We hope that you have enjoyed looking at our blog and seeing how our work has progressed from start to finish. Overall, we feel that the work that we have achieved has been quite successful and work well together. All posts are individually labelled so that they are easy to locate and the music player helps set the mood and genre of our band. The additional gadgets such as the weather application came in very useful for us and the popular posts also helped as we could identify what sorts of posts were most successful and why. This way we could make further improvements at continue working at that standard. We have also added links to websites which we found useful and got inspiration from for the making of our final music video and ancillary texts. Our skills with software and analytical skills have improved dramatically and we feel a lot more confident particularly in the production stage.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In the research and planning stage I identified the common indie conventions used in real media products and I decided how I would incorporate these into my own ancillary texts and music video. I researched these conventions on the internet and found out how they are used and why. Indie conventions are very different to other genres and these have an on-going theme which makes the genre so clear. I used the indie conventions but didn’t necessarily develop or challenge them as my ancillary texts were quite simple. The research and planning came in very useful as I could then decide which elements would look most effective and work well together to demonstrate our band’s genre. A few of the indie conventions I researched and used are listed below.
Lack of Colour
The first convention that was listed in the indie genre was the idea of having limited colour on the ancillary texts and music video. My ancillary texts didn’t have a very consistent colour scheme. This is quite common in real media products as some products are quite disjunctive and not always relevant to one another. This can work quite well depending on the type of band. Some bands may prefer a chosen colour scheme that can be used on both the digipack and magazine advert so that they can be recognised by this. There is no direct link between the uses of colour on both of my ancillary texts. For the magazine advert, the colours are quite dull and neutral. I edited the image itself so that colour was less bright and this is a common feature on other indie magazine adverts as they usually look quite vintage and colourless. The colours that are expressed work quite well together because they are not too vibrant so this does not distract you from any other aspects or create one main focusing point which was the aim. Black, white, blue and brown are the most noticeable colours on my magazine advert which complement one another as they are not too bright. The colours used on my digipack are slightly more vibrant and eye-catching. The colour scheme is quite consistent and in some ways is similar to the colours of the magazine advert but they are just used more. For example I used a mustard colour for the CD itself which links to another panel of the photograph of the drummer as the drums are similar colour so it ties the two in. I also used a similar blue colour as I used a photograph of the band members that was taken at the same time as I took the photo for the magazine advert so they were wearing the same clothes. Therefore I continued with the use of blue on a number of panels which enabled the colour scheme to be more consistent but still not too distracting. Black, white and green were also prevalent on my digipack which can also be seen on a number of the panels. Just like I did with the magazine advert, I edited the images so that the colours were less bright and the contrast was increased. This way the colours were toned down so creates the effect that other indie media products use.
Dark Location
For both ancillary texts, I used the same location to take my photographs. Therefore they had a link so that the band could be recognised on both products as they were also wearing similar clothes. The location was quite dark as the photos were taken on my drive next to the garage so this convention was clearly shown. This location is quite consistent in this particular genre therefore the band fit into the indie category just based on this because it is quite common. The editing I used on each of the photographs enhances the darkness of the location as the colour vibrancy was toned down and the contrast was increased. Therefore this makes the photos look more vintage and better quality. Our location used for the music video was also quite dark in the studio although additional lighting was used so this also relates to the ancillary texts.
Fast Paced
Another common indie convention used is fast paced shots in the music video. As our video was based solely on band performance we had to ensure that we had a lot of shots and also a variety of types of shots to keep the video interesting. This way we could vary the speed of shots so that it looks like other real products. Indie videos are usually quite fast paced as the songs are upbeat and up tempo. Therefore the shots are fast paced as so much is going on in the video. I used this convention to portray our three band members equally and express their personalities as they were doing a lot in the video whether it be acting, dancing, singing or playing the instruments. By including a lot of fast paced shots that fit to the speed of the song, it makes it more interesting to watch and meets the style of the indie genre. In thee video we included clusters of fast paced long shots, mid shots and close up shots where the tempo increases to create an interesting contrast. This can be seen in the clip below.
