Our Finished Video

The Finished Digipak

The Finished Poster

Post- production Reflection

Having finished our final product, looking back on it I see alot of areas which we could have improved on, but I do however also see that our final product turned out pretty well overall.

Looking at our pre production process I think that it could have gone a lot better. We were very indecisive on our idea and we picked the song very early on, which put the pressure on us of making up a good idea to match the song. I think that our storyline is pretty weak and I think that is the main flaw of our music video. We did all the research in pre production which we needed to do in order to go into the production and post production process fully prepared, but I do wish we had been more creative in our concept, which might have created a better video. Overall we researched the genre well and informed ourselves on how to establish the star image to attract the right audience.

During our production process we weren't quite as organized as we aimed to be in pre production. We got everything done it was a very stressful shooting day however. Running slightly low on people who were available for the whole day, two of our group members ended up being in the video as 'ensemble' to establish the feel of it being a big and successful party. I took on the job of directing and it was very stressful to keep people focused for hours on end as it was very hot in the studio, and due to the time we had to shoot it, we were slightly pressed for time. Certain people had to leave at different times on that day which means we had to reschedule slightly as we went along which meant we had to film parts of the video with less people than we intended and therefore had to fake the size of the party. Losing all of our band members the day before the shoot wasn't very helpful either and meant that we had to find people who could play the instrument, no matter how good their performance was. This was reflected in the footage we shot since our main singer was not what I had imagined him to be and the band overall lacked in energy and commitment. This also showed due to the fact that we had trouble finding parts of the song which were lipsynched. Overall I think that our production process was successful and I am happy with the shots we got for the final video, although I do wish that we had had a bigger variation in them, which would have required another shoot day.

Our post production process was probably the most crucial in getting everything out of the video which we could in terms of the material we had gathered and the idea we had to set up the whole video. We did a very thorough job on this which is, I think, reflected in the video. The cuts were precise and on the beat and the prportions of all the aspects of the video were prioritised in order to make the video as exciting as possible. Otherwise I think that the effects which we put over the video in 'After Effects' worked to our advantage and underlined our concept, involving the viewer in the world of the party.

Overall I think our video is good. The technical aspect is a good as it could have been with the resources we had and the storyline is average. If I could go back and change anything I would focus more on the narrative on the shoot day, which would enable us to carry it on throughout the second half of the video which is one thing that is lacking. The narrative pretty much stops after the kiss which makes the content very basic.

Post Production Evaluation of our Music Video

Having finally finished the post production process, looking back on it I can now see where we went wrong and where we went right. It took us quite long to complete, but now I think we have gotten as much out of the video as we could have, in terms of the technical aspect during post production.

After our shoot day, we uploaded all the raw footage onto a computer and onto the Final Cut server to ensure that we had a backup to all of our work. From there on we started sorting all of our footage into bins, determining which shots could be used (and setting a marker onto the parts we were going to use), and labelling them so we could find them more easily when we were editing. This sped up the editing process dramatically. After we had 'logged' the shots we dragged the original soundtrack of the music onto the timeline of Final Cut, and started lypsynching all of the shots, which involved band members, in time to the music. We did this by picking up the two most prominent beats in the soundtrack and picking out the same ones in every shot. This helped us because it ensured that all of the band members were in time to the music and we could then cut our performance aspect. We did this by having all of the shots layered above one another and just picking out the parts of the shots which we wanted to use in each section and took out everything else.

After we finished cutting the performance aspect, we started adding in the narrative, in order to build up to the chorus and therefore the switch of the party. For the performance aspect we picked out the parts of the storyline which would sum up the first half of the video, since we had to find a good balance between the performance aspect and the narrative. We structured the video in a way that enabled us to feature the narrative enough in order for it to be understood, but still let us focus on the performance aspect and the band in general, which was important as it was their debut album. The dancers came in throughout the second half to underline the effect the kiss had on the party, and to feature them as symbols for the 'celebration' of the band. Both the dance aspect and the performance aspect, we cut in sequences, so we cut the sequences together as a seperate section and the just put certain bits of it into the video to punctuate the feel of the party.

