Sunday, 10 August 2014
Music Video Evaluation
WWW 1:
When making my music video, I had the opportunity to use Adobe Premiere to cut and edit the various clips and shots together to create the full music video. Adobe Premiere is new software and therefore I have not had much experience using the program in the past. Despite this, I feel I tackled the program and learned how to use the various tools and effects available effectively. As a result of this, I feel that I edited the shots and clips very well. I aimed for fast paced editing and think that I achieved this. My shots are cut precisely and fit well to the beat of the song.
WWW 2:
Throughout my music video, the lip sync Kenny Kendrick and Mikel Monroe performed was precise and exact. When making a music video, it is important to show the artist lip syncing; I spent a lot of time on this feature of my music video to ensure it was precise and effective throughout the duration of the song. I was pleased that Mikel Monroe and Kenny Kendrick performed the lip sync so well; however it made it much harder to pick shots and clips to use for the video as each time we filmed the lip sync sections, they performed better than the last time. Overall, filming high energy and exciting lip syncing sections made the music video more entertaining to watch and easier to put together.
WWW 3:
When preparing to make the music video as a class, we discussed the locations we would like to use. We chose an existing location, the classroom, a set that we had to create, the prom, and a green screen location. I think that, as a class, we put together our best ideas and the locations we used for our music video were exciting and filmed to the best of our ability. The locations also allowed us to experiment with different lighting; for example the prom scenes are dark as it looks like a party, whereas the green screen looks light and bright as the main focus in the shot is the artists.
EBI 1:
To improve the music video, I think we could have tried to use a wider variation of camera angles and shot types. We used a lot of plain, mid shots, long shots and close ups and did not experiment with shots such as over the shoulder shots or tracks for example. Using other types of shots would have made the music video more entertaining and more interesting for the audience to watch. A wider range of camera angles would have had the same result. The classroom scene shows a short high angled clip, however low angles and moving shots would contribute to a much more exciting range of shots to chose from and experiment with.
EBI 2:
Another element of my music video that could be improved is the green screen scenes. I would have liked to have had more time to edit the colours of the background in the green screen sections. I had ideas to have black and white shapes moving around behind Mikel and Kenny, morphing from one shape to another or moving in random directions. I think that my music video would have been much more exciting and effective if I had the chance to create this effect.
EBI 3:
A third improvement I would make to my music video would be to use faster paced editing techniques from the start of my music video. Although the way I have edited my music video is precise and accurate, it is fairly slow and uneventful towards the start of the song. I would edit the beginning of my music video to make it faster and make the cuts between shots faster and more exciting. I think this would help improve my music video as there would be a more consisted editing speed. The editing becomes faster and more effective during the instrumental section of the song; I chose to use this section to show off the performance of some of the boys in the class as they are entertaining to watch. This section has much more exciting editing compared to the rest of my video as I took the opportunity to cut to syncopated beats of the song rather than just the obvious, constant beat. If I had have adopted this technique more often throughout the music video, it would be more effective and more entertaining for the audience.
5 Effective Sections
One section of my music video that I thought was particularly effective was the very beginning of the song.
TubeChop from 00:01-00:10
The very beginning of the music video consists of a series of changing shots. The first effect of this sequence is the 'fade in'. The first shot appears gradually; the shot starts black and the picture slowly appears. This is effective as it signals the start of the music video and suggests there is a narrative to the video. The sequence does not have any sound, therefore making it important that the visual aspects of the sequence are interesting. There are a few different angles and shot types that are included in the starting sequence that help make it entertaining and attention grabbing for the audience. Different shots cut from one to another until a still, mid shot of Mikel Monroe fades out into black. This 'fade out' signals the end of the opening sequence of the music video. I think this sequence is effective as it catches the attention of the audience and causes them to wonder what kind of song this music video has been made for. I also think it is effective as it shows an exciting 'over the shoulder' camera angle, as well as shots such as mid shots, close ups and extreme close ups.
Another section that I though was effective was:
TubeChop from 00:55 - 01:04
This section is effective as it shows a moving camera shot. The camera moves from the focus of the artists to the extras in the shot around them. This shot allows the audience to see other people involved in the music video enjoying themselves and having fun. This keeps the audience's attention on the music video as the majority of the music video is focused around the performance of the artists. The sequence is effective as it fun, entertaining to watch, accurately lip synced and cuts clearly from one location to another.
Thirdly, I thought this section was also effective:
TubeChop from 01:06 - 01:26
I think this section of my music video is effective as it shows a range of clips from each location within the 20 second TubeChop I have highlighted. It is important to show a range of locations in a music video to keep the audience entertained and interested in the video and not just the song. I think this section of my music video demonstrates this well as there are an equal range of clips from each location, however, to improve this section and make it more effective, editing the clips at a faster pace would allow for more entertaining viewing as the audience would see shorter clips of the location each time.
Finally, I thought the end section of my music video was effective.
TubeChop from 4:01 - 4:17
I thought this section was effective as it shows fast paced editing, a good range of locations and an exciting 'fade out' technique. This sequence of shots is attention grabbing and entertaining. Not only is the content of the shots happy, amusing and joyful, the shots have been put together in an effective sequence. No two locations are seen next to each other and the people featuring in each shot are smiling, laughing, happy and enjoying themselves. This is a contributing factor as to how effective this sequence is as it makes the audience feel happy when they are watching it. The shots are mostly mid shots and the camera angles are also mostly front facing angles but as the lyrics finish, the audience can see the artists enjoying themselves with the other people in the shot with them.
One section I did not think was effective was:
TubeChop from 00:33 - 00:55
I did not think this section was particularly effective as the editing was slow paced and the clips were only showing two locations; the set and the green screen. The clips were around 5 seconds each and cut from the green screen to the prom set over and over again. This section will appear boring to the audience as it is slow and showing the same locations. Showing a diverse range of clips, shot types, camera angles and locations is important in ensuring a music video is exciting and holds the interest of the audience. I do not think this section of my music video would hold the interest of an audience as the main conventions of a music video are not executed as well as they could have been.
