Moderated
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Evaluation 3: What Have We Heard From Our Audience Feedback?
After we had finished our music video of Lana Del Ray's 'Video Games' we were happy with the finished product but we needed to see if other people in our target audience age range were happy too. To find out this information we invented a questionnaire that asked various questions about themselves and then their overall opinion on our music video. We asked 39 people of different age groups...
Overall we were very pleased on our feedback gained from the questionnaire.
After this we then felt we needed to find out more about our music video. We decided to target our target audience and invent a new questionnaire with just a few questions for them. The people we asked were in the age range of 15 - 25.
We asked...
Did the story line fit the song?
YES NO
Should there be more characters?
YES NO
Was it entertaining?
YES NO
The results were as follows...
Again, we were very pleased with the results of the questionnaire and confirmed our original thoughts. This we found very complementing but we still thought we should use contemporary media methods in receiving some more feedback. Below is an example of how we advertised our music video on Twitter.
What we have learnt
From recording and editing a music video, we have learnt a lot of things. One being how to edit rapidly which we did not know how to do before we started this project. That could be really useful in the future for university etc.
We have also learnt how to transfer lip syncing into a music video so it looks like the person is singing instead of lip syncing. We managed this well and is also something we can take with us.
Another thing is how much research you have to do before even starting a music video, you have to know about all the history, what the lyrics mean, what sort of institution you'd use, influences and inspirations etc. This is a big lesson learned for anything we choose to do in the future. It is not as simple as it sounds!
Overall we were very pleased on our feedback gained from the questionnaire.
95% of the people we asked said that they would recommend our music video to friends and family, their reasoning for this was because they much preferred the effects on our music video and didn't music like Lana's as it was recorded from her web cam and therefore was not of good quality.
After this we then felt we needed to find out more about our music video. We decided to target our target audience and invent a new questionnaire with just a few questions for them. The people we asked were in the age range of 15 - 25.
We asked...
Did the story line fit the song?
YES NO
Should there be more characters?
YES NO
Was it entertaining?
YES NO
The results were as follows...
Then on Facebook.
From posting our music video on social networking sites, we gain a lot of positive feedback from people whom we are friends with.
"This looks so good girls, well done!!!"
Positive Feedback
- People said that they really enjoyed the narrative to the music video. They enjoyed the black and white shots that highlighted a flashback of a couple and then one of the end shots of the boy walking away really fitted the storyline well.
- A lot of people enjoyed the extreme close-ups of Sophie's lips with the red lipstick, they felt that is was original and the choice of colour fitted in well with the retro theme.
- The theme of retro was a big hit as people felt it fitted in well with the genre of the song and displayed a sense of individuality.
- The change in locations was enjoyed by many people as they felt that it kept them watching and it did not get boring.
- Students that watched the video enjoyed the editing effects. They appreciated how long it takes to get something like that right, and we did it.
Negative Feedback
Although most feedback was positive, there were a few negative points.
- Some people felt that some of the footage was a little shakey. - we explained that this was purposely done for a handheld effect so the video felt more realistic than fake.
- Others felt that there could have been more than two characters.
From recording and editing a music video, we have learnt a lot of things. One being how to edit rapidly which we did not know how to do before we started this project. That could be really useful in the future for university etc.
We have also learnt how to transfer lip syncing into a music video so it looks like the person is singing instead of lip syncing. We managed this well and is also something we can take with us.
Another thing is how much research you have to do before even starting a music video, you have to know about all the history, what the lyrics mean, what sort of institution you'd use, influences and inspirations etc. This is a big lesson learned for anything we choose to do in the future. It is not as simple as it sounds!
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Evaluation 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
1) The title of the music video;
is called video games which was chosen by the artist Lana Del Rey as her boyfriend told her that their relationship is like a 'video game'. We didn't want to change the title because it is obviously something personal to the artist so we wanted to keep it so we could perhaps understand the song better. Furthermore, video games is repeated within the song so it only made sense to us to stick with the song title.
2) Props and Costumes;
Because the song has a romantic and gentle feel to it we wanted to reflect that with a retro style to the costume. We used red lipstick which we used as colour coding for passion and love and we also used dresses to keep with a girly theme. The other costumes such as the black high waisted leggings and circular sunglasses show a more modern take on the vintage style. The look the we chose was supported by many of our peers as they also thought, like us, that that look was perfect for this type of genre of song. We did play up to the conventions of a romantic song by using girly and pretty costumes and beautiful make-up and hair.
