Tuesday 20 April 2010

Evaluation- Questions 1,2 and 4

In what way does the media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The British unsigned band I chose to promote through the creation of my music video, digipack and magazine advert was Killamonjambo, and the remix of their single Changed My Mind. The genre of the band itself is Post Punk/ Ska and it consists of a six piece band all male members. The bands are a Norwich
based; this made the shooting of my music video in Norwich more significant as it was representation of the bands regional identity. The Mise-en-scene used in my Music Video was intended to give it an edgy urban atmosphere similar to The Prodigy Take Me To The Hospital, Rumble Strips Not The Only Person and lastly Foreign Beggars ft Noisia Contact, all of these videos are filmed in urban settings, with the previous two using stereotypically London scenery. My Music Video represents a local band Killamonjambo so the choice to use an urban setting seemed logical, so the local audience can represent to the video, by recognising some of the locations used. This idea was inspired by similar ideas used by the Rumble Strips and Foreign Beggars who are both London bred groups and in there videos use shots of the underground as an example to represent London and to appeal to their local audiences and let other sections of their audiences know that they are representing London. The use of a Bedroom in my music video with a key prop in it being a set of decks was to present and use the conventions of the electronic genre and to interact and represent the target audience, this was achieved as my target audience was young male adults between about 17-21 who may have similar rooms and may own decks. The decks are also an important stereotypical signifier of the genre, in the electronic genre and sub-genre dubstep/Breakbeat decks play a significant role in the playing of the music, in comparison in other genres like Indie, guitars and drums are the signifiers as represented in the “White Stripes” single “Seven Nation Army”. In the Foreign Beggars video a DJ is presented DJ-ing on decks behind the artists when they are performing similar to a shot used in my video whereby a DJ is seen changing a vinyl on one of the decks. The masks were used to develop conventions and the influence behind the use of the masks was because a similar idea used in The Prodigy music video (Take me to the hospital) where bear masks are used by the youth gangs in the video and to a representation of youth culture. The representation of Youth culture is achieved in my music video by the masks and also along with the use of alcohol, together connoting a negative depiction of alcohol and gangs with in youth culture. This negative representation is challenging forms as often alcohol and gang culture is glorified in similar music videos within the genre, The Prodigy video encourages the masked youth to vandalize an ambulance with spray cans. The pace of the music, especially in the electronic genre, is vitally important to flow of the music video itself. In my music video the pace of the track controls the pace of the music video, at the start of my video there is a slow build up so the zooms and dissolves at the start of my video represent this gradual beginning. Also the beat of the track also controls the cuts, zooms and effects used in my edit, in the foreign beggars video the track orchestrates the pace and effects used for example the artist is in the shot when they are rapping. The narrative structure I chose to use was rather abstract similar to that used by other bands in the genre, I used a non-linear narrative which included flash backs and flash forwards this creates an ambiguous video which comes to a summarising finale in the end sequence of my music video. The Prodigy Invaders Must Die video also uses similar abstract non linear narrative using flash backs and forwards to show a journey which is what my main character goes through in my video. The idea of using a day dreaming in my video to represent the vivid memory and regret of the effects of Alcohol from the night before, the use of black and white composition shows the contrast between the real world and the dream world. This effect is used in a number of media products one of the most notorious examples is from the film Memento were flashbacks are used to create confusion and to help piece the story together, and the story has non-linear narrative.


How effective is the combination of your main product with ancillary texts?
My music video had some particular brand style which were individual to the band I was promoting Killamonjambo, I further utilised this brand in my digipack and my magazine advertisement. I had already created my music video before starting the creation of my print productions, although when making my music video I was already thinking of ideas that could combine visual aspects from my video to the print productions. The paint splattered masks I designed as a key influential prop in my music video seemed likely to be the most suitable aspect to link my video to the print productions, they were aesthetically pleasing and would give the target audience an object to associate as a brand of Killamonjambo, consequently featuring on the front cover of my digipack and the magazine advert. The print productions aim is to support the affects of the music video, and to do this successfully it is important to utilise an individual brand that can be associated with the brand Killamonjambo and all aspects of promotion and advertising, I chose the masks as it represents the band as a personality, the face or image of Killamonjambo. The Utah Saints created a similar image from their 2008 smash hit Something Good 08 which achieved a top 10 chart position, the running man was the main feature of their music video and also reappeared as the key feature of their ancillary texts. This example shows the success of the creation of an image and how a target audience will associate an image from a music video with other media products linked with the band. Also this creates a slogan or an image that can be connected to all aspects of the band and will attract audiences to other media products through the notification of an image in this instance the mask. The other brand style utilised by my music video and ancillary texts is Graffiti, this is also aimed to attract my target audience who are between the ages of 17-21, and in The Prodigy video Take Me To The Hospital youths in masks are seen spray painting an ambulance. Also Banksy has really glorified street art graffiti in recent years and has a wide support base in a similar target audience to mine. The graffiti also combines my music video and my print productions, in my music video graffiti is used in shots on several occasions and similar still shots are used on the inserts of my digipack, to create an overall image of graffiti art that is often related with an urban underground youth culture. Another important point to make is that from Goodwin’s theory related to music video analysis of “reoccurring motifs” this involves closes ups of the artist or signifiers like the use of the masks and the graffiti.

