Music Video Final

This is the final product of my music video. Since the last draft I have made several changes that I feel have made the video look and feel more professional. I feel that overall I have made a music video that conforms to the codes and conventions of the Indie genre and that my target audience will enjoy.

Final Magazine Album Advert

This is my final magazine advert. I edited the main image I used for the draft in Photoshop to make the bottom of the image fade into the black background so that it all looks like its blended together with no sharp outlines. The font I have used is called 'Moon Flower' which I found on dafont.com and is also the text I have used for my digipak as this makes it identifiable and stands out from other albums. I chose to make the album name more vivid than the artists name as in the indie genre, the fans are much more concerned about the music itself rather than the artist. The colour scheme I have chosen is orange and black, as they contrast very well together and also match the colours of the image that I took. I also included a star rating from a well known music magazine, Q, which would reach out to a wider audience base as it is an extremely successful and popular music magazine, and I also included a star rating from a less well known online magazine, Under the Radar. This magazine is specific to the indie genre and therefore will appeal to my target audience as they would recognise that this album belongs to a genre which they typically enjoy. I made sure the album was available on a variety of platforms including iTunes, Vinyl and CD so that a more mass audience would be able to purchase the album on whatever platform suited them best.

Final Digipak

 

 

This is my final Digipak. In creating this Digipak I stuck with my chosen colour scheme - orange and black - to make it recognisable with the magazine album advert, which audiences would easily be able to link together and identify. Taking this recognition a step further, the main image on the album advert is also the cover image for the Digipak. On the inside of the Digipak, the left hand side displays a number of candles placed into a heart formation and on the right hand side is a close up of a candle which signifies a sense of warmth and relaxation that the audience will feel when listening to the album. Also on the inside of the Digipak is a personal message to the supporters and fans from the artist to display his appreciation. It also mentions other people that have contributed to the making of the album and had any participation in the songs. This is a common aspect in Digipaks as it allows any other musician involved in the making of the album to be credited. The back page is simpler than the rest of the Digipak as it is a plain black background with the tracks listed in numerical order. This ensures that the audience is focused on the songs themselves rather than be distracted by other images. To create a professional look to the back of the Digpak, I added a barcode, a record company logo, a serial number and a website which rounded off the realistic look I was aiming to achieve.

Final Evaluation Q1&2

 

 

 

Final Evaluation Q3

Final Evaluation Q4

Draft Magazine Album Advert 3

 

This is what the draft of my magazine album looks like. I have kept the original image that I took while filming my music video, which allows the audience to relate the image to the music video. In order to match the colours of the sunset, I created an Orange swatch on InDesign that contrasted well against the dark background making it capture the attention of an audience. After asking a few classmates for feedback I think I am going to change the placing of the album name, as it is not as vivid as the rest of the text and I think that it needs to stand out a lot more.

Draft Magzine Album Advert

Draft Digipak

This is my digipak draft. At the moment I am not sure what I would like the back cover of the digipak to be, so in the meantime I have left it blank. I have chosen to use the image I took whilst filming as the front cover as it is extremely natural and modest - perfect for an album of the indie genre. I have started to put text on the inside of the album cover which credits other people that have worked on the album. After researching other existing Digipaks I have recognised that they often include a short thank-you message to their fans and supporters. I am going to add this in when continuing to produce and finish the digipak.

Evaluation Q3 Draft

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

 

My audience is very diverse which makes the artist and the song appeal to a wider variety of people. In defining a “typical” primary consumer I would say that they would be approximately aged 15-20 with perhaps more of a female audience. The majority of my target audience is young adults that will most likely be still in full time education or have just started the working life – therefore fitting in the D/E social brackets. However, my secondary target audience aged 20-26 may belong to the C1/C2 bracket with more substantial jobs due to their older age. The younger members of the audience would pursue an understanding of the lyrics by discussing with parents/those in the secondary target audience. Primarily, the music video and song would appeal more to female audience who admire Ed Sheeran and who are more in touch with their sensitive sides and also his ‘attractiveness factor’, however I can imagine that a large proportion of the audience is male due to their admiration of Ed Sheeran as a fellow male singer. As the song is from the Indie genre, the audience is going to be less mainstream and therefore the majority of the listeners will be knowledgeable fans of Ed Sheeran’s work and music prior to the new release. They would most likely be looking to gain a personal relationship with Ed Sheeran by relating heavily and gaining an understanding of his songs and lyrics. They would not like the song due to its popularity but due to the actual music and lyrics and the simplicity of his work.

 

After taking all of the above into careful deliberation, I needed to obtain feedback from my target audience from numerous stages in the production process so that I could continue to create my music video feeling happy with the decisions I was making and the ideas I was coming up with. Furthermore, any improvements or suggestions that they had would help me to appeal to my audience more and create a larger audience base. Gaining feedback was a crucial part of the process as without it I would not have known if my video was accomplishing its purpose.

