Friday, 10 December 2010
Monday, 6 December 2010
Evaluation question 4c
How did you use media technologies during the evaluation stages?
We used media technologies in a number of ways throughout the evaluation stages of our project, one of these was the camera for filming our audience feedback. We used the camera to record this footage to a high standard.
We then used the fire wire to transfer this footage from the camera onto the mac.
After this we uploaded this footage using the mac onto YouTube as we did with our completed music video, so that it could be accessed quickly and easily and then placed onto our blogs.
Friday, 3 December 2010
Our completed music video :)
After uploading our completed music video onto YouTube, I was then able to put it onto my blog. Here is our final completed music video.
Other music videos of the punk rock genre, such as our music video, although conform to certain aspects of the genre, for example including live band performances, also embrace many aspects from other media genres for example animation and documentaries, most often to create a comic effect. In our video we have tried to echo this kind of idea through the use of live band performances and so adhering to the rock genre, but also by referencing to another genre - the stereotypical teen drama, where everything goes badly for the protagonist, we did this to add humour to our video.
However, this kind of humour may make the representations within the music video arguable or harder to distinguish, for example by using humour as a theme, our video would not be taken very seriously, and so if we were to tackle some more serious issues, it may not make a lot of sense to the viewer.
Some of the key shots we have used in our music video are:
Match on action was used when we created a fluid sequence using different camera angles, for example when we filmed our main character running up the steps, then we filmed him from a different angle going onward once he had reached the top.
The pace of our narrative, both the narrative shots and the band shots matches the speed of the music, which is also another example of match on action.
We used a variety of different camera angles and movement, including low angle shots when filming the band, in particular the singer, to remind the audience that they are the main purpose for the video and the creators of the song.
We also used close ups, for example of our protagonist to make the messages we portrayed very clear and understandable.
An over the shoulder shot was used when filming the drummer, to show the audience what he was doing and showing how it fits with the music. This is also an example of match on action.
We used a tilt shot when scanning the band's lead singer vertically, from them singing down to their feet when the band have a unique dance to this song. This gives a realistic effect and gives a direct focus on the band members themselves.
Finally we used lots of short shots because this helps to keep the pace with our music synchronized and fast, which fits in with our chosen music genre.
Evaluation Question 2
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
We have tried to use similar themes throughout both our print work and our completed music video, to make all three media pieces cohesive. We have done this in many different ways.
A key example that makes our main product cohesive with our ancillary texts is the main character used, for example the 'nerd' from our music video is also included in the one of the inserts for our final printed product. This makes the direct connection between the character in the video and his photo in our print work, allowing the audience to make the link between the similar themes and ideas we have presented. The audience would have had to watch our music video to make this link with the character in print, which connects the different pieces of media work together. The protagonist from our music video gives a key portrayal of the lyrics in the song, and the way we have interpreted them. For example, he has no real friends, and he gets all his power in life through the Internet and the abilities he has with it. So the themes he presents, through showing him in both the music video and in one of our inserts is fantasy vs reality, and being a stereotypical teenager and the everyday problems they would face, i.e. social rejection and isolation.
Our video is also cohesive with our ancillary texts as it uses visuals of the band, for example in the basement, which is where we filmed the band for the non-narrative parts of our music video. This therefore keeps the themes involved within our chosen music genre, punk-rock. By using these particular band visuals we are also making it clear to the audience that the band are the focus of our media products, and that our portrayal of them and their songs is key to representing them in a certain way, a way that would be seen as correct and appealing. These kind of ideas would be that the band are real people and easy to relate to, through the fact that they are performing in a basement, this shows that they are willing to work hard and also seem isolated, as they are not performing to an audience, which means they are not as popular as well known bands would be. This overall theme creates realism, that the band are honest and true to themselves, and do not need the approval of others. So the use of these images in both our music video and our print work emphasizes these themes and ideas.
In our print work we have also included some of the postmodern references used in our music video, for example 'Call of duty', in one of our particular inserts we have introduced the theme of fantasy versus reality, a theme that is touched upon within our chosen song and our music video. The fact that the protagonist in our video sees himself in a different way to the way other people see him is a key theme we have worked with throughout both our music video and our ancillary texts. This reference to 'Call of duty' also links to the main song on our CD, the one that we have focused our music video on (Internet) this makes it known that this is the main song within our media project, and therefore the CD print work is cohesive with our music video through this reference.
Therefore we have made our three different media works cohesive with each other, to portray the overall themes and ideas behind our completed media products and emphasize what we are most importantly trying to portray through our work.
We have tried to use similar themes throughout both our print work and our completed music video, to make all three media pieces cohesive. We have done this in many different ways.
A key example that makes our main product cohesive with our ancillary texts is the main character used, for example the 'nerd' from our music video is also included in the one of the inserts for our final printed product. This makes the direct connection between the character in the video and his photo in our print work, allowing the audience to make the link between the similar themes and ideas we have presented. The audience would have had to watch our music video to make this link with the character in print, which connects the different pieces of media work together. The protagonist from our music video gives a key portrayal of the lyrics in the song, and the way we have interpreted them. For example, he has no real friends, and he gets all his power in life through the Internet and the abilities he has with it. So the themes he presents, through showing him in both the music video and in one of our inserts is fantasy vs reality, and being a stereotypical teenager and the everyday problems they would face, i.e. social rejection and isolation.
Our video is also cohesive with our ancillary texts as it uses visuals of the band, for example in the basement, which is where we filmed the band for the non-narrative parts of our music video. This therefore keeps the themes involved within our chosen music genre, punk-rock. By using these particular band visuals we are also making it clear to the audience that the band are the focus of our media products, and that our portrayal of them and their songs is key to representing them in a certain way, a way that would be seen as correct and appealing. These kind of ideas would be that the band are real people and easy to relate to, through the fact that they are performing in a basement, this shows that they are willing to work hard and also seem isolated, as they are not performing to an audience, which means they are not as popular as well known bands would be. This overall theme creates realism, that the band are honest and true to themselves, and do not need the approval of others. So the use of these images in both our music video and our print work emphasizes these themes and ideas.
In our print work we have also included some of the postmodern references used in our music video, for example 'Call of duty', in one of our particular inserts we have introduced the theme of fantasy versus reality, a theme that is touched upon within our chosen song and our music video. The fact that the protagonist in our video sees himself in a different way to the way other people see him is a key theme we have worked with throughout both our music video and our ancillary texts. This reference to 'Call of duty' also links to the main song on our CD, the one that we have focused our music video on (Internet) this makes it known that this is the main song within our media project, and therefore the CD print work is cohesive with our music video through this reference.
Therefore we have made our three different media works cohesive with each other, to portray the overall themes and ideas behind our completed media products and emphasize what we are most importantly trying to portray through our work.
