Because this shoot would take a short amount of time with little hassle and little equipment. This PMA was made very briefly however it is necessary for my group to know about the shoot beforehand.
Category Archives: Component 3
Digipak Mock Up
As already recognized from previous research and analysis of CD covers from this genre, due to it being in a niche sub-market of music, the content of the media is guaranteed to vary between bands and there are different aims for each of them, therefore achieving our audience’s preferred reading (Hall) will be more difficult, however, our repertoire of elements (Altman) which we have decided to include is dependent on the research which we have conducted of our own audience. This mock-up that my group has designed features an overall grunge aesthetic, with grain and scratch overlay, a sans serif font that reads the album name, a serif font with an augmented look for the band name, with a pop-art like, altered image in the centre instead of a band which is conventional to the genre. The background is a heavily altered image of an eye, which could be distinguished by the audience and analyzed.
For our future drafts of this CD cover, my group will need to change the image in the middle and replace it with our own photos to avoid copyright. We will also need to change the font for the artist’s name to make it more appropriate for the genre.
Digipak Conventions Analysis
For this task, I analyzed the conventions of a CD cover of a Deftones album, although the genre does not perfectly match, the qualities of the cover are still conventional to our chosen genre. This is so that I can further understand appropriate conventions for my own cover and so I can know when to deem it acceptable to show to the audience.
Even though the repertoire of elements may not be the same for each band’s CD covers, I have built up a suitable knowledge of CD cover conventions and I can now understand what the effect is of each element. I can take ideas from this research and alter them to create a professional-looking cover that is unique and stands out.
Draft 4
We have utilised this draft to include more frequent, but brief and conventional narrative shots. As a draft, the addition of special effects had been postponed as our attention was focused on finalising a raw and soundly edited sequence at the same time as perfecting our editing skills.
Peer Feedback
- ‘To begin with I think the MES fits the genre well. The dark colours of clothing helps establish this gloomy and alternative form of music that gives this grungy/punk vibe to the performers. I like how in the narrative the actor is wearing just a basic outfit being plain white tee-shirt and denim trousers as it reflects that this boy has insecurities and a lack of identity so these clothes help him almost blend in so he does not feel judged by bringing notice to himself’
- ‘I also like the low key lighting in the performance yet again illustrating a dreary atmosphere. I like the bright overexposed sort of lighting when the actor is walking around in the yard reflecting when he is outside he is feeling exposed and everything for him has become almost dizzy, flustering and dreamy for him as he is lost and feeling overwhelmed’
- ‘I think the acting is really good and the performer shows a lot of passion making it super convincing that he is the real singer’
- ‘The use of the broken mirror was an excellent choice to convey this boy is feeling insecure. I think using the yard was confusing at first but then I noticed it made a lot of sense with the lyrics and was very clever’
- For the performing shoot I think the room has a dark feel to it with the blue stained glass and the broken light above. The shots were steady and the variety of distances, angles and movement was very good and flowed well with the music’
- ‘I would say the start image was okay but the singer is the main indicator you listen out for when listening to alternative indie therefore the singer needed their costume to stand out slightly more as the base guitarist and lead singer both were wearing similar black clothing whereas the drummer had a white tee-shirt on which makes him stand out which may have been a good thing for like a heavy metal song where the drummer has a lot more significance and isn’t such a simple sequence for them’
- ‘I would also say that it would be nicer to see some other transitions’
- ‘Lastly my biggest thing is I think you need to include more narrative shots in your music video as of now it is a little to much of performance and not a clear enough storyline, there feels to be a big chunk during the middle that needs to be broken up by some narrative shots just in order to make the video a little less repetitive and I also believe although you can gather the main message of the storyline from the few clips I think it needs to be developed a little further at least’
- ‘Some of the lip sync was visibly out of sync and some of the lighting during the shots of the whole band would of been a little bit better but overall it was really great’
- ‘None of your clips drag on, they are all nice quick shots. The shots also have a good range of angles and distances. It isn’t boring and the movement in the clips fit together very well. Near the end, you have some shaky transitional effects that look really cool and effective. You have some shots with good angles and lighting’
- ‘I don’t understand the narrative. What’s the story behind the main character? Has he been through a breakup? If so, I like the cracked mirror, it gives the impression the cover star feels broken too… Why is there a guy walking around miserable outside- is he part of the story?’
