(Pinterest Presentation)
https://uk.pinterest.com/bmarch0006/how-did-you-use-media-technologies-in-the-construc/
Friday, 27 March 2015
Question 1
In what ways does
your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real
media products?
Music Video
My music video follows many conventions of the Indie genre, but also challenges them in more ways than one. There aren't many music videos that are shot entirely in first person, and those that are (which I have found so far), such as The Stampede by Biting Elbows and Prodigy's Smack my Bitch up, have shown to be of the heavier genres of music. My video immediately challenges this convention of the genre, though the plot is very cliche in it's rawest form, making the documentation of my narrative the main difference between my video and others of the genre, such as the calm editing of Lisa Mitchell's Neopolitan Dreams or Coin Laundry. My target audience however is slightly different I feel, as the Indie music I used (CloZee's Eyes in Eyes) as it has a faster pace at times where the music takes an electronic turn, which allows for my editing to speed up in pace at times. As well as this, my music and video alike have a certain tension about them, the lyrics having connotations to deceit, lying, falsity, anger and despair, which is leaning towards the darker side to the Indie genre, possibly justifying the use of a first person POV as well as my editing pace, though there are definite visual similarities and thus conventions that I follow, such as the locations, dreaminess and colours used. Although not conventional, I feel that the use of my camera is not only an interesting new take on the genre, but allows for a stronger emotional connection to the character due to literally living the story alongside them and experiencing the troubles he does and having as good an idea on the plot as he does, bringing heightened empathy to the emotional plot (The Prodigy's music video is quite controversial as a warning).
I haven't really used any sounds or major props as I strived for realism, letting the music and visuals alone tell the story. However, I did construct a missing poster, but aside from this no extra props were used (as in, nothing that I don't use every day or week) due to the realism I wanted. However, my bike and helmet were used very often to get from location to location and for filming; I eventually started using the camera mount on my helmet to film even indoor scenes due to the ease of it and realism of using both hands without an intricate and flimsy hat or fixture that could fall off and damage my equipment during scenes where I had to move fast or fall. As for lighting, I used natural light primarily due to the budget and was very unhappy about the indoor lighting's quality during post-production as there was not a lot we could do about the yellow hue without actually removing the blinds on the window but not much was actually shot indoors. The use of natural lighting and outdoor filming and locations is definitely conventional of the genre, as most Indie music similar to the track I used is filmed with very natural light in woodland locations to allow for that soft visual theme, whereas heavy metal may be filmed in a dark factory or synthetically lit room (a generally darker environment when compared to the Indie genre, essentially). I think that I went against conventions in the sense that I didn't use many props or extra sounds, as I wanted it to be a natural filming process, almost a normal documentary of someone's life in the span of a few months so I felt that too many props may spoil this and make it feel too set up, the bow was arguably a prop however archery is something that I do very often so I ended up classing it as an 'everyday prop' and filmed it purely experimentally opposed to with a plan.
Referring to my target audience was always a prominent goal. As well as tuning the aesthetics, editing and plot towards the target audience I also brought in some elements of issues that people in the target audience may be experiencing, for instance the way someone feels when they are mentally or emotionally unstable from a traumatic event, or the loss of a relationship, and how it does get better with time, as well as the mindset of someone recovering from issues like these. The use of first person filming once again assists here, as we get a first person view into the mind and actions of someone going through these issues raised, and speaks directly to the audience about these very real issues regarding loss and relationship diffic
ulties. Sexuality, gender and love are not particularly present as I felt that the sexuality and gender of the characters were not particularly important to show the meaning of the video. A lot of Indie songs focus on these issues, though the song I used challenges the bright side to these issues and works with the visuals to show a deep analysis into what issues regarding love and loss can actually be like opposed to the stereotypical love song revolving around loss of a relationship and possibly reforming the relationship, whereas mine is a tragedy that still ends with heartache. Although love is a feature here, it is not focused upon lyrically or action-wise apart from the beginning before the conflict arises.
