Evaluation Q3: What have you learnt from audience feedback?

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

Evaluation Q2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary?

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

For our music video, we produced an energetic visual to accompany the equally lively audio we selected, 'Love me Again' by John Newman. Via thorough research and planning, it became evident that in order to produce a convincing, high quality music video, we would need to identify and apply existing conventions of the dance genre to our production.

After textually analysing a number of existing music videos - both within and external to our genre - there were many prominent characteristics which were common amongst the dance styles. For example, the use of bright colours and movement. We incorporated these aspects strongly throughout our visual, for instance, our main motif was the use of powder paint which we maintained by intertwining it with the use of movement in the form of having a powder paint fight, smashing plates with paint on them and splashing paint at the actors' faces, creating an abstract effect. This is where we really use the current conventions of dance music videos to our advantage, as the audience are able to identify it as such due to the recognisable features. Additionally, these constructions support Firth's 1998 theory in that they follow his 3 categorisations; concept, performance and narrative. An example of a concept music video is 'Here It Goes Again' by 'Okay Go' through their concept of treadmills and routine.

An example of a narrative music video is Taylor Swift's 'Everything Has Changed':

 

An example of a performance video is 'Love on Top' by Beyoncé:

Our concepts are colour and movement, which link to the performance element within our video - the lip-synced shots and the narrative which binds this together follows a love/relationship theme. It is clear to see from the examples above, as well as our finished product that we successfully combine all three of categories proposed by Firth.

Additionally, with reference to Goodwin's music video theory, our music video conforms to many of the features he posited as essential for a strong music video. For example, the relationship between the visuals and the lyrics were very strong in that the entire narrative was based around the central question in the song, 'can you love me again?'. Further to this, the relationship between the visuals and the audio clearly linked together through the employment of quick, choppy cuts when the pace of the music was upbeat and fast, for example, the quick-fire mash-up of close-up shots we used in the build up to the main chorus. When the music slowed down or thinned out we would use quieter cuts and softer transitions accordingly, so within our music video, the bridge is softer which meant we used slow motion and over-layed shots (shown in the screenshot to the right below). This was a convention of dance music videos that we definitely wanted to maintain rather than develop or challenge, as it means the action within the video always matches the pace of the song and is therefore easier for the audience to engage with.

Furthermore, we also developed some of the more generic trends of dance music videos, putting our own twist onto them. A specific example of this within our production was the underlying theme of love and relationships, of which the development of which was inspired by the generally reckless way love has been represented in modern music videos, for instance, through two strangers kissing in a club or a group of girls dancing around a male figure. These kinds of representations have emerged in many mainstream artist's music videos; Robin Thicke's, 'Blurred Lines' created much controversy surrounding its voyeuristic attitude to women and the links it made to dominance of men over the female body.

 



Another example comes from Beyoncé, which is surprising granted the messages she usually puts across in her songs are to do with independence and not needing a man to rely on. However in her video 'Single Ladies' she clearly undertakes many sexualised movements.

These attitudes perhaps reflect the effect the music can have on the audience, giving you a sense of new found energy and drive. However, this was not something we wanted to pursue due to the negative effects surrounding the topic, however we still wanted to employ love as a theme somehow. Consequently, we developed this form by demonstrating how a young couple work through their difficulties, highlighting qualities including forgiveness and perseverance. We constructed this idea using our concepts, but ultimately it was the narrative we mostly developed as a convention; it helped provide a structure in which we could template the rest of the project around.

Finally, as well as using and developing existing forms and conventions of real media texts, we additionally seized opportunities to push the creative boundaries and challenge the above. One way we did this was through the idea that within our genre, young people are often associated with alcohol, drugs, parties and a general lack of care or control. As a result, we decided not to include any of the former within our piece and instead find more artistic ways in which we could move away from these negative connotations. This allowed us to focus on constructing a more light-hearted, metaphoric representation of growing up rather than reckless escapism.

Digipak: Finished!

 Front Cover:

Inside Left:

Inside Right:

Back Cover:

Overall, we are really pleased with how our images have turned out. It is really rewarding to see it all come together and makes all the hard work worthwhile. 

Poster: Finished!

Poster 1:

 Poster 2:

These are the final posters we have designed to go alongside our music video and album cover.

We took our inspiration from existing posters within magazines, identifying the key conventions and embedding them onto our background. Firstly, we added the image and played around with the positioning a bit. Then once we were happy with the layout, we added the tour dates alongside John Newman's web address and social network links. At the bottom, we added a small promotion for the 'Love Me Again' album, below which we put the ticket offices website and contact details in small print. 

We ended up drafting two album covers to demonstrate that you don't always have to use the exact image for both articles, which is something we noticed in our research. Within both posters, you can still recognise that they are for the dance genre due to the use of bold, vibrant colours and contrasts. However, I do prefer the first poster to the second one personally. I like the way it fades into the background and makes eye contact with the audience; it just seems like a stronger, more powerful image to me. 

We are really pleased with the result of our posters; it is a huge relief to see all of our hard work come together. 

Editing Update: CD and Interior

We have now started to format the graphics for the inside features and they are coming along nicely. 

For the left inside, we have selected an extreme close up of a powder pain influenced eye. We all love this photos due to the focus and depth it has. The only formatting we will do to this is adding some small print at the bottom of the image to cover copyrighting.

