final evaluation - heather casey

HEATHER CASEY

Media Evaluation

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

From my research it became apparent that many Indie Folk music videos use similar shot angles and distances throughout their music videos. I decided to use and develop these conventions, however I think I could have challenged them more. Mid-shots of the artist lip syncing are a common convention of music videos; it’s very clear way of establishing the artists emotions, as their face is clear, as well as the location in the background. Thus I felt it would be appropriate to use in my music video, as my video is arguably more conceptual than performance based, and it was important for me to establish the emotions of the song. I also challenged camera conventions as my research suggested many Indie Folk music videos have their artist stood up when lip syncing or occasionally sat on a chair/object. Thus, I sat my artist on a bridge to gain an effective mid-shot. I then used the same location throughout my music video, to connote the importance of location, and represent the theme of loneliness. I also used this location on my magazine advert, reinforcing the importance. As well as this, I also found that extreme long shots of locations are seen at the beginning of many Indie Folk music videos; I used this convention by similarly opening my video with an extreme long shot of the location. However, I feel I could have developed this by having the location appear again in the music video, rather than only once.


My media product generally follows the typical conventions of an Indie-Folk video. A way in which my music video has used the forms and conventions of real media products can be seen through the actresses clothing, as it iconically connotes the Indie-Folk genre through the pastille colouring and style of clothing. The clothing was something I hadn’t particularly focused on until realising that by having iconic clothing within my product, it made the genre much more apparent; I realised this when I noticed the actress was wearing UGG shoes, which aren’t iconic of the Indie-Folk genre at all.

2:26 – 2:45

Another way in which I used the forms and conventions was through the location; from my

research it became apparent that Indie-Folk music videos are generally outside in a

naturalistic setting and videos such as ‘Old Pine’ by Ben Howard (

http://youtu.be/UzzCthKw_C0) focus largely on the theme of nature. I also developed this

convention as throughout my music video I wanted nature to be a significant theme, and I

feel I made this apparent through decreasing the pace of editing during instrumentals and

including shots of flowers when lyrics such as “you can’t make flowers grow” were heard.

http://youtu.be/UzzCthKw_C0


The quote I found below when researching suggests that editing is an extremely important aspect of music videos; some argue that editing is the most significant point to consider when creating a music video. One way I used this convention was the matching of lyrics with the editing of shots. E.g. in ‘The Scientist’ by Coldplay , when the lyric “running in circles” is heard, a male on a bike goes in a circle around him. Similarly, in my music video when the lyrics “when you’re awake and your own shadows turn into ghosts” are sung, a ghost-like image of my artist was positioned over a shot of the sun by using the drag and drop tool; my research helped me realise the importance of the connection between editing and the music. What’s more, I challenged this convention by using additive dissolves within my music video, in my research I didn’t come across any music videos that used dissolve transitions between shots. However, by using additive dissolves I was able to connote the connection between a sequence of shots, reiterating the idea of a conceptual-based video. It could be argued that the dissolves made the video seem less profession as it was unconventional, however I personally felt that they reflected the pace and genre of the song, as it was fairly slow and calm in places. Another aspect of editing I used was slow motion, I noticed that in my research many Indie Folk music videos used slow motion during the elongated notes. Again, this convention was seen repeatedly in ‘The Scientist’. I feel as though I used and challenged many conventions of editing, however I could have developed them more by subverting aspects such as the matching of lyrics with the editing of shots, as at points my music video can be considered confusing for the audience to understand.

“Sometimes the musical elements shape of the moving pictures. Movements like footsteps are ofte

n synchronized with the beat, so that people in the music video seem to walk in synch to the music

.”