Costume
Costume is a very important convention to include in both the ancillary texts and the music video. The consistency of the band’s style entirely determines how well they will be recognised. As stated previously, the photographs for both the magazine advert and digipack were taken at the same time so they band members were wearing similar, if not the same clothes. Therefore they can be recognised for their indie style for future releases and appearances. For the band to fit into today’s music industry, I felt it was important for them to dress in a way that meets the indie category. This convention is used as our band wears similar clothes to other indie bands such as peak caps, chinos, vans, t-shirts and ray-berries. I decided for them to wear these sorts of clothes so that it can portray their personalities in a positive and fun way and also meet the age range of their target audience as they can then inspire them by their sense of style. As you can see from the images of my ancillary texts below, the band were wearing the same clothes on each product which shows how I have highlighted the use of this convention.
Lighting
The lighting used in my ancillary texts was quite mixed due to the editing skills I used on each photograph. On some I increased the brightness but on others decreased it to meet the use of the ‘dark location’ convention. In other indie products the lighting is quite dark and neutral so I decided to take my photos in natural light so that I could alter the colours, brightness and contrast myself. The lighting on the photo on my magazine advert is quite bright which enhances the band’s personality and body language. This then highlights their importance in the indie genre so combines the use of both conventions. The lighting on my digipack is also quite bright so it ties the two products together. If the lighting was really dark the ancillary texts wouldn’t fit into the indie genre because the band would look too intense and serious. The lighting in the photos also works well the choice of colour scheme used for additional features such as font colour.
Mixture of Close Ups and Longs Shots
A convention that I used the most of throughout my ancillary texts and music video was the use of extreme close ups and long shots and these are used a lot in real media products. By using a mixture of these camera angles, it keeps the video interesting as faster shots encourage the audience to keep watching. I decided to use this convention on my ancillary texts as well to tie the three in together. By using a variety of different camera angles whilst taking photographs make the products more eye catching and appealing. The photographs also look more professional by using a wide range of camera angles because they can be seen in other well known media products to enhance the band’s style and personality. High angle, low angle, mid shots, close ups, extreme close ups and long shots were all considered and used whilst we were taking photos and filming. This way we could plan which photos we could use on each panel to vary the types of camera angles, which created an effective contrast. The use of extreme close ups and long shots really portrays their positive and enthusiastic attitude as a band which also helps express the indie genre as they highlight their dancing, singing and body language.
Band Performance
In my ancillary texts I decided to just use photographs of the band as I wanted the photos to be relevant to the band themselves. I did not want to overuse my editing skills with pictures I drew even though this is a common indie convention used on real media products so I thought by using a minimal amount of edited images would enhance this effect. The band can be seen on each one of the panels on my digipack but portrayed in a different way. The composition was also varied and mixed up to create an effective contrast meaning that different band members could be seen together. It is common to see a band perform throughout an indie music video as they feel that it is important that the audience focuses just on the band themselves. Because of this I used similar photos on the magazine advert and on the digipack so that locations and style was the same. This way they can be recognised by these two elements whether they are performing or not.
Editing
Editing is major convention used in all indie media products. I used editing for both my ancillary texts and the music video. For my digipack I edited images that I drew myself as animation is another common convention used on these types of products. I edited these images by adding filters, altering colours, brightness and contrasts. I also edited the photos that I took to increase the quality and make them look more professional. I used this same technique to edit the photograph on my magazine advert. I altered the colour tones and contrast so that the photo looked more vintage to show that it fits into the indie category. Without the use of this convention, my ancillary texts would not look as professional as other media products.
Mise en Scene
Mise en scene was important to consider when constructing the ancillary texts. I used the same locations to take photographs for both products to show consistency. I think the choice of location was suitable and for type of genre as it is very simple and basic. The lighting was natural so artificial lighting does not distract you from the band and limited props were also used. On some photos on the digipack there was a use of the drums so this enhances their interest in music and enthusiasm as a band. I felt it was important to keep the mise en scene very simple as indie bands usually focus on just the music and no hype about set or performance style. Therefore the simpler this convention was, the more the audience could focus on the band performance and style.
