Thursday 9 December 2010
what have you learned from your audience feedback?
There are many ways in which we used audience feedback to reflect and evaluate our product. When we began the project, we thought it would be wise to create a target audience questionnaire containing questions in relation to our chosen genre, how our target audience listens to music and where they find it.
we found this feedback very use full and it gave us a insight to why our target audience are looking for. we found that there were a couple of results that we didn't expect to find down to our own understanding of the genre and so therefore we work so as to incorporate these aspect in order to please our target audience, in order to do this we also used the information to signify things not to do in regurds to what our target audience don't like to see. for example our research showed us that the large majority of out target audience would not be deterd from buying our product if there was a parental advisory sticker, due tom this information we had had freedom as whether or not to include it based on the content we put in our products. due to the info we did end up putting the sticker on. we also found out that are target audience did not like CD covers wear the whole cover is taken up by an image and so we Incorporated a boarder and background to please our target audience. we used visual examples in our questionnaire so as to get a really clear idea of what they want as sometimes questions such as "do you like this style of CD cover?" just gives plain and simple answers.
Audience research is very important when bringing out something new into the music world because audience perception can decide the fate of a new band. Splutter's genre has a quite specific target audience, therefore it is vital in research and feed back that this is done by the right audience as there majority prefferecne is key to band success. This is why audience feedback is crucial when bringing out a new artist or leg of a certain Audience feedback is vital to create a video that will be best received by the target audience for both our small media group as well as major music video corporations such as MTV. If feedback wasn't considered many of the target audience may be put off by some of the decisions made.
When we finished our package, we produced another questionnaire based around our target audience's view of our finished products, what they enjoyed and what they thought could be improved. This was successful in bringing back positive feedback and constructive criticisms telling us what we could have improved on. this is vital information because if unsuccessfully in creating a good product you can look and see where you may have gone wrong and incorporate it into you next go at it. so therefore if we were to ignore feedback when retrying we would not have learned from our mistakes and so no improvement is likely to be made.
A piece of positive feedback that was that although the person would associate the band with the punk/ska genre after seeing our products, they still described it as original, which was the unique selling point of our product and therefore our central aim was fulfilled successfully another positive feed back was about the use of the fish eye lens our responses showed us that this gave a great individuality to the band due to its uncommon use.
A piece of negative feedback came from the a person how felt that the bands website should have had more of a focus, larger clearer, they explained to us that if you see a poster you don't then and there decide to by their product, you look into it first. and so rightly so if we were to do it again we definitely would have put more of an emphasis on the bands website
how effective is the combination of your main products and ancillary texts?
All the examples above provide cohesion to the whole package.
The colour scheme of is used in a suttle way but it still links the visual to each other and to the sound. Not only do these themes match each product, but there are different examples of the ways in which the fish-eye and the colour scheme is used. For example, the fish-eye images have been portrayed as Polaroids in the inserts, making them seem personal for the audience, but with a professional edge to them. It has been used also on the back of the CD cover so that the front and back are completely cohesive. the reason we then made our images on the covers black and white was so that the colour scheme matches as the colour would have contrasted the theme.
cohesion is a very important factor from a marketing point of view, mainly for recognition purposes. the band is unsigned and so the use of cohesion to link products in good in regards of getting the band More publicity as they maybe easier to recognise by relating them to a certain Que, such as a logo. there is also a good chance that if the band become more well known word of mouth will boost the band popularity within the music scene. The way we have used cohesion through our products means that the band's representation is portrayed in the way they would like throughout the package. This means that the audience will pick up their representations, sound and genre just by looking at these products.
There are areas of our package where there is more cohesion than others. For example the CD cover and advert are very cohesive and look very similar because we used the same image, font for both products. where there is lees cohesion is between our music video and our CD and advert this is due to the fact that the bad have many songs and so the cover and advert should not be specific to one, we thought this because the band have a full list of songs. so instead we used a Little less cohesion between them in that we only linked to to together by the use of one image. the image is of the band waiting for a bus at a bus stop, this links completely to the music video as waiting for the bus is the main theme.
Maybe an improvement on the cohesion between the video and the other products would be that we made the CD so that it was just a single and not an album, but this would mean less representation of the band's full music back catalogue and their sound and genre altogether.
in what ways deos your media product use, develop or challange conventions of real media products?
we decided to make our magazine ad and our CD cover be very cohesive with each other, for example we used the same logo for our band name, this is a convention within many bands, it is done to create a way where the band can be more recognisable to potential buyers. NOFX do this with all there CD covers they use the same font. but there are some differences for example there is a quote from a magazine this is a convention as many bands wish to show if large magazines complement their products as it gives the band more credibility. By adding effects to images of the band, more attention is drawn to them, and we incorporated this into our magazine ad as well as our CD covers. The image on the ad contains props common to the genre such as instruments. Instruments convey a certain representation of the band and makes them have more appeal to the target audience, much like other bands in the genre. This technique was also used for our CD covers and inserts, bringing cohesion.
