FINAL VIDEO!

Here is the final music video, we felt that it incorporated all that we wanted to portray in our brand image:

Final digipak

Here is one of our posters:

And another one:

We made sure that we continued with the monochromatic theme of the music video on the final version of the digipak. The use of the yellow also works in the same way as the bold graphic designs on the band members t-shirts in the music video.

Here is our final album cover:

Task 4: How have you used new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Construction:

In the construction of the actual music video we used the editing software Final Cut Pro to aid us with the quick and developed editing that was essential for our video. The software allowed me to fully comprehend how a video is edited in the industry and use professional equipment to help maintain the professional quality of the video as it allowed us to cut beween shots easily, layer the different shots together giving the effect that the band members were on screen at the same time which we regularly used within our video as it was an effect that gave it a quirky yet professional look which we wanted to portray to the audience. In addition, the programme also allowed us to crop the shots and move them which we used to give the impression that the band member (i.e. the drummer) was moving in a circle. this emphasised the absurdism of our video and once I learnt how to work and edit with this programme to create such effects, I was able to simply enjoy myself and have fun when editing, placing different shots with each other to give a quirky effect. This technique is similar to the one used in the White Stripes video to create a similar effect:

The timeline in the screengrabs of Final Cut Pro is an indication of how the different shots were seperated and how we layered the different shots on top one another.



PhotoShop
Tools



In addition, the green section at the bottom of both screen grabs is the music and we made sure all our shots were syncd up against it. Another technology that was used within the construction of our project was of course cameras and when filming we used a Sony NX5 which allowed us to film at a professional quality where the colour acuteness was significant in a video where there was such a limitation in lighting. Additionally, with the Sony NX5, we also had the priviledge of testing out the 3D add-on to the camera which we wanted to shoot the go-pros with, unfortunately it did not completely work with the concept of our idea but it meant that as a group we were introduced into a new piece of technology when filming our music video. Moreover, I was also introduced into how a lighting and sound desk works and from this I was able to control the lighting within our video by pressing certain buttons on the system. However, although it sounds relatively easy, if I were to press the wrong number or the ALT key instead of ENTER then something completely different to what you intended would happen, meaning that it was essential that I paid complete attention when using the lighting desk. Similarly, with the sound desk, although easier in terms of what I had to do, on the CD we had different tracks starting at various points in the track and so it was essential to start the right one at the right point. The simplicity provided when using a CD rather than a cassette meant that we were able to easily upload the track onto the computer, meaning that the overall editing was a lot easier as well as allowing us to use a larger range of digital technologies. Finally, we also used Photoshop when creating the Digipak and poster for the band; it is an editing software that is particularly quick and easy to use, it allows the work to be a lot more flexible as well as enabling experimentation. I was introduced to Photoshop last year but did not fully understand how to use the various tools such as cropping, the 'move' tool, the 'gradient' tool, the 'blur' tool and the 'lasso' tool on the programme whereas now I feel more comfortable in using the software.

Research:

Before the actual shoot day we used a large range of new media technologies to help the research for the video, in particular the use of the internet. I regularly used YouTube as a way of researching into the target audience, the Eels as a band and similar artists that fans liked; YouTube is a phenomenon of communication and has enabled us when researching into the song to watch the original video, as well as other videos also by the same band.

This gave us an insight into who would be our target audience for a type of song such as this, I also used the video sharing site to research into other bands and how they portray themselves and the differences between them, for example a band such as Green Day all wear black clothes within their video and it is usually focused on their instruments or backstage of their tours to emphasise that they are focused on their music but the use of dark clothing is also used to suggest that they are a band that does not focus on their looks and want to appear quite rebellious. However, a completeley contrasting band that I used to help further my research was One Direction, who use their image as 'young, good looking, british boy-band' as their selling point which is emphasised with their music videos where one comment stated "it looks like an advert for Jack Wills" because they are all wearing clothes that signify that they are British but it is also a brand label that is particularly popular among teenagers at the moment, indicating their youth and using it as a selling point for girls as their target audience. Additionally, apart from YouTube I also used the band's website, Twitter page and Facebook page to further my research into the band as a whole because I was aware that YouTube would not give me all of the essential information that I wanted to create my own band. Before deciding on the definite idea as to what our concept would be we each chose our individual ideas and songs and when doing this I explored the fan site and band site of Snow Patrol and used iPhoto on my macbook to help me analyse the different aspects that they were advertising on their website. I used the information I had gathered from the website to create a Facebook page for the band which although does not have a mass amount of fans it was a way of indicating what type of band 'Suckers for Watchmen' were. We also used 'The White Stripes' music video as a strong reference of inspiration for our video because it used the similar technique of layering the different shots to create the effect of multiple shots at once.

