Evaluation (Four).

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

The main media technologies used throughout my coursework were Final Cut Pro, Garage Band, Blogger, YouTube and iTunes.

When researching my target audience I used iTunes to identify different artists of a similar genre, and discovered what consumers frequently bought. When I looked at Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People, I found that people commonly bought music by other artists such as Gotye and Cage the Elephant, both artists who influenced me when creating the song an both artists that supported the genre.

The main media technology I used was Blogger. Blogger enabled me to record my ideas as they came to me, and to post important research as well as my print productions. Blogger is highly useful as everything is kept in one place, and is incredibly easy to access. You can also comment on your own posts and receive important feedback from other users, as well as label each post and file it to keep everything easy to follow.

I used Garage Band to create and record the song. Garage Band is incredibly easy to follow, and has a wide range of sound effects that can be easily applied to your song. The whole process of using Garage Band on the Macs allowed me to become familiar with the Apple Macs, and increased my confidence in using basic editing tools – I feel this prepared me for using Final Cut Pro.

Final Cut Pro was used to create the final edit of my music video, and was straight forward in creating a basic video. The editing between cuts within my video are actually very basic, as I only had a few days to create the entire video. Final Cut allowed me to enhance the colour within the video; I used RGB balance to create more intense blues and greens in order to get a more ‘vintage film style’ image. I also used a tool to create a dark blur around the corners of the screen, once again to enhance the vintage style. Another key tool I used on Final Cut was the tool to both speed up and reverse clips, these were used on the ‘home movie style’ shot in which the sequence was fast paced and imperfect.  

Photoshop CS5 was used on my print productions. I’ve got Photoshop on my laptop at home so I was able to use it with ease, and without any complications. I used Photoshop to adjust levels of contrast and to also adjust colour. For my digipak I actually dulled the colours slightly in order to create a certain subtlety, as well as applying the text. On my magazine advertisement I adjusted the colour balance to give it a more tea stained hue and to make it look weathered, again I adjusted the contrast balance to highlight the darker tones and create more contrast within the print. I also used it to apply the text and ‘burned’ the edges to create more tonal variation.

Lastly YouTube was used to publish the finished video, and release it to the public audience. YouTube is a great way to record and analyse how many people are interested in your video, what they think of it and how frequently it’s being viewed on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. Other users are able to comment on your videos and offer useful feedback, whether it’s praise or constructive criticism.

Over all a variety of technologies were used to plan, create and publish all three of my productions. Each offered a uniqueness that inspired my productions, and offered the appropriate tools to create variation and diversity. Technology enabled me to enhance some of my hand made products – especially the digipak and the magazine advertisement – without Photoshop I wouldn’t have been able to tweak colour and apply text creating a more professional outcome.    

Evaluation (Three).

What have you learned from your audience feedback?


While I understand the importance of gaining audience feedback, I unfortunately was unable to obtain any due to timing issues during the project change. While I lack actual feedback from a target audience, I was able to research what consumers purchased based on similar genres to my own via iTunes. This gave me a little more insight into what target audience I was promoting to and the themes that were prevalent in similar products. 

Evaluation (Two).

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

After completing my video I set about creating the advertisement and the digipak for the release of the EP. I felt that an important aspect of the marketing of an artist is the recognisability, and ease of identification among the audience. I therefore decided to create not only a visual link between my three productions, but maintain a theme with them.

As you will see there is a strong link between the EP cover and the magazine advertisement, as I’ve used the same image on both of them. The image is of a male figure, profiled from the shoulders up, looking down to the ground. This image was taken from my art sketchbook, one painted and one mono printed, and I applied it to both of the print productions. This recurring image will be memorised by the consumers, and therefore identified and associated with the artist; meaning this will become the artist’s sort of ‘logo’. The way in which the print productions are connected with the video itself, are a little more subtle. One connection is the use of a male figure in both advertisement and the video, as the song is about a male character named Justin; this links all three together regarding subject matter, and creates ‘a world’ that surrounds the release of the song. Another recurring theme within the three productions is the sheer sense of isolation, all three feature just one character and his withdrawal from the world; again making the release recognisable by its theme.

