Thursday, 6 February 2014

Ideology and representation

I tried to stay in keeping with true ideologies and the representation of a young alternative rock back in this day and age, particularly when it comes down to costume and sticking to my genre.

Costume
I told my talent to come in comfortable clothing that they would typically wear to perform, as I already had a good idea of their style and knew that I wouldn't need to style them in a particular way. Although they did turn up wearing four completely different outfits, they all fit in with the alternative rock genre, showing just how diverse a genre it is.

The Singer
My singer turned up in skinny jeans, black converse, a white t-shirt and a brown blazer, the typical "stylish yet cool" lead. He is renowned for basing his hair on Alex Turner's famous quiff, which is ideal when I'm filming to an Arctic Monkey's song. His outfit allowed him to look laid back and relaxed, yet confident, and fitted in perfectly with the smart-casual feel they all created. In a way his blazer is quite controversial as nowadays the majority of people may not expect to see a teenager in one, but it proves that he has a quirky edge, making him very similar to the lead singers of many rock bands such as Alex Turner and Robert Damiani. Alex is renowned for performing in either a black leather jacket or white blazer, whilst Robert is renowned for playing in a colourful or patterned shirt.

The Guitarist
My guitarist definitely connoted your typical guitarist appearing in all black yet making it look effortlessly cool. He contrasted particularly well to the coloured lights used in my video, including the side shot used on my digipak. The guitarist in a rock band tends to be laid back and wear very comfortable clothing, not overly caring about their appearance and I feel all black does support this. Similarly to my singer he also has a quiff styled on Alex's, which is almost a house style of my piece all on it's own!

The Bassist
Opting for converse, skinny jeans and a navy patterned polo shirt, the bassist went for smart-casual yet cool. I feel this worked really well as it was a contrast to the guitarist, yet similar to the singer being smart on the upper half. Bassists in rock bands tend to dress slightly more smartly as they don't tend to move as much, yet my bassist completely refuted this as he gave the performances his everything and upped the enthusiasm of the other bands members. He chose to wear clothes he was comfortable performing in and which he felt suited his appearance the most. 

The Drummer 
Having to sit down throughout the whole song the drummer definitely needed to be comfortable. He decided on skinny jeans, converse, a white t-shirt and black and white baseball jacket. He instantly connoted the "cool" atmosphere that surrounds the drummer of all bands, particularly rock bands due to the heavy drumming included in the majority of their songs. Although baseball jackets are usually classed with being very casual, it actually looked very smart on him, which did surprise me quite a bit.

It surprised me how well all four different looks came together, seeing as most rock bands are either all smart-casual, cool, or edge, so I was secretly thrilled how good they all looked together! I think that the variety of looks is a clear representation of a young band, as they won't have a set look or a real house style yet, so it presents them as modern and fresh. However, the fact they all wear skinny jeans and converse presents them as united and as a proper band. I also feel that enables an audience to relate more to the video, as the majority of them will have the same, if not similar, items at home and that will once again prove that they are just normal boys enjoying themselves and having a laugh performing together.
I think that the fact my band are young and modern enables people of similar ages to look up to them as inspiration and see how much you can enjoy yourself doing what you love with your friends. Therefore, some audience members may aspire to be like my talent and focus on doing what they enjoy the most.
I created my video for entertainment purposes and I definitely believe that my talent wearing everyday outfits adds to this as it doesn't take away from my video and allows the audience to focus on enjoying it. 

Tuesday, 4 February 2014

Tropes and memes of my genre

I chose to follow, challenge and refute tropes and memes of my genre to create a product that was creative and not cliché. When researching into tropes and memes there were three main ones that I came across, only two of which I have really used.

