Alice's Media Blog A2: 2014

Friday 11 April 2014

G324: Blog Index:

Music Video

Q1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms of conventions of real media products?

My music video follows similar conventions of other rock videos. It does this by the location it is filmed in and the mise en scène. The location to where the band are playing is in a garage/warehouse, which is a typical place for bands to perform, for that ‘underground’ vibe.

Three types of Video:

Narrative - A video that has a narrative is one that tells any kind of story in linear, cause-effect sequencing. Love stories are the most common narrative mode in music video, especially love songs. E.g. The narrative pattern is one of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back.

Performance - The most common type of music video with most genres of music. Often it will be mixed with the other two types (narrative and concept) for variety. It usually consists of the star or group singing in concert to wildly enthusiastic fans or just playing by themselves. The goal is to establish their identity and show off their skills. [Applies to my music video - mixed with conceptual]

Concept - Conceptual videos rely on poetic form and primarily metaphor. They don't tell a story in linear fashion, but rather create a mood, a feeling to be evoked in the experience of viewing. Conceptual videos contain the possibility for multiple meanings interpreted by the viewer. A successful concept video will keep the audience entertained and constantly looking at what is happening. There is no particular genre of music is more likely to use concept videos, in fact a range of artists covering all genres have used concept/ art based videos.

General Music Video Conventions:

Camera Shots:

Music videos tend to include many long shots, close ups and mid shots. This is to create emphasis on the artist, location and emotions. Also, close ups are used not only to show emotions but to reflect the words of the song with the movement of the lips of the artist.

Examples from my video:

Camera Movement:

The movement of the camera is used to follow and trace the artist or band. Camera movements include tilts, pans, tracking and crane shots.

Example from my video: (Panning)

Mise-en-scene:

This refers to the arrangement of performers and props on stage or in a scene for a production of a music video or any other media text. Mise-en-scene puts importance on the representation of something.

Examples from my video:

Editing:

Jump cuts is the predominant editing technique used in music videos. This is because this allows a sudden change from one scene to another. Similarly, transitions such as fade and dissolve are very common in music videos as they create a different effect to cuts.

Examples from my video:

Cross Fade, Additive Fade, Cross Fade, Fade to Black

Other main conventions consist of:

Lighting:

Some music videos are black and white which help emphasise a particular mood and some videos have artificial lighting which put the artist/s in an enhanced look.

Sound:

Sound is mainly the vocals or the song but in some cases such as Michael Jackson – Thriller, the producers can make the music video into a short film.

Props:

These are a vital in aiding to add to the scene and create significance on particular objects or people.

Costume:

This goes with the scenes in the song and reflects the genre. Costume is an important factor because it has a slight influence on how the viewers will dress because they use some of the celebrities as role models - it also becomes part of their commercial image.

Applying Goodwin's theory to my music video:

1) Lyrics and visuals - Enigma is self titled. The song that promotes them, the meaning behind the name, 'love is like a crossword...an enigma made with words'

2) Music and visuals - The music and visuals link, because it's performance based. The concept section of the powder paint was used because it suited the guitar solo. The slow motion effect really enhanced the music in that segment.

3) Close up and star image motifs - Close ups are used to identify the band members. There aren't any motifs evident apart from their attire being very conventional the the genre of music and their age range.

4) Notion of looking - There is no real notion of looking in the video, except the high angle shot which is shot from a window - looking down on them.

5) Intextual References - There aren't any intextual references, because it is predominantly performance based, which is similar to other rock music video (as listed above).

6) What 'base' is the music video? - It is predominantly performance based with concept based filming used at the guitar solo to the end. The main purpose of it to be performance based is so the band can be established 'putting a face to the name' as well as following other conventions.

Music Video Comparison 1 - All American Rejects – Dirty Little Secret

The location of using a space with an warehouse type feel with connotations of isolation and focusing on the performance aspect, is often used in music videos. The difference here, however, is that All American Rejects are on a bigger budget and have it personalised to their song. When applying Goodwin's theory, both 'Dirty Little Secret' and my music video shows a relationship between the visual and the lyrics.

