Music Video

THREE music video 

Directed by Valentine Sithole

DIGIPACK

                                    

The CD card background is simply the TV. This is cohesive with the Music Video

Edited it to have a flare and also whited out the front using = sign and then filling it it with the Cover tittle.

the simple background edited with a cohesive flare as the cover to show repetition. 

 The problem with the CD is the barcode is missing from the track list page, the symbol at the top is like  the record company symbol.  but it doesn't have a name or title so i'm going to place that and the barcode, I've now added the barcode and see how different that made the product, it seemed more realistic and less project like, it looks like an actual product.

Website

Webpage link. 

placed wigits.

Hover effect.

Evaluation question 1

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

Evaluation question part 1

The music video was strongly effected by the real media products that I've researched in the beginning. With researching them I was able to take my favourite influential parts breaking down their  code to templates then rebuild them to create my own video. For example my beginning of the video is influenced by 30 seconds to mars' "Hurricane".  

I took the opening build up scene as inspiration, the use of music to build up and introduce 

there genre and feel to the audience. 

30 seconds to mars 

The night light scene 

My music video

my night light scene

I used the template with the beginning and end from Kanye West's "Runaway" and the repetition of scenes coming full circles. this also reminded me to think of the theme of colour to create stylised and conscious scenes. 

 This inspired my character for the music video, because I like the vision they created of the character also the things she wore. the silent moments and childlike things that were created by the directer made me wonder on how to place personality in the video. If I wanted a dynamic character I had to think about how I wanted her to be shown. this was very enlightening to that fact and so my character changed emotion through the video, as the music built.

The character

Golden filters video

My character

 To conclude I used the videos as a 'How to' researching them of scenes I wanted to replicate and also themes and character. The very unnatural themes of the videos i used as inspiration, seeing what boundaries I can push. so i used the products as a starting point, ti also tried and thought about how to push, twist and add a different dimension. but i always went back to see the videos, just to learn the cods again, see if their are other things i can do, try and experiment with. In filming I used the angles and shots, so th film would proceed with waist ups to close ups to establishing, and it was very thought through due to the fact that i had seen that in the videos, the thought placed in the scenes.  

Evaluation question part 2

I developed my production using existing media in theme.  I started with indexical signs after seeing how impactful they can be in the video, also it changed things up from just filming people. I decide to go with something abstract and not forged and solid. I wanted something that shifted and changed when filming so it seemed like it was dancing or moving with the music. And thats what using the ink brought. very natural but out there images. But as I progressed I realised that video then would lose its pace, also its dimensions. I wanted the ink to seem real and very powerful. and thats when I had the idea to project it onto myself.

The ink effects i used. 

So the video that started like this. which is very beautiful and styled.But lacked interaction and friction. a kind of tension that needs to be brought with the image because the music is very tense.

By placing myself onto it, it makes the connection. theres the real person versus the unreal images that covers her and it seems like she trying to get through, and is drowning. Which developed the undertone and message of intoxication.

  The theme of projection/ lighting.

I also developed on the theme of intoxication finding other visual ways of showing the feeling. trying to create image to be abstract but real. so in the video there would be varied degrees of trancic scenes. i wanted to used lights stemming from the projections and having it be the only light and it had to be a strange colour. since i wanted the video to be colourful it parts to juxtapose the black and white. 

Strobe light
the use of strobe lights was to signifies, a fast pace, heart racing and the shadow created developing the friction in the scene of flashing bright lights to the shadow. 

Street light
There is an eerie feeling that is naturally created by the streets at night. desrerted. i wanted to signify sleepwalking. the motion of not being quite there.

TV light

Old TV light

I developed my production with a theme, of projection and using lights. 

Evaluation question part 3

Introduction to a male influence in the video is shown by the boxer wrapping his hand

The female character warming up seems to show her associate
herself with the workout that the boxers are doing.

The female character dances instead, focused only on the camera.

My product uses the form of existing music videos as a template and how too, i picked tips from the lay out and genre of music to work best with my work i then developed my work by finding a theme then challenged the forms and conventions of music videos towards femminism.

Evaluation question 2

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

 

webpage background

Opening sequence to music video

Influence of TV

TV becomes CD case in Digipack

The band section done with the inkwork

Ink work in the music video

The combination of my products are very effective in the term of me using the media and also creating it based on the tasks, so taking the video and translating it to the print, and then translating the print to the website. I wanted the products to tie in to each other and I think I executed it effectivly.