Overall I feel that the use of these common indie conventions make my ancillary texts and music video a success because without these they would not look as realistic and they would struggle to fit into today's music industry as they would not fit into the indie category. Some conventions were hard to develop or challenge as the indie genre is so simple and basic and this was the aim of our band. By researching these conventions in advance enabled me to decide which ones would work well for our indie band and which ones would be too complex for us to use. I could also find out more about how they are used and why so I understood how they are meant to be portrayed.
Media technologies that I have used during the construction, research and planning and the evaluation include:
Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0
One technology I used during the construction of my media products was Adobe Photoshop. I found this technology quite easy to use due to my previous experience and skills with the software. In the past I found the software quite difficult to use due to the lack of skills and knowledge but after experimenting with the functions and tools included in the software, the construction process became a lot easier over time. I feel that my skills with Photoshop have improved dramatically since last year which has helped me think more creatively for my ancillary texts this year. This technology was used during the construction and research and planning stages of the production process. Before going straight into constructing my ancillary texts, I played around with the tools on the software to see what effects and mock up products I could achieve. This way I could generate more ideas on the conventions I may choose to use before putting together the final magazine advert and digipack. I did some background research into common indie conventions used in these products which also helped me develop ideas on the layout, text, image and style choices to make. Once some mock up pieces were produced, I decided to narrow down the effective features that were identified in my audience feedback and listed them to include in my final products. I then used this software to construct my final ancillary texts which I then felt much more confident with using due to experimenting my ideas beforehand. Overall I found Photoshop made the construction of my ancillary texts very easy as it was fairly simple to use and included all the tools required to make a successful and effective advert and digipack. I learnt by making mistakes as I realised what looked effective and what didn't. The technology made the production easy because it provides effective editing tools which make images look very unique and professional, images and text are quick to add, templates are available and the tools on the left hand side of the software are relatively easy to learn how to use. An example of editing an image that I used was the image of the cat that I used. I simply drew the image, scanned it into Photoshop and used the editing tools and filters provided. This was a common indie convention used in other indie albums and the use of animation is very popular in this genre. The software therefore met the requirement of allowing me to add the conventions needed in my digipack and links to the magazine advert. This particular technology made it so much easier whilst producing the ancillary texts as the majority of the time, everything ran smoothly and the tools allowed me to create the products I was hoping to achieve and at a reasonable standard. My skills developed through using this technology as last year I simply thought about layout and used basic conventions whereas this year I developed ideas from indie albums and magazine adverts so could adapt my ideas further. My skills have improved in editing and thinking more realistically and identifying what works well as what didn't look as effective. This technology enhanced my work as it allowed me to edit photos to increase the quality, I could use templates, add text and images, I could use formatting tools and also add layers to make the ancillary texts look more realistic and professional.
Before and after:
Microsoft Office Word 2007
Another technology that I used regularly throughout the production and research and planning stage of my products was Microsoft Word. I found this useful when coming across immediate ideas which led to research them and then write them down in a document. Throughout research and planning, I produced many documents with rough notes and ideas down which me and Becca could then go on to develop further by producing more and more research. This technology is extremely easy to use and made our research and planning easy to display and organise. I use this technology daily so I found the tools and functions very easy to use. An example of a document that we created during the research and planning stage of our production process was the document above including our research on artists we wanted our band to be similar to or gain inspiration from. Therefore I used Microsoft Word to display the research we found into the form of a table which includes a combination of both text and images. Another advantage I found of this software is that it is quick to access and is good for displaying information in multiple ways. Saving work and transferring it to our blog was a very fast process and the software as a whole was very easy to use which allowed us to produce more and more research and planning and therefore more ideas. This software made the research and planning process much easier as the software was always available for me to make notes and present information in a word document at any time. My skills have developed by using this technology as I used it regularly and find new tools to use to create an effective piece of work. This technology made the research and planning stage easier as I could document ideas and information instantly and simply add these to our blog.