Enigma is self titled and the song promotes them and the meaning of their name, 'love is a crossword...like an enigma made with words'. 'Dirty Little Secret' is similarly linked, however,it uses cut scenes which relate to the lyrics of the song and puts a further emphasis on what the song is about.

The camera angles are similar to my video. The camera shots range from close ups, mid shots to pans. Both videos share similar camera work qualities. I think the camera angles are one of the strongest features in the video.

Music Video Comparison 2 - Nickelback - This Means War

The Mise en scène follows the same warehouse idea and with the lights being behind the band, which I have done in my video. However, in this video there is only main light, whereas I have some either side. The angles are similar to ones in my video, but many for of them. The pace of editing follows the tempo and beat of the music, which I have tried to do also in my music video. The song is fast pace so the transitions between shots are also fast. My music video isn't as fast paced, but it fulfil it's purpose.

Other examples:

‘Shocker in gloomtown’ by the breeders

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FqhOQLD3t0

‘1985’ by Bowling for Soup

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K38xNqZvBJI

‘The Pretender’ by Foo Fighters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBjQ9tuuTJQ

Music Video Comparison 3 - ‘Now’ by Paramore

This video has similarities to my video with the powder paint concept. The paint is slowed down for it to be used effectively. The difference between my video and this one is that it is powder paint all the way and follows a vague narrative and the scale is larger. The camera angles captured are also similar such as, close ups, wide and mid shots.

Digipak Cover & Magazine Advertisement Conventions

[Click here to see final constructions]

Common features found on advertisements are: [examples: Paramore, Foofighters]

Band Name

Dates

Essential Information

Links

Image – embedded as the background

Logos/Record label

Similar font style

Image of album

Shows where it is available to buy - HMV

Consistent 'limited' colour scheme

My advertisement follows several conventional features from the list above, however, it challenges conventions with the use of colours for that particular genre. Due to my advertisement being focused on the powder paint there is a lot of colour, which you would probably see more in a pop advertisement/album for example, Mika.

Conventional Features Of My Advertisement

The same can be said for the digipak, because both ancillary texts are closely linked [See Eval. 2 for more detail].

Like the advertisement the digipak follows the conventional structure and pattern, but also challenges the conventional colour scheme of a rock genre band. The examples shown above show a limited usage of colour, where as my digipak is full of colour, but it does follow the same structure of where certain features go, such as the barcode, logo's, song list, titles etc.

Conventional Features Of My Digipak

Evaluation Questions:
- Eval. Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms of conventions of real media products?
- Eval. Question 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product with ancillary texts?
- Eval. Question 3 - What have you learned from your feedback?
- Eval. Question 4 - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

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Tuesday 1 April 2014

Q2) How Effective Is The Combination Of Your Main Product With Ancillary texts?

Created with Padlet

Link: http://padlet.com/wall/CombineAncillarytext

Evaluation Questions:

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

- Eval. Question 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product with ancillary texts?

- Eval. Question 3 - What have you learned from your feedback?

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

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Friday 21 March 2014

Q3) What have you learned from your feedback?

voicethread.com/share/5571324/

Last Slide: What have I learned?

From creating several questionnaires – I have learnt how to properly structure questions. What ones are important and which ones are really necessary. You also don’t need a large data range to work from when asking questions about certain pieces of work as it is still effective. It’s still effective to have 20 odd responses in a questionnaire and then have smaller group of people to get feedback from, any feedback is valuable to improving my work. How to analyse and present the data has also become important – because you are able to present your findings clearly and get a clearer picture of the feedback on a whole and then address the issues with the work. Receiving feedback of any kind is important, because it keeps you on task and focuses on improvements to be made.

What you changed as a result of your feedback?

Following my feedback I have changed filters and effects on the footage, the same was done to the print texts. After getting the print texts back, I was advised to make it link more to the music video so I changed the design to show a more obvious link with the powder paint. Below shows changes made from previous comments received from the questionnaires.

Advert: I had comments about there not being much colour variety and further adjustments to make. [Full Answers: Click here]

Advert & Digipak: After the mass alteration I conducted one last questionnaire to get feedback. The main comments which I reacted to was about the layout and structure [Full Answers: Click here]

Music Video: General feedback about my music video was about the use of effects, editing issues and suggestions on their personal preferences. Below shows the transition I underwent. [Full Answers: Click here]

Evaluation Questions:

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

- Eval. Question 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product with ancillary texts?

