My media product uses many different influences and also challenges some forms of conventions from the genre of Alternative/ Indie music. One main convention i thought it quite important to stick with was the use of lip synching throughout my music video. Through watching numerous other music videos, i found that lip syncing really gave the video its attachment to the song, and showed a strong relationship between the two, and so it was vital i used this technique.
Similarly, i used performance shots of guitar playing, synched with the song, to further develop the relationship between song and video, after seeing many bands from the genre of music as my own doing the same, and i thought this was an important convention to keep.
I also used a narrative in the form of a chase sequence, and thought this would be the perfect way to mix visual stimulus to my song as the nature of a chase sequence is fast paced, and so is the song, so it was important to keep the two at the same pace to strengthen the link between both of them.
I challenged the conventions of an Alternative/ Indie video in the way that i did not include the faces of any band members. Bands such as Oasis and Kasabian regularly appear in their music videos, however, i thought this was not an important factor in making a good music video, and is simply a ploy used to increase the bands exposure and alter their image accordingly.
In terms of my album cover, i went very strongly with the conventions of bands of the same genre, and chose to include a picture of the whole band, looking straight at the camera, something regularly done by the two previously mentioned bands, Oasis and Kasabian. I feel this is a good way of making an album cover, as it gives the audience the chance to see and relate to, the band who have made the music that they are going to listen to.Question 2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
My main product and ancillary texts have little to link them together. This is because for my advertisement i wanted to include pictures that made it look like the band were performing the song at a gig to make them seem much sought after, so that people would be more interested in getting the latest single, and also, it gave people an opportunity from the advert to see the band members they would be buying the music from.
However, the album cover and music video are linked in a subtle way. The music video sees a man being chased and jumping into a car to get away from his persuer, and the album cover includes the band being lit up by car headlights in a tunnel. This could be linked by the audience as where the escapee went to, and is a subtle hint at a continuing storyline, perhaps for the next music video, and a re ocurring theme to happen. Also, the male singing in the music video is the lead singer of the band, although u can not see his whole face to keep him hidden and un identifiable. These subtle hints at links will keep fans of the band and genre guessing, and is a generally good thing to do, as it can sometimes result in forums dedicated to trying to find hidden links and meanings in the song, therefore increasing its lasting appeal amongst the hardcore fans.
Having an ancillary text showing performances and not infact linking much to the music video itself still provides a good combination, as you can see what the band are like in real life through the advert, and what theyre music is trying to portray throught the music video.
Question 3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
The audience feedback gave me a chance to reflect on my overall production and enabled me to view it from their perspectives, which is hard to do when you are on the other end, making the production.
The feedback from my music video was mostly positive, they enjoyed the chase sequence and fast paced action of the narrative, however, a large group of people felt they wanted more information given for the reasons to the chase and the build up to it, rather than going straight into it. consequently i have learned to think more about the fact that the audience knows nothing from the start, and so have to be almost "spoon fed" the information to enable them to properly enjoy the music video. I have also learned that chosing to keep the video the same pace as the music was a good choice, as it was very popular.
Another criticism received was that the scenes where guitar is being played and there is lip syncing have very boring backdrops, something i was not actively thinking of at the time of filming. I must take the lesson from this and always remember to think about my backgrounds when filming in future, as a background can be just as important and thought about as what is in the foreground, and have just as much meaning to it.
In terms of my ancillary texts, the audience liked the headlights effect and the idea that the bands shadows were cast on the back of the EP cover, however, alot of people said that it was boring to just have the band with normal clothes on looking down the camera lens. My idea for the front cover was that the band not dress up or do anything fancy, as they are not trying to put on a fake persona, they simply want to be who they are and be judged by their music, and what you see is what you get, however, i have learned that the majority of audiences want something less boring, and will not always look for a hidden meaning unless it is obvious that there is one, and so i have learned that i should have made the meaning of the band being plain clothed more obvious, perhaps dressing in rags to exagerate the point.
The magazine advert was received well, however people generally were not that impressed with the colour scheme, and did not fully understand what the pictures were meant to be. This has taught me that in terms of my design i need to look at colour schemes much more closely, as i did not originally pay them that much attention, and i need to develop my skills of looking at my work from the audience's perspective, as i do not initially see that the pictures can not be easily understood.
Question 4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
In researching, i used the internet, the largest database in the world, to fill my head with ideas on how to approach my media product. YouTube provided me with everything i needed when researching existing media procucts in the way of music videos, and so i was able to watch what i needed, when i needed it which was extremely helpful. Screen grabbing enabled me to present pictures of the things i was talking about. Also, to enable me to put my work on to blogspot, i used an Acer scanner.
To film my video, i used a Sony Mini DV camera, with a tripod, which was a simple, very effective set up, that enabled me to get some truly excellent shots. I was never dissapointed with what i acheived whilst filming, and occasionally pleasently surprised. Mini DV tapes were used to record the filming.
When it came to putting together what i had filmed and editing, i used a program called Final Cut Pro, in which i had to log and capture my clips off the Mini DV tape into a digital format to enable me to be able to edit it all on Final Cut Pro on an Apple Mac PC.I found Final Cut Pro to be an excellent program to use, easy to grasp, and it could make anyone look like a proffessional movie maker. Also, the Apple Mac PC was very user friendly and easy to navigate.
To create my ancillary texts, i used PhotoShop, which i found was actually quite difficult to use if you are new to it and wasnt that impressed with, it felt like i needed to take a degree in learning the program first before i could get close to understanding how to use it properly.
To get all of my research, planning, production and evaluation produced in an easy to read format, i used Blogspot, which i found to be very easy to use and simple for non regular users to pick up and get going on. One issue that did arise was the uploading of photos, which sometimes can be rather troublesome, with the "server rejected" error appearing frequently whilest i was working from home, however, overall, it was excellent.
