Evaluation Question Four (How did I use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?)

WEB2.0:

When planning for my product I needed to find the codes and conventions of dubstep music videos, digipaks and promotional posters. As dubstep is a relatively new music genre it was quite hard to find any articles online to lay out the codes and conventions however I found a SlideShare which outlined them for me. After using this to get started, I looked further online to find more in depth information about the codes and conventions. I found a web forum specifically for dubstep, called dubstepforum.com. This was very useful as it gave me a chance to see what real dubstep fan likes, dislike and want to see in new music videos and albums. I found that the colour scheme I used is very popular among dubstep fans. I created a Prezi to show my research into the history of music videos, which allowed me to further understand the codes and conventions of music videos as I had a better knowledge of how the form had changed throughout history in order to get to the 21^st Century. For my product I decided to break the conventions associated with stereotypes such as Richard Dyer’s stereotypes theory as in my story a male character is seen as weak and is killed by a female character, which is the opposite to most narratives of this kind. I used social media such as Facebook and Instagram to show my products to the public and get constructive criticism in order to make further edits and that way improve my products to make them more appealing to my audience. I used YouTube to look at existing music videos of the same genre that I am focusing on and created LIIAR analyses of them to see what my product should look like and helped me to shape my final product to make it look professional. I used amazon.co.uk to purchase all of my costumes and props, which allowed me to create my music video and ancillary texts cheaply and quickly as it meant that I didn’t need to go to several different shops to try to find the things that I wanted to use. I also used YouTube to upload my music video. This allowed my audience to comment on my video so I know what they liked and disliked in order to make changes and allowed me to share my video online easily using the URL or the Embeded link to allow me to put my video onto my blog. My blog helped me to create an online portfolio for my coursework which made an easy way to communicate with my audience as Blogger is owned by Google so it is compatible with all other Google owned websites and also allows comments to be made. I used the website fontspace.com to find a font that fitted the conventions of my chosen genre. I decided to look for a graffiti font and eventually decided on Feathergraphy Decoration Regular.  

Hardware:

For my music video and ancillary texts I used my Nikon D5200 camera, which allowed me to get a crisp, high definition image. To edit my music video I used Final Cut Pro X, which I found quite easy as it is a very simple video editing software programme. I used the Luma Keyer effect to make the footage darker and gave a slight vignette to give my product a horror film aesthetic, which I wanted to create. I think that the combination of these two effects worked well to create this look. Due to the pace of my song, I needed to use lots of fast paced shots which I did not consider fully when planning so I had fewer shots than I required and they were all longer in length than were required so I needed to use the blade tool in Final Cut Pro X to cut the song down. I cut some parts out of the song and blended them back together to make the cutting seamless. For my ancillary texts I used the same camera to shoot the images as it has a 21.5MP CMOS sensor which made the images clearer and better quality. To edit the images, I used Photoshop CC, 2014, which is the latest edition of Adobes creative cloud Photoshop to allow me to use the best tools available. For my digipak, I selected the background with the Magnetic Lasso Tool (L) and filled in the skyline with neon green, added some blue clouds and pink and yellow lightning bolts to give the effect of a dystopian universe, which fits in with the conventions of the dubstep genre. I used the Feathergraphy Decorative font for the artist’s logo as a house style throughout both of my ancillary texts to create continuity.   

Evaluation Question Three (What have I learned from audience feedback?)

MUSIC VIDEO:

I used the social media site, Facebook to ask people for feedback on my music video and the overall response was positive however I found that James found the story line difficult to follow. This means that if I had time to alter my video I would change the narrative to make it easier to understand. Fabian, (far left in the focus group) also commented on the narrative by saying that he didn't like it. This shows that I would need to make the story more action filled as a music video is only a few minutes long and should be more action than establishing shots when trying to put forward an action-esque narrative. Katie and Hannah in the focus group both said that they enjoyed the narrative and liked that it ended on a cliff hanger, which made me think that I wouldn't need to twee my narrative too much if I was to redo my music video as just as many people did enjoy the narrative as those that did not.
            Hannah said that she liked that my music video built up tension when it was supposed to. This shows that my video has my desired effect, which was to emulate a horror film. While I was showing the group my video, Hannah said that it was spooky and Katie asked if something scary was going to pop up. These comments showed me that the iconography of using dark shots accomplished through low key lighting and the luma keyer tool on Final Cut Pro X, I have created a convincing horror film aesthetic.
           Luke said that he liked the use of my canted angle and also a few other shots that I used in my video, which showed me that if I was to redo my video, I would use more shots like that to help create a realistic horror film look through the use of semiotics in a similar fashion to Michael Jackson's Thriller video.
           The focus group complimented my mise en scene, specifically location and costume, which I worked hard on. This helped me to realize that choosing these locations and costume designs was worth all the hard work as it was all appreciated by the audience, which will make it a popular music video.
          There is one shot in the video when Jake, (the gas mask character) waves his hands in the air as he couldn't keep up with Georgia while she was skipping. I didn't like this however I felt that the shot was essential to the narrative so i had to use it. Jake, Georgia and Fabian all picked up on this shot which shows that it is very noticeable. If i had time I would have re-shot that scene as I only had one take of it and I didn't realize the error until it came to editing and I had a larger screen to view the footage back on. If I was to remake my music video, I would make sure to do every shot at least twice just in case something went wrong in the first one.
          During editing, I realized that I didn't have enough footage to fill the whole 5 minutes 10 seconds so I used the cutting tool in final cut to cut out bits of the song so that it was shorter and I'd find it easier to fill the song with footage. Jake asked me if I could cut the song down so that I could get rid of the shot of him waving his arms which showed me that my cutting of the music was seamless and that it couldn't be noticed. This means I did a good job of it as people didn't listen to it and think that the music sounded strange, which as a music video would not be good.  

ANCILLARY TEXTS:

I was unsure about the lightning on my digipak as it was neon coloured and I wasn't really happy with how it turned out, however Fabian and Katie both said that they liked it which shocked me as I expected that I would need to take it out after showing my digipak to people. Audience feedback showed me that I should keep the lightning in and that some of the things that I am not happy with may appeal to other people and vice versa.
           This being said, the focus group said that the colours on my ancillary texts were too bright for the mood of my music video so I will need to change them to make them darker and more in keeping with the horror genre. Luke did mention that he agreed that the colours match the conventions of dubstep however he also said that they do not match the tone of my music video.
          The focus group couldn't read the font that the artists name was written in, which shows that I need to change it as that is the main thing that my product is trying to get across in order to sell the album. I will make the font easier to read but also try to keep a graffiti style font as I liked that and it is conventional of genre.  

COMBINATION:

Overall, audience feedback helped me to realize that my three products do work well together however I need to change the colours of the ancillary texts as they are too bright to suit the mood of the music video. So in conclusion, I need to change the colours of my ancillary texts as they don't match my videos's established tone. I will probably use darker colours such as red or purple.

Evalualtion Question Two (How effective is the use of the combination of the main product and ancillary texts?)

Evaluation Question One (In what way does my media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?)

Poster (Draft 2)

I decided to add the Amazon logo to the bottom as Amazon currently the second largest music supplier in the world. This means that putting it on my poster will allow my audience to see that the album will be available to them through a source that they are likely to use and will possibly encourage them top purchase the album.

I will probably change the placement of the reviews as one of them goes over Luke's face which I am unhappy with as it looks sloppy. Changing this will not take long and will increase the quality of my product significantly.

I like the colour scheme that I used and it works with the conventions of dubstep products. This means that my product is more realistic and my audience will appreciate it more than if I had used a colour scheme that was conventional of pop music, rock or indie music.

I included an image of the digipak front cover on the poster as it shows the product that is for sale so the audience will be able so see what the product will look like and will know which album to look for in shops or online. I was unsure about this decision as the primary image for the poster is the same as the one in the digipak so it looks a bit too similar however, i edited the images differently and didn't incorporate the dystopian looking, neon skyline into the poster that is in the digipak.

In my initial edit of the poster I forgot to put black ovals over Jakes eyes of the gas mask so I made sure to change that for the second draft. This helps to aid continuity and makes all three of my products link together better as they all have the same aesthetic.

poster

DigiPak Net

full video

Ancillary text preparation

I put my gas mask photo on Instagram to get constructive criticism and it received quite a lot of likes including one from an account named, "cultmovies". I tagged the image as under the horror hashtag which allowed people searching for horror to find it. This shows that people who were looking for horror images liked my photo showing that it is good and fits the mood that I wanted and I will use this image for my ancillary text.

Filming grid - Shoot number two

Ancillary text preparation

I took some photographs of jake while I was filming so that I could use them for my ancillary texts. I used photoshop to make his eyes completely black as I didn't like that his eyes were visible. I will need to find a way to do this in my video as it looks a lot better. I showed these images to my peers and they said that they look "creepy", which was my desired effect. I will probably use the medium close up as the back cover for my digipak, I won't use either if them for the front cover as I am hoping to get a group shot of all of the antagonists when I do my thrird location to use for the front cover.

