construction of my digipak

Creating my digipak on Prezi

Constructing my music video

Editing my music video on Prezi

Cinemek

Here is a video tutorial of the software I used to compose the storyboard, this innovative technology was fantastic to use.

Evaluation question 3 music video feedback

Evaluation Question 3 Music video feedback on Prezi

Evaluation Question 3 print productions feedback

Evaluation Q3 on Prezi

This graph shows a clearer representation of my feedback from my questionnaire (for my music video) on some of the most important points.

Evaluation question 2

Evaluation question 2 on Prezi

My magazine advertisement

Final digipak panels.

Outside back cover

back of booklet panel 5

Inside booklet panel 4

Inside booklet panel 3

Inside booklet panel 2

Inside booklet panel 1

front cover

Evaluation Question 1

I present many conventions from the metal and rock genre in my music video, to appeal to my specific target audience. The whole video is centred around live performance, which is in itself a convention as it is used in many rock or metal videos to influence the audience to see the band in live performance, as the video itself is merely a marketing tool. This live performance is achieved in the video through the use of extreme lighting, close ups, equipment, and crowd shots. The lighting changes, sometimes it is red in tone, sometimes a white light flashes, and either way, it gives the impression of anger or frustration. This fits with the rebellious, angry conventions associated with the rock/metal genre. The flashing light and also the tones of red are similarly presented in Biffy Clyro’s video ‘The golden rule’, and it presents a heated, almost sinister tone. I have included close-ups in my video, especially of the lead singer, which helps to give the band a specific identity to help the target audience feel more intimate with the music.

This particular effect is also used in the foo fighter’s video ‘The pretender’; giving many close ups of Dave Grohl so that the viewer associates the band with a particular image. This video also has lots of close-up equipment shots, which I have drawn from, and this is a very conventional entity of the genre. The close ups of the equipment highlight the feel of a live performance, and in turn makes the audience want to see this equipment being played to them live. The crowd shots in my video have a similar effect to that of the equipment close ups, and also present a positive image of the band because the crowds seem to enjoy this live performance. It creates ‘hype’.

Another convention of the rock/metal genre is gothic imagery, and I have presented this in my music video through the main location I filmed in. The building has an old, religious, church type feel to it, as the stage in the middle is surrounded by stone pillars. This fits in with the convention of music as a form of ritual and religion, which is particularly depicted in the metal genre. This image is also presented in Enter Shikari’s video for ‘Quelle Surprise’ as the location for their music video is the crypt of St Mary Magdalene church (west London). Other locations in my video include shots of a power station which denotes political conflict since the recent military operations – all over fuels. Goodwin’s theory on the convention of music video talks about the link between the visuals and the lyrics, which I have definitely included. The lyrics are about greed and war and fuels. These ideas are all rebellious and

strongly opinionated, fitting the rebellious nature of the rock and metal genres. This anger at the

government, and the will to rebel against it, is not uncommon in the genre. In the song ‘arguing with thermometers’ Enter Shikari compare the government to drug addicts, saying that they ‘commit crimes’ to‘secure their next hit’. This ridicules the decisions made by the government, and puts them in a dark light, which is similarly done in the lyrics for ‘BNRF’, such as ‘innocence to kill’ which suggests the government is corrupting the innocent, especially when linked to oil and competition for fuels as it is.

My video relates to Goodwins theory and coincides with it in many ways making it very conventional in terms of music videos as well as genre. My music video has many characteristics that fit in with his theory, such as the link between music and visuals as well as lyrics and visuals. An example of this in my video is when the lyrics in the track are "innocents to kill, their fuels to keep", the visuals link with shots of flames connoting fuels, anger and violence. The concept of fuels being significant (being in the lyrics) is further depicted in the power station shots. I found that all of the

music videos by big, popular bands in the genre, that I researched all coincided with Goodwins theory, there wer

e a lot of close ups of the lead vocalist and many

other links between sound and visuals. For instance in the Enter Shikari video - Quelle Suprize, it features many close ups, live performance style shots and reminiscently (of the genre) mise-en-scene. The shots are cut in time with the music helping the visuals fit the music and the mise-en-scene of the shots creates very similar connotations to that of the lyrics – a bleak depiction of an exaggerated almost apocalyptic, self destructive world (when taken to the extreme).

