Stephen - Music Video Evaluation

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

The song which our music video is based upon is a Rock song by an American artist; Butch Walker. When simplified, I personally felt the song had reflections of his home countries history embedded in the lyrics, rising from the "desert night" to the modern developed cities, such as Vegas, specifically chosen to be represented in the video due to the references of spike haired preachers and Elvis in the lyrics. Our chosen artist is a Rock artist, and therefore we decided to maintain the standard of rock videos, of having a performance based video, with the precedent being set by bands such as U2 and Metallica. I also wanted to attempt to illustrate the progression of time through the video and therefore placed it during a complete daylight cycle. We used the green screen to allow us to perform in locations which we would of never had access to during the project. To add some extra meaning and interest to our video, we wished to combine the performance which is a staple of Rock Music videos with an extra dimension of 3D animations.

As a performance video, we required a band, all of whom were portrayed by Stuart, each with their instruments and parts, The different band members also wore separate costumes, of course in the case of rock bands, the costumes do not tend to be elaborate, we also wanted to explore the interactions between the band members, however this was not possible.

Using the green screen we were able to project our performance onto our background. We were quite adventurous with the camera, however this caused problems of it's own. Many of our shots were inspired by Take me to your Heart by Rick Astley, with the hand-held camera work and the kind of close in shots. Ideally we would of explored greater movement as in Vertigo by U2, where we only used level band shots as such, due to not having the budget for a helicopter.

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

We tried to keep our visuals unique, but also consistent and compatible between the music video and ancillary texts. To allow a identity to be shared between them rather than being easily separated. We opted to keep the material simple, and therefore decided to combine the band with existing footage. It was simple to rearrange the scene, due to the green screen, as we wanted to keep the band together, due to the video being a performance video, therefore we used footage from the music video, we opted that the digipak and the magazine advert should not be abstracted and should be based off the video. We broke this rule partially when we parodied the Abbey Road cover however we took photos specifically for this purpose to allow the band members to be coherent despite it not actually being the video and also so the physical expression would be consistent across the band.

What have your learned from your audience feedback?

During the rough cut feedback, our video was not suitably completed to allow proper feedback to be relevant. Largely this early feedback was that the performance was strong but the video very much unfinished. In fact we did not see the final product until after the final export.

Our roughcut was a lot more useful internally than as allowing audience feedback, as it highlighted many issues with the video at this early stage, which we fixed. Most of the external feedback was to finish the video, however the roughcut allowed us to address any obvious issues.

There is a fairly universal feeling now that the deadline is long past that the video could of been far better with a little extra time, that the performance is solid but the implementation is lacking, rather than focusing on individual flaws it is accepted that there are many visual problems in the video. However the video has taught me not to rely on others where possible, as this meant that the background was left unrendered and therefore is not fluidly animated, as only a few frames were used in the video.

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

Obviously throughout the project, there has been a heavy focus on technology, especially in the construction. While the internet was a great resource for research and planning, we used a lot of resources to create our video. Regardless of what we were working on, I would comfortably manage to slow our up-to-date computers to a crawl. We were able to expriment with many effects in Final Cut, Photoshop and finally modo. These are all digital in nature but play a massive part in our project, however are also time-consuming as they require heavy number crunching.

The background for instance was entirely created in Modo. In 3D digital modelling you create a surface which represents a volume as in reality, such as creating a cube which would have no internals, or volume for instance but would represent that. I also used Photoshop as a supporting role in this, to create textures, and photoshop was the tool used to create the ancillary texts. In Final Cut we made heavy use of the Chroma key to allow us to cut out the performance to allow it to be composited.

We had various cameras which were used for filming, between us we owned 3 digital cameras, as well as a camera which was borrowed from the college. This allowed us to film a single performance from multiple angles.

We also made use of sites such as Facebook to collaborate.

Music Video Evaluation- Helena

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

Our product uses, develops and challenges conventions of real media products by creating links between the lyrics and visuals; like Andrew Goodwin says in his book “Dancing in the Distraction Factory” (Routledge 1992) music lyrics will have some relevance with the visuals. We achieved this by having the background as a desert in the night time which gradually turns into day time, when the singer says begins the song with the line “And the sky is falling on a summer desert night” which is illustrated in our video. Also in the 3^rd verse the singer mentions celebrities in Vegas; therefore we had chosen to have a Vegas like background on our product.

