I have chosen to call my band LGB. The main theme in this song is about relationships and the hard times in winter my video is trying to convey how they are dealing with this and the loss of a girlfriend  and the friendship the  band have and how they use music to get over there problems. My music video is aimed at my target audience who will most likely be aged between 16 and 30 who will be into the actual musical ability more than the image and looks of the band.  My TA is most likely to be in university or college and will be into going out and having a good time and enjoy going to gigs to watch live music as they enjoy the music. My TA will also be into technology so they can receive the band’s music wherever they are if it via their mobile phone or laptop or TV. My Target audience will enjoy social networking as they will be able to instantly communicate with friends and by updated about their favourite bands.

For my deconstructions I tried to analyse two very different CD covers and videos from two different genres one from my genre of music and one from another genre such as hip hop. The real media examples I looked at was an oasis CD cover of ‘be here now’,

I choose to analyse this CD cover as it is a bit quirky to cover and it has plenty of random objects in random places and this adds to the bands appeal, this suggests the band will be different and perhaps will be unique and original. It could also suggest certain themes in the album such as there will be a wide range of unique themes.  So I wanted to deconstruct it so I could incorporate in my CD cover something random. The aspects which interested me in the CD cover was the text there is no CD name just the band name and that adds to this appeal that it is simple but quirky. It makes the image stand out much more with no big text over it. Another aspect of the cover I like is how the band members look like objects and it creates an effect of a stage and people placing models over it and the band look like they are part of the model scene and this creates an interesting visual effect.

The other CD cover I looked at was the Akon CD cover the album ‘Freedom’,

I looked at this CD cover because it is a very different genre to the Oasis CD cover and the one Ihave made, I wanted to do this to illustrate the differences in CD covers in relation to genre. The aspects on the CD cover which interested me is the styling of the artist, he looks very clean and very calm and this is shown in the background with the still water to create a calm effect and this is very different from the oasis cover. I like how it is calm because that makes the artist more appealing to the target audience. Another aspect I like is the font on ‘Akon’, the edges have been taken off, which takes the emphasis off the text and onto the artist. Which is what the CD cover is about.

For my video deconstructions I deconstructed two very different ones again the first being the Wombats – Tokyo,

what I liked about this video was how clear and interesting the narrative was, the narrative was about the band trying to escape the manager to be free and play their music their own way and where and when they wanted. This narrative was evident throughout the video and it also makes the video much more engaging for the viewer, it is more interesting because I feel that the target audience for it want to feel that they can relate and have glimpse into their life and this is illustrated through the narrative of them drinking and smoking and having fun.  Another aspect I liked about the video was the themes which were mainly about girls, smoking and drinking this again engages the target audience as they will most likely be into that stuff and it shows that they are real people and they don’t have to confine to the general rules of being a musician and they don’t have to try and have a good image to Attract young people they can be just who they want.

The other video I deconstructed was 50 cent – in da club,

I choose to do this video as like in the CD covers it is very different to the other video I deconstructed and the one I will make. The video has a very interesting narrative because it is about the creation of a new music star and building him up to be a world class hip hop artist and 50 cent being the artist. Another aspect which interested me was the intertextuality to try and engage the audience, for example there is a shot where he looks over to xzibit another rapper and this shows the audience he has respect from fellow rappers. The main piece of intertextuality is the link with other successful acts in the genre. Throughout the video we see shots of Eminem and Dr Dre who are the one analysing him this helps to create popularity for 50 cent as they are successful and on the same record companies.

For my album advert deconstruction I looked at an advert for green day, one aspect which was appealing was the bold font colours it was either block red or white against a black background and it really made the words stand out and was extremely appealing for the TA as they are colours normally associated with  the genre.  Another thing which interested me was the font in which the album name ‘wake me up when September ends’, it looks like it has been painted over the top of the poster and that I feel creates an appealing affect.

