Dear Moderator,
This is my finished blog. On it you should find the evidence for the process of producing our music video and ancillary tasks from research to planning, production and an evaluation on the task. There are links for my team mates' blogs on the right (Michael Cassidy and Daniel Sheldon) as well as to our teachers' blogs. I hope that navigation of the blog and between blogs is made easy.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and I hope you enjoy reading it,
Adam Romo - 3675
Influx Get On The Night Album Cover
Influx Website
Thursday, 15 December 2011
Closing post
This is that closing post to my blog, I have thoughoughly enjoyed this project and am very pleased with the results. The progression from the beginning of the project to the end and the amount I have learned has been incredible!
Bye bye
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
Evaluation Question 1
In what ways do your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The media products we have produced use, challenge and develop forms and conventions of real media products in many aspects.
Music Video
This is an group audio analysis of the way our music video challenges develops forms and conventions of real music videos. To get the best listening experience press play on the media player and scroll through the relevant pictures and videos (they are in order and there is no need to play all the way through the videos)
Music Video by mdcassidy
As you can see niether video shows an artist image and this is a trend for many artists of this genre.
All these DJ's have hidden Identities but still physical artist known for thier facelessness. This is the idea we exploited in our video with our DJ's but gave our singer a face.
We liked the balance of narative and performance in many of the videos Modestep produced, here is one example:
Example of the slow editing of most dubstep videos:
We wanted to have a greater pace change in our video rather than it being almost solely slo-mo. We therefore played heavily with the speed of the clips we shot.
Carol Vernallis Theory Application to Music Video
In class we studied Carol Vernallis's theory on the common characteristics of music videos. Her theory can be split into four sub catagories narrative, editing, camera movement and framing and diegesis
1) Narrative
The theory states that the video is a visual response to the music. This is certainly true for 'Promises' as the visuals are edited very closely to the music and the pace and rhythm of the song. This is shown in the build ups of the song and the musical 'drops'. We attempted to balance narrative and perfomance as much as we could so that the narrative was understandable and so that the artist was promoted by the performance.
Our narrative is fairly fragmented as there are a number of jumps in it. One second everyone is bored and working and the next they are all up on thier feet dancing wildly. Also it is not necessarily a complete story as we do not know what happens to the teach once she is taken away which follows the theory that there is not necessarily a clear resolution.A mixture of the pace of the music and the build up of the narrative and the intensity of the performance drive the video forward and the naarrtive flows through the perfomance in a montage like style.
2) Editing
Like the theory states our editing attempts to match musical phrases and keep to the beat. The song has many pace changes and we found it great to exploit them visually. We went wild with the editing and in some areas of the video the number of cuts can be hard to follow as the audience watches it and there is an almost a complete disregard for the rules of continuity apart from the prologue narrative and a few match on action shots. The editing style is very fast paced and jumpy and plays around a lot with shot speed an awful lot. There are very few smooth transitions but many fancy editing styles for eye-candy.
3) Camera Movement and framing
There are many close ups and extreme shot types for athstetically pleasing visuals and to allow the audince to identify and familiarise themselves with our artist. Our style of movement of shot and framing changes throughout the video vary wildly. This is mainly down to the changes in pace and the variety in the music. The camera editing attempts to move in time with the music and the lyrics so that the music video flows smoothly and isn't too confusing for the viewer. Master shots are used frequently during the verses to show the band as a group and to act as a performance bed to the video.
4) Diegesis
The world of the music video is reavealed almost immidiatly in the prologue which within the 10-15 seconds that it is reveals to the audience that the narrative is taking place in a school and a detention. This is due to the fact that the teacher says this and detention is written on the board. Due to the montagy nature of the build up and the ratio between performance and narrative there is a lot of interruption of narrative action. There are many shots where the characters in the video move to the music in a way that is visually interesting and clever.
The gaps in the narrative create an enigma of sorts which makes them want to watch the video a second time to tie up loose ends they may have missed. This is aided to the fact that the pace of areas of our video are so fast that it is highly likey that the audience may miss them. There are a number of repetition including the strobe shot which crops up many times as a timing to beat effect and obviously repetition in the lyrics. Colours of red, black blue and white also repeat throughout the video.
Andrew Goodwin Theory Application to Music Video
We also studied the theory of Andrew Goodwin as part of research of music videos. He also came up with a theory of the typical characteristics of music videos and they can be summed up in seve catagories.
1) Genre Characteristics
Our video features many of the forms and conventions already in place in contemporary dubstep genre. Dubstep videos are known for thier beat cutting and fancy editing and this is something we bided with. The pace changes are also typical of videos of the genre as this type of music is prone to changes in pace. We used a lot of speeding up and slowing down of particular shots to maintain the pace changes and to follow the eye-candy style typical to the genre. Many of the shots taken are from technically interesting angles and have abnormal movement which a slightly skewed which pay homage to the artistic styles of other dubstep videos.
