Question 4

4.

How did you use your media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Using the website unsigned.com to find our chosen band and their track was very useful. This website was personally chosen because of copyright issues as the bands put their tracks up to be used by us for free. We wanted to find a lively song that is fun to listen to and matched our favourite genre being Rock/Alternative  in whom we came across 2^nd Half’s track ‘One Night Alone’ and requested them that we used their track for the music promo. The band had not been found by a record company to sign them up. The band was started by singer-guitarist Ed Gandolf and drummer Drew Scalero back in the mid-'90s; by the time the group released its first album, Now It's Real, in 2003, they were the only members.

To contact the band we used G-mail letter sent to the bands E-mail explaining that we would like to request permission to use the track in which they happily replied with ‘yes.’  We used Facebook to research their band in more detail through images of their posters and live band pictures. To exhibit the promo we used use YouTube as it is shows the video for free and we can receive feedback in the comments of what viewers thought.

We also used YouTube to explore and research other music promos at the beginning e.g. Red Hot Chili Peppers with their promo ‘Can’t stop’ where we took inspiration from with their use of disjuncture and similar ‘rock’ genre. We looked at the conventions used in different promos to explore which would work the best for our chosen song. We searched our chosen band on YouTube and only found 1 video of them doing a live performance with little views meaning that our promo will be original to advertise the band. 

 To get the songs to listen to we used sound-cloud where we downloaded the songs for free. This was also used to get the song One Night Along from our chosen artist to use in the editing.

To get feedback from our audience we used poll everywhere. This is very quick to vote with and enabled us to find out what the majority of the target audience prefer through our poster and Digi-pack designs typically between two choices that we had inspiration from other rock artist posters and Digi-packs.

Constructing our production required a lot of technologies from filming to editing. Filming was difficult on our chosen days because of the unreliable lighting changing constantly as outside it was cloudy and getting the camera still with high winds was a challenge.

Google was used to research the band in more detail and to research any bands that the vox-pop interviewees said they liked such as Red Hot Chili Peppers. Google is very reliable and fast to get simple information.

Another problem we encountered with filming the performance was that we needed the singer to sing in time with the song. To counter this problem, we setup our phone to play the song and film the entire 3 minutes with the singer singing exactly with the beat along with the instruments playing making the performance look professional. We also had the problem of playing the instruments as only one of us was able to play the drums and the rest had no experience with the guitar. To solve this, we had a few practices strumming the guitar to gain a feel of how it is played and filmed us playing the guitars at different angles that appeared to show unnoticeable errors in falsely playing the guitar.

For filming we used simple equipment consisting of a video-camera and a tri-pod. The camera was small and lightweight so holding it to get certain shots wasn’t a challenge and could hold a lot of film so we were able to film for both days and not worry about the space and the battery life. The tri-pod was small and easy to man-oeuvre and placing it in different locations was a simple task. A problem we encountered though was keeping it steady on hills and because of it being lightweight, the wind was very strong when filming and knocked over the tri-pod frequently outside so we needed to hold it down to get still shots.  

To edit we used Adobe Premier Pro.

This software is very effective at getting all of the different shots and cutting to the beat. However this software was completely new to us so it took a while experimenting with the different effects and techniques we could use. The editing skills we have learnt through experimenting with the software are changing the lengths of the shots so that they match the beat of the music. We got used to the different channels to editing with the music and the actual video where we could see the clefs where the beat changes to add a shot into the space. We found that some shots didn’t match the pace of the music so we used a new technique of speeding up/slowing down the clips length so it stays in sync with the music timing. This was repeated with the instruments where we cut the clips in a professional manner from all angles in very short clip duration 0.5-1 second long each and placed them in-between the performance and narrative. For the performance, we used the 3 minute long clips with the singer and band playing in time with the song and cut out clips where the lyrics go and placed them with little trouble to sync with the song.  

We found another issue with our clips where there were unwanted items in the background/sides of the shot so we used cropping to cut them out of shot so it looks cleaner as it would mess up the continuity of the promo. Along with this problem, the editing software made the clips not entirely fit the screen so we re sized them and made sure they fit the dimensions and were in HD. We also had a problem with the lighting where we needed to keep it the same for all the clips so it doesn’t look untidy and keeps in sync throughout the whole video so we changed the lighting opacity for every shot so they matched as the sun lightened up some shots and some were filmed in relatively darker areas such as the stake park. Once the promo was edited, we exported it into an mp4 and uploaded to YouTube for others to view.

