Final Music Video

Final Ancillary Texts

 

(the background of the poster is actually a light grey colour but it appears brown on Blogger for some unknown reason)

Evaluation Question 1 - In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products?

 These images show how I was influenced by existing products in terms of elements of mise-en-scene. By looking at these products and seeing how the themes of these videos were being produced I was able to make a decision about how I wanted to use props and other elements to portray my narrative. The photo's link into how I wanted to create a narrative for my character with a back story so by using photos I was able to give visual aid to the viewer and create a past.

I created these image boards before I started filming so I could identify how to style my cast member in relation to my genre. Below is an example of how I styled my actresses hair after researching into styling in the chosen genre. I found that performers in the indie/alternative usually wear their hair down and in a natural way. To reflect this in my video, I styled my actresses hair by curling it loosely with a curling wand. I think that the way I styled my cast members hair reflects the genre as the styling is not over the top like the conventions of the pop genre, but more simplistic which reflects the style of the indie genre.

 

Below is another image board that I created as inspiration for my ancillary texts. By looking at these images I was able to get inspiration of expressions, poses and shot types that have been seen in my chosen genre. Before I shot my ancillary texts I showed this image board to my actress so she had a clearer idea of how I wanted her to be posed and how I wanted her expressions to be.

 

Below is a comparison of how I was inspired by these images and how I interpreted the original images to make my own. By keeping the black and white element I have also kept another convention of the genre.

Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory looks at the way women are viewed in the media. I have chosen this shot from my video to look at in relation to this theory. Mulvey states that media products often focus on the curves of a woman's body. This shot could be said to be doing that. Although it was not my intention some people may view it in this way. Women being viewed in this way is not typical of my genre, it is more likely to be seen in R&B or Pop media products.

 

 

Richard Dyer's star theory suggests that performers are constructed by media institutions to appeal to a specific audience. For the coursework project I had to create a performer and products that promoted this performer. An example of how I showed the audience that the actress in my video is the performer too, is the element of lip syncing.

 

 

Another way in which representation theory can be applied to my product is through the use of Tessa Perkins stereotypes theory. After researching into conventions of my chosen genre I found that using darker colours for clothing was typical of the genre and that using outrageous costumes and styling was not. Therefore I styled my performer in relation to these conventions to create a realistic looking product.

 

 

 

Evaluation Question 2 - How Effective Is The Combination of Your Main Product and Ancillary Texts?

Evaluation Question 3 - What Have You Learned From Your Audience Feedback?

Evaluation Question 4 - How Did You Use Media Technologies in the Construction, Research, Planning and Evaluation Stages?

Planning For Last Filming Day

I am picking up my cast member on Friday at around 1 o'clock and I am planning to film throughout the afternoon. After looking at this forecast I know that I will be able to film at my outside locations as the weather is forecast to be warmer and not raining. 

 

 

These are some text messages which show the commmunication between myself and my cast member. I asked my actor before we filmed to familiarise herself with the song so to save time on the day.

Music Video Draft 3

Since my second draft I have significantly improved my video. Although there are still a few gaps I know what I am filming for those and I have a date arranged with my cast member to film these shots. I think from this draft the narrative of the video is a lot clearer.

My Ancillary Texts In-Situ

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here I have used photoshop to place my products in-situ. By doing this I have been able to see how my prodcuts would look in the real media world and with other existing products. I think I have been able to create a professional looking product that fits in with my chosen genre and does not look out of place with real media texts.

Final Ancillary Texts

 

This is my final digipak design, overall I am really happy with how it turned out. I have followed codes and conventions of existing products in the same genre to create a realistic looking product. I made sure to create continuity in my products by having a running theme throughout. As roses are a key part of my music video I wanted to carry on this theme in all of my promotional features. I found that the hardest thing to do was fitting the CD to the size of the digipak and changing the layers.

 

 





 

 

 

* The album promotion poster is actually grey but for some reason on blogger it looks brown. It is not.

My Ancillary Text Progression

 

Filming Diary - Day 5 - 6th March

Myself and my cast member had arranged to film on Friday afternoon again as we found previously that this is the best time for both of us to film. Also after checking the weather forecasts, I found that this day would be the warmest and sunniest during the week! Today I finally got to go to my last location to film, when I had been previously it was being used and therefore I couldn't film. So we decided to go at a different time than when we had been previously to avoid running into the same problems. On the way to the location, we stopped at a supermarket so I could get some fresh roses to film with as these were an important part of the narrative. I also did some more filming at my house as when I was going through my original shots from this location I wasn't really happy with them.

Filming Diary - Day 4 - Wednesday 18th February

Today I went filming at three of my locations. Unfortunately on Friday when I left college for half term, even though I had booked out a camera, there were non-available for me to take. So I used a camera I had a home to film.
My friend Lauren came along while filming with myself and Kekezza my main cast member. She was very helpful, she was able to help me with props and camera set-up. The picture opposite shows Lauren holding the roses which are a key part of my music video.
I filmed on the riverbank, Carr Lane and Ferry Road today. I made sure to get some more lip-syncing shots today when filming and I also experimented with moving the camera when filming instead of leaving it stationary on the tripod.
When filming I wanted to get some shots of the rose petals in the river. However, I couldn't get a good shot as I felt that if I moved any further forward I would be too close to the edge of the bank and this could have been a health and safety risk.

Changes & Planning Ahead

I have pre-booked a camera to take over the half term as I know that I will have more chances to film with my cast member as I have been working on other weekends when I would have filmed.
I have also decided to slightly change the narrative of my video. Originally I had planned to have my main character play an abused child. However I feel that because this is a sensitive subject I don't want my video to be upsetting or be perceived as insensitive. Therefore the overall theme of my music video is now loneliness.
In the video I am using roses as a symbol of hope, I have used them previously in some shots for my ancillary texts. I have also found that using flowers is a convention of my chosen music genre. I have gone out and bought a bouquet of yellow roses to use in the video. I wanted to use yellow as this colour is bright and connotes happiness. therefore contrasting to the theme of my video.

Progress

As I haven't bee able to film much recently, while I was with my cast member I took the opportunity to take some photo's for my ancillary texts. I have been working on editing these while I have been waiting for an opportunity to do some filming for my video.
These screen captures show the steps I have taken when editing the images in photoshop and show the different versions of each image.