We watched the first episode of virtual revolution played on BB2 in February 2010. The film introduced us to the orgins of the internet and suggests that although intially, the internet was based on the ideology of freedom, is now full of institutions trying to sell products.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
New Media Technology Vocabulary
Netocracy: The idea that the web is controlled by no-one. The audience/ consumer is now the producer
Web 2.0: An advancement on the “old world wide web”, a second generation that improves the first
Creativity: The notion that the user can create their own page/ area to reflect their interests and personality
Architecture of participation: The idea that web-pages are built to encourage the audience to get involved in creating their own “spaces”
User-generate content: The idea that the audience controls the content and how it is displayed
Information Rich: The idea that pages and sites are full of images, sounds, connections and uses
Information Cloud: A criticism of web 2.0, the idea that no one is controlling or filtering information, so the user can become lost or confused or misinformed
Granulated Data: The idea that web 2.0 pages provide you with bits of information at a time
Mash-up: The idea that web 2.0 pages provide audience to change content/ text pages and make things personal to them
On demand, convenience, Folksonomy: Web 2.0 is based around usable, searchable and navigatable windows or “tags”
Web 2.0: An advancement on the “old world wide web”, a second generation that improves the first
Creativity: The notion that the user can create their own page/ area to reflect their interests and personality
Architecture of participation: The idea that web-pages are built to encourage the audience to get involved in creating their own “spaces”
User-generate content: The idea that the audience controls the content and how it is displayed
Information Rich: The idea that pages and sites are full of images, sounds, connections and uses
Information Cloud: A criticism of web 2.0, the idea that no one is controlling or filtering information, so the user can become lost or confused or misinformed
Granulated Data: The idea that web 2.0 pages provide you with bits of information at a time
Mash-up: The idea that web 2.0 pages provide audience to change content/ text pages and make things personal to them
On demand, convenience, Folksonomy: Web 2.0 is based around usable, searchable and navigatable windows or “tags”
Task Four: Directors Commentary
Director
0.01
In our opening shot we used a blue screen and after effects to create the location of the New York sky scape. Here we instantly recognise the significance new media technologies played in creating the narrative of our production.
To create the location, We super imposed an image of a NEW YORK CITY skyscraper on the blue screen. We then imported the image onto after effects and duplicated it to our sequence on to final cut pro. This new technology allowed us to give our music video a new location, which gives our video more variety in its mise-en-scene and helps convey the narrative of our production.
0.25
We used the Internet to research a variety of prison locations to give our music video a sense of realism. We ‘googled’ Alcatraz prison in San Francisco, USA. From this cell, we looked at how the light green colours and rusty, dirty surroundings could be used in our own cell to give our star image a dirty and grounded attitude.
In the zoom out to reveal the band we had to rescale the image in after effects to make sure it made it look authentic we used it by setting a key frame of her close up and then revealing a another key frame with the full wide image of the band.
Continuing with our prison set idea we took inspiration from other music videos around which we researched on YouTube. The vast amount of user generated content on YouTube meant that there was a lot of visual stimuli to draw from. We looked at conventional music videos that have been or are in the popular charts today. We looked at The Lady GaGa video ‘Telephone’ for example, the narrative of this video gave us inspiration for our lead female singer to be enclosed in a prison cell, we thought this video conveyed Lady GaGa's star image to be a powerful woman who wasn’t afraid to stand up for what she believed in. The way Gaga has been constructed follows the conventions of Richard Dyer's theory of a star image.
We also explored anti-institutional material on YouTube including independent music videos. This extensive and varied research gave us the knowledge to create an original and interesting set that would appeal to the target demographic and highlight our star images female empowerment.
Tunnel:
1.34 We also wanted our music video to be as visually interesting as possible through varied locations. For the Tunnel we took influence for the Pussy Cat Dolls music video Buttons. We wanted the tunnel not only to create an interesting location but also highlight our star’s strength and power to escape.
To create the tunnel, on after effects we duplicated our original footage to fill the tunnel as if it was spiralling down so that she was in the bottom of it. From this, we used a layering technique to size up and down the tunnels degrees to make the depth cues larger than the actual tunnel itself.
In the production process, we used the Internet to creates blogs, using them as creative filters. They allowed our group to share ideas and creative stimuli that would appeal to the demographic we researched. We uploaded our storyboard to receive early feedback from our fellow group members, so we could make collective decisions. This meant while editing our footage, we were easily able to refer back to the storyboards and the comments we have made on it.
Using the new techniques on Final cut pro in the editing process we were able to use a series of jump cuts between tunnel and rooftop to give a sense of urgency to the narrative as she is about to escape. This also resulted in a more visually exciting video from an audiences perspective.
