Friday 22 April 2016
Thursday 21 April 2016
Wednesday 20 April 2016
Evaluation Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge conventions of real media products?
For my Advanced Portfolio task, I chose to produce a new music video for Jet's 'Are You Gonna Be My Girl'. I analysed the lyrics of the video in detail, and, subsequently, created my own narrative for the music video, manipulating the genre, style and form to that of the original. In order to reduce both the music video and make the 2 designated ancillary texts (a poster and a digipak), I went through a number of stages in my planning and research to ensure that my final products were created to the best of my ability. I will therefore be evaluating the media texts I have created, and will be analysing the effectiveness of the conventions used and also how my products challenge real media texts.
In order to physically re-create a music video, I found myself needing to analyse the conventions of existing media texts. In doing so, I discovered that there are a number of specific conventions of both the form and the genre; two things that are critical to real media texts, both existing and creating.
To understand the required conventions of form and genre, I analysed two music videos from very the same genre to establish whether these conventions occurred in both the same way and the same manner. These music videos were Pink's 'Family Portrait' and Ed Sheeran's 'Give Me Love', both of which are in the pop/indie pop genre field. I then devised a textual analysis on the existing music videos to compare the conventions in both.
In order to physically re-create a music video, I found myself needing to analyse the conventions of existing media texts. In doing so, I discovered that there are a number of specific conventions of both the form and the genre; two things that are critical to real media texts, both existing and creating.
To understand the required conventions of form and genre, I analysed two music videos from very the same genre to establish whether these conventions occurred in both the same way and the same manner. These music videos were Pink's 'Family Portrait' and Ed Sheeran's 'Give Me Love', both of which are in the pop/indie pop genre field. I then devised a textual analysis on the existing music videos to compare the conventions in both.
Pink - Family Portrait
Pink's Family Portrait consisted of many high angle shots, as well as medium close ups and close up shots when it came to the cinematography element. Not only this, but many two shots have also been used throughout. Editing consisted of only simple cuts to get to the next shot, which I analysed as being purely because the audience needed to concentrate on the narrative of the video. The mise-en-scene was particularly basic in all aspects too, but the main aspect being very plain colours used throughout, again so the audience can focus on the narrative behind the music video. Sound was also limited in this music video, only using the soundtrack and nothing else.
Ed Sheeran - Give Me Love
My textual analysis of this particular music video confirmed my view that music videos of the same genre tend to have the same conventions; there are rarely any challenges to conventions - the only difference between these two music videos that I analysed are though the use of colour, as Ed's video uses many more colours than Pink's. Cinematography in this video was again limited to many close ups and medium close ups, with a few long shots on the odd occasion to establish to the audience where the filming was taking place. Editing, again, was very basic; simple cuts were used throughout, with seemingly no apparent fades etc. Again, the mies-en-scene wasn't particularly complex; plain clothing items, dark rooms etc being used throughout. Sound was no different in any aspect; the soundtrack was the only sound heard in this music video.
In conclusion, from my extremely in-depth textual analysis of two music videos consisting of the same genre, it is apparent that music videos of the same genre carry the same conventions with little challenges. Both videos conform to the expected conventions of music videos, so therefore audiences can understand them and any specific narratives the director may have wanted to portray. By completing my textual analysis of my two existing music videos, I feel I understand different forms and conventions of music videos, meaning that I could choose which specific conventions to incorporate into my music video.
My full textual analyses can be found here:
Pink's Family Portrait - http://a2mediakirstyallan.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/textual-analysis-1.html
Ed Sheeran's Give Me Love - http://a2mediakirstyallan.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/textual-analysis-2-ed-sheeran-give-me.html
To evaluate whether my own music video conformed or challenged these conventions of existing indie pop/indie rock music videos, I decided to conduct my own textual analysis on my final music video. For my product, I chose to flout the typical conventions of an indie pop/pop rock music video, and show my artist lip syncing most of the way through the video. I focused heavily upon the narrative of the song through the use of many two shots to establish to the audience that it is, in some aspects a love song, however does not conform to that of the typical falling in love with someone at first sight music video. My own textual analysis consists of how the use of cinematography aspects, mies-en-scene, sound and editing have been used to create both an attractive and engaging music video. (How does my music video, in general, conform or challenge the aspects of existing indie pop/indie rock music videos?)
Cinematography: As stated above and in my textual analyses, many indie rock/pop rock music videos consist of many close up shots and medium close up shots. This is conformed to in my product through the use of medium and close up shots of my actor and actress, and this has been used, like in existing media products, to show emotion on the actors faces.
Not only this, but the use of medium close ups in particular establish to the audience that they do not need to focus on the location that the video is being filmed in, but to focus on the narrative behind the lyrics of the music video, showing, again, that my product conforms to existing media products. Another convention of existing indie rock/indie pop music videos are that of two shots, which explains to the audience that, due to there being more than one actor, it is likely that there is a narrative behind the lyrics.
Mise-en-scene: Indie rock/indie pop music videos consist of very basic mies-en-scene aspects, as stated in my above comments and textual analyses. One of the very basic aspects of mine-en-scene is the idea behind the location, and, through my planning and research that I have conducted, the real music video for 'Are You Gonna Be My Girl' by Jet uses only one location, and that is a plain white room with white walls and a white floor. I conformed to this convention by also only using a single location to film my music video - meaning there is nothing that then takes the audiences attention away from the narrative.
Another thing that I have conformed to in the aspect of mise-en-scene is the idea of very plain clothing with limited colour choices. Existing indie rock/indie pop music videos consist of very basic clothing colours and do not wear many tight fitting clothes; my actor and actress wore only block colours, namely black, and a plain red coat was worn once in the shots. None of these items of clothing worn were tightly fitting, once again conforming to that of existing indie rock/indie pop music videos.
I found myself challenging the convention of limited/neutral makeup colours in the way that I used a red lipstick colour instead of nude. This, however, links with the fact that I changed the idea of the original narrative, and used the red lipstick as something that actually caught the attention of the male actor, compared to myself in the music video who wore a nude lip; this did not catch the attention of the male actor.
