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.

How did you use new media technologies in research and planning, construction and evaluation stages? - Ned Keating

Above is a Panasonic Lumix camera, similar to the one we used in the construction of our digipacks and advertisement. We chose the use the Lumix camera given its high pixel level and its face recognition technology, which helped significantly with the intimidating advertising shot.


The above image is of an Apple iMac computer, which we used in all three stages of our coursework. For the research stage, it was used to look at videos on YouTube and gain information on the artist from various websites. For the construction phase, we edited our footage on these computers using the iMovie HD software. This software was also used to edit the audience feedback we received, and is how we used the computer in the evaluation stage of the coursework.


The final image is of the camera which we used for the coursework. The camera similar to the one above was used in both the construction and evaluation stage, as we used the camera to film the footage for our music video and our audience feedback, before uploading the footage on to the Apple iMac computers.

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.

"Fix Up, Look Sharp" video

Examples of Music Adverts - Joe Jones

Above is an example of a music magazine advert for "Second Coming" by The Stone Roses. This advert displays the date on which the song will be released, which is a convention seen in many a music magazine advert. Furthermore, there are images of the band members, which can help with the audience recognising the artist with just a glance. The name of the band can also be clearly seen at the top of the advert, again allowing the reader to understand who the advert is for, again with just a look. A review can also be viewed upon this advert, from Q Magazine, a renowned music magazine. The colours seen within this advert are again representative of the band and artist, which is another convention of music magazine adverts. In conclusion, it can be said that while this magazine ad for a song subverts and other convention, it is generally a normal music magazine ad for a song.

Examples of Music Adverts - Ned Keating

Above is an advert advertising The Verve's "Love Is Noise". This advert is a great contrast to the one that Martin previously reviewed by Tinchy Stryder. For example, there is no image of the artist; instead there is an image of what appears to be the countryside. There is also a day mentioned on this advert mentioning when the single, something not seen on the Tinchy Stryder advert. Furthermore, the colours used in The Verve's advert are dull, which are a stark contrast to the vibrant colours seen in Tinchy Stryder's advert. However, the two adverts share a convention in that they both display the name of the artists and the name of thei respective song. if we were to take Tinchy Stryder's advert as a conventional one, then it could be argued that The Verve's advert subverts the conventions of a typical music advert in a magazine. However, it could also be said that the conventions of an advert change depending on how the artists wish to be represented. The dull colours suit The Verve, and the more aggressive nature of Tinchy's advert matches his style of music very well.

Christmas Break - Ned Keating ft Martin Woodhatch

Over the festive period, we, as a group, had several discussions regarding our evaluation of how the task had gone so far. We believed that the ideas conceived so far had been of a high calibre and that the forthcoming digipak and adverts would have to follow suit. We also believed that one of us should learn over Christmas how to use Photoshop efficiently so as to aid the creation of said digipak and advert. In addition to this, the group premiered the video to their respective family and friends. The reception to the music video was extremely positive and we were all pleased with the feedback received. Let's hope we can continue this form this year.

Planning Our Digipak - Ned Keating

For our digipak, we wanted to continue the theme of "white-boy gangsters", To do this, we thought we should mimic some iconic rap poses, such as NWA.

Instead of the buildings seen behind the heads of NWA, we will show trees. This shows immediately that the group are from suburbia rather than a tough area, where gangsters are stereotypically from.
We also wished to pose "hard" in some image, again to convey the idea of the group failing gangsters.

Licensing Update - Ned Keating

Above is a copy of the email we received from XL Records regarding the use of "Fix Up, Look Sharp". We were quite impressed when we saw that Dizzee Rascal himself would have to approve the use of the track once we had got permission for the sample used in the song. We were also told to email Tonya Puerto at EMI Capitol, the company who own the rights to "The Big Beat" by Billy Squier, which is sampled in "Fix Up, Look Sharp".

