Evaluation Questions

In the evaluation I must answer the following questions:

• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
• How effective is the combination of your main and ancillary texts?
• What have you learned from your audience feedback?
• How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

I have chosen to have a look at these evaluation questions now so that I can think and reflect on these whilst completing my final pieces of work. This includes my ancillary tasks: my advertisement piece and my digipak, and also the final completed video. 

Final Idea

I have finally decided to produce a music video in the style of John Hicks (professional video grapher) however in black and white for a raw attack on the themes I would like to portray. Instead of making my project a BMX Edit, I need to fit with the criteria of making the shots in a music video style, so I analysed rap/ hip hop and dance style music videos to pick out the conventions of these in which I am going to mix with the BMX focus so that the product is more music video styled. The dance and hip hop genres often use dark lighting as the lyrics/ beats are expressive and deep, which enhances there purposes. Many of the camera angles are low to create power of the main focus looking up on them, where close ups of feet dancing or expressive hand movements are focused on which will be changed to bike tricks and facial and hand expressions in my video. This is because I will be portraying both riders personalities and their enjoyment riding together, which will then create the theme of brotherhood which I believe can be enhanced and shown well through this sport because of time and dedication  one needs to give to the sport to get good at it, and then the time spent together whilst learning can be shown. This bond portrayed then takes this from a bike edit to and music video as the narrative structure can be produced and tricks landing on beats with creative camera angles and shot types will make it enjoyable to watch.

Shot Style Inspiration

Although my music video involves the merge of a BMX style video in with the conventions of music video, there are many types of shots which are rather creative which help portray themes throughout, like portraying rider personality, enjoyment and hard working which give bike videos depth. I would like to analyse a range of bike videos and pick out a range of these creative shots as I would like to include lots and lots of these to make the video visually interesting for the viewer of the final product and I believe these creative shots being emphasised will make the final product more of a music video than primarily a bike promotion video.

For the new 2015 Alex Kennedy edit which I chose to analyse because of him being my favourite rider, many creative shots are included to link to Alexs natural and spiritual personality and flowy style of riding. Many of Alex Kennedy's lines filmed show the trick from may angles while travelling along. The shot might start from a close up on his back tire then cut to a mid low shot emphasising the trick. This style along with shots of close ups on his face sweating or sun reflective shots mixed in-between reflect him as a person which adds depth and is enjoyable to watch.

The OSS plug prices team edit is very similar to the Alex Kennedy Edit, however instead of trying to display rider personality as such, they show more of the theme of hard work and getting up and trying again till you succeed. I like this because it gives the audience perception and understanding of the sport which I would like include in my edit as I would like to show how my riders enjoy what they do and the effort into what they love.

This OSS Summer products promotion video is very basic in style and doesn't include many hard hitting tricks, but more of a chilled ride as a team which is something which was enjoyable to watch. Basic tricks were emphasised and looked pretty with bring sun and colours shining throughout yet in a saturated tone which looked and set a nice scene. Many of the tricks were slowed down slightly allowing the viewer to focus of the rider and shots of them cruising around from a low angle sliding sand etc looked cool and natural.

Brandon Begin is a rider on the OSS team and his edit incorporates a mixture of styles from both the summer edit and plug prices. I like this and would like to mix this into my music video 

however including elements of shots from Alex Kennedys video would make a around better edit and the creative shots I have learn from all 4 videos and many more will take my edit to a music video.

Locations

The main area where my video will be based is the Chalfont St Peter epilepsy centre where there is an abandoned area in the back right hand corner of the site which we have claimed over the last year as a riding spot. The area is broken down and contains multiple ledge and obstacles we have made and the area is quite enclosed which suits my style of video This is because a focus can be created and the use of building the obstacles and then riding them adds purpose and will create emotion for the rider from the effort put into building for fun which will be portrayed.

The other location will be my friend toms house, due to it having a nice back gateway where tracking shots of setting up for riding can be taken and the route to get from his to the main location is only round the corner including some alleyways and obstacles on the way which will create an interesting focus and will create exciting and pace to the video.

Props

There are a range of props needed to make the video work the way I want it to, so that certain things like brother hood, effort and lifestyle are portrayed.

To start off with, mine and Toms bikes are necessary due to us riding in the video. Continuity of the video is needed so we both need to use the same bike parts for our bikes throughout the video.

Wooden pallets are also needed for the props of riding on. These also create the idea of building in the video which then creates the 'effort' feel which gives the audience insight into the culture behind riding.

My car is also going to be seen slightly in shot, which means things like its condition need to be considered.

Mobile phone is another prop I will be using and create the idea of direction the video as he has a motive after answering the phone.

