How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
By creating media, its a vital component to take advantage of all the media technologies that you can use. By creating my print production i used a sony carl zeiss 8.1mp camera, a higher range camera yet not as advanced as some of the other cameras that are out there. Yet costs and availability played a key role in limiting the technical equipment that was at hand. For example the video was shot using a hand held Panasonic SDR-S26 HD camera. Having to use a basic tripod to cover most of my shots. The camera produced good quality, but didnt grasp the crisp lighting and that limited the attractivenedd of my shots. During the production stage the available software without paying substantial money was Apple Mac's iMoive. Although basic it was highly effective and allowed me to produce a video within a realistic time span in order to complete the task with time to spare. The advantages of iMovie was the use of pre-conducted transitions from each shot, by using cross-dissolve and fade to black being the foundation transitions allowed for my video production to have a more proffessional look towards it. I was also able to change the lighting contrasts slightly and therefore produced the story plot within black and white texture to seperate it from the artist singing the song. iMovie was very effective and it also allowed me to edit and cut the lengths of the clips down to tenths of a second to gather the syncing of the song along with the lip movements of the artists, a vital concept to creating a proffesional and crisp outlook.
The print production stage was the most chalenging concept as not being used to Photoshop produced limitations within what was available for me and how far i could take my CD cover. By using Photoshop CS3 it allowed for me to view many features that i didnt deem possible within imagery. I especially took advantage of the magnetic lassoo tool and was able to cut images and transfer the requirements onto other pieces, therefore i could build up a background image then transfer a seperate picture to produce ontop. By using the edges tool and creating blur edges it allows to make the image softer by sharpening the noise around the edges making it stand out as a seperate image.
Other gadgets that were used was the flip video camera, a handheld devise that allows for quick videoing and easy uploading through its internal USB device. I used this within the evaluation stages as i conducted interviews to video audience feedback upon my productions. Another tool used was an Olympus voice recorder that i used to gather additional audience feedback gathered during the initial productin stages and i played them back over and over again whilst creating print products to gather information about what they think works well and doesnt work well.
Friday, May 14, 2010
What have you learned from your audience feedback ?
Audience feedback was a vital component towards grasping the initial target audience i opted for. Through research i was able to gather what popular music was within the younger generation and found it was indie rock, therefore using this information to produce a music package based upon this genre. This produced a solid foundation base for me to work with as i established the music genre i was going for was the most popular.
During production stage i gathered videos of how my products such as the CD cover looked to a different eye. It was important to implement this within my planning stage as when creating it myself i may not have got the right message across therefore it was important to gather additional information from other external sources. I learnt that the CD cover overall got an exciting review and it was said that "it grasps the eye and will appeal to a younger generation through the use of colors". This information was important as it was positive, yet also negative feedback was present and i gathered that "within the video its hard to understand whats the present and whats the past in terms of dividing the singing and the storyline". By gathering negative information it allows me to adapt and change, this is the best feedback that is possible as it allows for me to change things within my coursework that dont work, giving my overall production and much sounder base.
It was improtant to gather information within all ages, not just the target audience. As i dont jsut want to attract my main taget audience but i understand that people outside these age ranges may be inclined to buy my products. Therefore i produced interviews with different people to understand how my production looked from a different perspective as i would tend to be biased saying that everything worked well due to me being the creator of the products.
Audience feedback was a vital component towards grasping the initial target audience i opted for. Through research i was able to gather what popular music was within the younger generation and found it was indie rock, therefore using this information to produce a music package based upon this genre. This produced a solid foundation base for me to work with as i established the music genre i was going for was the most popular.
During production stage i gathered videos of how my products such as the CD cover looked to a different eye. It was important to implement this within my planning stage as when creating it myself i may not have got the right message across therefore it was important to gather additional information from other external sources. I learnt that the CD cover overall got an exciting review and it was said that "it grasps the eye and will appeal to a younger generation through the use of colors". This information was important as it was positive, yet also negative feedback was present and i gathered that "within the video its hard to understand whats the present and whats the past in terms of dividing the singing and the storyline". By gathering negative information it allows me to adapt and change, this is the best feedback that is possible as it allows for me to change things within my coursework that dont work, giving my overall production and much sounder base.
It was improtant to gather information within all ages, not just the target audience. As i dont jsut want to attract my main taget audience but i understand that people outside these age ranges may be inclined to buy my products. Therefore i produced interviews with different people to understand how my production looked from a different perspective as i would tend to be biased saying that everything worked well due to me being the creator of the products.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
During my production stage of developing my sublimary tasks i had to consider the effect of using similiar texts therefore the consumer can recognise a "house style effect" (using the same colour, form and text style time and again). By doing so it gives the oppurtunity for a consumer to recognise a music poster for example before he concsiously realizes who the band is. This therefore becomes lodged within a consumers mind e.g the style and form of the text so therefore he will remember and associate with it. Many music production packages follow suit by implementing the same background within the cd package and also the advertisments that will feature within music magazines. Therefore it creates a house style effect for the consumer to recognise and therefore can relate to that background pattern towards that band.
