Evaluation and Feedback of video

I have presented my evaluation of how my video uses, develops or challenges forms and conventions of real media products on a PowerPoint presentation which can be found here.
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0BxbvbzM5_eUWNzQyOGRhMDYtOTAyZS00NTkyLWIwYTMtZDgwNGE5YTU2OTkz&hl=en

• How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? 
To promote our video we had to create a digipack which consisted of front, back and inside covers. We also had to create an advert to help sell the digipack.


 I took the most influence for my advert from 'We are Scientists' album 'Impatience'. I thought having the writing run down one side of the advert and the picture on the other worked really well. Although it was basic, I think it got the message across and gave the audience all they needed to know. The feedback I got for my products working together was all very positive for example 'it does look good with the video'. This shows that my products are consistent within eachother. However if I was to do the advert again, I would use brighter colours that were more eye catching because I feel that the promotion of the digipack is more important than the digipack itself, meaning it needs to attract the audiences attention. 


I feel that the use of the same fonts on the digipack and advert make them work well together and makes the product more likely to stick in the audiences head. Also the fact that all the pictures for the digipack and advert and the footage for the video have all been taken in the same setting makes them very consistent as does the same costumes, props and other elements of mise-en-scene. 

What have you learned from your audience feedback? 
To gather feedback about the digipack and the advert I used Facebook. I feel this is an accurate way to gather feedback for these products because 'The Temper Trap' actually have their own fan page on Facebook. At the beginning of the project I established that the target audience of 'The Temper Trap' is generally a mixture males and females of younger ages. I felt that Facebook would be the best place to feedback from this specific audience although I don't think that the feedback was of the best quality it gave me a brief idea of the improvements I could have done to my products. The main criticisms I could take from my feedback is that the writing on the back of the digipack is slightly difficult to read, and the advert is a bit plain and basic so could be filled up with more relevant information. 


I also used Facebook to gather feedback for my actual music video but I wanted to get some more in depth feedback and opinions on it so also conducted a focus group. This is the feedback I gathered from Facebook. 

The feedback we gathered from Facebook about the actual video I feel is very limited. One of the pieces of feedback states that the part where the shot of the character walking out of the train station and it goes to a plain white screen is too harsh. If we were to have more time to go back over and edit we would change this to make it a bit more softer and not as much of a shock to the viewer. Also they believe there is a few faults with the acting, if we were to have more time we would re-shoot the shots which we felt weren't absolutely perfect on the acting scale. We would also change the brightness of the shot of the text message because it appears that it is hard to read. 


The second piece of feedback states that they like how the video is portrayed as a journey. I am really happy about this as this was one of the main aims of our video. From their feedback we can take that we just needed a bit more footage to fill up the end. We would have done this if we had just a bit more time to complete the project.


How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages of all your products? 
The majority of this project was completed using IT. I feel that my skills of using Adobe Photoshop have improved dramatically compared to using it at AS Level. I now know how to edit the brightness and contrast and change the colour of fonts, logos etc. Photoshop is simple to use but the products created by it look very professional compared to using a program like paint. 


Before I started this project I had never used Final Cut Pro before. At first I found it very tricky to use but after about two weeks it became a lot easier. This really helped us create the narrative we wanted for our video through layering, brightening shots, cutting shots forward etc. If we had more time I feel that we would have further experimented with the effects that this program had to offer. It enabled us to quickly cut the shots to the length we wanted them and to put them in the required order.


When filming our project we used a Canon XM2 camera and Mini DV tape. We had to learn how to alter the white balance and exposure. We also had to do things such as edit the speed that the camera would zoom at. Where possible, we put the camera on a tripod to ensure that the footage was as still as possible and the pans, tilts and zooms were as smooth as possible. 

Finished video

This is the link to our final finished music video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiuBM3InauM
To get feedback about the video we are going to post it on a facebook group. 



Creative camera use

We used some interesting techniques and special effects in the video to get the desired effect or distortion and being intoxicated.

