaitonal purposes, and the audience will be restricted to a minimum. This audience would only include our media studies teacher, media studies class and the OCR exam board moderator.

The artist and the company would be fully recognised throughout all stages of pre production and post production. A copyright notice with wording supplied by you can be included in the records of the project, if this is required please send full details.

We look forward to hearing from you soon,

Scott Razzell

Marcus Murdoch

Stephen Withey

Jack Porter