Henry's Evaluation

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

Our media product uses, developes and challenges the forms and conventions of music video - specifically those of the indie genre. Below evidences the way in which we do this in our music video, along with an example of this being done by a current artist or band in the music industry.

Here are examples of conventions being used:


 This image shows our 'use' of the convention of a panning shot during a performance piece within our music video. This gives something 'extra' to fans as these series of shots allows them to see the band performing without paying to go and see them in concert. This also adds to the repeatability factor of the video, meaning increased potential exposure to audiences - which in turn could enhance sales of gig tickets, albums, singles downloads and merchandise. Aesthetically, it adds much needed movement to a series of fairly stationary shots - this will make the piece flow better and therefore more interesting to watch for the audience. This shot incorporates elements of mise- en-scene like lighting. For instance the lighting of this performance scene (low key - with three-point lighting) creates the feel that the whole music video has culminated to this point, with a 'whole band' performance The low key illustrates one of the two 'personalities' of the band: (performance) hard working, heavy commitment to their music. It allows a more specific look at their clothing - meaning the audience can understand the artist's preferences/personality in greater depth (in order to mimic their style). I believe this shot represents the band as equals, giving moderate coverage to each of band member's roles. It also appreciates the band members as talented individuals - showing the intricate skills needed to play their instruments or the passion and stage presence to sing. The video on the right is taken from Paramore's "Crushcrushcrush" - showing the panning used in the same sort of context. This allows the audience (in both videos) to take in all band members and provide some perspective (as they see them within the location of the video) This links to Richard Dyer's "Star" Theory that  audiences are interested in the values of the artist, therefore enhancing their star quality. Hopefully, this would create an audience attachment to the artist(s) shown in our video, therefore they would be interested in (or even purchase) further work from them. This would help the audience to sustain this interest and mean higher profits for the band and record company (as well as everyone else involved in the production of the album) such as: 
 

In Paramore's video, they have enhanced the lighting to create an epic and bold feel to the video. All band members are clearly visible; this allows the audience to appreciate the ability of individuals as musicians, just as we did.

 

These images of "Paramore" further illustrate my point. They have realised the USP of a female vocalist, giving the band added sex appeal also. In each of the shots she stands in the middle - taking the direct focus of the audience. She is very interactive with her poses (leaning forward with a'critical' look in her eye in the first image and her bewildered facial expression and open pose in the second)

The image (on the right of the image from our video) is One Night Only's "Just for tonight" which depicts the band together as a unit - this convention has been challenged in our video. This represents the togetherness and cameraderie that can be had in a band, this also interests the audience as it shows the lifestyle (and effects of it) that so many people wish for.

These images show how we've challenged another convention. The shot from our video is one of the first in the performance sequence. The lighting and hue in this section 'challenge' the conventions shown here in Paramore's "Brick By Boring Brick". In this particular video, it contains artificial lighting which puts the artist in an enhanced look, with an additional coloured effect. However, we have used low key lighting using the principles of three point lighting to help establish our own lighting form:

In the scene shown above we have also made use of a silhouetted effect so it is though the lead singer is 'coming out the shadows'. Her being 'revealed' to the audience, builds a sense of anticipation, she is the 'final piece of the puzzle' as the band seem to have reunited in order to perform, as their individual efforts have been rewarded. I believe this technique is effective because it is one of the only scenes within the video which is presented as darker, most the other scenes use natural lighting. The natural lighting connotes that the band is simple, natural (i.e. their image and the fact their music is not layered with effects) this image is strengthened when combined with the elements of natural environment within our video. Due to the rarity of this low key lighting, it makes the performance more powerful and again helps the video build to a 'big' finish - giving the fans something extra. This lighting also helps to draw attention away from the clothing of the band members, meaning the audience can appreciate the performance aspect of the video more. Although their are differences in the lighting effects of our video and Paramore's, I believe we have use these effects for similar reasons. It centres around the representation of the female leads. In Paramore's video, the focus is purely on the lead singer because the lighting enhances her features - this is highlighting that having a female lead singer is something to be celebrated. In our's, the lead singer's introduction to the scene is delayed (and then the lights come up) again to focus attention on her. After this though, there is a fairly even coverage of all the other band members, allowing the audience to view the band as a unit. I believe both videos try hard to market the fact that the groups are led by a female as it is unusual within indie genre and the music industry as a whole.

