Friday, 15 April 2011

Evaluation Question 3- Audience Research

Evaluation

The link to my evaluation Question 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywGuRVpRwO4

Evaluation

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

Our media product perpetuates conventions of real music videos, as it can be observed that we have edited the pace of the video, so it would match and go along with the rhythm of the song, in a way that makes the video complement the song. Consequently this makes the video fitting to the song, and much more attractive to the audience.  


Print screen of  changes made to the brightness and
contrast of the video.
Another aspect in which we have used conventions, is the fact that indie music videos are often random and colorful; we changed the brightness and the contrast of the video so it would look unrealistic, to intensify the colors so they would be vibrant and have that aspect of fantasy, after all our concept does play with the fantasies of beauty standards created by the media. 


As the video comes to an end, and our character rebels against these beauty standards, the colors go back to its original arrangement, this depicts the young woman going back to reality, and her urge to get out of - what the majority of modern society considers to be - the ideal lifestyle.


Glamorous depiction of the young model.
Turning point: The young model is fed up and breaks free from the media's manipulative ways.
It can be seen here the transition, from 'dreamlike state' which isn't really dreamy - vibrant colors,
 which  emphasizes that notion of fantasy - to reality.
Final depiction of the model who urges to go back to a ordinary reality.


Nevertheless, there are no such rules and precise conventions to follow in this particular genre of music, when comparing with other genres such as Pop, Rock and RnB. Therefore it can be argued that the convention for a indie music video is to simply be different than the conventional mainstream music video, to have no conventions at all; this was suitable as it allowed us to have more freedom in our project to film and edit, as we didn't have to worry so much about conventions.


Our project challenges conventions of music videos, as it is a truth that music videos in general do not convey important messages; the majority of them are used as a form of escapism, to entertain audiences and promote the artist's work. We challenged that convention to a certain extent, by including a serious message in our video - which is that women shouldn't be passive towards the media - through lively actions and playful, comic visuals, hence our media text still plays its role which is to entertain audiences and promote the artist's work, but it goes beyond its expectations as it carries a strong ideology behind, and in my personal opinion, this makes our music video unique and successful.


Usually - in indie music - the artist appears performing their songs in their music videos; however, we wanted to be different and challenge that convention, by creating a concept that reflects the band's beliefs, and consequently reflecting some of the band's identity. We put some thought into it and decided that this would be utterly effective as many bands have done this at least once, and the results were always successful. This option would bring enigma and it would evoke curiosity in the viewer, this would ultimately lead them to research the artist and make them want to watch their other music videos.

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


I find the combination of our music video, with the digipack and magazine advert utterly effective, as the actress who plays the role of the model in our music video, also appears in both the digipack - front and back cover - and in the magazine advert; hence, there is a connection between our main product and our ancillary texts, which I personally believe is essential and fitting, as it enables the audience to relate one with the other. This method is used by many artists, that way the audience becomes aware that there is a link, that these products belong to the same artist - but more importantly - to the same album.


Another way in which the combination of the two is effective, is the fact that the themes found in our video are also found in the magazine advert, front and back cover of the digipack, these themes include eating disorders, beauty standards set by the media, celebrity's behavior, etc. 

Back cover of the digipack
It can be seen in this, that she has already been completely manipulated by the media, to the point of reaching degradation of herself. This particular picture, resembles the stereotypical polemic images of celebrities. It depicts the conventional negative behavior that celebrities usually have. It links perfectly with our video, as it is another repugnant depiction of the mass media. The main theme found in this back cover, is drugs, this allows another link with the video, as the scientist induces drugs on the model many times.


Scientist's checklist.
 
Front cover of the digipack.
The fact that she is tempted to eat
the plastic burger telephone, connotes
she is on a diet and is deprived from eating what she wants.
Like our music video, the front cover of the digipack is really striking. 
The message conveyed in our video is conspicuous, and even though the front cover emphasizes the concept, it is done in a rather subtle way, which contrasts with the manner in which we displayed the concept in the video. The connotations of eating disorders and beauty standards set by the mass media, are definitely there, but if one hasn't seen the video, there will be an element of mystery as the front cover only hints the themes explored in this album. This is highly desired, as the artist does not want the album art to give too much of the content away to the audience, otherwise it won't evoke the interest in them to purchase the product and listen to it. Therefore the album art has to evoke curiosity, it has to be delicate. 




