Question 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
KT Tunstall has two music videos for her song 'suddenly I see'.
In her 'Larger than life' version of her video, it is very animated and colourful. She is literally larger than life. The heavy use of animation in the video creates some very dynamic shots, for example some where she is floating, sitting on a tree and walking down the centre of a street towering over the buildings.
'Larger Than Life' Version
But in her official music video instead of the heavy use of animation and bright colours there is a more natural feel. There is some clever camerawork to make it look like there are two different versions of her singing the same song across from each other. There are a lot more close ups and there are less cuts than in the 'Larger than life ' version of her video. I liked this version because of its relaxed feel although it was evident that there was a lot of complexity in the way it was shot to be able to get the two versions of her from different angles. The relaxed feel was also conveyed across because of the spaced out cuts there were. I took note of this to use in our own video.
Official Video
Below is a remake version of KT Tunstall's song. The video taught me a lot about what not to do when making a music video. For example to always make sure the camera is focused and try not to refocus on a subject when filming unless absolutely necessary. Also it is very important not to use zoom when filming because it makes the final video itself not look very professional.
I made sure not to include these aspects in the camerawork of our video.
Remake
These three videos influenced me when creating our version of the video. For example the use of a guitar is evident in both of KT Tunstall's original videos so it was an important prop to have in our video. It also helped to define the kind of artist we were trying to portray which was a girl who lived in the urban world but had a relaxed personality and was playful and charming.
Official Video
'Larger Than Life' Version
Our Video
I also took note of how both of KT Tunstall's original videos were shot. I preferred how the original version was simple but yet engaging because of the complexity of the type of shots used and especially by the fact that they shot it in such a way that there were two versions of her. In her 'larger than life' version I liked how they used the bright colours to catch the audiences' imagination. I wanted our video to incorporate some aspects from both of these videos, simplicity in terms of the types of shots used, a contrast between fast and slow cuts and with dynamic views and locations with bright contrasting colours.
In one particular shot in KT Tunstall's 'larger than life' video there was a shot where she was walking down the middle of an animated street and she is taller than the buildings and cars around her. I took note of this because it amplifies the lyrics of the song so in our version of the song I decided it would be good if we had Hannah our artist sitting on the wall alongside the Thames river with the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben in the distance. I also positioned the camera in such a way that her torso was the same height as Big Ben which gave the feeling that the city had been brought down to her level. It made it look like she was in charge as often the city can feel very intimidating and big but by this shot we eliminated that. This also helped to create a relaxed feel because the camera angle is not looking down nor looking up so there is no feeling of a contrast in power. For example if it was a point of view shot from Hannah looking up at a building it would create the feeling that she is very small and the same would happen if the camera was positioned in such a way that it was looking down on Hannah.
In one particular shot in KT Tunstall's 'larger than life' video there was a shot where she was walking down the middle of an animated street and she is taller than the buildings and cars around her. I took note of this because it amplifies the lyrics of the song so in our version of the song I decided it would be good if we had Hannah our artist sitting on the wall alongside the Thames river with the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben in the distance. I also positioned the camera in such a way that her torso was the same height as Big Ben which gave the feeling that the city had been brought down to her level. It made it look like she was in charge as often the city can feel very intimidating and big but by this shot we eliminated that. This also helped to create a relaxed feel because the camera angle is not looking down nor looking up so there is no feeling of a contrast in power. For example if it was a point of view shot from Hannah looking up at a building it would create the feeling that she is very small and the same would happen if the camera was positioned in such a way that it was looking down on Hannah.
'Larger Than Life' Version
Our Video
Voiceover
We kept to the conventions of the style of the song by making sure the video had a natural feel to it. We shot the footage in locations many people experience daily and had iconic landmarks such as Big Ben and the London Eye which again is what many people see on a daily basis. It isn't overly elaborate like a hip-hop video with flash cars and big houses as this would be inappropriate for our genre. In the video we also edited to the beat of the song. We also kept to the type of song which was playful and happy and we conveyed that especially through the shot of her playing in the leaves. It amplifies the relaxed feeling of the video and of the song itself which is what the song is ultimately the kind of feeling the song is suppose to impose.
We also broke some conventions in our music video for example the fact that Hannah Marie our artist is an 18 year old black female singing this particular genre of music is not at all typical. Normally you would expect perhaps a white female in her 20s to be singing it instead.
Digipak
In my digipak I conformed to many of the conventions expected from a digipak. For example on the front cover I made sure to include the name of the artist 'Hannah Marie' and the album name 'Self-Titled' in a clear, readable but distinctive font. I also made sure to include a picture of Hannah Marie so that she can be identified as the artist. You see this in many digipaks especially those where the artist is not that well known. On the back I made sure to include the song listings including the main song 'Suddenly I see'. I broke the conventions slightly here by making the font of 'Suddenly I see' larger than the others. You do not see this often in digipaks but I felt that it emphasised her debut song and the main song she is trying to promote. I also inserted EMI's icon, the copyright symbol, barcode and tproduction information, these key features are in every album. In the spine of the digipak I again put Hannah Marie's name and the album name. This again is common in many digipaks because it allows the consumer to still identify what album it is and by what artist when they store it in a CD rack in their home or even when it is being stored at the store. Finally for the CD art I again conformed to conventions by including the album name again and a picture of Hannah Marie. This allows the CD to be identified as Hannah Marie's Self-Titled album without actually needing the digipak itself.
