In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
Evaluation Question 1 from Lauren Gallagher on Vimeo.
The concept of my music video, closely
relates to the lyrics of the song, being that he regrets not kissing the girl
and telling her how he feels about her. The narrative structure of my video was
based around Todorov’s ideas about narrative. The video begins in the stage of
‘Equilibrium’, with my artist walking the girl home after a day out together.
On his walk home he regrets not taking his chance so we learn this has become
the ‘Disequilibrium Stage’, then there are flashbacks in between of all the
chances he had. When he finds the Photo Strip they had taken together in his
pocket, he thinks about that moment and this is the trigger which makes him
decide to go back to her. According to Todorv’s narrative theory, this would
have been the ‘Recognition Stage’ and the ‘Reparation Stage’ would be when
afterwards he tells the girl how he feels using placards. I decided she would
initially turn him down and leave it up to the audience to decide whether this
was because she was tired of waiting around for him or that she believed they
were just friends. However, she changes her mind and the video ends on their
kiss, this being the ‘New Equilibrium’.Evaluation Question 1 from Lauren Gallagher on Vimeo.
The visual references in my video are
sourced from cinema, as the narrative of my video follows the romance genre.
Additionally, the ‘Placard Scene’ at the end, as well as referencing two other
music videos, is more importantly an intertextual reference to the film ‘Love
Actually’. Furthermore, the main genre of my music video extends from the genre
of the song itself, as it is R&B and these songs are usually about love,
allowing for a ‘romantic’ narrative similar to mine. There are many styles,
icons and conventions of R&B music videos that I have both developed and
challenged. As Rhythm and Blues music was usually in associated with Soul,
Jazz, Hip-Hop and Rap, the majority of the successful R&B artist were of
black origins. Therefore, I chose an actor who was Black British, so that it would
abide by this regular convention. However, it is not often that Asian females
are featured in male R&B songs, but I have portrayed my actress as a more
modern day Asian female, as she is not wearing the traditional clothing or is
subjected to engaging in a relationship with only a male of the same race,
religion or culture. To add to this, R&B music videos usually feature women
scantily clad and either portray them as; objects for men to look at or
powerful and independent women. In my music video, I have challenged the
conventions of the former, as my actress is not seen to be scantily clad or an
object for desire. Whilst I have conformed to the ideas of the latter, as the
girl is seen as independent when she is shown turning the artist down and then changing
her mind. R&B music videos usually involve luxurious settings, references
to money and a lot of expensive and eradicate clothing or possessions. This is
an aspect which I had to challenge as it was inaccessible for me, so I decided
to show my artist on the streets and reference his ‘regular city life’ before
he came to fame; something which other stars have done before, to reflect their
backgrounds. Many R&B music videos use ‘grey scale’ effect as it represents
the emotional side of the music and lyrics, however instead of using this
effect I decided to develop this and use desaturation when symbolizing my
flashbacks.
A common convention of all music videos
is to involve close-ups of the
artist to create recognition among the audience. This reflects the idea of the
theorist Andrew Goodwin, who said that there is a demand from record companies
for many close-ups of the main artist. Additionally, John Stewart stated that
music videos have similar aesthetics (definition= the branch of philosophy dealing with such notions as
the beautiful, the ugly, the sublime, the comic, etc., as applicable to the
fine arts, with a view to establishing the meaning and validity of critical
judgments concerning works of art,
and the principles underlying or justifying such judgments.) of TV Commercials, therefore there
must be close-ups, as well as lighting, to develop a focus on the face of the
star.
In the ‘Photo Booth’ scene, I created
the illusion of the video camera actually filming inside the Photo Booth which
I had been questioned on many times by viewers, as they believed I was filming
from inside. When actually staging the ‘inside’ of the Photo Booth, I set up
two portable stage lights which I directed at my artist, to create focus on him
and my actress, but also to create the effect of a real Photo Booth, which I
believe was successful. The ‘photo flashes’ were added later on, during the
editing process on Final Cut Express. I did this by making a still image of the
moment in the footage where I wanted the photo to be taken; I then brightened
this image so its appearance would seem like a flash. Using the four still
images I chose, I made a classic Photo Strip - which I liked after seeing one
from the 70’s (remember to get a copy of my mums photo strip), as it had a
romantic appearance to it, suiting the genre of my video – using Adobe
Illustrator. Making all the images identical in size and placing them
vertically in the order they were ‘taken’. The whole ‘Photo Booth’ scene
itself, is a reference to voyeurism,
which is the concept of a screen within a screen and the notion of looking; for
example a camera. Initially, when considering how to include voyeurism, I aimed
to use a mobile camera but I found the Photo Booth idea to be more effective,
and coincidently, this was featured in the music video to Justin Bieber’s song
‘Mistletoe’.
