Before I could make my digipak or magazine
advert I needed to research other products from similar and contrasting genres
to find out what sort of design I should be aiming for. This research was very helpful because as I had
never previously seen or purchased a digipak I was able to study the layout and
understand the most common layouts and conventions. For example the way the
album name or artist is always on the spine. I discovered that continuity was an important
factor when making a digipak and a magazine advert so that the two products
were aesthetically pleasing but also recognizable for the audience.
I originally wanted to link the digipak and
magazine advert to the narrative of the video, for example having screen shots
from the video in the digipak, but because the character in my video isn’t
played by the artist I felt that I couldn’t put the actress on the digipak and
magazine advert as this would be misleading to the audience. However the magazine advert and digipak were
made to work in conjunction with each other to make the products easily
recognizable. Therefore not only does the digipak and advert have the same back
ground image, but the advert also features a image of the digipak on the wing
of the plane. I think this demonstrates the use of synergy ‘the
interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other
agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate
effects.’ So in other words my digipak and magazine advert
work together to create a greater advertising product that is recognizable
across the two individual products.
Both of my ancillary texts are very similar to
each other, they both use the same colours and the same font to help the
audience link the products together and back to the artist. I felt that a
single colour text was suitable for both of my ancillary texts as it was easy
to see and clear-cut, which helped to create the fresh, crisp look I wanted to
achieve with my products. The image used on my digipak and advert doesn’t
necessarily fit in with the narrative of my music video but it does fit in with
the image I want to portray of the artist. I believe it is quite a relaxed, but creative
image, which gets your mind wondering about the style of the artists and
perhaps implies that her music falls into the ‘indi’ genre as it could be
interpreted as a ‘hipster’ image, which is commonly associated with the indi
genre.
As stated
earlier because the character in my video isn’t played
by the artist I felt that I couldn’t put the actress on the digipak and
magazine advert. But the other reason I didn’t want to use images from the
video is that I took an abstract approach in the
video and this wasn't really suitable for the ancillary products as it wouldn't
make much sense when placed on the digipak or advert. However I think the image I chose is still
appropriate and fits well with my artists, as the song and digipak are called
‘so high’ and the image is taken from an airplane therefore you feel like you
are literally so high when looking at the image.
The images of the artist, on the back of the
digipak were used to help the audience feel connected to the artist so that
they can form a stronger bond to her and her music. I also did this because it
is “nice to have a face to the name” as the old saying goes.Therefore I think the images help make the
product more satisfying overall.
The images also support Goodwin’s voyeurism as
the artist is directly looking into the camera on some of the images, which
makes the audience feel like they are connected and involved in the product. The image
from the airplane also supports the notion of looking because it makes you want
to look out into the sky and the earth on the image its self.
I also
purposely included images of the artist due to Laccans mirror stage and the
idea that the audience reflects part of them self on to the artist and part of
the artists onto themselves. Thus bringing them closer to the product and
making them more interactive with the industry and the artist as they see
themselves reflected within it.
In conclusion my digipak and magazine advert
were created to work in conjunction with each other and to promote the artist. I wanted to make something that captured the
audience, was memorable and got them thinking about the artist. I feel I did this well and my products support
my music video even though there is no actual imagery from my music video its
self. I feel I used continuity well between my two
ancillary texts and this has contributed to the overall effect of promoting the
artist.
During my planning and evaluation stages I used a number of different technologies. The first one is Blogger. At the beginning of AS I had no idea how to use blogger but I used it because I thought it would be a good platform to use to keep track of my work and to have a digital copy. I kept my work on Blogger organized by setting up labels for each section and this was very effective as it made it quick and easy to find what I was looking for on my blog. Now looking back on my blog I think it may have been even more beneficial to add more labels to create sub sections within the existing labels.
When planning my music video I used Apple’s Face Time to discuss ideas with part of my focus group. I used this because it allowed me to show them drawings and plans I had made of shot types and locations etc. It was very effective in helping me communicate essentially face to face when I was unable to actually be in the same place as them. This in turn was vital in helping me make decisions about my music video.
When shooting my music video I used a Soney HDR- HD 1000E. I used this camera because after making my thriller opening in AS I realized how unstable the small handheld cameras are and thought that this wouldn’t be appropriate this time around as I specifically wanted better shot stability. I also wanted control over the focus of the lens and knew that I would be able to achieve this easier through using the bigger Soney Camera. I am glad that I used this camera instead of the one used in AS, as the quality of my shots was a lot better and I liked the control I had over the focus on some scenes.
In AS my knowledge of Final Cut was very limited as I had never before used the software, I had previously only had knowledge in using iMovie. However I soon learnt how to add filters and transitions along with speeding up clips. This year, I thought I would try to expand on my Final Cut knowledge by using a green screen in my filming stages, which of course would mean I would have to correct the image in the editing stages. Although this was challenging and required a lot of research, I feel it was really beneficial to my video and my general editing skills. Learning how to use chroma keyer was hard at first, but something I am now proud to know how to use. When looking at what I would do differently in this stage, I can confidently say that taking more time to set up my positioning so that I had the widest shot possible would have benefited my production greatly.
