Audience Feedback

We showed our final cut to the class and we got a generally positive response with a few constructive criticisms. The feedback was as follows:

• The tin foil masks were tacky in comparison to the very high quality costume and contrasted with them, it could have possibly worked better with a different material.
• Concept - the audience were confused as they wondered if there was a storyline that they were missing, however they understood the idea of escape which is good.
• Some Scenes were over used.
• Perhaps use more of the silver dress because the shot was stunning.
• they thought it was very middle eastern
• they thought it was dark, sinister and mysterious, which is very positive as this is the effect we wanted to achieve.
• Some thought the ending was too abrupt (I personally think this works).
• There were mixed opinions about not including the indian scene we had filmed. The reason behind this was because the two female leads looked very mature and the two actors doing the Indian dancing looked too young.

In summary I am happy with the feedback. There was nothing too important that people didn't like and they enjoyed the video overall.

Shoot day Evaluation

Evaluation of shoot day

We began assembling our sets the night before the shoot day, as the first scene involved material 

hanging from the ceiling. After setting up the first scene, we began dressing our cast in the morning in their costumes and began shooting around 9:30. The first scene took longer than expected. We first shot wides from the front, and then went on to shoot shots from the back and eventually a tracking shot around the scenario, which took some time to set up. In the time we shot the first scene we had planned to shoot two scenes, and so we began shooting the second scene behind schedule. 

The second scene involved water, so we put membrane on the floor and lay the artist down and poured some water on her. When doing this we had to tie the hanging material into knots so that it was out of shot, to be used in later scenes. The second scene did not take so long, but it did not look as good as we had hoped, as it was a compromise to a more elaborate set we had previously imagined.

Although the second scene went quicker than the first we were still not working as quickly as we had planned. we moved on to the third set which was the scene with the indian dancers. This scene took quite a few takes because the dancers did not know exactly what they were doing and so we had to keep shooting until they were performing the way we wanted. Overall this wasn’t a very successful scene in terms of performance however the costumes looked good. 

The fourth scene was the scene with the lycra in the background with the faces pushing against it. this scene was successful as the artist was dressed well and the faces in the lycra worked well. We managed to do this relatively quickly, and moved on to the next scene which was of one of the artists with material pulling them from either side going of camera, which worked very well and is one of the best shots we have as it looks very professional and the performance was good. 

It was around 5 when we shot the next scene which was of the dancers in the flour with tin foil on their faces. The dancers we had chosen did not perform especially well and so myself and another group member went on and shot a few shots of ourselves dancing in this scene so we had another scene to choose from if it did not look good on camera. We shot this from various angles including tracking shot and it took quite a while. 

We spent around an hour assembling the final set which was the pebble walkway with smoke coming out, which was difficult to shoot because I had to hold the elastics restricting the one artist and we put material over myself so that I would not be seen in camera. We also had another group member blowing smoke into the pebble walkway from the other side which we had to try and not get in shot as well. We shot this from both sides, also with close ups and finally a tracking shot and we finally finished shooting at around 8pm. 

This meant we did not have time to do the final scene which was a water scene which would have been too long and difficult to set up and we figured that we had enough footage anyway. 

Overall the shoot was successful and we managed to get the majority of shots we wanted and we are pleased to see the outcome after a long day of shooting.

Digipak Draft (without photography)

This is the first draft layout for our digipack. We have decided to change the album name to 'Blackout' and just have the track 'Let Go' as one of the singles. Of course we will add the photos we need to take to the digipack, but the text and track listing etc. will just lie on top of it.

We have decided to put the album name in Arabic, as we want this to be a theme in the album, as in the track we have chosen there is an arabic section, and we think this will be unique and artistic, and also more memorable to the target audience.

The Inside left will have a picture of the artsit, as illustrated in the drawings of the digipack and there will also be photography on the back and front covers.

I think that this is a good start to see what it will look like initially, however We will have to wait until the photos are done to get the full affect.

Website

http://katiehhkejti.wix.com/komalikom

For our website we have decided to keep it simplistic and black and white to fit our artist's image. We have put our record company's copyright at the bottom which is platinum records, which we created a logo for. I think that the website is easy to navigate through and it is definitely going in the right direction. We still have to add some photography at the time being and add some more information but the general layout and aesthetic is exactly what we were going for, and I think it is a success, it just needs more content at the moment which we will add soon.

Album digipack sketches

Evaluation of Animatic and Feedback

The reason for creating the storyboard animatic is so that we can have a visual of what our music video will look like, and it allows us to time it with the music to see if the visual works with the audio.