Shot List Plan

1. Time laps sky- colour change through the day
2. rewind really fast of whole video in a few seconds.
3. Fade in from black to waking up shot of Tom waking up- extreme close up
4. 1 second trouser shot mid shot, marginalised
5. 1 second jumper put on, mid shot centre shot.
6. walking towards camera 2 seconds, camera close to the door.
7. walk through doorway, back to camera down stairs
8. kettle boils 1 second and clicks.
9. making tea 1 second.
10. drinking tea 2 seconds
11. Grabbing bag, stuffing tools in, 5 seconds close up of hands and bag
12. putting drinks and snacks in bag.
13. long shot from house walking outside to shed.
14. pulls bike out, low angle close up of mid section of bike with Toms hands on frame.
15. mid long shot from shred view, Tom walking with bike next to him.
16. half a second, flip bike over, focusing on handlebars.
17. shot from back of the bike flipped over, Tom sitting by handlebars
18. close up of bag pulling extension kit out, 1 second
19. quick cut to wrench inserting into front peg,
20. extreme closeup on axle, peg, hands and wrench, moving the wrench loosening the wheel.
21. cut to tightening axle cone nuts, close up of stomach area with wheel in-between his legs, low angle
22. half a second back on bike
23. quick cut tightening
24. over the shoulder flipping bike over.
25. shot from the floor picking bag up and tilt up to putting on back
26. close up behind going through side gate carrying bike around.
27. medium to long shot of walking up drive with gear.
28. stops at the top of the drive, close up of hand removing phone from pocket.
29. tracking close up to face where he calls someone.
30. phone back in pocket tracking close up
31. extremely low looking up angle of tom standing with bike with rising sun lens flare.
MUSIC STARTS
32. Tom jumps on bike, camera close to cranks as he sets off.
33. Side view moving away from house
34. tracking tom down ally, bunny hop over bump in ally
35. long shot from side hopping over grass bank
36. leading lines shot from behind, cuts to close up by back wheel during manual
37. medium shot bunny hop over cut out in road.
38. skid round corner
39. hop up wall, 180 half cab off.
40. 360 up curb, wall ride tree.
41. cut forward to entering centre, low angle tracking
42. speed bump bunny hop, slowed down slightly
43. skid across dirt medium shot, slow mo close up of dirt, fast back into medium shot
44. long shot getting on phone
45. I pull up in car
46. close up safe on hands
47. both pull away riding out of shot
48. collecting pallets close up
49. construction scene
50. callas hands slow mo exaggerated
51. hands on grips
52. 180 manual pad, fakie fail off.
53. laughing close up of toms face.
54. slap tap, lands first trick.
55. I get up, bump jump, 360 off
56. hug shot
57. range of shots landing tricks from different angles, about 30 seconds worth.
58. chilling shot sitting down, high angle, laughs and chilling, sun lens flares
59. more riding clips landing and failing tricks
60. wheels rolling while bike on the floor
61. shot through bike me putting bike in car and driving off
62. tom gets up, close up on face putting headphones in
63. long shot of tom riding out of epic centre, cruising off with tire slides.
64. time laps plays in rewind.
65. sky time laps changing colour, then big lens flare to darkness finishes video.

Equiptment

For my video I am going to need a certain set of equipment to suit the style of video I am creating. This is so I am able to capture the shots I want in a professional way.

My Nikon D600 is going to be the camera I film everything from for this video with its aftermarket Nikon 24-120mm lens. I really like this camera for its versatility as it has many features including vignette control which is always really good it Bike films as it creates a focus on the rider who is mostly central in shot and the added shadowing creates depth. I also like this camera due to it being comfortable to hold with its large gripped handle and its live view screen which makes film certain shots easier to view.

I also will be using my Xgrip skate handle which is designed to hold DSLR cameras and then to be able to hold the camera at multiple angles with its large curved handle. This is best used for low angle/ down shots while tracking/moving, as you are able to tilt the camera at multiple angles to creates height and to connote the main rider as powerful or in this case, skilful. 

My camera in the handle.

I will finally be using a tripod which I can get from the school. The tripod keeps the camera steady so that shots are still and can be raised or lowered for different camera angle heights. There will be some shots in the video which show me and tom in shot but are still as opposed to tracking, which will work well for these shot types.

Scripting

For my video my main actor will be my friend Tom Hutch. He's 16 years old an has been a good friend of mine for many years. I have chosen to video Tom as main actor as his skill level on a bike is high for his age, meaning he will be able to produce certain moves consistently which will be needed for many shots which might have to be filmed multiple times to get the correct angles and lighting. Tom is also the person I ride and film with on a weekly basis meaning I know how he rides and his style and how I can enhance and emphasis his moves through a camera and then show this on film. Tom also knows me very well too and has experience with a camera aswell, which will mean I can be actor two and portray the brotherly relationship through the riding on film. Tom also lives 2 minutes from me which also means we are able to meet and ride often which will be good for the video as it will take many filming sessions to film and get right.

Reflection On My Progress

Since the start of September I have embarked on the second part of my A level in which I have started another blog for my coursework and have started learning the theory side aswell.

In reflection of my coursework, I feel that I have completed my research section almost thorough. I started off analysing my previous years work and my next steps into A2, being critical of the things I did well but also didn't do well so that I could reflect on this and do better as I start my second section of coursework. Taking this onboard I spent time evaluating my thoughts on the briefs given for coursework section two and made a wise decision on which brief suited my skill set and would show these skills off, but also to challenge my thought processes and exterior interest to school. This brought me to the music video brief, which I'm happy I took on. This is because of my general love for music which is a big hobby of mine, and that I am now able to be interested in my brief and to then want to put the time and effort into such a big project. It also means I feel that I can be more creative in my ideas towards sections of the work.

After doing so, I took time to research into different elements of music video and music. I looked in depth at music and music videos throughout time and the different styles of music video and music genres and what they are about giving examples of each and my own thoughts on this. I then analysed 10 music videos of a range of different genres to broaden my knowledge of music video and the codes and conventions of each in which an audience would be able to infer certain themes and feelings from the videos and the different genres.

As an extra thing, I wrote about my personal thoughts and feelings of my favourite videographer 'John Hicks' and explained how this could then have an impact of the style of video I later produce due to him being an influence on my bike hobby outside of school and how I could then bring this to the table when it comes to my thoughts and ideas in my coursework.

After this I analysed 5 digipaks and 5 magazine advertisements as this is a big section of my work because of them being ancillary tasks. I feel I could have analysed a few more, however my outside skills of graphic design and this being the route I would like to go down after this year, I feel I understood after 5 of each how different music genres and styles of artist would then have their adverts and digipaks based off of their music and image in media, whether it being the typography made sharper to fit a harsher genre like metal for a heavy artist like Metallica or the sorts of colours used to connote certain themes and how this would then link to the tone in their music.

