A2 MEDIA COURSEWORK FINAL PIECE

Question 4 | Evaluation

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

Throughout the development of our products I have used multiple  social media websites which have enabled us to showcase, market and organise our Album release. One main social networking site that we used was YouTube. This platform is great for uploading videos as you can create a channel for YouTube members to subscribe to which will inevitably allow you to build your audience. In the future, creating a specific channel for our record label would be a viable and effective option. This is more beneficial than uploading our media project onto personal youtube channels, as we can build a audience specifically based around our record label, Hampton Music Entertainment. Moreover, YouTube easily allows you to flip back to your personal channel within the same account which would be very useful for myself. 

We also used Facebook (another major/popular social networking site) frequently during the release of the Album. We mainly used it for two reasons; planning & marketing the album release. In terms of planning, we used this platform to communicate to our cast. This allowed us to organise anything that had to be done prior to the filming (We also used What’s App for this). Marketing the album on Facebook was a fundamental aspect into our publicity as it create attract a wide range of audiences. We created a Facebook page that was solely used to market the latest album (see picture below). Users can keep up to date with the release of Lo-Fang’s Album. We can also analyse the popularity of each post. It must also be said that in the future we have the option to advertise the album on Facebook through their commercial revenue feature.

Another resource that became vital for our project was Blogger. Blogger is a blog-publishing service that allows users to create your own blog and post whenever you like. This was useful for me as I could upload anything onto my blog, from videos to written posts. I could also easily embed videos, post and other links from external websites. This therefore allowed my blog and work to bond more effectively.

Question 3 | Evaluation

Question 2 | Evaluation

Question 1 | Evaluation

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

1. A SHOT THAT TYPIFIES THE WAY A RECORD COMPANY WOULD WANT THERE ARTIST TO BE REPRESENTED.

Here is the artist shown in a classic singer/songwriter scenario. He is in a body position of delivering emotion to the camera. His smart outfit and tidy hair/facial hair makes him look like an accomplished musician and singer. This is important for the artist as he wants to give a good impression to his audience. We have challenged the conventions in the way the artist is framed on school. He is deliberately not in the centre of the frame because the music video is more focused on the narrative rather than the performance of the artist. Therefore him singing in the corner of the frame and smoke coming past him allows him to express the emotion of the song rather than him being the 'commercial exhibitionist'.

2. A SHOT THAT SHOWS A LINK BETWEEN LYRICS.

The lyric is ‘the one that I want’ and we see the woman crying in pain over the loss of her boyfriend. The emotion of the girl shown through the video is directly corroborated with the lyrics, which therefore links back to Andrew Goodwins theory of amplification in music videos.

3. A SHOT THAT ILLUSTRATES HOW YOUR VIDEO USES MUSIC GENRE.

This shot gives a different view to the music genre of the song and video. Here we see the woman again, crying and lying down in a public toilet. As we took a different approach to the song ‘You’re the One That I Want’ this is a perfect shot to showcase the dark and dejection feeling to the song. The intimate framing of the girl intensifies the emotion of the shot and therefore portrays the genre of the song further. 

4. SHOT THAT SHOWS A INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCE.

The concept of this high angle shot has been used in existing movies (Pursuit of Happiness) and is a good method of showing the whole proximities of the scene. This shot also gives a sense that someone is looking down on them and therefore makes the characters to be perceived as subordinate. This therefore results in the audience feeling sympathetic purely because of the choice of shot. 

5. SHOT THAT DEMONSTRATES YOUR USE OF CAMERA.

Here we see a Birds Eye view of the girl in the public bathroom. This is a important shot in our music video as it furthermore expresses to the audience her weakness as she's lost everything in her life. This shot type occurs frequently in our music video as we want to stress to the audience her impact it has made to her losing her partner.

6. SHOT THAT DEMONSTRATES YOUR USE OF LIGHTING.

We wanted to make sure that the use of lighting throughout was a main feature that we focused on when shooting the music video. This shot in particular has a cold and eerie grading to it. This makes the atmosphere to the shot more powerful and therefore makes it look more authentic.

7. SHOT THAT DEMONSTRATES YOUR USE OF MISE-EN-SCENE.

This shot demonstrates that the artist is unique as the setting of the bathroom is different and unrecognisable to what a bathroom normally looks like. It creates a intimacy with the the girl and makes the two locations be distinguished more easily.