To create it we drew out the storyboards with timings etc, and then filmed it and edited the frames on premiere editing software to the music.

I think that we have been quite efficient in creating the star image as Bela in our group is creating the clothing for the artists and dancers so we will have more control over making the artist look exactly how we want.

After presenting our storyboard animatic, it wasn't exactly as we hoped it to be, due to some issues with the track etc. however these have been amended for when we actually shoot it.

The general feedback from our teacher was mainly directed at certain elements of the sets we had planned. It was mentinoed that the scene we wanted to include which involved an angled wall with water running down, may not be a possibility and so we suggested maybe using wet material instead to emulate water, however we have been told that it may still be possible to use the wall concept which is what we are hoping for.

We have a scene in the video which involves two boys dancing to indian music, dressed in asian style clothes, which our Teacher James isn't fond of, as he feels it may look comedic and ruin the high fashion theme within the video, however we intend to execute this in a very stylistic and tasteful way, using a high fashion approach in the style of Rick owens, whose clothing has influenced our video's aesthetic.

We were also told that due to health and safety we will not be able to incorporate the scene which involves one of the artists swinging in a box, and so we have changed this idea to now instead involve the artist in a water container with elastic over the top and the artist trying to escape.

Most importantly, we were told that for our video to work, it is highly dependant on our ability to provide the materials we need, and also for the actors and main artist to perform well on the day, which is why it is vital that we conduct a screen test with the main star as soon as possible.

In conclusion the animatic was very helpful in identifying how we can improve our video and also what was going to work well and what wasn't. I am now confident and look forward to creating our music video.

Research for Ancillary Tasks

For this  task we conducted research into similar artist's mediums of promotion, such as websites and album covers. We looked at 5 artists.

Websites

These are some Similar artists websites that we have looked at to draw inspiration for our own website.

Main features:

• Black websites
• Videos
• Links to: Instagram twitter Tumblr Facebook, YouTube iCloud , mail
• Focused in image
• Private photos as well
• Interviews, news

Albums

The Main features are on these albums focus on the Artist's face and style (clothing/jewelery) , which is what we want to emulate.

Our Cast

Fatima 

Fatima will be our artist who we will

promote and will be the vocalist of the video. 

Darina

Darina will be a second element to the video
she is the person who fatima will show her
dominance over.

Dayo & Etian

Dayo and Etian will be our dancers.

Asking for Copyright

This is the email that we sent to the record company that the artist of the track is signed to in order to ask for permission to use the track and avoid copyright infringement.

Storyboard Animatic

This is an animatic we created of our storyboard on Premier Pro. After watching it through we have decided that we may re compose some elements however we are confident now in pursuing our ideas for the video.

Music Video Timeline

Timeline from hurtwoodhousemedia5

Visiting lecturer from Polydor Records

On monday we were visited by emily, who is a video commissioner at Polydor Records. With her colleague she showed us some of the projects she had worked on and explained to us the commissioning  which was invaluable to our own music video promos.


Recently she has worked on Ellie Goulding's Music video for 'goodness gracious',  also La Roux's - 'kiss and tell' as well as Bipolar Sunshine's 'deckchairs on the moon'. Emily essentially produces a treatment for the music video based on information from the director, record label and artist. She explained that  sometimes the artist has a clear vision and idea for the music video concept, which she explained is great, however these concepts may sometimes be slightly too optimistic/ unachievable with regards to availabke busget etc.


On the other hand sometimes the artist does not have a prepared concept/idea for the video and in  this circumstance the director will pursue their own vision for the video.

She also hinted at the importance of references as this often helps the audience to resinate with product, this was a key factor for the kiss and tell video by La Roux, as they made a reference to telephones and incorporated a live telephone number which added an interactive aspect to the video.


In addition to this, references to products can sometimes help with the funding of the music video if it leads to sponsorship deals. For example if an artist made a deal with Dr. Dre Beats to feature their product in the music video, then they would help fund the video in return for the product being featured in the video raising brand awareness.


Furthermore, Emily also informed us that the average budget for a music video these days is between 5-10 grand for a relatively new artist, however for bigger artists such as Lana Del Rey and Rihanna, the budget can be around 200 grand as they are more established and successful.


Finally, Emily also emphasised on the point of always having a plan b. This is because cast may not show up or you may find out that you do not have permission to shoot somewhere etc. For example she referenced a time where they were going to shoot from a helicopter for the Bipolar Sunshine video, but the week before they banned aerial/ airborne drone shots.


I am very grateful to have been able to get this advice and information and of course insight as it will definitely be very helpful in creating my own music video promo.