We also used another technology that I was familiar with called Adobe Photoshop Elements as this was used to create the ancillary tasks. The most challenging part of this software was to get all of the images to layer on top of each other and fit in the A4 dimensions. New techniques that I learnt in Photoshop include getting the black/white effect on the band members in which I used ‘Threshold’ and adjusted the effect of the black and white on the characters so they still stand out even though they are in two colours. I chose this effect as I got inspiration of an image the band made on Facebook with them in a similar black and white effect. Once I added the black and white effect, I then copied the layer and selected the objects we were wearing such as the helmet and mask and kept them in the original colours so they stand out contrasting with the black and white adding better synergy with the poster and Digi-pack.

I also used layering to get the realistic effect of the whole band in one shot. For this I cropped around single images of us with a transparent background and added them to the original image. I first added the members of the back being Matt and Sam and dragged the layers on top of each other for the remaining members so Luke was at the front. I rubbed out certain white lines around the members as this ruined the whole band being together look.  I chose to add all for members of the band in the magazine advert because this is similar to all the other magazine adverts following the rock genre as the audience, similar to the promo, want to see the whole band when watching.

I also added the text in Photoshop and found a font that stood out that was similar to the originals text that 2^nd half use for synergy and placed it accordingly for the title of the band. I faced a challenge of placing the text as I needed to place it in the right size and area in the poster and Digi-pack so it didn’t look messy and unprofessional.

I used Blogger as a technology to put all my work on so a wider range of people can view it for free. This website was particularly helpful as it enabled the Digi-pack, magazine advert and promo to be shows all at once advertising the band all for free and can be seen by anyone with or without a blogger account. I have used blogger before but I looked at new ways in which I present the work to make it stand out and interesting towards the audience.

The benefits of advertising our music promo on YouTube is that is one of the most popular websites in the world and millions of people visit every day.

YouTube is free to use and everyone can see it with or without an account. YouTube proves easy uploading taking minimal time and allows viewers to make comments and like the video so the artists can get feedback. YouTube allows videos to be shared to viewers can share the video to their friends. YouTube is currently most popular with our target audience of older teenagers to young adults which are most likely to search for a rock video and watch.  YouTube allows videos to be shared via Facebook meaning an even bigger range of audience can see the shared video online and also leave comments/likes.

Question 3

3.  What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Audience research is key into finding what went well and improvements that could be added. We used our target audience and found out what they liked/disliked about the ancillaries and the promo itself. This was crucial to creating a promotional package for the artist that would encourage the audience to follow.

One method of audience feedback was a poll in which we used to design the layout of the Digi-pack and poster. The website is ‘PollEverywhere’ where we would start a vote on two designs we had in mind and in the time limit, the audience would vote which was the best and we selected the design with the highest votes as it is the most appealing to the majority of the audience.  We used the same process for the Digi-packs too and nominated the highest voting one.  This method was very useful as it was simple to setup and free to use and vote with. For the magazine advert the audience voted design one as the choice with 71% compared to 29% for the second design. It appears that the target audience liked the idea of all four members on the magazine advert in a row with a title of the song above. The Digi-packs were voted with design 2 being the highest percentage with 60% to 40% as the audience seemed to like the spacing far more with the artists on the cover and a panel compared to one on each instead as it looks ‘more professional.’

We have used vox-pops to ask the target audience of our music promo. A vox-pop is an interview in which an average person is asked for his or her opinion on a matter of general interest. These are not planned and the speaker answers from the top of their head from the question they haven’t heard of before of the music promo we presented to them. The person is not looking directly at the camera and faces towards the interviewer either on the left or right side with text so the audience can see who they are and simple details such as age, name and job.

We also presented the music video to 2^nd Half and got their reply which was very positive overall. They said that it was ‘awesome’ and ‘better than any videos we ever had for any of our songs.’ They couldn’t suggest any improvements as they were very impressed with the product.

We asked them ‘What is your Favourite music genre?’
We asked this question because we decided to see how many people chose rock/alternative genres as their favourites and get any ideas/inspiration from their answers. We found that a few people did like the rock genre similar to our chosen music and so we asked them if they preferred to watch performance or narrative for a rock promo in which we got both but more answered with narrative so we went with both but focused on disjuncture narrative to please the wider range of the audience but still those who like performance at the same time. Some artists that they included were Bon-Jovi, 30 Seconds to Mars and Red Hot Chilli Peppers in which we observed some of their promos to gain inspiration from.

