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

Media Evaluation on Prezi

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

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

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(Music Video Task) What's Going On - Captain Horizon

Poster

Digipack Template

CD and lyrics pannel

back of front pannel

head fold-in pannel

Head back pannel

Head front pannel

Time Plan/Management

The pictures below show a general overview of the calendar function in Outlook, used to help plan my work.

Above shows the Time plan I used in order to create my Digipack. Here shows my Outlook account with the college, which proved useful, as it allowed me to link calendars with my partner. This meant I was able to see what, and when my partner would be doing, allowing us to maximise productivity and will show when we are and are not busy.

I was also able to incorporate this technology with my phone, meaning I was able to update and view my calender accordingly if changes were needed to Outlook and/or Blogger.

Time Plan

Technology Skills Week - Overview

During this week I have expanded my skills in order to build my knowledge and confidence in creating a piece of photography.

Creativity is referred to when something new is created e.g. artwork. During this week, I believe that creativity has been expressed through the use of experimentation which have adapted into ideas.

It could then be investigated that theory and knowledge could induce creativity, as creativity usually produces good results.

After broadening my skills with Photoshop, I personally feel that newer and more interesting ideas have adapted, due to the fact that I am seeing what I am capable of doing with Photoshop, as well as what the software is also able to generate in terms of technique.

The need of creativity as a starting point to developing technical skills was apparent through the different stages of the process.

The Technical Skills I developed during this week

SLR Cameras:

• Taking Photographs using Autofocus
• Importing Pictures onto user area using SD cards

Photoshop:

• Using Lasso Tool
• Using Pallet Tool Bar

During the start of the course, creativity was hard to expand upon due to my personal lack of imagination. However, as the course has developed, I have learnt a wide range of techniques in order to overcome this creative block. These methods will have helped in the development of my print production work - and with the use of experimentation and skills development, this will allow me to push my ideas further.

Technology Skills Week - SLR Camera skills development

Last year I used a SLR Camera in order to take photographs for my magazine cover, using the standard auto-focus mode on the camera.

This year I have began to branch toward using the different technology's built into the camera in order to get more entropic and suitable photograph styles which I plan to use later for my actual print production work.

Photos I have taken include the manipulation of certain shots including the use of focus pull. I practised using this in order to get familiar with the technique when it comes to take my final photographs.

Creativity Overview

This week I concentrated on being creative.

Creativity is a mental process involving the discovery of new ideas or concepts, or new associations of the existing ideas or concepts.

Looking into creativity, there are several following ideas and suggestions to help optimize this. This may include taking a walk, or taking your mind of an idea altogether by drawing something. There are also several theories into why some people suffer from being creative.

Sir Ken Robinson belives that creativity is taught out of people through education due to the students always being taught to be write. As a result students may feel unable to explore new areas (be creative) due to the fear of this being wrong, thus not gaining any credit for it.

Looking below you will see the storyboard I created, showing the music video and shortened music.

Using various Youtube Clips I was able to get a good overview of how and what a animated storyboard should look like.

What's Going On - Storyboard

First use of Technological Development learnt

Using the internet i was able to use sources from adobe website in order to find out how to adjust the eye colour of someone in my photo.

I learnt how to use the Clipping and Magnetic Lasso tool, as well as what shortcuts to hold

(e.g. Shift, Alt) in order to use them ap

propriately.

This is beneficial as not only do in now know how to adjust eye colour, but also know how to use this tool on any part of the picture I am working on.

In this process I also learnt how to use the Colouring Pallet.

This is important as I was able to expand my knowledge further on colour adjustment methods. I now know how to use Saturation as well as Gray scale effects in order to tweak the colour already

chosen from the colour palette. This will be useful in the future as it will allow me to make detailed improvements which will improve my work.

Below is the Original image:

I took this photo using the Auto focus tool on the SLR Camera.

During this I

learnt how to take multiple shots, which i then managed later using the built in Photo Viewer option on the camera.

This meant i was able to delete unwanted photos in order to make space on the SD card for better images.

I also learnt how to transfer photos on the SLR Cameras SD card, onto the computer. This will save me time when it comes to my Print work as i will now be able to spe

nd more time editing.

Below is a the Experimental image I created using the Adobe Resources.com with the added colouring effects to the eyes.

