Closing Statement

Media Studies this year has been very enjoyable for me. I feel like this year I have improved my technological skills and my creativity has certainly been challenged by coming up with concepts and ideas for our music videos. I have been able to independently do my research on music video directors such as, Jonathan Glazer that I wasn't familiar with. I enjoyed studying about the history of music videos and how they've changed throughout time. I learnt about the motives of record labels and what they aim to gain with their artists. I was also introduced to theorists such as Richard Dyer and their perspectives of artists and their label. Overall although this piece of coursework has been the most challenging, it has also been the most fun as I was able to study deeper into a topic I already enjoy.

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

Question 4 from EnidAkuffo

In this question I speak about the technologies I used through the different stages of my coursework and how it helped me produce my work.

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

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

In this question I focused on how all three of my products together are effective for my target audience. I highlighted on the point that we were consistent with our colour scheme through all three of our products. Also the use of the white rabbit as an enigma code is also recognised in all our products.

Question 1 : In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Above is a document on how I challenged and conformed to conventions of the alternative hip hop genre. I used a 9 shot key frame to visually show similarities and Differences between my music video and existing alternative hip hop music videos.

Editing Diary

In this video our group member Ryan explains what went well in the editing of our video, but also what didn't go too well and needs improvements. He took charge in the editing of our video and explained that some scenes don't make sense and certain scenes need re-shooting.
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Audience feedback for digipak

This is Kofi a 16 year old boy who fits the demographic audience for our artist. I asked him his opinion of our artist's Digipak and this is what he had to say.

Audience Feedback for video rough copy

We asked another member of our target audience to give us audience feedback on the rough copy of our video. Their opinion and ideas can help us complete our video and include what our target audience is looking for.

Audience Feedback for website

We asked Troy a member of our target audience, his view on our website so far and this video shows what he thought.

Rough Copy and Bloopers

This is just a rough edit of what we have so far. We want to show it to our target audience and see what they think of it so we can make improvements.

Digipak Draft Sketches

These are the initial Digipak ideas that was sketched by Kenya.The white rabbit face on the front is the main concept of our video as that is what triggered the trip. It then has the artists and album name. In the middle we looked at sticking to the original Alice in Wonderland theme, which also fitted the trippy imagery that is often found within alternative hip hop. 

Production Diary 3

This is our third day of filming and so far we haven't had a day that just runs smoothly. We spend the majority of the time trying to figure out how to get the breaks off the dolly. However we still manage to get every thing we wanted for that scene done, so it was a good day all round.

Pictures we took

enidakuffo's photostream on Flickr.

These are just images we took for our digipak and website. We wanted to have a variety of images so we are not limited in what we use.

City of Angels

Although we are well into the production stage of our coursework, I still like to do some research into music videos. In listening to songs on You Tube I stumbled upon this 30 SECONDS TO MARS music video. This video was more like a movie (as referred to in the clip) and I think this was done as Jared Leto (lead singer) is also an actor. I think this was a great way for him to incorporate his two loves. I really love the involvement of other celebrities in this video, it felt very natural and real, which is in contrast to what we typically see now in music videos. It almost brings a connection between the artists/celebrities and their fans. As audiences or fans we feel like we get an insight into their lives.

I think this was a great idea for a music idea. It is 'out of the box' and I really admire the time and thought that went into it. Although I'm not generally a fan of the rock genre, watching this music video made me look further in other rock songs to see what ideas they use for their videos.

Production diary day 2

This is the second day of filming for us, we faced a lot of technical difficulties with the public because we needed to use the bus stop for scenes and we were interrupted by passers by. Further more we had to reshoot scenes because the weather toady was different from day we had previously filmed. There was also some disagreements within our groups to do with organisation and concentration, consequently we were set back a bit and was not able to film all we wanted to. However altogether filming was very productive today, we got a lot of our starting scenes done and we were able to successfully throw the focus in our scenes.

Alternative Hip- Hop Genre Website Analysis

I researched Alternative Hip-Hop genre artists RAIDER and look at how their website looked and what they did to draw audiences. They stuck to the colour scheme of black which is conventional to this genre, but what I liked and made them stand out was their use of intense primary colours.

