Thursday 6 March 2014

Final Magazine Advert Improved.


Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 Tutorial - (Example of Technology used)


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

Transcript: I utilised digital technology to my advantage, as I used as many platforms and software’s as possible. I used Prezi,Powerpoint, Microsoft Word, YouTube videos, Adobe Photoshop,Adobe Premiere Pro CS6, Indesign and even Vimeo.
Microsoft word and PowerPoint were a great format to have essay type documents, I used it a fair amount when I needed to have a description of something, for example I used it when I was analysing my equipment. Advantages of word and PowerPoint were that they were easy to use and clear when viewing it, so there is no complications when reading a document from the format. Both software’s are user friendly, it is commonly used so I am very familiar with the program, as are other people.
Prezi is a site online which allows you to create presentations online, it is more creative and visually more pleasing than word and PowerPoint, it enables you to navigate to each text box. With Prezi we are able to add text, pictures and even videos, it immediately catches your eye with the different formats available, and aka you can have your text on a world map or even brainstorm it. The zoom icon is one of the main features. It proves to be quite effective as we can examine the text in more detail and break it up from the other pieces of text. The fact that Prezi is nonlinear proves to work well, so when I was using it I didn’t have to go through a certain order to add to my work, I could just navigate my own path and go through it on my own accord.

 Recording video diaries I found that having my phone was a great advantage, as I could just upload a video of myself talking whenever I felt the need to explain something. Instead of going to the computer and typing it all down, I could just turn my front camera on and upload it straight from my phone. This is an example of how technology has evolved; beforehand it was not as simple as it is now.
Photoshop was very helpful as I was presented with plenty of tools and implements which helped me create a magazine. Since I had taken photography, I was familiar with shutter speed and aperture. I think I possessed the skills to take a picture, and actually was pretty proud of my chosen photographs. I had used Studio lighting, from the school and had to have a quite a few sessions practising how the lighting worked, either it was too bright or too dark, but in the end by shifting it around we worked it out. I practised using the DSLR CANNON 550D as I wanted to get as much experience as I could, this enabled me to create the best pictures of my ability. I had to change the IOS plenty of times, because I wanted a high exposure angelic them for the second part of the music video.
 Recording me speaking was quite hard, as I detest speaking in front of a camera, however I found that it was vital to do so,It was easier to do the magazine advert on Photoshop rather than InDesign.
I thought a lot about costume in my shoot (Mise en scene), so I made sure my artists were made to look like popstars, i had to go shopping and take pictures of clothes that would look good on my model, I made a chart on powerpoint showing how each outfit looked on the models chosen, which I think showed creativity.

After finishing my preliminary draft, I had to record myself through the webcam as my phone wasn't working at the time. So i was talking through what I did and how I did with my products. I found that using a webcam may not be as clear but it was easily accessible as nearly every laptop has one built in.
 Technology is used various times in my blog through the use of software’s and individual sites I used like IPICCY and the use of myvideos that I found online which helped boost my individuality. IPICCY is a great editing site, it is similar to photoshop, however it is more concise with tools, and easier for people to use. I found that I enjoyed using IPICCY more than photoshop as navigating around tools were a lot easier.

I liked using different formats, so that my blog didn’t look completely plain and had a splash of versatility. I remember beforehand using the same old resources, so i think I’ve added more range and creativity by having this.Voki was great to use, as it is entertaining and helps produce the information. I used windows movie maker, to make a lot of clips. I found it resourceful, as it was easy to utilise and the icons were easy to direct.

I think Creativity was vital, as i needed to make my blog look aesthetically pleasing, so i needed as much formats possible.
At the start of the year, i found myself just using the same old formats, for example. my work was bombarded with word and powerpoint, so it looked quite bland. Voki was very helpful, it gave out information and also provided a more entertaining way to look the information. I realised that i had to be more innovative and creative so Voki was really good. Voki was visually pleasing, entertaining and gave out the information that I needed to produce. It was aesthetically pleasing too. When making my production log diaries, I had to use my webcam and my phone to film myself as it was the easiest machinery available to film myself, this was quite daunting as I had to film myself talking (Which everyone hates)


The main purpose of the advert was to persuade people to inevitably buy the album, I created two magazine posters, one being very conventional and conforming to the pop genre with photoshop, but i also wanted to have another poster for the older more niche audience, for example the parents who buy the album for the teenagers/kids. My second one is more abstract, it has USP, a unique selling point. The creates an element of surprise and versatility, as well as conforming to the genre, by having two adverts it meets the needs of my target audience. With my second advert it has a picture of two animals (Deers) facing eachother. I utilised the crop tool, and had to have many layers to create the magazine advert. I also adjusted the colour, by levelling up the contrast and brightness. To take the actual picture i used a tripod and an aperture lens, the aperture lens enhanced my pictures quality.

