EVALUATION

EVALUATION Question 3

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

When we received audience feedback for our overall video, website and Digipack design generally the responses were very positive. All the groups/people who critically analysed our work told us that we had managed to maintain band image, that we managed to use fresh new approaches to our songs genre when producing the video and had a very clear structure and approach on our overall works target requirements.

Even though, on a whole, feedback was good, there were still some queries. One of which was concerning a few technical hitches with lip syncing within the video by the characters who weren’t directly involved in the performance i.e. the band. Because of this we decided to cut some of these shots a lot shorted so the emphasis on them wasn’t so heavy. We did this because if we attempted to move the shots across to become in time with the music, the editing software would over compensate and result in pushing the rest of the project forward creating more issues. Therefore we came to the solution of minimizing the problem due to facilities prohibiting us to solve it.

To fit our genres specification on how the CD Digipack was meant to look, we had to, in pre and post production, change a few details. The first was instead of using comical scenes from the video as the front and back covers we changed this to using instrument heavy band performance shots. We did this because in the video, there is a lot of focus on the narrative side instead of the performance balancing it out. To counter act this we decided to use the bands image instead of the humorous images to be used as the CD’s cover so we could suit the genre which was mainly focused around the instruments and members.

Overall we believe that the feedback for our whole project was very good making us confident that we had made a suitable band image. Despite very positive feedback, I feel as if this method of analysis may be flawed to a certain extent. Because it invites a very general evaluation of all the aspects as a whole project, the actual individual projects may miss some vital analytical views which may have further improved the over production. But overall this method allows us, as a group, to see the general reaction of our audience first hand and honestly allows us to improve or sustain when we need be.

EVALUATION Question 1

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

For our music video, we aimed to focus on the alternative/90’s genre using darker colours, unusual camera shots and edited visual effects. To abide by these conventions in our video we used several techniques in the film production. We used changing contrast settings on the narrative section of the video to give a cartoon, fantasy – type feel, for the performance we used minimal lighting, cut out the natural light and included strobe lighting to emphasise the climax of the song and finally the costume choices for the performance was based around 90’s attire i.e. plaid shirts, band/film t-shirts and rugged trainers. These overall helped us stick to the music video conventions given to us and allow us to make an accurate representation of the era we were mimicking.

To challenge and improve upon modern music video conventions, ideology and post-modern ideas for our music video we decided to do two things. One was include the interaction of animals and humans for the narrative. When you look at modern animal based video, directors mainly focus around highlighting the particular characteristics of the animals and how they relate to the song. We, however, decided to anthropomorphise the Chicken used to create a more relatable situation but with the added humour because the individual is actually a Chicken, not a human. Secondly we made the performing band play the song exactly how it is played by the band. This way we could demonstrate, as accurately as we could, a genuine performance of the sound making the video more genuine and pleasing for the viewer.

Overall these effects allow the audience to gain a unique perspective on a more familiar genre of music. They give the viewer an insight into the personality of the band as there is a more conscious effort on entertaining instead of just performing the song.

EALUATION question 2

2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Our products as a whole are linked together with recurring themes throughout the different types of media to portray an obvious image of the band Dinosaur Pile-Up. In our planning and pitch we decided we wanted to show the rock/grungy nature of the songs through the music video, CD cover and website, but also wanted to portray the light heartedness of the members in the band. We did this by showing the members of the band in a run down, gritty warehouse in both the music video and in photos for the CD cover. Also, the background for the website is a murky green colour. To give some contrast and a little more of a light hearted feel to the products we decided to go for a comical narrative in the music video, involving a chicken costume and bright colours, and also decided to use bold yellow text on both the website and the CD cover.

The CD cover, webpage and music video all have the same running them allowing all the areas of production to become interrelated due to there core similarities. For example; the photos for the CD cover were taken on the same day as the video shoot therefore similar to the footage in the video, and then the same photo is used at the top of the webpage almost advertising the CD as soon as the public views the website. Also, on the image inside the CD case the musicians are in the same positions as the picture on the front cover, but the photo is taken from behind the camera giving the audience some ‘behind the scenes’ action from the video shoot. The murky green colour used as the background of the webpage and inside the CD cover came from existing products of Dinosaur Pile-Up and the idea of using yellow text on the webpage and CD cover came simply from the fact that the chicken in the video is yellow.

