Here's the directors commentary for our video, enjoy, try to ignore the echo!!!
Friday 16 December 2011
Evaluation question 4- How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages
The process of creating our media product has required us to use many different types of technology. Although at the beginning of the process there were members of the group who were very efficient with certain types of technology, through the filming and editing process, all of us have learnt new skills relating to these various technologies.
Through the planning period of our project, we frequently used Blogger, or Blogspot, in order to update teachers and examiners of our current progress. We used the 'embed' feature on Youtube in order to share videos we analysed or used as inspiration to our own video.
It was through exploring the various songs in the rock genre that our group discovered the song, Muse-Feeling Good.Blogger has also been used throughout the entire production process, updating our own individual blogs whenever we went out to film a shot, a well as continually sharing pictures and short videos showing our group when working.
As well as using the internet to research and update others of our progress, we also used sites such as Prezi and scribd, in order to create presentations of our research, and for different pieces of work.
We also used various websites which use pregrenerated fonts in any sentence you type. These particular websites were very helpful in the design of our digipak, and the poster for the album.
The internet has helped us massively in the production, for if something exists, then it is more than likely it can be found somewhere.
After we had chosen our song, we used HD video recorders to film preliminary shots for our video, that were basically practice filming sessions for our group, trying out new shots that we wanted to use in the actual video. The HD recorders were also used in the actual filming of the video, so we would always have a camera on hand to film pieces that we could use in the final edit.
I also own an a Digital SLR, which allowed us to take very high quality photos for the digipak, while also using it to film in HD, which meant that after borrowing one HD camera from the school, we would always have access to at least 2 cameras, with the capability to film high quality shots. The DSLR also allowed us to use the focus on the lense to perform focus pulls, adding interesting depth of field to all scenes shot with the camera.
After we had assembled footage, we used Final Cut Express to edit all of our clips together. With the extended use of different transitions and video filters, we eventually created the final edit of our music video.
Final Cut Express is among the top when it comes to video editing, and is used by professional film makers very commonly. The opportunity to use this piece of software is a privilege, as although it allows us to cut out parts we do not want, as well as putting footage together, it also includes plenty of special effects and video transitions that can be very complicated to use and is not as simple as it look. I have learnt a lot about final cut, such as the use of markers, which you can use to mark where the lyric begin, in my case. Using Final Cut, we were able to complete our music video in just under 3 months, which is a great achievement, when the amount of footage we have is taken into consideration.
One great thing about final cut is that even if there are shots that are not fantastic, you can add a colour gradient, a filter or special transitions in order to improve the aesthetic look of it.
In order to create and edit our digipak and advert, we used Adobe Photoshop CS5, the latest version of the leading photo editor. The process of creating the digipak consisted of researching other digipaks, both professional and amateur.
I researched different text effects that can be created in photoshop, learnt how to use some of these effects, and then adjusted them to fit to our own song and genre style, before we even began t create the digipak. We also took plenty of pictures of our lead singer and the main character, as we wanted to use them both in the digipak. These pictures were manipulated, and if we did not like the way they looked, we would try something different in order to gain the effect and look we desired.
Eventually, we managed to create 4 panels that we think look very good, with the extensive help of Photoshop.
To sum up, throughout the process, we have used many different forms of technology in order to plan and create our music video and similar products. I feel that I have learnt many new skills during the process, from learning how to perform certain shots, to how to create a neon lighting effect in Adobe Photoshop.
The use of web 2.0 sites, such as Youtube during the planning and research stages was absolutely vital, and in today's age of technology, I doubt that we would have been able to plan to the degree that we did. Through using Youtube, Wikipedia and Blogger, we were able to learn and understand the conventions in Genres, the conventions of videos within the genres, and of the different types of music video.
Through the planning period of our project, we frequently used Blogger, or Blogspot, in order to update teachers and examiners of our current progress. We used the 'embed' feature on Youtube in order to share videos we analysed or used as inspiration to our own video.
It was through exploring the various songs in the rock genre that our group discovered the song, Muse-Feeling Good.Blogger has also been used throughout the entire production process, updating our own individual blogs whenever we went out to film a shot, a well as continually sharing pictures and short videos showing our group when working.
As well as using the internet to research and update others of our progress, we also used sites such as Prezi and scribd, in order to create presentations of our research, and for different pieces of work.
