How we used media technologies in our video

An important tool for creating our media music video was the
use of media technologies, both in our post production and in our research and
planning stages.
The most
important media technology during our planning and preparation was that of the
internet. During our planning, the use of the internet allowed us to find and
catalogue a variety of other music video’s which we used as inspiration, such
as other Oh Land music video’s, for this we mainly used the site youtube.com,
which allowed us free none-copyrighted access to a hoard of music videos.
The internet also allowed us to
search for suitable locations for our music video, a useful site for this
Google Maps, which we used to grab our location screenshots.
Search engines also allowed us to
research into what it was possible to do with editing, and what the typical
conventions of a music video of our genre would be.

The most
important use of media technologies was during the construction of the video.
The video camcorder we used was of a high standard, allowing us to take high
quality shots for our music video, and keep clarity high. We used a tripod and
dolly, which allowed us to take panning and tracking shots with ease.

The editing
software used was final cut pro 5, this highly advanced piece of software
really opened up what we were able to do with our music video. Although the
software got some getting used to, as we got better with it we were able to
incorporate effects and transitions in our video that took it to a new level.
The most basic function it provided was that of time lining our clips, allowing
us to create a chronological narrative.
As our
video was more of a narrative than arthouse, we did not need to use many
affects, however certain ones were still used, and for this we used final cut
pro, such as when adding colour keys such as greyscale to the dance scene. We
also used masking to add certain affects to single parts of the frame, such as
the Gaussian blur on the male character towards the end.
Transitions
were also important, to help make the cuts go smoother we incorporated
transitions such as fades and dissolves, this helped the continuity of the
video.
In addition
to using final cut pro to edit the video, we also used it to edit the sound. As
our sound clip was too long, we shortened it using the trim abilities of final
cut pro, and added fade ins and outs to again make it smoother.

Overall
then, media technologies were extremely important to our music video, without
which we could not have hoped to succeed.

Technology used

The technology used to complete our coursework was a major part to its success. We used a digital camera that was given to us by the college to films of the shots for the music video, it was ‘Legria FS306’ it had all the necessary features such advanced zoom, good storage capacity and also a good battery life but however the quality of the video was fairly poor. We were also given a tripod with the camera. It was very thoughtful as it helped us to shoot good clips without being too shaky. Another digital technology we used was a digital camera to take pictures of the locations, we used a ‘Canon lxus 220 HS’. It was a really good and useful camera as all the pictures were great quality. That was mainly everything that we used to film the actually clips for the music video. Post production After we had filmed all the clips that we needed, we used the software Final Cut pro to the edit the clips together to form a 4minute long continuous music video. It was great software for editing as we were able to do lots of different effects and transitions to our video to make it a really good final product. One of the main use’s of final cut pro was that we was able to slow down or speed up some of the clips to make it flow though the video, an example of this is in one of the dancing part we slowed down one of the clips as well as rewinding it and speed it up after, it looked great and was a great effect. Using final cut pro we was able to add filter e.g. the black n white at the start. We was able to edit brightness and contrast of the video as some of the clips had different lighting to each other because they were shot on different days, so that was a really hand tool. And many more transitions ad effects to make it a good final piece. Another digital technology we used was the software that we used was the adobe Photoshop. It was mainly used to complete the digi pack and the poster. Adobe Photoshop is a graphic editing program developed & published by Adobe systems Incorporated. It was really handy software as it allowed us to edit the pictures, add effects to them and make it better than the original image. Some of its useful features include, blurring, Quick Selection and Refine Edge tools, and also it was useful because it allowed us to add text and filters to the original image. It was really easy to use as well.

Evaluation Question 2

Our main product has many unique qualities about it as do our ancillary texts. For example we use the same protagonist in our digipak as we used for our video to create continuity and so that the female would be recognizable from the music video for potential customers wanting to purchase the CD. We tried to connect the song lyrics to our CD case and so we brainstormed the word ‘Numb’ (being the singles title) and this is how we came up with the idea of the girl in the bath of ice. This represents that her heart is so numb that this then reflects in her body and the numbness takes over. When we began brainstorming for the digipak we initially decided on an Alice in Wonderland type tea party in the woods. The reason we thought of this was because there is an underlying intertextual reference throughout the video of Alice in Wonderland (themes, characters and so on.) However we eventually decided against this idea as we thought it would be extremely difficult to make it look genuine and we also thought that we wanted to make something completely original. I think that the front cover of the CD goes well with the music video because the underlying theme in the video that we wanted to portray is that of mental illness and on the CD cover the protagonist has tape over her mouth and redness under her eyes making her look crazy. We kept the magazine advert simple. By using the protagonist on the posters the public can then relate her to the music video making it easy to spot. The simplistic yet eloquent  effect used and the blue background enhances the cold, lost feeling to the character and also is related to the word numb and also is eye-catching. 

Evaluation Question 1

 

Our media product uses the conventions of real media products according to Craig Davis’ theory. Our music video fits well into the category of amplification, which we attempted to do from the beginning. However, our video challenges Goodwin’s theory of female exhibition and voyeurism, we did this partly because we were inspired by Florence and the Machine and Florence is a strong, talented woman and so does not exhibit herself in her videos and also because it is unlike the genre of music to convey women in such a way. Oh Land’s other videos come across with her looking innocent and very girly, not sexy.  I think that our music video develops the usual conventions by the vast interpretation possible for the audience to have. The surreal narrative is very open to interpretation and almost film-like yet still conforming to the cut-to-the-beat- editing, like a music video. We conformed to conventions of a music video by going on location and using several interesting locations. The costumes that we decided to use were eye-catching and inventive. We did this because music videos are a form of advertisement for the musician and therefore generally there is a memorable quality to the video. Of course, like some music videos, we shaped the mise en scene to intensify the narrative and show the protagonists changing feelings, thoughts and emotions.

