My final production

Dear Examiner,

Below is my final production for my A2 media studies music video. This blog contains all of my pre production, production and post production research to contribute to my final piece.

My DVD cover

This is the final version of my DVD cover. I produced this DVD cover on Microsoft publisher. I did not use Photoshop as i felt it was very time consuming as I was unaware on how to use the different functions. This DVD cover has a very dull colour scheme of greys and black and white. I chose less vibrant colours because I believe it reflects the mood of my production. This image I chose for my DVD is of the main actor Jazz. I chose this picture of Jazz because it engages the audience due to the eye contact Jazz is making. 

Overall, I believe this DVD cover has been very successful. This is because I have included different songs,  a bar code and copy write text to make the DVD cover look as realistic and effective as possible which links in with my overall production. 

My website

This is our link to our final completed website for one of our ancillary texts. We made this website on 'Wix'. This was a fairly easy website to use to produce a website for our music video. This is because he had many choices of templates to help us get started, and it even narrowed it down to choosing whether the website was for a sole artist or a group. We felt this was very useful and we were able to use the different icons to our best ability. This website allowed us to upload, crop and edit photos which we included on our website in order to link it to our music video as much as possible.

To conclude, I am very happy with the outcome of our website made on 'Wix'. Below is the link for the website for our music video:

http://meerock10.wix.com/usesomebody

Evaluation question 1

This is Question 1 of our evaluation. This question has been answered by using our final production and editing in examples of other films to back up our points. This helps to show how we have researched real media products in order to contribute to our final production.

We produced Question one of our evaluation by using our production and editing in examples using the Serif Movie Plus editing site. We then did a voice over of Emma and myself explaining why we chose specific shots and how effective they were.

We felt this question has been answered effectively due to our product research in pre production so we were aware of how effective shots and colour etc were in our production.

Below is the video of our completed Question 1 of our evaluation:

Evaluation question 2

To answer my evaluation question 2, I did this in the form of a Prezi document. 

Evaluation question 3

Evaluation question 4

Question 4 Evaluation

This is our completed Question 4 of our evaluation. We chose to answer this question in a powerpoint as i feel it displays the technology we used throughout our production effectively. From answering this question, i became aware that we used many different technologies to contribute to our final production. It also allowed me to realise how my use of technology has developed since AS media studies. This is because I have used more advanced technology, for example recording equipment. As well as this, I feel I have developed my use and knowledge of technology and used it as effectively as possible to contribute to my final production. 

Below is my completed Question 4 of my evaluation:

Idea of evaluation question 4

Question 4 of my evaluation is 'How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?'

After analysing this question, I have recognised that I need to discuss all media technologies in which I have used in my pre production and post production. This could include the camera, the editing site, Blogger, mobile phones and recording equipment.

In order to answer this question I plan to produce a power point presentation.

Idea of evaluation question 3

Question 3 of my evaluation is 'What have you learned from your audience feedback?'

In order to answer this question for my evaluation, I will need to gather audience feedback. To do this I plan to produce a questionnaire. This is so that I can hand my questionnaire out to people who will be willing to watch my final production.

For my Question 2 evaluation, I plan to film many people answering different questions I ask them and editing it on Serif Movie plus.

The type of questions I plan on asking include:

1. What did you feel were the strengths of my music video?
2. Did my soundtrack relate to the actual video?
3. Did my music video appeal to the target audience of teenagers? If so, how?
4. What were the weaknesses in my music video?
5. Did you understand the story line clearly?
6. Would you recommend our music video for other people to watch?

Gathering audience feedback will therefore enable me to produce an analysis and see whether my production was successful or not. I will also gain an understand of what i could improve for the next time and what was the most effective. As well as this, it will give me a better understanding about whether this music video appealed to my target audience. 

Idea of evaluation question 2

Question 2 of my evaluation is 'How effective is the combination of your main product or ancillary texts?

