Evaluation

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

Goodwin's Theory

By applying Goodwin's Theory to my music video, I should be able to determine whether my piece challenged or conformed to conventions of real media products. The 6 Principles of Goodwin's Theory are: 

- 1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics

- 2. Relationship between music and visuals

- 3. Relationship between visuals and lyrics

- 4. Artist features heavily

- 5. Intertextual reference

- 6. Notion of looking/ voyeurism

Our music video uses a majority of these features

1. The genre characteristics evident in our piece include the artist's costume. We tried to make sure F Star Raw, was wearing clothes that were up to date with todays fashions as a majority of rap artists are seen as being modern and quite fashionable; there were some smaller details that we tried to include, particularly the use of jewellery - we told the artist to wear a ring which was to signify wealth, commonly associated with this genre of music, but the ring also signifies dedication which is a theme we tried to convey through the visuals.

2. We tried to show a relationship between the music and visuals through our editing. We decided to cut to different shots in time with the music - not only does this conform to this principle but it also makes the cuts seem more 'natural' and helps the flow of the video.

3. The main relationship between the visuals and lyrics is shown through the lip syncing, but we did add other elements, for example the upwards tilt of the camera when the artist says "I'm just trying to elevate". Another example of us conforming to this principle is when the artist lights the lighter whilst he says "while I light up".

4. After watching the video it is clear to see that our artist features heavily, he is in almost every shot - we did this deliberately, firstly to establish him as the protagonist in this piece.

5. There were no real intertextual references in our music video, with the concept of this song we found it difficult to integrate this into our video.

6. There are examples of voyeurism in our video, particularly when the artists is looking off camera which occurs in a few shots. This principle also includes 'screens within screens'  which is evident when the artist is sitting in front of the computer, and also with an iPad playing one of his videos in the background.

Other

There are other ways in which our video conformed to other music videos in this genre, for example the video is set, predominantly, within a housing estate which is common for many up and coming, UK Hip Hop artists - the estate signifies many things, particularly where the artist has come from, and the area they are trying to escape. Hip Hop artists often refer to their hometowns/ areas in their music videos and as F Star Raw is an up and coming artist we thought it would be most fitting to shoot the video where he lives, and where he is well known - so that his audience (current fans) can connect with the video easily. 

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

I think that our ancillary pieces work well to compliment our video. The main aim of the video and ancillary pieces was to expose our artist to a more main stream audience and make him more accessible to them. 

There are links between our main product and ancillary pieces, other then the artist being the focus of both we tried to use intertextual references within our ancillary pieces. The main example of this was the inkblots we used; this style of inkblot is commonly used known for being part of the Rorschach test which is a Psychological test used to test peoples mental state. We thought that this would link with the title of the music video.


I was happy with the outcome of the poster as it is eye catching and would do a good job of publicising his up and coming events. The poster also follows the Z - Rule which is essentially the way that our eyes scan a poster to gain information. We have all of the important information placed strategically within this rule so that it is pleasing on the eye.

What have you learned from audience feedback?

Some examples of audience feedback:

Male Student 18:
"Personally, I think that the music video is a good representation of the age group that the artist is promoting. The realism between the setting and the lifestyle that the artist leads is similar to that of real life males of the same age. This is why it appealed to me. I also liked the effects used, such as the shaking of the image mid-way through the song, which links into the message of the text. However, I felt that there should be more camera movement as there were too many static shots, which became repetitive over time."


Female Student 17:
"Although I am not normally a fan of this type of music, I did enjoy watching this video. Normally British Rap videos are filled with too many people, but I liked the fact this video was made up of shots of the artist. I think that the poster works well but some of the panels in the digipak were slightly plain and could have been improved"

I did find the feedback we received helpful for future projects. We did, pick up on some of the problems they identified, such as having too many stationary shots of the artist but due to time constraints after filming, to meet deadlines, and also the sever weather we found it difficult to organise a date to film again.


We could also have made more use of the space on the digipak panels, for example including a page of song lyrics or even details including the artist's website/ twitter etc. There was reasoning behind not including too much information, and this was to have a minimalistic look for our ancillary pieces. Between myself and Tobi we decided that using a simple layout on the digipak would look better then filling the panels with too much information - but we might not have included enough information for the audience.