In regards of our music video the conventions around it we found to be very fitting and so we did not challenge them. For example, using a narrative and performance based concept for a punk video is not uncommon as shown in the H2O video of which i analysed earlier. Narrative concepts tend to add cohesion between the the lyrics and visual due to the way the visual can show the lyrics, which is why it was a good idea to use it for our video. another convention we chose to follow is that of adding humour in various parts of our products, in our circumstance within the genre special effects aren't conventionally used so instead we took a more slapstick route in that we used everyday objects in humorous ways. for example the shot of the lead singer holding a big umbrella to stop the 'rain' coming down from the purposeful watering can is an example of this. Bands from the punk/ska genre tend to write songs that apposes political issues they disagree about, therefore representations and stereotypes are used in songs often. Splutter does this by showing it in the music video, for example the image of the 'bad boy' on the bus playing "crap music to add to the noise" The use of stereotypes also links back to the use of humour through exaggeration. we decided to purposely film some of our music video clips in bad weather and particularly light rain, we believed this to be important as it links in with some of the storyline of the music video in showing bad situations and to add misery this is in compliance with the convention using specific lighting to match the feel of video, for example as seen in Mr smiley the lighting changes with the mood
We chose to follow many generic conventions in the making of our CD covers and inserts. For example the mood and feel of the sound and chosen lyrics are represented in the images and use of colour. This is similar to the album cover of the bronx wear dark colours and images are used to portray the dark and brash sound of their music. we decided to use a colour scheme for all the products this is to add cohesion to all our products linking them all together.We used black and white, grey and off-white backgrounds with a black font. This quite dark colour scheme is used to portray the slightly darker side of splutters music, the meaning full and brash side. This use of imagery and colour links to the pathetic fallacy used in our music video, creating cohesion. another generic convention we have followed is how we have used images to give the viewer more of an insight into the band and their personality. this convention is captured perfectly in the NOFX poster i analysed where the band are captured goofing around being their selves. we did this through our inserts as we used individual pictures of the different band members
There is one area of our package that deliberately challenges the conventions of the punk/ska genre. This is that we chose to use a photograph as the main image of the CD cover. normally punk ska band tend to chose animations or other images for their album covers, and therefore by using a photograph, the band are going against the convention that normally complies withe their genre. we decided to do this in order to give the band originality and a unique selling point.
how did you use media technologies in the planing research and construction stage?
We have also obviously used a camcorder to record the opening, it was very easy to use as it is small light and easy to work, this is very different to early filming equipment as it used to be hard to work and large, due the advancement of technology it means that small budget music video makers can used the cheap easy equipment so that they can afford to make the video. Also the battery never ran out on us, that is to say it lasted for a sufficiently long time, so that potential problem did not happen to us. Also, the LCD screen is really useful as you don't have to lean right up into the lens to see what you're filming as the case is with older cameras; it is more comfortable this way and you can hold the camera steadier whilst viewing if you're filming without a tripod.
Another piece of equipment we used was a scanner to import our story board onto the computer. We also made good use of youtube to watch videos that influenced us, ,
we also used blogger to post our work on a easy to use network which meant it was easy to access from any computer with the internet, it is also a more interesting place to do work on rather simply on a paper which would be very boring.
i movie was the software we used to make our music video, we leart how to use it efficiantly an it was very easy to use. The website that we found realy usefull was google, we used google to help us with pritty much everything due to its unlimited supply of information.
during our research and planning stage we have used many different types of media technologies to give use the best and most suited information needed to match the needs and wants of our target audience
in order to start looking into serious ideas for our media product allot of textual analysis on cd covers, videos and magazine ad's. in order to do that i used the Internet allot to find all needed information for example i used youtube to analysis videos to try and get a feel for the conventions that belong to our music genre. The closest video that i analysed to the genre of our band is Buddy Holly by Weezer. Conventions such as seeing the band play and using ideas that people are familiar with i.e. television programmes, are common practise in this genre and we intend to take influences from these kinds of videos.
I also used other websites to find screenshots and images of what i analysed and took three examples for each area of analysis (cd cover, videos and mag ads). These websites including Google images and allcdcovers.com. This helped me to explore new genres and find other products related to the things i already found making it easier to widen my analysis.
during our research and planning stage we have used many different types of media technologies to give use the best and most suited information needed to match the needs and wants of our target audience
in order to start looking into serious ideas for our media product allot of textual analysis on cd covers, videos and magazine ad's. in order to do that i used the Internet allot to find all needed information for example i used youtube to analysis videos to try and get a feel for the conventions that belong to our music genre. The closest video that i analysed to the genre of our band is Buddy Holly by Weezer. Conventions such as seeing the band play and using ideas that people are familiar with i.e. television programmes, are common practise in this genre and we intend to take influences from these kinds of videos.
I also used other websites to find screenshots and images of what i analysed and took three examples for each area of analysis (cd cover, videos and mag ads). These websites including Google images and allcdcovers.com. This helped me to explore new genres and find other products related to the things i already found making it easier to widen my analysis.
For our questionnaire we used a series of images from google as well, but for our analysis of the answers, we decided to put the results onto pie or bar charts in order to analyse majorities and which ideas were favoured most. This was a very useful technique because it was easy to workout which age groups were more likely to watch a video produced by us and also which conventions found in most music videos are favoured by the audience. We also learned that our target audience group is between the ages of 16-19 and that they are probably male orientated just because of the nature of the genre and what i have learned from analysing products from the of punk and Ska. For example the sound of the music is very aggressive and there are rarely any female inclusion in the music.
the history of music videos
as the concept progressed music video T.V. was championed by the monkeys, a band from an American sitcom. From this came programs such as Top of the Pops,and other music programs alike
the 60's came after that. The music videos ten was lead by iconic bands such as The Beatles and music T.V defined forms and conventions of music videos to come, e.g. choreographed, studio recorded, various camera work all edited in time with the track.
