MY MUSIC VIDEO

Here is my music video. This is the copy that is currently on youtube, this is going to be changed to the final version. Only a few minor changes were made.

DIGIPACK

I made the digipack by putting the images into an old CD case, then photographed it.

ALBUM ARTWORK

Here is what my album design would look like if the song was to be played in Itunes.

ANCILLARY TEXTS-final products

Magazine Advert

Front

Back

Insert1 Insert 2

Spines CD

I made the digipak by getting an old CD case and taking out the designs that were in it; replacing them with my own designs. I then photographed it.

Evaluation- 3588 words

There are different conventions for different forms of media texts, and for a music video, depending on it’s genre and form, it has a number of conventions. The different forms of music videos; according to Sven Calisson in 1999, are performance, which features the artist performing, narrative, which would present a story through out the video, mixture, that uses both performance and a narrative, and cameo, where the artist is part of the narrative but does not perform. My video uses a mixture of performance and narrative. The artist performs to the camera, and is also part of the narrative. The narrative I have used presents the attitude of the ‘boyfriend’ in the video, acting clueless and innocent, and as though nothing has happened, along with the artist acting as the ‘girlfriend’ character, being angry towards him. She knows he has cheated and is being resentful towards him. With this, I have my artist performing to the camera, and showing these similar emotions here too, through the use of facial expression and gestures. Because of the narrative of the song, there are a mixture of narrative theories that I have followed. My video follows a Romeo and Juliet narrative structure along with a Tristan and Iseult narrative structure. This is because it is shows both a love triangle between the protagonist, antagonist and other female that is featured in the song, as well as portraying a love story. There is a variety of camera shots that should be involved in a music video. Close ups and extreme close ups are extremely important as it allows the audience to see the artist up close. This helps to sell and promote the artist, which is the overall purpose of the music video and so without these shots, it will not do a very good job. I have followed this convention by using close ups and extreme close ups throughout, focussing mainly on shots that feature the artist in order to promote her image of being rebellious well and allow the audience to view her up close. Camera movements are also important when it comes to selling the artist as one of the main movements used is a pan, used both for effect and to follow the artist’s every move. Tracking is also used for this purpose. These movements can be quick or slow paced depending on the effect wanted, and tempo of the music. I have used these in my video, along with a zoom which is used quite frequently in my video. This makes it look much more interesting and allows the audience to view the artist even closer. In a music video, the editing is crucial. A convention of a pop genre music video is that the editing cuts in time with the music, and cuts to another scene or shot with the beat. Jump cut is also used, making the video non-continuous, cutting from one location to another. My editing is also done in time with the beat of the music; cutting from one location to the next. This challenges the conventions because it shows non-continuity within the video. The mise-en-scene in a video usually uses artificial lighting, for example if an artist was made to look mysterious or scary, a light would be placed behind them; shadowing their face and making them look dark. I have followed this convention. The dance sequence within my video was performed in a theatre space that uses various lighting effects. I dimmed all the lights in the room apart from in the dance space, to emphasise the lighting that the dancers were performing under. I used lighting from either side of the set space, as well as lighting from the top box to ensure it was light enough to make the dancers stand out. This was also essential as the rest of my video is very light and vibrant and so I needed to keep this stylistic theme all the way through. The use of props is another convention. Instruments are often used, more often than not in a performance video, or a mixture of performance and narrative. This helps to create the illusion that the band or artist are playing. I used props throughout my video. I also developed these conventions as I didn’t use the props traditionally used such as an instrument. Instead, I used a plastic cup that was attached to a piece of string, and a snowball. This ensured my video kept its originality. The costume worn by the artist is also important. This is what makes the artist an individual and depending on who the audience is, helps to attract attention. It also contributes to the representation of the artist, for example putting them in bright colours would make them seem fun, but this depends on the genre of the song. The costume was very important for my video as I felt it was the main contribution to the representation of my artist.

1. This costume helped to make her look rebellious and also made her stand out against the brightly coloured background. The dark eye makeup contributes to this look, along with backcombed hair and dark lipstick.

2. This was another aspect of the rebellious look that I wanted my artist to have. The colours again stand out against the background, enhancing her bold characteristics and personality.

3. The necklace here was useful when it came to expressing character as she could hold it and makes gestures to help express emotions. Usually, a pop genre music video wouldn’t use gestures such as this, where as a hip hop video would. Yet again, the black dress is highlighted by the brightly coloured background and we can see a huge contrast in the use of colours.

4. The mood in the video changes here and it becomes quite light hearted. Because she is in the snow she needed to wear something brighter than black and so these colours did this. I wanted to continue in making sure my artist stood out in front of the background and I feel this was achieved here.