Music video concept

Music video idea 3

Kanye West - Gone [Late Registration]

This concept would be a black and white video, and would involve the beginning showing a record player and then a hand placing a record into the record player (retro) and then the track would begin with the old sample playing, and as the player is starting the main character will sit down at a keyboard (electronic or normal) and begin to play the chords for the song and start the rap. there would be some shots of the keyboard as he raps and plays the keyboard, the idea is for it to be a mixture of modern and more organic old school music.

The performance would then continue with another character sitting down and playing the keyboard with him, and the main  characters gets up as the other continues to play the keyboard. As he gets up and moves forward you see a bunch of production crew rushing around pushing things around whist a team put a suit jacket on him and button up his shirt and but a bow tie on him and apply stage makeup to his face while he still raps during all of this. He will be looking at the camera every now and then whilst walking and he continues to pass people as he walks and the camera follows him and people pass him a drink which he sips and puts down, he also gets thrown a basketball which he bounces a bit while rapping to the camera and throws the ball away. Throughout this he would be walking through a hallway which would appear to be backstage somewhere. I would like the video to finish before he actually gets to the performance, so the video would follow him walking and passing different people and taking pictures with people until at the end he gets to the 'stage door' and as he opens it the music video ends.

An  artist with a similar image to the one I would try to convey here would be Justin Timberlake as he has a good look for this kind of track although he is not a rapper his look fits the part, specifically in his music video 'suit and tie'.

Music video idea 2

Song: Childish Gambino - 3005

For this concept I would like to have it set in a studio in black and white. The song is quite consistent in tone throughout, and I would like it to start out with the main character who would be a male dressed in an alternative way with messy hair and perhaps a bucket hat. The first shot would be their face with a close up of their upper body and head singing the intro, I would then like it to zoom out gradually to the full body and from then If possible to get a treadmill style moving floor or rotating floor object, to have him walking toward the camera on the conveyer belt singing the song/ rapping in a casual manner looking at the camera and as he walks forward toward the camera he is putting on chains and other jewellery and a tank top and gradually puts on more clothes. I would like this to be cut in with a shot of him standing still in lots of clothing with a time laps of lots of people moving in the background which could be done using a green screen.

While he is walking I would also have black paint or silly string sprayed at him from either side of himself, and while this happens he continues to sing/ rap and ignore it although it continues to build up on him.

The Artists image would be rapper/hipster wearing shorts etc.

I would also like to use spot colour in some parts of the video maybe making just his hat or an item of clothing in colour whilst the rest remains black and white.
I would like the artist image to be similar to Tyler the creator who is a rapper shown above. His dress sense and general attitude is what I would like to convey.

Music video idea 1

Song - Tove Lo - Stay High (Habits Remix) ft. Hippie Sabotage

For this track I would like to emulate a similar aesthetic to the Nicki Minaj music video for 'Pills N potions' and I would like the artist image to resemble that of Nicki Minaj's in this video specifically, rather than her sometimes more colourful and more eccentric appearance. This simplistic look she has in this video would work well for the artist image I want to create. I would like to recreate the same simplistic and stylistic in my own original way. I would like the video to show the main female character in a very dark setting that could be shot in the studio, with a lot of darkness surrounding the main character but with chiaroscuro-style lighting coming from above the character shining down on her. I would like the video to cut between her performing the song by lip-syncing but with a very serene and chilled manner about her, casually singing with many artistic elements added to this.

Regarding the Pills N potions video, I would like the costume to be similar,with mainly black and subtle make up. I like the use of tinfoil and the materials in this video and I would like to try and re create this concept in some form using the idea of the tin foil coming out of a cigarette to look like smoke.

I would also like it to involve water pouring over the girls face as she sits down to make her hair get very wet still in the dark chiaroscuro lighting. 
as the music becomes more upbeat I would like the character to still remain stationary, however i want it to cut to close ups of her face and the water quickly to match the more upbeat part of the songs, however I still want the video to mainly be this girl sitting in the dark room with different things going on in an artistic manner. 

Introduction to advanced portfolio

A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:

             

a website homepage for the band;

 

a cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package);

 

a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package).

Background to the music industry & theory

Genre
Genre is the classification of a text according to its style and content, also its form and manner of production. Genres are continually being invented, crossed and revisited, and the process of categorisation is an important one for producers and fans of music alike. The picture above lists a few examples of music Genres.

Each genre contains multiple sub genres and there are plenty cross overs and mash ups of genres. Genres have different sites of institutional support including  its performance spaces (such as nightclubs), radio stations, record shops, magazines and festivals.