Microsoft Office Publisher 2007
Microsoft Publisher was mainly used during the production of my ancillary texts. I found that finding images for my mock ups from the internet could be saved as an image file on this software which made the process less time consuming. I could then insert the image directly into Photoshop and then edit it that way. MS Publisher was also useful for generating ideas on font styles and images to use. This software made the production process of my digipack far easier as it allowed me to save images, experiment with fonts and store notes.
Microsoft Office Powerpoint 2007
I found that Microsoft PowerPoint was useful when we needed to present our ideas and information in more of a creative way. For our research and planning we wanted to use as many different technologies as we could to present our ideas and show that we can present our ideas in more than one way. This example of one of our presentations above is a PowerPoint of our band shoot. I thought it would be suitable to present our photos as a PowerPoint because there are so many of them and listing them on our blog would be quite time consuming and be quite repetitive to scroll through. Therefore the MS PowerPoint software was an appropriate software choice. This software is very easy to use and I also have experience with this particular software package as I have produced many slide show presentations previously. This software made our research and planning process easier as it was less time consuming to insert images onto the slides and I felt we were achieving more by presenting our latest work in a different format. It makes the photos much more interesting by browsing through the slides rather than just looking through them listed in a blog post. This is another technology where my have haven't made much progress as I already have quite a lot of experience with using it but it has helped me present my ideas in different ways and think more creatively.
Slideshare
Slideshare was not a technology that we used regularly because we didn't produce many PowerPoint presentations. We only needed this technology to upload the PowerPoint to our blog. We therefore just needed Slideshare for our research and planning section. This technology made this process easier as we could instantly upload our PowerPoint to the website and embed it straight into our blog to present the PowerPoint. No technical skills are required for this technology as it is simply uploading and embedding the presentation straight onto the blog. It made the research and planning section easier for me as it made a contrast to other posts by presenting our ideas and images in a different style.
Animoto
I find animoto a great piece of technology to use to present your work in a visual way. I have produced a video for the evaluation that includes both text and images. I think this works very well and I like how you can add your own music and ideas in brief notes. This technology is very easy to use and helped us generate more ideas by presenting them in a different type of media. This technology made our evaluation easier to put together as it put all of the information together in a simple format. Without the use of animoto, presenting our ideas would be quite dull as it would simply be solely images and text. Adding a different technology to the blog made us feel like we could present our skills in a different way by producing a video. This made the evaluation and research and planning stage much easier as I could present more information and ideas in a different media format, therefore narrowing down key information and presenting it in a more interesting way. My skills have developed by creating more animoto videos since last year because I have realised that the combination of text and images work well together. I like that the technology only allows you add brief notes and not reams of text. This way the viewer of the presentation doesn't get bored of reading text and the notes work well by then adding an image. This technology particularly helped me during the research and planning and evaluation stage as I could present our ideas in a more creative and imaginative way. I thought it would be appropriate to use animoto for my evaluation as there was a lot of information to cover and by presenting this in brief notes and images it is easier to cover everything.
Prezi
Prezi was a useful technology to use during our research and planning. I produced a Prezi presentation on the choice of our band names. I found this software very interesting and easy to use. I like how you can mind map ideas in a diagram format and even add pictures. This almost works the same as a mood board so presenting our ideas was very easy. This technology connects well with other software such as PowerPoint's and animoto as it can display information in a more visual and interesting way. I feel that my skills have improved by using this technology as I found documenting my ideas much easier by displaying them in the form of a diagram. It made a change to work in a different way and not simply documenting my ideas in a blog post. Prezi made the research and planning stage a lot easier for me because I enjoyed using it and presenting my ideas in this way made it less time consuming to put information together.
