Final Music Video:

Auxiliary 2 - My Final Poster

Here is my final poster for my second auxiliary task, there is also a draft saved on the blog aswell so you can see the brainstorm in comparison to the final result.

Final Website - Auxilary 1

Here is a link to the draft of my website, it is not completely finished as we haven't as yet finished the music video, and I would still like to get some more photos to add to the slidshow part of my website. But for the moment, this is what I have completed until we finish the video.

http://10mitchelljess.wix.com/hattiechadwickmusic

Homepage 

Gallery Page 

Contact Page 

News Feed Page 

About Hattie

Store and Cart Page

Auxillary: Final Advert

I received feedback that I needed to include some reviews, so I included two: one from NME and the other from Rolling Stone. I feel that when looking at past examples I have met the criteria for a magazine advert.

So here is my final advert:

Evaluation - Question 1

I still need to add screen shots of my video and auxiliary tasks as evidence and will hopefully have this done in the next few days!

Evaluation - Question 2

Axillary: My Website

Here's my link :) 
http://incognitoproductions.wix.com/hattiechadwick

Evaluation - Question 4

There was music playing in the back round but I don't think it was allowed to be used on YouTube die to copyright, which is a pain. But I will try uploading to Vimeo and see if that is any different.

Evaluation: Question 1

Evaluation: Question 2

Evaluation: Question 3

Evaluation: Question 4

This is my podcast for question 4 of my evaluation :)

Evaluation: Question 4

Here is the script for my question 4:

Question 4

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

Research

Throughout the research stages, I have used a variety of different technologies to expand my knowledge and increase the depth at which I have researched to aid me in looking at music videos, the structure, storyline and how this represents many different groups. The first piece of technology that was essential to my research, was  my mac and the iMac’s that were in the classroom. Without these I would not be able to access simple programs such as word, powerpoint or even the internet to help me with my research. Something as simple as my phone was useful in the fact I had access to internet with good signal but also there was the app Blogger which you could download. This meant that I was able to blog from somewhere such as my sofa, quick and easy without the fuss of having to carry around a laptop to discuss the research I had carried out. Blogger, became an essential part of the researching stage of this project as it meant that I could put all of my findings in each place. I could also incorporate other technologies such as Prezi and youtube videos to make my blog much more fun and aesthetically pleasing to look at. Google was an important technology that I used as it helped me explore the History of Music videos and analyse which were considered controversial at the time. Youtube was one of the most significant websites that I used within my research, with an hour of footage being uploaded every second it gave me an extensive library of footage to analyse. All music videos by every available artist is uploaded onto this website which meant I had no trouble finding the most controversial, popular and newest videos to take inspiration from when creating my music video. Survey Monkey, a survey creating website allowed me to expand my knowledge of what my target audience would like to find within a music video. I got detailed responses from over 60 people which gave me a good overview of what to do and what not to do within my music video to make it a success. Social media was an important aspect of my research as it enabled me to release my ideas out into the open and gain audience feedback for it. Twitter and Facebook were useful when I posted my survey onto them to gain knowledge of my audience as it gave me a broad range of people I could contact. Finally, Prezi was an interesting piece of software which I used to put all of my final 3 ideas for my music video into, it works similar to a slideshow but is far more whizzy and you can even go on ‘journeys’ within your presentation. 

Planning

Youtube again here was used for initial research to look into various different shots to incorporate into my music video, I wanted to experiment with quirky different shots to make my music video stand out from the rest. Due to our storyline featuring two girls, it made sense to us to use a cover of the original song to make it fit. I found a cover that I liked so decided to use it, when I went to download it off of youtube however it was nowhere to be found. The artist who had posted the cover of the song had decided to take the file down off the internet. This meant that I had to contact her agent, through email who happily obliged to send the mp3 version of the file to use in our coursework. Word was used for the initial shot list and brief planning of what was going to happen throughout the song, we used different colours for the lyrics to distinguish what sections of our music video we planned to put into black and white or colour. Also it gave a brief overview of how much footage and shots we would need to get to fulfill each of the lyric lines as some of them were longer than others and parts of the song was just the piano playing and no lyrics at all. I used google when planning out filming to search for ideal locations but also the weather to make sure that we weren’t going to film on a day when it was raining. I also used pages to create a storyboard for my music video, using photos rather than drawings as my drawing is not really of good quality. I then screenshot this to put on the blog as it wouldn’t read the PDF version of the file.

