Media Evaulation

         

                                                 Media evaluation from jettwestwood

Final Draft

Final Ancillary Task

This is the final draft of my ancillary promotional poster for the single "Get Away". The poster obtains the same logo as my digipak ancillary task to create synergy between the media products I have created for the band. This will enable the band to gain more recognition across multiple media platforms. I remained with the live performance snapshot of the lead singer as it reflects my aims of my ,music video which is evident in my research. I personally think this ancillary task gives a clear reflection of the the passion and joy of music and live performance. I am hoping to recreate this feeling with my music video. I also am very happy with the simplistic aesthetic of the poster which I aimed for after my poster analysis research.

Digipak

Taking a second look at my digipak drafts I noticed that I was only drafting the front cover of the entire digipak. Straight away I searched online for a free download of a digipak template. This had the exact measurements of a regular digipak with outlines of the spine and disc slot. I chose this option instead of designing it myself as it would heavily help with managing my time to editing my music video. I decided to integrate my previous ancillary tasks together to for fill the front, back and inside panels. I uses logos and art work the band had sent me via emails containing three different logos.I managed to intertwine all three into the one digipak to promote the band as much as possible through one piece. The front and back cover also follow the codes and conventions of my video which is to base it round a live performance. This is evident from the crowd on the back cover and the microphone on the front cover. As the digipak is advertising a single from the band, I listed the one track on the back cover where tracks are generally listed and also advertised it on the front of the digipak, following the codes and conventions of real media products. On the inside covers, I liked the idea of it being a blackout with only the band's name on the inside cover and disc slot. I thought this would give and edge promotion for the band as they're logo would pop out to the consumer and remain. This means that the consumers of this media product are p[passive as they're consuming without any extra effort. I chose the front cover image to be the same as my promotional poster as consumers can recognise the digipak from the poster and vice versa. Overall, I am very pleased with the outcome of my full draft.

Analyse Target Audience Research

From publishing my survey on survey monkey, I have received over 70 individual feedback forms! An average of 87 percent of my target audience selected yes for the majority of my questions! This indicated that I have selected a reliable incentive to which to bas my music video around which will help in the promotion and success of the band! However, I obtained some alternate answers which I will take into consideration and on board in the construction of my music video. I revived a small percentage of answers which implied that they would like to see a narrative alongside a band performance in a music video. This is something I will attempt to integrate and construct in the second draft of my music video.

Location Change

My previous idea of filming on a stage has been changed as me and the band have booked out a studio in which to perform and film the music video to "Get Away". This idea arose as no music venues with stages would allow us to film our music video there and whilst in contact with a local studio that said they would allow us and help with the set up with our music video, it was a given opportunity which myself and the band had to take. The music video will still obtain the same incentive of a live performance! This will be constructed through the use of collective shots. One problem we have encountered with the studio is that the drummer will have to perform in a separate room to the rest of the band. This will slightly interrupt the live feel I am hoping to achieve. However, I am setting up a separate camera in the drum room and cutting it into the rest of the music video, enhancing the focus and importance of the drummer in the song, and how he maintains the beat and timing of the entire song.

Momento Film Analysis

I have recently been introduced to the film Momento (2000). The movie features a previous insurance investigator who cannot build or maintain memories of his previous experiences.He begins to discover that his wife has been brutally murdered as it is the last memory embodied in his brain. As the movie progresses, one story line begins to proceed and develop as the other storyline retreats and reverses, unveiling different elements and events each time it occurs.
As a class we researched the genre classification of the movie and settled on a mystery/ film noir genre as it features codes and conventions of both genres, fitting it into the category. The essence of film noir aspects is evident throughout the entirety of the film as black and white effects are heavily used alongside dark and mystique, ambiguous characters. The black and white shots are mainly used in the past tense narrative of the film.  The protagonist of the film obtains a huge ambiguity as we as an audience understand his incentive to kill but on the other hand portrays a sense of justice and experiences frequent disorientation.
The movie also embodies a femefatale. This is a seductive female character that brings down the protagonist character. The ending of the film is very wide open for interpretation, also drawing the film further towards film noir.
The close of the film personally drew me to the narrative and story line to the rest of the film as I wished to make a conclusion on the storyline as a whole. Watching the film the second time around caused me to notice certain elements in the mis en scene which I did not notice the first time around and further shaped meaning as they were important to the narrative. This appealed to me because I appreciated the effort and time it took to create a narrative and structure of this quality into the film.

Second Draft Feedback

I managed to interview someone with superior film knowledge after they watched my second draft to gain some feedback in an attempt to improve my music video. Improving my video would also give an enhanced reputation for the band to first time viewers. He commented first of all that I should experiment with more close-up shots of the band and band members. This would give me slightly more variety and enable me to re use certain clips without the music video obtaining too much of a repetitive aesthetic. This would especially fit in nicely within the 30 second to 1 minute mark. To carve some shape into my music video, he advised to implement my re shoots earlier on in the music video to create a connection between the audience and the narrative rather than just implementing it inconsistently where the music is out of time with the band.