Face of the Band
The lead singer in a band tends to be the most well-known member of the band, and sometimes even the only member that the public have heard of. Therefore, when it comes to music videos for any genre, they will get the most camera time compared to the rest of the band, including lots of close-ups and extreme close-ups. However, I decided to refute these as I feel it is incredibly unfair on the rest of the band. In my opinion, the drummer holds the band together as he sets the tempo for the piece, and so I decided to make him the "face of the band" in my video, and give him the most camera time. Although many people didn't comment on the lack of singer in my audience feedback some did and saw it as very controversial, but I feel it looks just as effective showing more of the drummer, as I think he's more interesting to watch! 

Dress Rehearsal Video
This is a common trope of the rock genre, but only in very small doses. Therefore I have challenged this as I have based my whole video on a "dress rehearsal" style video, as there is no audience there, which none of my audience picked up on, yet they have all the lighting and props set up for a professional gig. I'm really pleased I chose to use this concept for a lot of my video as I feel it looks really effective and appealing as it makes the audience feel as if they are there with the band, watching them perform and enjoying themselves.

Surreal Music Video
Another common trope of the rock genre is a surreal video, which is one I have refuted. Surreal music videos usually include being set in a surreal location, such as an abandoned boat, or a montage of footage that has no relation to the band or song. I find watching surreal videos difficult to follow, which is why I chose not to follow this trope as I find them difficult to follow as they are so irrelevant. Although my video doesn't have a narrative for an audience to follow I feel it is much clearer than a surreal video as it is only set in two locations and it is clear it is a performance video with elements of a homage to the original throughout.

When looking into tropes and memes I realised that I have refuted a lot that are typically associated with music videos, for example:

Conveyor Belt Video
A "conveyor belt" video, involves using continuous tracking shots and nothing else, especially not jump cuts. My music video is full of jump cuts and so I have clearly refuted this trope. My video would be incredibly boring if I didn't include jump cuts and so I can't imagine watching a "conveyor belt" video, and it definitely wouldn't be fitting for my chosen rock genre.

Choreographed Routine
A typical trope of a "boy band" video, is to have a dance break with a huge choreographed number. Once again I refuted this as not only are all of my talent appalling dancers, but it would also look absolutely ridiculous in the middle of an alternative rock genre if they started dancing. Instead, in the break in the song they just move around the stage enjoying themselves, which I believe is much more appealing to watch than a cringe worthy dance routine.

Mid Vid Skit
A final trope I refuted is known as the "mid vit skit", which is becoming increasingly popular in music videos. It is a point in the video where the music is interrupted, usually by talking. I don't like this trope as I prefer the music to carry on until the end of the song instead of stopping and breaking the flow midway. Therefore, once again I didn't include it in my piece as I feel it would have been even worse in a fast pace video with several different cuts.

Overall, I feel I have followed, challenged and refuted tropes and memes in ways that are most effective for my video. I have focused on what will work and what won't in order to make my music video appeal to my target audience, something which I believe I have done successfully. I don't believe in following tropes purely because people are used to seeing them in videos as if it doesn't add anything to my product that it really isn't necessary and I am confident that I have made the right decisions within my video.

Friday, 31 January 2014

Uses and Gratifications Theory

The Uses and Gratifications Theory is an approach to understanding why and how people actively seek out media to fulfil specific needs. 
In 1948 Harold D Lasswell suggested that media texts had the following four functions for individuals and society:
  • Surveillance
  • Correlation
  • Entertainment
  • Cultural Transmission
His argument was that when media texts were used it was usually to fulfil one of these four functions.
In 1974 Elihu Katz and Jay G Blulmer expanded Lasswell's theory, stating that individuals might choose and use a text for the following purposes:
  • Diversion
  • Personal relationship
  • Personal identity 
I believe that my music video fits the entertainment function, as I want people to enjoy watching my video. I have chosen a young band who are energetic and have a fresh vibe about them, which I believe makes them appealing for an audience to watch. My use of bright colours, fast paced cuts and effects makes it eye-catching and interesting to watch as it draws in and keeps the audience's attention as the cuts and effects prevent it from becoming boring. I chose a genre that is becoming increasingly popular at the moment, and therefore people are more likely to watch it for entertainment due to the genre, as well as the above mentioned. Finally, my talent are real, young, people which, to an extent, gives my video a natural element as it is clear that they are normal people who are enjoying themselves and having a laugh together. I feel this in particular makes it clear my video has been created for entertainment purposes, as it is enjoyable to watch young people enjoying themselves doing what they love.