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Question 2
How effective is the combination of your main product (video) and ancillary texts (digipak and advertisement)?
I think that my music video, advertisement and digipak work effectively as one unit because they all incorporate the same colour scheme and elements of mise en scene. For example the reds of her bandana and the greens and blues of her clothing that she is wearing.
I choose to use this particular picture of Hannah holding the pink guitar not only because of the space on either side of her to add the titles but also because of the fact she has a guitar with her. This is an important prop that is also in our video. Although it is a different guitar in the digipak it is still an important link because by having the iconic symbol that a guitar is it gives the impression of how important music is to her and the role it plays in her life. The acoustic guitar is also a typical convention that you would expect in a alternative rock genre or soft rock. It also conveys the image that hannah Marie is the creator of her music, not just the presenter of a song. It shows her as a true artist of music.
Screen shot of Music Video
Front Cover of Digipak
Another important piece of costume is her red bandana that is in every picture of her in the digipak and also throughout the music video. This detail is unique to her and eventually the audience will begin to link Hannah Marie the artist to the red bandana and vice versa. It is an important part of her character like the two different guitars audiences will be able to link them to Hannah Marie.
Back Cover of Digipak
Screen shot of Music Video
On the first interior panel I had a close up of Hannah's face. I took inspiration of this from the front panel of Seal's digipak below. I feel that this is effective because it gets the audience up close and personal with Hannah Marie, it is a vibrant image with distinctive colours.
Interior Panel One of Digipak
Picture from the artist Seal's Digipak
Interior Panel Two of Digipak
Final Digipak
I think the digipak is successful in portraying who Hannah Marie is and her character. She is in every panel from the long shot of the cover to the close up of the first interior panel. Also like the video they are relatively simple in style but still attractive. From the outside the audience would see a mainly black and white cover but when they open it up there is full on colour. This is kind of like the expression "Don't judge a book by its cover" and I feel that this is an important aspect of our artist because of the fact that you never find an 18 year old black female singing this kind of music. It is almost as if she is saying not to judge her visually but to understand her from her music.
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I feel that my advertisement is also strong because of the fact that it uses the front cover of my digipak so audiences who see the advertisement will be able to identify the album itself immediately when they are looking for it in a store. I have also made the key words larger than the other words for example the 'Brand New Album Out Now!' and the 'iTunes Store', '£4' and 'Limited Time!' while the rest of the sentence is in a smaller font.
Question 3
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Slide Show
Individual Slides
Digital Storyboard
Question 4
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
Audience feedback after the cinema viewing. In the cinema the audience seemed to react quite positively to our video. We received a whole host of positive and comments about what was good and also on what we could improve. For example some for example some of the positive responses were that:
- It was edited to the beat well.
- There was good amplification of the lyrics through the video.
- There was a wide variety of shots and effective camera movements and framing.
- Mise en Scene was good.
- Matches the genre. Especially the guitar.
- Time lapse was nice.
Some other comments about what could have been improved included:
- The lighting could have been improved between different shots.
- Costume was also said needed improvement because it seemed too relaxed.
- I personally feel that maybe the editing could have been slightly sharper with a few more faster cuts.
From this comment about the lighting I learned that it was important to make sure the lighting between each different shot and between cuts matched. If I could reshoot our video again I would double check each time that the lighting matches the previous and next shot. I realise now that the lighting is a very important aspect of the footage because when it is cut and put together with other clips, if the lighting is different it will make the cuts between two different shots more obvious when in reality they must look and feel natural to a point where the audience doesn't notice them.
We as a group also made a concious decision about what kind of costume we wanted Hannah wear. We wanted her to portray a relaxed feel and that she wasn't dressing up. She is simply herself and that is all. However from the comment about it being too relaxed I see now that maybe we should have made what she wore more definitive. I feel that the red bandana she wore should not change because that is unique to her, but probably we would have to apply that concept to the rest of her costume to the point where an audience member can recognise Hannah Marie by her items of clothing like they can with the red bandana.
One aspect that was not mentioned a lot was editing. From this and my personal view I feel that maybe it could have been improved slightly. If it could be re-edited I would ensure that they would be a lot sharper. For example it would be important to try and not interrupt the artist singing a verse with a cut to another shot because it feels rather awkward. I would also make the cuts in some areas more rapid then they were because I felt that some parts were maybe not keeping up with the beat enough.
We as a group also made a concious decision about what kind of costume we wanted Hannah wear. We wanted her to portray a relaxed feel and that she wasn't dressing up. She is simply herself and that is all. However from the comment about it being too relaxed I see now that maybe we should have made what she wore more definitive. I feel that the red bandana she wore should not change because that is unique to her, but probably we would have to apply that concept to the rest of her costume to the point where an audience member can recognise Hannah Marie by her items of clothing like they can with the red bandana.
One aspect that was not mentioned a lot was editing. From this and my personal view I feel that maybe it could have been improved slightly. If it could be re-edited I would ensure that they would be a lot sharper. For example it would be important to try and not interrupt the artist singing a verse with a cut to another shot because it feels rather awkward. I would also make the cuts in some areas more rapid then they were because I felt that some parts were maybe not keeping up with the beat enough.
