Q3: - What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Whilst undertaking the research stage of my advanced portfolio, I had to carry out audience research which allowed me to gain more knowledge and understanding of what was expected of a rock genre. To gather my information, I created a survey on google plus which allowed me to send it on to other friends by email. From the results, the most obvious answers I found was that music videos are not actually as important to the 4 out of 5 people I asked.  Also, that the way they listen to their music is mostly through new media technologies, with Youtube, Itunes and Other being the top choices, chosen by all 6 people. We also discovered that people prefer videos containing more performance shots focusing on the band itself rather than narrative or both.
Here are the top keywords that were noted down by each person when asked a word that comes to mind when thinking of the rock genre:-

- The highlited words are the ones in which we included within our music video.

After having a confident understanding of my rock genre, becoming familiar with it's conventions and supporting this with audience feedback to know what others expect, it helped me to plan appropriate ideas that were suited to the expectations of a rock genre and I was able to reflect upon this information through out my work.

After our music video was finally completed, I was curious to discover the feedback from the audiences. Ever since the viewing of my video, I have received many compliments towards it, and decided to record some of the audiences reflecting on my work and discussing their positive thoughts and criticism towards the video.


From this audience feedback, I have learned that out our music video was not only successful in my oppinion but also to the audiences. The positive feedback that we mostly received was how the video was edited, mentioning how the shots were fast pace, cut really well and fitted to the music. The lighting, shot types and the use of flashbacks were also mentioned as a good aspect of our video. The only criticism we received was the mise en scene in the bedroom shots, with the fact that the protagonists clothes were not exactly fitted to the genre and a bit out of place, I could of improved this by properly planning out his outfit to fit our genre.

Here is the audience feedback I received when uploading my video onto facebook:

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

It would not of been possible to achieve the work we have done without using a variety of media technologies, whether it was preparing for our video or actually creating our video, different technologies helped piece our work together. Firstly, I will discuss the use of media technologies in our research.

• Blogger obviously played a big role in contributing towards my work as it is where I focused on the theoratrical side of the course, including real music video analysises, audience research and information on different theories. It gives me a space to express all my different ideas and interpretations and convey my thoughts in an easily accessable, sharable and sophisticated way of which is safe and secures all my work.
• When analysing real music videos on my blog, it made sense to add the video onto the blog post therefore, you are able to watch the video aswell as reading my thoughts upon it. In order to include a video, I had to simply search it on Youtube, which is one of the largest video search engines in the world therefore any music video I wanted was easy to find. Once discovering the music video, I would then copy and paste the URL into the 'edit HTML' section of editing a post, this was made for the use of pasting codes into my work and by doing this I would successfully include a good quality music video which added to the visually appealing aspect of my work.
• To improve the appearance of my blog even further, I included screen grabs into my posts. By doing this I could reflect apon one specific shot, making it more clearer to the viewer as it shows them exactly what I'm talking about in my writing. In order to do this I would simply play the video on full screen, pause it on the screen grab I desired, and then printscreen. This would then copy everything on my screen so I could then paste it onto 'Paint' to save as a JPEG, I also created a collage of images on this programme when I wanted to evaluate the shots I thought were composed the best, or to sum up the overall look of the video. As blogger includes the option of uploading a picture, I was able to easily put this onto my blog post.

For the planning stage of my work, I started developing ideas and discovering a pathway in which I wanted to take our music video. From carrying out research on music videos themselves and becoming familiar with the conventions of my genre, I was able to gradually plan our own music video in a confident manner. I continued using the same media technologies as said previously as well as discovering new ways to portray my ideas.

• Rather than writing out my ideas, I wanted to capture the progress of how these ideas were formed and show the actual discussion that took place when these ideas were being constructed, showing the viewer raw material which would improve our marks. To do this, we set up a camera infront of our group and recorded ourselves while we were talking into the camera and springing ideas off of one another. We then imported it onto final cut, which is an editing programme we are all familiar with, to then tweek it a little, export into a quicktime video to then upload to Youtube, which allowed us to do as I said previously, and upload it onto our blog.
• As part of our planning, we had to create a story board depicting what type of shots we wanted, how we wanted to compose them, and organize them to fit in with the timing of the song. Last year in our foundation portfolio, we showed this on our blog with just pictures of our sheets of storyboards, however this year we have developed this technology by taking pictures of each drawing and then uploading each shot onto final cut to then put all together in time with the music. The effect of this is that it creates the flow of a music video and a better understanding of what we want our video to look like as well showing the pace of our shots. This also added to the visual appeal of my blog, making it more interesting to look at.
• After planning our music video, we had to then plan our ancillary task. To do this we had to use two technologies, firstly a camera for our practise photoshoot of which we captured a variety of shots to comfortably work with, and then another camera to record this happening so we could then put this on our blogs to support the evidence of us taking these photos. After capturing our photographs, we then uploaded it onto the macs which allowed us to use the software 'Photoshop', which is the leading digital image editing application. We then spent some time with our chosen image, adapting it to fit our genre and look as if it a draft of an album cover, which we managed to achieve successfully. After this was completed we then uploaded it onto blogger.