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

The Blog was used to record all aspects of the advanced portfolio from the planning and research stage to the uploading of my final print production designs and my evaluation. The blog is used with labels which work a system for organising the work for various sections of the course an example of some of the labels Planning the music video and Evaluation. The first blog posts I made focused around research into the music industry and the target audience, as well as planning the music video, this involved analyzing a number of music videos and carrying out research into the an aspect of the music industry in the circumstance it was investigating the domination of major record companies. The blog allowed me to input text, pictures and even videos to explain and provide evidence for the work I was doing for each section of the course, using the ‘Edit Html’ part when creating new posts I was able to embed videos from Youtube which for example I analyzed The Strokes You only live once when carrying out research in the music industry and planning my music video. It also enabled me to embed PowerPoint presentations using a an internet site called Scribd, were by I could upload my documents then using the embed link to attach them to my blog page, I uploaded four PowerPoint’s to show the development and planning of my digipack and magazine advertisement.


During the creation of my music video I used a number of different technology platforms to produce my final production. There were a few settings which added effects that I experimented with on the camera itself; I used the black and white setting and a firework setting which gave a slight shutter delay effect on the video. I used a varying degree of lightening from natural outside light to artificial indoor light, at different stages of my production to create distinctive settings at separate points I my video. An example of how lighting was used in my video to create tension filled atmosphere was at the beginning of my video when I used low lighting in fact torch lighting from the camera in a pitch black room to uncover each of the masks (six in total) as they lay on a desk. The effect I was trying to achieve by using this shot as the opening to my video was to create confusion with in the audience. The only source of sound I have used in my music video is non-diegetic in the form of the track I selected to make a music video for, and there is no diegetic sound used in my video. The reason for this choice to not use diegetic sound was I didn’t believe it was necessary and I didn’t want to take attention away from the track which is the main reason behind using the music video for promotion, whereas for example compared to when I was making my thriller last year; diegetic sound was used to help tell a story and set a scene. In a few scenes I used handheld camera, most effectively when the main character is sitting on the bench and a 360 degree pan shot is used to create an atmosphere of regret and making the character seem vulnerable. It also created an unsteady shot, but this was intentional to show the after effects of alcohol abuse and represent a hangover feeling. The editing software I used was called Premier Elements CS3 which allowed me to break down the 16 minutes of footage I had collected. I used the razor tool to cut down the footage until I got it into the order I wanted, after this I used effects to merge the shots together and create flowing footage to make a successful music video. The most common type of effect used during the editing stage of my production was dissolves this allows sequences to flow from one scene to the next, and by making them different lengths it can change the pace of video. There are a range of different dissolves, cross, fade to black and random invert, I used 5 different types of dissolves in my music video, and the variation keeps the audience interested.
My print productions consisted of my Digipack and Magazine advert and the create and edit both of these productions using Photoshop Elements 6, this allows me to manipulate photos or images used, I can also input Text or change the contrast of the picture by using Black and White and Solarisation. On all of my print productions I used pictures that I had taken myself using a digital camera, although these pictures were taking during the filming of my video, to get the correct locations. The pictures had two distinctive themes which featured throughout my portfolio, that of Graffiti and the paint splattered masks. The masks were my own graphics and I created them by using 4 colours of paint yellow, green, blue and red, I chose these colours because they are all primary and complement one another resulting in an aesthetically pleasing design. I created the paint splatter effect by hitting a paint brush against my hand over the masks; this gave random paint splatters all over the mask. I chose not to use stills from the music video itself due to them not looking clear enough as they were slightly pixelated, whereas the images taken by the digital camera were clear and provided a professional looking final design for my productions. I used a number of different tools and effect within Photoshop to distort and manipulate my images. The crop and rotate tool were used successfully especially on my Polaroid images to give the effect of being thrown down on the graffiti background. The layering principle was fundamental for all of my print production it allowed me to put text over images and merge a number of images together, with the flexibility to decide which images overlap others. The burn tool also proved to be very significant when applied to the merging of the pictures of my masks and the Polaroid template, by darkening the edges of the mask images it gives the end product of looking as though it was an original Polaroid. For the images used for my Inserts, I used artificial light to create a creepy ghostly appearance; I shone a small reading led light which gave a blue light onto a pile of all 6 of the masks and then a second photo which just used one of the masks.
I used a number of websites, TV channels and films especially for the research and planning stages for my productions. I used social network like Facebook and Myspace to investigate my target audience and to send out my questionnaires for my audience research. Also Youtube and Google played a significant role when researching my music videos and searching for other CD covers when researching my productions. Music TV channels like 4 Music, MTV and VIVA also helped as it allowed me to see a wider range of music videos for inspiration, including some I wouldn’t have thought to use and others I had never even seen. Films also allowed me to make contrasts when talking about the construction stage of my production, for example on camera angles and effects used, I could compare them to similar effects used in a film.
Throughout my evaluation I have embedded stills from music videos on Youtube and from my final production, I also embedded stills from digipack and other similar covers from other artists. To embed stills I used the print screen button and then cropped and resized the images in word, and to embed videos I used the Edit Html part of the blog and inputted the embed format from Youtube of the videos used.