Editing: As stated in above paragraphs, existing indie rock/indie pop music videos have very stark editing techniques involved in the creation of the video. Simple cuts are the only editing technique used in many music videos of this genre. No fades, for example, are used, only fast paced, cuts. I have very clearly conformed to this convention by obviously using simples cuts to move from one shot to another, as well as keeping the shot types short, linking to the fact that events move swiftly in the narrative.
My music video not only conforms to that of conventions of existing music videos, but also to conventions of theories studied.
Not only did I have to make sure that my music video conformed to that of existing media texts, but also that both my ancillary texts conformed to existing products.
It was very important that I made sure that, when it came to my poster advertisement, that the colours I decided upon fitted together in the way that, not only did they look appealing to the audience, but they also conformed to that my specified genre. This therefore ensured that my product looked both realistic and believable. Not only this, but the fact that my artist is the main focus of the poster means that it links with the idea that, in indie rock/indie pop genre, the audience is expected to focus more on the narrative of the video as opposed to the location, for example, due to the fact that there is more often than not a narrative behind the lyrics.
Lana Del Rey is a very well known indie pop music artist, so hence why I used this advert as the basis for my own. I thought that, although in some aspects, this advert could be seen to be relatively basic, I found that, when I used the layout in my own work, it conformed better to the genre than that of a poster with a lot of different things going on. This therefore made my product look more realistic and professional due to the planning and research I carried out prior to physically creating my advertisement.
Evaluation Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
My A2 music video in itself explores the theme of wanting a relationship with someone, whilst also recognising the ideal ideology of a modern teenage society. The video consists of two people from different background who know nothing about each other, but end up falling for each other towards the end of the video.
Overall, I feel confident in the way that my music video is effective in portraying the necessary four micro-technical elements needed in existing music videos; cinematography, editing, sound and miss-en-scene. Through my use of these elements, I believe that I have created a realistic and professional looking media text. Through the use of more close up shots towards the beginning of the video, the audience can clearly pinpoint the fact that the actor and actress are showing emotions, contrasting to the use of more two shots as the end of the video appears, again to represent to the audience that they need to focus more on the narrative instead of the emotions of the actors.
Ancillary text 1 - Advertisement
The first ancillary text that I created was that of a promotional poster that consists of many conventions of typical existing products in the indie rock/indie pop genre. For example, I made sure that I included an image of my artist, the name of the band, as well as any release dates and the record label that they were signed to.
Ancillary text 2 - Digipak
The second ancillary text that I created was that of a Digipak, which consists of two discs, both of which are featured with conventions from existing media texts, for example with the used of the label that my artist is signed to on the discs etc. It also includes a front cover, along with two insert covers and a back cover with the song list.
(PICTURE OF DIGIPAK)
Overall, I feel that both my poster and digipak are very strong when it comes to connecting to the genre of indie rock/indie pop, as they not only include the necessary conventions of real media texts, but they also create continuity in the way that all three of my pieces fit together. I believe that the reason my products carry continuity throughout is because, not only did I put a lot of thought into the pictures I used and the colour scheme I chose, I also carried out enough research into existing products of the same type, for example looking at Lana Del Rey's promotional poster and analysing Razorlight's CD case and its contents. I used only plain colours due to what my research told me, as well as only including block colours instead of something with a hue or tint to it. I used Adobe Photoshop CC 2015 to create both my ancillary texts, which I downloaded onto my MacBook so I could work on them from home.
For both my ancillary texts, I have used a structure most notably following the theme of wanting somebody - the main theme throughout my music video.
Poster
I started out by creating my poster and, in this way, I would get a better idea of how I have promoted my artist, and how I have followed through with the creation of my digipak later on, i.e. with the colour scheme, texts used etc. I ultimately knew that I wanted my main actor (Dan) on the front of the poster, however I did not know in what way to bring out the best image. This therefore meant that I needed to take screenshots from my music video, and, ultimately experiment with them all.
I experimented also with using shots of only Lauren (my actress), and also two shots of both Dan and Lauren together, however, as I placed them onto my poster, I realised that it was likely that my audience would get confused as to who is actually the main artist; I felt like I was either making mh audience clueless, or giving them to many ideas of the narrative already, even though this was only a promotional poster.
In the end, I was deciding upon which photo out of these two below to choose to put on the front of my poster. Again, I experimented with these two images, and actually found it challenging upon deciding which image looked better where.
In the end, I believed that, because both images linked well to the genre, and both had continuity in them, I would use both in my ancillary texts in some way, however decided that the best image to use was the second image above, due to the fact that it clearly identifies the genre down to the hairstyle the actor has, as well as the clothing that he is wearing.
I blurred out the background on Photoshop, and then enhanced Dan on picmonkey.com so as to make him stand out more on the poster, ultimately grabbing more people's attention.
Digipak
For my digipak, I again chose to use the same theme; wanting someone, in order to relate to the poster and also the music video. I decided to choose the name 'Heights' for both my artist's name, and also to use as the title on my promotional poster. I chose this name purely because I thought that it linked well with the original name of the artist who performed Are You Gonna Be My Girl: Jet. I chose the name Heights due to the fact that a jet plane goes very high up, therefore leading me to my first thought for the name, which ended up becoming the name I actually used. I wanted my album to, in some ways, represent the feelings that my male actor has, hence the names of the songs that I chose:
1. Are You Gonna Be My Girl
2. Black Jeans
3. Falling
4. More
5. The Block
6. Treatment
7. Disaster
8. Gone
9. Round And Round
10. Stamp
Through the use of these chosen songs, I believe that my ancillary text is effective in the way that the songs connote to both the name of the first and main song, Are You Gonna Be My Girl, as well as it conforming to the genre; these sort of issues are addressed in existing indie rock/indie pop music posts.