In the construction of our music video and ancillary task, we used alot of different media technologies to help us achieve the best possible outcome. Our music video invlovled using a variety of filming equipment and our ancillary task consisted of a lot of time and effort into specific media technologies.

• Whilst filming our music video, in order to achieve a still, correctly composed frame, we had to use a tripod -esepecially on shots that we were using the surreal editing technique and if we were cutting the subject inbetween objects in which the setting had to be motionless with no movement in the camera because we wanted the subject to look like she was flashing in and out of different locations within the shot, discarding the fact that we had to seperatly film each shot with the subject in different positions.
• We used a fig rig for our dynamic shots, so that we could hold the camera with smoother motion whilst at the same time having good support and not being over shaky when moving the camera around when we wanted to create a hand held, jolted look.
• When editing our digipack, it was important to select the right font. I find that with certain fonts, I recognize to belong to a band, I feel that the font defies the band in a way therefore we had to make the right decision as to what font we would use for our album to fit in with our genre and represent our band. Here are some fonts that I find very distinctive to it's band:

                         

The website we used to do this was 'www.dafont.com', which gives you the option to download hundreds of fonts with a wide choice covering different categories and endless pages.

How effective is the combinations of your main product and ancillary texts?

Both our main product and album have a close relation in the fact that they are based around one girl. In our music video, the audience should experience a distant relationship with this character as her role adds a sense of curiosity and mysteriousness to the video. She creates a sense of uncertainty and should make the viewers feel quite uneasy and cautious as to who she is, they should also pick up on the fact that she is up to no good, portraying quite menacing characteristics. Even though this character may not be the most dominant through out the video, she certainly acts as the back bone to our narrative and the foundation from where all of our ideas sprang off from. Another music video from the rock genre that includes a character similar to this is Bring Me The Horizon’s video ‘The Sadness Will Never End’. Here is how she is portrayed in the video:

The presence of this character holds similar principles to the girl in our video. We see her lurking around the trees depicting quiet and innocent personality until this assumption is contradicted and we see more of a dark, evil side to her. 

Our video includes a similar narrative. During the beginning of our video, she is gradually introduced, consuming more screen time as the video goes on to eventually build up the character she plays.    

This theme continues on in our ancillary taks. The whole album art work consits of a female character who extends this this evil, unearthly feel. Much like the video, every part of our album is persistant in creating a sense of curiosity. It invloves a girl covered in blood which raises the question of why she is in this state. Her face is expressionless, giving away little to the audience emphasising their desire to know why she is involved with this. The costume in the front cover is simular to our music video in the fact that both subjects are wearing black dresses and as I have previously studied, black is a very dominant convential colour of the rock genre. It also supports her dark menacing characteristic which is reflected within the music video. Having her associated with blood also reflects this sinful, mischievous personality as well as following the convention of the rock genre involving alot of gore or dark art in a majority of it's art work. Also, by including this blood in our mise en scene it provided a strong contrast against the variation of colours within the frame and in the front cover it also has a strong comparison to the pale skin of which it sits on. Here are some examples of real album covers that use a simular technique and composition as ours, (with the album on the left being of a rap/rave genre and on the right, a rock genre from which the artists videos I have studied into alot):

What I notice about both of these albums is that the female characters seem to be the focal point of each cover, making these women a strong, simplistic, representation of each album which is very similar to the link between my music video and ancillary task, with the character that I played being quite a dominant controlling character in the narrative, as well as the whole of my album cover being focused on one girl. By having this over balancing gender through out my album covers increases the sexual appeal it may have on certain audiences, despite who this may concern, this possible attraction will obtain audiences and help influence the recognizability towards the album. Even if there is only one distinctive appeal towards an album cover, it still strengthens our memory of it and our opinion of that album based on how appealing it may be to the individual. Audiences may not necessarily experience a sexual connection to the subject in my work, but also the feel of envy and admiring the character herself, to be looked upon as an inspiration to the people of which this genre appeals to.