We used a pan from the stairs to the exit of the train station round to the exit of it. When we panned round, the sun made the footage really bright. We used this to our advantage. We made the whole shot go to a white screen to make it look distorted and show the characters confusion.

Another effect we used was layering. This also fits in with the idea of being intoxicated. It suggests that the character is seeing things and in particular seeing herself.

This is another example of the layering technique we used. This one is of the character looking back on herself. This is another suggestion of confusing and seeing things when intoxicated.

On this shot we used a time lapse to make it look like it was happening faster. This creates a sense of urgency to get ready but also made the footage fit better and more in time with the music.

Rejected footage

Some of the footage we originally recorded we didn't use in our final video.

 
We didn't use this shot because of the puddles in it. This meant when I walked through I was slipping everywhere. Although we wanted to create the effect of alcohol abuse, it was too slippery and looked bad. Also the lighting is too dark compared to our other shots meaning our video would have lacked consistency.

 On the day we shot this shot, the weather was particularly bad. This means the lake looked cloudy and horrible. It also meant we couldn't get a very good shot of the characters reflection in it which we wanted.

 This shot had the same problem as the first piece of rejected footage. It was also too slippery for the character to walk over without it looking obvious that it was the mud making me slip and not the fact I was intoxicated.

 This shot was rejected because we forgot to move the camera and tripod bags before we shot it.

This shot was rejected because we didn't feel it had particular relevance to the narrative we had created.

 These shots were both rejected because the camera accidentally moved and therefore they went blurry. We did want the idea of being intoxicated but they were too blurry so weren't particularly suitable.

Storyboard and Animatic

Before we actually started filming we created a storyboard. We decided to take pictures instead of using drawings to give us the most realistic idea of what the final video will look like. 


Our storyboard included information on shot types, camera angles and movement, and description of the characters action. The storyboard assured us that we had used a variety of shots including extreme close ups and over the shoulder shots. 

We then put the photos we took into sequence alongside the track. This gave us a really good idea of what our final video would look like. This is the link to our animatic.

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0BxbvbzM5_eUWYzE3OGM5NmItNWM5NS00YjRkLTg3MjQtNTQwNGM2OGNjZGNj&hl=en

Health and Safety

Every time we booked a camera we were required to complete a Risk Assessment form. We had to look at all the risks of using the equipment on set. This covers the college insurance policy but also helped us identify any risks to ourselves, the general public or to the production equipment. Examples of this are:

• Access requirements or permission to film
• Cables trailing on the floor
• Damage to the environment
•  Weather- if it was raining we decided against filming because of the danger to the actors of slipping over and also the danger of the electrical equipment getting wet.
• Filming at night or in a licensed establishment
• Noise levels when filming

Advert Task

I am going to create an advert for the DVD digipack I have created. I will create this using Adobe Photoshop using images I have taken myself. Similarly to the digipack images, as I feature in the video I mounted the camera onto a  tripod to take the image of myself.

This is the first advert I am going to analyse which is an Advert for We are scientists' album 'Impatience'. I like the way that the characters look like they are both looking at the same thing. However some of the black writing is hard to read and the fonts are a bit bland and uninteresting.

This is the second advert I am going to analyse. It is for Flobots album 'Handlebars'. The image on the background is very relevant to the title of the album.  The writing stands out well compared to the background colours although the colours used are a bit dull and boring. The fonts are easy to read.

I created flat plans of what my final advert could possibly look like.

I have decided to make my advert A6 size. I have it in mind as something that would be handed out to people on the screen rather than something displayed on billboards,bus stops etc.

These are the original ideas of what my advert could have looked like. The first idea has a photo on the right hand side of it with the character sitting on the log on her own. To make sure it is consistent with my other products, I will use the same fonts for 'The Temper Trap' and 'Sweet Disposition'. I think this would work well as an advert.