Evaluation question 3

What have you learned from your audience

feedback?

Response to video

I wanted to film the reactions of the viewer as they watched the music video to see their initial reaction,if it kept them interested or not.  

What did they like? 

They loved the projections used in the music video, they found it very artist and interesting. For me that is a relief to know that the work I had done towards the theme has paid off, I enjoy the fact that they seemed to receive it in a good way. 

What did they not like?

The length to some was a problem.  Because i wanted a lengthy music video the length was what i wanted, i understand their problem with it and also their interest in a more narrative story to pull the time together.  

What Kind of genre?

Trance, indie and sentimental came up a lot under the column of alternative music. This is the kind of audience i wanted to target, people that listened to unlabeled and offtrack work, so I'm happy that they had a hard type labeling it and also chose the alternative and young genres.

What type of audience do you think will like the product? 

late teens and young 20's came up a lot. I was aiming the product for someone like me, and around my age range of late teens.

I think looking at the response to my work, I've understood the audience a lot more, they may have different tastes from me, but i have managed to make them like the product either way. I've learned that being very creative in this sense worked,editing worked and also that next time I need to think on the length.

Response to webpage

 http://www.i-m.co/bluefireriser/NEONFAITH/

What do you like about the Webpage?

A lot of people noted on the background, they liked the fact it stayed still when they scrolled saying " it doesn't have that very tacky blip where it repeats the picture" they also likes the links to social media, such as Twitter, Facebook and that there is a direct link to the bands music on auto play so they can immediately listen to it.  the use of color came up with it being very colorful although the structure is simple which is not overwhelming to them to take in the information. I felt the same way about the background having to stay with the audiences when scrolling since the research I did the background was also thought through. and i wanted to add that conscious touch to the page.

the scrolling background effect from afar.
Noting the color theme and simple design
of layout.

What did you not like?

They spoke a lot about the auto play being a slight problem if they are already listening to the music, and they prefer to pick what they listen too and that was quickly taken into account and changed, so that the consumer can press play when ever they want to hear the band. I understood the audiences response to the sudden music, it can shock you when its suddenly blaring from your speakers, and also if they are already listening to music on a different tab, it becomes a hassle to find and stop the song, and since i don't what to hassle the audience I changed it to their preference.

process of playing the music

Then the player will unfold to play the music

Then fold again when stopped

Looking at the webpage what type of band do you think Neonfaith is? 

This response brought forth a lot of alternative not mainstream descriptions of the band from, soft grunge/ pastel Goth, to electronic synth-pop, the direction of which we wanted the audience to think of since it is not mainstream. The band themselves are well renowned for being out of the box and un ‘genre'd’ so to receive mixed descriptions of them is actually good, it means they got the feel of the band and understand them.

 Overall I'm impressed with the audience's feedback, they seem to understand the media language well enough to understand a band without hearing their music, and not even knowing of how the band looks like. It  makes me think of how my media is being analysed.

Response to Digipack

What did they like?

They liked the colors and that's what attracts them initially and then the text. The simplicity of it seems to be a good thing although they couldn't explain why. In my opinion its it seems to be the latest trend, less text more visual, the information doesn't really have to be there for this generation to find it, if they are interested in something they can easily pull out their phones and find out more,  for example the XX's CD cover is very minimal but because of the internet i know about them. 

The XX CD cover

What did they not like?

They would have wanted to see the Digipak in hand, but we only had to design it. If i place a little more time on the Digipak i would have been able to create it but then their will be a lot more problems with that added project, since i would then have to think about the print paper and sizing. 

 Would you purchase the digipak?

Most of the audience said yes, they would be very happy to purchase the digipak although a few would rather download it from Itunes. If the product was certified and real it would be on Itunes prior to its actual sell release like today's usual production of music. 

Again the response for my product is constructive and positive; the Dipipak received a good response due to today's generation preferring image over information when dealing with hardware. 

OVERVEIW

I liked the comments and responses from the audience and learnt that my products are satisfactory, and very much like how i wanted them to be received by the audience. 

Evaluation question 4

How did you use media technologies in the

construction and research, planning and evaluation

stages?

I looked at the director of Syndromes by the Golden filter

Then I found a director called Johannes Greve Muskat who directed a short music video titled 'Day after'  

Alpha masking/matting 

Using the internet to see other videos and also tutorials on how to create things. 