Not including the band in our entire album is what makes our ancillary task conventional to our genre. It is common to find the absence of the band within the actual album art work within the rock genre. We also didn't feel like it was necessary to do so, and that continuing on with the existence of this dominant female character would be what would make this album explicit to it's narrative of which we imagined would faintly continue on through out the whole album, defying the album to the video it'self.

Pictures to gif

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

In order to create a successful music video, our group had to be aware of the conventions of a music video and what was often included in our chosen genre. Each genre has its own style, interpreting a variation of conventions appropriate to the stereotypical view of the genre. I feel that our music video shows a good knowledge to the right conventions.

Here is our music video:

Once we chose our song ‘Breathless’ by Asking Alexandria, we became familiar with the song and researched into the lyrics, we discovered our own interpretation from which we formed a narrative. This narrative was like the base of our music video were our ideas developed from. We included a narrative because we found that this was quite common for the rock genre to either include a narrative with a performance, or just a performance on it’s own throughout the video.  By choosing to include both I think it challenged us more in the way that we had to think of how to intertwine both aspects into our video and also make sure each of their screen time was equaled out to balance out the video. By including a narrative as well as a performance, it helped us avoid viewer fatigue which is important to make sure that doesn’t happen in all genres of music videos. Another way we avoided this was by having a constant flow of shots which synced well into the tempo of our music. Also, as our music is of a fast erratic pace, our shots contained a short view time, therefore the audience is always being bombarded with something different to look at, keeping their interest and continuing to hook them in. This is also reinforced by our group following the conventions of varying our shot distances and exploring camera techniques.

By developing the way in which we controlled our camera, it helped us convey certain moods for example if the camera is still along with the subject it becomes a lot more calmer and mellow where as if the camera is shaky along with the subject, it reflects a lot of energy and excitement to our video. We use this shaky camera technique in our work because we discovered this was quite persistent in the music videos of the rock genre. Also, linking back to our narrative, the song is based on letting go of a past relationship that is messing with his head, therefore causing frustration and anger, the shakiness of the camera helps convey this manic look which links to the emotions in the narrative, however this is only successful when used at the right times and in the right way. I feel that our performance shots really reflect this and show the advantages of this technique, it also helped create the atmosphere and illusion of a live performance making the scene seem more realistic which is also what music videos are about.



It is crucial that the performance looks believable; this can be done by perfect lip syncing. I feel that we were lucky to have a member in our group that was already aware of the rock genre and because of this you could see their passion for it reflected throughout their performance. With our performer obtaining such confidence and enthusiasm for this task, we were able to follow the convention of making the vocalists role look believable, emphasizing their emotions and expressions in order to portray a believable, realistic performance. Another convention that reinforced this was being aware of the right type of mise en scene, especially in our performance shots. In order to help make it believable we had to gather the right props which a band would use and set the scene up to look like a gig, even though we had to change the plan of our performance set last minute, I do think it was still successful and the outcome was a lot better than expected. Not only did we film a scene in the style of a gig, but we also filmed in the woods, a drama room and a bedroom. This also follows the conventions of music videos having around 3 different sets, however we developed this further to include 4 which helps the audience get a better understanding of the narrative.

Surreal Editing.

This is a video we found when looking for surreal editing techniques which depicted what we already had in mind. This video includes the technique of speeding up footage so that the outcome looks like an explosion of movement, being manic and quite disturbing in the way that it is so eratic and unrealistic. This can be done by either taking photos of the subject with their head positioned in different angles and then putting it all together at a fast speed, or filming the subject moving from each position so all that is done is speeding the footage up in the editing process.

Another techinique in this video that we found interesting and peculiar was the strange way the subjects walked, seeming quite demented and unsettling. We think that this was done by filming the subject walking backwards and then when editing, the footage was then reversed so they appear to be walking forwards. The reason for the walking to appear unnatural is because of the way their weight is balanced through walking backwards however it doesn't look normal to us because the editing makes them appear to be walking forwards.

Animatic.

Inspirational Images For Photoshoot.

