Task 3 - What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Task 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

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

Richard Dyer came up with the idea that all artists have a certain star image which is usually seen through their videos, website and digi-pack. A star image helps them appeal to a certain audience whether this be a mainstream or niche one, the ways in which this is achieved is they way they not only present themselves but the way they show and sell their media products. Having a star image means that the artists can have a stronger connection to their audience as maybe consumers feel they can relate to them as they dress the same or are into a similar style as the artists. Dyer also mentions that artists are usually influenced by their record company to present themselves in certain ways in order to make sure that they do target a specific audience in a more successful way.  Also if we look into the work of Negus who talked about organic and synthetic artists, we can see how artists may reveal themselves in certain ways in order to be liked by different audiences and that if they choose to be synthetic then they are going to have a more mainstream audience where as if they decided to be organic then they would expect to have a more niche audience. Both these theories can help when looking into the star image or our own band, Reverie. 

We knew that the star image of our band would be indie and also quite grungy and therefore we kept this in mind when creating our music video. We knew that we would be creating a product that would be of interest to more of a niche audience and therefore we decided to keep the overall look quite de-saturated which made it come across dark and grungy. When looking at the artist Birdy we saw how she used very de-saturated and cold colours therefore we decided to do this with ours as it portrays the star image of the band to be more indie and organic. In addition to this we wanted a very abstract video meaning that the narrative was kept simple yet ambiguous with there being a strong focus on water and inks, which helped with the indie genre that we were in hope of creating and also made it look cinematic. In relation to Negus’ theory we would say that our band is very organic this is clearly seen by there being more of a focus on the narrative rather than the performance element, highlighting their want to sell their music rather then themselves, plus even when the band is shown on screen they are hidden by the multi-coloured inks which adds to this idea. When looking at the music video Breeze Blocks by Alt-J we saw that their video was very focused on the narrative and actually throughout they didn't show themselves and therefore we too though that it would be a good idea to decrease the amount of times the band were present in the video. Furthermore their clothing is very dark and low key not only presenting their style as grungy but also meaning that they are shown to  be to be very chilled out people. Also by the fact that they are shown on a much whiter and lighter background in comparison to the narrative they are therefore presented in a positive way and whats more highlights that even though they could be seen to have a slightly moody attitude that they are in fact a band that is approachable. 

For the website, we wanted to make it very simplistic to keep in theme with the video. Therefore the choice of the colour scheme was different shades of grey which meant that it was a very neutral looking format and helped portray their indie/grunge style. Biffy Clyro - who is also an indie artist uses a simple grey colour scheme on their website and therefore we got inspiration from this and also the band Bastille have a very simplistic format and dark colour scheme so we also used this to help us when designing our website. What's more the ‘behind the scenes’ page meant that the band is presented as very open and willing to share everything that goes on to their audience and this then creates a community online as everyone can keep up to date with where the band is and what they are up to. The images of the band present them as close and also as they are smiling this helps them show viewers of their easy going and care free attitude. The images on the home page aren’t all of just the band and include ones of the shoot day of the music video, which again suggests the band wants to focus on what they make rather then themselves, clarifying them as organic artists. 

The digi-pack again keeps in theme with the music video and website, this is because there is a clear abstract and indie theme which is kept throughout, in addition the font is the same as the one used on the website. However after looking at 4AD - which is where the original artists of our chosen track are from - we saw that this record company is famous for their album artwork and particularly Vaughn Oliver’s album and when looking at this we saw that there was the inclusion of colour and this actually made the album look more interesting. Therefore as a product to sell we though that we would do the same with our digi-pack and so we included the image of the different inks being dropped into water as our back cover and also in photoshop we made it look as though there were multi-coloured inks being dropped down over the artists - this also made a strong link to our music video. As for the front cover we wanted to keep in very simple and therefore it was an image of a girl in a bath, which again linked in with the music video nicely and the fact that it was very de-saturated made it appear very grey in colour which kept in the theme of the star image of the band. 

The overall look that was achieved through the music video, website and digi-pack was kept constant throughout all three products which helped us achieve a stronger star image and therefore a much more clear target audience.  
 