Construction

During the construction of my music video I used various different technologies to make the most of what was available to me. Filming wise, I didn’t go with the camera’s available to me via the school I went with my home video camera the Panasonic HDC-SD90 which I was already familiar to which meant that I wasn’t going to be wasting time learning how to use to camera and I already knew the best recording settings etc. I used an ordinary tripod that I had from home with extendable legs which enables me to get a variety of shots whilst also having a steady base. Final Cut Pro X 10.1.2 was my choice of editing, it definitely was a step up from iMovie, with an increased database full of editing effects and a much larger colour palette this made editing untroublesome. Stitching shots such as the split screen together was made simplistic and effective with this software. There are also extension packs of effects that you can purchase for a small cost. When creating my auxillary tasks, I decided to create a website and a poster. For my poster I used Adobe Photoshop CS4 which was a clever piece of technology with useful software such as layering to make each piece of information individual from the background so you could edit it with real precision. I had to use tools such as the lasso to get the font from my website into my poster to create synergy. This is one of the problems with Photoshop as it doesn’t have every font, however it does have a large amount of them. Wix was the website I used to create my website, it had simplistic templates which could be manipulated to make the website unique to your profession or project. It was simple with the drag and drop options when inputting photos and adding pages to the website. There are all sorts of nifty features such as photo galleries to help make your website look as professional as possible. I also used photoshop to create a logo for my artist, this features throughout the website also. 

Evaluation

For the first question of my evaluation I decided to present it in a slideshow, and then post it on slideshare. Slideshows give you the opportunity to put large amounts of information on one page but then also split it up into different pages for different points. You can also incorporate photos to back up your points and there are a large variety of templates you can use to make it aesthetically pleasing. There are also options to make certain bits of texts and photos fly about the place if you really want to. My second question is in a prezi, I like prezis as they are simple to create but also look very professional. I feel that it was a good piece of technology to use when splitting the question into two parts, my poster and my website. There are a variety of fonts to use but also there are an extensive amount of templates you can use to make it very specific to the topic you are talking about. Question 3 is presented in a New Hive, this was a piece of technology that I had never come across. It essentially an interactive board, similar to that of a pinboard that you stick text and photos to, it was very manageable to use and I picked up how to use it very quickly. Its a simple piece of technology that makes something look professional but different. It is also good in the sense you can put alot of information, spread out to make it much easier to read. And finally, this question. Due to the extensive amount of information I decided to put this question into a Podcast. It makes it quicker for me to relay the information to you but also with images to let you know what I’m waffling on about. I’m using iMovie to create this as it does not need to be as complex as my music video was. I’m using my laptop to record this audio, via my webcam and then I’m separating the audio from the video and then just removing the video and inputting photos instead. This makes it simple to record as I do not have to set up a camera, tripod and sit somewhere to film. Instead I’m just chilling in my bed ‘Hi’. So that concludes my evaluation for now, toodle pip!

Evaluation - Question 4 Scripted (easier to read)

Here is a scripted version of my evaluation for Question 4, it is all on the video I created but this is here as it may be easier to read.

Question 4 - Evaluation from j3ssmitch

Draft Evaluation - Question 2

DRAFT MUSIC VIDEO

Here is the link to my draft full music video :D

Audience Feedback: Lew Parker

I posted my video on Facebook for the first time. I asked my my mum to share it with her friends also to broaden who could see it. Unfortunately we didn't get much feedback apart from 'That's so good' or 'you're so talented' so I took matters into my own hands and sent it to Lew Parker. I knew that he had helped George or more pulled George's to pieces so I thought it was exactly what I needed. And today he finally replied!