By researching professional album magazine adverts, we found that the majority of them use the actual front cover of the band's album, in order to promote their work on their magazine. Therefore, we did the same, we only changed the dimensions and the contrast of the image, so it would resemble an actual magazine advert. We also decided it would be better to keep the front cover as the magazine advert, because that way the audience can relate one with the other. They see the advert on the magazine, and it not only promotes the product as it also makes it easier for them to actually find the product as they become aware of what the album art looks like.


The fact that these themes are found not only in the main product, but also in the and ancillary texts, makes the connection between these media texts even more poignant. Consequently, its promotion of the artist is stronger, as the ancillary texts emphasize the ideology already found in the music video.

3. What have you learnt from your audience feedback ?

From my audience feedback I have learnt that the artist's image is utterly important in the music industry, as young people find that their overall image is essential in order to evoke in them the desire to listen to the artist. I have also found out that music videos are more important than I originally thought, this is so because the majority of teenagers find them a crucial component in their everydaylives, as well as a necessary method for them to connect with their idol and to start listenning to new artists, as it is through music videos, that they can get a feel of what the artist's style is like.


Through the feedbacks gained, I have learnt that music videos are truly like commercials for songs, they are vital to an artist, as it helps them promote their song in a way that no other media text could do:
"I find music videos so important, that once I watch them, I never look at that song the same again, so if the video is really appealing to me, it makes me like the song more, and listen to it more often."


I also found out, that our concept is indeed evident in our video, and that it is a effective video, which conveys a important message through playful visuals, which makes the whole experience entertaining and different, as it was mentioned before, most music videos do not bring serious messages. Some people even compared our video to the notion of movies: "it brings a life lesson at the end, but it is very entertaining to watch as the visuals are attractive and humorous." 


We had problems when editing, as we could not change the green background, because we were unaware in the filming process, that we weren't supposed to move from the right spot. Therefore, we turned the video to black and white, but our audience was quite honest about this, they all agreed that the black and white effect did not work well with the vivacious visuals, so we got advices from our college staff, and later we changed the contrast and brightness of the video, which worked out better than the original version, as it gave the notion of dreamlike world, which fitted our concept entirely.

I have also learnt that Indie music is popular with both females and males, which goes against what I originally predicted. I reckoned at the start that males were the target audience of Indie music, but in fact, indie music can be compared to RnB as it attracts both genders equally.

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

Firstly, I have used Google throughout the whole process of research, planning and evaluation, this is due to its versatility. Every image, lyric, quote or information needed, I managed to find straightaway on Google without any problems or having to search elsewhere.



 Blogger was a really useful tool, it allowed me to post all my research online quickly; it also helped as it saved us from doing a lot of printing, it also prevented us from losing any paper work.  Apart from Google, Blogger was surely the easiest tool to use throughout this entire project. I used the Blogger as an online folder, every piece of research, planning, and even the process of the video production can be found in it.



Thirdly, I have used youtube as a source to find music videos that could give us inspiration and ideas to create our own music video.
Furthermore, I used this website in order to analyse music videos that were relevant to our chosen concept for our project, as a part of our research, and later embed the video on the blog along with the analysis.
I also used youtube to find videos that reflects on fandom, artist and video director research.






I used the software, Powerpoint, in order to create moodboards to depict the ideas, themes and the concept of our project. It is really easy to use as well as useful.

Later I used the website Slideshare in order to upload Powerpoint presentations unto the internet and ultimately embed them here.
I made a free account on this website, and found that it is a easy to use tool.




As it can be seen in the picture above, we have used a professional camera, a tripod, professional lights, and lastly, a green screen.
Unfortunately we had problems with changing the background of the green screen when editing our footage, hence we had to work with other techniques in order to embellish our music video in a way that would be relevant to its concept.