I learnt from the deconstructions certain codes and conventions for aspects in general and in my genre, for the music videos I learnt that having a narrative is so important, in both the 50 cent and the wombats they had clear and engaging narratives which gets view interested as well as making a story in the video. The narrative in the wombat’s movie is a very engaging one as it shows that they want to rebel and don’t want to be part of what the band manager wants them to do and this therefore becomes engaging and therefore meets the target audience needs. This shows that in indie music videos they don’t necessarily confine to typical behaviour and like to be different it also is important to have a narrative in the video even if it is not a story.  Another of the codes and conventions I learnt especially in indie music videos is the importance of the artist/band playing the instruments and singing and it is important that there is a balance between the narrative and live performance. Also as a lot of indie listeners play musical instruments it is important to show that the bands can also play instruments and that they are musically talented. It is important because if they are playing instruments it could encourage the TA to go watch them live because they know they will be playing live and so it could potentially encourage ticket sales.  I also learnt that in music videos it is important to have many different camera shots of the artist, instead of having just one plain shot of the artist signing, you need to have a range of shots from mid to close up and from below the artist and above, having a range of shots make the video more interesting and appealing to the target audience as there is change and variation. For example close ups means we can see the artist’s facial expression clearly so for me in my video it means that I can show him singing the words clearly.  Another code and convention I learnt was that the pace of editing most of the time speeds up when the music speeds up as it adds to the importance of that part of the song by having quicker editing. Another thing I learnt was the performance of the artist in relation to genre what I mean is in the Wombats video, they act like they normally would when they go out drinking and smoking and just messing around but in the 50 cent video they have tried to big him up with plenty of girls around him and him getting all the attention which is kind of surreal, so I guess what I am trying to say is in the indie music it is much more realistic and the target audience can relate to that, but the hip hop video is about the target audience looking up to him and idolising him instead of relating to him. The locations are important as well in the videos I learnt that in my genre of music an urban environment is a very common location as the target audience can relate and they are seen to be quite urban musicians, so showing this through the location is important. In the videos I deconstructed the lyrics do have a relationship with the narrative for example in the wombat’s video one of the main lyrics is ‘if you love me let me go back to that bar in Tokyo’, and the narrative is about them trying to run away from their manager to go back to the bar, so there is a big link and this seems to be common in a lot of music videos. Also many indie tracks talk about life issues and problems they face in life and how they deal with them also often again indie videos associated with city living and urban environments.

I also learnt plenty of codes and conventions for the print work, on the CD cover I learnt that most  covers in the indie genre, have the band on the front most of the time with their instruments.

above is a very common typical indie CD cover , this is so the target audience recognise they are a band and they play instruments. Rarely on indie covers do they have a graphic. This is because the TA likes to see the band together as they are playing together and they also want to see elements that they are musically talented.  Another common thing is on most CD’s they always have the list of the songs on the back and I have not seen one where that hasn’t been the case.  For the text elements on a CD cover, the text is never right in the middle, but if you look at lots of CD covers there is not correct or conventional place to put the text. I would say that it is normally straight and not rotated so it is easier to read from a distance. Another important element is the band logo and branding, having a band logo means that people can identify the band from there logo and it should be shown as much as possible, this leads men onto an important code and convention in that there is synergy between the CD cover and the Album Advert this makes the target audience notice that they are connected. The codes and conventions for the album advert are the release date of the album after all you are promoting the CD for sales, another important aspect is that a lot of album adverts have a picture of the CD cover on it to show what they are potentially buying. Another aspect is a lot of them have tour and gig dates on the advert as well as advertising the CD they are promoting their gigs and this is common in indie adverts as the live music aspect of the genre is extremely important.

I am now going to talk about my print work,

my front cover and the back are two very different colours, the back is black with street lamp lighting up the song names and the front is a bright image of the band. I wanted to have two very different colours I wanted to show the problems the artist is facing in the winter. He is either up or down because of his troubles and I tried to illustrate this through the sharp contrasts in colour. On the middle panel I have done the same with a black background and on top of it I have put an image of one of the band members playing a guitar but it looks like a bright painting and this is because I was trying to show the differences in the artists life, through the two very different colours of dark and bright. For my font colours on the front page I have gone very simple with black, because it is against the white sky and it just makes it simple. For my album advert I choose very similar colours to my CD which is predominately black and white, I used black for the background and white for the font as it stands out and it is what I did on the Album, so it creates synergy and it makes people realise the connection. I also used some red as I didn’t want it all black and white I wanted a more colourful advert so I used red to make the cover stand out.  I have used the image I have on the front of the CD cover because it is located in a grave yard and although