Finally, on November 10 1975, a music video that took just four hours and £4,500 to create the first music video to fit this criteria was produced for the infamous song Bohemian Rhapsody by the Artist Queen. From here on things would never be the same again
music vid
artist: splutter
album name: drunken times and gang signs
genre: a hybrid of punk and ska music, but still wish to portray meaning full messages.
generic conventions: both a performance based music and a narrative video filmed to show the way in which they perform and the way they feel about what they play/sing about. clear shots of the band members to advertise them and make them rateable to the audience.
sound: musical inspiration is taken from many genres of rap, rock and jazz. they are fun young bad with no worries and a up beat fast pace sound mixed with a bit a raw aggressive punk.
representation: there are many representations we wished to portray though our music video. the main representation of the video is the representation of the bands feelings towards public transport, but just as much of that it is the concept of fun and humour. the opening scene in our video is of a band member playing their instrument at a bus stop this sets the scene and gives our first piece of representation, Dan is playing at a bus stop this represents the relate ability of the band as being down to earth and not famous or classy, its at a buss stop a place where anyone can go, he is also playing there by himself this represents how the genre of punk is quite an outcast music type as he seems like a misfit and segregated from others. it also gives the concept of waiting, an idea used allot in this music video. the next part of the music video is is our first verse, each line of the verse has a matching visual where the lyrics are acted out eg "been waiting so long" a band member waiting at a buss stop."been waiting so long" a shot of the main singer waiting at the bus stop frustrated, this again make the band seem rateable and also portrays the singer to be an outcast due to him being on his own. another line says " got no other options my dad is to pissed" shows a sleeping man man with a whisky bottle, this clip represents how the band come across the same problems as everyone else, having to catch the bus or having a disfunctional family for example a alcoholic dad, but by the video being humorous show how the band believe that music can help people through bad times. the next shot is about how it always seems to rain when you wait, the band represents their humorous side by how the camera lets you see a watering can being used to rain on the umbrella, a bit of slapstick comedy. the next bit of representation comes from the film taken from on the bus. in these clips the source of representation is the bands negative view on stereotyping. people tend to stay away from certain people due to the way they look and in the video this is shown by how people try not to sit next to certain people. the band has represented their view of stereotyping as negative by making the situation where this happens humorous as so made to seem stupid and wrong. punk bands often feel negative to this point because wrong stereotyping is often put on to people how like punk music a specifically the way they sometimes look. they see the their tattoos and controversial t-shirts and label them as thugs, or rebellious teens even though most of the times this could not be further from the truth. the video then goes on to carry on representing their feelings towards public transport and the humor of the band. for the last two choruses of the song the band are found playing a gig at a bus stop, the representation in this includes they way the band See's them selves in that they don't take themselves to seriously and that they don't act like professional famous people. it also makes the band seem more ratable a s the band are playing somewhere that people might find themselves and not on some large main stage. it also shows how they don't see themselves as main stream as they are simply playing in a public place and with no crowd. it also incorporates the concept of waiting for the bus.
camera: Long shots are used to show a person’s whole body whilst performing, and to set the scene for example the opening shot where the singer is filmed wiating at a bus stop or when the band are filmed perfroming from across the street, mid shots all throughout the video of the band Mid shots are used to as well as to their show a person’s body, which may be in order to show what they are doing or, facial expressions, reactions and emotions. Pans are used to unfold events and, on one occasion. Close up are used to facial expressions, which display emotion, exchanged looks for example close ups are used often to really get the aggression from the singer for certain lines of the song they feel strongly about for example when the singer if filmed singing to the camera. a voom is used to show the pace of the singer when runing to try and catch the bus.
mise- en-scene
sound: Diegetic This draws all sound focus to the song itself
setting: the places where most of the filming was done were, at bus stops where the concept of waiting is played on and also where the finally is filmed where the band play a gig. also filming was done on the bus so as to show how buses dont get any better when you are on them.
lighting: natural lighting is used when outside this is to make the video as real as possible to increase how people can realte to the band.
costume and make up: the band are shown to be in there own clothes in which they feel comfortable , i think this is to re enforce the meaning of song being that you should just be your self and its not about what you look like. some of the band are wearing other bands t-shirts this is a punk convention as the punk circle is quite small so allot of band like each other and like to show it.
props: the main props used in our video, are a bike, the bike is used to because one of the lines of the songs talks about a bike. a watering can is also used due to rian being in the words of the song but also to add humor. a metro is also used for the same reason. also the band sinstrument are used in different shot in the video.
edditing: the editing is don to the pace of the music as for each line a clip is used for the length that the line is. there is also edditing used to match the video to the music with lip sinking which had to be done very carefully.
relationship between the lyrics and visual: there is a strong link becuase the visual is what the lyrics decribe also the aggression of the lyrics and visual are linked as they both very strong as allot of emphasis is put on the way they play and sing the lyrics so as to put across the meaning of the words and make them clearer through images.
relationships between the music and visual: The fast pace music very much fits with the quick editing and pace of movement. The sound is very aggressive and so the aggressive nature of the visual fits.
post modernism: Disjointed narrative structures- Our main character will not end happy or popular but will be unnaccepted and different throughout the duration of the narrative. This will be used to create comedy, exagerate stereotypes and display lyrical symmetry.
feed back
Look at the CD cover front and back.