Evaluation Question 3
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
The first question we asked was our audience's favourite part of the video. We had a mixture of answers, from the band members playing and particular instruments for example the band, they said this because the music was in time with the action on screen. This shows that our synchronizing was successful.
Another favourite part from our audience was the effects we used, for example the speeded up clip of our character running up the steps. This was effective both as a postmodern reference and for entertainment purposes.
Our second question was what their least favourite part of the video was and why. Two of our female audience members claimed that it was too male orientated, this could be seen as correct as the main target audience for a punk rock video is teenage males, so perhaps if we wished to challenge the forms of our music genre more, we could have placed some other elements that would reach a wider audience i.e. females.
Another least favourite part was the repeated clips. However, we did choose to do this specifically. This was to emphasize certain parts of our video, and also because those particular clips match the lyrics, and therefore when the lyrics repeated, we repeated the shots.
A final least favourite part was at the very end, where our action was misinterpreted. Our character is supposed to have run a race and done badly, so the person timing the race stops his stopwatch and shakes his head. However, one of the audience members did not perceive this, they thought it was a spray can, therefore if we were to redo it, we would take extra care to make sure that each part was completely clear as to what we are showing.
Our third question was what could be improved in our video. One of the answers we received was the shakiness of the camera, sometimes it created a natural effect, but other times it just looked lacking. To improve on this we could have used the tripod more often whenever we could to make the filming more stable.
Another improvement that was mentioned was the lighting, that although we had changed the contrast on some of the clips, it was just not possible to do it on all of our clips, therefore some appeared lighter than others, making the video seem less real and professional.
Our fourth question was what is similar and what is different when comparing our music video with other's from the same genre. A difference was the overall quality of the video, for instance the lack of funding and equipment we had meant that our video lacked the professionalism that other punk rock videos have.
A similarity was the use of both narrative and band shots, which is a technique found in many other punk rock videos.
Our fifth question was whether our audience preferred the narrative or non-narrative action within our video.
3 of our audience members said that they preferred the band shots as it gave us a chance to use a range of different camera angles and movement, it also gave us the chance to use match on action. They also thought that the fact that the band were filmed in a basement went with the overall theme and music genre we had chosen.
However, one of our audience members said that they preferred the narrative because of its humour and relation the song lyrics themselves.
Our sixth question was the audience's favourite aspect of the video. One audience member said that they enjoyed the postmodern references and were able to identify with them, for example the reference to the film 'Rocky'. This meant that our postmodern references were obvious enough to be noticed without being too extravagant.
Another audience member liked the filming of the different instruments, especially the drums where it matched the music, again emphasizing the synchronizing we did.
Our seventh question was did the action match the song. All of our audience members commented on the fact that the action played out the lyrics, for example the references to myspace and the Internet as well as all the gaming references. They also commented on the fact that we have shots of the band's singer singing the lyrics along with our music, which gives the impression that he is singing the entire time, despite the fact that the song is recorded and playing over all the action.
We also received feedback for our print work. We were complimented on the use of the same photograph for two of our print images as it creates synergy between our different pieces. They also commented on one of our inserts where we have two photographs of the band that appear connected, although they are two separate images. They also liked the effect we used on this insert, having half of the insert in black and white and the other half in colour, this fits with our chosen music genre, involving dark and slightly sinister themes.
In our second insert the audience picked up on the theme, fantasy versus reality, showing our nerd realistically in his room, opposite an unnatural image portraying a fantasy world, where our main character has entered the game, this gives the impression of escapism, which was noted by our audience.
Finally they commented on the colour scheme we used, saying that it creates cohesion and makes direct links, tying our different pieces together.
The viewer also gave us some ways in which our print work could have been improved, for example if the audience had not seen our music video, then they may not be able to relate with one of our inserts, the one using our main character. Although it creates cohesion between our different media pieces, it would not be fully understood if the audience had not seen our music video.
From these results we can decipher ways in which both our video and print work can be improved as well as receiving comments that compliment our work and the effects we used.
The first question we asked was our audience's favourite part of the video. We had a mixture of answers, from the band members playing and particular instruments for example the band, they said this because the music was in time with the action on screen. This shows that our synchronizing was successful.
Another favourite part from our audience was the effects we used, for example the speeded up clip of our character running up the steps. This was effective both as a postmodern reference and for entertainment purposes.
Our second question was what their least favourite part of the video was and why. Two of our female audience members claimed that it was too male orientated, this could be seen as correct as the main target audience for a punk rock video is teenage males, so perhaps if we wished to challenge the forms of our music genre more, we could have placed some other elements that would reach a wider audience i.e. females.
Another least favourite part was the repeated clips. However, we did choose to do this specifically. This was to emphasize certain parts of our video, and also because those particular clips match the lyrics, and therefore when the lyrics repeated, we repeated the shots.
A final least favourite part was at the very end, where our action was misinterpreted. Our character is supposed to have run a race and done badly, so the person timing the race stops his stopwatch and shakes his head. However, one of the audience members did not perceive this, they thought it was a spray can, therefore if we were to redo it, we would take extra care to make sure that each part was completely clear as to what we are showing.
Our third question was what could be improved in our video. One of the answers we received was the shakiness of the camera, sometimes it created a natural effect, but other times it just looked lacking. To improve on this we could have used the tripod more often whenever we could to make the filming more stable.
Another improvement that was mentioned was the lighting, that although we had changed the contrast on some of the clips, it was just not possible to do it on all of our clips, therefore some appeared lighter than others, making the video seem less real and professional.
Our fourth question was what is similar and what is different when comparing our music video with other's from the same genre. A difference was the overall quality of the video, for instance the lack of funding and equipment we had meant that our video lacked the professionalism that other punk rock videos have.
A similarity was the use of both narrative and band shots, which is a technique found in many other punk rock videos.
Our fifth question was whether our audience preferred the narrative or non-narrative action within our video.
3 of our audience members said that they preferred the band shots as it gave us a chance to use a range of different camera angles and movement, it also gave us the chance to use match on action. They also thought that the fact that the band were filmed in a basement went with the overall theme and music genre we had chosen.
However, one of our audience members said that they preferred the narrative because of its humour and relation the song lyrics themselves.
Our sixth question was the audience's favourite aspect of the video. One audience member said that they enjoyed the postmodern references and were able to identify with them, for example the reference to the film 'Rocky'. This meant that our postmodern references were obvious enough to be noticed without being too extravagant.
Another audience member liked the filming of the different instruments, especially the drums where it matched the music, again emphasizing the synchronizing we did.
Our seventh question was did the action match the song. All of our audience members commented on the fact that the action played out the lyrics, for example the references to myspace and the Internet as well as all the gaming references. They also commented on the fact that we have shots of the band's singer singing the lyrics along with our music, which gives the impression that he is singing the entire time, despite the fact that the song is recorded and playing over all the action.