2) The relationship between the lyrics and the visuals
There is very little relationship to be found between the lyrics and the visuals in our video. The dis-juncture can easily identified from an analytical perspective. The narrative of the teacher gradually losing her power and giving in to dancing has very little to do with 'Promises' which is the theme of the song. However 'you've got me so high, how can I ever deny, you've got me so wild' relates to the edit of the performance due to the nature of the movement in the dancing.
3) The relationship between the music and the visuals
The correlation between the music and the visuals on the other hand is very strong. The video is edited to sympathise with almost every beat of the song whether there is a movement in shot that does this or a cut on the beat. This allows the visuals to work along with the pace of the song which changes dramatically over the three and a half minutes. During the verses the cut are slow paced and the shots are more relaxed both in terms of the camera and the actors. A little pace is gained in the visuals as the music pics up at the chorus and then there are man jump cuts increasing in number towards the drop. The visual bridge between 2:52 and 2:58 complements the music in a different way with a mixture of fast paste in the overlying strobe shot and slow pace in the underlying shot of the teacher which has a unique and interesting effect.
4) Close-ups, iconography of artist image, visual trademarks and motifs.
Like a vast majority of music videos there are a huge number of close ups on the artist members themselves and the main character in the narrative. These help to create the motif of the band and the link to the teacher. They emphasise the facelessness of the DJ's with thier masks and headphones and also show thier character. Cassie, the female lead singers beauty is amplified by the beauty shots and adds to the artist image created by the DJ's .
5) Reference to the notion of looking
Our video does have this. A number of times Cassie as the singer and as the teacher looks directly into the camera as if addressing the viewer personally, this is especially dominant at 2:29 and 2:35. Also the DJ's purposefully out of frame as if viewing the teacher in a number of shots during the second verse. Also during the narrative build up, our disruptive student looks at the teacher as he listens to his music.
6) Intertextual references
There are some intertextual references in our video. The DJ's look and style pay homage to Daft Punk and Deadmau5 as artists. Also the beginning of the video is very similar to the beginning of 5ive's 'Everybody Get Up' which we had done a remake of in the preliminary task.
7) Performance, Narrative or Concept?
The video is a performance and narrative hybrid. It cuts between the performance of Influx with Cassie and the DJ's Red and Black and Cassie as the teacher in the narrative. The void between the performance and the narrative is closed as the DJ's enter the classroom and collect Cassie which brings the narrative and the performance together to an extent.
Album Cover
This is an audio analysis of our album cover and comparing it to other album covers breaks down the areas of the covers we have challenged in terms of genre and institutional features:
Album by mdcassidy
Website
Yet another audio analysis but this time to the website:
Website by mdcassidy
The media products we have produced use, challenge and develop forms and conventions of real media products in many aspects.
Music Video
This is an group audio analysis of the way our music video challenges develops forms and conventions of real music videos. To get the best listening experience press play on the media player and scroll through the relevant pictures and videos (they are in order and there is no need to play all the way through the videos)
Music Video by mdcassidy
As you can see niether video shows an artist image and this is a trend for many artists of this genre.
 |
| Nero |
 |
| Daft Punk |
 |
| Deadmau5 |
All these DJ's have hidden Identities but still physical artist known for thier facelessness. This is the idea we exploited in our video with our DJ's but gave our singer a face.
 |
| Red and Black of Influx. |
Example of the slow editing of most dubstep videos:
We wanted to have a greater pace change in our video rather than it being almost solely slo-mo. We therefore played heavily with the speed of the clips we shot.
Carol Vernallis Theory Application to Music Video
In class we studied Carol Vernallis's theory on the common characteristics of music videos. Her theory can be split into four sub catagories narrative, editing, camera movement and framing and diegesis
1) Narrative
The theory states that the video is a visual response to the music. This is certainly true for 'Promises' as the visuals are edited very closely to the music and the pace and rhythm of the song. This is shown in the build ups of the song and the musical 'drops'. We attempted to balance narrative and perfomance as much as we could so that the narrative was understandable and so that the artist was promoted by the performance.
Our narrative is fairly fragmented as there are a number of jumps in it. One second everyone is bored and working and the next they are all up on thier feet dancing wildly. Also it is not necessarily a complete story as we do not know what happens to the teach once she is taken away which follows the theory that there is not necessarily a clear resolution.A mixture of the pace of the music and the build up of the narrative and the intensity of the performance drive the video forward and the naarrtive flows through the perfomance in a montage like style.
2) Editing
Like the theory states our editing attempts to match musical phrases and keep to the beat. The song has many pace changes and we found it great to exploit them visually. We went wild with the editing and in some areas of the video the number of cuts can be hard to follow as the audience watches it and there is an almost a complete disregard for the rules of continuity apart from the prologue narrative and a few match on action shots. The editing style is very fast paced and jumpy and plays around a lot with shot speed an awful lot. There are very few smooth transitions but many fancy editing styles for eye-candy.