We were very fortunate to have mac computers in our college, which was utterly helpful, as they are indeed high technology that brings the ultimate softwares, it enabled us to get the best out of our project.


Final Cut Pro, a software which allowed us to easily edit our project, we learnt how to use the program quickly due to its versatility. I really enjoyed working in final cut pro since I had no experience in editing before, and I found that this particular program was easy to use, it wasn't complicated at all, so I quickly got a grip on how to use this software.



I also used a software called 'Microsoft Image Composer' which allowed me to put images together in a montage, to give a sense of what the music videos that I was analyzing, looked like.



We also used Adobe Photoshop Cs4 in oder to create our digipack covers and magazine advert.

Evaluation Question 4

Video Director Research

Alan Ferguson is an American music video director who is currently signed to Yvette Lang-Einczig & Yell Productions. Most of his work is for Mainstream Artists such as Katy Perry, Nelly Furtado and Fall out Boys.
He also worked with Janelle Monae.
Janelle Monae
Nelly Furtado-the Night is young
Natasha Bedingfield- Pocket full of sunshine
Katy Perry-Hot 'n Cold
Fall out Boy-Dance,Dance,Dance


Because he works with Mainstream Artists the music videos he directed are conventional.






James Frost is an English Music Video and commercial director. His most recent work is Ok Gos' music video "this too shall pass".# which took 5 months to design and build up and two days to shoot the final version is one continuous shot. Similar to our music video, it breaks the fantasy at the end by showing that it was staged. here a link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qybUFnY7Y8w

Mark Romanek is an american film and Music Video Director. He has worked with many well known artists and received many awards for his work.

Michael Jackson& Janet Jackson- Scream

He also worked with Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson on their Video Scream which cost 7 million US Dollars. It is similar to our idea of them being trapped and pressurised by the media.

Sunday, 10 April 2011

Old and New Fandom

Fandom now



Fandom befor



And Beatle Fans



After watching some Fan Videos, I feel like there is this different relationship between a fan and an artist. It moslty happens to mains stream artists and it seems like super sincere fans worship their idols\stars. Hence there are shows like "American Idol" etc. Sometimes being a fan turns into being a stalker.



This shows again that gettign so much media coverage has some good and many bad effects.



"People catagorized as obsessed fans or stalkers are really only obsessed by their own feeling of insignificants. They act out towards the people they envy in a desperate attempt to gain their own notariety."

Mulit- What?

So, I was searching the web and I came across these Videos on Youtube that are called "Multi-fandom" Videos. They are mash ups of different TV shows and movies made by fans. One can relate that to music Fans as both would sacrifice their spare time to making a "Fan Video" tributed to whatever they are a fan of. For TV show fans they are called Multi-Fandom and for music Fans they are called "Covers\Parodies" etc.
This is a "Multi-Fandom" Video. The creatir of this video must be really committed to what she\he is doing because after two years of Media Studies I know that Editing can be very time consuming and tiring.



and there is more...



Offcourse Music Artist Fans have their way of showing their fandom as seen in this video:



The Person that uploaded the video wrote "Lady Gaga saw this video on her birthday, March 28, 2010 & tweeted the following: "I've never cried so hard in 24 years, from pure joy and unconditional love. Tears still streaming.""

And it is not just GaGa Fans



And not just Britney fans either



This relationship between Artist and Audience is very important for the marketing of the artist and their fame so they often do or say something to keep those fans and get more.



So we've established that fans like to dedicate time to their idols but artists like to do the same sometimes(or maybe they have to??).

Songs that inspire!(or do they??)