we don’t know if the girl they have lost is dead we know that he is missing the girl and the grave yard in the background signifies they don’t know where she is.  I have also used this image because I like how the band are on different levels as it creates a good visual effect. I also have selected this image because you can see the drummer drumming and the guitarist holding his guitar showing that they have musical ability and that perhaps the album will be focused on that. This Again encourages the sales of live tickets and re affirming the band genre.  I choose the image on the middle page because of the same reason as the front cover in that it shows that the band are really into their music playing and I conveyed this through a close up of the guitarist. I also choose to put an effect on it to make it look like it was painted, I choose to do this as it shows the band are creative and are not focused on how good they look but on the creative elements such as playing instruments and art. I choose the image of the street light against the black of the night sky, to highlight the difference in the bands life from happy and sad. I also choose this image because I was trying to light up the song names through the street lamp, also the street lamp suggest that it will be an urban album with urban videos. For my advert I choose a very similar image to the CD cover it was not the same image but it was in the same location I just had different facial expressions, for example rowan the guitarist head is facing down trying to suggest he is upset and lost, the same for the drummer as well as he is staring to out as if he is lost and does not know what to do, I used this image because I wanted to show that something is wrong with the bands life. So I used this image to create synergy between the CD cover and the advert for what it is selling. on the back page of my CD, I have a quote from the NME saying ‘best debut album from a band this year’, I used this as a quote as my TA will be readers of the NME and having their favourite magazine supporting something like this, they will probably look into the album and the music.

above is the NME magazine and being associated with it  helps sales as it shows how good the bands are in the genre and the referral means that my TA will identify with the cover. I used this exact quote because it shows that they are a new band and it is there first album, which encourages people who like new music to listen to it. The 11 songs I have on the back of the cover don’t have any direct link to the CD cover except Winter Winds which is the name of the album and the song for my video. At the bottom in the small print I have sayings such as all rights reserved, this is a major code and convention of CD covers as you don’t want ideas being stolen. I also have a sentence saying ‘if you want to see what we do with green peace visit www.greanpeace.org.uk’, and next to it I have a green peace logo because I want to show that the band are aware of the global environmental problems and it gives them a good image which attracts the TA.

next i am going to analyse my advert,

On the advert I have plenty of text, one of the text says ‘available 1^st march available from iTunes’ this is because a lot of my TA will download music from ITunes so I have advertised that as it is one of the most common ways for my TA to access their favourite music.

I have given the date because if you are releasing an album it is stupid not to say when it can be brought. I also have tour dates on the advert with 8 locations where you can see them live, I have done this because live music is an important social aspect of my TA and they enjoy going to see their band’s live so I have provided information where the gigs will be and how to buy tickets. For my CD front cover I choose a clear font and put it quite small but big enough to see from a distance, because I wanted the image to be the emphasis on the cover and also in the genre there is not a lot of crazy fonts and lots of effects on the fonts it is normally simple. And on the back is the same I have all of the text in the same font just different sizes so it is easy to read and people can clearly read the song names. I have a big LGB text on the back in a nice and big bold clear front so people know who the band are when looking on the back cover. For the font on the album advert I have used the same font in the same colour as on the CD cover because it creates synergy but because I feel that it is important for my TA that they can read the advert knowing there is synergy. For the Winter Winds album name the font is clear and the same font as the CD cover just it is a different colour. My Band logo is the band’s name squashed together so the 3 letters overlap each other, I did this because it is a very short band name and I felt that visually it would be appealing if they were linked together and very close together. I have this band logo on the CD cover and the Advert. I think this suggest that the band are not conventional in just having their name normally and boring, I feel that having it interlinked helps to create  quirky effect and shows that they are different. On both my CD cover and the advert as part of the branding I have tried to stress the importance of Green Peace as a charity the band supports and this is part of the brands identity as they support this. I have also included island records logo as again it is part of the branding as that is who the band is signed to. The Band is Called LGB and the individual letters don’t stand for anything, but I wanted the band name to be short and to have the letters said instead of a word because I felt that it made the band a bit quirky again and different from the conventional band names beginning with ‘the’. So LGB has no actual meaning behind the name I just wanted to break the norm of indie bands. I feel that I have gone for a conventional layout on both my CD and Advert, because although I want my band to be a little different when it comes to the layout it is vital that you lay it out in a conventional manner or you won’t attract your TA. On the front of the CD I have a big image taking up all of the panel and then in the top left I have the band name and the album name, this I feel is very normal on CD’s and I wanted to do that. On the back panel I have put the song names on the left because that is how you would write on a piece of paper it is conventional. For the advert I have gone for a simple layout with an image of the band at the top and information on the bottom as I feel that is a lot clearer to read from a distance. On both the advert and the CD cover I have tried to show the band are musically talented and very much into the music instead of the lifestyle of a musician. This is an important part of the tone as I wanted to show how good they were at music not how tough they were in a hip hop album. I have also showed this by on the advert adding tour dates to encourage the audience to watch them live as well. I have also tried to make them look normal at the same time as I want the audience to relate to them not idolise of look up to, I want the target audience to feel they are normal people and they are approachable and not just a style icon like in pop music. I feel that I did subvert the codes and conventions in many ways, one way I did was for my images on both my CD cover and the advert I had the image of the band, which in indie music I feel is very important to have on the front of the CD as most of them do. I think the result of this made it much more realistic to the genre and also what my TA would like to see. Another way I subverted the codes and conventions was through having all the songs names on the album on the back as you see this in most albums, the result of this is it makes it a more realistic and sellable product. On the advert I also met the codes and conventions by giving the release date and how to get the album, this is vital information on an album advert as you are selling something so the result is it helps the audience.

