3.7 - Evaluation

What the piece is.

My piece of work is a music video designed for the song Maps by The Living Daylights. The Living Daylights are a punk rock abdn fro Lincoln, and the song is approximately 2 and a half minutes in length.

Roles and Reasonings.

Throughout the whole process, research and planning and construction, I mainly took on the role of researching and producing the planning to stand the video on steady feet. As I had already planned and organised, aided with some help of my group member, Kyle as he knows the band, it was originally arranged to be filmed as a purely performance based video to showcase the band's talent.
As I have explained in Research and Planning 2.2 on my blog, the band had discovered some issues between the memebers and eventually eded in the video having to be completely changed as we could no longer feature the band. When this major setback occurred, initially we were stuck on how to resolve the situation.
To start, I replanned another video and re-made the call sheet and treatment etc.
During the editing process I put forward many ideas and also contributed toward the editing by assissting Kyle in creating our final video.
Although when I first laid down all of my ideas, many were not pheasable as we didn't have the software available and the extensive knowledge and experience needed to allow ambitious thoughts to be followed through.
For example, when we see the initial close up shot of the main guy in the video lighting a cigarette at the start, I came up with the idea of having only the flame in colour, this would therefore have grabbed the target audience's attention aesthetically. By having a bright flame shining out of the screen at you, many more people would have found it more interesting to look at as it is a known fact that people feel security and reassurance from a flames glow. Also this would have contrasted the de-saturated background and made the whole shot feel much warmer and inviting.
Another example when I would have liked to have let the colour dominate the shot was when, both character's arms are bleeding on the stairs. I wanted yo highlight the blood to show the pain of leaving scars in you, much like 'cutting maps into the ground'.

During the editing if I was to do this music video again, I would most definately include a lot more closeup, intimate shots of the lead girl, to allow the audience to gain mopre knowledge and empathy for her.
I generated this information from a collective audience's feedback from within our media class and from people picked at random.

As we added the black and white effect we wnated to create a blank canvas, in which the music was dominant. Also, as the song seems 'colourful' (as described by a member of an audience that saw our video), the black and white video has a beautiful contrast, allowing a more powerful yet subtle meaning to be portrayed.

Influences.

When trying to find influence for the original performance based video I looked on youtube for music videos by bands of a similar genre, like:
'Kiss and Tell' - Youmeatsix - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hHA7vBJUE4
'Weightless' - All Time Low - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpG3BxRctQ4
'Pray for Plagues' - Bring Me The Horizon - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWggPLXeOkU
'Warm Me Up' - The Audition - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbdSI-Fz2oA
I took influence from these videos by watching closely at each individual shot and angle that caught my eye, and thinking why i was so immediately attratced to them. I then pieced these together to get a good variety of aesthetically pleasing images.
Although plans for the original video changed, I still took my research and the typical conventions of a music video and applied them to the narrative video.
For eample when there is a staedicam shot circling the lead girl, I was inspired by a similar shot in the Pray for Plagues video, which also helped aid the disjointed scratching into the floor shots.

Also for this we aimed to create a natural lighting that made the outer world brighter, than the inner to show that there is more to the world than following a crowd and stereotyping.
For this I was influenced by the music video for Weightless as the video is about people stereotypes and them being broken, that things aren't jsut waht you see on the outside. This is also shown by the lead girl wearing a prom dress which is seen as being pure and more upperclass being contrasted with her slitting her wrists. Then when we see both of the character's arms together on the stairs we see that stereotyping is irrelevant as not only people who are seen as 'emo' for example, self harm, it then shows us a convergence of human characteristics.

Forms and Conventions.

To follow the forms and conventions of the punk rock genre of music, we included shots of a guitar being played, this is to show that the band aren’t just wannabe’s and that they are actual talented musicians, as guitars and the band’s instruments are the main part of their music we felt that by including these shots the audience could relate to the band more not only if they play instruments but by seeing that they are actually human/real people an audience can feel much more respect for them. To fit the forms and conventions of music videos we did include a lead male to help to aid the attraction of a male view – Laura Mulvey’s Gaze Theory.

But we also tried to break the conventions of a typical music video by having a more deep meaningful narrative than one that was simple to see at first glance. This then makes the audience want to study the video more to find then deeper meanings behind the shots. By doing this we went against the Music Video Analysis of Andrew Goodwin who believes there should be a clear relationship between lyrics and visuals and music and visuals. However although we go against some of the points Goodwin raised in his writing in ‘Dancing in the Distraction Factory’, we also conform to others like the need for close-ups of the artist to develop motifs and also frequent reference to the notion of looking.

Effectiveness and Reviews.

