Directors Commentary

Evaluation: How Did You Use Media Technologies In The Construction, Research, Planning, and Evaluation Stages ?

• ·      Unsigned

Unisigned.com was a media technology that we experimented with in the stage of choosing our track and band to create our promotional package for. This website would have enabled us to avoid infringement of the copyright law by using a track that wasn’t owned by an official record label. On this website unsigned bands upload tracks that can be downloaded for free with no copyright restrictions; however after discussing with the group we decided to use a song of a local band including members of our media group. We decided this would be more suitable as we knew more background about the band and the track; consequently we were also not infringing any copyright law.

• ·      Prezi

We used Prezi very early on in the planning of our production when we came up of variations of ideas for our music video and then presented these in a professional manor using ‘Prezi’. Prezi enabled us to create a professional slideshow, which we presented to our group and then gained audience research to make a decision to which idea would be most popular for the creating of our video. Due to this being a very effective way of presenting along with the ability to be embedded into websites or blogs we have also used this to display audience research evidence onto our blog as it is less confusing than uploading each questionnaire and result chart as single images. As a result our blogs will look more professional and information will be presented in an easier to read manor.

• ·      Logic pro

Logic Pro is an audio software that was used to initially record the track that we used for our music video. Once we had recorded all of the footage and were in the stage of editing we further used this software when we needed to cut down the long ‘breakdown’ in the track. It was far too long for accompanying footage and would have resulted in the video getting boring for the audience. We used this software as it one of the top audio recording and editing software’s on the market and one that we are all familiar with due to the Music BTEC course that we are all currently taking. Consequently it was a very easy job for us to edit the track on this software and on the other hand no time was wasted in the converting of the track to allow it to open in different audio editing software for a very simple task.

• ·      Final cut pro

For the editing of all of our video we chose to use a piece of software called ‘Final Cut Pro’ which is a professional piece of software used by people who create complex music videos or short film. We used this instead of the other available option of ‘iMovie’ as iMovie is a much simpler and limited piece of software aimed at less advanced film/video creators. iMovie is more intended for creating home videos. Using Final Cut instead of iMovie allowed us to make use of many more effects and tools when editing which widened our ability to be more creative in our video and add certain effects such as:

Opacity

With Final Cut we had the ability to overlay clips together and create a layered effect where two shots could be viewed by the top one being partially transparent; we did this using the opacity effect. The way we used this in our video was to take two shots from the exact same place, one with the vocalist sat looking at a photo and one with the vocalist shouting the lyrics at his previous position. By layering these clips using opacity we were able to create the effect of the vocalist singing the lyrics to himself.

Colour Correction

As the tools for colour correction are much more advanced in Final Cut, we were able to match all of the clips that had a slightly different exposure due to the lighting when that shot was filmed. We also added black and white faded effect with a boost in contrast for the narrative shots in order to make the natural light of the clip seem gloomy.  Additionally this emphasised the meaning behind the lyrics and the negative emotion intended in the clips of the memory box being buried.

Overall, we also thought it would be a good idea to use Final Cut as we have a lot of experience with using it after many previous projects, including our preliminary task in which the editing was a success.

• ·      Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop CS6 was the program that we used to create all parts of our digipak because we were able to easily define exact sizes for the panels and could make use of the professional tools of the software to create the digipak. The layers in Photoshop were important for incorporating different elements from the website; this helped the synergy of the promotional package work better. The slice and crop tools in the software helped us create a well composed and framed image for the panels. To incorporate elements of the website we used the lasso tool to give the effect of the pieces of text to look broken and therefore relating to the album and song name of ‘Broken Knees’. Finally the colour correction in Photoshop is more advanced in Photoshop compared to other software such as ‘Corel Studio’; therefore this enabled us to match the colour of similar artwork used in the digipak and match contrasts so that the images work together better.

Before Colour Correction

After Colour Correction

• ·      Soundcloud

Soundcloud is a type of social media website that is purely based around music, enabling users to have their own profile containing tracks and then the ability to look at other peoples profiles and tracks. We used this to comment on our own track to evaluate the different sections; additionally we brainstormed possible shots and other ideas early on in the planning of the production.

• ·      Twitter

As our band previously had a Twitter profile we were able to make use of this technology by firstly incorporating it into the website; this enabled us to link the social media of the band and display a live feed of current information from Twitter directly onto the homepage of the website. By doing this we have enabled the audience to see more personal and current information about the band whilst allowing them a method to interact and communicate with them. This would help the band gain popularity and allow them to promote in a very cheap, efficient, and fast way.

