Monday, 15 May 2017
Thursday, 4 May 2017
Tuesday, 25 April 2017
Evaluation Q4
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
This is a program that I have had experience with in the past, particularly through the course of my GCSE Media Studies course; this was year that allowed me to develop my previously non-existent Photoshop skills through the creation of a 4-page magazine regarding a topic of my choice. This allowed me to really get to grips with the image manipulation and creative aspect involved with the program, whilst also giving me a slight insight into how magazine advertisements are structured, a skill that has come to be very useful in the creation of my own advert for my advanced portfolio. These skills I developed in my GCSE year and over the course of my advanced portfolio are, for the most part, completely self-taught; thus allowing me to see a development of my learning and creativity through a sense of independence, an aspect that is very relevant in the advanced portfolio. Photoshop was primarily used with the creation of my print products (Album artwork, digipak and magazine advertisement), the former's creation was assisted by the use of a digipak template which provided the appropriate measurements needed to be used for the digipak, whilst also giving me a foundation to work off and get an idea of the product I had in mind to create. Furthermore, the poster was created in Photoshop using an A4 scaling; creating both products on Photoshop allowed my to seamlessly link their imagery and scheme to one another through the use of the programs features such as expandable tabs and cloning tools. The creation process of print products and construction of their final pieces juxtaposed with my foundation portfolio, within that year Photoshop usage was few and far between as it was widely unnecessary to use as a creative tool; yet it's use this year as a media technology has been vital to creative expansion and vision for my product. Overall, Photoshop provided to be a very professional tool to use throughout my advanced portfolio; making image manipulation much easier, whilst also being an enjoyable, experimental tool to use.
This is a software that I have previous experience with throughout the foundation project in which I created and directed an short opening sequence to a film called 'Free'; this experience allowed for me to have a very good understanding of the editing mechanisms and generally how the program worked, editing, exporting etc. Although the process can be very time consuming, I feel as if, during my advanced portfolio, I was able to edit more efficiently and accurately, as oppose to AS. Furthermore, I felt as if the use of music in the background of the video itself allowed for more creative opportunities through visual effects manipulation, given the music's instrumentation and lyricism. In comparison to the foundation portfolio, I felt as if I wanted to expand my artistic ability and creative reach with the product; as I felt as if my AS product was fairly straightforward in its editing, little use of any effects and very basic transitions prove this. To supplement this interest in developing my experimental editing skill I used a plethora of visual effects to accompany the music; the use of slow-motion and reversed footage (as a callback to 80s/90s Britpop) and the repeated use of the paint-bucket effect allowed my video to reach a more diverse and visually exciting standard. Additionally, I believe that my skill in editing has improved over the course of the advanced portfolio as I found that I was often battling the difficulty of editing to the beat of the song; this is exemplified multiple times in my music video when the drum beat speeds up and prompts a quick change in editing pace. This newfound attention to detail allowed me to refine my editing technique and overall made a smoother video for the viewer. Furthermore, the programs use allowed to create multiple cuts with varying shots; for example the initial cut lacked any seamless transition form the protagonist returning to his house and was said to be quite jarring from an audience member I used for review. However, after comments from my supervisor, I implemented a 360 degree shots in which the camera rotates around the head of the protagonist and sees them running back to the house; after audience feedback, this was said to be an effective shot and well-edited with the use of the lemon imagery. Overall, I believe that my skill on using this program has drastically increased and when compared to my foundation portfolio, my A2 project is far superior in its editing and visual style.
This website is a program that I believe I have a lot of experience in as it was, and is, a very relevant tool in AS and the A2 course. This is perhaps the most important aspect of the project as it allows me to document my research and findings with each post whilst allowing me to use hyperlinks, images and videos. This tool was primarily used in the research in planning process as it allowed for a visual representation of the discoveries I had made regarding music genre, branding and music videos, whilst also providing a platform in which I could publish various planning stages to for my final product. Additionally, it proved to be an effective tool in terms of audience and supervisor feedback through the fact that it can be publicly viewed, meaning it allows for a wider perspective for praise of criticism. The blog also allowed for a platform in which to upload multiple cuts/edits of my project; allowing me to keep a well documented look at the progress of my video. In comparison to AS, the use of the blog is very similar in that it is a platform which provides a space to upload all my research and any ideas I have regarding creative aspects of my project.
