Final Pieces

Main Task

Ancillary Tasks

Evaluation 4

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

Even before making the video, me and Katie relised how different the tools and equipment would be for making and editing the video and creating the digipak and poster compared to our AS Level task. We would be using Photoshop and Adobe Premiere Elements to create our tasks and even theough we had a little bit of knowledge from last year with Photoshop, we had not used Premiere before so this would be a new experience for the two of us.



We had alot of experience with Blogger we used in last year in AS Level. It was a very easy way to publish our ideas and research, with a full access to the internet, it made it easier for us to do work. It helped us keep a record from start to finish of how we produced everything construction, research and planning and we were able to use search engines to find out information.

For the filming, it was essential to have a camera (obviously!) For filming, we used a Canaon FS200 Camcorder to film everything. As Katie was starring in the video, I was the person to film everything so I became very familiar with it and filming the scenes bacame easier and we went on. When we had our first session of filming, the camera was moving quite a bit , so using the tripod made it alot easier to film.

Once we had filmed everything, we moved onto the next step and edited the video. For this, we used the software Adobe Premiere Elements. Me and Katie had never used this programme before so it was a new experience for both of us. However, Katie did have more experience with IT programmes than myself so she started of with the editing but I caught on so was able to edit myself. Whilst working Adobe Premiere, we were able to get screeen shots of the process in which we had to do to create our final cut.

The main part of our final cut was the change in colour throughout. When we showed memories of Katie and Matt we showed them in black and white, whereas we put the argument scenes in colour to show the present day.

For a number of scenes we used a cross dissolve filter to show the two of them apart but on in the same place. We believed this was the most natural way to show a transition and worked really well.

At the start of the video, we used a zoom in effect on Katie's boots as we thought it went well with the timing of the music and also a good way to transition to the next scene which was a memory scene.

Photoshop was essential within creating our ancillary tasks which was the digipak and poster. We had both used Photoshop last year with creating a magazine so we were both familiar with the programme. With using the programme, Me and Katie both used many different tools to create our final digipak and poster including:

• Filter Tool


• Gradient Tool
  
• Rectangle Marquee Tool
  
• Horizontal Type Tool


• Paint Bucket Tool


• Magnetic Lasso Tool

The filter that was used for the entire ancillary task was the 'Note Paper' tool which I used in making the poster and Katie used with making the Digipak. It gave the image a grey and white sketchy effect and was used to make it a theme.

There were a variety of different filters I could use and I was then able to change the image balance, graininess and relief.

I was then able to add text with information of the band and song.

From the beginning of the course, I have used many different tools and technologies to help create the entire tasks. I have learnt about many new skills and progressed in my IT to finish everything as a whole. Overall, I am really pleased with everything than me and Katie have created and the skills I have developed through the entire course.

Evaluation 3

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
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Media Audience Feedback

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Feedback from the audience is essential for the process of the music video, to see what was our target audience liked and also what could be improved. For our rough cut, we recieved written feedback which was extremly helpful to help us improve for our final cut.



The overall feedback from the rough cut:

• How we kept returning to the bench shows the significance of what it portrayed to the couple and how its where they reminise


• The transitions and filters used to introduce the characters were effective


• The video showed a story narrative to the song


• The camera was not a very brilliant quality and was too pixilated

From the great feedback we recieved from the rough cut we decided not to change too much of the video. We were really pleased of how our audience reacted to our video.

For the final cut, we decided to use a different technique to gain feedback. We interviewed an audience to which we thought would watch our video as we thought this would be the most useful way to gain peoples opinions.

Evaluation 2

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

Evaluation 1

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

Before creating our final products for the music video me and katie created, we had to first see the conventio0ns of real music videos. We researched different music videos that would relate to our inital idea of a love story gone wrong. After analysing two particular videos that show a relationship broken down, we were then able to focus want we wanted our final video should look like.



Craig Davis included in his article called 'Approach to Analysing Music Videos' conventions of a music video that could be seen in our final product:

Illustrating the lyrics Expressive lighting Lip SynchingInnovative effectsMise en sceneGenre/tone

Andrew Goodwin also made strong points about the conventions of a music video. The main points Goodwin identifies are that music videos are "based on repetition" of clips, scenes and images that create an expectation to establish a genre. He often shows that music videos often to do not have a closure or a definite ending. The video is designed to trigger enjoyment and pleasure to the audience which further promotes the song and video.
Andrew Goodwin argues that visuals are used to illustrate, amplify or contradict.



This information was helpful and important for me and Katie as we were able to see what to include in our own video. We needed to make sure we used the right conventions to make our video fit into the genre of the song effieciently.


Illustrating the lyrics and sound with creative interpretations

Me and Katie decided to create a love story when we listened to the song over and over again. We thought that this would be the best option for the music lyrics ecspecially with the main lyric "Don't let go. Never give up its such a wonderful life'. With this as the main lyric, we decided to have a couple going through a rocky patch throughout the video. We thought that it would be important to relate the video to the lyrics so it fitted in with the narrative and the story we would be telling. When the chorus kicked in with these words, it showed the couple both reminising what they had and lost and gave up on.

Another lyric that we used to act out is when it says 'So she throws him at the wall her kisses were like fire'. At this point of the video, Katie pushes Matt to the wall and kisses him.