However, I do believe some variation in terms of genre can be seen as a good thing because the audience is already starting to notice a possible crossover between genres. This is good for the band as it means (in a music industry with so much variation in genre) that there is scope to change the genre focus of their music, maintaining their current fan base but also targeting a new one with different preferences and interests. This may help the growth of the band and the band's music as they may be able to move in a different direction musically. A change in musical focus may also help the longevity of the band because of the heavy competition for the interest of audiences and therefore sales within the market.

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

This video demonstrates the different technologies I used in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages.


Key technologies not mentioned in the video above was the MP3 unsigned website. This helped to conduct a thorough search when looking for a copyright-free track. We could narrow our search by typing in our genre "indie". After we received permission to use "The Riot Tapes" song we kept in touch with them, this was important as they could give us further audience feedback on the product we had created and the use of any of their other songs (titles and lyrics) for our digipack.


What have you learned from your audience feedback?
Here is a video containing our music video with annotations of audience feedback comments wherever it is relevant:

 

HAPPY This screenshot shows how we 'used' the convention of a close up within our music video. This is not just a convention of indie music videos but music videos in general, it is usually frequently combined with a long shot. This was done in our video to create emphasis on the artist, location and emotion. This allows the audience to take in the facial expressions (the artist's emotions) and the style of the band and also connect with the band members. The location is also important as it helps to create associations of that artist, for example our artist is walking through the street (a natural environment) so this would have connotations of freedom, independence and a strong personality. The shot on the right is taken from Coldplay's "Fix You", it illustrates the journey the lead singer (Chris Martin) takes on his own - which was used by our band. The walking starts slowly, to parallel the pace of the music and then both the walking and the music speed up and culminate in a band performance. This gives the sense that something  is building throughout the video, which is something we wanted to recreate . This journey can be shared with the audience as they walk. This allows the audience to build a 'relationship' with the artist, this adheres to Horton and Wohl's parasocial theory.

Here is an example of conventions being developed:

The image on the left (taken from our video) combined with the image on the right  shows how we have 'developed' the convention of mise-en-scene within our video. It relates to how we have altered the arrangement of the performer and the props in the scene for the production of our music video.  The image on the right is taken from Take That's "Rule The World" - this inspired our scene with our lead singer in the recording studio. It depicts all four members in four separate booths singing and using musical equipment. We have developed this further as a convention because we have our lead singer on her own as opposed to the whole of the band, this means there is further focus on her.

We have made this sequence realistic by including props such as the mic stand and headphones which would be usually be present in a recording studio session. This allows the audience to accept the sequence as a part of the whole music video. This also represents some of John Stewart theory that a music video allows more access to a performer, this recording studio sequence demostrates an aspirational lifestyle for the audience to hope for.

This 'CCTV' shot on the left from our video has been inspired by the video for Arctic Monkeys' "A view from the afternoon". This shot shows development of the convention (of indie music) of black and white hue (desaturation) from Arctic Monkeys video to ours. We have still used the black and white hue and have chosen an empty location to film shots of our band members but we have made the shot more voyeuristic by the deliberate addition of text (such as a date, time and camera number) to create a realistic CCTV. Voyeurism is a theory of Sigmund Freud, he says that a viewer will gain plessure from viewing someone who is unaware of it, this is furthered by Andrew Goodwin who says voyeurism is a common theme in music videos. We have also altered the graininess so there is an obvious contrast between this shot and the ones featuring the lead vocalist, this widens the two separate narratives - therefore enhancing the moment when the band eventually come together to perform. This moment will provide the audience with more of satisfying feeling as the video builds to a climatic finish showing some of their performance prowess. Our use of these effects will excite the audience as it is a unusual break from the normality of the rest of the video. It also links to the clothing of the band members (i.e. the waistcoat, shoes) and the radios throughout the video as it helps to maintain the vintage feel. This is something that is important to incorporate (for our audience) because this vintage feel connects us heavily with the indie genre, therefore enhancing the band's reputation. It also means they will be more respected in this particular genre not just by our target audience, but by other record labels, other people who appreciate different music (because we are seen sticking to the main conventions of our genre) and other artists (this could give the band further oppurtunities to grow within the industry through collaborations with more well known artists - possibly resulting in a different demographic being drawn to this band's work).