I will then use this technique to create more relevant effects for my Print work:

Green colouration effects:

Red colouration effects:

Technology Skills

During this week I am going to try and increase my skill set by using various techniques:

These skill sets include:

• Learning how to Pull Focus on SLR cameras in order to achieve my shot of Will Tyler (Lead Actor).

In order to achieve this, I will be taking test shots in order to get familiar with entropic photographs.

I will learn how to do this by experimenting as well as looking at the Internet for tutorials on how to achieve this effect to its maximum potential. However, if these methods prove unsuccessful in all of the following, I will seek advice.

I will be booking a SLR camera and upload my test shots in order to show how I have improved from the start compared with my final Print Production work.

• How to add effects on Premier Pro - (Fading Clips, Adding effects, adjusting the colour/exposure/contrast of shots/ adding title effects)

In order to get familiar with Premier Pro, I will need to get some tester footage to get the effect I require for the video. By doing this, I will be increasing my knowledge of the program and thus increasing my expertise in this particular field.

• Using Photoshop to achieve the effects desired on my taken photos for Print Production Work:

I have used the following links to gather research information on these areas of Photoshop:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNcKCTbchmQ&feature=related - this will be a similar approach I will be taking except thatI will be using these techniques to create a scarecrow rather than a zombie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUQxRoq7Je8 I will use this tutorial in order to edit the effect of Will Tylers eyes to make them look lifeless.

These specific skills will help me toward creating my Print Production work, as these are the techniques I plan to incorporate.

Ideas...

Significant objects may connote more meaning than a cluttered photograph. Therefore for one my photographs I will incorporate the use of absence and relevance in order to help grab the audiences attention.

Objects may include:

• CD Player - Connotations of Music
• Single broken guitar string - Connotations of Rebelliousness/Rock

Ideas...

The incorporation of focus pull on certain photographs in my Print production will allow the veiwers attention to be drawn to the object. I will be testing this in the future with the use of the SLR cameras until i eventually decide to use this on Will Tyler (actor) on the front cover of my Digital Pack

Pitch - What's Going On

Pitch - What's Going On

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Feedback from Pitch:

After pitching the idea to the class we received the following feedback from the class:

One of the questions mentioned the use of clothing in the music video. It was mentioned that maybe the use of backing dancer should wear the same clothes to give the sense of formality. This we feel is a good idea as it allows for a more fluid style, and will the suit the video more as a result.

One of the more popular criticisms scrutinised the location of where we have chosen to film. Looking into this we feel there are several more suitable locations which fit the criteria needed for our music video.

Front Cover Digipack Analyse

Looking at this front cover, there is an matchmaking between Photoshop effects and the original photograph. This use of contrast between effects, makes the picture stand out as being an individualistic piece artwork. As a result this is also seen as fairly entropic, as it allows the reader to portray their own meaning and connotations from what they see.

Here we see an example of a redundant piece of artwork. The fairly literal and simplistic approach to the front cover is bold iconic. As a result this front cover not only identify the band with the specific image of a single letter, it also offers a rememberable alternate to something more complicated.

Analysis of Wonderwall - Oasis

The first shot we see is a long, establishing shot, looking through a jagged edged frame – e.g. cardboard box. As this is the opening shot, the mise en scene featured helps to establish the nature and genre of the video by the connotations portrayed by the make-up of the shot. This includes technical aspects, which help to overview the songs attitude and meaning, thus connoting simplistic style with its audience. In this case, the shot is shown to connote a rugged, classic and original style which is later shown to match with the genre of music.

The lighting has been edited to look over exposed, with a high level of gamma. This helps to make the video stand out by mixing redundancy with entropy, helping to give its own identity by amplifying technical opposites. In this case we can see that the actor on stage looks far more pin-pointed than and relative to the song than it would without this effect. This results in the viewers attention being attracted.

The entire shot is still, portraying to the audience that they are hidden (looking through a peep-hole). This may be used to help identify a true portrayal of the band and its music, rather than it having been covered up by brushing effects etc. This basically meaning that the original and ultimate features of the video are shown in their true light. Overall this helps to give a true representation of the band and its image.

Apart from the sound of footstep, the video begins from silent. This helps to draw attention onto the character on the screen by helping to establish a point of interest though the use of audio. Again this untouched style helps to build its opening influence, by helping the audience identify the style and nature of the video.

