FINAL BLOG

This is my final blog!

Evaluation Question 4: What have you learned from your audience feedback?

This is a wordle I composed from the general feedback I thought we received from when we went to the cinema in Angel to view everyones final pieces. When it was our turn to watch our music video I felt really unsure of what everyone would think. I love it because its funny and pleasant to watch, but mostly because I had a share in making it. People were laughing during our music video at the stop motion duck sequence and when we were playing on the children playground equipment. Our video was very different from everyone elses from the music right through to the ideas we had in how we were going to make our video. We added lots of fun parts, which I think people appreciated. But at the same time our video was also relevant to the song.  I got a lot of comments about the excellent use of the handheld camera which made it seem like you were a part of the video, instead just a spectator.

I got some feedback from people who I showed the video to on facebook.

I also went onto Vimeo to to see the comments on there and see if there was any more to say about how we made out video exciting and what could've been improved. 

Currently the statistics on on vimeo are pretty minimal, however this is not necessarily a bad thing. Because there is a smaller audience there will be a smaller response. The first week our video was up on vimeo it got 48 views in one day!

I really appreciated the comments that I received from various people on social networking websites and vimeo. I enjoyed making our music video and I enjoyed editing all the footage. I've learned so much from what people have told me about how we made our video. It is best to get as much footage as you can all on one day so the weather is similar! Spend time thinking up what where you're going to film and what you'll be filming each day. I don't think our group was especially well organised or throughly planned but I know making a plan would've made our video slightly better and more consistent maybe 

Final post

This is the end of my blog.

Evaluation Question 4: Feedback

This Wordle contains the features people liked about my music video. People generally liked the use of jump cuts through out our music video as they said it complimented the rhythm of the song. Furthermore people also liked the storyline of our music video, they thought it went very well with the lyrics of the music video. People also commented on the props that we used as they said it made a clear link between the video and songs lyrics.

However for improvements they said that some of the lip sync was off time towards the end, that I was abit too static when it came to the singing that I should have been more active as it was such a happy cheerful song, Also that the was a hand that popped up half way though the stop motion.

What I learnt from this was that once we complete the editing of our video that we should always re-watch for the simple mistakes that others highlighted, or even to get another member of a different group to watch it as it would be easier for them to pick up on the mistakes. Also that I should have learnt the lyrics to the song better so that I could have focused more on the performance rather than singing the lyrics right.

Evaluation question 4

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

We had a cinema screening in early December where all media music videos were shown. The reaction to the cinema screening of our video can be seen in the video below. As can be heard, the reaction seems to be very positive.

Our video was uploaded onto to Vimeo in December, throughout that time our video has received quite a large number of views. 

Views on Vimeo

Feedback/comments from audience on video:

Feedback/comments from audience on my ancillary products:

From the feedback it can be seen how people enjoyed the use of ducks and would've wanted them more in the video. The use of ducks in our video was not planned, we weren't going to include them in the video but once we realised during the editing process how they worked with our video, we decided to keep them. It seems using the ducks was a good idea and if we could re-do the video we would definitely used more of the ducks.

The feedback also commented on the change of weather in some scenes, this was unfortunate for us since the first days of filming were sunny but this wasn't the case for the rest of the days. Of course the sunny weather would've suited our happy, upbeat song rather than the grey weather, but we couldn't bring back the sunny weather. Perhaps if we had filmed all our scenes in the same week we could've had more consistent weather.

The feedback on our video has made me see our media text in a different light, this was specifically related to the comments on how some scenes were random and how we over-relied on one shot. Prior to these comments I had not realised how we had over relied on the side close up of the singer. But after the comments I realise how other shots would have looked better, especially since that particular scene was quite dark and gloomy: using a sunnier shot would have been better.

The shot in question.

Evaluation Question 3: How I used Technologies

A2 media Evaluation on Prezi

Evaluation question 3

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

Evaluation Question 4 - Part B

I got so much positive feedback on my video and ancillary work that I actually had to get my media studies teacher to give me negative feedback on the video so I would have some, I also have my own thoughts and hindsight on my video and ancillary work! Then the other day my friend in group 1 kindly emailed me some feedback too :)!