Here is an example of conventions being challenged:



This image shows how we came to 'challenge' the convention of a band being close together and 'tight-knit' in part of our video. Usually, a band is united to give the impression of solidarity to their fans, but in these scenes the lead singer has separated herself from the rest of group. This though, does interest the audience because the narrative then takes them on a journey - with the lead singer going off on her own. Further on in the video helps to show her frustrations, this means there is an interesting conflict between members of the band - which needs to be solved. Although, after this shot we hint that really, things are okay within the band - showing a care-free, playful side to the band aswell. This gives the audience some reassurance that the band has longevity. This also indicates that the band (particularly the lead singer) is very independent, drawing further attention to the fact that this band is 'fronted' by a female vocalist - which is rare for current artists within the indie genre. This indication is clearly shown (especially in this image) with the two genders divided. It should be seen as a unique selling point for the band and may help to raise their profile within the market. This is extremely positive for the artist as the media would be sure to exploit this - which can only help their boost sales, reputation (through further interviews on "Q" TV and in the magazine perhaps) and fan base. 

The majority of our audience feedback was positive; for instance people had commented that they appreciated the editing techniques and that it fit well with the indie genre through aspects of mise en scene such as costume.
Many felt the opening sequence of our music video was effective as it successfully introduced the first narrative. They also felt the lip syncing from our lead singer was convincing, making the band even more believable as an established artist.
It was said by our audience that a good variety of shots were used. The audience also appreciated the interesting use of lighting and colour (especially the CCTV effect used in one performance scene), and often commented that they were pleased with our awareness of possible continuity issues such as the date and time of the security camera. 

Here shows the 'CCTV' shot which appealed to our target
audience

This bodes well for the future success of this band's work because it is evident that the interest of the viewers is there. Our use of setting and costume was also hailed as good because once again in the viewers minds it placed the band well within the indie genre.

An important part of music videos is how lyrics are represented. Many of our audience liked our illustration of the lyrics. 

Some criticisms were also made of our video, saying in particular parts the playing of the instruments was not in time with the track and scenes were misunderstood. Viewers said this gave a disjointed feel to the video and that certain sections didn't seem convincing as a real band performance. There was also a little confusion as to the genre represented in the video when it got to the collective performance scene. Some felt this section would be better suited if shown in a rock video - not an indie one. 

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

This is a video of our group discussing how effective our music video is in combination with our magazine article and digipack. 
During this discussion, neither one of us mentioned the importance of convergence between the three texts. This meaning that, all forms of technology (on different platforms) come together to present a more powerful overall image to our consumers when marketing our product. This allows consumers to access our products on multimedia platforms so if they cannot gain access to our video through music channels like "Q", they may be exposed to our magazine advert or digipack within shops. Marketing it online is also important in a growing digital age, for instance advertising it through viral advert or youtube. This helped us to promote our band further and potentially mean higher sales of the album and more revenue for the band and record company.

Grace's Evaluation

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

Below is a voice clip introducing the answer.

Using forms and conventions is all about taking a technique and reusing it in another video. It is normally used to make the video conform to a particular genre.

In our music video we used an idea of panning across the band which was taken from Paramore – crushcrushcrush. This enabled us to show all the band members performing with added interest for the audience. The clips below show the section of our video and the Paramore video which used the panning technique. I have slowed these down and removed the sound to allow the technique to be viewed easily.

Below is an explanation of how we used the technique and why.

We have used this technique in the performance scene as it worked best here. It was used to show the band as a group as is aesthetically pleasing for the fans to look at because it adds movement into a series of jump cuts and increases the shot length. It also adds to the repeatability factor because fans can watch the artists perform without having to pay to see them live in concert. This shot enhanced what there was of the mise-en-scene because of the three point lighting used. It enabled us to light up the scene and emphasise certain factors like the costume and the instruments and draws the attention of the fans away from where they are performing to the artists themselves and their instruments. This is similar to the Paramore image where the enhanced lighting allows for the artists to be seen but the mise-en-scene around the artists is relatively bare causing focus of the audience on the artists themselves.

