Alex Beale - Filmed Evaluation

This is my filmed evaluation in which I talk about how our Music Video, Digipack and Website have been integrated so that they are all clearly shown as being for the same band and song. I also talk about how we used different technologies throughout the coursework. This includes the use of the blog throughout the whole course, the use of iWeb to create out Webpage, the use of photoshop where we edited all our images for both the digipack and website, the use of QR codes to integrate the Webpage and Digipack and finally the use of iMovie where we created the final music video. In iMovie we used lots of the different elements including changing the brightness and contrast of shots, speeding shots up, different transitions such as fade in and out, zooming shots in and cutting and editing all the shots.

Alex Beale - Reflective Evaluation

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

Our media product definitely does follow and also develop the forms and conventions of previous music videos from our chosen artist and the genre of music. Most music videos include some performance; certainly our artist has performance in all of their music videos. You would expect this in a music video which is why we felt that it was important that we follow this convention because without performance a music video is not recognisable as a music video. Our artist tends to have the performance in an unrecognisable location which is usually simple and quite dark, we chose to replicate this to match the genre of music as indie/rock music video tend to be set in simple locations which are working class. Another convention that we followed was the use of narrative. Most indie/rock videos include some narrative; however our artist doesn’t use narrative in all of their videos. As you can see from the two videos ive uploaded, we have stuck quite well to the main conventions yet also added some of our own original elements. We thought it was important to include narrative as it would make the video more interesting and more developed as it would be hard to keep an audience interested for three minutes of performance. Although our band tends to avoid narrative we think this could be because most of their songs don’t have an obvious story behind them. We thought the narrative we chose would be appropriate as it sticks to the indie/rock genre of being quite dark and also controversial.

The Futureheads - Beginning of the Twist

The Killers - Mr Brightside

Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main products and ancillary texts?

Throughout the media products we have kept a clear image and theme that is appropriate for our song, artist and genre. We decided to have our main theme as a double life, with a normal life and a life of crime. The themes have been followed throughout as we wanted to make sure the CD and Webpage were recognisable as being related to the music video. Our products are well interrelated as I think that you can see that they are connected as they all have similar photos, colours, themes and text. For example we have the image of the main characters mug shots for the CD cover, which is also shown in the music video. This image is replicated on the Webpage as we have pictures of the bands mug shots as the background image. The CD and webpage are also related through the use of a QR code which is on the CD, when this is scanned with a smart phone a link to our website appears.  All three products have a main purpose, which is to make money by selling CDs. They are all also designed to promote our artist and get them noticed by more people. The CDs and Webpages are all designed to promote the artist by appealing to the target audience. For the indie genre the CDs and Webpages are designed to appeal to teenagers. This is why the images are often of the band looking serious; the images are usually quite dark and serious, unlike what you’d expect from a pop artist.

For our blog post which includes nine images that we thought we very key to showing how our music video works and also how it is integrated with the other products Click Here





Digipack Front and Back Cover



Digipack Inside Covers





Webpage


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

We gathered audience feedback by showing our finished music video to the other students in our class. They then filled in the feedback sheet which included feedback on the performance, how professional it is, how suitable it is, the mood and feel, the shot suitabilty and variety, the actors suitability, the setting and light and the special effects used. The also picked out their favourite aspects and areas that they felt needed improvement. From this feedback we found that gernally people really enjoyed our music video as everyone felt that it held their attention and thought that it looked professional, everyone also ticked that they thought the video was suitable for the artist and song, it looks like a real music video and that we have a good variety of shots. The aspects that people generally thought we the strongest were the stop motion tie, the flashback and the overall narrative. The areas that people thought needed some improvement were firsty the performance which some said it let it down, specifically the foot tapping. However all the the groups ticked that they thought the performance was professional and suitable so this is only a minor area that could have been done better. There is a comment that states that we should of had the break in scence at night to match the song lyrics, we decided not to film this at night becuase we chose to have our character leave work earlier because he cant wait to get out so it would be odd if it was suddenly dark. We did try to darken some of the video so that there wasnt such a dramatic change from dark to light, Click Here to view this. We didnt use this in the end because we didnt think it improved the video. The final comment that was made was about our use of actors, they said that we should of maybe tried not to use all of us in the video. Although when we filmed the narrative we had two people filming and only me in it, except for one shot where all three of us are included. When filming the performance I was doing all the filming and Andrew and James were in the band, it may have been better to include maybe only one of us so that we could have two poepl filming as it would reduse the likely hood of mistakes. We do agree with some of the feedback such as maybe not including all of us in the video, however we dont feel that the performance let the film down. We were very pleased with how the performance has turned out and we don't think that we would change it. When making our film we didnt change the product to meet the audiences needs as we had planned for this in the planning stages so the only changes we really made were small changes that we thought of when making it that would improve the final video. We hadnt planned to include the flashback or the handheld shots of performance. Overall we think that this feedback is useful as the people we asked are roughly the target audience.

