Dear Moderator,
My name is Jennifer Hutton and this is my blog; it contains all of the work undertaken as part of the G324 A2 Coursework Portfolio Unit within the OCR course in Media Studies.
I chose to work in a group with Joe Burn to produce a promo package to the track "Little Black Submarines" by the American alternative rock band 'The Black Keys'. The project lasted four months, commencing in September 2013 and finishing in February 2014.

I hope you enjoy my work and find it enthralling and interesting.

Please use the navigation pages above to access my work, as organised in: Research, Planning, Construction, Final Products and Evaluation.

Yours Thankfully
Jennifer Hutton

WIX EVALUATION

Click on the image above to be taken to our wix website presentation of our evaluation.

QUESTION 1

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

 

This is question 1 of our evaluation, relating to conventions, whether we chose to challenge or follow them. By using a green screen we were able to show the video behind ourselves to show exactly what were were talking about, this saved time during editing and also shows a good use of digital technology.

QUESTION 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

 

This is a video including the audience interviews concerning the music video. At the end of this video we have answered the question in an interview form regarding what we have learned.

QUESTION 4

We had to start somewhere, so before familiarizing ourselves with more advanced media technologies we made sure we were familiar with the basics. These include;

Microsoft Office - We used the programs within Microsoft Office as 'default' ways of presenting our work. PowerPoint and Word allowed us to present our work simply and easily before we attempted to use more intricate presentation programs such as Prezi and Glogster.

Google Chrome - Searching the Internet was a must for our research. Our chosen browser was Google Chrome, as it is fast reliable and easy to use.

Blogger - The backbone of our technological entourage, we used this website to make an accessible collective of all of our work. The program allowed us to create a blog, edit it's look and create subtitles in order to better arrange our work.

Apple Macintosh - We needed a piece of hardware on which we could use our software and the Apple Macintosh machines were available in our college. We chose to use this over a PC due to it being crafted for educational and creative purposes.

The track we decided to use 'Little Black Submarines' was available in the iTunes store, which we purchased for 99p. We then added it to the iTunes app on our computer at college, which allowed us to store the file and use it in other applications, such as Final Cut Express HD in which we needed the track to create our music video.

We have used Twitter to ask for permission from The Black Keys and their record label to use their track "Little Black Submarines."  We also uploaded our video to this site to gain some audience feedback for another evaluation question.

Prezi and Glogster were useful throughout the project. These two formats of presentation are both web based and very useful due to their ease of accessibility and the boost of presentation when coming to make the evaluations and even if we just want to spruce up a blog post.

Both have many useful features, such as allowing users to add videos, photos and sound, as well as having many animations and images that make the presentations more eye catching. This fixes the audience's attention to the presentation, as many audience members may be very intrigued by how the Prezi or Glogster looks.We have chosen to use these alternative forms of presenting our work in order to diversify the way our blog looks.

We used google docs when obtaining information on our primary audience research so we could create a questionnaire to send to our target audience. Another feature of Google docs is that it creates graphs from the feedback when have received in which we can then clearly present on our blog in a way that is clearly understandable.

The construction element of our project was controlled by final cut and Photoshop. The final digipak and advert were created in Photoshop and the final music video was created on final cut express.

In our research, we often used Microsoft office to present our work. This is because we were most comfortable using this type of software for resenting our work in the earlier stages of the project. We occasionally used Prezi for our work and to upload it to Blogger we used Google Chrome. We usually stuck with the basics during research.

While  planning our music video we used an array of technologies. We used Twitter to get permission from the band to use their song for our music video. Again we used Microsoft Office (Word and PowerPoint) to present a lot of our work rather than just writing it on our blogs as  a post. We planned the structure of our music video by making storyboards then taking pictures of them using a camera to then add to our blog. to then add motion to our storyboards, we used final cut to turn them into an animatic and added music over the top, final cut allowed us to do this, then it was a case of uploading that to youtube then to our blogs. When creating our advert and digipak, we used photoshop to mess around with the layout to find its final form.