I used my phone a fair bit to add certain posts like Production logs, i was able to get the Blogger app through the playstore, so it it was a lot easier to upload them. I also recorded some voice clips for my videos. This is another example of technology being used.
In order to get better at Adobe premiere pro cs6 i had to use a variety of tutorials online, with the help of youtube, it enabled me to enhance my skills by giving basic lessons.
 



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Wednesday 5 March 2014

Research

An Example of a Survey

An example of one of the Surveys I used to gain data and information -

Production log

I had to make some quick changes to my Magazine advert as i got some feedback, which would better my work, i quickly re-adjusted and scaled my picture so it was straight and symmetrical.

Tuesday 4 March 2014

Audience

My Target audience is mainly teenagers/kids from the ages 11-18, however my secondary audience is parents, who would be buying my products for their children. I prepared a survey earlier on in my planning stages, to do some research and get some information on who I would be catering the needs to. I found that - I used my surveys to help me identify the inputs I needed in my video. I made sure to ask relevant questions which enabled me to have a better understanding on what I needed to do and needed to avoid. The psychographics of my primary target audience is BC2D, this is because they are the ones most likely to buy my DigiPak and watch my Music video.
I aim to sell my product to teenagers who are predominantly female or feminine metro-sexual male teenagers. Also they would have to be enthusiasts of the genre pop and listen to chart music. I also found that my target audience would likely to be influenced by big brands and well-known companies from fashion, TV entertainment to where they but their coffee aka Starbucks or Costa. Pop is a mainstream genre so this is expected and conventional from my audience.

 I found that my target audience are most likely to be at shopping centres or Coffee shops in their spare time, so they enjoy leisure activities. I found that my audience are avid users of social networking sites, they are impacted by the internet and digital media, as we are in the midst of growth in technology. The most popular sites they are likely to be associated with is Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The Feedback I receive is critical, as I have to give what the audience wants to see, in a way I am providing them with information and they are consuming what I give. Without establishing my target audience I wouldn’t know what to do as I have no actual objective in my product.

I gained my feedback through surveys on paper and online. For my first draft of my music video I showed all my of my class mates and presented it to them in form of a pitch, so I explained to them my concept and exchanged ideas to improve. Also I had people in school and people on Twitter, to view my music video and deliver constructive feedback.By asking people on twitter, who i follow, i am able to bet the opinions and feedback from my actual target audience, because the people I follow are all teenagers and between the ages of 13 to 21. This helped me a great deal, as I could improve and fix a lot and make my video more professional.

 I also showed them my other products, the magazine advert and digipak. The digipak and magazine advert are crucial in order to make money and sales, as the advert is the initially the scheme to showcase the video and digipak beforehand and give the audience an overall image of what is to come. The whole idea of the advert is to promote.

I think the feedback was very effective as it implements me a way to improve, the more data i receive the better is for me as i can add more details and fix deficiencies. For my first draft i received positive feedback for my traditional setting and the stage performance side, although i did receive criticism for my shaky camera movements, so i made sure to re-shoot them as soon as i could. I also received comments to improve the use of props which ties in with the Mise En Scene.
I gathered both quantitive and qualititive data, i found that the qualititive data was more effective as it gave me more insight with more description than the quantitive data. However the quantitive data was helpful as it was more easy to understand and quicker to analyse. Also by having date involving numbers and figures, i was able to have mesurable, fixed and statistical data.

At the start, when i initially had Emily as my main model, i recieved a lot of criticisms and negative feedback on my filming locations and even my choice of model. People i had asked, had given my repititive feedback saying that Emily was not a suitable candidate for being the protagonist of the video, a lot of comments said she looked out of place and didn't possess the look. It was a blessing in disguise eventually finding Clare as my model, as she was perfect in front of the Camera due to her taking drama and not feeling camer shy. I recieved many more positive feedback about her saying she was brimming with confidence and suited the role perfectly. We can see in the Music video that she did not look uncomfortable and was a perfect choice in the end. Whilst i obviously felt panicked at the time when Emily dropped out of the video, I had to act and think fast straight away and think of  someone who is likely to be dedicated to the role.

My audience feedback for my magazine advert and DigiPak were great, I felt that i wasn't in as much pressure to make large amount of changes, just minor ones. The comments I recieved were that, people liked the fact that I didn't have the conventional magazine advert, they liked that i mixed things up a bit and made it abstract.
I also used a focus group at school, using my sixthform classmates as they were in my age range for my target audience.