These are some inspirational images I found to try and reflect how I want the photos to look like. I thought these were close to perfect because I think the editing is spot on and I really like the use of colour. How they are dull in contrast and there is a grey tone with a scratchy texture in both photos. In this first photo I love the editing in the eyes, making her look posessed and non-human. As I edited a previous photo with black eyes I know that this look is achievable. Also, the fact that both photos include blood strongly relates to the appearance we want to portray. They both reflect a sense of evilness and have a disturbing essence to the way the subjects have been positioned and captured. The image in my head and what I wish to achieve is alot like the out comes of these photos, however in the photoshoot I look to have more of a damp, drained feel where the blood is running off the subject and dripping into the puddles on the floor where she rests.

Photoshoot Plan.

Lists of Props, Costumes, Make-up and Equipment.

I created a gif showing each band member of Asking Alexandria and the instruments they play.

It is important we have the right instruments in order to create our band, by looking at the band members of Asking Alexandria and what their role is in the band, we are able to get an idea of the image we want to portray and the props we will need. By looking into this, I now know that we would need a guitar, drums, rhythm guitar, microphone and a bass guitar. We will also have to gather a group of people who are able to play these instruments.

We wanted to be a bit creative and decided to add flour onto the surface of the drums, therefore when the drums are hit, the flour will lift up and create a mist around the drums. This will compliment the atmospherical appearance of the forest as the flour will look like fog, dissapearing into the air. Here is an example of what we want to achieve.  (add in youtube video)

Location Shots.

 These are some photos that I took during a visit to Box Hill. As we are hoping to shoot in a forest area, I took pictures of trees and the natural surroundings whilst I was there. I edited the photos slightly to make them more dark and gloomy.

I took these photos of the sunset to show the type of lighting we are aiming for. We hope to shoot some shots with this lighting as the colours in the sky are iluminated becoming very atmospherical.

Here is a selection of shots from the music video 'The Sadness Will Never End' by 'Bring Me The Horizon'. I previously looked at this video before and our group was inspired by the set and how the performance was presented, with everything filmed in a forrest it reflects what we want to do. We also liked the video because it used a narrative as well as a performance which is also what we want to achieve. We want to film most of our music video in a forest at dusk where the lighting is dim, reflecting a dark gloomy atmosphere which enforces the convention of the rock genre, however how we light up the shot so that the band is visible will be a problem, we will have to come up with a solution as to how we are going to light up the shot in a forest where there is no electrisity to work any type of lighting.



CD Cover Designs

As a group we discussed ideas on how we wanted our CD cover to appear. We thought about the concept of our chosen song but also kept in mind that the whole album isn't going to follow the same story line as that. However we gathered that a theme of anger and destruction would be present throughout the album therefore our images are going to portray quite a violent, dark look. We decided to call the album 'Bonded By Blood', this relates to the aggressive, destructive theme we are following. We may possibly include a blood like substance as a prop in our photo shoot so we are then linking the appearance of the album to the concept. We discussed how it would be presented and thought that we should involve the blood with the girl that could link to a majority of the songs in the album because our chosen song 'Breathless' involves the idea of a girl tormenting and consuming the mind of one of the band members.

This is a photo I took previously in my photography work. As a group we decided that we should use this cold, deteriorating cracked surface on our subjects when in the editing process. I think it looks effective because it is very dark and enforces this destructive theme because in our music video we are including objects breaking, we are reflecting this idea through the album cover by making the skin break.  We are also debating on editing the skin to possibly open up and reveal something in the underneath layer.

Another idea we had was a photo shoot of eerie looking, cold moonlit shots in the woods which relates to the potential setting of our music video with our band surrounded by trees and in our narrative part of the video, the main character walking through the trees trying to clear his mind from this girl. The set for this shoot would be quite haunting and dark. It is important that we include dark tones because it is one of the main conventions in our chosen genre. This photo shoot would focus more on the bands image and be mostly about them.

For our band name, we thought of a few possible titles after finally coming to a conclusion of naming the band 'Aftermath of Ignorance'. We came up with this by searching song names that we already knew and making a list of possible choices. This seemed like the best option and the most likely to be a band name therefore we went with that.

This is an album cover that we all liked the look of, it is gory and violent which sticks to the conventions of the expected appearances in the rock genre. It doesn't give a way much but depicts the destructive and agressive theme we want to portray as we are interpretating the song we are looking at as quite angry and full of fustration as the main motive is about someone struggling to find themself and not being happy with who they are therefore they are hurting the person who they may love which causes him to feel fustrated and worked up. As if he is screaming, we want this kind of mentally unstable issue, that we have interpretated, to be an accuring theme in the album. I feel this album cover is depicting the sense of anger and fustration and portraying it in a violent, gruesome manner. The use of blood also relates to our idea for the images in the inside of the album. I know I would try my best to try and recreate something like this on photoshop as I am slightly experienced in using the programme although it would be a bit of a challenge. However this is not a definate decision, it is just an idea.