We also used various websites which use pregrenerated fonts in any sentence you type. These particular websites were very helpful in the design of our digipak, and the poster for the album.
The internet has helped us massively in the production, for if something exists, then it is more than likely it can be found somewhere.
After we had chosen our song, we used HD video recorders to film preliminary shots for our video, that were basically practice filming sessions for our group, trying out new shots that we wanted to use in the actual video. The HD recorders were also used in the actual filming of the video, so we would always have a camera on hand to film pieces that we could use in the final edit.
I also own an a Digital SLR, which allowed us to take very high quality photos for the digipak, while also using it to film in HD, which meant that after borrowing one HD camera from the school, we would always have access to at least 2 cameras, with the capability to film high quality shots. The DSLR also allowed us to use the focus on the lense to perform focus pulls, adding interesting depth of field to all scenes shot with the camera.
After we had assembled footage, we used Final Cut Express to edit all of our clips together. With the extended use of different transitions and video filters, we eventually created the final edit of our music video.
Final Cut Express is among the top when it comes to video editing, and is used by professional film makers very commonly. The opportunity to use this piece of software is a privilege, as although it allows us to cut out parts we do not want, as well as putting footage together, it also includes plenty of special effects and video transitions that can be very complicated to use and is not as simple as it look. I have learnt a lot about final cut, such as the use of markers, which you can use to mark where the lyric begin, in my case. Using Final Cut, we were able to complete our music video in just under 3 months, which is a great achievement, when the amount of footage we have is taken into consideration.
One great thing about final cut is that even if there are shots that are not fantastic, you can add a colour gradient, a filter or special transitions in order to improve the aesthetic look of it.
In order to create and edit our digipak and advert, we used Adobe Photoshop CS5, the latest version of the leading photo editor. The process of creating the digipak consisted of researching other digipaks, both professional and amateur.
I researched different text effects that can be created in photoshop, learnt how to use some of these effects, and then adjusted them to fit to our own song and genre style, before we even began t create the digipak. We also took plenty of pictures of our lead singer and the main character, as we wanted to use them both in the digipak. These pictures were manipulated, and if we did not like the way they looked, we would try something different in order to gain the effect and look we desired.
Eventually, we managed to create 4 panels that we think look very good, with the extensive help of Photoshop.
To sum up, throughout the process, we have used many different forms of technology in order to plan and create our music video and similar products. I feel that I have learnt many new skills during the process, from learning how to perform certain shots, to how to create a neon lighting effect in Adobe Photoshop.
Evaluation question 3-What have you learned from your audience feedback
Our focus group consisted of 4 different people, and through asking them various questions, we were able to receive very good feedback from our own peers.
According to the group, we have used special effects very well. 3/4 of the group said that we had used them enough, and that we had not overdone it with various visual effects. This has helped us massively as there are parts in the video that look like we had used them too much, such as the use of the chroma key feature multiple times.
According to the group, we have used special effects very well. 3/4 of the group said that we had used them enough, and that we had not overdone it with various visual effects. This has helped us massively as there are parts in the video that look like we had used them too much, such as the use of the chroma key feature multiple times.
This is an example of the chroma key shot. We also received a very positive comment about this particular shot, as it is the only shot in the video where our character has a performance role, 'singing' the lyrics "Feeling Good" as an elevator door opens on him. I am personally very pleased that we have received good feedback about this shot, as we spent a lot of time actually trying to achieve it to the standards required by the industry.
We did, however, receive some negative feedback regarding the use of visual effects. One member of the focus group stated that one shot (or sequence of shots) was over edited. As any criticism of our video is good, we had to take this into consideration, unfortunately, the member did not specifically tell us what clip this was, so we cannot be sure what part may look like this.
Another piece of negative feedback was a short section of the video when our main character speaks to somebody on the phone. During this clip, we can hear diegetic sound, as well as the song. The comment regarded whom the character was saying "I love you" to. The comment basically told us that perhaps the video would have made slightly more sense at this point if we had made it clear whom was on the other end of the phone, perhaps his mother or wife.
We generally received positive comments on the music video, and all members agreed that with the mixture of performance, narrative, and various special effect used, the video itself looked very professional. This is great feedback, as we were aiming for our video to have such an effect on the target audience.