Thursday 27 February 2014

Production Log

I have looked at some more tutorials online on how to use Adobe Premiere, my abilty has developed. I know how to use transitions such as cross dissolve, Additive dissolve. Also edits such as dip in to black and dip in to whiter were very useful.

Tuesday 25 February 2014

Final DigiPak


How effective is the combination of your main task and ancillary texts.

My three products are successful in a way where the all mutually benefit each other, in other words, we call this synergy. My DigiPak, Poster and Music video all interlink together and find a way to help increase sales in the distribution process, thus creating the Multiplier effect. With the Music video being released first it as a form of advertisement, the poster then will come out to showcase the album and induce fans to buy it.
Each Product has a way of interlocking. My main aim to to promote. Promoting is a strong form of advertising, so in order to for my audience to buy the digipak i had to make my magazine adverts aesthetically pleasing as well as informative and appealing. I intended on promoting my Products in a way where my target audience will acknowledge and be informed about it, so on a billboard, a rolling advertising board, banners on buses and even adverts.

When all the products are combined, they are very effective, we have a sense of familiarality.
The whole purpose of our production logs were so that we could update and keep track of what we're doing, it helped us sprawl out our thoughts and reflect on what we had done each week. In a way it represents our journey, it depicts how far we've come. By viewing my production logs we are able to have an insight on how i started and finished. For example at the start i struggled for a period of time when my first model emily dropped out, so it shows how i handled the situation and came through stronger. The production logs were successful in terms of me reflecting back on what i did, if i did not have my production logs i would not be able to justify my actions and choices, so in a way it helped me for the better, as i depict my progress through these.
The aim for the DigiPak is to advertise and promte te artist. I had to link the digipak, Music video and Magazine advert, so i made sure to use the Orstraror FC font on all three, so the audience are able to identify with it. I made sure to create similar iconography, so in the magazine advert, i had a floral background which was also used in the music video, it again creates a sense of familarility.

The use of the floral print signifies a sense of femininty and flowers also connote love and passion.
On my Magazine Advert I had two deers facing eachother in a loving way. It looks very abstract and creative. The two deers form a heart shape, that again directly references love, i wanted to be more creative with my advert, so i wanted to steer away from a typical conventional advert with the model at the front. The fact that i didn't use the my model in it creates intrigue and mystery, as we want to know who the artist is.
My music video is a success as it is aesthetically pleasing due to the Mise En Scene I used. The Mise En scene is highly important as it sets the overall mood and atmosphere to the video, for example Lady Gaga's music video "Just Dance" was set in swimming pool and party venue, that helped boost the whole raving theme, if her video was set in a Graveyard it would have a completely different meaning and atmosphere to it. Goodwin's theory comes in to place, as i have made a direct reference between lyrics and visuals.
For my Music video, I had three settings being used. My music video is a piano pop song, so it was a must to have a concert hall looking kind of setting  and a stage to follow the conventions of a piano pop song. The whole concert hall is very classic. I had used an image for my DigiPak of the same theme, so I had a picture of Clare playing the piano as she does in the video.
For all three of my products I made sure to get the whole classy and sophisticated look to come through, I did this by my use of pictures and in the form and style it was presented overall. It is almost like a brand or trademark, so all three products have a way of  connecting to eachother. The big idea is the starting point for any branding project. It is a summary of your product's 'personality', and what makes it the same, so like with Lady Gaga her trademark or branding identity is her quirkyness and OTT looks.
Throughout this coursework there have been many key visual topics. We wanted to show the artist as an independent, strong and powerful woman, not blatantly sexualised like other female artists (the artist is in control of her sexuality) as the audience should like the artist for her music and not by showing off her body and being overtly sexual etc. To do this I didn’t use too many fancy locations or props; I kept it very traditional. I made sure  the video and ancillary products were simple as to not detract anything from the artist and her music.

Sunday 23 February 2014

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and Conventions of real media products?

