Music Video: Final Draft

Can be found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8izhrBOtJI&feature=youtu.be

Ancillary texts:

CD:  
This is how my CD would be like in real life, to create my product i printed out my CD template on A3 paper, stuck the paper onto cardboard with glue stick and cut around my template. I then bent the card into place to make the real product as seen below in the images.

 Magazine Advert: 

Evaluation: Question 1 - Part 1 (Music Video)

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

Music video: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8izhrBOtJI&feature=youtu.be

Genre –
The song I have chosen for my media product is ‘Oblivion’ by Bastille. Bastille is an English band originated from London with the genre of 'Alternative Rock' and 'Electronica'. It was formed in 20-10 to present day. Their institution is ‘Virgin Records’.

Alternative Rock also named 'Alt Rock' or 'Alternative' was originated in late 1970's - early 1980's but only became popular in 1090's. It is a broad umbrella term consisting of music that differs greatly in terms of its sound, its social context, and its regional roots. R.E.M was a popular band in 1980's.

The popular band Nirvana (reached its popularity in 1990s) by their single 'Smells like Teen-spirit' (shown below) helped Alternative Rock enter the 'music mainstream'; which made many other alternative bands commercially successful. Nirvana also helped the 'Grunge Explosion' and the creation of 'Britpop'.

Alternative Rock would cover terms such as 'Punk Rock', 'New Wave', 'Post-punk' 'Gothic Punk' and also 'College/indie Rock'.

Typical Instruments are Vocals, Electric Guitar, Bass, Drums and Keyboards.

Alternative Rock in 21st Century includes bands like 'The Strokes' 'The White Stripes' 'Franz Ferdinand' and 'The Rapture'.

By 2010 - Alternative Rock is now commonly known as 'Indie Rock'.

Technical aspects –

From looking at Alternative Rock videos, (like Arctic Monkeys 'R U Mine?' & Between The Trees 'The Way She Feels' and also Paramore 'The Only Exception') the conventions of the videos are based on narrative and performance by the band structures. Although a select few are based on an abstract structure.

The narrative of an Alternative Rock music video is based on a contextual event which a lot of the main target audience will relate to. Examples of this would be in 'Between the trees - the way she feels' the narrative of that video involves self-abuse, divorce and a death in the family. Another example would be in 'The only exception by Paramore' which involves love and the difficulties a person can experience by their own experiences or the impact it has had on loved ones around them.

And normally the narrative videos also experience scenes of performance elements in them by the band - this can be vocals singed by the singer or the full band playing with instruments.

Calvin Harris Ft Ellie Goulding - I Need Your Love. 

Referencing to the Cinematography - using a handheld camera to film a couple style video. At the beginning of the video, there are shots of the couple in bed; using close-ups and two shots to capture the attitude and feeling created by the couple.

As well as Editing of this video references to the idea I have for my own video. For the Editing i really like the fast cuts and jumps from scene to scene - past and future, can capture the 'out of control' feeling people may have when they're in a relationship.

Lana Del Rey - Summertime Sadness.

1:35 - linking to Cinematography, i like the footage of each character like they are spinning each other around - this connotes to the audience that they are happy like children with each other because you associate that kind of behavior from a problem-free-young child. That can connote the feeling she had with this girl - young-wild and free.

00:00 - 00:30 - linking to Cinematography; is the establishing shot of the location. It shows the audience that the characters are away from everything. I especially like the Editing as well; it creates the illusion that the footage is old/antique; by the dis-colouring of the footage, and the fact some parts are jumpy.

 Here are some pictures taken from the music video - to the left - is a shot when the characters are spinning with each other and are care free. By the prop it shows she is filming a home made video. - Below left- shows a two-shot of the characters in the car. - Below - shows the audience another side to this music video - changes from happy to sad. Close up of the characters face as she cries.

Ideas –

There is no video produced by Bastille for the song Oblivion so making my video was easy as there was no official media product to copy, it was purely from my own interpret of the song and how I can express it to the audience.

From the lyrics of Oblivion by Bastille; the word 'Oblivion' means a state of being forgotten or forgetting/unawareness or overlooking on past offences. The first verse shows he is caring for someone, because he is holding them as they fall asleep - 'But you've gone somewhere deeper' could insist that person has an inner demon or problems, he is in great thought about what they are thinking, he could be worried about them. Just by the first verse of this song it already has the context of a problem. And, I can develop the ‘problem’ in the narrative of my own video.