Planning:

When planning the final project I was introduced to the multimedia software of Prezi; it is an online software that allowed me to use a wide range of multimedia technologies (e.g: images, YouTube videos, text etc.) in a way that visually expresses the concept for our band. I used it when researching the typical audience member for the band because it allowed me to link different aspects of the band together in a similar way to a mind map. Additionally, because it is online, it means that unlike a mind map on paper, a Prezi gave me the oppertunity of continuously editing the same Prezi in various stages as well as signifying my point with the evidence of the different forms of media because as the saying goes "a picture speaks a thousand words". I also used powerpoint presentations throughout the stages of planning because it allowed me to visually express myself in a way that a blog or piece of written work could not. Additionally, using the powerpoint also meant that all of the slides connected to one another and that they were not random and as a result helped quicken the planning stages of the music video. As a group we also used Google regularly to research into the different types of lighting that could be used for our video which we eventually decided on having simple spotlights that could be attached onto the ceiling in the studio which is where we did all of our filming. I also used my blogger account to keep a continuous track record of my planning stages within the process; doing this meant that we were more aware of what exactly was needed for the actual day of filming. Moreover, I also made a Facebook group for my group which we could use to discuss the different necessities that needed to be purchased for the video when it was the half term and we were all in different countries. I felt that it helped us keep in contact with each other, but unfortunately was not taken enough advantage of and so when we returned to school were slightly underprepared for the shoot. Here is a screen grab of the Facebook group I made so that we could all keep in contact with each other while away:

Evaluation:

When getting the feedback from the AS media class, we made sure that a member of our class outside of our group was filming it on one of our mobile phones, allowing us to upload it to YouTube and use it to analyse what each person said. It also meant that I was able to embed it into a Prezi file which enabled me to use the fact that with Prezi you can include many means of technology and took advantage of it. Additionally, within that particular Prezi I also made sure that I embedded quotations to emphasise where we went right in our video's concept and where we went wrong. Additionally, another use of my phone was downloading the App for Blogger to enable me to continuously update new feedback and evaluative responses to the video. Furthermore, Blogger is online which means that unlike a diary or journal which may have been used 30 years ago, it is flexible, permanent, published and holds the ability to use multimedia in one post. Additionally, the music video was also uploaded to YouTube meaning that we were able to recieve a multitude of comments from users that were not part of the school, which meant that we were getting response that was in a way better because it was given at a distance of knowledge of the people involved in the process. The evaluative process in ongoing but the use of new media technologies has enabled me to continuously keep up to date with everything that I am doing.

Task 3: What have you learnt from audience feedback?

In order to gain a full grasp of a wider reaction from an audience we had an audience feedback forum where the group of AS students ageing between 16 and 17 watched the video again and were able to give us critical feedback on it as to what they personally thought of it. However, because they were all from the same age range and social background with the majority of them with a British nationality it limited our focus group and meant that we were getting responses from people all relatively similar and interested in like-minded things. Yet, having said this because there was a mixture of gender (although there were only a couple boys) we were able to see the different views that the seperate sexes carried; an example being that girls felt more inclined to watch the video again than the boys and this we figured was because of the humour and innocence that was being portrayed on the screen that is appealable to girls and less appealing to boys. We also handed out the posters and digipaks to see whether they thought the image provided on the posters were the same as what the band was portraying in the music video. Previously to the forum I looked at the comments made on the Youtube page where are video is. However, one of the key problems as to having it on YouTube is that unless one searches for the video specifically it will be hard for them to find, especially considering that the song is not that well known; the majority of comments were positive feedback on the editing. Nevertheless, comments on the internet can only give certain feedback to a certain extent and that was why we felt that organising a forum where we were able to personally ask the audience what they thought and what they felt did not work. One comment was that the poster was "too black" and reminded him of "a heavy metal band" rather than a quirky boy band. However, having said that some of the girls understood our meaning behind the darker colours of the posters with the yellow writing because as one said that it connects to "the black behind the members with the yellow writing on the drummer's t-shirt: LOL". The silhouettes and blackness also created a different interpretation of what we intended as they felt that it was "too rock" in comparison to the video. They also felt that the name was good but the other songs on the back of the CD cover did not connect with the name of the track used in the video, 'Baby Loves Me'.