final idea front cover (digipack)


Final idea Insert right (digipack)


final idea Insert left (Digipack)



Final idea back cover (Digipack)


Final idea magazine advertisement


Saturday 13 March 2010

Initial Ideas for Digipack (Front Cover)

Initial Ideas for Digipack

The Prodigy; The Omen CD cover analysis


This album cover is for The Prodigy; The Omen 2009. The Prodigy are an electronica band, with a very successful reputation within the music industry as a hardcore sound and image, that rebels against the norm and takes a strange approach to imagery and style.

The imagery chosen for this cover, works with the film "the omen" where a child is an evil possesed demon. The girl with long blonde hair and holding her skirt playfully gives the idea that the girl is innocent, but this is juxtaposed with the black insect covered dress and darkened eyes and mouth. By playing with the dog, and holding it at the back of its neck, is understood that the dog is hers, and is under her control. At the same time, the dog and the girl both lookin in the same direction, with the dog eager to chase what ever it is that it is looking at, and on her demand, it will go. The dog also has whitened out eyes, giving the effect of being under a spell or power, most probably the girl.

The black and white of the girl and dog, is like that of an old photo or film, slightly pixelated, adding to the darkness of the image and creating a stronger comparison between dark and light. Thereore making the dark areas seem more prominant.
The background of the image itself adds a luminous green colour creating a pentagram of protection( an old witchcraft image) which is very common within scary movies, and intending that this protection will be needed. The imagery is very creepy, working with the brand that the band have created, working with the unexpected and weird.
The imagery works well with the contents of the lyrics on the album, with the title song "Omen" using the original soundtrack from the film "The Omen". So stong links between music and imagery can be made.
The name of the album is to be found on the chest of the dog, in the same luminous green that in the imagery in the background. The "omen" is placed there to make the link between the characters and the title, showing that they are possesed. The font chosen for "omen" is messy and sloppy. A very informal style, in capitals showing that it is still important text. The arrows pointing around the word are pointing towards the characters and aways from the word, saying that it can possess anything.
"The prodigy" is placed in the top left corner of the image written in a bold white, more formal font than "omen" showing that it is more important and dominance on the page also allowing tit to be easily seen. The "The" in the title is kept smaller as it is less important within the title as "prodigy" therefore more focus is made on it. The lighting bolt type font is a representation of the edgy style of the band.
Overall, the cover is very successful within the target audience, which will help me when planning my own covers. It is clear that a link between the songs and imagery should be made and the attitudes that the cover gives off.

Thursday 4 February 2010

First Draft Ideas for Digipack *Revised*

First Draft Ideas for Digipack
Insert Right
Insert Left

Front Cover

Back Cover


The images above of my digipack are my first drafts and what I have designed so far, although there are some weaknesses with some of images, and I am currently making improvements to my Digipack.

The Front Cover

I am undecided whether the font used is bold enough for the front cover of a CD and it is fundemental for my design, for the band title and album title to stand out clear, so the audience are drawn to both the title and the design itself. Also the colours used in the titles don't stand out enough, apart from the top title which is 65% grey and stands out against the mask background, when making my improvements I will test using all one colour to see if it looks more effective.

The Back Cover
The back cover I believe has less improvements to be made, I will need to put some legal print in the bottom left hand corner to make the cover look as professional as possible, apart from that I am content with the design and feel little change is needed.
Insert Left

The only improvements I will be looking to make is creating a stronger Polaroid template, with the aim to make my image look more realistic as a Polaroid photo. Also maybe using a clearer, bolder font for the caption under the picture, the affect I was trying to achieve is the font looking like it was handwritten with a marker pen.

Insert Right
All the improvements I am looking to make on the Insert left, I will be looking to make for this insert as they have a lot fundemental similarities. Also the image of the mask I merged with the Polaroid template is slightly out of focus and this will affect the professional look I am trying to achieve, to improve this cover I take another photo using the same ghostly effect with artificial light, but this time make sure it is in focus.