4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?Most of our video wouldnt have been possible without software such as photoshop, imovie and final cut.
Throughout the shoot of our video we played the song through an ipod, we gave this to James (the actor) as he could get a feel of the song.
Our whole video was based around a set of burst photos from a dslr. We then transfered them onto to photoshop were we could add effect such as cutout, up contrast and organise. We brang them altogether on imovie. This was a god software as it was like a storyboard where we could order all the scenes, cut down sections. I-movie however was very basic so we transfered it on to final cut pro where we added music and the finishing touches.
I documented the whole process on this blog which is like an online diary. It gave me a chance to see what i have done and what is needed to be done. Also i could upload photos and animatic, through youtube, to show the process. Researching the genre was manily done on sites such as google and youtube, this gave me the chance to watch the videos and understand the conventions.
The whole process of this project was down to new media technology. If we didnt have software or internet then it would be virtual impossible to do.
3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?We have screened our music 3 times to an audience and also post it on youtube. Every time we did screen it we tried to fix the critism. One of the main problems at the beginning was the start and the end. They liked the idea however didnt feel it fits in with the rest of the look of the video. Therefor we played around with the colour etc. we did think about reshooting however we had everything in time at this stage and feel it would set us back to much. So we changed the contrast so it just made it looks more crisp.
Another comment was that some shots were held just that little too long. We agreed with this comments, especially on the band section. We tried to mix it up and cut as much as possible, there is still some shots that are to long.
We did get postive feedback, people understood the look that we were going for, they liked the use of photo animation and thought it fit in well with the sound of the band. We kept our storyline very simple, which is a bit risky of being boring, however it was so we could focus on the techniques. Audience feedback did get the cyclic of the video where the couple meet and end up together, making it to complex story and having the animation means it would be hard to compress in first viewing which we wanted to stay away from
Doing animation for our AS they could see that we have improved and understanding more of the technique. That our editing skills have improved and the process of the animation was alot more smooth. Audience didnt feel that any of the performances were fake, they believed the band and the couple. I think this was helped as we didnt want them to "perform" we wanted the whole video to have a natural look which i think came across.
2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
I created my Digi pack and poster after the shoot of our music video. Our video being photo animation we had over 500 photos to choose from. Although we didnt show the bands image in the video i think it is important when buying an album to have more on the band and the connection therefore i had a few profile shots. The style of a few of the photos in the music video and on the ancillary text is Cutout. We both liked this style as it adds a carton effect and simplify the image. My favourite image was the three together dancing together. I liked it as it was natural and not set up. I used this as my main image on my poster and in back of the cd cover. Also the title of the album and single being Moth's Wings i wanted there to be a connection with Moth's. The poster i had the background made up of Moth's but turned down the oppacity so there were not the main focus. The other photos i used were of the south bank, i liked them because of the colour and light on the day. I put this beind where the cds go as i didnt want a main image to be covered up. Lastly i used on page dedicated to thank yous, because i like that personal touch on a album and you feel that closer to the band. Having the same imagery means that as a package it could be well advitised. As myself being part of the target audience i think it is appealling. As i have explained, i wanted the audience to feel connected to the band from the album and having mini posters and a special thank you note brings them that little closer.
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The genre of our music video is Indie. In my research into where our Music Video would fit into the music industry at the moment, it was clear that our video follows the conventions of the indie genre. The conventions being that there is not much focus on the band members. The band is representing to be a organic band ,that they make there own music and perform to an audience or just privately, in comparison to where it is performed to the camera. Also the a indie music video has not gimics for example no boy and girl dancers. However we challanged the conventions not just to the genre but to general music videos in doing part photo animation. Animation is rarely used in music videos as it dosent show the appeal of the high gloss, latest gadget and body image society we leave in. Most videos now are all about showing the image of the star. If you was to see it then it would be the indie genre. Also photo animation is used even less, i think this is as it does have that jumpy look that some audiences dont get, which we came across. However we wanted to put both styles of animaiton as it is so rare.
The band image we kept to the conventions of the Indie style, not showing there identity. This was manily as it was "The Crimson Cucumbers" second single and was established in the music indusrty. Also we liked the idea that they were not all about there image, they want to sell there music for the musicians not for the celebrity image.
We presented our evaluation as a powever point. Here are the slides along with notes and pointers we talked about.
This is the beginning part of my poster. Because i like the background i kept the photo the main image, also it is of the band so makes sense to promote the album to have the band. I also added moths in the background and turned down the oppacity to make them not 100 % noticable. However i need to decided on text and what information.
This is the best text overall at the moment. I think the style matched the quaint style of a moth and i kept to the crimson being in a different colour. I had the date in a different colour as i think the video, and to an extent the poster and digi pack is serious ( our band is meant to be a young band). So having the multi colour adds a bit of fun and also makes it stand out. I also adding the information on the song at the top of the page.
