This year has consist of allot of ups and downs, I have made a few friends especially from the group I worked with in terms of production of my music video. I would like to thank all the members of my group for the excellent teamwork each of them individually contributed to the group fairly.

  

my overall reflection

My research,planning and evaluation  for my practical work  has improved tremendously compared to last year (AS), I found last year’s blogging especially more of a back-breaker  it was very difficult not in terms of the research but in terms of the different use of ICT to present it on such as the use of “Prezi” or even “slideshow”. My blog last year was plain and simple causing me to lose quiet allot of marks as I lacked technique (I did not take any risks). However now that I am in my second year I am more cautious wise with the techniques that I employ to make a great blog. The amount of blogs I delivered onto blogger has increased by twice as much compared to last year. Last year I was only able to do up to 3 blogs a weak, maybe because I was not really comfortable with my surroundings (still new to the college system). 

As of A2 I am able to use final cut pro for the actual practical coursework and match the markers with an actual song which was very useful for me in terms of production of my music video. It works by holding the “M” button, once the video is uploaded on the screen then drag down the marker onto the timeline and do this process repetitively but instead of me not putting the markers on the timeline which I found difficult last year for the making of our thrillers I find it much easier. My blogging personally is really coming along, I was much more confident when it comes to researching on the genres of our music video compared to last year. I was more consistent when it came to  the blogging entries as I blog daily. My blog posting stands currently at 140 which is really good, but it's not only quantity that matters my content of each blog was really good as well .

(Prezi was one form of technology I used to get my meaning towards the audience ).

However if i was able to do this again there is still room for improvement in terms of the use of ICT, this year I used a variety but most of them were prezi and wordle. I tend to blog in essay format I need to blog using a range of style that will be appealing towards the examiner. 

Evaluation Question 3

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

CAMERA EQUIPTMENT:

In order to film our music video, we used the JVC camcorder, and memory cards to store our footage. The camera was very light and allowed us to move freely, as well as capture clear footage. Storing the footage on the memory cards allowed us to transfer them onto the Macs, our own laptops and meant our footage was safe.

BLOGGER:

We used Blogger to document our research, planning and production stages of our music video. The website was fairly easy to use, and allowed us to upload pictures, videos, links and voiceclips.

   
PHOTOSHOP:

We used Photoshop to create our digipaks and magazine advertisement.

FINAL CUT PRO:

THE INTERNET:

ANIMATIC:

QUESTION 4 - EVALUATION

QUESTION 3 - EVALUATION

Blogger - I have used blogger to talk about my research, planning and evaluation of my A2 work. Blogger allows me to express my ideas and plans in different ways by using different productions. For example, I used the internet for research purposes, like YouTube and Wikipedia. 

YouTube - Using YouTube to reach the media is cheap and easy, YouTube has a wide variety of videos, so I can get all my research to help with my own music video and push me to a direction of what genre I want listening to different genre's with the help of YouTube. I used YouTube to listen to different genre's and get ideas from music videos for my one. I used YouTube to do the research for my music video and it helped me get a better understanding of what my final product will be.

Prezi - Prezi helps me to present my ideas and help deliver an engaging presentation rather than something like Power Point. Prezu helps me show my research ideas and show my pitch in the way I want, I used Prezi a number of times, for example with my pitch, where I showed my music video ideas and it helped engage my target audience.

Final Cut Pro - I used Final Cut Pro for editing of my music video, we used this so we can create a flow in the music video and use the different available effects. Some of the effects we used were slow motion, where we slowed down the beginning and ending of our music video, to create more attention on the artist. Moreover we also used colour picker, where we brightened some of our clips because parts of the music video was filmed in the dark. Final Cut Pro was useful in the production stage as it helped me create a better music video where I can jump from one location to another whilst it makes sense and has a flow.

Photoshop - I used Photoshop for my ancillary products, I used Photoshop because I can do different graphic design and place my images, cropped and edited exactly where I want. Moreover it is also easy to use interface to help me perfect my ancillary work. Photoshop was easy to use and understand, therefore it helped my ancillary products come out to the best standards, where I can have the exact layout and structure that I want so it is easier to distribute to the target audience so they can familiarise themselves with it.

Evaluation Question 3

There are a range of technologies that I have exploited over the construction of my products (ancillary texts and music video) as well as within the stages of research, planning and evaluation, for example during the construction of my the consturction ic vieo) on, for exaple  proucts  music video we had to use final cut pro in order for our music video to have that really strong effect towards our target audience, this was done by one of the members of my group (fahmida).

