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?
The similarities
Throughout the process I was always conscious of the fact that all three texts were all part of one package, and the packages I analysed and the ones available in the market are evidently so, by using similar imagery, graphics and colours, tying everything neatly together.
The most evident link between all three of my texts is the continued presence of the 'star', as Professor Richard Dyer labels the performer in Stars (1979), who is played by Ciaran. His continued presence throughout all three texts communicates to the audience whom the text belongs to, having two purposes; it should allows returning audiences to identify the work as belonging to the artist and it should appeal to unknowing audiences and entice them. Dyer states that a star should be 'simultaneously present and absent'. This rule can be applied to my texts, as the star can be considered 'present' as he looks directly at the audience in my digipak, magazine advert and at many points throughout the music video.
Font for the artist, album name (Magazine ad, digipak titlecard-Video)
Star (Dyer) (All three)
Red
Locations
Black and White/Sepia
Serious Expression
Throughout the process I was always conscious of the fact that all three texts were all part of one package, and the packages I analysed and the ones available in the market are evidently so, by using similar imagery, graphics and colours, tying everything neatly together.
The most evident link between all three of my texts is the continued presence of the 'star', as Professor Richard Dyer labels the performer in Stars (1979), who is played by Ciaran. His continued presence throughout all three texts communicates to the audience whom the text belongs to, having two purposes; it should allows returning audiences to identify the work as belonging to the artist and it should appeal to unknowing audiences and entice them. Dyer states that a star should be 'simultaneously present and absent'. This rule can be applied to my texts, as the star can be considered 'present' as he looks directly at the audience in my digipak, magazine advert and at many points throughout the music video.
Font for the artist, album name (Magazine ad, digipak titlecard-Video)
Star (Dyer) (All three)
Red
Locations
Black and White/Sepia
Serious Expression
3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Throughout
the process I have developed my skills in all the technologies I used in last year's coursework. The most used technology throughout the process has been Blogger. I was much more confident this time having used the website last year. I labelled each of my posts and created a link list for easier navigation. I can now embed other digital technologies into Blogger via the HTML window, such as Prezi, Slideshare and YouTube.
To overcome the image formatting problem that Blogger presents, I saved all my images in PNG format to Google+ Photos, and in the case of multiple images, created collages using PowerPoint slides and then saving those as PNG files. These files were then imported into Blogger.
To film my music video I used a Canon EOS 550D camera with a 18-55mm lens, and at times aided by two different variations of a three legged tripod . This is the same camera that I used for both my AS Thriller task and the AS preliminary task, so I was comfortable with the basics such as recording, manual zoom and focus. As well as being able to set the white balance manually I could now change the ISO and the light exposure settings in order to get the best footage possible. For my interior studio shoot I lit up my shots
Another major technology during completing this portfolio was Adobe Premiere Pro. The editing process was a smoother process due to my prior experience. I was also able to be more experimental, such as using colour correction settings. Due to the large amount of footage I had taken during the filming process, even simple manoeuvres such as cutting and sequencing could get confusing at times. To avoid this as much as possible I desinated one track to very type of shot I was using, and made this more obvious for myself by naming each one. I then aligned all of the master shots I had taken, covering the entirety of the track, to the music track. I was then able to cut between them, never losing the lip synchronisation. The only exception to this rules was any inserts I had filmed. This method made the process easier for me, as well as allowing me to choose the best shot possible out of all of the takes and locations I had filmed.
I also applied some colour correction presets and altered these slightly to enhance the footage I had taken and try to achieve a more professional look. Also during the editing process I put black bars on my video, at the top and the bottom, to try and recreate the aspect ratio that many music videos are filmed in. However I found that the way some of my shots were filmed could not adapt to this and the result was many of my shots being cut off. During my research I found that although this is a convention, 'Somebody That I Used to Know' did not follow this convention. I believe both due to the video being so colourful that black bars would only this cut off, and also due to the fact that they belong to the indie genre and rvel in not following conventions. I too made the decision to remove these bars, as more of my footage was visible this way, and it conforms to the indie genre that Bastille belong to.
I also inserted Adobe Fireworks files into my video, for the flashing images warning and the title card at the beginning and end of the video, as is the tradition in music television.