3) Camera Movement and framing
There are many close ups and extreme shot types for athstetically pleasing visuals and to allow the audince to identify and familiarise themselves with our artist. Our style of movement of shot and framing changes throughout the video vary wildly. This is mainly down to the changes in pace and the variety in the music. The camera editing attempts to move in time with the music and the lyrics so that the music video flows smoothly and isn't too confusing for the viewer. Master shots are used frequently during the verses to show the band as a group and to act as a performance bed to the video.
4) Diegesis
The world of the music video is reavealed almost immidiatly in the prologue which within the 10-15 seconds that it is reveals to the audience that the narrative is taking place in a school and a detention. This is due to the fact that the teacher says this and detention is written on the board. Due to the montagy nature of the build up and the ratio between performance and narrative there is a lot of interruption of narrative action. There are many shots where the characters in the video move to the music in a way that is visually interesting and clever.
The gaps in the narrative create an enigma of sorts which makes them want to watch the video a second time to tie up loose ends they may have missed. This is aided to the fact that the pace of areas of our video are so fast that it is highly likey that the audience may miss them. There are a number of repetition including the strobe shot which crops up many times as a timing to beat effect and obviously repetition in the lyrics. Colours of red, black blue and white also repeat throughout the video.
Andrew Goodwin Theory Application to Music Video
We also studied the theory of Andrew Goodwin as part of research of music videos. He also came up with a theory of the typical characteristics of music videos and they can be summed up in seve catagories.
1) Genre Characteristics
Our video features many of the forms and conventions already in place in contemporary dubstep genre. Dubstep videos are known for thier beat cutting and fancy editing and this is something we bided with. The pace changes are also typical of videos of the genre as this type of music is prone to changes in pace. We used a lot of speeding up and slowing down of particular shots to maintain the pace changes and to follow the eye-candy style typical to the genre. Many of the shots taken are from technically interesting angles and have abnormal movement which a slightly skewed which pay homage to the artistic styles of other dubstep videos.
2) The relationship between the lyrics and the visuals
There is very little relationship to be found between the lyrics and the visuals in our video. The dis-juncture can easily identified from an analytical perspective. The narrative of the teacher gradually losing her power and giving in to dancing has very little to do with 'Promises' which is the theme of the song. However 'you've got me so high, how can I ever deny, you've got me so wild' relates to the edit of the performance due to the nature of the movement in the dancing.
3) The relationship between the music and the visuals
The correlation between the music and the visuals on the other hand is very strong. The video is edited to sympathise with almost every beat of the song whether there is a movement in shot that does this or a cut on the beat. This allows the visuals to work along with the pace of the song which changes dramatically over the three and a half minutes. During the verses the cut are slow paced and the shots are more relaxed both in terms of the camera and the actors. A little pace is gained in the visuals as the music pics up at the chorus and then there are man jump cuts increasing in number towards the drop. The visual bridge between 2:52 and 2:58 complements the music in a different way with a mixture of fast paste in the overlying strobe shot and slow pace in the underlying shot of the teacher which has a unique and interesting effect.
4) Close-ups, iconography of artist image, visual trademarks and motifs.
Like a vast majority of music videos there are a huge number of close ups on the artist members themselves and the main character in the narrative. These help to create the motif of the band and the link to the teacher. They emphasise the facelessness of the DJ's with thier masks and headphones and also show thier character. Cassie, the female lead singers beauty is amplified by the beauty shots and adds to the artist image created by the DJ's .
5) Reference to the notion of looking
Our video does have this. A number of times Cassie as the singer and as the teacher looks directly into the camera as if addressing the viewer personally, this is especially dominant at 2:29 and 2:35. Also the DJ's purposefully out of frame as if viewing the teacher in a number of shots during the second verse. Also during the narrative build up, our disruptive student looks at the teacher as he listens to his music.
6) Intertextual references
There are some intertextual references in our video. The DJ's look and style pay homage to Daft Punk and Deadmau5 as artists. Also the beginning of the video is very similar to the beginning of 5ive's 'Everybody Get Up' which we had done a remake of in the preliminary task.
 |
| Deadmau5 |
 |
| Daft Punk |
7) Performance, Narrative or Concept?
The video is a performance and narrative hybrid. It cuts between the performance of Influx with Cassie and the DJ's Red and Black and Cassie as the teacher in the narrative. The void between the performance and the narrative is closed as the DJ's enter the classroom and collect Cassie which brings the narrative and the performance together to an extent.
Album Cover
This is an audio analysis of our album cover and comparing it to other album covers breaks down the areas of the covers we have challenged in terms of genre and institutional features:
Album by mdcassidy
Website
Yet another audio analysis but this time to the website:
Website by mdcassidy
Conclusion
To conclude my answer, our video, album cover and website all use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of thier real world counter parts. We have used many of the ideas that already exist solely for thier popularity, for example the dubstep editing style of videos is very unique to the genre so we didn't feel it necessary to change. Conventions have been challenged in order to exploit what we think may have been overlooked in the industry and follow some niche examples. For example the idea of faceless DJ's but with an image is not very common however where it is done i.e. Daft Punk, Nero and Deadmau5 it has proven very popular and all these artists are successful in there own rights. We have developed forms and conventions in terms of genre to extend what already exists in terms of music video and album cover by giving our artist a face.