 

After completing my music video I ensured that I gathered feedback from a mass audience.  This was essential as it allowed me to see what people thought of my finished product to tell if it was successful in achieving its aim and appealing to my target audience. I created a survey using www.surveymonkey.com and posted the link to my blog and also shared the link via email and text with family members and friends. I also posted the link onto Facebook as social networking sites are extremely helpful to get a large amount of people to complete a survey. This meant that after watching my music video they would be able to complete the survey that would help me establish how successful I had been. I included 10 different questions that I was most interested to find out people’s opinions on. As the survey is anonymous, it meant that people could be honest and give me constructive criticism which can be difficult in face to face surveys. The feedback I received was not just from people that most enjoy the indie genre but also from people that prefer other genres like pop and rock. This made the feedback more valid as I was able to gain opinions from a more diverse audience. Additionally, throughout making my video, album advert and Digipak I would ask other class members/teachers their opinion of certain decisions and ideas that I was making to see if it was worth including.

 

I looked closely at the responses that I received on survey monkey to see where I had been successful in some areas and less successful in others. One of the questions I asked “What is the most important thing to you in a music video?” receiving this answer was extremely valuable to me as it would enable me to tell if I had been successful in the aspect which they most enjoyed in a music video.

 

Evaluation Q1 Draft

When I initially started to create my music video, Digipak and magazine advert I wanted to ensure that there was a house scheme running throughout regarding fonts, colours and style. This would make my album easily recognised by consumers that have watched the video or seen the album advert. The three different products each have their own purpose and it was necessary for me to fulfil their purposes in the most successful way possible.

 

The primary purpose of my music video was to provide entertainment that would be found enjoyable by my target audience, and have a visual to match to the lyrics of the song. I feel that I have successfully achieved this aim as my video includes a variety of camera angles/shots, locations and a storyline that will keep them entertained and have their attention for the duration of the video. I wanted to let my audience feel like they had a personal relationship with the performer, therefore I used a large amount of close ups in which the performer made eye contact with the camera which would make the audience feel as if she was looking directly at them, involving them in the video. My target audience typically appreciate videos of a low key that are simple and modest, rather than over the top and exaggerated. I feel that I successfully accomplished this as I kept the performers outfits and make up very minimal and plain, and ensured that the settings weren’t fussy or over-elaborate but were instead relatable and tranquil. Also, by focusing on a narrative instead of a performance, it meant that the focus was on the lyrics themselves rather than the artist – therefore giving the music more credit that than the artist which is a common trait in the Indie genre. The narrative style I used also ensured entertainment from start to finish of the video as the audience would have wanted to come to a conclusion of the story which in my video is the equilibrium of the performer finally saying goodbye to the person she lost.

 

The sole purpose of the magazine advert is to promote the artist and the song in a bid to attract existing fans and also to appeal to people that have either not heard of the artist or who wouldn’t typically buy the album. This would create a wider audience base for the artist, increasing sales and potential buyers for future album releases. In order to maintain the minimalistic appeal that the target audience of the Indie genre appreciate, I decided to take a picture of the sun going down on a field instead of an image of an artist. Again, this maintains the focus on the actual music rather than the artist. The orange colours that were created in the image I took provided me with a colour scheme of orange and black that contrasted really well. Orange would connote cheerfulness and warmth which would provide audiences with a calming feeling and would therefore look to the album as an escapism from the business of everyday life. The main font I used was called ‘Moon Flower’ which I found on the website dafont.com. The font is simplistic however has a quirky edge which is typical of the indie genre and would therefore appeal to my target audience.

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

When concluding the purpose of the digipak, I found that it could be a collector’s item for existing fans, or could just purely be a CD pack. It was essential that I appealed to my target audience to maintain sales however I also wanted to appeal to people who would not typically choose to listen to Ed Sheeran. I used the same colour scheme and fonts as my album advert which made it instantly recognisable to ensure that it stands out in the music industry. For the front cover I used the same image as on my magazine advert which furthers the idea of being identifiable, however I took two different images for the inside of the digipak. The left hand side displays a number of candles placed into a heart formation and on the right hand side is a close up of a candle. In my music video I included shots of candles therefore anyone that has seen the video would be able distinguish the images. The candles represent relaxation and tranquillity which would encourage an audience to purchase the CD due to the calming influence it could bring them. Also on the inside of the Digipak is a personal message to the supporters and fans from the artist which would make them feel loved and appreciated. It also mentions other people that have contributed to the making of the album and had any participation in the songs ensuring that the music is the sole focus of the album.

 

In conclusion, I would say that through using a house style and identifiable themes, my music video links well with my ancillary tasks and fulfil their purpose in attracting and appealing to the audience.

