Last Post

This blog is now closed. :)

Bye!

We are done! 2 years of media A-Level and my group have produced some great work! 

I have enjoyed the media course so much!

Evaluation Question 4

Here is my answer to Question 4 of our evaluations

Digipak sized to fit

Here is my final digipak sized and positioned so that it will fit together.

Evaluation Question 3

Here is my answer to the question 3 of our evaluations:






 In case the videos are not showing on the powerpoint: Final music video:






 Audience Feedback:

Evaluation Question 2

Here is my answer to question 2 of our Evaluation.

Final Digipak and Magazine Advertisement

For my ancillary tasks, I decided to create a digipak and a magazine advertisement.

I decided to base mine around the main singer of the group 'Genetics'. 

I used dark colours to highlight the groups loud and out there look. 

My digipak includes a picture of the main singer on the front cover. I decided to use the symbol of 'Hear no, Speak no and See no, Evil' as it will attract our target audience into the quirky, fun and fresh electronic music.


Magazine Advertisement:

Digipak;
 

Audience Feedback

As a group, we decided that we wanted to email our music video to Rudimental's management to see what they would say! 

They sent us back a message saying 'great work and good luck'. I am pleased with their response as I didn't even think they would take a look at it!

This helps us with our Audience Feedback and I can now mention it in my evaluation! 

Audience Feedback

Here is a video of our audience feedback!

As a whole we had great comments from our audience and we are very pleased with our outcome.

Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation - Question 1

Evaluation

Now we have finished our music videos, I can focus my time on completing the ancillary task:

1. to create a digipak
2. to create a magazine advertisement

I can also focus my time on my evaluation questions:

1. In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

3.  What have you learn't from your audience feedback?

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

These are the marking criteria's I aim to achieve from my Blog as a whole and my evaluation:

Evaluation



Blog

Strobe Lights

Our music video contains a lot of different shots where various strobe lighting is used. We are aware that the strobe lighting could trigger seizures for people with photosensitive epilepsy. Due to health and safety reasons, a warning message must be shown so that the audience is aware of the strobe lighting.
An example of this on both an artists music video and our own is shown below.

Our finished music video!!

So after months of changing our idea and not knowing what song we wanted to chose, we finally decided on 'Right Here' - 'Rudimental' and chose to have a psychiatric thriller based video. As a group we honestly had the most fun filming and editing it all together. At times it was very stressful and we was pushed to our limits but I think our outcome shows just how much we wanted to succeed in our coursework side of our Media A-Level. 

As a group we are very imaginative and our ideas developed and changed throughout the months filming and editing. For the flashing in the room, we used 4 different strobe lights on our iPhones. We decided to do this because we felt that the colour of the shots with the light on was too yellow and with the light off was too black. So adding the strobe lights with the lights off, gave a really great effect to our shots, making editing so much more fun and adding a crazy thrilling feel to the video.  

We knew that with our idea, we needed to use mise-en-scene especially to get our audience to understand the narrative. We chose to dress myself in all black, a black leather jacket, black boots and black jeans. This was too stand out from the other scenes of me being a psychiatric patient with mental issues. This costume, hair and makeup, was to give me a 'pop star' look. We then bought white clothing to represent the innocence of the girl but the hair and makeup in these scenes also shows the corruption of the girl. Our choice of mise-en-scene for these shots of me in the park were to show the confusing and mental illness of the girl. We then borrowed a hospital gown for our scenes in Leanne's room, which was painted white for the filming. We knew that if we wanted to create a scene that would represent a psychiatric ward, we would have to be very stereotypical. By this, we had to paint the room white, only use white furniture and bedsheets and then also dress me in a hospital gown, just so the audience could really understand what was going on. 

Each member of the group had a different input into the creation of our music video and by putting all our ideas together we could all be happy with our final product!

So here is our finished music video! I hope you enjoy :)

This video has been identified by Epilepsy Action to potentially trigger seizures for people with photosensitive epilepsy. 

Research

Analysis of advertisements

DIGIPAK

This is my finished front cover of my digipak for my music album.

This is my final album front cover showing the front panel as well as the side panel.

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Magazine Advertisement

Below is my magazine advertisement as part as my ancillary task. I have included the bands name 'GENETICS' and my chosen album name 'Fallen Between The Cracks'.
I have also included HMV a well known shop for music products. Also I have included critics from music magazines such as 'NME' and 'BLENDER' as they both suit the genre of music and it will help appeal to my target audience.

Behind the scenes and a sneak peek!!

Here is a vlog showing some behind the scenes footage and a sneak peek from our music video!

Editing

We have spent the past few weeks heavily editing our music video and with only a few weeks left to our deadline we have only 30 seconds left to edit!
We have spent a long time editing our shots to fit the beats of the song and we have finally managed to put it all together in time! I am really excited for our showcase evening where we get to show everyone what all our hard work, time and effort has allowed us to produce.

Digipak Edits

I have started to create my digipak and after many hours of editing, I have created my front cover of my CD case. It is yet to have the album name and artist name edited on but here is a sneak peek of my chosen design!

Digipak Research

Ancillary Task

For our Ancillary task, I have chosen to create a digipak and a magazine advertisement. I have carried out research to make sure I know what a digipak is and how I can create my own. 

What is a digipak?

A digipak is a type of packaging for CD's or DVD's which is typically made from cardboard with a plastic case including one or more plastic trays that can hold your chosen disc's. A digipak is virtually shatterproof and is used to protect the disc's inside.

Materials and sizing

Material: 300gsm card with matt or gloss varnish. Printed 4 colours (CMYK) or Pantone colours. Spot varnish, lamination and embossing available.