Our song comes under the genre of Rock, so a record company producing records for bands similar to ours, would expect the artists to be represented in a ‘rocky’ manner, we achieved this through the costumes our performer was wearing e.g. the head scarf. Many rock music videos have shots of all the band members playing altogether at some point in the video, in the chorus of our project we had all the band members playing and singing together.

We used various inter-textual references; one of them being the music video ‘Vertigo’ by U2 (2004), this music video gave us the idea to have a desert in the background, as it does the same thing in their music video visuals. Another example was by Rick Astley ‘Take Me To Your Heart’ in 1988, where he takes role as singer, camera man and mimes some lines of the female backing singers this gave us the idea to have Stuart playing as every member of the band.

The camera shots we used were varied, like in the Rick Astley video there are sections of it which are filmed with the camera hand held, we also achieved this technique, like for example with the outside shots. We also had low angle shots and mid-shots, we used varied shots to keep the audience interested.

Our mise-en-scene consists of instruments and costumes, they are important because the audience has to be able to tell and see the difference between the 4 different characters. During our planning time we watched a couple of music videos to give us ideas on what to include on our product. One of the music videos we watched was ‘The Masterplan’ by Oasis (1995), it consists of 3D animation to give the illusion of a 3D environment, and this gave us the idea to create ourselves some 3D backgrounds. Also we watched ‘I Disappear’ by Metallica (2000), where it has full band member shots; like in our project we did this for the chorus.

For the Digipak we looked various examples, most of which had all of the band members in the front cover e.g. Queen- Greatest Hits. The front cover of our digipak has a picture of all the members with one of our 3D backgrounds. Also we did a parody of the Abbey Road album by The Beatles. Magazines typically use persuasive/informative language e.g. ‘Out now’ we also tried to use this type of language our on magazine advert, we achieved this by having a review quote and an album summary.

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

The reason why each panel of our digipak is slightly different is because we wanted to achieve a sense of individuality, but keeping with the four band member concept. One way we combined our ancillary text with our product was by having screen captures from the video on the digipak, so that it links together, also for the magazine advert and the front cover of the digipak we had the four members of the band standing on the 3D Vegas background, we did this because we wanted to maintain the brand identity. For the track list on the digipak we used the night desert picture as the background, we did this because it has a connection with the video, it being a “Summer Desert Night”. The panel with the Abbey Road parody also shows the four members of the band, which in some way pays honor to what can be considered one of the best album covers of all time. The panel which consists of a silhouetted version of the four members was to show the difference the band members without colours. There are two disc trays because we wanted to have a CD with all the music tracks and one with just the video.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

The feedback from the class on the rough cut said that it was in an unfinished state with the green screen background incomplete; however the class commented that Stuart gave strong performances. The teacher’s feedback on this was that we had unique 3d background ideas, and the idea of having the same person playing as all members of the band worked well. In consequence of the feedback we continued working on the backgrounds, and finalizing the effects e.g. Chroma Key.

The overall feedback on the blog was that the posts were detailed, good research ideas on the digipak and good Photoshop work. The things we needed to improve on the blog according to the feedback would be to have a post with information on what’s on disc 2, also we need to cut down the length of the posts, as some are too lengthy, and make another post, to increase the number of posts on out blog.

The feedback we received regarding out digipak was that the visuals worked well, the Photoshop work was good and that it had the band details. The areas we would need to improve on would be some information on what’s on disc 2, and to stick to a theme.

The feedback on the magazine advert was that we had good attention to details, the landscape layout was also praised and that we had a good amount of information. However we also received comments that it was possibly a little plain and that the theme might not have fitted in too well.

The feedback we received from our final product was that the idea of using a green screen was good, the effects were good and that we had a good range of camera shots. The feedback also mentioned that the drums were out of sync and that we needed to work more on sharpening out green screen effects.