Audience Feedback Results

Here are the results I received from the survey I made gaining feedback from a mass audience. It was crucial to me to gain feedback on my products to see if there was any minor changes I could make that would make the video more successful. As a result of the survey, I added in a few extra shots where the setting is a lot more prominent, and I also found that many members of my audience liked the idea of a narrative in a music video which is what my video is heavily centred around.

Audience Feedback Survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BYNC88Z

I created a Survery on Survey Monkey to recieve feedback from various different people on their opinions and feelings towards my music video and music videos in general. I feel that this is an effective way of gaining feedback as the recipients are anonymous and therefore are a good source to collect results from as it enables them to be completely honest. From the results I will be able to analyse many different people's opinions on music videos to see how successful my magazine would be with them.

Music Video Draft

draft 3 from Tara Wilton on Vimeo.

This is another draft for my music video. I am now a lot closer to my final product as I have incorporated a variety of shots from inside and outside, and have also included close ups, mid shots, long shots and extreme close ups which will keep my audience interested. There are still a few aspects that I would like to change for my final product. For example, I feel that the candle shots on the first chorus last too long and do not match the lyrics of the song (Andrew Goodwin Theory) therefore I am going to take another look through the shots I haven't yet used and decide on one that will look better visually. Furthermore, I feel that the end shot lasts too long as the music takes a while to fade out, so I am going to use the audio fade technique on Premiere Pro to make the music fade in less time so that the song and shot becomes shorter. I am also going to go through each clip individually and ensure that the brightness is at the right level so that the audience get the best visual experience possible.

Evaluation Q2 Draft

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

Certain aspects of my music video conform to the conventions of real media products Jean Baudrillard played an important role in the music video. The process of stimulation requires something to be presented without actually showing the real thing. The song ‘Autumn Leaves’ connotes the loss of a loved one, and in the music video, this loss is through their death. While the audience never visually experiences the death, it becomes evident to them through a range of signs. There is a scene where the performer writes a message on a white balloon, with the words ‘I miss you’ which is shown through a close up. The white colour of the balloon connotes purity and innocence which could perhaps represent heaven and peace – close links with the theme of death. Some theories by Jameson are also significant in my music video, most specifically intertextuality. The black and white effect throughout the video links directly to another Ed Sheeran music video 'The A Team'. In this video, a young girl becomes homeless and addicted to drugs, eventually dying. The music video for Autumn Leaves could perhaps accentuate the story of the girl from ‘The A Team’ best friend who is struggling to come to terms with the sudden loss.

When researching into the Indie genre I discovered that there is a reoccurring theme of when it comes to setting. The music videos tend to be set in basic and minimalistic areas, quite commonly outside or at a live concert. This way the chief focus is on the individual artists as performers doing what they love to do. It also keeps the concentration on the actual music itself and the talent that they are showcasing. This is very distinctive in the indie/rock genre as the genre itself stemmed from the passion that people have to perform and play rather than the extravagant details that can be seen in other genres which revolve around the success that comes with the music. A contemporary twist in indie music videos is to include a narrative in-between these shots to break up the music video and give it a story for the reader. Also there is more room to play around with the video if a narrative is included which makes it a popular technique for various artists. I thus decided to adapt this convention in making my own music video. Therefore I incorporated a range of flashbacks in-between the other shots, making it an episodic narrative, as I feel that this enabled the audience to see the performer’s relationship with the person that’s passed away to evoke sympathy from them. Andrew Goodwin’s theory states that the lyrics should match the visual so I will ensure that I achieve this by having the performance on screen toning the lyrics.

In order to follow the conventions of a successful music video, it was necessary to ensure that I used the most effective aspects for my video when addressing camera and editing. This was a significant part of aiming to make my video as professional and realistic as possible. When approaching what camera shots would be most beneficial in my music video, it was important that I acknowledged the wide variety of shots and angles that were available for me to use. For example, I shot the same scene numerous times using a different shot and angle each time, then using the digital viewfinder on the camera I could conclude which shot and angle worked best for each scene. The shot that was most used and effective in my music video was a close up. This enabled the audience to experience the emotion from the performer and therefore develop a personal relationship through the eye contact with the camera. In terms of editing, It could be argued that intertextuality is present in the video which is a concept developed by Jameson. The black and white effect throughout the video links directly to another Ed Sheeran music video 'the a team'. In this video, a young girl becomes homeless and addicted to drugs, eventually dying. The music video for Autumn Leaves could perhaps accentuate the story of the girl from the A team's best friend who is struggling to come to terms with the sudden loss. This would capture the attention of existing Ed Sheeran fans that have seen both videos and therefore further establish their loyalty as fans.