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


Hardware/ Software
When producing our video, we used a number of pieces of hardware to film and edit our video. We used some studio lights in order to keep the shots well lit, and a tripod to make sure the camera stayed steady. The camera we used was a Canon HV10, it is a handheld camera and shoots in 720i HD. Initially it looked like the camera quality was exceptional, but we found that during the editing stage their were limitations how clean the visuals looked. The main reason for this is because the camera shoots in an integrated format - meaning it takes 2 frames and integrates them together using horizontal lines. When using the old televisions this format worked well because the filaments in the TVs burned and faded between the frames, but nowadays with the improvements in technology for TVs and Monitors the P (progressive) format works better. If we were to film again we would probably use a camera that filmed using the progressive format so we wouldn't have the problem of the streaks again.


We used an iMac to edit our music video. The main program we used was Final Cut Express, which worked well for what we were trying to achieve. The stock transitions and effects were sufficient for the scale of the project that we were attempting; but again the use of these editing tools was limited by the quality of the camera which made some of the effects (particularly Image control) seem less professional.


Online
We showcased our music video on YouTube. YouTube is an website where users can upload videos. There were some positives of using YouTube, for example it meant that our video was easily accessible for fans to view. In addition to this being able to add 'tags' means that people who are searching music of a similar genre could potentially land on our video and thus broadening the audience for our artist.


I tracked the production of our video and ancillary pieces using Blogger. Blogger is easy to use and easily accessible - this can be seen by my blog receiving hundreds of hits; their are tags associated with my blog, like there are on YouTube, this means that people who have similar interests to this artist could also stumble upon my blog and therefore broaden his audiene.

Final Video

Album Cover & Magazine

Planning

Our original inspiration for our Digipak covers was from the Gnarls Barkley - Crazy, music video where they recreated an inkblot similar to those of the Rorschach test used in psychology. As seen below. 

We found a tutorial and re generated our own inkblot using Adobe After effects.

We used one of numerous inkblots we created for the background of the front cover. We used a filter on an image of the artist called 'Cutout' which creates solid layers out of groups of similar colours. We made the image of the artist slightly transparent so you can see the inkblot through him - suggesting that the audience will get an insight into the artist through listening to this CD.

For legal reasons we had to include the parental advisory logo do explicit language and content within the songs.

 The lighting in this close-up shot of the artist was used to reflect certain characteristics associated with him; for example red is usually associated with passion, which is a topic that F Star Raw tries to convey through his music, the other main colour used is green which is often associated to money, but also freedom - which could be said as the artists reason for producing this song - to free himself from his stresses.

This is another example of the inkblots we generated using Adobe After Effects

We took this image of the records, this was one of the settings of the music video. We thought that it would be a good idea to include this as it creates a clear link between both the video and the ancillary pieces.

Final Magazine Advert & Digipak

We used the same image for the magazine advert as one of the tiles in the digipak, again to create a link between the two pieces. We tried to incorporate the rule of 3rds in this piece as each 3rd is filled with a significant element of the poster; for example the top 3rd contains the artists name, middle 3rd has an image of the artists face and bottom 3rd contains details of tours etc. You can also apply the Z-Rule to this piece because the composition of the poster (where the title is placed, artists face is positioned and where we have written the details) adhere to this rule and thus make it aesthetically pleasing.

Production

First Edit
As we were relatively new to the software (Final Cut Express) it took us a while to get to the half way point in our music video, so we decided to render it so we would have an idea of how our final piece would look. Most of the transitions between shots were cuts, but we also used some dissolves/ fade to black to match the pace of the music and highlight changes.

Second Edit


After sequencing the video we added effects to different shots and took a more precise approach to syncing the audio with the visuals so that the lip syncing was as near perfect as we were capable of achieving.

We used some quick cuts between these 3 shots to match the lyrics "They're dumb, they're dumb, they're dumb!"

We added some dissolves in order to match the tempo and the 'feel' of the song, this technique was also useful as we encountered some problems with the artist falling out of time with his lyrics and this was a good way of disguising these mistakes.

We slowed down this shot so that it would match the 'bridge' in the song.