- ‘There’s a few shots that are blurry, I think some of these are on purpose, but it looks like some should be a better quality to me. Specifically one near the start, or the shots of the second guitar playing out of focus’
For us to understand the audiences’ perspective of an analysis of the music video, we had received feedback from peers. Frequently mentioned within the feedback, the draft lacked meaning in the narrative and a lack of narrative shots restricted the meaning being portrayed. As we have a lack of overall narrative shots, we are not able to create more meaning. The lack of narrative shots can possibly be used as a denotation itself and add a layer of mystery to the story, as some feedback displays a level of interest in to the narrative such as; ‘What’s the story behind the main character’ which is questioned due to the ‘cracked mirror’. This feedback has given my group and me great insights in to what we can include in our final product and do to resolve any criticisms.
The Look Book – The Package
5 key descriptors which I have formulated on the back of the research to encapsulate the brand include:
- Identifiability
- Dynamism
- Desire
- Vibrance
- Grunge
Our Mission Statement – The Package Brand
Because our digipak revolves around the band from our music video, and the media we will be creating will not likely be in a video format, we need to develop and reinforce a solid and sound star image that the audience is able to relate to in the same ways of the music video. Using effective marketing strategies to be able to spread brand image and awareness using conventional advertising will enable the audience to do this.
For us to make suitable photo format media, we first need to understand and be able to answer the simple question ‘who is our audience?’. From research on similar bands, we gained knowledge of the audience’s demographics and psychographics, giving us a good idea of how to design suitable media and give a call to action through denotations.
When creating any media, the producer must consider Blumler and Katz’s theory. Because our genre is niche and considered to be more underground, guerilla advertising as a use for marketing our brand will give our audience a sense of entertainment. Our band will act as iconized figures providing information and a sense of self-identity from relatable media content. Our band will also be likely to have a bias towards live concerts and gigs furthermore providing entertainment and also social interaction.
In addition to recognizing the audience, any producer should also take notice of any competition. We have identified similar artists and analyzed their social media pages and discography, with them usually having detailed album covers that are all unique in their own way. They all contain a story behind them and the creators have left denotations. In terms of their social media posts, they are always visually pleasing and aesthetic, and the language used in comments is quite upfront.
The unique selling point of our band is the portraying of emotion through all of our products with the passion that the band has, this is so that we can stay connected to our audience by having something in common. The media that the band produces has the purpose of making a positive difference to the lives of the audience and it is most effective through emotion and social interactions with energy.
Draft 3
For the feedback for the third draft of my group’s music video, we were granted the opportunity to receive valuable feedback and editing tips in a 1-to-1 conversation with a creative artist from Specsavers. This is the feedback we were given:
- We need to implement a larger variety of narrative shots for us to be able to keep the audience attracted and to add to the thematic aspect of the music video
- We were demonstrated how to create certain overlays which would be conventional to our genre
- We were shown how to colour-correct the clips which allow the music video to look more smooth and consistent
- We had also been shown how to create an effect of model duplication showing an emphasis on passing time which we were planning to use previously as it can be convenient for themes and issues
This feedback given by the creative artist was greatly helpful and we will make sure to use their tips to better the standard in preparation for our final draft.
In addition to the short-lasting conversation, we were also given feedback from a screencastify made by our teacher to reflect on.