From my understanding, I believve this question is asking me to explain how my main product and ancillary texts link in together. I can explain how I have used negative/dull colours in my main product as well as on my DVD cover. I can also explain how my website links in with the main product because they both show the main actor. 

Idea of evaluation question 1

Below is the following question I will need to answer in order to form an evaluation.

Question 1 of my evaluation: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

This question suggests to me that i need to compare elements of my media product such as my camera shots. In my question i will explain how i used different shots within my product to demonstrate certain feelings, i will then compare these shots to real media products. An example of this could be me stating that at the beginning of my music video i used an establishing shot. This establishing shot showed the location i chose to us. I will continue to explain that throughout my research leading up to production of my music video I learnt that an establishing shot was important to show where the story was taking place so it sets the scene and mood of the product more. For example, in 'The Shining' they used areal establishing shot of the environment where the story is taking place. This shot indicates loneliness and isolation, and how separated the character is from the others.

Below are the different establishing shots featured in 'The Shining'. 

I can then lead on to say that to introduce my main character i used a range of close up shots. This is to allow the audience to focus on just the main characters face so that they can have a better understanding on how the character is feeling. In our production we used close up shots of Jazz to show she is isolated and lonely. This is because close up shots show the most detail, and are effective when you wish to show the emotions of a character. During my research, I noticed that in the film _________ they used close up shots a number of times.

After analysing this question, I believe the most appropriate way to answer this question would be through a directors commentary. This is because it would allow me to pause each relevant section on my music video so that i can discuss it and compare it to other real media conventions. 

Research of DVD covers for music videos

For one of my Ancillary texts, I am required to produce my own DVD cover for my music video. To help give me ideas, I researched different DVD covers for music. I believe researching this benefited me because it allowed me to gain a better understanding of what I would like my DVD cover to look like and what I think looks the most effective. Researching DVD covers also enabled me to see what is included on them, for example, a bar code, songs on the back and copyright writing. 

This is a DVD cover which I found very interesting. This is because I feel that the close up of the face is very attention grabbing, and the bold, red text stands out. The front of the cover looks very simple but effective. On the back of the DVD cover, it shows the different songs which shows it is a music DVD. Overall, i like this DVD cover because it is simple but stands out. 

This is another DVD cover which I researched. It stood out to me due to the contrasting colours. This is because on the front page I like the white bold text and black background. 

Planning my DVD cover

Below is a picture of the age rating guidelines for films. I felt that it was very important to find out about the different age rating guidelines so that I could give my DVD cover the correct age rating. The target audience for my music video is for teenagers. Due to this, I have given my DVD cover for 'Use somebody' an age rating of 12A. I gathered all of the age rating information from the BBFC. The web link is below :

BBFC http://www.bbfc.co.uk/ 

The BBFC is based in the UK and provides age ratings for films and videos. They have the legal right to rate, cut or occasionally reject work. I found this website very useful and reliable so i was correctly able to rate my music video. 

Below is a picture showing the age rate guidelines: 

Recording the song

In our music production, we planned that we would use Jazz to record her own acoustic version of 'Use Somebody'. We felt that using Jazz's version and recording it would develop our technical skills and overall improve our music production. In order to record the song, we set up a keyboard, microphone and a mixing/recording desk. Below is a picture of the set up. 

The overall process took around 3 hours. This is because it took around half an hour to set up the equipment, an hour to rehearse the song, and the remaining time to record different versions she made for the track 'Use Somebody'. 

Below is a picture showing two different CD's which contained many of the songs we recorded. We recorded many versions so that we could pick from the best and see which version we preferred. 

Firstly, we recorded the piano backing track of the song which Jazz played. This is so that Jazz was able to sing along with the music. We then recorded different versions of the piano, different tempos and timings until we decided on one which would fit best in our music video and with Jazz's singing. 

We felt that it was very important to find the best tempo of the music. This is because we wanted a very slow tempo to set the scene of sadness and isolation. This would help us find the right rhythm to create the feeling we wanted for the pace of the video.