5. I wanted each dancer to wear something different as I feel it gave this section of the video an edge. Because my video doesn’t use the idea of being neat, but presents the idea of individuality I felt this was more appropriate.

Music videos always use a colour scheme, again this depends on the genre. For example a pop song would use bright colours, an indie song would often use black and white. I used this convention as I used both yellow and red backgrounds for the same type of shot. When the artist was performing to the camera, through the use of a mid shot of close up, a yellow or red background was used. A convention that applies to all genres is the use of non-diegetic sound. The music of the video is non-diegetic, and some videos that use dialogue to break up the narrative for example, uses non-diegetic sound too. I have followed this convention too by using non-diegetic sound in my video. I have used the sound of the camera click in the beginning, as well as the song being non-diegetic.

The conventions of each genre of music the video are different. Because my song is a pop song it means I needed to follow some set conventions, and use features that are iconographic of the pop genre. My video needed to be colourful. I have done this. I have used brightly coloured backgrounds with the colours yellow and red to help signify the genre, and made sure some of the costumes were colourful too. This convention has also been challenged by my video as it starts in black and white and turns to colour as the video progresses. This idea was influenced by other videos I watched such as Kesha’s video ‘Tik Tok’, which also uses bright yellow throughout the video only in a different way. The mise-en-scene in that video however shows a yellow wall, rather than being filmed in front of a green screen and the colour being chromo-keyed into the picture. My video has that fun element needed for a pop music video as I have used the idea of throwing snowballs, paper flick books and animation. The colours also make it seem fun, along with the quick tempo of the song. Another convention of a pop music video is a dance routine, which I have included but found difficult to do. The video by Alexandra Burke to ‘Broken Heels’, influenced my idea for this. This is because a dance routine is performed on the football field, and the positioning of the dancers helped me to stand my dancers in a certain place. I thought the dance routine in this pop music video looked effective and so by doing mine quite similar would make mine effective too. I had to film this section several times until I was happy with the footage. On my first attempt, I hired out a village hall and planned to film it with four dancers (including the artist). This didn’t work as the dancers kept moving out of the frame, and found it difficult to be in time with each other. Also as I moved the camera, I managed to get plugs and curtains in the shot which then meant the footage was unusable. I filmed the dance routine again with a different group of dancers, in front of the green screen at college. This also failed because the dancers didn’t have the music to dance too and were therefore out of time again. I finally decided to film the dance routine in a much more practical space; the theatre, and use a larger group to make it look more effective. I finally got the footage I needed. I have also challenged the convention of using a narrative, as my music video has one but it is broken up through out the video. There are performance sections in between the narrative which breaks it up into small sections in the video. Also I have followed and developed the conventions of a digipack. The front of a digipak usually consists of the artist’s name, in a big, bold font that is usually positioned in one of the top corners. They are presented in bright colours and I have followed this convention. I placed the artist’s name in the top right hand corner in black, to make it stand out against the brightly coloured background. I outlined the letter ‘E’ in red to make it look more interesting. The font I used was to create a graffiti looking effect giving the album cover a bit of street style appeal rather then just being plain. The title of the album, if I had followed the conventions, would be placed in the bottom half of the album, but because I have challenged this convention, I have placed it at the top, under the artist’s name. I have used the convention of having a main image dominating the cover. I have used an extreme close up of the artist’s face and edited it to make it look much more bold and attractive, to help sell the artist. The back of the album should consist of a numbered track list, which I challenged as I didn’t number by tracks. I just listed them in order of what they will play on the CD, in a vertical list. I have included the institution details at the bottom of the digipak too which is another convention of which I have followed. It is position in the bottom left corner in a tiny black font, but still big enough to be able to understand. I have also used a mid shot if the artist and placed it on the back next to the list of tracks. I have done this with a bold, red outline to make it look like a cut out of the artist. The spine should have the name of the artist on, along with the institutional logo. I have used and challenged this as I have not included the institutional logo, but used the title of the album instead. I have kept the spines simple, using black and white to do this. This is because I feel the digipak will become too overpowering and colourful, and by making these tiny details simple it makes it much easier on the eye.

