Monday 13 March 2017

Evaluation Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?
 
After having received feedback from our rough cut, we started to understand a lot more about what our audience were expecting from us. We summarised the feedback into two separate categories: positive and negative. This helped us to decide what we would keep and what we would change for the final video. For example, the lip-syncing was well liked as well as the variety and pace of shots, so we therefore chose to keep these throughout our video. On the other hand, the criticism we received allowed us to see that the narrative was not developed enough, some of the shots didn't match with the tempo and it was a bit repetitive. Taking this audience feedback into account, we started working on our final music video.
Using this, we decided that we needed to make the narrative clearer to the viewer and to focus on the finer details (such as getting rid of any 'filler' shots), improving the delivery of the story. Taking this all into account, we learnt exactly what we needed to adjust, fix and change.

Therefore, after finishing the final music video, we once again received audience feedback on our product. Overall, the feedback was a lot more positive in comparison to the feedback from our rough cut and we were extremely pleased with the outcome. The narrative was extremely well received; the audience enjoyed the modern twist on Red Riding Hood, and thought that the story line was well portrayed and made easy to understand for the viewers. We discovered that interlinking shots between narrative and studio gave the video a more professional aspect and allowed for break between story and singer.
Similarly, we were complimented on the variety of shots we had used for our final music video. The use of a variety of different camera angles allowed different sides of each character be shown and let the narrative tell itself to the viewer, through our wide breadth of shots. Having a different perspective let the audience quite literally see the different points of view depicted within the narrative, a choice which the audience feedback agreed with.
In particular, the feedback we received depicted that the viewers were impressed with the editing overall. One thing they highlighted was the lip-syncing and how well timed it was. They believed that using lip-syncing with an actor who mimed it well and placed at the right time it made our music video look much more professional and improved its quality. In correlation to the timings, we learnt that they loved the timings of our shots and how it matched the tempo (for example, the quick flicker between the "Wolf" and "Red", or during the screaming scene). Not only did it create a more polished effect but let the narrative seep through too. 
Additionally, we found that the majority of our audience feedback was positive about the colour effects we had used. The choice to change certain scenes within our music video (mainly the narrative) to black and white and only keep the colour red of Meghan's coat was well received. They found it an effective way to keep the focus upon her character and added an aspect of quality to the music video. Not only did it allow for the focus of the viewers to hone in on her character but it also meant that her character thus had significance (and important aspect we had been trying to portray during the whole process). It was extremely rewarding to hear that the decision to do this was approved by our audience. Moreover, the fading between the gray-scale/red scheme to the original colour scheme was written as a positive. We learnt that it helped to differentiate between narrative and 'story-telling' and further showed at the end that it added humanity to their characters and allowed an attachment to be made by the viewers.
The one negative feedback we received from our final video was that some viewers didn't agree with the face paint. This opinion is understandable as it was not professionally done, and could be considered as a way to cut corners for our music video. We see how the face paint could 'cheapen' our final product, however, we thought that it was crucial in order to portray the fairy tale that we were trying to get across and was a firm decision we had made at the very beginning of the process. We therefore learnt from this feedback that not everyone will agree with the artistic decisions made and that if we are to use a similar artistic choice in the future, we will consider ways in order to create the highest quality, professional product.
In conclusion, we used the audience feedback from our rough cut to improve our final product. We learnt from the feedback we received in regards to our final product that the majority of viewers were impressed with our music video. They found the narrative to be an interesting twist of the original fairy tale (which was well portrayed through the use of editing techniques and the small prologue at the beginning) and that a variety of shots helped to represent this. Furthermore, they believed that the lip-syncing was extremely well timed and it added to the quality of our video (especially the shots filmed in Butterfly Studios). In addition, from the one piece of negative feedback we received, we learnt that perhaps choosing a more professional route for the face paint might have allowed us to achieve the highest quality product possible - something we will take into account for next time.
Overall, the feedback was largely positive and we are extremely happy with the end result, having learnt that taking into account the views of your audience can largely affect the outcome of your final product.

Copyright Issues

Unfortunately, after having attempted to upload our final music video several times to YouTube, it still gets taken down due on copyright grounds. We have tried to find ways around it but as a result, have not been able to keep it on the website for more than a few days. We tried to use Vimeo but this site doesn't take videos with a file size larger than 500MB. We are next going to try DailyMotion, but so far our attempts have been unsuccessful. 

We've also contacted the band All Time Low in an attempt to fix the issue and we are eagerly awaiting their reply. Due to the limit of 140 characters on Twitter, it is extremely informal, in comparison to the formality of the message sent on Facebook. We are unable to find an email address but are continuing our search.