Digipak - Ned Keating

Above is an example of a digipak for "Myth". This digipak follows the standard convention of digipaks by including a track listing on the back cover of the digipak. This digipak also includes several photographs of the artist on the all of the slides. This could help further promote the artist as the audience can recognise the artist once they see the digipak cover. Like most digipaks, there is also the artist's current logo on the front cover of the digipak. However, there doesn't seem to be any newspaper reviews on the digipak. This is an example of Myth's digipak subverting the conventions of traditional digipaks as they generally have some form of newspaper review on them

Licensing - Ned Keating

For our coursework, we had to make sure that we had the right use the song within the music video. To do this, we had to contact the record label who held the rights to "Fix Up, Look Sharp", which is XL Recordings. It was easy to contact them as there was a message box on their 'About' page.

At the bottom of the box, there was a link to a licensing request page, which I clicked on as I wanted to ensure that we had the right to use the song for our coursework.

On this link, we had to fill in several pieces of information regarding our reasons for needing the use the song.

4th Day of Filming - Ned Keating

On our fourth day of filming, we ventured into our local branch of Waitrose to film the 'gang' in a supermarket. Waitrose were more than happy for us to film. We wanted to film in a supermarket such as Waitrose because of the contrast between the high-class connotations of a supermarket like Waitrose and the low-life view of 'gangsters' in Britain. Myself and Joe also wanted to use Waitrose as a result of our experiences of working there, where we have rarely seen any 'gangsters' within the year we have been working there.

In Waitrose, we intended to originally shoot just a few shots, as this was planned within the storyboard. However, we decided to film a few other shots whilst there in case we needed extra shots when we came to editing.
We had to film after hours within Waitrose so that we could not offend or upset any customers during our filming, which could damage the reputation of Waitrose We also needed to use a member of staff in the video to act as a love interest. The girl we asked was happy to take part at first, but became reluctant when she realised what she had to do. Despite this, she still agreed to star in our music video.

Ultimately, I believe the Waitrose shoot was a successful shoot as we filmed what we needed and more. This will help us when we come to editing the footage as we now have more footage than we need, so we can place the extra footage into the music video if required.

'Burn, Burn' Video Analysis - Ned Keating

The video to 'Burn, Burn' by Lostprophets contains many conventions of music videos.
For example, there is a performance within the video.This is often seen in music videos from many genres to further promote the song. Furthermore, a performance includes lip syncing which could entice the audience to sing-a-long.

Also in the video, we see the band having to walk through a crowd. This is the representation of the band within the video. it shows the band as still being in touch with their fans as they follow a similar action taken by the fans, i.e. walking through a large crowd.


In the video as well, there is some form of dance routine performed by dancers rather than the band. Generally seen in pop videos, dance routines are not usually seen within rock videos. However, the reason why this routine may have been placed in the video may have been more for mocking the routines seen in pop videos rather than being a serious one.

The video also makes use of 'moshing'. This is something generally seen at rock concerts, so the use of it in the video would further enhance the video's appeal to its target audience.

Another convention seen in the video is the use of props that relate to the genre. In addition to a BMX (see screenshot), there is also a skateboard in the video. both of these are generally associated with the rock genre of music. Again, by using these, the band with further appeal to their target audience.

Dizzee Rascal - Ned Keating

Dizzee Rascal is a British rappper who has been active since 2000. Originally part of the 13-strong Roll Deep Crew, who have since gone on to have their own success, Dizzee left the band in 2003 to pursue a solo career and was offered an additional solo contract by XL recordings. In the same year, he released his debut album titled "Boy in da Corner", which gained critical acclaim and peaked at 23 on the UK album chart. The album was later awarded the prestigious Mercury Prize, making Dizzee the youngest ever winner. In 2004, Dizzee won the NME Award For Innovation. In September 2004, Dizzee released his second album, "Showtime", which entered the album charts at number . 2007 saw Dizzee's third album, titled 'Maths + English", which was was also nominated for a Mercury Prize but lost out to Klaxons. Dizzee released his fourth album "Tongue N' Cheek" which contained four number-one singles and topped the UK R&B Album chart for two weeks.

The song "Fix Up, Look Sharp' was Dizzee's second song released from his debut album. It was Dizzee's second top 40 hit but the first to peak inside the top 20. It was released on 18th August 2003. It spent four weeks within the UK Top 40. It was released on the XL Records label, who release songs traversing a wide variety of genres such as indie-rock, rap, and dance. The song heavily samples the main beat and vocals from "The Big Beat' by Billy Squier.