1) On a scale of 1 to 10, how aesthetically pleasing is the CD covers?
i would say an 8
2) How similar to real media products do you think our CD cover is?
it has a similar layout, but the images is very different, i think it has alot to do with the fish eye effect
3) What would you change about the CD cover?
if i had to say i would maybe chage the album title font
4) Would you associate this CD cover with other Cd covers in the same genre
(punk/ska)?
yes it has the same scense of originality
5) What do you like most about this product?
i particualy like the image and the facial expression of the singer
6) What do you dislike the most about this product?
im not shore if the parental advisory sticker is fitting
Look at the inserts.
1) Do you feel that the inserts compliment the CD cover?
yes they do, the images are alike
2) Do you feel that the inserts give more of an insight in to the individual band members' personality?
yes it helps you see there personalities
3) How similar to other media products do you think the inserts are?
i havent seem the use of a poloriod effect before, so no
4) On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate these inserts?
9
5) What would you change about the inserts?
maybe have more images, or lyrics to the songs
6) What is the best aspect of the inserts?
the trampoline pictures
Look at the Magazine advert.
1) On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate this advert?
8
2) How similar to other media products do you think the advert is?
the poster is different due to the size of the picture as they are normally not that big
3) Would you be influenced to by the product if you saw this mag ad?
if easily avalible yes
4) Does the advert link closely enough to the actual cd cover for you to recognise the CD after seeing the advert?
yes its quite obvious
5) Is the advert a good portrayal of the genre, does it link to other adverts which are advertising similar products?
i think so the image is quite powerfull
6) What is the best aspect of the ad?
i think the quote is quite funny
7) What would you change about the ad?
i would make the band website bigger so easier to see
Look at the Music Video.
1) On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate this video?
7/8
2) How similar to other media products do you think this music video is?
quite different, i havent seem a video where they have played in a public place
3) Would you be influenced to look at the band’s other material after seeing this video?
most probably
4) Does this video link closely to the other products in our package?
only to the one insert picture and the indentity of the singer
5) Does this video portray the genre well?
it show the fun in punk
6) What is the best aspect of the video?
the playing as the bus stop
7) What is the worst aspect of the video?
some of the shots are wobbily, and also someof the lip sincing is slightly out.
Look at all of the products as one package.
1) Do you think all the products link together and put across the same image?
yes i think so
2) What image do you think the band is trying to portray?
fun but serious at the same time
3) If you didn't know which genre the band were, what genre of music would you guess they played?
probably punk or rap
4) What kind of representations can you identify in the package?
i can see alot of representaion in the album name, fun and dont take themselves to seriously
5) Overall, what is the best aspect of the whole package?
i realy like the fish eye pictures
6) Overall, what is the worst aspect of the whole package?
some of the filming quality
7) On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate the whole package?
a good 8/10
PERSON TWO
Look at the CD cover front and back.
1) On a scale of 1 to 10, how aesthetically pleasing is the CD covers?
7
2) How similar to real media products do you think our CD cover is?
not very similar in my opinion
3) What would you change about the CD cover?
i think the picture might have looked better in cloour
4) Would you associate this CD cover with other Cd covers in the same genre (punk/ska)?
yes i think so
5) What do you like most about this product?
i like the band name font
6) What do you dislike the most about this product?
the back ground is a bit plain
Look at the inserts.
1) Do you feel that the inserts compliment the CD cover?
yeh i do
2) Do you feel that the inserts give more of an insight in to the individual band members'
personality?
maybe if there were a few more pictures
3) How similar to other media products do you think the inserts are?
not very
4) On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate these inserts?
8
5) What would you change about the inserts?
some written info would be nice
6) What is the best aspect of the inserts?
the poloriod effect
Look at the Magazine advert.
1) On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate this advert?
9
2) How similar to other media products do you think the advert is?
very different
3) Would you be influenced to by the product if you saw this mag ad?
yes
4) Does the advert link closely enough to the actual cd cover for you to recognise the CD after seeing the advert?
the image is very recogniseable
5) Is the advert a good portrayal of the genre, does it link to other adverts which are advertising
similar products?
im not fimiliar with the genre enough
6) What is the best aspect of the ad?
its very good as it has all the needed information
7) What would you change about the ad?
nothing i like it alot
Look at the Music Video.
1) On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate this video?
6/7
2) How similar to other media products do you think this music video is?
quite different
3) Would you be influenced to look at the band’s other material after seeing this video?
maybe but the film quality isnt great
4) Does this video link closely to the other products in our package?
it gives the same image
5) Does this video portray the genre well?
not shore
6) What is the best aspect of the video?
i realy like the shot through the wet window from the bus
7) What is the worst aspect of the video?
a bit uneven
Look at all of the products as one package.
1) Do you think all the products link together and put across the same image?
yes
2) What image do you think the band is trying to portray?
fun and dont take things to seriously
3) If you didn't know which genre the band were, what genre of music would you guess they played?
ska, rock
4) What kind of representations can you identify in the package?
they obviously dont like buses
5) Overall, what is the best aspect of the whole package?
the advert
6) Overall, what is the worst aspect of the whole package?
some mistakes in the video
7) On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate the whole package?