2:26 – 2:45


Throughout the production of my music video I think that an aspect I particularly struggled with was lip syncing. Before I began filming I wanted to challenge the convention of lip syncing and I had decided I didn’t want any lip syncing throughout my video, however I also wanted to create a conceptual-based music video. The lack of lip syncing made it incredibly difficult to achieve any meaning from the lyrics and shots whatsoever, thus I decided it’d be more beneficial to include lip syncing. I feel that by using the convention of lip syncing I was able to create a more successful conceptual-based music video. Through my research it also became apparent that the location in which the artist lip syncs varies throughout Indie-Folk music videos, thus I used different locations. As well as changing the locations, when analysing videos I also noticed that music videos such as ‘Your Song’ by Ellie Goulding often use one location for lip syncing which they refer back to throughout. Thus, I felt I used and developed this convention by opening and ending the music video in the same location.

1.54

0.45

3:26

0:151:01

2:52

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?My choice of location was determined by the style of music I had chosen, conventionally many Indie

Folk music videos have outdoor locations, in which reflect the style of music. By shooting most of my video at the bridge location, I felt I was using the conventions of a music video well, the location was used to connote the themes and ideas presented through the lyrics. Another aspect of sound which influenced my decisions was the editing style, as the sound is quite acoustic and melancholic, I needed to ensure that my editing reflected this; I used additive dissolves and cross dissolves to reinforce the sound of the music. As well as this, as the lyrics are quite personal and individual, I used many mid-shots and close ups throughout my production to allow the audience to gain an understanding of the personal issues raised in the song; this is a convention I found within my the research stages and I felt it reflected the style of song well, thus I decided to use it. The music and lyrics led me to question my use of framing, as it was dependant on the style of song I chose; my research taught me that depending on the style and pace of the song, the editing pace and style would vary. For example, when watching Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Can’t Stop, the editing was fast paced, reflecting the pace of the song. During my research stages the relationship between the song and the production of the video was unclear to me, however when creating my animatic I became knowledgeable of the impact the editing can have on the music video, as I noticed that at some points during my animatic, it didn’t reflect the song well. As well as the sound needing to be reflected in my music video, it was also important that the shots reflected some of the words in the lyrics. I feel as though I used this convention within my music video, however possibly not enough as some of my audience feedback suggested it was slightly confusing at points and the shots and lyrics didn’t make ultimate sense when combined. This reinforces the significance of the lyrics, as they should arguably be supported by the video, rather than the video supporting them. Therefore, during lyrics such as “you can’t make flowers grow and “shadows turn into ghosts” I overlapped ghost-like shots and had shots of flowers to reiterate the themes and ideas the lyrics bring forth.


Semiotics is highly important in music videos, my researched suggested that almost every music video uses a combination of signs and symbols to reiterate the ideas that the song suggests. In many Indie Folk music videos, I learned that nature is often a key symbol; thus, I used this convention by specifically choosing my location to iconically connote nature and the idea of freedom, which is a notion that the lyrics of the song suggests. As well as this, I developed this convention by focusing specifically on nature during some aspects of the video by including close ups of flowers. As nature is a convention of the Indie Folk genre, it brings forth the notion of the Structuralist Film Theory, suggesting that meaning is conveyed through signs and symbols; this suggests that to create a successful music video, it was important for me to use and develop the signs and symbols in order to reflect the themes and ideas within the music. I do however feel I challenged the notion of semiotics within my video; the close up shots of bright coloured flowers were used throughout the video, however the song doesn’t connote happiness through the lyrics. Thus, I subverted this technique, but juxtaposing the meaning of the lyrics with the shots in the video. I did this to challenge the audience, causing them to acknowledge the lyrics of the song and relate it to the shots in the music video. Another symbolic element of my music video was the location of the bridge, I feel as though I used and challenged this convention within my music video. When researching music videos, I became aware that many Indie Folk videos used a recurring location throughout, however it was also apparent that the location was not always symbolic of a concept or meaning. Thus, I chose the location of the bridge as I felt it was a motif of loneliness and created a melancholic atmosphere, which directly related to the lyrics of the song; this reinforces the importance of the lyrics and semiotics, as the semiotics are used to further connote the themes and ideas within the song.

“By manipulating color, motive setting, story footage, cl

othing and so forth, the music video director creates a

couple of ideas which are repeated and varied. The con

cept is to rearrange visual motifs so that the work form

s a whole.”