Thursday, 30 January 2014

Post-modernism

Post-moderism is a late 20th Century movement in the arts and architecture. After learning about it in several of my Alevel subjects I decided I would like to include some of its concepts in my piece.

Hyperreality
I have, in a sense, used hyperreality in my video. Although my video is realistic as it is a band playing and it is a natural location, my use of colours, effects and choice of editing techniques create a hyperreal atmosphere. This means that although my footage is realistic my effects, such as the mirror, aren't, and the combination of blending the two could make the audience question which is reality and which isn't. However, this wasn't something I intentionally set out to do, it was just something I noticed when watching my video back. I don't want my audience to be confused, just perhaps questioning parts of my video.

Brian De Palma
A big part of my video inspiration came from Brian De Palma and his film adaptation of the Stephen King novel Carrie. Brian De Palma is probably one of the most post-modern film directors of the idea as his ideas were so different and controversial to what people were used to. Carrie included several split screens in the climax of the film, which added to the build up of suspension and tension; a technique he later became renowned for. He also plays around with film conventions, being creative with his choice of camera shots in order to give his work more tension and suspense or create an atmosphere in a way the audience won't expect. I feel that my video pays homage to De Palma, as I have taken his use of split screens and made it more creative by using different, bright colours, creating a different effect to De Palma.

Intertextuality
The final post-modern technique I have used is intertextuality. I chose to recreate some of the footage from the original video to include in my own. I was originally planning on using it as a parody of the original, but in hindsight it is more of a homage as it isn't an over the top copy. I feel this was particularly effective, especially opening my video with some of it, as people will instantly recognise it and see it was a funny element to include. Another example of intertextuality was having my talent perform in a theatre, as some of my audience feedback told me it reminded them of The Beatles' video for "Help", in which they are recording in a studio, which has a similar layout to mine. Although I had not seen the "Help" video before I created my own piece it is still classed as intertextuality as members of my target audience have picked up on it.

Alongside these, I also feel I have used smaller, but just as effective, elements of post-modernism. For example, instead of having a unified narrative throughout my video I chose to be more creative and go for a montage anchored by music. I believe this has made my piece more effect as it is more fun and upbeat, as well as ideal for my target audience. I have also given my piece a professional sheen, making it glossy and appealing to the eye, rather than leaving it grainy or purely sticking to the footage.
I am glad I chose to use post-modernism in my video as, in hindsight, it has made my piece a lot more effective, and without it I believe my piece would be quite boring to watch.

Tuesday, 28 January 2014

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Throughout my coursework I've used a wide variety of technology, both new and familiar. At the time I didn't realise how dependent on it I was but in hindsight none of this would have been possible without it, as I used it in every aspect of creating my pieces.

Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro was huge in the editing of my music video as it is the software that I chose to use. It's not a programme that I have a lot of knowledge about and so I was outside my comfort zone using it. However, I found it easy to pick up and halfway through my editing I decided to become a lot more creative, which FCP allowed me to do. I feel that a lot of the effect packages that came with FCP were ideal for my genre, but some definitely were not, and therefore a more advanced editing software would have been beneficial. However, a lot of my edits, such as split screens, were done by myself, so therefore for me FCP provided everything that I needed to create my final product.

Pixlr
We were briefly taught how to use Pixlr last year and I immediately found it straightforward to use and so decided to use it for the editing of my final photos for my digipak and magazine advertisement. I found I was lot more confident using it this year than I had been last year and was willing to be slightly more experimental. As all of my products are focused on the use of bright colours and effects I didn't feel the need to edit my photos heavily and so I didn't use Pixlr to its full potential. However, I still found it incredibly useful in creating the effects that I wanted, and it gave me ideas that turned out too good to not make it into my final pieces.