Another form of audience research we used was simply asking people individually their opinions and

writing them down to draw conclusions from. After drawing the storyboards, we showed them to other people and asked their opinions of them. This was useful because we could record both positive feedback, and constructive criticism to build on. We used much of the feedback we received from  for reference when filming and editing the video. This was a very simple technique simply asking the target audience for their opinion, and was helpful because we gave people time to look through the storyboards and come up with some helpful feedback that we adapt to our preliminary.

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

Our products have a constant theme throughout being the band members itself. The members in both the poster and Digi-pack are in black and white which is a constant theme for the original band also where took inspiration from and to make them acknowledged through the ancillaries with the same theme.

 

 

We made careful preparations in order to ensure that there is a continuous synergy through all of them as each text promotes each other. The band is wearing the same clothes throughout all three texts and has the same props making each member recognizable as each member is associated to a prop.  The advantage of using one consistent image of the band is that the audience will follow it and recognize it instantly and won’t worry about different images to remember of the same artist. 

 

For the ancillaries, we followed 2^nd Half’s text font of the logo and used it for the name of the song title. We kept it all in black and white as they are very good at contrasting each other and follow the lyrics of the song. We used similar images for the Digi-pack and poster of the band members posing because it resembles each other’s similar design.

 

A brand image captures the audience’s interest so it persuades the audience into buying the product as they have seen it commonly around public areas. Typical conventions of a music poster include the typography, title of the artist and release date of the song(s). Music companies use promotional packs for further advertisement. This is because they want to get the public to continuously see the music promo through the media and try and brain-wash as many as they can to buy it.

The advert design represents the artists in a recognizable style with the lead singer at the front representing the stage with the other members slightly smaller at the back where the instruments would be. The facial expressions are different from the advert to the Digi-pack as the poster has their faces in a serious stern way similar to what we found in most rock bands but the Digi-pack poses them in unique ways with them smiling and appearing to be ‘messing around’ similar to the music video itself.

 

We found that our artist has created some images to advertise themselves where we got the black and white inspiration from but not in any detail for a magazine advert and they haven’t created a Digi-pack either so we took inspiration from a few Facebook adverts they used to create synergy between theirs and our ideas.  

Overall I found that the poster was captivating towards he audience with its unique design as artists rarely use black and white. Its simple colours contrast and stand out along with the text colours adapting with the artists original designs. The Digi-pack is similar because it follows the conventions of the poster with the black and white band members with colour props which use synergy with the music video where they are constantly used and recognized. 

Question 1

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



A music promo is a video that bands use as a promotion of their latest song and aims to increase sales and the bands image, whether it is an album or just a single song. The purpose of a music promo is to advertise the band/artist but also to promote a band/artists latest single or album. The promo can consist of a performance and/or narrative.  A music promo is very useful for the artist as it can easily be recognized and remember able from others and makes the audience interested in the video and not just the song. The video motivates the song and could give the lyrics a narrative. We included humour as it is pleasing to our younger target audience and disjuncture (Intentionally ignores the content of the song and genre of the music and tries to create whole new set of meanings) as the majority of music promos don’t follow this style so it will stand out as ‘random’ from a serious music promo.

A performance music video only focuses on the band them playing the song. The performances location can range from somewhere Urban or Rural, in the public or with a live audience to give off the effect that it is filmed live and the viewers are actually there looking that the band playing. We decided to use performance in our video as this follows the typical conventions of a rock band playing live to please our target audience as they are able to see the artists up close playing the instruments putting them in the shoes of a live viewer in the audience.

A narrative music video features no live performances and focuses on a theme for the song. This can include linear where it has a chronological plot from start to end or non-linear where it is in a non-chronological order and includes flashbacks, ellipsis and a montage. Narrative can either have illustration where the promo follows the ideas of the lyrics and follows the true meaning, amplification where it uses an idea from the lyrics and develops it with the links and finally disjuncture. This is where the promo has no links to the meaning of the song and appears to be abstract which could create completely new meaning behind the song for the audience to guess.

An example of a song with full narrative is Cold Play's 'The Scientist' where there is no instruments during the video and the narrative tells a story but in reverse which is very unique as the audience ask questions throughout and slowly get revealed as the video progresses.




 We decided to choose disjuncture as we wanted it to be something different that the audience would normally see to stand out and create new meanings behind the song. We took inspiration from the band ‘Red Hot Chili Peppers’ with their song Can’t Stop as this didn’t have any clear meaning and became nonfigurative to the audience and we liked the conventions used in their song.  Most videos use a mix of performance and narrative because it creates interest for the audience as the lyrics create a meaning for the narrative and the audience want to see the artists in person playing the instruments (typically at the main chorus.)

