A2 Group 8 music video

Earlier in the week, we made the decision to (for now at least) scrap the video, as we could not get it to upload.

Instead, we have worked rigorously on creating a new piece in the little spare time we have had - we have all had tight work schedules. We have created a Sliderocket presentation for the evaluation question: What have you learned from your audience research?

Sunday, 18 December 2011

JC: Audience research - little progress

I have endeavoured to upload the video - which was playing back fine at school - however, despite trying three different computers, I have also failed in doing so, and so have therefore accepted that there is a problem with the file which cannot be resolved until we return to school. I had a small flash file saved as well (in total four different files were saved - see right) which I have been able to upload, however this was a mere twenty-two seconds in length.

Friday, 16 December 2011

JC: Final day of term problems

Today hasn't beena fantastic day. After working on the evaluation edit for some three hours, staying behind at school until six, I had to save the final edit to my memory stick because I would not have been able to 1) save the file to the hard-drive and then send it in an email to my home email or 2) save it to the hard-drive before uploading it to YouTube because the caretakers needed to shut the school by six thirty. This meant that I had to wait for an hour whilst the video saved to my memory stick, however when I returned home and attempted to upload the video to Youtube, I got the error message that can be seen above. I tried to re-upload the video a number of times however this was to no avail as the same error message appeared on each occasion. I have since passed the video on to both Alex and Cameron in the hope that they can uplaod the video soon, however I am extremely frustrated because I have been working frantically all week to try and produce the best possible evaluation I can yet this problem has the potential to ruin every piece of good work I, Cameron and Alex have all produced on a tight schedule in the past two weeks. For now, I have limited our evaluation to the focus group findings from last week. I have also emailed Miss Fernandez explaining the situation.

AT: Evaluation Questions 1,2&4

Evaluation Questions 1,2&4 on Prezi

Please view in full screen using the hyperlink above.

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

Looking at Andrew Goodwin’s forms and conventions of a music video, it would appear that ours in rich in connotation. Goodwin’s first feature says that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics, which are recognisable throughout music videos belonging to that genre. Before we set about our creative process, we decided it would be a good idea to look into the generic conventions of a typical music video and found that for indie/rock videos, although there is great variation in the style of different videos – due to the individual aspect of the genre – this should include a stage or band performance, a sense of camaraderie and costumes typically consisting of jeans or chinos, pump shoes, normal shirts and jackets.

our photo

The Pigeon Detectives band photo

When we set about the planning of our music video, we felt that it would be crucial to include at the very least aspects of these conventions, regardless of which basing (performance, narrative or concept) we gave to the overall video, because we could then compare our piece to that of both our artist and others. Despite having four different locations, and therefore four different costumes, in each one we can be seen to conform to the genre through our clothing. Furthermore, the predominant footage in our video is band performance. Whilst we were reasonably happy with the original footage, after changing the brightness and contrast on the recording we found that an authentic band performance, perhaps at a concert or gig, was given out. This can be seen in videos such as that for ‘We Don’t Celebrate Sundays’ by Hardcore Superstar. Comradeship was also evident in our video, as can be seen through our jump cuts and opening shots, where we can all be seen in the car together. The performance, which constitutes the bulk of our work, is also evidence of band union because we are all performing together. The costume and camaraderie constituents of our work are also visible in our printwork – with a band photo on the inside cover of our digipak, which can also be seen in real band posters for The Pigeon Detectives.

There is also intertextuality within our work, as we studied a number of videos previous to our construction and used some interesting elements from those videos with a different take in our own. For instance, for our paint and water shots we were inspired by the work of Martin de Thurrah’s work (particularly in the video for ‘Human’ by Carpark North) and the music video for ‘No Rest’ by Dry the River. We incorporated the two styles across two different shoots, and successfully introduced them into our music video. A lot of Martin de Thurrah’s work includes the use of slow motion and liquids, which is exactly what we set out to film on our first paint shoot. Using a steadicam, we filmed Cameron at midshot distance on a 60 frames per second camera whilst paint was thrown at him. We also filmed him just afterwards and as he threw a paint pot. The end result when slowed down in premier was a fantastic shot – the fact that it was out of focus adding to the value – of paint splatting Cameron and dripping from his face. However, the fact that it was out of focus meant that we reshot the piece with a different style in mind. Having looked at the video for ‘No Rest’ we decided to imitate this and threw water and paint at him. When we played this back in Premier, it looked as if he was on a beach – and indeed, from some of our audience research we found that viewers though the same. To finish the piece, we combined de Thurrah’s use of slow motion with this, as can be seen.

In my opinion, the slow motion handi-cam tracking shot of Cameron throwing the paint pot is a great example of how camerawork connotes rebellion and anger. This is because it captures his movement and non-verbal language as he throws the pot, accentuating the maliciousness with which the normal speed shot was intended. The Camaraderie aspect of the genre is also captured by the inside car footage, which appears to represent a home video feel to the images, similar to the ‘lads on tour’ or group trip scenarios that youth or adolescents are often associated with. We also provided a number of close-up Meat shots for the consumer which conforms to the conventions of music videos in general.

In the studio, we used low-key lighting and this when combined with an alteration of the saturation and brightness gave our video an authentic, gig performance feel. The use of spotlights, instruments and performance helps to enhance this sentiment, and therefore made our video more genuine in its appearance. Furthermore, the use of a black and white effect has helped to emphasise the darker colours within our piece, thus making the mood of the track more apparent, connoting darkness alongside the minor key track.