Sunday, 3 August 2014
Music Video Tips
10 tips I would give to anyone making a music video would be:
- make sure you choose at least 3 locations to film different parts of the music video in
- plan the different shot types and camera angles to allow you to prepare for the possibility of needed advanced equipment
- ensure you have a reliable artist to feature in the music video
- ask the artist to practice lip syncing the song before the day you are due to shoot in the various locations
- plan for various outfits to be worn in the locations and ensure the artist is aware of this
- ensure the artist makes eye contact with the audience
- make sure you have access to high standard software to edit the music video
- ensure that you understand how to use the software to edit the video
- edit the music video with a fast paced and non-repetitive technique to ensure the video is entertaining and enjoyable to watch
- have a shooting schedule planned and follow it to ensure all the shots, camera angles and locations are covered; this will ensure you have plenty of footage to use when editing
Monday, 2 June 2014
Decisions and Process of Making the Ident
To make my Ident, I needed to make lots of decisions.
First of all, I had to think of an idea to film to make a 30 second television ident.
A very important part of the process of making my ident was the ideas and planning. My ideas and planning included the ideas for The GRID ident in the form of mind maps and spider diagrams. From these ideas, I needed to make a choice as to which idea I would use to continue to develop and create into a full television ident.
Once I had made this choice, my music/concert idea, I then had to draw up all the planning documents in order to ensure I made the ident to the best of my ability and was able to create it to a professional standard.
The planning documents included a props and costume list, a developed idea, a font choice, a music choice, a location post and a story board series.
Each of these planning documents played a part in the process of making the final ident.
In the raw footage of Bobby and I filming the first stages and filming some test shots of the ident, you can see that we have had to use a Green Screen to simulate the location we wished to film the ident in; unfortunately, such a venue was unavailable at the time and so we had to make a decision to film the ident in front of a Green Screen to save time. Furthermore, the costume we wanted Charlie to be wearing, all black, was unrealistic as the background of the ident (the Green Screen) was going to be black as well which would have made it very difficult to see Charlie and him moving along with the beat behind the drum kit. As a result of this, we asked Charlie to wear a striped T-shirt, however we would have preferred a slightly more colourful one.
After we had written and made all the necessary decisions for the ideas and planning documents, we began to film the ident. The Green Screen was an extremely handy tool for Bobby and I as it allowed us to film the shots we needed in one day and edit all the footage on the computer, with little fuss.
The raw footage below will give you an idea of the process of making our ident:
Our raw footage helps show the decisions we made.
To start, the first few clips of our raw footage shows an orange rectangle covering the logo. Bobby and I couldn't decide as to how we would cover the logo on the front of the drum kit and cover it with our design of The GRID logo. We filmed a few shots with the orange rectangle covering the logo on the drum kit and then filmed the shots again without the rectangle covering the logo.
In the end, when we were editing the ident, we used the shots without the rectangle as it was easier to design a similar logo for The GRID with a circular background that would cover the entire front area of the base drum. Overall, we felt this looked more effective and professional.
The raw footage shot by Bobby and myself show the progression we made whilst using the technology to produce our ident. To begin with, our shots were slightly out of focus and we struggled to fin the correct frame to film the shots we wanted. However, with time and practice (in the form of many short 5 second recordings) we were able to film our ident shots to a good standard and edit them using Adobe Premiere to make them look as professional as we could.
First of all, I had to think of an idea to film to make a 30 second television ident.
A very important part of the process of making my ident was the ideas and planning. My ideas and planning included the ideas for The GRID ident in the form of mind maps and spider diagrams. From these ideas, I needed to make a choice as to which idea I would use to continue to develop and create into a full television ident.
Once I had made this choice, my music/concert idea, I then had to draw up all the planning documents in order to ensure I made the ident to the best of my ability and was able to create it to a professional standard.
The planning documents included a props and costume list, a developed idea, a font choice, a music choice, a location post and a story board series.
Each of these planning documents played a part in the process of making the final ident.
In the raw footage of Bobby and I filming the first stages and filming some test shots of the ident, you can see that we have had to use a Green Screen to simulate the location we wished to film the ident in; unfortunately, such a venue was unavailable at the time and so we had to make a decision to film the ident in front of a Green Screen to save time. Furthermore, the costume we wanted Charlie to be wearing, all black, was unrealistic as the background of the ident (the Green Screen) was going to be black as well which would have made it very difficult to see Charlie and him moving along with the beat behind the drum kit. As a result of this, we asked Charlie to wear a striped T-shirt, however we would have preferred a slightly more colourful one.
After we had written and made all the necessary decisions for the ideas and planning documents, we began to film the ident. The Green Screen was an extremely handy tool for Bobby and I as it allowed us to film the shots we needed in one day and edit all the footage on the computer, with little fuss.
The raw footage below will give you an idea of the process of making our ident:
Our raw footage helps show the decisions we made.
To start, the first few clips of our raw footage shows an orange rectangle covering the logo. Bobby and I couldn't decide as to how we would cover the logo on the front of the drum kit and cover it with our design of The GRID logo. We filmed a few shots with the orange rectangle covering the logo on the drum kit and then filmed the shots again without the rectangle covering the logo.
In the end, when we were editing the ident, we used the shots without the rectangle as it was easier to design a similar logo for The GRID with a circular background that would cover the entire front area of the base drum. Overall, we felt this looked more effective and professional.
The raw footage shot by Bobby and myself show the progression we made whilst using the technology to produce our ident. To begin with, our shots were slightly out of focus and we struggled to fin the correct frame to film the shots we wanted. However, with time and practice (in the form of many short 5 second recordings) we were able to film our ident shots to a good standard and edit them using Adobe Premiere to make them look as professional as we could.
Friday, 23 May 2014
Music Video Production - Spider Diagrams
Idea 1: Contrast
The majority of the music video will be filmed in a black and white colour scheme. The chorus will indicate when the video will burst into colour, showing lively, bright colours and an energetic club scene. This idea will follow the lives of 4 men, attempting to attract the attention of one girl. The colour scheme will shwo a contrast between two, very different atmosphere's and the focus on one young woman will reflect the lyrics well.
Idea 2: Clubbing
Our second idea is mainly based around a dance scene and a club. The artist would be performing at a gig venue, which would be full of people salsa dancing and enjoying themselves. Whilst the artist is performing, shots will vary to young men trying to get the attention of girls and dance with them. This idea would be shot in predominantly, one venue, however showing different locations within the night club/gig venue.