Our digipak, however, received mainly negative feedback. This was largely due to the fact that the 4 panels do not specifically match up, and they do not follow a specific house style. This makes perfect sense, as the front cover of the digipak is very different from the rest, a it is set on a black background, with very bright lettering, whilst the rest of the digipak generally has brighter colours.
When asked if each member of the group would purchase our album, based on the digipak alone, we recieved a mixed response; 2 said yes, 2 said no. The 2 people who would buy the album cited the bright text and interesting song titles as the main reasons they would purchase it.
The 2 negative responses was that the digipak itself was not coherant with itself (did not match up) and therefore it looked odd. The other response was that the genre of music was not one that the member would listen to, which is an unavoidable reason, as not everybody is going to like the genre we have chosen.
When asked whether they believe we had catered to the general conventions of the genre, and whether or not the video appeals to them through signifiers, we received very positive responses. The general consensus was that the video catered very well to conventions of the rock/alternative rock genre, and even the digipak offered some appeal to them as individuals and as an audience.
This feedback has helped shape the way that I view our products, as I can view them with an even better critical view now. The negative feedback has allowed me to either affirm or dismiss my own doubts about the video and digipak, which means that I can evaluate all of our products better now than before.
Please view the focus group below for our actual feedback.
Post Production Focus Group
Here is our focus group, we have just shown the groups our video, and we receive feedback, enjoy.
Evaluation question 2- How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
In our overall package (Music Video, Poster and Digipak) we have used brick walls as a backdrop quite commonly. We have established this backdrop as our housestyle, and we believe it works well as it contrasts with the lyrics in the song.
The poster does not keep in line with our previously established house style, however I feel that it does actually represen the urban grittiness that we were aiming for in the brick wall style, as neon lights are commonly seen outside of bars and clubs, therefore the neon could have dual representation, of brightness and colour, as well as an urban meaning.
Because of this theme of urbanisation, there are actually a lot of natural and urban shots in our main video. However, there is a large difference in the portrayal of both settings. The urban scenes feature our main character looking neat and tidy. We have done thi a we are trying to emphasize a large difference between nature and urban areas, as in all f the naturistic scenes our character looks dishevelled and untidy.
The reason for this was to attempt to make our major themes in the overall product easily visible, and I believe this has been done quite well. The poster has a very dark background, which can easily be identifiable as a depressive colour, although the neon lights and the white writing could represent both how society is very superficial (as the writing does look fake), or that there is always optimism.
The digipak uses a lot of dark colours, which once again may represent the depressive feelings we have tried to associate with urban scenes, which is also seen in the music video as in a large majority of the urban scenes our character comes across as depressed.
The digipak and our advert also have some similarities, and are therefore related. The white font is used throughout the two ancillary texts, and so are the darker colours, once again giving connotations of
depression.
The poster and digipak initially had used the same neon lighting effect on the front pane, which provided a clear relation. However, we decided to change this neon to a large, bold white text, to which I added a lens flare to the corner of one of the letters, which could imply there is something bright about the characters story.
The poster does not keep in line with our previously established house style, however I feel that it does actually represen the urban grittiness that we were aiming for in the brick wall style, as neon lights are commonly seen outside of bars and clubs, therefore the neon could have dual representation, of brightness and colour, as well as an urban meaning.
Because of this theme of urbanisation, there are actually a lot of natural and urban shots in our main video. However, there is a large difference in the portrayal of both settings. The urban scenes feature our main character looking neat and tidy. We have done thi a we are trying to emphasize a large difference between nature and urban areas, as in all f the naturistic scenes our character looks dishevelled and untidy.
The reason for this was to attempt to make our major themes in the overall product easily visible, and I believe this has been done quite well. The poster has a very dark background, which can easily be identifiable as a depressive colour, although the neon lights and the white writing could represent both how society is very superficial (as the writing does look fake), or that there is always optimism.
The digipak uses a lot of dark colours, which once again may represent the depressive feelings we have tried to associate with urban scenes, which is also seen in the music video as in a large majority of the urban scenes our character comes across as depressed.
The digipak and our advert also have some similarities, and are therefore related. The white font is used throughout the two ancillary texts, and so are the darker colours, once again giving connotations of
depression.
The poster and digipak initially had used the same neon lighting effect on the front pane, which provided a clear relation. However, we decided to change this neon to a large, bold white text, to which I added a lens flare to the corner of one of the letters, which could imply there is something bright about the characters story.
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