Marking the lyrics of the actual song to the artist we were recording was quiet difficult in the sense we really had to make sure that our recording artist looked like he is the one that is actually singing but it really was time-consuming. We actually used a range of effects from filters to slow motions, I could honestly say that the slow motion effect was perfectly executed in terms of bringing the music video to life because it tells a story towards the audience for example at the beginning of our music video notice that the slow motion we employed starts from his back and then zooms onto his feet making it have a bit of a narration effect through the body language of the artist.

Another technology that I employed during the course of the construction of my digipak and advertisement was called “Photoshop and quark”; I used different packages for the ancillary work in terms of editing pictures and creating text. I got most of my images (in fact) all from blogger as we took pictures of the artist already and uploaded it here, from there I then decided to open Photoshop and upload the picture here before I then started editing my chosen image by adding a couple of filters and cropping the image as well, our teacher gave us a little advice that we should never stretch the images because it makes it look less appealing towards our target audience. This was quiet difficult to avoid seeing that I had to cover my whole page on screen  and the image that I choose was too small.

I used quark mostly for the advertisement in the sense that the advertisement required more text than the digipak as a result quark was my best solution because it had all the fonts, sizes and text boxes I need in order to get my avert done.

The internet came in handy for most of the research purposes because all my research required the internet; websites like YouTube were I got most of the music videos in order to describe theories like Goodwin’s amplification, illustration and disjuncture and also videos to help with my ideas in terms of the style, editing and camera work that I think will suit my group when it comes to production of our main product. I also use a website called “Dafont.com” this really helped me in choosing the sort of font to use for my digipak and advertisement. The digipak and advertisement that I have created have visual links in terms of fonts as well as size and colour.

Here is an example of the type of fonts that were available on the website

My group also made a storyboard in order to help us with the type of shots we are going to use, this was really useful because it meant that when it came to production of the main product (music video) we weren’t thinking on our feet of the type of shots we were going to use, hence we started and finished production much earlier.

I used blogger for all my ideas, everything that I have done in terms of A2 media coursework  has been uploaded onto the blog despite it being a very long process(blogging my ideas) it has been a very effective way of communicating with my group. The way I used this was pretty straight forward any idea that came to mind that I thought was really good I will create a rough copy on word than paste it onto the” create new” tab an fill the page with my ideas then press publish and done. However sometime it doesn’t publish my work at all because one of my evaluation questions went missing twice in one day, but overall blogger is a very reliable source of technology.

These are just a couple of examples of the way i used prezi on blogger

Here below is me using camtasia showing the posts i have done and the way i used blogger to present it on. These blogs that i have shown are my favourite posts in terms of content i have allot to talk about also the use of technology contribute to making it my favourite. 

QUESTION 2 - EVALUATION

QUESTION 1 - EVALUATION

Evaluation question 2

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

Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation Question 2

There are many things that influenced my ideas especially for the location Eminem "beautiful" , the location that is in this music video is very dark as a result its difficult to see where the main base track is, but it seems to be in some sort of dark dingy building(looks quiet burnt and degraded)

I wanted my music video to consist of a dark background because it will bring the music video together in terms of appearance,thats why I decided to use a street and film at night because it has the same effect that Eminem has in terms of raising awareness and questions towards the audience.

continuation of question one

There are a substantial amount of music videos that influence our final decision on our chosen music video “Alex Clare Too Close”. The group’s decisions were mostly influenced by elements such as editing. We wanted to find a video that uses good editing techniques from jump cuts to reverse shots etc, and found Coldplay “paradise” to be at the top of the list as this music video exploits a range of editing techniques to engage the audience to an extent

 

coldplay- paradise 

This was the 1^st music video that influence our final choice because it used a range of editing for example at the ending of the film we notice the artist actual performance, him and his band dancing to the crowd just letting the music takeover them, now we could adapt this to our remake of Alex Clare “too close” because at the end of our remake we could show the actual artist singing as well as dancing or doing something that’s entertaining instead of just showing the actors acting out a scene(that’s pretty boring) . This would be very good for filling in the base tracks of our remake especially at the end ,if we look at cold -play “Paradise “they used a range of base tracks some of them we only tend to see an elephant riding a bike.

Another influence was the mise en scene of a music video. Mise en scene is the expressions used to describe the design aspects of theatre production and film. We chose 3 main types of settings an exterior setting of a dingy bedroom to emphasise the confused and the numb state of emotions of the artist. The other two setting were a colourful street and the Islington cannel (still don’t know why we chose this, still a working progress). There are many music videos that employed a really good setting that has influence our choice and will influence our production of the music video itself. Ed Sheeran- Lego House.

 

Ed Sheeran- Lego House really influence our setting because it was in a cramped apartment that emphasised the artist feelings as being almost trapped and difficult to express. We could adapt this to our remake of “too close” by having a setting of a dingy bedroom with the artist sort of exploring his surroundings in a more negative way (clearly the actor wants to forget about his past and move on) the camera shots should be a medium shot to get the body language from the waist and above and a close-ups to see the facial expressions of the character.