From looking at the combination of technologies we used, we can com to the conclusion that each of these technologies have helped us specifically in each of the stages; research, planning, construction and evaluation.

QUESTION 4

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

 

In this 'Prezi' we answered the question in the form of a presentation that is simple and easily read.

QUESTION 3 - Vox Pop Questions

This is a list of the questions we have specificity constructed in order to ask the interviewees about the music video and ancillary texts. To a certain extent they were based on media theory and conventions, for example the mention of narrative and whether the products contain all of the expected conventions. Other questions are just general, in order to display their opinions about the product.

1. Overall, what did you think of the music video?
2. Do you think it links in well with the alternative rock genre?
3. In your opinion does it like professional? Explain why. 
4. What did you think of the lip syncing? 
5. What did you think of the band's performance? 
6. What did you think of the narrative within the video? Did you understand it?
7. Do you think the visuals match the music, in particular the lyrics?
8. What did you think of the micro elements? Including camera, editing and mise en scene. 
9. What would you say are the strengths and weaknesses of the music video? 
10. What is your favourite part of the video?
11. What is your least favourite part of the video? 
12. What improvements would you make to our music video?

1. Overall, what did you think about the digipak, advert and logo?
2. What do you think makes them successful? Explain why.
3. What do you think of the band image portrayed in all products? 
4. Do they maintain a good link with the video? 
5. What do you think of the images used in the digipak and advert? 
6. Would you be attracted in a point of sales display? 
7. Do they contain any or all of the conventions you would expect? Which conventions are missing? 
8. Do you think they would work well with the music video in a promotional package? 
9. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the products? 
10. What would you say is your favourite part of the ancillary texts? 
11. What is your least favourite part of the ancillary texts? 
12. What improvements would you make to the ancillary texts?

QUESTION 3 - Social Networking

This screenshot shows our active work in trying to get audience feedback from a large variety of audience on twitter. Awaiting response. 

QUESTION 2

This is a written draft that contains all relevant media terminologies that apply to our ancillary texts. Me and Joe have created written drafts before our final drafts so we could get a good idea of the detail that will be going into the way we present it. Detail is just as important as presentation, for this reason I will ensure that the final draft will include more media terms as this is just the starting point to completing Question 2.

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.

DIGIPAK TEST 2

This second digipak test may seem the same to the first one, however this time I have created a new texture on photoshop and I added it to the background behind the CD. I have done this instead of using another image of the band as that may get repetitive. The texture adds body to the Digipak.

ADVERT TEST

This is an advert test to show the development of Joe and I's advert. This may be considered as our final advert. However, after the Christmas holidays, if there are any changes that need to be made we can focus on making it better. One issue that has been pointed out is that the magazine will be A4 and this advert is square, however I believe, from looking at other adverts, the magazine would work around us.

ADVERT ANALYSIS (The Stone Roses - Second Coming)

The magazine advert, shown to the left, for The Stone Roses' album 'Second Coming' is a simple, yet a straight to the point attention grabbing advert. The advert consists of four images, one of each band member, formed into one, to make it seem like a window and the audience are being given the opportunity to have an exclusive look at what the band are doing. This will excite the audience while grabbing their attention, this window image makes the audience want to know more and possible what they are looking upon in the window, what are they going to do next?

The simple black and white colour, highlights the critic review from Q Magazine showing an almost ostentatious yellow colour shouting that it has a five star rating.

When Joe and I come to create our own advert, we will consider a format such as this advert, as it fulfills all of the needs and uses of an advert while remaining so simple. I believe this to be a good idea as it doesn't need figuring out, the audience can straight away see what the advertisement is due to the simplicity of the layout.

The largest thing on the advert, is the name of the band, which when creating an advert I believe should be a kay feature as it shows the audience immediately who the advert is about and who it relates to. Also a key feature is the release date, which again is shown in large capital letters. This gives the audience all the information they need without having to look too much into it.