First Draft (Video)

First Draft of Music Video

I have edited the First Draft of my music video and uploaded it to YouTube. I will post it onto my blog once it has finished uploading. By putting the video on YouTube, I am appealing to a wider audience as it is the largest video sharing site today so lots of people can potentially see it, which means that if they like it, they will share it with their friends on social media such as Facebook.

shooting plan

This grid shows when I plan to shoot my music video. I have left five sections empty so that I can print off the grid and write in the planned shoots for them and add my comments then scan in the printed version to show the final shooting plans. It shows any problems that I had during filming as this way I can write them as they happen and I will not forget any issues that I have. The majority of my footage will be shot in the new year as I still need to purchase costumes for my cult antagonists, which I cannot afford in the build up period before christmas. 

Technical Equipment

Nikon D5200 - I am using my own camera for the project to film my music video and to take still images for my ancillary texts. I will take the images while I am filming so that the imagery will match my music video perfectly and that way it will work better as an advertisement for my product and the artist.

I will need to use an SD card to save the footage while filming. I will use an 8GB SD card as the memory should be sufficient for the amount of footage that I will get on each shot and I own one meaning that I wont need to purchase a new SD card for the project.

I will need to use a tripod to hold my camera in place for stationary shots to avoid having a shaky camera. My camera lens has a built in stabiliser so the tripod will not be essential however my footage will look better if i use one. My tripod is heavy too so it can be used as a cheap alternative to a steadicam for moving shots. 

I will use a dolly on my tripod for moving shots while on stable ground as it will make camera movements smoother. I will not b able to use this on bumpy ground as the wheels will knock and make the footage shaky. This means that in the abandoned buildings and forest locations i will not be able to use it.

I will try to use a steadicam for moving shots where the dolly is not useful as it will make the footage smoother and it will look more professional. I will need to buy a steadicam as college do not have any t lend to students, however it would be a good investment as it will make my coursework look smoother and it will help me to get a smoother look. I have looked online to buy one and the majority of steadicams for DSLR cameras cost in excess of £200, but i have found one on Amazon for only £75 so I might buy it after the christmas period. 

To edit my footage I will be using Final Cut Pro X on the apple macs as I am already familiar with with the software so I will not have to learn any new techniques. I have Adobe Premier CC on my laptop so I could use that however I am not familiar with the software so it will require me to learn how to use it if I choose to edit my footage using Premier.

To edit my ancillary texts I will use PhotoShop CC as I have the software on my laptop so I will be able to do a lot of editing outside of college times and also during college time as my laptop is portable so I can easily edit my ancillary texts anywhere. I am familiar with PhotoShop because I used it in AS Media Studies and I also use it quite a lot personally.   

New possible location

Izzy suggested to use an abandoned hospital in Beverley if St. Andrews quay wasn't available anymore so I am going to check the location to see if it looks like my desired Mese en scene. I will need to update my health and safety grid to suit the new location as it is an old hospital so there will be other risks that won't be present in St. Andrews quay as Izzy said there are needles on the floor which could be a hazard.

Anamatic

Text messages to show planning for filming

Georgia and Lewis wouldn't come back to the building that I am using as my location so I have completely recast Lewis's parts to jake as there is no need for a face in his shots so it doesn't really matter. I have asked Izzy to stand in for Georgia at the building shoot I will have borrow the dress from Georgia to maintain continuity and I will probably only do long shots and wide angles so that it won't be too obvious that it's a different actress. I think that this could work as it is something that is done in professional films and music videos however if it is too obvious I may recast Georgia to Izzy permanently as I will probably get more footage of izzy and Izzy is more willing to travel to locations than Georgia.

Storyboard

My storyboardshows the plan that I have for my music video. The song lasts for 5minutes and 10 seconds so my storyboard has 116 shots to be as detailed as possible and have a shot every couple of seconds to conform to the conventions of form. The storyboard covers all three of my locations that I will use. Now that I have created my storyboard, I will create an animatic by putting my song over the top to show how my video will look. 

Cast list

Luke Hallett - main protagonist (photographer)

Luke is actually an amateur photographer so he has a lot of photography kit at hand so it will be easy to use props and he an also give me personal insight for camera angles, movements and shots.

Georgia Tether - main female antagonist (demon girl)

Georgia is easy to make look scary and has an alternative style so she will own dresses similar to the ones that I have in mind so she is a good choice for my main female antagonist.

Jake Rawlings - Gas mask antagonist

Jake was actually my back up choice for te gas mask antagonist however he dresses how I want my character to dress so I think he is still a good choice. He wears mainly black and is slim so will look practically the same as how I had originally planned.

Izzy Smart - stand in for Georgia's wide shots in the abandoned buildings.