Our finished music video

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

I decided to answer this question using a prezi.

Question 4 - Plan

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

RESEARCH -

• YouTube to search for existing music videos, both student-made and professional, and blogger to share our research findings, allowing analysis of products and development of ideas
• use of google to search for existing ancillary products to find out what styles and conventions are appropriate to use. also finding products that are similar to the genre of music that we are using, to find stereotypical aspects of the certain ancillary products. 
• use of survey monkey to get audience research about general music videos, finding out what people expect of a music video and also to gain some feedback about our rough cut 

PLANNING -

• blogger was the main technology used in the planning section of our coursework - really easy to use and is simplistic. Used previously in AS work so I already knew how to use it and did not have to spend time learning the functions of a blogging site. Also convenient as everything can be kept in one place and is stored online so it can be accessed from almost anywhere
• use of YouTube to research existing products and to draw comparisons to help construct ideas for our own products, drawing on ideas from all that we'd researched before.

CONSTRUCTION -

• digital camera - easy to use/familiarise self with, can carry around with you easily - lightweight and does a mixture of functions (video and camera)
• premiere pro for editing - software that I am already familiar with because I have used it already for AS coursework.
• adobe photoshop for the creation of the two ancillary products: poster and digipak - software that is readily available to us at school so it is easy to access and not too difficult to use. Has many features that allow you to manipulate a photo is almost any way that you want to get a desired effect
• microsoft powerpoint used to make the thumbnail for our music video

EVALUATION -

• Prezi used to showcase evaluative points for some of the question, giving explanations and detail into developments in skills and abilities over time (possible use of video diaries/voice recordings over texts and images too) - used it previously so I am familiar with the software and was able to use it fairly easily to display my ideas
• digital camera to record footage and premier pro to edit it together
• blogger to showcase my planned ideas
• Microsoft word was used to plan answers to the evaluation questions. This is a software that I am familiar with and so it was easy to use and I didn't have to learn anything new to use it

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

We decided to answer this question as group video/discussion.

Question 3 - Plan

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

 

Below is a list of the audience feedback we have received. These can all be talked about in the evaluation and compared.

·         The idea

·         Rough Cut

·         Ancillary tasks

·         Final Cut

THE IDEA feedback

 

What do you expect to see in a music video for the song Barbarian?

Vikings and battle scenes, maybe some shots of the band playing at the same time?

Battling and warriors with people playing the music as well

I would have people fighting and something related to history, with shields and swords etc.

Guitars and bands, maybe a story line involved to keep the audience interested but doesn't always have to be the case.

What did we learn from this?

From this, we were able to compare our thoughts on what the video should feature compared to the thoughts of our target audience, to see how successfully we captured the essence of the song. For example, in the audience suggestions, we used ‘battle scenes’, ‘shots of the band playing’, and ‘something related to history’. From all of the feedback we received for this question, we actually managed to cover every point we were given, which reassured us that the idea we had was as good as we could get.

What music videos have stood out for you in the past?

OK Go's videos are amazing - they are all so unique and interesting, as well as fitting in with the music.

Rammstien - Mein Land, Marilyn Manson - Tainted Love, or Obey the Beard by Psychostick

Any video by the Gorillaz, OK Go! And Take On Me by Ah-Ha!

I don't really watch many music videos, but Twenty One Pilots release some good music videos.

What did we learn from this?

After hearing these suggestions of good quality music videos, we decided to research some of these videos to find out why there were so successful and what conventions they did/did not follow that brought them this success. We later decided that some of the stereotypes of a good music video e.g. a story, were vital in order to make a music video successful, so we began to develop our idea around this.

What do you think of our main idea?

I think it’s a very good idea and if done well could really get you a good grade!

I think it’s a brilliant idea and fits well with the music, the ending will be great if done right!

It sounds like a very good concept, and the name of the song and the genre of music fit together very well with the idea.

I think it's a really different and clever idea. It’s good that you'll end watching it with a different perspective to how you started watching it.

What did we learn from this?

We were truly grateful for the positive feedback we received about our idea. People generally thought that the choice of song and the idea went together very successfully, which made us feel confident that our product was going to seem more ‘whole’ than if we had used a different idea for the song, or a different song for the idea. They also seemed positive about the change at the end of the video. Saying that it will be ‘great if done right’.

ROUGH CUT feedback

What do you think of our rough cut video?

It's very well shot and edited, I liked it a lot!

I like the slow motion shots and the quick cut editing, I think you've done a brilliant job for a rough cut!

I really liked the shot where the axe comes down on the camera, and it’s a different location to what many media students have chosen to film in.

It was a really well shot and well worked video! The actors you brought in were amazing and it fitted well with the genre of the song.

What did we learn from this?

Generally, the feedback we received was positive, which was very encouraging as we showed it mainly to people within our target audience. As well as this, The Darkness themselves commented on the video saying that it was ‘pretty great’, and that the location was ‘ideal for the song’. This made us very confident in continuing with our video.

In what ways would you improve how the rough cut was edited?

I didn't like the turbines in the background, but I do like your idea of them purposely being there to subtly show that what you are watching isn't real. But personally, if I didn't know this fact, I would try and change that.

There were a couple of shots used more than once that need to be changed, apart from that I couldn't find a flaw!

I think you could at a few faster paced shots to increase the drama of the battle.

There are a few shots that are the same, so I would edit those out. Apart from that it’s perfect!

What did we learn from this?

