My music video and song choice were both based on an indie theme. The conventions of this theme are generally a song which tells a story in the lyrics. This can clearly be seen within the lyrics of my chosen song Medicine by Daughter, as it is sung as if she is having a heartfelt conversation with someone. Indie songs generally have a narrative and performance based music video, with the general performance giving the impression that “less is more”. A perfect example of this would be Daughter’s video to the song Youth, where it is a simple performance in black and white.
Sunday 26 January 2014
Conventions
During the creation of my media products, I have found that they have included many aspects of the used forms and conventions which are used within the music industry. Some of the key conventions for a music video is that they usually follow a specific theme depending on the genre. For example a hip hop song would use aspects of displaying money and women within their videos whilst a pop song would have a more performance or fun narrative base to them.
My music video follows these indie forms and conventions as I took some aspects of this specific music video and used it within my own. I include both a narrative and performance based concept, with the performance being relatively simple. The performance is the main protagonist from the narrative in a dark room with a spotlight on her in black and white singing a lyric in-between the narrative story. The narrative itself corresponds with the lyrics, as I have interpreted ‘medicine’ in the form of alcohol and then drugs/tablets also at the end of the video. This is shown during various clips such as the medium close up shot of the beer bottles as she gets up and when her boyfriend discovers the alcohol in her bag during the disruption to the narrative.
This follows one of the concepts of Andrew Goodwin’s music video theory. His theory suggests that there is a ‘relationship between the visuals and the lyrics (either illustrative, amplifying, or contradicting). When looking at my video, I think it is possible to say that my video takes all of these into account. My video is illustrative in terms of following a similar story to the song’s lyrics by use of props and referring to a type of medicine. However this could also be seen as contradicting as the audience may have expected ‘medicine’ to be physical tablets or something in which would be used to heal people. Instead I have used the term loosely as some people could consider alcohol as a way of drowning sorrows and ‘healing’ any emotional pain people might suffer from in their lives. The video is also amplifying as the ending where the girl has the choice to either turn her life around and survive or choose to take a darker path and sadly pass away, creates a sense of realism and corresponds with the power of the lyrics.
Although my video follows this concept of Goodwin’s theory, my video also challenges it. One way in which my video challenges these music video codes and concepts is by minimal (if any) voyeuristic scenes during the narrative of the female protagonist. Her clothing starts as a black dress, and although it is quite fitted to her shape, the use of camera is not used in a way which emphasises her female aspects. Most of the shots are mid shots or long shots, in which no sexually based shots are filmed. Compared to certain videos of today such as, Miley Cyrus in the video Wrecking Ball, my video is very reserved in terms of the use of any voyeurism. This would contradict the theory that women are made to wear clothing that is sexual or a video is filmed in a way that would be seen as provocative. However in indie videos, this is rarely seen, so my video still follows the codes and conventions of an indie video.
The use of a split screen at the end of my music video also challenges certain theorists, such as Tzvetan Todorov. He proposed that narratives start with a state of equilibrium, in which the protagonist is happy and living a ‘normal’ life, to then a disequilibrium is caused, such as an event in the narrative. This then causes a provoked response for the narrative to then return to state of equilibrium. However in my narrative, there is almost a disruption from the beginning, as the protagonist is clearly unhappy due to her facial expressions and body language. The narratives main disruption is then when she meets her boyfriend who discovers the alcohol. Yet instead of the video ending with a state of equilibrium, it could be considered to cause a further disruption as the audience are presented with a split screen in which two different endings can be seen. This leaves them to question the ending and leave them with questions such as what ending is a better choice and why she may have ever decided to take a darker path. Thus overall challenging Todorov’s theory and the typical ‘happy ending’.
My digipak conforms to the forms and conventions due to its aesthetic look and what it includes in terms of information. Many digipaks contain a standard sized square shaped holder with sections to display information or images. I have stuck with using a simple 4 sided design which includes various images of my protagonist drinking from a bottle with a label inside, to an image of the same bottle hanging on a tree. On one of the sides, there is a brief bit of text which is supposed to be the artist writing to the person who bought the album and why the artist created it. This is used in many digipaks as it makes the audience feel like they have a personal link to the artist and album. The font layout and information on the digipak conforms to the forms of a digipak as the band’s name is larger than the name of the album, as more people would recognise the band name than the album name. This can be seen by the use of information on the digipak which includes the name of the band and album name, a song list on the back cover, copyright information, and a barcode. The only way in which I feel my digipak challenges the form, is by my choice of photographs on the digipak. Most indie bands will have a picture of themselves as the album cover, or a very simplistic image with very little meaning. My images are quite meaningful and include the use of high contrast and quite bold colours and so would not be stereotypical of an indie digipak.
