Music Video

Last A2 Blog: Formal Sign-off!

Well, Blogger has been the most important tool throughout our A2 year (although not yet over). It's been our diary, we've posted everything we've researched and found, ideas, plans, videos, photos, literally everything! I have really enjoyed making the music video and all ancillary products, and I am quite pleased with the outcome too. As a group we worked hard to customize our blog and keep it up to date (especially during the filming and editing process). Overall, it has been a great experience and I am really happy with what we have achieved. I have quite enjoyed blogging and I will definitely be doing quite a lot of it in the near future as I'm going to be studying Media at Uni.

Anyway, Goodbye Blogger!

FINAL MUSIC VIDEO

Evaluation: (Q4) What have you learned from your audience feedback?

After the cinematic screening we were able to get some audience feedback for our music video (on the flip camera). Although we had already finished the video and we would not be able to change anything (with the feedback), it did help us understand the way others saw it and what they thought would have worked better (or what we did well on). Because our target audience was teenagers and young adults I think the audience feedback was particularly helpful, although we did get some feedback from our teachers who also had an interesting view on a couple of our ideas, one (of the teachers) even linking a shot to romantic poets and literature.   

“Right, your video. I think it’s lovely. And I’ll tell you why...It brings me back to my childhood (actually I was born in the 70’s; I think I should point that out). I think the filter looks amazing, it gives it such a professional feel and your performance in it is really excellent [the way you portray Ellie Goulding].  I think [Portobello] fits in so well with the filter, the bright colours from the doors and stalls, it all fits together perfectly” 

Rebecca Morris, Media Teacher

“... I loved especially the pink tint you added to it, I thought that made it really unique [because no one else did that]. I loved the costume changes, it looked really professional. I think it was just amazing, no improvements.” 

Valeza Bakolli, Student

There wasn't any negative feedback or anything we could improve on, only a couple of mentions that the actress at one point seemed uncomfortable in front of camera. 

In most videos of audience feedback (Posted on the blog. Find the link at the bottom of this post to view them) there was mention of the effect that we had used. Other positives included the picture frames and photograph that is removed (and you find the same building in front of camera), various costume changes, transitions, and locations. 

The colour differences

When I recently viewed the video on Vimeo I saw that the video hasn't had any comments or likes but has had 42 total views since it was uploaded. (It isn't as high as maybe other videos, but it isn't doing badly either). The issue is that it hasn't been exposed as much (and it is password protected) whereas if it was on YouTube it would, and should get a lot more views because of the amount of people that go onto the site daily and the fact that it is not password protected. I think what YouTube does is feed the music video to a wider number of people, allowing them to know Mia Knight and maybe leading them to buy her album. That is precisely the purpose of the music video, to promote the artist and establish an image. Had Mia Knight been an real artist, it would have been important to set up fan pages on social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace), create a website for her, and a YouTube page to post her new songs, music videos, etc. 

Many artists use YouTube as a starting platform; an example of the recognition it can give is Boyce Avenue. They are a group of brothers who started out making cover songs and posting them on YouTube, they began to establish a fan base and posting links to their songs (available on Itunes) on the description box for their videos. They now make their own songs (and videos for them), tour, and have albums. This just goes to show that it is now easier for an artist to gain recognition and have an established fan base. 


The music video received very good reviews, which would suggest that people are interested in the artist (Mia Knight) and subsequently buy the single (and the album). There wasn't any particular mention of anyone liking the song but they did like the music video which could mean that they would buy into the artist because they are interested in her rather than  the single itself. Although, it was a review about the video, and the song itself was not as important. But the feedback does suggest that their is room for an artist like Mia Knight in the market, although her music may target a niche market, it does appeal to an audience and it will sell (based on the feedback we got). 

I also got feedback for my ancillary work, most of which was very positive. A couple of points made about the link/connection between the photograph used for the outside and the photograph used for the inside. The feedback suggested that it was because of the color difference, the outside was light colors and the inside has a darker tone (because of the ivy leaves). It took me a while to pick out a font but that was one thing that people liked because it was not copied from another artist and it went well with Mia Knight's image,etc. 

To conclude, I'd say that what I learnt from our audience feedback is that would could have improved on the acting (although we are not actors, so it isn't of great importance) but that we did well with the pink-tint. Our teachers mentioned on various occasions during our lessons that it would be a better idea to remove the tint as it would not look as nice on the big screen and it would take away its natural, earthy colours. As I mentioned, our audience feedback, even from the teachers themselves (after the cinematic screening) is that we did well in keeping the tint. We obviously listen to what our teachers and fellow students had to say during the editing process but sometimes it is best to go with instinct, we were happy with it, and we felt that without the tint it lacked strength and was less attractive/appealing. We felt that the costume changes and locations were good and would be mentioned more in the feedback, but it was the tinted effect that captured peoples attention a lot more. With the digipak and advertisement, I learnt (from the feedback) that the font and outside cover went well together and the color scheme was appropriate, but the inside photograph let it down. I got good feedback on the advert too, mainly the fact that I used the outside cover of the digipak and not another image (and a screenshot of the album cover). From that I learnt that it was a good choice to make front cover the image for the digipak because it looked clean and effective (although I did have my doubts at the beginning, but the feedback helped me decide). 

Cinema Screening- Audience Feedback Videos!

Evaluation: (Q3) How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Evaluation: (Q3) How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning, and evaluation stages? on Prezi

Evaluation: (Q2) How effective is the combination of your main product (video) and ancillary texts (digipak and advertisement)?

Front Cover

Inside Cover

Advert

Screenshot from video

Screenshot from video

Evaluation: (Q1) In what ways does your media product use, develop, or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Digipak Comparison

When I look back at the digipak I produced at the end of As Media Studies as a practice and compare it to the one recently produced, I think there is a substantial difference in quality.
Although the As work was a quick activity to get an idea of what we would produce in A2 it's still worth to take a look at the differences.
In terms of font, for the A2 product I did quite a bit of research and tried out and explored different fonts which would suit the artist and CD.
The images are much better too, we did an actual photo shoot for the A2 work instead of screen grabs which I used for my As product.
When looking at the advert, I have added a lot more information and it looks a lot more realistic than the previous practice one I did.
All the copyright information has been put in place in the A2 product but it wasn't put in place in the As work because it was just an activity and not a piece of coursework (however, a company logo and barcode was put in place).

A2-Level outside album cover

A2-Level inside album cover

A2-Level advert

As-Level Advert

As-Level album cover, inside and outside

Audience Feedback From Cinematic Screening

Advert Editing

For my advert, I wanted to use a background photograph and continue using the same colours and font as I have with my digipak. I had to put a shaded square around the text and screenshot of the album cover because they weren't clear enough to see from a distance.  

The first one I made

                                          

I then decided to change it completely and use the same photograph as I had on the front and back of digipak as a background for the advert and put all the info on the side of it.
I think it works much better and it looks more realistic and simple (plus it still has all the info that I wanted to put on in a 'not as busy' way).

My final advert

Digipak Editing: Day 3

I've decided on the Coventry Garden font and stuck with the light yellow and white colours. Today I have put in all the copyright info, the songs, barcode, title, logo, in their final positions.

I finished the inside of my digipak too. I've made a final decision on the CD, the colour will be grey and there is no writing or anything on the left panel (inside). 

Digipak Editing: Day 2

Today I tried stretching out the photograph so that this one image would cover the front and back and it looked much better than I thought it would so I decided to go ahead with that idea. I've also chosen a light and subtle yellow and white for the font colours. 

I was trying out a few fonts but I wasn't sure which one I wanted to use and how I was going to place it. I've put together a slideshow of a couple I looked at. There are two fonts that i'm focusing on Coventry Garden and Katy Berry. 

Today I have also started looking at the photograph that I will be using for the inside of the digipak and again, this one image with run across the right and left of the inside. But i've decided that i'll be showing the CD itself (which will be grey) in it's place. 

Digipak Editing: Day 1

Today I spent a lot of time deciding which photographs I will use for the album. I didn't have that many to chose from so it was a little bit difficult to make a final decision.

This will be the main photograph, front cover.