Dafont is a font website which I used to widen my choices for my opening titles. I wanted to have the font fit the thriller theme and feel of the opening sequence. I learnt how to download and then install fonts to be able to use them.
Another downloadable technology is sound clips. I downloaded copyright free music and sound effects to insert into my opening sequence. Every sound, apart form the irremovable wind, I had to replicate, such as heavy breathing and branches snapping. I also had to source foreboding music, which took time selecting. Such sites include (insert names).
I also used social mediums, such as YouTube. I used this as a research tool throughout. I also learnt how to upload videos, which I did not previously know how to do despite being a frequent user of the site. I made my videos unlisted, a feature I only previously knew about and had not used.
I used presentation sites Prezi and Slideshare. Again, I was previously aware of these technologies but not used them. For my first Prezi I used a template and it took time to get used to the system but after that I was more confident. I used Slideshare to import PowerPoint presentations into a web suitable format. I had to learn how to embed these into my blog, whether they were created my me or by other people for research reasons.
To overcome the image formatting problem that Blogger presents, I saved all my images in PNG format to Google+ Photos, and in the case of multiple images, created collages using PowerPoint slides and then saving those as PNG files. These files were then imported into Blogger.
To film my music video I used a Canon EOS 550D camera with a 18-55mm lens, and at times aided by two different variations of a three legged tripod . This is the same camera that I used for both my AS Thriller task and the AS preliminary task, so I was comfortable with the basics such as recording, manual zoom and focus. As well as being able to set the white balance manually I could now change the ISO and the light exposure settings in order to get the best footage possible. For my interior studio shoot I lit up my shots
Another major technology during completing this portfolio was Adobe Premiere Pro. The editing process was a smoother process due to my prior experience. I was also able to be more experimental, such as using colour correction settings. Due to the large amount of footage I had taken during the filming process, even simple manoeuvres such as cutting and sequencing could get confusing at times. To avoid this as much as possible I desinated one track to very type of shot I was using, and made this more obvious for myself by naming each one. I then aligned all of the master shots I had taken, covering the entirety of the track, to the music track. I was then able to cut between them, never losing the lip synchronisation. The only exception to this rules was any inserts I had filmed. This method made the process easier for me, as well as allowing me to choose the best shot possible out of all of the takes and locations I had filmed.
I also applied some colour correction presets and altered these slightly to enhance the footage I had taken and try to achieve a more professional look. Also during the editing process I put black bars on my video, at the top and the bottom, to try and recreate the aspect ratio that many music videos are filmed in. However I found that the way some of my shots were filmed could not adapt to this and the result was many of my shots being cut off. During my research I found that although this is a convention, 'Somebody That I Used to Know' did not follow this convention. I believe both due to the video being so colourful that black bars would only this cut off, and also due to the fact that they belong to the indie genre and rvel in not following conventions. I too made the decision to remove these bars, as more of my footage was visible this way, and it conforms to the indie genre that Bastille belong to.
I also inserted Adobe Fireworks files into my video, for the flashing images warning and the title card at the beginning and end of the video, as is the tradition in music television.
Dafont is a font website which I used to widen my choices for my opening titles. I wanted to have the font fit the thriller theme and feel of the opening sequence. I learnt how to download and then install fonts to be able to use them.
Another downloadable technology is sound clips. I downloaded copyright free music and sound effects to insert into my opening sequence. Every sound, apart form the irremovable wind, I had to replicate, such as heavy breathing and branches snapping. I also had to source foreboding music, which took time selecting. Such sites include (insert names).
I also used social mediums, such as YouTube. I used this as a research tool throughout. I also learnt how to upload videos, which I did not previously know how to do despite being a frequent user of the site. I made my videos unlisted, a feature I only previously knew about and had not used.
I used presentation sites Prezi and Slideshare. Again, I was previously aware of these technologies but not used them. For my first Prezi I used a template and it took time to get used to the system but after that I was more confident. I used Slideshare to import PowerPoint presentations into a web suitable format. I had to learn how to embed these into my blog, whether they were created my me or by other people for research reasons.
Canon 500D
Tripod x2
Picasa, G+
Powerpoint, Paint
Fireworks
Blogger
Prezi
Youtube
Premier Pro
Photoshop
Slidshare
GIF
