Evaluation Question 4

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

Research/Planning
Whilst researching and planning for my music video I used a variety of media technologies. These included:

1)Youtube I used the video sharing site to view previous videos from my artist to gain knowledge of typical conventions. I also searched youtube for music videos such as Nickleback - Rockstar in order to gain inspiration for my video



2)The internetI used the internet more broadly aswell. I used websites such as wikipedia to gain background information on my artist. I used google images to find pictures of previous digipaks for inspiration and I also used google to find the song lyrics of my song in order for me to analyse them.



Construction
I also used many media technolgies for the actual construction of my music video. I used the following:

1)Camera and Tripod
Obviously one media technology I used during the construction of my video was the camera and tripod itself.


2) Final Cut Express
I used this program for the editing of my video. Within final cut I used the text function to add the song titles and the speed function to slow down certain scenes to create an effect.


3)Adobe photoshop elemenets
I used this program for the construction of my digipak. I used it to play around with the photo I had for the front cover in order to make it more attractive and appropriate for my album.



4)Green Screen & Chroma Keyer
I used green screen equipment in order to create a holiday background behind my artist. Once I had filmed my artist in front of the green screen I imported the footage into final cut. Here I then used the media technology of Chroma Keyer in order to put the holiday picture in place of the green screen.



Evalutation
Finally, I used media technologies in the evaluation of my work. I used:

1) Voice Over Function in Final Cut I used the voice over function in order to create my directors commentary. I found this technology easy to use and it picked up my voice well.

2)Microsoft Powerpoint
I used this programme in order to create powerpoints for my evaluation. I included images in most slides and changed the colour of the font and background in order to make it look attractive.



Slideshare
I used this website in order to upload my presentations onto my blog. It was easy to use, especially because I used it last year in my foundation portfolio.




I also used the media technology of this website Blogspot throughout the planning, research, construction and evaluation of my media products. I have used it throughout the two years of my media course and have found it simple and straightforw+8

Evaluation Question 3

Media studies evaluation question 3

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Evaluation Question 2

A2 media studies evaluation

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Music Video Evaluation Question 1

The first question of my evaluation is 'In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?' and can be found as a directors commentary on my music video dvd.

Finished Music Video

Choosing a Music Channel for my video

I have chosen Magic to be the music channel my video is on. Magic TV is a British music television station owned by Box Television. It plays mainly easy listening music videos and is based on the Magic Radio network also owned by Bauer. I thought the fact that it plays mainly easy listening music videos makes it a suitable channel for my video as my song fits into the easy listening genre.

Editing Part 3

Today I edited the parts of my video in front of the green screen. It was my first time using chroma keyer but I feel like I used it well considering. There is a slight green fuzz around my artist which I was unable to get rid off but I like the overall effect of having the holiday backdrop so I am willing to put up with it. I have now finished my editing and all I have to do now is the final tweaks and add the music channel logo to my video.

Editing Part 2

Today I finished editing most of my video. Some of the actors are out of sync but I have tried to keep this down to a minimum. All I have left to do now is the green screen editing parts and then some final tweaks.

Editing Part 1

Today I began the editing process. It is quite easy to match the part of the song to my actors miming as I can hear the song in the background of my footage. However, it is becoming apparent how my actors made little mistakes with the lyrics so it doesn't quite match. However, due to timings I don't have time to film everyone again so I just have to be clever with the editing. I would say I have edited at least half of my footage during the course of today.

Filming Update 7

Today I filmed the final part of my music video. I set up the green screen in my chosen location and then filmed my actor who was wearing the white t shirt, trilby hat and playing the ukulele. The actor was quite self conscious and this is apparent in the footage I have but he did quite well. When I downloaded the footage onto the Macs I saw how I should have had the green screen pinned a bit tighter but hopefully it should not matter too much when I come to filming.

Further Practise with The Green Screen

Today the green screen kit arrived. After putting it up I decided to see if it worked well so I did a test run with a couple of friends. I found this kit worked a lot better than the bed sheet and will be filming tomorrow.

