Music Video - Final Cut

This is our final cut of the 'Feeling Good' music video :)

Hope you like it!

Thank You Post!!

(again, bad thumbnail image -__-)

This is just a "thank you" video for Dynamic Productions :)

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

I have also constructed my own vieo blog for this question:

(I apologise for my face)

3.  What have you learnt from audience feedback?

 

2.  How effective is the combination of your main and ancillary tasks?

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

Audience Feedback

During the Easter summer holidays, I went to South Africa for a family holiday and to meet my family on the other side of the world for the first time in ten years!  Whilst I was there, I showed them the 'Feeling Good' music video and asked for feedback. 
I have recorded two "mini" feedback sessions to get a rough idea on what the audience think.

Oom Mac and Tannie Wendy

mac and wendy
This is a recording of one of my South African aunties and uncles' (oom and tannies') quick analysis on their viewing of the music video; I found it very interesting (in Oom Mac's point) that he thought the protagonist's aggressive "attack" to Tayo's character, in the narrative, was not right, and this is due to differences in society and culture in different countries which highlights their contrasting opinions to the UK.  This helps us how we have, unknowingly, touched upon delicate matters in society and how our music video has effectively reached out to different audience groups and made them think - which in a way was ideally our target; this is an example of "effects theory". 

Stephan

IMG 0169
To get a variated analysis from different age groups, I also asked my cousin, Stephan, what he thought about the music video.  His short feedback was helpful and highlighted the significance the narrative of our adaption of 'Feeling Good' had on him; he used the word "ironic" (which was what we hoped to convey) in the fact that the title of the song was contrasting to the narrative - so in a sense, personifying the use of "binary opposition" in the meaning of the song title contrasting to the narrative.

Indie/Rock CD's*

From this collection of indie/rock genre CD images, I have noticed the similarities in each design following the typical conventions of music discs.  These consist of:

·         Band name

·         Album name

·         Colour Scheme of Album Cover

·         (in some: appropriate images related to the theme of the album)

·         (in some: album songs)

·         Company distributor information/logos

These music discs I really like and find effective, because each design is strong in terms of colour choice and layout.  I also find each one relevant to the music genre “indie/rock”, because the fonts reflect this urban culture group as well as the choice of the dynamic images.

Audience Feedback*

Last night, on the 20th March, our school held a 'Creative Arts' evening, showcasing all of the students in the art department's work: these included subjects, such as drama, music, textiles, photography and, of course, media!  We held a public audience and previewed our music videos.  As the evening progressed, we found audience members (round the age of our target audience) for critical evaluation and feedback. 
Below is a video providing this response by two of our media peers, Tatenda and Miles.  In this video, they include how the music video personally affected them, which in turn practices the "reception theory":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckaYBevjB7k&feature=player_embedded

Indie/Rock Album Covers*

I have researched album covers from the same genre as Muse to familiarise myself with the typical conventions of the indie/rock album covers: the layouts, the colours, the font etc.

Death Cab for Cutie

Death Cab for Cutie produce more soft indie music as opposed to many other bands in this wide urban music genre, and the soft pastel “neutral” colours used in these album covers help reflect the band’s easy-listening music.  My particular favourite of these covers is the ‘Transatlanticism’ album, because it is simple with a significant image (the bird) being the focal point with a plain and complimentary background.  I also prefer this back cover because the typical conventions (the list of the song titles, barcodes, company information) but formatted in a simplistic way; plus the colour scheme has been kept as well as the link of the red ribbon from the front cover (this is just a feature that works well) keeping the theme with the appeal of the indie/rock audience in consideration.

Gorillaz

The Fray

...... My favourite album cover is ‘Heartbeat’, and not only because it is in my favourite colour, but also because I like the silhouetted unconventional style of band shot – them being “spread apart” – which works well with the actual layout of the album cover design; the border at the top is not a typical feature but works well with the album theme in mind.  The back cover design I like the most is from the album ‘2’; this is my favourite because I love the typography conveying the indie/rock style as well as the of the wall also highlighting this genre more. 

The Kooks

Photoshoot Comparisons

Before we actually take the band shots, I wanted to look at existing band shots from bands in the same music category as Muse.  Here are two:

Muse






These shots are strong and this particular pose would be perfect for our ancillary tasks, because there is the eye contact of the band members to the front (which would be to the reader/viewer) which creates that immediate connection.  Also, these shots convey their social style (which is indie/light rock) which appeals to the public in this class.
Here is a comparison of these images and our photoshoot photos of the band:

We have tried to make our band shots look as real and "professional" as possible, and I think (following the simiar compositions) we have "pulled this off".

