Evaluation question 4

Evaluation question 3

What have you learnt after receiving your audience feedback?

I decided to answer this question as a recorded reflection on my audience feedback, as it seemed the most efficient way to reflect on the feedback and the most natural way to generate ideas by talking. 

Audience feedback

Evaluation question 2

Evaluation question 1

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

The song that I chose was “Stray from the path- eavesdropper”. There is no existing video for this song which allows me to create what I wanted without stepping on the toes of the band. I however took inspiration from their other music videos and identified the codes and conventions that were generally used throughout the videos. I have tried to use, develop and challenge the aspects that are presented in these other videos to create a similar feel to the other videos, designed to keep fans of the band interested as well as trying something slightly obscure within it.

When looking at other music videos within the genre that I am working in, I found fast editing and a sense of discomfort/edginess to be prevalent. Shots are generally very short and have a jumpy effect. I developed this largely within my video as well as challenging it in many ways- with bold colours also being something that Is neglected within the genre- I used some shots which would easily be picked out from the rest (for example this sunset shot).

I did this as another way to create a sense of discomfort, rather than just using the genre typical methods of fast editing and dark lighting I wanted to take the viewer out of their comfort zone and make them ask ‘why’ why is that shot there when it’s quite clearly not typical of the genre.

The locations I used were fairly adherent to the norms and generic conventions of the genre, with the shots in the woods being dark and edgy, the house shots feeling tense and enclosed, but the more scenic shots, again like the sunset shot above, offer an abstract sense of discomfort, as well as a more typical sense of loneliness.

My research into other videos such as ‘Rage against the machine’s- sleep now in the fire’ showed a good example of the fast paced editing used within the genre which is implemented throughout the video, this meant that the amount of shots I needed to take was greatly increased as everything was cut to seem very short and create a ‘jumpy effect’. This also included using a huge variety of angles, many shots were aimed down at the character to create a sense of vulnerability.

Music video

Poster Mk.2

Digipack- Ancillary task 2

Poster-ancillary task 1

Target audience

The target audience of my product is fans of the band Stray From The Path.
The age group generally is 16-30. I am aiming to engage fans of alternative music, because it is alternative music, the videos do not usually receive the same funding or attention that mainstream music played in the charts or on the radio would receive, which means most fans of the music actively look for this type of product rather than expecting to see it on TV. So by uploading it to social media sites; for example Facebook and Twitter and sites like YouTube, I hope that people who enjoy the music will find it even with limited publicity.

Character profile

Name: News presenter
Age: Irrelevant, but most likely a teen, purposefully playing as someone older, obviously fake wig and facial hair, implies a satirical standpoint.
Appearance:
Costume: Suit, possibly a wig and facial hair, glasses.

Character profile

Role: The main character of the video and one of the very few.
Name: The character has no name as it is not pertinent to the script or the narrative.
Age: 19
Appearance: Dark hair, tall, slim build, fairly stereotypical teenager.
Costume: Generally not too colourful, blacks, greys and dark reds. The costume isn't a set costume, the idea was to go for anything that suits the age of the character, that implies a slightly alternative music taste, and perhaps an introvert inclination.
Personality: Nervous disposition, introvert, edgy, anxious, progressively getting worse throughout the video.

Narrative

Narrative is a spoken or written account of connected events; a story.
Generally within film, narrative is used synonymously with plot and refers to the events which take place.
Narrative within music videos-
Music videos are often not narrative driven, as the main idea is to promote the song and create a memorable experience to help make the song stick in the viewers head. However many bands with more openly political messages or that focus on more serious matters such as racism or economic inequality, create music videos to match the tone of the song, to assist in the communication of the issue. For example, the band I am using for my coursework; 'Stray from the path' focus their songs around generally pressing issues and create their videos with the intention of assisting in communicating this message. 'Outbreak' a song by them, posted earlier on my blog, is about the over commercialisation of the health industry and how people (mainly in America) are accustomed to taking large quantities of pills which makes a huge amount of profit, rather than pharmaceutical companies investing in long term cures because they make so much money from producing preventatives. The video shows a family in a situation where they are eating pills for dinner straight from a plate, which is obviously an exaggerated metaphorical message.
Metaphorical techniques are often used within these types of music videos to make the narrative more interesting, making it seem more extreme, while maintaining the same message. This helps the message really hit home with the viewers due to the extreme nature.

