G324: Evaluation Q4) How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

To create our music video and ancillary tasks we had to use quite a lot of technology, in all the different stages of our production e.g. pre production, production and post production.

The technologies I used to create the product at each stage were;

Pre-Production Stage - In the pre-production stage the technologies that I used were; Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel to create documents and timetables for our music video.

Production Stage - In the production stage the technologies that I used were; a HD camera, a tripod and a dolly

The camera is going to be used for the filming of every shot. It is a HD camera  so it will capture the footage in high definition, this therefore makes it look more professional. The camera is an essential piece of equipment because it is the device that will store and capture our music video.

The dolly is going to be used to do the shots where the camera needs to be steady but moving at the same time, we will use this a few times when doing the shots where the camera will need to be steady but moving. The camera will be steady because it will be on a tripod, to operate the dolly properly the camera needs to be attached to the tripod then attached to the dolly.

The tripod is going to be used to steady our shots, it will be used for all of the shots that we do. This is because we want all of our shots to be steady, the tripod also attaches to the dolly so it will be used on the dolly as well. The tripod is telescopic so that it can be adjusted to many heights allowing us to do a variety of shots with it all with them being steady at the same time.

Post-Production Stage - In the post-production stage the technologies that I used were; iMovie, an Apple Mac

The computer that we used to edit on was an Apple Mac, I found the computer ok to use but it was a little bit tedious at times because I really didn't like using the mouse, the editing software that we used was iMovie on the Mac, I think that this software was alright but not the best that I have used. The main reason was because if you wanted to put a file on the Mac, you have to convert the file before it went on there. I have learnt from editing that the actual editing takes longer than filming the film and there are a lot of things to take into consideration when editing such as the CC, sound and how the audience will feel when they are actually watching the film.

Apple Mac

There were some good effects on iMovie as we used a CC to emphasise certain bits in the opening, the CC that we used dimmed out the edges of the screen as we are making a psychological thriller and we wanted the opening to look mysterious.

iMovie

Research and Planning - For the Research and Planning the technology that I used was the internet. I used the internet to research information and to gain extra knowledge that would help my group and I to plan the music video.

Construction - For the Construction of the whole product including the ancillary tasks the technologies that I used were; HD Camera, Tripod, Dolly, iMovie, Mac, Adobe Photoshop. For obvious reasons the HD camera, Tripod and Dolly were used in the filming side of the music video, iMovie and the Mac were used when editing the music video and Adobe Photoshop was used when creating the ancillary tasks.

Evaluation - For the Evaluation the technologies that I used were; Microsoft Word, Blogger, Pictures and Videos. I used Microsoft word first of all because the spellchecker on blogger isn't great and I find it easier to plan everything out on there first before I post it on Blogger. I also used Videos and Pictures to back up my points and to try and explain them in further detail and to spruce the work up a bit so that the work isn't just a big lump of text.

Overall - For the whole documentation of my work I used Blogger, as explained below:

I used blogger to log my individual and our group work, this was advised by the exam board and my teacher. I found blogger easy to use and a good way to upload work, the only downside to it I thought was the spellchecker as sometimes it was quite annoying. To get around this problem though for some of my posts I did them on Microsoft Word first so that I could get the correct spellings and format for my work.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, to all of this I feel that the camera equipment was excellent, the editing software was of a decent quality and our group work and blogger was good as well. I am really happy with how our finished product came out. In all stages I feel we worked well, I think that we could have possibly been a bit more detailed on some bits though. Overall I think this section went well.

G324: Evaluation Q3) What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Looking back at the feedback from the target audience, we got quite a lot of information from our original questionnaire that was targeted at our target audience to get some response on what we should consider for our music video. We then got some really good feedback on the rough cuts of our music video, this was good because it then gave us a sense of people opinions of our work and what they liked and didn't like in our music video so then we could make some changes to make the music video better. Below I have shown some information we got from our questionnaire at the start and at the bottom there are some responses at different stages of our rough cut.

Questionnaire:

"This questionnaire was put online and also given out to people of a few different ages but we mainly gave the questionnaire to people of our age group because they were our target audience". The number next to the responses shows how many people answered that question.

1. What is your gender?

• Female - 16
• Male - 11

This question just gives us a general idea of what genders the people were who answered the questionnaire.

2. What is your age?

• Under 16 - 0
• 16-20 - 23
• 21-24 - 0
• 25-29 - 0
• 30-34 - 1
• 35-39 - 0
• 40-44 - 1
• 45-49 - 1
• Over 50 - 1

The main group that answered the questionnaires were 16-20 yr olds and they were the people who also said they had heard drum and bass. This age group gave us an outline what sort of target audience to go for when making our own music video.

3. What is your current occupation? (open question)

• Tesco
• Asdas
• Student - 20
• Retail Assistant
• Retail
• Cleaner
• Teacher
• Governor

This question gives us an outline of what sort of occupation someone is in and how this can affect their music/video genre preference.

4. What is your favourite music genre? (open question)

• Eighties
• Pop - 4
• Drum & Bass - 4
• Rock - 8
• Dubstep - 2
• Indie - 3
• Singer/Songwriter - 2
• Metal
• Hip-hop - 2

This question gives us a really good idea on what genre of music people like, this is good because then we know what genre people of that target audience like and therefore our video can be sort of tailor made to fit in with the desired target audience.

5. Do you only listen to music from that genre?

• Yes - 4
• No - 23

This question gives us a really good idea whether people just listen to the sort of music genres they listed above, we want people who are open to listen to drum and bass and not just think its rubbish because of one song or music video. Most people said that they don't only listen to the genre of music that they listed which is good.

6. What are your 3 favourite music videos and why? (open question)

Music videos:

Lazy song
Wake me up when September ends
Don't you worry child 
Still into you
Closer
Fun
Nightmare
Stand up and run
A.M.E.R.I.C.A
Club Tropicana
Stay
Like an prayer
Lucky
Mercy
Seven Days
Waiting all night
End credits
Gangnam style
Thriller
In the Navy
The pretender
Destabilise
Banquet
Its my life
Teenage Dirtbag
Radioactive
Busy
Need U 100%
Jack
So what
Left behind
Raise your glass
Emergency
Poker face
This is war
Sail
Bounce
Goodbye Mr A

Why?

Good editing

Simple but effective

Funny
Good video
Good narrative
Entertaining
Cool

Interesting

Funky

Emotional
Realistic
Good shots
True story
Different
Good costumes
Colourful

Dramatic

Good locations

This is a very good question because this gives us as a group a massive idea on what music videos people like and why they like them. We will have to consider including nearly all of the things they mentioned to properly entertain and keep our target audience watching our music video. Some of the music videos listed above are really good, mainly because they have a good narrative and we have found that it is really vital to have a good narrative to have a good and understandable music video, no matter what the genre is.

7. Do you watch any music channels?

• Yes - 13
• No - 14

This question gave us an idea on if the respondents watch any music videos, we wanted to know if they watched any music channels because most music channels show music videos instead of just listening to a song.

8. If so what music channels do you watch? (open question)

• MTV - 3
• Kerrang - 2
• Viva - 2
• Magic
• 4Music - 3
• Scuzz - 2

This question tells us the music channels our respondents watch, most of them are channels which mainly play pop/drum and bass/dance/hip-hop and one of them shows rock/hardcore rock, we like the fact that the majority of ones chosen show drum and bass videos because then that means people have heard drum and bass as it isn't the biggest of genres but is definitely starting to make a come through. This leads us onto the next question;

9. Have you ever listened to drum and bass music?

• Yes - 20
• No - 7

Most of our respondents have heard drum and bass which is quite pleasing, our respondents were mainly in our age group of 16-18 and therefore drum and bass is played a lot on the radio channels that our age group listen too but we asked the older people and they didn't seem to know about it really which was a bit weird as it used to be very popular.

10. Do you like drum and bass music?

• Yes - 17
• No - 10

There were mixed opinions on drum and bass, some people like it and some people don't like it, the majority were people that liked it which is good for us."

From this feedback I have learnt that from the people that we asked quite a few of them knew of or listen to the drum and bass genre. This is good because they were the target audience for my music video. This feedback allowed me to cater the genre around the target audience so that they like the music video. This was just a general questionnaire really where I wanted to find out some information about the target audience.

Music Video Feedback:

Rough cut 1

We have received some feedback on our music video from target audience members, the positives and negatives of rough cut 1 are;

Positives:

• OTS shots are good
• Majority of lip syncing is well done
• The lighting is good
• The cuts are well timed
• Framing is good
• Good range of shots
• Interesting shots
• Good locations
• Clear storyline
• Transitions are really good
• Flows nicely
• Storyline links to the lyrics
• Like that couple in video are wearing similar clothes
• Appropriate shots for genre
• Fits generic conventions
• Pacing of shots work well

Negatives:

• Some lip syncing is a bit off
• ECU of mouth is blurry
• Some shots repeat
• TV should turn on
• Camera is shaky on some shots
• Some shots are slightly out of focus
• Some shots are too long
• SRS looks weird
• Gaps with no footage need to be filled
• Unclear why actor is climbing through window
• Well polished and falls away at the end
• Some colour corrections are needed
• Not complete
• Wider variety of shots could be used
• Repetition could be confusing
• Shorter and more shots in flashback
• Chorus is too repetitive
• Add in names and candidate at start
• Tracking/handheld shots are wobbly

At the moment there are more negatives than positives, we hope to correct the negatives and have more positives than negatives on the next rough cut. We aim to get rid off all of the negative comments by our final cut.

Rough cut 2

We have received some more feedback on our music video from target audience members, although this time it is for our rough cut 2, the positives and negatives of rough cut 2 are;

Positives:

• Lip Syncing is really good
• Visuals and music work well
• Good variety of shots
• Nice effects on video
• Good match on action
• Song choice is really good
• Good transitions and cuts
• Performance shots outside are great
• Nice colour effects on argument at the end
• Good zoom at start
• Good OTS

Negatives:

• Can't see eyes of actor in some shots
• Some more effects needed over shots
• Doesn't really look different to rough cut 1
• Camera shaky sometimes
• TV should turn on
• Speed up the flashback at the end
• Some out of focus shots
• Needs to be finished
• Some shots a little too long
• Indoor shots aren't brilliant
• Some shots need to be added in
• Not clear storyline

At the moment the negatives are pretty even with the positives, we hope to correct the negatives and have more positives than negatives on the next rough cut. We aim to get rid off all of the negative comments by our final cut.

Rough Cut 3

We have received some more feedback on our music video from target audience members, although this time it is for our rough cut 3, the positives and negatives of rough cut 3 are;

Positives:

• Lip Syncing is really good
• Visuals and music work really well
• Good variety of shots
• Nice effects on video
• Good match on action
• Song choice is really good
• Good transitions and cuts (especially tv one)
• Performance shots outside are great
• Nice colour effects on argument at the end
• Good zoom at start
• Good OTS

Negatives:

• Camera shaky sometimes
• TV should turn on
• Speed up the flashback at the end
• Some out of focus shots
• Needs to be finished
• Some shots a little too long
• Indoor shots aren't brilliant
• Some shots need to be added in

At the moment the positives are now outweighing the negatives which is good, we hope to correct the all of the negatives and have virtually no negative comments by the final cut.

Final Music Video

We have received some feedback on our Final Music Video from target audience members, although this time it is for our Final Music Video, the positives and negatives of the Final Music Video are;

Positives:

• Lip Syncing is right on point
• Visuals and music work really well together
• Really good variety of shots
• Some really good and effective effects on the video
• There is a good match on action
• The Song choice is really good and catchy, think the music video goes well with it
• Nice and clean transitions and cuts, some transitions go really well with song
• Performance shots outside are great
• Nice colour effects on argument at the end
• Good zoom at start
• Good OTS (Over the Shoulder)

Negatives:

• TV should turn on
• Speed up the flashback at the end

As you can now see, the positives massively outweigh the negatives, that is exactly what we were hoping for although it would have been nice to not get any negative comments but I think the negative comments that we got were pretty opinionated. We aimed to get rid off all of the negative comments by our final cut and we have all but 2 which I see as a huge success.

This feedback from our rough cut 1 all the way up to our final music video has helped us drastically improve our music video. From the start as you can see we had loads of negatives and hardly any positives on our rough cut 1 then by the end looking at our final music video we only had 2 negative comments which is a massive improvement. 

G324: Final Music Video

This is our Final Music Video. It has been fully edited now and it looks like what we were hoping for. The editing is loads better in what is now the final cut and the lip syncing is near perfect. We used a few transitions; the first of which is into-television transition at 14 secs, then we had a transition 1:53 (had to do that because the split screen didn't work as intended), then at 1:00 there was a transition going through the window, then there was another into the tv at 2:15, then there was another transition at 3:05 (this was the transition to go into the past), there is a fade to white transition at 3:27 and finally a fade to black at the end to then show the writing . We have re filmed some of the shots that were out of focus and added in the shots that needed to be filled in, we now hope that the music video will flow really well and make the narrative easier to follow.

 

We have received some feedback on our Final Music Video from target audience members, although this time it is for our Final Music Video, the positives and negatives of the Final Music Video are;

Positives:

• Lip Syncing is right on point
• Visuals and music work really well together
• Really good variety of shots
• Some really good and effective effects on the video
• There is a good match on action
• The Song choice is really good and catchy, think the music video goes well with it
• Nice and clean transitions and cuts, some transitions go really well with song 
• Performance shots outside are great
• Nice colour effects on argument at the end
• Good zoom at start
• Good OTS (Over the Shoulder)

Negatives:

• TV should turn on
• Speed up the flashback at the end

As you can now see, the positives massively outweigh the negatives, that is exactly what we were hoping for although it would have been nice to not get any negative comments but I think the negative comments that we got were pretty opinionated. We aimed to get rid off all of the negative comments by our final cut and we have all but 2 which I see as a huge success.

G324: Final Magazine Advertisement

This is our final Magazine Advertisement, it has the same theme as the Digipak to keep a consistent theme throughout.

G324: Final Digipak

The front panel is the one in the middle there, the back is the one on the left, the inside ones are the one on the right, then the ones at the bottom.

We have kept a consistent theme across our Digipak and Magazine Advertisement so it is easier for the audience to recognize that they are linked.

G324: Final Costumes

Man

Black coat:

He wore a black coat as for the majority of the music video he is viewed as the antagonist. Black is seen as a dark and sinister colour. it is the colour which is stereotypically seen being worn by an antagonist in a film.

White T shirt:

He was wearing a white shirt in parts of the music video when we didn't have much of a gauge for his actions so wt these points we see him as an innocent character. This feeling if further reinforced when we see him wearing the T-shirt towards the end of the video.

Dark blue or black jeans:

He wore dark blue jeans to contrast to the woman's light blue jeans to symbolise their contrasting opinions. He also wore these jeans because he is viewed as the antagonist as his behavior is for the majority of the spectrum compared to the woman's behavior. Dark blue, like black, is a colour which represents power, something all antagonists seek to gain.

Trainers:

He wore trainers to represent his down to earth straight thinking attitude. These trainers will also be dark in colour to further reinforce the connotations of the colours of the majority of the clothes he is wearing.

Woman

White top:

She wore a white top as white is associated with light, goodness, innocence and purity. These are the characteristics of the woman that we see in the music video as we see here as the victim throughout the video who only has one goal within the music video which is to mend what goes wrong in the video, as this is the nature of her character.

Light blue Jeans:

She wore light blue jeans which were torn at the knees as light blue is associated with healing, understanding and softness. These are also characteristics of the woman as her understanding compels her to mend what goes wrong in the video, as this is the nature of her character whilst the tears are there to reinforce the fact that she is the victim.

G324: Final Props

This is a list of our final props and the reasons why we chose these:

Glass Vase (with No Flowers)

We decided to use a glass vase from a charity shop instead of lamp. There are a few reasons for this:

We figured that we wanted to break a vase and if we tried to break a lamp it wouldn't have been good. The lamp would have been more expensive and out of our planned budget, therefore the vase was a cheap and better alternative to the lamp.

Cream Sofa

We decided to use the cream sofa as we believed that the colour worked well to make it seem like part of the location; we though that a darker coloured sofa would not fit well because most of the colour scheme that we wanted to go for was pure white/cream so a dark sofa would have looked out of place.

Television

The television was a prop that features in our storyline, it was essential to have a decent TV and have this in the same room as the sofa. Therefore, we used a flat screen Sony television as it was easily maneuverable so it allowed us to place it at the right point in the room to match our storyboard. It was also useful as it wasn't too big, making the framing slightly easier for us.

Remote Control

                    

This was what came with the TV so therefore it wouldn't seem weird using a different controller for a different TV, this prop came into use when the actor turns the TV on and off in the music video.

G324: Final Locations

We decided our final locations and these were the ones that Jack took. This is because the whole area fits our storyboard the best and we wouldn't have to worry about to many jumps between locations on shots that are supposed to match up. With the complex narrative having jumps between locations on shots that are supposed to match up would present a problem as the narrative would of been harder to follow. Also having jumps between locations on shots that are supposed to match up would hinder us when editing this is because it would be very time consuming trying to find a way of making the visuals flow.

Also the locations that Jack showed us fitted the feel for the music video the best as it had lots of open space where we could potentially be more cleaver with the mise en scene as it would give us more space to set up what was going in the frame for the shot. Furthermore these wider spaces would make it much easier to use the equipment as it would allow us more space to operate allowing us to execute the shots to a higher standard.

G324: Rough Cut 3 & Feedback

This is our third rough cut for our music video. It has been nearly fully edited now and it is really starting to look like what we hoped it would look like. The editing is a lot better in this cut and the lip syncing is very good. We did use a transition; the into-television transition at 2:12. We are re filming our shots soon and they will be clearer and will make the narrative easier to follow. I think that the storyline is a lot clearer now because before the feedback was that some of the audience didn't understand the narrative and more of them said they did now. This rough cut is near completion, we just need to add in the re filmed shots/the missing shots and a few more transitions and that will be the final cut.

 

We have received some more feedback on our music video from target audience members, although this time it is for our rough cut 3, the positives and negatives of rough cut 3 are;

Positives:

• Lip Syncing is really good
• Visuals and music work really well
• Good variety of shots
• Nice effects on video
• Good match on action
• Song choice is really good
• Good transitions and cuts (especially tv one)
• Performance shots outside are great
• Nice colour effects on argument at the end
• Good zoom at start
• Good OTS

Negatives:

• Camera shaky sometimes
• TV should turn on
• Speed up the flashback at the end
• Some out of focus shots
• Needs to be finished
• Some shots a little too long
• Indoor shots aren't brilliant
• Some shots need to be added in

At the moment the positives are now outweighing the negatives which is good, we hope to correct the all of the negatives and have virtually no negative comments by the final cut.

G324: Analysis of Magazine Advertisement by Artist in our Genre

This is a magazine advertisement of a Drum and Bass concert for Pendulum DJ Set and other artists, the majority in the Drum and Bass genre. This is a good advertisement because it uses a good colour scheme, lots of the colours that are used in this advertisement, you would find in a Drum and Bass advertisement. This is good that they have gone with the generic style but have put their own twist on it. The artists names are nice and clear which is what you want because you want the audience to see who is performing and also be able to try and tell what genre the advertisement is in.

In terms of layout of the magazine advertisement, where you put the text on the page is very important but most of all, I feel they have put the text in the right place on here. With the information which is on here, all of the relevant information is needed such as; when the DJ Set is, where it is, how much it is to get in, who is performing, how old you have to be, where you can buy the tickets from and the record companies label. I really like this magazine advertisement because it is very relevant to the genre of drum and bass and it would be good if we could produce something like this for our digipak.

The bits that we can take from this and implement on our magazine advertisement are;

1. The colour scheme - with this colour scheme we can consider it as one of the colour schemes that we could possibly use.
2. The text positioning - we can also consider where we are going to put our text and use this magazine advertisement as a basic guideline (even though this advertisement is for a DJ performance).
3. The information - in terms of the information on the page, we can take some good hints from this magazine advertisement, such as; the date of when the tour/album comes out, how much the tour/album costs, where the tour tickets/album can be bought from and put the record label on the album down the bottom somewhere to let the audience know what record company has produced it.

G324: 2 x Magazine Advertisement Analysis

This magazine advertisement below is in the Progressive Rock genre and is from a well known group called Radiohead. This is a good magazine advertisement because it uses good colours to try and stand out but isn't too "in your face". The colours that are used in this advertisement go well with the genre of the music. This is good that they have gone with the generic style but have put their own twist on it. The artists name is nice and clear on the advertisement which is what you want because you want the audience to see who is performing and also be able to try and tell what genre the advertisement is in.

In terms of layout of the magazine advertisement, where you put the text on the page is very important but most of all, I feel they have put the text in the right place on here. With the information which is on here, all of the relevant information is needed such as; when the gig is, where it is, how much it is to get in, who is performing, how old you have to be, where you can buy the tickets from and the record companies label. I like this magazine advertisement because it is very relevant to the genre of progressive rock.

This one is a magazine advertisement below in the R&B/Soul/Grime/Drum and Bass genre and is from a well known artist called Plan B (stage name Strickland Banks).This is a decent effort at a magazine advertisement but it doesn't really grab my attention that much so I wouldn't be that inclined to buy Plan B's album or go to one of his gig's. The colours that are used in this advertisement are alright and I do think that they go with the genre of the artist. This is a decent magazine advertisement because they have gone with a very basic style but have put their own twist on it to try and attract the right audience. The artists name is really nice and clear on the advertisement which is what you want because you want the audience to see who is performing and also be able to try and tell what genre the advertisement is in.