Monday, 5 December 2011
Evaluation Question 2
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
We knew from the start that the only way we could effectively market our artist was for there to be synergy between the main product, the video, and the ancillary texts, the album cover and website. We therefore aimed for a consistent brand, theme and style so that the combination of the products would be effective. This was aided by the group discussion on the creation of our artist in the first place. When we came up with the artist we also designated them a style and theme which included colours, attitudes and lifestyles of our three characters and them as a group which helped us later on in the project when thinking of colours and themes for each of the tasks.
Colour
The predominant colours of our universal marketing campaign were red, black, white and dark blue. We kept these colours consistent in our video, website and album cover so that they would be directly identified with the band if an audience member was to be asked. Colour was also the name and image of our DJ's, 'Red' and 'Black' and the colour made them what they are. The contrast between the red and the blue/black on thier mask`s creates arguments over which of the DJ's images is best from an audience perspective and from feedback on photographs unpredicted debate was caused with our class.
The masks are the thing that draws the entire campaign together being visually interesting. They give our artists thier character and image and create a brand image also which an audience will immediatly relate to and debate over. In future campaigns if we were to continue this project then we would exploit the mask ideo further possibly creating a logo with the masks involved.
Synergy
There is a lot of synergy with other media in our project in order to increase the reach of our campaign. One example is the links to Spotify and iTunes on our website. These sites create a grate platform for music sharing and are the place to go if o ne wishes to discover new music.
Our entire project is linked together by our record label and institutional information which appears on the website and the back of the album cover. Also a great way that the album cover and the website link is the QR code on the back of the album cover. If scanned by a mobile smartphone this will take one emidiatly to our website. This actually works if it is tried as we generated a QR code for our site on the internet. Alsot on the back of the album cover are URLs for our website and record label site.
There is also symbiotic relationship within our project. We made an agreement with another group that due to the nature of our artist we would likely be scene in concert together. We therefore came up with an event at the Camden roundhouse with there artist 'The Storm' that would be a concert that would pitch both artists head to head in a sound clash. This would help to promote both artists and also make money for them from ticket sales. We produced a poster that both groups used to promote ourselves on our respective websites and here is the poster:
We found that a great way to push forward a good marketing campaign was to create ways for the audience to interact with the band. We did this by attaching our site to as many social networking sites as possible, creating real accounts for facebook, youtube and twitter and having live links between them and the site.
Another oppertunity for ineraction on our site is through the working forum where viewers of the website can comment and discuss relevant things about the artist such as tickets for concerts, which DJ they perfer and what they feel about Influx.
The marketing campaign remake competition is anothe great way for people to interact with the band. The idea behind the competion is that entrys would download sound effects from our song 'Promises' from Soundcloud and use them to remix the song. This allows them to get into the music more and aspire to be like the band. The winners would have there remix released on a seperate album 'Promises - EP' and get to meet with the grou personally.
Overview:
The website acts as a hub for the entire marketing campaign as it promotes the artist, the single, the music video, the album, and the shop in one bit package. It incorperates all the branding, imagery and institution found in the other media texts and makes it interactive and visually interesting.
The album uses the same images, colours, and logos as the website and the same costumes as the music video. It has an interesting and contemporary style with brush effects, a lens flare and abstract imagery on the inside cover behind the DJ's which aims to draw the eye and create interest to a shopper who is to notice the album.
The video follows the themes of both the album and the website with the same colours and styles. It also puts movement to the music and promotes the characteristics of the artist and gives them a background image. The audience can be inspired by the video and aspire to the artist.
Conclusion:
We learnt a lot in order to produce our univesal campaign from other media texts and institutions. From this I believe we have created a well rounded advertising campaign which should potentialy work if the product was real. The success of the campaign will be down to it reach and the number of people who view our media product. In order to increase the reach of our campaign we would need to do indorsements in shops and try to spread as much word of mouth as possible through social networking sites which would demand planning and tactics in order to work.
We knew from the start that the only way we could effectively market our artist was for there to be synergy between the main product, the video, and the ancillary texts, the album cover and website. We therefore aimed for a consistent brand, theme and style so that the combination of the products would be effective. This was aided by the group discussion on the creation of our artist in the first place. When we came up with the artist we also designated them a style and theme which included colours, attitudes and lifestyles of our three characters and them as a group which helped us later on in the project when thinking of colours and themes for each of the tasks.