This is a video of us working on our sketches for the appearance of the album. We put all of our ideas together so we could see what would work best and if we could link certain elements.

Visual Ideas.

When listening to this song I got a few visual ideas. Because the the narrative is based around this one girl which he doesn't want to hurt, I thought we should portray what is going on in his mind through quick shots and flashes. We could show memories of his time spent with her, to help us understand their relationship and what she looks like. Different short lengthed shots can be shown now and again throughout the video to support the meaning of the lyrics.
I tried to find a music video which interpretates the idea I am trying to explain. I remembered the music video for 'Breakeven' by 'The Script' done something exactly like I'm picturing for this video. Even though the genre of music is alot different and calmer, it can still be used in ours for quick cut aways. Here is a sample from the Breakeven video, you can see shots of the girl comes up various times:

This would depict what is going on in his head, we could also include short length and fast paced shots which create a manic busy feel that relates to the mood of the song, being quite angry and agressive. Having alot of built up fustration because he is trying to find himself and by having her in the picture, it is aggravating him. There could be a particular part in the song which is building up and suited to fast paced shots on a faster beat.

I cropped the part of the song that I thought was most suited to a build up of shots. Previously, when analysing one of Asking Alexandrias songs 'To The Stage', I really liked this fast sequance of shots near the end and from then I really wanted to use it for the video I would be making. Now that we have chosen the song I felt that this type of shot sequance suits the narrative as well as the sound.

Both of these videos that I have used as examples depict two diffferent narratives, in the 'Breakeven' video it shows shot of the women looking innocent and natural where as aa's video, 'To The Stage', it shows quite a dirty, sinful character. I think it would be quite good to put both of these extremely opposite personalities together in our video to represent this one girl. The cut away shots of the girl could start off quite innocent and beautiful, but then as the song goes on the personality could switch - suggesting that the longer she is around, the more trouble he will cause her, turning her into a different person, being evil and dominating. Or if we followed the different interpretation of the narrative, it could depict her driving him mad, constantly being in his mind and taking over. Appearing as if she is teasing the camera and acting manipulative, sneering and laughing at the camera as if she is laughing at the fact that she is causing this insanity to him.

As this song is aggresive and brings out a sense of fustration, I think it would be relevent to include some distructive kind of shots in the video. We could possibly show the guy being worked up and letting out his anger around him. This impact of violance and anger could be portrayed in a shot of breaking object. If we was to capture something like glass smashing on the ground, making sure every piece was captured, it would look really dramatic. If we were to do this I also think it would emphasise and show off the shot more by adding a slow motion effect. Here is an example of this type of shot in one of Asking Alexandrias previous music videos for 'The Final Episode', although the object would be purposly broken rather than accidently like in this video:

Asking Alexandria - Breathless.

Lyrics | Breathless lyrics

When looking into the lyrics, we thought that the narrative of the song was about him being caught up on a girl, however he is not in the right mind state to be with someone. He is saying that she is 'better off to walk away' because all he is capable of doing is causing trouble and making mistakes. He refers to himself as 'corruption' and a 'sin'. He is saying that he has no consience, therefore he always does wrong and his head never tells him otherwise. He comes across as very problematic and struggling to find himself, however he seems to have no regret of his actions, coming across as very cold hearted and stubborn. He is telling the girl not to fall for him, and to save herself while she can for someone who will not cause her heartbreak and suffering. It is like the song is warning her to leave, before anything gets worse.

However the lyrics could be seen in a different way. It may be the fact that he simply can't be with anyone because he himself gets so caught up on her, to the point where it drives him crazy. Because he gets so attached and obsessed, he causes problems. Because he states that he struggles to find himself, it may imply that he is so worked up on her, that everything is revolved around her; he has lost himself in the process. It could be that all this has caused him to become out of his mind, with such a strong attachment and feelings towards her that he knows nothing else, causing him to feel angry and over think everything about her. He could be pleading for her to walk away, to save her but also himself at the same time - so he can find himself again without her always playing on his mind.