7/8
Wednesday 8 December 2010
cd cover/ inserts
artist: splutter
album name: drunken times and gang signs
genre: a hybrid of punk and ska music, but still wish to portray meaning full messages.
generic conventions:band name clearly written across the top in the band fount/logo, information wished to be shown clearly written in a easy read fount, the info written is the album title, also an image which relates to the bands music and desired audience. abstract colours used to give the image a unreal look. A way that this CD cover does not follow punk conventions is that there is a photograph of the band, which is quite rare because animations of images that represent the band are used as i have analysed previously. However, this band is a hybrid genre which incorporates elements of various other genres and therefore a progressive, new approach to album campaigning brings something different to this leg of punk music
font style/lettering: trade mark lettering/logo for the name of the band of which was made out of paper and tape and then scanned in, which will always be found on the band present and future merchandise,Therefore, the fans may have seen this band name somewhere before and therefore they would remember who they saw and continue to follow them because the name will be on future material and merchandise we have decided to do this because potential buyers will easily recognise the album just by there name font this gives a nice cohesion to our products. we have used the same font for both the album title and our listed tracks on the back, we did this to add cohesion to our products. we also used a different font for the writing in our inserts, due the our images being in a Polaroid picture style we used a font that resembled hand writing so as to make the pictures feel more personal as if they are real and in a photo album. We used actual lyrics on the inserts underneath the images so the hand-written effect gives it more edge and it is more personal to the audience.
sound: musical inspiration is taken from many genres of rap, rock and jazz. they are fun young bad with no worries and a up beat fast pace sound mixed with a bit a raw aggressive punk.
colour: With cohesion in mind, we used black and white images for the CD covers, like the advert, giving it a darker and edgier look which represents the band's sound. For the background colour we wanted it to be plain but not completely white because it wouldn't seem professional, therefore we made it just off-white so that it is tinged slightly with grey. This gives a softer effect to the whole album because a white background would be in stark contrast to the black typography and black and white image. For the inserts the white Polaroid-effect images have white backgrounds and this is a good effect against the off-white background because they are meant to look like separate images stuck onto the inserts like a scrapbook. We also decided to keep the insert images as full colour because they are telling the story of the songs and the album and each image represents something different. Also they are smaller images so in black and white they would look like a blur, especially as some of them overlap each other. for the colour in the inserts we used a gray shade for the background, we used real photographs and used their natural colours so as to make it realistic and fun.
image: the picture was taken with a fish eye lens to add affect and draw onto the facial expression of the the lead singer, the use of the fish eye adds cohesion to our products as all the images in our products but one(CD cover, inserts, poster) also use fish eye photographs. The image is mainly of me (tom turell) the main singer intensely staring at the camera in a slight dark and demonic way, along with another two members of the band i am standing on a trampoline. the other two band members are playing/ playing with their instruments. in the back ground you can see the sky and houses. within the inserts there are individual pictures of the band member striking posses mid air on the trampoline with their instruments. the images show the fun side of the band and capture the poses really well. a fish eye lens was also used to make the images seem abstract and also to add cohesion to our products. there is another image of the band at a bus stop this is to link our CD to our music video as the song our music video was done with is called buss, and for it we filmed at bus stops. this adds more cohesion and links our products together. another image was used from the bands practise room, a basement this image shows how the band aren't trying to be a big time mainstream band how practice in music studios but instead somewhere they can be themselves. the inserts also include writing underneath which are lines from the band songs. the image used on the back cover is agian a fish eye and also from the bands basement, the image was used to show the other two members of the band that were not on the front cover, it was also made black and white.
mise-en-scene: front cover- a just off white background, the band name across the top in customise lettering, a chosen image of which designed to send a message across the middle of the the front page, under neath the album title, drunken times and gang signs.
back cover- same off white background as the front, another black and white image of band members including the ones who were not on the front cover. numbed track listings, listed down the middle, with reference to a bonus track. the back cover also includes a parental advisory lable.
insert 1- 2 slanted images of the band, one at a bus stop where the band look to be waiting for a bus and looking frustrated,the image is the only one of where a fish eye was not used this was due the the fact that that image wanted to be linked to our music video, the image is linked to our music video. the second picture is of the band working on a new song in their basement, where the singer is writing lyrics (it happened to be the lyrics for bus) and the other band members on their musical parts. both pictures are in a Polaroid background with shadowing behind
insert 2- 5 angled and over lapping individual pictures of the different band members posing on a trampoline, the pictures are taken for low angles so as to have the sky in the photo to give the scenes of flying, the pictures include the members instruments. the pictures are in a Polaroid background with shadowing behind.
