Evaluation

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

We started this unit by looking at the history of music video, studying videos from a
selection of genres and time periods. Goodwin’s theory of music videos was a great outline
to follow. Following Andrew Goodwin’s theory, we are able to see how our music video is
made up and relating to the key features that challenge the forms and conventions of real
media products. Goodwin’s points in which we feel we have used and developed are; the
relationship between the lyrics and the visuals; the relationship between the music and the
visuals; particular music genre having their own video style; close-ups of the artist;
intertextual references to other media texts; reference to voyeurism and the artist
developing their star iconography. We carried out textual analysis and went on to do
PowerPoint presentations of selected music videos to see how Andrew Goodwin’s theory is
put into use, whether his points are used, developed or challenged. This task enabled us to
become familiar with the key features of music video and how they are constructed. Andrew
Goodwin’s theory identifies the aspects of music video which we kept relating and referred
back to when creating our music video. We looked at music videos which come under the
different categories to give us a good idea of how the videos fit to the song, depending onm
the genre. A few examples are narrative, dance and performance. In the end, after hearing
the song, we chose to use narrative and performance as it fitted the song and genre of
music appropriately. We were given the song ‘This is the Life’, originally recorded by Two
Door Cinema Club to which we were to create a music video after our research and
planning. To help us build an image for our band and decide which path we were going to
head down with our music video, we created a mood board in which we could stick any
pictures or words which came into mind when we listened to the song. We went on to
analyse each addition to explain our reason for the link between our thoughts and the song.
This task proved to be beneficial as we were able to see how each other interpreted the
song and therefore had the advantage of being able to discuss these thoughts into further
detail so that we could put the discussion into action. Throughout our research, we
discovered other music videos to find inspiration and also asked others and performed focus
groups in order to get an ‘outsider’ opinion. We discussed the feedback from the focus
groups to get a final idea of the route we were going to follow to lead us to our storyboards
of each shot we intended to use on our shooting day. We were lucky to be paid a visit by
Jim Cole, an assistant director currently in the industry who has worked with the likes of
Temper Trap and Coldplay. This was a fantastic opportunity to get an experts opinion on our
narrative and collect any ideas in how we could go on to produce a successful music video,
using the equipment and facilities we have. For example, he recommended taking the early
morning shots in order to catch London while the sun was rising. This advice proved to work
wonders in our music video as they have created some beautiful shots.

An example of a band we looked at was Coldplay as their music videos are always
quite extraordinary, without a narrative, yet so intense to be able to hook the viewer in
those first ten seconds. We realized that these first ten seconds are crucial as they are what
keep the viewers keen to watch the rest of the video or to switch over. We also looked at
Bombay Bicycle Club as their music and image is similar, therefore we were able to get
inspiration from them. We wanted to create an ‘indie’ look which consists of white jeans
tight to the leg, white t-shirts, and white shoes. The reason for choosing white from head-
to-toe was so we were able to overexpose the band shots in post-production, to contrast the
two different worlds and make the band seem quite dull in comparison to the vibrant
exterior shots. It is important, as touched on in Goodwin’s theory, to construct a star image.
To a certain point, this is controlled by the artist him/themselves and the music video plays
a major part in this process. The music video is able to do this by the lyrics of the song
reflecting on the artist’s life, therefore giving an insight into his feelings. Also by forming
iconic features that accompany the artist such as jewellery or an item of clothing which will
contribute to the star image. If we were able to make another music video, we would have
to take this into account so that it creates a link between the videos and a star image on
how the artist is viewed by his fans. In creating a star image from what we have made, the
music video itself has built an image for our main singer, with his dress sense and the lyrical
theme of the song.

Following Goodwin, the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals is made
apparent by the main singer entering a different world and showing his happiness, not only
through his body language but also through our editing in post production. Our chosen
target audience is ages 15-24 as it is a very upbeat song and its lyrics are able to relate to
being an adolescent. We decided what locations we were going to use when filming and
how we would use these locations to express the lyrics. Using locations such as Covent
Garden for the street performers worked wonders as they are able to keep still and move in
weird ways when prompted. Going on to edit these clips by speeding up and reversing
created interesting and successful effects. The two worlds are shown separate by the band
being over-exposed in the ‘performance’ part, and the other of him being in London where it
is bright and the sights of the city are the ‘narrative’ parts. Steve Archer once said, “Often,
music videos will cut between a narrative and a performance of the song by the band [...]
the artist will be part of the story, acting as narrator and participant at the same time.” We
took this theory into notion by creating these contrast worlds and having the lead singer
illustrate these two sides of life, forming our narrative. The link between the lyrics and the
visuals illustrate that once he is in the other world, he feels that ‘This is the Life’. The main
lyrics, “This is the life”, shaped our ideas and helped a lot in constructing a narrative as it is
a positive repeated line which becomes very catchy. This led us to create these two different
worlds where one shows that ‘This is the life’. We didn’t want to follow the predictable route
of an indie music video, which at times can be quite slow-paced. Therefore we challenged
this convention by frequently changing location in the exterior shots, speeding up images to
create a rush, with the intention of breaking away from this ‘stereotypical’ image associated
with indie music.

A shot used in our music video as an

exterior shot
Abiding by the theory, the relationship between the music and visuals is portrayed through
the music being very upbeat and cheerful, while the visuals are also very bright and
colourful. This shows how we have developed his point and put it into use, based on our
research into other bands. During the time in which we were trying to create an image for
our band, we performed a focus group session in order to get outsider opinions.