To be fair on the Music Industry they do have some songs try to make people comfortable with who they are and how they look like. For example Christina Aguileras Music video "beautiful"



and India Aries "I am not my hair". I am going to compare how these songs and music videos try to convey their message.
Christina Agiulera is a Pop & RnB artist who targets the mass market with her music. In this particular Music video she tries to reach a range of audience (mainly people who feel insecure about themselves) this is amplified in the video by cross cutting between an anorexic girl, a girl that is being bullied, a crossdresser, a homosexual couple, a black girl, basically a group of people that are usually not accepted or judged by other members of society. The video starts of with all of the characters being sad and her singing "to them" "you are beautiful, in every single way, words can't bring you down". A very symbolic part is when the black girl tears up a magazine and burns it, it is a bit similar to the idea in our music video. What I like about the video is that there are characters in it that are not conventionally beautiful, so considering that it does challenge the conventions of usual, mainstream music videos. Nonetheless Christina Aguilera (who is conventionally beautiful) still gets most of the screen time, so it looks a little bit like she is using these other characters in the video to sell herself and make a better image for herself.
India Arie is a Soul & RnB artist, her music is not as mainstream as Christina Aguileras. Just as Aguileras Song was supposedly inspirational her Song "I am not my hair" was too. But unlike Aguilera Arie is mainly targeting black women with that song. Most black women in the mainstream Media do not wear their natural hair because it is not "desirable" and often labelled as "nappy hair" or "slave hair". This idea goes all the way back to the time of slavery and how white slave owners instilled the idea that "Negro hair is not feminine or beautiful" and "the straighter(and lighter) the better". Unfortunately this idea still exists in todays society. To deliver that idea Akon states "was it the hair that got me this far?...I hate to see it but it seems so flaw the success didn't come 'till I cut it all off" and Arie sings "Good hair means curls and waves, bad hair makes you look like slave". The song has a great meaning and I believe more people should listen to the lyrics and feel more comfortable in their own skin. The lyrics of the song are different and inspirational but unfortunately the video is again mainly of the artist performing into the camera with some good editing. This is something that appears in most Music Videos, even if they have a deeper meaning they often concentrate on the artist and try to establish the artists image but I suppose they have to earn their money somehow.

Digipack

Many artists like to release digipacks due to aesthetic reasons, they are more expensive than normal cds, they look nicer as the digipacks material consists of paper/cardboard, therefore it does not crack like jewel cases do, this may be one of the reasons why fans particularly like these.  Digipacks include bonus tracks and extra footage/documentaries/interview with the artist.


Below find some examples of different digipacks:






Fandom



With the Media bombarding our everyday lives with all sorts of music, tv shows, films, games, cartoons, it is a consequence for all of us to become a fan of something; since there are endless options for all different tastes. 

Stereotypically speaking, fans who get utterly attached to music idols and go to extremes in order to get their attention, are usually teenage girls and young women. The tendency is for these artists to be set in the Pop/RnB music scenario.






"this emotional attachment - some have compared to a form of love - is a vital component. May even be so intense as to go beyond an individual fan's ability fully put into words and explain it(...)" Matt Hills.



This video shows how obsessed one can become with a famous musician, but more importantly how -unfortunately- often, only girls go to extremes like this.


With new technologies such as Twitter and Youtube, fans have gained the freedom to interact with their idols. It has become easier for them to meet their favorite artists, as the majority of them post on Twitter when and where they will be, hence it goes beyond online interaction, it enhances the relationship between fans and their heroes, as it often gives them the opportunity to actually meet them in real life, many times.


"It is important to make contact in real life and not just online in social media like Twitter." Amanda Palmer, lead singer for The Dresden Dolls.


Youtube is also used by fans who are trying to gain their idols attention, or to simply show  how much they appreciate their work and their style/image.
There are tutorials teaching fans how to copy their artist's make up...




There are fans who are also artists and are trying to show to people -and their idol- their own talent -and again- how much they love the artist's work.




Some videos do grab the artist's attention, and it may ultimately result in this..





Music Video Director Research

Joji Koyama
London-based director, Joji Koyama is also known as "Woof Wan-Bau"; After his graduation in art, Koyama started to direct music videos; he has also shown his talent through short films, comics, animations, drawings and photographs, which ultimately displays the versatile artist that he is. Koyama won the prize for 2004's Best Music Video Public Choice Award, British Animation Awards, as well as 2005's Best Animated Film, Halloween Short Film Festival ICA London.
It can be observed in his work that skills are abundant as he masters different techniques such as stop motion, computer animation and live action. The surrealism and creativity are surely the main aspects of his works, he has once said in an interview: 


"My ethos is to be as playful as possible, to make something that is not just simple and glossy—with something a little bit more imaginative going on."