This is the same for my magazine advert. I followed the conventions and forms by adding ratings from magazine, the name of the band and album name, where it can be downloaded from, and the bands website. I also used more simplistic images on my advert such as the bottles in a line for the landscape billboard advertisement, but I still added more vibrant colours and styles that you would not generally see on an indie advert. Compared to one of The XX’s magazine adverts, which mainly uses black and white, my advert is bright and easily captures the audience’s eye.
Overall, I believe I have continued to both use and challenge forms and conventions with both my music video and ancillary tasks. This has enabled me to create products which capture an audience, yet are not so different from the themes and styles they know of to become too different and off-putting.
Tuesday 21 January 2014
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Post Production
During AS there were a lot of things I had to consider
before creating my magazine. This included compiling a lot of research. Once
this had been completed I was then able to start creating my music magazine.
For A2, this was very similar. I had to do a lot of post
production tasks in order to ensure that my final product would be successful.
Research tasks such as looking at what equipment I would need for filming was
very beneficial. This ensured that I could look at what equipment was available
to me before I started filming, as if I needed a certain piece of equipment, I
may not have been able to use it if my supplier of equipment did not have it.
Therefore I looked at all the equipment available to me first and then decided
what I would need.
Planning was crucial before production began. Without this
it would have been a lot harder for production to flow easily. This included
writing a story board and a shot list for my music video, along with a script.
Monday 20 January 2014
Research and planning
Research helped me to make sure that my products in both AS and A2 were realistic and looked professional.
I did various research on exisiting magazines for my AS coursework, to ensure that my magazine would look professional as well as interesting enough to gain an audience. I had to research existing music videos for my A2 coursework so that I could also gain some inspiration, and to try and understand what music videos consist of.
For AS and A2, I had to research the codes and conventions of music magazines and videos, to ensure that my magazine and music video would include all of the key codes and convetions of the genre I chose to follow. Other information I had to find out about for both AS and A2 included what my target audiences would be interested in and their characteristics. This included their age range, what acitivies they like, and what forms of media they may use.
To collect my research, I used many different methods. The internet was a major source of my research due the vast amount of information available via websites. I used magazine websites such as Kerrang's and Q magazine's when I wanted to look at magazine examples and see what forms of media they used to advertise the magazines. This helped me to create my own magazine as I could get a sense of the style I needed to use to make it look realisitic. I used the website youtube to look at music videos which allowed me to look at things such as camera movements and shots used in music videos. This helped me to create my own video as I could use the shots I saw within my own.
Without research, I would have found it difficult to create my own magazine and music video. I believe that they would not have looked as real and professional without the use of research. This is mainly due to the fact that the research allowed me to explore more into what should be included, rather than just what it should look like. The use of reseach enabled me to go into more detail which made my final results look better.
The use of analysising what I created helped me to continuously make progress with my work, and during the analysis I could compare my magazine or music video to the examples or information I had researched. This made spotting a possible improvement a lot more easier, and highly improved my final products. I could see where I had made faults and also see what I had done well in which was really beneficial as it could show my products strengths and weaknesses.
I used a lot of different methods of analysing my magazine and music video. I used different media such as videos and prezi's depending on the nature of what I was analysis. If I was making an improvement, I would display this by using before and after pictures, or if I was changing something like the narrative to my music video, I would speak about this using a video. This made analysisng more clear and easy to understand what I had to do to improve my work.
I did various research on exisiting magazines for my AS coursework, to ensure that my magazine would look professional as well as interesting enough to gain an audience. I had to research existing music videos for my A2 coursework so that I could also gain some inspiration, and to try and understand what music videos consist of.
For AS and A2, I had to research the codes and conventions of music magazines and videos, to ensure that my magazine and music video would include all of the key codes and convetions of the genre I chose to follow. Other information I had to find out about for both AS and A2 included what my target audiences would be interested in and their characteristics. This included their age range, what acitivies they like, and what forms of media they may use.
To collect my research, I used many different methods. The internet was a major source of my research due the vast amount of information available via websites. I used magazine websites such as Kerrang's and Q magazine's when I wanted to look at magazine examples and see what forms of media they used to advertise the magazines. This helped me to create my own magazine as I could get a sense of the style I needed to use to make it look realisitic. I used the website youtube to look at music videos which allowed me to look at things such as camera movements and shots used in music videos. This helped me to create my own video as I could use the shots I saw within my own.