We also received feedback for our print work. We were complimented on the use of the same photograph for two of our print images as it creates synergy between our different pieces. They also commented on one of our inserts where we have two photographs of the band that appear connected, although they are two separate images. They also liked the effect we used on this insert, having half of the insert in black and white and the other half in colour, this fits with our chosen music genre, involving dark and slightly sinister themes.
In our second insert the audience picked up on the theme, fantasy versus reality, showing our nerd realistically in his room, opposite an unnatural image portraying a fantasy world, where our main character has entered the game, this gives the impression of escapism, which was noted by our audience.
Finally they commented on the colour scheme we used, saying that it creates cohesion and makes direct links, tying our different pieces together.
The viewer also gave us some ways in which our print work could have been improved, for example if the audience had not seen our music video, then they may not be able to relate with one of our inserts, the one using our main character. Although it creates cohesion between our different media pieces, it would not be fully understood if the audience had not seen our music video.
From these results we can decipher ways in which both our video and print work can be improved as well as receiving comments that compliment our work and the effects we used.
Friday, 19 November 2010
Our final completed advert, CD cover and inserts
Finished pictures after being photo shopped.This is the CD advert we created, using a picture of the band as the main focus therefore making it clear who the band is that we are promoting. Throughout all our print work, we have a cohesive colour scheme, the two main colours being black and green/grey. We used the paintbrush tool to create the 'paint splat' effect in the corner of the advert. We used this effect to make a link with the name 'Splutter' as it gives the impression of 'spluttering' and therefore having 'splats' across the page.
This is the front cover and the back of our CD album. We used the picture of the guitar and amp, as key iconography for our music genre. We used a photo of the band on the back cover to remind the buyer that the band are the creators of the songs on the CD. The name we have chosen for the album is 'White and nerdy' which is a postmodern reference to the song of the same name by Weird Al Yankovic, well known for his songs that promote humour and comedy, much of which has influenced our video and print work, so this is a key reference to make. It is also very relevant to our project as a whole, because our main character is white, and we've portrayed him 'nerdy'. We used the paintbrush tool to create the splat effect, and made the brush much larger to create the effect along the bottom of our front cover.
This is a picture of one of the double paged inserts we made. It depicts the band playing, making direct links to the music genre once again, for example playing in a basement/cellar, with dark lighting.We put the name of the band in the top right corner, so it can easily be found, we also put some information in the bottom left corner, such as the fact that they are an unsigned band and that they record all their own songs. This makes the band seem more genuine, and the audience would be more likely to relate to them as people. One of the effects we used when making this insert was the smoke paintbrush tool, which gave the picture on the right a mysterious and powerful effect. We also made one of the pictures black and white, whereas the other is in colour, this could show two different sides of the band, the dream and the reality, which is cohesive with our second insert.
Our second insert is cohesive with our first insert, following the idea of contrasting fantasy with reality. On the left hand side of the insert we see our main character sitting in his room playing on his laptop, this would be how he is generally perceived. However on the right hand side we have depicted him as being right into the action, how he sees himself in his own 'fantasy gaming world'. The effects we used on this insert were the paint brush using the colour white to 'fade' the picture of our 'nerd' into the animation picture of 'call of duty' and I set a photo from the Internet as the background as a basis for our insert. The right hand side of our insert also has darker connotations, which we have managed to portray through the lighting we used, connotations of violence and being trapped. This makes our CD seem edgy and extreme.
Thursday, 18 November 2010
Our photos before being photoshopped
These are the photos we took as ideas for what we could use when we visit CLC and use photo shop to create our CD cover and back, 4 inserts and our advert.
We took this picture as it portrays 2 key elements of the music genre we have focused on. Two main objects that are linked directly to the punk/rock genre, they are two of the defining factors of the genre we have chosen. This is why one of our photo ideas was to portray this, so that the consumer would make the direct link with this music genre and therefore know what exactly they are buying.
We also took a photo of just the guitar, without the amp, in case we decided to just use one, and use the space on the side to put something else in, for example a photo of the band or another link to our video, such as the myspace logo.
This photo shows our main character, the 'nerd' playing on his laptop in his bedroom. If we used this picture, it would link directly to our music video, as he is the character from it. It is also a very realistic picture, and I'm sure a lot of people, especially those within our target audience would be able to identify with it and what is being portrayed.
This picture shows our main character looking at Splutter's, (our band) Myspace page, through an over the shoulder shot. By using this photo, we would be connecting the main character from our music video, the band itself and the song our music video has focused on, by showing Myspace, as this is a postmodern reference within our music video and the song lyrics.
This photo shows Splutter, on YouTube. This would make it clear who our target audience is, because the reference to YouTube is not very widely known. Showing this picture of the band also gives an indication of what music genre they are in, showing them playing in a dark basement, and the amp and guitars can also be seen, this makes direct references to the punk/rock genre, and finally the use of this picture would prove to our audience that they are just regular people, not a rich, Hollywood band, as they are playing in a basement, rather than on some extravagant stage. This would mean that our audience could relate to them and would have a lot of respect for them as they worked hard to get themselves first noticed i.e. by broadcasting themselves on YouTube.
Saturday, 13 November 2010
Timeline/history of music videos
Although dating back much further, music videos first became prominent in the 1980's when they first came into use by MTV. Before then, music videos were referred to as an 'illustrated song', 'filmed insert', 'promotional (promo) film', 'promotional clip' or 'film clip'.
Development of the music video:-
- In 1930's animation artists first made series' of sing-along cartoon shorts, inviting audience's to sing-along, 'following the bouncing ball' some of the most popular were Walt Disney's 'Silly Symphonies' and Fantasia, as well as the Warner Brother's 'Merry Melodies'
- Blues singer Bessie Smith appeared in a two-reel short film called St. Louis Blues (1929) featuring a dramatized performance of the hit song. Many other musicians appeared in short musical subjects during this time. In the 1940s, musician Louis Jordan made short films for his songs, some of which were spliced together into a feature film 'Lookout Sister'. These films were, according to music historian Donald Clarke, the "ancestors" of the music video
- Musical films were another important precursor to music video, and several well-known music videos have imitated the style of classic Hollywood musicals from the 1930s to the 1950s. One of the best-known examples is Madonna's 1985 video for "Material Girl" which was closely modelled on "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" from the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Several of Michael Jackson's videos show the influence of the dance sequences in classic Hollywood musicals, including the landmark "Thriller" and "Bad" which was influenced by the stylised dance "fights" in the film version of West Side Story.
- 1967 - 1973 Promotional clips grow in importance, many of these 'filmed inserts' were used when the band themselves were unable to perform live. Examples of some of the first groups to make such 'promotional clips' were Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones. The Kinks were the first band to make a 'plot' promo clip for their single "Dead End Street" (1966) a miniature comic movie was made. The Who also featured in many promotional clips.