A magazine advert has conventions too. I have also used and challenged these. A visual image is always used, to help promote and sell the artist. I have done this as a dominant feature, in order for it to fulfil its purpose as best it can. I have used the same image that is used on the back of the digipak to keep the uniform style. I figured this out from albums I have researched. The name of the artist is always presented in a large attractive font, another convention I have followed. This allows the audience to identify the artist. The date of release is a third convention. I have also followed this, as I have presented this information under the artist’s name in a thick black font to make it visible. The information of a company is usually presented on the advert too to inform the reader of where they can purchase the music from. I have used this, and presented the I-tunes symbol in the corner. I have done this to inform the audience that they can buy the album I am advertising from I-tunes. The three texts I have produced; a music video, a magazine advertisement and a digipak, all work together to promote the artist. I have kept the same stylistic theme constant throughout all three products by using a bright and eye catching colour scheme of red and yellow. In my video, it is used for a plain yet effective background colour, as well as being used on certain effects. I have also used it in my digipak, again as a background colour but also to outline images and brighten different aspects of the artist’s face like her lips for example. On the magazine advert I have used a bright red background and used yellow to outline the top and bottom of the page, as well as highlighting the main text showing the artist’s name. Maintaining this colour scheme throughout means that all three products look effective and are made obvious that they belong to the same promotion. After gaining audience feedback, I learnt that following a uniform style proved to be very effective. Various comments such as ‘it follows the conventions of a pop genre’, ‘it helps to show continuity’, ‘the colours used are bright and dynamic’, ‘the uniform style makes it look professional and consistent’ taught me this. This reassured me that my products were successful, but still had room for improvements, after someone stated ‘you could include another colour to make it more interesting’, and ‘you could use various shades of the same colour’. Over all feedback for all three products was positive and I feel they are as successful as intended. After handing out a questionnaire to students around the college who watched my video and viewed my ancillary texts, various comments were given. A majority of the audience feedback came from females which was purposely done as my video is mainly aimed towards females. 100% of those who were asked, thought that my music video was of a pop genre, which meant I had made this clear enough to the audience and followed the conventions correctly and accurately. 94% of those asked thought my video was effective, and because the 6% who didn’t find it effective were male, it meant I had connected to my audience well done the right thing to catch their eye. Their reasons for it being effective differed, here are some examples: ‘it works well with the song’, ‘the effects done are good and a theme is constant throughout’, ‘the artist’s personality is shown’, ‘it is fun and relates to teenage situations’, ‘the animations were effective’, ‘it is bright, fun and looks professional’, ‘the props worked well’, ‘it is edited very well’, ‘whoever played the artist fitted the part well’. These comments support that my video was successful and attracted the audience well. The purpose of my video was to be fun and enjoyable, and I gained various feedback of how it made the audience feel. Most said it made them feel happy, and put them in a good mood, which again informs me that my video was effective and fulfilled its purpose well. Others said it cheered them up, and was exciting to watch. My reason for asking the people I did was because of my target audience, who range from aged 12 to 24. This is because I do not feel an older generation would appreciate the context of the song. I have also aimed my video at females because of the contents of the video and topic of the song. Also the artist is female which creates an easier connection between her and a female audience. Over all I have gained very positive feedback from my audience, both from those I have asked, given a questionnaire to or simply those who have seen my video on you tube. Within three days, my video had gained 109 views and 2 likes, which is very positive. To date, my video has 590 views, 7 likes and a comment that says ‘Wow’. All of this feedback tells me that my video was successful. The video that was uploaded to you tube by this point was unfinished, which tells me my video (this version can be viewed by clicking on the hyperlink) is now even more successful in attracting its audience after the final adjustments have been made.

I used new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages through the use of the following: you tube (which I used to research existing videos and watch other music videos for inspiration), blogger (which I used to record all of my findings and research on. I also used this to present my development throughout the year and to show the different stages of my progression.) Photoshop was vital in the making of my ancillary texts. This is because I used it for both the digipak and the magazine advert. I used various skills and techniques on this programme to edit pictures and text to make an effective advert and digipak. I found this was an easy programme to use as it was a quick way of making things look effective. I used the lasso tool to cut round images, and drag them across onto different coloured backgrounds. Photoshop also allowed me to alter the contrast and brightness of different pictures, and make them look more effective and attractive. It is very important that I do this for the ancillary texts as their purpose is to help advertise and sell the artist and her album. Another use of new media technology is a digital edit suit. This allowed me to do non-linear editing, and allowed me to create various interesting effects on my video. It also allowed a quick and quite easy way of fitting various parts of my video to the beat of the music. It meant I could zoom in to the line that presented the beats of the music. Because I could do this it meant I could visually see where to place the jpeg images, and match it up with the beat.