The three productions come together to create a kind of ‘movement’ as it were, a sort of campaign that highlights isolation and self destruction. However, this doesn’t represent the artist; it purely creates attention surrounding the song – almost how advertisement creates buzz around a film release and not the director. This creates a sense of mystery that obscures the artist, and will hopefully cause the audience to be primarily interested in the production, and then become highly intrigued by the artist – bringing about recognition in a slightly new way.

Another key aspect that linked the productions was the use of text. Using a consistent font across all productions creates familiarity among the audience, and connects the audience to any advertisement to the unsigned artist. Familiarity is key in creating a successful artist; if an unsigned artist continuously changed their style committed fans wouldn’t be able to keep up. Although it may seem basic and unimportant, text is one of the key visual formats that keeps things recognisable and easy to identify. I utilised this and maintained a constant font that spread across both of my print productions, this kept it not only simple and easy to follow, but easy to recognise and identify with the artist.

Overall, I feel I’ve been successful in creating a continuous theme throughout all three of my productions. Visually there is an evident connection, especially with my print productions, and I feel consumers will easily be able to identify and access the visual themes. However, the link between the print productions and the music video are not so obvious in a visual sense, but more in a theoretical sense. The audience needs to think about the actual message and theme within the song and the productions, in order to identify a recurring theme of isolation and self destruction. I felt this is actually a really positive aspect, as the information isn’t being fed directly into the audience’s mind, it needs to be reflected upon and thought about in more ways than one; everyone can find a personal connection to this production. 

Evaluation (One).

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

As the genre of my chosen song is indie/rock, it made sense to compare it with other songs of a similar genre. The way in which the video was shot and cut was suited to the tempo and the general feel of the song, obviously making it different to a video of another genre. I also studied the subtle conventions prevalent within this genre, mystery and despair as well as alcohol and drug usage - indie/rock is quite a rustic, unpolished genre in it's themes, look and lyrical content.

Regarding the content and chronological ordering it's fairly 'random', though many visual elements closely represent the lyrical values of the song. It's tempo and pace of editing closely resembles other videos of a similar genre, keeping it entertaining and fresh with the little content I had. This stlye of editing and the content of the video help to create a sense of unknowing and unpredictability, conforming to and complementing the genre. One feature of Foster the People's video for Pumped Up Kicks that I really admired is the colour correction on all of the shots, the black tones within the images are given a blueish hazy hue - making it look weathered and giving it a sunwashed vintage feel. As my song is of a similar genre, I felt it was appropriate to take this element and apply it to my own video.

One theory that I refered to was Goodwin's theory of music videos which analyses the following aspects of a music video:

Relationship between the lyrics and the visuals.

This is where there's a link between the lyrics of the song and the visual content of the video in order to illustrate, contradict or amplify one another. When planning for my video I highlighted certain lines within the song that I felt were key to represent, I then decided on how to illustrate these lines visually. Two lines in particular were "Future's in a whisky bottle...", accompanied by a shot of the character picking up a whisky bottle, and "daddy owns a lake house..." in which we see the character looking at pictures of his lakehouse. Although I'm happy with how the shots look regarding composition and colour, when coupled with the music it seems a bit obvious and cliché. Another example that I'm happier with is the opening line "Justin's just your architypal...", upon this line there is an establishing shot of our character - introducing him simultanioulsy within the lyrics and within the video.    

Relationship between the music and the visuals.

This is where there's an obvious link between the music itself and the visuals/editing within the video. I knew from the beginning that I wanted cuts between shots to be simple and abrupt in order to mirror the style of the song, and obviously upon beginning the editing I was able to synch these cuts to significant beats within the song. I sometimes cut on a heavy guitar strum or one of the more prominent drum beats, this created not only structure for the video but also helped us awkwardly flow with the music and the events within the video. There are parts of the chorus where there are two drum beats in very quick succession, I highlighted and amplified these by adding two very fast jump cuts on the specific beats - this aims to engage the viewer and keep the video visually interesting. In one case I applied a fade-in frame between two separate shots, very quickly fading to black and then into the new shot (1.30 - 1.34). However, I had originally planned on this being a subtle white flash as frequently seen on old film footage, unfortunately I wasn't able to achieve this on the software available.      

Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. 