We added a filter called offset to this clip to create a faint image of the artist in the background; we used this effect as we thought it related to the theme of the song 'lunatic' as it could be a sign of madness - in addition to this there is a link to the lyrics, "My mind's f******, this is where it starts"

We used an effect called Gaussian blur in a number of shots, this was to make some of the shots seem like the artist's memories.

We changed the saturation levels in a lot of the shots, there were a number of reasons for this. Aside from our personal preference we thought that the de-saturated style of the shots would reflect the mood of the song, as the song is quite slow the colder feel seemed more appropriate as opposed to a pop video which would incorporate more vivid colours to match a higher tempo song.

To finish we added the title of the song and the name of the artist using the text tool.

Pre Production

Concept:
The song we have decided to produce a music video for is entitled Lunatic Freestyle, so we aim to include some of the connotations of in to our video. For example we have discovered an effect on Final Cut which allows us to re-lay footage behind what we hae on screen, so that it is semi transparent and therefore still visible - this tool incorporates the notion of lunacy and madness although we aim to use it quite subtly.


Equipment List:

We are planning on using a Canon HV10 hand held camera as it shoots in 720i HD. We want to shoot in HD to give our music video a more professional feel however after researching that shooting with the i (integrated) format it can cause a streaky effect because of how the cameras shutters work.

We will use a tripod to ensure steady shots when filming.

We will use iMacs as not only a prop but also to edit our film.

We will use a lighter as a prop, as it links with the lyric "I light up".

We need to use studio lighting to make sure the shots are well lit as this was a problem in my AS piece.

Location:

We have chosen to film our piece in two locations, the Roundshaw estate located near our school, and also at my house where there is a selection of musical equipment that we want to incorporate in to our video.

We have chosen to film in Roundshaw for a number of reasons, for example it is easily accessible for both myself and Tobi which will be beneficial when it comes to filming. In addition to this, it is a very urban area - which is a common feature in urban (the genre) music videos.

The other location being my house has been chosen as we aim to replicate the production process of the song through the various pieces of machinery. The lyrics of the song talk about the artists work rate and dedication to his work so we thought that it would be relevant for us to show this through the locations we filmed at.

Story Board:

Our opening shots will be mid-long shots of the main artist, these will help to establish him in the text.

We will use a mid shot/ close up of the artist so that when he lip syncs the lyrics there will be a clear link between the visuals and lyrics.

We will use mid shot in front of a record case because it conforms to some stereotypes of the genre and establishes the artist as a 'real' music fan who has a collection of vinyls - it also relates to some of the lyrics as he suggests he has been part of the music industry for a long time and this is backed up by the large collection of records behind him.

We will use another shot in front of the records which will again create a link between the lyrics and visuals, but also adhere to another common element of a music video which is to have numerous shots of the artist

We want to include a shot of the producer and possibly the artist too in order to show his involvement in the production process, adding to the notion that he puts a lot of work and effort in to his releases.

Artist: F Star Raw

The artist who we will be producing a music video for is the up and coming MC from South London, F Star Raw. He has a following of about 5000 fans, made up predominantly of 16-22 year olds in the local area. He has not done a lot of advertising, but most of his music has been made free to download as a marketing scheme in order to get his name and music known.With the music video we aim to help him to reach a wider audience in order to further his career.

Music Video Research

This collection of Kano videos share similar properties, particularly that the main artist is the main focus of the video, and appears in a large proportion of the shots, this conforms with Goodwin's Theory, which  states that the recording artist is in shot very often.

We thought that the styling of these videos worked very well, particularly that they seem to be have shot in 1 take - we would be interested in emulating this in our attempt at a music video, however this would need an extremely large amount of planning and it could potentially take hundreds of takes to get it right, particularly as the song we have chosen is quite a long track.

The clip above is from the movie 'Kidulthood' which has proven very popular among the youth of today, we selected this specific clip as we thought we could incorporate some of the shots used between 0:32-1:30 for example 

This Maverick Sabre video uses some of the features I spoke about in other videos in this playlist such as heavily featuring the artist.

This video, 'The Return of Mr. Pane' is sort of the style we are looking as it focuses heavily on the main artist, Mikill Pane.