Music Video
When creating my music video, I wanted it to appeal to both sexes, and have a wide variety of ages both watching and listening to my music product. The song in itself sits in the indie rock/indie rock genre, however, I wanted to create the sort of narrative that appealed to all ages and both sexes. I wanted to create a narrative that was very unconventional; in the way that, not only would it tell the story of wanting someone, but so it also portrayed the typical conventions of existing music video, such as lip-syncing, fast paced editing and typical mise-en-scene features, as well as also included the necessary micro-technical elements of all music videos; sound, editing, cinematography and mies-en-scene. I really do feel that, because of this, my music video appeals to all ages, due to it linking with real life issue and themes. Although, in many aspects, my music video is particularly innocent, I believe that I have included Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory in mine, down to the fact that she talks about how men look at women and, in this aspect, my male actor, although seemingly innocent in the way that he is speaking to my female actress, is de-humanising her slightly in the way that he is speaking to her very bluntly through the repeated lyric 'Are you gonna be my girl'.
Combination of all my products
I believe that all 3 of my media texts have a strong ideology, due to the fact that the content I included had continuity and things in common, down to things such as the colours I used and the font type.
My 3 media texts do ultimately have cross media convergence - they all come together creating continuity. I also believe that my products would be successful when sold, as they not only look realistic and professional, but also have continuity running through them; a necessary aspect when creating media texts. I believe that my poster would mainly feature in 'Q' Magazine, as well as possible 'Billboard', as these magazines are very popular for promoting indie rock an indie pop music.
Foo Fighters Greatest Hits - £14.99
Lana Del Rey Paradise - £13.75
After research into existing indie rock/indie pop CDs, I believe that the most sensible price to price my digipak at would be around £13.99, as it therefore not only has the conventions of real media texts, but also seems an attractive price to all ages. Furthermore, as I advertised 'amazon.com' on my poster, I would advertise both my video and soundtrack on Amazon, attracting a wide audience and pricing the soundtrack at £0.99; the typical going rate for a soundtrack of this genre. I would also sell the music video at around £2.99, again down to the fact that this is the going rate. This therefore means that I have created continuity in the way that I am conforming my products to products that are already out there on the market, through the use of my actual media texts and also how I am distributing them and for what price.
Evaluation Question 3: What have you learned from my audience feedback?
After completing my final draft of my music video, I decided to share it on Facebook so that I could get feedback from a variety of different people. I was actually quite surprised that I got the response I did, especially considering that, due to illness, I was not up to scratch with my time management.
Posting the draft of my music video on Facebook for audience feedback meant that it allowed me to get a range of responses, and this was down to the fact that I have friends of all different ages on there. By doing this, I learnt that, in actual fact, most of my friends did actually like the video, however, not only this, but posting it on Facebook allowed me to get the feedback that I really needed, i.e. what I should do to improve if I were to create my product again.
Most comments posted were very positive, with people saying that they "Really liked it" and "The storyline is really good" etc, and I found that comments on what I should improve on were helpful too. My audience feedback allowed me to take any improvements into consideration, and these improvements manly included things like making sure I wasn't filming facing the sun due to the glare it gave my characters a glare behind them, causing them to seem blurred in some shots. Not only this, but the feedback I got told me that, if I were to do it again, I should include some props, i.e. a guitar etc. This was, in fact something that I was planning on doing throughout my video and, when I first filmed, I did include a guitar in my shots. However, due to the person I was borrowing the guitar from being inconsistent when it came to giving me the guitar to film with, I decided that I was better off not using the guitar at all instead of only using it in some shots, meaning that there would be more continuity throughout my product.
Overall, from the feedback that I got on Facebook, I believe that most of my friends, of all genders and ages, really did enjoy watching my music video.
I also uploaded my poster, however, so I could get a different sort of feedback, I uploaded it into a group chat that I am part of. This chat has both boys and girls in, and there is a typical age range of about 15-23 years (this age group was more my target audience, meaning that I would bet more relevant feedback). The group also consists of both males and females, meaning that I would get a wider range of results than only putting it into my college group chat, for example, which consists of only one male, and then seven females.
As stated in question 2, I could not decide upon which photo of my actor, Dan, to use. Therefore putting it into the group chat gave me guidance as to which photo was more popular and therefore eye catching. In the end, most members stated that they liked to photo of Dan looking to the side more than the image in which he is singing. When asked why this was the case, most stated the fact that it looked more professional that way, and some said that it was more obvious what genre the song was, due to the fact that his leather jacket and black top could be seen more prominently than in the other image.
I also devised a Survey Monkey in the way that I asked 15 questions to anonymous people. When going through my emails, Survey Monkey told me I had 6 responses to my survey, however, when physically going on the site, no responses were present. This meant that I had to type my questions up into a questionnaire and hand them into 3 boys and 3 girls whom I did not know and ask for their opinions on my music video. I will display my results below, and discuss why these people answered like they did.
Posting the draft of my music video on Facebook for audience feedback meant that it allowed me to get a range of responses, and this was down to the fact that I have friends of all different ages on there. By doing this, I learnt that, in actual fact, most of my friends did actually like the video, however, not only this, but posting it on Facebook allowed me to get the feedback that I really needed, i.e. what I should do to improve if I were to create my product again.
Most comments posted were very positive, with people saying that they "Really liked it" and "The storyline is really good" etc, and I found that comments on what I should improve on were helpful too. My audience feedback allowed me to take any improvements into consideration, and these improvements manly included things like making sure I wasn't filming facing the sun due to the glare it gave my characters a glare behind them, causing them to seem blurred in some shots. Not only this, but the feedback I got told me that, if I were to do it again, I should include some props, i.e. a guitar etc. This was, in fact something that I was planning on doing throughout my video and, when I first filmed, I did include a guitar in my shots. However, due to the person I was borrowing the guitar from being inconsistent when it came to giving me the guitar to film with, I decided that I was better off not using the guitar at all instead of only using it in some shots, meaning that there would be more continuity throughout my product.
Overall, from the feedback that I got on Facebook, I believe that most of my friends, of all genders and ages, really did enjoy watching my music video.