Idea 3: 1,2,3
This idea will follow the lives of three pairs of couples. Each pair will feature in a certain location, either a house party, a club, or out on the streets of London. Each location and pair are supposed to represent a different stage of a relationship; getting to know each other, going out together and forming an intimate relationship.
Idea 2: Clubbing
Our second idea is mainly based around a dance scene and a club. The artist would be performing at a gig venue, which would be full of people salsa dancing and enjoying themselves. Whilst the artist is performing, shots will vary to young men trying to get the attention of girls and dance with them. This idea would be shot in predominantly, one venue, however showing different locations within the night club/gig venue.
Idea 3: 1,2,3
This idea will follow the lives of three pairs of couples. Each pair will feature in a certain location, either a house party, a club, or out on the streets of London. Each location and pair are supposed to represent a different stage of a relationship; getting to know each other, going out together and forming an intimate relationship.
Tuesday, 20 May 2014
Music Video Production
I have chosen to create a music video for Sing by Ed Sheeran. I chose
this song because it has a good, steady beat that can be complimented with fast
paced and effective editing. The song is categorised in an R&B, Funk genre
and was almost directly inspired by singer Justin Timberlake. This song would
be aimed at a target audience of vibrant, young adults aged between 21 and 30
as the lyrics are based around a night out in Las Vegas.
Market Research - Existing Products
Before I create my advertisement for a social message campaign about being safe online, I will research the conventions and techniques used by social message campaigns.
I will find examples of 5 types of social message advertisements and analyse each of them to find out: what the ads are for, what techniques are used, what style of ad it is, what form the ad takes, what conventions can be seen and what the target audience is and how we can tell.
The 5 types of social message campaigns are:
This advertisement is meant to make people "spread the word" and help put an end to bullying. The campaign aims to encourage people to become more involved in anti-bullying schemes and programmes to reduce the amount of people who are bullied every day.
Techniques such as using an overt message and sparking an emotional, compassionate response are used. The overt message is explaining that parents should teach their children to respect everyone and not fall into a trap of becoming a bully. The compassionate response lies with the young girl that appears throughout the campaign; she is bald, suggesting she has been ill in the past and that she is possibly undergoing treatment for cancer.
The style of the advertisement is dramatic. The whole campaign has a serious tone and is in no way humorous or comedic, however it is uplifting.
This campaign in particular takes on the form of a stand alone anti-bullying ad with a vague talking heads form also. The people who are featured in the ad are not 'experts' as such, however they are providing a testimonial regarding the importance of teaching young people and children to respect and love others they way they are.
This advertisement shows the following conventions:
Secondly, I will explore Driving Safety (Alcohol) campaigns.
This advertisement is designed too make you think twice before having that "one more" drink before driving home. The advert shows a man doing the impressions of the various different people someone would come across, the police for example, if they are caught Driving Under the Influence of alcohol.
This drink driving campaign shows the technique of presenting a hidden message: "it will ruin your life if you get caught if you drive under the influence of alcohol". However, the advertisement also provokes and emotional response; fear and compassion. The two emotions are conveyed through the ad as it is designed to make you feel fearful that the situation that is being presented through the bar tender will happen to you if you drink and drive; as well as causing you to feel compassion for the character presented last in the advert as he has now lost his driving license and job as a result of his actions.
This advert is styled seriously, dramatically and has constant serious tones throughout. As drink driving is a serious and dangerous topic to discuss, the advert was in no way humorous or light-hearted; the advertisement was designed to shock people in to the possible consequences of their actions.
This particular Think! advertisement has been created in a realist narrative form. It is common for drink drivers to lose their license after being caught and be punished through the criminal justice system and therefore the situation the ad presents is likely to have happened to many different men and women across the UK, making a realist narrative.
The conventions shown in this advertisement are:
The next campaign I will explore is Donating Blood.
This advertisement has been made to encourage members of the public to donate their blood to be used to help people with serious diseases and/or injuries. The advert uses children to make the last part of the advert more shocking and memorable.
The technique used in this advertisement provokes and emotional response: compassion. The children talking about what gifts they would like for Christmas attracts parents to watch the full advert and families for ideas as to what gift to buy for a young child in the family maybe; however at the end, the comment made by the young girl in the hospital bed is hard hitting and causes a strong compassionate reaction from the viewers.
The style of the advert is humorous to begin with as the children make funny and surreal suggestions regarding the gift they would like. Although, when the young girl in the hospital is asked what she would like for Christmas, the style changes to dramatic. The advertisement suddenly becomes serious and has an emotional tone; this tone becomes apparent when the music stops and you hear the beeping sound of the hospital monitor attached to the little girl.
The Give Blood advert takes the form of a realist narrative. The young girl in the hospital bed is one of thousands of people in need of blood in the UK, leaving the scene shown in the advert a regular occurrence in various hospitals across Great Britain. Consequently, this means the advert has been formed as a realist narrative as it shows a common occurrence in society.
The following conventions can be seen in this advertisement:
The target audience for the Give Blood advert is parents and adults with families. The advert shows young children that are meant to attract parents' and adults attention; these people are then likely to watch to the end of the advert and feel compassion for the young girl in the hospital. This target audience is accurate as you must be aged between 17-65 to give blood.
The final campaign I will explore is Driving Safety (Speeding).
This advertisement campaign has been created in order to make drivers more aware of the legal speed limits and why they are set at that certain speed. Think! created this ad to give factual information that makes it clear as to why various roads are limited to 30 miles per hour.
The techniques used in this advert are, provokes and emotional response and presents an overt message. The overt message is: speed limits are set for a reason and need to be obeyed. The emotional responses that are caused are, fear -of hitting a child crossing the road as a result of speeding-, compassion -for the young girl who has been killed and her family- and solution to a problem -if you do not speed you will not end up in this situation.
The advertising style used in dramatic; the advert is hard hitting and tough to watch. The sound of the girls bones supposedly breaking back into place makes you aware the injuries that have been caused as well as death and therefore creates a very serious tone to the ad throughout.