To conclude, I feel I have created a successful promotional package for the release of an album for my artist. I made my products link well so that they support one another in the promotion of the product, I did this by following a range of conventions but also putting in my own, original ideas. My knowledge of the music video history, as well as how they are done today has grown, and I now know what it takes to make a successful promotional package. I have progressed from the start of my production to end, and have learnt a variety of things that have helped to improve my skills and knowledge. This has encouraged me to grow much more confident with the practical aspect of things, and the new technical skills I have picked up have done this too. Researching other texts also helped me to create a polysemic image, that I left my audience with at the end. After gaining feedback I have also realised my weaknesses as well as strengths, and noticed there is room for improvements. Knowing this has allowed me to know what to do to make my product better in the future, by planning well ahead for the more challenging scenes. For me, what needed improving the most was the dance sequence, although I had attempted it several times I am still not satisfied that it is to its best. After three attempts, I began focussing on other aspects of my video, when instead I could have shot the dance sequence more times in order to get it looking even better. Over all, I feel I have used my time sufficiently, and managed well with the strict deadlines. I have enjoyed the project as it allowed me to express myself and allowed me the freedom to do it exactly how I liked. Doing this project has inspired me further into wanting to do continue media production in the future.

POLL

I have decided to do a poll to decide which of my digipaks look the best. I cannot decide between using a black and white image on the back or a coloured one, therefore because my digipak is aimed at females at the age of 11 to 19, I will ask this group of people which they feel is most effective. Poll results The winner of the poll was the coloured image. Therefore this will be the one I use.

NEW ANCILLARY TEXT

Instead of doing a website homepage, I feel doing a magazine advertisement for the digipak I have made will work better to my strengths. I can relate to it more, and have experience of magazine design, therefore I feel I would be better creating an advert rather than a website homepage. Here is my design so far of the homepage I started making:

Here is my first attempt of a magazine

advert, helping to advertise my album.

Here is the development from my

first design to the final copy.

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF MAG ADVERTS

1. 2. 3. 1.The colour scheme used here is quite simple, using a minimal amount of colours. The purple, grey and white help to create a uniform look and makes it appear professional. Although, because it's music genre is dance, I do not think that this is presented well enough because of the lack of bright colours used. The purple is used well, as it is emphasised on top of the white background, but the white is not covered enough. This makes the advert look quite boring and so by using more colours I think it would fulfill it's purpose better; to attract the audience and sell the artist. The font used in the top right hand corner is very representative of the 'dance' music genre. For example, using the disco ball relates to the 'Ministry of Sound' logo, that uses a big disco ball, and the 'Ministry of Sound' is part of the music industry; responsible for dance music and night clubs. Because they have borrowed this idea, it makes the genre clear. The main font used is effective, because it is a main feature on the page, and instantly catches the audience's attention. This advert would be much more effective if this same font was used else where on the page as well, but quite a plain font is used for captions that are actually quite important. The font used throughout does not follow a uniform design which makes it quite a weak advert. Because it is only used once, the main font used is not going to be recognisable which is what you would want to acheive from it. This tells me I need to keep my font styles the same through out to give it that professional finish. The layout of this magazine advert is very simple yet effective. It doesn't use too much of the space so it is all layed out equally, making it easy to look at. A down side of this is that perhaps there is too much that should be filled with an image for example. This tells me that when producing my magazine advert, I should use the space appropriately in order to make it look easy on the eye but not too empty. The representation of the artist here makes him seem quite vulnerable. This is because of the high camera angle used, looking down on the artist. The artist's facial expression also makes him look scared, and again quite vulnerable, as he isn't smiling, he has his mouth open and seems to look intimidated by the camera. The clothes he is wearing are also quite stereotypical of the social group 'geeks', which again could show how he feels intimidated. I feel this is an unusual image to portray for an artist as they are usually presented as more powerful and intimidating. This makes the advertisement original. 2.Because the colour scheme for this advertisement is not really set and uses a wide variety of colours, it is quite harsh on the eye, but because the colours are not over powering it is still effective. The mixture of greens and pink would usually seem quite ugly but because of way it is used here it is effective. This is because it instantly attracts the eye and catches the attention of the audience straight away. It also contrasts to the image of the artist as she is wearing mainly black. Again this makes her stand out against the background and puts the focus upon her by making her look bold on the page. The font used on this advertisement is not very clear. Because so many colours have been used in the background it makes the white font hard to read as it stands out more on some colours, and then not so much on others. However, the font style is used quite effectively. It is presented in a simple font, which works really well because of the complexity of the background. If the font was presented as quite complicated then the advert would be too harsh on the eye. This tells me I need to be careful when choosing my font style and background colour. I need to choose a font colour that will show up well and contrast with the background. The artist here is portrayed as confident, and stylish. She doesn't seem vulnerable as the camera is at eye level with the artist, rather than looking down on her. She seems confident because of this, as well as because of what she is wearing. The clothing she has on is quite original and different, as the jacket totally contrasts with the rest of the outfit, this helps to show a confident personality and gives her a sense of individuality. This is also enhanced by the way she is stood, holding the jacket, again making her seem confident with the way she looks. 3. The colour scheme of this magazine advert is mainly dark and dull, but it uses elements of colour in certain parts, were it uses yellow and an orange shades to brighten the poster. This is done cleverly as it puts all focus on the font that is presented in the middle of the page. It does this as the background is very bland in comparison to the lighter colour of the text. Also because a dark colour is used right at the bottom of the page, it means institution details and release dates are more visible for the audience, and are easier to understand. The font style is kept quite simple, which is a positive because the background is complex. It helps to make it easier for the audience to read, and because it is big and bold, it is enhanced too. The same font, only smaller, is used at the bottom too; keeping the unified style through out. It is important that the title of the artist stands out most, as the purpose is to advertise the artist, the advert does this. The font style is kept the same, but the size of the font differs, seperating the most important and least. An effect is used that makes it look as though paint has been splatted onto page in white, which is were the writing is presented. This draws attention to the text as well as making it simpler and clearer to read. If this effect was not used, then the text would be very difficult to understand. Differently to the other two advertisements I have analysed, this one doesn't use a main image to show representation of an artist, but we can understand the genre and style of the music it is advertising because of the paint, and the colours and style used.