This shot represents the band as a whole and also brings together the split in gender between male and female performers. Like the Paramore image it gives the audience the opportunity to see the band members' roles, as well as see them as a group and also gives them the opportunity to view the members as individuals. This creates ‘star power’ (Richard Dyer) and also a star image which helps the audience to feel more close to the artist because viewing them as individuals creates a connection and relationship between the fans and the artists.

This shot also breaks up the narrative of what’s going on outside of the performance which adds interest for the audience, as well as being a narrative in itself. This is useful to have in a music video as it prevents the audiences from getting bored and also again adds to the repeatability factor because it generally requires them to watch it more than once to gain an understanding of what happens in each narrative.

We have also used the idea in our narrative of the lead singer being alone much of the time. We decided to use this because it created a base narrative for the video. We took some of the shot ideas from Coldplay – Fix You, like the ones below. These images both show the lead singer walking along in a medium close-up shot singing to the camera.

This shot links well with John Stewart’s Theory. It demonstrates his theory because usually fans would not be able to be as close to the performer and also this is during part of the narrative and so helps the fans to feel as though they are part of the construction of the video and close to the artist. These two images both contain a familiar environment of the artist being alone in a quite location where there is not much going on. The alone feeling is then put across to the audience, because they are connecting with the artist, through the setting which in both images is similar.

In our video the image helps to represent the female gender and contrasts many videos in the indie genre of male leads. It also helps to build on the mise-en-scene of the indie genre and using a close up to do so, displays to the fans what they may want to ‘copy’ and build on to gain the indie style and dress. Although Paramore is not classed in the indie genre they use many traits of the indie genre for example costume and the images (left and right) shows the types of costumes we took our inspiration from, especially focusing on the lead singer.

The shot from our video  is aesthetically pleasing to watch as it flows with the music and for the male audience, a medium close up brings them closer to the artist, creating an appealing image for them.

Within our narrative this image was a way of us showing the split between the band and this reflects the Coldplay image because the lead singer (above image) is on his own singing until much nearer the end of the video when he joins the rest of the artists in a performance with a live audience which is similar to our video where they perform together.

In our music video we developed the idea of the artists being watched by a CCTV camera. This was decided upon because it brings in the feeling of voyeurism (the characters/artists are unaware they are being watched).We have tried to incoporate theorist Andrew Goodwin's theory. It is important to music videos because in any video it creates a feeling for the fans that they are experiencing something that they would experience anywhere else. This is therefore a way of attracting fans to buy the products made by the artists. One of our main inspirations for this technique was from the video by the Arctic Monkeys – A View From the Afternoon. In this music video there is the use of an extreme long shot in monochrome of the artist performing alone on in an empty area, like a car park. We built on this by not focusing so much on the type of shot but the use of monochrome and voyeurism to create the CCTV image.

This image is an example of a still taken
from real CCTV footage and shows what
we tried to mimic in terms of the date and
time displayed.



We used this image because it gives the fans the ‘thrill’ of knowing that the footage they are watching is ‘unseen’ and that they are watching the band when they are unaware. It also adds to the exclusivity and repeatability factors of the video which again attracts the fans and numerous viewings and also makes it different from other videos by the same artist or a different artist. The text on the image was deliberate to ensure that the footage looked like it had been filmed by a CCTV camera (image (right) shows a still taken from real CCTV footage).

We also used this effect because it linked in well with the location. This footage was filmed at a skate park where there are likely to be CCTV cameras to watch for vandalism. This is again similar to the image that the Arctic Monkeys created because again this is a location that would probably contain some sort of CCTV camera. It also links in with portraying a message that it is an edgy location and crime is likely and therefore there is use of CCTV to watch the area.

The following video shows the CCTV sequences used within our video. I have removed the narrative that goes in between and slowed the clips down.

Below is explanation of why we used this technique.

This image was a way of us introducing the band within a narrative to the audience. Although this is different from the Arctic Monkeys image where they are introducing the location, we are using a similar principle to introduce the artists. It also helped to create the split in the band because the lead singer is introduced followed by the rest of the artists across two different locations. This creates interesting viewing for the audience as they are unsure of where the singer is and have to continue to watch to find out more about her, as they have only seen her briefly.