Think! created this ad in the form of a realist narrative. The use of statistics in the ad shows that speeding is an increasing problem and instances such as the one presented in the campaign occur far too often in Britain's modern society.
The following conventions can be seen in this ad:
The target audience for this ad is adult drivers and parents. Primarily, this campaign is targeted towards over confident drivers who disobey speed limits. The ad has been designed to present one possible consequence of their speeding habit and attempt to deter them from continuing to break the law and endanger other people and members of the public. Moreover, the Think! ad is aimed at parents to teach their children to be more aware of dangerous drivers on the road and ensure that parents themselves do not speed and risk causing a terrible tragedy like the one presents upon another family.
I will find examples of 5 types of social message advertisements and analyse each of them to find out: what the ads are for, what techniques are used, what style of ad it is, what form the ad takes, what conventions can be seen and what the target audience is and how we can tell.
The 5 types of social message campaigns are:
- Anti-Bullying
- Driving Safety (alcohol)
- Donating Blood
- Smoke Alarm / Fire Safety
- Diving Safety (speeding)
This advertisement is meant to make people "spread the word" and help put an end to bullying. The campaign aims to encourage people to become more involved in anti-bullying schemes and programmes to reduce the amount of people who are bullied every day.
Techniques such as using an overt message and sparking an emotional, compassionate response are used. The overt message is explaining that parents should teach their children to respect everyone and not fall into a trap of becoming a bully. The compassionate response lies with the young girl that appears throughout the campaign; she is bald, suggesting she has been ill in the past and that she is possibly undergoing treatment for cancer.
The style of the advertisement is dramatic. The whole campaign has a serious tone and is in no way humorous or comedic, however it is uplifting.
This campaign in particular takes on the form of a stand alone anti-bullying ad with a vague talking heads form also. The people who are featured in the ad are not 'experts' as such, however they are providing a testimonial regarding the importance of teaching young people and children to respect and love others they way they are.
This advertisement shows the following conventions:
- presents the message throughout
- shows a brand logo
- has a catchy phrase
- features audio and music
Secondly, I will explore Driving Safety (Alcohol) campaigns.
This advertisement is designed too make you think twice before having that "one more" drink before driving home. The advert shows a man doing the impressions of the various different people someone would come across, the police for example, if they are caught Driving Under the Influence of alcohol.
This drink driving campaign shows the technique of presenting a hidden message: "it will ruin your life if you get caught if you drive under the influence of alcohol". However, the advertisement also provokes and emotional response; fear and compassion. The two emotions are conveyed through the ad as it is designed to make you feel fearful that the situation that is being presented through the bar tender will happen to you if you drink and drive; as well as causing you to feel compassion for the character presented last in the advert as he has now lost his driving license and job as a result of his actions.
This advert is styled seriously, dramatically and has constant serious tones throughout. As drink driving is a serious and dangerous topic to discuss, the advert was in no way humorous or light-hearted; the advertisement was designed to shock people in to the possible consequences of their actions.
This particular Think! advertisement has been created in a realist narrative form. It is common for drink drivers to lose their license after being caught and be punished through the criminal justice system and therefore the situation the ad presents is likely to have happened to many different men and women across the UK, making a realist narrative.
The conventions shown in this advertisement are:
- shows a brand logo
- features audio
- presents a catchy phrase
The next campaign I will explore is Donating Blood.
This advertisement has been made to encourage members of the public to donate their blood to be used to help people with serious diseases and/or injuries. The advert uses children to make the last part of the advert more shocking and memorable.
The technique used in this advertisement provokes and emotional response: compassion. The children talking about what gifts they would like for Christmas attracts parents to watch the full advert and families for ideas as to what gift to buy for a young child in the family maybe; however at the end, the comment made by the young girl in the hospital bed is hard hitting and causes a strong compassionate reaction from the viewers.
The style of the advert is humorous to begin with as the children make funny and surreal suggestions regarding the gift they would like. Although, when the young girl in the hospital is asked what she would like for Christmas, the style changes to dramatic. The advertisement suddenly becomes serious and has an emotional tone; this tone becomes apparent when the music stops and you hear the beeping sound of the hospital monitor attached to the little girl.
The Give Blood advert takes the form of a realist narrative. The young girl in the hospital bed is one of thousands of people in need of blood in the UK, leaving the scene shown in the advert a regular occurrence in various hospitals across Great Britain. Consequently, this means the advert has been formed as a realist narrative as it shows a common occurrence in society.
The following conventions can be seen in this advertisement:
- shows the brand logo
- presents a slogan and message
- features music and audio
The target audience for the Give Blood advert is parents and adults with families. The advert shows young children that are meant to attract parents' and adults attention; these people are then likely to watch to the end of the advert and feel compassion for the young girl in the hospital. This target audience is accurate as you must be aged between 17-65 to give blood.
The final campaign I will explore is Driving Safety (Speeding).
This advertisement campaign has been created in order to make drivers more aware of the legal speed limits and why they are set at that certain speed. Think! created this ad to give factual information that makes it clear as to why various roads are limited to 30 miles per hour.
The techniques used in this advert are, provokes and emotional response and presents an overt message. The overt message is: speed limits are set for a reason and need to be obeyed. The emotional responses that are caused are, fear -of hitting a child crossing the road as a result of speeding-, compassion -for the young girl who has been killed and her family- and solution to a problem -if you do not speed you will not end up in this situation.
The advertising style used in dramatic; the advert is hard hitting and tough to watch. The sound of the girls bones supposedly breaking back into place makes you aware the injuries that have been caused as well as death and therefore creates a very serious tone to the ad throughout.
Think! created this ad in the form of a realist narrative. The use of statistics in the ad shows that speeding is an increasing problem and instances such as the one presented in the campaign occur far too often in Britain's modern society.
The following conventions can be seen in this ad:
- shows the brand logo
- features music and audio
- presents the message throughout
- presents a slogan
The target audience for this ad is adult drivers and parents. Primarily, this campaign is targeted towards over confident drivers who disobey speed limits. The ad has been designed to present one possible consequence of their speeding habit and attempt to deter them from continuing to break the law and endanger other people and members of the public. Moreover, the Think! ad is aimed at parents to teach their children to be more aware of dangerous drivers on the road and ensure that parents themselves do not speed and risk causing a terrible tragedy like the one presents upon another family.
