Music Video finally finished

Music Video finally Finished

With relief I am proud to profess that our music video is finished! After months of going out to film in the freezing cold in central London and weeks of editing, we are done. It has been a long but enticing journey and I am extremely pleased with the product as a whole. This includes the music video, digipak and the magazine advert. When looking at them together as a whole I strongly believe that it is effective and appealing to the eye. The product as a whole came together as we intended and this is only due to good research, planning and dedication. It has been a pleasure to work my group consisting of Dapo, Aaron and Connor and the quality of the music video is a reflection on the hard work that each of us put in.

Digipak

Digipak

Here is our final version of our Digipak. In comparison to the previous one we had, I can gladly say  I'm extremely satisfied with the quality of this digipak. As you can see, we have again kept the black and white theme but in comparison to the old digipak, we have added our faces to some of the panels. We each took pictures of ourself and then opened the pictures in Photoshop and played around with the contrast till we felt that the pictures had a relation to the 'ska' appearance we where looking for. I am very happy with the result and I believe the it will look amazing if printed in real life.

Magazine Advert

Magazine Advert

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

Evaluation Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, 

develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Evaluation Question 2 - How effective is the combination of the main product and ancillary tasks? (DVD, Digipak, Magazine Advert)

Evaluation Question 2 - How effective is the combination of 

the main product and ancillary tasks? (DVD, Digipak, Magazine Advert

Evaluation Question 3 - What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Evaluation Question 3 - What have you 

learnt from your audience feedback?

At various stages throughout making our media product, it is important and necessary to get feedback from peers and teachers, this is to ensure that you can make the best product possible. During the course, I had various forms of audience feedback, this included the survey monkey, the pitch and the focus group. I will thoroughly discuss the effectiveness of all the feedback I received which led to me making the best media product possible.

The Pitch
Myself and my group set up a pitch. A pitch is basically delivering your ideas and selling it to a targeted audience. The pitch gave our target audience information about the band, such as how many of them where in the band (they have split up) and where the band were primarily based. It also told the audience about the genre of music that the band perform, which is a mixture of 'ska' and 'punk' which gives them a very unique sound. The last slide on the prezi which is the program which we created our pitch on, tells the targeted audience about our ambitions in regards to making the music video. Once I had posted this pitch onto my blog, I then informed my friends, peers and family to go onto my blog and look at my pitch. The reason why I told people of different ages to watch my pitch is because I wanted to know who they felt that the music video will be targeted at. From the results obtained, it was clear that the audience felt that it would be appropriate if the music video is targeted at teenage boys and girls but in particular boys. The pitch also gave my friends and classmates a chance to see what our music video will be about, and the results that I got where very encouraging. My classmates thought that the music video that we intend to create will be extremely unique and different and if we use all the key conventions of a music video, my audience agreed that this could be a hugely successful music video which was very promising to hear. To conclude, I learnt from my audience feedback whether our idea seemed realistic enough to go forward with and also how to make an effective music video.

Elton John and Kiki Dee Duet Activity
The next form of feedback that I obtained was not explicitly directed at the media product but nevertheless the feedback proved to be helpful on my journey to creating a successful music video. As part of the coursework criteria, my media studies class was required to undertake an activity which would give us an insight to making our media product. We where asked to get into a groups, no larger than 4 and complete a performance of the famous Elton John and Kiki Dee duet 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart'. This song was chosen by our teacher because the lyrics are easy to lip synch and also it is easy to memorise. From completing this exercise we learnt that lip synching in a music video is not as difficult as first thought rather it is the editing that is difficult as you need to match the song and the lip synching almost perfectly. I was able to get audience feedback from this activity by uploading this activity onto YouTube but it was later removed from YouTube because of copyright issues. As a result of this, I then showed my teacher and classmates the activity on final cut express which is the program that is used to edit footage and also in addition my group member Connor was successfully able to upload the activity onto Vimeo. After my classmates had seen the activity, I was able to receive constructive criticism. They agreed that the editing was to a high standard which is was very promising to hear because on the program Final Cut Express, because we had the audio clip of 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' on the last layer and our lip synching on another layer, this made editing harder than what we are used to because these to layers had to match as well as having interchanging shots. Going forward they also suggested that at some stages whilst Aaron and Connor where performing, that there was lip synching issues. This was disappointing to hear as we got so much footage but it only meant that we would be extra careful when we started to film our music video. Overall from the feedback given to me by my audience, I was able to identify faults and ways to improve from this activity such as more accurate lip synching which only benefited myself and my group when we filmed our music video. 