I used Photoshop in both my ancillary texts and in my main product. I had never used this before and had no knowledge of how to edit images; therefore it took me a while to get to grips with the basics. I used it to generate a background image of the night sky, to put in over my green screen. I feel this worked fairly well but maybe with more experience I would have perhaps created a slightly better image. So for this reason, next time I would allow my self some time in the planning stages to research tutorials and explore the software some more. The same applies to my ancillary texts, which I feel could have been better if I had more advanced knowledge of the programe.
For one of my evaluation questions I used Padlet. I used it because I wanted a variety of ways to present my work and Padlet is really simple and easy to use. I think it was fairly effective at presenting my work. I also used Powerpoint and Slide Share, which was good for me because it was really familiar so it was easy to produce my work. I believe my podcast was effective because in todays busy world not many people have time to sit down and read a text but they quite often have time to listen to something on the go. Next time, if I were to make a podcast/video I would do it on a software which didn’t have a watermark so that the people who are watching it could view it better.
Due to the increase in technology and the development of the internet I was able to find my artists by using sights I such as Soundcloud, Youtube, Spotify and Unsigned. Originally I was going to use an artist I found on unsigned but after some differences over the direction the music video should go in, I decided to switch artists. I started looking on sound cloud and thats where I found Jess Harwood. I was able to contact her, due to the development of social media, through Facebook. This was useful because I was also able to see if/when she had seen the message which helped eased the typical anxiety many may feel when sending an email and not knowing if it delivered or not. The development of sites such as survey monkey and twitter collectively helped me to create a questionnaire which I could then rapidly post on to twitter and instantly start receiving feedback. Statistics generated by Facebook on my artists page also helped me by telling me the age group of the people who have the most 'likes' on her page and comment or 'like' her posts. These developments in technology have helped me by making it easier and quicker to do work.
During my planning and evaluation stages I used a number of different
technologies. The first one is Blogger. At the beginning of AS I had no idea
how to use blogger but I used it because I thought it would be a good platform
to use to keep track of my work and to have a digital copy. I kept my work on
Blogger organized by setting up labels for each section and this was very
effective as it made it quick and easy to find what I was looking for on my
blog. Now looking back on my blog I think it may have been even more beneficial
to add more labels to create sub sections within the existing labels.
When planning my music video I used Apple’s Face Time to discuss ideas
with part of my focus group. I used this because it allowed me to show them
drawings and plans I had made of shot types and locations etc. It was very
effective in helping me communicate essentially face to face when I was unable
to actually be in the same place as them. This in turn was vital in helping me
make decisions about my music video.
When shooting my music video I used a Soney HDR- HD 1000E. I used this
camera because after making my thriller opening in AS I realized how unstable
the small handheld cameras are and thought that this wouldn’t be appropriate
this time around as I specifically wanted better shot stability. I also wanted
control over the focus of the lens and knew that I would be able to achieve
this easier through using the bigger Soney Camera. I am glad that I used this
camera instead of the one used in AS, as the quality of my shots was a lot
better and I liked the control I had over the focus on some scenes.
In AS my knowledge of Final Cut was very limited as I had never before
used the software, I had previously only had knowledge in using iMovie. However
I soon learnt how to add filters and transitions along with speeding up clips.
This year, I thought I would try to expand on my Final Cut knowledge by using a
green screen in my filming stages, which of course would mean I would have to
correct the image in the editing stages. Although this was challenging and
required a lot of research, I feel it was really beneficial to my video and my
general editing skills. Learning how to use chroma keyer was hard at first, but
something I am now proud to know how to use. When looking at what I would do
differently in this stage, I can confidently say that taking more time to set
up my positioning so that I had the widest shot possible would have benefited
my production greatly.
I used Photoshop in both my ancillary texts and in my main product. I
had never used this before and had no knowledge of how to edit images;
therefore it took me a while to get to grips with the basics. I used it to
generate a background image of the night sky, to put in over my green screen. I
feel this worked fairly well but maybe with more experience I would have
perhaps created a slightly better image. So for this reason, next time I would
allow my self some time in the planning stages to research tutorials and
explore the software some more. The same applies to my ancillary texts, which I
feel could have been better if I had more advanced knowledge of the programe.
For one of my evaluation questions I used Padlet. I used it because I
wanted a variety of ways to present my work and Padlet is really simple and
easy to use. I think it was fairly effective at presenting my work. I also used
Powerpoint and Slide Share, which was good for me because it was really
familiar so it was easy to produce my work. I believe my podcast was effective
because in todays busy world not many people have time to sit down and read a
text but they quite often have time to listen to something on the go. Next
time, if I were to make a podcast/video I would do it on a software which
didn’t have a watermark so that the people who are watching it could view it
better.