Genre and Artist Image

Image is a large part of genre in the music industry, and artists promote their genre of music through their image, which is portrayed in the way they dress, photos of them, their album covers and the aesthetic of their music videos which will fit the genre for example hip hop and rap often has street looking individuals with lots of gold jewellery and fast cars whilst jazz might involve a performance in black and white with saxophones and an old style microphone etc.

Genre and Sales

In music retail and the selling of music, Genre is also a very important factor, as when people go to buy music they often stay within their genre and therefore it is important that when in a music store your music is categorised in the correct genre so that the buyer who is interested in that genre will purchase the music. Things like Spotify and pandora also rely on genre to tailor the song selection to your liking buy selecting songs of the genres you may be interested in listening to/buying.

Studying Pop stars

 In the list of the 100 greatest singers of all time, the majority of artists who are considered 'greats' are people who have passed away, such as Kurt Cobain, Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Elvis Presley etc. what makes an artist even more appealing is if they are a member of the '27 club' which is a group of singers who all lived fast and died young. Their music continues to be bought and their legacy lives on, this is because they have a perfect beginning middle and ending to their story, which means that they didn't have a chance to move into a new genre of music to conform and then lose the interests of fans, and also their death creates news headlines which helps them re enter the chance and people regain interest. Michael Jackson for example sold more records post-mortem than he had in many years before his death in 2009.

These artists tend to embody the same set of values throughout history which include:

• youthfulness
• rebelion
• sexual magnetism
• an anti-authoritarian attitude
• originality
• creativity/talent
• aggression/anger
• a disregard for social values related to drugs, sex and polite behaviour
• conspicuous consumption of sex, drugs and material goods
• success against the odds. 

The death of the star allows them to be re-marketed with perhaps a new image, as they have, after their death, truly become a star. 

This can be linked to  Richard Dyers theory of stars, which states that a star is an image not areal person that is constructed out of a range of materials (e.g. advertising, magazines etc. as well as films or music).

The purpose of the star is to make money for the record company, and so they try to provide the audiences with the star that they think they want, which is why you get many stereotypes when it comes to boy bands, rappers, pop stars etc.

Dyer said: "stars are commodities produced and consumed on the strength of their meanings. The industry is well aware of the range of audiences it caters to, the perky pre-school tweenie fan to the ageing hippy, and it does its best to keep us all happy. Historically, the industry has provided us with a range of commodities all with different appeal. One way to achieve this is by producing new stars of different types playing constantly mutating genres of music - theres always something and someone fresh to choose from. Another way is to produce a star with long-lasting appeal, who , once their brand is established, can cater to a fan audience for decades (U2 and rolling stones)".

It has been very beneficial studying the background to the music video and the theories here, from the articles provided as it will help me when i create my own music video promo and have to create a star image and brand for the artist we have to market.

Studio Exercise

In preparation for our music video shoot next year, yesterday we spent the morning in the studio shooting a music video as practice.

The track that we used was Clean Bandit - No place I'd rather be. The experience was very helpful in terms of getting to grips with how to shoot in the studio, using light and different sets, as we did not have these resources when we shot our thriller which we shot in town.

There were three sets up and ready to use when we got there, one which was a plastic sheet with coloured cylindrical lights behind. This set had a track to use so that we could create tracking shots. The next set was a couch with three wooden walls behind it and the last was just a standard green screen set up.

We alternated roles and each had a turn at either performing, using the camera and using the clapperboard. The clapperboard was so that we could time up the audio from the track with the video that we had filmed in the studio so that the lip syncing was in time with the track. I really enjoyed the performance element, and as well as being enjoyable it helped me realise the importance of having an actress/actor who is good at lip syncing for our music video next year as it is not as easy as it looks!

The tracking shot I was familiar as I had used it previously in the thriller, and reflected on the importance of having a good pace when pushing the camera on the track to ensure a smooth shot. Also, when actually on the camera shooting the shot, you need to make sure that you manually move the camera whilst it moves on the track to make sure that the subject is kept in frame.

After shooting everything, we took a break and made our way to the editing suite, where we uploaded the footage and began to edit on Final Cut Pro, which we were of course familiar with from the Thriller editing, However it was very different editing to the editing in the thriller, as you had to worry about a plethora of other aspects such as timing the audio with the track (which is where the clapperboard becomes useful) and also cutting all the different shots around each other to make the footage in the chronological order of the song.

After figuring that out the rest of the editing was pretty straight forward and the finished product was good and I was happy with it as it taught me a lot.

Comparing Star Image in Album covers

When artists bring out their album, the album cover usually communicates their star image.