It is always important to develop
relationships; between the artist and the audience, between the lyrics and the
visuals and between the music and the visuals. I have developed a relationship between my audience and the
main artist, when my artist is singing to the camera. Along with the videos
concept, that he is unable to show or tell the girl how he feels, instead he
tells the audience when singing, giving the effect of a diary. Therefore, the
audience would feel there is a connection between them as it appears the artist
is confessing his feelings. There is a strong relationship between my lyrics and visuals, as the essence of
my synopsis being that he should’ve kissed her or told her how he felt, is also
the songs literal meaning. Examples of this would be; on the line ‘I left you
standing there’, I had a long shot of my artist walking away from the girl. In
the second bridge/hook, on the line ‘I lose my cool and I blow it’, there is a
handheld shot of my artist failing to hold the girls hand. Again, in the last
bridge/hook, I have my artist staring at the Photo Strip as it turns into the
flashback of them together in the Photo Booth on the line ‘I’m a fool, and I
know it’. This can also refer to Erik Davis’ theory of Illustration; when a
simple narrative music video would involve visuals which portrayed the meaning
of the lyrics. The
visuals in my video sort of challenge the music, as my editing does not rely on
the beat. However, the use of slow paced editing illustrates the speed of the
song itself.
Question 2
Question 2
How
effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
Evaluation Question 2 from Lauren Gallagher on Vimeo.
(the two images of my artist against the green screen are meant to appear at 00:09, instead they appear at 00:30, this problem occurred when transferring and converting my videos.)
Evaluation Question 2 from Lauren Gallagher on Vimeo.
(the two images of my artist against the green screen are meant to appear at 00:09, instead they appear at 00:30, this problem occurred when transferring and converting my videos.)
I have attempted to present a similar representation of my
artist across both my main product and ancillary texts. One way I have done
this is through his appearance, as the outfit he wears in the music video is
much the same as what he wears in the ancillary text.
His style of
clothing is a convention of the ‘urban street style’ clothing worn by
contemporary R&B male artists, such as Trey Songz and Chris Brown himself.
Due to the location of my music video, I had to keep my artists outfit casual.
This would create a stronger connection between the artist and the audience, as
the artist would look more down to earth and reachable.
The concept of my music video revolves
around the idea that the artist is never able to communicate his feelings to
the girl and always finds he is full of regret afterwards. Therefore, I decided
to play with this idea of communication when creating my Digipak.
On the front cover, there is no
direct mode of address - which is a usual convention of album covers - instead
the artist is looking away. He is shown to be looking towards the title of the
album, ‘A Million Reasons’ – coincidently is a lyric in the song I used for my
music video – suggestive that he is relying on ‘ million reasons’ not to create
eye contact and is already regretful. Although, I have used a close-up to try
and establish audience recognition in order to create a relationship, which is
a common aspect of album covers.
On the back
cover, he is still looking to the side but facing slightly more forwards.
However, this time he is wearing glasses so that the audience cannot see his
eyes, therefore hiding his emotional state. This reinforces the idea conveyed
in the music video, that he doesn’t show his feelings sufficiently. This
long-shot will enable the audience to recognise the similarity in his style,
between this image and the clothing he wore during the music video.
Again, on
the left inside of the Digipak, he is seen wearing his glasses. Although this
time, he has hands on them as if he has just put them on or about to take them
off. This ambiguity portrays two ideas; if he has just put them on it appears
he is attempting to hide his true feelings, as similar to the video he is
unsure of how to reveal them, or if it is the latter and he is about to take
them off, this could be that he is ready to connect with his audience.
Finally, on
the inside right image, under where the actual CD would be positioned, there is
a direct mode of address. The idea that it is not until you lift the CD that
you will completely see the artists face, is a suggestion that you will not
fully know the artist, until you have purchased and played his music. The pose in
this photo, is made to appear that he is contemplating. Reflective of the songs
the audience would be hearing, or even their feedback.
