How did you use media technologies in the

construction and research, planning and

evaluation stages?

Research

In the research stage I used media technologies such as YouTube,

camera’s and websites like mandy.com.

YouTube was incredibly useful in this stage, as it enabled me to search

many successful Video’s from amateur to professional. This helped me

gain an insight into classical conventions that are used today and the types

of techniques which are possible. After I found the song I wanted to use I

found several Music Videos which inspired my narrative and performance

style.

I decided to look up Music Videos in a simular genre for inspiration before

creating my first storyboard. I found two songs which I liked the most,

'Bad Day' by Daniel Powter.

Daniel Powter Bad Day

Daniel Powter Bad day comes under the genre of pop/rock and is also

directed by Marc Webb. This video contains several characteristic of the

genre. These include;

· Narrative along side performance.

· Narrative that’s cinematic and amplify to the lyrics.

However this music video seems to rebel slightly against the norm as the

focus of the music video is more on the storyline and actors rather than

the performance and the artist. This is done to the extent that the artist is

completely separate from the narrative and is only filmed in the locations

the narrative is taken place but when the actors aren’t present. Usually it

is more conventional to see more shots of the artist in different locations,

with a variety of shots to promote the artist. The audience that this artist is

trying to target is probably less superficial and more into a creative

outlook of the music. I personally believe that Newton Faulkner has this

same goal and therefore inspiration taken from this music video would suit

my chosen artist.

and "Where is the love" by Black Eyed Peas.

Black Eyed Peas “Where Is The Love”

This music belongs to hip hop genre. The characteristic the video display

of this genre are;

Rap lip-syncing

Political message of the underdog

Representing public and questioning authority

Gimmick with Performance

The music video has amplified the lyrics to send a political message

through subtle inter-textual references. As well as inter-textual references

there is a quick montage of iconic signs, which give a hidden meaning like

the statue of liberty ironically supposed to represent freedom and hope for

the american dream. The actors are the artists playing different characters

to send a message of “where is the love”. The female band member is

putting up posters of question marks in different locations, acting as the

peacemaker, which could be classified as a stereotypical role of a female.

One of the other band members plays a victim of society, being stopped by

the police. We never see the policeman’s face which makes him

a representative of all authority and also maintains a focus

on promoting the artists’ image. The music video has rebelled

against conventions slightly by making children lip-sing the lyrics. This is

effective as it displays the future generations lecturing us on how we live

“people killing, people dying, children hurt and you hear them crying” and

again asking the question “where is the love”.

In Daniel Powter's "Bad Day" I liked the idea

of narrative and performance in the music video. Both my chosen song

and Bad day share the same upbeat style to them, which people can find

heart warming and fun. This is exactly what the Music Video conveyed

through the quirky scenes where the woman and man change the picture

in the station. With "Where Is The Love " I wanted to use the same idea

of iconic sign's to create a political message.

Camera

In the audience research I used a camera to carry out audience interviews.

This was done to achieve the synaesthesia ideology by making participants

listen to the song and explain what images they imagined during their

experience. This was extremely valuable as it helped me understand what

an audience expects from a Music Video just from hearing a track. It also

meant I could be at an advantage by creating a product they wouldn’t

necessarily expect for the song.

Mandy.com

As part of my research for creating my music video I attended The Music

Production forum event in central London over the summer holidays. This

was held in a rented church near Liverpool street station. This was a free

evening of insight and talks from the cream of the UK music video

industry. I found out about this event

through http://www.mandy.com/ which I use regularly People who spoke

included 1.CLAIRE STUBBS a commissioner for Sony Music,

2. DIRECTORS:

ALEXANDER BROWN (BROWNBOY) whose worked with;

James Blake // Carl Barat // The Maccabees

3. CHRIS BARET & LUKE TAYLOR (US) whose worked with;

Dels / Wiley / Tinie Tempah (Art Direction)

4. BARNEY STEEL & MIKE SHARPE (FND) whose worked with;

Pendulum / Depeche Mode / Cher Lloyd

5. PRODUCERS:PHIL TIDY (BUG) whose worked with;

Oasis / Kaiser Chiefs / Lily Allen

6. MIKE LEVELLE (PARK VILLAGE) whose worked with;

Scouting for Girls / Morcheeba / Jaime T

VISUAL EFFECTS:

7. MEMO (MSAV)

Memo Akten is a visual artist, director, musician and engineer working at

the intersection of art and technology. Developing and appropriating new

technologies, he explores processes of visualising the invisible; extracting

and amplifying the unseen relationships within images, space, movement,

sound and time. Driven by the urge to make the seemingly impossible,

possible; and awaken our childlike instincts to explore and discover new

forms of interaction and expression; he invents new ways of creating and

performing images and sound. His work ranges from live

music/dance/theatre performances, large-scale immersive interactive

installations, music videos; to online works and mobile applications.