      

I agree with him with most basically all of it - I am going to take time to go through it and make sure the lip sync is on point. I also feel that the black and white is very basic so I feel grading or editing it more will be good. I feel I can incorporate more shots with camera movement for the performance element as I feel it is too static and needs some variation. This shouldn't be too hard to refilm hopefully! I will do some research into grading and see how I can use it as he seems to go on about it a lot so I feel it will be helpful! 

Yet another update on progress...

Draft Evaluation - Question 4

Here is a quick mind map of my draft evaluation for question 4, I have as yet got to put my questions in some sort of technology, I am going to use a video podcast to present this question. I just need to find the time and a place to film when it is quiet! 

Final Day of Filming!

So Molly and I arranged a day in the half term that we could dedicate to film the final scenes of our music video! We spent probably not far off 3 hours shooting when we only needed a minutes worth of footage! Molly set up most of the shots as she hadn't yet filmed anything and then I simply pressed record as she had to be in the video herself. Overall, it was a really successful day and we got everything we needed to get and a lot more!

Here are some photos of the day -

Editing: Final Draft

I finally managed to complete my music video :D

For the final section of my music video I experimented with the slow motion to get the clip of Hattie and Maddie crashing into each other more dramatic and so it happened on the beat. I experimented with different percentages to slow it down but I came to the conclusion that 50% is the best.

I also played about with the focus on one of the final clips. I wanted the note to be in focus and Hattie walking out in the background to be out of focus. This was the final result which I was very pleased with. 

I didn't need to put any sort of effects on the clips where Hattie runs out of the house, as it was a very sunny day. Unfortunately during some of the clips we recorded as a 'dash cam' there was a glare on the screen from the sun so you couldn't see clearly. 

Overall I am happy that I have finally finished my music video. About time! 

Filming: Day 4

Final day of filming

We have finally finished our filming. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY :D :D :D

On Tuesday I had to prove that I had done some of the filming, so to do this I set up the camera and Jess just pressed record. I managed to take some selfies when setting up the camera as proof.

Unfortunately there were many badass shot that we couldn't use as there was too much footage to fit into the film :( but I put in what we could 

I am now going to film the final 15 seconds of my music video - eeeeek 

LETS DO THIS 

Evaluations: Draft Questions - mindmaps

I know I haven't put them into technology but I have planned what I am going to include in each Question. For some of the questions it is difficult to finish as obviously my music video isn't complete yet... It will be by next week!! (hopefully).

Here are Questions: 2,3 and 4 as I have already got the draft of question 1 on the blog.

Storyboard - Demons DRAFT

Here is a draft copy of my story board, we haven't yet finished filming so there are some blank spaces that will need filling with the rest of the shots such as when Hattie and her mum argue. Hopefully these will be filmed by half term so I can update this as soon as that is done and dusted!

I have put question marks in the spaces where there will eventually be shots of the argument scene. 

Analysing Professional Websites

Editing: Split Screen and Ending!

I got some inspiration from a past students work as I wanted to show some of the techniques I have learnt throughout this year. Split screen is a simple yet very effective use of technology and I wanted to throw a little bit of variety into my music video as all the shots were starting to get repetitive.

This is the split screen that I created which on the end of each line the clips move in an anticlockwise position.

Between each clip I chose to use a cross fade so it merged into once another rather than cut sharply. 

Towards the end of the music video, Hattie walks out of the shot leaving a white background and the microphone. 

For this I am going to try to get the background to fade out leaving just the microphone on the screen. I feel fading to white at the end is much more subtle than black as the majority of the shot is white. 