 

Task 1 - In what ways do your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Timelapse of Production Day

Rough Cut and Feedback of our Video Fineshrine

Audience Feedback

The audience which I showed our ruff cut to really loved it. They thought that the footage which we had got was very meaningful and worked very well with the choice of song. They could tell what the narrative was about which meant that the editing was done well due to the fact they could tell the storyline. There is a few weaknesses and they were down to timing in the rough cut. We took footage of some of the same shots when the floor was wet and dry and we got a bit muddled when editing this footage. The audience noticed that we need to change one of the shots from having dry floor to wet floor as the bedroom has flooded at this point. I agree that we need to go back and just keeping checking what shots have been flooded and which ones haven't.

What do you think of the footage?
I really like the footage and I think it works well with your song. It's interesting to watch and you don't get bored at all watching the video. The shot which I like the most is the Ariel shot of Isa in the bed.

Can you tell what the narrative is?
Yes, it's a very clear narrative, the only thing which I've noticed is that at one point when the bedroom has flooded, there is a shot where the bedroom goes back to being dry. This doesn't make much sense, so I think this may be a mistake.

Do you think the editing fits well with the song?
Yes, it all flows really well, there is a part where Isa pulls her hand together and the lyrics read 'and pull' which fits particularly well. The band footage works really well with the other parts and has been edited in to work well with the lip sync as it looks like the singer is really singing. There is only one part towards the end of the song where the  singer is slightly out of time but it just needs changing very slightly.

Is there anything you think we could improve on?
I think all you need to work on is making sure that the timing on everything works well and make sure that it flows slightly better than it does at the moment. I think the shot where the taps are running doesn't look quite right and maybe should be swapped for another shot. It's not a very interesting shot as well as not looking as clean as the others. Also towards the end its a bit mix and match. It needs to be flow more towards the end and needs something to happen with the last shot.

What's your overall view?
I really like it and I don't think there is much to do. If that was your final piece I would be surprised. The editing has been done really well and the footage is amazing. The storyline makes sense and

Evaluation of Progress with Editing

When we first looked at our footage that we had got once we had filmed we were all so happy with it. We had got the right footage needed to put our idea into action. When we put it all on Final Cut Pro we looked through all of the footage and there was a few clips that we got rid of due to it not being any good. We wanted a certain look for our video which we had managed to get on the day of the shoot. There was some shots in slow motion which happened to turn out very well as well as the performance element.

To start off we put the narrative in order as we wanted our music video to be more narrative focused. Once we have sorted out the narative and the order which it goes in we would then add the performance element in. We thought this way we can make sure that storyline flows and doesn't look patchy at any point. At first we did it very roughly just so we could get a rough outline and then the further along we got with the editing the more it came together. We had to make sure when editing that when changing
shots it chanaged at the right beat because otherwise it wouldn't look right and would make people feel awkard watching it. Thankfully most of us in the group are very familiar with listening to beats and drops in music and so they knew when it was best to change the shot. It was hard to make sure that the shots didn't change really quickly or to slowly and this is what's taking the longest amount of time to sort out.
We did have a few problems along the way. We as a group really liked the big shot of Isa getting in the bath but when it was at normal speed it just didn't come across as looking right. However we did end up speeding up the bath filling up because of course we couldn't have had normal speed as it would take ages and take up the majority of our video. Another problem that we picked up was that we were flooding the video to early and then running out out of the storyline at the end. We had to go back and use the bedroom footage to our advantage which was fine because we hadn't used any of that footage yet.

We then went to put the performance element in which was quite nerving to do due to the fact we liked our story line and we didn't want to mess up our narrative. We also weren't sure whether the lighting would look werid going from being in a dark atomsphere and then suddenly changing to a brand new light as well as some bright inks being dripped down infront of the performers. Once we had put it all together it didn't look strange and it actually worked very well together. Also by using the performance element it meant that we filled some of the spaces which we had left. We are now carrying on editing and working on another cut of the video to see if there is any other ways that we could put it together. We also need to carry on working on the shot of Isa in the bath and see how we can make it look as if she is dissolving in the bath. So this is something that we really need to work on and make sure that we do it well so it doens't ruin the video that we have already created.

Evaluation of our First Draft Website

When setting up our first draft for our website we used the website 'wix.com' which is a website you use to make your own website. There are many layouts that you can choose from and the reason we chose ours was due to us as a group liking the layout but as well as that the colour scheme also fitting perfectly with our band. We changed the subtitles from what they were before and changed them to appropriate ones for us.