The second idea uses a close up of the characters face. The details about the digipack will be on the right side of the image. I don't think using a close up of the characters face gives much consistency with my other products as our video is mostly made of long shots and the digipack images are mid and long shots.

The third idea uses an image of the rear of the character walking up the path. The writing is displayed around the edge of her body. I really like this idea,  but the back of my digipack is very similar so I think although it is consistent, it will be too repetitive.

I have opted to use the first flat plan for my final advert.

This is the final advert I have created for my digipack. I have also uploaded this to Facebook to gather feedback.

I have kept my advert consistent with my digipack and the video in many ways. Firstly it uses the same fonts as the digipack. This makes it clear to the audience what the advert is for. I have used a picture from the same shoot as the digipack and in the same location as where the video was shot. 


I made sure that my advert contained all the key information. This includes the bands website address, their record label and the date of release. 

This is the feedback I gathered from the Facebook page. From this I can take that there is too much blank space on my advert and that I should have filled this with more information such as a rating from NME.  They did like the picture used though and said that it fits well with the digipack and video meaning that my products are all consistent.

Shooting Diaries

This is an example of the shooting script we used when filming. It includes the shot number, type of shot, description of the action and the movement

of the camera. It also included details on the location of the shot, the costumes needed and what part of the track the footage fitted too. This allowed us to put notes on each of the takes to show us which ones we were going to use and which ones we weren't going too.







This is an individual frame script we used to get a real true picture of what the shots should look like. It gives the description of action in more detail than the shooting script and also gives us more room to write notes about the takes of the shots.

Shooting Schedule

Having a shooting schedule was a great way for us to plan and organise the times for us to film and edit to mean that we met the deadline and made a successful video in the process.
11th January 2011 9-10:30
Location: Liz's house
25th January 2011 9-10:30
Location: Liz's house
8th February 2011 9-10:30
Location: Lewes train station
22nd February 2011 9-10:30
Location: Lewes forest
8th March 2011 9-10:30
Location: Lewes forest
Equipment needed:
Canon XM2 camera
Camera tape:- for us to record our footage onto.
Camera bag:- to ensure that the camera and spare batteries/chargers etc are protected when we are on set. 
Tripod:- to enable us to get more still footage than us holding the camera when filming
Shooting script:- enables us to make notes on the takes which will make the editing process a lot more straight forward and efficient. 
Storyboard
Call sheet:- this is a list of everyone working on the film and contains contact details (email and mobile number). This enables us to be able to contact everyone involved with the production at any time.It will be carried at all stages in the production. This is our call sheet.

Change of plan

Originally we were going to make our video with a group of people. We have now decided to film the video with just one character who will be me. As we have the equipment such as a tripod, this will still enable me to have a lot of control over what footage is shot. This is more realistic to the time given and means we don't have to rely on others who have commitments such as work.

Digipack

The creative elements of my coursework are all part of a coherent promotional pack for the song. This will have to reflect the genre of the song. It will include items to advertise my music video, such as posters, adverts, and a Digipack. The Digipack is effectively a DVD cover for the music video we are producing.

The Digipack (CD/DVD) will feature the song we have chosen and the video we are making. It will be for a whole album. My cover will be produced using Adobe Photoshop and will contain four panes of which will feature images I have taken.As I feature in the video I have taken the images of myself by putting the camera on a tripod. 

I am going to analyse two Digipacks from the same genre as 'The Temper Trap' which is Alternative Rock.

This is a DVD digipack for The Cure's 'Greatest hits'. The image on the front is of a person with their hands out. Their hands cover their face possibly showing that they don't want the audience to see them. The colours are contrasting of eachother which makes them stand out from eachother. The colours are also quite bright, this makes it eye cacthing. The image of the stars are blurred, this could represent distortion or confusion. The track lists are in a very small and narrow font. This is also slightly blurred, this makes it more difficult to read, meaning the audience will have to look at it longer to understand what they are reading.

This Digipack is for Orbitals album 'The Altogether'. The colour scheme of this Digipack is very basic, only using three colours. However these colours are very contrasting of eachother which means the writing and images stand out. The use of illuminious orange text and images, contrasts with the dull grey background. The front of the Digipack is plain with only one large image of orange skulls on the front, and the title in the top left hand corner.  The font used is a digital style font. This font also isn't easily legible as its also very small. It uses larger paragraphs of writing indicating the details of the Digipack such as the content of it, and its directors. Similarly to The Cures digipack, it only has one large image on the front of it making it basic but concise.


These are the flat plans for my digipack:

This my first idea for the front and back covers for my digipack. The character looks isolated and the facial expression is blank. It will be a long shot that also enables us to see a bit of the setting. The font is a decorative font that will run along the bottom of the photo. I have used the path on the back cover to put the track list on. On the front cover my idea is to have half of it being the tree and the other half the character. I think this works well as the images on the front and back correspond with seeing the character from the front and the back.

This is my second idea for the front and back cover of the digipack. I like the close up on the front as it can show the emotion of the character which can immediately give them a feel for the video.I will have the title of the digipack running vertically down the side  However I don't think the image on the back works well as a back cover. The eye takes up most of the space meaning it could be difficult for me to find a colour of the text to write the track listing on that is easily legible.



This is my third idea for the front and back of my digipack. The front page is of the rear of the character walking into the forest. I think this idea works well as it shows the character being lonely which fits in with our narrative. However I think this would make more sense to be put on the back of the digipack and have a front shot on the front of it. I would have the title of the digipack running across the top as if it was in the trees. The back of this digipack idea has the track list following the shape of the tree which is positioned next to a river. I do like this idea but I think there could be practical issues with finding a tree that is of a suitable shape.


This is my first idea for the inner part of my digipack. I have used the tree bark to create distortion because it is unclear to the audience where we are. I think the close up would work better on the front of the digipack rather than the inside but the tree is a good idea for the page with the CD on it as it isn't too complicated.

This is my second idea for the middle two pages of my digipack. The left page is a high angle shot of the characters shoes which are military boots. You can see the forest floor in it. This then carries on onto the right hand page with the CD on it.

This is my final idea for the middle of my digipack. The left hand side is a Point of view shot of what the character would see when looking through the barriers towards the river. I was thinking I could possibly put some lyrics on the barriers. On the right hand side is a close up of the trees. I think both of these ideas work really well together because they are not too complicated. 

This is my final digipack front and back cover. My digipack is a reflection of our final music video. Both of the images on these pages of the digipack show the setting as desolate and the character as lonely. 


I have used white eroded style text that has a black background.I feel that this font fits in well with the alternative rock genre and is also easily legible. Also because it has a black background, it stands out well against the images. To make sure that my products are consistent, I have used the same font on the spine of the digipack. On the back of the digipack I have used a bold block font. I feel this also fits in well with the genre of the song- alternative rock. 


On both of these images I edited the brightness and contrast. This is to make them more sharp and defined. 


I made sure I had all the important elements of the digipack on the back. such as the DVD logo to recognise that some of the tracks also have videos, duration, disc format, colour mode, language, the bands record company logo 'Infectious', a copyright warning, The Temper Trap's website address, and a barcode.

This is my final inside pages of the digipack.


I also edited the brightness and contrast on both of these images. On the left one I wanted the river to look more defined against the barriers and on the right hand side I wanted the branches to stand out more against the sky. 


I also used the lyrics from the track we made the video for 'Sweet disposition'. I chose the lyrics 'won't stop 'til its over' because I feel they fit in well with the narrative of the story of drinking because of a relationship problem.

I have posted my digipack pages onto a Facebook page to gather feedback. This will allow for feedback from The Temper Trap's target audience which is younger people. Young people are typically the main users of Facebook. Also Facebook users are a mixture of males and females which are also the target audience of The Temper Trap.