Samsung digital still camera
For my ancillary texts, I needed some good quality photographs of the band members to put on the digipack and magazine advert. I decided to use a Samsung digital still camera to take these photos. This technology was used for research and planning and also the production of the products. I took some test shots when we filmed the first draft of our music video whilst the band was performing. I also took some next to a brick wall to use for my draft ancillary texts, or at least develop ideas for what I wanted them to look like. This way I could decide what I wanted the band members to wear and what they had to do for my final photographs. I could identify which test shots were more effective than others by taking multiple photos and use similar ones for my final products. Overall the digital camera made the production of my ancillary texts a lot easier as the photos were not bad quality and they ended up looking quite professional. The band members in the photos look good together and look quite realistic. The photos look like they could be used on any other and the additional editing made them look even more effective. This technology made the production process easier as well because it meant I could upload the photos immediately and experiment with the editing tools to see what they looked like on the laptop. I think the enthusiasm of the band is what made the photos look more professional and it really expressed their personality as a group. My skills in this technology have not necessarily developed although thinking more in depth of what types of photos to take in advance has helped. Last year I found that I just decided to take photos on the day and see how effective they turned out whereas this year I planned who will be in each photo and what they will be doing. This is so I knew that they would work well on my ancillary texts before instantly making a decision that they were at a decent standard.
HP memory stick
A memory stick was useful throughout all three stages of the coursework as we had to ensure our individual and group work was backed up to prevent the risk of us losing anything. By using a portable storage device it made accessing the work much easier as we could work from home and at school. Therefore we could split the work between us whenever we were working on the music video. For example, Becca would have the memory stick in some free lessons to edit the video, and then I would continue in my free lessons continuing with further editing. This way the work was equally divided between us. When working on my ancillary texts I could work on them at home due to having the software on my laptop. This made the production process much easier as I could get more work done outside of lesson time. By having work with us at any time helped us as we could access the work and work anywhere we liked.
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM was needed for when we had to save the final video onto a disk ready to hand in on the deadline. This technology was used during the production section of our music video and we burnt our final video onto the disc and simply signed it in ready for marking.
Blackberry
Due to me and Becca both having Blackberries, we found it useful to communicate by using Blackberry Messenger. We had regular contact daily to organise meeting points, setting work and generally discussing ideas and progress made. This improved our organisational skills as we could plan ahead and discuss exactly we had had to do by what date. This technology helped us through each stage as it helped us meet deadlines and we were clear and what work we had to do individually to balance out the work load.
Internet Explorer
I found that we used Internet Explorer a lot throughout the research and planning stage. Without this we would not have been able to develop our initial ideas any further. We used this technology to research each stage of the research and planning such as ideas for band names, inspiration for artists, ideas for costumes, common indie conventions and much more information. This technology has encouraged my skills to develop as my ideas grew further and further the closer we got to the production of our products. Without this background research of the ancillary texts and the music video, our products would not have looked as realistic as they do due to developing solely on initial ideas. The internet made research and planning much easier for me because once I came across an idea; I could then go and research more into it by using the internet. This way I could find inspiration from videos and gather ideas together and document them. We had to rely a lot on this particular technology due to us using the blog regularly and other key websites such as Youtube, BBC weather and Google.
Google
As stated from the previous technology, we used google a lot for the research and planning stage. Any queries we had or if we were struggling for ideas, google was always very useful to help us generate certain ideas. This particular technology made research and planning much easier as we could access information quickly and develop ideas by researching key terms and then adapting what research we found into something we may have chosen to use.
Laptop
I found my laptop very useful whilst producing my coursework. It allowed me to work both at home and school. I could use the laptop to work on my ancillary texts and construct research for developing more ideas. It was useful for accessing all of the listed technologies so I could work at any time. This technology connected well will other technologies such as the CD-ROM, memory stick and digital camera as these could all be connected and used with the laptop. Due to me doing a lot of work outside of lesson time, I found that by having the laptop it helped me meet deadlines by doing work at home and also by doing research outside of lessons prepares you for what work you then aim to do next. I was also able to use Photoshop on my laptop which I found even more useful as I could go away and experiment with some ideas for my ancillary texts and then bring them in to the next lesson to gain feedback and identify if I was going in the right direction or to highlight possible improvements.