I also uploaded my poster, however, so I could get a different sort of feedback, I uploaded it into a group chat that I am part of. This chat has both boys and girls in, and there is a typical age range of about 15-23 years (this age group was more my target audience, meaning that I would bet more relevant feedback). The group also consists of both males and females, meaning that I would get a wider range of results than only putting it into my college group chat, for example, which consists of only one male, and then seven females.
As stated in question 2, I could not decide upon which photo of my actor, Dan, to use. Therefore putting it into the group chat gave me guidance as to which photo was more popular and therefore eye catching. In the end, most members stated that they liked to photo of Dan looking to the side more than the image in which he is singing. When asked why this was the case, most stated the fact that it looked more professional that way, and some said that it was more obvious what genre the song was, due to the fact that his leather jacket and black top could be seen more prominently than in the other image.
I also devised a Survey Monkey in the way that I asked 15 questions to anonymous people. When going through my emails, Survey Monkey told me I had 6 responses to my survey, however, when physically going on the site, no responses were present. This meant that I had to type my questions up into a questionnaire and hand them into 3 boys and 3 girls whom I did not know and ask for their opinions on my music video. I will display my results below, and discuss why these people answered like they did.
Evaluation Question 4: How did you use media technologies in the construction, planning and evaluation stages of your coursework?
In conducting and creating my music video, digitak and poster I used many different media technologies; both hardware programmes and software programmes. The following will explain about each different media technologies I used, what I used them for and when, and also the positivities and drawbacks with each.
Microsoft Office PowerPoint
This software programme was possibly something that I used the most throughout my planning and research during my A2 media course; this is because it is one of the most simplistic yet helpful pieces of software to help with a lot of my planning. Microsoft PowerPoint is so easy to use due to the fact that everything is actually already prearranged, meaning that, once a new slide has been created, a title box and main text box both appear. Not only this, but PowerPoint was helpful in the way that there were many different options for a slide layout, i.e. title only, text only, so depending on what I wanted to put on each slide, I knew that PowerPoint would have the layout I needed. As well as this, because it is very well laid out, it is more often than not extremely easy to find what I was looking for. One of the drawbacks, however, is also PowerPoint's simplicity. PowerPoint itself has a very little amount of creativity, meaning that it is impossible to create-high standard projects that look very professional. This meant that for more technical things or if I wanted a more complex background etc, I had to use software programmes like Prezi, or Web 2.0 sites like picmonkey.com if I wanted to edit a photo. Another negative aspect of this software programme is the fact that it does not bode well when wanting to add a YouTube video to one of the slides, which I wanted to do a number of times during my planning and research. This held me up quite a bit, particularly due to the fact I was waiting a while for the video to upload.
Prezi
Prezi was yet another software programme that I used, however this software programme is accessed through Web 2.0. Web 2.0 is defined as a collective term for certain applications of the Internet and the World Wide Web, including blogs, wikis, video sharing services and social media websites, for example Facebook and Twitter etc. Personally, I believe that Prezi is a much more creative alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint, and, even though it may not live up to PowerPoint's layouts and desings, Prezi is much more interactive when it comes to sharing. Not only is it more interactive, it is also more entertaining for anyone looking through my blog. Prezi also has many more creative ideas for backgrounds too, and, although PowerPoint, as stated before, is much more layout-friendly (as there is only one layout possible to use on Prezi), it definitely doesn't beat Prezi in this aspect. There are however, many drawbacks when it comes to Prezi, the first being, again, something to do with wanting to upload Youtube videos and images. Again, YouTube videos in this software programme take a while to upload, and, although they may not take as much time and hassle as does PowerPoint's uploading process, it still takes a while to upload a short YouTube clip, for example an existing music video etc. Not only this, but images cannot simply be copied and pasted into the webpage; they have to be uploaded one by one, which is yet another drawback of the programme as it meant I could not get on with my work quickly and efficiently (particularly when the internet connection was slow).
iMovie
iMovie was something I used on my MacBook so that I could edit my music video. I used iMovie instead of Final Cut Pro due to the fact that I already had iMovie downloaded onto my MacBook, which meant that I could very easily edit at ay time i.e. I didn't have to wait for an iMac to become free at college, therefore I wasn't waiting around for a long time. This also meant that I was very productive with my work, as I got a lot done in a short amount of time. One reason as to why I really liked working with iMovie was because all of its features were so easy to find and use, meaning that I could get on with editing quickly and I didn't have to worry about not being able to find certain features. This, to me, was really helpful, particularly because I was most definitely a beginner in editing music videos, which meant that the simplicity of iMovie was definitely the right software programme for me to choose. One thing I did find, however, with iMovie, was the fact that there was a limit on what I could do when it came to editing, i.e. iMovie did not have as many of the transitions that Final Cut did, which, originally, I thought would be a problem, as I realised my music video wouldn't look as technical or professional as other, for example. I then, after doing more planning and research, noticed that most older style indie rock music videos are very basic when it comes to things like editing etc, which meant that iMovie was a lot more suitable for the sort of editing I was doing. One negative in my opinion with iMovie is the fact that it is sometimes very slow when it comes to actually uploading certain clips to edit into its editing box, which did hold me up slightly. I did however, realise that this was partially down to the amount of files that I had on my MacBook. I deleted as many unnecessary files that I could, which did speed up the process slightly, but it was still not as quick as I had first anticipated it to be.
Photoshop
Photoshop was yet another software programme that I used in the production and development of my ancillary texts. Photoshop is a very complex piece of editing software for images and screenshots, which meant that my magazine advert and CD case were obviously both made using this programme. One of the main tools that I used for both my ancillary texts was the blur tool. This was down to the fact that, when looking at existing CD cases and magazine adverts, I noticed that much of the time the backgrounds (especially if they were abstract), had been blurred out so that the artist/s really stood out on the poster etc. Using the blur tool meant that I could create a divide between the background of the poster and CD case and the artist himself, linking to the comparison that, although the male artist recognises that he is in that particular location, to him, the only important thing is how he looks to the girl he is trying to get, hence the emphasis on the artist and the blurring on the background. Photoshop was one of my go to editing programmes because it had endless possibilities of things to do to a photo, whether it was blurring parts of it out, as stated above, or wanting to cute a piece of a photo out neatly, using a tool such as the magnetic lasso tool. In my opinion, there was only one negative to Photoshop, and that was the fact that there were an extremely vast amount of buttons that could have been pressed, meaning that, on the odd occasion, I would press the incorrect button and mess up a section of my product.