One of the main style and theme I have used in my video is an urban environment and urban locations.

I have done this because I think indie music is quite urban and I felt that doing this it would be able to attract my target audience. This means that hopefully my audience relate to the locations and understand the locations as urban and it will feel realistic to them. one important aspect in music videos is to get the balance right between the narrative and life performance and I tried to do this and separate it clearly, in all the clips where the artist is singing I have put in black and white and the narrative is in colour, I think that this clearly divides the narrative form the performance and in my video I feel that is important. I also had to try and balance this with shots of the guitarist and the drummer because as I have said before the musical ability is very important to my audience and in indie videos there is always plenty of musical instruments shots so I have done this as well to attract my TA and make sure it is in the indie genre. With the editing I tried to speed the editing up in the chorus but I wanted quite a slow pace of editing because it shows the artist is struggling with life and life is going slowly for him and I tried to show that through the editing. Speeding it up in the chorus is common in music videos. The transitions between clips in my video I feel added to the genre because I used only two simple ones cross dissolve and fade to black I did this because I did not want to make the video visually crazy I wanted to have smooth transitions which focused on the clip not the entry of it. This was the same for my visual effects the only one I used were a black and white effect to try and differentiate the narrative and performance. I didn’t use and more visual effects because I felt that it would not fit in the genre and my audience would feel that more visual effects would not look good for the genre. My choices on the camera angles are important because I had lots of close up of the singer singing trying to show his emotions, this shows the audience that he is upset and hurt and it means that the audience realise that. The content of the film includes lots of shots of guitar playing this shows that the music is a lot about the musical ability and the audience will very much be into the musical aspects and I have showed that as it is an important code and convention of indie music videos. I feel that my performance of my actors were vital in achieving the narrative, because my singer had to show he was upset while singing and I didn’t want him to look like he was enjoying it but he was upset and singing was his way of getting away from it. I wanted my guitarist and drummer to breathe and enjoy their music so I wanted them to act like they were really getting into the music to have a contrast from the singer. The clothing was an aspect which is important in meeting the codes and conventions of the indie genre, the drummer is wearing skinny jeans and a chequered shirt I feel that this is very indie like and it just helps the audience to relate to him and respect him because of what he wears. My singing was either wearing a winter coat or a polo shirt, but in most of the scenes he is wearing the coat and as the song is called winter winds I feel that it is appropriate. My guitarist is wearing a hoody and jeans I think that I could have perhaps done better with this and made him more appropriate to the genre but I think that it didn’t affect the video that much. The props I used were drum sticks and a guitar which both add to the theme of musical ability; I didn’t have a drum set because I felt that the drummer would be seen as more quirky and urban if he just drummed on what he was with random stuff instead of a conventional drum set. My narrative did have a link to the lyrics in that the artist has broken up with a girl and he is using music to get over it. I feel that I have met a lot of the conventions literally for example having a mixture of narrative singing and instrument playing which is what you see in most indie videos. I feel that this code and convention is important in attracting the TA as this is what they want to see as it will get them engaged. I think I also that I subverted them in a way by some of band not wearing typically indie clothes and the audience can interpret how they want but they weren’t all the stereotypical indie character but they were a little different. I think I have met the conventions by trying to tell a story most music videos tell some kind of story even if it is not clear and I tried to have a narrative and show it in my video. My narrative is about one of the band members (the singer), losing his girlfriend and he is trying to use music to get over her and he is completely lost and distraught but music helps him to try and get over it. I wanted the audience to feel sorry for the artist but to realise that your band and music is more important in life than some girl and the friendship and music can beat it. I wanted my audience therefore to realise how important music is to this genre. I think that I did tell a story in my narrative but I could have made it clearer and perhaps put a bit more focus on that then the live performances. I think that my artist’s have been represented in many ways, one representation of them is they are a bit reckless and they don’t really care what other people think and they will do what they want, this is showed in a scene when the car is driving past and I have blurred out the fingers as they are swearing, it looks like they are swearing at people on the street, this shows they are reckless and don’t care but it can also represent them in a bad way, but I think for my TA they will enjoy the fact they are doing this. My band have also been represented as really into their music through the scenes of guitar and drumming and the singing, you can see that they are passionate about what they are doing and this representation is important in the genre of music. The narrative about getting ditched by a girl represents them as normal people who have normal love lives and this means that the TA can relate to that as relationships are common problems and the TA can identify with them. My audience has been represented as very musically interested and very much music orientated in what they do, I also think they have been represented as social people who are out to have a good time I have shown this through the friendship of the band. I think that overall I have represented the audience in a good light and as nice people who share a common interest of indie music. One important representation of the audience and band is that they are urban and from towns and cities is from the locations which are all urban areas and no countryside this is important because band and the audience need to be from similar areas and lifestyles.

