Monday, 14 April 2014

Audience Feedback


This is some audience feedback I have been given in regards to my final music video. I agree that a lot of close ups were used. I felt that this made the footage seem a lot more personal and showed more emotion, however I were to do my video again I would use a wider variety of shots.

Thursday, 3 April 2014

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

3) What have you learned from your audience feedback?

After uploading my rough cut on to my blog and on to YouTube, I received the same comments from several people. These were:
-Shadows could be seen in particular clips.

-The clips appeared stretched and distorted.


-The camera was unstable


I addressed these problems when filming for my final video.
I changed my camera, from my phone camera to my small digital handheld camera. After filming the first scene, I immediately uploaded the footage onto iMovie to ensure that the footage did not appear distorted.The footage was not distorted, however in the clips the top is cut off when uploaded onto iMovie. I couldn't use some clips because the character head was not shown in the footage. When I filmed the next scene, I made sure to keep the focus of the scene in the lower half of the shot, so that when I uploaded it onto iMovie it was not cut off.
 Although I addressed these problems, there are still a few problems with the final video.
     The gloomy present day scenes are sometimes slightly too dark. They are not as easy to see as the other scenes, due to the lighting.
     The shots are quite shakey at times, because I did not use a tripod. However, when filming the memories I didn't use a tripod because I wanted to create the illusion of a home-made video. I did this to make the scenes look more personal.
I should have used a proper tripod for the gloomy scenes.
     I had to go back and edit one particular because two of my clips merged together. So the different filters became muddled. I just simply split them and changed the filters back to how they were meant to be.


"Your location choices are really well chosen as they match up to the calm nature of your song choice. The beginning and the end of was very effective. The repetition of the close ups of your actresses face showed how she is feeling to the audience and you have used a variety of shots. To improve, maybe use a lot more shots as a majority are close ups."

This comment was given to me by one of my peers, who is, in fact, an Ed Sheeran fan. I completely agree that a wider variety of shots and camera angles would have made the footage more interesting. Some creative camera shots could have been used to emphasise the misery of the present day scenes, for example a high angled shot to reflect the idea that he feels degraded and low. 
     I am glad that she noticed the link between the song and the locations being calm, depicting both the serenity and the sadness of the scenes. I wanted to keep one of the locations nature based for this reason. 
     I'm also very happy with how effective the beginning and end of my video was. I used the same footage in the beginning and end to create the illusion that the memories are going to replay. This links to the idea that he can not escape them. 
     The close ups of my actress clearly reflected her feelings to the audience, however I do feel that I included too many. Perhaps some extreme close ups of just her eyes would have been effective, showing deep emotion. 


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?


I added a sense of realism to my cd case by including a bar code. This Makes it look like a product that could be bought in a store.
     I used a very similar colour scheme to Ed Sheerans real cd case-orange, black, and white.
     Although Ed's real cd cover is extremely simple, only including a basic image of him and simple text, I decided to adapt this idea and add a little more. I began with a simple image of a sunset behind a wooded area. I decided to merge another image with this, to add a little extra and make it more interesting yet subtle.
      On the inside of the case, I have added Ed Sheerans record label. A lot of background information behind his album is included on his real cd case, however I don't know all of this information. So, to make it more realistic I just added the information I could find.

Using Adobe InDesign really helped me to get the right proportions and get a professional finish. 
     The font I have used throughout the entire packaging is 'Myriad Pro'. Originally, I used 'Cooper Black' like my magazine advert. However, because a lot more information




I did not use a masthead, simply because I wanted my image to be one of the main focuses of the advert. I wanted it to stand out to make the cd cover more recognisable.
     My magazine advert is just as simple as my cd case. I continued the colour scheme and simple layout, and the same image I used for the cd cover. I did this so that, like a real advert, it makes the cd easy to recognise.
     I used the font 'Cooper Black'. I used this because it is extremely bold and striking, especially the white and orange against the black background. It is also quite quirky, unlike the font used for my cd packaging. I did this because my cd case has to contain a lot more information, so I kept it a lot simpler.
The '+' is 'Gill San Ultra Bold'. Giving the album name a different makes it more prominent. It is also a lot bolder than the other text.
      I added Ed Sheerans signature paw print next to his name. His products, and even some of his music videos feature this. It is almost like his logo.



My music video switches from past memories to present day. I used different filters to depict the different scenes, which also creates a completely different atmosphere and mood for each scene.
     I used an 'aged-film' filter for the past scenes, because it reflects the idea of the footage being old and used. My initial idea was to make the footage resemble an old home movie of a day they had spent together, and the male character is watching it over and over again, yearning for these memories to become reality again. The aged-film filter makes the footage look worn down, reflecting the idea that he has overly used the footage.
     For the present scenes I have used the 'Day-to-Night' filter. This makes the footage look dark and gloomy. This emphasises the misery the character is feeling. Switching from bright, sunny, joyful footage to dark, depressing footage, creates an extremely clear contrast between his different moods in these scenes. It also emphasises the switch between an outdoor location and an indoor location. It symbolises that he was free and content when he had her, but now that she is gone he is trapped in the past. He can't escape the replaying memories that haunt him.
     I used a mixture of close ups, extreme close ups, long shots, midi shots, and establishing shots. The variety of shots makes the video look more professional.
     I filmed a pan of the wooded location to establish the setting for the audience. The shot captures the mood of the area; the peace and serenity of nature. It indicates that the scene will be happy.
     Close ups and extreme close ups of the actress smiling reflects the happiness they shared. It raises questions for the audience; what happened to make her leave?
     I have yet to watch a video where the beginning footage is repeated at the end of the video, however I chose to do this for narrative reasons. I wanted to create the illusion that the memories are going to replay again, as if the footage is on a loop.  

Friday, 21 March 2014

Final Magazine Advert




This is my final magazine advert, after being produced and edited on Adobe inDesign. 

I have kept the same simple style and colour theme as my cd packaging, so that it is easy for buyers to recognise his album. The black background makes the text stand out so that the image is not too overpowering.