3) Settings and Locations;
We used mainly locations that were outdoors which do stick to the conventions of a song such as the one that we have chosen. The outdoors provide us with nature which throughout time through music video, novels, poems etc is the one location were you set a romantic theme. We decided to film nearly all of our footage outside as it provided us with brilliant natural lightening and nature such as birds that we have used in our footage. In real media products, the outdoors is used for the same genre as ours so we wanted to do the same to make our music video appear to be a real media product as the audience will have some idea of what to expect.
4) Camera Work and Editing;
For our music video, camera work and editing are the most important aspect because we couldn't achieve our goal for our music video without editing or our desired camera work. We all have an advantage as we have editing and all used a camera from our previous Thrillers. We all watched several music videos including Lana Del Rey's actual music video for the song we have chosen 'Video Games' this allowed us to see what type of editing and camera work artists/directors use for our genre. This enabled us to see whether we should stick to the conventions or challenge them. One editing effect that is really in our genre of music video's is the 'earthquake' effect. That effect is 'edgey' which could broaden our target audience. However, we did use slow motion effects which are commonly used in the romantic genre. In terms of camera work, we used the conventional mid shot, close up shot which allows the audience to identify who the artist is.
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5) Font & Style; For our media poster we used a traditional font that was big but allowed the viewer to see the artist behind. The style was different to our genre because usually the font would be for example Edwardian script but we wanted to challenge the conventions by doing something a little different. This again allows us to broaden our target audience.
6) Tone of the start of the music video and the story. Do they fit? The start of our music video is of a church with two birds flying across the screen, we chose to do this because in the song at the start there is church bells so we wanted to make the music video more believable to the audience that it is the real music video. The second shot is of the actress, this allows the audience to identify that this is the artist. These shots create a peaceful and romantic atmosphere which is what we wanted our music video to be about. The story is about Sophie (the actress) singing a song for her boyfriend and declaring her love for him. We did use more of Sophie than the boy Jake (actor) because we felt it made it more personal and as if the music video is directly for Jake.
7) The genre and how opening suggests it. The opening scene is of Sophie outside and with the sun and the church, this is conventional to our genre which enables the audience to identify it. We dressed Sophie is pretty retro clothes and she had red lipstick on which is colour coding for romance. The costume in the opening played a huge part in helping us put across to the audience the genre of our music video.
is called video games which was chosen by the artist Lana Del Rey as her boyfriend told her that their relationship is like a 'video game'. We didn't want to change the title because it is obviously something personal to the artist so we wanted to keep it so we could perhaps understand the song better. Furthermore, video games is repeated within the song so it only made sense to us to stick with the song title.
2) Props and Costumes;
Because the song has a romantic and gentle feel to it we wanted to reflect that with a retro style to the costume. We used red lipstick which we used as colour coding for passion and love and we also used dresses to keep with a girly theme. The other costumes such as the black high waisted leggings and circular sunglasses show a more modern take on the vintage style. The look the we chose was supported by many of our peers as they also thought, like us, that that look was perfect for this type of genre of song. We did play up to the conventions of a romantic song by using girly and pretty costumes and beautiful make-up and hair.
3) Settings and Locations;
We used mainly locations that were outdoors which do stick to the conventions of a song such as the one that we have chosen. The outdoors provide us with nature which throughout time through music video, novels, poems etc is the one location were you set a romantic theme. We decided to film nearly all of our footage outside as it provided us with brilliant natural lightening and nature such as birds that we have used in our footage. In real media products, the outdoors is used for the same genre as ours so we wanted to do the same to make our music video appear to be a real media product as the audience will have some idea of what to expect.
4) Camera Work and Editing;
For our music video, camera work and editing are the most important aspect because we couldn't achieve our goal for our music video without editing or our desired camera work. We all have an advantage as we have editing and all used a camera from our previous Thrillers. We all watched several music videos including Lana Del Rey's actual music video for the song we have chosen 'Video Games' this allowed us to see what type of editing and camera work artists/directors use for our genre. This enabled us to see whether we should stick to the conventions or challenge them. One editing effect that is really in our genre of music video's is the 'earthquake' effect. That effect is 'edgey' which could broaden our target audience. However, we did use slow motion effects which are commonly used in the romantic genre. In terms of camera work, we used the conventional mid shot, close up shot which allows the audience to identify who the artist is.
.JPG)
5) Font & Style; For our media poster we used a traditional font that was big but allowed the viewer to see the artist behind. The style was different to our genre because usually the font would be for example Edwardian script but we wanted to challenge the conventions by doing something a little different. This again allows us to broaden our target audience.