YouTube
YouTube, for me, was one of the most useful pieces of software that I used during the planning and research process of my advanced portfolio, due to the fact that I wanted to show a number of examples throughout my coursework, as well as using it to research existing music videos. The fact that YouTube has an endless number of videos to research was really helpful for me, as it meant that there was no limit to the genre or style of music video I wanted to research. For example, even if the video was extremely rare, it was possible for me to find it because of YouTube's vast video selection. More often than not, there are several videos that appear for the topic you are searching for, meaning that I was not left with limited search results. The frustrating thing about YouTube, however, is the fact that videos with strong language in them, or videos that are X-rated cannot be reached because of YouTube's standards. This meant that I was unable to find videos relating to some of the theories that I studied, for example videos linking to Laura Mulvey''s Male Gaze theory etc.
DaFont
DaFont was the software programme that I used to choose the fonts for both my advert and my digipak. For me, DaFont was really appropriate for my genre, due to the fact that, after research into the type of fonts used in the indie rock genre (and my analysis of Lana Del Rey's advertisement), I noticed that DaFont actually had very good replicas of the fonts I studied on Lana's poster. This meant that I used a similar font on my ancillary texts that is on existing products, meaning that my products looked more realistic and professional. However, even though there are a number of relevant fonts on DaFont, it is criticised for being too simplistic in terms of font types. Even though, to some, there might be a vast range of fonts on the site, for me, the fonts were far too limited, meaning that I couldn't actually do much research into specific fonts that link with my genre. Another problem I ran into with DaFont was that the site told me that I had to physically download the font to use it in my work, however I overcame this by screenshotting the text that I had written and then adding it to my product. It would have been much easier if DaFont had let the text be saved as an image file, as it then could have been a simple image drop onto my product.
Google/Google Images
Along with things like YouTube, I also used Google and Google Images to help me in my planning and research stages of my portfolio. I used Google itself to find out relevant information upon my chosen genre, for example existing songs, the lyrics to my chosen song etc, and I used Google Images to physically look up and evaluate existing products, and obtain most of the images that I used within my planning and research, to put them into things such as Prezi and Microsoft PowerPoint. This was an advantage for me because it meant that, particularly with things like images, I could very easily copy and paste them into my work, meaning less hassle waiting for them to upload or having to crop a screenshot etc. I found Google Images in particular a really helpful and handy piece of software to use because it was extremely easy to access (apart from the times when the college Macs were not connected to the internet, however I overcame this issue by using my own MacBook), however the only real issue I had with Google Images in particular was that sometimes I found that the college had blocked one of the websites in which the image I wanted to use was published on, meaning that I was unable to use that particular image.
Web 2.0, Safari and Google Chrome
Accessing sites like Blogger and Prezi etc meant that I had to use either Safari or Google Chrome, both of which are software programmes. I do believe, however, that Google Chrome was a better software than Safari, and this was due to the fact that Chrome was a much quicker site to use when it came to things such as brining up search results quickly and efficiently. This efficiency that Chrome portrayed meant that my work benefitted, as I could get on with it much quicker than if and when I used Safari etc. Both Chrome and Safari are connected with Web 2.0, which does cause some issues, the first and main issue being that, to actually use Chrome and Safari, and internet connection is required, meaning that, if there is no connection, this impacts greatly on my work as I cannot physically get any work done that needs an internet connection for it, for example, when I wanted to upload my finished posts to my blog or visit the college's Moodle page to see what I needed to do when it came to my checklist. Not only this, but, particularly on my MacBook, Safari tended to freeze up on me if I had too many tabs open, a problem which I was never able to solve due to the fact that, even when I closed as many tabs as possible, the webpage still froze. I didn't have this problem with Chrome, particularly because it is a more updated version of Safari, which is why, in my opinion, Chrome was a more efficient way of using Web 2.0.
Nikon D3100
This was, quite possibly, one of the most important hardware devices that I used throughout the creation of my product. Instead of using the college's Canon 1200 DSLR for my filming and having to go through the hassle of renting it out every week, I decided that it would be easier to use my own camera, especially because it is of a high quality resolution when it comes to shooting videos. This high quality shooting resolution means that my video and ancillary texts will actually look more aesthetically pleasing for my audience, meaning they will want to watch the video the whole way through, and feel as though both my ancillary texts look professional. This is down to the fact that many prefer watching videos with a better quality resolution, known as high definition - a high definition music video really helped show both the emotion on my character's faces, as well as showing the specific makeup or hairstyle each characters is wearing. The HD really does help when it comes to things standing out. I also found that, with my camera, because I had used the camera many times before and knew all the ins and outs of it, that it was very easy to use, and I could put the macro effect on for when I was filming my close up shots, for example, meaning that my video ended up looking better produced and as if it had been filmed with confidence because I knew my camera well.
SD Card
Another critical piece of hardware that I used throughout my planning and research process was a 32GB SD card, and this was extremely helpful for me because of the size and memory of it. 32GB of storage meant that I could store any shots that I filmed on the card, as well as being able to film for long periods of time - the maximum filming time on my camera was 10 minutes, and because the SD card could deal with a file this big, it meant that I could re film any shots that I needed to without having to stop the recording each and every time. This also meant that I did not have to worry about my SD card not being able to save any filming that I did because the size was too small. I also cut my clips during the editing process, meaning that there was even more space on the SD card if I found that I needed to go out and do more filming. One of the drawbacks, however, was the fact that the SD card was tiny, meaning that it got misplaced easily, however, I overcame this by making sure that I always put it in my pencil case after using it to ensure I didn't lose any of my work.