Very self explanatory; there are genre characteristics prevalent within the music video in order for the audience to create preconceptions due to prior exposure to this genre. I studied other music videos of the same musical genre, such as Foster the People's "Pumped Up Kicks", Beck's "Loser" and Cage the Elephants "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked". The video's are a mixture of performance, home movies and narratives; all of a very alternative visual genre. Pumped Up Kicks is primarily a home footage based video designed to expose the band while touring, with scenes clearly filmed by each one of the three members. I really liked this interaction with the camera as it brings the viewer into the video and enables us to connect with the song on a different level. This theme is largely prevalent within the first half of my video, showing the character having 'a good time', laughing and joking with the camera (us). I then utilized the more 'random' and seemingly unimportant setting shots as seen within Loser, in which we see a lot of religious connotations and fixed establishing shots. I admired the religious themes within this video and subtly applied it to my own, it was appropriate as the song itself holds some religious content. 

The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work.

This is obviously where the artist is featured within the video, performance or acting, in order to affiliate with the audience and vice versa. I actually chose not to follow this theme as the song is purely narrative based, there is no reference to the artist or the feelings of the artist within the song, so I felt that a completely narrative based video was more appropriate.


Digipak and Magazine Advertisement.

I also used other media products (as well as my music video) to influence both my magazine advertisement and my CD cover. Looking at other 'indie' artists, I found that they tended to use card sleeves for their CD casing. I felt that the 'understated' and simple packaging reflects on the general vibe given off by artists of this genre, as well as giving the consumer an item with more sentimental/keep-sake value. The use of raw materials such as card gives a more rustic feel to the packaging, this rough look mirrors the genre of the music as well as hopefully making it more appealing to the consumer. I also feel that a 'home made' look within the packaging highlights the make-shift theme surrounding the character of the single being promoted, connecting the song itself with the way it's presented to audiences in the market. 

When I looked at the packaging for Broken Social Scene I was intrigued by the home made style of it, and decided that I wanted my own packaging to utilise this. Their cover used not only a simplistic font, but made sure that it was unmissable; this may be because the band is fairly unknown and is a way of imprinting the name in the consumers mind. You can also see that this is in fact a special edition case, meaning hopefully the consumer will be more inclined to buy it on an impulse. If I create a case reminiscent of a special edition item, the selling point would be it's individuality and uniqueness.   



I decided to use a piece of my artwork from my sketchbook for the CD cover, I felt that the bold and busy colours would look particularly striking printed on card as well as complimenting the complex character of 'Justin' within the song. The male figure within the painting is looking down, almost withdrawn and ashamed; again reflecting the despair prevalent within the character. I used very a simple and understated font for the cover, conflicting with the striking background. This choice of font was inspired by the font used by a band called 'GroupLove', they're consistent with this font over a wide variety of the band's advertisement. The simplistic lettering helps to detract attention away from the artwork and bring it onto the band's name. 

As for the magazine advert, I decided to use the same image as my album cover in order to allow the audience to familiarise themselves with the style of the band. This means they could see the advert within a magazine (NME for example), go into a music store (e.g. HMV) and instantly be able to identify the album/single among the many other CDs on the shelves. I've also used the same font for the very same reason; audiences with be able to become connected to the band on a new level and be able to recognise them in any context - whether it's on a billboard or on a poster for a music festival. Again, GroupLove are a good example of this, as they use the same lettering in all of their advertisement and promotion in order to be recognised anywhere.    








Final Digipak and Magazine Advertisement:

CD Case.

Magazine Advertisement.

Research Into Consumers and Audience.

The general genre for the video and the song would have to be 'indie rock' due to it's blend of sub genres such as indie, southern rock, blues etc. - it's slightly individual in it's make up.

Looking at other bands who've influenced the song and their similarities to the song, such as Beck, Cage the Elephant, and Foster the People, I can safely say that the target audience will be very similar.

Audience Profile.

Gender - Male and female.

Age - Early twenties to early thirties.

Style/Demeanor - Retro/laid back/comfortable

Social Class - Lower and middle.

Media Intake - Magazines, blogs, radio

Occupation - Varying: Media/Fashion/Art/Student

I also looked these bands up on iTunes, and looked at what consumers were purchasing as well as these artists. This gave me a more accurate idea about who I would be potentially aiming this video at.

As you can see other artists bought by these consumers were Radiohead, The White Stripes (another influence), Gotye, Bombay Bicycle Club etc. All of these bands belong to a similar 'alternative' genre, and people recognise this and use genre as a tool to seek out new things. 

