QUESTION 2 - Final

How effective is the combination of your product and ancillary texts?

I have presented the answer to question 2 as a glogster, which is a form of digital canvas, giving a form of poster answer. To view the answer effectively, make the "glog" full screen by clicking the button in the top right corner (Esc can be used to exit full screen mode).  I have used arrows to link up the text to the relevant image or video of ancillary text in which I hope is easy to understand.
I have produced two Glogsters, the first discussing each ancillary text and the second discussing the narrative and how they all link together.

QUESTION 1 (Written Draft)

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

When creating our music video we tried to stick to conventions, challenging them when necessary. In our chosen genre, alternative rock, there are fewer conventions than in many other genres, allowing us to be flexible due to it being ‘alternative’.

When selecting the costumes for our actors during performance, we had the band wear everyday clothing, but tried to focus on dull colours such as greys and dark blues to follow conventions of the genre. However we attempted to challenge conventions by having one of the band members (Joe) wearing sweat pants, instead of jeans. This effort to challenge conventions was particularly gentle, as we stuck to the colour palette we aimed for, and wearing different leg-wear isn’t something that would make a massive impact on the audience. 

We used a dark setting, which is a convention in most alternative rock music videos such as ‘The Importance of Being Idol’ by Oasis and ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ by Nirvana. We used these music videos for inspiration for the mise-en-scene, as we believe them to be influential music videos within the alternative rock genre. However we used a construction light to illuminate the stage and highlight the band.

Often in alternative rock music videos the main aim is to boast the artistry or ‘musicianship’ of the band. We have followed this convention by adding several close ups and extreme close ups of each band member playing their instruments to emphasize their musical talent. We added close ups and extreme close ups of the lead singer, lead guitarist, drummer and keyboardist playing their respective instruments when they were most prominent within the song.   

We also followed the convention of alternative rock videos in which half of the footage is performance and the other half is narrative, being alternated between each other.  We did not want to challenge this convention as the structure of the music video is very important and the simple method of alternating between the two and keeping their ratio roughly even is the best way to structure an alternative rock music video in my opinion.

We made sure that the shots kept up with the pace of the songs, having shots of a slow pace of edit during the acoustic parts of the song and quicker paced shots when the beat picks up. This ensures that what the audience hears matches what they see. This is conventional throughout alternative rock music videos as well as those from other genres.

We attempted to bring more attention to the lead singer, a convention often used in the alternative rock genre along with most others. As well as focusing on the lead singer by having him mime the song and adding a larger ratio of footage of him compared to the other band members, we also had him wear a red hoodie under his coat in order to bring attention to him during shots in which all of the band are performing.

FINAL ADVERT

This mine and Joe's final advert piece. The original advert was square but we had to change it to and A4 layout.
The mise-en-scene on this advert we found appropriate as when looking at the alternative rock genre, the dark and mysterious look we found the most common when looking at a large selection of alternative rock adverts. We have included the basics of an advert just as websites etc. rather than overloading the page with little icons irrelevant to our work.
The singular image used is an effective form of cinematography due to the band looking straight at the camera, giving the effect that they are staring straight at the audience.
In conclusion I am happy with Joe and I's advert and that it would be a successful advert if actually published.

FINAL DIGIPAK

Please find here the finished digipak and disc which has also been produced as part of the final product. 

In my and Joe's opinion, the most effective section of the digipak is the back cover because of the photo and how is stands out with the use of the light, highlighting the message 'there is always a light at the end of the tunnel'.

FINAL CUT (Little Black Submarines)

The same problem has occurred when uploading this final cut to YouTube as to what happened to our Rough Cut 2. The YouTube server has knocked our video out of sync. When watching our video on final cut it was perfectly in time but for some reason I can not explain why it has been moved about 1/4 of a second out of sync.



Final Cut from Joe Burn on Vimeo.

If the YouTube video is out of sync, please use this option. Vimeo is occasionally in sync, the syncing improves as the video goes on.