Blog Closed

I have completed my video, digipak, website and evaluation questions so therefore my blog is closed.

Evaluation question one : In what ways does your media product use, develop, or challenge forms and conventions of real media productions?

This is my nine frame picture I have created to show the different elements of my music video. I have drawn inspiration from lots of different music videos in order to create my own and to keep with the conventions. I have drawn influence from these and developed my own ideas. 

Titles
After looking at different titles for the start of music videos I decided not to include them in my own. Music videos, unlike films do not desire a title and therefore I decided against it. Not every music video includes titles anyway so it is not a necessity.


Representation  

For the representation of the video I have chosen this frame for my nine frame picture. However I have included various images below which reinforce what I am trying to present throughout the music video, which is emotion. My emotion throughout the various clips is upbeat (happy). This ties in with the lyrics of the song.

 The journey it goes through, throughout the music video is a representation of the journey I have been on during life. Having fun and just enjoying myself.





 Costumes and props

The costume for my music video was pretty basic as I wanted to keep in with the genre of my piece i.e.. natural. Obviously for certain aspects I had to adapt my clothing, for example in the water, but majority of my piece was purposely not focused heavily on my clothing. 

I used props to further identify my genre. For example the guitar was used in the forest scenes. This was something I had not originally intended on including, however after researching into my genre I felt it would be appropriate to reinforce some of the conventions. Additionally I used the surroundings in the forest as a prop. I used the large log to walk over. What started out as a simplistic movement became much more interesting after I editing. As I was able to this movement up.

An example of a music video in this genre that uses a guitar as a key feature is James Bay - Let it Go. I feel this is a good way to identify the genre without having to spend too much (just a guitar and person in any location).

Relationship between lyrics and video

My whole video is central to the lyrics. My initial idea for the video came from the lyrics of this video. As the lyrics repeatedly suggest 'girls just wanna have fun' I used this to construct my piece. I include a montage of my life. From as young as two all the way up to my life as present. I used various different editing techniques to portray this. Such as speed and fades. I deliberately did not include my life stages in a chronological order as I felt that it would be too similar to what other artists had done before i.e. Ed Sheeran. 
Furthermore I also replicate some of the actions mentioned in the lyrics in my video. For example ' I wanna be the one to dance in the sun' - I include footage of me dancing as a child and nowadays to show a correlation. It also reinforces me having fun as a child and also now. 
Where there is no lyrics in some bits (with only a fast tempo) I use a continuous video of me as a toddler, instead of including other footage as well. This was due to feedback, as it was suggested that it looked messy with the chops and changes during that consecutive melody. 

My main influence for my video and lyrics correlation came from artist Ed Sheeran. In his music video 'Photograph' he includes footage of his life stages, in a chronological order. Although Ed Sheeran gave me much inspiration for my video I felt it was appropriate to include some elements from his video but add my own suggestions, as I feel a process of similarity and differences is what makes a piece great.

Narrative/Story and how the opening sets it up

The opening of my video is slightly ambiguous regarding the narrative of my story, I think this is because my video doesn't actually have a strict narrative that it follows, due to the montage and cuts of different videos. However at the beginning of my video I have the image of an aeroplane landing.  Which could suggest that I am on a journey or about to start a journey which could symbolise the journey of my life. 

This is reinforced by the change in music as it breaks up the aeroplane section with the videos of me... which then starts to uncover the journey I have travelled on throughout my life. 

A music video in which I got this aeroplane footage idea from was 'Second hand heart' a duet from Ben Haenow and Kelly Clarkson. In this a journey is shown on the back of a moving vehicle. Not only does it portray Ben actually on a journey, through the footage of the scenery and vehicle but the video throughout shows how he uses various modes of transport to reach a girl and how he has literally been on his own journey to get there. 

Technical aspects: Camera work and editing

When it came to editing my video I spent a majority of time on this. Regarding the footage of me as a child, filming was out of my control. Therefore I wanted to put my stamp on the videos through editing. For example it is apparent in my video that I speed sections up. The reason I have done this is because it either goes with the music, i.e. the dramatic transition from the aeroplane to the funny faces, (the faces sped up fit with the music). Or I have speeded bits up because it would have gone on too long without being sped up for example my tricks in the water. 
Another aspect of editing was when I took the footage of me jumping into the water (above and below water level). This was edited to look as if it was one consecutive shot. 