Dance routine- FILMED

I filmed my dance routine aftter college today. It took an hour to do, and I told everybody to wear a certain costume. I set a theme of 'pineapple' dance, and casual dance wear, which would include sweat pants and crop tops with a mixture of colours. I also wanted them to wear dance sneakers, but because not everybody owned a pair they wore bare feet.
The dancers I used: Jessica Roebuck, Katie Russell, Chloe Fisher, Fern Hussey, Kathrynn Heathcoate, Becki McKinley and Sarah McKinley (myself)

I also asked a teacher to assist with lighting to make it look more effective, and we had the rest of the room blacked out, and the dance space we used was lit up brightly.

DANCE ROUTINE

I am filming the dance routine for my video this afternoon. I will be using 6 dancers;
Becki McKinley, Kathrynn Heathcoate, Jessica Roebuck, Chloe Fisher, Sophie Walker and I will be dancing in it too.
We are all wearing different clothing but I gave out a theme of dance wear. For example, pineapple jogging bottoms and cropped top.

FEEDBACK

I showed my teacher my video again, in order to get as much feedback as possible to make my video as good as I can, and I was advised to add a question mark into the speech bubble, or go with my original idea and make it pop, instead of leaving it how it is.

Also I have decided that at the end instead of having 'KISS & TELL' appear at the end I am going to leave it blank. I am doing this because the position of the 'artist' is in the left hand side of the screen, but this resembles how she is now by herself, and no longer with the 'boyfriend'. Also because it is a low angle shot of the 'artist' it means she looks powerful, and it suggests that she has being in control of the 'boyfriend' and ended the relationship.

I have also booked the theatre space for Wednesday 2nd February to film my dance routine, which will finish the music video off.

DIGIPACK 2

After being told my ancillary texts were not as strong as my video, I decided to re-do them. I was advised to change the colour scheme of the digipack I had originally done so that it was more uniform with the video I had produced. Here are my products now.. the front cover the back the insert1

the insert2

I kept the spines the same as I felt they were appropriate.

This is the CD.

addition to my music video

I have come up with a new idea to add into my music video. In the beginning I had planned to shoot my 'characters' running into a photobooth, closing the curtain behind them, a flash showing on screen and then it would run straight into the video to show the photographs from inside the photobooth. This would have acted as a small narrative before the song actually started.
Because I was unable to do this; as I had planned to film it in Princes Quay and was not allowed to take the camera in there, I have changed my idea.

I will now use a high angle shot to show the legs and feet of the female character, along with her hand that will be holding a camera. It will then show a medium close up of a surface like the floor for example (not yet decided) and she will put the camera down into the shot and walk away from it. It will then zoom into the camera on the floor, and the camera with then flash in slow motion, as though she has put the camera on self timer to take pictures of her and her 'boyfriend'. This will then flow straight into the music video.

FEEDBACK

I was given feed back on my digipack production and was given a number of suggestions..

I was advised to add more colour in order to make it uniform with my music video. Because my video uses yellow and red throughout it means my products, in order to go with it should follow a similar colour scheme rather than using pink, black and white like I have done.

It was also suggested that because of the style of the video, I should make the products look more 'messy' rather than pretty and neat. The genre of the song (pop) means I should make the ancillary texts more 'funky' and fun.