The typography of my ancillary texts was an aspect that when creating my first drafts, I overlooked slightly, suggesting that my research was not detailed and specific enough to the important necessities for my ancillary texts. However, my research did suggest that it’s important for the typography to reflect the themes and ideas presented within the music video and lyrics. As the song I had chosen was quite personal, I felt it would be appropriate to choose a handwritten-styled font, however with the progression of my drafts I decided to challenge this idea and instead use a font that connoted sophistication. My peers suggested that my first choice of font was lacking in depth, and was almost a comical and childlike font. Although, it can be argued that my final choice of font is still in keeping with the atmospheric value of the song, as the lyrics of the song are very sincere and serious. The drop shadow effect further connoted this, at it created a ghostly atmosphere. What’s more, my research suggested that it’s important for the text to be magnified against images and backgrounds, thus I used this convention by allowing my text to be clearly seen above the image of the artist; this is a marketing technique, as it’s highly important for the text to be clear when advertising.

Progression

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?It was important for me to consider the layout and positioning when

creating my ancillary texts. As the magazine advert is on A4 paper, and the digipak is similarly created by the measurements, it was important for me to ensure the images of my model and the text itself was positioned in a symmetrical way. When researching magazine advert, I noticed that the text on many of the examples was centred or positioned away from the image; I followed this convention as I felt it was essential for it to be obvious what the magazine advert was promoting, thus if I were to cover the image with text, it would detract the buyers attention. When researching digipaks, the text was also positioned in a similar way. However, I discovered that the listing of the song names was often centred, I challenged this convention by positioning my text to the side instead; as the location is highly important in my music video, I felt by centring my text the location was made less significant. As well as this, it was important that I kept the images within the boundaries of my template, as I needed to include spines. Another aspect of the digipak that I had to consider was my choice of images; it became apparent that some digipaks used the same image across the template, where as others used different images for each side. Again, I wanted to increase the significance of location; thus, I used one image of the sky across the inside cover, back inside cover and left cover. I positioned my model in the centre of the magazine advert, to immediately inform the audience of the artist and product I’m selling. However, on my digipak the image of the model is very transparent and positioned on the right side; despite it being suggested that this may detract the audience’s attention, I felt as though it connoted the themes and ultimately the title “Ghosts” as well as allowing the text to be clearly seen. I do however feel as though this makes my digipak less detailed than my magazine advert, as I’m instantly informed of the product on the magazine advert, whereas the digipak requires slightly more thought.


Previous research on postmodernism lead to the idea that music videos are postmodern. Bands such as Gorillaz adopt an anonymous and animated persona, suggesting that they’re postmodern through their construction as well as their output. This suggests that my music video is not postmodern, as it doesn’t reject the conventions of music videos. I followed the typical conventions as it’s argued that “anonymity doesn’t sell”, however Gorillaz are an example of a band that has clearly adopted a different style of music video. Whilst I feel as though my music video is not postmodern, I felt it was an important topic to address; it has lead me to want to question and challenge the conventions of music video more. The way in which Gorillaz have been constructed and hugely stylised, yet have become extremely successful highlights the impact of postmodernism, and the idea that it’s ‘blurring the boundaries between reality’.

Postmodernism suggests that everything is a copy and as a result there are no longer any original ideas. This implies that whether I challenge the forms and conventions of real media products or not, my ideas are still unoriginal. Gorillaz slogan Reject False Icons is “challenging the audience to care about the music, rather than the performance.” I feel as though my conceptual-based music video goes against this notion, as the meaning is largely derived by the semiotics within the video. However, it could also be argued that by creating animated and stylised music videos, this is also causing the audience to focus on the highly constructed performance in the video, whether it be from animated characters or real people.

“In theory, this separates the music

from the far more saleable star

persona but, in reality, audiences

became fans of fictional characters;

the high concept shifted their interest

into the profitable realm of cult

fandom.”

HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF YOUR MAIN AND ANCILLARY TEXTS?