I have also included a MTV logo in the corner of the screen to give it that sense of a music video throughout the whole video and also to show what it would look like if it was to be shown on TV. 

I had to photoshop the image to get it without the white background and put it onto a transparent file to give it a more professional look. I chose the black and white version of the logo as it fits more with our music video as a large proportion is in black and white. 

I used the music beat to put shots in to connect the visuals to the music (one of Goodwins theories) this makes it more aesthetically pleasing to watch too :) An example is when theres an important chord in the music and you have a shot of Hattie's hands playing the chord on the piano. 

Although I have a 1 minute clip of music video that still needs to be filmed, I am very pleased with how it is starting to turn out. Although I wouldn't go as far as to say I like it, but I feel it is much better with more clips (obviously). I plan to film the last section tonight or within the next few days, it is dependent on weather and actor availability! 

Demons - DRAFT 2

DRAFT 2 -

Here is a second draft of our music video, it is still unfinished but Molly has been busy editing the rest of this whilst I've been busy doing the filming. Hopefully we will have the last minute of footage within the next few weeks and fingers crossed after that I can get on with some editing and we will have a finished video! I've also included the first draft of our music video in this blog too as I haven't yet uploaded it, so you can see the difference in the two drafts without having to scroll your way through lots of blog posts to find the first video!

DRAFT 1 -

Shot List 1 - Demons

Here is the first shot list for our music video. There will be a 'Part 2' of a shot list coming soon, We just need to finish editing our video so that I can screenshot some more shots. I used a random mug from the media cupboard as my fabulous model. Enjoy!

Final Cut Pro Lessons

As we are editing using Final Cut, I thought it would be a good idea to re learn some of the skills I learnt at AS Level in order to be able to edit effectively. And, of course; learn new skills that I can use in my music video. The first tutorial I looked at was a split screen tutorial, as we had a good idea of splitting the screen into four sections and having multiple action shots in each section. We got this idea from a past student video, and so I thought it best to learn exactly how to do so using YouTube tutorials. This is the video I chose to use. 

I also wanted to find out how to use slow motion on Final Cut, I had already learnt this last year but as I haven't used the programme for a while, my skills are a little rusty and needed to be learnt again! We wanted to try and use slow motion in some of the clips where the two girls are playing with the leaves in the park to help create a bit more emotion and alter timings. I found another really usefulvideo to help with this. 

Lastly,my final skill that I wanted to learn was to do with changing the colour effect of certain shots, to either enhance the colour, or darken. For example, there is a lot of footage that we wanted to use in black and white and other footage such as the forest footage that we wanted to be brighter and bolder to reflect the moods and feelings of the shots. Here is a clip that I used and found useful.

Hopefully,when we have uploaded all the footage we have got from today I will have another go at editing using all of these new skills I have learnt!

Draft Auxiliary Poster

Here is a draft of what my final auxilary poster will look like, I have added captions to explain why I am putting these conventions on my poster. P.s. Sorry about my drawing skills :)

Update and Filming Photos!

Hello again!

It's been a busy day today, Molly and I finally got around to finishing most of our filming! After a long, long wait, it is very nearly complete. All we have left to film is a few scenes with Molly and her family arguing, and a few shots with Maddie to fill in gaps and we should be good to go! I managed to get a few pictures of us filming our final clips and these are below as filming evidence. Also, I have completed Past Student Music Video Examples and these are up on the blog, there is analysis for 'Viva Brothers', 'Crash' and a video from another school 'Can't Hold Us'. I also managed to post my analysis of Past Student Auxiliary Tasks. I analysed all three types of tasks, although I did choose to do a website and poster after this. I had already decided to do a website but was still torn between a digi-pack and poster.

In the next few days I hope to have my draft evaluation up on the blog, although not my final answers. I am slightly behind on these I have been focused on my auxiliary tasks but I have completed both questions 1 and 2 and hope to have these up on the blog tonight/tomorrow; and will continue work on the last two questions tonight also. Also being put on the blog tonight is a shot list for our video and a draft of my poster, which I did do a while ago but forgot to put up here! Hopefully the final poster will be up by tomorrow too, so expect lots of blog posts in the next few days!