Google Chrome
Google Chrome was the browser I chose to use at home as it is the one I am most confident in using. I find it incredibly fast to use, which is particularly useful when you are downloading things for your coursework from websites such as Urban Fonts. Google Chrome enables you to have several tabs open at once and so I was able to have my blog, YouTube, and several Google windows open all at the same time without having to worry about the risk of it crashing.

Safari
Apple's Internet Browser is Safari and fortunately, having an iPhone, I am well equipped in how it works, particularly seeing as it is slightly different to Google Chrome. I used it for exactly the same circumstances as I did Google Chrome, only in school, and it is safe to say that without Internet Browsers I would have struggled immensely when it came to researching and blogging.

Google
I used the search engine Google throughout my research and found it incredibly useful as without it I wouldn't know a vast amount about my chosen genre or the type of music video I chose to create. Google is the search engine I have also relied on and so I know my way round it very easily. This was beneficial to me seeing as YouTube and Blogger are part of Google themselves and so I was able to keep track of everything all at once.

Blogger
Using Blogger was one of the biggest parts of the course as we had to use it to record all of our findings and thoughts throughout. I had previously used it for AS and so knew how it all worked and I feel that my blog this year is significantly better than last years now I know how and what to document. I was able to access Blogger at home and school and therefore I could post whenever I came up with a new idea or found some interesting research.

Urban Fonts
It was important for me that I used the band's own font in order to keep with their house style as well as my own. In order to do this I had to go onto Urban Fonts and download "Arctic Regular". Once I'd downloaded it I was able to use it in my digipak and magazine advertisement and keep the feel of the band in my pieces.

iPhone 5
My iPhone was hugely useful throughout my coursework as it enabled me to get in contact with my talent efficiently to arrange days to shoot with them. It also ensured that if some of my talent was going to be late they were able to let me know either through text, phone call or the Facebook app so that I wasn't standing around waiting and stressing.

iPad 2
I downloaded the Blogger app on my iPad, as I tend to carry my iPad around a lot more than my laptop. The app allowed me to blog whenever I thought of something off the top of my head that may come into later use. I found the app a lot harder to use than the internet page but that didn't prevent it from being beneficial.

Apple Mac
Nearly all of my project work was done on an Apple Mac at school, and this year I felt a lot more confident using one than I had been last year. This allowed me to be more creative when it came to my editing and try things outside of my comfort zone as I already knew all the basics. As well as using them for editing my music video and photos for my digipak, I also blogged and researched things such as the history of music videos. Using a Mac was really beneficial to me as it enabled me to get the information for and create my final project to a professional standard due to its software. I don't have a Mac at home but there was always time for me to go and use one in my frees in order to carry on editing my video, so I never had to panic about getting it done in time. Macs are renowned for having high quality resolution which allowed me to see exactly how my finished products would look, as well as enabling me to pick up on smaller details and get my products as close to perfect as humanely possible.

MacBook Pro
Due to spending so much of my time in school editing my video I did begin to panic about getting my ancillary tasks finished in time. I am fortune enough to have a friend who owns a MacBook Pro which she was willing to let me borrow at weekends to ensure I got everything finished in time. This is what I used to create my magazine advertisement. I chose to use a Mac over my own laptop as I feel Macs produce a much higher standard of work, which is what I was after. Using a MacBook enabled me to create my magazine advertisement at the standard I wanted from home.