Which I've used to create these images 

I used media technology lightly all the way through, being very abstract with my set up made it easy for me in post production to not change the lighting at all so I focused on, the way I would cut scenes and the font. I liked the fact I researched directors, who did the genre I wanted to do, because then from them i had dozens of different types of videos i could watch and be inspired by from them. this was a very minimal technology video where the effects where done while filming so I didn't add to after effects, I liked that because in realtime while I'm front of the camera and seeing the set or color's I could translate the scene in emotion with action.

Epic theatre, theory and other things that I've used

Being a Media student and also a Drama student I understand the relationship between the performance and how that performance can be received. In the creation of my music video I was aware that it won't be a Todorov's work in narration where the story is linear and has a beginning middle and end. But more of a Bertolt Bretch sense where it’s cut and exaggerated brief moments that might not link to the next. I love Bretch's work with epic theater, which is where the audience is actively processing the work as it happens so instead of not thinking and just looking at the work they think about it as it happens. I did that in my music video by having sudden brash emotions placed in calm scenes which had the distancing effect (Verfremdungseffekt) where the audience is now aware that things could change and is adjectivally think about the play, anticipating the next scene, wondering and analysing the previous parts. The idea of the fourth wall being broken by this effect is something I've done to an extent, in drama breaking the fourth wall requires interaction with the audience and awareness of the audience being there. I have done that in the way of looking straight to camera through the screen to the viewer this way even though they are just watching the contact will bring them in and involve them, as it seems like I'm communicating with them.

 I didn't want a very overly feminine feel to the video so I stuck with dark pallet colours for the outfit and having a lot of myself covered, the use of smoke suggested an intoxicated feel and also suffocating sense to the video. The projection shots also add to that sense of delusion and being cornered. I then use stronger signs to show that the character is in charge, by first place her in a very male dominant environment  By this it should drown her and  the attention would be on the boxers, but by playing with the theory of Laura Mulvey's male gaze, I had the boxers avoid me, so that it seemed like I wasn't even there, this also shows control in a sense that I had free reign of the space and attention of the camera, usually women in music videos are the main attention by the people in the video, this entices the audience themselves to look at the female in the context in which they are observing her. But since there isn't attention towards the female it seems like she is more powerful. 

The bathroom shots included the strobe light effect and the TV placement, were done with the idea of lighting, I'm very interested in unnatural mechanical light. In that, it creates a very odd and pressured atmosphere, for example the TV had a dark mood to it, and the strobe light with it being drastic brought chaos but having the female character placed in that and not being overwhelm and almost unaware of these effects makes her seem in control, that she can shift the mood, so I used a light and feminine Gestus of blowing bubblegum, this made it almost ironic which gave it a subtle feel of confidence.

Assesment papers

 We needed to look back at the product we were creating and evaluate them to see what we could improve on. this showed us how we can move our products onto a higher grade, focus on that and complete it.

This helps me improve on my work as then I'm realizing the things i need to do, and seeing what level I'm working on and projecting to what level i want to be i can plan how to get there

Ink work video

This is some of the bits from the projection work, to show you how well it worked.

The projections are of the previous ink work I've created, feeling that the work could have a different dimension. 

Ink work

To add to the video I decide to create indexical effects using pain and water.

Overview

It came out really well it was filmed over a period of time were I used ink and water in cups.

But I want an extra dimension something that can make the effect more exciting so I thought about projecting the images over myself this way I can also sing to the song and not divert from the video completely.

Promo videos

Draft of promo

I created the promotional videos as a test, to see how the video comes out in Youtube and if it works and also becuase before the actual videos are released the music videos have trailers, to excite the audience.

I'm Back with a plan

                                                         Back up north and inspired. 

 I had a thought for the story line. Post apocalyptic, stranded and tribal.

But I want to change it to a more trance like to follow the music. 

 So I'm planning on using the time I have efficiently so doing a very long music video is going to be near impossible, so I will just make it slightly long only using two songs one as a brief opening then the main song. 

 I have very simple plans at the moment but I can exaggerate them and make them very unique. I’m going to be using an old TV I received as inspiration for the video and using it as a projector of light and then pushing with that Idea see what other things I can use as lighting.

Why? You ask. Well its simple, I came to the conclusion after looking at some of the previous music videos lighting lets them down, so I’m very conscious about not being able to have a spotlight and reflectors the whole time and I want the video to be constant so using the theme of light sources from electronics will give me the freedom of creation without stressing about the lighting.