Thursday, 8 March 2018

Blog

On my blog I  changed the background colour setting to assist the genre of Grime. As used on many grime digipaks we also used black on our one aswell I think using this black/grey colour helps set the mood and meaning. The original dark black wouldn't allow people see the digipak properly (the boarder) so I used this black/grey effect that helps distinctively see the designs of the digipak and magazine.

Question 4 - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation

When creating our final video we used different technology formats to do this. These were:

Main product


See the source imageSee the source imageFinal cut pro - During post-production we used final cut pro to edit our music video. It allowed us to uses tools to incorporate transition of the final cut pros own transitions. This is seen at 0.56 seconds. This helped speed up the narrative as the clip followed was sped up to make it more engaging as it would get boring watching someone walking. It was sped up by 50%. We also slowed down clips in slow motions to show the positive vibes in a party and how friends occur. The slow motion worked effectively a we also slowed it down by 50%. We used the tools such as the 'blade' to cut our original video in time with the music. If there was not tools you wouldn't be able to create the music video effectively and you will over hear original sounds and out or tune. We trimmed/cropped different parts of footage we gathered. Finally we used time line to rearrange the order of the shots and put them together.

Flvto - To include the music we used flvto converter to convert the music from youtube into audio only. The was needed as we only wanted the audio as our task is to create a music video. Final cut pro allowed this to be compatible. 

www.flvto.biz/


See the source image



Youtube - We used youtube as the platform as to where we uploaded our music video.









Digipak

See the source imagePaint -We used paint to design our digipak and magazine. We began to edit both on photo-shop, but due to technical difficulties we could access the app. We used tools (shape tools) to create the circle in the middle. Text was placed front and back listing songs our digipak also contains. The advert contains text that explains availability and where to purchase the album. We also used paint to split the two portrait pictures and combine the two together.






See the source imageMicrosoft Powerpoint - We used Powerpoint to create the front and back title to also curve around the circle. We also used this platform to copy and paste Spotify and Apple music symbols on the magazine advert.




In addition in nearly every blog post we have used screen shots on from the Apple Macs in class. You are able to take a screenshot by using the keyboard in this order: shift+command+4, you then click and drag the mouse over the chosen area.



Question 3 - What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Through the production of our music video we had included the audiences opinion all the way through. This had helped us better our video to help it become more successful. Our audience feedback was from or chosen age range to help make it suitable for them. We mixed the gender too. We had asked a couple questions prior to the final product to work alongside it and better the outcome.

The questions asked before the end product were:

Does the narrative relate to the words?

In the start we had one girl starting off rich. We discovered it didn't really make sense as we started her off as rich then switched to a beaten down park scene. The respondent had stated they didn't quiet get the moral of the story due to the words talk about achieving things and mentally think you cant. The first scene which suggested that she was already rich didn't state the goal achieving aim. This would have only worked if we reversed the video in ways of editing to make later scenes look like the past. This would have wasted time and made it more complex for the young audience to understand. It also doesn't compromise with the genre of grime as their story isn't long clips but more short and snappy.

Does the video fall in the genre of grime?

The respondents had stated that they believe it does and to of made it strong when later filming add more designer brands to represent the urban fashion and age the character is. This helped a lot we want the character to fit in with the audience we are entertaining.


At the end of our we asked for more audience feedback which consisted 5 questions.All respondents were within range of the target audience age. The questions were:




1) What can you interpret from the narrative?
2) Did the character/s carry out the narrative effectively
3) Did the digipak and magazine cover combine well with the main product?
4) Does the video match the message/style of the song?
5) Is the construction of the video professional and clear?




1) What can you interpret from the narrative?

In our responses from our audience, they all agreed that they understood the narrative. They said they could clearly see that its young people looking to be well off and possibly popular or build positive relationships. They could also see they are lost in their life and strive to live a better life. One response did question if they were already popular as they went straight to a party in one scene, but as the video proceeded it was made clear their life had started to change. This was a tiny concern but succeeded to answer within the video as we didnt need to explain. Our moral was to jump back and fourth into the future as grime videos have looks on their past and present life. The group stated that they really enjoyed the final reverse scene as it captured their life and how it had changed start to finish.  From this i believe we had succeeded to the grime genre as we managed to tell a story much like the aim of grime is.

2) Did the character/s carry out the narrative effectively?

We had really positive responses for the audience when asking this question. They had noticed the designer labels that we intended to include to narrative to show  the goal and mentality of today's society. The character's used helped set the tone and represent the genre of music. One had stated they were all relate-able characters the explained and represented the dream of most of the youth and how many live currently. This was a really successful response as we relied on our character's to explain a story through actions and fashion. The respondents had also said the narrative shows its mainly suited to the youth (our audience age chosen) as the characterization was spot on to how in reality we commonly see the youth act. The was spotted in the window shopping scene around the town center and hanging out in a park. In addition, I believe we achieved the correct atmosphere from the characterization shown throughout.