Once I had done the analysing of music video, digipak and adverts I evaluated each in detail on my thoughts of what I have discovered and tried to present this understand.

I created my target audience survey and concluded my discovery of my responses and how this would impact my future decisions in my planning section of my coursework.

I finally concluded my research section giving the learning I made throughout this section. I feel that I could I have blogged about theoretical issues relating to my task however this is something I can go back on and improve.

Currently I have started my planning section. I have brainstormed and finalised my ideas and have writing up my shot list. I have gathered and concluded about locations, actors, props etc, yet still need to finish off my storyboard due to me wanting to draw this up almost shot for shot and start making an animatic to test shot lengths etc. My ancillary tasks still need to be started but I feel I can complete this area fairly quickly due to my pre existing understand of graphic design and skills in editing as well.

Final Idea Brainstorm

I have decided to do a narrative style video due to that being the highest result on my audience survey and me enjoying watching this style of video anyway. I have brainstormed a range of ideas which could work with consideration of the facilities I have available to me, the locations around me and other effecting factors.

I thought about different themes and music styles and what would suit the genre of music when brainstorming. Relationships was something that came into my mind due to it suiting most genres of music, there are many aspects of relationship (the good and the bad) which could fit with most genres. I have explored the ideas of action with chase scenes which could be interesting to watch or a dance video with a narrative.

I finally have decided on the idea of a brotherly relationship with the idea of a day in the life of two bike riders enjoying each others company over the course of the day, filming clips etc and having fun. Bringing in the culture of the sport would add depth to the video as it can be considered a way of life when you enjoy what you do as an individual. This idea has been inspired by John Hicks the videographer I studied but also my own background and influences and the boys I ride with as a hobby in my spare time.

Planning Introduction

I am now going to blog and plan my project out so that I have planned all the necessary things I need to do before I start filming. This is also like a check list of things for me to follow to help me stay on track of my project.

-Final ideas brainstorm
-Final justified idea
-Song choice
-Final idea shot list
-Storyboard
-Scripting
-Props
-Locations
-Equipment
-Advertisment plannig
-Advertisemnt final piece
-Digipak planning
-Digipak final piece

Research Conclusion

I am now ready to move on with my project and to start planning my final video however I have learnt a lot from completing my research section which will influence my next steps.

Researching into all of the different styles of music video was a really good start for me to help me understand the approaches different videos have taken to make them what they are and how effective they are in conjunction with the song and the music artist. Choosing between narrative, performance, narrative performance, concept and animation was a choice I have to make which will determine how I create my video. I am currently thinking that narrative or concept will be a creative way for me to make my video as I like to visuals in concept video but the story behind a narrative.

Choosing genres of music will also have an impact on the emotion and actions of the actors within the video. I have researched into music videos of a range of music genres and what they consist of which has given me ideas of themes and links to the music itself as a focus within, helping my realisation of what works well and doesn't.


I have also looked at music advertisements and digipaks for the music and what certain genres of music may include. A rock metal style may include a lot of darkness yet a indie band might include brighter happy themes. Including themes within the digipaks and advertisement which link to the artists/band is key to the effect they have on the audience. The font styles/ typography can also be designed and created aound a theme which is important to the composistion of the digipak/advertisement aswell.

Taking this all into account when I move onto my creating and advertising I am much more knowledgeable on a direction I can now go onto which means I am ready to move on. This is good as I didn't have this competence at the beginning of the project which will hopefully have a good effect on my final product.

Target Audience Survey Results

Here are the results of the survey I created to help me collect primary research and knowledge on audience views towards music, music video and album work. I had to include questions about the individuals answering the survey to get an idea of the sorts of people that will be watching them to gather my target audience. The questions relating to the music and the styles of video then help me narrow some ideas down to create something which will appeal to the most amount of people wanting to access my material.

The majority of audience are males however there were still many females, yet males was the majority at 62%. 54% of the audience were between the ages of 17-21 and the second and third highest percentages being the under 16 and 22-30 age range meaning there is a clear lower age audience accessing my content. The highest ethnicity was white and the working status being a majority of students which would suit the age range of 17-21 year olds. Averaging at 41% people watch music videos most days and view these upon Youtube which would surprise me being the being video search engine in the world. Rap/hip hop was the most favoured genre and narrative music videos were the highest ratted meaning including these into the video will be necessary for creating the video the be enjoyed by the most amount of people. The audience voted that they enjoyed watching music videos which would link to the idea of them enjoying to watch a narrative video because people enjoy stories. Finally 50% of the voters stated that album cover work did persuade them to buy the album which may link to the idea of the visuals on the cover looking good as an extra reason to buy the music. 

Overall I feel that after this survey being completed I am now knowledgeable of the target audience I have to appeal to, making sure that If i follow the highest percentage votes and also consider if other votes were close will ensure that my work will appeal to many people.

Target Audience Survey

I am creating a survey to determine the target audience I should be creating my music video for. This is my survey so far in which I will collect results and chart them to find out what certain things I should base things off of to suit the audience.

Here is my survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MWVRLDG

I have asked the following questions to find out about the personal audience and their relation to music video.

-What is your gender?

-How old are you?

-Which race/ethnicity best describes you?

-What is your current working status?

-How often do you watch music videos?

-How do you watch these videos?

-What genres do you enjoy?

-What style of music video do you watch?

-Why do you watch music video?

-Does album cover work persuade you to buy an album?

Digipak Conclusion

After at looking at some different pre existing digipaks on the market I have been able to think about my views on there pros and cons in gathering and finding out what works the best when designing and making one.