The reason we interrelated each of the products so much is so that they effectively advertise one another and are all familiar to the audience. We wanted to do this so the audience could easily link the webpage, CD and music video creating a useful and efficient package that will successfully promote the band.

EVALUATION question 4

4.

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

During the filming of the video, we tried to use various methods of shooting, to keep the shots different from one another, to make our video unique and stand out to viewers. We did this because of the ‘abstract’ qualities of the narrative, which we thought should be reflected by camera angles and composition. Evidently, this affected the way in which we used our camera and other *equipment such as the tripod and strobe light. For example, during the performance shoot, we decided to try some experimental shots such as lifting the tripod by two of its legs over a horizontal bar used for lighting which was directly above the band, which gave us a very effective shot looking down at the band. We also used a dolly cam, which was useful for tracking shots of the band, and was also made more effective by the surface we were filming on which was slightly uneven and altered the effect of the dolly cam, making it bumpy as though the viewers were in a car or witnessing an earthquake for example.

These small problems we encountered due to our media equipment/technologies, rather than hindered our progress, actually helped us to think outside the box and forced us to be creative. Some aspects of our video are similar to the concept of ‘modern art’, where the video may be appreciated more if the viewer were to watch from a distance and an open mind.

When planning our music video, we used a few different technologies to research our genre of music, and what other artists videos within our genre were looking like. We found a vast assortment of videos on music channels located on Sky and Virgin TV such as MTV and Kerrang. This helped us to see which videos were the most popular, as programs shown on these channels such as ‘Top 100 Best Ever Music Videos’ let us have a look at what audiences want to see when they tune in to watch music on their TV. This program led us to the question of whether or not a video is important for gaining popularity, as a lot of the bands whose videos were rated highly were not as popular as other bands and had lower budgets, yet the popular bands that did have videos, had much higher budgets for their videos, allowing them more freedom to play with in the production process.

In the same way, using technologies such as YouTube has helped us gather audience feedback as there are hundreds of comments on each video from viewers giving their own individual opinions, some useful and some not. This allowed us to locate our chosen bands previous videos, and check their comments to see if there were any particular aspects of the video that viewers and fans enjoyed. Obviously if any themes or conventions occurred throughout the bands previous videos, we would have to be sure we carried these on in our video.

We are able, through technologies such as our bands website, to have a YouTube link directly to our video on our page, which would make it easier than ever to watch and access our video. We can also add links to the bands social networking pages, such as Twitter, Facebook and Skype which all contain this video, allowing us to reach a very wide audience as members of each of these different online communities would be able to access our video. 

Music Video Audience Response Questionnaires

These two sheets are responses from viewers who have critically analyzed our video. Overall we got a very good response from all the people who viewed our video but above is two examples. One of which is very good, the other contains some criticism. This can allow us to look at our video more closely and try and fix more faults which we may have missed yet others have seen.

Final Website Design

This is the head banner for our website. It clearly shows the band members, logo and places on the web were you can access the bands merch, material etc. Below the main header is the navigation bar sign posting the visiter to all the other areas of the bands site.

When you scroll down to the main section of the page you see the full content of the website which includes news updates, banners, videos, biographies and tour dates. This allows full interaction for the viewer with the bands different types of available media.

The Bottom section of our home page consists of the merch, alum cover, scroller of online articles relating to the band and finally a small picture gallery showing picture from the filming of the single video shoot of Birds&Planes.

Website Designs

At this stage of the web design we had completed he design of the gig listings and the advertisement banner and we had now moved onto poducing some merchandise for the band. We decided to sell t-shirts on the website due to the popularity of band t-shirts for teens, which this music is aimed at. We made two t-shirts, one of grey and one of white. This gave us variety with our merchandise. We will also later on add the CD single. 

Final Album Digipack Design

Above is the final digipack design for our Birds&Planes single from Dinosaur Pile-Up. The covers took only a few hours to make and were assembled using images and photos we have either edited in photoshop or took when filming the video.
The front cover displays the band shot also used as the banner on the website so buyers can associate a more familiar image with the band. The back cover is just an empty space from the same location that we filmed the video. The inside cover demonstrates a continued theme with a 'making of' shot as the inside cover. This makes the whole design of the digipack link to the video and the web-page creating one overall band image.

Birds & planes - Final Video

Video above is the final cut of Birds & Planes. The video took just over  2 months to complete and includes final cuts from just under 2 hours of recorded footage.