Promos can be viewed almost anywhere as technology has advanced. Smartphones and TV are some convergence examples of everyday items people will use and come across visual music. Media convergence is the merging of mass communication outlets – print, television, radio, the Internet along with portable and interactive technologies through various digital media platforms. Media convergence allows mass media professionals to present information and entertainment using a variety of media. The promo creates links and makes the public keep thinking about it throughout the day and eventually give in to listen and purchase the product as it becomes addicting to listen to.
We chose the indie rock genre as it is very popular amongst teenagers today and fits in with our generation of music and I have listened to a vast amount of indie rock songs to gain inspiration from and there is a wide range of bands that date back to the 1980’s who have performed indie rock.

Conventions of the rock genre:
We researched the rock genre and came across a number of conventions that link to it. We found that the typical costumes of the artists are dark and rebellious; they are aggressive with their gestures as they sharply move their arms around and their facial expressions are very serious and dark. They are usually loud to suit their rebellious behaviour and scream into the microphone. The typical themes of their songs included death, anti-mainstream and hate.

Performance and Lyrics:
The typical lyrical content in alternative rock genre is about several different things happening but the main focus of the lyrics is centring on lifestyle that the artist has a concern for e.g. alcohol, drugs etc.
Performance is commonly a lead singer(s) miming out the lyrics of the song while the band plays the instruments in the background to mimic a live performance. To get the live audience effect, they perform live and replay the song over the video to give the impression that they were performing live the whole time for the best music quality in a studio.


Location:
The locations we chose were decided through conventions to match a rock genre promo where the audience can get a feel of a ‘live band performance.’ We went to the ‘Old Coach House’ pub in Market Deeping to perform on their stage where other bands have performed before. This was perfect for us as it allowed a simple background of a white wall and enough space to setup instruments and for the camera to move about to take a number of different shots from close ups to long shots of the whole band. The pub allowed us to perform on the dates set and lighting was a minimal with simple lights on the celling. We also chose to film close by the pub at a rural park for the narrative side of the promo. This is good because being around the public had been used in rock promos and adds a realistic feeling to watching the video as it matches the disjuncture of the shots. The park is also a huge field so there were plenty of spots to film different shots in one space so we didn’t need to switch locations constantly. The instruments enabled the audience to realise which member is who just by looking at the instruments. 










Camerawork (performance):
The camerawork in a rock music promo tends to be close ups as the most common type of shot. This is to allow the audience to see the instruments and the singer close up for a live performance effect and they can see the facial expressions from the artists.  The long shots are of the whole band playing from a live audience’s perspective typically on a stage. There are lots of cuts depending on the tempo of the song to make it more interesting and cutting to the beat to be effective. There are shots on the audience watching to get the viewers to act similar to them by screaming or jumping about. We used some typical close ups of the singer an instruments and long shots of the whole band paying to get the live performance effect.

Costumes/props:
We decided to go with typical conventions of a rock promo where we dressed up in casual teenage clothing including jeans, collared shirts and black coats.  We wanted to create synergy amongst each other by wearing similar clothes which can be recognised by the audience. We used instruments in the promo. This is for the performance side of the promo to give a ‘live audience ‘effect’ as if the band is actually playing the instruments and make it more appealing to match the audience’s expectations and follows the typical rock video performance conventions. 

 

Editing:
We viewed a range of music videos similar to our genre and found that all of them had cutting to the beat spot on for the best effect. We took this into consideration as along with cutting to the beat, we found they all had short shots with only 3 seconds max. So it went with the cutting to the beat every rift.

Influence:
When searching YouTube, we came across a very dominant video called ‘Can’t Stop’ by Red Hot Chilli Peppers. This video followed our ideas of disjuncture with their variety of props and editing skills. We also found their background very effective as it was just a white screen; it allows the audience to only focus on the singers and the narrative. The shots are very ranging from close-ups to the singer to long shots of the whole band at once making this video fascinating at all times as there is always something going on. The editing was very well done as clips were cut in sections and randomly placed throughout the video and it was cut to the beat flawlessly. This video is something we wanted to replicate in the narrative through the props and background to the cutting to the beat.  The style of the editing and recreating the narrative is challenging, it allows us to expose new skills through editing and camerawork.