I have also found other band shots and have compared them to our band editions:

Coldplay

This is another band situated in the same genre as Muse, and it is clear that we have adapted this band shot in our own photos.  The whole concept is striking and builds a strong and appealing image for our band; also, the use of "gaze theory" has been adapted here also, which appeals to the audience.

Kings of Leon

Kings of Leon are band also categorised in the "rock/indie" genre of music, and so attract a similar audience as Muse.  Their band shot is set at an angle unconventionally which I absolutely love! This is what our image is based upon, and I think it has been constructed quite well.  Another aspect of this image which makes it strong, is the use of the eye contact of the band members to the front' this immediately creates a connection of the viewer looking at the poster. 

Photoshoot

On 22nd February (yesterday), the group gathered together and shot the photos we will use for our ancillary tasks - these included the band shots and a few snaps for the photos for the narrative.

I think the photoshoot went well, for we used the effective colour backdrop in the studio (the black cover) which contrasted well with the dimmed lighting; this lighting really looked strong on the "models", for there was a bold shadow cast on the face creating a sense of mystery setting a strong dynamic theme for the album.  I found the band shots, and the way they were assembled, very strong, and (as previously recorded in my last blog) they reminate similarities in professional band shots/stances. 
Here are my favourite photos of the shoot:

Here are a few "behind-the-camera" pictures of the group taking the shots.  We really enjoyed this task and, in turn, it has been successful.

Location Scouting Footage*

The group decided to start filming for the music video on 30th November. 
Before we began filming, we all discussed possible locations on where our music video scenes will be based. We started by looking around the school and decided to film on the school stage the band shots (to reflect a band performing at a concert), however after feedback from Mr Palmer we decided not to film on the school premises; it would not be a suitable location for ur music video. Following this constructive criticism, we decided to change location suiting the theme of our music video and genre more appropriately - to convey the mise-en-scene more effectively.
So, our locations will be:

• An Estate
• Woods/Heath

Narrative Location

Today, Kike and myself went to one of the possible locations, Bostall Heath, with Katharine and filmed the setting; this enabled us to visualise some of the narrative scenes in our music video. We took recordings of the heath (Kike is the audio, however it is very hard to hear her with the wind being so strong and loud :/ ):

This is our quirky actress, Katharine, who plays one of our main characters in our music video.  One of our possible locations is the heath, and this scene will involve the significant “kissing” scene that sends our main character not “feeling good”.  We have chosen this as a strong possible location for this scene, because there is the contrast of the open space of the heath as well as the hidden and secreted shroud of trees.  They symbolise the secret of Katharine’s character cheating on our Charlie which makes it all the more enticing.

Despite the horrific quick zoom, a possible main tree that will be featured is this one.  We scanned the whole of the heath’s trees and made a choice to consider this one; the shape is distinct as well as the background behind it being open giving our other characters space to perform. 

Band Location

To really portray our chosen themes of sadness, depression and heartbreak, we decided to choose an estate to really visualise this chaos and mass of emotion (to relate to teen angst) and so found this old desolate bulding filled with this clutter and "destruction" - it belonged to a friend's dad, so with permission, we were allowed to film this as the set of our main location.  We found the mise-en-scene for our music video would be conveyed well in this location, for not only does it look unconventional, but an "abandoned house" is a perfect location for our urban based target audience. 

Band Location - with Charlie

  

Zoomed shot of the back of the building

Just clutter and mess!!

DVD Covers*

I have researched a variety of different DVD album covers (from a mixture of the music genres in society) to gain a concept of what conventions I would have to exceed whilst developing my own Muse album DVD front cover for my ancillary task.  Here are a few examples:

It is amazing how diferent each one is, in terms of style, layout and colour, which also conveys the similarities of the covers and their appliances of the typical conventions. 

My particular favourite of these covers is 'The Pretty Reckless' one:

The reasons why I favour this cover are:

• I love the simplistic format that this cover has developed; the main front image is simple, central and effective; the titles/headers are clearly found in the appropriate places and the distributor's information is clearly identified at the bottom on the back cover - in some DVD covers, these conventions are hard to find by the "chaotic" cram of information and distracting background design; covers that convey this are the 'Rihanna, Good Girl Gone Bad Live', 'Britney Spears, Femme Fatale' and the 'Evanescence' DVD album cover.  
• I also love the representation of Taylor Momsen's "rock-chic" image by the use of colour and the "teenage girl" qualities of the design (the heart sketches, the pink font etc)  This targets a younger audience in this rock genre, both female and male: female - by the typical "teenage girl" approach in deisgn, colour and whole concept of the cover, and male - the provocative use of "gaze theory" of Taylor Momsen's pose in her stylised and revealing trade-mark attire (the Doc Martins, the black laungerie with blonde extensions and heavy black eye make-up). 