Adobe Premiere Elements
Abobe Premiere Elements was a technology that we used throughout the production of our music video. To begin with we did have a few issues with this technology at school as settings needed to be changed in order for us to use it and the software generally wasn't working. The problem soon got solved and we were able to start editing straight after we had filmed all of the shots we needed. I had no previous experience with this technology so it took a while to get use to and know how to use it. I began by editing one single clip to see what tools were available and learn how to simply cut the clip and change the timings. This was relatively easy although the more clips we began to add the harder it become. This was because we had to fit the clips on the time line in the correct order and position them so that they came in on exactly the right time. The lip syncing had to be perfect so we made sure the clips came in exactly where they had to. My skills have developed throughout the use of this technology as I didn't have any knowledge on how to use it to begin with but by experimenting with clips and practising it became a lot easier to use so made making the video much easier for me. I felt more confident by using Premiere nearer the time of editing the final video which also helped me thing more imaginatively. For example, me and Becca were planning to add colour filter on top of the clip to see what the effect looked like. This was an example of a tool that we played around with as soon as we had the clips all in order and on time. We decided not to use this tool because we didn't want it to ruin the video by simply having just a few coloured shots. Without Premiere we would not have been able to produce our music video is technology helped us immensely throughout the construction of the product. This particular technology enhanced our work as it was the best editing software that we could use within the college and found that it provided better functions and tools than Windows Movie Maker or by using the old Macs. It allowed us to crop clips, edit the brightness and contrast, alter timings and add clips onto a time line which allowed us to follow our storyboard and edit clips individually.
SD card
Another useful technology to use was an SD card. We used this during the construction of our media video to store all of the clips. We found this portable device very handy as we could view the clips at home and at school and import them so we could then go on to editing. This made the production process much easier as we could import the clips quickly onto the computer to view them and decide which ones were the most effective. This way we could label all of the shots in order from the storyboard so that we can add them straight in Premiere. Once the clips were imported from the SD card onto the computer I also saved them on the memory stick to keep them in more than one place.
SD video camera
During the production of our music video we used and SD video camera to film each shot. We borrowed this camera from the school library. We found this device relatively easy to use although I felt that the quality of the shots were not as good as they could have been. The shots that we did film looked a decent quality once we imported them onto the computer and started editing them. We used this technology a lot throughout construction and it made the process easier as we could film each shot in order and because we planned the shots in advance, we could get straight on with filming by simply working through the storyboard. My skills developed by using this technology because I had limited previous experience with using video cameras. I had to think about what variety of shots to include and how we were going to do it before filming each individual shot. This way we didn't have to waste time filming clips that were not going to look effective or that we just didn't need. I found that when we filmed the first draft video, we filmed masses of clips that we didn't need because we filmed multiple clips of the same shot. This was an advantage for us because if one didn't work well we could use the other one although it did make the process harder and more time consuming because we had to watch every single clip to decide which ones we were going to label. As my skills have developed by thinking in this way, I feel a lot more confident by using the video camera and also throughout the filming process as a whole as I can now identify what shots worked well and what ones didn't look as effective. The functions of the camera allowed us to zoom in and out, take photos and watch clips back. Zooming in and out was very useful during the filming process as we could vary the types of shots we use and film more of them. This way the variety of shots we used would encourage the audience to continue watching. Taking photos whilst filming was also useful as we could demonstrate what progress we were making throughout the filming process. Whilst filming we went back and watched the clips we had filmed to see whether they were successful or not. This way we could both agree on whether to film the same clip again to improve it.
Disc Wizards
Disc Wizards was a useful technology to use for my digipack. I inserted the template that I found from the website and simply added it into Photoshop to use as a simple template. This way I could ensure that the digipack was at a reasonable and realistic size before continuing with further development. This template provided a useful guideline on what to include and where. The digipack was much easier to construct by using this template. This made the production process far easier for me as planning out the digipack on each panel before producing the final one was much more effective than going straight into designing me final album.
Facebook
Facebook was another popular technology that I used throughout the research and planning and evaluation stages. This was a good piece of technology to use to gain client feedback and opinions from our audience. We didn't create a group for our band although we did give regular updates and uploaded pictures and videos on progress that we were making throughout. Once we had finished our final music video I uploaded it onto Facebook as a lot of people were requesting to see it. Soon after we found that people began to comment on it and tell us what they thought. We could relate this feedback to other feedback we have received in the past and we could then see if the improvements we made improved the comments. My auntie is a user of Facebook and she shared our linked to the rest of her 'friends'. She complemented our band and her friends all commented on how successful and realistic the video looks as a whole.
