Our video is of the song 'Evergreen' by the Backstreet Boys a modern and well known boy band. We feel that our video fits into the conventions of a professional music video with the shot types, costumes and locations. Before we looked at our own video we began planning and researching we did this by looking at other boy bands such as 'Take That' and 'Westlife' and then we also looked at solo artists such as 'Will Young' and 'Lady GaGa' and compared the similarities and differences between a group and a solo artist.
With our music video the main focus is the boy band its self rather than each individual. We used a range of close ups and mid shots when shooting solo sections of the music video and long and wide shots when shooting group sections. The Essence of our song was happiness and bringing joy to the ears of the listener a 'feel good' song.
We had a brain storming session in which we thought about the types of the location we could film in that would capture what the video needed to give off, immediately the city of London cam into our minds as this was a prime location to shoot as it was busy and full of people and usually hot and sunny, with also the added bonus of stunning views and landmarks that the audience would relate to not just in the UK but all over the world.
This location was going to give us our energy and pace in our video, most boy band videos have stunning scenery in the background which will reflect the boy band, Making them stand out more. While researching bands we discovered that the boy band is usually portrait as a influential god like figure. Even if the video was about being happy and on top of the world. We realized from our research that there is usually more than one location in a music video and with our meaning to be fast paced we thought we would contrast this with filming in the country side. So we went to the Magog hills/park where we got some stunning country landscape shots, With lots of natural views We also went to Wandlebury and got some shot of driving, this added motion to drive our piece forward. Our music video was very episodic in nature with each character having a different story.
As well as producing our video we had to have a way of making the artist and the video so we created a magazine advert and digi pack. The photo shoot for which too a long time with alot of trial and error. Eventually I came up of the idea of projecting the landscape onto a white projector screen and then placing two lights either side then squeezing the members into the shot so that the image sheds across their faces.
This photo shoot was all about angles as we did not want to make it obvious that this was a pull down projector screen. Each boyband member then had an individual shot taken to go inside the digi pack each one with a location that represented a mood or feeling.
Sam- City Landscape- Busy and frantic
Simon- Ice- Cool and Chilled
Lawrence- Desert- Warm and Embrasing
All- Northen Lights- Happy and Bright
Out magazine advert is simple yet effective a black background with a large pink text for the title and a large central image of our main album cover. We decided to have a small amount of writing as we know that when people buy magazines they do not tend to stop and read the advert, so we wanted to create something that was simple, big and bold with a color to draw out market in.
Our main digi Pack is not just a CD, with the boom in the downloads market an artist has to give that little bit extra, something you cant get with a online download. We needed to create something that will draw people to buy the hard copy, with this we set out on making a digi pack. I discovered one by a solo artist LADY GAGA, in which she has a CD jewl case and one CD is the album, the other a remix disc and the third is a DVD of her live concert, along with special limited edition images of her. So we decided to use this as our template and so we created our digi pack.
We used a CD jewl case, our front cover folds out as a booklet with limited eidtion images of the solo pictures that were taken.
DISC 1- Album
DISC 2- Remixes
DISC 3 - DVD with a commentary/interview with members of the group.
Along with this there are postcards with images of the boy band on, we feel that all 3 items complimented each other and follow on a ehtos of we are all one and a house style of our target audience which is teen/adult women.
Since our video went live we have had 217 views and counting, from our rough cut to our final product it has come along way. Our initial pitch was successive with barely any bad feedback. So we decided to go ahead with our idea and we went to look and shot footage for our music video and then came back edited the shots together along with our country shots we then showed this to our peers. The main feedback was that our video was very static and needed more movement, we took this and made it better by adding in a car along with a whole new sequence shot at Wandlebury. We then put the video live and over night we got hundreds of views and some brilliant feedback through comments on YouTube. We also showed this back to our peers this time with next to no bad feedback.
For our video we used alot of new media technologies, in our researching stages we used the internet and sites such as YouTube a network to share videos. This helped as to look at other boy bands and solo artists.
To help keep track of where we were with our video we blogged, using 'Blogger'. But to keep in contact privately and to arrange dates and times we used 'Groups' a section of the social network that is 'Facebook'
Here we could put up our ideas and inspirations for other to see outside of the class room and the blog. It was a fantastic tool to use during the process of making our video.
To shoot our video and also our stills for promotion we used a HD sony video camera this gave us definition depth and also sharp clarity and fantastic quality, this was also the same for our stills images in which we used a HD panasonic stills professional standard camera.
For editing our footage we used industry standard software 'Final Cut Pro' This helped alot to give clean cuts and had fantastic features and some brilliant transitions.
For our promotional images we used photo shop this helped alot as our images required alot of editing to get them to that standard that you see today.
All of these new media helped us to create a product that is as close to the professional industry.