For our filled in group feedback sheets Click Here, and it will take you to another blog post which includes the sheets.

This is a wordle created from our feedback

This is a wordle that I have created by using wordle.net/create, this basically shows the key words that came up on our feedback sheets filled in by our class. From the wordle you can see that the words performance, narrative, professional, lip-syncing and genre came up on lots of occasions. In the feedback form most of the people thought that our performance and narrative were both strong, most people also thought that the overall feel of the music video was suitable for the band, song and genre that we chose.  

Key Images From The Music Video

These are nine key images that we have taken from the music video, we chose these images because they show the narrative behind the music video in full including the performance, sped up shots at the office, stop motion tie, police arrest, mug shot lyrics and then the double life at the very of the music video where we have two shots side by side which shows the two different lives. 

Group Feedback Questionnaire

Above are scans of the feedback sheets that were completed by members of our class when they watched and evaluated our music video. People rated our use of performance, whether the song and video held their attention, whether the narrative was strong and suitable as well as how it could be improved. The feedback we got was very positive and all of them said our performance was professional, the video held their attention, the video was suitable for the band/genre and there was a large variety of shots. We will analyse this feedback in more detail in our reflective evaluations.

Final Completed Music Video

This is our finished music video.

Darkened video

In the above video, we have attempted to darken some of the shots of the main character outside, in order to get it closer to night time, as this is when the lyrics suggest the break-in should happen. It was not possible for us to film at night due to arrangements with actors and locations.

Having tested these effects, we don't feel it works all that well, but was something we still wanted to explore. The shots have a slight blue tinge to them and they look very unauthentic and unnatural, so we will be keeping the original setting lighting.

Filming Complete

We completed our final filming shoot Saturday the 7th of January. That was the section where we recorded the break in and the police part of our footage, and the main idea behind our "double life" idea. This shoot went successfully and we've cut up all of our footage and we're just concentrating on piecing all of our film together in time for the deadline in a couple of weeks time. In the next few days we'll be uploading clips of our film which we've edited.

Scheduled Filming

We are going to be filming on the 7th December, this will be our third and final shoot and it will be to film the final section on our music video which is the break in scene and the arrest scene. As well as that we will be filming the small stop motion section of the film, this will be where the main character is talking his tie off.

As some of the filming tomorrow will be carried out outside it is important that we check the weather forecast as on our first shoot we filmed outside, not much time passes between when our character is at the office to when he is at the house. Therefore it will have more continuity throughout if the weather is similar for both parts. The forecast for Saturday is for dry, overcast weather. This is similar to our first shoot so we should be fine with the continuity of the film. Below is a link to the weather forecast for our location on Saturday.

Saturdays Weather Forecast

Finished Digipack In Full

Above are copies of the completed digipack in full. Click on the photos to enlarge.

Permission To Use Actor

Above is a scan of the permission sheet that our actor and their parent/guardian had to sign because they are under the age of 18 and not part of the media studies course.

Planned Filming

We have booked filming equipment that we are going to take out over the christmas holidays. We are planning to film the final stage of our film which should mean that this is put last shoot providing it goes well.

We will be filming the break in and arrest section of the music video. This is the part when the main character will break into the house and then be arrested by the police.

We do not actually have a date that we will be definitely be filming but we have several dates in mind that we can possibly film so we should have no problem in filming before college starts again after christmas.

Digipack Progress 3

Onto the spine we've also added text. This is name of the band and the track. We used the Dirty Headline font that we found on Urban Fonts and we are using that throughout our texts; the Digipack and the website.

I also added the relevant and necessary barcodes onto the back of the back of the digipack, and I came up with the idea of using a QR Code as well, which will give us complete integration of all three of the products we're making. I have explained this in another blog post.

This is the inside of the digipack where the CD will go. We decided to type out the lyrics to song, as this is often typical of indie digipacks. We stuck with the black and white theme, and then added a marroon circle to show where the CD would actually go in relation to the panel. I then decided it would be a good idea to highlight part of the text in white. We chose the line "the sun goes down and the double life begins", because not only is it the main line from the song, but it simulates the main theme of the narrative in our video. We also added a spine to the inside. We copied the one from the outside of the digipack and simply inverted the colours, so black became white and white became black.