Practising with Green Screen

Today I did a test run with the green screen. For the green screen we used a green bed sheet pinned to the wall. However, this did not have very effective results.We have now ordered a proper green screen kit and once this arrives I will be able to film my artist.

Green Screen

Today I watched a video on youtube of how to use green screen in final cut express. It took me through the several steps you have to go through and where to find the tools to do this. I now feel confident with how to work green screen and will film my actor in front of the green screen in the next couple of days.

Downloading Footage

Today I downloaded all of my footage on to the Macs. As i have filmed so much it took quite a while and it made me realise that I should have downloaded footage as I went along. However, it is now all on the computers ready for me to edit. All I have to do now is film my artist in front of the green screen and then I have everything I need to edit.

Filming Update 6

Today I filmed my last actor which was my Grandad. I chose to film my grandad because I feel like I needed a wide range of ages in my video. We filmed in his back garden as I felt the nature backdrop would be very fitting of an Israel Kamakawiwo'ole video. There was no noise disturbances and he knew the song quite well which meant overall the filming went very well. I also filmed some more nature scenery from his back garden in case I need to include any more in my video.

Filming Update 5

Today I filmed some scenes of nature. I chose to film some trees, the blue sky and some flowers in my garden. I chose to do this today because as it was sunny I felt it would make everything look brighter and healthier i.e much more pleasant than it would on a rainy day.

I also filmed another one of my actors. I filmed her on the balcony of my house. This was a good location as it provided an interesting backdrop and there was no noise disturbances. However, it was quite awkward when people walked past. She knew the song very well which meant what I have recorded today looks very effective.

Filming Update 4

Today I filmed two more people for my music video. They were both filmed in the same location which was my friends house but in different rooms. This location was good as once again there was no noise disturbances. However, we ended up doing most of the filming at night time which meant the lighting quality wasn't as good as I would have liked it. Filming went very well with the only problem being one of the actors wasn't familiar with the song which meant time had to spent going over certain parts. The other actor knew the song very well and because of that was able to lip sync perfectly.

Downloading Footage

Today, despite not filming everything I need, I decided to download the footage I have onto the computer. This is because the camera only has so much memory and I don't want to lose anything I have filmed so far.

Filming Update 3

Today I filmed two sets of people for my video.

The first group of people I filmed were two teenage girls. The location for their section was just a normal street. I chose a quiet street so that there were no noise disturbances from traffic and so on. Filming went quite successfully. The main problems arose from people walking by and the girls not being able to control their laughter at first.

The second group of people I filmed were my 10 year old brother and his friend. I chose to film them in my dining room. This location was a good because there was little disturbances I was able to shut everyone out. The main problem was they were unfamiliar with the song which made the lip syncing quite hard.

Filming Update 2

Today I filmed another set of people for my media video. We filmed at night so we had to make sure the lighting was sufficient enough. I also brought someone else with me to hold the lyrics up for the actors as before I found it too hard to handle the camera and the lyrics.

Filming Update 1

Today I began filming for my music video. I filmed the footballer of my video on the school playing field. As it was quite a sunny day I made sure that the sun was to the side of us as if it was behind me the actor would be squinting into the camera and if it was behind the actor then a shadow would be cast. I managed to film him singing the whole song which is a bonus as it means I have plenty to edit from when it comes to editing.

Creating Lyric Boards

I decided that the best way for my actors to lip sync the correct words would be if I created lyric boards to hold whilst I was filming. Therefore today I spent time writing the lyrics onto big sheets of white paper in big, black, bold writing so that they could be easily read.

Mise En Scene - Clothing

Clothing the actors in my video is not an essential role of mine because the video is about a diverse range of people singing the song in their free way and I feel them being able to choose their own clothes furthers this feeling.

However, I will be choosing the clothing of one of the actors in my video and that is the actor who is representing Israel Kamakawiwo'ole himself. I want my actor to be wearing summery clothes because he is in front of holiday picture backdrop so I want to reinforce the summer feel of the video. I feel that a white t shirt would be best as it looks summery but it is not too attention grabbing so won't deflect away from the backdrop. I also would like my actor to be wearing a trilby hat as I believe this will once again reinforce the summer feel.