Saturday 11 March 2017

Audience Research Questions

1) How often do you watch music videos and where do you consume them? TV/YouTube?

2) What genre of music video do you watch the most/prefer?

3) What do you think makes music videos particularly effective/ memorable?

4) How important do you think it is that the narrative links to the lyrics in the song?

5) How would you describe a conventional music video?



Wednesday 8 March 2017

Sunday 5 March 2017

Audience Feedback











 

After exporting our rough cut and receiving the audience feedback we carefully went through our music video, making sure to be as critical as possible. We also looked at it from the perspective of someone who had never seen it before in order to see how the narrative could be perceived. This allowed us to focus more on the way the story and narrative comes across, making the final product more successful. As well as this, we took out all of the filler shots which hindered our video and added in more thoughtful footage. We also had the idea during this process to make the footage of Meghan and Charlie black and white in order to bring out the colour red and enhance its significance more. It was quite time consuming as we had to do colour select for each clip however once we had finished we found that it made our video as a whole look a lot more professional. We also had the idea to fade in to colour and out to colour at the end in order to show transitions from different parts in the narrative. This was not only another skill that we were able to incorporate but it added to the narrative in that it helped the audience to understand that it was a memory. I feel like the feedback that we received from our final cut was much more positive and rewarding as it showed that the editing/filming techniques we had used and the ideas we'd had had paid off. The audience seemed to understand the overall narrative and theme we wanted to portray.

Saturday 4 March 2017

Evaluation Question 4

 How did you use Media Technologies in the Construction, Research, Planning and Evaluation Stages?
 
Media Technology is a generic term which can refer to anything within these 4 areas;
 
  • Audible media ( sound and sound effects)
  • Visual media ( Screen and seeing)
  • Print media (Newsprint & photos)
  • Social media (Facebook, twitter etc.)
 
For the Research section of our project, we had to set up a Blogger account in order to document the development of our ideas through the research and inspiration that we collect. One of the main servers we have used would be Google; to look up certain websites to gather information as well as using sites to understand our genre and target audience. YouTube was also a major component in the research process and we watched a variety of  music videos, tutorials and A-Level work in order for us to understand what made them successful and unsuccessful, taking ideas from their narratives, filming and editing techniques. They helped us gain inspiration and really allowed us to create the most successful outcome we could. As well as this, we compared music videos, this helped us to understand what type of music video would work best and which types of music videos/genres we wanted to focus on. I would say that the research and initial stages of the project were the most fundamental as they were the platform for which we built everything else off of. 
 
Prop/costume wise, we started by looking on amazon and eBay, in search for a red cape and roses. We looked into buying roses in bulk, through florists and other private companies online and found a few capes on amazon for a good price. However, we also looked into other cheaper, more resourceful options and in the end decided that would be the best route to take considering our budget and time restrictions. We ended up scrapping the bulk roses idea and using single ones from Morrison's instead. As for the cape, we did manage to get hold of one which was lended to us by a friend. We liked the coat that she had, which was quite cape like and in fact looked more realistic and professional, plus it was warm. We looked into different editing techniques on YouTube and found that we would be able to turn her blue coat red using the colour pick tool in adobe premiere pro. From this, we found that it is extremely important to research into each element of the final product as it will benefit us financially, time wise and visually. 

When researching into bands to cast ( when the idea was still fresh in our minds and on the storyboard) we used social media such as twitter to try and find local ones and contact them through their twitter page. Unfortunately, whilst scrolling through their tweets we found that they had just split and so, decided against the idea. We also researched into instruments and transportation, getting to the studio etc... and that's what helped us to finalise it. ( We also decided that it might confuse the narrative slightly as it would introduce more cast members).
 
Once we had come up with a rough idea and developed it into a story board/shot by shot plan, we moved onto the Planning Section of our project.  This involved the preparation and decision process leading up to the filming. During these time periods, we kept in contact through Facebook messenger on a group chat, allowing us to alert and update each other on filming arrangements as well as costume/prop decisions. This was particularly useful as it is instant and allowed us to express ourselves correctly . As part of our preparation, we also had to hire a studio, this was arranged by email and paid for online. We then found their address and arranged for transport to take us all there and back. 

