Before I began actually creating my texts I researched such things as conventions of music videos that fit with the genre of my chosen song and audience. In my conventions posts I researched both the conventions of a music video and conventions of the genre of my song. This helped me with ideas for my own texts, expressing an understanding of conventions and an ability to show them in my own work. My main findings were such things as conventional cinematography like close ups and tracking shots, as well as conventional styles such as representing narrative or performance in a music video. I also found such conventions for my other texts which was in terms of cinematography the use of again close ups and medium shots, as well as some sort of tie to the artists song and video. And as the music video's purpose is to create a visual to be seen whilst listening to the song and to express styles of narrative and performance, and the other texts to advertise and promote the artist and their song through use of image and linking to the video, I can include and represent my found research into my created texts, using them in different ways to create more realistic and professional media texts.
My main source of information in researching conventions of music videos, digipaks and magazine advertisements was through analysing already existing media texts, I analysed more than one of each of the texts I would have to create myself to ensure I gained a more detailed, in depth understanding and knowledge of the codes and conventions that I would need to apply to my own auxiliary texts.
Through my findings I found that music videos serve a crucial part in keeping the artist/band in the public view, this is done by using many close ups of the artist/band which is promoting themselves through the use of their own music video, they also often create a visual image that will match and go with the music’s lyrics. There is often a mixture of performance and narrative within a music video, ensuring the artist/band are shown within the music video starring as themselves performing their own music, which is something fans love to see, and this is mixed with the use of narrative which is telling a story within the video which is often related to the lyrics of the song, used to entertain the audience, giving them something to watch whilst listening to the song. Music videos give the audience a chance to actually see some performance from the artist/band which they may not be able to in real life such as to go to their concert. I tried to ensure that I included some of these featured conventions within my own music video. So after my research I decided to include both performance and narrative within my music video.
I used storyboarding as a way of brainstorming my ideas in a more detailed way, whilst also looking at my analysed lyrics. After finishing my storyboard I made it into an animatic, having the images from the storyboard play through to the song to give an idea of what the music video could look like as well as to see if it all works. This helped greatly for when I was filming and editing, to ensure that I knew what shots to do and then where I had planned on putting them in the video. It also helped with beginning to film rather than being unsure on where to start filming.
As I found through my research there are many camera shots used in music videos and so I tried to use different shots and angles, helping and ensuring that my narrative and performance is shown in the best way. I used close ups to show performance in the video, presenting lip syncing in my video as well. I also used tracking shots from different angles, this supports my narrative within the music video as though the artist is searching for something more. The last shot of the video is an extreme long shot, I chose to do this as it shows where the artist has come from and where the artists heading, also with the open area and skies it represents there is a lot more out there for him to search.
In terms of costume I had to think about what the clothing would represent, I had the actor wear jeans and trainers which is something everyone wears, which could represent the artists need to find something more so he can be different. I also had him wear checked shirts, this is because they look nice and smart which is something you would expect from an artist, to try appeal physically to the audience. But I had a variety of coloured shirts featured, this is done because not only in terms of narrative would the costume change but it represents his need to find something more, this could show him changing colours in search and the different emotions he's going through. Wearing clothing in relation to the song and lyrics is another convention of music videos, it shows that I understand the music I'm using but it also helps the audience feel more and understand the music more.
During my research I looked at the editing of music videos similar to my chosen song, it is conventional to use slower paced editing with slower songs. I took this into consideration when I was editing my music video, I had shots lasting longer than they would in a faster more upbeat song. For my transitions I used dip to blacks, I felt it gave a smoother feel to the video to make it run along with the song better, I also feel that it gave a bigger impact to the song in a way making it feel more emotional. But mainly it is a way of contributing to the narrative further, the dips to black represent that through all the searching it's still as though there are gaps and black holes within his life due to not finding what he is looking for. I used lip syncing within my music video as it shows performance and an ability to sync separate image and sound together when editing. I represented an understanding of editing to the beat of the song within the editing of my music video, the end of the video shows the artist walking up a hill but the image jumps to him being a bit further up the hill than previously seen, I had this happen three times before it just ran smoothly till the end. The jumps are in time with the beats of the song which is a typical convention of music videos.
I analysed 3 digipaks and magazine adverts to ensure I got a better understanding of what is expected to be included with my own texts, I found that there were conventional camera shots used such as medium shots for a magazine advert, making sure that there is a decent sized picture of the artist, promoting them to the audience and ensuring that their face can be recognised. The type of digipak I was to create was conventionally 6 sides, having something for buyers to look at on each side. A convention I found through my research was ensuring that the name of the artist it featured many times throughout the digipak, as well as having a picture of the actual artist somewhere in the digipak too. I stuck to these conventions by using many different pictures of the artist throughout the whole of my digipak and the name of my artist as well. It is noticeable that there should be a constant theme throughout the whole of the digipak in terms of colour schemes and font, and relatable images, this is something I took into account and ensured that I was consistent with my colours and font, not only throughout the digipak but throughout my other texts as well, this is a common convention with these kind of texts.