3) Did the digipak and magazine cover combine well with the main product?

The respondents were overly confident with our designs but understand the digipak more and how it combines with the main product, due to the face being shown. It helps represent the start to finish. However, the feedback had stated they understand the design and how its related to grime music which is positive. They said the use of cartoon supports the grime look. We understood there may be questions on the relation between the ancillary task and main product as we did question ourselves. But due to the update that erased our original work this last minuet design focus more on the grime look which is most important to us. When creating the magazine and digipak we did anticipate a negative response.

4) Does the video match the message/style of the song?

From our audience feedback we discovered that it was all basically linked throughout. We had really positive feedback in the responses. They stated the specific scenes that matched the narrative
This was scene they spotted that matched the words of 'i stir the ship im the captain'. They managed to interpret from the camera angles the word play signifies that the character is stirring her own ship and leads her own life. They could she from the low camera angle she looks powerful and in charge when stating these words in contrast to the rest of video.

The respondents said the tone and layout had fit the nature of grime and the moral of  the song itself. This is something we strived for to make the narrative clear and relate-able. One respondent did comment on the bright colour/lighting used much like the yellow jacket as it isn't very urban or beat done, but understood its something a young person would wear to represent their age.

5) Is the construction of the video professional and clear?

 In the final question we had mixed responses that were contributed from their response. The stated it didn't not look like an amateur piece of work as it clearly constructed well to the narrative.

The panning scenes for smooth and looked professional with the quality input. They had said the editing was clear and transitions were barely noticeable and worked well with each scene. They also said the combination of two people worked well as we made them similar to each other. Editing is very important in grime videos as it can be jumpy and is hard to make cuts run smooth. Ours were said to not look like different recordings and it was all in one. When done right the audience can understand the narrative better which was said to be very clear. The visuals were said to be well performed and very professional which makes it more enjoyable to watch. This was amazing feedback to hear our music video had to look professional in order to satisfy an audience and not the original song owner and attempting to promote them in the best way possible.

Question 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary task?

When developing our music video we questioned many factors. This helped us make wise decisions and solved any issues we did or didn't agree on in the process. The main questions always kept in mind were:

Does our product aim to please our target audience ?
Did we follow our purpose ?
Did all three components link together (digipak, magazine cover and music video)


Does our product aim to please our target audience?


I believe our target audience should be satisfied with our outcome. This is because we ensured in many different ways to keep our audience in mind by researching/planning ways to do this. Our video tells a story with different clips that are different duration's. This reduces boredom and engages the audience to witness the ending. In addition whilst telling the story we experimented with effects to allow the scenes to run smoothly for a clear understanding. We can evidently see this at 0.55 seconds into the video that matched the scenes to the right rhythm of the song lyrics. In many grime videos such as 'Fine Wine' by Kojo Funds there are also many snappy, quick cuts which also helps contribute to reducing boredom. The cuts are timed and sometimes slowed down. From watching this we imparted this into our video by changing shots dramatically in time with the music. This allowed us to combine the two characters and follow the narrative of a common dream, young people share. The change of people is seen at 3.53 seconds. This introduces another story that is more exciting for the audience, much like Fine Wine and use the two people to support the narrative. We can see that this fluidity of editing is a positive impact as the Kojo Fund received over 12 million views on this video. As we used this as an influence we should hopefully succeed with our video.

Grime artist often sing into the camera to engage and relate with the audience. This is direct connection with the audience that can help keep them satisfied and understanding. We see this in almost every grime video whilst other clips include back and fourth. In most videos its normally the chorus that is in sync with the narrator. For our video we ensured each time the chorus was played we connected with the audience and sang in time. This helps the video feel more realistic as the words mean something.


Our target audience is a range from 12 - 25 years of age and anyone else that may enjoy grime. This is a young urban generation in today's world that has a huge contrast to past artists that focused in this genre. The age range are into urban clothing (brands like addidas, rolex, etc) and enjoy the feeling of money, friends and parties. We had done this by asking multiple people (different age) what they like to do in their spare time/enjoy doing, etc. The responses we all relatively the same; 'i like to go out shopping', 'being with my friends' and 'going out'. To keep our video up-to-date we interpreted these responses to make our video as current as possible and entertaining.

Did we follow our purpose?

The purpose of our video was to tell a story throughout that it relate-able to reality. I believe we achieved this by recording the section in time and linked to the lyrics. Our inspiration was the moral of the song which is you can do something if you believe in it. We wanted our product to appeal to the audience so we done this by including current items or common interests throughout. The party shown in our video supports well as its very common in grime videos to have party section as that what a lot of the young people do these days. This would have appealed to the audience more. The fast cuts are also something typical in grime videos which is an imitation we incorporated.