New media technology gave us the freedom to try out new techniques and ideas to create a conventional video to support our target audience of 15 – 19 thank you for watching
0.01
In our opening shot we used a blue screen and after effects to create the location of the New York sky scape. Here we instantly recognise the significance new media technologies played in creating the narrative of our production.
To create the location, We super imposed an image of a NEW YORK CITY skyscraper on the blue screen. We then imported the image onto after effects and duplicated it to our sequence on to final cut pro. This new technology allowed us to give our music video a new location, which gives our video more variety in its mise-en-scene and helps convey the narrative of our production.
0.25
We used the Internet to research a variety of prison locations to give our music video a sense of realism. We ‘googled’ Alcatraz prison in San Francisco, USA. From this cell, we looked at how the light green colours and rusty, dirty surroundings could be used in our own cell to give our star image a dirty and grounded attitude.
In the zoom out to reveal the band we had to rescale the image in after effects to make sure it made it look authentic we used it by setting a key frame of her close up and then revealing a another key frame with the full wide image of the band.
Continuing with our prison set idea we took inspiration from other music videos around which we researched on YouTube. The vast amount of user generated content on YouTube meant that there was a lot of visual stimuli to draw from. We looked at conventional music videos that have been or are in the popular charts today. We looked at The Lady GaGa video ‘Telephone’ for example, the narrative of this video gave us inspiration for our lead female singer to be enclosed in a prison cell, we thought this video conveyed Lady GaGa's star image to be a powerful woman who wasn’t afraid to stand up for what she believed in. The way Gaga has been constructed follows the conventions of Richard Dyer's theory of a star image.
We also explored anti-institutional material on YouTube including independent music videos. This extensive and varied research gave us the knowledge to create an original and interesting set that would appeal to the target demographic and highlight our star images female empowerment.
Tunnel:
1.34 We also wanted our music video to be as visually interesting as possible through varied locations. For the Tunnel we took influence for the Pussy Cat Dolls music video Buttons. We wanted the tunnel not only to create an interesting location but also highlight our star’s strength and power to escape.
To create the tunnel, on after effects we duplicated our original footage to fill the tunnel as if it was spiralling down so that she was in the bottom of it. From this, we used a layering technique to size up and down the tunnels degrees to make the depth cues larger than the actual tunnel itself.
In the production process, we used the Internet to creates blogs, using them as creative filters. They allowed our group to share ideas and creative stimuli that would appeal to the demographic we researched. We uploaded our storyboard to receive early feedback from our fellow group members, so we could make collective decisions. This meant while editing our footage, we were easily able to refer back to the storyboards and the comments we have made on it.
Using the new techniques on Final cut pro in the editing process we were able to use a series of jump cuts between tunnel and rooftop to give a sense of urgency to the narrative as she is about to escape. This also resulted in a more visually exciting video from an audiences perspective.
New media technology gave us the freedom to try out new techniques and ideas to create a conventional video to support our target audience of 15 – 19 thank you for watching
Task Four Notes: Compare how new digital technologies have enabled us to be creative in our two media productions
AS Foundation Production
In my first year we researched and planned as part of a group the opening sequence to a thriller. We went through a series of phases of production, from research and planning, to construction through to past productions and marketing and promotion.
RESEARCH AND PLANNING
Internet/youtube/computers
Our initial research was heavily internet driven. The internet was a key tool. The netocracy of the web and the user generated content gave us free access to a wide range of creative stimuli
- Consider: Quality and Relevance
- Consider: Information Cloud
- Consider: On Demand Feature of YouTube
Blog
- Example of free software application made possible by HTML code.
- Example of Netocracy but empowering audiences with the publishing and promotional capabilities of dominant media institutions.
- Also creatively very useful to organise images and ideas to make discerning choices (the Blog acts as a creative filter)
- Our Blog was used as an online diary in which we would record and date our pre-production, construction and evaluation of our sequential development towards the Horror film opening sequence.
Photoshop
A piece of industry standard software- not cheap, not free to the wide public but available at school
- Example of convergence technology, used to create our Thriller Posters (helped to expand our knowledge of generic codes and conventions of film genres)
CONSTRUCTION
Camera:
Used the digital camera to gather images that would inspire and gather pre-production ideas
- To create the storyboard, we used a digital camera to frame the shot as we wanted and then turned them into silhouettes using Photoshop.
- Sony PD170’s – used in preliminary task to learn the basic rules of camera shots and movements: reverse shots, P.O.V, low, high used for a conversation.
- AS final product using tracking, panning and canted angles
- The Sony PD170 is a lower defined camera.
Final Cut Pro
Learned how to use the software from scratch, and therefore took some time getting to grips with how the software works. We were taught specific knowledge of editing techniques (fades, dissolves and super imposes).
