Names and Candidate Numbers

Centre Number- 61291

Jessica Pond- 9625
Christopher Demeyer- 1223
Anam Raza- 9720
Connor Biesterfeldt-Woods- 9182

Evaluation Question 4

Evaluationquestion4powepoint 160506085309 from ChristopherDemeyer16

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 1 - Part B

After creating our first draft for question 1, we found that a picture we inserted from our music video had become corrupted. When we have tried to remove/hide it, it takes the audio from the podcast away. Because of this, we have been unable to remove or cover the image. This is why we have been forced to keep it there instead of having a relevant image to support and prove what we are saying. The only way to answer this question using the draft and new recordings was to split the evaluation post into two. 

Evaluation Question 1- Part A

Final Advert image

Final Advert Image

Final DigiPack images

From the images that can be seen above, the three images will make up our Digipack, with the first being the first picture that is seen at the very front of the Digipack, with the next picture within the Digipack being the second picture and the last picture being the third in the Digipack, the last has no images on and will have text written on it including record labels and companies, plus credits of creators of the Digipack and other materials as well as actors and actresses involved within the filming.

Final Film

Background Image for Digipack and Advert

Background Image for Digipack and Advert

Above is an image of the background that we used to use for our Digipack and our advert that was used to compliment our music video. The background is a light textured pink colour with the background being lightest in the very centre of the background image, this worked really well as our characters were centred within the image and therefore had a spotlight effect that made the characters really stand out in the brighter light and against the bright pink background. This exact background was used on our Digipack and our Advert as we wanted our ancillary tasks to remain consistent and follow a criteria which other pop music artists use when creating their Digipack, Advert and other promotional material, keeping everything consistent also makes all of the components look very professional and the audience can also relate to the various different parts of the package and link them to one artist.

Problems Encountered Creating Digipack

Problems Encountered when Creating the Digipack

As a part of the ancillary tasks, we have to produce a Digipak and an advert in the form of a poster which features our music video actors/actresses. The Digipak that we wanted to create was to have the photograph of our two main characters, Kim and Connor, her boyfriend. However when we were taking the photos of the two of them at the park we managed to get a number of different of photos with 2 that we really thought would fit well within the Digipack that we wanted to create. Both of the photos were exactly the same but Kim had the correct facial expression on one but Connor did not have the correct facial expression within the same photo. Looking at the second photo Connor had the correct facial expression and therefore we had to cut Connor out of the second photo and edit it so he was siting next to Kim on the first photo, which we much preferred to create as a part of our Digipack.

After deciding on exactly how we were going to do this, we used Adobe Photoshop to put both of the photos together in order to create a complete photo that featured both of our main characters, Kim and Connor with the correct body language and the correct facial expressions, exactly what we wanted to accomplish at the very beginning of the task. We also decided to remove the original background which was of the park but decided to keep the seat that they were siting on as it would of looked strange if it would of been taken out and they would of been sitting on nothing, therefore making our advert not look very professional.

After we took the original background out of the photo we then found another background that we could use to go with the photo, this was a pink textured background that we felt would go really well with both the Digipack and the Advert and would also link really well to our genre which is Pop, as the conventions of pop state that a music videos and the products that go along with it normally consist or include bright colours and we therefore thought that changing the dark and really bland background to a bright pink background also created a better image that we were trying to portray.

Problems faced with film

Problems Faced

Filming

The first problem we faced was with our park scene where the shot sub-shots of the main character singing. The temperature was very low and the clothes we wanted Kim to be in were not appropriate for the weather. We did not come prepared with anything to control the situation, this meant we filmed her lip sync only 3 times and did not decide on filming more angles and shots. This meant we did not have a variety to use for these shots. We were also limited on time to film as we used the double Friday lesson and had to be back before the second lesson ended.

Our locations were not what we originally envisioned for example, the bedroom we used was a males bedroom as we did not have access to our female group members' bedrooms. The problem we found was the use of colour in the room, the walls and carpet were blue. There was a lack of stereotypical female objects and colours around the room. For example we originally wanted the walls to be either pink or cream however because we ended up using a males bedroom.

Tripod reflection

After gathering all of the footage that we needed, we then looked at the footage and found that one of the scenes that we had filmed in front of a set of glass doors, had the reflection of us filming along with the tripod and the camera. This was luckily seen before the complete footage was put together and we therefore was able to cut before these particular scene and used the piece of footage just before this problem and then just after, therefore solving the problem.

Kim's Leg Injury

Our main actress and character in our film, which was Kim injured her leg during the filming period and we were faced with around a two week delay in which time Kim was unable to walk and was not mobile. With the loss of the two weeks that we could of filmed in this put us behind meaning that some of the shots that wanted to shoot were not included within the film itself due to the shortage of time. After Kim was able to move around more and was more mobile we were then able to film with us then filming shortly after, managing to get the necessary shots of film in order to fill the major gaps within our film that we could then finish and complete after that.