Another idea that we thought was appealing was the use of two different characters. We thought it would be more of a liability to support the dreams that children face. We thought more than one person would make it more interesting. The editing was according to the tempo and made sense to the lyrics which helped make sense of the story to the audience to entertain their attention. We also alternated the clips which is common in grime videos. This can give a related effect to the audience.

We also made our made sense of our purpose from camera angles. In grime its very common to focus on the expense of items. They also use a lot of panning of the camera, close up shots and mirror reflection to do this. This is seen in Jhus 'Bouff Daddy'. From these angles it more fast pased and reduces boredom.




From this reflection shot we interpreted it into our. We thought it would be more interesting for the narrative and appeal. It helps us see what the character is like and changes the perspective on them. This is useful in grime videos to give it a positive reflection on intentions.


Did all three components link together (digipak, magazine cover and music video)?

Our digipak and magazine advert are closely connected. Our magazine and digipak both include a black background with a colourful image. This makes the narrative stand out. 'The golden child' is a quote we thought would be effective as it can make the audience more intrigued from the meaning behind it. We can see our digipak consists of the same person. This can be intriguing for the audience and make them feel the urge to find out more about the narrative. However the use of a black background is very common when designing as it makes the narrative stand out more. Having two simple designs makes it clearer for our audience. We kept in mind the age range and didn't want to much on the designs as they may not be able to understand. Both designs are connected to each other through the same idea of a black background. This supports the idea of recognition as if one is seen it can remind you of what it is. This worked with the idea of 'Not3s - The Golden child'. This pushes the name forwards and promotes 'Not3s' more as the audience can make a connection.

Our digipak worked alongside the conventions of grime digipaks. However this design does contrast with out music video as the background colour is dark but our video doesn't really consist of dark colours. We used black as it could represent the serious design which kind of links with our music video as its a deep matter that society share. Darkness help's represent a struggle which is our narrative. The darkness is almost emotionless and both designs take itself seriously. We have created a juxtaposition as we created quite an inspiring music video that the audience can respect as we have represented them and proved things can change for the good. Due to the designs being dark it creates a contrast that may be more negative than positive. We have given the brand two different images to work from and be promote; The negative serious side and positive, goal achieving side. The negative serious side of the magazine and digipaks represents the brands message that they work hard and take music seriously as to where the are trying to get to. This message turns positive in the music video and portrays the positive ending. This worked well as the audience can respect the grind of reaching their goal and helps inspire others. This reduces the criticism as it reflecting society and something people may have in common. However some may think its about materialistic things to be content with life. in addition to this possible criticism we used the scenes of friendships and love that can show ts whatever makes an individual happy and sad in today's society a lot is materialistic but its still okay to have dreams. Its normal. The combination of our main product and ancillary task combines well as it puts across our message with a positive outcome and reveals that everyone has dreams but nothing should hold you back other than yourself. The respectful narrative in the video support the message and gives off empathy for those that are only trying to succeed. This can surprise the audience from looking at the digipak and magazine cover.























Lots of grime designs have a cartoon style writing or design with black backgrounds which is what we done. It more current and less old fashion so it can appeal to our age range. It may also be easier to read as young people tend not to like reading much. A design followed this layout description.




These two artists Pins and Fredo use the the style of a black background as it reveals their narrative may have deep meaning and a strong narrative. The use of bold, colourful images stands out. It is visually clear and can see one may be about a girl and the other of maybe a childhood dream (the icecream is childish) but contrasted with the diamond ring and manly hand. We feel our digipak works alongside grime digipaks and conforms to the grime genre as its very common.








question 1 - in what ways does your media product use, develop, or challenge forms and conventions of real media product ?

Throughout the course of our music video, 'Aladdin' by Not3s we aimed to challenge many conventions through the course of grime music videos.

These conventions were:

The narrative 

Within the genre of grime we discovered that most of the narrative relate to the words. Many grime videos have a dull narrative that convey through actions in the music video. You can evidently spot this in current grime videos from artist such as Stormzy, Yxng Bane that specify in grime.