I feel that when the video is put with the designed digi-pac and poster they from together to make a well rounded and joined overall media package. I decided to have the black and white colour scheme continue through all 3 aspects so that they all fitted together as one collection. This was another reason that I intended to use the small coloured parts in the video to match with that of the highlight colours of red and yellow on the poster and digi-pac.
By using these colours I wanted to denote the feelings of power, courage and strength to show the pride that the band have in their music and every other aspect of their career – hence the link between all 3.
On all three pieces the lack of colour on the background makes the images more of an extra put onto the song, band and music rather than the main focus being the editing and technicality of everything. When I showed these three pieces as a whole to an audience I got reviews of; ‘The constant use of road maps and the theme of cars in the CD and poster together link cleverly into the video by the scratching of the word maps into the floor ’.

From gaining feedback from many audiences I feel that I have learned a lot more about what an audience look for in a familiar genre of music and also in those that are more unfamiliar. I have learnt that you do not need an image of the band on advertising to gain a fully responsive audience, and that they much prefer them to have an enigmatic feel about them, leaving them with a sense of suprise. From one particular piece of feedback, I found that an audience will look back over a video, if at first they cannot see the less obvious narratives they will endeavour to stick at it to find out the true narrative as ‘kind of a personal challenge’.

Media Technologies.

Throughout the process of the construction, research, planning and the evaluation stages of this course I have used software and new media technologies of the likes of Photoshop to help gain the full potential of my advertising and promotional design work. Also by using final cut pro on the mac computers, it greatly benefitted our final video by allowing us to have more options for bigger ideas being created. I also found using the internet for documenting the whole process very helpful as not only am i constantly editing my knowledge of new technologies, I am constantly showing my progress in a new media way.

From doing the course last year as well as this year, I have gained an extensive knowledge in using programs such as photoshop. I applied my knowledge of this to my digi-pacs and adverts for my artist. An example of this was how to have a black and white background but to restore the colour to certain defined objects, this then enhances the effect of my pieces by making them more aesthetically pleasing.
Also last year as we used web plus 10 to make our websites, even though I did not create a website for one of my final pieces this year, I was able to apply the typical conventions desired by an audience to make my final products the most appealing for them.
We also posted our work on the blog last year and, as a result, this has helped me create a more organised blog this year and enhanced my organisation skills as a whole in all my work.

Conclusion.

Overall, I feel that my advertising Cd poster and Digi-pac fulfilled there purposes as seen in post 3.6 and when joined with our final video shown with these I think that the audience have gained all I wanted them to get out of it. I aimed to create a slight enigma about the band and feel that I have successfully done that and managed to reach all of the target audiences while still fitting with many forms and conventions even though some were broken. I also think these pieces fit with the institutions desires.

3.6 - Audience Feedback of Video

Poster Feedback.

'Wow, Really eye-catching!'

'It clearly shows releveant info and the reviews listed provide a great incite into the music and the band.'

'It would make me stop to read it because of the bright colours..'

'The band name and track name are prominant as you would expect, they immediatly grab your attention.'

Digi-Pac Feedback.

'Front cover is really eye catching and great idea with highlighting Lincoln because it's where the band is from. It's awesome!'

'I like how the cars are carried through the whole CD, it links really well with the songs. Oh and the tracks are clear :)...'

'I personally found the CD looking like a steering wheel inspiring...it would good in my see through CD player!!'

'I love the band anyway and I think the album cover suits them and the song really well. I know I'd buy it.'

Video Feedback

'Interesting Opening, I like the black and white but I think if you carried the random colours from your adverts it would look well good in the video, other than that i like it.'

'It's a thought provoking video because at the start I didn't get why the girl was scratching the floor but then at the end when you see she was scratching MAPS, I thought it was clever.'

'I found the paning round the girl very dramatic and also I liked it when you could hear the scream under the lyrics. That was my favourite bit.'

'Some of the time when what I could see and what was being said were linked gave the video a kind of complete feel.'

'At first I thought it was weird that you never saw the band in any of the pieces but then it made me like the music not the band. Smart thinking!'

3.5 - Final Digi-pac

I have chosen Digi-Pac Design #2 for my final piece because I feel that in conjuction with my final poster design they fit well together with the shared main theme of the colour yellow. The bright contrast to the black and white background makes the colour seem more vibrant than it already is in itself. The yellow is also picked up in the lettering for the town names and on the back again in the cars.
Again on the final digi-pac I have not included a photo of the band, this is to hold an unwise audiences immediate judgement until they have listened to the true talent of the band.

I decided to link the poster and the digi-pac together by having the advert as the outside of the map this being the small incite into the album and the with the digi-pac I have chosen to make it the inside of the map beacause when you have a road map you don't see all the maps on the cover so here you are 'opening the map' and revealing the music within, what you wanted to come out of the poster and the digi-pac.