Narrative within short film-
Narrative within short film is vital, compared to a music video in which the narrative is more optional because the focus of the piece is the song, narrative is what makes a short film worth watching.
Generally within short film the narrative is something that isn't overly complex, however just like feature films there is a huge variety of them. They range from the really abstract and original to films that rigidly embody the generic conventions of their genre.

Narrative within genres-
Conventions of narrative within comedy:

• Generally takes place in daylight, bright places, often well populated, for example; towns, cities or suburbs.
• Naturalistic approach to filming, tries to capture body language and facial expressions of characters.
• Usually stereotypes of people are emphasised and exaggerated, people portrayed as stupid and contrasted with 'regular' people.

Conventions of narrative within Horror:

• Often take place in dark places; Woods, abandoned houses/buildings or isolated islands
• Sustained shots with low key lighting to build suspense, fast cutting as the suspense comes to an end for some sort of jump scare, generally no ambient noise and sound is key, sounds like heavy breathing are isolated and amplified.

Storyboard interjection

While I've not included it in the storyboard I'm thinking of cutting in instrumentals in-between the narrative shots, this is to extend the video to match the length of the song and to break up the narrative hopefully creating a small amount of anticipation for the continuation of the narrative. The reason for not putting these in the storyboard is because I did not know how long the shots would be and didn't want to have to try and guess at the timings of the music that I would have to match up with the shots.

Storyboard part 3

Storyboard part 2

Storyboard part 1

Brief Shot ideas

• A torch flashing past the camera to imitate a search light.
• Fake news presenter for the sample intro.
• Someone accessing the bios of a computer, looking intensely at the screen.
• Someone doing a mic check.
• someone being caught on the phone at night, car headlights shining on their back.
• Riot police charging in on a breakdown.
• Hitting record.

Research into children's tv shows

Children's TV shows generally have very iconic intro's with easily recognisable characters and catchy music, this makes it easy for children to recognise the TV show and they often have sing along sections.

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is a longstanding tv series that has been running for quite some time, the series is mainly family viewing orientated with some of the cruder jokes only understandable by adults but also contains a lot of slapstick comedy that is easily understandable for younger children and many children watch it regularly. While the intro has changed a considerable amount, many of the key 'gags' and elements have been retained, if adapted and modernised slightly. This iconic intro contains the five characters the series revolves around; Homer, Marge, Lisa, Bart and Maggie. Some of the hugely famous gags within the intro change the punch-line but retain the core structure of the gag, for example; Bart is always shown to be in detention writing lines of what he will not do on the blackboard and the iconic couch gag, changes every single episode.
Having researched into children's tv shows openings, while I decided a while ago on my idea being a music video, this has allowed me some insight into what it would involve and let me make an informed decision to not do a children's tv show opening.

Setting

Setting:
Setting is the place or type of surroundings where something is positioned or where an event takes place.
Setting is a very effective tool within media, and is often part of the generic conventions of a genre, and often defines the atmosphere and mood of the scene, with many different settings having different connotations. For example, a lady walking alone through an alley at night would create a sense of unease or danger compared to walking through a park during the day, which generally would be a pretty mundane task and depending on lighting and weather would set the tone for the scene.

Within short films, setting is key to defining genre, settings such as; cityscapes, warehouses and bars are often associated with action films, the environment offers lots of opportunities for stunts and are often settings associated with criminal activities. The sort of settings often used in short films are easily accessed locations, because a lot of these films are low budget, paying for access to locations is generally not an option, so places like schools, houses and other easily accessible locations are often used. Many different genres have settings particularly iconic of that specific genre, for example haunted houses for horror, urban areas for romance films or on space ships for science fiction. These settings are obviously part of the narrative and help define which genre the film should be a part of and help the viewer to understand what they should be feeling. But how does this apply within music videos? Often within music videos the type of music defines the atmosphere and tone of the video, with most people listening to the music primarily, rather than watching the video. While setting is often part of the narrative-if there is one-generally music videos choose settings based more on pure aesthetic rather than relation to narrative, for example, many bands use shots of them in a dark, empty building/room with high key spotlight lighting, with huge contrast between the light and dark areas while performing or in cramped areas with very high key lighting, while performing. However if a music video is narrative driven then setting generally plays a more key role, especially if there is dialogue.