Below is a shot showing Jazz recording the piano sound track. 

Casting

It is vital that me and Emma select the correct cast to be involved in our music production. This is because if we gather people who may not be very serious, motivated and committed to our filming dates, then it could result in us producing a music video to a lower standard due to the cast that we chose. To represent our main character for our music video we chose Jasmine Flowers. We decided Jazz would suit our role of an isolated school girl for a number of reasons. 

One of the main  reasons why we believe Jazz is suitable for the main character is because she studied performing arts and music. This means that she is very enthusiastic and is a good singer and dancer as well as a good actor. Jazz's qualities have allowed us to have a high standard of acting which would improve the outcome of our music video. 

Another reason why we chosen Jazz to be our main actor was because she was able to produce her own cover of 'use somebody' by Kings of Leon. This was produced in the style of Pixie Lott's acoustic version. We recorded Jazz singing this song as her house, where she was most comfortable and where the recording equipment was. We believe that Jazz's own version of 'Use somebody' as our soundtrack will be very effective as it is in a slower version, which will help set the tone of the music video. Also, producing our own soundtrack will show that we put a lot of effort into making our music production to our best ability. 

One other reason why she chose Jazz as our main actor is because she is 16 years old. This means that she is in the same age group as our target audience (students). This would allow many people to relate to actor, and maybe some relate to the main story line of our music production. 

Below is a picture of our main actor Jazz. 

To conclude, I believe that Jazz will be very effective to use as our main actor due to reasons stated above. I believe that Jazz's confidence will allow us to gather lots of good shots from when she is acting. Jazz is also very reliable so we can rely on Jazz to turn up when we plan a day for filming. I believe that all of Jazz's qualities will enable us to make a good music production. 

Filming Jazz sing in drama

On the 15th April, we filmed our final scene. This scene was of our main actor (Jazz) singing 'Use Somebody' on the piano. In order to film here, we had to ask a drama teacher for permission. 

We are filming this scene because we feel that it is a positive ending. This is because throughout the music video Jazz has been seen as isolated and lonely in her new school. In the music video it shows Jazz writing song lyrics and practicing the piano. This final scene concludes how it is more positive as she is doing something which she enjoys. This almost lifts the atmosphere towards the end of the music video as the audience would be happy for her. 

The location we chose to film this music video is in the schools drama studio. We chose this location because it is perfect lighting. This is because we were able to have a spotlight on Jazz so that the audience on focus on her playing the piano and singing. We felt that the drama studio was also useful because we were able to get high angle shots of Jazz playing the piano due to a platform in the room which is where the lighting is controlled.

Below is a picture of Jazz singing and playing the piano with the spotlight shining on her. We felt that this was a significant shot to use because it shows she is now center of attention , compared to being lonely and looked down on throughout the music video. In this picture it also shows our laptop being used. This laptop played the acoustic soundtrack of 'Use Somebody' which we had used in our production. This enabled Jazz to sing to the song. We then kept pausing the song and changing angles of our camera shots. In our final production, we used the song we recorded beforehand using special recording equipment and just used the shots of Jazz singing. This therefore resulted in Jazz miming. 

This is another shot of us filming Jazz in the drama studio.

We feel that this scene will be effective because it shows many different camera angles of Jazz. Also i feel that the contrast of the lighting draws in the audience. I particularly like the use of the dark room and spotlight focusing just on Jazz.

Attempt of filming in whole school assembly

In order to make our actor look as isolated as possible, we thought it would be very effective to gather a shot of Jazz in the whole school assembly. Our main idea was to have a camera at the front of the sports hall facing everybody sat down. We would then focus on Jazz sat lonely, on her own in the sports hall as everybody was leaving. Myself and Emma felt this would be very effective to include in our production because it symbolises Jazz's isolation and loneliness as everybody is leaving the hall. We planned to fast forward or use the shot as a time lapse. However, when we filmed the shot we felt that it was not as successful as anticipated. This is because students and teachers spoke to Jazz when she was sat on her own whilst we were filming. This resulted in Jazz appearing less isolated. Sadly, we did not get another opportunity to re-shoot the scene due to our time scale of filming. If we had another opportunity to re shoot this scene, we would ensure that everybody is aware that we are filming and that we would like nobody to communicate with Jazz, our main actor. 