I have used crowd shots within my music video, this is a convention of the genre of rock. I believe that these

shots are incredibly important for a sense of authenticity.

The crowd shots also link the band to their audience and present a relationship, an atmosphere, something that helps the viewer relate directly to the band and their music. Rehearsal shots in the video instill a further sense of personal relationship between the fans and the band.

In my video the rehearsal shots are in black and white (linking in style to my digipak) making them a clearly significant part in terms of relation to the audience. These rehearsal shots add another dimension to the narrative of the video in this sense of personal interaction.

Evaluation Question Four

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

Throughout planning to make my music video I researched many others mainly using YouTube, using the similar suggestions that the website makes based on my view history which helped me find music videos of similar genres to what I was researching.

Music channels also supply constant streams of music videos

that I was able to analyse to help me learn the conventions and iconic mise en scene of genres. The channels that are relevant to my bands style are Kerrang and Scuzz.

Another aspect that helped me get a more rounded understanding of bands and how they market their ‘package’ was their websites. I looked at these and related them to the ideas that they use in their music videos, reinforcing the main genre conventions and ideologies. Later this helped me produce my Digipak and advertisement as the visuals on the websites often link closely with their advertisements and CD covers.

In the planning stage of my music video I used photographs and sketches to make a storyboard using Cinemek storyboarding software. This software helped me create and put together my ideas according to how I could represent them easiest - using sketches and photos. In planning the rest of my music video I put together shot lists, mood boards, notes on lighting and floor plans. For this I used little technology other than Microsoft word.

The track for my music video was frequently performed live but had not been recorded. Luckily I already had some appropriate equipment and software for the job. Using various microphones and having many takes, we got what we thought was a good recording. I could only do this as easily as I did by choosing a local band that I knew. When filming my music video I used High Definition Cameras. Although these were much better quality than the ones I had used for my Thriller opening, the computers at school could not cope with the size of the files editing was made impossible. Therefore I had to convert the clips to standard definition for all of my footage for my music video, this took overnight. I had many issues with editing footage and I believe this was mainly due to my laptop being a bit knackered. It would not accept most video file formats (which are usually fine). I initially edited on my laptop for convenience but progress was too slow and frustrating so I began to edit on another computer I have at home. This limited my productivity in class and so I then took the video (in progress) to school where I then edited there. Editing on adobe premier pro was another challenge considering that I mainly used elements for my thriller. But I got used to the new layout in no time. Once edited, because I wanted to automate the soundtrack to fit the shots within the music video, I then took the video back home where I then imported it into Cubase 5 with a copy of the soundtrack which I edited accordingly, exported and then uploaded to YouTube. When I recorded the instruments and mixed the edit I compressed the track to get a more professional sound. After this I then automated the track alongside the video.

With the software that I had for editing I could play with ideas for transitions. This included adding fades and overlaying video clips at varying opacities. This creates more dynamic shots and add varying pace to the video. I took advantage of other editing techniques such as changing the levels and colours in the footage. I used black and white settings on some of the shots in my video also.

I wanted to use manual focus for one of the shots introducing the vocals in the video. To do this I had to use my own camera instead of the ones that I was provided with at school. This was still not ideal but it did work and I managed to get the effect that I wanted.

I have evaluated my work basing it on feedback from comments on YouTube and from questionnaire style messages about my video on Facebook (question 3) These are both effective methods which enable me to assess how well my video appealed to its au

dience. On YouTube my video has had nearly 200 views and the band has incorporated the music video onto both their YouTube channel (where it has had 166 more views) and their own website. This free distribution is one thing that is changing the media industry.

YouTube was a very interesting tool which helped me in my research of music videos. This is because YouTube allows you to see statistics about videos, data and information from which you can tell whether videos are popular, where they are viewed and how many times they have been viewed. In the picture here you can see the views and likes, but other statistics are available but hidden.

Final CD cover idea. :)
This is where my front and back cover came from. I saw this at school and thought that the angular lines and mechanical image looked perfect to connote an industrial and lifeless image.

Another Front cover idea

This idea Is of the end of a cargo container. This industrial image looks fantastic in black and white and I will test it as a cover using photoshop to put the bands name on the cargo container door. This connotes industrial security and separation. This links the cover to similar connotations to my other cover ideas.

