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Monday 6th december- Evaluation

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

Our music video was inspired by other music videos like The Ting Tings which we analysed earlier in the blog. We were inspired by the transitions they used to create an alternative to a regular cut and the love based narrative which they focused on. Its also got a narrative which we see throughout the video, however in this video they focus on performance too. We used a variety of camera shots for example, long shots, closeups, mid shots, establishing shots and two shots. The long shot we used to emphasise the characters and give an insight into the location.We used closeups to show the emotions of the couple and to engage the audience with the characters. Establishing shots were used to emphasise the filming locations and give some background knowledge into the characters lives of where they live and have grown up. Two shots were used to maintain the idea that the song is about a couple who are in a relationship and so the focus just remains on them and nobody else.

The camera movements we used mostly were to track the characters and follow them on their journey. We also used a 360 degree spin where we filmed Gabis face and then spun the camera round to the back of her head. We then filmed the back of Alex's head to the front of his face so it looked like their heads were as one. This was innovative and maintained the love focus between them.

The Mise en scene in our music video consisted of no particular costumes however the couples outfits kept within the youthful age of the target audience so they are able to relate to this. For example, Grey pants, Trainers, Hoodie and for the female, skinny jeans, boots, coat and handbag. We used a variety of locations around the city centre of Manchester to get a busy and lively atmosphere to represent the lives of the couple. We also filmed inside Justines house and along her road, the house was used for narrative sequences of when the couple were happy for example, sitting on the sofa and eating a romantic meal. The garden was used to film the couple having fun on the trampoline, and to film the foot tapping which is the opening sequence in our video. Overall we think the outside footage went well because of the sunlight in the garden which created a positive and summery atmosphere.

Some of the props we used were: Justines car, plates, table, flowers, candles, and food. The candles, plates and flowers worked well with setting up a romantic meal scene and the use of Justines car was a invaluable aspect because it made it look more realistic. Most of our lighting was natural sunlight. Inside justines house we used low key lighting for the meal and for the stop motion sequences the lighting was artificial.

Throughout the video we consistantly cut to the beat of the song. We used jump cuts to keep it at a fast rate and to maintain the energetic feeling. We also used a variety of transitions including; fades, dissolves, ripple dissolves and push slides. The fades were used to make the video flow neatly rather than a sudden cut and the dissolves were used to blend the linking sequences together. We used the ripple dissolves for any sequences which were flashbacks to the couples happy moments. Towards the end of the video we used a push slide to create a unique and quirky mood as the song comes to an end, leaving the audience with a positive attitude towards the video.

We think our most prominant and visually effective feature was our use of stop motion creations. We took still photographs of sweets like love hearts and cakes which we drew love hearts on using pink icing. We photographed them in stages to create the effect that the cake had been eaten away, including the heart which represented the love fading. This related to the lyrics of the song 'fizzling out'. We used the love hearts to spell out the lyrics ' and the love kickstarts again', to do this we had to take still photographs letter by letter. Our video mainly featured the narrative sequences of the couple and stop motion which is why we think our video was original and successful.

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

Our ancillary texts each compliment our main product because we have used images that the viewer has seen in the music video itself. By doing this it has maintained a continuous theme of love and relationships, as well as a fun and quirky feeling to relate to our target audience which is 15-24 year olds and can be seen in our character profile in a previous post.

The CD cover presents some of the images used in the stop motion sequences in our music video. For the front cover we used love hearts we had arranged into a heart shape with an arrow shooting through it for the main graphic.The love hearts were a continuous aspect of our production playing a part in our stop motion sequences. The brightly coloured lettering makes it bold and appealing and the font we used 'polplar std' is chunky and soft edged making the writing youthful and stylish.For the artists name we chose to use a purpled pink colour, which we took from examples CD cover as it features in their main image.We think this colour is suitable because it is vibrant and appealing and also is a stronger colour to the pink love heart.We decided to keep the letters in a lower case as it is becoming more conventional.For the song title we chose to use a bluey green colour, which also features in examples CD cover on the artists jacket. This is also vibrant and both colours compliment each other and represent two genders of male and female, which covers the whole of our target audience as the song is unisex. We also included the facebook web address of the band to give the fans access to more songs and information.We chose to use the facebook address because it targets our audience directly because it is an extremely popular social networking website that stereotypically they would use. It also encourages discussion of our video to spread through word of mouth an extrememly important marketing technique as part of viral marketing to produce band awareness, and it is easy for people to send links of our song to other people.