Cameras - Olympus SP620UZ, Canon 550D, Lumix G10
Due to all the different angles and shots I was planning on squeezing into a short amount of filming time I needed as many cameras as possible, and, in my opinion, I was able to get my hands on three of the best cameras around. The Olympus is my own and the Canon and Lumix were a band members, so it worked out very well for me. I already knew how to use all the cameras, as the other two were very similar to mine, and so I had no problem in setting them up and shooting. I also used them to take my photos for my digipak and magazine advertisement. I found that in both cases the cameras produce photos and footages to a very high standard and they really brought out the contrast between my coloured lights and black silhouettes. I went against using a video camera for my filming as after some draft filming I did with one I found the quality was disappointing, whereas my Olympus footage came out much better. The fact they were my own cameras or members of the bands enabled me to shoot whenever I wanted to and as much as I needed to as I didn't have a curfew on getting them back into school and there wasn't a limit on how much battery space I could use - I used a lot! It also enabled me to shoot any last minute fills that I needed to without the panic of having to run into school to get one and it didn't pressure me into having to shoot on certain days. For example, if there was temperamental weather or some of my talent couldn't get there I was able to rearrange on my own terms.

Pages
Pages was the programme I used to create my magazine advertisement as I find it produces work to a much higher quality than that of Microsoft Office Word. I was taught how to use it last year and find it incredibly easy to work with and I am always pleased with the end result. 

YouTube
YouTube was huge in enabling me to research into current and past music videos to compare my own to and give me ideas. It also allowed me to research into Brian De Palma films, which inspired me into using split screens in my piece. My favourite YouTube feature if the fact you can share your own or other people's work through an embed code. This enabled me to post music videos on my blog that related to what I was saying, making it more visual, and allowing me to compare my music video to videos currently on the market.

Tripod
The theatre I did my filming at provided me with three Velbon CX 686's. I found the tripods incredibly handy as they made sure my cameras were still at all times and I could focus them and level them exactly how I wanted to, knowing they were securely fastened and unlikely to fall off. 

Prezi
Prezi is the software I used to create one of my evaluations. I used Prezi for the same reason last year and so was a lot more confident in using it this time round, although at times it does still confuse me! It is time consuming but it creates a fun product which is enjoyable to look at and easy to follow. It also breaks up heavy blocks of text as you can split if off into several different sections which makes it more visually appealing. 

Vimeo
I had serious copyright issues uploading my videos onto YouTube and so I turned to Vimeo instead. I had never heard of Vimeo before it was recommended to me and so I had no idea how to use. After sitting down and playing around with it for an hour I'd cracked it and after that I found it straightforward. No one's really heard of Vimeo which put me off a lot as I wanted my video to get as many watches as possible, but the most important thing is that my video is online so that it is available to watch. Vimeo was useful in allowing me a wide range of security options for my video so that I can ensure no one will take it and credit it as their own.

Creating my music video was when I was the most dependent on technology, as I needed it in order to keep the ball rolling. Without the use of a Mac, Final Cut Pro, cameras, tripods, YouTube, Vimeo, Safari and Google I wouldn't have a finished piece. It was heavily involved in research and planning for my piece, as I needed to know what was on the market and more background knowledge into music videos and my chosen genre, and then in creating the final piece itself due to the Mac's amazing software.
I used technology the least when it came to my magazine advertisement, as our coursework at AS, and having been a GCSE Media student, I already knew a lot about magazine advertisements and what kind of things worked well. Therefore, the main thing I needed to do was focus on creating the piece, as I didn't need to worry too much about anything else.
I've learnt how to use some new technology throughout my coursework as well as improving my use of others. I've found it incredibly beneficial using such a vast range of technology as it will benefit me when I need to do similar projects in the future. I'm no longer afraid of using a Mac or having a shaky camera as I know more than enough about how to do it and what to do to prevent it. Although technology can be stressful it's more beneficial than anything as it allows you to create, research, plan and compare, all of which are crucial in creating a professional product.

Tuesday, 21 January 2014

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

When I started planning ideas for my music video I didn't think of what conventions are associated with the rock genre. Therefore, when I was creating my video it wasn't intentional whether or not I followed or refuted conventions, it was just a case of me doing what I thought looked best and would be most appealing to my target audience.



Follows:
I followed the typical convention of having a close-up of each band, particularly the singer. This is something that is common in rock music videos as they like to focus on the whole band in order to show the importance of the band, the music, and "musicianship". They feel that the focus shouldn't be on anything else, and this is something I agree with, which is why I chose to follow it in my own product.