6) Tone of the start of the music video and the story. Do they fit? The start of our music video is of a church with two birds flying across the screen, we chose to do this because in the song at the start there is church bells so we wanted to make the music video more believable to the audience that it is the real music video. The second shot is of the actress, this allows the audience to identify that this is the artist. These shots create a peaceful and romantic atmosphere which is what we wanted our music video to be about. The story is about Sophie (the actress) singing a song for her boyfriend and declaring her love for him. We did use more of Sophie than the boy Jake (actor) because we felt it made it more personal and as if the music video is directly for Jake.
7) The genre and how opening suggests it. The opening scene is of Sophie outside and with the sun and the church, this is conventional to our genre which enables the audience to identify it. We dressed Sophie is pretty retro clothes and she had red lipstick on which is colour coding for romance. The costume in the opening played a huge part in helping us put across to the audience the genre of our music video.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Editing Diary
When editing our music video, I decided that as the song is a slow-paced love song an effective technique would be to slow down a lot of the footage. This actually worked in our favour as it meant we didn't have to do lots of rapid editing which can be extremely difficult and time-consuming. The parts I slowed down were all included in the black and white 'flashback' shots. The reason I used this technique is because the singer is clearly in love with someone and wants to remember everything about the other person. Slowing the footage down gives the impression that she maybe wanted those moments to last.
I edited the exposure and colour on the non-flashback shots so they would fit in with the retro theme of the video. I did this by slightly increasing the amount of red in the shots and slightly decreasing the amount of blue. The result of this was a slightly yellow tint which was the look I wanted to achieve.
At the start of the song I wanted to use a different image for each note of the piano. I used establishing shots and then lingered on a shot of the boy in the denim jacket, letting the audience know subconsciously that he is an important character in the 'story'.
I wanted there to be a balance of 'flashback' and lip-sync footage so the audience would be less likely to get bored. I think i achieved this and also used a good variety of lip-syncing shots. For one transition I used a close-up lip-sync shot of my face which I linked with a mid-shot of me lip-syncing in a field using an extreme closeup of my lips. The reason this transition worked so well is because in all the shots I am wearing red lipstick which creates familiarity nd theefore a more smooth transition.
For some of the song I wanted to take the lyrics literally. For example, for the lyric 'open up a beer' I used an extreme close up of the cap of a beer bottle and for 'play a video game' I used a shot of the start of a game of pac man. This techique helps tie the video to the song.
There is one extremely important shot where the lyrics are 'heaven is a place on earth with you'. In the shot the two characters are lying on a bed and laughing, looking more like best friends than a couple. This is an effetive shot because it suggests how in love the main character is.
I used quite a lot of shots of just the boy as if we are looking at him through the main character's eyes and seeing him how she sees him.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Ancillary Task: Magazine Advert & Analysis
As we were running out of time to take more photos for our magazine advert I decided to instead use a still from our music video.
I chose a closeup of my face because this plays up to the codes and conventions of female artists as Single/Album covers and adverts for female singers are nearly always made up of a closeup.
After I went through the HD video I chose the shot above and used an online photo editor to make my eyes and lips stand out as these are the features we play up in the video.
I then used the online editor to create a rounded-corner effect on the photo as this is considered to be 'vintage' and 'retro'. Whilst playing around with the features of the editing software I came across a 'pattern' feature which allows you to blend your photo with different images. I did think about using a photo of feathers to tie in with the bird theme of our video however when I tried this out It overwhelmed the portrait. I decided on a 'paint splat' background which I thought improved the aesthetics of the photo.
I then added text, using 'retro' styled text for 'Lana Del Rey' to tie it in with the rest of the music video theme. I finished off with adding the song title and also the title of the album. The iTunes and Polydor logos make it look more professional.
The final product:
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Digipak Designs
We shot these photos at our first filming location with Rachel's iPod Touch. She has a 'Retro Camera' app which really suits the vintage theme of our music video by giving the photos a faded, polaroid camera effect. Although we also intend to do a 'real' photoshoot for the digipak photos/ancillary tasks I thought these photos looked really effective and saw no reason not to use them.
In the first design I liked the photo the way it was so I didn't edit it at all, just added the text over the top. I chose to use faded text on both 'Lana Del Rey' and 'Video Games' because I felt that using solid text would look too severe. I chose this photo because I thought it was a good portrait shot and portrayed the general feel of the video very well. The angle at which the subject's head is turned shows off the 40s hairstyle well. I used red text for 'Video Games' becaue of its connotations with love and also because the red lips are the brightest part of the background photo.
I used this image for a cover design as it reminded me a little of Lana Del Rey's 'Born To Die' single cover:
I made the photo a bit more yellow-tinted in order to make it look like an aged photograph. I was playing around with the text when I came up with the faded 'Lana Del Rey' background. I like it as it's not something i've seen on a CD cover before and is a unique idea.