Mise En Scene - Props

Due to the type of video mine is there is not a high need for props. However, one prop is essential and that is the ukulele the artist will be playing. This prop is crucial because it is almost an iconic feature of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's videos. I do not have a ukulele myself but a friend does and they are willing to lend me it when I begin my filming.

Casting

Below are a few of the people I have casted in my music video. I believe they are all capable of miming along to the lyrics and will do so in a professional manner. I also think collectively they portray a wide range of people of all ages from all backgrounds which is a key aspect of the video I want to create.

Location Planning

My video will contain many locations due to the idea I have of filming many people. When it comes to choosing these locations I need to make sure that they all have suitable lighting, they are free from distractions such as people and noises and that the background is not messy/appropriate for what I'm filming.

One location in particular needs to be planned that bit more carefully and that is the location where I choose to film my green screen. This locations needs to be chosen carefully as it needs to have quality lighting so the green screen works effectively and it also needs to have a large flat wall where I can pin the green screen sheet tightly too.

The location I have chosen for this is a classroom in my school. I have chosen this room because the lighting is good and there is a large flat wall directly under a sky light which means the lighting should be good.

Practice Shoot/Editing

Today I filmed a friend lip synching to my song to see if the idea was going to work. I found that whist the idea is quite time consuming it is doable and the end results look good so I shall persevere with this idea. One thing I did learn though is that it is crucial to keep the camera and the person in the same position as the lighting can change in the background. I learnt this when it came to editing my mock shoot as in one scene the background has a grey tinge to it and then it jumps to another scene where the background looks more red.

Testing out my idea

The idea I have for my music video is to have a wide variety of people, in a diverse range of locations singing along to my song. This however is quite a complicated procedure and I'm not entirely sure to whether it will work or not. Therefore in the next couple of days I intend to film a mock music video just to see if it is possible. I will film people on their own, in twos or groups, from a variety of angles singing along to lyrics I hold on a board. Once this is done I shall see if it works well when I come to edit it. If it does then I will proceed with this idea.

Completed Storyboard

Story boarding

Today I finished adding the lyrics to my storyboard. All I need to do now is add the images and decide on the camera shots.

Story-boarding

Today I began work on my storyboard. I have decided that my opening shot and finishing shot will be the same as the starting and ending lyrics are the same. The beginning and ending shot will be a youth lip synching to the lyrics in front of a green screen displaying a picture similar to the album cover. I will work on the rest of my story board at a later date.

Idea For My Music Video

The inspiration for my music video comes from the video for Nickleback's Rockstar. I have decided to loosely base my video on this one as the fact that it is not a story video works well for my song choice as the lyrics don't really tell a story. The video is also entertaining which is key when making a music video.




I shall have a diverse range of people miming along to the lyrics to represent the diverse range of people who Israel Kamakawiwo'ole appeals to. I shall also have one person who will be the artist of the video who I will go back to throughout the video. He will be playing a ukulele as this is a typical feature of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's videos. I shall also film him in front of a green screen with a backdrop of a holiday picture to give the video that Hawaii feel.

Ancillary Task 2 - Finished Magazine Advertisement

Today I completed work on my magazine article. I added two made up reviews as I believe this added to it's creditability. I chose to use 'The Guardian' and 'The Sunday Times' as these two newspapers are generally used as their reviews are highly regarded. I wrote the reviews in black font as whilst they are important they don't need to be as eye catching as the title of the album and the name of the artist.
Towards the bottom I added the web address for the official website of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole as this is a common feature of album advertisements. I also included a picture of the record label logo and a quote about Israel as once again these are common features of music advertisements.

Ancillary Task 2 - Beginning work on my magazine advertisement

Today I began work on my magazine advertisement. It took me a while to decide which font to write 'Israel Kamakawiwo'ole' but in the end I settled for a font called 'Stencil Std'. I chose this font because I feel it is eye catching which is crucial when advertising a product. I chose to put the font in white as the font on the album is white so it consequently links the two together. I chose the font 'arial' to write the album title as it is quite eye catching yet does not distract away from 'Israel Kamakawiwo'ole'.