I felt that the synergy between my ancillary texts was lacking when creating my first drafts; despite having the same font style and colour scheme both of the texts still looked

quite different. To allow the audience to see the synergy between the texts I copied the digipak cover onto the magazine advert; this made it extremely clear as to what the

magazine advert was promoting, as well as making the magazine advert look more professional. I feel as though the magazine advert is more effective than the digipak as the

background image is a recurring image throughout my video, thus the audience is immediately aware of the song it’s promoting. However, I think the shots of nature on my

digipak effectively connote the themes and ideas within the lyrics and the music video.

HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF YOUR MAIN AND ANCILLARY TEXTS?

I feel as though I combined aspects of all three of Gabrielle Aplin’s own EP artwork in order to create profundity within my digipak. By using the

black and white colour scheme, alongside the theme of nature symbolised through my choice of shots, combined with an eerie effect I was able

to create an effective digipak. I feel as though the digipak communicates the themes and ideas of the song well, and I feel this was heightened

by using my research of Gabrielle’s own work to influence my own. However, it can be argued that the lack of colour doesn’t reflect the music

video, which contained many colourful close ups of flowers. As well as this, some audience members may argue that my digipak cover doesn’t

reflect the themes presented in the music video, as the location and shot isn’t used within the video, this suggests synergy is lost. It could also

be suggested that the audience cannot connect with the artist, as the shot doesn’t focus on her face. Then again, I could argue that the image

on the digipak cover reflected the theme of nature effectively.

This research further influenced the design of my magazine advert as I wanted it to communicate the same ideas as my digipak. I feel this has

been done effectively, as whilst the texts differ slightly, synergy is still created through the fonts, colours and use of similar images. By using

different main images on the texts some audience members could argue that the relation between the texts is lost, however when researching

magazine adverts it became apparent that sometime’s the album artwork differs to the magazine advert, E.g. Mumford and Sons ‘Sign No More’

magazine advert. However, similar to my digipak, it could be argued that the lack of facial expression on the image disengages the audience,

suggesting I have not addressed the themes and the ideas within the magazine advert well enough.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR AUDIENCE FEEDBACK?

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGF3aFZHbXpmTlVNWm9kWFhnb3BEZFE6MQ#gid=0 – Music Video Questionnaire

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEt6TkNlTmtRbWFpLTFzSTJ5dkRIbUE6MQ#gid=0 – Ancillary Text Questionnaire

I uploaded my music video onto YouTube in order to gain feedback from my peers to help me

improve my understanding of my product. I think that this was very beneficial as it has allowed

me to realise the pros and cons of my product, and it has also made it clear as to where I’ve

improved compared to AS.

By creating questionnaires on Google Docs it was a much more efficient way to gain feedback

from my peers. As well as this, as the information is processed and organised already it makes it

much easier to see the audience’s responses directly. I made a separate questionnaire for my

music video and ancillary texts as I felt it would be more beneficial for me to gain feedback on

both aspects of my coursework as each task involved different techniques and research.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGF3aFZHbXpmTlVNWm9kWFhnb3BEZFE6MQ#gid=0

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEt6TkNlTmtRbWFpLTFzSTJ5dkRIbUE6MQ#gid=0


“There is clear synergy between all three

texts as you've used nature as a main

theme and also have kept the genre in mind

which shows through the connections

between your texts.”

“The use of dissolves worked well

as the song has a softer melody

and the lyrics also fit into the indie

genre making it more focused on

nature, which were intercutted

well during shots.”

“I didn't really understand the collaboration

within the image and the words, other than

the young girl seems to be mourning? But that

is only an assumption. I think if it that's the

vital thing to have it needs to be more

clearer.”

“The lip sincing was really good and flowed

smoothly. Also the shots throughout the

music video fitted really well and looked

effective”

“I feel themes were presented clearly and the use of mise-en scene

“and lip syncing were used very well to fit your indie genre. I enjoyed

that the video didn't have a clear narrative or story to it as the song

itself provided the narrative. The video was really enjoyable to

watch.”