These videos link in with the representation of gender in that both the drummers are male artists. In our music video the lead singer is a woman, however the rest of the band are male and therefore it is male dominated as is the Arctic Monkey video as there is the one male performer. This is a general convention of the indie genre, however there are still the occasional female leads. This video is still aimed at the same fan base as other indie music videos with male leads. This is because it fits with the genre and so those who are indie fans are going to view it in the same light as any other indie video. It could appeal more to female indie fans due to the representation of the female gender and in a way proving that females can do what the males can do.

Also in our music video we developed the idea of using a recording studio for the lead singer. This was used as a way of inter-dispersing the narrative as theorist Steve Archer suggests. It also allowed us to increase the repeatability factor as viewers have to watch the video more than once to pick up on the narrative. It gave us one way of using a range of camera angles to interest the audience, in particular allowing us to incorporate Andrew Goodwin’s theory  because these are shots that allow the audience to connect with the artists. We were inspired to use this technique by Take That – Rule the World as this music video is solely based in a recording studio. We built on this by taking the idea and developing it to include just the lead singer as this was a focus in our music video.

Again this image gives the fans something that they may not otherwise see. It gives exclusivity and this is what makes the fans feel ‘special’ and like the Take That shot, the fans are being able to experience the making of a music video.

The image increases the representation of the female gender within our music video as she is the lead, however contrasts with Take That as they are an all male band. The focus was to make the lead stand out from the rest of the band and also show the divide within the story and so we developed Take That’s idea by using the recording booth image.



Sound boards from our video

This image also enabled us to make use of sound boards, to create the mise-en-scene of a recording studio. This reflects Take That’s video as their whole video is set in a recording studio and includes all those involved in the production as well as the instrument players and equipment.


Sound boards in recording studio of Take That's Rule the World











As well as interspersing the narrative it became a narrative in its own right in terms of her recording the lyrics for the track. This again has similarities to the Take That video as their narrative is all about recording the song and music for the new single. Differences in our video are that we have incorporated narrative outside of the recording studio and created a story for the band members.

Challenging forms and conventions is all about subverting what has been previously used. It is about going against an idea that has already been used and creating a new idea for that genre to convey a message or meaning.
 

Challenged Conventions on Prezi

These images below are the ones shown in the prezi and below these images are links to the videos the technique was taken from.

Just for Tonight by One Night Only

Paramore – Brick by Boring Brick

Overall we have used, developed and challenged conventions of both music videos in general and conventions of the indie genre throughout our video. Much of our video uses and develops conventions, however as can be seen above we have challenged some conventions. The examples given above are just a few of the techniques used throughout our video.

What have you learned from your Audience Feedback?



Below is our music video but it contains annotations wherever necessary on feedback given by our audiences. Accompanying this is some summaries of what I have learnt from this feedback.

I have noticed that improvements could be made to make the product better. However there has also been lots of positive feedback including one comment that said 'it looked similar to a real music video'. This is positive feedback as it shows that our video could be genuine. We have had some feedback about the video that people think it is not in the indie genre but people may perceive music in different genres to us as we have studied genres in detail. At the same time slight genre variation is good because the style of music can help to attract new fans from different genres.

There were many mentions of a good variety of shots used and this shows that we can hold an audience and make the video interesting to watch. Looking at the CCTV shots used, the time change and camera number change have been observed which shows that we have kept continuity. One part that was liked by many members of the audience was the beat of the music in relation to the car driving. It was mentioned that the music at this point was almost like driving music and so fitted the image of the car and the cuts.

In response to the question asked 'Would you buy this band work?' people said that it was catchy, they liked the locations used in the video and that overall it looked good and that they would buy the work. This shows that the video to some was pleasing to watch and also that it must be believable.

Image demonstrating split screen

Some negative feedback in response to this question was that they didn't like the genre, it wasn't their type of music and that there was too much going on in the video. This relates to a response from another question that the viewer did not understand the narrative. This could be because the links between the locations and stories were not clear enough. I think that in our video there probably was a bit too much going on and that possibly to split screen added confusion and muddled up the narratives. However, with a lot going on means that the audience is required to watch the video several times to gain an understanding of the different narratives and therefore increases the repeatability factor of the video.

Many people thought that the video fitted well with the indie genre due to the costume, group scenes, the camera focusing on the instruments and the setting used. We carried out a lot of research before coming to the conclusions of what to use and therefore we can see that we have got the indie genre correct.