Here is a short review I found on someones perception of the meaning in the lyrics:

This relates to my first oppinion of the lyrics. The fact that it has 5 stars shows that alot of people agree with this perception and it is more likely to be the real meaning behind the narrative rather than my second suggestion, however it would be useful to explore the different alternative so that the concept is not to obvious and predictable when following the lyrics. We will have to decide what perception of the narrative we want to take as a group out of the two.

Our chosen song: Asking Alexandria - Breathless.

We chose this song because we are all fond of the band, it fits in with our genre (rock) and has a regular rhythmic beat which suits the editing style we want to create.

Assessment 10/10/11 TME

Check the Written Assessment Feedback sheet which was given to you.

Jing video - how to edit the green screen.

Photoshop Tutorial.

For our photoshop tutorial we chose Daniel as our focus point. We portrayed him as the main artist because of his stereoypical appearance suited to the rock genre. This is because he has long hair and also because of the style of clothes he was wearing which contained a skull, a relevent symbol which relates to our chosen genre. The composition of the photo allows us to draw all our attention to him because he is filling the frame. There is also a sense symmetry through him. I feel that it is important to think about the composition of the album cover, it in a way alters the importance of the subject, depending where you put it in the frame. The fact that he is holding drumsticks tells us that he is a drummer and that he is involved with the drumming on the tracks of the cd, he also has more importance because of the fact that he is the only one in the front cover, it is what the viewers see first and this image is what people are likely to refer to when hearing the songs in this album.

We named our practice album 'Death or Dishonour' simply because it was printed on his top. We chose a dark red color because it is visible against the colours in which it is over laying. Also because red tones are a common convention of our genre, relating to blood and gore. The placement of our title is at the bottom of the frame because if it was placed anywhere else, it would be covering the areas of importance -his face, drumsticks and print on his top. Also, by putting it here it balances out the photo and compliments the symmetrical aspect to the composition. Whilst editing we added a dark vertical grainy effect through the filters, which gives the photo a drained feel.

For the back cover we chose a photo where the subject was composed in the left side of the frame, therefore allowing enough space to fit in the tracks in the album. We used the same colour for the title of our song names, also both covers contain a black background which is the main conventional colour of our rock genre. For our song titles, we simply just looked through random song names from relevant artists.

                              

Roles.

My role in our group is mainly being the photographer, the reason for this is because I take photography A level, therefore I have more experience in working with the camera and I'm often doing photoshoots anyway so I'l enjoy taking the photos for the album cover etc. Although I would be capturing the images, the whole group wall also have a say in the type of photos and locations, I feel we should all have a fair contribution to each part, I will just try to reflect on the appearance we are looking for when taking the photos. Also, I have my own camera therefore I will be working with something I am familiar and used to. I look forward to taking the photos. Another part I would like to be part of is framing shots and helping out with the filming. I think me and tre will both be part of this as Daniel will be the one being filmed during the performance shots. We will also probably use my camera because in the previous year, when we used it for our thriller sequance, the quality came out really well, it also allows us to play around with the focus. Also, I may take part in the narrative depending on what we decide to do.

I will probably end up with a large amount of photos from the shoot so we have a good variety to choose from. I will then be able to create a contact sheet like the one on the side of Anthony Kiedis and John Frusciante from Red Hot Chili Peppers. These are negatives however my photos will be digital. By creating a contact sheet we are able to view how good they well look printed out although each image will be quite small.

Tre will be mostly working on the ending, reason being because he is good at working out the editing programs and when working with him last year, he picked it up well and there was a good outcome. The fact that he has had the most previous experience on Finalcut or iMovie, allows us to be able to rely on him when it comes to editing, obviously we will all have our say on how shots should be edited, but he mostly be the one putting it all together and doing the technical parts such as cutting the shots, the transitions, the effects. He is easy to work with and can usually succeed in putting across what we want it the editing.

Daniel will be involved in the performance shots, this is because he is part of a band. This highly benefits us, also because of the genre of his band which plays rock music. We can use his instruments and his group to film and act like the famous artists of our music video. This means they will have to really take on the role of having alot of confidence and performing just like the artists we see in the videos. Their performance has to be believable and their lip syncing needs to be right. The group needs to feel comfortable infront of the camera and really get into the music, mimicing the artists we see. For the narrative part of our video, Daniel will probably help with the filming because the band is not needed for this part. His and everyone elses will be contributed into what we do.

Initial Thoughts.

Here is a video showing our discussion of what we want out music video to look like and our Initial ideas.