Colour
The predominant colours of our universal marketing campaign were red, black, white and dark blue. We kept these colours consistent in our video, website and album cover so that they would be directly identified with the band if an audience member was to be asked. Colour was also the name and image of our DJ's, 'Red' and 'Black' and the colour made them what they are. The contrast between the red and the blue/black on thier mask`s creates arguments over which of the DJ's images is best from an audience perspective and from feedback on photographs unpredicted debate was caused with our class.
 |
| Video |
 |
| Website |
 |
| Album cover |
The masks are the thing that draws the entire campaign together being visually interesting. They give our artists thier character and image and create a brand image also which an audience will immediatly relate to and debate over. In future campaigns if we were to continue this project then we would exploit the mask ideo further possibly creating a logo with the masks involved.
 |
| You can make presumptions about the characters and lifestyles of the masked DJ's simply from thier mask colour. |
Synergy
There is a lot of synergy with other media in our project in order to increase the reach of our campaign. One example is the links to Spotify and iTunes on our website. These sites create a grate platform for music sharing and are the place to go if o ne wishes to discover new music.
 |
| iTunes |
There is also symbiotic relationship within our project. We made an agreement with another group that due to the nature of our artist we would likely be scene in concert together. We therefore came up with an event at the Camden roundhouse with there artist 'The Storm' that would be a concert that would pitch both artists head to head in a sound clash. This would help to promote both artists and also make money for them from ticket sales. We produced a poster that both groups used to promote ourselves on our respective websites and here is the poster:
We found that a great way to push forward a good marketing campaign was to create ways for the audience to interact with the band. We did this by attaching our site to as many social networking sites as possible, creating real accounts for facebook, youtube and twitter and having live links between them and the site.
Another oppertunity for ineraction on our site is through the working forum where viewers of the website can comment and discuss relevant things about the artist such as tickets for concerts, which DJ they perfer and what they feel about Influx.
The marketing campaign remake competition is anothe great way for people to interact with the band. The idea behind the competion is that entrys would download sound effects from our song 'Promises' from Soundcloud and use them to remix the song. This allows them to get into the music more and aspire to be like the band. The winners would have there remix released on a seperate album 'Promises - EP' and get to meet with the grou personally.
Overview:
The website acts as a hub for the entire marketing campaign as it promotes the artist, the single, the music video, the album, and the shop in one bit package. It incorperates all the branding, imagery and institution found in the other media texts and makes it interactive and visually interesting.
The album uses the same images, colours, and logos as the website and the same costumes as the music video. It has an interesting and contemporary style with brush effects, a lens flare and abstract imagery on the inside cover behind the DJ's which aims to draw the eye and create interest to a shopper who is to notice the album.
The video follows the themes of both the album and the website with the same colours and styles. It also puts movement to the music and promotes the characteristics of the artist and gives them a background image. The audience can be inspired by the video and aspire to the artist.
Conclusion:
We learnt a lot in order to produce our univesal campaign from other media texts and institutions. From this I believe we have created a well rounded advertising campaign which should potentialy work if the product was real. The success of the campaign will be down to it reach and the number of people who view our media product. In order to increase the reach of our campaign we would need to do indorsements in shops and try to spread as much word of mouth as possible through social networking sites which would demand planning and tactics in order to work.
Sunday, 4 December 2011
Evaluation Question 3
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
The audience demographic of our artist is 16-24 year olds both male and female due to this being the typical age group to be associated with the Dubstep genre of music. This is most likely down to the party, concert and dance aspect of the music with crazy visual effects. Also the genre is very contemporary so is attractive to younger experimental artists. A niche group of people 30+ may be a possible secondary market for this artist.
We aimed to recieve feedback continuously throughout the project from lots of different people and keep it for reference and advice. We therefore asked for feedback from fellow media students to give critsizm of the progression of the music video production. We took on board much of this advice which helped to shape our video into what it is now.
Once the video was completed we screened it to around 100 students in our school which was organised via facebook and filmed thier reactions:
Influx Audience Screening from Adam Romo on Vimeo.
The resutlts were good with many smiles and nudges, a small amount of dancing and head bobbing which was the desired effect we wanted out music video to have. We then gave a selection of these audience members questionaires to fill in in order to get a solid response on a number of aspects of the video including appeal, critisizms and whether it was understood. Here are a seletion of these questionnaires:
Audience Feedback Group 1
We were glad to discover that all our audience members thought that the vidoe is most likely to appeal to teens with some answers being more specific stating the mid to older teens are most likely to enjoy the video the most. This is great as this means that our audience demographic was correct for our marketing campaign and our video. Many of our audience agreed that the format on which they were most likely to see the video was youutbe. This is great for us us our marketing campaigne was based behind the UKF youtube channel to help to promote our music and artist being a dubstep promotion channel.
Initial reactions to the video were generally positive showing that the style of the video appealed to this audience. Many people commented on the editing style and the fun dancing that took place through out saying that there was a feel good aspect to the video. The audience seemed to have enjoyed the pace changes and the way that they had been pulled off with artistic and visually interesting shots and effects.
The video recieve various critisizms such as that it was too samey throughout and the narrative didnt change enough through the two drops. Also there were a few comments on the grading not being that fluid or the video looking a bit dark. This may have been down to the projecter that was used to view the video but when watching on the computer we did notice some inconcistancy. These problems with more time and resources would be ironed out but unfortunatly the time we had was too limited and we agreed with many of the critisizms.