We tried to use facebook to gain some audience feedback but unfortunately it did not really get used. However here is two links: 1) to the feedback of the final video and 2) to the feedback of our first rough cut.



This image is of our digipack with the errors which were a
problem circled in red.

In reference to audience feedback on the digipack there has been few things pointed out that have now been improved. On the front cover it says 'Out of the Hat' and on the back cover it says 'Out of a Hat.' Also on the first double page it has been pointed out that the words of the lyrics ran over into the other page. We have had overall comments that altogether the digipack looks professional, attractive and quirky and many people have said that they would certainly buy this product if they saw it.

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

Below is a video that discusses the media technologies that I used with demonstration. Accompanying this is a short amount of text which includes things that did not get mentioned in the video.

I have also taken advantage of the use of synergy. I used the website 4shared to store an audio track online which then allowed me to embed it into the blog.

The mac laptop itself was an important piece of media technology because it was transportable and so enabled us to take it on location when filming and allowed us to check our filming on it onsite to ensure that the footage already captured was suitable. It also allowed us to access the features of a Mac laptop outside of school and to continue research and planning. It also allowed us to make voice recordings which were then posted to the blog as said above.

Prezi, the online presentation maker was also important when doing research as it allowed me to collate all my research and bring it together in one.

I also used iTunes to convert audio files from wma to acc or mp3 which enabled us to then upload these files as audio to 4shared - as 4shared would not accept the files in wma format.

My Blackberry phone was an important piece of media technology both for me and for us as a group. We were able to check the Internet when out filming which was a benefit for checking things such as the weather. It also allowed us to take photos of locations and upload them straight away. I was also able to tweet on twitter using the text facility to update what I had been doing to keep a track record. As well as this I was able to access my emails and therefore was able to contact the original artists of the track wherever I was and did not need a computer to do this.

Blackberry

Facebook application on blackberry

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

Below is a voice recording that discusses the combination of the texts. With the speech there are images displayed to demonstrate what is being said. Underneath this video is our final digipack and magazine advert.

From audience feedback I have had many comments that all three texts look professional and if it was seen in a shop there is no doubt it would be bought because of it's quirkiness and also because it looks different and innovative. This proves that the combination must be effective as it is attracting in our target demographics who are interested in the music.

Our products use through the line advertising to ensure an effective combination of all three texts. It incorporates both above the line advertising and below the line advertising (through the line advertising).

Jonny's Evaluation

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

Before the planning and creation of our media texts we did research into the conventions of the music industry. This included the general and fundamental forms and conventions of music videos but also those specific to our own genre. This new found knowledge we incorporated in our music video and ancillary tasks.

A good place to start is with a couple of the conventions that we used, conformed to, not stretching or subverting the ideal in anyway. One such instance is the use of a panning/crabbing shot, capturing the band while they are performing. This idea was originally inspired by the Paramore video – Crushcrushcrush. (Click here to view Paramore-Crushcrushcrush. View between time stamps 01:13 to 01:17 for the crabbing/panning effect.)

On the left, a still from our crabbing sequence.
On the right, the start of Paramore's crabbing sequence

This is relatively common in many videos and films. However, everything that is included in the shot is of interest in relation to conventions and audience appeal. The movement of the camera is critical to the effect. In both our text and the Paramore video there are many close ups and stationary shots where the camera is not moving. To compensate for the lack of movement there are multiple cuts in a very short space of time to give the video pace. When you use a panning or crabbing shot you slow down that very sudden changing of image. Instead you have a constant image which takes in a lot more: an almost panoramic effect. In our video what that does is give the audience the change to absorb what is going on in the scene: the band performing in their own space. As it is, using the mise-en-scene to our advantage we have followed two prominent indie conventions at once. One is focusing on the music as well as a narrative which is a key idea shared and promoted by the theorist, Steve Archer; and the other, simplicity. This means that the audiences eye is not distracted from the band. In doing so you are forced to focus on the band and the music.
The use of the former convention gives a 'real' connection between the video and the music but also the band and the audience. Having that link to the audience really makes them feel apart of the scene. Common in this part was general voyeurism targeted at no individual and not in a sexualising way though this was also used in relation to the singer. This is further enhanced by the proximity of the band to the camera and how the body language of the lead singer subtly plays to the camera. This can be associated with an exhibitionist's view that a female artist is often portrayed in such a way as to attract a sexualised gaze.