For the back cover we used an edited version of the main graphic from the front cover so it was more contrasted, which enabled us to highlight the track listings because the writing could then stand out against the lighter background. On the inside panels we chose to use the cake images with the pink heart icing on for the left panel, and on the right panel we used the cakes with the smiley face on. The smiley faces represent happiness and they look like text or instant messenger emoticons which our target audience of 15-24 year olds will be familiar with. The icing on both panels is pink creating a continous reference to love and happiness and its a colour stereotypically associated with marketing when targeting women however its recently become popular with the younger male audience. It is an iconic colour which is up and coming in the fashion industry and with other media products like mobile phones, which are bought by the younger generation. We duplicated the images instead of using just one single image on the panels because it makes it look more busy and fun which could represent the couples lives and beat of the music. By using the 9 images we are also upholding the rule of thirds which makes the whole panel visually balanced. We chose to use sweet foods for all 4 panels so there was a continual theme linking the panels together but also linking them to our music video itself.

We took a different approach with the poster, using an image from the narrative sequence which viewers will have seen in our video, making it recognisable and memorable. We took a different approach because we had already shown the audience our stop motion images and we wanted to emphasise our narrative plot, giving them both aspects of our video to view further. It is of the couple stood at the fountains in an embrace but we have edited it so they are almost sillhouettes and the fountains and sunlight are more contrasting. We used the same font style and colour in the poster and the CD, this enables a visual link between them all so they can compliment eachother and so they are recognisable, increasing the chance of a sale.

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Music Video Feedback- Questionaire

1. Do you think our music video represents our chosen target audience of 15-24 year olds successfully and reasons why?( for example through costume etc)

Feedback
- 'It appeals to the young audience because the actors are the right age and so they can relate, especially towards the idea of young love'
- 'The colours are bright, eye catching and engaging'


2. Comment on our use of technical aspects e.g. editing and transitions.

Feedback
- 'Very good use of editing and transitions, for example the roll up as it connected with the theme of the video'
- 'I really liked the stop motion throughout'


3. Do you think our music video looks professional enough to be played on a music channel on the t.v?

Feedback
- 'It nearly looks professional but still needs that professional edge'
- 'The images and camera angles were very effective'


4. Is our music video original and if so what do you think makes it stand out?

Feedback
- 'A lot of good photos were used with unique ideas'
- 'Use of sweets were origional and effective with smart stop motions'


5. Does our music video represent the genre of music synth-pop dance successfully?

Feedback
- 'I think it represents the lyrics more than the genre'
- 'It has a strong narrative, common to the genre'


6. What would you change or improve within our music video?

Feedback
- 'Involve more locations and scenes'
- 'Avoid mistakes like the tripod being in shot'


This is a video of more peoples responses to our music video:

What we have learnt from the feedback:

- To immediately check footage to avoid mistakes and reshoots.
- To film in locations that are less recognisable to viewers so that the video is new and exciting to them.
- That our strongest point of our video was the editing and the use of stop motion.
- That to make our outcome successful each team member had to work to their strengths.

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

Research
We mainly used the internet for our research as it is the most accessible and media based. We used:
- Youtube- To watch other artists videos for inspiration
- Muzu- Also to watch other artists videos for inspiration
- iTunes- To find out genres and to view CD covers
- Google- To find images for inspiration, to find examples website and official CD covers and posters.

Planning
- After researching we decided on Example- 'Kickstarts'
- We then began to analyse music videos which shared the same genre of synth, pop dance.
- We were inspired by The Ting Tings- 'Shut up and let me go' because of their transitions and love narrative.
- We were also inspired by okgo- end love



We were inspired by their consistent use of stop motion sequences which are all to the beat.