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

We filmed using a Canon MD205 camera both for our video and documentary, which then was uploaded on the Apple Mac. We used Facebook to talk to each other to plan things for the next lesson, we also used Twitter, Facebook and Myspace to try to contact Butch Walker (The artist of our song) which unfortunately up-to-date we have received no reply. In addition we used YouTube to look at other music video examples to gives ideas on our piece. The programs we used to make the piece were, Photoshop for picture editing (Magazine and Digipak), Final Cut for composing and editing the project and Modo to do the 3d backgrounds.

Frazer Cowell - Evaluation

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

In our Music Video, we created links between the lyrics and the visuals. An example of this is with the backgrounds we made for use with the Green Screen; the lyric “Summer Desert Night” – And the verse it is in – has a background of a desert at night time.

Record Companies dealing with music form the Rock Genre often want the performers to look the part – look “Rocky”. To fit this, we made the band members wear certain items of clothing. For example, the guitarist wore black gloves and a head scarf.

Rock Videos often show the full band multiple times. In the chorus sections of our song we had all four band members on show. The song is also part of the “Indie” genre; full band shots are often part of music videos for songs in the Indie genre.

In our Digipak we made reference to the famous Abbey Road album cover, by The Beatles. We used this parody for the Back cover of the Digipak.

When filming, because we needed to shoot the same angles and shots for all four band members, we used multiple cameras that were all recording at the same time. This reduced the time needed to shoot as we could get three shots with one take.

Good Mise-En-Scene was necessary to create a clear difference between each of the four band members, since we had the same one performer acting all four roles. Although the use of a microphone and instruments played a big part in showing this difference in character, the use of costume was also important. Because of this, we made all of the band members wear different shirts and jackets. For example, the bassist wore a blue shirt with white text on it whereas the Guitarist wore a cream coloured shirt.

We watched existing music videos to gain inspiration and ideas for our own video. “The Masterplan” by Oasis (Released October 1995) sparked our idea about 3D backgrounds. The song “Vertigo” by U2 (Released 8th November 2004) is in a wide desert setting - we wanted to create a desert scene similar to the one in this U2 video. Sections from the Rick Astley video “Take Me to Your Heart” (Released 1988) uses handheld shots well and gave us the idea to try out these kinds of shots ourselves. The same Rick Astley video also has clips of Astley operating a camera and miming a few lines sang by female backing singers. This gave us the idea of having the same performer for all four band members.

The Album cover to various Wet Wet Wet albums, Queen’s Greatest Hits, as well as numerous other album covers, features all of the band members on the front. With our Album cover we, too, had all of the band members on show. We also parodied the Abbey Road cover, as mentioned earlier.

With our Magazine Advert, we tried to relate it to our digipak design to create brand identity. We did this by using the same image on the Magazine Advert as we did for our Digipak, just with a few alterations – moving the position of the band members is an example of an alteration. We also added the typical details on a Magazine Advert: Album summary, review and the “Out Now” text.

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

When making our Digipak design we wanted it to link in with the video itself. We did this by making sure the four band members, in their costumes, we visible multiple times; Front, Back and on the inside. We also used the 3D backgrounds we made.

Every panel in our Digipak is different to the others because we wanted to create a sense of individuality, but keeping with the four band member concept used in the video.

The front cover itself uses a 3D background used in the video with the four band members, in costume, in the scenery. The Abbey Road parody, used as the back cover of our Digipak, also shows all four band members while paying homage to what can be considered, by many, to be one of the best album covers of all time.

The use of a 3D background on the track list references the “Summer Desert Night” scene from the video.

The panel which consists of the four band members silhouetted was used in our final Digipak design because it is another way to show the difference between the band members without the use of colours.

The two panels behind the two disc spaces are from a screenshot of our final video.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Feedback from both our Class and the Teacher about the Roughcut mostly stated that the Green Screen effects needed to be put in place, since our Rough Cut did not include this. Although, we were praised about Stu, our performer, giving a very strong performance.

In response to this feedback we continued to work on the effects, in particular the Green Screening, while also trying to focus on some of Stu’s stronger performances.