As found from researching I tried to link all three of my texts together as much as possible, I had the same colour schemes such as greens and black and white. I decided to base the way I would do my digipak on my music video. I decided that I would have the front cover of my digipak in black and white, this is because my music video starts in black and white and the artist walking backwards, and the artist is facing the opposite way of which the digipak would open, I then created the rest of my digipak in colour, just like my music video. I even used an image from the actual music video as the picture for my back cover. As found in my research it is conventional for the same image on the front cover to be used for the design on the CD cover, it ensures that the two items are easily linked and if separated the owner knows what CD they will be putting in without having the rest of the digipak. I also used this technique for my DVD disc cover I used a screen capture from my music video, this again link to digipak with my other text, the music video, and is easily recognisable as linked to the music video and digipak. I ensured that I was consistent with colour schemes and fonts, showing my understanding of real media products conventions and techniques used. For my magazine advertisement I wanted to again ensure that it was easy to recognise it as part of my other media texts, so I used the same colours and fonts previously used to show continuity. I used conventional features for my music magazine that would promote my digipak. Through doing my research I gained the knowledge that I would need to ensure I used the digipak/album name and the artists name within my advertisement, so I played on the name of my song name by adding 'to listen to' afterwards as it not only ensures the audience know the name of the song but understand that this is an ongoing successful artist. I also had the artists name along the bottom to promote the artist himself and not just his music, the image I used is a medium shot as I found through my research that it is a conventional camera shot used for magazine advertisements, it also resembles the image on the front of the digipak, further linking them together. I also showed the front cover of the digipak and the release dates of the digipak on the advert, this further promotes and uses conventional features further and makes the product look more realistic and professional.
I ensured that I received some audience feedback, by having people watch my video and fill in a questionnaire I created, I wanted to know if people could understand the narrative I had in my music video and I found that people understood that the artist was left by his girlfriend and he wanted to find something more. I also found that my video showed continuity which is something I wanted to feature and that people generally enjoyed my music video. I found that people didn't completely know what genre music was featured but all other feedback was overall successful looking.
For my coursework I used the website 'Blogger' to post all my work onto, such as my research, post production and production work, showing my progress along the course of creating my products. Using Blogger allowed my to learn how to upload such things as pictures and videos that could further show my progress and my researching, creating polls also to get feedback and further research. There were many beneficial factors of using Blogger to hold all my work, as it meant that other students and teachers could look at my work and progress and give me feedback. For both my research and my own video I used the site 'youtube.com' this helped me look at existing music videos to help with conventional research that I could input into my own music video, it also ensured that I could provide my music video on my blog and people can watch and give feedback. For both of my ancillary texts I used Adobe Photoshop CS5, giving me the opportunity to make my texts look as realistic and professional as I can, I already had previous experience with this programme giving me an advantage in using it for my texts as I knew how to use most of the tools already. I also used the website 'Prezi.com' to create a digital spider diagram of my initial ideas and plans, I learnt how to edit the diagram to look how I wanted it to through colours and boxes and sizes. To create my animatic so that I could see how my music video would look when I filmed it and to ensure there were no gaps I used Microsoft Movie Maker, I have used this program previously before so I knew what I was doing and then uploaded it to my blogger page. For capturing my footage and filming in different locations and shots I used a college Sony DV tape camera and a tripod, trying out different angles and using the zoom feature on the camera. Using a college editing suit with Adobe Premiere Pro I created my music video, using different features and effects and adding text. I originally only knew how to use the very basics of this program but throughout the creation of my music video I learnt how to do more. I used my Sony Digital camera for the images I took for my ancillary tasks as I could take the camera where I like and take as long with it as I needed and I knew how to use it. To get a font that I wanted and thought would work well for my ancillary tasks I used the website 'Dafont.com' I looked through many fonts to find one I liked and that would work well with my texts, this site was very helpful due to its variety of styles and sizes of fonts, I felt that it helped make my products look more professional also.
Overall I feel as though I have created a successful music video that abides by conventions of its kind, and have successfully created effective promotional digipak and magazine advertisment using conventional stylistics and features that I found due to my research. If I could do this project again there is somethings that I would do differently, such as doing all my filming a lot earlier so that I had time to re-shoot any footage that I wasn't fully satisfied with. I would also use a different song of a different genre, I struggled with choosing a song and felt that there could have been a better song I could have chosen, such as a song that my actor would like to perform and make it into his own better. However I feel that I did well with what I have created and am pleased with the final products especially considering my lack of experience with editing suites.
