Evaluation Question 4

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

This whole project relied on the ability to interact effectively with media technology effectively, individually and as a group. The different media technologies are extensive:

• www.blogger.com
• www.youtube.com
• Adobe Photoshop
• Final Cut Pro
• Video recording cameras
• Photo cameras
• Screen grab

Personally I feel we've been very successful from start to finish. To start with, the most important thing to do was learn how to use this website. It was going to be the medium through which we would present the coursework so it was vital to be familiar and comfortable with the software.



This was the screen which greeted me every time I logged on to Blogger. I grew accustomed to using the different buttons to do exactly what they said. I also learned to use the post writing page very quickly, as it was just like a word processor in the way it worked. The only difference was using labels on each post, which was done simply by writing them in the box provided like so:


other than that this section of the work was relatively simple. The next website I felt the need to become familiar was www.youtube.com because it would become very useful for my research at the beggining of the project. In coupling with this, I learned how to embed the videos from YouTube onto my blogs. This was done by pasting the "Embed Code" from YouTube onto the "Edit Html" section of the website.

This allowed me to present all the videos which I
used in my research, and was far better aesthetically than just providing a link. All that was required was copying and pasting one simple code and the video was viewable.

After researching the videos I decided to make the mood board as a source of inspiration. Here I used simple screen captures of shots from the paused videos, again from YouTube. But to make the mood board itself I used the Adobe Photoshop programme. I simply used a different layer for each shot, this allowed me to overlay them slightly, filling up the page in a stylish manner. I used this exact same method when making the mood board for the album covers.

We also used this programme whilst making the ancillary tasks. Personally for the magazine advert I found it particularly useful. To start with, I used the gradient tool (pictured) to create a simple gradient and changed to colours to red and black, the colours of our theme. I then imported the image of the album cover Tom had already used, because I knew that this would need to be featured on the advert. I experimented with it in several places before deciding the middle was best. Next I chose the first font and placed the font, including all the essential information needed from an advert (Release date, title, artist, record label). I then imported some more images of logos of the various corporations and labels involved with the album and arranged them along the bottom, as this seemed to be their most ideal location. After this, the text needed to be modified to look for professional. To do this I used the blending options to add drop shadows, interior/exterior glows and bevels.

The next, and perhaps most important media technology needed in the project was the Final Cut programme. It was on this that we made the video itself, and it was also the most difficult programme to use in my opinion. It was a programme I had never used before personally but after alot of practice I finally got the hang of it. The part I found most confusing was the different tracks, but in the end I got the hang of it. It eventually turned out to be alot more useful. Spreading the clips over two seperate tracks made it alot less confusing and fiddly. If we had kept it on the same track, we would have had to change the timing on each individual clip, but instead we were able to overlay them instead. It was also through this programme that we were able to add extras such as effects and transitions to the video. The fades at the end of the video were a result of this, as was the tint and contrast changes over the whole video.

It wasn't only software that we used over the course of the project, indeed one of the most important components was the hardware we used; cameras. The whole video was shot using a standard handheld video camcorder. It had basic features and functions such as zoom and cut points. We recorded everything onto video tapes, and then uploaded them from the cameras into Final Cut, via a Firewire.

Personally I feel that our use of media technologies was a massive success. However, given the chance to change anything, I would have used more than one camera during filming. It would have allowed to get a wider selection of shots and would have increased efficiency. For example this time round there would always have been on or two members of the group standing idle while somebody filmed. If we all had cameras, we would have used our time more efficiently.

Evaluation Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Audience Feedback was always going to be one of the most important aspects of the final stages of our production. We had been looking at each of the pieces for hours on end so it was always going to be difficult to see the problems. It was also difficult to criticise our own work, so getting others involved was always going to be helpful. Once we had finished drafts of each piece, we asked people to look at them and provide any constructive criticism, or note any strong points. For the video we got the people to write down their thoughts so we had a physical record of their ideas.




It's important to note that we used people who weren't studying media as well as people that were. We felt that this would give us a wider range of points of view. It proved to be fairly successful since after this we knew which sections of the video were the weak points. One of the most common criticisms was that we used the low angle shot, underneath the guitar, too many times. We were advised to change this, which we did for the final piece.

Another criticism was that perhaps we had used too many close up shots and this made
the whole thing feel TOO personal. After looking again, I had to agree and I made sure we changed this. Also, throughout the filming process we had filmed with the camera handheld from start to finish. This helped in the energy of our shots. However, it gave way to another of the criticisms, that there was too much movement in the shots, and it gave the video an uncomfortable feel to it. Again, we made sure that the problem was adressed.

It wasn't just the video that we used audience feedback with. Both of the Ancillary tasks required some guidance from others. The best example was in the magazine advert. This specific feedback made us change a rather large part of our project. The first time I finished the draft of the advert, someone commented that the font didn't look right considering the style of the song. I dismissed the comment as an insignificance; we had used the font on the album cover and it looked fine. However, as time went on, a number of other people suggested this. I brought it to the group's attention and mentioned that it might be best to change it. We agreed to see if we could find a more suitable font, and eventually Tom found the same font used by Foo Fighters in some of their promotional material. We went on to use this font on all of our pieces, and this happened purely because we got other people to look at the work.