Similarly, the use of the internet as a whole was useful throughout my advanced portfolio as it allowed for a wide use of research to formulate the appropriate project that relates to 90s Britpop; this came with the use of YouTube, to research into pre-existing music videos, and various image distribution sites to gain an idea of how professional digipaks should look.
The camera I used for the shooting of my music video was the exact same as the one used for my foundation portfolio; however, despite this, I believe that my skill in using this piece of technology has improved, this can be noticed in my increased professional handling of the camera and wider variety of shots. I felt as if in the AS project my use of the camera was very amateur and thus made the shots sometimes jarring and perhaps shaky; however, this year, as a result of my criticisms of my camera handling, I sought to improve this through more usage of the tripod and sturdier shots; furthermore, the freedom of shooting a music video allowed for a wider look on creativity and how shots should be taken, the 360 degree shot being an example of this. The filming itself was goof quality as the camera reaches a resolution of 720p, deeming it do be HD, and shot at 30fps; this technology thus provided a solid quality of image to shoot, thus making the video more professional. The camera had a multitude of settings which were adopted in the filming process; one of which being the zoom feature, as this can be seen within multiple shots of my video. I feel as if using this professional equipment has again supplemented my creativity and development as a director as the quality of the camera itself allows one to be placed in the perspective of a media professional. Furthermore, the use of the camera allowed for me to take multiple shoots on different days, allowing for a more diverse editing process so I could have more shots at my disposal. This was a difference I intentionally made within my advanced portfolio, as during my foundation portfolio I often limited the takes I would shoot and would be left with very limited shots when I came to the editing process.
- Adobe Photoshop CS6
This is a program that I have had experience with in the past, particularly through the course of my GCSE Media Studies course; this was year that allowed me to develop my previously non-existent Photoshop skills through the creation of a 4-page magazine regarding a topic of my choice. This allowed me to really get to grips with the image manipulation and creative aspect involved with the program, whilst also giving me a slight insight into how magazine advertisements are structured, a skill that has come to be very useful in the creation of my own advert for my advanced portfolio. These skills I developed in my GCSE year and over the course of my advanced portfolio are, for the most part, completely self-taught; thus allowing me to see a development of my learning and creativity through a sense of independence, an aspect that is very relevant in the advanced portfolio. Photoshop was primarily used with the creation of my print products (Album artwork, digipak and magazine advertisement), the former's creation was assisted by the use of a digipak template which provided the appropriate measurements needed to be used for the digipak, whilst also giving me a foundation to work off and get an idea of the product I had in mind to create. Furthermore, the poster was created in Photoshop using an A4 scaling; creating both products on Photoshop allowed my to seamlessly link their imagery and scheme to one another through the use of the programs features such as expandable tabs and cloning tools. The creation process of print products and construction of their final pieces juxtaposed with my foundation portfolio, within that year Photoshop usage was few and far between as it was widely unnecessary to use as a creative tool; yet it's use this year as a media technology has been vital to creative expansion and vision for my product. Overall, Photoshop provided to be a very professional tool to use throughout my advanced portfolio; making image manipulation much easier, whilst also being an enjoyable, experimental tool to use.- Adobe Premier Pro
This is a software that I have previous experience with throughout the foundation project in which I created and directed an short opening sequence to a film called 'Free'; this experience allowed for me to have a very good understanding of the editing mechanisms and generally how the program worked, editing, exporting etc. Although the process can be very time consuming, I feel as if, during my advanced portfolio, I was able to edit more efficiently and accurately, as oppose to AS. Furthermore, I felt as if the use of music in the background of the video itself allowed for more creative opportunities through visual effects manipulation, given the music's instrumentation and lyricism. In comparison to the foundation portfolio, I felt as if I wanted to expand my artistic ability and creative reach with the product; as I felt as if my AS product was fairly straightforward in its editing, little use of any effects and very basic transitions prove this. To supplement this interest in developing my experimental editing skill I used a plethora of visual effects to accompany the music; the use of slow-motion and reversed footage (as a callback to 80s/90s Britpop) and the repeated use of the paint-bucket effect allowed my video to reach a more diverse and visually exciting standard. Additionally, I believe that my skill in editing has improved over the course of the advanced portfolio as I found that I was often battling the difficulty of editing to the beat of the song; this is exemplified multiple times in my music video when the drum beat speeds up and prompts a quick change in editing pace. This newfound attention to detail allowed me to refine my editing technique and overall made a smoother video for the viewer. Furthermore, the programs use allowed to create multiple cuts with varying shots; for example the initial cut lacked any seamless transition form the protagonist returning to his house and was said to be quite jarring from an audience member I used for review. However, after comments from my supervisor, I implemented a 360 degree shots in which the camera rotates around the head of the protagonist and sees them running back to the house; after audience feedback, this was said to be an effective shot and well-edited with the use of the lemon imagery. Overall, I believe that my skill on using this program has drastically increased and when compared to my foundation portfolio, my A2 project is far superior in its editing and visual style.- Blogger / The Internet
Similarly, the use of the internet as a whole was useful throughout my advanced portfolio as it allowed for a wide use of research to formulate the appropriate project that relates to 90s Britpop; this came with the use of YouTube, to research into pre-existing music videos, and various image distribution sites to gain an idea of how professional digipaks should look.