To fit the conventions of a digi-pac i have included the the sponsor, the publicists, copyright, tracklist, the band's ame, the album's title and a barcode. I decided to put all of the typical things you would find on a digi-pac in the conventional places, this then simplifies the cover for an audience and makes it easier to navigate around as it is familiar.

Screengrabs.

Here i was blending the label with the band's name on into the background to make it look more authentic.

This is where I was putting the colour back into the yellow mini.

This is a screen grab of when I de-saturated the back cover of my final digi-pac.

This is where I was restoring the colour to the LINCOLN sign.

Here I was applying the copyright text and the barcode at the the bottom of the back cover.

3.4 - Final CD Advert

I have chosen CD Advert Design#2 for my final piece because I think it looks like an authentic Road Map and also this is the poster with the biggest and clearest lettering. This allows the audience to be immediately struck by the poster and straight away they know what the poster is advertising.
I decided to use the bright yellow and contrasting black and red to use bold block colours to look aesthetically pleasing to an audience.
Yellow can be associated with danger as it is used on road warning signs however it is not percieved as hazardous as that of red. The Yellow represents the band's growth in the music industry and the risk they take in committing themselves to this tough lifestyle choice. Yellow also signifies courage in some cultures, this in turn emphasises the journey through music.
By using the contrasting black and white colours for the text, this represents the two sides to not only the band but the music industry as a whole. They show how versatile the band can be but no matter what they do it works in harmony.

On the poster in the black box on the right hand side I have included quotes from some magazines they have been featured in, this then gives the audience a mini review in order to get a slight understanding of what they can look forward to. This also gives the poster a personal touch and can seem like the band are making more of an effort to reach their audience and to meet their publicist and contractors wants.

To meet the conventions of a CD advert I included the band's publicitiy company, copyright, the price of the album, where it can be bought from, the band and the album's name.

One convention I didn't meet was seeing the band on the poster, I feel that this gives the poster and the band an enigmatic feel and therefore restricts peoples stereotypical judgements of the bands appearance and gives them a better chance of appreciating the music that The Living Daylights make.

Screengrabs.

In this screengrab I was creating the text to go in the red triangle.

Here I was editing the black box filled with reviews.

This is where I was applying one of the band's sponsors logo to the previously applied Speed Camera logo.

3.3 - Digi-pac Designs #3

Design #3

For this design I decided to go for the minimal look on the frot and back of the digi-pac design. However to make this simple design stand out I changed the colour of the background and the contrast, highlights and placed an inverted effect to create the desired colour.

This way by having an interesting colour scheme on the piece the audiences are aesthetically drawn to the CD. I used the dark blue as my main colour because it carries the connotations of importance, confidence, power, authority, unity and stability.
'Being very dark, navy can sometimes be a neutral like black which is also often seen as a conservative and authoritarian color.'

This reflects the band's pride in their music and starting out small and having the confidence to make it big.

On the CD cover I will include the barcode, sponsor, bands website, the artist and the album's name along with copyright to fit the conventions of Digi-pac.

3.2 - Digi-pac Designs #2

Design #2

The front of this Digi-pac is of the front end of a car on top of a road map. The town of Lincoln will be highlighted as that is where The Living Daylights originated from. Everything will be in black and white except for the car, Lincoln and the band. This way the audience are immediately drawn to the most important things on the CD cover.

Also by having the contrast of black and white to the bold yellow car it will stand out above other album covers that are all colour or all black and white.

Fans of the band will know why Lincoln is highlighted so that will automatically interest them, but even if you dont know where the band are from, by having Lincoln on the front, it will make the audience want to know why it is there and research into the band.

The back of the CD cover is a long shot of a section of England, there are also 4 different colour cars placed on the map. they are all starting out from different points on the map, but all are facing inwards to the same point. This shows the different ideas that each member of the band has, but means that they are all aiming for one goal - the band.

Again the background/map has been desaturated and the cars have been left in colour. This is to become more aesthetically pleasing to the audience. I will include a barcode, the sponsor, promotions, copyright,the band, tracklist and where it can be bought from.

3.1 - Digi-pac Designs #1

Design #1

This is a design of my first idea for a digi-pac. The front is of a guitar forming part of the map and the amp lead spelling out the album title. I thought with this design that I could make the song title and the music all come together as one on the front cover, Map - and guitar and vocals.

The front and back cover will be in black and white except the area of the map that is inside the microphone and the guitar. This then puts more emphasis on the music than the map in the background.

I decided on the back when applying all of the album tracklist, that it would be better to write the songs normally rather than try to make them look like road signs. This is because when in a different text size and type, it is much easier to see and notice than if it was blended into the map signs.

From an audiences point of view I want this to look simple but effective and easy to understand. I will include a barcode, sponsors, website, copyright and the band and album title.