- We were taught the traditional forms of film: continuity cuts, cut away, cross cutting- to make narrative sense, slow-motion and time lapse
Soundtrack Pro
Used sound FX, Synchronised sounds, ambient sounds
- Mic Boom was used to pick up sound and vocal dialogue to create the suspense of the thriller.
- As the music was composed after our final edited version, the music complimented the tense and unnerving atmosphere of the opening sequence.
A2 Advanced Production
RESEARCH AND PLANNING
Internet/youtube/computers
To browse the web searching for inspiration, music video ideas, successful advertising campaigns, album art, band websites, myspace etc.
- Explored anti-institutional material (independent, low-budget)
By research we were able to create a video that conformed and rejected typical music video conventions.
Blog
- Example of free software application made possible by HTML code.
Example of Netocracy but empowering audiences with the publishing and promotional capabilities of dominant media institutions.
Also creatively very useful to organise images and ideas to make discerning choices (the Blog acts as a creative filter) - Our Blog was used as an online diary in which we would record and date our pre-production, construction and evaluation of our sequential development
Photoshop
Was used to create a poster for the artist and using inspiration and logos from other artists to create an authentic music poster
CONSTRUCTION
Camera:
Used the digital camera to gather images that would inspire and gather pre-production ideas
- JVC: giving our pop video a finer resolution and a greater depth of field. Gives the product a high quality, professional standard
Used the camera in a more creative way; explored a variety of shots and each shot had a greater purpose to convey the story
Final Cut Pro
As we had used Final Cut Pro last year we were able to make our own creative decisions on cuts and timings.
- Used Marker Points whilst editing to help with rhythm and pace
We had to synchronise the lyrics and lip sink the music using a timeline
After Effects
We used logging shots from final cut to after effects to make sure the shots were exact after putting the effects on to give our production a finished and polished story that would be clear for the demographic to follow
- Use of blue screen
Task Three: Audience Feedback and Response
Once completing our music video and album cover we wanted to ask our target audience their response to the product. We asked a wide range of demographics so that we could evaluate whether our initial aims had been successful.We created an online survey using surverymonkey.com, this allowed us to make our questionnaires interactively and we were able to organise our responses effectively. As a group we came up with a variety of questions that would; establish the audience's demographic (for example Age, Gender etc.), highlight the strength's of our production, and the areas in which our product could be have been improved.
Referring to Stuart Hall's "encoding and decoding" theory, the responses to our video were complex as some gave us a preferred reading and responded in a way we wanted them to, whilst others gave us a negotiated reading and interpreted the music video in a completely different way. In general, the audience feedback was very positive. They all said they felt connected with the star image through the close-ups, which was one of our main aims from the start. Moreover, many of the responses showed that the themes of female empowerment had been successful conveyed. "i liked the way she appeared dominant over the camera and looked powerful over the male band". The responses also showed that the special effects were particularly successful in conveying the narrative of the video, the audience understood the journey of our star escaping jail in a visual and exciting way "the tunnel was my favourite bit". However, some of the responses showed that the choice of costume in the prison (gaffe tape) slightly distanced the female audiences as her image was too sexual and overpowering. Furthermore, our audience feedback showed the need to include more shots of the band, many responses show that there was to much on the star and not enough of the whole band in general.
Moreover, the feedback we received on YouTube was also very positive. "hurtwoodhousemedia:I really liked the concept of the video and how at the end she escapes by helicopter. It was really clever how you used the lights to create the effect of a helicopter hovering over the roof top. i also really like the shots looking through the jail bars, especially the close ups with the bars blurred. She's giving direct address to the audience which gives us a connection with her. really good guys!". From this response, we have shown we were successfully able to create a star image that followed the conventions of Richard Dyer's Theory that "a star should be both present and absent" through direct address and connection with the audience.
These responses have been very helpful in evaluating the success of our product. From the responses we seem to have achieved many of our original aims. These aims were to a create a powerful, rebellious star image that wo
uld draw in the target demographic and make them "want to see her again". We also wanted the audience to be able to relate to our star image through age, looks and ideas that conform to many aspirations of our target audience. However, looking back I would reconsider the choice of costume in the video for our star image, as this seemed to distance the audience at times by being too provocative and therefore making her seem unrelatable.http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/C57JHG3
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JKJLRZX
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JK6LZQT
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Task One
Richard Dyer argues that a star image is based on two paradoxes. The star must be:
• Simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer
• Making the star both present and absent to the audience.
With this is mind all conventions and forms of Pop Videos are used to create a star image and how you challenge those forms and conventions depend on the target demographic.