As I stated earlier, there is a certain style of clothing associated with the indie rock genre. We have been successful in replicating this convention in our work, as can be seen in the pictures where we are dressed appropriately in all situations, with the instruments of a band further reinforcing this meaning. These are also similar to the costumes worn in some promotional material by The Pigeon Detectives.

We were also successful at conforming to generic expectations through our use of locations. Our use of a band performance on a stage can be seen in a number of indie/rock bands, such as Supergrass (Mary), Two Door Cinema Club (Something Good Can Work) and The Pigeon Detectives (Romantic Type). The use of woodlands also connotes the notions of freedom and distraction from everyday life, which inhibits the people and their actions, whereas here Cameron is free to exhibit his emotions, with no fear of being judged by society.

We were also inspired by ‘I’m Not Sorry’ by The Pigeon Detectives, as their low-budget video connoted the sense of rebellion, fretfulness and frustration. We therefore decided to implement this aspect within our piece, focusing on the frenetic behaviour displayed by the band, which reinforced the ideological interpretation. We also decided to look at some of their live performances before we did our band performance, which allowed us to make the performance more realistic. This was evoked particularly well through Cameron’s erratic movements.

In our video, the representation of young adolescent males conforms to the indie/rock genre. Because this is the only group present, we were able to connote restlessness and youth frustration, whilst when the restrictions of the ‘real world’ were removed the rebellion and freedom that then occurs was present in our video, as can be seen through our shots of Cameron throwing the paint pot, and myself and Cameron smashing some rubbish up.

Whilst there is a strong link between the music and visuals in that we are performing the track and therefore the action links in the parts where we are performing, where the track reaches a crescendo – during the guitar solo – we could have perhaps added some more footage to emphasise the point. The jumps cuts nonetheless work well in time with the music. There is also little emphasis towards the notion of looking, due to both the performance-based concept of the track and the genre of the song.

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

Just as we had decided early in the planning process which song we were going to use, we came to the conclusion early on that we were going to run our advertisement on the back cover of NME, as we felt it was the Magazine in which we would be able to appeal to the greatest number of followers of the indie genre – who would therefore be more likely to buy and consume our product – due to the similar style of music covered in the magazine. The advert was designed to be the same dimensions as the magazine, so as to be a replica of what an actual advert might look like.

We decided that it would be best for our adverts to follow a dominant reading path, due to the simple nature of the adverts. The band name was placed in the top left corner in red font – so it would stand out from the white background and so it would be the first thing the consumer read – whilst the main image was centred – because it was the largest part of the design and the most iconic and therefore would be the most attention-grabbing element of our piece. Cameron added the reviews beneath this and the last feature to be placed in the advert was the band website – giving the consumer the option to go and find out more about the band, hence the reasoning for positioning it in the bottom right hand corner – so it is the last thing they read and therefore the thing that will remain freshest in their mind. Although the consumers’ viewing of the advert may be brief, because we have included bold colours and a unique and appealing design – which will also identify the genre of the music, as it is an individual, exclusive piece - they will be more likely to notice it.

Our digipak has a widespread, recognisable image, which has been manipulated to create a unique, slightly ironic image. The bold colours used in the piece also help our digipak to stand out from the crowd, and thus make our digipak more purchasable. We took a different approach to the Digipak than we did with the music video – create a slight tongue-in-cheek feel. I chose the images due to their link to the album title, which is unique to our piece, and then built the rest of the printwork – apart from the band photo – around this. This also creates a mischievous feel to the piece, which conforms to the dominant ideologies held about young male adolescents, because they are often associated with acts of rebellion, disobedience and tomfoolery. There is also presence of generic conventions in our digipak, as I placed a guitar – an iconic image associated with the indie/rock genre – next to the track listing on the back cover. The font used also links in with the ‘Emergency’ title and image of the man, as it is similar to fonts such as that for ‘Superman’. It is also similar to that used by The Pigeon Detectives in their album cover for ‘Up Guards and at ‘Em’. There is coherence within our printwork because both our digipak and advert use the same font and image, meaning that the album will be more recognisable to the consumer if they want to buy it. By using the same font throughout our digipak, booklet and advertisement there is consistency throughout our promotional material as each links together.

Our font

Richard Dyer

Richard Dyer set out a ‘stars theory’ regarding the influence of stars across different medium. He suggest in this that these stars are semi-mythological sets of meanings constructed around performers in order to market themselves to a large and loyal audience. He says that fundamentally, the star image is incoherent, incomplete and open, which is based on two key paradoxes:

· The star must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer

· The star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer

Both of these paradoxes are present within both our music video and subsidiary media, thus linking the two together; in our printwork, the band are seen to be absent because in the poster, booklet and majority of the digipak there is no presence of the band, however they are also present because the consumer is buying into their product and the band name is still visible. The band are seen to be ordinary in their first person mode of address by breaking the fourth wall of cinema, yet at the same time they are extraordinary as they are a band starring in their own music video. The combination of these paradoxes ensures that the consumer is left striving to complete the band’s image, meaning that they will continue to buy into the band’s products due to the incoherent incompletion of the band image despite the promise of conclusion through the music video performance.

Wednesday, 4 January 2012

Group: Contents

Tuesday, 20 December 2011

Group: Evaluation Question 3