My narrative structure challenges conventions quite drastically at times. It's a linear narrative which is fairly natural, however when the delusions arise the character has flashbacks and loses time, as well as space, as the plot develops. So although the narrative is linear, we have seemingly random narrative ellipses and flashbacks, distorting our grasp on when and where things are happening, whereas the biased narration makes us question the whole way through whether or not anything that happens is actually real, giving it elements of both a linear and fragmented narrative. Lastly, we are also shown an ending that summarizes the fate of the lost character, however (as shown by my feedback) due to the nature of the plot and the confusion of it the audience are encouraged to bring their own ideas to it and interpret the plot as what they want to believe, leaving it as a mixture of both a closed and open ending due to the ambiguity of everything that happened leading towards the ending. This is not exactly unconventional, as a lot of Indie music is slightly conceptual in it's narration which leaves things open to debate, though the sheer ambiguity of the plot could be argued towards being unconventional depending on how the audience interprets the events that played out. The editing was also notably jumpy, which adds to the emotion of the narration, as well as involving the character with the music as much as possible to enthrall the audience which is not the 'stereotypical Indie' way of presenting a narrative as most will use slow edits and pans, and will try to capture the dreamlike state more than the delusional state that my video seems to have captured.
My music video follows many conventions of the Indie genre, but also challenges them in more ways than one. There aren't many music videos that are shot entirely in first person, and those that are (which I have found so far), such as The Stampede by Biting Elbows and Prodigy's Smack my Bitch up, have shown to be of the heavier genres of music. My video immediately challenges this convention of the genre, though the plot is very cliche in it's rawest form, making the documentation of my narrative the main difference between my video and others of the genre, such as the calm editing of Lisa Mitchell's Neopolitan Dreams or Coin Laundry. My target audience however is slightly different I feel, as the Indie music I used (CloZee's Eyes in Eyes) as it has a faster pace at times where the music takes an electronic turn, which allows for my editing to speed up in pace at times. As well as this, my music and video alike have a certain tension about them, the lyrics having connotations to deceit, lying, falsity, anger and despair, which is leaning towards the darker side to the Indie genre, possibly justifying the use of a first person POV as well as my editing pace, though there are definite visual similarities and thus conventions that I follow, such as the locations, dreaminess and colours used. Although not conventional, I feel that the use of my camera is not only an interesting new take on the genre, but allows for a stronger emotional connection to the character due to literally living the story alongside them and experiencing the troubles he does and having as good an idea on the plot as he does, bringing heightened empathy to the emotional plot (The Prodigy's music video is quite controversial as a warning).
I haven't really used any sounds or major props as I strived for realism, letting the music and visuals alone tell the story. However, I did construct a missing poster, but aside from this no extra props were used (as in, nothing that I don't use every day or week) due to the realism I wanted. However, my bike and helmet were used very often to get from location to location and for filming; I eventually started using the camera mount on my helmet to film even indoor scenes due to the ease of it and realism of using both hands without an intricate and flimsy hat or fixture that could fall off and damage my equipment during scenes where I had to move fast or fall. As for lighting, I used natural light primarily due to the budget and was very unhappy about the indoor lighting's quality during post-production as there was not a lot we could do about the yellow hue without actually removing the blinds on the window but not much was actually shot indoors. The use of natural lighting and outdoor filming and locations is definitely conventional of the genre, as most Indie music similar to the track I used is filmed with very natural light in woodland locations to allow for that soft visual theme, whereas heavy metal may be filmed in a dark factory or synthetically lit room (a generally darker environment when compared to the Indie genre, essentially). I think that I went against conventions in the sense that I didn't use many props or extra sounds, as I wanted it to be a natural filming process, almost a normal documentary of someone's life in the span of a few months so I felt that too many props may spoil this and make it feel too set up, the bow was arguably a prop however archery is something that I do very often so I ended up classing it as an 'everyday prop' and filmed it purely experimentally opposed to with a plan.Referring to my target audience was always a prominent goal. As well as tuning the aesthetics, editing and plot towards the target audience I also brought in some elements of issues that people in the target audience may be experiencing, for