- We then decided on a target audience of 15-24 year olds.
- As part of the music video resume we then developed ideas for the narrative.
- As part of the suggested elements we also considered the mise en scene like costume, locations, props and lighting.
- We then decided on some shooting days to film the narrative sequences, and decided on a shooting schedule.
- We annotated the lyrics to our chosen song with narrative ideas and also thought of some love connotation ideas which we developed into stop motion.
- We thought of an opening sequence for our video and created a storyboard of the seperate shots needed.
- We then created an animatic.



Construction
To make our video we used a camera, the editing software Final Cut Pro and Photoshop to create our Digipack.
We used a variety of camera shots for example, long shots, closeups, mid shots, establishing shots and two shots. The long shot we used to emphasise the characters and give an insight into the location.We used closeups to show the emotions of the couple and to engage the audience with the characters. Establishing shots were used to emphasise the filming locations and give some background knowledge into the characters lives of where they live and have grown up. Two shots were used to maintain the idea that the song is about a couple who are in a relationship and so the focus just remains on them and nobody else.
The camera movements we used mostly were to track the characters and follow them on their journey. We also used a 360 degree spin where we filmed Gabis face and then spun the camera round to the back of her head. We then filmed the back of Alex's head to the front of his face so it looked like their heads were as one. This was innovative and maintained the love focus between them.


We used Final Cut Pro on the MAC's to put the footage on the timeline and edit it.
Throughout the video we consistantly cut to the beat of the song. We used jump cuts to keep it at a fast rate and to maintain the energetic feeling. We also used a variety of transitions including; fades, dissolves, ripple dissolves and push slides. The fades were used to make the video flow neatly rather than a sudden cut and the dissolves were used to blend the linking sequences together. We used the ripple dissolves for any sequences which were flashbacks to the couples happy moments.

We used Photoshop to create the Digipack. We used pictures taken from the stop motion sequences in the video and created 12cm by 12cm CD panels. For the front and back cover we made a heart out of love hearts. We took a photo of it and put it on Photoshop, where we edited out the background and adjusted the brightness and contrast to make it look more effective.
For the poster we used a picture we had taken when filming in town. We changed the photo to black and white and adjusted the brightness and contrast. We cut it to A4 size and added the titles and information, and included our team logo.

Monday 6th December-Official filming locations

Justines Road where Gabi and Alex walk away holding hands


Justines Road where we filmed the narrative sequence where Gabi and Alex drive away


Manchester arndale where we filmed Gabi and Alex walking down the steps which we eventually sped up to fit with the song


Urbis in Manchester where we filmed Gabi and Alex walking and some other narrative sequences


The bridge in Manchester picadilly gardens where we filmed Gabi and Alex walking towards eachother and then finally meeting


These are the fountains in picadilly which we filmed so we could speed it up to match the beat of the music

Monday 6th December- Character Profile

Name: Josh
Age: 18
Hometown: Manchester
Occupation: Student
Talent/Skills: Guitar, drama
Style: Fashionable, quirky
Hobbies: Going to gigs

We think this is a typical profile of someone that would watch and download our video. He is wearing plimsols, skinny jeans and a checked shirt which is typical of the style and genre of our song and the target audience it attracts. His hair is styled and modern and the sun glasses add a cool element to his look. He fits into the age range that we gave the music video and he is a student in Manchester, a city which is lively and music based. Josh can play the guitar and enjoys going to gigs which are stereotypical hobbies of out target audience as they are creative and youthful.

Thursday 2nd December

We think this footage was suitable for the beginning of our music video because the feet are tapping to the beat. This was inspired by the official music video by example. We used different shoes to tap with, and all the footwear we used relates to what the target audience would wear.


Here is examples official music video.

Monday 29th November- Screen grabs and pictures

This is a screen grab from the final sequence. It shows the couple walking into the sunny distance and as the song comes to the end the footage fades out giving a sense of finality.


This screen grab shows one of the effects we used to transition into the flashback. This 'ripple dissolve' also gives a dreamy effect which could represent the couple in their own little world.


This is an example of one of the transitions we used. The transition moves the first shot downwards and drags the next shot into the screen. We used this so we had a variety of transitions for the viewer. This was inspired by Examples official video which used similar transitions. This is a link to the official video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9yGcKlYAiw


This screen grab is taken from one of the flashback clips as part of the narrative. We think it is a good establishing shot that connotates the love scene. The low key lighting and sunset upholds the romantic theme.