Memory/USB Stick
Another piece of hardware that I used to store some things on was a USB stick. I found that this was key, particularly during my second year course, as it allowed me to save any work that I did at college onto it, so that I could upload it when I got home. This could have been in the form of a PowerPoint presentation, a word document I was going to type up etc. Again, it was very small, so I made sure that I put it into my pencil case after I was done with it so that I did not lose any critical work.
MacBook
During my foundation portfolio, I did most of my production, planning and research on a PC. During my A2 portfolio, I realised that I was likely to get more professional looking results if I used a MacBook, and I also felt that I would get more confident upon using iMovie before it came to actually editing my product for my final draft. I also felt that using a Mac meant I would have less of the technical issues that came with the PCs, and the fact that I used my own MacBook meant that I didn't have to deal with the issue of other students using my Mac when it came to editing, and the Mac's in my college's Mac Suite were shared, which meant it was almost impossible to get on a Mac and edit without booking one out in advance. Not only this, but, from past experiences with college's Mac's I have noticed that because of all the student's work who use that particular Mac is saved onto it's database, meaning that it slows down the Mac's performance. Using my own meant that I didn't have to deal with this inconvenience, and could get on with my editing in particular quickly and efficiently, making me feel a lot more positive about getting my editing done on time.
Tripod
I used a tripod when filming my actual music video, and, although a lot of my music video was shot by hand so that I could easily pan around my characters, I still decided upon having some still shots, for example, medium close ups of my characters smiling at the camera or flipping their hair etc. The fact that I had used a tripod meant making zooming much more simple when it came to needing to zoom into my character's faces or parts of their body, etc. I already had my own tripod from last year's AS media course, meaning that I used that instead of college's that they were offering; I felt it simpler to use my own instead of booking one out. I did, however, run into a problem when using my tripod on the second day of filming, and this problem was that part of the tripod had chipped off which meant that my filming was delayed a lot (as well not filming at a straight angle), meaning that the weather, after sorting the problem out, had changed, as was not as similar to the first day of filming. To overcome the problem with the chirping, I actually took the tripod back to Argos where I had bought it from, and they swapped it free of charge for one that was not chipped. I found that using my own meant that I could use it when and where I wanted, and, if there were any problems, for example the problem with the chipping, I could get it sorted straight away, without having to wait. I believe that, if I took out a college tripod and there was a problem, it was likely that I would take it back to swap it and find that all the tripods had been taken, hence why I used my own.
Survey Monkey
Survey Monkey was a software that I only used once throughout my planning and research, and that was during the audience feedback research I did after I had shown some people my music video and 2 ancillary texts. Survey Monkey, in a nutshell, collects a set of results of question that you put in, and then displays these results in a graph once all the results have been collected. I had major problems with Survey Monkey, however, as I had many emails stating that I had a number of results from my questionnaire, however, when I went to collect these results, Survey Monkey displayed a warning that no results were present. This meant that, any results I had collected within the space of 3-5 days had disappeared, and, theoretically, I had no results. Because of this, I had to create a paper copy of my questions and hand them round to a selection of boys and girls at college and then get them to, after completing the questionnaire, hand it back into me for me to physically look at the results. I feel that Survey Monkey was a complete waste of time, and I shall not be using at again to collect any results.
Social Media Sites
Finally, I used social media as another piece of software during my planning and research throughout the year. I used it firstly to contact people to see if they felt able to be a part of my music video, and also to get feedback on things I did, for example the first few drafts of my music video and my final ancillary texts. I contacted people through an app called Messenger, which was already downloaded onto my phone, and is connected to Facebook. Although contact through Messenger is fast, I do believe that it is not the most reliable, as, if a message is sent and someone's phone is turned off, that message will not get delivered until the phone is turned on, and they will not get a notification through to say that they have a message, meaning that, although it is quick, it may not be the most reliable form of contact.
Microsoft Office PowerPoint
This software programme was possibly something that I used the most throughout my planning and research during my A2 media course; this is because it is one of the most simplistic yet helpful pieces of software to help with a lot of my planning. Microsoft PowerPoint is so easy to use due to the fact that everything is actually already prearranged, meaning that, once a new slide has been created, a title box and main text box both appear. Not only this, but PowerPoint was helpful in the way that there were many different options for a slide layout, i.e. title only, text only, so depending on what I wanted to put on each slide, I knew that PowerPoint would have the layout I needed. As well as this, because it is very well laid out, it is more often than not extremely easy to find what I was looking for. One of the drawbacks, however, is also PowerPoint's simplicity. PowerPoint itself has a very little amount of creativity, meaning that it is impossible to create-high standard projects that look very professional. This meant that for more technical things or if I wanted a more complex background etc, I had to use software programmes like Prezi, or Web 2.0 sites like picmonkey.com if I wanted to edit a photo. Another negative aspect of this software programme is the fact that it does not bode well when wanting to add a YouTube video to one of the slides, which I wanted to do a number of times during my planning and research. This held me up quite a bit, particularly due to the fact I was waiting a while for the video to upload.
Prezi
Prezi was yet another software programme that I used, however this software programme is accessed through Web 2.0. Web 2.0 is defined as a collective term for certain applications of the Internet and the World Wide Web, including blogs, wikis, video sharing services and social media websites, for example Facebook and Twitter etc. Personally, I believe that Prezi is a much more creative alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint, and, even though it may not live up to PowerPoint's layouts and desings, Prezi is much more interactive when it comes to sharing. Not only is it more interactive, it is also more entertaining for anyone looking through my blog. Prezi also has many more creative ideas for backgrounds too, and, although PowerPoint, as stated before, is much more layout-friendly (as there is only one layout possible to use on Prezi), it definitely doesn't beat Prezi in this aspect. There are however, many drawbacks when it comes to Prezi, the first being, again, something to do with wanting to upload Youtube videos and images. Again, YouTube videos in this software programme take a while to upload, and, although they may not take as much time and hassle as does PowerPoint's uploading process, it still takes a while to upload a short YouTube clip, for example an existing music video etc. Not only this, but images cannot simply be copied and pasted into the webpage; they have to be uploaded one by one, which is yet another drawback of the programme as it meant I could not get on with my work quickly and efficiently (particularly when the internet connection was slow).