instance the way someone feels when they are mentally or emotionally unstable from a traumatic event, or the loss of a relationship, and how it does get better with time, as well as the mindset of someone recovering from issues like these. The use of first person filming once again assists here, as we get a first person view into the mind and actions of someone going through these issues raised, and speaks directly to the audience about these very real issues regarding loss and relationship difficMy narrative structure challenges conventions quite drastically at times. It's a linear narrative which is fairly natural, however when the delusions arise the character has flashbacks and loses time, as well as space, as the plot develops. So although the narrative is linear, we have seemingly random narrative ellipses and flashbacks, distorting our grasp on when and where things are happening, whereas the biased narration makes us question the whole way through whether or not anything that happens is actually real, giving it elements of both a linear and fragmented narrative. Lastly, we are also shown an ending that summarizes the fate of the lost character, however (as shown by my feedback) due to the nature of the plot and the confusion of it the audience are encouraged to bring their own ideas to it and interpret the plot as what they want to believe, leaving it as a mixture of both a closed and open ending due to the ambiguity of everything that happened leading towards the ending. This is not exactly unconventional, as a lot of Indie music is slightly conceptual in it's narration which leaves things open to debate, though the sheer ambiguity of the plot could be argued towards being unconventional depending on how the audience interprets the events that played out. The editing was also notably jumpy, which adds to the emotion of the narration, as well as involving the character with the music as much as possible to enthrall the audience which is not the 'stereotypical Indie' way of presenting a narrative as most will use slow edits and pans, and will try to capture the dreamlike state more than the delusional state that my video seems to have captured.
Ancillary Products
The magazine advert
was very simplistic, and followed quite a few of the conventions of a magazine
advert and the Indie genre's representation in general. To begin, it was the
standard A4 size, and spanned the whole page with no borders or cropping needed,
and was printed with a gloss finish. The layout was also very similar to many
existing magazines of this genre and others, being split into three parts
essentially, though more theoretically than literally and being used mainly for
measurement and clean, organised layout.
The colours used are
associated heavily to the parts of the Indie genre (the genre itself is quite
large so defining it precisely is often hard, though I believe that I have come
close from my research), the prominent blue and white colour palette reflecting
natural themes and bearing connotations towards peace, the ocean, sky,
cleanliness and dreams. My research into the genre has brought many ideas to my
products, notably the colour and texture
seen here; although there is no present tone of brown or green as
conventionally shown in some Indie products, I felt that it would make seeing
the text very difficult even with higher contrasting font, so this image shown
in the video was used as the background, and drew towards the dreamlike state
present with many Indie themes. I believe that the colour palette used for the
Advertisement defies conventions in places, as a lot of Indie adverts feature
more colour, prominently browns and yellow colours to convey symbols of nature
and light, however my music video's plot does not necessarily have a happy feel
about it, so this choice is fitting in this aspect. However, the layout,
colour, text and images are affected by the sub-type of the genre (soft rock,
electronic, trap, acoustics), as well as the nature of the actual album,
including video; mine being a narrative/conceptual piece (though primarily
narrative driven), as a lot of Indie advertisements feature the artist though
mine lacks the performance elements for this so it would be ill fitting towards
the Digipak and Music Video alike to make this choice, though one definite idea
is that it fits the convention of being quite minimalist, though genres other
than Indie actually follow this idea to highlight the main points and purpose
of actually putting the advert into a magazine: To sell their music and deliver
information in the most convenient and appropriate way.
To make sure that it succeeded as an advertisement, I ensured that, although minimalist to fit the Indie conventions, it had reviews, a memorable title or theme, was aesthetically pleasing, provided platforms available for interaction and notified the audience of the artists and taster songs to put some information into the audiences minds and try to encourage the to research the advertisement's contents. It's quite obvious what should be included in an advertisement, however some did leave out reviews and song names but due to the minimalist nature I decided that I should try and fill the page with what I could to give it some meaningful substance.
The Digipak was a lot more complex, featuring a total of six panels (three front three back), meaning that it fit the frequent convention of having six sides, one disc and the 120x120x120mm sizing with spines of less than 1cm.