I have looked at 10 all from different genres of music and I personal know the music the artists produce aswell which helps me find links between both music and design work. I have found that most take on the style of the band/artist and the way they are portrayed in media, for example the Bob Marley digipak uses linkable colour ways to his genre of music and the artist work links to the personality of the musician which then makes it effect in presenting the music within.

Another thing I found was that the typography played a big part in portraying the band and music aswell. Sharper large text often presents and conveys certain genres more than others like a metal band would use such form in comparison to an indie band who would use much more mellow and round font. Having the font have a shadow or not, coloured outline and backgrounds etc all play a part in suiting themes of genre and artist representation.

Overall these main things will be considered when making my album artwork as getting the balance is critical when designing a professional piece of work to be displayed and viewed by a large audience.

Digipak 10- Alice in Chains

This is the 'Alice in Chains' Black Gives Way to Blue album cover/ digipak which is one of my favourite covers of all time. Alice in Chains hard rock 80-90s feel is conveyed through this cover and the ideas within the albums songs are as well. The cover takes on a creative feel where use of 3D folding and scenery stretched across multiple sides of the digipak are used to draw in the attention of the view which it does due to detail. The track lists are placed on two fold out segments which are designed to look like parchment which adds a old classic feel to the cover which links to Alice in Chains as a known band of their era which I personally really like. The main image is styled to look like a painting which I also really like as the whole feel to the digipak is natural and old in feel which I think adds a quality element to it.

Digipak 9- Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga's digipak for 'Fame Monster' follows a classic simple look with high contrast imagery and colours. I have chosen to analyse this digipak as her personality and interests are shown here. Lady Gaga is also a fashion designer so the digipak takes a 'Vogue' styling to it for an abstract powerful look. The digipak is based around a white and black look which is simply the most classic contrast in colours which fits to the fashion design part of her personality. The san serif font used for the title is in white which stands out to the audience giving them to details of the album and her as the artist and this font style is modern and smooth which suits her pop music. The use of abstract posing and her look on the front of the cover draws this whole theme together.

Digipak 8- Eminem

This digipak is from the Eminem album 'Curtain Call' which is one of his first albums. I chose to analyse this cover due to Eminem and his back story being very powerful and the things he went through to get to this point in his life and how is musics being needs to be portrayed to his audience.

The digipaks imagery is a big part of the cover. The first photograph conveys the idea of a story which might have happened to him, where it seems as if he is being questioned by authority like the police. This image is put in black and white which adds a much more depth feel to the photograph and its seriousness. This theme is then shown through some of his songs which draws the two together which I really like. The dark background to the middle section with the white overlaid text makes the title pop out because of contrast which highlights the detail the viewer should see. The final image on the right has him holding a gun where the barrel hole is central to the CD centre. This image links to the story being told throughout the album and also the first photograph which creates continuity.

Digipak 7- Iron Maiden

I have chosen a metal band digipak to analyse to add diversity to my investigation and to understand why certain genres of music chose to compose their art work to suit their music. Iron Maiden is one of the originators in the metal genre and community and their specific look is known by thousands of people around the world.

This digipak uses an image of the band from a low angle view, which portrays power and strength which links to the impacting feel of their metal music. Behind this is some of their classic graphics, which are based around zombies, aliens and space which is inspired by classic movies like 'Predator' and 'Alien' which they have adopted as their look which is used on live set back drops and merchandise. This then works nicely for their cover as its a key connotation of the band which the owners of this digipak can relate and recognise. Their CD's use the classic metal 'black' for the dark heavy tones in the music and the recognisable reds and yellows used in the logo type which are used on all their logos. This colour also contrast to the black making this standout to the viewer which I personally like as as the red also connotes power which can be felt through their music.

Digipak 6- David Guetta

Looking into themes within digipaks and then discovering how this theme suits the music artist is subliminal to the audience however is crucial to the selling point. David Guetta is a Dj and the way this digipak is composed portrays this idea.

Davids work is brought into the mainstream being liked by many many people due to its pop genre tempo. This is conveyed through his digipak also and is easy to look thought due to colour way and imagery. The image of himself on the front cover gives insight to the artist himself in the grey and black tone to emphasis his look, a raw feel. The rest of the cover is simply styled with a white background with abstract primary and secondary colour shapes creating the theme of pop culture which then is a link to the music. Davids names type face is san serif, which looks much more modern than serif text. This type is further manipulated to have connecting letters which looks fitting to a digital theme which then works well with Davids  DJ-ing.  

I personally like this cover because of how its designed against his music styling. I think that it could be further improved though to show more about the individuality of the artist however isn't a major issue as this needs to appeal to almost everybody as this music is generic in pop culture.

Digipak 5- Bob Marley

This digipak is for the famous reggae artist Bob Marley which Marley has become very well known and recognisable by the use of the Rasta colours which are shown on the pack. The three colours stretch across all three sections which keeps the theme flowing throughout. The front image shows Marley himself in an outline black styling works well as it keeps the digipak basic yet effective. The two discs are designed to look like records which gives the old feel of music which links to Bobs style are era aswell. I personally really like this digipak as the Reggae styling links perfectly to Bob himself that anyone who even saw the colours could guess it had something to do with this icon which would attract many people due to his popularity.

Digipak 4- Red Hot Chili Peppers

The Chili Peppers digipak I am analysing now is in the concept style using a space theme. The creators of this digipak are following the style of the Chili Peppers which is known as being weird and strange in music videos following and themes within songs which then makes the digipak seen here not so surprising. The large bold text on the cover follows the space theme due to the 'concept' genre style idea, with the rings around the text symbolising a planet and the yellow vibrant colour way linking to the textures and colouring of a planet or a star like the sun. I like this digipak however I think that if its back wasn't so dark and linked better to the bold front cover the sections of the digipak would fit better together.