In my magazine advert, I was able to make use of the conventions that have become familiar to me as a consumer and as a media student. The target audience of my video is aged 15-20 which I am part of and I have therefore been able to include aspects that I know will be successful with my target audience. Social networking and the internet have become increasingly significant in the lives of my primary target audience, and therefore including a website and a twitter reference would appeal to them and enable existing fans to take their relationship with the artist a step further. Placing star ratings and comments from existing sources that the target audience would likely recognise would increase the motivation and interest from the audience to purchase the album as they would trust the sources. After researching real life media products I was able to understand and acknowledge the relation between the video and the magazine advert. This is used to make the album identifiable and display the same feel and theme to the audience. I adapted this convention when creating my own magazine advert by taking a photo for the main image in one of the same locations that I shot my video in, that also appears at the end of the video. This demonstrates a clear link between the advert and the video which the audience will be able to recognise. The fonts and colour scheme that I have used on the advert is the same as I have used on the digpak which hence creates a house style and furthers the ability for the audience to identify the relationship between the video and the advert.

My digipak is very similar to my magazine advert as it further develops the house style making it distinguishable. I used the same font, “moon flower” with the same colour swatch. On the cover I used the same image as my magazine advert which expands the idea of being identifiable. On the inside of the Digipak, the left hand side displays a number of candles placed into a heart formation and on the right hand side is a close up of a candle. In my music video I included shots of candles therefore anyone that has seen the video would be able to recognise the images. Also on the inside of the Digipak is a personal message to the supporters and fans from the artist to display his appreciation for me. It also mentions other people that have contributed to the making of the album and had any participation in the songs. This is a common aspect in Digipaks as it allows any other musician involved in the making of the album to be credited. The back page is simpler than the rest of the Digipak as it is a plain black background with the tracks listed in numerical order. This ensures that the audience is focused on the songs themselves rather than be distracted by other images. To create a professional look to the back of the Digpak, I added a barcode, a record company logo, a serial number and a website which rounded off the realistic look I was aiming to achieve. Overall, my Digipak follows conventions of real life Digipaks and therefore creates a professional feel to my product.

Evaluation Q4 Draft

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

Since the beginning of the year, technology has played an extremely significant role in creating the three separate tasks we were given. We were asked to create a blog on www.blogger.com which would display a variety of posts including all the stages in our construction, research, planning and evaluation. Having created a similar blog for the foundation portfolio, I was able to use the site easily and effectively. It was necessary that we incorporated a wide range of multimedia to showcase the different stages rather than just a simple essay format. For example, I used features such as Prezi, YouTube, Scribd and PowerPoint. Prezi is a site that allows you to create an interactive presentation which is much more atheistically pleasing that the basic PowerPoint due to the variety of abstract layouts available to use, so I found it effective to use to exhibit some posts. I used YouTube to incorporate videos I had made on Adobe Premiere Pro and also to post recordings of myself explaining what I had achieved in that week.

As well as using these multimedia features, I occasionally would post a production diary log simply as just plain text. Although this is not as enjoyable to look at, I found that this was probably the best way for me to be able to explain clearly what I had worked on and developed in my three tasks for that week. When posting certain tasks, I found PowerPoint to be most useful if I required a lot of space to write and include images, as the space available on Prezi is quite limited.

Using the internet allowed me to research in detail what information I would need for each post that we were required to create leading up to the making of our video. The search engine Google allowed me to access an extensive amount of information on the music industry and my chosen artist, song and genre in detail.

To shoot my music video for the advanced portfolio I used a Canon SLR 600D camera. My aim was to create a high quality, professional product which the camera enabled me to do. I was able to develop my camera skills in the advanced portfolio as I used the manual setting instead of the automatic. Using manual settings allowed me to edit them depending on the location or lighting that I was capturing. A few of the scenes that I shot were at night time when it was dark, with the only light coming from fairy lights and candles. Here, I was able to use the ISO setting on the camera which captured the scenes in a high quality and increased the visibility of the performer. Also, I used a prime aperture lens of 1.8mm in these conditions as it is more suitable to lower levels of light. Similarly to my foundation portfolio I was able to use the digital viewfinder to watch back clips immediately and see if anything needed adjusting that I could instantly recreate.

In creating my advanced portfolio I was introduced to a new software that I hadn’t used before. Adobe Premiere was the software required to edit my music video and make it all come together. It required me to work with moving image on a continuous timeline. Being completely new to the programme, I relied heavily on video tutorials to guide me through making the footage the best quality I could. I uploaded all the footage that I had recorded to the software and created layers for each take, as there were some close up shots some mid shots and some high angle shots. After removing and deleting some of these shots, I merged them together onto one layer so that the video could be played uninterruptedly. Additionally, Adobe Premiere includes a selection of tools that can be used to add effects to the video. I used the black/white effect to transform my video into greyscale. Having recorded some of the clips without a tripod, some of them were reasonably shaky and hard to watch. Using the speed tool and the warp stabiliser I was able to steady these shots and therefore include them in my video.