- 1974-1980 Mulcahy, originally from Australia relocated to the UK and became a full time music video director, one of his biggest landmarks being The Buggles 'Video killed the radio star' as it was the first video to be shown on MTV in the 1980's
- The long running British TV show Top of the pops began showing music videos in the 1970's, although the BBC gave strict limits on what videos could be shown
- Illustrated song: In 1984 George Thomas was hired to promote the song 'The Little Lost Child'. He projected a series of still images on a screen simultaneous to live performances. This would become a popular form of entertainment known as the 'illustrated song', the first step toward a music video
- 1981-1991 music videos go mainstream. Many artists gained success through their portrayal in their music videos including Madonna and Duran Duran. During this time, music videos began to change, from simply promoting the artist to telling a story or narrative, sometimes with the artist themselves not even being present in the video. Some of these earliest videos include, Queen's Under Pressure and George Michael's Freedom 90 where he refused to appear in his video
- 1983 the most successful and influential music video was released. Michael Jackson's Thriller at nearly 14 minutes long.
Another important stage in the development of music videos was The Chart Show, introduced on Channel 4 in 1986 which consisted entirely of music videos with no presenters, instead the videos were connected through computer graphics.
In 1986 the first music video making use of special effects and animation techniques by Aarman animation was Peter Gabriel's sledgehammer, which would go on to receive 9 MTV video music awards
In 2005 was the launch of YouTube, making music videos much more Internet friendly, and making videos much more accessible and easier to view. Many artists became well known and evidently reached fame through music videos which had been viewed almost entirely online, a main example being Soulja Boy and the band OK GO receiving 15 million views for their song 'this too shall pass' on YouTube alone.
Development of the music video:-
- In 1930's animation artists first made series' of sing-along cartoon shorts, inviting audience's to sing-along, 'following the bouncing ball' some of the most popular were Walt Disney's 'Silly Symphonies' and Fantasia, as well as the Warner Brother's 'Merry Melodies'
- Blues singer Bessie Smith appeared in a two-reel short film called St. Louis Blues (1929) featuring a dramatized performance of the hit song. Many other musicians appeared in short musical subjects during this time. In the 1940s, musician Louis Jordan made short films for his songs, some of which were spliced together into a feature film 'Lookout Sister'. These films were, according to music historian Donald Clarke, the "ancestors" of the music video
- Musical films were another important precursor to music video, and several well-known music videos have imitated the style of classic Hollywood musicals from the 1930s to the 1950s. One of the best-known examples is Madonna's 1985 video for "Material Girl" which was closely modelled on "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" from the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Several of Michael Jackson's videos show the influence of the dance sequences in classic Hollywood musicals, including the landmark "Thriller" and "Bad" which was influenced by the stylised dance "fights" in the film version of West Side Story.
- 1967 - 1973 Promotional clips grow in importance, many of these 'filmed inserts' were used when the band themselves were unable to perform live. Examples of some of the first groups to make such 'promotional clips' were Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones. The Kinks were the first band to make a 'plot' promo clip for their single "Dead End Street" (1966) a miniature comic movie was made. The Who also featured in many promotional clips.
- 1974-1980 Mulcahy, originally from Australia relocated to the UK and became a full time music video director, one of his biggest landmarks being The Buggles 'Video killed the radio star' as it was the first video to be shown on MTV in the 1980's
- The long running British TV show Top of the pops began showing music videos in the 1970's, although the BBC gave strict limits on what videos could be shown
- Illustrated song: In 1984 George Thomas was hired to promote the song 'The Little Lost Child'. He projected a series of still images on a screen simultaneous to live performances. This would become a popular form of entertainment known as the 'illustrated song', the first step toward a music video
- 1981-1991 music videos go mainstream. Many artists gained success through their portrayal in their music videos including Madonna and Duran Duran. During this time, music videos began to change, from simply promoting the artist to telling a story or narrative, sometimes with the artist themselves not even being present in the video. Some of these earliest videos include, Queen's Under Pressure and George Michael's Freedom 90 where he refused to appear in his video
- 1983 the most successful and influential music video was released. Michael Jackson's Thriller at nearly 14 minutes long.
Another important stage in the development of music videos was The Chart Show, introduced on Channel 4 in 1986 which consisted entirely of music videos with no presenters, instead the videos were connected through computer graphics.
In 1986 the first music video making use of special effects and animation techniques by Aarman animation was Peter Gabriel's sledgehammer, which would go on to receive 9 MTV video music awards
In 2005 was the launch of YouTube, making music videos much more Internet friendly, and making videos much more accessible and easier to view. Many artists became well known and evidently reached fame through music videos which had been viewed almost entirely online, a main example being Soulja Boy and the band OK GO receiving 15 million views for their song 'this too shall pass' on YouTube alone.
CD cover analysis
CD cover analysis
Band - Sum 41
Album - Does this look infected?
Camera Work
- The angle is slightly lower than an eye level shot, but the character's face is not looking directly at the camera, instead he is looking off diagonally as if the character is talking to someone else not being viewed.
- The shot is a close up of the man's face, making the image appear even more frightening and disturbing, as if the person is right there in front of your eyes.
Editing
- This CD cover uses a combination of photography and animation, the man shown in the centre of the image is a photograph, having been photo shopped to portray the blood and gore more clearly, however there is a cartoon image of a woman in the bottom left corner, showing a particularly shocked face, this makes the image seems slightly more comic, as opposed to grim and frightening.
Mise en scene
- The background colour of the image is bright green, this has links to cartoon animation and also adds to the humorous effect the image may present, as it is not a natural colour, so this could relate to the picture not being a natural image.
- Other bright colours that are used to increase this particular cover's link to for example comic strips/pop art, is the yellow of the woman at the bottom of the picture which strongly resembles that of pop art, as well as the bold blue in which the name of the band is written.
- The facial expression of the man in the main image seems to be of a slight smirk, that he is amused, which gives an air of uncertainty, as to who he is looking at and what is wrong with him.
- The make up is used to make the blood and gore on his face extremely obvious, so that it is clear that this is the main image, and the title of the album links directly to the image itself.
This CD cover, slightly influenced our own cover because we also used bright colours and had a close up of our band as the main image. The photo of our band is slightly jokey, making them seem more fun, which links to this image slightly as it is also supposed to be funny in a way.
However this picture uses an actor as their main image, as does our music video and two of our inserts, as opposed to the band, making this CD cover again similar to our project.
Band - Sum 41
Album - Does this look infected?
Camera Work
- The angle is slightly lower than an eye level shot, but the character's face is not looking directly at the camera, instead he is looking off diagonally as if the character is talking to someone else not being viewed.