As you can see in Green Day's American Idiot the camera rarely moves off the band or a band member for more than a few seconds which emphasises the fact the video is about the band and the music.

Rock bands tend to perform wearing smart casual clothing, which I commented on in a much earlier costume post. This is something I was definitely going to follow as I wanted my band to be able to move around comfortably to ensure they performed naturally. I also feel that the look my band went for, and the look rock bands go for tends to be smarter than that of pop artists and I wanted my band to look smart and clean as I feel that is a significant factor when watching a music video.



In this video Don Broco pair a polo shirt with jeans and trainers. It not only looks smart but allows them to move freely when they're running and jumping around enjoying themselves. I think it is key that you can tell the band are enjoying themselves in a music video because it makes the viewer enjoy it more as well, which is why it was something I wanted to portray in my video.

It is a typical trait of rock videos to be edited to the beat so that the timing is exact. I feel that by doing this they make their videos a lot more exciting due to the fast pace cuts, something which I recreated in my own video. I also think that editing to the beat makes the video more exciting, as you wonder what will come on the next big beat and it leaves you full of anticipation.



Although this song is slower it still fits to the beat. For example, at the beginning there are four drum beats and of each drum beat you see a new band member, which creates a contrast by speeding up the process before it slows down again.

The final convention I chose to follow was to have my singer "performing to the camera". I decided to keep this convention as I feel it makes the audience relate more to the singer, as it is as if they are singing to them. Therefore it creates a relationship between the two, as they have a direct link, which may make the viewer relate more to what they are singing.




The viewer fells like a part of the action as it is almost as if Fall Out Boy's lead singer is singing to them as if they are there with them.

Refutes:
I chose to use bright colours in my video to create black silhouettes. Bright colours in music videos are usually associated with pop and the more synthesised music, whereas rock is associated with darker colours such as blues, purples, blacks, and greys. I chose to refute this due to the fact that the song I chose is very upbeat and therefore I didn't think dark, moody colours would work. It is also common lighting wise to have a strobe light. I refuted this again as I thought it would be unnecessary in my video and not add anything extra to it.




The lights on the band themselves are sepia and grey which doesn't give the effect I wanted to create, even if it is typical rock.

Rock videos also tend to be set in abnormal locations or derelict sites, such as an abandoned warehouse. I chose for a theatre as it just looks like the band are performing on an average stage, as they would be if they were doing a performance. I think that over the top locations take away from the song itself as they usually don't quite match up.




Starlight is set on an abandoned boat in the middle of the sea, you can't really get much more abnormal that that.

The final convention that I chose to refute was including a heavy amount of second footage to my video like the majority of those above to. Although I have included some car footage it's not a 50/50% mix like most rock videos appear to be nowadays. I personally believe that, particularly with rock, the video should focus on the music, and not other things going on around it. Therefore, I decided to refute this convention as it is not one I agree with. 

Friday, 17 January 2014

Final Music Video

Finally, here is my finished music video. I am very pleased with the final outcome as I believe it looks very professional and is to a high quality standard.



Looking back on my first draft it's crazy how far I've come and how much my video has improved since. Although it was only small changes I had to make it is amazing how big an impact they can have on a product; the different between it looking professional or not!
I feel I have stuck to the conventions of my genre well, using fast pace cuts and lots of different camera shots and angles to create an interesting and enjoyable piece. I'm pleased I chose to create a performance video as it allowed me to be much more creative with what I did, and I feel that I would have struggled to create another type of video, particularly with it being the rock genre.
I believe my use of edits have make my piece more enjoyable to watch as my split screens make it modern and interesting and my mirror effect is a complete contrast to what has gone in the rest of the video. My video doesn't follow a particular pattern and so you can only guess what effect is going to come next which makes it more fun and appealing to watch as you don't know what is round the corner.
I'm so glad I decided to use coloured lights as I feel the silhouettes add a new dimension to my video and make it very exciting due to the use of different colours. The bright colours portray a fun, happy element, which is interesting seeing as my genre is rock. This is why I decided to darken them ever so slightly, as I felt they were too poppy and I feel this edit has worked in my favour; making the genre more obvious. 
To improve, I would focus more on my lead singer as in hindsight his close-ups looks very effective and so I should have included more of them in my opinion. I would also add a fade to black at the end as I feel the ending is too abrupt. I did originally try to add a fade to black but it doesn't exist on Final Cut Pro!
Overall, I am incredibly proud of my final piece as I have included everything that I wanted to and I feel it all ties together well to create a fun, upbeat, professional product that anyone can enjoy watching.

