The Grudge..

Music video

..evaluation.

Consideration of codes and conventions is very important whilst creating a product for the music industry. Starting this project, I have made a clear decision that I would follow something that I am familiar with, just to make my life easier for me. However, lacking for unique ideas has made think again and change my decision. This decision was a very challenging one as I have decided to go for something which I am not familiar with what so ever. So, from hip-hop to experimental music was a very huge step. The challenge has begun for me when I had to make my own brief as I knew nothing about experimental music. Researching into unfamiliar artists was not very easy as most of them are not that famous, however as I have begun to find some interesting artists I knew that this challenge should be a very interesting one. Just before looking for ideas and inspiration I have came across to an amazing artist Soap & Skin, aka Anja Plaschg. Her music has seemed very unusual but also beautiful which has drawn my attention to straight away. After a long consideration I have chosen my song, ‘Fall Foliage’. As I have started to think of ideas for my product I have decided to avoid contact with the artists’ music videos just for the beginning. As I knew that I would most likely end up copying some ideas with no intention.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions

of real media products?

As I have began my idea overflow I have wanted for my music video to come out very unique. This meant using unusual techniques, locations and props. My overall idea was to get the message across that the artist is trying to get away from herself as she is unhappy about herself, like seen in her lyrics ‘We have nothing more to share, only air, that old breath’. My most obvious idea was to use a mirror, however to make it interesting my ideas were to use a few mirrors, different size range too. To let the audience know what the idea of my music video is I have came across to an idea of a scruffy drawing of the artist in a mirror, this is to show he the artist sees herself whilst looking in the mirror. I then wanted the artist to sing some of the lyrics showing who this song is about. The beginning lyrics are ‘You made me smile with my heart; you made me, bag for admission cards. You will never stay, in my home, on my way’. This introduction is very simple but affective too, as the audience should by now know that the artist is singing about herself. One of my unique ideas which put the genre of experimental across would be using projections of the lyrics. The body language of the artist fits in with the lyrics, which once again, lets the audience know how the artist feels. Due to me being the creator of the video as well as the artist herself, I believe that it was much easier to get the message across how wanted it to. This is because I knew the character inside out and for that reason I could get into that character. Also, if any of the body language/acting went wrong it would be much easier to blame myself as well as act it out again the way it has to be.

Overall I feel that I have followed the codes and conventions thoroughly as my understanding of experimental genre has been put across within my ideas of uniqueness and the original side of it.

Making my digipack I have wanted to put the genre of the artists’ music across, which meant uniqueness. I have also wanted to let the audience know what the album is all about and this meant me making the digipac a reflective of the songs within the album. So, to do that I have used all of the images from the video, as ‘Fall foliage’ is the main song of the album. Making it unique I have been inspired by Sagmeister. I have cut out the pieces of the face from the front cover, making it look like a broken mirror. The front of the digipack is the most important feature within the digipac as it is an introduction to the audience. This means that it has to be very attractive to draw people’s attention.

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

The same story goes to making a promotional poster, for the album to sell. The poster has to be extra attractive due to only one image being used. I have used a photo from my music video once again, because of the same reasons. However, I did not use the same front image. This time I have used a photo of the artist lying on the mirror, as this lets the audience know hat the album may be about. I could not use the same image as the digipack front cover, due to it being too simple. If I have used the same technique of the cut outs on the poster it would have not worked that well, as the poster is not hand held. Due to the digipac being hand held, the audience are able to feel the cut outs and feel the uniqueness.

I believe that the combination of my main product and ancillary texts is very effective as all of the images used for my ancillary texts have been taken from the music video. I also find effective due to ‘Fall Foliage’ being the main song of the album. This means that it not only it introduces the album but the main song also. I am also pleased with the fact of giving away the experimental genre, for people who are interested in this type of genre both my poster and my digipac would be familiar, and easy to spot. Overall all three tie in together extremely well.

Through the process of making I have constantly been reflecting, revising and adapting the feedback received from the audience. There is no doubt about audience being in control of my music video

constantly, due to me having to appeal to them. Due to me constantly thinking about the audience I have not received as much feedback for improvement. However, the feedback which I have received I have

always taken into consideration.Some of my most memorable feedback would be from the older generation as they are more experienced and would not be scared to criticize my ideas. However, due to my music video appealing to a wide range

age group I have tried my hardest to get as much feedback as I could from all the age generations. My very first way of achieving feedback would have been by me making a questionnaire to give out to everyone.

The feedback received has mostly been good feedback, which I was very pleased with.

The audience have taught me a lot, such as reducing the length of some shots as viewing long shots can get boring. Also, I have re-shot quite a lot of shots to make them fit in perfectly with my video. My most

successful change has been adding the suicide bath scene which was recommended by one of the students in my class. I believe that it fits in perfectly and that the story line has extended in a more interesting way. I

have also taken into consideration the fact that the very first shot of the artist singing as way too long, looking back at the feedback it has also improved my video due to me adding shots of the artist going all

over the place between the singing shots. This has made it clearer that the artist does not know where she stands with herself and that she is all over the place. Things that have also been improved by the influence

of the audience were changing the order of some shots due to minor confusion.

What have you learned from

your audience feedback?

To gain constant feedback from all different age groups I have used a networking website facebook. This has let lots of different people feedback their thoughts and

changes that could be made freely. More than half of the comments were positive, and no changes have been made after the facebook feedback has been received.

I have learned that feedback from the audience is one of the main things that could improve things in the line of everything not just a music video. I believe that feedback

from others is a way to perfection and it has helped me get to where I am now, and that is a thoroughly good music video which I personally am pleased with, thanks to

others opinions.

What have you learned from your

audience feedback?

In terms of construction I have used Final Cut pro for editing my music video. This

new technology was quite hard to get the hang of, but once I’ve got used to it I have managed to successfully create my music video. I have had previous experience with this program from year 12, however I have managed to forget a few things during the

summer holidays, which has made me think back. Apart from that, I have learnt many new things, which were very useful

within my music video. Speaking of construction, I have also used other

technologies which have helped me to get everything the way I have wanted it to. One of these things were to get the lip

singing right, for this achievement I have used my phone to play the track whilst

filming. Using my mobile phone was a very good idea as I have managed to get the lip

singing right the first time which I was rather proud of. This has also made my life much easier as I could get it done quickly and out of the way, letting me move on to

the making of the rest of the video. To create my digipac and poster I have also used the help of new technologies. The

main program which I have used is Photoshop. Due to me doing two art

subjects I know how to use it quite easily. However there is always a lot more to find

out and learn. Photoshop is a very good program as it allows you to feel free with whichever move you want to make, from

choosing your texts to editing own images making your work look as professional as it

can get.

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

Research and planning wise I have mostly used the internet, this is

because it holds a lot of information about anything and everything. Also, it is easy to use and takes less time than books, meaning that I could get

much more research done in less time. I have used google.com for most

of my written research and Youtube.com for all of the moving

research, such as examples of music videos. Looking at other music videos

has helped me gain more initiative and greater ideas towards my

creation. To collect research on what the audience have thought of my

music video, also known as feedback I have used a Networking website

‘Facebook’, I believe that this way many people would view it due to

Facebook being a very popular networking website which gets used

by every day.