This screen grab shows the fun of the couples relationship, and plays alongside the lyrics as Gabi falls down and reverses in time with the 'kick kick' in the lyrics of the song. The sequence shows the viewer a variety of locations.



This fountains sequence was very successful because we managed to capture the fountains rising in co-ordinated lines moving from the back, towards the camera. We sped up the footage so the fountains would rise in time with the beats of the music.



This footage was not part of the planned sequence, however when watching the footage back ready to put on the timeline, we discovered that it could actually be a good clip to put into one of the gaps we had near the end of our music video. It was successful because it adds a fun element to the sequence, and conveys typical banter between the couple, which makes it relate back to the target audience.



This is taken from the arndale steps sequence. We keep the first part at normal speed and then fast-forward it as the lyrics say 'down', then change it back to normal speed. It is successful because it is well framed and fits in with the music.



This screen grab is taken from one of the narrative sequences of the music video. It shows the couple enjoying a meal together, it appeals to the target audience because it could relate to their own experiences.




These shots make up a short stop motion sequence that appears twice in the video. The stop motion effect makes it look like the hearts are beating, which represents the feelings of the couple when they see each other, e.g when their hearts race.





This is another short stop motion sequence from the video. It is very successful because as the lyrics say 'fizzling out' the cake seems as if it is being eaten away.



This is another shot from one of the stop motion sequences. The stick people appear to be drawn on screen in time with the lyrics 'its the same old you, same old me'. The heart then appears to beat, which is also cut so it beats in time with the music.



This shot is also part of a stop motion sequence. Each letter appears one by one as if it is being written on screen. It is a successful sequence because it is fun and interesting and would appeal to our target audience.


This is another shot taken from one of the stop motion sequences. The sweets spin in time with the beats of the music. We chose these two love heart sweets because of the words 'Its love' and 'Love Bug' so they were relevant to the love theme. The use of sweets would also appeal to our target audience because they are most likely to be eaten by the agre group of the target audience, and they would think it was a quirky idea to incorporate the sweets into the video.

Monday 29th November-Rejected footage and pictures

We were going to use this image for a chorus when spelling out the lyrics ' and the love kickstarts again'. However, one of the team members managed to mispell the word 'starts' and so when we came to drag it into final cut pro we noticed it said 'stars' and that we wouldnt be able to use it. Therefore we had to re-shoot.


We initially had this image as part of a stop motion sequence. However we found it too difficult to move all the sweets to the exact places so it was effective, therefore we decided not to use it.


Again this was going to be part of a stop motion sequence spelling out the chorus, however the camera wasnt in focus and so the footage was blurred. We then re shot this sequence properly.

Thursday 18th November

Today we finished editing as we had two gaps to fill with footage. Then we were refining the rest of the footage that was already in place. We also continued to work on photoshop, creating our poster and we plan to begin making the cd cover. As we were making the poster we also researched into Examples official promotional advertisement to get some inspiration .

This is one of Examples cd covers to advertise their album 'kickstarts. We took the colour of his hood and used it as the colour of our writing for our poster.

We also got our teacher Mr Lewis, to look at our video once we had finished it. He said we had some good footage but that one of our sequences was too long. So we shortened it and added in another clip with a 'ripple dissolve' so it looked like a flashback.

Monday 15th November

Today we uploaded all of our new footage we had filmed at the weekend onto the mac and begun to edit it and work it into our timeline. Whilst we were out filming we also took pictures of Gabi and Alex in different locations to use for the digi pack. We started to edit one of the pictures we thought was suitable for either the poster or the c.d cover. Also we took some pictures of lovehearts in a heart and arrow shape that we could use for the c.d.

This is the picture we thought would be suitable to use in the digi pack as its a simple but effective picture as it shows clearly their relationship. If we use this image we will then have to add some promotional literature; for example the date the album is out, the song title and the name of the artist.

Sunday 14th November

Today we met in the center of Manchester to film some more of our narrative footage. We started at Picadilly Gardens, filming several shots of Gabi and Alex walking towards each other on the walkway that runs across the gardens. We had problems with people walking into the shots and pigeons flying across the camera, but in the end we managed to get some good footage. We also took some pictures of Gabi and Alex stood in front of the fountains for possible poster/ cd cover images.