The Focus Group
My group and I also set up a focus group. The purpose of a focus group is similar to a pitch as it gave my group reliable and necessary feedback in regards to how to proceed in the construction phase of the music video. The focus group was the first chance I got to obtain feedback from my audience whilst we where about to go ahead in constructing the music video but we still had some ideas lingering in the back of our minds which was creating uncertainty. At the stage of this focus group, we still had two very strong ideas. We always knew that the 'Superman' idea would be our primary idea but just in case this could not work we needed a plan B to fall back on which proved to be Dapo's idea. The 'Superman' idea was about a boy who wants to get back into his childhood memories and even though he is now a mature man, he still wants to pretend he is a Superman. we had put a lot of thought into this idea and we knew that it is possible and we are where very determined to go forward with this idea. The second idea was Dapo's idea of a pop video in which he would use a green screen and appear to be doing multiple things at once such as playing the drums and being the lead singer and simply lip synch the song in various different locations throughout the video. As simplistic as this sounded, with the involvement of some of the key conventions in a music video, this idea could have also been very effective. It is obvious to state how the focus group gave us feedback but what is key is to outline what we learned from this. From the feedback we got from our audience in the focus group, we learned that our audience felt as though practical issues would arise in regards to using the green screen ideas, these issues include money as to get a top quality green screen to use in our music video is not going to be cheap! Whereas the other 'Superman' idea seemed to be more realistic and they agreed that the 'Superman' idea has no limitations meaning that we can be as creative as possible. From learning what our audience felt about our two ideas, we where able to go ahead with our initial 'Superman' idea as it proved to be stronger in comparison to the second idea of using the green screen.



Survey Monkey

After the focus group, I then went on to conduct another form of research. I set up a survey on the website 'Survey Monkey'. The purpose of this survey was to find out what our audience like about a music video and what they believe makes a good music video, this includes any key conventions. I also wanted to know what kind of music people my age are interested in because the song that we have chosen to do for or music video falls under the category of 'Ska/Punk' music genre. In my group we all did individual survey's and we all asked different questions so that we could obtain a vast amount of answers. My survey was completed 5 times and from some of my questions, I could begin to analyse what my audience thinks about music videos. My most pivotal question that I asked that would definitely affect how my group where to construct the music video was question 5. This question asked 'What key conventions are needed to make an effective music video?'. I say this this question was pivotal because it ultimately would shape the way the my group proceed to making the music video. The results showed that 3 out of 5 people suggested that accurate lip synching is necessary to creating an effective music video and the remaining 2 answers suggested that a variety of shots in a variety of locations is necessary to completing an effective music video. I also asked the question 'Do you think the music video is just as important as the song?'. The results showed that 100% of people that answered this question argued that 'yes' the music video is just as important as the song. This gave myself and my group motivation to ensure that the music video is just as entertaining and also effective as the song we have chosen. From the feedback that I received from my audience, it was very pleasing as key conventions that they suggested that my group and I should use, where already key conventions that my group had the intention of using meaning that the targeted audience would enjoy the music video because the key conventions will be in the music video.

Rough Cut
In addition another form of feedback that we got from our target audience was from doing our Rough Cut. After getting sufficient feedback from our focus group and surveys, we had enough to go and start filming. After weeks and weeks of hard work and dedication, we had done enough filming and editing to release what is known as a rough cut which is part of the coursework criteria. The rough cut is self explanatory, it's simply a draft of the final music video. We then put the rough cut on YouTube and from there people from around the world could add their comments and also it could be now viewed by my friends and peers. We had several teachers and members of our class watch our music video and it was very rewarding to hear their positive responses especially because it wasn't even finished. In the rough cut, towards the end of the music video, there is a long section which had been titled as 'placeholder' and this was there because my group still needed to go out to Eastbrookend Country Park to film a scene of Tomas, the Superman, retrieving Alex's phone as it had been taken off him by a thief. The rewarding feeling that I got from the feedback of the rough cut was that many of my classmates assumed that it was finished to a high standard even though my group still had the intention of going out and obtaining more footage. The editing of the music video was collectively praised by everyone who had seen it with one of my friends saying it was so good that it could be on TV! They also praise how the beginning linked with the ending because at the beginning of the music video, Tomas begins to daydream and then the music video starts and then at the end my group member Connor is attempting to wake him up. This idea was popular and praised for it's  originality, however even after hearing these inspiring comments from our teacher, classmates and friends, my group and I still had the intention of doing the last scene at Eastbrookend Country Park. Overall it was very rewarding to hear these comments even though the music video was not quite finished and we learnt from the feedback that we got that we had already produced an enticing and original music video but we still wanted to do more.

To conclude, the timeline at the beginning of this blog entry shows the various stages in which my group and I received feedback from our audience. I believe that because we received various forms of feedback from such as the survey and focus group that this has benefited us greatly in the construction of our music video. We have learnt what our audience expect and like about music videos and therefore we where able to make a music video that appealed to them and we have also learnt how to improve the construction of our music video through audience feedback.

Evaluation Question 4 - How did you use new media technology in the construction on research, planning and evaluation stages?