The image I used for the
magazine advert is the same as the image on the inside left of the Digipak, so
that it gives the audience an insight to whats inside the album. The text which
gives information about the album and its release, I decided to put in the same
font and style as the tracklist on the back of the album, to create a link
obvious to the audience. Also, the font of the album title and the artists
name, I have kept the same on the advert as on the Digipak, to create a
connection between the two. To further audience recognition, I have included a
small image of the Digipak front cover on the Advert so the audience would know
what product they are buying.
In my music video, I had the girl wear a coat which was a
shade of red, in order for the colour to stand out and convey that she is who
the artist loves. Additionally, the flashback which acts as a trigger is the
‘Photo Booth Scene’, where again I have included the colour red, as the back
drop in the Photo Booth. The colour red has many symbolisms; it is mainly
associated with strong emotions. This is why I chose to incorporate this colour
into the video, to reflect love as well as infatuation. Red is also looked upon as a sensual colour, and
can be associated with man's most profound urges and impulses. On the Digipak
and album cover, I had the artist wear a red watch and a pale red coloured top,
to reflect how the album is mostly love songs. As well as showing how the
artist has or will succeed in love, just like at the end of the music video.
Additionally, the font used on both the Advert and the Digipak for the album
title and artists name - even though the fonts are different – I have included
little specs of red, to add to the reflection of the love and passion in his
album.
The font I used for the artist name appears to be rough
stitching, as it consists of many thin straight lines with a few gaps in areas.
Whilst the font used I used for the album title looks as if it is ripped or
that it has been splattered like paint. Therefore, these fonts seem to be
jagged, which reflects the ‘gritty’ side of the R&B genre, something the
artist Rihanna has had a large focus on in some of her albums. Additionally,
the rugged look of the font reflects the ‘urban street style’ that I have developed
for my artist in the video and the images.
In my music video, I have represented the artists emotions,
as well as the mood of the narrative, through the use of light and dark, using
the setting of the video. On the date, it is daylight and gradually becomes
darker as it gets to the end. This gave me the opportunity to include of shot
of them with the sunset, something associated as been romantic. Whereas, when
he takes the girl home and when he is without her, it is dark. This contrast in
brightness, reflects how when he was happy with the girl it was light and when
he was alone and regretful, it was dark. I have done something similar with the
Digipak. The front and back have a black background, portraying him as
mysterious, also hinting to the cliché ‘tall, dark and handsome’, which is why
I used a close up on the front and a long shot on the back. Inside the Digipak
the backgrounds have completely changed to white, showing him in the light,
reflecting on how the audience will be able to get to know him once they’ve
opened the album. This contrast in colour – also concerning the text, black on
white and white on black – shows how the artist has more than just one side to
him. Additionally, this idea could also be reflective of his music.
Question 3
What have you learned from your
audience feedback?
Due to Web 2.0,
allowing people to interact with the internet, we were able to upload our video
online in order to show it to the public and gain feedback. So once we had
finished our music video, I posted it onto YouTube using
my media YouTube account. Afterwards, it was shared onto the social networking
sites Facebook and Twitter, to increase the amount of my target audience who
saw it. This was successful, it received over 100 views within the first 24 hours of posting and it
currently has 636 views. The analytics provided from YouTube, enabled me to see
who, where, how and when my video was watched. This confirmed my target
audience was mainly female, something I suspected when planning my music video,
which I focussed strongly on the appearance of my artist.
As well as
YouTube and the social networking sites, I posted my video onto my blog, which
has been a record of all my research, planning and production. Blogger helped
me improve my work, as teachers and other students commented on my pieces of
work. This is also where I posted my surveys, which I created on survey monkey
and has been the most helpful feedback, as I was able to ask specific questions
to gain sufficient information. My first survey was on the synopsis of my music video; I
found out that my audience preferred my new synopsis and even which of the main
aspects and ideas they liked or didn’t like. In addition, I asked what R&B
music video conventions they would expect to see to ensure I was involving
them. In my second survey, I was asking my audience for advice on which font to
use for the artists name on the Digipak. As it was close between two options, I
decided to use them both. The third survey was my most helpful, as I learnt
whether people enjoyed my music video and why, as well as it being rated out of
ten. I also discovered whether people recognised things such as intertextual
references and flashbacks in my video.
Question 4
How did you
use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and
evaluation stages?
When
planning my music video, I watched other music videos on You Tube to get ideas for
my own video. Initially, I liked the idea of parts of the video being rewinded,
like in the ‘What If’ by Jason Derulo. However, once I’d changed my synopsis I
got ideas from videos such as; Justin Bieber ‘Mistletoe’, Taylor Swift ‘You
Belong With Me’ and Coldplay ‘Paradise’.