- Eval. Question 3 - What have you learned from your feedback?

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

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Wednesday 19 March 2014

Q4) How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Prezi Link

Evaluation Questions:

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

- Eval. Question 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product with ancillary texts?

- Eval. Question 3 - What have you learned from your feedback?

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

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Tuesday 18 March 2014

Digipak and Poster

Digipak

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Monday 17 March 2014

Social Realism: The Inbetweeners

The Inbetweeners is a British Sitcom as well as a British coming of age film. The main characters Simon, Jay, Will and Neil who are British teenage boys who are at sixth form and in the film they have finished their A levels.

Why has this had an effect on me?

The Inbetweeners franchise is easy to relate to as it is set in a similar situation that I and many other young people are in. Especially in the last few years of high school you really meet the Jay's of this world. Even though the characters are in some cases the extremes of certain characteristics that make up a average teenage boy this has worked to the programmes advantage to make it a comedy, because they are so different and the friction between them allows for jokes that maybe wouldn't work well if they were all similar. The relationship with the adults also shows some truth in real life. They joke about Neil's dad being a gay and tease Neil about it, however they talk to his dad politely and shows respect. Simon's relationship with his parents is realistic, but over exaggerated to make it funny. He moans and acts like a moody teenager when they politely ask him to do something, he gives an overreacted whine for the comedic effect, but it is true to the percept of those moody teenagers. It reminds me of a less extreme version of Kevin from the Harry Enfield Show)...

Digipak and Poster Feedback

After the previous feedback, I changed my design to allow me to get more marks. The change was very dramatic, but not too time consuming as I had the images on standby.

I combined my advertisement together and focused mainly on the CD album and leave out the tour dates as most of them had passed. The main issue with not getting a higher grade was because it wasn't an obvious link to the music video, so I focused on using the powder paint - demonstrating a clear link between the tasks. I presented the changed products...

I asked several yes and no questions...

1) Do you like the contrast in my design with the use of more colour?

Everyone said yes, one however, did say 'maybe a little too bright'

2) Is there enough variation in text sizes and are they clear to read?

Everyone answered yes, one person added, 'and very clear to read, quite exciting', and another suggested 'the black text quotes could be a little larger'

3) Do you like the use of graphic and the effects added?

All asked agreed to the use of graphic and effects. 'I think it looks very professional' and 'Definitely - love the inside of the digipak!'

4) Do you think the layout of the advertisement is appropriate for it to be included in a magazine/newspaper?

100% said yes to the layout being appropriate.

5) Do you think the functionality of the digipak works well? (including the insert)

They all liked functionality of the digipak and it's contents. Additional comments made were, 'it's fantastic' and 'yes, very accessible and easy without it easily falling out'

6) Do you like the use of social network links and icons in the advert?

All agreed that the social network links were very appropriate with the times and were very effective. 'They are appropriate, yes, but makes that bottom left a little crowded'. To fix this problem I am going to adjust the bottom links and make it balanced either side.

7) What aspects of the print material do you like? [comments split by commas]

Digipak - Follows conventions, colourful, very interactive, range of images, colours and images - makes it seem really fun and happy, insert booklet, insert booklet design, it's so bright and colour and well put together.

Advertisement - Colourful, makes the band really fun and lively, large eye catching image, the layout draws the eye to the photo - it's really good, smaller version of the digipak cover inserted, links and icons, looks very professional like a proper band poster and again, cheery and colourful

8) What aspects of the print material could be improved? [comments split by commas]

Digipak - maybe the colour could be tinted or dimmed because it needs to be directed also to an older audience, some of the words look a little bit pixelated, the colour, quality of printer used - although I know the school computers are rubbish with printing, very saturated colours, Image of the front is the tiniest bit blurry

[Regarding the pixelated images and text, despite making image the correct size in developing - like some of the answers mentioned the quality of the printer cannot be helped.]