Tuesday, 13 May 2014
Tuesday, 29 April 2014
Analysing Advertisements
I will begin by analysing 5 advertisements.
1. DR DRE What Will Your Beats Be FT Ellie Goulding
The style of the advert is an Intertexutality. The headphones advert references music from Pop Culture, Ellie Goulding's in particular. This advert also uses Celebrity Endorsement as an advertising technique. This attracts viewers, especially Ellie Goulding's fans, to watch the advertisement and become potential customers for the product being shown. furthermore, the audience watching this advert would be young people, most likely ages between 12 and 30. This seems like a very large age range however people between these ages are the iPod generation and are most likely to be listening to music on portable devices and through headphones. The colours of the Studio Beats suggest that the product is aimed at young people, as well as a host of young people featured throughout the advertisement; these people are older teens and young adults therefore broadening the age of the audience up to 30 years.
2. Yes Sir I Will Boogie in the office - Cadbury Dairy Milk
This advertisement is Humorously styled. Cadbury will have chosen to advertise their product in a humorous manor so as to entertain their audience and ensure they remember the advert for the product. Cadbury's advert has a hidden message throughout: if you eat Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate, you will feel happy and joyful. This message is presented at the end of the advert when a picture of the product is displayed with a hashtag #FeelTheJoy displayed underneath. This advertisement is aimed at all ages and genders; the colourful packaging of the product suggests it is aimed at young people, however the people featured int he advert are of working age and in an office, therefore presenting the idea that the products is aimed at everyone.
3. Evian Baby and Me
This advertisement is shown in a Parody style. The ad makes fun of itself and shows many humorous qualities. This advert by Evian has an overt message: drinking Evian water makes you feel and seem young again. This advertisement is aimed at people of all ages. The advert featuring adults presents the idea that the water is good for older people and a source of youthfulness; the babies in the advert support this as they represent the reflections of people walking down the road. However, the babies in the advert also present the idea that drinking their water will help them grow up to be strong, independent adults.
4. New Ford Mustang Commercial
The Ford Mustang advert is Dramatic. It is a serious advert for the company and is an expensive product, therefore the advert has serious tones to it. Ford's advertising technique is to aim to produce an emotional response. This emotional response may be either to make the audience questions their self-perception or social class. As the advert is dramatic and serious, the customers are likely to be of a similar nature, for example the Upper Middle Class or Middle Class category of people according to the JINCAR Scale. The lady at the start of the advert is presented as a classy woman with an important job, similarly to the chef standing in the doorway of a restaurant. The young brunette girl featured at the end of the advert presents the 'self-perception' emotional response technique as she wears a pink leotard and tutu when the camera is directly facing her; however when the camera films her reflections, she is dressed in a Black Swan costume. This creates the idea that owners of a Ford Mustang will appear to be superior and have a pristine image to onlookers.
5. Lynx Excite Fallen Angels
Lynx's Fallen Angles advertisement has been made within a Surreal style. The events that happen in this ad would never happen in reality, and therefore make the advert strange and unusual; although entertaining. The ad technique that has been used is a hidden message: if you buy and wear Lynx Excite, women (angles) will fall for you. Moreover, another technique that has been used is the attempt to provoke and emotional response and make the viewers question their self-perception. The ad aims to make men feel that they would benefit from wearing Lynx deodorant and that they would be more attractive to women. The advert is aimed at young men aged between 16 and 30; these men are the most likely to be interested in attracting female attention and therefore the perfect customers for the message the advert promotes.
1. DR DRE What Will Your Beats Be FT Ellie Goulding
The style of the advert is an Intertexutality. The headphones advert references music from Pop Culture, Ellie Goulding's in particular. This advert also uses Celebrity Endorsement as an advertising technique. This attracts viewers, especially Ellie Goulding's fans, to watch the advertisement and become potential customers for the product being shown. furthermore, the audience watching this advert would be young people, most likely ages between 12 and 30. This seems like a very large age range however people between these ages are the iPod generation and are most likely to be listening to music on portable devices and through headphones. The colours of the Studio Beats suggest that the product is aimed at young people, as well as a host of young people featured throughout the advertisement; these people are older teens and young adults therefore broadening the age of the audience up to 30 years.
2. Yes Sir I Will Boogie in the office - Cadbury Dairy Milk
This advertisement is Humorously styled. Cadbury will have chosen to advertise their product in a humorous manor so as to entertain their audience and ensure they remember the advert for the product. Cadbury's advert has a hidden message throughout: if you eat Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate, you will feel happy and joyful. This message is presented at the end of the advert when a picture of the product is displayed with a hashtag #FeelTheJoy displayed underneath. This advertisement is aimed at all ages and genders; the colourful packaging of the product suggests it is aimed at young people, however the people featured int he advert are of working age and in an office, therefore presenting the idea that the products is aimed at everyone.
3. Evian Baby and Me
This advertisement is shown in a Parody style. The ad makes fun of itself and shows many humorous qualities. This advert by Evian has an overt message: drinking Evian water makes you feel and seem young again. This advertisement is aimed at people of all ages. The advert featuring adults presents the idea that the water is good for older people and a source of youthfulness; the babies in the advert support this as they represent the reflections of people walking down the road. However, the babies in the advert also present the idea that drinking their water will help them grow up to be strong, independent adults.
4. New Ford Mustang Commercial
The Ford Mustang advert is Dramatic. It is a serious advert for the company and is an expensive product, therefore the advert has serious tones to it. Ford's advertising technique is to aim to produce an emotional response. This emotional response may be either to make the audience questions their self-perception or social class. As the advert is dramatic and serious, the customers are likely to be of a similar nature, for example the Upper Middle Class or Middle Class category of people according to the JINCAR Scale. The lady at the start of the advert is presented as a classy woman with an important job, similarly to the chef standing in the doorway of a restaurant. The young brunette girl featured at the end of the advert presents the 'self-perception' emotional response technique as she wears a pink leotard and tutu when the camera is directly facing her; however when the camera films her reflections, she is dressed in a Black Swan costume. This creates the idea that owners of a Ford Mustang will appear to be superior and have a pristine image to onlookers.