- Shooting Equipment
The camera I used for the shooting of my music video was the exact same as the one used for my foundation portfolio; however, despite this, I believe that my skill in using this piece of technology has improved, this can be noticed in my increased professional handling of the camera and wider variety of shots. I felt as if in the AS project my use of the camera was very amateur and thus made the shots sometimes jarring and perhaps shaky; however, this year, as a result of my criticisms of my camera handling, I sought to improve this through more usage of the tripod and sturdier shots; furthermore, the freedom of shooting a music video allowed for a wider look on creativity and how shots should be taken, the 360 degree shot being an example of this. The filming itself was goof quality as the camera reaches a resolution of 720p, deeming it do be HD, and shot at 30fps; this technology thus provided a solid quality of image to shoot, thus making the video more professional. The camera had a multitude of settings which were adopted in the filming process; one of which being the zoom feature, as this can be seen within multiple shots of my video. I feel as if using this professional equipment has again supplemented my creativity and development as a director as the quality of the camera itself allows one to be placed in the perspective of a media professional. Furthermore, the use of the camera allowed for me to take multiple shoots on different days, allowing for a more diverse editing process so I could have more shots at my disposal. This was a difference I intentionally made within my advanced portfolio, as during my foundation portfolio I often limited the takes I would shoot and would be left with very limited shots when I came to the editing process.- Prezi/Slideshare
Thursday, 20 April 2017
Wednesday, 19 April 2017
Tuesday, 18 April 2017
Evaluation Q1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Music Video
To answer this question effectively it is important that I compare my product to existing media pieces that worked as inspiration for the creation of my piece, thus allowing me to address whether I adhered or subverted the typical conventions of the genre I aimed to target. First and foremost, my video is a recreation and stylistic representation of the 'Britpop' indie sub-genre, a genre that was essentially created by The Stone Roses. I felt as if I adhered to the genre, given the nature of my project as an anniversary project for The Stone Roses, as this is suggested through key genre conventions in the music video. This is primarily evident in the overarching narrative of my music video in that it loosely follows the protagonist on a spiritual journey of sorts to essentially become the band; this narrative was created as it appeared to place a much heavier emphasis on the music rather than a narrative-driven video, thus a subversion to the pop-genre. This emphasis on the music is reflected in multiple live performance shots and close-ups featuring the protagonist playing the guitar; these ideas were mainly based on common conventions found within this genre as through my research I found most Britpop videos would feature live performance in the majority of the video, as evident in the following.
The Stone Roses - One Love
The Smiths - This Charming Man
The Stone Roses - I Wanna Be Adored
Oasis - Supersonic
Music Video
To answer this question effectively it is important that I compare my product to existing media pieces that worked as inspiration for the creation of my piece, thus allowing me to address whether I adhered or subverted the typical conventions of the genre I aimed to target. First and foremost, my video is a recreation and stylistic representation of the 'Britpop' indie sub-genre, a genre that was essentially created by The Stone Roses. I felt as if I adhered to the genre, given the nature of my project as an anniversary project for The Stone Roses, as this is suggested through key genre conventions in the music video. This is primarily evident in the overarching narrative of my music video in that it loosely follows the protagonist on a spiritual journey of sorts to essentially become the band; this narrative was created as it appeared to place a much heavier emphasis on the music rather than a narrative-driven video, thus a subversion to the pop-genre. This emphasis on the music is reflected in multiple live performance shots and close-ups featuring the protagonist playing the guitar; these ideas were mainly based on common conventions found within this genre as through my research I found most Britpop videos would feature live performance in the majority of the video, as evident in the following.
