Question 4

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

To construct the research for our music video we used a range of media technologies. To research similar bands, to the one we chose to use, we used band websites and YouTube. Watching known band’s music videos on YouTube   helped us gain some inspiration of themes and ideas to use in our own music video. One key video we kept referring back to was “One for the Road” by the Arctic Monkeys. This music video gave us a lot of inspiration because the Arctic Monkeys are a very influential, typical indie band. We observed a lot of the Arctic Monkeys music videos to inspire our own. Some key themes that ran through the majority of the Arctic Monkeys videos were; the representation of women (Laura Mulvey theory), the masculinity of the band members, and the indie aspect of the band; the use of live performance, denim and leather, everyday locations e.g. farms, houses. 

As the Arctic Monkeys have had a large influence on the themes and ideas in our music video we also used them as a main inspiration for our other promotional texts for example; our website has a similar monochrome theme with a bold logo running through all of the pages and links.

We used a range of different technologies to construct our promotional texts. This developed our planning and research skills as well as our video shooting and editing skills. For example while shooting our Final music video we took a much wider range of shots to edit than we had for our preliminary task. We also used a wider range of filming techniques. One example would be when we achieved a smooth pan, following the car moving along the road towards and away from the camera. To achieve the smooth pan, with no jolts or stutters in the movement, we used a rubber band by attaching it to the handle of the tripod and slowly pulling it. As seen on a YouTube tutorial we watched before filming. We watched quite a few tutorials and “tips” videos on how to achieve smooth pans and movement shots for example one video showed us how to hold the tripod and camera together and how to balance the camera end with the rest of the tripod in order to reduce up and down movement when walking with the camera we used this technique when filming Harry walking through the house, it was essential to keep the camera work still so that the image did not become unclear when we later sped up the footage. We also set up and used a professional lighting set so that our image would be evenly lit and professional it also meant we could work anywhere indoors in a house that didn’t have particularly bright lighting. Planning to use this lighting set saved us time in finding alternative ways to control the lighting on set.

To edit our video together we used Final Cut Pro X. This software allowed us to edit together everything we had filmed with the soundtrack in a professional way, by precisely being able to zoom in and edit clips and synchronise audio to video.  We also used after Effects CC to add in details such as the title sequence. On final cut we also had to sync the audio to the actions within the video. This was an effective way to match the sound to our footage instead of recording the sound at the same time as the video as the music would not be as clear and the quality would not have been as professional sounding/looking.

To make our poster we used Photoshop and Samsung drawing software (on my tablet) using this software helped us create a professional looking poster with the correct format. We were also able to create a use an individual text type, which has been used throughout our promotional texts.  On Photoshop we used an image of the band walking through the memorial gardens, taken from a recent photo shoot, on this image we highlighted the red from the Poppy wreaths and put the rest of the image into a monochrome effect. To do this we simply highlighted the red sections of the poppy wreaths, using the magic wand tool, and deleted the red sections, we then created an identical layer beneath the first with the deleted sections. We made the first layer black and white by altering the colour and saturation, the layer below then showed the red poppy wreathes through the deleted sections in the layer above thus creating the highlighted red in the overall image. The red highlights helped attract the viewer’s attention and draw their eyes to the main focus, the band. The red highlights and use of black and white also linked in with the colour scheme of the overall poster for example the ratings at the bottom stood out more and caught the attention of the viewer as the logos from the magazines who rated also used black, white and red in their logos. We decided to keep the background, text and logos on the Poster black and white to have a bold eye catching look to our poster.

Our website follows a similar theme to our poster, using the same logo imagery and colour scheme.  Richard used a technical website called “Brackets” to build a website for our band “Albion” making a website using this software meant that once it was live it would be easily accessible to the public and we could easily alter the site as needed to update the audience and fans on the band’s latest activity.

Throughout the planning and research we kept in touch with our target audience to find out their views and opinions about our ideas and plans. To do this we set up focus groups and recorded vox Pops. To do this we used the cameras on our phones to record the question and answer sessions with groups and individuals. Next we edited together the videos and uploaded them to youtube, this allowed other members of the public to add any additional opinions or views we also discussed and analysed as a group what we had found out. This process was very helpful as we were able to getter a better idea of what would appeal most to our target audience and the best way to reach them.

Once we had finished the editing of our video we sent the link to a group of people within our target audience, we also set up a screening presentation in which we asked people to watch our video then send an anonymous free text to “Poll Everywhere” we also asked them to complete a survey we set up on poll everywhere. From this we found that the audience had enjoyed our music video and they agreed that it did fit and meet the conventions of an indie music video. Poll Everywhere was a great way to discover what people really thought because it was anonymous and people didn’t feel pressured to say what they thought we wanted to hear, the survey is also public so people from outside of our screening group could join in too if they had an opinion to share as well.  

 

One last form of media we used throughout the process of our music video was Blogger. We used Blogger to document everything we did, used, planned and researched throughout the entire project. It was helpful to document everything as we went along because we could easily refer back to information as and when we needed it particularly during the filming and editing processes.