Final Cut

Rough Cut Feedback

In our class, everyone watched eachothers videos to give audience feedback to what we thought was good and what needed improving. This is the feedback given to us:

Rough Cut

Making the Digipak Back Cover

Aswell as the front cover of the digipak, we needed to make a back cover which included the songs for 'Hirts' album'

This is the original picture we used of Matt for the back so it showed the two of them seperated but sitting in the same seat and looking in a different direction.

Katie used the same colour, filters and tools for the back as the front so it would be in the same style and theme. Katie also wrote the titles of 'Hurts' original song lyrics to make it seem like it is for the actual bands album and also a barcode to make it seem more realistic.

This is our final back cover of the album.

Making the Digipak Front Cover

Katie is the person in charge of making the digipak so when making the digipak front cover she used the software Adobe Photoshop.

This is the original image that was used for the front cover.

The first attempt was made on Adobe Photoshop. Katie used a filter to change the background image. She then cut herself out with the 'magnetic lasso tool' and copied me onto a new layer. She was then able to change the image adjustments to black and white. The font that was put on is called 'magento'.

This is the first attempt of the front cover:

Me and Katie both discussed what we liked and disliked about this copy so we could then improve.

To improve the front cover, Katie used the same photo but zoomed it in and changed the canvas size to what was appropriate for the CD cover.

Katie then changed the filter the 'notebook' and played around with the relief so that it matched the disc. She then used the eraser tool to rub out in white dots or lines on the image, that looked out of place, simply just to touch it up a bit

Katie then added a gradient on the image, this made the image lighter an dthe bottom, it is just to add detail. Finally She added the text which was the same font, 'magneto' Having the front cover very plain and simple i thought worked alot better than the orginal cover.

This is our final front cover for the digipak. I am very impressed with it and i like how it goes with the theme for our entire digipak and it also relates to the poster as the same filter was used. I also like how the front is quite plain as it shows Katie's confusion and how she is on her own, missing her ex boyfriend.

Making the Poster

To make the poster, I used Adobe Photoshop. I learnt new tools and effect from using this, such as using the filter tool to give the picture effects. For my poster I used the Note Paper tool. By using this image:

I used the Note Paper tool:

To create this:

After, I added text to describe the music by using reviews and stars from MTV and Kerrang and also information about release dates. I also added images from music companies like iTunes and Warner Music Group to give it more of a proffessional look. This was the overall outcome:

I really liked what I did to create the poster and how the final outcome looked. I believed it went well with the brand of the music video and the picture of the two main characters of the video suggests what the audience would expect from the video. You are not to sure what is happening in the picture, whether theyre kissing or arguing so it shows intrigue and curiousity for the audience.

Letter to Itunes

For the final poster advertisment, I decided to use a well known music logo that is recognised by the audience. This could show the popularity of the song and show the audience where they can download the song. I decided to use the Apple Itunes logo as it is well known and a lot of people recognise and use Itunes.
To use this, I needed to write a letter to the Itunes company asking for permission to use the logo.

Dear Sir/Madam,
I am an A level student at Wilmington Girls Grammar School and I am writing to request your permission to use your logo of Itunes for our poster creation of the single “Wonderful Life” by The Hurts.
With your permission, this logo would be used in my current A-level Media Studies project which involves creating an advertisement poster for a popular music track, as well as producing an album (Digipak) and a music video.
If I received your permission, this logo would ONLY be used in an educational context and be viewed by my media class, my teacher and the OCR exam board moderator. It would NOT be released to a large audience.
The artist and your company would of course be fully recognized throughout pre- production and the final production itself.
We hope to hear from you soon. Thank you for your time.
Kathryn Sivers and Sophie Jones

Making the Digipak Disc

To make the digipak disc, Katie used the Adobe Photoshop software. This was simple and easy to use as this was the software used to last year for AS. This is the making of the disc:

This was the basic disc template used.

Katie then added the picture we wanted to the template design and cutted it to fit the disc.

She then changed the levels of the photo to give them both a tan and a brighter effect, which would stand out.

She then changed the levels of the picture, by moving the arrows at the bottom of the graph, to what fitted the photo

After discussions, me and katie both decided that the bright disc did not fit what we wanted, it was to bright and happy. In our video we have developed the idea of black and white scenes, we also wanted our ancillary task to convey this. Because of this Katie played around with the filters on Photoshop and choose the filter, 'note paper'.

She was able to decide how high or low i wanted the image balance, grainness and relief.

This is the final disc that was made:

Filming Take 2

Me and Katie have made progress with the filming. We filmed four more times using different locations. The scenes we filmed included more kissing and arguing scenes and also decided to film scenes of them having an argument in the car and having a conversation on the phone. Every day of the filming were very productive and we managed to film a great deal giving us a lot of footage to edit and play around with. On these days we were also able to take pictures for our digipak and poster. Me and Katie believed that we had enough footage to create our final cut of the music video.

Editing Begins

When we finished our first scenes of the film we began to edit. We played around with the editing on Adobe Premiere Element. We decided to use a lot of fading in and plyed aorund with the colour for the shots to portray what the memories and the present times are in the film. We also used a zoom in shot when the beat of the song dropped.

A fade shot to start the video.

Zoom in when katies walking to get into the next shot which is a memory.

This is a shot of the couple being intimate and passionate. We have changed the colour of the shot as brighter to show the happier times the two have had together.