"I think it's a good, chilled and relaxing

video but I think if you're aiming to create a

narrative piece of film it needs to be much

more clear.

It's quite lovely to look at, some of the shots

of the foliage/nature are breath-taking.”“I was engaged in certain parts and in others I wasn't.

The parts I was were the shots of the trees, sun coming through

the trees, the birds and the parts where the protaganist was sat

on a bridge looking into the camera.

Parts I weren't were merely because I didn't feel the protaganist

connected to the song well and expressed very little of the

emotional within the song.”

"scenes blended well together

i like slow motion shots"


I found it very useful receiving feedback from my peers as I was informed of the positive and negative aspects of my work, making it visible as to what areas I’ve improved on since AS and other areas that I should have been considered more. The information was recorded in Google Documents, where I could access my audience’s responses in one area.

A lot of my feedback for my music video questionnaire

was positive, focusing largely on the quality of the editing

of lip syncing, the shots of nature and mise-en-scene.

Negative aspects were that if I was aiming to create a

narrative based music video, this wasn’t done very well

and the narrative was unclear. However, I intended to

create a conceptual based video with performance and

narrative elements, thus the idea of narrative was less

focused on. My feedback suggests that this aspect could

have been considered further, in order to improve the

overall quality of my music video.


The feedback from my ancillary texts was also mainly positive, suggesting that I created synergy between the texts well, and I kept the theme of nature throughout the texts as well. As well as this, the feedback suggested my choice of font style and colour appeared professional and represented the genre well. On the other hand, it was also noted that the image of the artist could be more engaging in the texts, as it was suggested that it wasn’t obvious that the magazine advert was promoting the artist and the song.


I was pleased that audience members noticed the use of additive dissolves within my music video, as this was a convention that I challenged in order to reiterate the connection between the variation of shots. Another aspect of editing that was commented on was the use of slow motion, this highlights my improvement from AS, as I feel I was much more familiar with the programmes, thus I was able to use more enticing editing techniques.

However, some of my feedback suggested that some parts of the music video were disengaging because of the lack of narrative. This suggests that my music video didn’t reflect the conceptual-based type of music video extremely well. To improve, I should have had a clearer theme/notion that I was following, as it’s evident that at some points it’s difficult to recognise whether the music video is narrative or conceptual, and at some points performance based. What’s more, other feedback suggested that they enjoyed the fact that the narrative wasn’t clear as it made it more challenging for the audience. This has lead me to question whether it’s more beneficial to challenge an audience, or whether they prefer repetitive conventions – this is a notion suggested within genre theory and postmodernism, many theorists believe genre is a tool that allows institutions to target a specific audience. I feel as though my feedback agrees and disagrees with this theory, as some audience member’s preferred that I didn’t follow the conventions, whereas this disorientated others. As I was given similar feedback on the confusing narrative of the music video, this highlights that choosing the more complicated route of a conceptual-based music video was more risqué, and I should have done more research into the codes and conventions for this type of video.

On the other hand, a lot of feedback suggested that the theme of nature was recognised, implying that I achieved certain conventions of the conceptual-based video well. However, it was noted that not all audience member’s recognised that nature was a theme, and they merely appreciated the shots of nature and foliage I had. This further implies that I needed to make this theme clearer in order to achieve a more successful reception of my music video.

HOW DID YOU USE NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH, PLANNING AND EVALUATION STAGES?

Construction – When constructing my music video I was very anxious as my whole music video was outside and in order for there to be continuity, I needed to

ensure that the lighting was the same throughout. By using a HD camera it made the quality much better, and this was essential due to the location. As the lighting

was better on one shooting day compared to another, I was going to edit some of my shots in Adobe Premiere Pro in order to make the lighting brighter. However, I

found it quite difficult to match the lighting levels so I decided to adjust the levels slightly in order for the shots to be slightly lighter without looking edited. After

experimenting with some of my actress shots, it was suggested that my shots of flowers and nature (0:32sec) were too bright for the atmosphere of the song, thus I

decided to darken these shots using the brightness/contrast tool.