We then walked through the arndale and filmed the couple walking down the main steps outside. We then got some more walking shots next to the Urbis for the start of the music video. We also filmed the couple sat at a table outside starbucks, and zooming into the eyes to relate to some lyrics in the song. We also filmed the 360 degree head spin.

Overall it was a successful day of filming and we got some good footage.

Thursday 11th November

Today we added more of our footage which we had filmed at Justines house and down her street to the timeline. We then continued to edit the footage where convenient and to the beat of the song. At this point we realised by looking at our timeline, that we didn't have enough of the narrative footage therefore we planned to film on Sunday 14th November.

Monday 8th November

Today we had got back to the editing stage but without one of our group member, Gabbi. All though we had started editing, we had encountered a problem with the time line because it was moving the recording scenes to a different place which meant they were off beat. Mr Reeh had helped us with the problem so we could carry on. We started to put more footage on the time line and edited specific parts to specific places which we had planned from our actual story board. for e.g. the washing line saying "I LOVE YOU" and also the part where Gabbi and Alex are having there dinner. We used speed motion today on some of our footage giving it a little touch to the footage, and its looking good so far.

Thursday 4th November

Today we had the song on a USB therefore we were able to add the song to the timeline and continue editing but more accurately this time due to having the music which meant we could edit to the beat.
we also took a look at our stop motion images and began to edit these into the time line aswell for the chorus's .

Monday 1st November

Today we created a project in final cut pro and had to import our footage onto the computer. We then had to convert our footage so it was compatible with the application. We then looked through our footage and immediately began to decide which footage we would definately use and which footage we wouldnt but we would keep anyway because there may have been a few seconds of good footage.
We then began to place footage onto the timeline of our feet tapping to the beginning of the song and edit it to the reference of times which we had made from when we timed the sections of the song as we didnt have the song on a USB.

Monday 25th October

We began to film at Justines house, where we plan to film the flash back scenes and the washing lines scenes where we will spell more of the lyrics.
We spelt " i LOVE YOU ' on justines washing line using clothes for example, socks, boxers, t-shirts etc and took each letter off one by one for use later on with stop motion.
We also filmed some of the narrative aspects, for when there is a flashback of gabi and alex as a happy couple- we filmed them cuddling on a sofa, and eating a meal. we also got footage of them walking down the road holding hands from behind and other angles just to make sure.
To make sure we had too much footage incase of instrumental bits in the song, we also got footage of them doing other things together for example, jumping about on a trampoline and getting into a car and driving off, we might not necessarily use this footage but we were covering our backs incase of lack of footage in the future so we dont have to go back to the location.

Another days will be used for anything we need re-shooting and/or extra footage and new ideas

Thursday 21st October

Today we couldnt film due to it being mary Ward day in college

Monday 18th October

Today we did some more filming of the love connotations. We bought some fairy cakes and spelt love across them, with one letter on each cake. We spelt it with the pink icing.

We also made a paper chain couple and drew faces and hearts on them with pen and icing, then took shots for the purpose of match cuts. We then uploaded all of the pictures and started to edit them using photoshop.

we also discussed a schedule for during the half term holidays, as we plan to get the majority of our filming completed ready for editing when we come back.

Filming

Monday 11th October:

Today we started filming some stop-motion effects. We bought some love heart sweets to write the lyrics of the song with. We also made a love heart shape with them and made the heart break into two. We also uploaded the animatic story board onto the blog.

Thursday 14th October:

Today we did some more stop-motion filming of more lyrics from the song we decided we wanted to use. We also wrote out the sentence "and the love kickstarts again..." onto paper and took pictures letter by letter. W e also continued to film with the love heart sweets, focusing on the words on the sweets for example "love bug" and "i love you", we made these spin and move across the camera. Later we can edit the footage and make them move across the screen using stop motion.

Animatic Storyboard

Original Filming Locations

These are some shots of our Manchester location where we will be filming some of the narrative couple scenes, and some of the love connotation scenes. These include Picadilly Gardens, the Northern Quarter and the steps outside the M.E.N Arena.