For example, in Amy Mcdonald's album cover for 'This is the Life' her look is very understated. She has very subtle make up on her lips and eyes and her hair is styled in a very normal and simplistic fashion. She is also not wearing much jewellery, and she is holding a guitar which suggests that she plays very acoustic and stripped down singer/songwriter music. This will attract a certain demographic who enjoy acoustic music.

The font on the album cover is also very simplistic and the name is in bold, which could be to put out her name to make the name known, as the title of the album is just an outlined font and is not emphasised. Furthermore, she is looking down in a very pensive fashion and as a whole the album cover presents an understated image for Amy Mcdonald.

In contrast, Beyoncé's album cover is far different. She is topless with only a fur coat to cover some of her upper half, and she is heavily made up to present a more sexualised star image. She also has very wild hair and is wearing a golden bracelet.

While Beyoncé presents a sexy image it is not that promiscuous and she is presented in a more tasteful way than perhaps another similar artist would on their album cover. The font further promotes this idea, as it is a very classy refined font.

Beyoncé produces pop/R&B music and the look she presents fits this genre, as being sexy and looking good is important in pop culture and in that particular market.

In conclusion, there is a definite contrast between the two polar opposite artists in the way they present themselves to their fan bases.

Analysis of a narrative within a music video: Stan - Eminem ft. Dido

Eminem's 'Stan' is a perfect example of a narrative within a music video. The narrative follows the life of a young man (Stan) trying to emulate Eminem, obviously intensely influenced by Eminem's Star image, he writes letters to his idol and explains how similar their lives are. He also makes himself look physically similar by dying his hair blonde and wearing the same clothes.

The music video is basically Eminem responding to Stan and explaining to him that he should not be reckless, and in doing this Eminem distances himself from his Star persona. This helps the audience connect more with Eminem and relate as it distances the celebrity from the person and puts them on a similar level.

The character Stan is so heavily influenced by Eminem that he even acts out a line in Eminem's song 'Kim' where he explains how he locked his wife in the boot of his car.

Since the story is a narrative it has a beginning middle and conclusion. The way that the song tells the story so well makes it very easy for the narrative to follow the song and they work very well together.

Dido plays the roll of Stan's girlfriend which is odd as she is the other main artist on the track yet she has a roll lesser than the actor in the narrative who is not an artist, however, it adds to the originality and Eminem-style vibe of the video.

The Star Image Eminem is separating himself from in this music video is the 'Slim Shady' image that he promoted on previous albums where he preached much more violently and this track was his turning away point from that star image and he is now much more positive in his music, and I think that this music video shows why he has decided to preach more positively as it was previously having negative effects on his fan base.

Analysing star image in music videos: 5 Seconds Of Summer (Rock/Pop)

5 Seconds of Summer present themselves as a teen pop/rock band in their music video for 5 Seconds of Summer, however they have broken the mould of entering the market as a clean cut group of young boys like one direction, instead they are a little more edgy.

The lead singer has a lip singer and there are two guitarists, one of which has tattoos, and the other has a crazy peroxide hairstyle with a  black stripe in it and ripped sleeveless clothing. The video is a combination of a performance (in a sort of alley) and a compilation of multiple narratives.

The performance in the alley persists throughout the video and involves them singing/performing to the camera, playing their instruments which follows the rock music video stereotype. The narratives include different scenes of very different people (prisoners/people in a grocery shop/policemen/people in court/ teens in school) all getting undressed. I think that the message of the video is to show that although the people are all very different they are all human and all the same? I'm not sure as it is very bizarre! However this is my reading of it.

The fact that it has people getting undressed and the band look rather alternative/ edgy would indicate that they are not aiming to the young pop demographic that perhaps one direction started with, and are instead aiming for a slightly older teenage demographic who enjoy rock/pop.

In conclusion, since rock and roll has been absent from mainstream music for a while, I feel like 5 Seconds of Summer are the return of mainstream rock to the mainstream media, however it is a sugarcoated pop rock as rock and roll doesn't appeal to the mainstream audience these days and so they are an edgy pop rock group appealing to teenagers.

Analysing Star Image in Music videos: Jay-Z & Kanye West - Ni**as In Paris (Hip-Hop/rap)

In Jay-Z and Kanye West's single 'Ni**as in Paris', the music video is a performance video with only footage of them performing the track live in concert, mixed with graphics including a kaleidoscope effect, and abstract imagery of tigers and panthers. There is also Imagery of large marble buildings with pillars and gold, also clouds that look heaven-like.