Peer Assessment

This is an assessment sheet which was filled out by another peer who looked at my blog. By doing this it gave me an idea of the stage I'm at as I was given a mark out of 20 and a grade. The fact that the levels were broke down into different catagories helped me realise my lower points. This assesment tell me that I need more layouts, drafting and storyboarding however we haven't really covered this part of our planning yet. It also tells me that I need to prove my communication skills. Not only does this assessment tell me what I need to improve on, but it also gives me more confidence in the fact that it highlights the areas which I am good at.

Assessment TME 24/09/11

Elenya,

WWW: - Your magazine advert analysis is simply excellent! WOW! Very good insight supported by very good examples. Your record label entry is also good.

EBI - You need to make sure you complete all the missing entries, particularly the audience research ones. It seems you are still spending far too much time on one or two entries and not spreading your effort across all the areas you need to. What this means is that you're not going to be getting the marks you clearly are capable of getting, because you're just not covering all the elements you need to within the research. Come and talk to myself or MCU if you need help organising your time.

Because you've not covered many of the entries unfortunately: GRADE - PR.

Analysis of Magazine Album Advertisements.

THE HORRORS Magazine Advertisement:

This is an advertisement for the album Strange House, by The Horrors. The band is the main focus point, seated in the middle. The majority of them are dressed in black. The clothes seem related to quite a darker indie style, with skinny jeans and blazer like jackets also adding a sense of safistication. However there is one wearing white, making him an outcast to the others, suggesting that he is possibly the lead singer, having more of a lead role amongst them as he is in contrast to them. The set of the photo appears in a house, relating to the album name 'Strange House'. It is quite poshly furnished. They are seated on a sofa with curtains either side draped near enough identically.

The curtains look silky with patterns decorated over them giving a glamurous appearance.

The animals head hung up in the center emphasises the symmetry in the composition of this image. This object indicates possibly wealth, having these head stereotypically seen in grand houses, hung above fire places etc. Also I feel it adds more of a vintage look combined with the curtains and the tone of the photo. Whilst briefly researching the music videos for this bad to get an idea of the type of music they play, I noticed this animal head is included in their video for 'She is a new thing'.

The photo is black and white, seeming gloomy and washed out. The texture is grainy making the image seem hazey. The fact that the colour is monotoned, with the decor being quite vintage and old fashioned with the subjects also dressed in black, with big volumized hair and thick eyeliner, creates this gothic appearance. The title of the band and the album name is enlarged above the image. The size of this font is bigger than the rest because it is what the advert is advertising. This is the same for the album release date also standing out along the bottom, this is so we are likely to read it. Below this is a small collection of positive reviews for the band, specifically chosen to make the album look good and help to persuade you to buy it with high ratings such as '10/10' and '4/5'. This font size is smaller because it is not as important where as getting across the album and the release date is the main priority of the advert, the reviews just make the band look better. Other than advertising the albums release date, they also add along the bottom the months they are touring and a website where you can access tickets. As well as this is their myspace page.

NIRVANA Album Magazine Advertisement:

This is advertising Nirvanas Live At Reading Album. This advert contains no specially set up photoshoot for the albums promotion like the previous. It is a shot taken from their Reading performance and is the same photo which is used as the album cover, linking the advert to the album which is presented at the side. The effect of this familiarises us with the appearance of the album which therefore lets us know what to look for when searching for the album, we will then recognize this image. It shows Nirvana on stage, with Kurt Cobain in mid air, jumping with his guitar, representing their stage presence as being wild and eratic, reflecting what is seen in their live performances with actions such as throwing around guitars and jumping on equipment, therefore really engaging into their music. This is emphasising the nature of the band but also a feel of the type of performance they give and what we are expecting to be seeing if we purchase this DVD/CD. This type of image of a band performing is quite a common convention of the rock genre. When we think of rock we are automatically expecting to see the band playing at one point.

The main over powering colours of this advert are black and yellow. The reason for this is because black and yellow are the associated colours of Nirvana, it is like their trade colours. The bands logo is placed on the left. This narrow thick font is also associated with Nirvana. This font is used below the image for the availability and the release date as well as the title. I noticed that in the description, the words 'legendary' and 'pristine' are used to make the album sound better, to make it look more appealing. There is also a hmv logo placed in the corner showing us where the product is available.