Thursday, 16 January 2014

Magazine Advertisement - Final


Here is my final magazine advertisement! It has changed significantly since my last draft but I feel a lot more confident about this one. I decided that my photo is still just as much the focus of my advertisement if I place it higher up on the page and I think it looks tidier having all three pieces of text together. I decided against the white blocks in the end as after a lot of deliberation I decided that they just didn't look right with the genre I am trying to portray. I finally found a font that I like! I feel the stencil style fits in my genre well as it is rough and unfinished and makes the advertisement look edgy. I also feel it makes it look the genre a lot more obvious on first look as it is a masculine font rather than the previous one which was quite feminine. I chose to use the two-colour-scheme in the text again as I felt it looked very effective. I chose to have the album title in a different colour as that is the central piece of text, therefore creating a bigger contrast. Overall, I am incredibly pleased with my magazine advertisement as I think it promotes the band and the digipack well. The photo is not only shown on the digipak, but also appears in the video, and therefore, with both fonts, it all fits together to create my house style; something which will make all of my products memorable.

Music Video Third Draft

Here is my third music video draft. I think I'm almost there with it now! Once again I took on board what I said I had to fix and now there's very few things left for me to sort. 



Straight away in this video I feel a lot more confident than I did with my last two drafts! I feel it looks really professional now that all my amendments have been made. I have sorted all of my split screen transitions, although watching it back I have noticed my final split screen is ever so slightly out so that is what I need to fix next, in what will hopefully be my final piece! It turned out that I had a lot more timing issues than I'd originally though due to reapplying the whole length song and so that took an awfully long time to sort, going through the video millisecond by millisecond until it was spot on! A lot of my timing was to do with my drummer and singer, particularly my drummer during fills, but I have sorted all of these now and it is amazing the impact a couple of milliseconds can have on making the piece look so much more professional. Although the timing may not have been obvious to everyone it certainly was to me, and as a perfectionist it was something that I had to sort. I mentioned after my second draft about cropping all of the clips with curtains, and although in some cases it wasn't practical without redoing the whole video it is barely noticeable in these clips. However, I have done it in all the other clips I was planning on. As for "Photo Recall", it wouldn't crop them out! Therefore, I zoomed in the effect to create the shadows, which I feel actually looks a lot better than the "Photo Recall" did and I am much happier with how it looks. I finally got round to sharpening my video and it instantly looks better by not having the grainy look and feel to it that it had before. I also edited the brightness to make it slightly darker in the coloured lights clips to put more emphasis on the silhouettes, but not so much that it took away from the bright colours I was going for.
Overall, I am thrilled with this draft and feel that I finally have a final piece coming together! I have a few little adjustments to do but after that I feel my video will be finished and look very professional. I feel I have done everything I can to appeal to my target audience and have created something to be proud of.

Tuesday, 14 January 2014

Magazine Advertisement - Draft Three


I decided to try a completely different effect for this draft, placing my font on top of white blocks in order to add yet another contrast to the advertisement. I believe this looks effective as it adds another dimension to my advertisement and makes it more eye-catching due to the contrast. I chose not to change the font in this draft as I think the font actually looks better on the white background than on the black. 
However, my font has all gone back to being the same colour and I did prefer having it different colours as I feel that looks more effective than two of my pieces of text being on a different coloured background. I think it is effective keeping my font on the black as it stops it being samey and boring but I still don't think it is quite as effective as the two colours I used in my previous draft. I did remember to add the question mark though!