Below are some of the clips we gathered:

In order to overcome our problem, we decided to film Jazz in a year 12 and 13 assembly. This is because we believe it will have a similar affect as there are a lot of people which would emphasise Jazz's loneliness.

Jazz's photo shoot

Today we took many photos of our main actor Jazz. We took these photos so that we could form a photo album on our website we are making for one of our ancillary texts. 

To make our pictures look even more effective, we then edited the photos in different effects. These affects include black and white, a faded, more subtle colour and an affect which increases the contrast. 

Many of these photos were displayed on our website we made on 'Wix'. We used them as the website background, as well as involving them in photo albums and general pictures on the different pages on our website. 

I particularly like this photo to, as I believe that it is very effective with the sun shining on the photo.  the eye contact also engages the audience. 

To the left is a long shot of Jazz. This long shot could show that she is alone and has nobody around her, which signifies her loneliness in the music video.

Working on our website

In my lesson today I have been working on our website using 'Wix'.  The website is one of our chosen ancillary texts and i have found it very enjoyable to make. In today's lesson, i focused on ensuring that all of the text was in the same font. This is because i believe it will make the website look scruffy if we had many different fonts.

Below are screenshots of each page on our website.

 On the left is our main cover page for our website. We chose this picture so that it will stand out to the audience, with just a simple text showing the song name and the artist. We also reduced the contrast on the picture so the colours are colder, as i believe the colder colours signify the negative mood at the beginning of our music production. 

On the website, I also wrote an article about our artist and music. This text involves me explaining about the music video we have produced. I chose this picture of Jazz playing the piano as I believe it is relevant to the text we have written about. 

This is a page on our website showing the tour dates. However, this page is not yet completed. This is because we would like to change the colour of the background so it fits in with the rest of the backgrounds on our website. 

Props to use in our production

In our production, we plan to use a piano as a prop. We chose a piano because we feel that it links in with the backing song of our production. Also, the music video is based on our main actor who is isolated and lonely. We used the piano to suggest that the piano comforts her and shows her emotions through music.

We also showed the main actor carrying around a ruck sack. This was to suggest to the audience that it is based in a school environment and make it clear to the audience she is a school pupil. This would therefore help our target audience (teenagers) to notice she is a school pupil so that they can relate to her emotions. Below is an example of the bag we used in our production.

Creating the website

We used the website 'Wix' 

Below is a screen shot of the website. The website allowed us to choose the correct category we would like our website to be about. We chose music, and then 'solo artist'. This screen shot shows that it allows us to pick the template of the website that we would like. 

Below are screen shots of a rough edit of our website. We chose this picture of the main actor because I believe it will give an impression to the audience that the song highlights her isolation and loneliness. 

We plan to take photos of Jazz which we can also put on our website. This is because the picture we used in our rough edit of the website is a shot from our production. We aim to get professional looking photos of Jazz on her own to show her isolation or playing an instrument. 

Editing the colour

Colour plays a large role in video or film making. This is because the specific colour will help to set the scene of the production and the tone of the mood. An example of this could be using warm colours in a happy scene. However, if you are editing a horror film then you should use darker colours and reduce the saturation.

Below is a video showing the effects colour treatment has on films and videos:

When we began to edit our different shots, we felt that the colour of the sequence was very important. This is because the colour can help set the scene and emphasise the feelings which we would like to imply to the audience. In our sequence, we began to reduce the saturation and brightness so that the colours looked colder and darker. This will emphasise the negative feelings within the music video to show the characters isolation. Towards the end of the production we will plan on slowly increasing the saturation as the sequence goes on. This is because towards the end of the music video it shows the main character becoming less isolated.