I was also advised to use pictures as well of videos to make my video stand out, during editing I put three images after one another, to give the effect that I was moving solidly in the water with the turtles. I also incorporated fades in my video so that is gave the continuity effect also. 

At the end of my music video I purposely edited my footage so that it would continue when the music has finished, this was because I wanted to include some dialogue, as I feel it makes the piece more realistic and more life like. 

Genre and how the product suggests it

So that my video portrayed the typical conventions of my genre I did some research. This being Folk and Blues and Rock. I found that these conventions were

•  A person with a guitar (usually the artist/band)
• A narrative which involves scenes of a natural setting 
• Close up shots of the artist (who are commonly shown singing the song)
• Clothing worn by the people in the video are often basic and natural 

For my own piece I use almost all of these conventions. I am in the piece holding a guitar, and at some points I sing the song in the piece. Additionally I use images of a natural setting such as a forest, the water and the images shown from the window of the aeroplane. However I do not follow a narrative, as discussed earlier. I use close ups such as me swimming up to the camera in the water and I also use basic clothing in my baby footage and also present day footage. 
I wanted to include the conventions of the genre to display my video, yet I also wanted to use my own additions to put my stamp on the piece. For example using transitions such as the pictures and including my baby videos. Additionally the overall montage does not fit into the narrative of this genre so therefore I challenge this. 

An artist that epitomises this genre in their own videos is Tom Odell in his video 'Another Love'. In his video he is captured wearing basic clothing, typical of the genre. Additionally he is situated in a house, which as you can see is a natural setting.

Characters/star image

The main character in my piece is me, I feel through my choice of basic clothing and image I portray the genre and therefore did not want to go against this by wearing something extravagant. In my genre it is typical of the artist to be shown in videos such as this hence why I am. I have given myself the name of Fiona Acconi as a stage name and therefore it is featured on all my construction pieces. I.e Album, Digipak and website excetra. As I am in all the shots it helps the audience recognise the storyline or the concept of the video which is that I am the child growing up and having fun throughout. 

In some of my footage I take handheld shots by hold the camera myself and spinning round in a circle, with the sole purpose of the video to be focused around me. I used Calvin Harris music video of 'I need your love' as an influence for this. In my video the background looses focus and becomes blurred whereas I remain clear and therefore distinctive. 


Setting/location


The setting and location of my video changes throughout, this is to show the moving journey. However it is predominantly centred around a forest setting. The reason I wanted a main focal point for my images to circular around is because this setting is what was suggested during the genre research . 

I took inspiration from Ben Howards video 'Old Pine' to show a natural setting. In Ben Howard's video he uses the out door setting, which reinforces the folk genre and fits in well with his music. The natural setting is aesthetically pleasing and also costs nothing to use. 

Evaluation question two: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Evaluation question three: What have you learned from your audience feedback?

 

After completion of my music video I then showed it to two groups of students and my media teacher I realised there were some improvements I could make to ensure my video was fluid and smoother in its transitions. I took suggestions from both my teacher and students and then re-edited my video so that my final video included these suggestions.

The majority of comments can be seen in the video above. I made a point of asking students that were not in my friendship group as I wanted to ensure I received honest feedback. Students stated ' Your transitions could be smoother'', 'The lip syncing is slightly off' and 'I think all bits of the video should be sped up not just bits'. I used this as constructive criticism to recreate and re-edit bits of my video. One comment made by my teacher was that it was 'for the dramatic changes in my music I should keep with one video to make the piece more fluid'.

I did receive positive feedback which also reassured me that my video was good. 

Once I had re-edited my video and made the improvements. I not only felt it looked a lot better visually and flowed but my teacher also said how the changes made it a lot better. 

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

I used a variety of different media technologies for the research and planning, construction and the evaluation stages for my A2 media piece. 

Research and Planning 
During the research and planning stage I used many different technologies to achieve my media production. I started off the process with Blogger, a website I was already familiar with at AS Level. I used Blogger to track the progress I had made from the begging of the course to the end. It shows the development of my work in terms of research and planning, construction and the evaluation questions. 

The internet was the most useful aspect in the research and planning stage. I used the internet to access sites such as YouTube, which was very influential for my music video. YouTube enabled me to find different variations of my chosen song. This was important for me as I had a choice of what genre I could work with - for example Cindi Lauper's pop genre or George Ezra's acoustic version with a genre of Folk and Blues rock. This was very important as genre makes up the style of music video you create. I decided to go with George Ezra's song as it was an alternative to the original. 
Knowing my genre and artist, YouTube enabled me to access other music videos in my chosen genre. This allowed me to incorporate the same conventions typical of my genre. 