Florence and machine- “shake it out “had a range of camera shots that influence our final deacons on the camera use

At the beginning of Florence and machine “shake it out” they used a range of shots, shots that are difficult to do but as we are A2 students we should have enough knowledge and skill to execute it. In the beginning of this music video they used close-ups of a women’s face to emphasise the emotions that she is going through accompanied with a slow motion of her going down a set of stairs. We could adapt this to our music remake as in the beginning we could have the camera show different parts of the artist face such as the eyes which is then faded by editing to the mouth followed by hands holding a picture of a happy couple or a passport.

continuation of question 1 comparing ancillary work

Here below is the comparisons of the codes and conventions of my digipak and advertsiemnt to real media forms.

Evaluation Question one

The Evaluation 1

Mark's Ancillary Final

Here below is my final Digipak and advertisement, it took a long time to get this done but in the end with all the hard work i was able to pull through tough times.

Outside and Back panel.

Inside panel.

Magazine Ad.

FINAL ANCILLARY WORK

Today was the deadline for the final ancillary work and I've met it. I have made the changes I was advised to make and given in my final work.
As you can see, I have played around with the colours of text on the poster and now the tour dates, reviews and cities are a lot more visible. This is an aspect of a real poster that would allow consumers to notice the writing from further distances. 

Overall, I have made changes to the font of the artist's name as I felt the previous font was too bold and wouldn't really suit his image. I have now gone for a more casual relaxed font that I have feedback on saying it looks a lot better.
Another noticeable change is on the back cover. I've moved down the Facebook and Twitter logos and made the barcode and Island Records logo a bit smaller to accommodate for the social networking sites. However, I have ensured to keep the Island Records logo a little bigger as they are the main producers and distributors for Marcus Green so they should be more noticeable. It is also important that I kept the social network sites logos as they will allow fans to interact with the artist and vice-versa. Furthermore, I've taken out the black spine from the inside panel as I was now informed that the inside doesn't usually have a spine. And it looks much more natural without it.

In conclusion, I'm pleased with my final product; I think my work has followed all the key codes and conventions of digipaks. As MG is a new artist, I made sure that the cover picture is one that is a mid-close up shot and that he has direct eye contact with the camera. This would help establish him as an individual artist and the direct eye contact would endear him to his fanbase. The 2 pictures of Marcus Green on the inside panel are also quite symbolic; the first shows Marcus sitting on some steps, looking depressed. This correlates well with his genre and the mood of the single 'Too Close' as it is a song about love and the negative effects of it. The fact that Marcus Green is alone here in every picture portrays that he is an independent man and is confident of himself; this may be sending out a message to his teenage/twenties
fans that you don't necessarily have to have someone to be happy or successful. This is also replicated through the titles of his songs because although some of them are a bit lonely at first, the latter ones show a person's change through journey and how be has been 'Breaking The Walls.'

  
In the promotional poster, I have used iTunes, Amazon MP3, Facebook, Twitter and Dre Beats all as products or companies associated with the music. (Yes, I used HMV too but this was made before they became bankrupt.) Remember that the majority of  MG's fans would be people in their late teens and twenties. This is the world of the internet is crucial for sale and marketing. While spreading Marcus Green's Facebook and Twitter pages would allow him to get more followers and therefore more promotion, the placement of the logos of  iTunes and Amazon MP3 are absolutely crucial because statistically, more young people buy music online rather than in the retailer (perhaps why HMV and previously Zavvi suffered so much). As music is most popular in the MP3 format, it is appropriate to have iTunes and Amazon MP3 logos present in my poster. Additionally, I have placed the barcode (readable by smartphones) on the poster as it would allow a person to purchase it immediately directly into their phones. This would be convenient as an increasing number of people are buying smartphones and people now have high demands of owning music in digital forms. Finally, Dr Dre Beats headphones are currently one of the most popular music-related products sold worldwide.And like Marcus Green, the main artist behind it, Dr Dre is also owned by Universal. So it would make sense for universal to promote their own products through their artists.  

    

FINAL ANCILLARY WORK

digipak

Feelings towards deadline.

The deadline for us to finish our digipak is on Thursday 17^th and I am panicking like crazy, if I hadn't been lazy and not bothered to do the work I would have been finished by now.  Here is a list of words below that best describe the way I’m feeling.

Review of targets set

The last targets that I made on the 1st of January 2013 were the following

    
  1.  I should attend media workshops in order to get digipak and magazine ad don

        2.  use  all lunch times wisely(not just hang about)

        3.  stay positive(cant think when am annoyed)

        4.  have a minimum of 130 posts (or more)

Clearly I have got passed 130 posts but have not made any use of ICT and the media workshops at lunch time , maybe that’s why I haven’t already finished my Digipak and advertisement.  So I have decided to set new targets.