iMovie
iMovie was something I used on my MacBook so that I could edit my music video. I used iMovie instead of Final Cut Pro due to the fact that I already had iMovie downloaded onto my MacBook, which meant that I could very easily edit at ay time i.e. I didn't have to wait for an iMac to become free at college, therefore I wasn't waiting around for a long time. This also meant that I was very productive with my work, as I got a lot done in a short amount of time. One reason as to why I really liked working with iMovie was because all of its features were so easy to find and use, meaning that I could get on with editing quickly and I didn't have to worry about not being able to find certain features. This, to me, was really helpful, particularly because I was most definitely a beginner in editing music videos, which meant that the simplicity of iMovie was definitely the right software programme for me to choose. One thing I did find, however, with iMovie, was the fact that there was a limit on what I could do when it came to editing, i.e. iMovie did not have as many of the transitions that Final Cut did, which, originally, I thought would be a problem, as I realised my music video wouldn't look as technical or professional as other, for example. I then, after doing more planning and research, noticed that most older style indie rock music videos are very basic when it comes to things like editing etc, which meant that iMovie was a lot more suitable for the sort of editing I was doing. One negative in my opinion with iMovie is the fact that it is sometimes very slow when it comes to actually uploading certain clips to edit into its editing box, which did hold me up slightly. I did however, realise that this was partially down to the amount of files that I had on my MacBook. I deleted as many unnecessary files that I could, which did speed up the process slightly, but it was still not as quick as I had first anticipated it to be.
Photoshop
Photoshop was yet another software programme that I used in the production and development of my ancillary texts. Photoshop is a very complex piece of editing software for images and screenshots, which meant that my magazine advert and CD case were obviously both made using this programme. One of the main tools that I used for both my ancillary texts was the blur tool. This was down to the fact that, when looking at existing CD cases and magazine adverts, I noticed that much of the time the backgrounds (especially if they were abstract), had been blurred out so that the artist/s really stood out on the poster etc. Using the blur tool meant that I could create a divide between the background of the poster and CD case and the artist himself, linking to the comparison that, although the male artist recognises that he is in that particular location, to him, the only important thing is how he looks to the girl he is trying to get, hence the emphasis on the artist and the blurring on the background. Photoshop was one of my go to editing programmes because it had endless possibilities of things to do to a photo, whether it was blurring parts of it out, as stated above, or wanting to cute a piece of a photo out neatly, using a tool such as the magnetic lasso tool. In my opinion, there was only one negative to Photoshop, and that was the fact that there were an extremely vast amount of buttons that could have been pressed, meaning that, on the odd occasion, I would press the incorrect button and mess up a section of my product.
YouTube
YouTube, for me, was one of the most useful pieces of software that I used during the planning and research process of my advanced portfolio, due to the fact that I wanted to show a number of examples throughout my coursework, as well as using it to research existing music videos. The fact that YouTube has an endless number of videos to research was really helpful for me, as it meant that there was no limit to the genre or style of music video I wanted to research. For example, even if the video was extremely rare, it was possible for me to find it because of YouTube's vast video selection. More often than not, there are several videos that appear for the topic you are searching for, meaning that I was not left with limited search results. The frustrating thing about YouTube, however, is the fact that videos with strong language in them, or videos that are X-rated cannot be reached because of YouTube's standards. This meant that I was unable to find videos relating to some of the theories that I studied, for example videos linking to Laura Mulvey''s Male Gaze theory etc.
DaFont
DaFont was the software programme that I used to choose the fonts for both my advert and my digipak. For me, DaFont was really appropriate for my genre, due to the fact that, after research into the type of fonts used in the indie rock genre (and my analysis of Lana Del Rey's advertisement), I noticed that DaFont actually had very good replicas of the fonts I studied on Lana's poster. This meant that I used a similar font on my ancillary texts that is on existing products, meaning that my products looked more realistic and professional. However, even though there are a number of relevant fonts on DaFont, it is criticised for being too simplistic in terms of font types. Even though, to some, there might be a vast range of fonts on the site, for me, the fonts were far too limited, meaning that I couldn't actually do much research into specific fonts that link with my genre. Another problem I ran into with DaFont was that the site told me that I had to physically download the font to use it in my work, however I overcame this by screenshotting the text that I had written and then adding it to my product. It would have been much easier if DaFont had let the text be saved as an image file, as it then could have been a simple image drop onto my product.
Google/Google Images
Along with things like YouTube, I also used Google and Google Images to help me in my planning and research stages of my portfolio. I used Google itself to find out relevant information upon my chosen genre, for example existing songs, the lyrics to my chosen song etc, and I used Google Images to physically look up and evaluate existing products, and obtain most of the images that I used within my planning and research, to put them into things such as Prezi and Microsoft PowerPoint. This was an advantage for me because it meant that, particularly with things like images, I could very easily copy and paste them into my work, meaning less hassle waiting for them to upload or having to crop a screenshot etc. I found Google Images in particular a really helpful and handy piece of software to use because it was extremely easy to access (apart from the times when the college Macs were not connected to the internet, however I overcame this issue by using my own MacBook), however the only real issue I had with Google Images in particular was that sometimes I found that the college had blocked one of the websites in which the image I wanted to use was published on, meaning that I was unable to use that particular image.
Web 2.0, Safari and Google Chrome
Accessing sites like Blogger and Prezi etc meant that I had to use either Safari or Google Chrome, both of which are software programmes. I do believe, however, that Google Chrome was a better software than Safari, and this was due to the fact that Chrome was a much quicker site to use when it came to things such as brining up search results quickly and efficiently. This efficiency that Chrome portrayed meant that my work benefitted, as I could get on with it much quicker than if and when I used Safari etc. Both Chrome and Safari are connected with Web 2.0, which does cause some issues, the first and main issue being that, to actually use Chrome and Safari, and internet connection is required, meaning that, if there is no connection, this impacts greatly on my work as I cannot physically get any work done that needs an internet connection for it, for example, when I wanted to upload my finished posts to my blog or visit the college's Moodle page to see what I needed to do when it came to my checklist. Not only this, but, particularly on my MacBook, Safari tended to freeze up on me if I had too many tabs open, a problem which I was never able to solve due to the fact that, even when I closed as many tabs as possible, the webpage still froze. I didn't have this problem with Chrome, particularly because it is a more updated version of Safari, which is why, in my opinion, Chrome was a more efficient way of using Web 2.0.