Comparing AS to A2

Comparing the AS production to the A2 coursework there is a lot of significant changes. Such the amount of work you have to do in the same amount of time is a lot more than you’d expect, you have to do the music video, blog digi pack and do all of them up to a high standard. Where as in AS all you had to worry about was your video and blog. On the other hand A2 work is however easier because it is fairly straight forward what you have to do, as you have already acquired all the skills you need to produce the video from last year and it’s just the matter of taking it to the next level with the editing and the different approach you go about to do it. In AS what you had to do was film the start of film, it was hard to do because we had never done anything like that before and it was a completely new idea so there was a lot of idea you needed to take in such as the 180 degree rule. One of the main challenges from AS would be getting used to the software final cut pro, it was really complicated when you first use as there is a lot of things you can do with that software e.g. slow down the clips, add effects, filters etc. therefore it took a lot of time compared to A2 to get the editing part done. Another main challenge was coming up with the story board, where as A2 you know what your doing by analyzing different music video AS it was solely based on you and your team as you had to come with your own film, which I personally found quiet hard to do, so there was a lot of planning and research done compared to A2. In A2 our task was to create a music video to the song of our choice. Personally I found this much more exciting and fun to do as there was no limit to what you can’t do. When we was filming AS there was a lot of help from the teacher and therefore there was limits to what we could’ve done as we was always getting opinions on what they thought about it and so. Where as in A2 everything was done by you and the team and teachers didn’t have to help as much, as we already knew everything we need to know. However filming the music video is a lot more challenging than you’d expect. There was lot of time spent on the filming itself and it required a lot of planning and research, such as the locations, how to get people there, any additional actors etc. Choosing the song was fairly easy for us as we all shared similar taste music and we all wanted to do unique music video to unique song. Editing in A2 is easier in a compared to AS as you already know how to use final cut pro and it’s just the matter of using the right transmission at the right place and so. However where as the maximum time for the AS project was 2 min 30 seconds, in A2 we had to aim to complete about 4minutes in total which was a challenge as well. Also the blog had to be a lot more detailed as well, where the minimum amount of posts we had to do was 50 which was a major challenge to achieve. Finally the digipack, it was something we need do last year so it was kind of new to all of us; however it was fairly easy to do. We used the Photoshop to edit the images to their standards and we also had to do a poster to advertise the album/the product we had produced. In conclusion we enjoyed creating the music video much more than filming the start of film as it was much more exciting and challenging

face painting for China town scenes

We had a friend do the clown's face painting. She has lots of experience in face painting and gave a us a fantastic photograph from a brilliant circus book. (picture)

What we learnt from our audience feedback

Audience feedback is crucial to achieving an interesting yet fun and mysterious music video.
When shooting at the yard theatre in Hulme there was a lot of interest in the music video.
The theatre was active with many quietly interested artist/producers.. producing great feed back for us to sink our teeth into! For example one artist mentioned the back lighting in the theatre creating a fantastic background for us to work with, producing some amazing shots.
While shooting the dancer I had many scenes in mind and lots of the scenes worked very well but after a quick chat with the group; artist/producers of the theatre and the dancer, we decided to enhance/change some scenes making a real difference. This taught us how important listening to the audience is to developing a music video. Overall our Audiences (during shooting) feedback was very useful and we were most grateful for their time and idea's.

Once the audience had seen the final music video they immediately asked if there was a CD to buy. This taught us how important music video's are to an artist career/income. The comments overall are outstanding with many congrats and not forgetting a bit of constructive criticism. Giving us much to get excited about in the future.
Here are few interviews from the audience after watching the music video.


Name: Jordan D
Age: 22
1) What did you think the music video was about?
"A woman lost and trying to find her way or maybe her mind."
2) Will you be telling your friends and family about the music video ?
"Yes, I will be as i feel they will like it as much I have!"
3) What age do you think this music video is most suited for ?
"Not sure really maybe 14+"
4) Did you like the choreography in the music video ?
"Indeed the dancing really brought the video together."
5) Did you like the scenes chosen for the music video ?
"Yes, the town scenes bring the story to life and I love darkness."
6) Was there anything you feel we missed or could of improved ?
"Maybe more dancers."

Name: Zia J
Age:18
1) What did you think the music video was about?
"A girl that was lost both physically and mentally."
2) Will you be telling your friends and family about the music video ?

i have and i have shown it to everyone coz its awesome
3) What age do you think this music video is most suited for ?

Teenagers+ because it might not make sense to younger ones
4) Did you like the choreography in the music video ?

yeah, especially the dancing scene as it linked everything together
5) Did you like the scenes chosen for the music video ?

yeah, thought it was really originally and gave a good sense of feel
6) Was there anything you feel we missed or could of improved ?
thought the music could be a bit more up to beat, thats all apart from that it was really good

sian casey

1) What did you think the music video was about?

weird girl running around everywhere, looking for some guy.

2) Will you be telling your friends and family about the music video ?

yes
3) What age do you think this music video is most suited for ?

teenagers
4) Did you like the choreography in the music video ?

yes
5) Did you like the scenes chosen for the music video ?

yes i did
6) Was there anything you feel we missed or could of improved ?
no, it was spot on :)