The inside right (behind the CD) was a bit more of a challenge. We were torn between choosing another of our favourite images from the photo shoot - like a close up of the lips, or leaving it blank. We also discussed the idea of the CD having the same image on it as the background so that it almost camouflaged in.

After trying each method out, we decided that plain black would work best as otherwise there is a lot of colour to take in; it balances out nicely. 

CD-wise, we are going to keep it to plain black with a matte finish which will look quite futuristic and modern. 

Editing Update: Font Placement

One of the most challenging elements we have come across so far whilst constructing our digipak is the issue of where to put what font.

It is difficult because sometimes it just doesn't quite work. However, we have found a trial and error method works best; we try the font in a new place, and save that image as a separate file into a different folder. We then look through all of these saved images and discuss and compare which layouts work best.

This has happened on both the front and back covers, which we have been focusing on for now, as the inside is pretty simple. 

The only error with our system is that it is quite time consuming, however we have been able to schedule it in and can justify the time it takes with the (hopefully successful) outcome. 

Editing Update: Choosing The Images

Having taken so many photos during the shoot, we had a huge selection to choose from. We did this by copying certain photos each of us liked into an additional folder, which narrowed it down to about 20 images. From here, we just discussed what we thought would work best, and also asked fellow classmates for their opinion too.

We have decided the front cover will be a close up of the main actor in the music video with the powder paint splatted over her face. It is a very strong visually eye-catching piece and really suits the iconography of both our music video and album in general.

For the inside left, we have chosen to have an extreme close up of her eye, which is again another very powerful photo.

For the inside right (which sits behind the CD) we have gone for a close up of her lips, which links to those which appear in our music video. However, we are also considering keeping this and the CD plain matte black, as too much colour may be overwhelming.

Finally, for the back cover, we have chosen a back view of the actor, i.e. it is the back of her head. We will align this either to the left or the right, leaving a black space for the song list to go.

We are really happy with the images so far, and have been tweaking them in photoshop - slightly altering the lighting, contrast and saturation levels to make the photos reach their full potential.

Ancillary Photoshoot: Review

Today we did the photo shoot for our digipak with the intention of taking a wide range of photos so as we could narrow it down to four final images to be used on the CD cover, insides and back cover.

First we had to get the actor/model ready for the shoot, so we applied normal make up (as most of it wouldn't be seen!) and backcombed her hair which gave it more volume and energy. We then lightly splatted paint at her face. We were aiming to spread it diagonally from one side to the other - like a gradient - and use it sparingly, as less was definitely more in this case.

We shot this in the dark room which had black walls. We set up a tripod, mounted the camera and then attached the LED spotlight we would be using as our light source.

We turned off the lights and got started, asking the actor to do a variety of different poses so that we would have a large choice to choose from. The shot angles ranged from a head and shoulders close up to extreme close ups of her eye.

Overall, the photo shoot was very successful and we took more photos than we needed which enabled us to have a wide range of choice when choosing the four images. We now have one week to edit all of our photos as our deadline is in a week's time.

Ancillary Photoshoot: Research

GENERAL LOGISTICS
We will have to clear up any paint that doesn't go on the actors' face, however we will be doing this in the art block, so it should be relatively straightforward to clear. 

LOCATION
Again we need dark, black surroundings so we are going to use the dark room in the photography suite. 

COSTUME
Costume is not necessarily needed, however we have asked our actor to wear a plain black, strapless top and bottoms which she doesn't mind getting messy. 

ACTORS
We will be using the same female actor from our music video.

HAIR/MAKE UP
We are going to keep the make-up relatively simple, as by the time we have thrown the paint, it won't be entirely visible anyway, so isn't too much of a concern. We want the hair to be messy, backcombed and loud, again to highlight the volume and confidence which comes across in the songs. 

PROPS
We will only need powder paint for this shoot. 

LIGHTING
We will use the LED light that attaches to our camera on full brightness to light the shots.

Typography: Font Choice

We of course wanted to find the perfect typography for our digipak and poster. After trying out many of the default ones in Photoshop and Word, we realised that none of them fit our genre so well. We also experimented by hand with different styles, and although these turned out to be quite successful, it would be a huge, lengthy task to create every letter and import it into a font maker (which would enable us to alter size/colour etc). Therefore, we would had to venture out onto the internet to find an appropriate font. 

After lots of searching, we came across a font called 'Waterflow' which we all agreed really suited both the conventions of the genre that already existed as well as those we had created ourselves within our music video. It is blocky, modern, sharp, angular and bold - all of which represent the sound within the album which is lively, crisp and upbeat. 

Overall, we are really glad that we've found the right font and are excited to see it come together. 

Typeography: Experimenting

Here are some examples of where I experimented with typography by hand after researching into them a bit further.

Ancillary Task Inspiration

We have taken our inspiration for our ancillary task from Young Kato's album, 'Drink, Dance, Play'.

Young Kato has used bright, vibrant colours which make the front cover very striking. This is useful to us, as one of the main conventions of our music video and the dance genre as a whole is the idea of colour; loudness, volume, confidence etc. The pain also links to the powder paint we used in our music video, so it would be easy for the audience to make links from this connection.

Furthermore, an image with someone who isn't the artist has been chosen for the front cover; they have used someone completely extrenal to the band which adds a sense of mystery. We are using this technique through using the same actors for the ancillary tasks, mainly for two reasons; a) it will allow the audience to make the link between the song, album and music video and b) it would be extremely difficult to hire John Newman!