representation: front cover- the top section of the cover has a of white background the use of a light colour matches the rest of the cover as the images being black and white, the colour can also be seen as nice and calming this concept represents the type of band splutter are in regards of brash, dark and mysterious from the image but play full and light from the background. The band name at the top of the ad was made out of paper and tape and scanned onto a computer, this means that their font and lettering style is original. originality was a aspect we wanted to represent as we want to show splutter aren't just another band but instead a new original one who are different and want to be, this is related to how the band are more of a hybrid genre which increase the bands originality. also the hand made nature of the logo represents how the band care about their audience as they have put in the time and effort to make it by hand. the image has allot of representation, The image relates the band to the music and the issues they represent, so the picture is not particularly happy, because the band don't want to be seen as happy, but there are elements of humour, therefore they are not just being represented as moody. the image represents the concept of moodiness and unhappy emotions due to the facial expression of the singer, the image show the singer to be angry, moody, scary and maybe a little demonic. The concept and representation of humour comes from the fact that the image of this dark sidictive image of a band band member is taken on a trampoline, a thing commonly related with fun and happiness also the other band members are seem to be having fum by playing and jumping on the trampoline. this picture is a picture example of an oxymoron( example, love hate relationship) as the two aspects of the image are not things that would normally be put together and in fact the appose each other. We changed the main image to black and white because it represents the sound of some of their music which can sometimes be pretty dark, the issues raised in their music are also quite negative views on socio-political issues and this can be portrayed to the audience through this effect. The original colour version was very bright and just seemed to be portraying something they aren't about. The band members in the image are having fun though, so this also represents that the issues that they do choose to write about are being made fun of in a light hearted way. The image also represents the sound of their music through the black and white effect, so the audience would get the idea that the music is dark and edgy and sheds light on issues that are rarely addressed by mainstream music. the album name also represents the band and the type of image they with to portray, drunken times and gang signs, represents the way the band just want to have fun, drunken times, it show the liberal views on alcohol and so show their youth. it also represent a typical rock star image that the band wanted to show. at the same time though the second half of the name, gang signs, has the same representation as the image as it links something fun to something serious. gang crime is a serious problem so again through the album title the band are representing how the are a fun upbeat band, but they also like to bring up issues they a re passionate about.
back cover- the images used represent s how the band wish to be seen, due to the setting of the picture being a normal old basement it make the band seem more ratable as people could easily find themselves in the same situation unlike, for example, are large main stage. We chose to put the conventional Parental advisory logo on the back cover so that the focus of the representation of the band is focused on completely on the front cover. The front cover is very raw and stripped back, and therefore the parental advisory sign would clog it up, drawing the attention away from the band itself.
insert 1- the image of the band at the bus stop also has the effect of making the band seem down to earth, as even though they are a band they still have to catch the bus and in fact they don't drive everywhere in a a stretched Limousin. the picture also enforces the representation wished to be portrayed for our music video, the unreliability of public transport. the image from the basement shows the bands work ethic in that they try hard to make good music.
insert 2- the individual images of the band members on the trampoline represent the fun and childish side of the band, it shows how the band don't compile to the serious nature of the music industry today, in being adult and serious. it also makes the band more rateable as buyers can have more of a fell of the personality and appearance of the band members.
Tuesday 7 December 2010
our magazine textual analysis
album name: drunken times and gang signs
genre: a hybrid of punk and ska music, but still wish to portray meaning full messages.
generic conventions: band name clearly written across the top in the band fount/logo, information wished to be shown clearly written in a easy read fount, the info written is the album title, quote from a magazine album release date and band websites. also an image which relates to the bands music and desired audience. abstract colours used to give the image a unreal look.
font style/lettering: trade mark lettering/logo for the name of the band of which was made out of paper and tape and then scanned in, which will always be found on the band present and future merchandise,Therefore, the fans may have seen this band name somewhere before and therefore they would remember who they saw and continue to follow them because the name will be on future material and merchandise we have decided to do this because potential buyers will easily recognise the album just by there name font this gives a nice cohesion to our products. we also used the same font from our CD cover for the album title and the other information, except for the quote from a magazine we did this to make it clear that it wasn't written by the band and that its someone Else's opinion.
Looking at our initial ideas that were incorporated into our story board in the pre-production process, it is clear that we followed the key concept throughout the production and post-production processes, but there are some vital changes hat were made during production that, we think, improved our music video. For example we kept the idea of using bus stops and buses as our locations so that the visuals would link to the lyrics, but changed it from using all of the band members during the verses to just using Tom, the lead singer, because it would be easier for the audience to relate to one person portraying the issues, rather than get confused by what another 4 guys are doing. Also if we kept cutting from one person to the other and then cut back to the last person, they would have to be in a different location to carry on going with the song, this would create confusion because a character would be in one place on minute and then in a completely different place the next; therefore it is easier for the audience to follow the progress of one person. Despite all the changes we made, there are alot of similarities between the story board and the finished product, such as camera shots and movements. We wanted a shot where we could show Tom standing in the rain but we wanted to incorporate a watering can in the shot for humour and we managed to do this while making it funny as well, this is an example of a successful use of our storyboard.
Monday 6 December 2010
final products questionair
1) On a scale of 1 to 10, how aesthetically pleasing is the CD covers?
2) How similar to real media products do you think our CD cover is?
3) What would you change about the CD cover?
4) Would you associate this CD cover with other Cd covers in the same genre (punk/ska)?
5) What do you like most about this product?
6) What do you dislike the most about this product?
Look at the inserts.
1) Do you feel that the inserts compliment the CD cover?
2) Do you feel that the inserts give more of an insight in to the individual band members' personality?
3) How similar to other media products do you think the inserts are?
4) On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate these inserts?
5) What would you change about the inserts?
6) What is the best aspect of the inserts?
Look at the Magazine advert.
1) On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate this advert?
2) How similar to other media products do you think the advert is?
3) Would you be influenced to by the product if you saw this mag ad?
4) Does the advert link closely enough to the actual cd cover for you to recognise the CD after seeing the advert?
5) Is the advert a good portrayal of the genre, does it link to other adverts which are advertising similar products?
6) What is the best aspect of the ad?
7) What would you change about the ad?
Look at the Music Video.
1) On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate this video?
2) How similar to other media products do you think this music video is?