Advertisement - the colour, quite busy, font size

9) Any additional comments please state below…

Any additional comments added was just praise to my work, 'I love it!' , 'Brilliant!' , 'Amazing!!' and 'It's awesome and colourful and I appreciate the hard work that went into it because I know it was a long and arduous journey'

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Thursday 13 March 2014

Magazine Advert Feedback

I emailed a questionnaire to a small group of people ranging in different ages, three of my own age and two older adults.

I asked several yes and no questions...

3) Are the adverts clear and easy to read? They all said yes

4) Do you like the use of graphic and the effects added?
They all said yes.

5) Do you think there is enough range in font sizes and styles?
4/5 said yes, one said no suggesting that the quotations could be bigger.

6) Do you think the layout of the advertisement is appropriate for it to be included in a magazine/newspaper?
They all said yes - showing the design to be conventional of size, proportion and format.

7) Do you think there should be more colour included?
Everybody answered no, proving the contrast is good between the images and the lack of colours does work successfully, too many and it would look tacky.

8) Do you think the quotes are suitable for the advertisement and a decent size?

4/5 said it was suitable. One person said, 'yes, but you could get quotes from sources like a local radio DJ or radio station just because this would entice a wider audience' another said ' No, suitable but too small'

9) Do you like the use of social network links and icons in the advert?
All of them agreed that the link to the media was good and necessary.

The next few questions were their opinions on the magazine advertisement...

10) Where do you think you would most likely find the advertisements?
I received answers which were all in similar locations to what I was aiming for in my coursework. Suggesting, 'In a local magazine or up in the city' , 'In music shops and billboards around the city' , 'In a music magazine of some description' , 'Outline, EDP, internet' and

'Posters/fliers at the venue, ‘what’s on’ supplement in local paper'. Demonstrating that my target areas for my advertisement to be is being recognised.

11) What aspects of the advertisements do you like?

Those who answered complimented the simplicity, but bold artist design and the use of colour. 'I like the way you can see the band and the colours are good' , 'They are simple and not too busy' , 'I like the colours and the happy nature of the band' and 'I like the bold color scheme'

12) What aspects of the advertisement could be improved or changed to look better?

To improve the advertisements I got several suggestion, but only minor changes which I agree can be improved. 'You could maybe use a different font for the social media links just for some variety' , 'I think it’s good and doesn't need to be improved' , 'I think increasing the size of the font for the social media links could be helpful' , 'larger text on the quotes' and 'Band name could be a bit bolder'

Teacher Feedback

The magazine adverts were marked using the mark scheme and got me a 'C' grade with 6/10. Comments were then made to raise the grade higher.

'Are we assuming that this advert will be for a local publication, rather than a national magazine or newspaper? This could have an effect on your chosen quotations. Traditionally these would be from more reputable sources e.g. magazines, music writers, newspapers, radio DJs etc.' - Like with other feedback the quotations needed to be relevant to where the advertisement would be seen and whose comments would be important enough for the target audience to think they band are worth while to check out. Some easy adjustments in sizes and fonts were also suggested like with the small investigation I carried out, 'You need to work on the range of font sizes. quotes need to be a little larger, and FB etc. text at the bottom needs to be smaller.'

When trying to look at the link between the music video was lost. The only link the graphics had was some of the photographs taken on the set of the music video. 'I also still think that the link/continuing theme from your music video is lost a little in the 2 ancillary tasks. Could we have a look at colour, perhaps, and see if there’s something more obviously linked to the video that can be substituted for the red?'

To fix the problem of the link being lost, I have decided to use more colour, by using the powder paint footage of the video to my advantage. This way I will have got more colour and the link would be stronger between the texts.

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Wednesday 12 March 2014

Theories...

Althusser - Interpellation (1918-1990)

The term interpellation was an idea introduced by Louis Althusser to explain the way in which ideas get into our heads and have an effect on our lives, so much so that cultural ideas have such a hold on us that we believe they are our own. Interpellation is the idea that we are “bred” to think, act and react in certain ways. We are interpellated from the day that we are born into specific roles that society has created for us.

Info found from http://www.longwood.edu/staff/mcgeecw/notesoninterpellation.htm

Barthes

Death of the author -

Barthe argues against traditional literary criticism's practice of incorporating the intentions and biographical context of an author in an interpretation of a text, and instead argues that writing and creator are unrelated.

"To give a text an Author" and assign a single, corresponding interpretation to it "is to impose a limit on that text."