Problems with text on our blog

Blog posts:

The writing on some of posts would resize themselves when published. A similar problem happened in year 12 where our final post texts would re-colour themselves and would be difficult to see when published. This meant we had to go back on our blog and try to resolve the issue. We did this to make sure our blog looked much more organised and professional as we knew presentation was key in getting extra marks.

However we could not fix our year 12 posts and 2 (Kinga Burza post and Music Genres post) of our year 13 posts. This would have lowered our overall grade in Year 12 because it altered the way we wanted to present the posts.

Storyboard 4-5

Storyboard 4-5

Storyboard 1 - 3

Storyboard 1 - 3

Advert Development

Advert Development

For the magazine advert design we all looked at different types of pop music adverts for videos to look at what the conventions were and for what people would expect to see.

The main thing that we all noticed was that every single pop advert we looked at all had the artist on their own with a plain background. We decided to follow this with our own design as we all felt like it would make the artist stand out so you would know who it was at first glance if you liked their music.

The image to the left is our final draft of what we all wanted. We wanted her to wear the red dress that she wore in the video again to try to portray that she was completely over him like the title of the song suggests.

This is our final draft for our advert. For the name of the artist I used a handwriting font as this is the type of thing that we saw Taylor Swift do and we liked the idea that it could have looked like a signature.

Filming problem

Filming Problem

One of the major issues that we faced when filming our music videos occurred during the shooting of the last scene. On the day, to our knowledge, we filmed all of the shots perfectly. However, when we got back to school and uploaded the footage onto the editing software (Premiere Pro), we noticed that, in one of the key shots, the tripod was clearly visible in the reflection of one of the front windows. After analysing this footage, it was clear that the presence of the tripod made the shots look very unprofessional, and could even convey to the viewer than we were inconsiderate when setting up our shot locations. Due to this, we have decided to go back and re-shoot the shots were the reflections of the tripod can be seen. This is so that we can use better, more professional looking footage within our music video.

Different Music Genres

Music Genre Research

Reshoot list

Audience feedback questionnaire for evaluation question

Digi-Pack Design

Evaluation 4 Plan

Evaluation 3 Plan

JACC 2 - Updated Rough Cut

This is the updated version of our rough cut music video. In this version some of the lip-syncing issues are now fixed, with the audio now syncing perfectly with the main characters lip movements. There is also some  more shots regarding the party scene, helping to deliver the overall narrative of the product.

Evaluation Question 2 Plan

Evaluation Question 1 Plan

*PODCAST NOTES*

We decided not to do a commentary, but instead do a podcast as it was more appropriate.

JACC Music rough cut

Our creative process

Our creative process

 

Our creative process (Explain the creative process behind the creation of your practical work. What inspired you? Provide a range of examples.)

For our advanced portfolio we looked at looked at various music videos. At the start of year 13, our group agreed that we should would be making the music video for the song ‘we are never getting back together’ by Taylor Swift. Because of this we decided to primarily research pop music videos. The first pop videos that had a huge impact on our product was the Katy Perry music videos; ‘E.T’ and ‘Roar’. Having done some previous research on the Andrew Goodwin theory, we instantly noticed how the visuals of these music videos had a very strong correlation to the lyrics of the song, which according to the Andrew Goodwin theory is a key component of any successful pop music video. This can be seen in the ‘Roar’ music video when the lyrics are “you’re gonna hear me roar” while Katy Perry and a Tiger begin growling at the screen. The influence of this aspect of these music videos can be seen throughout our own, for example when the lyrics are “when you said you needed space” and the character receives a text message saying ‘I need some space’. From this we learnt how to connect the visuals to the lyrics of the song and edit it accordingly to ensure that this synergy was made more apparent.

The second media piece that had a huge impact and influence on our own was the ‘born to die’ music video by Lana Del Rey. We loved how the music video featured the singer both within the scenes detailing the song’s narrative and the lip syncing the lyrics to the camera. This can be seen in the scenes where Lana is interacting with her love interest (the narrative) while cross cutting to her lip syncing the lyrics of the song in a palace. We knew that this was a professional technique within pop music videos in an attempt to heighten the singer’s star identity, show a personal link/ meaning to the lyrics and make the music video more entertaining. We used these ‘narrative to lip syncing cross-cuts within our own music video, for example when the singer is arguing with her boyfriend and then it cuts to her lying on her bed, lip syncing the lyrics “we are never getting back together”. This taught us the importance of having the narrative mixed into the actual performance of the song, meaning that we had to carefully assign each section of lyrics to the appropriate kind of scene; whether it be lip syncing or narrative.     

Our inspiration

Our inspiration

 

Our inspiration (Explain how far your understanding of the conventions of existing media influenced the way you treated your own media products. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how this understanding developed over time.)

For our advanced portfolio we carried out similar research however, this time we watched various music videos. While watching the music videos, we made notes on what codes and conventions were used and what ones we wanted to try and implement within our own music video. From the beginning, our group decided to create a music video for the pop song ‘we are never getting back together’ by Taylor Swift. Because of this, we only researched in depth the codes and conventions pop music videos. The first we looked at was ‘Born to die’ by Lana Del Rey. We loved how the video showed the main star (Lana) alongside the narrative while also cross-cutting to the main star singing. We felt like this made the music video much more entertaining and understood that it was a professional technique used to enhance the singer’s star identity. In the effort to make our music video just as professional, we decided to add cross-cuts featuring the singer while having them in the main narrative footage. This can be seen throughout our project as there are scenes where the singer is lip syncing to the camera which cross cuts to her arguing with her boyfriend etc.