Discovering that the appeal of the video was either love it or hate it was no surprise to us. The appeal was mainly judged by the music genre rather than the video. It seems from personal experience that dubstep is either liked or not listened to by some people which is understandable as this occurs with every genre of music and some people keep to listening to one or two different genres and refuse to listen to others for thier personal leisure.
Many people said they were more likely to download the album or song rather than buy the physical product in the shop. From personal habit and ease I would do the same thing as this is what me and my co group members would usually do as finding dubstep in music shops can be hard with it being such a contemporary and youtube niche genre. We also found that some people would illegally download the track and album which suggests the activities of the people of our audience demographic.
The average rating for the video was 9 out of 10 which we as a group were incredibly happy about but this could have been possibly due to the fact that many of the people questioned no us and gave sympathy for our hard work. I would probably guess that the overall rating for the video may be slightly lower elsewhere.
After the questionnaire we then did and in-depth interview with a fellow media student, Robbie, who we aimed to get a more technical break down from with more detail and answers from a both personal and media perspective. He is also a representative member of our audience demographic with similar tastes and lifestyles to what we would expect of a fan of Influx's music. We recorded the interview and here it is:
We were incredibly grateful to Robbie for giving us such a professional analysis of our video and we found it incredible helpful and the critisizm he gave was completely agreed with by all of our group.
Conclusion:
From our audience feedback we have learned many things. We have gained a greater idea of the likes and dislikes of our audience demographic and there habits in consuming music and viewing music videos. We have also discovered problems in our video and what parts of the video are most visually enjoyable. All the information could be taken in if it were a real artist or genre and used to shape the universal campaign that would help to drive it to success and this is would we would have done with the information if the project had continued to that stage.
The audience demographic of our artist is 16-24 year olds both male and female due to this being the typical age group to be associated with the Dubstep genre of music. This is most likely down to the party, concert and dance aspect of the music with crazy visual effects. Also the genre is very contemporary so is attractive to younger experimental artists. A niche group of people 30+ may be a possible secondary market for this artist.
We aimed to recieve feedback continuously throughout the project from lots of different people and keep it for reference and advice. We therefore asked for feedback from fellow media students to give critsizm of the progression of the music video production. We took on board much of this advice which helped to shape our video into what it is now.
Once the video was completed we screened it to around 100 students in our school which was organised via facebook and filmed thier reactions:
Influx Audience Screening from Adam Romo on Vimeo.
The resutlts were good with many smiles and nudges, a small amount of dancing and head bobbing which was the desired effect we wanted out music video to have. We then gave a selection of these audience members questionaires to fill in in order to get a solid response on a number of aspects of the video including appeal, critisizms and whether it was understood. Here are a seletion of these questionnaires:
Audience Feedback Group 1
We were glad to discover that all our audience members thought that the vidoe is most likely to appeal to teens with some answers being more specific stating the mid to older teens are most likely to enjoy the video the most. This is great as this means that our audience demographic was correct for our marketing campaign and our video. Many of our audience agreed that the format on which they were most likely to see the video was youutbe. This is great for us us our marketing campaigne was based behind the UKF youtube channel to help to promote our music and artist being a dubstep promotion channel.
 |
| Typical Dubstep Fans |
Initial reactions to the video were generally positive showing that the style of the video appealed to this audience. Many people commented on the editing style and the fun dancing that took place through out saying that there was a feel good aspect to the video. The audience seemed to have enjoyed the pace changes and the way that they had been pulled off with artistic and visually interesting shots and effects.
The video recieve various critisizms such as that it was too samey throughout and the narrative didnt change enough through the two drops. Also there were a few comments on the grading not being that fluid or the video looking a bit dark. This may have been down to the projecter that was used to view the video but when watching on the computer we did notice some inconcistancy. These problems with more time and resources would be ironed out but unfortunatly the time we had was too limited and we agreed with many of the critisizms.
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| Forum for Dubstep set up on a gaming website as much of our our audience are likely to be gamers considering gender and age. |
Many people said they were more likely to download the album or song rather than buy the physical product in the shop. From personal habit and ease I would do the same thing as this is what me and my co group members would usually do as finding dubstep in music shops can be hard with it being such a contemporary and youtube niche genre. We also found that some people would illegally download the track and album which suggests the activities of the people of our audience demographic.
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| Stats on illegal music downloading by OLSWANG, not entirely reliable. |
After the questionnaire we then did and in-depth interview with a fellow media student, Robbie, who we aimed to get a more technical break down from with more detail and answers from a both personal and media perspective. He is also a representative member of our audience demographic with similar tastes and lifestyles to what we would expect of a fan of Influx's music. We recorded the interview and here it is:
We were incredibly grateful to Robbie for giving us such a professional analysis of our video and we found it incredible helpful and the critisizm he gave was completely agreed with by all of our group.