Adobe Premiere Pro was the most used software throughout the construction of my product, as I would edit all of my clips via the software for both my music video

and the animatic. I had previously used Adobe Premiere Pro in my AS coursework, so I was familiar with how to use the software. Another tool I used was the

‘speed/duration’ tool, as I wanted to have shots such as the actress walking along the fence (1:26sec) in slow motion to create a lonely and calming atmosphere. I

had never used this tool before however I found it very simple as the speed percentage could be changed to what I felt was suitable.


For the construction of my ancillary texts I used Adobe Photoshop, I wasn’t very familiar with the software, but I found it quite easy to get used to. When creating my digipak, I opened a template which I had found online via search engines such as Google into Adobe Photoshop; this meant that I could use the template to judge the sizing of images, texts and borders. As I had used a black and white rustic effect on the camera I took the pictures with, it meant that I had very little editing to do for my digipak. However, when creating the magazine advert, it was evident that the effect had caused the image of my actress to lose the majority of the definition in her face. To avoid this issue I used the brightness/contrast tool and decreased the amount of contrast on the image.

As well as this, I used a ‘drop shadow’ effect on the text of the magazine advert and the

copy of the digipak album cover. This meant that the text would stand out above the

image, engaging the audience on what the advert was promoting as well as making it

look more professional. I think I struggled more with Photoshop than Premiere as I was

less familiar with the tools, however with guidance from my teacher I feel as though I

understand the software much more.


Research – When in the researching stages for my product I used various search engines and video-sharing websites such as YouTube. YouTube was probably the most important media technology I used for my research, as it was essential for me to analyse actual music videos in order to widen my knowledge and understanding of music videos, to allow me to progress onto the construction of my music video. I had also used Wikipedia when in the research stage as it allowed me to gain a brief understanding of genre and my ancillary texts. As it’s a collaborative encyclopaedia I was also able to find a list of Indie-Folk artists, allowing me to look further into the codes and conventions of the Indie-Folk genre.

Google was another influential website, as it provided me with a large range of websites which lead me onto further information on the chosen topic. I used the search engine specifically when I wanted to gain a vast amount of knowledge and understanding on topics such as my ancillary texts; it was very beneficial as I was provided with a vast amount of information from various users, meaning I had many alternative opinions and options to work with.


Planning – For the planning stages I created an animatic by taking photos of the images in my storyboard using a HD camera and importing the images into Adobe Premiere Pro. This was an important task for me as I felt it gave me a good understanding of the timing, editing and choice of shots to consider. As I was previously familiar with Adobe Premiere Pro from my AS coursework, I found it fairly simple to create my animatic, as I had also created one using the same technique at AS.

By using Adobe Premiere Pro, it allowed me to gain an understanding of the pace of editing I need to be aiming for, as well as a rough guideline as to how many shots I’ll need to ensure music video is lengthy and interesting. As the animatic was created using camera shots from drawings, it made the editing much easier as I didn’t have to avoid cutting out or worrying about the shakiness of shots. This was something I had to keep in mind for the construction of my music video as I needed to be sure that I could cut shots accordingly.


Evaluation - I used many online programs to broadcast and evaluate my work; Google Docs was used to create questionnaires in which audience members could fill in whilst watching the music video on YouTube, or being directed to my ancillary texts on Blogger.

I was able to broadcast my music video and ancillary texts via social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter – this was the quickest and most efficient way to allow audience members to view my product, as the sites are extremely popular and can be accessed and shared by a large range. As well as this, the majority of users belong to the audience I’m targeting, thus it was the most appropriate way to contact the audience in one space.

By using online websites I’m able to evaluate my work effectively and efficiently, as it’s much easier to retrieve audience feedback through online resources. As well as this, by using Slideshare to create my evaluation, I can access all of my resources at once, rather than having to collect questionnaires and show my target audience individually my products.

final evaluation - heather casey

Entertainment & Humor

indiefolk video

indiefolk music videos

music video whenthe

amusic video

media product use

editing of shots

indie folkmusic videos

indiefolk genre