This is the feedback I received when I posted both parts of my digipack on facebook. From this I can establish that on the back cover, the writing at the top advertising the CD version of the album is too small and squashed up and I would need to enlarge it. Also I would change the colour of the track listing of the Digipack as it appears it is hard to read. In general, from this feedback I can establish that its a good digipack and works well for its purpose.

 The skills I gained from this task are a development of my Photoshop skills from AS. This includes changing the colours of the fonts that have been downloaded from dafont.com and editing the pictures to make them more suitable for the genre of the band

Mise En Scene

Costume: This is the costume I will be wearing in the music video we will be creating. We intend to go for a casual look as this is what the Alternative Rock genre typically uses. It also uses a lot of dark colours so we have opted for a lot of black in the costume with the leggings and the leather jacket. The military style boots fit in with the idea of trekking through the forest so fit the setting well. The stripy top also has a connotation of jail. This could suggest that the character is trapped in her own body.

Setting: We have used a few different settings for our music video:- A girls bedroom, Lewes train station and a forest. This is a picture of the forest setting. It is a forest near to the college.It is desolated which means there our filming shouldn't be interrupted by anyone else. Its also dark and gloomy which adds an eerie and distorted feel to it. The genre of alternative rock is has dark conventions so this fits in well. 

This is the train station we will be filming at. At peak times it can get busy.This means we will need to pick a time out of rush hour to film here to ensure that our footage isn't interrupted too much by the public.

Props: We used two main props- the wine bottle and the mobile phone. We used the wine bottle to give the idea that the character was intoxicated as the result of a break up. The text on the mobile phone reading 'I just can't do this anymore, its over fits in with the narrative of the break up also.  

Make-up: This is the make-up we will be using for the character in the video. We have gone for the subtle, natural look to show innocence.

The Pitch

Our group created a presentation in which we showed our ideas to the rest of the class.

This is the PowerPoint we presented
 https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BxbvbzM5_eUWZjkxNDA2N2EtMTJmNS00YTUwLWE5MDQtZjA1YmU3ZDJkNzAz&hl=en

For this presentation we found out about target audience and where the song we are making a video for has featured. We also made sure that our video idea will reflect the artist well, and appeal to their current target audience.
This is the link to our presentation to the class.
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0BxbvbzM5_eUWY2M3YTUwYzgtYzg5YS00NDJiLWJjY2QtZTQ4NDk3OTc4MTUw&hl=en&authkey=CO_IlNkG

Initial ideas

This is a brainstorm of my initial ideas to be used in our video. 

Copying an existing video

In our media video production lessons, our class has been replicating the video of Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus.


Throughout these lessons we have been learning many skills and techniques that can be used when making a music video.


This is the video our class were aiming to replicate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jJVRcCdvyY&ob=av2e
This is our replica of the video:
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0BxbvbzM5_eUWZGMyYzU1MmEtYThjOC00MGEyLTgzYmQtNjdhODNiM2I5OGMz&hl=en


We used a Canon XM2 camera.


During week one we analysed the first ten frames from the official 'Teenage Dirtbag' video and outlined what was required for each shot. We filled in a storyboard for this. The storyboard contained notes about the following:
Shot type- e.g. close up, medium shot, long shot.
Camera movement- static (still) or dynamic (moving)
Description of Action - what will happen in the shot
Sound or Audio- the lyrics of the song


This is an example of the story board we used.

We used a shooting script which is similar to the storyboard but also gave us a space to make notes on the quality of the shot taken. We used a clapperboard to log each take on film. It was put in front of the camera before filming started. For example 'Shot 1 Take 2'. We used these two elements together to monitor which shots were suitable for use in editing and which weren't.


We were also shown how to direct a shot. This meant that production was always running smoothly and let everyone taking part know what is going on. The director worked with the camera operator to set up each shot. They then positioned the actors and extras. The clapperboard was then placed in front of the lens and the shot number/take is called out. Action is then called to start the shot, and cut to finish it.