Conclusion:
From our audience feedback we have learned many things. We have gained a greater idea of the likes and dislikes of our audience demographic and there habits in consuming music and viewing music videos. We have also discovered problems in our video and what parts of the video are most visually enjoyable. All the information could be taken in if it were a real artist or genre and used to shape the universal campaign that would help to drive it to success and this is would we would have done with the information if the project had continued to that stage.
Saturday, 3 December 2011
Evaluation Question 4
How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
In our project in general the use of new media technologies was constant and thorough as we knew that the more we exploited the technologies the greater and the better the quality the output was going to be. We therefore took advantage of the resources that were luckily available to us.
(click pictures to enlarge and cycle through)
HD Camera:
Overview:
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 editing software:
Overview:
Whenever we had footage we had to edit it and therefore meant we were using Adobe Premier Pro a lot. It gave us a platform to perform simple tasks such as putting together a video story board and advanced tasks like the final cut of our music video with many different grading techniques, effects and speed changes.
Photoshop:
Overview:
Its main use was for the production of the album cover. It provided great options so that one could keep to the constitutions of a real album cover production with templates and guidelines. The programme also provided all the necessary functions and more to create a professional looking product. The software was also used to to create posters, logos and photos for the website and all the promo shots that ended up being used in our project were all photo-shopped for the best looking outcome.
Web 2.0:
Overview:
Facebook:
Overview:
Overview:
Overview:
In our project in general the use of new media technologies was constant and thorough as we knew that the more we exploited the technologies the greater and the better the quality the output was going to be. We therefore took advantage of the resources that were luckily available to us.
(click pictures to enlarge and cycle through)
HD Camera:
- Optimised focusing functionalities
- Various zooming abilities with different effects
- High definition footage
- Color balance options
- Handheld for smooth moving shots
When did we use it?
The camera was used throughout the project at any oppertunity available to us. In terms of planning it was used to plan shots and to create a narrative video storyboard. Also we used it to document ideas and findings as well as to record group discussions for the evaluation. Of course the main use of the camera was during the production stage where we fully exploited its features in order to get the best quality footage to bring to edit.
Lighting:
Overview:
Lighting:
Overview:
- Give a professional look to footage
- Allows an atmosphere to be created depending on the colour and intensity of lighting.
- Lit features we wished to be expressed
- Got rid of unwanted shadows
- Created camera effects such as lens flares
When did we use it?
In the production of our music video. Our project relied an awful lot on lighting and lighting techniques. The performance was lit from many angles with different lights for many different reasons. Firstly five spotlights were used to light the performance from behind which blinded the camera and produced natural lens flare and when all other lights were turned of provided a great silhouette look. Then we had the strobe which was used to show a lot of dancing and gave a great effect when all other lights were off. The performance was also lit from above with spot lights to light our singer and red and blue lights on each of the DJ's to create there image. Lights were also used on our photo shoots to exploit the features of our group members and give a professional look.
- Allows scene capture when capturing footage which is faster and easier than it was on the previous version of the programme
- Advanced grading options which can be tuned to the very highest degree of accuracy and allow perfection in grading if the user wishes.
- Many different special effects and transitions to choose from.
- A comprehensive cutting tool which is fast and easy to use.
Whenever we had footage we had to edit it and therefore meant we were using Adobe Premier Pro a lot. It gave us a platform to perform simple tasks such as putting together a video story board and advanced tasks like the final cut of our music video with many different grading techniques, effects and speed changes.
Photoshop:
Overview:
- Ability to download and use professional brushes for effects
- Advanced options of effects and colouration on top of the norm (hue, contrast, saturation, brightness)
- Ability to vary sensitivity of cropping tools for very specific desired cropping.
- Avanced shape and text effect options such as emboss, bevel, outer glow, and drop shadows.
Its main use was for the production of the album cover. It provided great options so that one could keep to the constitutions of a real album cover production with templates and guidelines. The programme also provided all the necessary functions and more to create a professional looking product. The software was also used to to create posters, logos and photos for the website and all the promo shots that ended up being used in our project were all photo-shopped for the best looking outcome.
Web 2.0:
Overview:
- Allows interactive multimedia sharing.
- Social networking is extremely popular and great for a number of tasks involving marketing and audience research.
- Everyone and anyone can contribute to the web providing they have access and is used everyday for even mundane tasks.
When did we use it?
It was used every day from day one for research into music videos, audiences, artists, album covers etc, planning, production (WIX programme in particular) and of course this evaluation. All the below websites are just a selection of what we used Web 2.0 for. Social networking played a large role in our project and for good reason. 96% of 16-24 yr olds in the UK use social networking sites.
It was used every day from day one for research into music videos, audiences, artists, album covers etc, planning, production (WIX programme in particular) and of course this evaluation. All the below websites are just a selection of what we used Web 2.0 for. Social networking played a large role in our project and for good reason. 96% of 16-24 yr olds in the UK use social networking sites.
Facebook:
Overview:
- Facebook is a global phenomenon with 500 million users last year around the world.