Magazine Advertisement - Draft Two



For my second draft I decided to try out different colours. I felt that all the same colour was a bit much and so decided to play around with it. I feel the band name looks really good in red so chose to leave that how it was and edit the album name and release date. I personally think that white on a black background is a great contrast that is very effective as it makes it stand out to the eye. However, I still need to change the font as I haven't yet found one that I like and I really do dislike the current font! I also managed to delete the question mark on the end of the album name...

Friday, 10 January 2014

Magazine Advertisement - Draft One

From the offset I wanted a minimalistic magazine advertisement as I personally find them more appealing as they make me want to buy the product more in order to find out more information. Therefore, I decided to use this approach in my own piece. 


I decided that they key information I need on my advertisement is the band name, album name, and release date. I chose to use the band image on my advertisement as it shows all four members off well and the bright colours give an insight into what they can expect from the album. I picked a black background as I feel that fits in more with the rock genre than white, and I didn't want to be left with awkward white space, which is nearly always inevitable. Following my decision on black I went for a red font colour as this also very stereotypically represents rock and will therefore let potential buyers know the genre straight away. I chose to put the photo central as I want it to be the main focus of my advertisement as I feel it is the most intriguing part. People are used to associating dates with release dates in the music industry and therefore I didn't feel the need to put "Out on" or "Released on" before the date as I feel it is self-explanatory. 
I don't like the font I've used for the album name and date and therefore I definitely need to find a new one for my next edit!

Thursday, 9 January 2014

Digipak - Final

Below is my final design for my digipak, and I am really pleased with the outcome.
After testing it I did opt for having the band's name on the front cover as I feel it looks much more professional and it will appeal more to a potential buyer as they will be able to see who the product is by straight away. I followed the house style of the band like I said I would in a previous font as it looks professional and is what is associated with the band and therefore is something I couldn't cut out. 
I feel the photos I have chosen all work well together and create an appealing product that people would be interested in buying. The variety of colours connote different genres such as rock, pop and moody blues which, instead of making my digipak look like a mess, makes it look like a very diverse album and therefore it will appeal to a wider demographic. They also fit in with my music video and house style throughout as well as giving it a young, modern and exciting vibe. 
I feel my edits all work well, from the more simple sharpening and increasing hue and saturation to my more wild edits as the contrasts ensure my digipak is not boring to a intentional buyer and may entice a wider audience due to my use of different effects.
Overall, I am really pleased with my final digipak as I have created what I was hoping for and feel it is effective in fitting with my genre and music video.

Tuesday, 7 January 2014

Digipak - Draft Two

Here is the second draft of my digipak. I altered what I mentioned previously, however I have still found room for improvement.
I feel my product looks much better now that the writing is on the other side as it is easily readable and makes my product look more interesting as it's not your typical back cover. It also tricks the eye slightly which makes it quirky and memorable. 
However, I am now questioning having my band name on the back cover as I feel it may be too risky and make it look unprofessional if anything. Therefore, I am going to test it and see what I think for my final product as I need to make sure it is appealing for my target demographic.

Digipak - Draft One

Here is the first draft of my digipak. Similarly to my video drafts, I am aware it needs editing but overall I am pleased with it so far.


I feel my chosen photos work really well together to create a bright, vibrant digipak which is eye-catching and entices potential buyers. My image order is as follows:
Front Cover - Band 
Photo 2 - Adam
Photo 3 -  Toby
Photo 4 - Jake
Photo 5 - Eros
Back Cover - Song names
I'm currently really pleased with my digipak. However, the one thing I need to change is the side in which my song names are written on. As the font is white it blends in with the white on the background making it unreadable. I chose to place the band name on the back of the product as I feel it looks more interesting and will make a buyer more likely to pick it up and look at the product in order to find out the name of the band.