My idea for this music video is that it will be orientated around the cliché narrative of love. But throughout my narrative it will portray a realistic view of love - involving problems that the lover may face in their lives like self-abuse. It will be filmed on a hand-held camera to capture the relationship between the couple to the audience of the couple making a home film of their relationship. So in the narrative, the audience will see the reality of relationships - the sad/argumentative moments and the happy/'in love' moments - and everything in between which could relate to personal problems - which I will be touching upon in the area of self-abuse. I will connote the distress presented by the characters by the use of cinematography - cantered angle or by the lighting/editing, and by the developing narrative the audience will understand it by relating it back to the song lyrics so it will connote a deep meaning.

• ANIMATIC VIDEO

• STORYBOARD

Prezi Link: http://prezi.com/-70y1tpoxxlc/story-board/

Audience –

My target audience will be focused on those who like the Alternative Genre; but my main target audience will be both male and female 'Teenagers' - aged '16 to 20's' years old. In the social class of B, C1 & C2 because my main target audience will be students so they will be in full time education (or hold a part-time job as well).

Audience Research:

• ·        Blog Poll Questionnaire (Aim - Do want to know what audiences like; concerning music videos.)
•      E-mail for my Blog Poll - An e-mail - featuring a link to my blog - to all the media groups so people can fill out my blog poll questionnaire for my audience research. This is a good strategy so I can reach out to a wide range of opinions from my target audience who are both male and female)
• ·        Focus Group – Questions and video - I had seven questions (featured on another post) which were created to get any full information out of my audience which will be helpful for my audience research. Referencing to the conventions of genre, preferred music video style and style for my genre, why they watch certain music videos, what catches their attention etc. 

Blog Poll Analysis

Reflecting on these results; it is clear that my target audience is fitted to my chosen genre by the audience who answered the questionnaire and the results shown. It portrays how popular music videos are and how essential the planning of the music video will be to raise to the expectations of my vast target audience. It is clear the genre 'Alternative Rock' is a popular choice amoungst Teenagers.

My ideas for my own music video (my initial ideas) are reflected in these results; the popular music video type for both personal opinions and for my chosen genre is Narrative. And the video for my genre should be in black and white since it was a popular choice. My initial idea was for a Narrative styled video in the combination of both colour and black and white - this will be a popular choice with my target audience due to this blog poll.

Focus group analysis:

From my audience focus group feedback it is clear that my audience have stereotypical views on my chosen genre of Alternative Rock. The music video should be a performance/narrative, involving genre conventions of the genre - including a performing band including typical instruments drums and guitar, dark connotations - stereotypical colours like black which reflects the rock feel. When informing the focus group about my chosen initial idea; they were able to create their own interruption of what they may see in the music video - combination of colour and black & white, smashing plates/objects on a wall when the couple fight, and you see the object smashing in slow motion. These are very good ideas that I can interpret into my music video because it would be effective to make the audience believe the narrative, and it is what the audience will be expecting.

Representation –

This will be associated with the 1950's era where 'Teenagers' were invented by Rock'n'Roll created by Elvis Presley, where rebellion and alternative clothing were worn.

They will be people who like the Alternative Rock music; which are artists like 'Bastille', 'Paramore', 'Snow Patrol', 'Biffy Clyro' and 'Bloc Party'.

Through my characters costumes, and Mise-en-scene including props I will convey my audiences interests and clothing: the alternative choice. This can be linked to the stereotypes associated to the alternative genre, by tattoos, certain jewellery, hairstyles and clothing. This can be linked to theorist Tessa Perkins and her stereotype theory.


Prezi: Girls Influence For Costumes: 
http://prezi.com/2gwb6c4iug3c/costumes/

Prezi: Official Female Character Costumes: 
http://prezi.com/owlyizr-ptem/females-official-costumes/

Prezi: Boys influence & Official Costumes:
http://prezi.com/xjfkidotlqlg/males-influences-and-official-costumes/

Evaluation Question 1 Part 2 (Ancillary texts)

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

Ancillary Texts:

Brief: A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the options:

•A cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package);

•A magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package). 