Survey Monkey Link

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JLJB2YH

Second Draft

After my first draft and recognising the drop outs of timing I decided to re shoot footage to place into parts of the performance which were out of time. I also added some strobe light effects into powerful drum sections of the song to give the music video some edge and a distorted feel. Some of the clips that cut away from the studio performance I shot of two people together. This matched the lyrics of the song to "get away" with just each other and "Travel together". When watching my edit back I noticed that I accidentally left two clips of the two people I filmed in my re-shoot in colour. I liked the way these two clips were of major importance of matching the lyrics and giving a second meaning as well as narrative to the video. By leaving these two clips in colour, I have managed to subvert the codes and conventions of music videos I have previously analysed and researched. So in most areas, my music video follows the codes and conventions of other media products but in other parts, my media product subverts the codes and conventions of other music videos. This is evident in my target audience research as well. They're are still some things I need to touch up on such as a long black cut which I wish to fill in and sharpen up the timing in other areas. Overall, I am pleased with my experimentation of effects and editing for my second draft. 

Re-Shoot

From the analysis and feedback of my first draft, I needed to shoot a couple of different shots to additionally input into my music video as there are a few point in the video where the video and official track are out of time. This could not be adjusted to be in time by moving the audio other wise the whole video would be out of time. I already liked the set up and flow I the video obtained by editing and transitioning my shots together, so I decided to shoot some additional filming of just the band in separate shots. I experimented with just filming with certain parts of the band as only four out of the five band members were available. These shots are aimed to be edited into slow motion and with different effects to flow with the music rather than being in time. This gives a very loose and edgy feel that I have previously explored in my research. We emptied a room in one of the band members room in High Wycombe to shoot the footage. All in all, it went very successfully.

Get Away Lyrics

Lyrics;

Far away she said,

We’ll write it off and start again,

Get lost in my own head.

Follow me she said,

Dive in deep to live again,

Let me under your skin

We’ll travel together for a change of scene and weather,

Searching for a place where we fit.

Across the continents chasing the sun and sea,

We’ll find the time to get away,

To get away,

Just you and me.

Far away she said,

I’m sick of this rain and i’m not content,

With second best.

Follow me she said,

I’ll take you to the ocean where the colours blend,

I won’t settle for less.

We’ll travel together for a change of scene and weather,

Searching for a place where we fit.

Across the continents chasing the sun and sea,

We’ll find the time to get away,

To get away.

Just you and me.

Timing

The timing of the lyrics matching to the song in my first draft is something i found very difficult. I could not manage to get the whole video to match up perfectly. This is because the live performance cannot match with the timings of a studio produced track where it has been sectioned as well as edited in the creation process. To resolve this dilemma, I am going to shoot some different shots outside a performance which have significant meaning to the track. With these shots, I will edit and cut them in into places where the timing is off between the video and the track. Because these shots aren't part of the live performance, it wont matter about the timing and matching of these shots to the track. I have taken this solution form the music videos in my research stage of my blog. With these additional shots, I can play around with different effects such as reversing the footage and mirror effect seen in "Are You In Love With A Notion" and "Arabellla".

The Courteeners

Recently I have purchased tickets to travel and see The Courteeners in manchester on the 27th of May 2017. When purchasing the tickets I noticed the advertising poster;

The use of the bizarre yellow and scarlet pink really appealed to me, popping out above the rest to inform me of this major event. The text is very simplistic, obtaining a neat and informative impact. The logo in the middle is very bizarre as It's the first time the band has used it for advertising, meaning there isn't any synergy between this and any other Courteener's posters, maing the poster the first of it's kind and unique.

Digipak Front Cover

Digipak Front Cover Creation

To create my digipak cover in photoshop, I first had to research the common size of Digipaks. I First did this by measuring the inside of a cd cover I had at home. My measurement was around 12 by 12cm roughly. I then double checked this on google, and the measurements for a standard digipak cover is 4.75 inches by 4.75 inches. By creating my digipak cover this exact size in photoshop, I am following the traditional codes and conventions of music digipaks. I began to use a photo from the band's live performance to empahsise the importance of live music. The focus in the image is not on the performance itself but infact a fan holding up a glass to the band. I liked how it depicted the importance of fans and audiences in music because without them, the band would be playing to an empty room with nothing to show for it. It also shows the great friendly atmosphere that comes with music and fans uniting together. It depicts the experiences and good times to be had at gigs and what music brings to people. I altered the saturation and added additional blur the image before adding the logo of the band. the logo placement on the digipak was done so in the inspiration from the research I have conducted on digipaks. This logo placement follows the conventions of an oasis digipak which has been majorly succsessful in the selling of records and recognition all across the globe.

Music Video Summary

From the music videos I have analysed, I have concluded that I wish to create a black and white music video. I have explored the use and its effectiveness in the ten music videos. I have also come to the conclusion that i want to base my video around a live performance, I have explored and conducted this in my research and planning and hope to make it as effective!