When we started the website we had to think of a design that would fit our band appropriately. We decided to go for a rather neutral colour and also we like the layout of our website which is what caught our attention. We started first by setting up the website tittles at the top of the page. We had to think of names that other websites would use as subtitles to help fans find what they want to see. We looked at many other websites to look at the colour schemes they have used and the different types of layouts that they choose. We have made ours very different to theirs though as our band is quite different. We had taken photos on the day of our shoot which we added to our website because we thought that fans would be interested in what goes on behind the scenes. 

This is only our first draft though so we have seen things that we do need to improve on and things, which we need to do in order to make it better. We need to take more photos of the band, with both of them and single shots. We shall do this though and add them to the website. I like the layout of the website though and think it fits well with our band look. By looking at other websites we could recognise what other bands wrote for things such as their latest news and how they layed our their tour dates. We took inspiration from them and applied it to ours. 

We are all very happy with the results and are happy that there are things we need to improve on. Its good that we can see now what there is to improve as sometimes you disregard them? I am happy with the layout as well as the colour scheme. 

Website Design Research

Album Art Work - First Draft

Evaluation of Shoot Day

There was a lot of preparation needed in order to do our shoot. We made sure that a few days before the shoot that we had all of the props that we needed together. We didn't actually have any problems with props and we did have everything that we needed. The day before the shoot we went into the studio and set up the first  set. As we had two sets that we needed which were the bathroom and bedroom. The day before though we just set up the one which was the bathroom as that was what we were going to film first. It didn't have any lighting though at this point so the set looked very simple but ended up look really great. Setting up for the shoot made me very nervous as it was so soon and there was a lot of pressure as we were using water so we only had one shot at filming. We were well prepared as this would have been very stressful if we weren't. We made sure that everyone who was in our shoot new when they were needed and what they were doing. We had organised blue cards so that there teachers knew that they wouldn't be in their lessons that day. Before we could start shooting we had to put the camera onto the crane so that we could get on with our Ariel shots. This took a while but once it was done we cracked on and got filming. 

When we started the shoot I absolutely loved what the set looked like. It actually looked so much better than I had imagened it in my head. This made the group and I feel so much more postive about the shoot. When we started saying about our idea at the very begginning about flooding the bathroom and bedroom none of us were quite sure how we would do this. We had to think of so many ways and then wondered whether or not it would actually look any good which made us all so happy when it turned out the way it did. 

We divided them so it was all fair and everyone had a go at doing everything. My main role that day was to make sure that we had got all of the shots that we needed and to tick them of as we went. I enjoyed this role as it gave me some sort of responsibility. Everyone else had their different roles to such as camera man, photographer and director. This meant that we were all in charge of different things and meant we wouldnt argue over who does what. This also meant that we worked very well as a team and everything that needed to get done was done. 

I think personally the flooding of the bathroom and bedroom went really well. I thought that this was so hard to do that it wouldnt look as good as we had imagened. We managed to get the right amount of water so that it looked perfect. We looked back on the footage and its my favourtite footage from the day. 

I think the most successful part of the day was the flooding. There was a lot of water used so we had to consider how we were going to get rid of all the water. We managed to clear it all away quickly using buckets which worked actually very well. We could only film the flooding footage once and it worked well the first day which was really good as this could have gone wrong and ruined our whole shoot.

We have a lot of footage but we could have possibly got even more. The only reason I think this is because when we are editing its easier when there is loads to choose from instead of just a few clips. 

I think that we worked well as a team but this may have been down to us being really good friends. We all took it in turns at playing the different roles and doing the different jobs. We also took it in turn to do the build up work such as album covers etc. This worked really well as it then meant that none of us had loads of work to do but we split it between us. 

We shouldn't have to make any changes to our website or artwork which is really good. The reason for this is the way that we planned to do our music video worked really well and meant that it would fit well with all of our other work like we had originally planned.

Call Sheet and Shooting Schdule

Cast List

Costumes

Objects

Prop List

Make up for Main Girl

Letter to 4AD

We emailed 4AD which is the record company that own the song 'Fineshrine'. We have asked them if we would be able to use their song for our A level media music video. The reason we've done this is to prevent copyright but also to make sure there won't be any problems with us using the song.