Evaluation Question 4 - How did you use new media 

technology in the construction on research, planning and evaluation stages?

In regards to assembling of research planning and evaluation stages, a lot of new media technology was used to ensure that I make the best media product possible. I will be outlining and discussing the new media technologies that I used. These technologies include various websites such as 'Unsigned.com', blogger, eBay, iPhones, digital camera, iMac computers and more. These media technologies proved to be hugely significant for the finished media product. The primary form of media technology that was used as the core to everything we did for our media product was the internet. We used Google to plan and research and it was hugely significant. When we where at the stage of planning where we needed to film, we used the search engine Google to provide us with information that helped us gain knowledge of the whereabouts in London. This is evident through our planning blogs including the 'Location sheet' and 'Shooting schedule'. We also used Google to find out the weather on the days we intended to film and this proved to be consistent as we managed to avoid filming when it was raining and this was necessary in terms of continuity purposes. We also used Google Maps to get a closer look into London and the specific areas that we wanted to film at. Overall Google was a form of new media technology that has proved to be consistent and reliable in constructing our media product in the research, planning and evaluation stages. It allowed us to do beneficial and necessary research on locations before going out filming and it also has allowed us to do research throughout this project for example, researching the band in depth. It has allowed us to plan thoroughly because without using Google we would have been at a disadvantage and it has also aided myself and my group in the evaluation stages of the project. Google has allowed me to access blogger which is integral to completing the evaluation and it has also allowed me to use different programs to complete the evaluation which is a requirement in the specification for the evaluation.

Going further, when doing our research about the band my group and I used the new media technology of Facebook. In order to get around copyright issues you needed to contact your chosen artist/band and seek permission in order to use their music or the alternative would be to go on the website 'unsigned.com' which we did but to no avail. Facebook then became a source of communication in contacting the band. My group member Connor, posted a friendly message on their Facebook wall profile requesting to use their music, however we did not actually get a response which was disappointing. However, on the bands Facebook wall, a few months later, the band released a message saying that the band no longer exist as they have split up and therefore anyone is entitled to use their music without the fear of copyright problems. This was great news and it gave us the heads up to proceed in the construction of the music video. Without using the new media technology of Facebook we would not have known if we could use the song because Facebook is where the band posted the confirmation that we needed to know in order to use their music.


Furthermore on the journey of completing the music video, various forms of new media technology was used in the construction on research, planning and evaluation stages. An integral form of new media technology that was vital and used frequently was the program 'Blogger' which I am using right now to complete this evaluation. Blogger is like a diary which allows us to record everything we've done in relation to the course. This is a form of new media technology that has proved to be essential to constructing the research, planning and evaluation because I am able to show the progression I have made in constructing the final media product.


In addition, a form of new media technology that has been used and has been extremely beneficial and necessary to helping myself and my group construct the research, planning and evaluation stages has been the use of our smartphones. In my group 3 out of 4 of us had iPhones with one person having a Samsung smartphone. The iPhone has a feature which allows you to communicate with other iPhone users, this is called iMessage. So throughout the construction of assembling the music video, myself and my group members where in a big group chat discussing our availability to film. This form of new media technology proved to be essential to the core of filming because this is how we where able to film and meet up with each other. Also we have been able to send each other relevant pictures such as pictures of ourselves needed for the digipak. Our smartphones have given us instant communication when needed for example, when filming in London, we where not too familiar with our surroundings but our smartphones instantly gave us access to a map application which was able to locate us in a matter of seconds and from there we could type in our destination and our phones would be able to direct us there and give an approximate time of when we would be there. Also, I spoke about how important Blogger was for us to record all the work we had done when we where filming. On our smartphones there is a blogger application which is free to download from the app store. The app allows you to blog on your phone wherever you are and whenever you want. This was very important because this application allowed me to upload pictures and blog titles onto my blog via my smartphone without being logged onto a computer. Overall the new media technology of smartphones proved to be extremely useful and almost compulsory on the way to constructing the research, planning and evaluation for our media product.

The last form of new media technology that has been used was absolutely compulsory to completing the research, planning and evaluation is the digital camera. This form of new media technology was used for the obvious reasons of filming and it was used a lot in the construction phases of the media product. The school gave us the digital camera as well as a tripod to go out and film our music video. The camera was brilliant and of produced great quality shots as it was a HD camera, which benefited us when we where filming making our music video look professional. The camera was very portable because of how light it was because it is a modern camera and the camera was able to last for long periods without being charged which is a feature of most modern cameras. When we had gathered a satisfactory amount of filming, we would then take the camera to school in our next media studies lesson and connect the digital camera to an apple mac computer and then begin to edit the footage recorded. The apple mac computer is also another form of new media technology which has been used in all stages of creating the media product including research and planning. The digital camera has been very easy to use due to how modern it is and it has been important for us when filming because that is how we got our footage.