This advert also relates to its genre, Alternative Rock, by sticking to key conventions. This is mainly through the use of instruments visible in the images: Microphone, Bass, Drums and Electric Guitar. This highlights the performance aspect of the band, showing it is all their own music and also toput the band out there as 'talented'. This is a key feature when portraying Alternative Rock, showing the performance may also attract the audience to their music video is it is noticeable they play their own instruments.

In conclusion, The Stone Roses are quite a famous band for their time, therefore showing that this advert was in fact successful.

ADVERT INSPIRATION

I have created this mood board to give myself and Joe some form of idea of how we are going to create our advert. As seen in the inspirational images above, a lot of the adverts are front covers, which could argue the point of them being an advert. However, I believe that they are indeed an advert as it is advertising the band as well as any new album/single they may be bringing out at the time. All of the above images are related to Joe and I's chosen genre, Alternative Rock. By using band adverts from the same genre as what we have chosen, it allows us to get a better idea of how our advert should look when complete, even if it is a front cover advert. The inspiration Joe and I have gathered from this is that the main focus is the band itself, by showing them as the main focus of the advert, we are more likely to 'sell' the single is we get straight to the point, draw the audience in from the first look.

From analysing each of these images together, we have got a good idea of what image we are going to use and how to layout the advert.

PHOTOSHOOT PLANNING

When doing the photoshoot, Joe and I, thought it would be helpful to have some kind of guide or check-list of shots, so we decided to create one. This will help us as we will be able to work more efficiently and we will waste less time on deciding which shots to take on the day because they will already be planned. 

1. Portraits
A shot of the band members faces will be our foundation. One part of the digipak we are sure on is putting the faces of the band on the CD and we will tackle this shot first as it is essential for our digipak.

2. Full body shots of each band member
Although not on our digipak sketch, we realise that this kind of shot is very easy to take and we could use them alternatively instead of certain images on the digipak, or even use them for the advert.

3. Shots of all band members standing in a line from their left hand side
This picture is our initial idea for a front cover, however we are keeping an open mind and are not entirely sure about using this shot. We will get several snaps of this shot just in case though, as it could actually look good.

4. Shots of all band members standing in a line from their right hand side
The same shot as the one above, only from the opposite side, we will take this shot from different ranges as the shape of the garden allows us to. We cannot do this with the shot from the left hand side due to the fence being in the way and there for the shots from the left hand side may be favoured over those taken on the right. During these shots the band members will look in the same direction, to insinuate that we are looking at/for something.

5. Shots of all band members in a line from the front
Once again this shot will be taken but from a different angle. We will take the shot from different heights to see what effects we can create, such as making the band seem small or inferior by taking the shot from a high angle, or making the band seem dominating or more important by taking it from a low angle.

6. Shots of all band members in a line from the back
In this shot we plan to have the band looking at something. This means Joe and I must think of what the band could be looking at and we have a few ideas. If we were to put the construction light on while taking the photograph it may appear to be a star or fire. We will not know until we try taking the shot but I have high hopes for this particular shot.

From here we will improvise shots to add diversity to our portfolio of images. This will give us more choice when putting our digipak together, and leave us more room for experimentation.

We will get each shot using the flash on the camera and using the construction light we have access to in order to experiment with what lighting will look better. After a few shots we will likely come to a decision and stick with only one kind of lighting. We may also get similar shots but wiith instruments, however this depends on the availablity of each instrument on the day.

ADVERT SKETCH

This is the initial sketch for our magazine advertisement. This was drawn with the band as the prime focus, each member separate from each other to give each one individual recognition. My plan is to take individual photographs of each band member and use photoshop in order to combine the images and put each member onto a black background. Each band member will wear the same or similar clothes to what they wore for the performance. The title and band name will appear at the top of the advertisement while 'OUT NOW' will appear in capitals to grab the audiences attention.

However this may take up too much time and cause us to be late for our deadline, and may have to use one of the shots we took with the camera at the photo-shoot instead. However I believe that the one photoshoot that we did was sufficient as the prime focus is the band and we got a variety of shots that we will easily be able to use.