Dizzee is signed to record label XL Recordings. Set up in 1989 by Tim Palmer, Richard Russell and Nick Halkes, it originally specified in dance and rave music. However, since the late 1990s, the label have expanded into other genres such as freak-folk, alternative rock, Uk Garage and hip-hop. XL Recordings have developed into one of the most commercial and influential record labels in the UK.

Dizzee Rascal - Fix Up, Look Sharp - Ned Keating

The song 'Fix Up, Look Sharp' was recorded in 2002 and then later released during 2003. The song was released under the record label XL videos and was produced by Dizzee Rascal. The genre of the song is grime,funk and could be considered to be very popular within the general public. The song was released under the album 'Boy in da corner'.

The current music video that is used for the song 'Fix Up, Look Sharp' consist of purely Dizzee Rascal and some song lyrics edited onto the screen. The music video at the moment shows Dizzee Rascal dancing around acting hard and trying to portray his presence of 'looking sharp'. Throughout the music video there are lines and patterns running through the background to give off an original and different style to the music video. Also the two colours that are chosen in the music video are very contrasting. These colours are Yellow and Black and they interchange between being the primary colour and the secondary colour. Another feature that is used in the current music video is that of some of the song lyrics being shown in the background. This technique is used to emphasize the lyrics so that the audience understand them better. The song lyrics being in the background also keeps the viewer watching and keeps them intrigued and interested.

The music video that was produced by Dizzee Rascal follows many conventions in the way that there is a character trying to act like a gangster. This portrays the fact that the music videos genre in grime. Contrastingly the music video only features one person acting like a gangster where as typically there is usually a big group of people showing their presence. Due to its typical and untypical conventions the video has become very successful. The music video for the song 'Fix Up, Look Sharp' by Dizzee Rascal currently has over 4 million views on youtube which shows the video and the songs popularity within the general public.

Kayne West "Power" -Music Video Analysis - Ned Keating

Kanye West's Power is an extremely short video in terms of length, as it is only 1:42 in length. This is half the length of many contemporary music videos. This the first of many contemporary music conventions that the video subverts.
Due to its short length, the video only covers the first verse of the song; music videos generally cover all verses of the song it accompanies.
The video mainly uses just one shot constantly zooming out to reveal the scene. Again, this is different to many contemporary music videos, which use a wide variety of shot types. Also, the video does not include either a performance from the artist or a basic narrative. Only when you research the video further do you find that the video is full of symbolism.
In terms of movement, the video is almost stationary save for a few slow-motion upper-body movements periodically. This again subverts the conventions of a typical music video as they either include some form of dancing or other form of movement, such as walking.
Given that is subverts so many conventions of contemporary music videos, Kanye West does not label the song a music video, instead calling it a "moving painting".
The video does, however, include some conventions of contemporary music videos. For example, it has a hook - "the video where Kanye West has glow-in-the-dark eyes".
It is also compelling as you are intrigued and want to keep watching as a result of the videos mysterious and unconventional nature.
The video also makes use of dramatic lighting and is aesthetically pleasing, both of which help endear the song to the audience and will hopefully let it sell more copies

The History Of Music Videos - Joe Jones

The music video originated in the 1930s and 1940s. During this period of time, the music industry suffered an almost fatal blow from the invention of the television. To combat this, there was the creation of 'soundies'. 'Soundies' showed bands and artists lip syncing their songs on a screen. The reasoning for the 'soundie' was to counteract the television and offer another form of entertainment.

During the 1950s, the world-famous Elvis Presley released the song 'Love Me Tender' which accompanied the 1956 film of the same name.

The idea of a performance within a film started to become commonplace during the decade. Also during the 1950s, there was the rise of the teenagers, which coincided with the rise of Elvis Presley.

The 1960s saw two major bands fight it out for record sales - The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. The Beatles followed the same route as Elvis by releasing a song and film under the same title - A Hard Day's Night.