The combination could have used abit more flow in terms of following the same style. As the poster is seen as dark and more serious than the CD cover. This therefore portrays two ideals towards the media consumer. With the poster the consumer would pick up that the band is serious and might think the bands music follows the similiar tone. Wheras the CD front cover shows a more vibrant, colourful picture of the band. This in terms of a first time listener picking up the album in a shop would gather that the music follows a happy more fun theme. These conflicting themes may attract two audiences, yet doesnt portray one ideal, something thats vitally important within a music package.
The video itself works in synergy with the print productions as it gives off the band as young and works well by attracting the target audience. By using artist shots it creates additional attention on the lead singer, something that bands do all the time. This therefore gives the band coverage by using a "front man" to promote the band. By using more than one front man, people who have only listened to the band a few times and then see the band with a different frontman may be confused by the idea as they dont recognise the frontman seen in previous videos. Ive worked this concept well within the ancillary texts as the frontman is alsways depicted within the middle of the shots to draw attention to him. This is seen throughout as the poster only depicts the lead singer and within the CD cover package the lead singer is seen in the middle and is the main feature within the booklet provided.
All in all i think that my products work well and insync with each other in terms of promoting the band. The video and poster work well in terms of creating a more serious tone within the album, yet the album cover itself promotes a lesser tone by using pop art to showcase a more fun and vibrant sound. Although this is one of the bands songs and therefore it gives off the vibe that the album follows a more happier tone than that one song suggests.
During my production stage of developing my sublimary tasks i had to consider the effect of using similiar texts therefore the consumer can recognise a "house style effect" (using the same colour, form and text style time and again). By doing so it gives the oppurtunity for a consumer to recognise a music poster for example before he concsiously realizes who the band is. This therefore becomes lodged within a consumers mind e.g the style and form of the text so therefore he will remember and associate with it. Many music production packages follow suit by implementing the same background within the cd package and also the advertisments that will feature within music magazines. Therefore it creates a house style effect for the consumer to recognise and therefore can relate to that background pattern towards that band.
The combination could have used abit more flow in terms of following the same style. As the poster is seen as dark and more serious than the CD cover. This therefore portrays two ideals towards the media consumer. With the poster the consumer would pick up that the band is serious and might think the bands music follows the similiar tone. Wheras the CD front cover shows a more vibrant, colourful picture of the band. This in terms of a first time listener picking up the album in a shop would gather that the music follows a happy more fun theme. These conflicting themes may attract two audiences, yet doesnt portray one ideal, something thats vitally important within a music package.
The video itself works in synergy with the print productions as it gives off the band as young and works well by attracting the target audience. By using artist shots it creates additional attention on the lead singer, something that bands do all the time. This therefore gives the band coverage by using a "front man" to promote the band. By using more than one front man, people who have only listened to the band a few times and then see the band with a different frontman may be confused by the idea as they dont recognise the frontman seen in previous videos. Ive worked this concept well within the ancillary texts as the frontman is alsways depicted within the middle of the shots to draw attention to him. This is seen throughout as the poster only depicts the lead singer and within the CD cover package the lead singer is seen in the middle and is the main feature within the booklet provided.
All in all i think that my products work well and insync with each other in terms of promoting the band. The video and poster work well in terms of creating a more serious tone within the album, yet the album cover itself promotes a lesser tone by using pop art to showcase a more fun and vibrant sound. Although this is one of the bands songs and therefore it gives off the vibe that the album follows a more happier tone than that one song suggests.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Evaluation
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Throughout my media project I researched the codes and conventions within the products I was creating. By researching similar traits that each product offers between them I was able to conclude with a list of similar conventions that most CD covers follow for example. By researching into my project first I had some further understanding of how to develop and plan specific media products. When planning the task I decided to follow suit to many of the conventions I found that ran throughout the products in which I researched. In doing so I am able to gather a simplistic yet effective way to design a layout towards my products.