In terms of visual effects, the shot is fairly basic. This helps to portray the nature of the genre, e.g. if the video were full of multi-coloured special effects, the genre may be identified as Electro.

The entire Music Video has been edited into Black and White. This helps to establish the era of video as well as adopting mechanical, low-tech techniques, to help enforce an individualistic style to the audience.

In the next shot we get a close up, aerial shot of a vinyl record player. The use of this camera shot helps to identify intricate details across to the audience, which establish more relevance than just the entire object being filmed. In this case the use of the ne

edle on the record is placed just as the music starts. This portrays roar and classic rock music as a record player is usually identified as being unique, but also how vinyl records are known to be the best way to hear music. The Close Up shot composed throughout, shows the action being carried out on the record player – where it is switched on etc.

Noises, such as the scratching of the needle against the vinyl, and the clunk sound of the player being turned on, help to highlight and identify details with more significance. This helps the audience become familiar with the style and genre of music before the actual track has begun to play.

This is a fairly common shot in most music videos as it helps to avoid redundancy. The shot is also conveyed as fairly amplifying in terms of the artistic approach captured – meaning that This helps again to attract the audience into the video and help add another layer/meaning to the song.

Here we are returned to the original shot, with instead, the lead singer of Oasis featured. The shot cross dissolves in from the previous, allowing a fluid and coherent relationship between the record player and the music being played by the singer.

The singer is positioned in the middle of the stage, which allows attraction to be centred upon him. The music now starts in time with the actor. The camera jump cuts from a long shot, to medium; and then to a close up.

The cuts also switch on the beat of the music. This gives an alternate, post productive feel to the video; by the way the video is built upon an informal structure. This helps connote the genre and style of the band by the way the camerawork and editing seems unprofessional, when truly these effects are purposeful. This technique is therefore used to gain recognition with its audience by reflecting connotations between the video and the band e.g. (Video doesn’t follow the rules of camera work – band is unruly).

Here is the full Music Video:

Music Video Research

Music Video Research on Prezi

Green Day- Wake Me Up When September Ends (Illustrative, Amplifying or Disjunctive)

Looking at this video, it is clear that there are two separate plots intertwining between the music and the story unfolding before the audience. For this reason, I feel that this music video is mainly amplifying; even though the music has a specific meaning, there is another sub layer to the story which makes the video feel more realistic to the audience. This is particularly shown through the use of cuts throughout the video; there are breaks in the music, in order to make way for the sub-plot to unfold. This helps to develop the emotional viewpoints of the characters by focusing the entire point of the video on the plot rather than the music being played.

The story is based around a couple's young love. It is a fairly typical scene of a couple kissing and being in love. However, the ending of their relationship is suddenly revealed with the break up at the end, giving the video a more realistic portrayal of the evolution of love. This makes the video and the genre of music fit perfectly, as they give an almost ruthless style of progression throughout. The “Rock” like style of the music unifies the plot because it represents rebellion opposed to what is usually expected from a love story.

Two shots are used throughout the video in order to give the audience the familiarity of a fluid conversation between both characters. In addition to this, close ups also help the audience to experience the emotional aspects of the video that develop further on. This results in the audience being more immersed in the events of each character.

Hand-held shots are also compiled throughout the video to build the overview of a realistic interpretation to what can happen to love, being not always beautiful, etc. I believe that this use of camera technique, combined with the use of shots where the camera pans across the scene of the couple, helps to bring the audience into the story. The music and its lyrics also help to tie the story line and the video together. This is shown by the pace and rhythm of the song starting of slow – where the couple starts off in love, and ends in a fast paced louder style of music – the lyrics mention the arrival of September, representing the end of a cycle, and ultimately death.This again fits well with the end of love. Furthermore, the shots of war shown at the end of the video correspond well with the drama created by the arguments between the two characters.

Underlying Structure of a Music Video

There are different theory’s which relate to how a story is structured. This is usually found in books and films. However these things can also be found in a music video whereas the feature itself, either being illustrating, amplifying or disjunctive, can contain a story/meaning which can affect the finishing portrayal of the video.

There are different theories with different meanings, all with their own approach toward analysing the structure of a story. It is important to therefore research and analyse the effects of such theories in a music video to see if I would like to apply them further on in my coursework.