YouTube is also used by many A level student to upload their videos. This was useful during my research and planning stage as it allowed me to see other students work and what to include to make my own stand out from the rest. 

I also used social media such as Facebook to gather feedback on my song. I had two versions of my song 'Girls Just Want To Have Fun' and was unaware which song to chose. The feedback from Facebook was all in favour of the George Ezra version.  Additionally I used Facebook to get in contact with my chosen artist, this was to ask permission to use the song to avoid copyright. 

Prezzi was another piece of software I used for my research and planning. This was used to portray my creation for my music video. I used this software as an alternative to make  my Blogger more exciting. 

I also looked into websites to see how they were constructed and how to layout my own and what to include.  In Particular I used James Morrisons Website for the layout of my Website. I particularly liked that his Website could be looked at by scrolling downwards rather than seeing page after page individually by clicking on tabs. I also used other Artists such as Ben Howard for influence of my website. 
In addition, for my own website, I also researched two different websites that I could create it on ' Weebly' and 'Wix'. This was important as I wanted to see which website gave me the flexibility and enough of features to design a website that was individual to my needs whilst remaining professional and at a good standard. 

I had to research into digipaks so that I could create my own. I did this by using google to find what to include in my own digipak but also to find out what other artists had included in their own digipaks and what was original and personal to them. 

Album Covers was another element I had to research. I looked at my artists Album Cover to make sure my cover would fit in with his image. I noticed that his included images of him. I also analysed another Album Cover of 50 cent. I got images of his Album (front and back) from Google images. The reason I analysed this was so that I could see the codes and conventions of an Album Cover. 

Fireworks was another programme I used to edit and cut pictures for Blogger. Blogger is a unique website that does not always allow you to copy and paste images, I used fireworks to scale down images. This allowed me to include exactly what I wanted onto my Blogger having edited images on Firework. 

Construction 

For the construction my camera was probably the most used part. I used my I Phone to film my piece opposed to the schools cameras as I found the quality better and it was a more reliable source. I also used an under water camera (Fujifilm FinePix XP50) to film my under water shots. I feel this was a good addition to my piece as its something different. 


I used Movie maker to edit and put together my music video. This was one of the main media technologies used in my construction for my A2 Media Studies Production. I was familiar with Movie Maker as I used it for the editing of my AS piece. I used Movie Maker throughout the whole of my video to import music, edit all of my clips and for transitions. I had tried to use Adobe Premier pro previously, but found it very complex and unreliable as it kept crashing on me.  

YouTube was also used during construction. I used this to upload my video and receive feedback for my video and to include in my evaluation questions. 

Evaluation 

During the evaluation stage I used Movie Maker to piece together my feedback footage. This was done for the evaluation question. In this process I included clips of people talking about my piece and also images of others. I also asked teachers as well as students to get a variety of responses. 

Again I used my I Phone to record this footage as I was familiar with the process of uploading them onto the computer. And as stated before I prefer the quality. Additionally I used my phone to take pictures of the technologies I used in the process. This was to include in my evaluation questions to back up my statements.

I also used the school emailing system to keep my teacher up to date with my work outside of my lessons. 

Blogger was also an important element in my evaluation stage. I used Blogger to look back at my posts throughout the year to see what technology I had used for the creation of my music video. Additionally Blogger is used to post my evaluation questions so that the examiner can see them. This means it plays a very important role in terms of technology.

Digipak: Final

Below is the digipak I have created for my video for my 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' music video and the Fiona Acconi album. It includes nine frames. 

• The front 
• The back (song names)
• Lyrics 
• Three pictures of myself 
• A picture of myself with a message to fans
• The CD holder without CD
• The CD holder with CD

I have also included a spine which contains the album information such as the song name and the artist name. 

The front, the back and spine 

To the very left is my front page. This is my album cover. A typical convention of an album cover is to feature some sort of picture or image along with the artists name and song title. When I researched other artists albums I knew that with my own piece I wanted the front and back covers to match. Initially I had intended on using a collection of my footage as a collage for my front cover, to show the different experiences throughout my life. However after trying this out I felt it did not look as good as I had intended. The picture I decided to include is me as a baby. The reason why I used this image opposed to my original idea was that I felt it looked far more professional. Additionally I felt it fit with the message I intended to display - being a new artist I wanted it to show the beginning of my journey - basically where it all started (like the start of my career). The baby image also fits in with my video as I feature many different personal home footage of me growing up - much like the personal baby image. As my video is all about photos and videos, I have made my album cover image look like it has been framed.  
The colours I decided to use were black and white. This is because my photo is from the past I wanted to emphasise this time difference (to make it look old). Furthermore my video does not have a specific colour that runs throughout so I wanted to keep my Album Cover neutral.