This is the type of audience I want to access. 

Final Video - Autumn Term - Layers.

The final edited version of the video for Layers by Autumn Term.

Story Line.

Sequence One (Cabin).
Mid shot of Justin opening curtains, letting in the sunshine of a new day - our preconceptions are that he's light and happy. Good natural lighting, resembling clean and pure happiness. 


Close up profile shot of Justin (I'll reference him as J) pulling on his hoody on another beat of the song - he's in synch and on track as it were. 


Mid shot from outside the cabin, J opens the door on another beat of the song and walks out of shot. He's occupied, got plans - this is how he wants his peers to see him in general. 


Sequence Two (Bikes).
Random and fast paced cuts between different angles on bikes. Camera is hand held to create an imperfect effect - J interacts with camera to create the sense that the camera (audience) is actually with J and living his life with him. 


On the opening line "Justin's just your..." the shot cuts to a mid/close up on J - officially introducing the audience to it's subject. 


Sequence Three (Church).
On the line "Apparent that he's living the ghetto gospel dream..." the shot cuts to a moving shot approaching a green church - representing 'gospel dream'. The camera proceeds to follow (again in a home movie style) J into the church grounds. The shot is sped up in order to create the old vintage home movie effect. Cut away to a still mid/long shot of J leaning up against the church wall. The wall fills the whole frame, representing how his life is apparently controlled by religion and God. 


Sequence Four (Photo Album).
Cut away again to another heavily sped up sequence (home movie effect) of J showing the camera a photo album full of pictures that supposedly belong to him. He shows a picture of a house and a car - referring to the lines "daddy owns a lakehouse..." and "got a custom chevrolet" - they're fake - much like his life at this point.


Sequence Five (Trailer).
Camera (hand held) approaches J sitting on trailer - he appears to be unaware or not interested in the camera. We're beginning to enter the more voyeuristic side of his life. Cut on line of "his brain is full of ego..." to shot of camera approaching him outside of church - he smirks almost cunningly - is he planning something or hiding something? 


Sequence Six (Chorus One).
Almost as if we've entered his perspective, the camera is fixed onto his person - meaning we move with him. The cuts between shots are fast paced and rough - he's beginning to fall into turmoil. He wanders aimlessly and lost - showing signs of frustration - we begin to enter his real life.


Sequence Seven (Car Mirror).
Shot from inside the car, camera looks into side mirror - we see J walk into shot. He sees car - shifts about suspiciously before pulls up his hood and approaches car. Couple of jump cuts on beats in song. 


Sequence Eight (Filler Shots).
Filler shots of church again and abandoned machinery. Cutting between one extreme to another - belonging and community with religion to seclusion and isolation in cold metal mechanical life. Cuts on each beat to maintain pace.


Sequence Nine (Dusk Car & Whisky).
Shot from inside car - J sits on bonnet in silhouette looking out over empty field - mirrors isolation and sadness.


Cut on beat to panning across road following the headlight beams.


Cut again on beat to close up shot of J's legs and whisky bottle - referring to "future's in a whisky bottle" - he grabs whisky bottle aggressively. 


Lighting is dark and dingy - representing the fall into darkness and seclusion of his life. 


Cut on beat to J laying fully clothed in bath - drinking his whisky - drowning out his sorrows with drink and water in bath.


Phase shot back to mid shot of J sitting on bonnet (camera side on) smoking and looking aimlessly out into distance - refers to line "melodramatic gaze..."


Cut on beat to extreme long shot of J standing motionless in field - lost and confused - literally and metaphorically. 


Sequence Ten (Final Chorus).
In total darkness two headlights flicker erratically across frame. Represent J's life flickering in and out of focus - unpredictable dangerous. 


Car pulls up quickly - dust floats around headlights - murky and clouded like his judgement. He staggers out - drunk.  


Cut to J collapsing into chair. Various cuts to him drinking/smoking or just sitting and thinking. Cuts again are quick choppy and erratic - mirroring his demeanor. Quick close up shots of J burning photo's from earlier - burning away dreams and falsities. 


Quick short cuts to scenes from earlier in reverse i.e. church scene backwards - it never happened - it's all untrue. 


On last line of song - all slowing down - J leans forward, holds his face in despair - looks up straight into camera and holds eye contact - looking for help.


Shot blacks out - end of video and song.