Digipak 3- Black Sabbath

The Black Sabbath digipak uses the photographs of one of their live shows as the inside of the pack and then a leading lines photograph of the band walking down the street as their front cover. Saturated black and white tones are used throughout which give the cover a vintage feel which is good as the band are originators of the metal genre which then would make a link to the idea of them being there from the start. The digipak opens out across a four way panelled cover which almost give the images depth and give the audience perception of the how big they were which I personally think works really well. The red colouring in the title/ band logo stands out, and the tone of a bright red is known to work well with black and white in art which many artists use like Barbara Kruger, which makes the title bold and eye catching. The sharp bold typography then links to the genre of metal because of its harsh edging.

Digipak 2- Oasis

The Oasis digipak for their acoustic album follows a natural raw tone throughout its graphics. The albums images uses a high key lighting of the focus of a guitar body which is shown on the front an back cover from different angles. Showing the wood of the guitar and the flooring creates this natural feel to the digipak which links to the theme of the acoustic album. The red and white tones then create the rich feel which also works very well as a convention of the acoustic genre. The titles/ logoing of the cover are rather small and blend with the cover itself, which makes it not a bold statement which fits the idea of the acoustic album being a much more chilled out version of the original songs.

Digipak 1- Daft Punk

The Daft Punk digipak follows the theme of the genre itself being a dance style of music. The covers show digital graphics like circuit boards and use a black, purple and florescent green/yellow colour way which creates a sci fi genre feel. This works really well considering it is a dance genre in which the music is digitally produced where a clear link is seen between the music and graphics itself. The use of florescent colours for the logo typography then works well in conjunction to the colour way of black and purple, as the artists themselves standout and are very eye catching which is what is wanted when advertised in shops. The way the font for Daft Punk is formed is a curvy semicircle design which I further like as it almost looks like the angled lines of the circuit boards shown.

Music Digipaks

Another part of my brief is to design and make a Digi pack for the music video I will be creating. I am going to research into a range of music genre digi packs to compare and contrast them to find pros and cons in each so that I can use my learnings to make my own. Genres of dig packs I predict will vary, which is why it is important to make sure that when I make my own I will know what suits.

Music Video Magazine Advertisement Conclusion

After looking at different Magazine Music Video Advertisements I have been able to extract what works well and doesn't within advertising and have been able to share views as to why I feel this way. From this I have then been able to think personally about what I think could work for my own work.

The theme/ genre played a big part to the overall way the magazine was structured and composed. If there was a genre/ style of music evident then things would designed to suit that theme/conventions of that genre. an example of this would be what I found in Guitar magazine with Slipknot covering the front spread, them being known as a heavy metal band and how the typography was changed to a much spikier harsh design which suits this them. Another example of this was with the Arctic Monkeys advert where a dark simple theme with white bold curved typography and a basic image suited the indie styling of their band. Something much more raw and edgy was created with rap down to the idea of rap representing elements of life being tough in which the graininess of the background was changed to a relied design to present this idea. This was seen throughout all 10 I analysed and could also be picked out in all advertisements for music which I could probably pick out if I chose to look at more however I feel I chose a range of genres and subgenres could fit into or around the ideas I picked out.

From doing this I am now able in my planning stage to think about how I could structure my own advertisement for the music video I will make to meet the demands of the Music Video Brief, once I had planned out my final idea for making.

Music Video Magazine Advertisement- Future

This magazine advert I have chosen to analyse is from a modern magazine called 'Spin' featuring the well known rap artist 'Future'. I wanted to look at a wide range of magazine adverts from a range of music genres to pick out the conventions to get inspiration for my own work, so including this rap artist suited this need. 

The title 'Future' is in the same san serif font as the 'Spin' logo which works well as part of the composition of the cover. This type face also connotes modernity with its smooth flowing thin formation, which also suits Future as an artist due to the styling of his up tempo digitally manipulated rapping of this current era. The colour way of this cover is basic using reds and blacks which look inspired by designer Barbara Kruger who did similar looking graphics. This mix of old design with bright imagery brings this styling to a modern twist. The bright image used highlights Futures personality and fashion sense which would appeal to its audience as views enjoy to see and know about their favourite artists. 

Music Video Magazine Advertisement- Asking Alexandria

This poster from the metal core/ death core band Asking Alexandria was something of a different genre of music I wanted to analyse, as analysing a wide variety of music posters will be key to my understanding of the features of advertisements so that I know what will work well in my own when I come to create it.

AA's extremely heavy tones are emphasised through the poster through the dark shadowing and highlighted middle area displaying the collection of items shown in the image. The dark shadowing links to the metal core genre of the music which is heavy and dark themed. The bright contrast of the image displaying a collection of letters and somebodies hand works nicely, the decaying gritted filter added further emphasises the band and musics feel. The type used for the bands title is a blocky san serif style font where the 'A' crosses over the two words which is cool as two 'A's' are not needed. This font is also used on all of the bands merchandise which makes it memorable to its large metal fan based audience. The title 'Reckless and Relentless' is the name off one of their albums which is in a cursive script style which links to the imagery of the hand and letters which then both link to themes in their songs about the lost, love and hatred.

Music Video Magazine Advertisement- Guns N Roses

This advert displays the iconic rock band 'Guns N Roses' where the adverts style is to advertise their hit single 'Sweet Child O Mine'. Using classic colours of the band like the oranges and yellows matches the recognisable band logo displayed in the centre of the poster which creates theme and band identity which an audience will be familiar with and can make connects. The serif font used for the band title is also used across all of their merchandise, stage backdrops, media advertisements and CD cover also then follows the band image which people can relate to. 

Music Video Magazine Advertisement- Adele

I have chosen to analyse Adele's album advertisement '21' due to her popularity and her music style being very classical in tone and producing very empowering songs.