The first theorist (Todorov) believes that there is 5 main key structure points in order to make a story.

These are:

1. Equilibrium – where there is a current situation where everything is normal.
2. Disruption – The thing which disrupts the normality of that situation
3. Recognition – The state of being acknowledged; e.g. a super hero could save the day...
4. Reparation – The state of repair; e.g. the super hero is going to save the day...
5. New Equilibrium – A brand new situation caused by the effect of the Disruption, Recognition and Reparation.

Note: The actual equilibrium at the start could be bad as well as good and form a new equilibrium as opposites; visa versa.

The second theorist (Vladimir Propp) believed that there were certain spheres of action which caused events in a story. These spheres of action would then create and resolve a story by cancelling each other out.

These spheres of action were:

The Hero – Seeks something

The Villain – Obstructs the Hero’s quest

Helper - helps the hero to achieve his quest.

Donor - contributes to the story

Princess - Princess

Farther - Carer of Princess

Dispatcher - Sends out Hero

False Hero - Believes is doing good, but in fact is doing opposite.

The Killers - When You Were Young

Here you can see the story of a disciple - Hero, exploring and giving to the less fortunate - The Victim.

Classifying Music Videos

There are different ways in which Music Videos are separated and classified into their own Genre. Theories and systems for this are as follows:

One theory included is from Andrew Goodwin. He states that there are a number of key features in music Videos that help to classify and break up music videos into their own separate categories.

These are as follows:

• A relationship between lyrics and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.
• A relationship between the music and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music.
• Genre-related style and iconography present.
• Multiple close-ups of the main artist or vocalist
• Voyeurism (Pleasure of looking), often plays a major part, especially in the relation to females.
• Intertextual references to other media texts may be present.

Looking at an example of the video below we can see that all of these features of present showing that the theory of Goodwin is present in most modern music videos.

There are three ways as a whole that videos can also relate to visuals of a song.

These are as follows:

Illustrating:

“The meaning of the lyrics and genre.”

This means that the video is taken on a very literal basis. An example of this is as follows.

As you can see here the whole concept and feel of the video is fairly over the top in the way that everything is played out exactly according to the song.

Amplifying:

“The original songs meaning and effect”

The video adds another layer of meaning – another way of seeing the music:

e.g. Oasis – Rock n’ Roll Star

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disjuncture:

Work by ignoring or rejecting the songs original meaning. Often bases on abstract imagery.

e.g. Daft Punk – Da Funk

Music Video Analyse - Redundancy & Entropic

Video Skills - Technical Planning

In my project I am hoping to progress my skills further in all aspects of media. Below are certain skill sets which I am I particular hoping to improve in.

One skill in particular includes the original Creativity/Originality process in creating the idea for my Video in the Pre-Production process.

Last year I struggled in creating an original idea. In order to improve this I will this time explore suggestive ideas from a different range of topics in order to get a more specific idea of the way I am going to direct the Video towards. This will allow the Video to be clearer in the Pre-Production as well as Pro-Production as it will allow my knowledge base to expand, thus the quality of the project. This will also benefit me in the editing stage of the video as I will have a clearer idea of the direction the video is heading and where I will need to improve.

Ideas gathered in research this time will therefore be from a broader range of information. This will therefore include films, books and the internet. This should help to give a strong foundation in order to build my project upon in order to achieve professionalism.

Another skill needing work on includes the Production process of filming the Video. Camera skills is a priority for me to grasp in order for the Video to look industry standard and thus grab my target audience.

Last year I grasped the concepts of holding the camera steady through various shots, as well as mastering using the camcorder to develop a high range of appropriate shots. These ranged from CU’s to managing the filming conditions. I learnt here that multiple shots may need to be recorded in order to offer choice at the editing stage, where weather conditions play a huge role in the development of the film becoming fluid.

Continuity is another skill I developed which I shall be carrying across in order to achieve a high quality piece of Video work.

In order to do this I will adopt the same tactics from last year and apply them to this piece of work.

However this year I need to work on getting Dead Space and Camera movement mastered to keep the video flowing and keep the audience watching. I will therefore practise using a range of skills whilst allowing myself enough time to get familiar with the aspects, in order for myself to be ready when the time comes to put my skills learnt to work.

Another Production skill that posed a problem last year was the Lighting Conditions in which film was captured. This was a problem due to the weather changing, meaning that continuity between each shot was poor due to the different hue and saturation between each transition of shot. Therefore the video did not feel coherent and resulted in the Video being clunky and difficult to focus on.

This time I will take note of weather conditions and if so, and most likely, will find a way to control the lighting conditions around each shot in order for it to look similar. Allowing enough time to replicate mistakes may also be wise however may not be convenient for the people filmed. Therefore this is another skill needing to be mastered in order to be as prepared as possible.

This year it may also be wise to delve into adjusting the lighting effects on the capture video to make it stand out and could be useful for minor background tweaks.

Organisation and Logs are particularly important this year as I feel it is needed to delegate roles and take notes to confirm events. This includes the confirmation of a certain shot as well as organising equipment. This will lead to effective efficiency and will help to prevent carless mistakes in the long run, such as forgetting to record an important shot or forgetting a prop. I will therefore be creating a log to be shown later to show the process of undertaking organisation.

I also feel it is important to exchange phone numbers in order to stay in contact to confirm certain dates such as filming and editing times/places.

I will also be keeping my blog up to date to prevent the loss of important information.

Skills development part 2

Now i have completed my Preliminary Project of the iPod advertisment i have increased my skill set. this means i have learn't new information wich can help me in the future create an even more proffesional project.
One of the following skills i have learn't in the production process of making the advert features the use of adding special effects to the video time-line. For example, the additive dissolve effect was used consitantly as it was seen to be a smooth and proffesional transition which stood out. The fact that this effect is used often in Tv adverts today that also look proffesional, confirms the reason why the transition was chosen.
I have also learn't how to overlay titles ontop of the video. This was learn't during the process of adding the name of the product (iPod) over the video and adjectives used to entise veiwers. This is feel will help me in the future to even the finest detail in the main project such as the credits on a music video.
I have also learn't how to syncronise the video in time with the background music. I feel this made an impact on the video, whilst making it professional, by making certain titles stand out. I feel this will be useful in the main project due to the fact a music video will need the lyrics which are in time with the talents voice. (Lip-Syncing).
I have also learn't how to direct the actual fiming of the footage more thouroughly. Previously problems encountered included the size of certain clips being too short and the lack of extra footage to add as a backup. However this time around the overall filming process was alot more clarified in its filming and accurate in what actually needed to be filmed. I feel this will be important for the main project as the use of footage needed to be in time with the talents lips will be vital for the video to look professional.
I have also learn't how to cut, add and import special effects ontop of the audio. These special effects include the use of fading sound in certain and specific places and raising the overall volume of that selected clip.

Skills Target's

Whilst making the Preliminary Project of Video i will try to pick up the following skills in order to help me with the production with my main task. As a result this will make my project more proffesional due to the Skill Set required during this set Task.

To update my skills in the use of Digital Technology i will try and learn new features in order to make the overall task more proffesional. This will also help me in my main task

This will be learn't during my post production using video editing. The use of techniques such as adding a soundtrack to the background of the overall sound will help me to learn this. This will then help my understanding of this concept and will rsult in my knowledge being broadened. This will result in my understanding of Diegetic Sound adding.

This will be achieved during the iPod advert where music will be overlayed in the background of the video

By previously working in a group last year i feel more idea's were created than if i would be to work on my own. Therefore this year i will again be working in a group as it has proven to be a more effective form of idea development.

I would like to make sure this year to incorporate a larger form of idea's in order to create a more original project. This will provide a broad landscape for which the product may feature towards such as idea's toward the Projects Target Audience.

This will be achieved by planning the most flexible and modern Ipod to film.

Last year my planning outweighed my research. Therefore this year i will do more research as i feel this will contribute to idea making as well as a more refined project type.

This will be achieved during the ipod advert by which the iPod statistics will be researched and taken into account in order to make the ad serve the purpose, which is trying to sell that product.

For post production i would like to learn how to add title sequences to my Video Production. therefore i will like to learn how to add this to my preliminary task

This will be achieved during the advert by adding titles such as the iPod name and logo and overlaying them onto the actual video clip.

With conventions from real media texts. My previous video production from last years preliminary project was shown to be very simple in the way it was directed. Therefore for this project it will be more throughly planned.

This will be achieved during the advert as it's purpose is directed simply and easily for intended purpose.