Without research, I would have found it difficult to create my own magazine and music video. I believe that they would not have looked as real and professional without the use of research. This is mainly due to the fact that the research allowed me to explore more into what should be included, rather than just what it should look like. The use of reseach enabled me to go into more detail which made my final results look better.
The use of analysising what I created helped me to continuously make progress with my work, and during the analysis I could compare my magazine or music video to the examples or information I had researched. This made spotting a possible improvement a lot more easier, and highly improved my final products. I could see where I had made faults and also see what I had done well in which was really beneficial as it could show my products strengths and weaknesses.
I used a lot of different methods of analysing my magazine and music video. I used different media such as videos and prezi's depending on the nature of what I was analysis. If I was making an improvement, I would display this by using before and after pictures, or if I was changing something like the narrative to my music video, I would speak about this using a video. This made analysisng more clear and easy to understand what I had to do to improve my work.
Sunday 19 January 2014
Creativity
Through out AS and A2 my creativity developed within various forms of media, and also in thought such as ideas.
The main form of creativity came within my photographs for my music magazine. Trying to come up with something that would suit the music genre which people could associate with , whilst trying to create something new was a challenge, and made me play around with the concepts of music magazines. Fonts and styling also played a key part within my music magazine. These were also quite selective due to having to fit the indie rock genre. I think that another aspect of creativity within the magazine task was creating a magazine name/logo. Although there are many examples to gain inspiration from, a lot of them are repeated, so once again trying to create something new that also looked professional at the same time was relatively difficult. The amount of creativity for a magazine is fairly limited in my opinion, due to the strong codes and conventions of magazines. These reduce the chance for creativity, as if these codes and conventions were to be challenge , and say a totally new magazine was produced, people may not like it due to being so used to what we know of magazines.
With the A2 task, I found that the ability for creativity was a lot higher. Music videos in todays world vary so much in style and what the audience sees that it is almost limitless as to what can be created. Already this task enabled me to be more creative than the music magazine, due to the nature of what I could create. I find that there is so much more that can be taken from a music video than a magazine , and this enables creativity to be truly displayed.
An example of this would be the use of narrative. A narrative is a story, of which this story could be anything. This in itself is a root for creativity to begin, as story's can be factual, false, made up, have a clear beginning middle or end, or simply not make sense. My narrative is creative as it explores the use of morals and stereotypes. The fact it also has no talking through out yet the audience can clearly see they are talking, lets the audience try and figure out what is being said, thus forming creativity from the audience. The fact that my video does not follow a typical ending to a narrative demonstrates my creativity in forming a narrative that captures the audience and its not common to what the audience would expect.
My visuals are also creative through out my video. One way this is done is by the use of lighting to enhance the mood and vibe of the narrative of the video. I added a blue tint to the shots to make them emotive of the lyrics, as the lyrics are quite sad and slow. The end of my video is quite different to a typical narrative ending in terms of visuals, as a split screen effect is used to interpret two different endings. This is visually creative, as it is not a common scene to have within music videos, so I think by using it I have demonstrated that I had to use creativity to plan how the split screen would work and fit in with the story for both ending options.
I think that the ancillary tasks allow for a lot of creativity within A2. Digipaks have quite diverse images on them, which allowed me to experiment with photostyles and different items. Visualising a certain style or look helped me to develop a digipak and magazine advert that I liked. I wanted a digipak that stood out and followed the morals and lyrics of the song.
The main form of creativity came within my photographs for my music magazine. Trying to come up with something that would suit the music genre which people could associate with , whilst trying to create something new was a challenge, and made me play around with the concepts of music magazines. Fonts and styling also played a key part within my music magazine. These were also quite selective due to having to fit the indie rock genre. I think that another aspect of creativity within the magazine task was creating a magazine name/logo. Although there are many examples to gain inspiration from, a lot of them are repeated, so once again trying to create something new that also looked professional at the same time was relatively difficult. The amount of creativity for a magazine is fairly limited in my opinion, due to the strong codes and conventions of magazines. These reduce the chance for creativity, as if these codes and conventions were to be challenge , and say a totally new magazine was produced, people may not like it due to being so used to what we know of magazines.
With the A2 task, I found that the ability for creativity was a lot higher. Music videos in todays world vary so much in style and what the audience sees that it is almost limitless as to what can be created. Already this task enabled me to be more creative than the music magazine, due to the nature of what I could create. I find that there is so much more that can be taken from a music video than a magazine , and this enables creativity to be truly displayed.