The Class Feedback for the final video continues to praise the strong performance from Stu. We have also been told that we have used a good range of camera shots & angles, which help to maintain internet in the video, and that the 3D backgrounds are well made.

Although them being well made, Feedback from our teacher mentioned that the 3D backgrounds may have worked to a greater extent if they had a major dynamic form about them – if they all had little movements and animations to avoid static backgrounds.

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

We used Facebook for feedback purposes, as well as easy communication between each member of the group. Facebook, Myspace and Twitter were all used to contact Butch Walker. However, we never got any responses, unfortunately.

The website “Youtube” was used by us so we could watch other music videos and to gain inspiration and spark ideas.

We filmed our footage, for both the Music Video and the Documentary Video, using a Canon MD205 camera with this footage then being uploaded to the Apple Mac computer after filming sessions.

For editing, the program Final Cut Express was used, with Photoshop being used for the Digipak and Magazine advert. The Chroma Key effect is the tool used in Final Cut Express to cut out the GreenScreen backdrop.

Stuart's Evaluation

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

Our music video and products linked to the music we selected in many ways. Our green screen work was based in the lyrics, with backgrounds coming from mentioned locations. For example, the first line mentions a “Summer Desert Night”, so this was our first background. Our video is also linked to the style of our video. The indie rock style of the song is more suited to a performance video over a concept video.

The green screening in our video limited the lighting we could use. Obviously, our video backgrounds had a particular lighting, and so when filming we had to match the light to the scene, as well as limiting shadows on the green screen.

We attempted to show generalisations of band members with their costume. Our guitarist was given a headband, outlandish hair and gloves to tie in with a glam rock style. Our singer played with his hair, suggesting vanity often linked with a frontman.

Our video links to many other videos of recent years. The idea that we would have all 4 band members as the same person was influenced by Rick Astley’s “Take Me To Your Heart”, in which Astley is shown performing in, filming and directing his own music video.

Our backgrounds were inspired by several different videos. Metallica’s
“I Disappear” shows the band playing in a desert setting, with cutaways linking to the lyrics. “Vertigo”, a U2 video, shows the band in a desert, playing whilst many different visual effects are used around them.

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

Our digipack was obviously influenced by the famous “Abbey Road EP”, as is shown by the parody of the scene. This album cover is widely regarded as one of the best ever, so our reference to this pays homage to album covers.

Our magazine advert is typical of any album advert for a music video. Standard conventions of a video advert, such as release date, reviews and tracks from the album are included around a central image of the band.

We attempted to make sure our ancillary texts were as similar to the video as possible. Screen caps of the background from the video were used to relate to the video, and photographs of the band had them in the same costumes. The name and the band name sign were taken straight from the video.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Feedback from our teacher led to a re-rendering of our video backgrounds. Steve thought that the backgrounds we had made would be more active, and so re-rendering them moved us from a single frame per verse to several.

Class feedback for the rough cut was of limited use, although this was mostly due to the unfinished nature of the video. As all our footage was not green screened at this point, most of the feed back was on this, although we also received comments on a strong performance and good lip syncing.

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

Facebook and MySpace helped with the distribution and feedback of our video, as all the people I know can comment. Final Cut’s Chroma Keyer tool was instrumental in our video, and was the most widely used too.

Documentary Planning

Welcome Post

Welcome to the Blog of Q3-54. May I point you to the label cloud to the right for any specific subject you wish to peruse, otherwise just browse the blog as shown below.

Documentary Background

While away over the weekend and only arriving back later on Monday, therefore I am going to miss the lesson, I was inspired by interviews which appear on Sports programs and those on various documentaries, and subsequently made a potential background for our music video making-of-documentary.

We will simply place the music video in a sequence and keyframe the music video where were want to scale and skew to fit in the selected area. Than we edit the values of the areas where we do want to use background and the rest of the video should remain with the music video in fullscreen. As we have already done with the rest of the video containing Stuart, we will Chroma-key him, therefore removing the green screen and super impose him in his chair over the top of it. With a suitable space for him to be sitting on the left. I can re-render this as is appropriate if the footage needs it, however I don't think it will.