Twitter
Another social networking site we used for the band was Twitter. We found that we gained a lot of feedback by using this and we also got a lot of inspiration from other bands. We could follow other bands that fit into the same genre as Pablo and The People to get recent updates on what they are doing. This way we could tweet similar things to fit into the same category. This helped us throughout the research and planning stage as we could get regular feedback from friends and fans and we could let them know what progress we were making on the coursework products.
Blogger
Blogger was a technology that I used constantly throughout each stage of the coursework. This is where I documented all my ideas, work and progress from the beginning right through to the end. This technology particular came in useful when we were working on research and planning as we could present our ideas in many different formats such as embedding posts, PowerPoint presentations, animoto videos, word documents, links from websites and prezi presentations. I thought this was an effective way to present our work as we could show our ideas at that stage and explain where we were going from there on. Our ideas constantly developed daily so by blogging it helped us share ideas with fellow class members and teachers. I also found this technology useful to gain inspiration from other blogs from previous years or even in other classes. I could then think more creatively by adapting these ideas into my own. My skills have developed since last year from using this technology as I felt that it was important that our blog looks aesthetically pleasing and stands out so that it is more interesting for people to look through. We kept our blogs organised by labelling each post that that they were easy to find when we had to refer back to our ideas. A skill that I used this year that I hadn't used previously is adding gadgets that I hadn't used before. For example we thought it would be appropriate to add pictures, display our twitter feed, provide a note from us as contributors, have a play list, display the blog archive and labels, show the weather forecast, display our popular posts, insert a video channel, have links where we got our inspiration from and also display our followers. Some of these gadgets in particular made our research and planning and production stages much easier for us as we could plan ahead and highlight our strengths and weaknesses at where we were at. For example we added the weather forecast gadget so that we could plan when to film could avoid the bad weather. The popular posts informed us of work that people enjoyed looking through and that they found inspirational for them. This then encouraged us to blog with similar posts as that was leading us in the right direction. Overall this technology was an effective way to show our ideas as it was easy to use and I like how we can display these in a visual way.
Email
We didn't use email as much as the other technologies because we could communicate in quicker ways, for example BBM. We found emailing was useful when we had a query for a teacher and they could then send us the resources and information. Email helped us during the research and planning stage because we could request for these resources and then use them for certain areas of the research. Some files that we asked for were the schedule and shot list templates so that we could prepare for filming so this also helped us in the making of our video. Teachers could also email us with advice on what blogs and websites to look at which we also found useful.
Scribd
Scribd is another technology that we didn't use very often although it came in handy when we had to transfer written documents or word documents to embed them onto our blog. I mainly used this technology during the research and planning stage and I found that it worked just the same as simply adding images and text into a post. It sped up our research and planning process as we could embed the document straight onto the blog to display our work and ideas.
Windows Movie Maker
We used Windows Movie Maker to construct our animatic videos. This was used during the construction and research and planning stages. This technology was an effective was of displaying our ideas before filming the actual videos. We constructed the storyboard and then imply scanned in the images and put them onto the time line with the soundtrack and set the image timings to appear at the correct time. This worked as a prototype so it helped us identify whether the timings worked effectively and what the video was going to look like in the end. Once we were happy with it we could then go on to film each shot. By presenting the video in this way, we gained skills by using another type of technology and also could present our ideas at that stage to express what we were trying to achieve.
Overall, without these technologies it would have been near impossible to construct the work that we have done. I used similar technologies for the research and planning, construction and also evaluation although some were more suitable to use in certain areas than others. By using these technologies, they have enabled me to produce a digipack, a magazine advert, a music video, produce research and planning and create an evaluation. I feel that my skills have developed throughout the use of each technology and I have learnt a lot more since using them last year.