One of Koyama's work that can be linked to our music video, is the video to the song 'It was acceptable in the 80's' Its main style: vibrant colours and comic/playful visuals, are aspects that are also found in our music video. We researched various music videos, including Koyama's work, and the video below inspired us to produce something similar.


Evan Bernard

Evan Bernard is an american director of both commercials and music videos. He is known as he has directed videos for punk bands such as Green Day and Rancid, as well as other artists like The Beastie Boys, Moby, etc.
He is also famous for directing television ads for companies such as Toyota, Puma and Red Stripe.
Bernard's most recent work, is the music video to the song 'Double Vision' by 3OH!3, which gained positive reviews due to its creativity and originality.




Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton
Faris along with her partner, Jonathan Dayton, have directed award-winning music videos, such as "Californication" by the band Red Hot Chilli Peppers, "Freak on a Leash" by Korn, Smashing Pumpkin's "Tonight, Tonight". They have also made music videos and documentaries for artists such as Oasis, Weezer, Janet Jackson, Beastie Boys, R.E.M, etc. The couple has gone even further since they have directed many commercials for IKEA, GAP, Apple Computer, Mastercard, Puma, and many others.
The team has received critical acclaim due to their comedy-drama film, as it won them two Academy Awards.




Liz Friedlander
Friedlander is highly respected in the music industry and is considered one of the most admirable directors. She has directed over 80 music videos, and is known for working with artists such as U2, Celine Dion, Alanis Morissette, R.E.M, Blink 182, Plus 44 and others.
She won the MTV's Viewer's Choice Award for Best Video of 2002 for her work with the artist, Michelle Branch. Friedlander formerly worked as a producer and editor, she has worked with The Red Hot Chili Peppers among others.
It can be seen in the music video "Adam's song" by Blink 182, a important concept that conveys the lyrics to the song. Stop motion technique is also used in this music video, and is surely one of the main aspects of this video that makes it eyecatching, and it was one of the techniques we considered to use at the beginning of our project. 




Monday, 4 April 2011

Music Video Analysis



Wikipedia:"The Pierces are a New York-based band. The principal members are sisters Catherine Pierce and Allison Pierce. Their genre is Alternative,Folk rock & Pop rock."
So it is not your mainstream pop music. The music video reflects on the song and has a rather dark theme. It is a mixture of narrative and perfomance as the lead singer performs throughout almost the whole video.The main message of the song is quite straight forward and I believe they have succesfully elaborated on the lyrics with their music video. There are often music videos one might forget or not even watch until the end but this is definately one of those videos that you have to watch untill the end. This is because of its originality and individuality. The story of the video is about two friends, one tells the other a secret,the other pormises (on her life) not to tell anyone, eventually she does tell others, her friend finds out and kills her because "two can keep a secret if one of them is dead". In the video you can see a person that is supposedly dead because she did not keep a secret as the video moves on the audience is shown how and why exactly she(the leadsinger) decided to murder her.
The represantation of women in this video is actually negative because it impliments that a woman might kill someone for such a trivial reason as exposing a secret. Also we can see that after she murders her she "beautifies" her with make up,a wig and nail vanish. So even though she is dead what matters most is the looks. It also represents American culture in a way as "image is everything" and by exposing somebodies dark secret, you are basically threatening their existence.It also shows that the Band is creative and not scared to experiment and be different. The song is used in the intro of the American mystery teen drama television series Pretty Little Liars.
On YouTube you can see some of the audiences responses to the video e.g. :
"sounds creepy...i love it!!!" ; " I love how it sounds like its from the 1920's.. makes it sound creepy-ish.... Guess thats why i love it so much! :)" ; " Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.-Benjamin Franklin" etc.

Audience Research