After finishing the cut in FCP (Final Cut Pro) we converted the video to its original and much larger definition in order to be able to access it on after effects were we added the 'Tron' effect on the dancers and lowered the saturation of the beginning party. Once we had decided that we were going to adjust the video on After Effects we started physically ordering our shots to make the whole timeline a lot tidier and make the bumping up of the video a lot faster. We sorted them into three categories: 'Special Effects', 'Performance' and 'Narrative'. This also made it easier to see which shots needed to be edited in what way on After Effects which enabled us to finish our post production process a lot quicker.

Overall I am happy with our post production, since it was thorough and accurate, assuring that the video was as perfect as it could be with the material which we had gathered. I do however think that we were lacking narrative in the second half of the video, because the couple seems to pretty much disappear after the big change. I also think that we could have structured our process a little more clearly from the beginning, since we were slightly stuck at times and sometime the different members of our group seemed to work against each other, just because we couldn't make the same slots all the time, so communication would have really worked. Also in terms of structure, it took us a while when coming up with the idea to cut the different aspects as seperate sequences, if we had really thought about it, we might have realised that that was the smartest approach.

Feedback on Director's Commentary

Excellent considerate understanding of the technologies used in production of the video, for example in terms of set design quality and the use of FCP to create effective set design and mise en scene – the kiss represents the electric feel.




There are evident links between creative decision making and use of technology on both productions of the video using professional digital cameras and in the post production editing process – in discussion of match of action, lip syncing and graphic matching’. This is sustained and thorough and accurate in discussion of the branded themes of an electric feel for example in discussion of the beat of the song and pacing of the cuts used in the editing process.



The commentary shows a discrete awareness of the use of new media technology and uses discriminating examples really well, particularly to selection and construction of narrative, editing techniques, such as FCP Tools – such as glow in colour process. Excellent command of terminology and understands and discusses convergence really well – this is impressive knowledge at times.



There is sustained justified decision making links between the technologies used the product and audience reception in terms of the creativity that the group used. Recognises the need to account for errors in the post production stage and the importance of convergent technologies. Well evaluated.



This is a well considered documentary

Evaluation Task 4 - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

The use of Photoshop as a New Media Technology

We used photoshop when we were creating our digipak and our poster. This helped us to lay out and design the way in which we were going to present the necessary presentation. So for instance on the digipak we had four different panel to design and we had to fit the band members on there, the cover, the list of song titles and all the other sale information and insure that all the panels worked together as a design concept. Then we designed the poster which also had to fit the style of the digipak to create synergy in the audience's mind and also to reflect the band's style and market them as a brand.

For the bubbles in the background, we used the internet as a new media technology and used the image as a base for our digipak background. Once we had uploaded the picture onto photoshop, we adjusted the 'Curves' into an s shape, which increased the contrast and the brightness of the image. After that we used Hue/Saturation to increase the vibrance of the colours and adjust the image so it resembled the used of colour in our music video. After that we then found another picture on the internet which we layered over the background image. We put a filter over that image which was called 'Darken' and created that effect of having the background come through, and still let you see the layer which we put over the top. After that we used a Canon EOS 40 D to take pictures of our band members, which we then uploaded onto photoshop through a card reader. On photoshop we then layered four different heights of threshold over one another in order to create that stencil effect. This effect resembled a graffiti tableaux which represents the style of the band image  which we were trying to establish. For the fourth panel of our digipak we got a diagram of an 8 pack and changed Hue/Saturation to create the same colour scheme which we used for the rest of the digipak. At the end we then used the text tool to add all of the information needed on the digipak. 

We followed a very similar procedure for the poster. First we did the background, which is the same as it is for the digipak. Then we also added in the line like pattern which we also have on the digipak. Then we layered the stencils which we had already used on the digipak onto the top of the poster and used the line like pattern to make the band members look like they are dripping. For this effect we used the transform tool to turn the image upside down and then used the hue/saturation and brightness/contrast to make the shape white as well and help us to merge it in with the band members. After that we then once again used the text tool to add the needed information to the poster. 

Overall we used several different photoshop tools and effects to create the advertising campaign which we came up with. This was also a very creative process as it involved the design of both products and then the realisation of each of them. 

Use of Digital Technologies in Pre Production

Our pre production process consisted of us coming up with a basic idea for a music video, comparing it to other products and artists, pitching the idea to a teacher, refining the idea, casting our whole video (both narrative and performance), making a plan for our set and researching different things that could be used and come up with a final structure. Throughout this process we used several different new media technologies.