2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

I think the synergy between my advert and the album is good because they use the same colours and type of image, the colours I have used are very similar I have utilised the black background and white font colour on both and that means that people can recognise that as part of the branding and creates synergy using the same colours. I think that advert and Album reflect each other through the image, the image is very similar and are in the same location just different facial expressions this means that people will recognise the album in a shop if they have seen the advert because they are similar and that may make my TA buy it because they recognise it. Another way I have linked the two together is through having an image of the album on the advert, this compliments the album because people will know what they are potentially buying and this provides the link. There are also links between my print work and my video, I think the style of the film is reflected in the print work and that is that there will be lots of live performance and focusing on the musical instruments in the video from the print work. I feel I have shown this through the close ups of the guitarist on my middle panel on the CD,  I think that this shows there will be shots like this in the video and I think that the shots in the videos of the guitarist show this is true. This same point about the musical nature of the video is shown as well through the front cover of the album and the advert as you can see that they are playing the guitar and the drums and that will probably happen in the video. I also think that urban nature of the video does kind of show in the print work with the street lamp on the back as this is found in urban areas and also there is a shot in my video where the street lamp is lighting up the band as they walk into the darkness. I think from the Advert they would be able to tell if they would like the CD and video, because you can see that a lot of it will be focused on good guitar music you can see this through the tour dates and through the image of them playing and the TA will be appealed to it and they know that the video will be similar and that the type of album will be similar to how the album is presented. So I think they will be able to tell if they like it or not because the album and the CD both show live music and urban themes and that is what the video is about. I think that the genre is evident through having gig dates and through the costumers of the band as they all hint towards indie music; I also have shown the genre through the quote from NME as everyone knows the NME is associated with indie music, therefore this appeal’s to the TA because they read the NME and they know the type of music it will be and the themes and style will be likely. I think my branding works across all of the media formats because in all my media pieces you can see that it is about the music like I have said and I have tried to emphasise the live music part and this is an important piece of branding as you need to sell gigs as well as the album. My band logo is important to the branding as well because I have the same one on my advert and album and you need to try and keep this constant across all the media platforms so people recognise what the LGB logo is and they will see it and instantly know what it is. I think my shots in my video match my images on the print work which creates the same kind of style which is of urban music and I think that I have tried to get synergy between all three pieces. It is important because people need to know the style of the band and recognise their work. I think that selling my artist would be successful because it meets the codes and conventions of the genre which is urban and quirky as well as having good musical ability and focusing on that and I feel that I have shown that and people who like similar artist’s should like mine as it is similar to the norm in the genre. I think that I have portrayed the genre in the right way and my TA who listens to other artists buy my product.