- The shot is a close up of the man's face, making the image appear even more frightening and disturbing, as if the person is right there in front of your eyes.
Editing
- This CD cover uses a combination of photography and animation, the man shown in the centre of the image is a photograph, having been photo shopped to portray the blood and gore more clearly, however there is a cartoon image of a woman in the bottom left corner, showing a particularly shocked face, this makes the image seems slightly more comic, as opposed to grim and frightening.
Mise en scene
- The background colour of the image is bright green, this has links to cartoon animation and also adds to the humorous effect the image may present, as it is not a natural colour, so this could relate to the picture not being a natural image.
- Other bright colours that are used to increase this particular cover's link to for example comic strips/pop art, is the yellow of the woman at the bottom of the picture which strongly resembles that of pop art, as well as the bold blue in which the name of the band is written.
- The facial expression of the man in the main image seems to be of a slight smirk, that he is amused, which gives an air of uncertainty, as to who he is looking at and what is wrong with him.
- The make up is used to make the blood and gore on his face extremely obvious, so that it is clear that this is the main image, and the title of the album links directly to the image itself.
This CD cover, slightly influenced our own cover because we also used bright colours and had a close up of our band as the main image. The photo of our band is slightly jokey, making them seem more fun, which links to this image slightly as it is also supposed to be funny in a way.
However this picture uses an actor as their main image, as does our music video and two of our inserts, as opposed to the band, making this CD cover again similar to our project.
Friday, 12 November 2010
Editing :)
These are some of the techniques we used whilst editing our project using imovie.
To begin with we uploaded all of the footage we had filmed, from our camera onto the mac. After this we cut and deleted our footage, depending on what was usable and what wasn't. We superimposed our song onto the timeline on imovie, so that the song would play alongside our footage. This way we were able to edit our footage and to sync the action with the song.
The layout of our music video would switch from , narrative to non-narrative action, which meant that we had to cut our clips and use jump shots and other transitions to move between the two forms of action.
We also changed the contrast on each of our clips, so that the lighting would appear the same in each clip, giving our overall video a more professional look.
We also used particular tools on imovie to create different effects, for example speeding up one of our clips.
We have many different shots which we filmed to match the lyrics of our song, by including as many of these clips as we can, our video has become fast paced, which gives it a high energy, which is stereotypical to our chosen music genre.
To begin with we uploaded all of the footage we had filmed, from our camera onto the mac. After this we cut and deleted our footage, depending on what was usable and what wasn't. We superimposed our song onto the timeline on imovie, so that the song would play alongside our footage. This way we were able to edit our footage and to sync the action with the song.
The layout of our music video would switch from , narrative to non-narrative action, which meant that we had to cut our clips and use jump shots and other transitions to move between the two forms of action.
We also changed the contrast on each of our clips, so that the lighting would appear the same in each clip, giving our overall video a more professional look.
We also used particular tools on imovie to create different effects, for example speeding up one of our clips.
We have many different shots which we filmed to match the lyrics of our song, by including as many of these clips as we can, our video has become fast paced, which gives it a high energy, which is stereotypical to our chosen music genre.
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
More postmodernism
As we have been filming and editing, we have found more ways to make our video postmodern and other references that we have been able to put in. Here are the other postmodern elements (aside from the ones I have already mentioned in previous posts)
When we filmed the band, one of the members was wearing a Pour Habit t-shirt, we decided to keep this in our video as it shows influence's, Splutter (our chosen band) have had, and what band's they have gained inspiration from.
A final postmodern element we have managed to put into our music video is from the film Rocky, where the main character has a particularly well known action, which is the same one that our main character does in our video.
When we filmed the band, one of the members was wearing a Pour Habit t-shirt, we decided to keep this in our video as it shows influence's, Splutter (our chosen band) have had, and what band's they have gained inspiration from.
A different postmodern element we've included in our music video is a reference to Kick Ass the film, where the teenager is seen throwing tissues into the bin, an act that we have tried to mirror in our music video. We did this because Kick Ass is a very well-known and popular film for people within our target audience, so the reference should be easily recognised.
Another postmodern reference we have included is Red Bull the energy drink, our main character drinks this whilst running and suddenly speeds up rapidly. This is also a reference to Popeye the cartoon sailor on whom spinach the vegetable had the same effect.
A final postmodern element we have managed to put into our music video is from the film Rocky, where the main character has a particularly well known action, which is the same one that our main character does in our video.
Filming all up to date
Since I wrote about the last time we filmed, we have done some more filming since then. After filming the band, we filmed the stereotypical 'nerd' for our music video. We filmed him being 'maced' to match our song lyrics, we also filmed him eating on his own, to indicate how lonesome the teenager is.
A week after, our group met up to film the 'nerd' playing on a computer game similar to 'call of duty' which is also referenced in our song lyrics, we also filmed the 'nerd' running in his PE kit, to fit in with the line from our lyrics 'how dare you call me unsporty'.
Finally, our last piece of filming was completed when we filmed the nerd in his bedroom, making a clear comparison with what he is like when out and about, and what he is like when he is at home.
Now our filming has all been completely finished, we have moved onto the editing stages, putting our different pieces of footage, and clips together with the music to create our video, as well as using different effects and techniques on imovie to improve it as much as we can along the way.
A week after, our group met up to film the 'nerd' playing on a computer game similar to 'call of duty' which is also referenced in our song lyrics, we also filmed the 'nerd' running in his PE kit, to fit in with the line from our lyrics 'how dare you call me unsporty'.
Finally, our last piece of filming was completed when we filmed the nerd in his bedroom, making a clear comparison with what he is like when out and about, and what he is like when he is at home.
Now our filming has all been completely finished, we have moved onto the editing stages, putting our different pieces of footage, and clips together with the music to create our video, as well as using different effects and techniques on imovie to improve it as much as we can along the way.
Friday, 5 November 2010
Questionnaire results
Our group has put together a pie chart for each of the questions we asked so the results can be displayed in an easily understandable way, and we can gain an overall idea of what is most popular among our target audience.
Here we gave the audience the name of the song we are using for our video and asked what the name automatically brings to their mind, this gave us an idea of what people would expect to see, and what we could do with these things.
We asked our target audience what their favourite form of advertising is for a band, so then we can incorporate it in some way to our advert for our band. The two most popular answers were posters and the Internet, so we could combine the two by putting website links on our posters if that is what our audience prefer.
This question was to establish where our audience members see most adverts for bands within our music genre, so we could make links with the setting on our advert. Since the most popular answer was magazines, we could use the names of certain magazines for example Kerrang or NME on our advert.
This question was about our target audience's favourite band within the same music genre as our band, they also chose a specific music video, so that we could find a similar theme between them all, which we could then apply to our video. The most popular video was Blink 182 all the small things and rock show, this gave us the idea to include shots of the band playing in our video to make it seem more real, and about the music and the band itself, rather than just an actor.