 

Another key code and convention of pop music videos that we noticed was how the visuals always tend to relate to the visuals. This became apparent to us as we watched the music video for ‘Roar’ by Katy Perry, in the scene where the lyrics “you’re gonna hear me roar” are accompanied by visuals of Katy Perry and a tiger growling towards the camera. We made sure to frequently have the visuals of our music video link into the lyrics such as when the lyrics are “when you said you needed space” and the singer receives a text message saying ‘I think I need some space’ etc.  

Creativity Powerpoint in Year 13

Creativity in year 13 PowerPoint

This is PowerPoint that I created that covers all of the aspects of the creativity in both year 12 and year 13 and how the creativity aspects were used to inspire us so we could then include the creativity within our own product, for example using bright colours in our music video and following a narrative, following a story line to base the music video upon.

Props Used in Filming

Props used in filming for our music video

Above are some pictures of some of the props that we used within our filming for our music video, the drinks bottles and the glasses were used to add a sense of realism to the party and details really helped set the scene for the party scene which we filmed.

Music Video Advertisement - Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift Music Video Advertisement

There are many different ways to advertise your music video such as, having a photo of the artist at one of the location shots of the video or you could publish a still from the actual music video itself. Taylor swift has done this with the release of her single 'Bad Blood'. In this video Taylor Swift used a whole different range of celebrities who all had different characters who all had their own poster. The poster to the left is an example of this where it has a featuring of the actress which would bring the audience of both Taylor Swift and Jessica Alba as she is going to be in the video.

You can also advertise music videos in the same way that you would if it was a film being released. Taylor Swift has also done this with her video 'Out of the Woods'. This would create some extra excitement as people would start to wonder what the whole video is going to be about as you don't know what it is going to be like. It could have a little story like a film, like a normal music video or it could be a mixture of both of them.

Music Video Advert Research Taylor Swift

Music Video Advert

For our second part of the ancillary task we have to create an advert for our music video that can either be published in a form of poster or in a music magazine such as NME, BBC Music and many others. The advert that we need to create needs to link to our music video that we have created as well as the Digi pack that goes with the music video and the CD album that we are putting together. 

The Album/ single has to link to the music video and the Digi pack that all goes together so consumers can make the link between the artists music video, album/ single and the advert. To the left you can see the advert for Taylor Swifts new song, Red which was published to promote the sale of the CD in the stores of Target throughout America and Canada.

The music Advert has a distinct look to it with the colour red being featured with Taylor Swift being placed within the advert with her wearing a hat which also features in the album cover therefore making the clear link between the advert and the album cover which can be seen below with Taylor Swift featuring on the album cover with the colour red and her wearing a hat again keeping the consistency over all of the different forms of promoting the song that she has produced and then brought out. The Digi pack also links to the album cover and the advert for the song with the colour red being present again in the produced Digi pack and the hat that Taylor Swift wears in all of the ways of promotion. Another feature that I have seen is the way that all of the photos have been taken, as it appears that all of the photos have been edited with a certain filter to make the photos appear as they are vintage and makes the photos look more appealing to the eye with this feature being featured over the advert, Digi pack and the album cover all linking together in that way again even if the filters are slightly different on each medium with the filter on the advert being in a grey scale/ sepia effect which really makes the advert look vintage and would appeal to a large scale audience, with the colour red and the sepia tone on the advert really blending well together to create a very professional and appealing advert which has also been accomplished in the album cover and the Digi pack production all of which links together and then consumers can make the link to all of them and they are then considered a full media package.

Our inspiration: Katy Perry and the Andrew Goodwin Theory

Our inspiration: Katy Perry and the Andrew Goodwin Theory

We loved how the visuals within Katy Perry’s music videos had such a strong bond to the lyrics of the songs. we also knew that this was important to incorporate within our own project as Andrew Goodwin states it is an essential ingredient for all good pop music videos.

Our Music Video Inspiration - Narrative as seen with with Lana Del Rey

We loved how the music video featured the main singer within the narrative while cross-cutting to shots of her lip syncing. We knew that this was a professional technique used to enhance the star’s personal identity while making the music video more entertaining. It links the narrative to the singer, making the lyrics much more personal which gives them much more impact. For example,  our own music video contains  scenes of the singer lip syncing about breaking up with her boyfriend, to cross cutting to the narrative where she actually breaks up with him.

                                                

Meeting 13

Location Shots Part 2

Location Shots Part 2

The first photograph shows exactly where we filmed to the spot picking this spot as the sun was coming through the trees at a perfect angle and light, creating a great background for us to film on, making our music video scene look as we wanted it to, not having to add any effects on this particular scene as the correct lighting was available and the environment was correct as well not having to add anything to the scene as everything that we wanted was already included within shots that we took.