Firstly we decided what we were going to do about the turbines. We decided, as a group, that we would leave them in. This is because it shows that even though the children are using their imagination, they are not yet fully developed/mature, so even their imagination has limitations. With the comment about repeating shots, we were aware this would be mentioned as the shots were only put in as fillers until we decided what footage was going to fill in the gaps, but it was good that these were pointed out by people as it suggests that they were captivated by the video. We then had to make decisions about the speed of some of the shots. This is because some people commented saying that there needed to be a few longer shots, but others decided that some of the shots were too boring and so needed to be edited to be more exciting and more jumpy. We decided to settle on a mix. With some shots, we would use fast paced quick cuts to make the video exciting, but with the opening shots and some wider shots, we would make the clips longer to emphasize on the length of the battle.

The next part we want to have children re-enacting what you've just seen to show that it was all their imagination. How would you go about filming this?

I would fade in from the warrior on the ground to the other kid on the ground, and then have them fight but less dramatic than the actual battle.

I would have a similar style to what you filmed except have it at a much slower pace, and I would have whoever calls the children in for tea/end of break time turn around and have a sword showing on his back to get the audience to think even more.

The shots need to be longer in length so that it is less dramatic than the actual battle.

I would have it in a different location to where you first filmed it, like a school playground or in a garden. Have the children pretend fighting with cardboard and plastic swords to make it like they are really pretending.

What did we learn from this?

From this feedback, we decided that the final part to the video would take place in a garden of a house, presumably of one of the children. A parent would then come out to the garden and tell the kids to come indoors for dinner, and the children would run indoors as the video fades out to end. We also wanted to make sure some of the shots were longer than in the Viking scenes as people said that this will make the children fighting seem less fast paced, less professional, and more like children. Therefore, we only used a limited number of shots for these scenes, and the camera was always stationary.

ANCILLARY TASKS feedback

POSTER

*INSERT PHOTO OF FINISHED POSTER*

Most responses said that people liked the image used in the poster and thought that it suited the genre of the music (rock and roll) well. They also said that they liked the layout of the poster and that the simple design looked professional and cool. It was also said that the use of social media advertising was good as it directly targets the younger audience of the product.

A common negative response that we got for the poster said that it looked a little dark and dull and that ideally it needed to be made lighter to look more appealing and eye-catching.

What did we learn from this?

From this, we learnt that we should always go to audience feedback before finalizing a product. This is because there were certain things, like the positioning of the children on the poster, and the brightness of the image, that the audience did not like, but that we did not notice ourselves. These improvements made a large difference to the way that we worked on the digipak, as we knew we should get as much audience research as we could along the way. However, on a more positive note, many people seemed to like the poster, saying that it was fitting for the genre and very complementary to the digipak and the video. We were very happy with these comments as they assured us that we were on our way to creating a complete product that works well with all its ancillary components.

DIGIPAK

*INSERT PHOTO OF DIGIPAK*

Many of the responses for our digipak said that overall they liked the design and layout, especially the use of a shield for the background of the jewel case. Responses also said that they liked the use of fonts in the designs and they also liked the fact that we the bands logo and also showed recognition to the re-enactment group that was used in the production of the music video. It was also said that there was suitable imagery used throughout the digipak design and that it suited the genre of the music video well. Some responses also said that they liked the idea that the front cover and the back cover were one continuous image, rather than having two separate images for each.

A criticism of our digipak design was that in some places it looked a bit 'busy' and that we should consider removing some logos or fonts to create more space within the design.

What did we learn from this?

Like with the poster, we missed some things out that the feedback was able to help us with. The main thing that was commented on here was that the image was too ‘busy’, and that album/digipak covers are normally simpler. To change this, we removed some of the unnecessary parts of the album cover, including the band members on the back, and some logos on the front. This made the cover easier on the eye, and the audience were much happier with it after these improvements were made.

FINAL CUT feedback

We showed a room of 13 people (who fit in our target audience) the final cut of our video, and asked for feedback on it.

Positive feedback

·         ‘Music works really well with plot line’

·         ‘Good colour correction’

·         ‘The end makes it all tie in’

·         ‘In time with music’

·         ‘The ending is so good, like a major plot twist bringing it all together’

·         ‘Great use on mise-en-scene’

·         ‘Love the ending’

·         ‘I like the re-enactment group’

·         ‘original and creative’

·         ‘cute ending’

·         ‘I like the overlaying shot’

·         ‘the ending is good’

·         ‘good use of editing to create a sense of disorientation’

·         ‘Interesting use of mise-en-scene with characters and costumes.

·         ‘an enthusiastic singer, helps with the overall song theme’

What did we learn from this?

We were very happy with these comments. They made us feel very happy about the media product that we created, and it showed us which parts were done successfully, and would be done again if we were to do the project again. Considering it was a very last minute decision, we were also very happy about the positive comments we received in regards to the lip-syncing pieces.

The most commonly raised point in the whole of the final cut audience research was that the ending was a ‘good’, ‘cute’, ‘major plot twist’. This is exactly the kind of feedback we were hoping we would receive for this ending, and it made us feel better about the final outcome of our product, as it was able to meet the requirements and the opinions of the target audience.

Negative Feedback

·         ‘A little repetitive in the battle’

·         ‘Some shots are messy’

·         ‘don’t like the live performance’

·         ‘lip-syncing is slightly out at the beginning’

·         ‘the black and white doesn’t go in my opinion’

What did we learn from this?

As much as it is never great to receive negative feedback, this was welcomed as it enabled us to see which parts of our music video were not as successful as we may have thought they were. The most commonly raised point was about the lip syncing being a little bit out of time, and other points saying that they ‘did not like’ some parts. But I think these were just down to opinion as while some people agreed on one thing, they disagreed on another.

Overall, we were very happy whenever we received audience research, as it allowed us to see how we were progressing. Receiving audience feedback is very important with media products as the way in which you act upon these comments can be the decider on how successful your media product is.

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

We decided to answer this question in the style of podcast/group discussion.