I think that the theme of the music video is to make the two rappers seem 'god-like' and very powerful. They follow the 'hip-hop' stereotype with regards to clothing, especially Jay-Z wearing large gold chains, leather, hood and snapback (cap) however Kanye West's style is more influenced by fashion, as he is more eccentric wearing a leather skirt which is popular in high fashion and popular culture.

Whilst the video is not generic modern day Hip-Hop style which would include half-naked girls and flaunting of money, it still does follow the stereotype of using crude language including the constant repetition of the N word, which is even in the title.

The star image that Jay Z and Kanye West present are very popular God-Like men, this image is presented by the way they have shots from behind them looking over the crowd as they all put their hands in a triangle shape almost in worship. The Heavenly clouds and Marble buildings with gold statues and pillars also present God-like connotations. The use of Lions, Tigers and Panthers also present the idea that they are powerful like the animals.

Analysing Star Image in Music videos: Lorde - Royals (Pop genre)

In Lorde's music video for her debut single 'Royals' the main message she is sending out with the lyrics and footage is normality. The star image that represents Lorde is that of a normal understated teen, who enjoys living the normal life of a teenager, and is not interested in an extravagant life. Obviously this contradicts the fact that the song itself and the industry she has chosen to enter and gain success in will give her the complete opposite, the song allows the audience of teenagers to relate and feel like they are 'just like Lorde', as she lives this 'normal life' and does not want the famous extravagant life that does not seem feasibly achievable for young teens listening to her music.

Lorde presents herself with a very authentic, raw, simple, understated and organic look. Her make up is rather understated, especially in contrast with other stars in the same industry. Her clothing is also not too 'out there' and is similar to what most other teens would wear. Lorde is also still a teen herself at  age 17, making her even more relatable to her audience.

The video has two different elements, a narrative, and a performance. The performance consists of a stripped down simple close up shot of Lorde singing to the camera, this cuts to and from the narrative, which follows the life of 3/4 male teenagers, living the life she explains through her lyrics, understated and not extravagant. They look quite 'rough', this is conveyed by them shaving their heads and fighting. It is also shown that they are not from a wealthy background, in very ordinary clothes  and in very ordinary settings, such as on the train and on basketball courts. However, there are also very artistic and abstract shots, such as the teens submerged in rain or abstract shots of different areas of the house, suggesting that she is rather alternative/unique and not the generic 17 year old pop singer, instead an edgy unique 17 year old musician making respectable music.

Richard Dyers Theory on Star Image

Star image from hurtwoodhousemedia5

Start of A2

After sitting our AS final examination last friday, we are now going to move on to the A2 course. We will be looking at Star Image, specifically in the music industry. This will involve looking at how musicians/artists present themselves to their audiences to sell the product that is the 'star'.

We will be looking more specifically at music videos, this is where you can clearly visualise the image that the star and their team chooses to put out for the public to see, in order to create a fan base who will invest in the product. I look forward to getting started as the music industry and pop culture is something that I'm interested in outside of media studies anyway...

Evaluation Task 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product.

Evaluation Task 6: What have we learnt about technologies from the process of constructing your product?

We added in annotations to answer the question.

Evaluation Task 5: How did you attract/address your audience

Our Thriller's primary audience is teens age 15-20
Our Thriller's secondary audience is Parents and people age 21- 39

The theme of our thriller is bullying, which could attract a broad demographic, however it will probably most attract British teens as they have a better understanding of school life and bullying, they also have a better understanding of the social classes involved for example 'Chavs'.
On the other hand, Parents may find it interesting, as I learned from my research, because they obviously have children who could potentially be bullied and so they can relate in that sense, but this is definitely the secondary audience.

This screenshot shows the school environment of our thriller, which attracts the primary audience as they are familiar with it and can relate to it as it's a large part of their every day life.






 Our thriller would be largely aimed at a British audience, specifically British teens. The setting of Ethan walking home is very 'British Urban' and this will attract a young British audience who live in this society.


 This screen shot shows the girl wearing heavy make up and large gold hoop earrings, which promotes the 'chavy' stereotype, which attracts the primary audience.
         

This screenshot below showing Jake/Ethan on the floor, will make the audience feel sympathy for the child, which will attract our secondary audience of parents, as they will relate as they will think of how they put their own children into the same environment (school) everyday where they are not In control of what goes on.

Evaluation task 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

As you can see from the answers from the different age ranges, it is clear that the audience for our thriller is not a definite demographic. The 40+ age range seemed to want to watch due to the fact that they would find it interesting as a parent, whilst younger age groups explained they would either find it not interesting as it is depressing, whilst others seemed to be interested by it. Therefore I feel that our product may have an audience of many age groups.