Between the two frames above is the spine. This is just a strip in that connects the two which states the song name and the artists name.

The frame on the right of the picture is the back of the album. This is the back page that includes a song list, this is a list of all the songs that are included on this album along with 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun'. The back contains a lot more information than the front of the album and therefore that is why it does not include any images. I have included a bar code on the back of the album ( a typical convention of an album), this is what will be scanned if the album individually or the digipak is sold. At the top of the back cover I have put the artists name 'Fiona Acconi' I have done this in a font so that it almost looks like I have signed it. This makes it more personal for fans.
The last thing I have included on my digipak is copyright, this is so that no one can illegally use my album and its contents without consulting me. Underneath I have provided a link to my website so that people can access this if they should want too.

Disc Holder - with and without CD

The next two frames that I am going to talk about is the inside of the digipak; this is the disc holder and the CD itself. The top image is of the disc holder. The disc holder is covered by the image of the sea. The reason why this is, is because when the disc is in the disc holder it makes up the complete picture. I wanted the disc holder and disc to make up a complete picture as I feel this gives it a professional image.It also looks aesthetically pleasing.                                               The image as a whole was taken from my music video. The reason why I chose myself with the turtle as the image for my disc and Holder was because it shows me experiencing something 'fun'. As the song goes; 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' it perfectly represents this image. I feel it was important to include an image of myself on the disc as this is one of the key focal points.                                                                         Through research I also noticed that artists often include their song list on their discs. I purposely did not follow this convention, so not to spoil my overall image. I feel that as my disc and holder make up a whole image this added information would spoil the image. 

Lyrics Page 

To the left is my lyrics page. 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' is the main song on my digipak which is why I have included a page that features the lyrics. It gives people a chance to read the lyrics first hand and further emphasises my link between lyrics and video. The image I have used as my background is another image of a turtle. This is a constant theme I have running throughout my digipak and felt it again reinforces my video. I have placed the lyrics in the middle of the page as this follows the typical conventions of a lyrics page and also makes them the main focus.                                                      The reason why I included a white faded background on top of the turtle image is because I wanted the lyrics to stand out. I feel I have kept the ocean theme running throughout but only in a subtle way on my lyrics page so not to draw any focus away from the lyrics. 

Outer Images 

To the left are the photos featured throughout the opening of the digipak, these are the first images that the reader will see when opening it up. These pictures are featured in my music video. The reason why I chose these specific images was because it shows off a different aspect of my video to the turtle image. I knew I wanted to include various images from my video to portray my life and video and felt the combination of my front cover (me as a baby) the turtle images and these woodland images gives it diversity. Additionally these images were chosen as they show off my natural environment. This is an important aspect regarding my genre and its conventions. 
The images I have used are the same image, again I did this on purpose. The reason I chose the same image and changed its angle was to show a reflection. As my video is all about me and my transformation, I wanted it as a mirror image to symbolise this reflection. 

Inner Images  

The last two frames make up the inner images of my digipak. For both images I kept with the same running theme (in the water). I used a close up shot (as I felt it would be important to show emotion) and a long shot, in contrast.
I was always going to include an image of me with another person in the shot. This is because I feel it is important that I am sharing my life and having fun with family and friends around me.
The right image includes a message from me to my fans. I feel it is important to include this as it makes the digipak personal. Additionally I use the symbols 'xo' after my name. This is almost my trademark and can be seen on my website too.

Video: Final

Website Final

Below you can see screen shots from my website. Click the link below to be re-directed to it. 

http://emariesteele.wix.com/-mysite

Home Page

Music

Photos 

Video

Lyrics 

Tour Dates 

About Me 

Contact Me

This is my final website. I have used typical conventions of a website to make it look professional. 

Audience Feedback

After showing my rough cut to various students I realise there are some aspects of my video that work well and some elements that need improving. I took pictures of these students as evidence and for my evaluation question. 

The comments made were: 

• The lyrics work well with the videos
• I don't think some of the videos flow 
• I think more bits should be speeded up 
• I think you should include more footage as a child 
• I like how original the idea is.