For example the CD Front Covers that I researched each had the artists name as the main forefront to the CD almost viewed as a brand or company advertising, this was nearly always found centered at the top of the cover or shifted to the left. My CD cover followed the forms and conventions I found, by doing so this allowed for my CD cover to look professional, as its similarity was high to that of other Covers that would be on the shelf. In making mine stand out it simply comes down to the image used, its this that’s the forefront of the CD cover that grabs a consumer’s attention. Most CD Covers that I viewed had an effect placed on the forefront image to differ it to that of a standard portrait. I followed the same form to my CD cover by creating a pop art effect of a local band to give the CD cover some originality. Sub titles I found were always pictured below the artists name therefore a consumer can easily recognize that that’s the albums title. Therefore it seems obvious to follow suit to make my layout look like an actual CD cover. With the CD cover there was a sort of unwritten rule to follow as each Album follows the same sort of rules, yet just differ slightly towards image, placing of artists name and title.
The poster in which I created had the same basis for a layout that other posters I researched obtained. Many of the posters viewed had the artists name placed at the top heading of the page, therefore this is easily viewed as these posters feature within the pages of music magazines therefore readers tend to look at the top of the page for an article heading therefore it’s the first thing that they would have viewed, the artists name. I developed the information provided within my poster, many that I viewed stated the date in which it was to be released; yet I just offered an “OUT NOW” in big. Bright, bold font that’s easily displayed. The information I provided challenged many forms of music posters. As I produced mine in much larger font, placed at the center of the bottom of the page to allow for the image to be portrayed clearly as that’s my forefront image. Many music posters found amongst the pages of the likes of NME and Rolling Stones found that their information text (i.e. release date, album title, formats) was depicted at the top below the artist’s name. I found this to be crammed and didn’t split the page up well, i.e. having too much blank space within the bottom of the page. I challenged this form of displaying the poster due to the previous point made, it didn’t split the page up well and I believed having text displayed within the bottom and top and leaving the space in the middle for the forefront image to shine through would work best and I believe it did so.
Within creating my main task, the music video I kept referring back to previous videos that I looked at and wrote down notes on similar conventions they all follow. One main key that shone through was the depiction of the artist within the music video and the amount of times they appeared. This was split up by mid-shots to close ups of the character to almost distinguish that this is the artist/lead singer. With having chosen a band video I knew that I could go down two routes, have one video with a narrative story and nothing else or split a narrative story up with shots of the lead singer singing using various shooting techniques. I decided to use narration broken up with an artist singing, this way it breaks up from the story line, doesn’t let the story take over from the song and also creates more meaning and sends across a more powerfully message if the story is based on the lyrics of the song, a relation I discovered through Andrew Goodwin’s Theory that there is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics. Having looked at various types of music videos I found that mid-shots and close up shots of the artist are mostly predominant throughout. Within my music video I created various shots to gather the flow of the artist moving around, this was obtained through cuts and fades in place. Most music videos have short yet many different clips of the artist singing, as mine was a slow song with a simple tempo I decided to challenge this convention. I used slower transitions and longer shots to get that slow tempo feeling to place it in time with the music. By including direct address by the artist towards the audience it allowed for more powerfully meaning of the lyrics and highlights the fact that the singer is a performer. This was definitely a common trait that ran throughout all music videos analysed and was a must to be included into my own task.
Within my actual narrative of the story I had to follow codes and conventions of a film in a way, yet focus on the main points I wanted to get across i.e. I had to really highlight the fact that he gets bullied to make it a primary message towards an audience. During the post-production stage I had to determine what shots to use and how to place transitions and cuts ect. By looking at most music videos it’s clear to see that the main transitions are determined by the cut, cross fade or fade to black. In honesty I believe this work the best as the other look tacky and cannot be placed within a music video as the ones offered on imovie for example were for fun ect such as the Wipe. Using various shots to distinguish a story line, such as close ups of characters face to project emotion, or objects such as the mobile phone to show that’s the alarm clock ringing ect tells the story and almost feeds the audience information.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
CD MAGAZINE PRINT ADVERTISMENT - THE MAKING OF ...
Having already set my design layout i was able to get started fairly easy and confidently of what i was making. First things first i had to set up a photoshoot with a local band called "The Dirty Trades", turning up to one of their weekly band practise i was able to gather some great shots that could all have easily been selected but i decided to use the one featured below.
Once i magnetic lassoed the image i then had to tidy it up due to fragments of the original sources background involved. To do so i continued to use Photoshop CS3 and opted for the magic wand tool. This tool selects particular bits in the image that are the same colour throughout without any disturbances. Therefore when selecting bits of the background i dont want in the photo with the magic wand tool, i just press delete and it turns it into white, projecting just the image that i have selected. Example shown below.
After the image is then all tidied up, by continuously using the magic wand tool supplemented by the use of a tiny rubber once zoomed in to smoothen it all out aswell as the blur tool around the edges to reduce the pixelation to avoid any rough edges being noticable.
The next job was to actually start on the poster now that the image has been cut and edited. Opening a new Photoshop document in A4 size, the same size as magazines where it will be advertised, i placed the image accordingly onto a custom black background.
