A2 Media Project- Avicii-You Make Me

 

This is our finished A Level media production of Avicii -You make me the hit single.

 

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

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

Research and planning

Technology was an important factor in the research and planning off our music video. One reason for this is that the weather played a vital role in the process of the filming as we aimed to film on days with sunshine to match the upbeat song. So it was therefore vital that we had an accurate predication regarding the weather. This is where the weather app on the I phone became an important tool as when we were planning to film in London and Southend it was easily accessible to get an up to date weather prediction for the day. We also used the BBC weather forecast on the Ipad to get an increasingly accurate weather forecast for the day which would allow us to plan way in advance the days for filming.

 

One other way in which technology helped us in the research and planning off our music video was the use of Imessage which is an instant messenger service developed by Apple on all of their products etc Iphone, Ipad and Macs. Imessage was an important tool as all members off the group possessed an Apple product which allowed quick accurate communication throughout the group regarding research which was particularly important in the days building up to filming as we knew the times for filming and also train times in to London.

Regarding train times we used the National express app on the Iphone to research our journeys in and out of London for filming in relation to train times and also the stops in which we would need to take with the journey planner on the app its self. The app also supplied us with the costs of the journey which allowed us to plan funds as a group.



 

 

Instagram was also another key tool in the research and planning of the music video as it allowed us to view music artists such as Avicii whose track ‘You Make Me’ which we used for the music video in order to gain ideas regarding costumes and locations for the video itself. We also used instagram to view artists in the same genre as Avicii for ideas such as Hardwell and Steve Angello.

 

  

For the research and planning stages we also viewed artist’s websites as it indicated to us how artists market new music videos which we could then try and follow. The artists websites also informed the group how to layout our blog regarding colour schemes and links within the actual website. This was important as the blog would therefore reflect the codes and conventions of the genre.

 

  

Soundcloud was also a new technology used in the research and planning of our music video, it is a new form of social networking which allows you to view and share the music you are listening to. This was an important factor in the research and planning of are music video as it was essential on selecting a song to base our music video on.
 

 

Construction (Music Video)

 

One key technology that aided us significantly in the construction of the music video was the Iphone 4s, one reason for this is that we felt it had a higher standard of quality than the Video cameras provided by the school due to its new 5 lens element which increasingly improved the focus of the camera on the Iphone. Moreover the Iphone was extremely easy to use mobility wise due to its small size compared to a high quality video camera. This was an important factor as we were filming on the busy streets of London around crowded areas such as Buckingham Palace, St Pauls Cathedral  and Camden Town with quick paced shots which so it was therefore easier to have a versatile high definition video camera which was the Iphone. However there were some occasions where we needed steady shots which would have created problems when holding the Iphone manually but luckily a member of the group possessed an actual tripod for the Iphone, therefore proving the Iphone was an extremely effective technology when constructing our Music Video.

For our auxiliary tasks we had to create a Magazine advert but also a Digipak we therefore used the Panasonic Lumix TZ40 as it contains 18.1 megapixels which allowed us to capture still images to use in both the Magazine advert and Digipak.

All editing in constructing the music video was done on Pinnacle Studios an editing software. It was the first time using the software as a group due to the fact that during the foundation project we used ‘Sony Vegas Pro’ which we found extremely difficult to use where as Pinnacle was easy to get to grips with but also allowed high quality editing. This was important as it allowed us to add extremely important effects in the music video such as tempo adjustments but also allowed us to use reverse shots. This gave the Music video a professional editing finish.

Adobe Photoshop was also an important technology in constructing the music video as it allowed us to successfully create a Magazine advert and Digipak due to the ability to create layers on a base photograph but also to blemish and blur parts of photos. Photoshop also contains text fonts which suited our Genre of dance music with impulse looking fonts this therefore allowed the magazine to suit the codes and conventions of the dance genre.

 

 Evaluation

As a group we decided that the best way to get a varied audience feedback was if we used a range of social media technologies particularly focusing on the use of YouTube as it had the opportunities to be seen by a global market therefore giving us a diverse range of feedback which could therefore be referenced for future projects but also allowing us to analysis.

We also used Twitter and Facebook to promote the Music Video especially twitter as it allowed all off the groups friends and family to see it and leave us feedback. Also due to the power of ‘Retweets’ which allows members off the public who do not follow the ‘@BigDproductions’ twitter page to see the link which could then go viral spreading to the high mass of users on twitter providing different opinions and views on the music video which would benefit us significantly. Also the Artist ‘Avicii’ whose track we used is a twitter user therefore we can tweet the artist to get his view on our take of the music video. Moreover we can get the opinions of professional music video directors through twitter.

 

Overall technology was vital in the evaluation stages as it gave us a wide diverse platform of audience feedback through social networks such as Youtube, Twitter and Facebook but also the blogging website Blogger which allowed us to post videos, word documents etc on the journey through the music video project.

Evaluation 3

Evaluation 2

Evaluation 2

Evaluation 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Evaluation 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? from Jackharding_

Magazine advertisement

Here is a Prezi presentation showing why we believe using magazines would act as a positive influence within the promotion of our single sale and artists brand representation.