3. What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

My target audience will most likely be aged between 16 and 30 a lot will be at college, university but they could also be older people as well. Most will be late teens to late 20’s, because my music goes kind of hand in hand with what they like, such as parties and drinking.

My TA could be either male or female. There hobbies may include going to festivals and gigs.

They may enjoy actually playing a musical instrument as that is a big part of indie as their favourite artists will be playing instruments, also they will really be in to the musical aspect of the bands and the live performance in music videos. I think their main hobby will be listening to music and going to gigs.  My TA will be very sociable people who enjoy going out. Some might have other interests such as sport but most of all, most indie lovers are out to have a good time. Fashion is very important to listeners of folk music because it conveys a message and they can show who they are through the music. Fashion I think is important to my TA because they will want to dress well, but they will not all wear the same clothes they will be wearing different clothes. The typical listener of this genre would probably wear skinny jeans, boots and a shirt.

My TA will be young adults so they most likely have iPods and listen to them regularly but also they may prefer to go see the bands live as that is what indie is about. Most of them will use the internet and have modern mobiles so communicating via those devices is probably what they would want and they would be able to receive information wherever they are.

A lot of my TA will be students at university and in full time education a lot of them would have gone to well-known public school while others in the state system but it doesn’t really matter where you come in this culture. My TA might watch a range of things. When they do watch TV it will probably be later in the evening after they have been out or something. My TA will probably use things like Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/)  and twitter and they probably like to hear things on Facebook as it is good way for them to communicate with other like-minded people.

I think that downloading music is an activity my TA would use because they want to have their music on their iPods so they can listen wherever they are I think that half would download from approved sites such as napster, amazon and iTunes, But also on illegal sites such as pirate bay and LimeWire.

When my TA would watch music videos I think they would use the internet more than on TV because they can look for the exact video they want and also you would not have to pay for Sky to get most of the music channels so it is essentially free to watch music videos. I think my TA would watch a range of TV maybe shows such as Skins and Spooks, but TV won’t be a huge part of their lives. When they do watch TV I think it would be ever late in the evening or early evening. So advertising or playing my music video then would be the best time. The music channels my TA would watch would be NME tv, MTV 2 and maybe listening to more rock music on Kerrang.

Listening to the radio is probably a big part for my TA because they are probably going to work and they will probably listen to the radio or just when there at home, the radio station they would listen to would probably be radio 1.  I think that a good place to advertise my album and video would be on social networking sites, Facebook provides a great opportunity because as well as showing your audience your music you can get the feedback and interact with them. Twitter is also good for telling people what you are doing and interacting with them. Festivals are extremely important to my TA so it is a very god way of advertising to them the types of festivals my TA would go to would be Reading, Glastonbury and Bestival. And here is a good place to showcase new songs and ideas and a good way of communicating with your TA. I think that my products do attract the correct target audience in some ways for example I have emphasised the live music part, with gig dates on my advert and live performances in the video, this meets with my TA needs of going to concerts and festivals and going out and having a good time. I have also attracted the correct TA through showing how important the actual music is in my products this is done through the images of my guitarist playing on the album and series of close ups in the music video, this shows my TA that the musical ability is very important.