Finally, here are some photos of us filming our final performance scenes -

Analysing Past Student Auxiliary Tasks

From analysing these past examples, I have decided to produce a website and a poster and these are the most effective ways of advertising my video from my point of view.

Evaluation: Question 1 - Draft

Past Student Work - Can't Hold Us

Here is a link to my analysis of this video - www.rawshorts.com/animations/pea3OeFSTr7xVW2ErXh0GQ

Past Student Work - Crash

Update on Blogging, Filming and Editing

I have spent my study period today watching two past student examples in order to be able to analyse and put my analysis up on my blog soon! I have already analysed the 'Viva Brothers' video and my blog post for that is already up! However, today I watched the 'Crash' and a student example from another school. I plan to have both posts up about these videos within the next few days. 

After I have completed these, I am moving onto analysing past student auxiliary tasks, I realise I am a bit far behind with these, however, I have finished both of my tasks and the website is up on the blog already. My poster is pretty much finished I just need to get a few more images and change a few bits around and that should be up within a few days too! My website is as finished as it can be, as we have not yet finished filming our music video; I cannot put the finished video up on the website; but, I have included a draft video and as soon as we have completed editing and filming, I will change the draft video on the website to the finished one and re post it on the blog. 

In terms of filming and editing updates, we plan to film some more scenes within the next week and hopefully have them all edited very soon. So expect some updated footage very soon!

Moving onto my evaluation. I have started to answer some of the questions but will still need a bit more time to develop my answers, and will hopefully have them all drafted by next Friday, watch this space!

Past Student Examples - Viva Brothers

Analysis: Past Students Axillary Tasks

Example

The first analysis is going to be of a digi pack done for the artist Example.

This digipack is good in the fact the colours and background are re occurring. This makes the album digipack flow much more and its not as disjointed. It is clear who the artist is as he appears in every part of the cd booklet. The booklet contains pages with lyrics which is very stereotypical of a digipack as it gives the audience/purchaser the opportunity to learn the lyrics so they can sing along with the songs. It also contains photos of the artist, which are not usually accessible anywhere else unless you actually purchase the cd. 

The cons of this digipack is that it is very basic. The editing is basic as all they have done is put text over images. They haven't used many of the conventions such as putting the record label or a barcode. These are the general conventions which make the digipack more professional. The text used is very basic but it is reoccurring throughout. There is one photo in the digipack which is of a completely new person so it makes it really rather confusing to figure out who it is. 

Overall, I feel this person has got the basics of the digipack however for me, to make it more professional I would include more effects to make the digipack look more advanced and include more of the codes and conventions such as record labels. 

Noah and The Whale 

This is the front and back cover of the digipack. I find these very well thought out and the colours link to the music video very well also these colours are recurring throughout all her axillary tasks including the website. The photos on both the covers like to clips within the music video. It gives a clear link between the artist and his music. The only con I find with this is that the cover and back cover are very different which disrupts the continuous flow that you want with a professional digipack. 

Inside the digipack the pamphlet is brilliant. The fonts used are the same so helps with the flow but also they have included photos of both people that appear in the music video. It makes it clear who the artist and performers are. Like the previous example they have included lyrics within the pamphlet giving the audience a more personal experience with the artist and album if these are included. 

This is the CD design, it is simplistic yet effective as the colours again continue with the conventions and continuality of the whole digipack. The whales are used in the pamphlet and cd design which makes you relate the cartoon almost like a logo to this artist.

Overall I feel lots of time and effort went into this digipack, and because of this it makes it look professional whilst fitting the style of the artist.