The typography san serif tall type helps connote her music and its feeling due to the elegancy in both the poster and her bold personality. This font is continued throughout the poster in the subtitle and the text stating its availability which I think works well. The colours within the advert and the photography used further emphasises and links to her as an artist which I like. Many mainstream pop stars these days have a structured 'image' in the media which sells to an audience, however Adele's style can be seen throughout where the photograph connotes grace and depth to her personality. This then being in a black and grey colour scheme then further presents this meaning as it almost shows her in her raw nature being. The white type fits nicely over the top of the photograph background making it pop and the contrast with a green '21' and sub text then highlights the purpose of the advert selling the product of her music without this information being lost in the light and dark tones.

Music Video Magazine Advertisement- Ed Sheeran

I have chosen to look at an Ed Sheeran poster due to his current popularity in the media and his publicity being well known as him being an individual in his style of music. 

This poster is very simplistic using his signature as the typography choice for the title and sub title, a serif font displaying dates and then other company logos in the bottom right hand corner showing sponsors.  The signature title creates a natural feeling to the poster which links to the acoustic based tones on his album 'plus' itself which links well. The grey background helps follow this as its a soft colour which links to the music and also the overall feel of the cover and the black and white image.

I like how the dates are in this font as its formal which suits the information its giving.

Music Video Magazine Advertisement- Slipknot

Finally this last magazine advertisement is one of Slipknot's the band who is well known for their music in the heavy metal community. This spread is from GUITAR magazine in which guitarist Mick Thompson and Jim Root are shown to represent the band and obviously link to the theme of the magazine. I personally like the way this cover has been laid out because of the simplicity of having the two guitarists and the logo Slipknot literally placed on top of a 'standard' magazine layout ( e.g. logo top left corner, featured articles around the edges etc) which then creates a professional feel. It makes them stand out aswell as an eye catcher as their masks and form is well known and would grab viewers eyes and draw them in. The magazine has the feel of a modern magazine with a vintage edge due to the typography being rather bold and symmetrical in style being character being the same heights. However, the white edging and black marginalised shadows to the large title 'Guitar' and the flat blue used gives the feel of a matured magazine which almost reflects in their target audience due to many well known guitarist being middle aged nowadays which would appeal to people of the same era the guitarist were most known in. This feel continues as a theme and links to the background colour and colour way for the featured sections around the edge of the magazine advert. The olive/brown colouring suits the slightly aged look and matches the blue white and black large titles, which is also used in parts such as the bottom left corner with a neat list of things to expect in the magazine stated in the same fonts and colours. The Slipknot title is in slight italics and also the font is slightly sharper, which links well to the band and the style of heavy music they produce without being too over the top that it doesn't suit the magazines feel. This then makes them intriguing to a large target audience rather that making them seem to aggressive that it would be off putting to some and that they would want to learn more in appreciation to other genres and bands.

Music Video Magazine Advertisement- Nelly

Nelly is a well known rapper which is why I chose to analyse this music advertisement because having a range of genres analysed will help me to understand concepts and conventions of genres and their links with their artists.

The structure and theme behind this advertisement would be the idea of raw edginess expected from the rap scene. Often rap music is on personal and social issues which represent harsh reality which can be linked through the advert. The grainy parchment background is scuffed and gritty which links to the themes stated and the large image of Nelly himself is worn down aswell presenting the idea of going through tough times etc which is delivered through rap as a genre. I like the use of the typography especially with the text 'Belleville' the album name, as the large font looks like it has been drawn with a large marker which shows imperfections but its also neat in the fact of the curves of the font being tall which gives the sense of class. This white text then sticks out of the page at the viewer which also works very well at grabbing the attention due to the colour being bright in comparison to the rest of the advert. Although Nelly's name itself isn't in white, his name is half of the album cover so despite it being in black at the top of the page the viewer knows its his work as they can tell through the white text of the album cover.

Start Of Shot List Evaluated

After starting the initial opening shot sequence shot list I have decided to reflect on the ways I have structured this and how I should move forward to finish the shot list to the best I can. This is so that once I start filming I can fully follow this so that I know exactly how to go about angles and timings while out filming on the spot.

So far I planned out 32 shots and while doing so didn't explain each in as much detail as I could have. This is because at the time of doing so my ideas was pouring out my head and getting down the shots I wanted to in the time I had was essential for me remembering them. I also feel that if for each shot I went back and put the four following things in to add the main detail for each point would help me. This includes Camera Angle, Editing Technique, Mise En Scene, sound if appropriate to a drop in the song and also timings and durations of shots. This will then give the relevant detail needed to each shot to follow once out filming.

I have reflected on my own shot list in this way to help me monitor the ways I am doing things in my process through this course. Realising my own faults and improvements will then help me correct work and also to improve future posts for my own benefit. Now that I have done so I am going to add to my pre existing and finish the rest of the shots in detail so I can use this as a step by step once I start.

Music Video Magazine Advertisement- Cage the Elephant

This magazine advertisement for Cage the Elephant stood out to me when I was searching for adverts for me to analyse because of its theme and the way it differs from a standard structure of a single image and surrounding bold text. Initially, its theme is based off of an old fashion film reel/ tape which makes a nice background. I like the ways a film reel might elsewhere be presented much more reliced and used, however it has been modernised with a basic grey tone and the faces of the band members in each shot giving a good fit with the indie styling of the band. This continues down the advert creating a pattern which looks good. The typography links to this idea of old film however with a modern twist like the background. The multi layered block coloured font used creates the idea within film on old blurry screens where the screens would glitch out and create a rainbow effect which is what seems the font is based off of. Despite this influence the colours have been made brighter to fit the high definition tones of nowadays in comparison to the slightly dull colours of the old 80s TV screens. If I were to improve anything about the advert I would add a reviewing sentence from NME at the bottom in white text to fit the colouring of the NME star rating so that their feature of their advert seems more complete. Otherwise a website link to an Official page of the bands would be a good thing the audience of the advert could follow through to find out more about them if they were interested.