BELOW is a list of links you might like to look at relating to our video-
Our Final Music Video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uromgjfH9xw
Our Interview/ Commentary Video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcLkAYc-ukc
Magazine Advert- http://16longroadmusicvideo111.blogspot.com/2011/11/magazine-advert.html
Final Front Cover - http://16longroadmusicvideo111.blogspot.com/2011/11/front-cover.html
Final Back Cover-http://16longroadmusicvideo111.blogspot.com/2011/11/back-cover-of-our-cd-case.html
Individual Promo Images and Also inside booklet - http://16longroadmusicvideo111.blogspot.com/2011/11/inside-booklet.html
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Thursday, 15 December 2011
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Friday, 9 December 2011
Media Eval Questions
1) Our media products gained inspiration from other boyband videos such as "My Love" by Westlife. we used conventions from this like the typical boyband slow-motion walk. We also researched typical boyband clothing, such as smart-casual suits and multi-coloured shirts to contrast with each other. In our video, we were all used to sing the song, which builds on boyband conventions, as they are all in their videos, even if there is a story or narrative running alongside it. Using some of Goodwins points, we decided to keep the music video bright and colorful to link the upbeat and happy song. Since there was no clear meaning behind the lyrics we thought we should film in the countryside and some in London. This challenges conventions, as most boyband videos are filmed in one location and stick to it. Since there was no clear meaning behind the lyrics, it seemed pointless to have a full narrative, so instead we put in short driving periods as an on going theme throughout the video. This challenges both conventions and Goodwins rules, as the narrative normally follows the story or theme of the song
2) Our auxillary products products work well together with the video, as the style of them fit together well and look professional as an overall product. Adding the 3- disc set to our CD was a good idea, as it allowed us to have an audio disc, DVD and behind the scenes disc for people who want abit more than just the CD. The 3 piece booklet also adds a touch of class to the album. This creates a more band-like status of the group, as it shows we are all individuals, but form to become one band. It also pulls in the target audience of teenage females, as it shows the entire group on the front for all to see with "Evergreen" in large font to attract people to it. The backgrounds in the booklet show us in the multiple places, linking to the different locations in the video, and emphasizing how the group is everywhere. Our magazine advert also pulls in the reader with its simplicity and digital download to get people interested and urging them to buy it.
3) Our pitch feedback had many positive responses. As we had decided to go to London to film it, most people approved of this idea. We also showed a video of places we would go, which went down well. This set us up for our filming session well, as we knew where to go. The feedback on our rough cut was also good. The main point we had to deal with was the lack of movement, as it seemed too stale and motionless. this spurred us to the idea of a car, which we then put in. We were also told our performance was impressive, but at times abit lacking. Due to this, we re-filmed multiple chorus's and some lines to make the video the best we could. Our final feedback was also good, as we were told it was a great improvement to the draft, as it added motion and more story to the product.
4) We used lots of different technology during our video. Alot of Mac software was used, mainly FinalCut and Blogger. Due to Final Cut, I was able to edit the video together easily and lip sync everything with ease. Using the website Blogger we were able to share our work and keep track of everything going on with our video, along with deadline dates. I also used Photoshop to create convincing CD materials, as well as the cover for the CD itself. Due to the options avaliable within these programs, we were able to make everything as well as we could. The HD filming and stills camera also allowed us to get high quality footage to make our products professional
2) Our auxillary products products work well together with the video, as the style of them fit together well and look professional as an overall product. Adding the 3- disc set to our CD was a good idea, as it allowed us to have an audio disc, DVD and behind the scenes disc for people who want abit more than just the CD. The 3 piece booklet also adds a touch of class to the album. This creates a more band-like status of the group, as it shows we are all individuals, but form to become one band. It also pulls in the target audience of teenage females, as it shows the entire group on the front for all to see with "Evergreen" in large font to attract people to it. The backgrounds in the booklet show us in the multiple places, linking to the different locations in the video, and emphasizing how the group is everywhere. Our magazine advert also pulls in the reader with its simplicity and digital download to get people interested and urging them to buy it.
3) Our pitch feedback had many positive responses. As we had decided to go to London to film it, most people approved of this idea. We also showed a video of places we would go, which went down well. This set us up for our filming session well, as we knew where to go. The feedback on our rough cut was also good. The main point we had to deal with was the lack of movement, as it seemed too stale and motionless. this spurred us to the idea of a car, which we then put in. We were also told our performance was impressive, but at times abit lacking. Due to this, we re-filmed multiple chorus's and some lines to make the video the best we could. Our final feedback was also good, as we were told it was a great improvement to the draft, as it added motion and more story to the product.
4) We used lots of different technology during our video. Alot of Mac software was used, mainly FinalCut and Blogger. Due to Final Cut, I was able to edit the video together easily and lip sync everything with ease. Using the website Blogger we were able to share our work and keep track of everything going on with our video, along with deadline dates. I also used Photoshop to create convincing CD materials, as well as the cover for the CD itself. Due to the options avaliable within these programs, we were able to make everything as well as we could. The HD filming and stills camera also allowed us to get high quality footage to make our products professional
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
Music Video Commentary
Last lesson we took a camera into a green room, and shot a 'Making Of' commentary in which each boy band member and the directors were sat down and asked a series of 4 questions.
We are now currently in the process of editing this video and combining the interview with clips of the music video.
We feel that the shoot was very successful considering that one of our boy band members was ill.
The Questions that the members were asked were as follows:
1. In what ways does your media product use develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
2. How effective is the combination of your main product with your ancillary texts?
3. What you learnt from the feedback of your music video?
4. How did you use new media products in the production of your video?
We are now currently in the process of editing this video and combining the interview with clips of the music video.
We feel that the shoot was very successful considering that one of our boy band members was ill.
The Questions that the members were asked were as follows:
1. In what ways does your media product use develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
2. How effective is the combination of your main product with your ancillary texts?
3. What you learnt from the feedback of your music video?
4. How did you use new media products in the production of your video?
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