Daughter

I am also going to analyse some website designs. This is one of the most recent artist websites that have been created by students at my school so I thought it would be good to compare as I plan to a website for my artist. The pros of this website is that it is very music video orientated, the music video is the first thing you see on a website, this fits the codes and conventions of publicising the music video. The artists name is clearly stated in big bold writing on the top of the page. They have access to all social media pages clearly shown on their home page and even have a news feed in a side bar to keep the fans up to date with what is happening. 

Although it links to the video, the background I feel is quite disjointed, to make it look professionally thy should have used just one image to show a more pleasing aesthetic. Also there isn't an info page on the artist which I think is very important within the codes and conventions for an artist website. All of the other pages are quite basic so I feel to improve they could have gone into more depth about the artist just to give it a more personal experience for the audience.

Regina Spektor

I chose to analyse this website as the music video has aspects of it that are similar to mine. 

I love how minimalistic yet effective this website is, there are multiple pages which means that the information is evenly distributed and their is much more content to explore on this website than the other one, new music video is advertised on the home page. The colour scheme is plain and the text is the same throughout. The photos displayed on the home page are linked to the newly released music video which is the main convention of an artists website - to publicise their latest work. 

Pages such as the shop have been very well thought out with detailing going into the products. This makes the website look even more professional as it doesn't look like its just been thrown together. It even has links to the iTunes store where you can purchase her album. 

The only criticism I have is that the size of each of the web pages is very small. which means that the space is very constricted to what information you can put in it. 

I kissed a girl

I am analysing this poster as I am creating one myself. I like how she's put the title behind the artists head, but it is still visible. Also the fact that the text colour is all bright colours makes it stand out. Having the tour dates of the artist down the side is a good idea as it is a code and convention to advertise as much as possible and get lots of publicity. Again going with publicity she has included a website link within the advert to make it easy to track down the artist and for the audience to discover more about them. 

However in this advert I feel there are some improvements that could be made. For example most of the text is so small that it is very hard to read. Although the artist and song name is larger than everything else it is not big enough to grab the readers attention. The tour dates are extremely small and although its a good idea to have them on the advert you need them big enough for the reader to want to read and find out where they are. Also, the background of the main photo is very basic, it does not make anything stand out and is not very aesthetically pleasing. 

Viva Brothers

This is one of the best examples I have found of past student examples when it comes to promotional posters. 

It is extremely professional looking with a clear theme shown throughout, the band name is very clear and the sponsors of the release show are clearly stated making it look well thought out. The fact he has included all different sorts of music record companies shows that he has a clear understanding of the music business. The date and time are clearly shown and it also includes places where to get tickets from. 

Personally I cannot think of anything to fault this promotional poster on, except maybe the title of the album which is quite an important part of the advertisement as although we have the bands name we don't know what we are buying tickets for except that its an album release show.

Research: Final Cut Lessons - Split Screen

For my split screen I worked with Jack, we decided to recreate Examples - Kickstarts as this is is a perfect example of split screen here are some screenshots showing how many different ways he incorporated split screen:

The one we used the most is bottom left, we got 4 different people to sing the lyrics and then dance at the chorus. 

I didn't realise how easy it was to create a split screen, all you have to do is put two video clips on top of each other and then change the size of both clips so they fit the screen! 

I also learnt how easy it was to do a green screen. You put the clip with the green screen and the background on top of each other and then apply the 'keyer' effect which removes the green screen and puts your chosen clip in its place.

Storyboard: Demons

Slideshares didn't work when uploading this so I had to use the good old screen shots. So this is our storyboard, give or take a few shots! 

Axillary Task: Website - Contact Us

This is my Contact page:

This is the final page on my website, the background is also the background used in my magazine advert. I feel the use of the deep red and mustard colour really come together on this page. It gives you all the information needed to get in contact with Hattie and even has a message box for fans to message her. There is also a photo of Hattie playing the piano and again it has a filter over it so it doesn't take your attention away from the background. Personally I cannot think of anything else I need to add so any feedback would be more than welcome.