The 1960s also saw the invention of 'Concert Films', which included live performances and interviews with the band. To this day, this is something bands release often as a DVD feature, or even use live footage in the music promo videos themselves.

Also in the decade, The Monkees were given their own television show as a way of launching their music career, as the music industry continued to battle with the inevitable lure of the television. Musicians seemed to be saying 'if you cant beat 'em...join them'.

The 1970s saw the invention of open air rock festivals, which were often taped. Again, these helped to promote the band and offered the audiences unlimited access to their idols. Furthermore, the decade saw an increase in the amount of bands that used concert films as a way of promoting themselves.

1975 heralded a turning point for music videos with Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.

This promoted the band and its music in a way never before seen. At the time, it was considered a gamble as it was an untried method. However, it proved to be a successful way of promoting the song as it helped Queen to a then record 9 weeks at the top of the UK charts, thus paving the way for all other artists to begin to make these 'promotional music videos'.

In 1981, Music Television, or MTV for short, was launched in America. The main idea of MTV was to broadcast music videos into the homes of millions, which would help further promote the music of the bands and artists showcased on the channel. The first video shown on MTV was 'Money For Nothing' by Dire Straits. In 1984, MTV Europe was launched. Both of these have contributed to an increase in record sales in the past 25 years.

Michael Jackson's Thriller was a music video that subverted the conventions of a music video when it was first released. For example, at 13 minutes in length it was three times longer than some other music videos of the time. The length, along with the inclusion of dialogue and a break from the song for the narrative to continue, lead to the video being labeled by many as a short film. Another video which subverts the conventions of a music video is The Prodigy's Smack My Bitch Up, which included drug use, violence and nudity, all of which lead to it eventually being banned from television.

A video that has, however, lived up to the conventions of its era it Beyonce's hit from the noughties, Crazy In Love. In the video, Beyonce is objectified as she dresses and dances provocatively, trying to catch Jay-Z's attention. This is a typical video from the hip-hop genre during the noughties as women are often viewed as objects by the men within the genre.

Evaluation of Practice Music Video - Joe Jones

Identify the task as well as the song/artist

The task was to create a music video for the song "Sunny Afternoon" by The Kinks.

How have you used digital technology during the construction of the video?

We used iMac computers before the music video in order to view videos of songs from a similar genre to that of "Sunny Afternoon" so as to gain an idea of the conventions involved with this genre and general conventions of a music video. We also used iMac computers to edit the footage we had filmed using a program called iMovie.

Also, we used digital cameras in order to film the footage we needed prior to uploading it for use in iMovie.

Discuss the planning stage of your production and details of the steps you have taken

In the planning stage of our production, we looked at the original music video and the music videos of similar songs to understand how we should portray the song within our music video. We then printed off the lyrics and and tried to deconstruct them to find any hidden meanings behind the words. After both of these steps, we then started to think of ideas that could work for the music video and tried to expand upon each idea before settling on our main one. We then returned to the lyric sheet in order to work out the timings of our music video as accurately as we could so that we knew how long each shot we were going to film would take.

How did your research into music videos contribute to the development of your production?

Our research into music videos contributed slightly to the development of our music video as we were able to see that an element of irony and eccentricity would be required in order to make the video fit the music. We had viewed the original video to "Sunny Afternoon" and seen that The Kinks were singing about a lovely, sunny afternoon whilst in the snow, hence the irony and eccentricity.

What are the main strengths/weaknesses within your production?

The main strength of our production is its originality, as I doubt there are very many music videos that include a clown being followed everywhere he goes by a guitarist. However, we do believe the main weakness to be our lack of footage as some of our footage had to be used twice in order to make the production long enough for the song.

Audience Feedback?

The video has been posted on YouTube, whereby it has garnered negative reviews from the two people that have commented on it. Having said that, the majority of our peers have said that the music video is funny, which was what we were trying to achieve.

In conclusion, the completion of the practice music video proved to us just how difficult it is to firstly come up with ideas, but then also use the technology available to bring those ideas to life. After this, we realised that the main task would be incredibly challenging, and that it would take weeks and weeks of planning.

Practice Music Video