Moderators Message

Moderator,

This is my A2 Production Blog of my coursework section, consisting of; research, planning and production of a Music Video, Digipak and Magazine Advert.
Happy moderating.

Regards,
Ryan Magill

Music Video

Magazine Advert

Digipak

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

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

For my audience feedback i created a survey of open and closed questions. The image above is of the closed question answers. From this i can learn that my target audience mostly found my products appealing, especially the digipak and mise en scene and editing of the music video.

For my open question answers i received useful feedback such as; 

"the colour scheme of the magazine advert is too warm for alternative rock."

"the costumes used in the music video would have needed to be more scruffy to fit the alternative rock genre."

"the digipak doesn't represent the alternative rock genre as effectively as it could."

"the settings in the music video are simple and effective which fits the message being portrayed."

"the editing in the music video is effective as it mostly fits with the rhythm of the music and links to the alternative rock genre."

From the feedback, i have learnt that different interpretations of alternative rock can affect a person's judgement on the product and that with a genre as complex as alternative rock, there is no single style, but there is a set of generic conventions that should be conformed to. With my music video i have made the style somewhat psychedelic and confusing, which is one style of an alternative rock music video. I have also conformed to the conventions that need to be used in alternative rock music videos such as; performance and narrative, low angles and high angles, and color correcting. It is because of this that i feel my music videos representation of the alternative rock genre is genuine and appeals to my audience.

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

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

This is my contact sheet for my music video. The first frame is of the setting. I chose to use this setting to fit with the narrative of my music video. As the narrative is of the character being chased by people and losing memory of it, the unsureness of where he is is key to portraying the narrative accurately. I chose this location to show that he is isolated and alone, which fits with the lyrics of the song, specifically "Not a lot of people left around". I feel that this represents a generic alternative rock music video well as the narrative usually reflects the lyrics of the song.

The second frame is of the costumes used. I chose to use these costumes to convey the idea that the character is being chased by a mob of some form. I chose the balaclavas as this is a typical look for rioters/mobs. I also wanted the costumes, used by both the character and the chasers, to be related to an episode of Black Mirror on Channel 4, a drama, of the episode White Bear as this is where the idea for the music video's narrative was inspired from. I used the same style costumes to pay homage to the show effectively and obviously. I feel that this represents a generic alternative rock music video as there are usually references to pop-culture hidden within most music videos, whether it is very obscure or the subject of the whole video.

The third frame is of the representation of the artist. As the genre is alternative rock and the song's style/narrative is relatively desolate, i wanted to portray this by using a grey scale filter on the performance as well as representing the artist in a deep/emotional way. I feel that this is generic of an alternative rock music video as the artist's performance should represent the meaning and narrative behind the song. For example, if the artist was smiling during the performance parts of the video, it would not seem like a genuine music video and perhaps the meaning of the song could be confused or misinterpreted.

The fourth frame is of camera work and editing used. I chose to use a variety of shots within the music video ranging from close ups to long shots as the same variety of shots are used in music video of any genre. I feel that this is not only generic to an alternative rock music video, but is typical of almost all music videos produced. Unless the narrative of the song provides needing only one shot, for example Duffy's 'Warwick Avenue, a constant close up of the artist, a variety of shots are needed to keep the audience interested.

The fifth frame is of the narrative. I chose to create the narrative as generic to alternative rock music videos. As the narrative is inspired from Episode 'White Bear' of Channel 4's Black Mirror, the waking up again with no explanation of where you are or who's chasing you and why is used to pay homage to the show. I also tried to make the narrative fit the lyrics/meaning of the song in some places so the narrative itself would make sense in relation to the song. I feel that this is generic of alternative rock music videos as a narrative that is a reflection of the meaning of the song is usually used.

The sixth frame is of how characters are introduced. I chose to introduce the main character at the beginning on his own as the narrative needs him to. If the other characters that are later introduced were shown first, the narrative would become confusing. The other characters, the 2 different figures that are chasing the main character are introduced after the character realises that he is being chased by someone. I feel that this is generic as although in some music videos the artist purposely makes sure the narrative makes no sense, depending on the style of the song and artist, the narrative making sense is something that is crucial for the image that this song and artist represents.

The seventh frame is of genre, and how the music video suggests it. I chose to use a combination of narrative and performance as this is typical of alternative rock music videos. I used a grey scale filter on the performance to keep with the tone of the song and artist. I made the narrative so that it would reflect the message of the song as this is typical of the alternative rock genre. I chose the costumes used to represent the alternative rock genre and feel that they are generic. The costumes used by the characters in the narrative are paying homage to the 'Black Mirror' series and pays homage to it. This is also typical of the alternative rock genre. I feel that the music video has represented the alternative rock genre well because of this.

The eighth frame represents the performance. I wanted the performance to be typical of the alternative rock genre meaning the artists performance had to present the message of the song and the image of the artist while still maintaining the generic conventions of alternative rock. This also had to be done by the characters in the narrative, which i fell was achieved. I feel that the performance fitted the generic conventions of the alternative rock genre well.

Special effects were not used in the video. I feel that including special effects would not have been generically conventional and would not fit the genre. Therefore i did not use special effects as i wanted my video to be genuine to the genre and style.