The day filming at Mousehold required forward planning transport as we were unsure as of how to get there. We researched into bus times and looked into the best areas to film in. This made our work much easier when we got there as we were able to film within the time slot we had allocated. Looking at the weather forecast beforehand also helped us to dress accordingly and bringing snacks and plenty of water helped us to stay energised and film/direct more efficiently. Time management throughout the entire filming process allowed us to get awesome shots which were dependant on time of day/weather etc. We ended up not using the shots taken in the evening as they were too dark so afterwards planned to shoot primarily early morning/afternoon.

Before filming Charlie during his wolf scene, we planned ahead by bringing face paints and all required materials included inspiration and brushes. This meant that we could paint him quickly and with ease. If we had had more time, we would have got it done professionally however as explained previously, we did not have the money or time required.

For the Construction Section of our project, we used one SLR camera as well as another Canon. We made sure to bring 2 SD cards so that we wouldn't run out of memory and the back up camera came in handy for the behind the scenes photography as well as when the main camera ran out of battery during the first day of filming. ( Because we were shooting for such a long period of time). It was also very handy to have two good quality cameras because it improved the continuity of our footage, taking different angles of the same shot for example.

We also used the canon to take the Photographs for our Digipack and Poster. We took advantage of the white walls and lighting at Butterfly Studios and took them there. We used Photoshop CS6 to edit the Photographs, adjusting their contrast and brightness accordingly. We also adjusted the colours in order to improve continuity by focusing on B&W with the flash of red.  We used the Magnetic Lasso tool to select Meghan’s lips and the rose and erase so that the background image shows from underneath. 

Although we used the canon for a few of the behind the scenes shots, we wanted to use it for the footage too so during these times, we used a mobile phone. It still had a good quality camera and we made sure to include ourselves in the shot to show the process and development.

The editing program we used was Premiere Pro CS6 and we used it to edit our footage, crop the videos, add titles etc. We found it effective and really developed our skills on the software throughout the project.

When we had finished our music video, we exported it as an MP4 at a high quality and uploaded it to YouTube and finally onto our media blogs.



 


 








 
 

Saturday 25 February 2017

The Ideas Process

We began to debate and brainstorm ideas back in September, spending a week or two creating storyboards, researching into existing videos and gaining inspiration and concepts from them. We looked at various artists, including The Weekend, Panic! At The Disco, K.A.R.D and Incubus. From looking into the work of these artists we became particularly interested in the idea of creating a very artsy, contemporary video, with a mix of narrative and performance. During the first week of our project, we began to look at songs, however struggled at first to find one that we were hugely inspired by. Then, we were listening to All Time Low and stumbled across 'Dancing with a wolf'. What we found particularly exciting about the song was the mixture of pitch change, as well as the rhythm and the lyrics in the song. Originally, we were really interested in incorporating a fairy-tale narrative into our music video; this song facilitated this perfectly as we were able to adapt the story of red riding hood.

We looked at various bands online and tried to get into contact however the one that we had hoped would agree to let us film had just split and we realised that we would not be able to transport instruments as well as a professional band around easily. Unfortunately we had to abandon the idea however now I think it was for the best as it may have confused the narrative.

Our idea to start off with was to have our male character, in a studio with a band where he would step forward and leaves would start falling. It would then fade into a shot of him in the same position but in a forest. He would have to complete or face a number of 'challenges'. One of which being him walking through water falling onto him, then we wanted to include a shot underwater, with roses falling onto him etc. We would see flashes of red however never would we get to see the females face. A rose would simply fall into his grasp to symbolise her presence. She would remain a mystery. From time to time, the shots would fade back to the studio, bringing us back to reality.

After researching into props and location and assessing overall costs and time schedules, we decided that this idea was slightly too complex and optimistic. Therefore, we decided to simplify it to make it more realistic and achievable. We got rid of the elements such as the roses falling as we would need so many as well as the water as this would require a much more powerful camera as well as water and props that would take a lot of time to prepare and the risk of not working anyway. However other than these elements, we rolled with the idea and we managed to portray it well.

Once we had begun filming, our ideas started to develop more as we could see our idea coming to life and imagine how it would all look when edited together. After filming Charlie, we realised that in order to portray emotion and enhance the significance of the lyrics in relation with the narrative, we would need to take more footage of Meghan. We would need to include her and Charlie together as well, in order to give the story a backbone and help the audience to understand their relationship and in turn the story as a whole. I feel like it may not have been clear to them if we had stuck with the original plan. We took shots of them arguing and put them together at the start of the music video before the music even starts to introduce the narrative and engage the audience. Flashback shots were then inserted throughout to allow for continuity.

Evaluation Plans



 
 

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


2) How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

3) What have you learned from your audience feedback?

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