We did a lot of research on the internet especially at the beginning when we started working on our concept. We researched background information to support our concept, which was linked to reservoir dogs at the beginning and then changed gradually to what we ended up with. The main websites we used were youtube and google to find pictures and videos of other music products and artists.    

Having the internet as a research tool really helped us when establishing our concept, as we orientate ourselves to other media products.

Another new media technology we used, was a film camera, with which we recorded all of the shots of our storyboard, which we would then carry on to create our animatic. After we shot each image of the storyboard on a SONY HXR-NX5E for 10s we uploaded it onto a mac computer through the use of a memory card. We then uploaded the footage onto the final cut server which helped us access it from any computer, and automatically provided a backup for all the work we were doing. Then we dragged the soundtrack of our video, which we had to cnvrt to a '.wav' format onto the timeline for final cut, and started ordering our shots according to the timeline which we had written out on paper. This animatic provided a visual idea of what our music video would look like as a finished product. After using the technology final cut to put the shots together in a certain order, we then also used media convergence by uploading the animatic onto youtube.   

Except for using the internet as a research tool, and final cut in a creative way to create our animatic, we also used a digital photo camera (Canon EOS 40D) to take pictures of our cast whilst we were deciding who to put in our video. After deciding on our cast we had to blog about our decisions and research, which we did all the way throughout the process of creating this product, on eblogger.

Overall we made use of several different new media technologies troughout our pre production process which all helped us to construct our idea and prepare for the shoot day. Creating the animatic was a creative process, as well as a practical process as we had to decide which shots to put where and it forced us to come up with a final structure of our music video and it also showed us where our faults were. For instance we realised that we needed a lot more detail shots than we had originally planned. The research on the internet was a very informative process because it helped us to compare the band we were marketing to already existing and established bands and it allowed us to blog about the whole process of creating our product which was another way of structuring what we had done and what we still had to do.

Feedback on Evaluation Task 3: Audience Feedback

Good evidence of a variety of audience feedback which is fully reflective.  You link comments from your audience very well to what you intended in the product.  I would like to see more evaluation of CD digipak and poster.  You have tried to apply Hall's concepts to your product and the decoding of the text well done.  I do feel that stronger links to what went well in your production and even better if ...always contributes well to reflection of the feedback and any final changes you would may to your product.  A very good effort well done.

Task 3- What have you learned from your audience feedback?

For this evaluation task we had to collect the feedback which we got from our target audience about our video. When planning this we though of a couple of questions which might help them along in their discussion about our video. These were:

What is your opinion of the bands style?

What else did you like about the band?
What don't you like about the band?
What do you like/not like about the video?
What elements do you think we could improve in the Campaign?
Was the Narrative clear in the Music Video, if not why?
Did you pick up any messages or hidden meanings?
Would you buy this album?
Could you see this band at a major festival (Reading), and why?
Does the Star image suit the band's style?
Would this video appeal to you and your friends?

What we did for the feedback is that we selected a sample of five people from our target audience, to come in and give feedback to our video:

What we got from the video was:

• Overall the audience got the style which we were trying to convey by marketing the band
• What they didn't like about the video was that the band's lip synching wasn't very accurate, there was no energy in the band's performance and we had a slight lack of narrative
• However, I think that most members of the audience did get the narrative which was there
• In terms of the campaign, the feedback we got was that the design of the poster had some flaws. I think that if we go back to our original poster design with the right band members this time, we could erase some of those flaws. Otherwise, some of them weren't sure about the colour scheme but then did agree that it linked back well to the style of the video
• People also said that they would consider buying the album, if they got to hear another song from it
• The audience also agreed that the band would be good for playing at indie festivals due to their indie style
• Generally people liked the use of dancers and the way in which we edited the sequence to give another aspect to the video, but did agree that we should have had a more continuous narrative throughout

I think the points that have been made are all reasonable and they also reflect some of the feedback which we got on our youtube video.



I think that the points that have been made by our target audience are valid and relevant. Some of the points which they have made interlink with our idea of our video. We also think that we are a little short on narrative and none of us are that sure anymore about the band members which we picked. We thought that the narrative that was there was clear and it should make sense to most. In terms of our campaign we liked the use of colours and basic design because we thought that it reflected the image we were setting up well. Everyone we asked understood what image we were trying to convey through the band image, which showed us that it worked out the way we were hoping it would.