Nikon D3100
This was, quite possibly, one of the most important hardware devices that I used throughout the creation of my product. Instead of using the college's Canon 1200 DSLR for my filming and having to go through the hassle of renting it out every week, I decided that it would be easier to use my own camera, especially because it is of a high quality resolution when it comes to shooting videos. This high quality shooting resolution means that my video and ancillary texts will actually look more aesthetically pleasing for my audience, meaning they will want to watch the video the whole way through, and feel as though both my ancillary texts look professional. This is down to the fact that many prefer watching videos with a better quality resolution, known as high definition - a high definition music video really helped show both the emotion on my character's faces, as well as showing the specific makeup or hairstyle each characters is wearing. The HD really does help when it comes to things standing out. I also found that, with my camera, because I had used the camera many times before and knew all the ins and outs of it, that it was very easy to use, and I could put the macro effect on for when I was filming my close up shots, for example, meaning that my video ended up looking better produced and as if it had been filmed with confidence because I knew my camera well.
SD Card
Another critical piece of hardware that I used throughout my planning and research process was a 32GB SD card, and this was extremely helpful for me because of the size and memory of it. 32GB of storage meant that I could store any shots that I filmed on the card, as well as being able to film for long periods of time - the maximum filming time on my camera was 10 minutes, and because the SD card could deal with a file this big, it meant that I could re film any shots that I needed to without having to stop the recording each and every time. This also meant that I did not have to worry about my SD card not being able to save any filming that I did because the size was too small. I also cut my clips during the editing process, meaning that there was even more space on the SD card if I found that I needed to go out and do more filming. One of the drawbacks, however, was the fact that the SD card was tiny, meaning that it got misplaced easily, however, I overcame this by making sure that I always put it in my pencil case after using it to ensure I didn't lose any of my work.
Memory/USB Stick
Another piece of hardware that I used to store some things on was a USB stick. I found that this was key, particularly during my second year course, as it allowed me to save any work that I did at college onto it, so that I could upload it when I got home. This could have been in the form of a PowerPoint presentation, a word document I was going to type up etc. Again, it was very small, so I made sure that I put it into my pencil case after I was done with it so that I did not lose any critical work.
MacBook
During my foundation portfolio, I did most of my production, planning and research on a PC. During my A2 portfolio, I realised that I was likely to get more professional looking results if I used a MacBook, and I also felt that I would get more confident upon using iMovie before it came to actually editing my product for my final draft. I also felt that using a Mac meant I would have less of the technical issues that came with the PCs, and the fact that I used my own MacBook meant that I didn't have to deal with the issue of other students using my Mac when it came to editing, and the Mac's in my college's Mac Suite were shared, which meant it was almost impossible to get on a Mac and edit without booking one out in advance. Not only this, but, from past experiences with college's Mac's I have noticed that because of all the student's work who use that particular Mac is saved onto it's database, meaning that it slows down the Mac's performance. Using my own meant that I didn't have to deal with this inconvenience, and could get on with my editing in particular quickly and efficiently, making me feel a lot more positive about getting my editing done on time.
Tripod
I used a tripod when filming my actual music video, and, although a lot of my music video was shot by hand so that I could easily pan around my characters, I still decided upon having some still shots, for example, medium close ups of my characters smiling at the camera or flipping their hair etc. The fact that I had used a tripod meant making zooming much more simple when it came to needing to zoom into my character's faces or parts of their body, etc. I already had my own tripod from last year's AS media course, meaning that I used that instead of college's that they were offering; I felt it simpler to use my own instead of booking one out. I did, however, run into a problem when using my tripod on the second day of filming, and this problem was that part of the tripod had chipped off which meant that my filming was delayed a lot (as well not filming at a straight angle), meaning that the weather, after sorting the problem out, had changed, as was not as similar to the first day of filming. To overcome the problem with the chirping, I actually took the tripod back to Argos where I had bought it from, and they swapped it free of charge for one that was not chipped. I found that using my own meant that I could use it when and where I wanted, and, if there were any problems, for example the problem with the chipping, I could get it sorted straight away, without having to wait. I believe that, if I took out a college tripod and there was a problem, it was likely that I would take it back to swap it and find that all the tripods had been taken, hence why I used my own.
Survey Monkey
Survey Monkey was a software that I only used once throughout my planning and research, and that was during the audience feedback research I did after I had shown some people my music video and 2 ancillary texts. Survey Monkey, in a nutshell, collects a set of results of question that you put in, and then displays these results in a graph once all the results have been collected. I had major problems with Survey Monkey, however, as I had many emails stating that I had a number of results from my questionnaire, however, when I went to collect these results, Survey Monkey displayed a warning that no results were present. This meant that, any results I had collected within the space of 3-5 days had disappeared, and, theoretically, I had no results. Because of this, I had to create a paper copy of my questions and hand them round to a selection of boys and girls at college and then get them to, after completing the questionnaire, hand it back into me for me to physically look at the results. I feel that Survey Monkey was a complete waste of time, and I shall not be using at again to collect any results.
Social Media Sites
Finally, I used social media as another piece of software during my planning and research throughout the year. I used it firstly to contact people to see if they felt able to be a part of my music video, and also to get feedback on things I did, for example the first few drafts of my music video and my final ancillary texts. I contacted people through an app called Messenger, which was already downloaded onto my phone, and is connected to Facebook. Although contact through Messenger is fast, I do believe that it is not the most reliable, as, if a message is sent and someone's phone is turned off, that message will not get delivered until the phone is turned on, and they will not get a notification through to say that they have a message, meaning that, although it is quick, it may not be the most reliable form of contact.
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