An example of this would be the use of narrative. A narrative is a story, of which this story could be anything. This in itself is a root for creativity to begin, as story's can be factual, false, made up, have a clear beginning middle or end, or simply not make sense. My narrative is creative as it explores the use of morals and stereotypes. The fact it also has no talking through out yet the audience can clearly see they are talking, lets the audience try and figure out what is being said, thus forming creativity from the audience. The fact that my video does not follow a typical ending to a narrative demonstrates my creativity in forming a narrative that captures the audience and its not common to what the audience would expect.
My visuals are also creative through out my video. One way this is done is by the use of lighting to enhance the mood and vibe of the narrative of the video. I added a blue tint to the shots to make them emotive of the lyrics, as the lyrics are quite sad and slow. The end of my video is quite different to a typical narrative ending in terms of visuals, as a split screen effect is used to interpret two different endings. This is visually creative, as it is not a common scene to have within music videos, so I think by using it I have demonstrated that I had to use creativity to plan how the split screen would work and fit in with the story for both ending options.
I think that the ancillary tasks allow for a lot of creativity within A2. Digipaks have quite diverse images on them, which allowed me to experiment with photostyles and different items. Visualising a certain style or look helped me to develop a digipak and magazine advert that I liked. I wanted a digipak that stood out and followed the morals and lyrics of the song.
Tuesday 14 January 2014
How I used digital technology from AS to A2
In both AS and A2, my work has always been influenced by the use of digital technology. Discovering certain digital technologies in AS allowed me to use and develop skills, which thus enabled me to then further my choices of digital technologies in A2.
The internet holds a large amount of possibilities for the use of digital technology. Social networking sites have helped me to attract an audience to gain feedback for both my music magazine and my music video. I used the website Facebook to post links to my music magazine and music video so that numerous amounts of people could access them. I then attached a link that people could click on to participate in a survey, in which I used the website Survey Monkey to create. This enabled me to easily get feedback from my audience, which I then used to alter my magazine and music video to suit the audience's requirements and taste to a certain degree.
Using websites to upload my magazine work and music video work are almost the same. These include websites such as slideshare, issuu, prezi and youtube. This allowed me to display my work in various formats and made it appear more interesting. Prezi was great for presenting my work due to the movement from one bit of information to another and the different backgrounds and designs that could be used. I found youtube was more beneficial for my A2 work due to the large amount of footage that I needed to upload and share.
Blogger was a major website that contributed to the whole of my coursework. I used it for both AS and A2 and found it really easy to upload work with various formats from pictures to videos. It also made it easy to share with people so that they could see my work and progress. It also allowed me to keep track of where I was at certain points due to every post being dated which helped with my time management. The use of labels also allowed me to navigate through my work and find exactly what I needed.
This year, my blog is relatively similar to last years, however I have tried to vary the forms of digital technology that I used compared to AS. Instead of having more prezi's, powerpoints and word documents, I decided to not only use these formats, but to include more videos and voice recordings to embrace the use of digital technology and make my blog more interesting.
The internet holds a large amount of possibilities for the use of digital technology. Social networking sites have helped me to attract an audience to gain feedback for both my music magazine and my music video. I used the website Facebook to post links to my music magazine and music video so that numerous amounts of people could access them. I then attached a link that people could click on to participate in a survey, in which I used the website Survey Monkey to create. This enabled me to easily get feedback from my audience, which I then used to alter my magazine and music video to suit the audience's requirements and taste to a certain degree.
Using websites to upload my magazine work and music video work are almost the same. These include websites such as slideshare, issuu, prezi and youtube. This allowed me to display my work in various formats and made it appear more interesting. Prezi was great for presenting my work due to the movement from one bit of information to another and the different backgrounds and designs that could be used. I found youtube was more beneficial for my A2 work due to the large amount of footage that I needed to upload and share.
Blogger was a major website that contributed to the whole of my coursework. I used it for both AS and A2 and found it really easy to upload work with various formats from pictures to videos. It also made it easy to share with people so that they could see my work and progress. It also allowed me to keep track of where I was at certain points due to every post being dated which helped with my time management. The use of labels also allowed me to navigate through my work and find exactly what I needed.
This year, my blog is relatively similar to last years, however I have tried to vary the forms of digital technology that I used compared to AS. Instead of having more prezi's, powerpoints and word documents, I decided to not only use these formats, but to include more videos and voice recordings to embrace the use of digital technology and make my blog more interesting.
Wednesday 11 December 2013
Wednesday 4 December 2013
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