5. Lynx Excite Fallen Angels
Lynx's Fallen Angles advertisement has been made within a Surreal style. The events that happen in this ad would never happen in reality, and therefore make the advert strange and unusual; although entertaining. The ad technique that has been used is a hidden message: if you buy and wear Lynx Excite, women (angles) will fall for you. Moreover, another technique that has been used is the attempt to provoke and emotional response and make the viewers question their self-perception. The ad aims to make men feel that they would benefit from wearing Lynx deodorant and that they would be more attractive to women. The advert is aimed at young men aged between 16 and 30; these men are the most likely to be interested in attracting female attention and therefore the perfect customers for the message the advert promotes.
Friday, 28 March 2014
Newspaper Article about a Media Researcher
After
working for Channel 4 for almost 7 years now, I have asked to write an article
discussing my daily duties of my job, a media researcher. When I started my
career at Channel 4 many years ago, I had secured a media researching
internship, allowing me to train and progress to where I am today. I performed
the majority of the duties I do today, although I was supervised and given
advice and direction until my manager promoted me, allowing me to work alone. In
order to make the Channel 4 program successful, it is imperative that I conduct
the appropriate research; audience research, market research and production
research. These three types of research combined allow me to gather new and
current ideas to keep up with society’s desires and also to make sure the
programs appeal to the viewers. In this article I will be exploring my
day-to-day activities whilst I completed my research for the Channel 4 documentary,
My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.
The
most important material to explore when researching for a television
documentary is the audience research. It is important to conduct audience
research so as to identify the make-up and habits of the audience of the
particular program or network. Furthermore, audience research allows us to
understand what improvements could be made to ensure the media is successful
and ensure the producers can tailor the media to be suited to the group in
question. The main aim of audience research is to identify the target audience.
This can be done via various methods of primary and secondary research for
example interviews, questionnaires or observations, or publications identifying
what age range watch documentaries or interview transcripts. The primary and
secondary research helps to narrow down the audience we would eventually target
to documentary towards. Also, it is beneficial to have views and opinions of
potential viewers as it can contribute towards tailoring the show around them,
leading to more viewers and therefore more revenue for Channel 4. One way I collected information regarding audience
research for the documentary was via vox pops. This self-generated, primary
research allowed me to collect information about the target audience’s age,
gender, lifestyle (i.e. income and how they access media),
nationality/ethnicity, interests, location (where they live) and viewing
habits. The interviews were conducted in major city centres across Britain such
as London, Manchester, Belfast and Newcastle. Whilst in these busy areas we
handed out questionnaires for passers-by to complete as the vox pop interviews
took place. The questionnaires collected numerical data by asking questions
with simple tick box answers that were turned into graphs and statistically analysed
in the process. The questions included ‘how old are you?’ with age ranges including
’12-17’ and ’51-65’. As My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding has a mass audience, we
provided passers-by of many different ages to complete the survey for our audience
research. Due to the mass audience, it was important that we did not exclude
any age ranges as that kind of method could have had a significant impact on
our research and the success of the documentary. Throughout the rest of the
survey, there were also questions such as ‘where do you live?’ with tick box
options including ‘Surrey’ or ‘Middlesbrough’ and ‘which television channels do
you watch the most often? Please tick more than one.’ with answers including
many of Channel 4’s competitors. In contrast to the questionnaires, the VoxPop
interviews collected non-numerical data, people’s opinions and feelings.
Questions included ‘would you enjoy to watch a documentary about Irish
traveller lifestyle and if so, why?’ leading the interviewee to express the
opinion. These two methods of primary research collected both qualitative and
quantitative data regarding the audience demographic, geodemographic and
audience profile. An audience profile is extremely valuable to us as it
contains the basic information about our target audience, giving us the opportunity
to aim specific features of the documentary and advertising towards them. This
will then allow us to gradually add detail to the profile and in turn tailor
the advertising and different features of the documentary around the target
audience. This will help us appeal to the target audience and therefore
maximise viewings and ratings, leading to higher revenue for the company.
The
next step in this process is to conduct market research. Market research will
have a major contribution to the success of the documentary on Channel 4, as we
are able to gain information and feedback of the current products that will be
in competition with our show. Furthermore, market research gathers information
about the popular products in our medium, products that were not successful,
controversies we should aim to avoid, the best method of advertising for the
documentary and allows us to identify a niche market. My team and I organised a
focus group to answer questionnaires and interview style questions about what
types of documentary they have viewed in the past, what documentaries they
particularly enjoyed, if they know of any upcoming documentaries on the BBC or
ITV and what features of a documentary appealed to them and what features would
deter them from viewing the show. The participators in the focus group were both
men and women aged 24-40. We chose this age range as we felt that people of
that age are most likely thinking about settling down and getting married at
some point in the future. However we felt that people of this age are also
young enough to use social media sites to comment on the show and the possible
shocking and controversial scenes and occurrences we may come across; this may
help advertise the show and therefore make the show more successful. People
aged above 40 are most likely already settled down and may not be interested in
what the documentary entails; however they could create word-of-mouth
advertising through talking to their friends about the series of events. When
we realised this we set up another focus group with people aged 40-55 so as to
ensure we gathered as much information as we could to aid us in the process. Our
primary research helped us to compare the style of documentary shown on competing
channels, for example we concluded that the BBC produced factual and formal
documentaries and ITV produced very few documentaries, as they were more
focused on light entertainment shows such as Surprise Surprise. We used
secondary sources such as BARB and RAJAR to expand on the information we
gathered about our competitors through the primary sources so as to have
accurate and up-to-date information that we could use further along in the
production of the documentary. Our secondary research included viewing
statistics such as average weekly viewings for various competing channels such
as BBC1, BBC2 and ITV and many others. The qualitative and quantitative data
gained from our research also allowed us to identify why it was an important
feature of the process; we are able to conduct a competitor analysis with the
data we have collected, as well as allowing us to gain information about
advertising placements. It is important to carry out a competitor analysis as
it allows us to analyse sales and marketing campaigns of any competing products
in our medium. This helped us in the making of the documentary identify the
ideal target audience as we were able to extract information from our
competitors’ audiences. It is also important to gather information about
advertising placements as we can find out what placements are most successful
at attracting our target audience. Market research will
help the overall success of the documentary on Channel 4 as it provides vital
information to help appeal to the target audience as well as what to avoid, ensuring
the viewers are not put off watching the series.