Grime videos generally base their videos upon reality. It focuses on the urban environment that uses common areas of their city. Most grime artists reinforce their narrative by using themselves throughout. For our project we decided that we would in force a wider range and make the video about two individuals that share common dreams of being wealthy and popular by making their best life by themselves. We used the iconology of expensive items featured in our music video. We felt this would be better as it shows the life of reality and a relatable subject to the youth of today. This made our music video more relate able. In the music video we used females instead of males being the dominant goal achiever. We thought this would blend in well as its rare to see women be the main feature to a grime music video as the women normally supports a male. This type of narrative is seen in Yxng Bane - Rihanna. Proving this narrative criticism may be a response from the audience for Bane from the way he displays Woman. From Not3s original video we see he uses the narrative of friendship and independence. We thought by using a mix of male and female presents an unbiased story line and no matter what gender every can dream and achieve the same thing.
Grime is focused on the friendships around and how it can affect one another confidence. This worked in our favor as we showed the two sides of both characters and how they are by themselves and what they want to become by using friendships to show their well-being.

Narratives in grime can often change from a protagonist rapping into a camera to following some type of narrative aswell. We we studied narratives we could identify disjuncture, illustration and amplification. We found more grime artists used disjuncture narratives. This means the protagonist raps into the camera but not always following the moral of their lyrics. Some artists also use illustration narratives to mimic the meaning of their lyrics by telling a story in their music video.

The original song of  'Aladdin' uses disjuncture. We decided to use the illustration narrative Through the process of our story board.


The visuals

In grime videos lighting plays a key part to the to overall product. It is well known to use dim lighting and shadows to create this effect. The grime artists also use natural lighting to help convey reality; this lighting is focused on more of a cloudy day as it brings the colour grey that gives a dull effect. This is seen in Stormzy 'blinded by your grace'. On top of the cloudy sky they added a black and white effect that was more sensitive to his lyrics. This use of colour conveys they story of his past, like a flash back.

In this screenshot from the video it we can see there is no lighting through the cloud as it would come up almost a white colour in black and white. We can tell its a cloudy day because the effect is still relatively dark. Grime has a dark past in their meanings of an artists song and the use of black and white reflect this genres intentions of truth by not seeing detail of the people. Everyone is just as equal.

However in our music video we aimed to challenge this convention. Our initial intentions was to use dim lighting. Instead we used natural lighting to understand the character and the detail of interest they come across.



In this screenshot we used natural sunlight to show theres always hope and dreams. Brightlight can represent ambition and determination by giving off a positive vibe. We wanted to show there was a dream that was hoping to my achieved.



In this scene we used a reflection shot which is common in grime. A reflection shot can give an impression on the audience on how the character looks and has opinions on themselves. For this scene the character has completely changed from before and towards the end is more concerned on herself rather than materialistic thing, such as the cars and watches. This interprets our orignial for both females as they looked more refreshed and healthier. This showed that they had bettered themselves and tried to live and follow their dream of looking wealthy form the start to finish.


Mise-en-Scene


The mise-en-scene interlinks with the narrative of our video. We used the outdoors to show what kind of environment they live in. This represented the hardship of every young child.
For example the window shopping is very common at a young age as its not possible to get a great paid job to afford designer brands. We revolved our music video around other people to represent friendships and how the people in the shopping center do not interact with young children and are segregated to fit in with society.

In the party we discover that the first female has friends. We showed a positive relationship by using a friendly environment of people having a good time all together. This worked well as we could link this to the narrative of confidence as it was low at the start and higher towards the end.


To show that days were progress and both individuals changed over time we can see by their clothing and lighting it is was a different day and at the end it was a darker environment that had bulb lighting and different clothing. These small changes helped convey the narrative.





In Grime music videos artists use a lot of  natural environments and parties much like Belly Squad 'banana' (and remix) as we can see from these screenshots it a group of young people with positive vibes much like our scene. For our music video we wanted to interlink this factor so it can relate to the grime genre as we can see the audience gave back mostly positive feedback which is what we aim to do.


Digipak 

We conformed to challenge the convention of digipaks in the grime genre. We used bright colours that relate to uplifting narrative but did interpret some typical grime cover ideas. Many grime digipaks use dark colours that represents a serious narrative. We used a dark background to represent out serious narrative but bold colours on the illustration and picture of our protagonist to convey a contrast of a serious message but also positive. The use of our bright colours helped us do this to better the appearance and change the mood. On some grimw digipaks you can also evidently see the protagonist. We conformed to this by the inspiration of Giggs 'Landlord. An example of a serious grime digipak is Stormzys 'Gang signs and prayers'. You can see this bellow.



See the source image
See the source image


Gender

We planning the process of our music video we had to deep gender representation. We wanted to challenge the stereotypical view of woman being an addition/object to the main male protagonist in a grime music video. We used the main protagonist as females with their own individual narrative. This shows that woman can also achieve and dream like males. Females are generally seen wearing tight, revealing clothing dancing around provocatively. We decided to use baggy comfy clothing that is suitable to weather condition much like reality. The image grime artists represent in their music video isn't a good image on the audience and can effect some. In addition, we challenged this stereotype to make every individual feel confident regardless of traits/characteristics.  
                                

Friday, 2 March 2018