Draft 2
This is my group’s second music video draft with the addition of a small selection of shots from our narrative shoot. Because the narrative shoot not going exactly to plan, there are deficiencies in sufficient material to use at this stage of editing. Due to the problematic situation, we agreed that it would be more conventionally accurate if we were to make the music video more performance-driven, this would also allow us to avoid spending time inefficiently editing the narrative section and focus on increasing the quality of the performance. In this draft, there are still areas which need to be worked on in order to achieve a more conventional outcome with a more visually pleasing experience.
4 things that went well
- Performers in the video are acting in an authentic and professional manner giving a convincing result
- The lipsyncing from the singer is edited correctly and is timed perfectly
- A large variety of shots and distances
- All clips are edited well to the rhythm and pace of the song
4 things that could be improved
- Narrative is incoherent and lacks depth
- Shot quality varies throughout the music video resulting in some inconistencies
- No use of effects or filters – no colour correction
- Still room for more shots to be included and added into the video
By making myself a self-assessment document with the key areas to making a music video, both I and my group will be able to see what areas we are excelling in, what stage we are realistically at and what we can do to improve. For this draft’s self-assessment, I have filled in the table with a modest approach as in this stage of the creation of our music video, we do not yet know if what is presented at this stage is the best it can be and therefore, in future drafts, we can come back to this and see whether we have made great improvements or not.
Teacher feedback
Performance
- Great, consistent overall footage
- To create a better connection to the song, cut to the lead singer more often during the chorus to add better focus on the lyrics
- Try to cut out shots which contain the microphone wires and stand getting in the way of the lead singer
- Amplify the energy of the upbeat areas to increase the focus
Narrative
- The narrative section is deprived and more footage needs to be included
- Spread out the narrative shots as they are clustered
- Jump cut into the outside location
- Shots are good but they need to pull back in to focus
- The whole narrative needs to focus thematically to convey the genre, there is a lack in the sense of a theme in our narrative and we need to improve on certain areas to become more conventional
It has become apparent, from the evaluation of this draft, that we need to gather more editing skills to be able to add conventional effects in order to make the outcome of the next draft more thematic and conventional to the genre. For our next draft, we will aim to add more narrative shots throughout the whole video evenly, add suiting effects and attempt to make the sequence of the music video clean and aesthetically pleasing for our audience.
Shoot 2 Reflection (Narrative)
Because my group did not have a well-structured plan for our narrative storyline which was far-fetched from the inability to gather the right proxemics, this shoot did not go exactly to plan which halted some of the shots we had intended to use to bring meaning to the narrative. Despite our mistakes, we did manage to bring the most necessary props and we collected a variety of sufficient shots. Due to the fact that we weren’t able to capture all of the planned shots, we decided it would be better for us to implement more performance shots than narrative shots, and have the music video be primarily focused on the performance of the band, which is also conventionally accurate to the genre.
What went well:
- The use of the adjustment of lighting brought us great outcomes, having the light either create lens flare or highlight certain objects
- Themes and issues were conveyed well through acting, props and framing
- Everyone was punctual which led to efficiency throughout the shoot
- Seems transport was provided allowing us to access shoot locations efficiently
What could’ve gone better:
- We should’ve planned the shoot earlier which would have granted us access to the props which were missing
- The clothing used was too bland to portray much meaning
- We could’ve chosen a more authentic location, rather than a house, to portray more meaning
- More shots could’ve been taken to give us a greater choice to use whilst editing
Even though the narrative shoots did not go exactly to plan, we still ended up having a good selection of conventional shots and any dull or unconventional shots can be abated with effects during the stage of editing.
Video Narrative Photo Board/Shot list
For everyone in my group to be able to discuss in terms of MES and strategies, we formed this shot list and mood board showing all shots we plan to use with our narrative. Because we, as a group are making a music video for the pop punk genre, we need to take conventional shots which portray emotion especially as the narrative section of the music video will be fairly brief. Our plan is to use multiple types of shots to capture different parts of the narrative giving the audience a large number of denotations to decipher in a small number of comprehensive shots. In addition to the shorter section of the narrative, the performance and filler shots will ensure a successful end product and enhance the audience’s viewing experience and enjoyment.