• ·      Youtube

Once the final version of our music video was ready, we uploaded it to YouTube and then embedded it into our website. By doing this we have allowed any user of the Internet to have access to the video and view it with the options of leaving feedback via comments or even share the video with friends they may have on a social network. Using YouTube means that we do not have to spend money creating hard copies of our music video that then have to be distributed to its audience in order for it to be a successful promotional product. By being available on demand and free to view it is certain to aid the promotion of the band, which is the initial purpose of the music video.  On the other hand it has allowed us to determine if our product has successful or not by gaining feedback through comments and the like/dislike buttons.

• ·      Facebook

Facebook allowed us to further promote the video to friends and family that we have social links with via the website. By each member of the group sharing the video we promoted it to over a thousand people in a few seconds, excluding the further shares and reposts that may occur if our friends were to share it to their friends. This type of promotion did not cost us anything and furthermore the technology also allowed us to gain feedback on the video through comments and ensure that the product we created was professional and going to be a success for the correct target audience.

• ·      Blogger

Blogger is a technology we have been constantly using throughout all stages of the creation of our media products. We have used blogger to record all of our research, planning, and creation tasks for our production which has enabled us to keep all our work safely on a website where it can be easily viewed and retrieved as required at a later date. This also allowed us to access all of our work from home and other locations very easily and gave us the ability to incorporate different types of media such as presentations, videos, and audio files into our work.

Skills Learned & Developed

• ·      Filming shots to imitate a live situation

For the live shots of our video we had to look at similar promotional videos to observe how the live performance shots were filmed, this was to develop the skill of filming a live band and giving the effect of it being a point of view shot from the audience. From the videos we discovered that the majority of shots were filmed from an eye-line view and were not filmed with a tripod as the shots are to stable; therefore the shots do not look like a first person view of an enthusiastic fan at the front of a live performance. In order to achieve this effect we filmed the shots whilst walking forwards and backwards to the music whilst wearing a chestcam to hold the camera. We did this to give the shots a lot of movement to make the viewers feel like they are in the audience watching the live gig, however we used the chestcam to reduce some of the camera shaking so the shots did not look to confusing and make the viewers feel dizzy. On the other hand by using lots of camera movement, we have been able to keep the video interesting without having to keep changing shots as the movement of the camera is constantly giving a different perspective.

• ·      Final Cut

After using Final Cut for many productions now, including our preliminary we are very efficient when using it and all know the stylistic elements that it is capable of such as the opacity we used and various colour correction. This production has further developed our usage and enabled us to use these tools through a different style of production to what we are used to; however we felt that we used these effects to our success and are extremely pleased with the final product. For example we have learned how to cut clips together at a much faster pace without making the resulting video too confusing or jump between each clip. We have also developed the skill to colour correct clips in a creative way to emphasise negative emotion.

• ·      Syncing the track to the footage

Although we have synced a non-diegetic track to footage before, this time was the most challenging as we had instrument and lip syncing to do and the song has a faster tempo than the one we used for our preliminary. By sticking to the original method of our preliminary and playing along to the track in the shots it ensured that we kept in time with the version of the track we would use in the editing stage. Therefore when editing we could sync each clip knowing that it would stay in time until the next cut.

• ·      Developing The Band Logo For The Digipak

When creating our digipak we wanted to use the same band logo that was on the website in order to create synergy between the products. However the logo had a rectangle white background to it, which looked unattractive and unprofessional on the digipak. Therefore we experimented and developed our skills on Photoshop to make the logo look ‘broken’ which related to the album and track title of ‘Broken Knees’. After experimenting with the lasso tool we were able to develop our experience with it and cut out sections of the white background around the text; this resulted in a very effective look to the title as seem bellow.

Technical Issues

• ·      ISO & Lighting

During filming our live performance shots we came across a technical issue with the footage we had gained on the first day of our shoot in that it was grainy and distorted when uploaded on to the Macbook's larger screen, despite looking okay on the cameras small screen. After some quick problem solving and looking through the camera settings we discovered that the ISO was set on 3200 which was much to high for the dim recording situation and therefore resulted in a grainy image that became more distinct as the viewing screen was enlarged. This occurred because the camera was trying to let in too much light that was not available in the barn and therefore could not create the HD footage as intended.

First shoot - ISO set too high

Due to this problem we went back to the barn the next day to reshoot in a lower ISO of 800 while increasing the brightness of the stage lighting to make up for the loss in light captured through the lens. In theory this would then result in much clearer and full HD footage; which resulted in a successful second shoot with much clearer footage.  This technical issue worked to our advantage by allowing us to use the first film day as a practice shoot for our shots, giving us an insight on the problems that may have occurred and allowing us to film alternatives in case their was further problems during the editing stage. 

Second shoot - Much higher quality shots

Overall I feel that I have gained further experience and developed the knowledge of the capabilities of each piece of software we have used. I feel that this is evidential though each media product we have created and the results are professional and emphasise the creativity of our group and how well we worked together. We have used the skills we have researched and developed to successfully ensure our products fit into the correct genre and abide by conventions without being to similar to other products.