Audience Feedback on Prezi

    One of the main problems that  was discovered after doing the feedback forum was that the digipak, tour poster and band poster did not match with that of the image the band were presenting in the video and advice from the feedback was that we should have "included more humour" into the posters. A significant problem with it was the fact that it was too dark and so the audience were confused as to what genre of band it was representing indicating an oppositional reading to what we were hoping. However, when asking the question: "would you watch it again?" the majority of the class said that they would not because they felt that the video was slightly repetitive and once you had seen it you had seen it all which could have been a cause of the fact that there was a lack of narrative and continuously the same shots are shown. Although, those that said they would watch it again is because they liked watching the band as a band and having fun together, this links to Lazarfeld, Brumler and Katz's theory of uses and gratifications and how the audience feel a personal relationship with the band members. A member in the forum said that "the group of boys look like fun guys that would be easy to get on with" indicating the bond that was created from the video; they identified with the band on a personal level as in a similar way to other groups such as Spice Girls and Take That, there are individual characteristics between the group that the audience are able to recognise. All of this information suggests that the personal relationship Additionally, having the humour meant that audience members were given a DIVERSION from regular life and everyday pressures because "it was just so weird." It was good having the audience forum of a similar age group to what we expected the target audience to be because we could understand whether or not it would appeal to them and from the discussion it was clear that most of the people enjoyed watching the video and found it amusing but would probably not go to see the band in a concert.

Here is a screen grab of a detailed analysis of who exactly is watching our video, which I found available on YouTube:

From it, we can understand that the video is mainly watched in the United Kingdom by older males and teenage girls. It was interesting to know exactly how people found the video because I can imagine if you were not looking for it, then it would be much harder. However, one thing I think helped largely with the viewing audience was the fact that I put it onto my Facebook wall, where my friends in different countries had the ability to watch it and spread the viewing. We have had 300 views in over a month and from these statisitics it is clear that our expectations of the majority of people watching the video would be young adults was proven wrong, as it is clear that a lot of men aged between 55 and 65 also watch our video, which I found particularly interesting.

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

Using the inspiration of Richard Dyer we made sure that our band was portraying the image that we felt would best appeal to our target audience of fans of a pop-indie genre. Dyer believed that A STAR IS AN IMAGE NOT A REAL PERSON THAT IS CONSTRUCTED OUT OF A RANGE OF MATERIALS (e.g: advertising, magazines, films, music). He also allows us as media students to understand the concept of the star image better with the use of opposing powers-they are to seem present but at the same time distant in the fact that the fan can never come in contact with them completely. A second part to Dyer's theory is the ordinary/extraordinary theory when constructing a star. An example is Adele whose music videos and interviews make her seem normal but at the same time the emphasis on her voice is used to highlight the extra-ordinary part of her thus, seperating her from her fans. We used the theory of ordinary/extraodinary to help create our band's image. The 'ordinary' section of the band is shown through their "boyish charm" and regular clothing, we also had them look directly at the camera when performing the close up shots to create a connection with the audience.

Certain aspects are key when creating a band's image and the target audience are fundamental as they allow the producers of the band to determine what exactly they want to be shown.

Boy bands have a certain pop-cheesy quality that appeals to girls and women and so new band One Direction represent that after having been (literally) put together by the judges on X Factor because according to Simon Cowell "they looked good together" is an indication of who they are targeting. Additionally, their music videos are centerd around England, have them all wearing attractive clothing but making sure each one has his own individual style and their music is appealing to their large fanbase of girls. Here is an example of their latest music video: One Thing

Similarly, with our band we wanted to show that they are fun and should not be taken too seriously; we had them do random things in the music video such as drinking water or ringing a bell to show the randomness of the song combined with the obscure sound the band create. However, we wanted to make the emphasis on the music to clarify that they take their music very seriously contrasting to the One Direction music video where none of them play any instruments.

When choosing styling we were aware of who was going to listen and watch our music video and so we wanted to band to wear a similar outfit as a fan would wear; as a group, we chose to have them in beige chinos and a white top with a graphic design on it except for the drummer who we had in a navy blue t-shirt with the word 'LOL' on it in bright yellow lettering. The outfits showed that they were regular guys like those watching the video but the obscure graphic designs on the t-shirts highlight the humorous side to them and goes well with the slightly random music video that we created.

In addition, as is clear from the photo, we also had the band members explore slightly random acts such as (in the photo) playing the drums with a rose. We wanted the band to give off the impression of four guys who all love music but don't take themselves or life too seriously so we kept this in mind when editing and included multiple amounts of the same person in one shot, had the band members change instruments to show that they all get along really well.

TASK 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge form and conventions of real media products?

Draft of digipak

here was our first draft of our digipak: