Audience Feedback

What we learned from Audience feedback main task:
Positive:
- They thought the cinematography was effective, and professional
- They said the settings were effective in conveying the idea that these were middle, class bourgeoisie characters, such as the lavish houses in the background and the sports we played such as golf and bowls. This was very pleasing as we were worried we wernt communicating this idea as well as we’d liked.
- They said it suited the style in that:
- Our Target Audience was clear and they felt it was appealing to a teenage audience, in the costume and the persona they were trying to achieve, as this is an idea a lot of teenagers have today.
- They also said that it suited Dizzee Rascal as an artist, as his songs are generally quite comedic and humourous, and humour is often used in his videos, seen in such videos as Dirtee Disco. This was again pleasing to hear as this was something we planned and it was good to see it came through.
Negative:
- The Lip Syncing – they said was sometimes out of time and generally in places a bit unclear. This was something we realised would be difficult as rap music involved talking at incredibly high speeds, so we did find it difficult to keep up with the fast pace as amateurs. If we were to do this again this is something we could build on.

What we learned from Audience feed back (ancillary Tasks)
Positive
- Suits Target Audience, bright vibrant colours make it stand out in a shop
- Suited typical conventions of an advertisement
- Information was useful on the advertisement
- Names on the digipak ‘theodore’ ‘cornelius’ were effective in conveying the message
Negative:
- Font colour choice of orange they questioned, they felt it was an odd choice on the advertisement and didn’t reflect the ‘gangster’ effect the boys were attempting to achieve
- Positioning of some of the shots, Kate felt that it looked slightly unprofessional in places due to a lack of symmetry in the advertisement with James out of shot slightly.
- More about Dizzee Rascal the artist in the digipak, it looked like we were the artist.

Lesson Monday 31st January

Our lesson objective on Monday was to start activity 2 which involved gaining audience feedback about our music video. Three people were asked to view the video a couple of time and give feedback and various points including: Cinematography,Editing , Mise en scene and Typical Music video Conventions. This feedback was recorded on camera and shows a great insight into what an audience thought about the music video

Discuss how your digipak uses typical conventions of a layout - Ned Keating and James Wilson

Below is the annotations made on our digipak:



As one can see, this is the back cover for our digipak. On the back cover, you can see there are track listings, a barcode and copyright symbol. All of these are typical conventions that you would expect to find on the layout of the back cover of a digipak. We chose to follow these conventions because it is rare for a digipak to not include all three together on the back. There are also some examples of digipaks, such as the one below.

We wanted our back to the audience on the back cover to highlight the fact it is the back and we wanted to show the attitude the band has.


Above is the front cover of our digipak. This also follows the conventions of a typical layout of a digipak, as the name of the artist, the name of the track and an image of the artist appear on the front cover. We chose to include all three of these conventions on our front cover because they help people to identify the artist and record whilst glancing at the front cover on a shelf. Furthermore, the image on the front of the digipak is a striking one, with vibrant colours. This was constructed so that the boldness of the front cover would draw attention.


On the fold-out slide of our digipak, we included a group shot with the lyrics to "Fix Up, Look Sharp". Many digipaks have a lyric sheet located somewhere within, so we chose to include one so as to keep following the convetions. We also chose to include a group shot on the lyric sheet as, while it is not a typical convention, it shows the audience the dynamics of our group.




The three images above do not follow typical conventions of a music video, nor are they present in the digipaks we have researched. However, we chose to include them to further enhance the message that we are trying to convey - failing, middle-class "gansgters". This was achieved through the use of "gangster"-like poses.

Examples of a Music Advertisement Florence and the Machine - James Wilson

Above is an advert advertising a single by Florence and The Machine. This is a striking advertising image as there is a strong contrast between the red of her hair and the grey background. Conventions of an advertisement differ depending on the artists style and the genre their music suits. The artists name and the song name is in white font and stand out from the grey background and the image Florence is creating is striking and powerful. The advertisements has various advertisement on it including HVM and Itunes, which is a great way to promote yourself and your single.

Advertisement - Martin Woodhatch ft James Wilson

This is our advertisement for Dizzee Rascals single 'Fix up Look Sharp'

"Fix Up, Look Sharp" video

Final Digi Pack - James Wilson

Above is the digipak, which we like a lot

Individual shots of the digi pack - James Wilson

Dimensions of a digipak - James Wilson ft Martin Woodhatch

When creating our digipak it was important that we knew the correct dimensions so that we could create the correct sized images and fonts to match. By doing this it gave us a guideline to follow, and acted as a great template to create our ideas. The dimensions of a digipak: 5" x 5 1/2" x 1/4". The dimensions of a digipak are universally the same, so that they can fit into rack stand.

Monday 6th December - James Wilson

In today's lesson, the objective was research digipaks and understand what they are and what there purpose was. To start we had to research what a digipak was and the conventions within a digipack. What we found out was the common conventions of a digipak were;
-the artists name
-colours chosen
-track list
-barcode
- pictures

From learning what the conventions of a digipak are we then research other digipaks and analysed the conventions they used. By doing this it has helped us as a group think about how we are going to produce our digipak.

Digipak Example: Michael Jackson (ultimate collection) - James Wilson

An example of a digipack used by an music artist is Michael Jackson's (ultimate collection). The Michael Jackson digipak uses all other the main conventions that a digipak acquires;
-The band/artists name
-Basic information about the artist and the album
-Colours which portray the artist in a certain light.

Firstly the album cover consists of an iconic picture of Michael standing there with his hands up, and the picture it self is a different texture and is slightly printed into the digipak, giving it an authentic feel to the consumer. As well as the picture being the center of attention of the digipak, the colour choice is crucial and its shows the audience what Michael thinks about himself. Using the gold letter on the black cover stands out and shows the pubic that this album is the gold standard with it standing out and oozing class. This particular digipak contains a vast number of Cd's which are well package within the digipak which helps reduce size making it small and compact. The advantages of the digipak are that they are different from normal stardard cases and usually relate to deluxe or a significant album.

Digipack Conventions - James Wilson

A digipak is a type of packaging for discs which folds out like a book rather than open out like a conventional case, made from cad instead of plastic however the disc itself will sit within the digipak in a thin plastic tray. The design of the digipak it self is in fact cheaper and easier to produce than a normal jewel case. It is usually used for special edition Cd's and DVDs, and due to the way it is packaged it enables a multiple number of discs to be held within it.

Digipak is a registered trademark of AGI media who originally developed the packaging style, however the term digipack has come into common use for any similar style packaging. Even when produced by other companies or with varying materials. Digipak weaknesses include the plastic trays used to hold the disc are brittle and liable to snap, or loose teeth, more so than jewel cases and the softer card materials used for the outer packaging are likely to get damaged easily although UV coating is sometimes used to minimise this. All digipaks have quite simple designs consisting of the artist on the front. All these covers have had simple effects put onto the images, this gives it a slightly stylised look.

Aside from simple design conventions Digipaks seem to be relatively simple, only having the artist and disc name on the cover, possibly with a DVD logo. Age ratings aren’t often an issue with musicians releases, however if applicable this would be on the front. Information on the back may include track and content listing, Record label information and bar code including small print on copyright information. These Digipaks shown have chosen to show logos and or artwork as the front cover, this is more in keeping with these bands styles. Also both artists are quite famous and do not need a photograph of themselves on the front for self-promotion.

In conclusion a digipack has a number of conventions;
-The band/Artists name situation somewhere on the outside (normally front cover)
-Basic information about the band either on the inside or the outside of the the digipak
-Song lyrics are occasionally on the digipack dependant on the reputation of the song
-Digipacks can also include newspaper reviews of the album/song (Normally positive)

Software/Equipment/Techniques used - James Wilson

Throughout the process of creating a music video we have used particular software imovie HD the type of computer that allowed us to use this great piece of software was an imac pc. This software has allowed us to successfully to upload all of our clips and with relevant ease, allowed us to choose the clips we wanted and get all our shots in time with the song. The software was a simple drag and drop system which definitely made the editing process quicker. When making the music video we used suitable filming equipment, which included; camera,tripod,tape and our own props and vehicles. By using this equipment it allowed us to get the steady clear shoots, which is what we were aiming for. When filming there were a number of techniques of which we used; firstly the types of camera shots for e.g close ups, panning shots, high angle and low angle shots. Using these different number of shots allowed the video to have a variety within it. For a example a panning shot allows us as a group to set the scene within the video. Using imovie HD enabled us to use the 'slow-motion' feature which made the video have something different to other music videos, which showed a creative element.

Monday 29th November, Final Day of filming - James Wilson

Last Monday we as a group made a decision to put editing on hold as felt we needed a more variety of shot so we took the opportunity to head out and gain some more footage. The aim of our video was to portray the image of posh school boys being rude boys, so we wanted to get shots which represent that. Firstly I decided that we should have a drag race between two of the gang members so we headed to the local car park and got a variety of shots. These shots acted as the filler of the video and played an instrumental to keep the video moving at a good pace. Secondly we went to a play area and used the different apparatus to get a variety of shots. These shots had comedy value and make the video light hearted and funny which is the exact type of approach that we anted the video to take.

Shaggy "it wasn't me" - James Wilson

The video to "it wasn't me" by shaggy contains many conventions of a music video. For example narrative within the video. Having a narrative takes the audience on the journey with the artist and gives an understanding of the song.



Throughout the music video a variety of shots with a variety of locations were used which is a common convention. By doing this a the artist keeps the audience interested and engaged in the video.

In the music video, lip syncing is used which is a common convention, and the quality of the lip syncing is important is it needs to look as professional as possible.

In the rap genre there is glorification of women and in this music video it is no different. The video shows how the women go around after shaggy and being there for his every need, helping down the stairs to just sitting around him. This shows the power of shaggy and how it makes him look more powerful with lots of women around him.

Lip Syncing - James Wilson

Lip syncing is a convention seen in many music videos. In our music video, we intend to lip sync the chorus of 'Fix Up, Look Sharp'. This is because we believe it to be the part of the song that is most recognisable. This way, when we are lip syncing the chorus, the audience may be enticed to sing-a-long with us. we also believe the chorus to be the part where we can further spoof the rap genre by rapping in a mocking style.

Do's and Don'ts - James Wilson

When creating a music video there are various factors that need to be considered.

Do
.Know the groups limitations
.Use costumes (Mise en scene)
.Plan locations (Variety)
.Have an idea and commit to it
.Consider the audience reaction

Don't
.Go over budget
.Wear school uniform
.Stay in chararcter when filming (don't be shy)
.Forget about approoriate lighting
.Over use material(shots)

Junior Senior "Move Your Feet" - James Wilson

Junior Senior's "Move your feet" is a music video which subverts from contemporary music conventions. The video is all animation which subverts from contemporoary music conventions as there is no perfomance from the artist himself and there is no narrative in the video which is now common in contemporary music videos. With the video being completely different to other music videos it gives it a hook, which means that the audience remembers the song for its video as it is fun and different. With it being animated it still follows contemporary music conventions. With there being fast cuts between each scene of animation so that it keeps up with the pace of the song. The video is supposed to fun, as the animation which is used is random as it doesnt tie in with the lyrics.

Practice Music Video