8) TWO SHOTS THAT DEMONSTRATE SOMETHING WHICH SHOWS YOU HAVE WATCHED OTHER MUSIC VIDEOS.
Shot 8 is a extreme closeup of the girls eye. This clips happens at the start of the music video in the hope that it will attract the audience, as someone is staring down the screen. This concept exists in other music videos already, e.g. ‘Tom Odell’s - Another Love’ music video.

Music Videos Used: 
1,9 - Shine by Years and Years. 
2 - You're the One That I Want (Chanel advert) - Lo-Fang.
3 - Someone Like You by Adele.
4 - Hometown Glory by Adele.
5 - Breathe Life by Jack Garratt
6 - Chemical by Jack Garratt
7 - Weathered by Jack Garratt
8 - Grow Old With Me by Tom Odell

1. This shot typifies the way a record company would want their artist to represented because the main singer in Years and Years has been lit up by low coloured lighting and smoke surrounding him, almost giving the artist a silhouette look. This is effective because the shot is very intimate due to the dreamy and cinematic look of the video. A record company will favour this look as it makes the band look accomplished and musically skilled. 

2. This shot shows a link between the lyric, music and visuals due to the lyrics talking about the woman wanting to fall in love with this man. This is reflected visually with the woman looking into the man's eyes. On the lyric 'I want' the camera cuts to this shot. By the director purposely doing this, it will create more energy with the video. This is even more important for the brand 'Chanel' as they focus to deliver content that connects with their consumers emotionally. 

3. This shot illustrates how the video uses music genre as we can see the performer (Adele) looking into the distant with a dark tone to her face. The combination of this and the picture being graded in black&white illustrates to the audience that she is having relationship problems. Throughout this part of the video the audience will start to build a conclusion to the story that she is telling however through these technical aspects used it will make the story be portrayed in a clearer light. Moreover, the effectiveness of Adele staring into the distance portrays to the audience the tone the music video as it develops. This is a useful technique in all types of narrative work as the cameras don't necessarily show what the characters are looking at; therefore a creating a mystifying feeling to the viewers.

4. This shot provides a intertextual reference from various music videos, films, tv show (such as Homeland) as the use of the camera tracking out from the subject revealing the screens behind her (of two cities). This shot is carried by the echoing of the lyrics 'I like it in the city when two worlds collide). The fact that Adele is sitting between these 'two worlds' suggest to the audience that she is in the middle of this conflict. This again links back to Andrew Goodwins theory of amplification as the relationship between the lyrics, emotion portrayed from Adele and the tracking shot is all combined. 

5. This shot demonstrates the use of camera as the shot is a still birds-eye view of the artist, Jack Garratt. This shot complements the music video very well as the high quality picture of the artist and the reflection in water fits well into the nature of the song. Jack Garratt's material always has a nature of crescendoing elements and by having a shot that has so much depth to it, it allows the song to be expressed effectively.

6. This shot illustrates the use of lighting as the director has made the video to look cinematic and brightly coloured as possible so that the character being presented increases his status. This means that his sophistication and significance within the video increases due to him being 'lit up'. This has been purposely done as he is being portrayed as the main focus to the video.

7. In this shot a wide angle is used to portray the location. This wide angle is very important for the video as it's shows the impressive waterfall and the surrounding nature. This music video focuses on the 'magic of adventure' and the imagination a child has. Therefore, by having a very appealing location it will make the music video feel more surreal and cinematic.

8. This shot demonstrates how I/they have watched in other music videos as an extreme close up of a eye is a effective way for a director to grab audiences attention. Similarly to our video, we have done this so that the audience have something to focus on from the outset and then hopefully continue through the use of creative sound and cinematography. Close-ups of eyes also show emotions from characters much more easily than if the shot was a mid angle for example. This is effective as it makes it easier for the audience to feel the mood of the song quicker. 

9. Like with the first shot and other existing music videos, e.g. Jack Garratt (and ours included), this particular shot is used to market the artist. The flamboyancy of the lighting and framing allows the artist to show off his skills and personality - this therefore increases the likability of the artist/record.

Digipak & Magazine Advert (FINAL DESIGNS)

You're The One That I Want - Lo-Fang (FINAL CUT)