- It provides a great platform for one to advertise something especially music which can be shared and liked with links to Youtube.
- Music, bands and artists can be favourited by users and displayed on thier profiles where other people can see them and explore for themselves.
- Groups can be created for events or to create a fan bass which can provide a wide selection of specific audience to market to.
When did we use it?
At the beginning of the project Facebook provided us with a great platform to organise our group. We created and group and sent messages via this group which which come up like texts on our mobile phones. We used it to exchange ideas and organise shoots etc. Then when it came to audience feedback it was used as a place for the video to be posted responses provided by facebook friends and people could like the video or criticize areas.
Twitter:At the beginning of the project Facebook provided us with a great platform to organise our group. We created and group and sent messages via this group which which come up like texts on our mobile phones. We used it to exchange ideas and organise shoots etc. Then when it came to audience feedback it was used as a place for the video to be posted responses provided by facebook friends and people could like the video or criticize areas.
- Ability to follow which is great for famous people and fans alike
- Can 'tweet' tour dates or other relevant info and receive feedback or have it re-tweeted for a larger reach.
- Ability to find new artist through suggestions of a large community and keep track of thier lives if one wishes.
When did we use it?
It was used as another social opportunity for fans to keep up to date with Influx and follow the artist they are curious about and want to know more about. We used it for audience feedback and research which helped to aid the production and the evaluation stages. Linked to the website it means that fans can tweet about the band and spread word off thier activities and potentially advertise the artist to friends.
It was used as another social opportunity for fans to keep up to date with Influx and follow the artist they are curious about and want to know more about. We used it for audience feedback and research which helped to aid the production and the evaluation stages. Linked to the website it means that fans can tweet about the band and spread word off thier activities and potentially advertise the artist to friends.
Youtube:
Overview:
- Create a channel and upload your videos
- Ability to like videos that one enjoys
- One can subscribe to channel and receive updates of all the videos that are uploaded onto the channel
- Users can comment on video and discuss with other users any relevant topics to the video beneath it.
- The best place to have footage viewed and exploited due to the number of daily users.
When did we use it?
Before posting any videos from planning or production on Facebook or anywhere else this was the first place they were uploaded. This is due to the fact that this site was built to upload videos onto and is incredibly intuitive. Also it was a great place to promote our artist via the music video as millions of people world wide use YouTube every day. It also provided us with a platform on which we could store all the footage from the entire project and then access it from anywhere with an internet connection to be added to blogs or shown to friends and family who could help exploit the video through word of mouth.
WIX:
What is WIX video:
Overview:
When did we use it?
In the production of our website. It proved a great and relatively simple way for us to produce a professional looking site from which we could promote Influx. No messing around with coding just simple drag and drop with many templates such as picture gallery types and visually interesting animations to choose from. Pictures and videos were easily uploaded to the site as well as music tracks with an option of having a background running media player when the site was opened.
Conclusion:
The synergy between different forms of new media technologies ultimately aided us in producing media products of the best possible quality within our ability's in the allotted time. Due to the further development of the internet we were able to better link the different areas of our project together. 10 or even 5 years ago much of the technology available was not yet fully developed or as intuitive as it is now. The constantly improving technology facilitates the advancement in the possible professionalism of projects such as this and for that I am am very grateful. If this new technology was not exploited be the group and myself the project would look very different (not forgetting that Blogger is a form of new media technology that all media students are now using to present thier work!)
Before posting any videos from planning or production on Facebook or anywhere else this was the first place they were uploaded. This is due to the fact that this site was built to upload videos onto and is incredibly intuitive. Also it was a great place to promote our artist via the music video as millions of people world wide use YouTube every day. It also provided us with a platform on which we could store all the footage from the entire project and then access it from anywhere with an internet connection to be added to blogs or shown to friends and family who could help exploit the video through word of mouth.
WIX:
What is WIX video:
Overview:
- Powerful drag & drop platform that allows for the easy creation of customized Flash websites
- Easy to use software for producing websites at comparatively low cost
- Great contemporary look of website produced
- Various options to enable interactivity to the site produced
- Perfect for advertising a band with direct links to social networking sites.
When did we use it?
In the production of our website. It proved a great and relatively simple way for us to produce a professional looking site from which we could promote Influx. No messing around with coding just simple drag and drop with many templates such as picture gallery types and visually interesting animations to choose from. Pictures and videos were easily uploaded to the site as well as music tracks with an option of having a background running media player when the site was opened.
Conclusion:
The synergy between different forms of new media technologies ultimately aided us in producing media products of the best possible quality within our ability's in the allotted time. Due to the further development of the internet we were able to better link the different areas of our project together. 10 or even 5 years ago much of the technology available was not yet fully developed or as intuitive as it is now. The constantly improving technology facilitates the advancement in the possible professionalism of projects such as this and for that I am am very grateful. If this new technology was not exploited be the group and myself the project would look very different (not forgetting that Blogger is a form of new media technology that all media students are now using to present thier work!)
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