Dimensions (based on standard 4pp digipak): finished size of 139.5mm x 6mmx 125.5mm

The number of panels could be 4 to 6, 8 or more.

Originally used for the album packaging of leading musicians, the digipak and digipak family are now priced reasonably enough to be used for any CD or DVD project.

The digipak is an extremely versatile packaging. It can be made to accommodate a booklet either by placing in a die-cut slot or gluing onto one of the panels

For my own digipak I am going to create a standard 4 panel digipak as I want it too look simple and bold, not including too many pictures, putting more focus on the band than the music. Keeping it as a standard 4 panel means keeping my digipak tidy and sleek which will appeal to my artists audience.

My digipak inspiration

From looking at different digipaks and different styles, I have chosen to do a very simple but bold style to my whole layout.

Our song 'Right Here' - Rudimental, falls under the Pop/Electro music genre, so I decided to research digipaks from similer bands and artists of the same genre.

Firstly I began by looking at our chosen band 'Rudimental' and their current digipak. They have chosen a simplistic approach, however the use of the bold font for the band name emphasizes the strength of the album and the loud, 'out there' type of music. I really like how the band name stands out and how the background it very simple as it looks good but keeps the main focus on the content of the digipak. 

I then went on to research similar artists such as 'Chase and Status'. This type of album cover is simple yet still very interesting. The use of the dog adds humor and the boldness of the yellow title against the black and white photograph works really well as it is showing a contrast in colours. I love the use of black and white as I think it looks sleek and 'cool'. It attracts the audience but the main focus is still on the music. 

Lastly, I looked at Britney Spears' new album 'Femme Fatale' which I thought was very focused on Britney herself. A large photograph of herself spread across the front of the album against a white background, with the album name and then the artist name spread across can be seen. I like the simplicity of it, however, it seems as though the focus is on Britney Spears more than her music.

Digipak's in this type of genre seem to be kept very simplistic but very effective to the audience. As my song falls into the Pop/Electro music genre, I will adhere to the conventions of this genre's digipak.

CD'S and DVD's

The DVD Digipak is a popular alternative to the DVD box which is now widely used for feature film DVD releases which are special editions because it increases the value and creates a premium product.

CD and DVD DigiPaks make a big statement, they represent the ultimate custom packaging for your CD or DVD replication project. A DigiPak is also a more environmentally friendly option when compared with traditional plastic jewel cases or DVD cases.

Picture for showcase

Oh the great fun we have filming!

We have recently filmed our last scenes of myself in the mental institute and also the shots of me singing along to our chosen song! We really enjoyed filming these scenes as we are challenging ourselves to use different types of shots and also editing it all the look professional. We enjoy these challenges as we liked to see how far we can go to achieve the best shots and how amazing the final production will be due to our efforts.
Here are some pictures I think you will enjoy looking at to show just how fun filming our last scenes have been!

It all started off pretty normal, Leanne eating and myself being made to do some strange things...


We then celebrated our early morning of filming with some pizza.


And then of course, we decided to shout, laugh, climb around and work hard!





Lastly, we created a very crazy scene!

Our Mood Boards

We created two mood boards to show our music video ideas through a selection of images.

Editing

As we have now got some footage, we have started editing our scenes and have been adding different effects to our shots! It is starting to look really good and is coming along well. We are all really excited to film the rest of our scenes and then start editing it all! 

Research

I have decided to carry out some research to help create my A2 production. I have looked at previous music videos from the same music genre.

 I looked at Rihanna's music video to her song 'What Now' as it shows a lot of shots that as a group we want to achieve. Rihanna's acting in this video also gives me (as the actress in our production) an idea on how I need to act to fulfil my character.




 Nero's video to 'Crush On You' uses a lot of effects, which I think helps gives the 'freaky' and 'scary' look to the video. The acting and costume/hair/make-up is exactly what we are going for, and after looking at this video, we have had ideas on how to dress me and make me look to highlight the fact that I have mental issues.

Permission

As a group we sent off an email to 'Asylum Records' to ask for permission to use the song 'Right Here' by 'Rudimental ft. Foxes' for our A2 music video production. The email explains that we will not be selling the song on and it is being used for strictly educational purposes only.

Song Choice and Lyrics

Rudimental Right Here (feat. Foxes)

 [Verse:] Late at night when you realize you're on your own
 I know the feelings inside you start to grow

 [Per-Chorus] Please tell me that it's alright, alright, alright
 I wanna know Please tell me that it's alright, alright, alright
 I wanna know Please tell me, tell me

 [Chorus x2] 'Cause everybody's got something 

Something they can't hide
 Let it out into the open Right here, right now
 Oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh

 [Verse:] When you turn up the light and you're all alone
Cold as the shapes and the shadow's gone

 [Pre-Chorus] Please tell me that it's alright, alright, alright
Tell me that it's alright, alright, alright I wanna know
 Please tell me, tell me...

 [Chorus x2] 'Cause everybody's got something Something they cant hide
 Let it out into the open Right here, right now
 Oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh
 (everybody clap your hands now)
 Oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh
 (Everybody clap your hands oh oh oh oh)
 Oh oh oh oh

 [Chorus x2] 'Cause everybody's got something Something they cant hide
Let it out into the open Right here, right now
 Oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh
 (Everybody clap your hands now}
 Oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh
 (Everybody clap your hands oh oh oh oh)
 Oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh
 (Everybody clap your hands oh oh oh oh)

Vlog About Change

Pictures From Filming

Here are some pictures to show you how our filming went!

BEFORE:

        

         


AFTER: