QUESTION 4:

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

Firstly, when thinking about the issues situated around the subject of ‘copyright’, it became apparent that we would overcome this issue by using a website www.unsigned.com, which contained unsigned artists and bands. Therefore, we would not have an issue of copying an already existent track which would be played on the radio/television and or YouTube. By using this method this also meant that it would be easier to access the artist/band due to their non-existent or smaller fan bases meaning the artists and their songs will not be as well known. Therefore, this will lead to our group being able to put our own spin on the narrative and the way we portray the band’s song without having to live up to the expectations of what is already out there.

 

 

 

 

The use of social networking sites came from different sources, one being ‘Facebook’. I used this social networking site as a form of carrying out audience feedback on what our intended target market thought of our music promo video. I also tried to contact the artist through this form of networking. However, I was unable to find them on Facebook, due to the band 4kicks not having a viewing and communicating page to contact them through. The main reason for this form of technology was to gain feedback on our finalised promotional products being the music promo video, digipak and the magazine advert for the band.

 

 

The real source of research method used was ‘YouTube’. Through using this formation of technology it broadened my horizon of what is expected in particular genres of music videos and enabled myself to explore and decide on what route I wanted to go down, when choosing what type of music promo video I wanted to create.  Through looking at multiple amounts of each style of genre this widened my knowledge of what the connotations of each genre are, and what needs to be used within these music videos to meet the criteria expected. By the usage of comment boxes on every video this also gave myself an insight into what people thought worked well and didn’t work well and their overall opinions of the music promo video. This form of technology also enabled my group to exhibit our audience research video, along with our finished promo video, for individuals to access and view our promo video. Therefore, which could lead to them hopefully commenting on what they thought and giving us feedback for the production we would have finally produced.
 

The technologies used to construct out music promo video are the following:

Firstly, iMovie is a form of technology used which ultimately is the building block to editing and creating a music promo video. This piece of technology enables clips to be placed together, transitions to be put into place, and edits such as colour change to be added to the video when needed. This also enables the music video to be slowed down or sped up to meet the change in pace of the action taking place.

Photoshop is used to create other products in the promotional package such as the magazine cover and the digipak. The process used within this formation of technology is an image is placed in the center, which is then transformed into a high tech photograph. This is due to the options available such as variation in color, texture, shade etc. This process makes the images look realistic and up to a professional standard therefore, they could be interpreted as professionally done, which is the overall aim of the production of these forms of promotional material. Due to the availability of edit options it is easy to create any form of technique/skill used to create a particular image in which the band wanted to achieve.

The final piece of technology used for editing software was ‘Final Cut’. This piece of software enables two pieces of footage which are not correspondent e.g. after one or another in order of footage, to be joined together. This leads to editing techniques such as jump cuts which enable a jump between one scene and other to represent the drama unfolding in one half on the storyline juxtaposed to the other half.

  From all these formations of technology I have developed editing skills which have enabled me to create a more extensive variation in editing techniques than what I used within my AS production.

The image to the left shows the editing skills I used when considering colour variation within my foundation production thriller video. The colour editing has just been lightened and turned into a misty shade of colouring.

The image above is then juxtaposed to the image situated below which is from my music promo video. This shows the step up from our first production to the skills I have achieved through

gaining knowledge and experience when working on our music promo video. The colouring we have

chosen for our promo video is more defined and professional looking due to the depth-ness of the

colour choice and the editing technique placed alongside the editing of the colour. This is shown through the shot above of the camera focussing on Kingston and the colour of the shot changing, this is juxtaposed to an image of Joel (the guitarist) dissolving into the shot in the corner of the background.

I have also improved my skills of planning and creating initial storyboards to then be able to gain enough sufficient footage to have something to work with when editing and creating a successful promo video. This is due to when I was planning my AS production, my group found we had not ascertained enough footage to work with and found it a struggle to put the editing of the footage together to run smoothly, while putting in enough editing techniques for it to be a success.

This task has also broadened my skills on how to effectively create various shots, and how to do this in order to make the scene look to its best potential. This also including making sure the shot and location of the shot are clear of any other factors which could influence the outcome of the overall shot e.g. objects that should not be placed there.

This is where I have realized that the location of our chosen mise-en-scene for a music promo video (set in a warehouse) could not potentially have been the best option. This is due to in this screen shot, it is predominately clear that you can see the container boxes in the background. This could potentially be a problem within the footage of our music promo video, if these types of objections are seen to be in the piece, this could make our music promo video look un-professional and un-realistic.

 

From using software such as the Apple Macs, iMovie and Final Cut (all of which are editing software), this has enabled me to develop and expand on my footage and already made pieces of work e.g. promotional material which has led me to finalize them in ways which put them into another league from their already existent state.  The Apple Macs and Photoshop have enabled photos to be edited to produce a higher standard of a digipak, along with create a more diverse magazine cover, which both elements would be used to advertise and promote the band. Before starting this project I was not aware of how Photoshop worked therefore, by creating these promotional materials it has given me insight into pieces of technology I would not have learnt about if I had not carried out this project. By looking at already existent music promo videos and promotional material that is already out there through forms of technology e.g. YouTube, it has widened my expectations and motivated myself to produce similar produces. Therefore, by using Apple Macs and Photoshop it gives you the software to go imaginative with and potentially create similar ideas to professional music promo videos, which gives me something to aim for.

 

Some technical issues which have surfaced and I have learnt about during shooting and editing are the following:

 

·         Issues such as the weather conditions are a very common factor/problem which could potentially affect the conditions of your filming day. During this period of season, in which we filmed our music promo video the days are shorter and there are only minimal hours of light. Therefore, when filming the footage for our music promo video we took into consideration the hours of day which it would be light and worked around this with the times of day we would film our footage. Also due to our location of the mise-en-scene being set in a warehouse due to the cold weather conditions when filming Kingston singing we found we could see the smoke coming from his warm breath into the cold air appear on screen.

·         Another issue that came to light is due to the music being played when filming, due to the need for the artist to look as if they are singing the song, due to the issue of creating effective lip sync.  Therefore, when filming the footage we brought along with us an IPod and speakers for the artist to mime to the song in hope for it to look believable.  This is due to the fact our actors will not actually be singing they will be miming and their nonexistent voices will be replaced with the actual band being 4kicks voices playing over Kingston miming. After gathering our footage when it came to editing our footage, when found we had two minimal errors of the lip syncing not being in time with the music therefore, we put other pieces of action into these spaces to even out the gaps.

 

·         Another issue which came to surface was the lighting and lack of brightness or darkness when we needed it to represent particular shot types.  When it came to editing to sort this problem, we choose different contrasts and effects to create the overall image we were trying to portray. One effect used within our piece was of the sepia coloring which was added to the effect of a video being placed on the screen to represent a showing of events which had happened in the past. Another editing effect used to tackle lighting issues is when shots appeared to be lighter than I originally wanted them to look I added an effect which darkened the shade of coloring.
 



 

The technologies I have used when processing all information and research and stored this on are a programme called ‘Blogger’. This is used to keep everything in order, and up to date, so when the production stage comes round, I have all the necessary planning to carry out an effective promotional package material.

 

This form of technology I have used to research and find information on particular subjects needed to aid my overall production stage. I have used this to find information about theorists and their theories which have enabled myself to apply these to music videos.

 

The overall benefits of distributing all forms of my promotional material online has enabled my productions to get watched, commented on and assessed by my target audience being 16-24 year olds. The wider market will potentially increase profit margins and get the band recognised and publicised to a wider scope of their target audience, rather than just sticking to traditional distribution alone.