Left, still from our video.
Right, still from Cold Play - Fix You

The idea which of the lead singer being alone for a part or a lot of the video is also one we used early on. In the indie genre there are many videos where the whole band is together the entire time. Likewise there are videos where the lead singer is the only person you see throughout the entire text. Cold Play's Fix You is a mix between the two and again proved to be a source of inspiration. The video starts with the lead alone and builds to a performance toward the end. 

We went for a similar cross between the two. In so doing we put into practice the theory of Laura Mulvey about the 'male gaze' where by the female artist is sexualised. To build on this though, in the shot above, and those after, there is a distinct feel of a voyeuristic gaze which was highlighted by Sigmund Freud: the maybe perverse fun in watching someone without them realising, often in a sexual context but not always.  

Just for tonight - One Night Only

This was something that was brought out by the study of other videos in the genre. Many of them had themes related to unity or lack of it and as such much of the footage was of the band or group together as a unit. However we went for the other end of the spectrum whereby there was divisions within the group to begin with. This gave us a lot of room to develop the rest of the narrative with the ability to swing toward division or unity by the end. The examples of the relevant shots above show our group (left) divided and the group One Night Only (right) together. We are challenging the convention of unity in a group at this time thought later that does change. 

Left, our performance
Right, Paramore - Brick By Boring Brick

Lighting is a topic within the music industry that is crucial to having a good video but is often unappreciated and over looked by inexperienced producers and directors. As much as we may want to believe otherwise this is what we are. However, lighting was something that I was acutely aware of in the production of our text. As a result I think we have produced a good text but to do so we went against a few general rules and conventions of lighting within our music video, challenging them. First off, using three point lighting theory, is that you always have your subjects fully lit with at least a key light and fill light. Sometimes, even in big industry it is not always practical or feasible to have a back light but when it is it is used. We were limited in our ability to fully light people but instead we subverted this ideal. As a result we strategically used shadows and darkness and natural light as well small sources of light to create our effects. 

This is especially apparent in the studio when compared to the scenes based outside. The outside was gloriously lit by sunshine so our extra sources like industrial flood lights and car head lights were rendered useless. However, when inside we relied on studio lights and the standard 'house lights' in each room.


This is in stark contrast, quite literally, to Paramore's Brick By Boring Brick video, one still of which is sited above. That image above is just as the girl walks into a cave like room from the outside with the yellow sky in the doorway behind. However, from the light reflecting off her face and clothes there has to be a light source somewhere behind the camera. This luminescence and lack of deep near the characters continues for most of the video.

For the audience this brings into play another dynamic and also enhances the viewing experience and repeatability. It is something different which grabs the attention of the audience and adds a sense of mystery which is automatically associated with darkness and shadows. 

Left, our CCTV effect
Right, a still from Arctic Monkeys - View from the afternoon

This was an idea that was incorporated not as a convention but as an aesthetically pleasing form to enhance the audiences viewing of the product. However, the technique of simulating a CCTV Camera follows conventions in its own right. It was an idea we developed from a series of videos where there were shots from a distance or high angle watching the action. Among these was Arctic Monkeys View From The Afternoon which had these shots in but was also made black and white with every shade of grey in-between.

This CCTV camera effect is a prominent form of voyeurism of the type discussed by Andrew Goodwin. Goodwin said that voyeurism (the estranged observation of a person without their knowledge) is a common theme within music video but has no gender specific or sexual connotations. It is exactly what it says on the tin: watching another. It also relates well to potential real life situations where cameras watch your every move which provides something to which the audience can relate. 

Taking the 'lone lead singer' idea and putting it in a more 'real' senario

Developing on two conventions and ideas simultaneously,  we took the idea of the lead singer being on her own but also the idea of using a recording studio. This draws good parallels with the Take That song, Rule The World. In this they also used an idea involving a recording studio. Each of the band members are in their own booth and in a similar way our lead singer is in a 'booth' too. This was the starting basis of the video which was developed further. What it did though was put in place certain expectations of the video which we could ad hear to, bend and break. In terms of view-ability it gave a video a 'real life' look which appeals to our demographic who are more likely to enjoy more down to earth music videos.