Final Magazine Advert

For the final idea of our magazine advert, we decided to take a landscape shot of our stereotypical dance music character blowing smoke from his mouth. After already producing a portrait magazine advert idea, we thought that this was a better shot and it also goes against the codes and conventions of a typical magazine advert. This conveys the fact that we as a group are attempting to bring something new to the genre, and change the rules. The close up of Dave looking away through the smoke gives a sense of danger and unknown to the reader. We believe that this would help to entice customers to watch the music video, and purchase the single.The reader is immediately drawn to the fact that Dave has his hood up in the picture, but not the whole way. This suggests that he has a sense of style, however he's making it his own. Stereotypically, a teenage male with his hood up gives off bad connotations, therefore this image portrays the fact that our character isn't just a normal, boring teenager. He has a bad side to him which will help promote his image and music. Dave's head is placed in the left side on the picture which gave us a prime opportunity to place our text on the right hand side. This gives a look that Dave is blowing the information out with the smoke. Behind Dave's head a brick wall can be seen, however to the right past the smoke there is a red curtain which conveys our characters journey from poverty to stardom. The 5 star symbol is included to show the reader the success of the song, in hope that it'll intrigue them to listen to it and watch the video. It's printed in red to stand out as that's what will be the major selling pint of this song. The next attention grabbing aspects of the advert are the title 'You Make Me' and the songs artist 'Avicii'. This is because we want this to stick in the readers head. Avicii is a mainstream artist therefore magazine readers will know the name and listen to the song. 'New single' and the small quote from MixMag, a widely read and respected music magazine, are the next eye catching features of the advert. This is because they carry exciting information on the release of the single. "Avicii at his best" written by MixMag massively helps to promote the new single, because all of their readers will see this comment and put their trust into the magazine and purchase it. We have included a Universal Music logo in the bottom right of the advert to comply with their demands, as Avicii is their artist they would like us to include this so our viewers will know. We also added our own company logo for BigDProductions so readers know who made it. We made the company logo and the magazine advert on Adobe CS4. We chose this advert as our final idea because it has a lot of personality and appeal to the main image. It's also a change from the stereotypical dance music genre magazine adverts, which proves to our audience that we have something new to bring the music world. 

Digipack

 

 

This is the finished copy of our digipack, to create this we had to use a range of software, this consited of Adobe Photoshop CS4 and this website http://www.fotor.com/features/color-splash.html. We also used the newly free app iPhoto on an iPad to edit one of the images, this allowed us to use a range of different software applications.
Below is a link to Jack's soundcloud discussion about the ideas we based our digipak panels on and the themes we tried to replicate and portray in the digipak

Digipak Analysis and designs

Digi-pack template

This is our template for the digi-pack, we will be placing our images around the CD.

This template helps us plan where we are going to put each image and what images will look best.

We need to think carefully about the images that we choose, they need to be eye-catching but still need to advertise our artist, this will be the best way to increase the desirability of sales (as mentioned in the previous blog post). When choosing the images that we are going to use on the digi-pack we need to make sure they portray our artist in a positive, desirable model. 

Digipak design and themes

This is a link above will direct you to a Prezi of our ideas regarding digipak designs and sizes. We decided not to use the draft ideas that was made mentioned above in the negatives of the final draft design. We will still use some of the features so this research will help our final digipak design and the most professional and sophisticated design will be used.

Time toast - planning

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/730934

This is a link to your Timetoast account and timeline regarding our media coursework. We wanted to plan out what actions we were going to take within our coursework as this would therefore enable us to stay on task and progress further into our journey through a better understanding of what it actually was we needed to do. It did prove hard to stick to deadline times within tasks but this did act as progression as it enabled momentum to be built for the group. This was because we could see we were falling behind and forced us to get the work done and improve our blog and coursework grade.

The use of Vine

 

This is our vine account. I have transferred the details of my vine account onto BigDProductions as this enables use to have a fan base from the beginning and this will help us to share ideas with fans with ease. This is another form of social media that the group can use so this will help improve our fan base and also relations with fans as it will become easier to keep in touch and show our fans what we are exactly doing. Vine is basically a seven second recording which will enable us to quickly show what we are doing and as the clip can only be 7 seconds long this will be quick and easy for the group to show what we are actually doing.

Editing update

This is an update into how the editing is going, changes we have to make and an idea of how far the we are to finish. It also shows the issues within the first day of filming, why they occurred and our plans for the video in the future.

Last day of filming video

 

This video talks about the focus of our last day of filming and shows a teaser of on of the locations we will be using.

First day of filming

Shooting Schedule

Shooting Schedule yr 13.docx

Weather precautions and analysis

Weather precautions and analysis

It was important to plan filming dates and also the weather on these dates. We did not want to get to the locations, especially London, and find that the weather was cold and raining. This does not fit the conventions of the genre as the House genre focuses on a happy and positive looking visuals through weather. We would want to film in times when in is bright, clear and also sunny as this would help to enforce the conventions throughout. As we were planning to film late in the year we had even more pressure when having to film as it would become dark quite quickly in the evenings. It was important for us as a group to plan properly and take all of these aspects into consideration.

Avicii - You Make Me - Lyrics

Avicii Lyrics
Here are the lyrics of the song we will be creating in our year 13 coursework. We decided the follow an abstract theme so the lyrics themselves do not have any relevance within the music video. Other groups have followed a narrative which is associated with the lyrics but we decided this would not be the best idea within the group. We didn't want to depend on volunteers to help us with filming and as all members of the group are male we would rather focus on an abstract theme than that of voyeurism and a love story. Through research of the genre we found that there is a lot of rapid editing and also abstract themes followed throughout, we decided to focus more on this idea than a normal narrative, which is more associated within the pop genre in most circumstances. Still, we will make sure to include several different locations and lip sync to the lyrics. We will make sure that David will learn the lyrics to make it much easier to film and produce an effective and realistic looking music video.

Focus Group

We  found the focus group to be very useful, enabling us to find out more about what our target market wants to see in a music video and also other artists that they like listening to. This aided us to realise what we had to base our main focuses on as we are making the product for the audience. Sadly, in the focus group we only had three participants which is not as high as we intended as a larger group could have given a wider perspective. It was because of general willingness for our peers to want to star in the focus group video but nonetheless we still found the focus group to be a positive impact into our research and aided us to create a more attractive music video.