The first two panels, top left and center top, feature two woodland shots and a very minimalist layout. The left one is simply a photograph of some branches in a woodland space, the sky being captured partially to bring some blue into the design, having some slight editing to blur the edges and create the impression of feint light shafts. It fits the convention of an Indie photograph definitely, being woodland related, the colour scheme being natural and soft, editing only feint so not to disturb the beauty and sanctity of it and no text to get in the way; this is specifically aesthetic, though has the intention of bringing the house style some strength and adding to the theme present. It is noticeable that there are no brown tones used on the magazine advert, however the Digipak needed to have a stronger convention in order to stay as relevant as possible to the genre and music video, whereas the advertisement has justification through it's devotion to a particular segment of the video, as well as conveying the dreamlike symbol present through the plot of the video, whereas using a variety of tones, colours and scenes with the Digipak will look out of place, as shown by my feedback due to the consistency needed with each panel after one sets the theme. The center panel featured the bow from the video laying on the woodland floor. This was selected because it fits the conventions of the Indie genre as well as the theme of the initial panel, meaning it can flow without any conflict or contrast. The bow is relevant to the video, as well as being very natural and peaceful, inf act there is something about a weapon looking so at peace on nature's floor that speaks a lot about the peacefulness of the world presented. The panel here also features some legal text displaying the artist, publisher and 'disc' verification, though this was made with a softer tone in mind to abstain from disrupting the image as much as possible, as well as integrating nicely due to the colour, placement and font. The artists logo is also present, and I chose to have the same white background colour as shown on the magazine advert to maintain consistency, and to obviously place the same image associated to the artist into the audiences mind opposed to a different one, as this may refresh the image they already know and lead to not memorizing it at all.
The top right panel is a lot more eye catching, though the main reason behind this was due to it's position on the Digipak, as this is likely the image people will initially see with the Digipak. I also needed further justification for the use of the background image on the advertisement, and so I felt that carrying it across to the Digipak in some way would be beneficial, as well as looking appropriate and nice; to not reference the video and advertisement could be considered pointless and a waste of an opportunity to integrate the three products of the package. The wisps of white colour were drawn with the same brush as the title to retain that stylistic theme, and were put in place to add a little more 'movement' to the image, and to associate it more with the dreamy convention of the Indie genre. A Digipak or album's cover (or front panel) is often it's symbol, for instance the well known album cover for one of Nirvana's works where a baby is depicted to be swimming after a dollar; the cover is like a book's cover, or a film, or a game, and should be eye catching and memorable, so more detail and colour is a smart choice in my opinion.
The bottom three panels are a lot more simple, having one image spreading across all three panels. Having three panels of different layouts and designs across the top was good and it worked, however more information is needed on the inside of the Digipak, so I felt that a calmer tone was necessary. This is conventional with a lot of Digipaks and albums, as the insides are often filled with text, or CD holders or booklets, meaning that less substance in terms of background and artwork is necessary. Moreover, the outside is essentially advertisement, as this is the first thing people will see, making the outside aesthetics more important than the inside's. This can be seen in most of the Digipaks I have researched, including Linkin Park and KoRn. I decided to have the disc holder in the center because I thought it would be nice for the owner to see the disc the moment hey opened the Digipak, though I know of the time the disc is on a side panel though there isn't much of a convention with disc placement it seems. I also included a slot for a book filled with artwork and extra content (though I didn't actually have the time to make it), with the song list on the opposite panel. There wasn't much thought into where these two would go, apart from that they would be on the inside side panels. I decided on the booklet idea due to the Digipak feeling like something that needed exclusive content, so this idea just gave it more substance and is present with many Digipaks of any genre. The use of the same image across all three panels allowed for not only a nice soft look with little conflict or disruption, and was easy to place the text on top of it and keep it easy to read. The Digipak in general features brown for similar reasons to the Advertisement, and that is to make links to not only the Indie genre, but the Music Video as well, but essentially, Indie music and themes are often associated with nature and simplistic ideas, so a simplistic colour palette and layout seemed appropriate.
Thursday, 26 March 2015
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