ARTIST INFO:

Artist/Band name: Marseille

Album name: Oblivion

Album songs:

1. Bitter Kisses
2. Love Night
3. Sail
4. You & Me 
5. Reckless Youth
6. Opposite
7. The Draw
8. Oblivion
9. Rough Diamond
10. Unicorn Blood
11. White Lies
12. Flashing Lights
13. Numbers

Influences and Inspirations: 

Prezi Link: http://prezi.com/9pa8lnuqsnnl/my-ancillary-text-inspirations/

CD:

Possible Ancillary Text Photos:

I have chosen these primary pictures taken from the woods location featured in the music video as possible ancillary text photos. I have chosen these photos to give off an abstract view on my album, this idea is taken from the influencing/inspiring original album covers (also featured on my blog) to connote the alternative rock genre to the audience.

Font for ancillary texts:

For the font I have looked on a website called dafont.com which provides a wide range of fonts and here are some possible fonts I could use for my ancillary texts: 

Fonts I may use for the artists name:

I have chosen these fonts for the Artist name due to their abstract view and how catching they look - i imagine if they were on an album cover it would fit the representation of alternative rock genre due to the fact they are unusual and different. My favourite is 'Blake'.

Fonts I may use for the album name: 

For the album name i want the text to look simple and plain - which will stand out against the artist name. This has been inspired by other alternative rock genre album covers. The album name font will also be used for the tracks on the back of the album.

My CD digipak template: 

Here is the overall link i have got my templates from: http://www.discwizards.com/cd-dvd-artwork-templates.htm

Here is a link to my CD digipak template http://www.discwizards.com/templates/digipak6Panel2CD-DW.pdf which i will be using to create my album from.

As you can see it is a standard 6 panel digipak template which a lot of CDs will be made from.

My CD:

http://www.discwizards.com/templates/DiscOnbody-DW.pdf

My Album in progress:

Progress 1:

This is my album in progress, i have used a simple 6 digipak template so it is conventional to standard CDs already in the media - e.g my influence album covers. 

Here i have used the same picture for my front cover as i did my magazine advert to create continuity and representation. I have used the same type of the font for the album name and artist name as i have used in the magazine advert. 

Progress 2:

Above i have inserted a new picture also taken in the wood scene of my music video, i have used Photoshop to edit the photo so it fits with the style of photo used for my front cover. I have changed the contrast and colour situation to get the effect that i wanted; this makes it look abstract.

Progress 3:

Here is my spine of my album; taken from another primary photo taken from the wood scene of my music video; i chose this part of the picture because it is a light colour and will show up the black text of my album well. 

Progress 4:

Here i have added another primary photo taken from the wood scene from my music video; like the other pictures i have edited the picture on Photoshop by changing the contrast and colour situation to make it fit in with the other pictures to create continuity. 

Progress 5:

I have added text of the album songs onto the back cover picture to create continuity i have kept with the use of wood scene photos.

Progress 6:

I have added two more primary wood scene photos taken from my music video; i have again used Photoshop to edit these photos, and to keep the continuity of the album fitting together i have made the photos look faded or abstract by changing the contrast and colour situation. Seen Below.

I have added these two photos for the background of where the CD's will be placed. I have changed the 'opacity' to fade them into the background. I have made all 3 photos (directly underneath) rotate 180 degrees so when the album is folded it will fit like an actual CD.

Progress 7: 

I have added a 'bar-code' and a 'virgin' logo as that is my institution for my artist, on the back cover of my album to make it look real.

Actual Product: 

This is how my CD would be like in real life, to create my product i printed out my CD template on A3 paper, stuck the paper onto cardboard with glue stick and cut around my template. I then bent the card into place to make the real product as seen below in the images.

My CD in progress:

Progress 1: 

For my CD background picture i have used an existing primary photo which is also positioned on my album. The reason why i picked this photo is because it is a light colour so my black text will stand out more but it also keeps the continuity of my whole album as it fits in with the 'wood scene' to make it appear abstract. Picture is seen below.

Progress 2: 

I have added the artist name and album name onto the CD. With the 'Quick Selection Tool' i grabbed a small part of the picture where the branches are reaching towards each other and the background is very light. And put it over the CD, i changed the opacity to 20% so it looked faded. And with the quick selection tool i was able to cut around the picture making it into a circular shape. The edges look rough and wavy but i like the messy look it creates and think it adds to the abstract look of my album.

Progress 3:

This is my first draft of my actual CD: 

Magazine Advert/Poster

Inspiration for my magazine advert from existing magazine adverts:

These are a couple of magazine album adverts which will influence the creation of mine: Kings of Leon, The Verve and Cold play. 