Our second question was about our target audience's least favourite band or music video from within our music genre. This would give us an idea of what is least popular among our target audience, and what they don't like.
This question was to determine what theme of a punk/rock/ska video is most popular or most expected.
This is to make sure that our video fits what is expected from the target audience for a video of this genre. Comedy and energy are the two most important themes according to these results, so these are two key factors that will contribute to our final project.
This question helped us with both the postmodernism we could use in our video, and also with themes we could include that would make our video more interesting and enjoyable. By asking this question it showed what films our target audience watch, and evidently what they enjoy to watch, which we can hopefully reflect in our music video.
Here we gave the audience the name of the song we are using for our video and asked what the name automatically brings to their mind, this gave us an idea of what people would expect to see, and what we could do with these things.
Now in our questionnaire we moved on from our video, to the album cover we will design. We asked what band's the audience thought had a good CD cover design, so that we could take some ideas from the albums they mention. The favourite was Sum 41, whose album covers often involve a mixture of animation and photography, they also take quite gruesome images and make them more comic.
We asked our target audience what their favourite form of advertising is for a band, so then we can incorporate it in some way to our advert for our band. The two most popular answers were posters and the Internet, so we could combine the two by putting website links on our posters if that is what our audience prefer.
This question was to establish where our audience members see most adverts for bands within our music genre, so we could make links with the setting on our advert. Since the most popular answer was magazines, we could use the names of certain magazines for example Kerrang or NME on our advert.
Thursday, 4 November 2010
Media advert analysis
Band: Them crooked VulturesCamera work
The shot used for this advert is a medium shot as it shows the character from the waist up, this makes the character seem large and imposing, as if the audience is viewing it from a distance.
It is an eye level shot, which gives the impression that it is staring right at the viewer, making the image seem more frightening. This also means that the character connects with the audience, making it seem more personal.
Editing
This advert is entirely animated, the main focus is a cartoon, which although makes it seem less real, it still provides an unsettling concept because the audience would be unsure of what it is, and what is symbolizes. This leaves much to be considered by the imagination about the band, and what they stand for, as very little information is given.
The image itself is of a human body with a vulture's head, a shocking and unfamiliar image, perhaps relating to the band also as shocking and unfamiliar. Using this kind of image would get the band noticed, and draw attention to themselves, this gives the impression that the band are not well known, so they have to take significant action to be noticed.
In the bottom right corner a reference to play.com is made, making it clear that this is where the CD can be found. This shows that the band are not extremely popular, as no other shop names are given, so to find this CD, a buyer would have to be a dedicated fan, and not just pick it up lightly.
In the bottom right corner there is also a website given for the band, so that more information can be retrieved if necessary. Again, this shows the advert providing ways for the viewer to go out of their way to find information on the band, rather than having it placed right in front of them. This could show that the band are not mainstream, they do not give a lot of information on a first glance, they expect fans to go to them, and remain loyal when they do. Having a website also indicates that there are a band that is serious about their music. That they do have a purpose, and that they are not just putting up posters that mean very little. Having a website creates an idea of professionalism.
The release date for the CD is given as a clear indicator for when the CD comes out, a key factor that all music adverts should contain, this particular advert contains only the extremely vital information needed, all other information is left out to be researched by the fans.
Mise en scene
The key background colour is blood red, again providing fearful connotations, such as danger, warning and blood. These connotations would link to the particular music genre of the band i.e. rock, as the kind of music found in this genre is powerful and portrays a strong opinion or message. This would mean that the audience would be limited to those who share the same opinions as the band.
The picture in the middle is black and white, making it stand out on the red background, providing a direct contrast between the two colour schemes. This could be a way of portraying the band as controversial, and unpredictable.
The body language of the figure in the centre of the advert is hunched over and slightly menacing, this gives a powerful message, that the band are strong minded and not to be 'messed with'. This kind of figure makes viewers think twice about the band, that they should be taken seriously and that they would not be liked by all, their image may cause controversy.
The name of the band 'them crooked vultures' seems slightly rebellious in the sense that the grammar is incorrect, but of course this does not bother them. This gives the impression that the band have more to focus on than whether their name is grammatically correct, this once again means that they expect to be taken seriously and that they have a point to prove and that they answer to no one.
This particular advert is very mysterious, as no image of the band is given at all, so a lot is left to the imagination. However, the image that is given is quite powerful and shocking, meaning that the band is one that would not be taken to lightly, and could be known to offend certain social groups perhaps, on the basis of this particular advert.
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
Media advert analysis'
Band: Madina LakeSingle: Welcome to Oblivion
Camera Work
Long shot of the band, shows them full length
Slightly low angle shot to make the band seem more empowering
The band members are all looking directly at the camera, therefore involving the audience and making them feel closer to the band.
Editing
Font includes - the band's name in simple, bold, white lettering at the top of the advert making it automatically clear what band is being advertised
A picture of the CD is shown in the bottom right corner so that the consumer would know what to look for if they want to buy this CD, the picture on the CD almost exactly matches the one on the advert, making a clear connection between the two, that there are no differences between hows they advertise and what their CD looks like.
At the very bottom of the advert is placed the text 'taken from the album Attics to Eden' this shows that the CD being advertised is not an album, but a single and if the audience owns the album they would already know the song. This makes connections between all the band's music, and it makes the listener feel more exclusive, and close to the band knowing that they may already know the song being advertised.
On the window there appears to be pictures of birds flying upwards, that continue until they reach the title. This could show peace as the birds are white, like the dove. These birds could also become a logo for the band, as they are directly beneath the name of the band on the advert, it could become their signature picture.
Mise en scene
The setting for the advert appears to be in an abandoned room in a house, this gives both an air of mystery and slight rebellion, that they are somewhere they shouldn't be
All four of the band members are dressed in both a similar style and in similar colours, showing that they are unified as a group and share many common themes.
The band positioning is with the two blond members on one side and the two with black hair on the other side, this could show two sides of the band and therefore appealing to a wider audience, those that could like only one side of the band. If slight differences are shown within the band, more people may follow the band as they want to follow their 'favourite' member.
Two of the band members are placed nearer the front of the advert with the other two behind, this leads us to think that these two are the 'main' members, i.e. the main singer or guitarist.
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
Evaluation Question 4b
How did you use media technologies in the construction stages?
During the construction stages of our project we used many different kinds of media technologies, the main two being the camera and the tripod.
The camera we used meant that we could capture footage of a high quality and with good sound quality as well. This kind of camera was very useful for getting different kinds of shots, such as a zoom for closeups and we were able to re create our own panning shots when filming to get different angles and movement to make the footage we got more lively and interesting.
