Evaluation / Question 2

Evaluation / Question 2 from SiYauTuong

           

•        How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

My ancillary texts consisted of a digipak and poster. In todays age, there is a decline in CDs as listeners can use streaming sites and listen to music digitally. Although many prefer to download their music, people who enjoy buying physical copies still remains. It can be suggested those who buy digipaks view them as collectables than a way to buy music. The combination of my main product and ancillary texts was relatively effective. From my research I found that many EDM artists had digipaks that did not feature their faces- this can be seen in my analysis of Daft Punk and Deadmau5. From this, I decided to include images of the logo and myself as I feature in the music video instead of the artist in order to form a correlation between ancillary texts and the music video. I stylized the images of me in order to make me unrecognizable. This was to avoid confusion as to whether I was the artist. In addition, I decided to use the logo as the CD images as a reference to ‘L|NES’. I used the album cover as my poster image and I followed the conventions of a music poster such as social media links.  Additionally, I used an image of myself with my eyes closed. I stylized the image and used the same filter- ‘extrude’- as the other images. This image refers to the music video as it is inferred that I am simply dreaming and the logo transportation is not real. Also, we included our posters in shots of our music video which can be seen in the background.

Evaluation / Question 1

• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

A music video generally follows conventions imposed by it’s genre and typically applies Goodwin’s theory. My group partner, Hannah, and I created an EDM music video to Avicii’s ‘Levels’. We researched various music videos of the EDM genre and found that many of them did not feature its artist or a narrative. We followed this convention by not featuring the artist. In addition, our music video does not have a clear narrative, the female character is shown transporting from place to place after she touches the logo for our artist- ‘L|NES’. The logo is featured heavily in videos where the artist is not seen as the logo is used as a form of brand identity. Due to this, we did not follow Goodwin’s convention of multiple close ups of the main artist- yet we did feature many close ups of the female character. Other than that. we followed the majority of Goodwin’s conventions as shown in our final music video. As we chose an EDM song that ranges in tempo, we were able to form a relationship between the music and the visuals easily. This is shown in scenes such as the use of fast paced editing to fit with the beat of the track. Once the beat drops towards the end of the video, the scene cuts to the club scene which also fits with the upbeat tempo of the music. Additionally, the use a club- where we also heavily used neon colours-  follows a typical convention of EDM. We also formed a relationship with the few lyrics in the song- the female character is shown singing along. Although our female character is not heavily sexualised- her outfits in many scenes are baggy and show little to no skin- we did choose to have a tight fitting costume for the club scene in order to fit within the typical style of clubbing wear. The female character is shown to wear a t shirt with a tight black skirt. She is bare-legged wearing chunky high heels. Through the close ups of her legs and outfit, we present her in a somewhat voyeuristic fashion. The idea of the character seeing the ‘L|NES’ logo everywhere she goes is an intertextual reference to Clean Bandit’s ‘Rather Be’ music video.

Reshoot: Club Scene

After screening our music video to our audience, we recieved feedback in ways to change the club scene as many found it to be boring. To improve this, Hannah and I incorporated the use of masks- which is intially scene in the paint scene- and the UV paint we used in the first club shoot. I think this makes the club look more lively and visually interesting. During editing, I chose to incoporate the two club scenes together in order to make the scene look more lively and hectic. I think this reshoot was a success as it improved the overall look of the music video as well as the club scene.

Reshoot: Paint Scene

After our audience feedback, we decided to refilm two of our scenes- the paint scene and the club scene. It was advised for us to film in front of a white background in order to emphasise the appearance of powder paint. We used a white paper background and two cameras in order to obtain shots at different angles. Hannah set up two 1200 DSLR cameras but one of those cameras had a 10mm lense which enabled us to film closer and crisper.  I think this reshoot was a success and I found it looked better incorporated with the first paint scene once I began editing.

Editing Music Video

This is the editing process of the music video. I chose to be in charge of editing as Hannah took charge of cinematography. I began to cut the music in time of  the song's beat in order to follow Goodwin's convention- a relationship between visuals and song. 

In order to convey the character's distortion, Hannah and I discussed using effects. I chose to use a blurred effect that followed my movements. 

For the paint scene, we chose to use a rewind effects and a slow mo in order to create an emphasis to the powdered paint. 

Final Cut of Levels

Costume

Our first outfit for the music video was a checked jumper and black trousers- we did not want the character to show excessive skin.

The next outfit consists of a blue coat, blue jeans, white t shirt, converse and a checked scarf. We wanted to look casual as if I was just out on an  ordinary day.

The next scene takes place at a park where paint is then thrown at her by masked people. We chose a white outfit in order for the audience to see the effect of the paint. We also chose black leggings and simple black shoes as we thought using plain prints will allow the audience to easily see the paint. 

Next scene transitions to the beginning of the club scene. I am wearing a black and white striped t shirt with a black fitted skirt and black chunky heels. We chose for my outfit to show some skin as we felt that was conventional in the clothing style suitable for clubs.