In terms of layout of the magazine advertisement, where you put the text on the page is very important but most of all, I feel they have put the text in the right place on here. With the information which is on here, all of the relevant information is needed such as; when the gig is, where it is, how much it is to get in, who is performing, how old you have to be, where you can buy the tickets from and the record companies label. I think that this magazine could do with being a bit more appealing but I suppose it is alright for the genre the artist is in.

G324: In Depth Analysis of 2 Music Videos from Chosen Genre (with theories)

These music videos are among my favorite music videos and they are in the genre that we wanted to do our music video on which is Drum and Bass, therefore I have decided to do in depth analysis' on them. I also feel they are very good and different music videos to do a in depth analysis on and these music videos take in a few elements of each Goodwin's and Todorov's theories.

Rudimental - Waiting All Night:

This is a really good video because I love how real the video is and it also relates to the lyrics well. The narrative is really good and is a life story of a BMX champion and actor Kurt Yaeger, who lost his lower leg in a motorcycle accident in 2006. This video is also inspired by the 2012 Paralympic games in London and this video also links in with their other singles which are Not Giving In and Feel The Love and they are about overcoming struggles so they shot the piece in a home video style to fit in.

The shots are pretty simplistic but they are emphasised by the realistic element of the whole narrative which forms a good music video in this instance in my opinion. There is good use of clothing throughout to make it fit in with the narrative that they are going for. The settings are very realistic because the first one is in a hospital with the man laying on the bed, the second is at a skate park where he is trying to find his feet again after the fatal accident that ruined his career and the third one is where they are cycling through a storm drain in America. There is quite fast paced editing in this music video and this goes along with the song and fast beat of the song.

Relating Rudimental's "Waiting All Night" to theories:

Rudimental's song/music video for "Waiting All Night" can be related to a couple of theories, both Goodwin's Theory and Todorov's theory.

Goodwin's Theory:

In relation to Goodwin's theory I think that there are a few of his elements that relate to this music video, these are;

• Narrative Based music video
• Genre Characteristics
• Lyrics and Visuals links
• Music and Visuals links

Todorov's Theory:

There are five stages the narrative can progress through:

1. A state of equilibrium

2. A disruption of that order by an event.

3. A recognition that the disorder has occurred.

4. An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption.

5. A return or restoration of a NEW equilibrium

In relation to Todorov's theory I think that this music video fulfills all the stages of Todorov's theory, this is because at the beginning of the music video the man is alright and riding around on his bike, then he gets injured which is the disruption and there is then recognition of this which is him in the hospital, then he is then trying to repair his hurt leg which is the repairing of the damage of disruption and finally there is a return to normality when he gets back onto his bike near the end.



Chase and Status - Time:

A music video that we have taken some inspiration from is Time by Chase and Status. This is because it has some really good shots in it, the narrative is very similar to what we are thinking about doing and it is a relatively medium difficulty video yet effective music video. The narrative is about a man and a woman who are having a troublesome relationship, the man keeps beating up the woman but then then they are happy at some points then it goes back to the woman beating the woman again and one of the children reacts and calls the police and the man goes into jail. This music video was made in this way because it is for Refuge for women and children, against domestic violence as shown at the end of the video below (3:42).

This music video from Chase and Status has areas in it that we think we will try to implement into our own music video because they are creative, this song mixes in with what we were thinking and this is one of our main music videos that we are basing our ideas from for our chosen song "Flat Foot Face" by Stan SB as a Drum and Bass artist.

Relating Chase and Status' "Time" to theories:

Chase and Status' song/music video for "Time" can be related to a couple of theories, both Goodwin's Theory and Todorov's theory.

Goodwin's Theory:

In relation to Goodwin's theory I think that there are a few of his elements that relate to this music video, these are;

• Narrative based music video 
• Genre Characteristics
• Music and Visuals links

Todorov's Theory:

There are five stages the narrative can progress through:

1. A state of equilibrium

2. A disruption of that order by an event.

3. A recognition that the disorder has occurred.

4. An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption.

5. A return or restoration of a NEW equilibrium

In relation to Todorov's theory I think that this music video fulfills all of the stages of Todorov's theory, this is because at the start everything is normal (state of equilibrium), there is then a disruption of this with the fighting of the couple, there is then a recognition that disorder occurred, then there's an attempt to repair the damage near the end because the man goes into jail and finally everything evens out and there is a new equilibrium. 

G324: Rough Cut 2 & Feedback

This is our second rough cut for our music video. It has been slightly edited now and it is starting to look like what we hoped it would look like. The editing that has been done is cutting the clips we took to fit the song, the lip syncing has been matched pretty well too in this rough cut. We did however use a transition; the most obvious of was the one that was the into-television transition at 2:12. We are also still planning on re-filming some of the shots. E.g. we are going to film a shot of Amy locking the door so that the window-climbing shot is more justified and the storyline is a lot clearer because with some audience feedback that we got, some of them said that they didn't understand the storyline/narrative.



We have received some more feedback on our music video from target audience members, although this time it is for our rough cut 2, the positives and negatives of rough cut 2 are;

Positives:

• Lip Syncing is really good
• Visuals and music work well
• Good variety of shots
• Nice effects on video
• Good match on action
• Song choice is really good
• Good transitions and cuts
• Performance shots outside are great
• Nice colour effects on argument at the end
• Good zoom at start
• Good OTS

Negatives:

• Can't see eyes of actor in some shots
• Some more effects needed over shots
• Doesn't really look different to rough cut 1
• Camera shaky sometimes
• TV should turn on
• Speed up the flashback at the end
• Some out of focus shots
• Needs to be finished
• Some shots a little too long
• Indoor shots aren't brilliant
• Some shots need to be added in
• Not clear storyline

At the moment the negatives are pretty even with the positives, we hope to correct the negatives and have more positives than negatives on the next rough cut. We aim to get rid off all of the negative comments by our final cut.

G324: Rough Cut 1 & Feedback

This is our first rough cut for our music video. It is a very basic version of what hope our video to look like. Most of the editing has been simply cutting the clips we took to fit the song and then placing them so that they match up to our storyboard. We did however use some other editing techniques and transition; the most obvious of which would be the into-television transition at 2:12. As this is our first rough cut, some of the clips are not completely in sync with the song, however these are aspect that we are currently rectifying in our post production phase. We are also planning on re-filming some of the shots. For example, we are going to film a shot of Amy locking the door so that the window-climbing shot is more justified (allows it to flow).



We have received some feedback on our music video from target audience members, the positives and negatives of rough cut 1 are;

Positives:

• OTS shots are good
• Majority of lip syncing is well done
• The lighting is good
• The cuts are well timed
• Framing is good
• Good range of shots
• Interesting shots
• Good locations
• Clear storyline
• Transitions are really good
• Flows nicely
• Storyline links to the lyrics
• Like that couple in video are wearing similar clothes
• Appropriate shots for genre
• Fits generic conventions
• Pacing of shots work well

Negatives:

• Some lip syncing is a bit off
• ECU of mouth is blurry
• Some shots repeat
• TV should turn on
• Camera is shaky on some shots
• Some shots are slightly out of focus
• Some shots are too long
• SRS looks weird
• Gaps with no footage need to be filled
• Unclear why actor is climbing through window
• Well polished and falls away at the end
• Some colour corrections are needed
• Not complete
• Wider variety of shots could be used
• Repetition could be confusing
• Shorter and more shots in flashback
• Chorus is too repetitive
• Add in names and candidate at start
• Tracking/handheld shots are wobbly

At the moment there are more negatives than positives, we hope to correct the negatives and have more positives than negatives on the next rough cut. We aim to get rid off all of the negative comments by our final cut.

G324: Notes on Cultural Effects Model and How it Applies to a Music Video

The Cultural Effects Theories are what the media do to people, the media is very powerful and the audience is passive. There are  2 main theories in Cultural Effects, the first one is The Hypodermic Needle Theory and the second is The Agenda Setting Theory. The Hypodermic Needle Theory was a theory introduced as soon as radio and televisions were introduced and was mainly used to put ideas into mass medias heads through radio and television means originally. The Agenda Setting Theory was a theory introduced and it is the creation of public awareness and concern of important issues by the news media.

Hypodermic Needle Theory (Also known as the Magic Bullet Theory) (1920s - 1940s)

 

 

The "Hypodermic Needle Theory" is a cultural effects theory, this theory implied that mass media had a direct, immediate and powerful effect on its audiences. The mass media in the 1940s and 1950s were perceived as a powerful influence on behaviour change.  This theory originated in USA during 1920s and 1930s and it was popular in the 1940s. The media is highly influential and audiences are seen as ‘sponges that absorb the media without interference. There were several factors that contributed to this "strong effects" theory of communication, including:

• the fast rise and popularisation of radio and television
• the emergence of persuasion companies, such as advertising and propaganda
• the Payne Fund studies of the 1930s which focused on the impact of motion pictures on children
• Hitler's monopolisation of the mass media during World War 2 to unify the German public behind the Nazi party

 

This animation shows that the information in the needle (the media) is getting put into the audiences head (mass media).

There are two names for this theory "The Bullet Theory" and "The Hypodermic Needle Theory" both of which are the same theory in concept they just have different names and slightly different explanations. The Hypodermic Theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly by ‘injecting’ them with appropriate messages designed to trigger a response. The image that is used to express this theory (a needle) suggests a powerful and direct flow of information from the sender to the receiver. The bullet theory however graphically suggests that the message is a bullet, fired from the "media gun" into the viewer's "head".

With similarly emotive imagery The Hypodermic Needle model suggests that media messages are injected straight into a passive audience which is immediately influenced by the message. There is no escape from the effect of the message in these models. The population is seen as a sitting duck. People are seen as passive and are seen as having a lot media material "shot" at them or "injected" into them. People end up thinking what they are told because there is no other source of information.

 

 

Example:

The classic example of the application of the Hypodermic Needle Theory was illustrated on October 30, 1938 when Orson Welles broadcasted their radio edition of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds." On the eve of Halloween, radio programming was interrupted with a "news bulletin" for the first time. What the audience heard was that Martians had begun an invasion of Earth in New Jersey.

It became known as the "Panic Broadcast" and it changed broadcast history. Approximately 12 million people in the United States heard the broadcast and about one million of those actually believed that a serious alien invasion was underway. A wave of mass hysteria disrupted households, interrupted religious services, caused traffic jams and clogged communication systems. People fled their city homes to seek shelter in more rural areas, raided grocery stores and began to ration food. The nation was in a state of chaos, and this broadcast was the cause of it.

Media theorists have classified the "War of the Worlds" broadcast as the best example of The Hypodermic Needle Theory. This is exactly how the theory worked, by "shooting" or "injecting" the message directly into the "bloodstream" or the "heads" of the public, attempting to create a uniform thinking. The effects of the broadcast suggested that the media could manipulate a passive and gullible public, leading theorists to believe this was one of the primary ways media authors shaped audience perception.
 

Agenda Setting Theory (1970s)

The "Agenda Setting Theory" is a cultural effects theory, it is the creation of public awareness and concern of important issues by the news media. Agenda setting describes a very powerful influence of the media, the ability to tell us what issues are important. McCombs and Shaw investigated presidential campaigns in 1968, 1972 and 1976. In the research done in 1968 they focused on two elements: awareness and information. Investigating the agenda-setting function of the mass media, they attempted to assess the relationship between what voters in one community said were important issues and the actual content of the media messages used during the campaign. McCombs and Shaw concluded that the mass media exerted a significant influence on what voters considered to be the major issues of the campaign.

The media cannot tell us what to think but it can tell us what to think about. This theory is defined as the process whereby the mass media determine what we think and talk about. In other words, the media can ‘set agendas’ or terms of reference of any discussion be it social, political or economical.

Two basis assumptions underlie most research on agenda-setting: (1) the press and the media do not reflect reality; they filter and shape it; (2) media concentration on a few issues and subjects leads the public to perceive those issues as more important than other issues. One of the most critical aspects in the concept of an agenda-setting role of mass communication is the time frame for this phenomenon. In addition, different media have different agenda-setting potential. Agenda-setting theory seems quite appropriate to help us understand the pervasive role of the media (for example on political communication systems)."
 

Example:

McCombs and Shaw focused on the two elements: awareness and information. Investigating the agenda-setting function of the mass media in the 1968 presidential campaign, they attempted to assess the relationship between what voters in one community said were important issues and the actual content of media messages used during the campaign. McCombs and Shaw concluded that the mass media exerted a significant influence on what voters considered to be the major issues of the campaign.

This picture is an example of the Agenda-setting Theory

How these theories apply to a Music Video:

The "Hypodermic Needle Theory" applies to a Music Video because I think that there are certain bits in the music video where they are trying to put things into the audiences head. This is mainly the swear words and nudity in the music videos, a fair few of music videos now have either swearing or nudity to a certain extent in their music videos and it is putting ideas/words into children's heads when they watch the music videos. They are seeming to become marketing devices in a way trying to promote products like "Beats by Dr Dre" in their music videos, these are often seen in the background and are put on show on purpose to promote them.

The Agenda-setting Theory applies to a Music Video because music videos are also used as a device to portray stories, this only happens in a few music videos but these stories may or may not be true but it puts the audiences mind in a different perception and tries to make them remember something that they don't really want to remember, it makes the ideas seem like they are more important that others.