3) Would you be influenced to look at the band’s other material after seeing this video?
4) Does this video link closely to the other products in our package?
5) Does this video portray the genre well?
6) What is the best aspect of the video?
7) What is the worst aspect of the video?
Look at all of the products as one package.
1) Do you think all the products link together and put across the same image?
2) What image do you think the band is trying to portray?
3) If you didn't know which genre the band were, what genre of music would you guess they played?
4) What kind of representations can you identify in the package?
5) Overall, what is the best aspect of the whole package?
6) Overall, what is the worst aspect of the whole package?
7) On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate the whole package?
At this stage, in what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Thursday 2 December 2010
Artist: Random Hand.
Album Title: On the March.
Genre: The main genre associated with this band is Ska/Punk, however, it is quite progressive in the sense that it is a hybrid genre and combines elements of other genres into one common sound.
generic conventions: band name clearly printed, not a picture of the band but a somewhat random picture that may interest the buyer. also alike allot of other punk CD covers the image in fantasy, made up, a logo.
font stly lettering: The font used on this CD cover is quite simple yet the incorporation of the colours red and black are cohesive to the rest of the cover and are not bringing any new information about the band to our attention. The name of the band is in a larger font than the rest of the writing, and this technique is typically used across all genres to help with recognition. White shading has been used also to give the writing a 3D effect so it 'pops' out of the CD cover. The title of the album is also in white and this symbolises new life and light, this gives us the idea that the band have something new to offer their target audience. It also contrasts very well with the black background and therefore goes with the red for recognition. If any other colour were used it would draw us away from the sense of anarchy, so i think that this is the main message the band want to get across through this CD cover. The simplicity of the type allows the audience to recognise their name and then instantly be drawn to the significance of the image below the type. The fact that the type is in the top left corner leads the audience to that point first and then allows their eyes to follow the continuity of the writing down until they reach the image, this makes everything coherent and flowing on the cover, nothing seems like it shouldn't be there or like it is in the wrong place.
Sound: This band incorporates quite a few aspects of other music genres into the sub-genre of punk. This includes reggae, punk rock, hip hop, metal and dub. The nature of their lyrical themes are based around socio-political issues in Britain.
colour: black back ground, red logo and writting to stand out and also to be bold as if making a statement as its quite a brash colour and brash is insinuated with punk music.
mise-en-scene: black back ground, band name written across the top in a larger font than the rest, and underneath the album name. the logo is a hand gesture know as the rock out/on, punk rock sign also on the logo is the initials of the band name.
representation: The conventions of this CD cover is in keeping with the genre because Punk bands don't typically have images of the band on the cover because there is normally an image which represents the issues that the band sings about e.g. anarchy, authority. The image of the hand is a symbol which represents the support of rock and punk bands from fans. It is an image that is well known and the audience would probably recognise what the band stands for just by looking at this one image on the cover. The image of the hand is used cleverly to incorporate the band's initials and the name and image are cohesive in the sense that the word "hand" is in the band name and a hand is on the cover, so the audience can make a distinction.
artist: H2O
album title: nothing to prove
song title: what happened?
director: Joseph Pattisall
genre: punk/ rap, very urban, a real emphasis on friends and family and the importance of loyalty
generic conventions: both a performance based music and a narrative video filmed to show the way in which they perform and the way they feel about what they play/sing about. clear shots of the band members to advertise them and make them rateable to the audience.
sound: The sound of this band is quite brash and aims to make a statement much like many other bands in a similar genre but there is also some humor and lighter sounds so as to contradict themselves. The sound is reflected on the album cover because it is not an image that would be used for a mainstream artist.
representation: there is a strong meaning in this song and so the representation is clear, the song is called what happened and it is about the changes for the worst in the music industry in that its all about the fashion of music and not the passion. the band are trying to represent how they feel the the music industry has turned into a beauty contest and that they believe that it is all about the music and what it means to them, they show this in the the music video by the way they show live performance to show what its all about in playing for crowds and doing what makes you happy, on the flip side they mock the fashion side of the music industry by filming in a hair dressers showing how ridiculous it is and not important and that it shouldn't matter what you look like. they also film in a record shop to again show that its about the music and so they show the camera the good records in there opinion, they also pull out bad one to show where its going wrong. furthermore the band make the lyrics very clear in showing how they believe in what they say the filming of the singing also shows this because there is allot of aggression put into the words. overall they wish to represent themselves as a band who are not mainstream and that they don't care about what you look like, its all about the music.
" cuz now the biggest part is all about the image and not the art, fashion before passion"
camera: Long shots are used to show a person’s whole body whilst performing, to show the crowd whilst panning and to set the scene for example the opening shot where the singer is filmed siting on a stair set singing to the camera also long shots of the dancing crowd, mid shots all throughout the video of the band Mid shots are used to as well as to their show a person’s body, which may be in order to show what they are doing or, facial expressions, reactions and emotions. Pans are used to unfold events and, on one occasion, used as an ellipsis. Tracks are used to follow the action and to show the movement and pace. Close up are used to facial expressions, which display emotion, exchanged looks for example close ups are used often to really get the aggression from the singer for certain lines of the song they feel strongly about
mise-en-scene and some of its representation
Sound: Diegetic This draws all sound focus to the song itself.
setting: the video is set in more than one place, the street in new york to show the urban quality of the band, the barbers shop to mock the fashion side of music, a live gig to show the real meaning of music and also a record shop which also emphasises that view point.