This is the cover I will base my DVD cover on!

Here are a couple examples of Muse's previous album DVD covers:

The general similarities in the two covers are uses of dark colours; the "sci-fi" theme of the main images and the main appeal to adolescent boys in society by the design approach.  They also signify Muse's "electryfying" and "static" image as a band. 

Ancillary Task: DVD Cover*

The reason ......

Storyboards

On the 17th December, Nick and Tayo went to our band location to start filming.  I unfortunately could not attend - I was three hours away staying with family for Christmas - however I shared my ideas to the filming for that date and also received all the actions carried through.

These are the storyboards for the shots in the abandoned house that the filming shots were based upon:

They are rough sketches, but the shot descriptions on the right of each box describes what will be taking place in each shot.  Comparing this to our final product there will obviously be some alterations however we will follow this main plan.

Ancillary Task: Album Poster*

Style Sheet

Typography is very important, especially in advertising, for the style and design of any written format will be judged by the audience, so it would have to be striking to appeal.
In terms of music, the font style on any artist/band represents its genre; to clarify this, here are two examples:

The 'You Me At Six' logo is in block capitals with slight scratch marks in the letters; this suggests a rock song by the "rocky" texture of the title.  As opposed to this, the 'Britney Spears' logo is thin and straight, however curly - this represents this major pop icon's genre of music, being techno/pop, as well as portraying a female approach in the style.

I have researched the Muse logo, and I think it perfectly represents the indie/rock music genre by the typography (the capital letters in a thick bold font):

  Here are a few more examples of various bands and thier typography in the indie/rock genre:

They are all varied in style, font and design which I find really interesting!

As a group following this research, we have limited our font choices, chosen for our personal ancillary tasks' main headers, to these three:

We find these are the most appropriate in conveying our Muse music genre because they follow the similar "conventions", as the other real rock media motifes do, by:

• being in capitals
• being bold/thick
• following a sans-serif typeface
• and conveying a trendy genre by the font design - attracting the younger target audience

The preferred font style chosen by the target audience - by our media class peers and friends - was the 'PKco Font'.  So this will be the font that will appear in our group's ancillary tasks and research. 

Casting

This lesson, Dynamic Productions talked more on the narrative of our music video as well as considering our "actors".  We chose our cast accordingly, making sure they suited the intended image, (of our urban styled target audience) by their "look" - clothes, make-up, hairstyle etc.
Here is a cast list:

Main Character (the protagonist): Charlie Morgan
"The Girlfriend": Katharine MacDonald
 Rival (the antagonist): Tayo  

The same "choosing" process was taken for the cast of our Muse band members; we picked on the natural style of people and considering the obviosu option, the actors being male!

 

Lead Vocals: Charlie Morgan - protagonist of narrative

Lead Guitarist:  Luke Desborough

Drummer:  Nicholas Berreen

 

Throughout this process, we had to choose people who would jel well together to avoid any embarassement or conflict throughout the development process of filming.  So all in all we picked an effective and nice bunch!

We will start our next step in the development process: location scouting: on 14th November.  We have also settled another date, 21st November, where we shall begin shooting footage for our music video. 

 

Indie/Rock Genre

The indie/rock genre in music was generally not considered popular, as opposed to genres like: pop and hip-hop, but due to fashion changes and style in society, it is classed as the very "in" genre of music amongst teens nowadays. 
As highlighted in our pitch, similar bands in the genre are:

• Kings of Leon
• Arcade Fire
• My Chemical Romance
• Panic at the Disco
• Kaiser Chiefs
• The Kooks

... and many more! 
I find their music is emotionally stimulating, for the youth orientated target audience of (roughly, 15-25 years) because the use of the instruments and the, usually, sinister/dark heartfelt lyrics are what that this adolescent age group can particulary relate to. 

Here are a few music video examples of songs in this indie/rock genre of music:

Kings of Leon - 'Use Somebody'

My Chemical Romance - 'Helena'

Kaiser Chiefs - 'Everyday Day I Love You Less and Less'



The similar "themes" found in these music videos are the dark settings which allows to visually convey the sinister mood to the audience; this is due to the construction of lighting which identifies the contrast of dark and light more effectively.  Also, the uses of narratives conveying a story also could connect to the audience with similar subjects, such as a dying relationship or alcohol/drug abuse.  Each music video includes its own "motife" - which is a technique used to characterise the band individually - for example, in the Kaiser Chiefs music video, they use a blurred split screen of the band members' headhsots murged together creating a visual chaos.   
We will also have to consider using a motife in our own music video.