I've chosen to use this photograph because the artist can be easily identified (although the artist isn't looking directly into the camera).

I firstly had a bit of trouble; I tried putting this image as the front cover and using another on the back but I couldn't quite see how that worked (image below).

I played around on Photoshop with the levels on the main image so I can strengthen the color of the hair to make the artist stand out more.

Old idea of having two images on CD

Below is a slideshow of a couple of screenshots of the change of levels, however you can't actually see the change that well.

Digipak: Album Cover Shoot Photographs

I've made a slideshow of the main photographs from the shoot!

Research: Digipak Ideas

Timothy Cochrane, the photographer that I mention in my previous post, tends to do shoots for indie artists. I found shoots for artists like MIA, Little Boots, Ellie Goulding, Bat for Lashes, Mumford and Sons, The Ting Tings, Graham Coxon (from Blur) all up on his website, all artists which I either know or I have come across while doing research for my media coursework. 

Below are some photographs he took for a band called Video Nasties. I really like the idea of the second one, take shots on a Polaroid camera and put them on the ground and re-photograph them, which actually quite works because he only photographed part of the group in some or part of their bodies so when he puts them all together, although it doesn't work perfectly, it more or less fits. I think it also probably looks better if it doesn't perfectly fit because it looks more casual and a spur of the moment thing. It's quite a nice idea to maybe have on the inside of the digipak. 

Research: Album cover shoot

Timothy Cochrane Website

I was looking around for shots/poses for the album cover shoot that we are doing in Richmond when I came across a photographer who had done a photo shoot for Ellie Goulding. Timothy Cochrane is his name, and while looking through his website I found some of his work that could work as a starting point for my album cover shot.

(Above) I have put a few photographs from his website that I think would look good on the album. I think the mid-shots and long-shots would work well for the back or the inside of them album and I would need to use a close-up shot for the front. 

(Below) The photographer also makes short clips which he posts on his website. I think this is a good idea for a shoot, just having the artist walking around freely and take shots, its maybe a way of portraying the personality of the individual through their poses and movements.

KATE from Timothy Cochrane on Vimeo.

Research: Album cover shoot

I found a couple of photographs on Flickr which I think would work well on my album cover. Mia Knight's image, genre, character is inspired by the artist Ellie Goulding, and these photographs would really reflect the image that we wanted Mia Knight to have.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/_emilie/5393002573/in/photostream/

I think one of these photographs would also work nicely if it ran across the front and back covers of the album. I particularly like the second one, in terms of the setting/background and movement, but it would probably work better for the Mia Knight image if the individual looked either a little shy or smiled.

Research: Digipak Ideas

I've been looking at album covers for female artists to get a few ideas for poses/movement.


I came across Devi Lovato's album Unbroken and I thought it would be a good idea for the front cover. I like the simple font and the pose, and although it is not a photograph of the artist looking straight into the camera, it is a photograph that a new, unknown artist could use.
The light color (sunlight) is something that I have always wanted to have in the photographs.

Research: Analyse Fonts

I was looking at both of Adele's albums, 19 and 21, and I noticed that the font is different. I think the font used in 19 is a little bland, she was probably still finding her feet at that point, whereas with the second, 21, she really nailed it. I like it, although it's simple, and maybe also a bit bland, it's strong and it stands out. Sometimes artists use big and bold fonts when they wouldn't need to, it sometimes works the other way, it makes it less eye-catching/attractive which is what I feel happened with Adele's 19 album. Although she may not have used the bold font she went for a bigger and thicker font. Sometimes, less is more! On the other hand, the 21 album looks much stronger with a more subtle font and contrast of color between the black and white used in the image and artist name and the name of the album, 21. 

Research: Font Ideas

While doing album research I came across this Kings of Leon album cover.

What I like about it is the way that the font and the photo blend together. I like the big font, although its simple (nothing fancy) it looks good.
I'm drawn by the idea of having the background of the photograph in the inside of the letters, it looks smooth, simple, and effortless. It flows nicely, and I think its a great idea.
The only issue I might have with it is that it's a bit 'manly', and our artist is firstly female, and is also supposed to reflect a sweet and shy character, and this font would not reflect that.