We're pleased that despite the mix up with the lost photos, we were able to co-ordinate obtaining new photos, as well as making the digipack and website in time for the deadline on Thursday 15th December.

Words by James Bolton

Digipack Progress 2

Below are some more screen shots of the progress I have made on our digipack. This is the editing process for the front and back covers of the digipack. 

Again, for the image we cropped, transformed and scaled the image to make it square. We then played around with the saturation and brightness effects to try and make it look like a flash is being taken by a camera. Making the image brighter also emphasises the black and white board, making the track list more prominent.

We then added the front cover to the digipack and tested it with the same effects as the back of digipack. Unfortunately the effect we used gave a slight green reflection on both the images, due to the green screen where we took the photos. We tried to use the patch tool again, but that didn't really improve it, so therefore we decided to change the whole thing into black and white (below)

On here, the boards are still very prominent and it gives a dark feel to the digipack. The website is also in black and white, with the band mug shots edited in the same way to allow intertextuality and integration. When it comes to editing the video, we will have the mug shot scenes in black and white too.

Words by James Bolton

Digipack Progress 1

Below are some screen shots of the progress we have made with our Digipack so far. We have retaken the photographs and managed to include those this lesson.

The above screen shot in the picture of the main character in the office which signifies the day time section of the video. This will be the inside cover of the digipack with the night time section making up the front of the digipack. We cropped, transformed and scaled the image in order to make it from a rectangle into a square so that it would fit. This image didn't require any other editing, as we wanted it to be natural and resemble the footage we've filmed.

The above screen shot is editing the front of the Digipack. On the mug shot boards we made, there was a few blemishes so we used the patch tool on Photoshop in order to cut out a section that wasn't right, and replace it. Photoshop then merges the two shapes together to make it look clean and so it clearly fits. We're also going to do this with the height chart and extend the lines so they extend across the wall.

Words by James Bolton

Sped Up Shot Progress

This is the sped up shot that we will be using for the music video, we filmed this at the office and we have edited by speeding it up 5 times, this is the most that it could be sped up by on this version of iMovie. Ideally we would of liked it to be a little bit quicker but we are happy with this overall. This clip will be used for 14 seconds of the first verse 24 seconds into the song.

The idea of this clip is to show that the main character doesnt want to be at work and while everyone else is fine at work this character feels as if the day is going very slowly. We had other charachters walking behind clearly working to really show the effect that we are trying to create.

This clip is the exact right length for the clip that we need. So far we have not edited much more of the music video but we edited this as it is quite a significant part of the video. We will focus more on the editing of the video after the CD and website have been completed as the deadline for these is very soon.

Written by Alex Beale

Still Image Problems

When we shot our footage in the office (Saturday 26th November) and at the skittle alley for the performance (Monday 28th November), we also took a stills camera with us so we could take pictures for both the CD Digipack (Inside left image of the character sat at the desk) as well as various pictures of the band performing which were supposed to go onto the website.

Unfortunately, these photos have been wiped from the camera before we had chance to upload them. We were not aware of the procedure that the technicians have to be told that we have photographs that require saving. If they are not told, they assume there is nothing on there and the photos are deleted.

We are therefore missing:

• Office picture for the CD Cover
• Performance for the website
• Band mug shots

We have some photos of the above shots, but they were pictures we took on our mobile phones to demonstrate the filming or setting up process, rather than to be used as the actual digipack or website, therefore these photos aren't the required quality, they contain the camera/cameraman and just don't look at all appropriate.

Due to the deadline being so close (9 days) and the logistical issues of transport and liaising with the location as well as getting our actor, equipment (stills camera, tripod etc), instruments (drum kit, guitar, microphone and stand) and other essential items for the instruments that weren't provided by the college that we had to source ourselves from friends and family (drum sticks, plectrums, guitar strap), it wont be possible to go back to the performance location to acquire the two necessary photographs.

We therefore have decided to come up with an alternative to go onto the website to replace the images of performance that have been lost. Our idea is to take photos at the third location, which we are yet to shoot, and take photos of one of the shots. This shot is a split screen close up of the actor in the day and at night, which emphasises the 'double life' concept behind the video. We will set up a link on these images or add text that says by clicking on the image they will be taken to a page to watch our video.

For the office shot that will go on the CD, we are going to investigate the possibility of returning to the location to get the photograph. This too will involve liaising with the location, getting transport and bringing the relevant costume and props.

The band mug shots were not 100% ideal the first time we took them. We need to create a new height chart, as unfortunately the original one we took to the shoot on Monday 28th November was slightly too small. This can be done in college by pinning the chart to the wall in the media classroom and taking the photos with our other actor. The location is less relevant for these photos as the only background will be the height chart, not the actual location. The costume will obviously have to be the same and the relevant props will have to be brought into college.