As well as the handheld camera, alongside this we also used a tripod, this was helpful for the shots we wanted to get more exact, or still rather than moving. The tripod could be raised, turned or tilted depending on the angle we thought best t
o use.
o use.To get the footage from the camera onto the mac we used a fire wire which would import the footage directly from the camera onto the mac.
Once the footage was onto the mac, we then used imovie to put together and edit our project, we were able to cut and split clips we had filmed, change the lighting on the shots and put in the overall soundtrack as well as add any effects if we wanted to, this was very useful for building our project because there were many different ways of editing it and changing it to our advantage.
When constructing our print work, we used photoshop, on a mac to change and edit our photos in the best way that we could, to make our final ancillary texts. We then used a photo printer to print this work off and to place in into the CD cover.
Evaluation Question 4a
How did you use media technologies in the research and planning stages?
To use both google and YouTube I used a Mac, which is also the computer on which we will edit and complete our final practical piece.
Throughout the research and planning stages of our project we used different media 
technologies, a main example is YouTube, which I used for my different music video analysis' during the research into both music videos as a whole, and music videos from within our own chosen genre.
technologies, a main example is YouTube, which I used for my different music video analysis' during the research into both music videos as a whole, and music videos from within our own chosen genre.I also used google images to find screen shots from music videos to help with my analysis' to give clear examples alongside the points I made about the camerawork, editing, 
mise en scene and sound.
mise en scene and sound.To use both google and YouTube I used a Mac, which is also the computer on which we will edit and complete our final practical piece.
Evaluation question 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our media product has taken the music genre of punk/rock/ska and made it slightly comic. This challenges the norm for videos of this genre that normally connote more serious or powerful messages.
Using postmodernism within our project makes it more modern and creates links to other forms of media, for example the Internet and social networking sites. This can be seen as challenging forms, because it makes the song less universal, and therefore narrowing the band's target audience to a specific kind of audience. Such as teenagers and young adults i.e. people that would understand the references made within the song we have chosen.
Much of the music from the punk/rock genre involves controversial, sometimes shockingly opinionated lyrics. The song we have chosen can be viewed as quite shocking, but in a less frightening way, for example, one of the lyrics talks about being maced. This is often linked to a form of punishment or self defence which is a strange, but dramatic concept, however it is put in a more humorous light, as when put into context, it is about talking to a girl and being rejected.
The characters involved in the narrative of our music video are very stereotypical. For example, the 'unpopular nerd' who cannot impress the girl he likes, the audience feels for this character and at some point or another, will be able to relate to him and understand how he feels. He is portrayed as a loner, he just isn't the most popular guy around and so he feels the need to hide behind the Internet to show himself as completely different to how he really is. This can probably be understood by nearly all teenagers of this time, as they have most likely felt the same way as the guy in video at some point in their lives. This therefore is using forms and conventions of media products because it is such a well known stereotype.
This kind of narrative conforms with the conventions used in for example romantic comedies, however the video does not have the stereotypical 'happily ever after' ending. It can be seen to portray reality as it is, not always with a happy ending, instead showing the protagonist's life for what it is, and making it comic, therefore something viewers can laugh at, because it has some form of truth within it. There is no equilibrium, disequilibrium, equilibrium as in most films and sometimes music videos, instead it just shows a clipping from the life of a teenager in a more realistic way than other media products may portray. So this is challenging the forms from other media products, changing it from the stereotypical layout of a 'happy ending' to something more believable.
Overall, our media product contains some challenges to the conventions of other media products, such as the postmodern factors, yet it also has some stereotypical elements to it that make it much more universal.
Our media product has taken the music genre of punk/rock/ska and made it slightly comic. This challenges the norm for videos of this genre that normally connote more serious or powerful messages.
Using postmodernism within our project makes it more modern and creates links to other forms of media, for example the Internet and social networking sites. This can be seen as challenging forms, because it makes the song less universal, and therefore narrowing the band's target audience to a specific kind of audience. Such as teenagers and young adults i.e. people that would understand the references made within the song we have chosen.
Much of the music from the punk/rock genre involves controversial, sometimes shockingly opinionated lyrics. The song we have chosen can be viewed as quite shocking, but in a less frightening way, for example, one of the lyrics talks about being maced. This is often linked to a form of punishment or self defence which is a strange, but dramatic concept, however it is put in a more humorous light, as when put into context, it is about talking to a girl and being rejected.
The characters involved in the narrative of our music video are very stereotypical. For example, the 'unpopular nerd' who cannot impress the girl he likes, the audience feels for this character and at some point or another, will be able to relate to him and understand how he feels. He is portrayed as a loner, he just isn't the most popular guy around and so he feels the need to hide behind the Internet to show himself as completely different to how he really is. This can probably be understood by nearly all teenagers of this time, as they have most likely felt the same way as the guy in video at some point in their lives. This therefore is using forms and conventions of media products because it is such a well known stereotype.
This kind of narrative conforms with the conventions used in for example romantic comedies, however the video does not have the stereotypical 'happily ever after' ending. It can be seen to portray reality as it is, not always with a happy ending, instead showing the protagonist's life for what it is, and making it comic, therefore something viewers can laugh at, because it has some form of truth within it. There is no equilibrium, disequilibrium, equilibrium as in most films and sometimes music videos, instead it just shows a clipping from the life of a teenager in a more realistic way than other media products may portray. So this is challenging the forms from other media products, changing it from the stereotypical layout of a 'happy ending' to something more believable.
Overall, our media product contains some challenges to the conventions of other media products, such as the postmodern factors, yet it also has some stereotypical elements to it that make it much more universal.
Monday, 1 November 2010
Music video analysis
I have decided to analyse one more video from the genre that our project is focusing on, so that I can get a different idea of the ways in which this music genre is portrayed in videos.
Band - Linkin Park
Song - Shadow of the day
Camera work
Zooms in on a man lying on a bed, then an extreme close up on the man's eyes, showing intensity and drama.
Close up on a picture of a man holding a heavy weight and struggling, makes suggestive link to how the man we are viewing is feeling
Medium to close up on man's face as he watches the news, seems unfazed, like he is viewing something that he's seen before
Medium shots of police and fires outside in the streets, heightens fear and impact of the video and song
All shots are eye level shots, as if we are viewing everything from a human perspective, makes it more personal
Lots of zooms are used, often fast to draw attention to something very quickly, makes it shocking
Jagged movement when showing men fighting, as if the viewer is in the fight too
Constant movement once outside in the street, contrasts with the movement inside the house, links to a change in atmosphere, being outside puts you on edge and so the camera is jumpy as opposed to feeling safe in your own home, and therefore slower camerawork
Dolly shot, moves along as the man walks and the police march, gets the audience involved
Editing
Lots of jump cuts/shots to increase discomfort and tension and to emphasize what is happening, for example the fights breaking out in the streets
Alarm clock - 11:55 almost midnight links to the countdown at new year, something will happen in 5 minutes, invokes tension and drama
Props included like guns - iconography, police carrying guns, batons and shields, creates realism and it seems gritty and urban
The facial expression of the protagonist is neutral, not shocked by any of the action he views, this makes the video more frightening that this kind of behaviour is expected and not suprising. The viewer is forced to think about the serious messages being portrayed
Sound
Band - Linkin Park
Song - Shadow of the day
Camera work
Zooms in on a man lying on a bed, then an extreme close up on the man's eyes, showing intensity and drama.