Image reinforcing cultural myths -

Roland Barthes, in his 1957 book Mythologies, argues exactly this : that no language use can be separated from structures of ideology and power. Barthes recognised that the signified can operate on two levels of signification- the primary level, that is, the most commonly accepted signified (four legs, barks, smells); and a secondary level of signification - the 'other' signifieds that we come to culturally accept (so with 'dog' this might be 'scoundrel' or 'ugly woman'). The descriptions he used are now common - denotation and connotation.

Mulvey - Male gaze theory

It describes the act of looking; began as the study of the objectification of women in visual texts. Laura Mulvery introduced the "male gaze" as a feature of gender power in film. Mulvey argues that in classic Hollywood films in particular women are merely represented to provide visual pleasure to men. Her concept of to be looked at, exemplifies that women were merely shown on screen in classic Hollywood in order to provide men with visual pleasure and have an erotic impact. Mulvey argued that the typical key protagonist within a classic Hollywood film was male and the audience members where similarly typically expected to be men.

Winship - Gender complicity

Janice Winship (1987) has been an extremely influential theorist. “The gaze between cover model and women readers marks the complicity between women seeing themselves in the image masculine culture has defined”. The ‘final girl’ is always a pure, innocent girl who abstains from sex and may be less attractive than the other female characters. The message here is clear, in horror film, if you are a woman, sex = death

Tuesday 25 February 2014

Where could my advertisement for Engima be placed?

Norfolk On My Mind

Norfolk on my mind is Norfolk's free lifestyle magazine distributed right across the county from King's Lynn to Cromer and availble in shops in Norwich and towns. The magazine includes local news and events, celebrity interviews, restaurant reviews, seasonal recipes, health and fitness advice, tips, music and theatrical write up and many more.

Link to Website: Click here

Outline Magazine

Outline is an independent magazine aimed at providing you with a definitive guide of where to go in relation to pubs, clubs and arts events in Norwich. Outline promotes local talent and businesses. Enigma are under the local band directory (Click here).

Link to Website: Click here

Concrete Newspaper

Concrete is the University of East Anglia's student newspaper. With a circulation of up to 5,000, Concrete is free and published fortnightly on a Tuesday, during term time. Its sections include News, Comment, Features, Sport, Global, Travel, Lifestyle, Science and Tech and Environment. Inside Concrete is Venue,culture supplement which includes Music, Film, Arts, Creative Writing, Gaming, Fashion, TV and Competitions and Listings. Previous issues have included interviews with Paul McCartney, Harrison Ford and Stephen Fry.

Link to Website: Click here

Why would my ad be suitable for these magazines?

The magazine/newspapers are local and include sections on music and local talent. Outline magazine in particular focuses on the events happening in and around Norwich a advert would fit nicely in with my advertisement in promoting the band and their album. Concrete newspaper is written by university students and for them and it would be suitable under the lifestyle section or in the Venue insert as they perform at local venues like Epic Studios, UEA, Waterfront and Brickmakers etc. University students would be interested, because it is part of the nightlife in the Norwich area and is a feature of university life. The layout of the advertisements I have created would work both on the official websites as well as in a printed issue. Either as a full page spread, a banner or quarter a page. Because I have made two and the shapes are conventional it allows for flexibility and ease to insert them into a proper magazine or newspaper.

A bigger newspaper locally to consider is the EDP as it is the main newspaper read in Norfolk.

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Friday 11 April 2014

Music Video

Research

Planning

2) Planning

Final Construction:

Three types of Video:

Applying Goodwin's theory to my music video:

Music Video Comparison 1 - All American Rejects – Dirty Little Secret

Music Video Comparison 2 - Nickelback - This Means War

Music Video Comparison 3 - ‘Now’ by Paramore

Digipak Cover & Magazine Advertisement Conventions

Conventional Features Of My Advertisement

Conventional Features Of My Digipak

Tuesday 1 April 2014

Friday 21 March 2014

What you changed as a result of your feedback?

Wednesday 19 March 2014

Tuesday 18 March 2014

Monday 17 March 2014

Thursday 13 March 2014

Wednesday 12 March 2014

Tuesday 25 February 2014