After receiving this feedback I will be re-editing sections to make some improvements. 

Rough Cut Video

This is my rough cut video. Although it is not complete I will be asking students and my teacher feedback to see if there is any improvements I can make.  

My Own Website

Toying with Two -
I am fully aware that there are various sites in which you can create a website. I was already familiar with Weebly and therefore decided to use this create my own site.

Weebly - (www.weebly.com) did not cater for all my needs due to its basic functions. For example it did not let me create additional pages for free. Also I was need keen on the layout as I felt it was too basic and not the image of most band pages.

Wix(www.wix.com)  was my second and final website choice. To me it has a lot more choice than Weebly and allows me to have additional pages free of charge. Furthermore it gave me a choice of a style of website i.e music, bussiness,fashion and therefore catered for my specific 'music style'.

Website Research

Keeping in with my artists genre I have researched a number of Websites - The reason for doing this is because I want to make my website as authentic as possible. 

Ben Howard -

On Ben Howard's Website he includes his music video for 'I Forget Where We Were'. This is on his homepage and straight away grabs your attention. I like how he has used this and I will possibly be using this for my own website.  

Ed Sheeran -

Ed Sheeran includes advertising on his website. For example his album, his lastest tweet and instagram posts. He also includes his logo 'X'. A logo is something I will be considering when I create my website and digipak.

James Morrison -

I particularly enjoyed looking through James Morrisons website. I liked the simplicity of it and how the layout was not a typical format, as it enabled you to scroll down instead of clicking on a tab and taking you to the next page. This is something I am very keen to use in  my own piece. Additionally I like how he had his tour dates on the site and the dates, times and availability.

More Filming

After researching more into my chosen genre I felt it would improve my piece if I included typical conventions,

For example:
I sing in my piece
I have video of myself with a Guitar
I have taken shots in a natural setting (forest) 

Digipak Design

This is my first attempt at creating a digipak -

I have researched other digipaks in my genre to see the layout. For my own digipak I will be including a front cover, a lyric page, back cover (track list), two images and a CD holder. 

I will be using a collage type front cover as this combines all my experiences together. The colours will primarily be browns, blacks, greens and I will use white writing to contrast with this, similarly to the other digipaks I have researched. 

The two images I will be including I have not yet chosen at this present moment however I may include a guitar images to reinforce the genre. Subsequently I will add these when I have finished filming. 

Genre

George Ezra genre - includes: Folk, Blues and Rock 

Folk Music - 
'music that originates in traditional popular culture or that is written in such a style. Folk music is typically of unknown authorship and is transmitted orally from generation to generation'

Blues -
'melancholic music of black American folk origin, typically in a twelve-bar sequence. It developed in the rural southern US towards the end of the 19th century, finding a wider audience in the 1940s, as blacks migrated to the cities. This urban blues gave rise to rhythm and blues and rock and roll'

Rock- 
'a form of popular music which evolved from rock and roll and pop music during the mid and late 1960s'

Artists similar to George Ezra include:
James Bay, Hozier, Vance Joy, Tom Odell, Ed Sheeran, Ben Howard 

Typical conventions of this genre in a music video are:
A person with a guitar (usually the artist/band). There is often a narrative which involves scenes of a natural setting. For example scenery of the outside. This often reflects the music or theme of the piece. There are often close up shots of the artist, who are commonly shown singing the song. The clothing worn by the people in the video are often basic and natural - a representation of the setting

Filming (Continued)

I have filmed various videos in the UK with different settings.
My reason for doing this is because I wanted to display the 'fun image'.

For example:

Ice Skating. I filmed shots of me on the ice with the intention of including it in my video.



















Fireworks.Additionally I thought the fireworks would stand out in my video as something different.
 

 






Friends. Lastly I felt it would be important to include images of me and my friends having fun.

Despite all three I did not include any of these images in my final video.

 

Editing - The Beginning

Although I am yet to complete all of my filming, I have started to piece together the footage I already have.
The software I am using is familiar to me already as I used to it to create my A2 piece last year. This is Movie Maker.
I find that Movie Maker is great piece of software to edit with as it easy to use, yet also provides you with a range of features to develop your piece. This is exactly the type of thing I need with my A2 music video, because I need to be experimental in the way that it stands out. Movie Maker has allowed me to speed bits up and add effects which do this. 

Things I am yet to complete:
Adding in my Baby Videos
Filming in the UK

Digipak Research

Front Cover 

Back Cover