Website Analysis

Site analysis from EnidAdwoa

I did some research into Beyonce's website (as she is my favourite artist). Her music doesn't fit our song's genre but I still did research into her website because I wanted to see how she laid out her site and also what elements she included into it.

Music Video Construction

Music Video Construction by EnidAkuffo

This post shows where we are so far in editing our video. We are using the software final cut to edit our video, as a` group we are familiar with it and are comfortable using it.

Logo

Above is our final logo, this was created using photoshop and will be used as a way for our audience to quickly identify our company as it will be visible on all merchandise and production work done by the group. In terms of ideas for the logo, we thought it would be best to incorporate iconic colours that are associated with this type of genre of music, alternative music. As shown, we decided to use black and white as they are simplistic yet trendy colours which we have used throughout our music video, adding consistency. It also connotes a bit bit of mystery and it is almost grim, which fits the message of our video. The company name 'SOLAR' has a direct link to our logo image, which again conforms to our choice of colour, giving us an effective logo which is likely to catch the eye of our target audience and is easily recognisable. 

Font idea

We have chosen this font because our video concept is Alice In Wonderland and we feel that this font fits our skewed, distorted ideas of the fairytale. We were at first unsure about what to use for our font, but we were very excited when we found this because it ultimately is our video concept. To keep the continuity of our digipak and website we will use this font for everything we do: album text, website font etc.

This is our album name, so this is what it would look like on our album cover. It would be in white so it stands out against our black background. 

Production Diary 1

Production Diary 1
This is our first day of filming and honestly it didn't go as smoothly as we wished. Firstly, we couldn't figure out how to white balance the camera. Because of this about 20 minutes of filming time was wasted. Secondly we din't have a lot of time to film because some group members had other appointments to see to.

However we did get some of the important scenes done, like Brandon rapping and the opening scene.

Although we didn't film as much as we wanted, all in all day one of filming was good.

Colour Scheme

This post shows the colour scheme we have chosen to use. We chose monochrome tones as it fits the conventions of the alternative hip hop genre and is also an enigma code as it doesn't give too much away.

Digipak Analysis 2

Digipak Analysis 2 by EnidAkuffo

In this post I have analysed Rihanna's 'LOUD' digipak. I looked at the elements she included and her theme and colour scheme in her digipak.

Image Schedule

Photograph Planning

Above is a table showing a description of the photo's we will be including in our Digipak. We have incorporated the date in which we are aiming to shoot the photo and what props will be required if any, this will aid to improve our time management and preparation.

Digipak Analysis

In class today we were given Digipaks to analyse. We were expected to pick apart the digipak and explain why certain features may have been included. My group and I were given the Kaiser Cheif - Employment album. I found this digipak very fascinating as it was set out like a board game. There were lots of interesting features as there was actually a board game included in the pack. I found the concept of a board game unusual for the rock genre. However I saw it as a way for the artists' to challenge conventions of their genre.

What is a Digipak

• A digipak is a type of CD box, usually used for special editions or re-released albums.
• It is usually a folded piece of cardboard with a CD case in the middle.
• It might contain Postcards or a booklet to accompany the CD. 

In the early 2000s, Digipak style cases became popular amongst record labels and recording artists. The aim of the Digipak is to promote the artist, the same way a music video does. However its features give fans a greater reason to buy the CD rather than downloading it. Digipak usually come in four or six panels. Over all a Digipak is made to appeal and intrigue fans, as well as people who take interest in the type or genre of music. 

     

My Practice CD Cover

This is my first attempt at making my own CD cover. I did this using Photoshop and getting random images and quotes online to form the band and album name. I really enjoyed this task because I believe I created a good standard of work (for my first try) and it wasn't as complicated as I thought it to be. I found the steps basic and I feel more prepared for making my group's Digipak.

How the Media Failed Women in 2013

In doing our research we found this video on the success of women in 2013, but also how their representation in the media has almost erased those successes. I feel this video shows how even though women a taking a step forward and erasing stereotypes its still not being recognised. This is due to not only how men treat or portray women, but also how some of them represent themselves. I have recognised that female artists in the music industry have become more explicit and provocative. I believe this is due to the fact that our current society is filled with female musicians. Artists such as Adele have made a name for themselves and there's almost competition between them. So in order to stand out they're using their body and sexuality as a tool.