The song that i chose for my Music video was a song by Christina Perri "A Thousand Years", It is of the genre Pop. Pop is a mainstream genre, so it is expected to have sub-genres within the genre. So my chosen song is a piano pop song. Piano pop is very cheesy and cliche, so it follows a very stereotypical format of a traditional love song.  My main model for my music video conforms to the ideology of what a pop star looks like, however i wanted her to be an aspirational figure to my target audience and look up to her as a role model. This is part of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, i also wanted to portray a good role model figure to parents, so they would encourage children to look up to Clare, i did this through Clare's refreshing real persona.
I followed Goodwin's theory of having a relationship between visuals and lyrics, so i used props and shots to reinforce the lyrics. Goodwin also stated that breaking the fourth wall creates a successful music video, i have done this throughout the music video, this forms an emotive connection between the Clare and the audience, almost like a bond.
For the setting of the music video I used the school hall as it closely resembled what i wanted. I was very fortunate to get hold of an authentic piano, and for it to be in the hall, so filming the Piano parts were easier than i expected, the whole lighting process was the difficult part as i wanted to re-create the scene as if she was on stage performing. Clare's first outfit was inspired by Amy Winehouse, and a modernized version of Coco Chanel's little black dress. I chose for Clare to have bright red lipstick, so that her look wasn't completely conservative however showed a sense of personality in a less obvious and raunchy way like Rihanna and Miley Cyrus.


 I chose for Clare to have a more clean and simple look  as I realised that my target audience is parents as well as teenagers, so i thought that my Artist had to look age appropriate and suitable so parents would actually want their children to listen to her. If i chose to put her in a raunchy outfit, i think that it would almost immediately cause for my artist to have a bad image and repuatation. I chose to have Clare look desirable as well as aspirational as my target audience is not just female teenagers.

 However as i stated before her look has sex appeal but in a less obvious way, in a stereotypical "Girl next door" way. In the Latter part of the video we see Clare in a more angelic light, with her white jumper and curly hair. I wanted her to look more natural, hence the more subtle use of makeup, it represents a more realistic and true side to her, as if she doesn't need a disguise or OTT look, i wanted the audience to see the vulnerable and pure side to her. I decided to re-invent Rihanna's idea of being vulnerable in her stay video where she is stripped of her makeup, she is showing a different side to her in which we can relate.
Clare is not seen in the Male Gaze in the video, we see her as an active protagonist and not in any way subordinate. I wanted her to be in power throughout the video, we see her constantly breaking the fourth wall, she is in a way trying to reach out to us.


The main purpose of the advert was to persuade people to inevitably buy the album, I created two magazine posters, one being very conventional and conforming to the pop genre, but i also wanted to have another poster for the older more niche audience, for example the parents who buy the album for the teenagers/kids. My second one is more abstract, it has USP, a unique selling point. The creates an element of surprise and versatility, so it is good having two adverts it meets the needs of my target audience. My Magazine advert is quite unstereotypical and challenges the typical conventions, it isn't what we expect of a pop magazine advert, it shys away from the stereotypical image of having the pop artist at the front. This is a positive factor, as it demonstrates versatility.

 


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Thursday 30 January 2014

Production Log

I have started to re-do some of my shots, as my shots were really long and drained on for quite a bit.

Wednesday 29 January 2014

Lyrics to a Thousand years.

"A Thousand Years"

Heart beats fast
Colors and promises
How to be brave?
How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?
But watching you stand alone,
All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow.

One step closer

[Chorus:]
I have died everyday waiting for you
Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

Time stands still
Beauty in all she is
I will be brave
I will not let anything take away
What's standing in front of me
Every breath
Every hour has come to this

One step closer

[Chorus:]
I have died everyday waiting for you
Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

And all along I believed I would find you
Time has brought your heart to me
I have loved you for a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

One step closer
One step closer

[Chorus:]
I have died everyday waiting for you
Darling don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

And all along I believed I would find you
Time has brought your heart to me
I have loved you for a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

Monday 20 January 2014

Peer asessment

After showing the footage to my media class, I have gained some positive and negative feedback which could help perfect my music video.
One of the main points were that the shots when on too long, i needed to get more of a variety of shots in with different angles, which help show my versatility.
I got mixed opinions for my over exposure scenes, my intentions were to make my model look angelic and asprational so my audience look up to her.

One focus that people did like was the lip syncing, as it looked on time and not messy.
I think that i need to make my video more entertaining so people do not get bored, so i am going to have to have some sort of performance, maybe claire dancing or something similar to that.
I still need lot more footage. I mainly recieved level 4's and 3's. I think to improve this, i really do need more shots, angles and use of props.
My plan is to try and film this week, so i don't fall behind too much, if i can get my shots filmed this week, then i think i'll be fine, as i can finish editing by the end of this week. But getting the hall or the studio will be pretty hard as it is booked till the 24th of February.

Wednesday 8 January 2014

Production Log

I have looked over my footage and decided that it would be best if i pursued a perfomance based music video. I think when i added my narrative clips inside it just looked increasingly tacky and cheesy. So in order to make my music video aesthetically pleasing (A main focus) I have to focus on the performance.

Digipak analysis