The next stage was then to produce the text form and information that was to be produced on the print advertisement. Looking at my previous design layout i opted for the text form to be to the right hand side, slightly centered, a common trait running throughout that i discovered investigating the codes and conventions of a print music advertisement. Trying out different types of text i finally went for an apple text called "Braggadocio", the text was different, it was blocky yet extremely bold in context which allowed it to stand out clearly above the strong central image.
Going for "The" in color overlay red allowed a strong dominance over the black background that was provided in the top right corner. With using white for the artists name "Bravery" it allowed for it to stand out over the colored image and also allowed for that image to keep its powerful orange style. Now i needed to edit the text, using photoshop i took advantage of their text tools effect and it gave me a drop down list of the different type of effects i could use. Eventually choosing the "inner shadow" effect which brightened the colour contrast within the actual text itself allowing for it to be brighter. With an opacity of 100% it maximized the visuals of the text allowing for the consumer to see the text clearly.
The final job for was to include the text form at the bottom section of the page. I choose the font "Gill Sans Ultra Bold" to achieve maximum width within the text to make it more visible to the consumer. I chose to keep this text the same throughout the additional information to allow for added simplicity running throughout. Each text form acquired the same text effect, this being "drop shadow" which creates a shadow around the text to make it stand out off the page thus being able to read it better. "Inner Glow" which brightened the whiteness within the text so that the text form doesn't become bland or dull. And also for every second information produced in the bottom center i added a stroke effect which lines the text which colour, choosing the same red used throughout the CD package allowed for the consumer to recognize this and other products by The Bravery alike. This effect just was in place to break up the plain white text used throughout, alot of print advert use different colour to do so, yet i felt there was already a diverse enough pallet on show due to the image to be able to do so.
CD MAGAZINE PRINT ADVERTISMENT - FINAL PRODUCT
Having already set my design layout i was able to get started fairly easy and confidently of what i was making. First things first i had to set up a photoshoot with a local band called "The Dirty Trades", turning up to one of their weekly band practise i was able to gather some great shots that could all have easily been selected but i decided to use the one featured below.
Once i magnetic lassoed the image i then had to tidy it up due to fragments of the original sources background involved. To do so i continued to use Photoshop CS3 and opted for the magic wand tool. This tool selects particular bits in the image that are the same colour throughout without any disturbances. Therefore when selecting bits of the background i dont want in the photo with the magic wand tool, i just press delete and it turns it into white, projecting just the image that i have selected. Example shown below.
After the image is then all tidied up, by continuously using the magic wand tool supplemented by the use of a tiny rubber once zoomed in to smoothen it all out aswell as the blur tool around the edges to reduce the pixelation to avoid any rough edges being noticable.
The next job was to actually start on the poster now that the image has been cut and edited. Opening a new Photoshop document in A4 size, the same size as magazines where it will be advertised, i placed the image accordingly onto a custom black background.
The next stage was then to produce the text form and information that was to be produced on the print advertisement. Looking at my previous design layout i opted for the text form to be to the right hand side, slightly centered, a common trait running throughout that i discovered investigating the codes and conventions of a print music advertisement. Trying out different types of text i finally went for an apple text called "Braggadocio", the text was different, it was blocky yet extremely bold in context which allowed it to stand out clearly above the strong central image.
Going for "The" in color overlay red allowed a strong dominance over the black background that was provided in the top right corner. With using white for the artists name "Bravery" it allowed for it to stand out over the colored image and also allowed for that image to keep its powerful orange style. Now i needed to edit the text, using photoshop i took advantage of their text tools effect and it gave me a drop down list of the different type of effects i could use. Eventually choosing the "inner shadow" effect which brightened the colour contrast within the actual text itself allowing for it to be brighter. With an opacity of 100% it maximized the visuals of the text allowing for the consumer to see the text clearly.
The final job for was to include the text form at the bottom section of the page. I choose the font "Gill Sans Ultra Bold" to achieve maximum width within the text to make it more visible to the consumer. I chose to keep this text the same throughout the additional information to allow for added simplicity running throughout. Each text form acquired the same text effect, this being "drop shadow" which creates a shadow around the text to make it stand out off the page thus being able to read it better. "Inner Glow" which brightened the whiteness within the text so that the text form doesn't become bland or dull. And also for every second information produced in the bottom center i added a stroke effect which lines the text which colour, choosing the same red used throughout the CD package allowed for the consumer to recognize this and other products by The Bravery alike. This effect just was in place to break up the plain white text used throughout, alot of print advert use different colour to do so, yet i felt there was already a diverse enough pallet on show due to the image to be able to do so.
CD MAGAZINE PRINT ADVERTISMENT - FINAL PRODUCT
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