The
final step in my job was to carry out production research. It is important for
a media company to carry out production research so as to understand what is
required in order to create the media and how viable the project is. It was
imperative that I carry out production research for Channel 4 to ensure the
company had planned what would be needed to make My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. A
list of things I needed to research were; what equipment and resources were
needed; the company’s budget; what personnel would be required; location of
filming; story board for the documentary titles; health and safety regulations and
copyright. It was extremely important that these things were looked into
properly so as to ensure the company did not come across any problems during
the making of the documentary. It was necessary to investigate what budget the
company obtained as I would not be able to make arrangements with film crews,
graphic designers and other personnel if I was unaware of the available budget.
I had to negotiate the cost of hiring the equipment to film the documentary as
well as the labour costs of the personnel operating the kit. Furthermore,
finding someone to record the voice over for the documentary was necessary and
also involved negotiating pay, similarly to finding adequate graphic designers
to create the titles for the series of documentary episodes. To begin, I
searched directories and the internet to find contact information for potential
employees to interview for the above responsibilities- another example of
secondary research. I then conducted primary research; this included conducting
various phone call interviews and face-to-face interviews and trials with film
crews, graphic designers and celebrities interested in recording the voice
over. My qualitative data originated from the interviews I conducted; I had
made notes during the interview indicating strengths and weaknesses of the
candidates for each responsibility in order to compare and contrast the notes
when it was time to make a final decision on who to employ for the fixed term
job. I gathered quantitative data whilst researching the different companies I
interviewed; I was able to find a few satisfaction ratings regarding their
service which contributed to the quantitative data I collected. The production
research I conducted made a big difference in the success of the documentary on
Channel 4 as it collected a lot of very important information regarding the
viability of the project. The information gathered indicated that the company
would not be able to employ the regular film crew as they charged too much,
therefore the team has to negotiate with the other potential employees in an
attempt to collect the necessary funds for the well established film crew.
Unfortunately, this did not go as planned and we were unable to pay the film
crew we had chosen to help us produce the documentary, however, the other film
crew I had interviewed were enthusiastic be involved in our project and were
very excited when we asked them to be a part of it. The production research
gave the superior producers the necessary information they needed to budget for
the project and maximise the feasibility of the documentary.
To
summarise, my job as a media researcher for Channel 4 has been crucial to the
success of many different TV shows and documentaries produced in the past; and
also will be crucial in the future. I feel that the audience research, market
research and production research allows the company to take into account
viewers’ opinions, competitor successes and the viability of projects, allowing
the producers and other workers to help make the projects successful and
popular.
Tuesday, 4 February 2014
Conventions of a Music Video
Music videos typically have similar traits.
These traits are known as Conventions.
The conventions of a music video cover many different things including camera movements and location.
I will use The Lumineers - Ho Hey to show the conventions of a music video.
For a second example, I will use Zedd ft. Hayley Williams - Stay The Night to show the conventions of a music video.
These traits are known as Conventions.
The conventions of a music video cover many different things including camera movements and location.
I will use The Lumineers - Ho Hey to show the conventions of a music video.
- The artist appears in the video
- The song is the soundtrack to the whole video, the video starts and finished when the song begins and ends
- The artists lip-synch's along with the lyrics
- The artists perform throughout the video, they sing, play instruments and dance
- The video has more than 3 locations, changing when a new verse or chorus begins
- The costumes link to the locations, they often change depending on the location
- There is a section of the music video that is filmed in a set location, a studio that has been specifically designed for the video
- The video has a slight narrative, the artists are attending a party and there are frequent shots of The Lumineers performing
- The video contains a range of camera movements (including tracks)
- The video has close-ups of the artists lip-synching and mid/long shots whilst they are performing
- The video used high angles to show how the other people featured in the music video were having fun and enjoying themselves
- There are a wide range of shot types and camera angles in each location
- The editing is cut to the beat of the song and is edited in a montage format
- There is the occasional use of slow motion throughout the video
- The video is based around the concept of fun and love, this is shown through the video however it is not emphasised
- The artist makes eye contact with the audience occasionally through the video
For a second example, I will use Zedd ft. Hayley Williams - Stay The Night to show the conventions of a music video.
- The featured artist appears in the video
- The song is the soundtrack to the whole video, the video starts and finished when the song begins and ends
- The featured artist lip-synch's along with the lyrics
- The artist performs throughout the majority of the video, she sings and dances however there are other dancers in the video that enhance the performance
- The video has more than 3 locations, often changing when a new verse or chorus begins or some way through a verse
- The featured artist's costumes link to the locations, they change depending on the location
- There are a few sections of the music video that are filmed in a set location, a studio that has been specifically designed for the video (one set for the dancers, one set for Hayley Williams)
- The video has a slight narrative, the dancers in the video perform and show the meaning of the song
- The video contains a range of camera movements (including tracks and whip pans)
- The video has close-ups of the artists lip-synching and mid/long shots whilst she and the dancers are performing
- The video used lots of eye level camera angles so as to capture all the movement whilst the dancers are performing, however there are high angles used as well as low angles to compliment different phrases of the dancers performance
- There are a wide range of shot types and camera angles in each location
- The editing is cut to the beat of the song and is edited in a montage format
- There is the occasional use of slow motion throughout the video, mostly at the beginning
- The video is based around the concept of open relationships, the video shows the dancers as individuals, never as a couple and therefore presents the idea that they are in an open relationship as they are on their own more than they are together.
- The artist makes eye contact with the audience frequently throughout the video
Saturday, 1 February 2014
Music Video Genres and their Conventions
The genre of music I will be exploring is Rock.
I will show 5 examples of music video's from this genre and explain the common conventions.
The style of video is common convention in Rock music videos. The artists/bands have a section of the video showing them performing the song.
2 examples of the performances are from Walk and Lived A Lie.
Another common convention in Rock music videos is varying camera shots. The artists use different camera shots to show the band performing. Some shots the lead singer and others show the other musicians in the bands.