Evaluation task 3: What kind of media institution would distribute your product and why?

The distribution process of a film is one of the most important aspects of post-production. It is basically getting the film out there to be seen by audiences. There are many different media institutions who all distribute on different sized scales. Large studios like Universal and Warner Bros. tend to produce blockbusters which are distributed worldwide, whilst small independent film companies such as Warp Films in the UK or Warner Independent Pictures in the US tend to produce low budget independent films which are distributed mainly just nationally rather than internationally.
There are also film companies such as Vertigo Films (UK) and New Line Cinema (US) which tend to produce films that they intend for national audiences but they do produce films every so often which achieve international/commercial success, such as Street Dance for Vertigo and Rush Hour for New Line Cinema.

Our thriller 'Food Chain' is basically a low budget, independent British film, which would probably, in the real world, be distributed by a company such as Warp Films, as these are typically the type of films they tend to produce, and it would be an Independent British film intended for a British Audience. This is probably the most realistic scenario in which our thriller would be distributed if it was a real film in the real world.

However, our plot basically involves the story of a young boy who is unsupported at home and who is bullied at school, which is actually a pretty basic storyline, the only thing that makes it British is the location we have set it in and the cast etc. So our thriller could actually be quite easily translated into an American Independent film about a boy who is bullied at school and unsupported at home, if we were just to change the setting and transport the story to a place like Compton in California or Harlem/The Bronx in New York. If this were the scenario, 'Food Chain' could then be distributed by a US Independent film distribution company such as New Line Cinema or perhaps Warner Independent Films as this is typically what they would probably be looking to produce in the sense that it is a low budget film with a simple yet intense storyline.

A powerhouse film company such as Warner Bros. or Paramount, would however never give our film a chance, as they aim to produce high concept films which will generate a large revenue, which is simply not achievable with the low concept project that 'Food chain' would be if it were a real project.

There would be a chance that a company like Vertigo Films could take a chance on a low concept British film however, as they did this with Gareth Edward's 'Monsters' which was a low budget film that went on to achieve commercial success. The same could be said for a US company like Lionsgate, as they took a similar chance on the film 'Precious' which included a cast that wasn't known, and had a very similar plot to ours involving a young girl unsupported at home, who is bullied.

In the world that we live, with such an advanced level of technology and social networking, it would also be a possibility for a film company like Vertigo or New Line Cinema to take a project like Food Chain, and use the power of social networking as a second hand distributer. What I am reffering to is platforms like Netflix, Xbox Live or iTunes. Vertigo have done this before with the project 'Monsters' which they distributed through Xbox Live where they assumed they would find a demographic that would enjoy the project. I think that Vertigo could take a similar course of action for our project in the distribution of it, which would help it achieve more success than it would should it be released in a few low key local cinemas.

Furthermore, if our thriller was American,  a US company like Warner Independent films could easily use a platform like Netflix in a similar way to distribute the film. Another way could even include Netflix just distributing it by themselves. Although Netflix are not actually a Media Institution/Film production company, they have done this before with the TV Series 'Orange is the new Black' which has achieved a considerable amount of success and exposure. I could definitely see this happening with Food Chain.

In conclusion, the most realistic institution which would most likely take our project on board, would probably be Warp films, as they obviously have a history for making films that are similar to ours in terms of them being Low concept etc. So a company like Warp films is the kind of media institution which would most likely distribute our film. However, there are still the alternatives that I have mentioned previously that I would definitely consider Feasable alternatives with regards to the distribution of our film, if it were a real life project. It is also safe to say that a company like Warner Bros., Paramount, or Universal would not take a chance on such a low concept film.

Evaluation task 2 -how does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our thriller is set in an urban environment. The characters in it are members of different social groups within that urban society. Film and media will often exaggerate the characteristics of these characters to promote a certain stereotype that each character represents.

In the case of our thriller, we cast Jake Pratt as the role of the school boy who is bullied. He is a white male of age around 17, dressed in an unattractive school uniform, which could indicate hat he perhaps comes from a privileged background, however in our story, he comes from a working class background. To show this we included segments like the text message from his dad, and also the setting that he walks home in. We chose particularly gritty looking urban scenes to further promote the idea that he comes from a working class background as he is not being driven home etc. The character that Jake is portraying is therefore a white male teenager from a working class family in a city.