Despite the mix up and the fact we weren't aware of the fact our photos would be wiped the day that the camera was handed in, we have explored alternatives and ways to either change or retake the photos we need.

Shoot Two - On Set Photographs

Words by Alex Beale.

Below are some photos that we took on shoot 2, this was filmed at The Crown pub in Awsworth on Monday 28th November. This shoot was for filming the performance shots of our music video.

As you can see from the photos James was the lead singer and Andy was the Guitarist in the band. This meant that I was filming and directing, with help from James and Andy. The photos we took show some of us setting up the set for the shoot which included the bands instruments and setting up the camera and the tripod.

We also have photos which show some of the performance being filmed, these photos have both the camera and the band in the shot. We also took some other shots which don't have the camera in which we are planning to use on the CD and on the website as they show live performance which is an essential element of an indie band. We will upload the photos in other post.

We think that the shoot went well as we got around forty minutes of footage which will need to make up just less than half of the music video, however we will only really know how well we did when we upload the footage to iMovie and start to edit it as we will then know whether the lip sinking and the performance has worked as if the timing is out or the instruments don't look as if they are being played then the video would look unconvincing and unprofessional.

We will be be doing most of the editing after the deadline for the Website and CD cover, this is because although we have enough people in the group to be doing all three we only have the use of two Macs to work on, this means that the CD and Website take priority at the moment as we don't have as much time to finish these. 

                   Andy setting the drums up                 James, Andy and Jack - Performance

                    Alex setting the camera up                James, Andy and Jack- Performance

James and Jack setting up

Shoot One - On Set Photographs

Words by James Bolton.

In this post I have included some still images that I took on my mobile phone while we were on set at the office shooting the first sequence of our music video. The pictures include us setting up the costume, filming various shots from various positions as well as taking pictures on the stills camera that will later be used for our CD Digipack.
Alex played the part of the main character, while myself and Andy filmed the shots, directed Alex and also featured in the background for the lengthy shot that we will speed up so the background is moving quickly, while Alex appears to be moving at normal speed.

Clockwise from above: Top left - Alex preparing his costume
Top right - I film a close up tracking shot of Alex
Bottom - Andy takes some photographs for the CD Digipack

Clockwise from above: Top left - Me and Andy review some of the CD Digipack shots
Top right - I frame the shot correctly for the CD Digipack allowing head room etc
Bottom - Andy practices photos from a possibly location in the office

Successful Shoots

We have now filmed our first two shoots for our music video. The first shoot that we carried out was filmed at the Siemens office in Wollaton (Andys Dads work), this shot was for the office scences of the music video. These shots will all be used towards the start of the music video as they are the day time scence while our main character is at work. The most important of these shots that we filmed was the shot which we will speed up. This is where the character is sat at the office desk working and everyone else is moving very quickly behind him. This effect is to imply that he feels as if time is going slow and that he cant wait to finish the day and begin his double life. We think that this shoot went very well as we got all the shots that we needed and also some other shots that we just tried out on the day.

The second shoot that we have now filmed is the performance elements of the music video, this is probably the most important and challenging part of the video as with performance filming you have to make sure that the lip sinking is correct as well as other featurs such as the other band members and all the other things that you would have to consider when filming any shoot such as lighting, white balence, focus etc. We shot the performance at The Crown pub in Awsworth. On this shoot we got around about 40 minutes worth of footage, not all of it will be useful but we think that will this amount we will be able to get the right shots.

When we have edited some clips of both of the scence we will upload clips to the blog to show our progress. We think that we may be filming our final scence on the 17th December but we are yet to confirm this. On this shoot we will be filming the rest of the narrative side to the performance, this will be the part where the character breaks into the house, it will also include the stop motion part where the tie is being removed.

Directors Cut - Shoot 1

This is the directors cut that we recorded before we filmed on Saturday, in this we briefly explained what we had planned to film on that day. On Saturday we filmed all the shots for our office/work scene, this included one of our main and most important shots, the sped up shot. We also filmed shots of our main character walking to and from his desk and also in and out of work. We felt that this shoot went well as we successfully got all of the shots that we had planned to film, we also got a few extra shots that we tried out just to see if they would work any better than the ones we had planned in our shot list. On this shoot we also took some photos which we are planning to use on the CD cover, we also took some photos of ourselves filming and setting up the camera and equipment which we will be uploading to the blog.

The next shoot that we have planned is the performance section of the song, we are going to be filming this at the pub skittle alley tonight. We have all the equipment booked including drums, microphone, guitar, camera, tripod and some other smaller items.