My Magazine Advert In Progress:

My magazine advert photo is an edited primary photo taken of the location of my wood scene in my music video. I have edited this photo on 'Windows Live Photo Gallery' by using tools to change the 'Contrast' and 'Colour Situation'. My inspiration of these photos for my magazine advert have been taken from official magazine ads like Kings of Leon, The Verve and Cold play (which i have posted on my blog earlier) here is the photo i have chosen:

My mag ad so far (first initial stages):

Progress 1: As you can see i am using 'Adobe Photoshop' to make my magazine advert for my album. I have cropped my initial photo, i have added a 'App Store' at the bottom to show realism and the importance of digital technology when advertising. And i have written the release date as 'August 2014'.

Progress 2:To make it look more realistic i have added 'NME ****'. This adds to the representation of the magazine being real and of a alternative rock genre due to the connection with the NME magazine which is a popular music magazine with that particular genre. Just from this the audience will dennotate the genre representation.

Progress 3:

Here i have changed the fonts of 'NME' and 'The new album...' to black so they stand out against the background, they also create continuity by matching the band name. I have changed the contrast on the background on Photoshop and changed the colour situation and negativity to make it look more faded and abstract. I have also added the bands name at the top, by copying it from Dafont.com and by using the 'Quick Selection Tool' i was able to just keep the black text and get rid of the white background surrounding it.

Progress 4 and final product: I have added the album name 'Oblivion' which on Photoshop I again used the 'Quick Selection Tool' so I was able to just get the black text. I got the text from Dafont.com which is called 'Araul' compared to the background it looks faded but I like this contrast as it fits with the faded photo on the background which makes it look abstract.

 

Evaluation Question 2

1.  2   How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Final Music Video:

Music Video Audience feedback Draft 1:  

This is my first draft of my music video, i have added the relevant edits but there is some non-footage featured in two parts of this video. This is the plate smashing scene, i have yet to shoot. Although with that not added i am reflectively impressed and content with how it has turned out - i think it is successful. The narrative develops perfectly with the lyrics of the song which helps the audience understand it as it develops.

Or look it up on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV_PGoBIrrw

·         As I have got feedback for my first draft there were areas that I need to develop:The editing needs a little more work in my opening scene where the female appears on the Tyre swing, as it is a little jumpy and needs to be smoother for the fade in/appearing effect that i am trying to create.

·         The play fight scene in the bedroom is a little long so try variation or cross cuts. 

·         I love the sequence in the woods with the cross over fade & the female walking around very fast in the background - very effective. 

·         Why do they argue? It is not made clear. Does he cheat on her? Is that what leads her to slit her wrists? This part of the narrative needs to be made clearer. 

·         Your footage rewinds, is this to demonstrate he wishes he acted differently? Or does it show she does not die as we see them in bed again? Please make this clearer. 

·         Need to fill in the blank spaces with footage. 

 

Music Video Draft 2 Audience Feedback :

Youtube link : http://youtu.be/C0tvwMPqiBA

From this feedback i have been able to adapt or add new footage to my video:

• I have adapted my opening sequence in attempt to make the editing more smoother for the effect i want to create. 
• I have added variation to the play fight by adding other footage to make it seem more playful and couple-like, so it isn't as long. 
• Why do they argue? To develop the narrative so my audience understands i have inputted new footage to explain why the couple argues. For this i have added the clock sequence cross over the female waiting impatiently as the male is late for a romantic dinner. Due to her frustrations that he is late she gets angry and sees her romantic meal as a wasted attempt and starts to mess up the table by throwing the plates at the wall. This then leads into my original footage of the couple arguing. As he leaves in a fury she is left to drown her sorrows in alcohol as she always messes everything up.
• The footage rewinds to demonstrate he is rethinking the argument and it clicks that she is self-harming - this leads into the footage of the male running back to the house to find the girl has self-harmed again in the bath tub. He feels responsible. And the footage rewinds as you see the couple happy, then the fight and it is left that the relationship has ended.
• I have filled in the blank spaces with footage. 

Any further developments:

I still have to twink further with editing on some parts of my footage, to make the edits smoother but I am very pleased with how my video has turned out. 

Final Music Video & Ancillary Texts Feedback

Final Music Video YouTube Link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8izhrBOtJI&feature=youtu.be

Audience feedback questionnaire  

These questions i have created to get an indication  from the audience to see if they understand my music video, referencing to the narrative as i know this is a questionable area.

Feedback 1:
Name: Georgina Beaulah

FFeedback 2: 

Name: Jenny 

Feedback 3: 
Name: Liam Dale

Feedback 4:
Name: Ellie Horner