Here are two videos of feedback, neither of which have any negative comments or points for improvement which is really good! But I need some criticism,
So Natalie from group 1 emailed me some points on my work:

I learned from these comments that the editing we did was really worth it as everybody comments on it and it seems to be the highlight point of the video. I found it interesting that Natalie felt we used all of the aspects of Andrew Goodwin's theory as I felt as though we had just used amplification, however I understand that for a few seconds it does split off to illustration and disjuncture, there were various things that would have allowed us to fully used amplification however we were restrained by stuff such as the cost of going to the zoo, or the lack of sunny weather, which Natalie noted as the first criticism, I would love to make this video in summer when grey skies aren't always out! Natalie also notes one of the scenes as being a little dark which I can completely agree with, 

In the future I think booking out the lights more often would have benefitted this shot and allowed for the full effect of the waterfall behind to shine through :)

I am super pleased that Natalie noticed the colours going along with the mood of the genre, I tried to pick the 'happiest' blue that I could. The yellow text was not designed to look like the sun however it was meant to be a 'sun yellow' colour to match the 'sky blue'. Natalie also noticed the shirt was different but agrees that it matches enough to be recognisable from the video. Natalie did think that the outfit was a little dark against the background's brightness, but I used a photo of Aykut in a red shirt as it would break up the colour scheme a little and then the rainbow of colours wouldn't look weird, with only yellows and blue's in the rest of the work. However in the future I could try and get a colour that matches a little more and maybe doesn't have black checks? 


This shows me that perspective buyers like the co-ordination though and so I am pleased I used co-ordinating colours throughout the ancillary work! If I had a real budget for the film I would have probably bought loads of plain coloured shirts (or ones without black but checked?) and featured a bright one on Aykut on the cover, maybe even a yellow.


I understand that the cover doesn't show a full photograph of Aykut on it, however most folk/ indie singers are white caucasian so Aykut sticks out already, and the shirt and playful pose links to the video! However I could have put the photo of Aykut posing that way inside and another on the outside, Aykut in his review didn't seem to have an issue with the lack of face on the front, so it's debatable as to what I learnt, I guess some people might think that the face should be there, but I reckon Aykut is distinguishable as himself on it enough, as his eyes are still there.


The space about the advertisement was bugging me too when I made it, but I didn't want to make the 'hit single' bit any larger as it would then look at large as the title of the album, which is secondmost important after the artist title, I also didn't want it to overshadow the reviews I did by the magazines. Whilst making the advert I learnt that the way you plan something on paper when you're doing something on photoshop should be a preliminary plan as some of the space on the paper just didn't really exist! I could have always included a label or another review to fill the space, but I didn't want it to be too busy!


I don't mind the colour scheme being called unusual (although I don't think it is!) as Natalie said it was eye catching! Also theres a line between unusual and weird so hopefully the colour scheme wouldn't put off buyers, It did teach me that choosing bright colours that clash slightly could pay off and create something that as a whole looks good :)!

Over all our video and my ancillary products were well received, but it seems like a little extra time, thought and planning ahead could have benefitted us and saved us from any of the criticisms, we also should have realised from people's reactions to the ducks before we had finished that they could have featured a little more, so maybe making notes of audience feedback during production would have benefitted us also!  I am otherwise just so happy with the project and the final results! We put in so much hard work and effort and its lovely that those who are reviewing it notice and seem to genuinely enjoy our products !

Evaluation Question 4 - Part A

I took a video at the cinema screening at the screen on the green in Angel, as you can see my camera work is terrible outside of film projects, partially because I was watching the screen and not my recording for the most of it, the important aspect of this video is the ending. 


The reception at the cinema was fantastic and students and teachers alike were impressed with our firm placement in the genre and everybody seemed to enjoy the video which was great!


 I had been a little apprehensive of what it would look like on the big screen, especially the zoomed images (the jumpy pan of the city and the split second clip of ducks being, ducks). However when I saw it on the big screen nothing looked wrong, I was also worried that any parts of the video without perfect lip syncing would show up badly and be obvious during the screening, however it seemed to be received really well at the cinema !

Evaluation Question 3 - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? - part G

Here is a Prezi I made covering the previously unmentioned technologies I used, most of which are in the evaluative stages!

Prezi on Prezi (inception?) on Prezi


The technologies I have had access to and used have been really amazing and have helped us greatly in our planning, creation and evaluation! 

Evaluation Question 3 - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? - part F

 Programmes for creating ancillary texts by ClaireElsby

A short animation about how I used Photoshop and Pixelmator

Evaluation Question 3 - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? - part E

Here is a Prezi illustrating how, and what, we used final cut pro for!

Final Cut Pro on Prezi

Evaluation Question 3 - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? - part D

This year we used the same state of the art and awesome video cameras as last year, which are just too great!!! They are JVC cameras and produce some seriously good quality films.
We shot on to SD cards which are so quick and simple to use and allow for super easy access to the files from college. 
This year my camera use was much different to last year, including taking various hand held shots, and using manual focus.


When shooting the zip-wire frames for the music video I suggested we go on the zip-wire (it is sped up in the video and was actually painfully slow to ride on!) and hold the camera and take shots of each other, 

This created a lot of fun movement in our video and was a great use of the location and the tools we had, the camera had a safety strap on it too, so we could shoot this with no health and safety issues :)! It really went along with the playful feeling of our film and the quality allowed us to get continuously good quality even when we sped up the clips.