The Stone Roses - One Love
The Smiths - This Charming Man
The Stone Roses - I Wanna Be Adored
Oasis - Supersonic
The images above, taken from existing Britpop music videos, display my interest and inspiration in involving live performance footage in the video as this appeared to be a common trope in the genre; primarily due to the small budgets of independent record labels and their lack of resources in creating a narrative-driven contemporary video; but rather a showcase of the bands to allow the audience to connect with them as real people rather than superstars. In creating my piece, this was a theme that I was attempting to encapsulate as it reflected the true Britpop genre, appealed to the audience and suggested a sense of nostalgic authenticity to my product. The images below show my use of live footage as an adherence to the genre:
The second image also showcases my use of superimposition as a primary editing tool within my video, again, as an adherence to genre; this primitive editing technique was largely commonplace in a majority of late 80s/early 90s British music videos, primarily the indie genre. This effect, accompanied with slow-motion, was often used in videos similar to mine to simulate a psychedelic effect to appeal to the 'Madchester' rave scene. During my research I found that this was a common editing technique used not only in The Stone Roses' music videos, but also in bands such as The Smiths and Happy Mondays; thus, in order to create an authentic recreation of the genre I adhered to the trope and included a multitude of superimposed/slow-motion shots to appeal to the audience that were fans during the release of the Roses' eponymous debut LP. During feedback sessions with varying target audience members, they noted the effectiveness of the superimposition as an appropriate stylistic choice in terms of creating a nostalgic effect on the older audience members, whilst creating an interesting new visual effect for the young adult members of the audience. The superimposed shots I drew inspiration from can be seen below:
The images above show a range of superimposition use in the indie genre; the first of which inspired me to use the editing effect to place multiple version of my protagonist in the same running shot to enable a sense of progression of time and skill. My adherence to this convention is shown below:
Additionally, the use of the 'paint bucket' effect, found in Adobe Photoshop CS6, was employed to somewhat emulate the expressionist Pollock influence found within The Stone Roses' promotional material and their album covers; after feedback sessions, audience members the psychedelic effect it had and thus its relation to the roots of British music and The Stone Roses' music. This adherence to the The Stone Roses' thematic style further implicates the nostalgic effect of the video as a callback to the time of release of their previous material. The use of this effect was used a Cross-media convergence theme as the album cover and advertisement poster feature a piece of Pollock artwork, created by myself, using the same citrus yellow colour scheme, thus linking all three projects. The decision to include this citrus yellow in the colour scheme primarily came from the inspiration from the 'lemon' as a symbol for the band that the audience can connect to each product, both video and ancillary.
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| An example of the paint bucket effect used on the guitar |
The linear nature of my narrative is an adherence to the indie genre, as explained previously, but is yet a subversion of the modern music video; more often than not contemporary music videos will showcase an intricate narrative, usually based on the music, and thus represents the artist as the star. This idea links to Richard Dyer's 'Star Theory', suggesting that celebrities are manufactured by their record labels/institutions for their own financial gain; their image is to create an emotional response from the audience so that they can buy their records and essentially become a household name to increase their brand identity. My project sought to subvert this theory as I felt that the nature of the theory did not appeal to the genre and opposed the idea of independent music and its effect on fans; this subversion was manufactured through my use of a very ordinary protagonist who relates to the band, the audience can thus empathize and relate to the average protagonist looking up to the band as they are most likely doing the same. Furthermore, I felt as if the use of the average protagonist added a self-referential element to the video in that the main character expressed a feeling most Britpop fans can relate to and thus carry out themselves. The narrative itself can perhaps show some adherence to Propp's Narrative theory, this can be suggested through the fact that, despite only having one character, the protagonist may act as the hero of the story as he takes a personal journey to reach what is referred to as 'the magical helper'; in this case the helper would be The Stone Roses themselves as they are the main encouragement for the protagonist to progress. The prize could perhaps be the guitar as a tool in which the protagonist can lead himself to his goal of becoming the band; although, it must be noted that Propp's theory has 8 roles to fill so my video somewhat adheres to some of the roles theorized, perhaps subverting the necessity for the other roles. Additionally, the primitive nature of effects used (Superimposition, Slow-mo and paint bucket) further suggest the 'Indie' genre as a culture in that music videos are often made with little budget to provide a 'grounded' element to it, further adhering to the genre's conventions.