lighting: natural lighting is used when outside, inside at the record shop realistic artificial lighting is used to show normal shop lighting. r show lighting is used (coloured lights, dark) during the scenes from their gig. This indicates that the mood intended for the video is aggressive and meaning full.
costume and make up: the band are shown to be in there own clothes in which they feel comfortable , i think this is to re enforce the meaning of song being that you should just be your self and its not about what you look like. some of the band are wearing other bands t-shirts this is a punk convention as the punk circle is quite small so allot of band like each other and like to show it.
props: their main prop used with meaning is the different record they show the camera, the records are to show the difference between good and bad and show how the band feels about other artist and how they feel it should be.
colour: there are only natural colours used. the filming does concentrate on the dark colours when the lights are turned off.
editing: The main thing from this movie is the high number of shots used within a small space of time. This not only sums up a lot of events in a small amount of time, but it gives the video a huge element of pace, movement and speed. This means the shots must be very specific and must show important and defining events. there are also long takes to put particular emphasis on some of the lyrics.
relationship between the lyrics and visual: the aggression of the lyrics and visual are linked as they both very strong as allot of emphasis is put on the way they play and sing the lyrics so as to put across the meaning of the words and make them clearer through images.
relationships between the music and visual: The fast pace music very much fits with the quick editing and pace of movement. The sound is very aggressive and so the aggressive nature of the visual fits.
.
Artist: Random Hand.
Album Title: On the March.
song title: anger management
director: the bands own creation
Genre: The main genre associated with this band is Ska/Punk, however, it is quite progressive in the sense that it is a hybrid genre and combines elements of other genres into one common sound
generic conventions: a performance based music video filmed to show the way in which they play and the way the y feel about what they play/sing about. clear shots of the band members to advertise them and make them relateable to the audience. there is a twist involved which is alike other punk music videos.
Sound: This band incorporates quite a few aspects of other music genres into the sub-genre of punk. This includes reggae, punk rock, hip hop, metal and dub. The nature of their lyrical themes are based around socio-political issues in Britain.
representation: the Band and age all around the same age being early twenties. Youth are generally represented as party animals and a sense of no responsibility and trouble makers. Punk rock fans and bands are also generally represented as ‘outcasts’ and different by choice. This video makes no exception as at the start and right up until the end random hand are playing there song by themselves in a empty room this gives the idea that the band are out casts as with the video being performance based you would expect the video to show them in a good light playing to a large adoring crowd, i think this represent how they don't see themselves as mainstream artist but rather to the select few who can appreciate there music and them for what it is. i also think that the remote place where the the scene is set reinforces the concept as outcasts/misfits. they way in which they play represent the band personality and feeling, i believe they are quite forceful with the way they play as allot of aggression is put into it, but also on the flip side there is some humor in some of the lyrics and dancing this may have been done so as to show that although they mean what they say there still wanting to have a good time which is very much a punk convention. for the last quarter of the video there is a twist where a crowd appears from behind the doors i believe there is strong representation in this as i think it represents the breaking of barriers of social situations where if to say if you like punk music be proud of it and show if and in fact don't be an outcast and instead different is cool.
camera: there are a great range of shots used to add effects to the video but mainly just to show diversity so that the audience do not get bored, there are long shots, Long shots are used to show a person’s whole body whilst performing, to show the crowd whilst panning and to set the scene for example the opening shot where the singer is filmed walking to his destination also long shots of the appearing crowd, mid shots all throughout the video of the band Mid shots are used to as well as to their show a person’s body, which may be in order to show what they are doing or, facial expressions, reactions and emotions. There are many zoom ins and zoom outs also. This is to keep the action parallel as it is always fluid and always moving. Pans are used to unfold events and, on one occasion, used as an ellipsis. Tracks are used to follow the action and to show the movement and pace. Close up are used to facial expressions, which display emotion, exchanged looks.
mise-en-scene and some of its representation
Sound: Diegetic This draws all sound focus to the song itself.
setting: the video is et in a remote building in the countryside, they are in a room in this building which is made to seem like there practice room as all there equipment is there.
lighting: natural lighting is used when outside, inside realistic artificial lighting is used to show normall house lighting. for the last quarter show lighting is used (coloured lights, dark) because the video turns into a gig. This indicates that the mood intended for the video is happy, pleasant, but the at the end up beat and fun.
costume and make up: the band are shown to be in there own clothes in which they feel comfortable , i think this is to make the band seem approachable and show that they just want to be themselves. some of the band are wearing other bands t-shirts this is a punk convention as the punk circle is quite small so allot of band like each other and like to show it.
props: there aren't many props in this video as it is all shot in one room, there are the musical instruments there are also the artificial walls which fall down to show the crowd running in, the stage lights are also shown.
colour: there are only natural colours used. the filming does concentrate on the dark colours when the lights are turned off.
editing: The main thing I noticed was that there are many, many shots within a small space of time (short takes). This not only sums up a lot of events in a small amount of time, but it gives the video a huge element of pace, movement and speed. This means the shots must be very specific and must show important and defining events.
relationship between the lyrics and visual: the aggression of the lyrics and visual are linked as they both very strong as allot of emphasis is put on the way they play and sing the lyrics.
relationships between the music and visual: The fast pace music very much fits with the quick editing and pace of movement. The sound is very aggressive and so the aggressive nature of the visual fits.