Fall Out Boy Album Magazine Advertisement:

This is advertising Fall Out Boy's album 'Believers Never Die'. An album combining all of their greatest hits, the reason for this is because the band split up, so their most successful hits is put into one album as a kind of celebration and collection. The album name 'Believers Never Die' representes the fans and believers of Fall Out Boy always being devoted to the band and also their music living on despite the fact that the band are no longer together. The art of the advert is illustrative. It's a drawing of two skeletons laying down on the floor together. This could represent the seperation of the band, how the group has in a way died, even though Fall Out Boy came to an end, their friendship and remains still excist. The fact that the bones are in entwined possibly reinforces how close their frienships were but also possibly the connection with their fans. Even though they are no longer together their excistance lives on through their music. Their music is all that remains, and what is left behind are bones, portraying the end of Fall Out Boy. Surrounding the skeletons are objects such as converses, guitar and a record. These are musically associated instruments and having the guitar and converses enforce this connection with the band, being stereotypical items owned in a rock band. The poster is coloured in blue, creating quite a sad, gloomy atmosphere which relates to the fact that the band have split up and the mood likely to be felt by their fans. I noticed that this advert is simular to 'The Horrors' in the fact that above and below the image is faded into black, also with the Nirvana advertisments background being black. This shows that the colour black is quite a common typical convention in rock genre. The text is white, contrasting to tthe background which makes it stand out. There is the use of bold writing for the bands name, date of release, the rating by Kerrang, it is also bigger than the rest giving it more importants. This advertisement is different from the rest because it also includes a small variety of the songs included in the album, these are probably the bands most well known tracks.

Record Label Research.

Roadrunner Records is an American record label that concentrates primarily on heavy metal and death metal bands. It was founded in 1980 by Cees Wessels. It was distributed by Atlantic Record Groups (in the US) and WEA International inc (outside the US). The country of origin is the Netherlands. It's genre of music is Heavy metal, Death metal, Hard rock, Blues rock. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Road Runner includes bands such as Alexisonfire, Alter Bridge, Atreyu, Kids In Glass Houses, Killswitch Engage, Kiss, Lamb of God, Nickelback, Slipknot, The Devil Wears Prada and Underoath.

Warner Bros is an American record label, with Jack Warner as the founder of the current warner music group. It was established in 1958 and for a while was part of a group of labels, owned and opperated by larger parent cooperations. Over the 1960s to the early 2000s, Warner Bros. Records grew from a struggling record company to become one of the top recording labels in the world. It has a close relationship to Warner Bros. Pictures. There is no specific genre in this label.

Artists that have been signed consist of big names such as; Red Hot Chili Peppers, Avenged Sevenfold, Biffy Clyro, Metallica,  MuseGreen day and My Chemical Romance. I have specifically selected screen grabbed artists from my genre.

Epitaph Records is a Hollywood, California based independant record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. The label was originally created in the 1980s for the purpose of selling Bad Religion records, but has evolved into a large independant record label. The distubuters are the Alternative Distrubutors Alliance and EMI records. The genre of this label is Punk Rock, Hardcore Punk, Pop Punk, Post-Hardcore, Metalcore, Alternative Rock, Alternative Hip Hop, Grindcore.

Artists with releases on this label:

NOFX, Downset, Guttermouth, Down By Law, The Offspring, Rancid, Descendents, Pennywise, 98 Mute, Madball, New Bomb Turks, Millencolin, Pulley, Bouncing Souls, Hot Water Music, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Osker, Deviates, Dag Nasty, Death By Stereo, Agnostic Front, The Dwarves, Ten Foot Pole, The Joykiller, The Undeclinables, Satanic Surfers, ALL, Bad Religion, 1208, Dillinger Escape Plan, Ikara Colt, Turbonegro, Matchbook Romance, I Against I, Motion City Soundtrack, The Weakerthans, The Special Goodness, Atmosphere, Error, Beatsteaks, The Matches, Scatter The Ashes, From First To Last, Converge, Sage Francis, Dead Fucking Last, Youth Group, RKL, Day of Contempt, I Am Ghost, Some Girls, Escape the Fate, The Coup, The Robocop Kraus, The Draft, Heavens, Vanna, Gallows, The Higher, Parkway Drive, Suicidal Tendencies, I Set My Friends on Fire, The Sound of Animals Fighting, Bring Me the Horizon, Leathermouth, New Found Glory, The Color of Violence, Set Your Goals, Frank Turner, Every Time I Die, The Ghost of a Thousand, Story of the Year, Alkaline Trio, Off with Their Heads, Sing It Loud, Weezer, Social Distortion, Thursday, Heartsounds, Falling in Reverse