For my post production questionnaire one of my questions was ‘is the band name suitable to the genre?’ 92% of people said yes and 8% said no, this shows that my choice of band name was effective for the genre and the name was typical of the genre which is good in that it is easily attracted by the TA but maybe not in the uniqueness of the name. Another question I asked was ‘would you buy the CD?’ 69% said yes and 31% said no. the next question I asked was ‘what did you like about the CD?’ 63% said they liked the image, 25% the graphic and the rest said font. I felt that this shows that my mise-en-scene was effective and that the image plays an important part on the CD for my TA. It also shows that my decisions about the clothing and locations were correct for the image. The next question I asked was ‘is there synergy between the CD and the album advert’ 92% said yes and 8% said no this shows that my synergy was effective and I felt it was important to make sure there was obvious synergy. Another question I asked was ‘was the mise-en-scene appropriate for the genre’ 92% yes and 8% no, which shows like I said in the image that my mise-en-scene was effective for the genre.

I carried out a focus group showing my video to a group of other media students to give me feedback on my video and what they thought was good bad and what I could have improved. For my narrative people said that it was not clear enough in certain situations. They said that they knew that he had split from his girlfriend or he had lost someone, but they thought it could have been a lot clearer and they knew he was singing about a girl because of the lyrics but they said that I could have had a flashback to a girl or something to highlight that. In the narrative I could have also go to the point quicker meaning they spent too long in the house and they would have like to see more of the band outside dealing with what has happened. For the camerawork they said that the range of shots fitted the genre well with lots of close up’s of the singer showing his facial expressions with mid shots of the instrumentalists. They also liked the shots in the car looking out on to the road as it looked as it was from the driver singing while driving. The audience lip and instrument sync was very good in parts particularly the start and the end but in the middle the lip sync was not as good as the rest of the video but it was not bad. They said that the instrument syncing was good in parts especially when I cut back to the guitarist in the car, they said it fitted the music, but there scenes when having someone who was very good at guitar could have made it more authentic. For the Mise-en-scene they said that the urban environment was pretty predictable for the genre which is good and bad because it will attract the TA but perhaps it is not different enough. They said that for the shots of houses they said that to improve it I could have chosen more interesting houses but they thought the range of urban shots of the surroundings they were in were good. One viewer like how when they are blurred out I cut to a shot of a neighbourhood watch sign. For the costumers they said that the drummer was perfect for the genre and he really suited the type of music, they said the guitarist was all right but he could have had something a bit more interesting but the emphasis was on his guitar so it was not that important. They said that the singer could have had something a bit more interesting such as a scarf or something to liven up his outfit. The audience said the edit pace was good and it sped up most of the time when the music sped up. They said that the transition from narrative to live performance was good and the difference was obvious and the black and white effect on the live singing was effective. For the suitability to song, artist and genre they said it was good and the story about the girl was obvious enough they said that the balance between live performance and narrative was good but the singers clothes could have been improved to add to the genre.

4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

I have used many different technologies in my productions, one important technology I have used is Photoshop,

Photoshop has enabled me to create effects on normal pictures to create a more visually appealing album. For example on my middle page on my album I have a close up of my guitarist playing and I have put an effect on it to look like it has been painted this would not have been possible if I was not using Photoshop so it helps to liven up an image and put a different twist on it. Photoshop was also useful in that you can play with the brightness and contrast of an image, because my images were taken on a grey cloudy day and were ark but by brightening it up I made it look much more appealing and make it more inviting as it was clearer. Photoshop was also good software because I had used it last year and that meant i have developed better skills and it did not hinder me or take me time to learn as I already have used it before and that was a big advantage of using it. Other technology we used was still and video camera, the stills cameras were useful in providing a good shot for our albums and adverts Photoshop helped to utilise the camera because we could then play around with visual effects so the camera helped to get us our final images. I feel that the video camera’s hindered us because the quality is not great, it did the job and helped make good enough videos but I would have like to see what my video would have looked like in much better definition. The video editing software also played a big part in our productions I started my editing process on IMovie and made the basis of my music video on there but it kept on crashing on IMovie hindering my progress, so I moved it to final cut pro because I was having problems and I found final cut pro to be a very good editing with a range of good effects and editing option. I really like effects such as colour correction which I used a few times to change the colour and make my artist a brighter colour as it was a cloudy scene. Final cut I felt was vital in achieving my finished product. The internet was useful because I did not know how to create a blur on a person so I went on YouTube and watched a how to video and it helped me to put a blur on the people in the car.