Direct Address
Direct Address creates a relationship between the consumer and the star image by connection and makes a star seem like an ordinary person (relatable and relevant to the audience). Although we used a variety of close direct address shots, we also wanted images where our star broke direct contact with the camera. By having the star look away from the camera gives her an extraordinary status and makes the target demographic more interested as to what she will do next as they are wishing to complete her “incoherent” star image.
• Simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer
• Making the star both present and absent to the audience.
With this is mind all conventions and forms of Pop Videos are used to create a star image and how you challenge those forms and conventions depend on the target demographic.
Direct Address
Direct Address creates a relationship between the consumer and the star image by connection and makes a star seem like an ordinary person (relatable and relevant to the audience). Although we used a variety of close direct address shots, we also wanted images where our star broke direct contact with the camera. By having the star look away from the camera gives her an extraordinary status and makes the target demographic more interested as to what she will do next as they are wishing to complete her “incoherent” star image.
This convention of direct address is used in Rihanna's Video Disturbia- her connection with the camera allows the audience to relate and emphathise with the vunerable side of her star image, which contrasts to her predominante bold image (making her more appealing to the target demographic).
Concept
The concept of our production was based on the idea of female empowerment and strength. The story of the video is our lead singer escaping jail, through a tunnel to her band, where she escapes by helicopter. Our concept helps heighten the idea of Richard Dyer’s ideas that a star is an image not a real person. The fact that she is able to break free from jail, without the help of others and ends up escaping by helicopter gives our star a “god-like” strength and status. At the same time however, her rebellious attitude and her fight for female empowerment makes her seem relatable from an audience’s perspective and a role model for younger generations to aspire to. Our concept gives the music video both realism and surrealism, which is just how we want our star image to be conveyed (as it is unlikely anyone would actually be able to escape from jail but the idea that someone can fight for their freedom in that way is exciting).
This idea of female empowerment is a very popular concept for female solo artists. As shown in Lady Gaga's Video Telephone. In this video she is bailed out of jail, poisons a whole cafe and escapes by driving off into the abyss. This video connotes the idea of her strength and how she is more powerful than men and the law.
Use of Performance Clips
By using performance clips we reinforce the band’s organic image. By using close ups on the band, we are able to give the band talent and credibility, and helps to move away from the dominant lead singer. In the editing process, we used the instrumental performance clips to give the video a sense of realism and highlight the musical talent of the band. However, our audeince feedback suggested that we should have used more images of the band as they thought the focus was too much on the star, therefore looking back I would now use more images of the whole band to create a complete image of the band and give the video more variety.
Back Lighting
We wanted the lighting on our lead singer to heighten her powerful star image. With bright lighting reflected on to her face, our singer not only looks attractive but it we were able to create her a “god-like” status, as if the moon (from the New York backdrop) was reflecting of her face.
An example of Backlighting giving a star image a pure and powerful status is shown in Britney Spears Toxic Video. In this image, the star is lying on the floor with diamonds stuck to her body, and the backlight is projected behind her to give her almost a “halo-like” glow all over her body.
We wanted the lighting on our lead singer to heighten her powerful star image. With bright lighting reflected on to her face, our singer not only looks attractive but it we were able to create her a “god-like” status, as if the moon (from the New York backdrop) was reflecting of her face.
An example of Backlighting giving a star image a pure and powerful status is shown in Britney Spears Toxic Video. In this image, the star is lying on the floor with diamonds stuck to her body, and the backlight is projected behind her to give her almost a “halo-like” glow all over her body.
Camera Angles
We manipulated our camera angles to create and emphasis a dominant and sexual star image. We used a series of close-ups, extreme close-ups and low-angle shots all over her body, to give our lead singer sexual magnetism over the screen and highlight her rebellious attitude to the audience. This enabled us to present our star as an object of extraordinary desire. Moreover, the pace in which we edited these shots meant that the video became enchanting to watch, as the audience wish to complete the stars incoherent image.
This convention is also shown in the Pixie Lott Music Video: Cry Me Out- there are contiunous extreme close-ups on her eyes, making her sexually attractive to the consumer.
Special Effects
The use of special effects transports the audience to different locations which helps to create the concept for our video. We also wanted to use special effects to give the music video pace and look visually interesting, for example we wanted the contrast from the bright New York background to the grimy prison cell, to not only look interesting but highlight the many aspects of our star images personality. As though she is both youthful and exciting, (standing on the rooftop looking over New York), and dangerous and dirty (dancing in a prison cell).
Moreover, the use special effects suggest that money has been invested in the post-production of the video and the overall image of the band. Which helps influence the target demographic into believing the band are worthwhile, as people are willing to invest in them.
An Example of Special Effects creating an exciting narative and visual impact is shown in Britney's Toxic Video- the effects are used to highlight the dangerous and dominant image of the star.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Album Cover
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