Selected exhibitions and performances include Victoria & Albert Museum

(London), Royal Festival Hall (London), Queen Elizabeth Hall (London),

Creators Project (New York, Sao Paulo, Beijing), Holon Museum (Tel

Aviv), Garage Center for Contemporary Culture (Moscow), Sydney Biennale,

Design Miami, Aldeburgh Music Festival, Edinburgh Film Festival, Mapping

Festival (Geneva), Yota Space Festival (St. Petersburg), Glastonbury

Festival and more.

He's worked with;

Depeche Mode

and STYLING:MISS JACQUELINE WHITE & NATALIE WILLIS whose worked

with;

Pro Green / Example / Filthy Dukes

What Learnt From The Day

From this day I learnt the difficulties that occur in music video production

even in a professional situation with a budget rather than for educational

purposes. One of the biggest difficulties most directors for music videos

encounter is pitching their ideas to producers. This is because the more

creative and unusual the idea is the harder it is to explain and describe

which makes it difficult to win over for funding purposes. In this case a

brilliant story board is key for pitching and a clear planning and visuals

are essential. Since the more complicated ideas usually needed higher

budgets due to the cost of stylising, equipment and props I realised I

needed to start of with a simple idea for my music video and then expand

on it based on my own budget. Also I found out that most interpretive

music videos were more suited to target audiences which were into

alternative/indie/rock music rather than mainstream pop/R&B music.

Being able to use a website like Mandy.com is convenient for people like

me who are trying to slowly get into the film making industry as it holds

many events that are free and are also driven to help working people in the

industry gain advice from the professionals and make contacts.

Planning

When I started creating my storyboard I found I was having difficulty

displaying what my ideas were, as my drawing skills weren't very good. To

overcome this I decided to do a practice non dress rehearsal shoot with my

actors. This would help me see which angles worked, how I would need to

direct my performer and actors differently and feel more prepared for the

real shoot.

I also used the internet to look up several websites of artists to gain

inspiration for my website and I did the same with my Digipack.

Construction

In the contruction stages I used several software devices on the computer

to create my Digipack, Website and Music Video.

For the website I used to Dreamweaver.

This software was recommended by my teacher as he has taught students

doing media studies to use it before. I found Dreamweaver difficult to use

and therefore when making websites in future I probably won’t use it. This

is due to the fact that it’s hard to include new media devises into this kind

of software so it’s almost impossible to make a website which is close to a

professional looking style.

For my Digipack I used Paint and Publisher. I ended up using still shot

captions from the music video and left over animation pictures which

weren’t used for the music video.

I also found this task quite difficult as I was unsure of what software would

be appropriate for this tool since I had no previous experience using any

graphics software or Photoshop, nor did I have any decent drawing skills.

In the end I just used three pictures which linked well with the music video

and the website and tried to mimic typical CD covers.

Music Video

I chose to use my own camera for this project, a Canon XA10. This was

because, unlike the school camera's which are Canon XL1's, my camera

was extremely light to carry and use on location. This was more preferable

as I was the only crew member since I was working alone on my project

rather than in a group. It also meant I was also able to carry props to

location as well as my filming equipment without any problems. The only

issue with the camera was the battery, since I only had one battery I had to

stop the shoot on several occasions to recharge the camera. This wasted

time but it meant in future I know I'll need to purchase another battery to

avoid the same outcome.

For editing I used Adobe Premiere Elements Version 8.

One of the main difficulties I encountered during the editing process was

that the lip syncing wouldn't match up the same way as when I would

upload it to YouTube. What this meant was that if it looked like I had

matched up the lip syncing on the editing software, I would then find it

wouldn't be the same when I had uploaded it on YouTube. Due to this I had

to upload the video several times and estimate whether the lip syncing was

finally in sync.

I also found I had to cut several idea's I originally wanted to include in the

narrative of the music video. These were Shine, giving a flower to a man to

help him win the woman of his affection. The reason I cut this was due to

the fact it would result in less footage of the artist. Since one of the main

factors of a music video is to promote the artist I felt this was a justified

decision.

Evaluation

In the evaluation stage I used software such as ISSU which Is what I used

for this booklet and Prezi. These helped me create decent posts in a new

media style which helped me evaluate my work in a clear and manageable

way. Both were free, easily accessible and user friendly.