Close up on a picture of a man holding a heavy weight and struggling, makes suggestive link to how the man we are viewing is feeling
Medium to close up on man's face as he watches the news, seems unfazed, like he is viewing something that he's seen before
Medium shots of police and fires outside in the streets, heightens fear and impact of the video and song
All shots are eye level shots, as if we are viewing everything from a human perspective, makes it more personal
Lots of zooms are used, often fast to draw attention to something very quickly, makes it shocking
Jagged movement when showing men fighting, as if the viewer is in the fight too
Constant movement once outside in the street, contrasts with the movement inside the house, links to a change in atmosphere, being outside puts you on edge and so the camera is jumpy as opposed to feeling safe in your own home, and therefore slower camerawork
Dolly shot, moves along as the man walks and the police march, gets the audience involved
Editing
Lots of jump cuts/shots to increase discomfort and tension and to emphasize what is happening, for example the fights breaking out in the streets
Continuity editing to show that all of this action is happening continuously. Shows a progression of events and creates the impression of a build up of tension to a dramatic point in the narrative.
Expansion of time when the man is getting ready, creates a build up of expectation, waiting for something to happen, also makes it seem normal and everyday
Mise en scene
No bright colours, mainly black used i.e. what the people are wearing, and the dullness of the sky, black guns and bullets. Makes the colour of the fire stand out more, it seems powerful and bold
Urban setting, out in the streets, loud - shouting, cars, shops, police.Alarm clock - 11:55 almost midnight links to the countdown at new year, something will happen in 5 minutes, invokes tension and drama
Props included like guns - iconography, police carrying guns, batons and shields, creates realism and it seems gritty and urban
The facial expression of the protagonist is neutral, not shocked by any of the action he views, this makes the video more frightening that this kind of behaviour is expected and not suprising. The viewer is forced to think about the serious messages being portrayed
Sound
Diagetic sound and ambient sound can be heard as well as the music, for example shouting, gunshots and explosions, makes the video seem realistic, like the viewer is actually there.
Synchronous sounds - the man sings in time with the music in parts, and other diagetic sound is synchronous with the action.
This particular video, although within the same genre as our music video, did not heavily influence our video in any way as it is much more serious and has a clear moral message to put across. Whereas our video focuses on the humour that can be found in another person/characters life, but this video has a strong message and is meant to be taken seriously and to heart. We tried to make our video lighter, than this one, so it does not bear a lot of influence in terms of the making of our video, however by analysing it, it shows how other songs and music videos of this same genre can be portrayed in different ways.
CD cover/advert first ideas/sketches
These are our first ideas for our CD cover and adverts. My first idea was to create a facebook page for Splutter, this would link to the main song that our video is focusing on, referring to the Internet and it would also make it clear who the band are. We would give them a profile picture and like on a real facebook page we would include interests and likes which would be that of the band as well as the lyrics involved in our song. The idea of using facebook came from the postmodern reference within the song lyricsthemselves.
My second idea was a picture of a computer screen showing a race track to coincide with one line of the lyrics from our chosen song, 'how dare you call me unsporty' this would play on from the humour displayed in the song itself because we would also be showing that the only sport our main character is involved in is on the computer.
However, if the buyer has not watched our music video they may not make this link, and therefore misunderstand the meaning behind it.
This sketch is similar to the previous one, as it depicts a computer screen, but instead on it is a guitar. This links to the music genre that we have chosen, punk-rock, and as well as this it is also cohesive with the song we have chosen, Internet, as in our music video, the Internet is key.
My third sketch idea for our project was a mirror scene showing the two different sides of our main character, how he sees himself and how others see him. On the one side would be a 'nerdy' looking guy, looking particularly weedy and pathetic, however on the other side would be a gamer who looks much more intimidating and powerful which is how the gamer sees himself. This makes a key comparison between fantasy and reality, a theme that we also use within our music video.
This sketch depicts a bus driving down a road and skidding through the mud, leaving the word 'Splutter' readable in the mud. This links to our video as it makes our band seem urban, as it is on a street setting. The use of a bus makes the band seem younger, i.e. student age as they do not have a car of their own, linking to perhaps a younger audience. Also the band's name links to the word 'Spluttering' which can coincide with the mud on the floor as well as the exhaust of the bus.
Our final sketch idea was of a trumpet with the word 'Splutter' coming out of it in the form of musical notes. This links to our song as it is not stereotypical to the music genre of punk-rock through the instruments it uses, it mixes in elements from other genres as well. However, by showing a picture of a trumpet it may give the impression that a trumpet or similar instrument is featured in our chosen song, which it isn't, so this idea was not chosen for the reason that it may be portrayed differently to how we would have liked it to be perceived.
Wednesday, 20 October 2010
We begin filming :)
Our group went to a band practice of Splutter - the band we have chosen, to
get some footage of where they practise. The clips we got show the band as urban, i.e. practising in a basement/cellar, the lighting was quite dark which links to the music genre being like rock/indie.
get some footage of where they practise. The clips we got show the band as urban, i.e. practising in a basement/cellar, the lighting was quite dark which links to the music genre being like rock/indie. 
We took some still pictures whilst we were filming to show what the setting was like, and to give an impression of the band itself.
The footage we filmed will be put in our music video, in between the narrative action we are also going to film, so it will jump between the telling of a story, to showing the actual band. This gives the impression that they are singing the song about an actual person, and we are showing images of his life, matching with the lyrics.
Sunday, 10 October 2010
Postmodernism Ideas
Postmodernism is to make reference to other elements of media within our media project, these can be from films or other music videos, games and more.
Our video is going to have some postmodern aspects to it, our main features of postmodernism, that we will use are references to social networking sites for example 'Myspace' 'facebook' and 'twitter'
The lyrics also make a reference to the game 'call of duty'
We are hoping that through these references being made in the song lyrics, the target audience will know the references being made and understand the links without us needing to make them too obvious.
Our video is going to have some postmodern aspects to it, our main features of postmodernism, that we will use are references to social networking sites for example 'Myspace' 'facebook' and 'twitter'
The lyrics also make a reference to the game 'call of duty'
We are hoping that through these references being made in the song lyrics, the target audience will know the references being made and understand the links without us needing to make them too obvious.
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