All the research and planning I did, I recorded on my blog in
chronological order; showing any ideas I had and when. I then used survey
monkey to create a questionnaires; on my final synopsis and ideas for my video,
on the font used on my Digipak and on the finished video itself. These surveys
then went onto Blogger, and I sent the link to my Blog to people I knew and
asked them to answer the surveys. Another search engine which I used when doing
my research was Google, Google images and Google maps, to search for my
locations. First I got a list of places from Google search, then I checked what
they looked like on Google images and finally Google mapped them to see where
they were and the nearest transport option.
Another stage of my planning included
researching the artist and genre of the song, as well as conventions of R&B
music videos. In order to create my analysis work, I used mainly Google, IMDB,
You Tube and Wikepedia for when researching, however another way I found the
information was on SlideShare – a website which enables you to create
slideshows, upload them onto the site and then share them across the internet -
from looking at the slideshows other people had created and uploaded.
When creating the plot of our music
video, I first had to write the synopsis and then draw images of it all onto a
storyboard. Afterwards, we filmed
the drawings and uploaded them onto imovie. We then continued using imovie to
turn these video clips into an animatic storyboard. This was so much more
beneficial than just having a storyboard, as we were able to watch the plan of
our video before we made any decisions or started filming. After we created the
animatic storyboard, I decided the plot was a little too complicated and that
we would struggle to fit everything in time with the lyrics as well as having a
good range of shots. Therefore, I made the synopsis less complicated by getting
rid of the other male figure – who would have represented the villain – and
made it so instead of showing them on various dates, I just showed them on one
date. Additionally, when I created the first synopsis, it was in the summer so
once it started getting close to winter, and I would be having my artist
outside a lot, I decided I would try and incorporate a winter theme into the
video as well.
Continuing on imovie, once we had done
our first set of filming – using a Sony HD video camera - we created a rough
cut of our video. This enabled us to have a better idea of how our video would
look and there were a few things we decided to change. Such as; when they first
meet up - it took quite a bit of time and the crowds of people made it appear
messy, the Photo Booth scene seemed a much better idea for displaying voyeurism
than what we originally filmed so we changed that and as a lot of our shots had
to be cut because of other people in the way a lot of our footage looked jumpy
so I thought it would be better if we re-filmed, the same goes for the scene at
the table as it was already dark and the lighting was sufficient.
When editing the final video we moved
onto Final Cut Express, as by this time we had learnt how to use it and it
gives a much more professional finish with a greater variety of effects. In our
music video, I had the music stop and restart, so it would match our
intertextual reference to Love Actually, on final cut I was able to make the
song stopping much smoother and longer so people didn’t think the video had
finished and when the song restarted, it turned up to full volume quicker but
still sounded smooth, like the volume had been turned up. In order to reflect a
real photo booth; final cut also allowed us to make the flashes in the photo
booth scene. Coinciding with the photo strip I had already created, I found the
4 points in the footage where I wanted a flash, I cut the clip and made a still
shot where I wanted the flash. Then we brightened the image and added vivid
light to appear like a flash had just gone off. When this played, the
brightened still shot didn’t look like still shots at all. A lot of people said
this part of the video was their favourite. Another way Final Cut was more
beneficial was that it enabled us to use split screen, so our video had aspects
of subjective character identity by showing her point of view, rather than it
just being objective. In Final Cut, you can have several lines of video and
audio, whilst in imovie you only have one of each, this is how we created the
split screen by having the shot of her – in a separate line – on top of the
shot of him, also when inserting the ‘button click’ sound, we had to put it –
on a separate line – underneath the rest of the song, to prevent a gap between
the sound and the start of the music.
Finally, after our music video was
finished, I uploaded it onto YouTube. It was then shared on twitter, facebook
and blogger, in order to maximise our audience and the popularity.
In order to create my ancillary texts –
the Digi Pak and Music Advert – I used Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. When
editing the images I had taken of my artist, I used Photoshop, has it has a
larger range of effects and due to the use of layers, you are able to modify
the image more. When putting my Digi Pak together; the pictures, the texts, the
logos and the layout, I used Illustrator. It was much easier to use for this
part than Photoshop, as I didn’t need any effect, I was just focussing on the
layout and arrangement. As I changed my mind several times about the
positioning of images and text, it was better to do on Illustrator as after you
have placed an image or text, you can still move and change it without having
to place it again.