I used the thin italic font for the song title as it looks quite retro and I chose to use baby blue for it as it clashes with the background photo which makes it easier to see.
I used the thin italic font for the song title as it looks quite retro and I chose to use baby blue for it as it clashes with the background photo which makes it easier to see.
Extending Our Target Audience Through Social Media
Twitter is just a huge on the social networking scene as Facebook. In order to keep up with modern times and to extend our audience that much further, we have made a twitter page in order for people to check out images, our music video and it gives people the opportunity to leave feedback which is important for us to target the right audience. Twitter is used by many music artists and celebrities so we felt it was necessary to include ourselves with this trend. Social networking is very important and a key advertising/marketing tool that is easy, free and very effective.
Above is our twitter page that allows people, if they like what they see, to follow us so they can keep up to date with pictures, comments and videos that we post. The background is of Lana Del Rey herself, this allows viewers to immediately identify that this twitter account is to with Lana Del Rey, also it allows people to tweet us and tell us if they like our music video and if they think it is better than the original video.
Influences for a Digipak
We feel that this type of retro glam style is just the right amount of 'old school' which we can add the 'new school'. That type of look is coming back into style so we want to reflect that in our digipak. Also the 'old school' writing will keep to the retro theme and will also appeal to our target audience of young adults.
Obviously the editing will be better than the editing in the actual picture above, but we will add effects that will make some of the pictures look like they were caught on a old film camera.
Furthermore, the colour scheme is a little bit too girly so we might find a colour scheme that is gender neutral.
Our digipak template.
Here is our design for the digipak. It will have two pictures either side of the CD and where the CD is will be a mid shot portrait of the actress. That will all be inside, the outside however will have at the back, the song name and a little picture, the other spaces will be filled of still shots from the music video.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Advertising, Marketing on Facebook
Advertising is a very important part of marketing in the music industry because it gives people the chance to get exclusive photos, interviews, previews and film paraphernalia. Facebook is a very good way to advertise our music video because basically everyone who is our target audience has a facebook account. It is modern and it is a successful way to market a music video.
Editing
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We are using the video effects such as changing the speed of a clip, black and white effects, 'earthquake' effects, multiple clip effects (the same clip on the screen four different times all at once) and other transitions between clips.
All of us are using our creativity to inject our own unique thoughts of what we think the music video should look like.
One challenge of the editing is to lip sync all the clips that we will use for the song e.g the chorus. It is hard to adjust the lip syncing when we add new clips that could undo the lip syncing that we've already done. Luckily we have worked out a way to pinpoint the exact time that the lyrics will occur which enables us to put the right clips in the right lip syncing places.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Diary of a Day's Shooting: Day 3
I realised we needed to film more closeup lip synching footage as all we had up to this point was long shots. As I am playing the main character in the music video it was easy for me to do this filming on my own with the help of a tripod.
I found a wall with decorative flocked wallpaper in my house and used this as the background. There were initially unwanted objects at the side of the frame but I knew I could crop these out in post-production.
As the only part of my costume showing would be my top I decided on a simple white peter-pan collar blouse. This ensured the colour wouldn't clash with either the turquoise wallpaper or the red lipstick which has been a recurring feature throughout filming.
I filmed myself from the waist up against the flocked wallpaper, lip-synching the whole song so when it came to editing I could pick and choose which part of the song to use that setting for.
After this I decided that an extreme close-up would also be a good idea as facial features would look impressive on the HD camera we used. I went through the same process as before, filming myself lip-synching the whole song but this time with an extreme closeup.
I did this a third and final time but this time with an extreme close up of just my mouth as I lip-synched the song.
Now I have watched the footage back i'm extremely happy with how it has turned out, and i'm positive it will be an effective addition to our final video.
I found a wall with decorative flocked wallpaper in my house and used this as the background. There were initially unwanted objects at the side of the frame but I knew I could crop these out in post-production.
As the only part of my costume showing would be my top I decided on a simple white peter-pan collar blouse. This ensured the colour wouldn't clash with either the turquoise wallpaper or the red lipstick which has been a recurring feature throughout filming.
I filmed myself from the waist up against the flocked wallpaper, lip-synching the whole song so when it came to editing I could pick and choose which part of the song to use that setting for.
After this I decided that an extreme close-up would also be a good idea as facial features would look impressive on the HD camera we used. I went through the same process as before, filming myself lip-synching the whole song but this time with an extreme closeup.
I did this a third and final time but this time with an extreme close up of just my mouth as I lip-synched the song.
Now I have watched the footage back i'm extremely happy with how it has turned out, and i'm positive it will be an effective addition to our final video.
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