Sticking to the theory, it was key to use many close-ups of the artist in order to show his
expression and give the viewers a deeper insight into his imagination. It is commonly used
to create a sense of intimacy for the viewer and we used it regularly to focus on the stars
face in order to make it memorable and at the same time constructing a star image. From
looking into real media products of the same genre of music, similar shots are used to
expose the same feeling. Close-up shots are a way of putting permanent images into the
viewer’s mind and therefore it is promoting the band.

Close up of artist

There are hints of intertextuality in our

music video which is where our music video shows any relation to other media texts. An
example of this is that some of our footage is based in the tunnels which are also used in
the ‘Fix You’ video by Coldplay. It was a quiet place to film and we were able to get some
good quality footage there. We took some ideas from Coldplay as they are also a band with
a lead singer and the majority of their songs are intense, along with their music videos.

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

We used many media technologies throughout the process of our music video in order to
help us execute the final piece. This was necessary for the research part of the process in
which we used YouTube to find other real media products for inspiration and then post
these videos onto our blog to show viewers where we got this inspiration from. One of the
first steps of our research was to create a blog as a base, using Blogger. The purpose of the
blog is to show viewers all steps of the procedure in making our music video. For example,
we posted our animatic of the storyboards to make the viewers aware of our planning
process. The art of the blog is that we were able to develop this media technology by
integrating it with other media technologies such as Screenflow. Screenflow allows you to
video yourself along with sharing your screen. Therefore we used this technology to show
the evolution of our music video on FinalCut Pro while explaining it through webcam video.
It is also another visual form in expressing our feelings of the assignment. We enjoyed using
Screenflow as it is easy to use and we were also able to express ourselves more clearly,
alternatively to writing. It is a method of building an intimate relationship with your target
audience as it is more personal.
 To market our product and make our band known we used Wix;a website in which
you have the ability to make your own site on a step-by-step basis. It is very straightforward
and gives you many options and templates to start you off. We performed a focus group
after each of us had made a website to give us an idea of what our target audience is
attracted to and therefore to guide us to the right direction of the perfect site suited to our
band. We also created a Facebook group as it is a social-networking site, particularly
popular with our target audience. We also used it to inform band members of updates for
our shooting schedule and to create discussions to get people interested. The blog, the
website and Facebook all have contributed to generating interesting and a buzz for the band
and the song. By adding our friends to the Facebook page, we hoped that with every
established band and in business too, the key to achieving success is to creating a ripple
effect, or through word of mouth.

We have used Scribd to post our evaluations onto the blog as it is a more interactive
way of viewing them. It is simple in that you are able to attach documents to the site and
then put it onto your blog by embedding the code provided.

Finally and most importantly we used FinalCut Pro to edit and do rough cuts of our
music video in order to produce the final piece. It helped us in organizing our footage being
able to lip-sync to the song without much difficulty and also to use the wide variety of
effects. The effects were useful as we were able to distinguish the two separate worlds in
our music video, therefore making our narrative clearer. They also helped us accomplish our
original idea of our music video being quite ‘quirky’, using different colour filters and
transitions. FinalCut Pro is a great way of editing and used in the film and music video
industry. Although complicated, it is more efficient than other editing programs such as
iMovie due to its wide variety of effects and options to shape your music video as you like.

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

For our digi-pack we have designed a CD cover and a website. Our main target in creating
our digi-pack and website, and what we constantly needed to remind ourselves, is that they
are there to promote our band and make it known to our target audience. In doing this, we
researched many other bands such as Kings of Leon for the website and looking at the
layout of some current singles being released. For the CD cover, before designing, we had
to search for the dimensions of a standard-sized CD case. By completing this we could go on
to begin designing on Photoshop using these dimensions and finding ways in which we
could incorporate ideas from our music video and website into the CD design to make
intertextual references between the media texts, a key feature made apparent by Goodwin.
The name of our band was altered to ‘The Known’ as we thought it was a strong band name
and one which stands out of the crowd. Our research of other bands which create similar
music such as The Kooks and Bombay Bicycle Club helped us to find a suitable name. We
created many potential designs on Photoshop in order to carry out a focus group to get
different opinions on which were preferred by our target audience. This focus group proved
to be extremely useful as it brought up a number of problems which we were unable to
notice. For example, a potential design was an edited close-up of the main singer’s eye.
The audience saw it as too intense and dull, regarding the music video we had made We
were then able to go on and adapt our design to the one most suited for our target
audience. The focus groups made us realize how important it is to get outsider opinions
from our target audience as it is easy to get lost in many ideas and follow the wrong route.
Performing a focus group from time to time to take on ideas and preferences which we were
able to incorporate into our video and ancillary texts were necessary, as not to fall off track
in the process of making our music video. For our CD cover we created a small booklet
including the front cover of the band, the inside being an edited photo of the London Eye
and on the opposing page, the lyrics of the song. We decided to do this as it is common
when CDs are created and we were therefore able to make ours as near to the real thing as
possible. The colours and photos of the band members on the front of the CD are the same
as what we have used for the website homepage. By structuring this synergy, we are able
to link the two ancillary texts to create a greater impact on our target audience. We were
inspired by Blur’s album layout, where the band members are individualized by different
windows. We used this his symmetrical effect to allow the members to have equal limelight,
one does not upstage another and the use of colour helps divide them and along with that,
creates a retro effect that is able to link to some 70s themes such as the Andy Warhol of
Marilyn Monroe. The 70s theme appeals to our target audience as retro has come back into
fashion and is very popular at present. This will again develop the star iconography by the
way the band dress and are portrayed through the video and marketing.

CD final
design