This is Question 1 evaluation for our media product. The idea is designed as an online article, interviewing the 'director' of the video. I chose not to use our names to avoid confusion as Steph is also in the band but I have stuck to the biography of the band as well as hopefully answering the question as best I can. I have evaluated the video and ancillary separately
The lighting has now been fully edited to what we think is the right standard. We of course will need final feedback from our teacher for any last minute changes to improve the video before the hand in tomorrow. As we have completed the majority of the editing with time to spare we have also looked at evaluation in relation to the work we have done.
We have managed to fully edit the video to the song in time for Friday. The next few days will involve getting feedback for further improvements and adjusting the visual aspect of the video in order to improve our mark and the quality of the video as much as we possibly can. We have decided against adding in different colours as we felt that the video was enough as itself and we did not want to 'over-edit' it. This has also allowed us more time to hopefully perfect the final product. We feel the video has been much more successful than our draft and the re-filming and reconsideration of editing has led to a big improvement of the final product.
Since we filmed on Wednesday, we have now begun editing. We labelled the clips that we needed and uploaded them onto Adobe Premiere Elements. This is the software that we will be using to edit the whole of our video. We have found that the lighting, quality and variety of shots used have improved immensely since filming our draft video. Using just one location makes you focus more on the band themselves so no objects become an immediate distraction. The acting also looks a lot better as the band members are much more enthusiastic and look like they are having fun. They interact with one another which makes the video captivating and interesting throughout. At this stage we have edited roughly 2.5 minutes of our video and we still have around 1 more minute to edit. Once all of the clips are in order and in time with the music, we will then go on to edit the finer details such as lighting, contrast and colours of each shot.
Yesterday we filmed the whole of our video in the drama studio. We started setting up the kit at around 3.10pm and this included setting up the instruments, sorting the lighting and organising the set itself such as drawing the black curtains behind the kit and removing any other visible objects that we didn't need. The main problem that we found in the drama studio was trying to avoid the posters on the walls as it is normally a classroom but to get round this we made sure they weren't visible in the shot before actually filming. In some shots they are slightly visible but we feel they are not a direct distraction as most of the shots are only a few seconds long. We started filming at roughly 3.30pm and began with the wide shots of the whole band performing. This was because we had more of these than any other shots. We then went on to film the individual band member shots, then the additional performance shots from different angles. As a whole we feel that the filming went very well and was a huge improvement since the last draft video. The lip syncing and acting was much better as the band members were more enthusiastic which made the shots look more realistic and fit into a traditional indie music video. They really got into character, they looked the part and had a lot more fun with it. The variety of shots also looked more effective as it keeps the video interesting throughout. We finished filming at around 6.00pm. We are now beginning to edit the video so we have just over a week to finish the video. This is good as we now have plenty of time to edit each individual shot in the way that we want it to look like. Editing will be the most important part in the construction of our video as we need to alter the brightness, contrast and colour of the lighting to achieve the look of the other video by The Vaccines that we aim for our own video to look like. This is so that each shot looks as effective and realistic as possible.
Tomorrow we are aiming to shoot our whole video in the drama studio from 3.00pm-5.00pm roughly. We have 116 shots to film to time may be a problem although we feel that we have planned quite well so everything should run quite smoothly. Tomorrow morning I will be bringing the drum kit into school at about 8.00am and storing it in a room all day until we have to use it. The guitar that I am borrowing off of a friend will also be stored with the kit. We will begin to set up at the end of the school day and hope to be filming by 3.15pm at the latest. This way we should be able to film all of the shots in time.
This is the animatic for our redrafted video. The timing is a little bit out , but this is something we are aware of and will be careful to correct during editing the actual clips and video. The aspect of the video not captured in the animatic is the lighting that will be fading and creating a silhouette effect. We are also hoping to edit the colour of the lighting during editing. We hope this will be more successful than our original more complicated video.
Here I have watched a video from the same genre as our band and found the shots that they have used very inspiring. As our video now just consists of band performance, we need to include intriguing shots and have more of them to keep the video interesting throughout. Here are a few images of shots we may decide to use...