          1.   Finished digipak and advertisement in workshops

          2.   Have more than 140 posts 

          3.   Stay positive

First digital drafts of digipak and advert

I completed a first draft of the ancillary work today and got feedback. These are the first drafts of the front cover, inside panels and the poster...

Although there was mostly positive feedback from Louisa, there are a few small details I need to alternate.
I was advised to change some of the colours of the text as it is difficult to read the white writing on the poster, remove the black strip on the inside panel as it is unnecessary, make sure that I use the same fonts and colour for the artist's name and album in EVERY product it appears on, use the same effects on all the texts of the names and make the barcode and Island Records logo on the back cover smaller so I can bring the Facebook and Twitter logos lower on the page and align them all together.











 

Progress update on digipak

I've continued working on my digipak and have been experimenting with many ideas of filter, effects, fonts, colours, sizes etc. As a first time Photoshop user, this has all been a new challenge for me but I think I'm finally starting to understand this. Another new skill I picked up on this adventurous journey was placing an image of Marcus Green onto an outline of the CD so that it has a better appearance.

The photos in the Photobucket link above show my steady progress with the digipaks and poster. I've had to look at examples of other real ancillary products to help me guide me with Marcus Green's promotion. Looking at similar artists such as Plan B and Professor Green has helped me significantly and I now feel much more confidence as the deadline approaches. 

Things that i need to get done

Alex Clare vs. Marcus Green

The comparison 

Alex Clare 

Marcus Green 

The song that my group has chosen is called “Too close” by Alex Clare. This song already like most songs has an original video that complemented the singing of Alex Clare, clearly because this song already had a video, we had to come up with something different, something better than the original music video itself. Alex Clare is a very sophisticated artist in the music industry due to the various styles of smart attire that he employs when performing on stage and on set for his music video. The name of our made up artist is called “Marcus Green” , we wanted to make a similarity in terms of taste and swagger, as a result we wanted Marcus green to only be seen in clothing that seems smart and sophisticated to some extent ( chinos and a cardigan) this new artist will capture the audience attention because of his unique hair style( Jerry curled Mohawk) because our target audience is quite young we tend to associate the young as having a variety of looks in terms of hair style and clothing.

 Alex Clare begins his music video sitting down on a chair in some derelict apartment with a range of close- ups zooming in onto different part of his face, our music video will start off with the artist walking on a dark street (so it’s at night time) with the camera showing his back then following his feet (close-up/ pan) whilst walking along the street before the first verse hits. Even the ending of our music video shows the artist opening a door and leaving his house with a suitcase. Alex Clare’s ending shows him as the artist singing “so ill be on my way” whilst the camera pans away from him eventually leading to an establishing shot. The main difference of both videos is that our main base track is set in a dark street whilst the original is set in a room filled with unwanted items and broken cupboards. 

The effectiveness that my digipak should contain.

I want my digipak to contain a range of elements that will contribute to creating an effective digipak/advertisement piece, my digipak will be influenced by many artists that have used close-ups for their album cover, artists like

Usher

50 cent 

Although these front album covers above do not link with the front cover that I will do in terms of genre they are just an example of a really effective digipak in the sense that it’s able to capture the audience’s attention and we are able to see the artist’s face and their emotions as well.  

I feel that it is really important(crucial) to employ close-ups for the front album cover, because it’s a new artist, no one knows who the hell Marcus green is and by having a front cover that does not consist of a close-up is a tragic. The use of close-ups is shown throughout our music video and will be used in the ancillary product as well, it is very important that I do this properly as I want to show a clear visual link as most of the shots are close-ups and medium shots one of them will be on the front cover of my digipak as well as advertisement.

Hopefully if done right the digipak and advertisement should complement each other in an effective way as they share similar shots, our music video’s main base track consist with a dark background (street at night) as a result of this my front cover should consist of a background that is dark as well as a result emphasizing the clear visual link between the ancillary products and music video. 

New Years targets (2013)

London 2013 new years fireworks display

OK, so its new years day (1^st of Jan) and there are still quite a number of targets that I would like to set for myself this year in terms of the digipak and magazine ad, towards the ending of last year I was just not in the mood to do any work (a bit frustrating) maybe because it was the almost holiday season (truth be told I am not good at using quark nor Photoshop). This year I am hoping to achieve a number of things especially because this month is the most significant in terms of blogging, once January is over we can’t blog anymore so I am setting 4 targets they are 

               1.    I should attend media workshops in order to get digipak and magazine ad done

                    2.   Use all lunch times wisely(not just hang about)

                   3. Stay positive(cant think when am annoyed)

               4.   Have a minimum of 130 posts (or more)