2 examples of the varying camera shots are Stay and Mr Brightside
A convention occasionally used in Rock music videos is the integration of non-diegetic sound. This is sound that does not naturally occur whilst the music is being played.
2 examples of the insertion of non-diegetic sound is Bring Me To Life and Walk
The Mis en screen in a Rock music videos show many similarities. The costumes in Rock music videos are commonly dark coloured and casual, however some styles of clothing vary from denim to leather jackets, to suits, depending on the meaning behind the song.
2 examples of dark costumes are seen in Lived A Lie and Stay
More than one aspect of Mis en screen in Rock music videos are shown. The hair and make-up in a Rock music video may not necessarily be shown on the artist, it may be shown on other characters in the video. This may be to attract attention to the other figures in the video. Hair and Make-up is important for the artist as they are they may be the feature of the video and therefore need to look their best or represent the theme of the video or song.
2 examples of hair and make-up are shown in Bring Me To Like and Mr Brightside
I will show 5 examples of music video's from this genre and explain the common conventions.
The style of video is common convention in Rock music videos. The artists/bands have a section of the video showing them performing the song.
2 examples of the performances are from Walk and Lived A Lie.
Another common convention in Rock music videos is varying camera shots. The artists use different camera shots to show the band performing. Some shots the lead singer and others show the other musicians in the bands.
2 examples of the varying camera shots are Stay and Mr Brightside
A convention occasionally used in Rock music videos is the integration of non-diegetic sound. This is sound that does not naturally occur whilst the music is being played.
2 examples of the insertion of non-diegetic sound is Bring Me To Life and Walk
The Mis en screen in a Rock music videos show many similarities. The costumes in Rock music videos are commonly dark coloured and casual, however some styles of clothing vary from denim to leather jackets, to suits, depending on the meaning behind the song.
2 examples of dark costumes are seen in Lived A Lie and Stay
More than one aspect of Mis en screen in Rock music videos are shown. The hair and make-up in a Rock music video may not necessarily be shown on the artist, it may be shown on other characters in the video. This may be to attract attention to the other figures in the video. Hair and Make-up is important for the artist as they are they may be the feature of the video and therefore need to look their best or represent the theme of the video or song.
2 examples of hair and make-up are shown in Bring Me To Like and Mr Brightside
Tuesday, 28 January 2014
Music Video Conventions
The conventions of a music video are the different
methods or techniques used to construct them and construct meaning within them.
There can be different types of conventions, for example technical and
symbolic. Technical conventions convey meaning with technical equipment; for
example camera angles, shots sound and editing. Symbolic conventions convey
meaning through gestures, poses, facial expressions and mis en screen. Conventions
allow the audience to become familiar with a particular genre of music, provides
a structure the audience understand and allow the lyrics of the song to fit
with the video.
A second example to show the style of a music video is Katy Perry - Thinking of You. This music video shows the narrative 'style' of music video.
A good example of the techniques used with a camera is Alicia Keys - Tried Sleeping with a Broken Heart. This music video shows the camera angles that are used.
Another good example of different techniques used with a camera is Rihanna - California King Bed. This music video shows different camera shots that can be used.
A good example of editing techniques is the Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc. This music video show's how to create a music video, using only computerised editing.
A good example of another music video using editing techniques is Will.I.Am ft. Britney Spears - Scream and Shout. This music video demonstrates a way of editing the footage whilst incorporating the stars moving image at the same time.
A good example to show the Mis En Screen of a music video is Lady Gaga ft. Beyoncé - Telephone. This music video highlights the effects of hair & make-up design.
A second example of Mis En Screen is Jessie J - Domino. This music video shows the excitement of all different costumes and outfits.
A good example of a music video that represents a stereotype is Nirvana- Smells like Teen Spirit. This music video presents the hard rock genre as loud, rough around the edges and aggressive.
Another good example of a stereotypical music video is Take That - Patience. This music video presents the stereotypical boy band image.
Music video conventions can vary depending on which
genre of music they are representing, however, general music video conventions
are:
- The style (Performance, narrative, mixture, cameo)
- The camera (camera shots, camera angles, camera movements)
- The editing techniques
- The sound
- Mis en screen (hair & make-up, location/setting, colours, props, lighting and costume)
- Stereotypes
A good example to show the style of a music video is Beyoncé - Love on Top. This music video shows the performance shown in this 'style' of video.
A second example to show the style of a music video is Katy Perry - Thinking of You. This music video shows the narrative 'style' of music video.
A good example of the techniques used with a camera is Alicia Keys - Tried Sleeping with a Broken Heart. This music video shows the camera angles that are used.
Another good example of different techniques used with a camera is Rihanna - California King Bed. This music video shows different camera shots that can be used.
A good example of editing techniques is the Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc. This music video show's how to create a music video, using only computerised editing.
A good example of another music video using editing techniques is Will.I.Am ft. Britney Spears - Scream and Shout. This music video demonstrates a way of editing the footage whilst incorporating the stars moving image at the same time.
A good example to show the Mis En Screen of a music video is Lady Gaga ft. Beyoncé - Telephone. This music video highlights the effects of hair & make-up design.
A second example of Mis En Screen is Jessie J - Domino. This music video shows the excitement of all different costumes and outfits.
A good example of a music video that represents a stereotype is Nirvana- Smells like Teen Spirit. This music video presents the hard rock genre as loud, rough around the edges and aggressive.
Another good example of a stereotypical music video is Take That - Patience. This music video presents the stereotypical boy band image.
Monday, 20 January 2014
Radio Station Logo Feedback
The following images show the feedback I was given for my BUZZ, MIXX and VIP logo designs:
This feedback has told me that my font design was unique and exciting. I have also been told that the designs are good in general however it is a bit difficult to differentiate between genre's of music and assign each logo a specific genre.
I will improve my logo's taking this feedback into account.
This feedback has told me that my font design was unique and exciting. I have also been told that the designs are good in general however it is a bit difficult to differentiate between genre's of music and assign each logo a specific genre.
I will improve my logo's taking this feedback into account.
Friday, 17 January 2014
Ident Production - First Attempt
Bobby and I made our first attempt at producing our ident.
This is the footage we shot:
This is the footage we shot:
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