Helping to set up the camera

When filming the floating duck scene we put the camera on to manual focus so we could get a really awesome close up of the front duck with the others floating around in the background all fuzzy! I thought it looked really good and it allowed us to get an extreme close up shot of the duck, allowing it to take centre stage and just adding to the fun and playful feeling in our music video. 

We also used the video camera to take the still shots of the ducks for the animatic part of our music video, something which I had not done before, luckily we figured out how to do it and got some great quality photos of the ducks for the animatic!

We used a mini speaker, Ipods and smart phones to play the song for filming, to ensure no messy headphone shots were in the video and so that the film and audio would align perfectly when we created our base tracks. 

Evaluation Question 3 - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? - part C

I understand that the text is a little fast to read in places and so have retyped it bellow, iMovie was VITAL for me to create the animatic as otherwise I would have been unable to have from at home!


A programme I used to help throughout my media studies project was iMovie

Its a basic film creation tool, which is great for making small videos.

I used it when creating the animatic, by dragging and dropping photographs of my drawings in to the timeline. 

There were some very quick edits in the animatic,

But iMovie has a tool which allows for very precise changes to be made.

I also used in when creating a little video about possible effects to inclue in our final music video.

There are lots of great basic tools to edit the image with, and the sound, which I used to increase the volume of my voice as I sounded like a tiny mouse before,

and even a selection of predesigned effects.

It also has various type bubbles to use. (which I used when creating my video comparing my video to other music videos within the genre) 

iMovie helped me to create the animatic really well due to its simplicity, making it much faster than trying to use final cut pro for the animatic!

Evaluation Question 2: Part B Links Between My Main Product and Ancillary

Also in our music video I made a few costume changes, which I wanted to incorporate in my album cover. While im wearing a different checkered shirt, it is still similar to the two I wear in the music video. Also I included the panda hat to keep the image of me being a fun loving silly character.

For my advert I wanted to keep it looking very closely like my album cover which is why included the same photo of my self getting rained on by rainbow coloured peace signs, so there was a very clear link between the advert and album so customers could recognise the album form the advert straight away.

That is why I also chose to make the text the same font as the font used in my album cover, to make connections between my album and the advert as well as adding to the visual representation of the band. Again the bright colours and funny photoshopped image of me to show people the kind of positive and cheerful band we are.

As well as making it fun and fitting to the image of our band, I also had to make the advert realistic, by incorporating things you would find on a real advertising poster such as quotes and ratings from real music magazines.

Also I added these social networking sites to show that our band is a modern band and they use the internet to promote them selves like other have before such as Lillie Allen. Which I thought would symbolise we are an independent band and not a main stream grime or rap artist.

You cant have an advert without mentioning where to buy the album so in the bottom corner I make it clear where the album is to be distributed, as well as adding the logos so people without having to even read it can identify where to buy the album from. Furthermore I included Itunes because it is a modern medium of song purchasing (other than online piracy).  

Evaluation Question 3 - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? - part B

The use of internet search engines
by: ClaireCandi



Infact I want to make a Photobucket slideshow for my next part so...

Evaluation Question 3 - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? - part A

This mood-board of logos shows some of the technologies I used in the creation of my products from the first stages of researching products already out there to the printing of my ancillary products. 

Before using any other technologies for the project, I used Blogger, a clear and simple blogging tool which has been essential to the creation of my products. Blogger has not just been a medium for displaying work for me, but a way for our group to plan, co-ordinate and keep up to date with other group members and offer support to one another. 
When I was making the animatic I needed some clear suggestions from the group as to exactly what we should include when, so I uploaded the section of the animatic that I had created so far and asked for feedback allowing us to work together on the film even when we weren't together. 

The easy tools on Blogger also made it possible to keep the rest of the group updated about locations I spotted as well as clarifying their existence (many of the shortlisted locations were art installations). 

Blogger has also been an exceptional resource for looking back in the year and allowed me access to my notes and thoughts from the earliest stages of planning, Blogger then becomes an archive of our groups thoughts and plans, allowing us to backtrack and remind ourselves of our ideas...

We uploaded our Editing schedule, so all the group knew when and who would be working on editing, so Blogger was an immense help in keeping us organised and in touch!

By having everybody's work in one place we could easily refer back to it, such as the label our artist was signed to and other information which disappeared from our minds over the months working on our final products. 

There is also an archive of past work, helping us to distinguish good from bad and pinpoint the reasons why, such as when I used the list of conventions to analyse previous student's ancillary work 

Our teachers often update the home page of the blog to include important information and reminders which were also really helpful for keeping us organised and on top of our work, allowing us to plan and schedule in advance.

In all Blogger is a great technology for keeping our group connected and referring back to previous work,

Evaluation Question 3. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

What technologies I used during construction, research, planning and evaluation on Prezi

Digipack & Advert Finished