If I were to go back and make changes to our video I would make sure that the narrative is more evident, especially in the second half of our video, I might also choose different band members just because of the lacking energy and the problem with the lip syching for our singer. If I could change anything about our campaign, I would set the poster back to the original  design with the right band members and change the stencils on the digipak, in order to have white on the background, rather than white and black on the background.

Overall what we got from the audience feedback was that they liked our video but thought we could have focused a little more on the narrative of it, and they weren't sure about the band themselves. I also think that they all understood our preferred reading. As Stuart Hall argued:
there are three different types of reading from the target audience:

Dominant reading – the reader accepts the codes of the text.
Negotiated reading – the reader accepts some codes, but has their own modifications.
Oppositional reading – the reader opposes the code of the text entirely.

Generally we managed to get a dominant reading on our text since most of them seemed to accept what we were trying to impose on the video. This wasn't guaranteed for our video. For instance the kiss could have been read as something different by our target audience. The kiss could have been interpreted as a more sexual sign, so the kiss could lead onto something else, rather than reading it as just sparking off the party. This could be the negotiated reading of parents for instance. Parents aren't part of our target audience and this video could be read as a lot less innocent than we intended it to be, which could plant a negative seed in the audience's mind. Whilst some members of the audience might have read the 'Electric Feel' as an effect of the music and really cool, others might have interpreted it as a display of drug consumption. This then goes into the oppositional reading. It doesn't conform the image which we are trying to set up for our band, but makes them look like criminals. This could therefore be an issue to a mainstream audience, once again especially for parents.
A piece of audience feedback we got, was that the band was lacking in energy. This could be taken as a negotiated reading of what we wanted our band to represent. In this case it isn't because as a matter of fact the band members didn't have a lot of energy in their performance which we didn't aim to show. Their laid back performance does however seem cool, and 'used to it' which makes it look like their music just generally has that effect on people and that isn't the first time that has happened. Therefore you could take the feedback about their lack in energy as a negotiated reading.

There are several different readings which our video could be seen as but generally we managed to get a dominant reading from our target audience. We might have gotten a negotiated or oppositional reading from members of the audience which aren't the ones we have targeted but that is to be expected from most music video products.

In terms of our marketing camapign (focusing on the poster and digipak) I think there weren't as many reading that could have been made, as there were for the video. Both the digipak and the poster are in the same style, which we designed that way to ensure synergy and audience recognition across the products. We designed our products in the way we did in order to reflect the feel of the video. The use of vivid colours and interesting patterns were supposed to reflect the use of lighting and energy in our video. The poster and digipak were therefore also supposed to be used to market the bands star image which we had set up through the video. If you saw the video before seeing the poster the reading which was made in the video could be transmitted to the poster. So for instance if you had an oppositional reading of the video and read it as a party with a large consumation of drugs, the poster could be seen as reflecting the feeling the party guests got when they took the drugs.  This could create a potential problem due to the fact that some parents might not allow their children to attend the concerts because of the reading they got from the video. On the other hand, this might further enhance the interest in going to their concerts from our target audiece and create a bigger audience to come and watch the concerts.

Feedback on evaluation task two

This is excellent evaluation, thoughtful and decisive nterms of how weel the main prodcut operates alongside the ancilliary tasks.  The area which I feel you need to develop in order to complete  evaluation of the tasks is to consider the branding of the campaign in terms of how you created the right marketing mix - what would you develop further.

Excellent effort well done.

Evaluation task 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Feedback

The presentation is well design and you communicate your ideas well. I think that you have identified the conventions of the music video, CDdigipak and poster. However, in evaluation you do need to link these to existing media products and you could have applied notes taken in discussion of the evaluation exercise as discussed in class. I feel that would provide more detail and explanation of the use of conventions. I also feel that you should add an a post which directly addresses the question set: how have you used, developed and or challenged media conventions with your advance portfolio.
Excellent effort, please go back and revise the presentation accordingly or include additional blog posts in order to complete the evaluation.

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

Feedback

Can you please post evaluation task 1 as soon as possible and email me when this is completed.
Thank you