Music Video Magazine Advertisement- Green Day

Green Day's '21st Century Breakdown' poster I chose to analyse because of its styling being different from others I had seen. Green Day as a band are very punk and against the rules styled which links to the way the poster/magazine advert has been composed. 21st century Breakdown as a title, creates the idea of the start of a modern era in which I think the colouring a graffiti style has come from and the rebellious nature of the band. The white Green Day logging pops out from the rest of the text and colours as the white is bright in conjunction to the darker colours of the rest of the poster which adds a slight bit of eye catching to the advert for an immediate attention grabber to make the audience want to read more. The paint drips running off of the bold block styled typography then brings more in of the essence of the band; a neat tidy font representing a much more structured formal band whereas this represents the opposite which is what Green Day is about. The pain drips then link to the graffiti background of the poster. dark orange and yellows creating a dark yet fiery attack to the new album which creates a perfect link, yet the spray painted couple presenting the idea of the music being for everyone and enjoyable. The composition is traditional in the idea of 1 central image on the advert, however the slightly tilted typography in the same style as the Green Day logo brings the theme together and links perfectly to the bands approach to their music. If I were to change anything about the poster I would make the 'CD and download...' font yellow and make the '21st Century Breakdown' title slightly larger and white as I feel the audience should read the band logo and album title as an eye catcher and the other information as the part in which the read after their attention is drawn in.

Music Video Magazine Advertisement- Arctic Monkeys

For the brief I am looking at, part of what we have to analyse and make is a magazine adverts to advertise our music video. I am going to look and pick out key parts of 10 adverts to extract the key parts which make them work well and not work well so that I can use this as a basis for when I make my own.

The first advert I chose was for the Arctic Monkeys song 'The Jewellers hands'  released September 2009. I chose this magazine cover because of its simplicity. I like the slightly dark tones of the song yet the alternative vibe they bring link to the colouring and layout of the album and the typography used. The black background follows the darkness of the song, but also creates a nice simple colour way between the black and the white used for the typography and the white edging of the main image. The typography of the band logo follows an old bold english style font which gives the vintage vibe which links to the band and songs feel. The logo, main image and 'New Album' text are alined down the centre of the advert with the two star ratings along the side. I personally like this layout as everything doesn't stick out like its trying to be shoved in your face and is easy to look at and comprehend, I find this because of the few features on the advert literally being the logo, picture, star rating and 'New Album' text which makes it basic and simple to view all parts of the advert really quickly. The main image is very saturated and basic in the sense of two shots of the girl however the white outline links to the colour way of the advert and makes the image standout more to match the boldness of the text despite it being dull. I don't really understand the concept of the girl shown in the centre which could be a subliminal link to the song or a theme however this doesn't standout to a basic viewer like myself.

Music Video Analysis Conclusion

From viewing and analysing many music videos in the last few weeks I have realised the differences in conventions between multiple genres and styles within genres. From this I can identify what can and can't be expected from genres and how I can go against or follow to make my video different/ the same and pre existing.

Genres such as Rap and Hard Rock/ Metal convey darker themes whether it be a representation of reality and the themes of the streets in rap or a darker evil feel to metal rock genres as a whole which then reflect in certain ways of producing etc. An example of this I have gathered would be how often low key lighting is used and uses of silhouettes and shaded areas are often planned out and used to create a darker feel to the video which emphasises the themes within lyrics. Often the settings of the videos are scarier places aswell, whether it be alleyways in 'Xaviers Wulf' video Thunderman or actual nightmares in Enter Sandman by 'Metallica'. This use of the darkness then creates a key link in the feel of the music to the style of video which works very well. Camera angles often oppose in both genres, for example the metal genre like the band Metallic use high angle shots of the person in fear in the video presenting a loss of power, whereas the band is shot from a low angle presenting dominance and importance of there selfs and control in the video. Often in the rap genre many low angles are used against the dark lighting to show a figure through the dark which makes the rapper look strong and dominate despite the darkness trying to take over. Editing is used to emphasis the power rap and metal use, the hard hitting bars and chords. Fast straight cuts are mostly used for this at the peak of a build up in a drop in the music which creates a hard hitting feel. This then often cuts to performance based shots of band or rapper in which low angle actions of close ups on instrument playing or hand coordinations emphasis the power in lyrics.

Other genres like pop, dance and the indie style music follow very different sorts of mine en scene, editing, sound and camera angle techniques which make them suit the music styles to match. A lot of these genres themes are much happier and brighter as themes and in tone, so much more high key lighting and brighter colours are used to match this. This is evident in shots like sunsets etc which the colours would be enhanced as a focus to the audience and higher lighting for lens flares and focus on the artists as a main person in shot. They also use lots of very quick cuts in a row of multiple shots for example during dance tracks when there is a build up to a drop in beat. These quick cuts follow the drum beats which is pleasing to watch and hear at the same time as an out of time cut wouldn't fit as well. Along with this a external focus from the artist on things such as strobe lights and peoples feet dancing create interesting creative shots to fill gaps between elements of lyrics with shots of the artist. Many of the dance, pop and indie videos I have watched are performance mixed with concept. Many of the concepts often link slightly to the lyrical meaning of the songs, however are metaphorical in nature making the videos look interesting and different. An example of this I have seen would be during the video California Girls by Katy Perry which is about the beach and the vibes however contrast with a Candy world theme which links however presents the same messages in an alternate reality world to present the bigger picture of this world not being for everyone.