The WordPress blog has been very important in the process of the productions,

one of the great things about wordpress is anyone can see it and comment and give feedback on your work and tell you how to improve or what they like so that is very useful. Another aspect of wordpress which is useful is posting our pre and post production questionnaires this means we can get feedback on our productions in a poll style questions and it is very useful when looking at the success of a media product and to find out what people want in your media product. Doing the pre-production polls meant that I could find out exactly what my TA wanted. And I could make a quick decision based on what I found out.  Wordpress can be used in the real world in a real music video production and print work company because they can communicate throughout the company ideas, for example one person could create a potential CD cover and send it to someone else to enhance it and they could then blog it back on the WordPress.   The use of the internet in research and planning has been very helpful because I have been able to access lots of real media examples, this meant I have been able to work out the common codes and conventions in indie music videos as well as CD’s and adverts’. YouTube was used to look at the videos and that was a really helpful piece of technology. The internet was also useful in my reaaerch because it allowed me to see all the current trends  in videos, photography, clothing and attitudes. Technology has enabled products to be advertised in many different platforms, you can launch and communicate your product on myspace, youtube, facebook, TV,Radio. And this enables your audience to access your media in many different ways and different forms of technology it also it enables bands to communicate and receive feedback through the advertising.

Filming dates –

Sat 26^th January– all day 9am start: order of filming TBA

• Ian, David, Rowan

Treatment-

The video is showing a day in the life of the band and portraying the camaraderie and friendship the band have with each other. We see them getting ready and leaving the house which then leads to them driving away. The band plays in a couple of locations such as in the car and in a barn. We then finish to the video with then going to the pub.

Shot list:

1. Bedroom (Ian)

 Medium length shot of the alarm clock slow zoom to CU, Ian’s hand comes across to turn the alarm off.

 2.   Kitchen (Ian, Rowan, David)

Establishing shot of the kitchen with Rowan eating cereal, in fast motion

We then cut to a shot of the band having breakfast,

 CU of Ian drinking orange juice,

 a shot of David brushing teeth from behind then cut to a close up of him

3.     Door shot (Ian, Rowan, David)

Still medium close up of the band walking out

Same shot but of them walking back

Then back out with the forgotten item (guitar) normal motion.

4.     Car in drive (Ian, Rowan, David)

Long shot of them loading car and getting ready

Cut to CU of car driving away

5.      Car exterior (Ian, Rowan, David)

Medium length shot from the side of the road quick pan as car goes past quickly.

Extreme long shot of the car going into the distance with a man being forced to jump into a bush.

6.     Car interior (Ian, Rowan, David)

Shot from passenger seat of the band laughing at what they are doing.

7.       Shot old man in bush

8.      Car interior (Ian, Rowan, David)

CU Shot of rowan tuning guitar in the back

A pan in the car of the band playing or singing

Close up of rowan singing with guitar

Shot through the windscreen of David singing.

9.      Barn

POV follow cam shot of me running with the band following into the barn

A medium length shot showing the band in one frame

Pan of the band playing various instruments

CU of one band member jumping of hay bail

Extreme CU of rowan singing

Old man wearing an old man mask plays trumpet with close up

10.    Car exterior

Shot of the band driving away into the sunset

11.     Pub

Close up of pub name

Medium shot of the band playing rock, paper, scissors.

Then a long shot of the band walking into the pub

A shot to the dark sky  fade to black.

EXTRA IDEAS:

Potential other ideas –

• The band performing live in a gig after the pub.
• CCTV footage of them going into the pub
• Not using a barn but outside around a tree.

PRODUCTION LISTS

Locations List

• Ian or my house
• Car interior (davids)
• Barn near my house
• Bedroom (TBC)

Props List

• Bedside table
• Alarm clock
• Orange juice and glass
• Cereal and bowl
• Guitar
•  Snare Drum
• Dustbin lid
• Bed
• David’s car

Music  and Sound effects List

• Alarm clock
• car

Costume and Makeup

• Ian- jeans and shirt no make up
• David – jeans and chequered shirt no make up
• Rowan – chinos and a t shirt.

Technical kit

• Camera
• Tripod
• Batteries x2
• Power cable
• Tapes
• Lights x2
• Gaffer tape
• Extension leads
• Cd player/speakers/amp/leads/power
• Cd of track