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

In this video I am giving an account of the technologies used in the production of our texts. Below this is an extension to encompass that which I missed in the video.

There were a few important websites that I missed out in the video guide above. One of which was key to the organisation and communication of our group and this was facebook. Filming days and editing times were organised through this website either by instant messaging (IM) or facebook messages. The advantage of the latter was that if one of us wasn't able to get online at the time, the conversation would be recorded to be read later. Windows IM, provided as apart of the Microsoft Hotmail franchise was also useful to an extent but we very quickly decided that for what we wanted, facebook was better as a medium to communicate to each other, as well as using good 'old fashioned' phones.

The other two websites, without which we would not have created this particular text, are www.mp3unsigned.com which is the website on which we found our music. The other is myspace. It was using this social networking site that we approached our prospective 'client' to ask permission to use their music. Since then we have kept them appraised of our work by email.

(image sourced apple.com)

On Final Cut Express (FCE) two of the biggest challenges were synchronising the visual text to the audio sequence and getting the continuity. The software allowed us to 'zoom' in on the sequence display and move audio and video clips minute amounts of time which aided very good accuracy in synchronising the texts.

Continuity was a challenge because we were trying to get multiple angles in places (for instance one of the montage shots around the female lead singer) where the camera is moving and getting the constant movement over the screen took time. The other instance of this was where the car is driving through deserted fields. When the camera moved back I tried to make sure the car started on the screen where it finished on the screen in the preceding clip.

PhotoShop

The last thing that I missed out in the video above was to mention the usefulness of the layering system on Photoshop. It enabled us to make changes to a very specific part of an overall image comprised of multiple layers. These alterations included using the 'magnetic lasso' tool which could be used to select a specific object in an image and move or alter; also adding text to the image was imperative for making a CD case and Magazine advert.

It was using the Apple Mac system MacBookPro that enabled us individually and as a group to produce our products using the software outlined above.

(As an after thought I have also used the bookmark system on the internet on Safari, Google Chrome and FireFox on the Mac OS, Windows Vista and Windows XP operating systems (OS) as well as Microsoft Word and OpenOffice on the latter two OS; and my mobile phone for texting, phoning, mobile internet and on the move twittering.)

        

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

This is an annotated version of our video. It has been annotated with various comments and quotes that have been expressed by a portion of our demographic.

As with all feed back some was positive and some negative; some, general; and some, specific. The general consensus seemed to be that we got the lip synchronisation with the lyrics very accurate which helped make the mixture of shots look "professional". However, the instrumental synchronisation was by comparison, not so good. Even described as "unconvincing" at one stage. While that synchronisation wasn't as good as the lip sync, the use of the instruments themselves in the different setting was quite good. As well as instruments, the costume was also well managed, giving variety but also a consistent feel with no overly dramatic changes like in "Katy Perry - Hot and Cold" (change from wedding dress to red leather outfit). One section that was popular was the use of 'BAD TV EFFECT' to create a CCTV like image.

BAD TV EFFECT

Lighting

People were uncertain of our lighting technique saying that in places there isn't enough light but later saying that the light is just right. 

†How effective is the combination of your primary and ancillary texts?

This is the video of our video recording summarising our texts. With it is appropriate imagery relating to the topic of discussion at the time.


 

Some where along the line in our voice recordings of both the technologies used and the effective combination of the media text, we some how didn't mention the convergence of media technologies. This is a fundamental aspect of advertisement and the methods used to put your product out on the market. This ranges from consumer goods to services as well. BBC News is available on television, radio, internet and to an extent, The Radio Times covers the biggest stories of the past week. Music is very much the same. You can buy it in-store, on-line from a shop and have it delivered or you can buy the digital file on-line and download (iTunes). However, despite this world of digital media, print media such as a magazine advert and the cover of the CD play a vital roll in making a product marketable.


Our own product is affected by this. The video is digital media technology which can only be shown using television, film or computer (internet). However to accompany is you have the magazine advert which can be used as print technology or converted to a digital file and used a advertisement on websites as well as in magazines and on posters. Lastly you have the CD case side of the digipack which would be a physical 'print' item in a store or an online file using the album art as advertisement.