In some shots, we mounted the camera to the tripod to give stability when filming. When it was mounted it was useful for zooming, panning and tilting the camera. Our cameras have a spirit level which enabled us to position the camera to an exact horizontal.


We also had to set the white balance to suit the conditions we were filming in:- inside or outside. The camera reacts different for different lighting conditions. When we were filming outside we had to insure that the white balance was set to Daylight Filming, to make sure that the footage didn't end up with a blue tinge to it. When we were filming inside we had to set the white balance to artificial light. There is also an Auto balance function but this is not always accurate and doesn't always adapt as efficiently as setting it yourself. Using manual settings will give us more control over how light or dark the footage is.


Normally the camera is set to a standard frame size of a ratio of 4:3. We can change the frame size to a wide screen frame size with a ratio of 16:9.


The depth of field refers to the focal range of the camera. We can use depth of field to centre the audience attention on a particular part of the frame by having it in focus while the rest of the shot is blurred. This can also be referred to as a shallow or narrow depth of field. Alternatively, if all of the frame is in focus, this is a wide depth of field. The shift of focus from one part of the frame to another is called a 'Pull focus'.


After filming the shots we edited them using Final Cut Pro. We uploaded the footage to the program via the FIREWIRE. We then changed the setting to VCR/Playback to enable the camera to connect to the computer. We also established that the PAL should be set to 24 frames per second.  We learnt we would store our work on the 'scratch disc'.


Next we had to edit our footage. We used the razor tool on Final Cut Pro to get rid of unwanted bad footage. We then went on to add the soundtrack. This was the assembly edit.

Video analysis

The first video I have chosen to analyse is Science of fear by Temper Trap.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1vkXxn65ec&feature=related
This video tends to stick to a strict colour scheme of black and white. There is occasionally another colour feature such as red and yellow but most black and white. A lot of the animation is in slow motion which gives the video a sense of distortion and confusion. However it does have fast animation for example when it flicks between the blackbirds. This also adds to distortion because it is It uses unusual and unexpected elements such as people flying around. This links to the title of the track which relates to science.


I am also going to analyse another video from the genre of alternative rock. I have chosen Bubbles by Biffy Clyro.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxUb9Yzr1sE
Biffy Clyro's genre is traditionally Scottish rock but their music does typically contain a lot of elements of alternative rock. The lighting in this video is very dark with just two large light beams coming from behind the band. There is dark shadows on the band members face giving a dark and spooky feel. At the beginning there is flashing red and green lights which gives a sense of distortion and makes the viewer think whether the video has gone wrong.

Target Audience

This is a link to temper traps Facebook fan page. http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/tempertrap?ref=ts
From this website I can see that there are slightly fewer male fans than female. I can't actually access personal profile to find out the fans ages, but from their photos I can tell they are a mixture of ages.

 Temper trap have also featured in the popular magazine 'NME'.

 From NRS.co.uk I can tell that 218,000 of the readers were social class A,B and C1 compared to 107,000 of the readers being C2, D and E class. This shows higher class people read this magazine and are fans of temper trap. 294,000 of the readers are ages 15-44 compared to 31,000 readers ages 45+. This means the magazine appeals to younger readers rather than older.

There are 241,000 male readers and  84,000 female readers. This contradicts what I found from the facebook fan page. This must mean that there is an almost even amount of male and female fans of 'The temper trap'.

Temper trap were also voted band of the week in the Independent newspapers music magazine.

From NRS.co.uk I can see there is significantly nearly five times more readers in the ABC1 class compared to C2DE class. This means the majority of the readers are upper class. 366,000 of the readers are ages 15-44 and 271,000 of the readers are 45+. This means its a pretty even split between younger and older people reading this newspaper. This also seems to be the same for the gender split with 351,000 male readers and 256,000 female readers.

From all my research I can see that the majority of the target audience of Temper trap is younger people. The gender of these people is generally a mixture between male and females and they seem to be of the ABC1 classes.