Overall from extracting these conventions linked to genre in video I have been able to identify much more clearly what is expected and what isn't by audiences when watching music video. From this now I am going to chose a genre I would like to work in and link to elements of focuses I would like to film to create my final piece. This will all undergo in the planning process after I have looked into target audience and the use of digipacks and advertisement.

Music Video Analysis- Callum Welsh Chesaspeake

Callum Welsh was a student at the Chalfonts Community College school I study at however is two years above me. For Callum's final A2 piece he created a narrative style video based around the skating scene in which he captures elements of what skateboarding is all about and some of the things skaters do in a day.

The mise en scene of the video sets in Uxbridge where there are urban concrete obstacles and Fass skatepark. These settings along with the underground car park create a nice few places to shoot for shots of the video as a very raw realistic reality of what skating is about is created in the classic scene of UK style city is shown and the idea of the group of skaters facing the world in their own way is thought by the audience. Shots of timelaped sky and fast shots of skating through the city create the a background of the life style which I personally like as it gives the audience depth and purpose to the theme of skating with your friends and having fun. This is reinforced through low angle shots while tracking on a board of other skaters which present them high up in shot almost presenting the idea of the skaters being key to the video and them having the ability to do whatever they like in conjunction to the setting of the city; them against the world. The use of black and white filter then enhances this theme and links in well as the presentation of the raw simplicity and goals of the skaters and their lives can link to the raw basicness of the black and white shots. I finally like the use of the marginalised silhouetted shots towards the end with the coloured sky which is arty looking but also finishes the video off nicely, as the open space shown in the long shots presents the skaters differences against society and and them being slightly marginalised reinforces this as its showing the idea of difference and them being different not being central and higher up in a hierarchy society level. Despite this, close ups of the joy on the boys faces finish the video nicely, as it presents the idea that although people are different they enjoy the ways they are spending their time and the ways they live their lives.

Music Video Analysis- Prentice Johnson Jetson and Sensei Untitled

Prentice Johnson was the year above me at school and was a friend of mine. Prentice created a music video for his final piece at school for his advanced portfolio in media which uses the sound track Jetson and Sensei 'Untitled' song which is of the dance rap sub genre.

The music itself has a calm slow bouncy beat with a saxophone melody line over the top. This combination creates a nice paced rhythm for the song and then an added piano loop of out of time mixed minor and major notes with the slow rap over the top creates a trance like feel for the audience. This tone created is then where the inspiration of the video has been created, with the symbols of raves and 'trippy' visuals matching the semiotic meaning of the lyrical words and the musics feel which Prentice achieves well in his shots. The mise en scene of the shots starts with the low angle shots of a Nintendo 64 being plugged in and started, with the angles changing and a blurred colour effect added between shots. This initially starts the feel of the video, the visual colours and mixed visions kicking in. This starts the music video off well, as then the progressing scene of a  rave is introduced which links nicely, and as the songs beat drops the 'MC's' hand is raised as if he is mixing the track live, which creates a powerful start to the song. This match between the lyrics and shot works very well. The MC is then shot from a low angle as if he is given the power over the rave, he has control of the music and how the vibes are made. Extra shots of the lights helps to set the scene and the feel of the video as they all link to the party idea the audience can imagine. Following scenes of shots in mcdonalds are then shown, where extreme close ups are used where editing techniques of editing external scenes inside other shots are shown, which is clever as this effect follows the idea of multiple visuals being shown which then mixed in with the blurred edited colours creates a well thought out and creative video.

Music Video Analysis- Jordan Searle- Vicktor Taiwo Digital kids

Jordan Searle previous A2 media student produced his own music video to Vicktor Taiwo's song Digital Kids for his final piece for A2 media. I like his piece so i've decided to quickly analyse his work to see if I can use this for inspiration for my own work as I knew him.

Jordan uses a narrative structure to his video, focusing on the little boy wondering through the woods adventuring and then a second setting in a blank white room in which the boy is often shown laughing with the white background. Whilst wondering through the woods many camera angles are used creatively with certain effects, such as a zoom in track of the boy running into the distance with a slow mo effect on top which looks really nice. This is because the slow mo creates a blurred trans like effect which suits the music, and the zoom in at the same time focuses the audience on the boy. The use of black and white and the darkness of the black and white also suits the video he has created. It suits as a darker tone wouldn't work well with the expression of the boys faces and his body language and the music style being a slow paced song.

Music Video Analysis- Katy Perry California Girls

California Girls by Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg was directed by Matthew Cullen and was inspired by the work of Will Cotton who was an artist director. Released 7th May 2010 the video stayed in the charts for 6 weeks which reflects its popularity.

The concept style video doesn't follow the lyrical structure talking about the beach etc yet uses a 'candy' theme which works well. This is because of its bright colours which work well with the happiness of the song, and the structure of the candy land in shot which almost look like alternate reality of the real world, like the cotton candy clouds which could represent the beach. This metaphorical world created then links to the song in the fact that the 'perfect' things Katy talks about isn't always real in real life which is good as the fake world represents this.

The camera angles often are medium/close up shots. Many of the shots show a medium shot of Katy Perry often mixed in with a pan, tilt or track which is usually in the middle of a verse line, then a close up of a subject like the ice cream at the end of a bar/line. This then emphasises the alternate reality as the symbol of the ice cream is something desired which then links to Katy's lyrics of the dreamy idea of California and its girls/.

Her body language and facial expressions then fit the themes and tone in the song. The upbeat happy tone of the song link to the over expressed facial features Katy uses which fits well, and her gentle dancing up to the 'key change' in her voice at the end of the song and her lying on the cloud also fits as the song is easy to dance to in which her actions are not over complicated and her lying on the cloud links to the sexiness of the California girls she talks about in her dream world.