In conclusion, we learned many things from our audience feedback. These things ranged from specific parts like fonts and colours, all the way up to shots used in the video, and the overall feel of it. We learned that it was a bad thing to have the video feeling too personal, and that a elaborate-looking font doesn't fit with Foo Fighters. Personally, I have learned that no matter how much time you spend on a project, you can always gain helpful advice from others. It means you can get another's point of view and you can even learn what your target audience wants from the work. Overall, you can gain more by showing your work to one or two others than you can can ever gain from going over your work in meticulous detail.

Evaluation Question 2

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

We felt that to create an effective combination of our main product and ancillary texts we would create a brand across all the pieces. We achieved this in a number of ways, and with varying levels of success.

One particular way of doing this was by using a single image across all three pieces. This image, a shot of the whole band from the video, created an iconic image associated with all of our work. The image itself is used on the front cover of the album, behind the main image of the guitar. Of course, by being on the album cover, the image was then also used on the magazine advert. This meant that this one image was a unifying component present on all three pieces of work. In this way, the combination of our main product and ancillary texts was very effective.

However, the feeling was also that we needed a much more basic way of combining the three pieces. The idea was a general colour theme. Upon inspection it is clear that a red, white and black theme is the basis for all pieces of the work. For example, the background of the magazine advert is a black and red gradient, coupled with red and white text. This is also reflected in our Digipak, on which the text is red and white and the main image is the red guitar. Even the main image is overlayed with a red tint. We continued this in our video, Jacob used the effects tools to give the video a very slight tint to it, with the common color being red, and with blacks being deeper than normal. Again, in this way the combination of the pieces works very well. By creating a house style, and therefore a brand, we ensured that all three pieces were recognisable as part of the same work.

If it was possible, there would be ways I would change parts of our work. The red/black/white theme worked very well, but I would perhaps place more emphasis on it in the video itself. I noticed that the fact that the drummer was wearing a red t-shirt seemed to work very well. So in retrospect, it might have been better to ask the band members to all wear red, accompanied by black or white. This would help extend the theme and incorporate it more into that particular piece.

Evaluation Question 1

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

The common codes and conventions needed to be a massive basis for our work, for both our main and ancillary tasks. In this way, I feel we were very successful. By sticking to them and at the same time using them in our own way, we were able to create an effective final piece.

One of the most widely used conventions we incoporated into our piece was the pace of the music affecting the pace of the editing of our music video. We tried to make sure that when pace increased, so did the editing, and vice versa when the music slowed. A prime example of this is the change at the very end of the song, from very swift cuts during the final build up, to cross fades when the music slowed. This allowed us to slow the editing and therefore follow the pace of the music more effectively. The picture to the left shows the fade between two shots at the end of the video. To achieve this fade we added it as a simple transition between the two clips.

Another convention we used was the simplicity of having a performance as the basis for the video. This particular convention is widely used, and the Foo Fighters themselves used it for their own version of "Times Like These". Simply having a performance allowed us to keep from over-complicating the video itself, and we were also able to make it more professional simply by doing this.

A third convention we used was the use of shots of the band on the artwork of the Digipak. Again, this added to the professionalism of the piece, but more importantly it made it more believable that it was a real piece. This particular convention is also used to create a continuous brand throughout the marketing of a band, and we were able to use this here. For example the same image of the band can be seen not only in the video, but also on the cover of the album and on the magazine advertisement.

However, another big part of our work was challenging these codes and conventions laid down by the music industry as it is. A particular way we "took the rules into our own hands" was by not choosing to have the name of the album emblazoned across the body of our advertisement. We chose instead to let the recognisable name of "Foo Fighters", and the the font in which is written, pull the audience in and then see the album itself, ergo the name. We chose to do this because we felt "Foo Fighters" as a brand was much more likely to engage the attention, and subtly including the album name was much more effective. It ensured less space was taken up by unnecessary components, and that the brand was the main hook of the advert.

Target Audience

Now all of our pieces were complete, it was time to decide who our market would be. We thought it would be good to use the audience figures of Kerrang! magazine as a firm basis, because of the research we had carried out. Foo Fighters had appeared in Kerrang! (K!) no less than 27 times so obviously they already had a level of relationship with K! readers.

Audience figures:
Majority:
Partly 18-25, partl 14-17 male.

Prominent Subgroups
14-17 Female, 25-35 male

These numbers seemed right, considering what our piece was. We also found out that the majority of listeners to Foo Fighters are aged between 16-25

Music Video Final Cut

Finally, after taking into account the audience feedback we had recieved earlier, we were able to edit the video to a high enough standard for it to be our final piece. This is the final cut of our video below:

Final Cut from Jake Clements on Vimeo.

Digipak Final Piece

The Digipak is finally complete. The person that worked hardest on this was easily Tom, but he worked with our guidance and feedback. I personally feel that the final product is very strong. Here it is below.

Album Cover:


Album Reverse:


Inside Sleeve:


Inside Sleeve 2:


Unfolded View:


All of the images we used came from pictures taken while we were filming and there are even a couple of shots from the video.