Back cover idea?

This image I think connotes technology and the potential expanse (the big bang) that the cover represents. The black and white adds a lifeless sense of opposition, contrast and hene juxtaposition between the bands 'beliefs' and the culture of today and how issues such as the government are bringing controversy and disruption.

Looking at fonts for my digipak..

The font below is my favourite so far from what I have looked at for my bands digipak. The strong angular lines give a strong, intustrial and intense image, promoting the serious connotations of anger, war and detachment from emotion (helped along by the bands name).





This font below I liked the idea of but I think it could easily look quite tacky and too futuristic and technology orientated to be taken seriously.

(please click on the image of the text below, I lost internet while trying to post this work and the only form of save I had was a lucky last minute print screen)

be appropriate for my digipak if they do not prove to be too exentric/extrovert.

Ideas

This is another idea that I have had to convey imagery of technology and how it links to science - This screen 'fuzz' is supposedly because of the big bang which relates to evolution and the constant exprension and progression. This progression represents the constant human desire to constantly move on, to upgrade, to advance - The Upgrade.

The name of the album ‘version 1.0’ could represent the human desire for change, not wanting to stand still, constantly moving on to new forms. This is because ‘version 1.0’ suggests more versions are to come, such as ‘version 1.3’ or ‘version 2.0’ which also denotes that this is just the beginning. This reflects technology itself, the background being a TV, as the technology we have discovered so far may only be the first version, ‘version 1.0’, of what is soon to come. However, the static of the TV may represent a more sinister idea about technology, that we are blank, mindless, repetitive drones who are simply following technology. The static gives feelings of absence, which suggests that our personalities are absent and have been replaced by technology.

CD cover development ideas

This cover - Only Revolutions by Biffy Clyro is a very open picture with a low horizon - much like that of my picture below, doing this creates space and atmosphere. The ambiguity of the red and blue sheets in the wind add to the artistic element of this cover. The fire in the background also hints a more generic connotation of the Rock genre and how it is defined and refined from rebellion. I hope to achieve a similar effect with the development of this picture - one of my original ideas:

This cover below - Californication by Red Hot Chili Peppers has a sense of augmented/messed up reality. This concept suggests a difference and an originality. This also represents a suggestion of the artists opinion being of surrealism and a world turned upside down - we therefore anticipate this in their music. This idea suits The Upgrades style and connotations within their lyrics (in B.N.R.F for example) with the addition of a political and industrial sense. I used this idea, developing my favorite original idea (because of its strong industrial links) to create the image below the Californication cover.

To make the image above, I used the clone stamp tool to remove the copied and inverted smaller rig to remove the complete symmetry of the image to remove the cheap sense of 'copy and paste' I then merged the background layers and then selected a strip in the middle which I then used the 'enhance' options to make the middle strip black and white - these colours suit the lifeless and industrial image fitting the name and style of music. The title I had as a separate layer so that I can experiment with font, placing and the title its self.

Intertextual reference to several of my digipak ideas

This video below has connotations of a medical nature as well as shots of a surveillance camera, this suggests that a link can be made between the two concepts that I have made possible covers for to potentially work together to have an even more unnerving and creepy image. In this video by Drowning Pool there is an extreme representation of medical situations and imprisonment. Although a very inter-textual and connotative cover would be made by these ideas, I feel that they are too sinister to match the bands style, sound and image.

These are the cover Ideas that I am referring to above.

This is a development on one of my cover ideas, the idea of surveillance. I edited making black and white versions to create a more lifeless and robotic image, this compliments the name of the band being 'The Upgrade' suggesting robotics, computers and a similar lifeless element. I tried to get a closer up shot, however without an optical zoom and with most cameras being well out of reach for good reason it was hard to get a closer shot.

Here is a second edit of my favorite album cover picture. I have been using the clone stamp tool on the left to erase the top right oil rig after inverting a copy of the image and the merging the two layers. I have then used the black and white option on the 'Enhance' menu at the top to make a strip of black and white across the middle of the cover.

The black border and unusual colouring of the sea and sky I edited on Instagram on my Iphone.

I have been experimenting with title fonts, having made a new layer so I can put effects on the font/words themselves.