Digipak Cover
The digipak I created somewhat subverted the typical conventions of the indie genre, yet adhered to conventions found within The Stone Roses' subculture. Firstly, the most notable challenge of conventions found within this ancillary product is the minimalist design I decided to take for the cover; this style was primarily chosen to subvert the expressionist art style Roses fans are use to in the band's discography and promotional material. Furthermore, I felt as if the the minimalist aspect brought a modern edge to the band given the contemporary Indie style; this can be seen in Arctic Monkey's 'AM', during my research of this album I found that the art style within the album cover and its poster was very minimalist and monotone, thus inspiring a simple, conceptual design and limited color palette. Additionally, my research into minimalism allowed me to explore different experimental designs, created to implicate a clear message about the band; Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' for example was an album that I researched and the cover is a white brick wall with a removable sticker, thus implicating the central theme of the album. The Beatles' 'The White Album' was also an album I looked into and it contained a blank white cover with the band's name embossed onto the front; the blank cover was made to directly contrast the vivid nature of their previous album, 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band', and implicate the experimental nature of the album. Through my research into various minimalist albums I took various inspirations for my cover; one of which being my decision to include a black border surrounding a blank canvas with three lemons positioned centrally. The reason for this was to emphasize the significance of the lemon's symbolism in the band's culture and act as an cross-media convergence logo that can be found in each product. Furthermore, the minimalist aspect was also inspired by the the current Stone Roses promotional material, as it often shows a sole lemon on a blank background, thus creating hype around its symbolism. The typography used, 'Grotesque No. 9', adheres to real media texts as it is a similar block design to that of The Stone Roses other material, suggesting an empathized authenticity to the project, whilst further adding to the nostalgic element of the style. Furthermore, the black border acts a subtle reference to both their albums and single, as a majority contained a similar design. The symbolism of the three lemons suggests that not only is it their third full release but also acts as an nostalgic aspect for the 30th anniversary of their first single, 'Sally Cinnamon'.
The front cover for my digipak primarily subverts the typical conventions for the indie genre, and Britpop sub-genre, as through my research this was often found to be expressionistic as seen in the Roses' previous material. However, it can be suggested that there is some adherence to the contemporary indie genre through the use of minimalism; ti would appear that more and more bands are beginning to determine their own particular art style, seen in Arctic Monkeys' 'AM', thus appealing to the modern day indie genre. I feel as if my decision to subvert the typical conventions as the feedback I received was generally positive in reference to the digipak, giving it a 'professional, clean' look and I felt as if it brought the band into the modern music scene, whilst still appealing to older fans.
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| Modern example of minimalism found in contemporary indie music: Arctic Monkeys - AM |
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| Current 'The Stone Roses' advertisement material |
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| Result of my minimalist cover |
Inside Cover
The inside cover for my digipak features a strong adherence to the genre through the use of expressionist art; this custom made Pollock artwork acts as a callback to the The Stone Roses previous art-style, whilst also indicating the subversion of the conventions found within the genre and the move to minimalism. The yellow colour palette is again featured primarily as as a vehicle for the brand's promotion and expansion as the color and lemon symbol can be associated with the band.
Advert Poster
The advertisement poster for the release of The Stone Roses' third album, appears to strongly adhere to the indie genre and its typical conventions; below is an image of the final poster.
Most notably, the color palette of Yellow/White/Black is continued on this poster to create a strong theme between the products, thus linking them thematically and stylistically. Additionally, the poster includes the typical reviews you would find on a poster; however, the reviewers were chosen as each have a link to the reviewing and feedback of music from the indie label; 'Q' magazine for example is a monthly music magazine that includes features on all the latest music from the indie/alternative scene. Once again, the use of the lemons as a primary symbol on the ancillary and main product can be seen to take center stage to link all the pieces and create an associative symbol for the band to promote themselves with. However, the choice to layer my Pollock-inspired artwork on top of it was used to allow an appeal for older fans of the band, whilst maintaining the minimalist, contemporary style I was aiming for. This suggests both an adherence and subversion to genre, given that modern indie bands will often feature themselves on the poster to allow the audience to create an personal connection with the band; yet the adherence comes from the idea that, as I researched into older posters, the poster would often feature a key symbol to build hype for the fans. Below are poster I used for inspiration in terms of adherence and subversion to the genre.
Wednesday, 29 March 2017
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