When choosing the costume for Elina's character of the female bully, we decided on an adidas hoody and large gold hoop earrings along with her school uniform. The fact that she is wearing these extra items of clothing that are considered 'chavy' on top of her school uniform suggests that she attends a state school, as in a private school there would be much stricter dressing regulations. This shows her as a white teenage girl from a working class background who comes from an intimidating social group of bullies.

As for the other two actors, Jonnie and Owen, they played the other two bullies who we also dressed in school uniform with Nike trainers and a flatcap, also jackets instead of blazers. This also shows them of as chavy individuals from working class backgrounds as they are part of this intimidating social group of intimidating bullies.

In conclusion, I think that our thriller is a great example to show the representation of particular social groups as we have such great exaggerated characters that really show off their stereotyes.

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

Evaluation task 1 from hurtwoodhousemedia5

Food Chain Final product

Seventh and Final day editing

In todays session, we managed to get the thriller completely fixed and finished within the first half hour which was great. What we decided to do now was add in some music, so we browsed through a bunch of different urban CDs to try and find something that would fit our thriller. We searched for quite  a while but all the tracks were too upbeat and didn't fit the narrative. We went back and watched our thriller for inspiration, and this is when our teacher noticed that our thriller was too long! instead of being the standard 2:30 mins it was 3 and a half mins! After noticing this we had to cut out some of the walking shot and therefore cut out some of the less necessary credits. One outcome that did prevail from this is that we found music was no longer neccesery with the new, shorter version. The new shorter version was better in the way that we feel it keeps the viewers attention better. We are happy that we have finished the thriller!

Sixth day editing

Today was a frustrating day for Harry and I in our editing process. Our thriller was pretty much complete and we were putting on the finishing touches and getting rid of minor glitches, but unfortunately Harry worked too hard on trying to fix a strange popping sound that kept appearing in the scene where Jake is on the ground. Unfortunately this lead to the apple colour wheel spinning and we were unable to edit any further, we had also forgotten to save the last session so we have been set back quite a bit. However this is not a major issue and we will fix it next session, however this has taught us to know when to get up and leave something!

Fifth day editing

Today, we continued with adding in the credits. We had a template of another film, which gave us a rough order of the credits that appeared, for ours, we used this template and also inspiration from looking at other opening sequences. We decided to make each credit appear and disappear rather than fading in and out, as we felt this fit our theme better. We also decided not to put any credits on tracking shots, as this would break the flow of the credits. One other thing we chose not to do which was an idea, was to make credits appear as the character walked past, but we decided that this was to playful and that is not what we are going for.

We are now at the point where we have finished all the footage and credits, and we have now moved on to sound, which is proving to be one of the more challenging elements of the editing process.

Fourth day editing

Today Harry and I had another editing session. Today what we mainly focused on was finishing the end sequence by adding in clips of the bullies walking away to the clip of Ethan falling to the floor. Once we had finished this, we went back over the entire sequence and watched it through, pausing at any points we thought that shots should cut quicker. During this process we shortened a few clips, particularly one quick shot of Ethan walking past a garage door, which was a bit long so we shortened it.

By the end of the session, all of our footage was In the right place and we began to start adding in our title credits.

Third day editing

Today we really just focused on the fight scene, which proved to be quite a tricky task. We successfully managed to get the beginning of the confrontation in the quick cut style that we envisioned. We struggled cutting together the two different angles in the clips that involved dialogue because it proved difficult to make this look smooth.

In order to try and solve this problem we have been playing around with the sound to try and make a smoother transition between different clips. We have pretty much almost finished our fight scene now and today was a good solid session.

Second day editing

After our last editing session, we had basically got all the footage set up and ready to edit in order. What we did this session was basically focus on cutting the clips to the right length. We decided that shots like the text message shot should long enough so that the viewer can comfortably read it three times. We also worked on making sure that the clock shot was the right length etc.

Eventually we got on to starting to edit together the fight scene after doing all the walking and classroom shots. We have only just started on this but we have decided to have the walking and classroom scenes long and dragged out and then the fight scene should be really quick and spontaneous with quick cuts from the different angles we shot it from.

First day editing

Today we began the editing process of our thriller. We basically just got the ball rolling by selecting all of the clips with the best shots that we were going to actually use. We then just put all the shots in order so that we could get a rough visual idea of how the sequence wood look, and then after that we just began to trim down some of the clips and really begin to edit.

There were a few things that we edited that we took some time to make a decision on, such as how long we should have the text message shown on screen, as it needs to be there just long enough so that the audience can easily read it, but not too long so that it feels like its been dragged out. Another clip we had to play around with was the shot of the clock as we had to figure out how long it should be shown for.

Today was a good start to our editing and I look forward to doing some more.