1A Post Production (3)

POST PRODUCTION ESSAY

In terms of my foundation portfolio (AS) I had to create an opening title sequence for a thriller movie which I named vindicate. It focused on 2 male protagonists who were on a look out for an assassin in an abandoned house, in order to prepare for the opening title sequence I was also required to complete a preliminary tasks which taught me the basics about maintaining continuity and familiarising myself with the editing software.  My advanced portfolio (A2) production focused on a music video for the indie band 'Bastille' and their song 'Pompeii', the video is about a couple who are on the verge of a relationship breakdown, we decided to hybridise the type of the video and created a performance based music video with a narrative based twist, the advanced portfolio was also accompanied by a magazine poster and a digipak (CD cover) which was part of the ancillary tasks. 

One particular skill that I believe I have progressed from AS to A2 is the use of editing software and it's features. During AS media I used Pinnacle Studio (for Windows) to edit both my preliminary task and my final opening title sequence; this software was very simplistic and only allowed you to use basic effects which didn't really help reflect the thriller genre for example a lot of the cuts used were soft and transitions like cross dissolves were used which didn't seem to reflect the thriller genre; for example thrillers tend to have fast hard cuts in order to create a sense of tension. However, when it came to edit my A2 music video I used Final Cut Pro X (for Mac) which is a tremendous editing software which is used by industry professionals with hundreds of exclusive features. This meant that in my A2 music video I used a lot more 'advanced' editing effects and transitions such as 'Luma Keyer', flashes and letterbox all which helped contribute it to make it seem like a pop music video, for example the flashes were added to the beat and the letter was added (16:9 aspect ratio) which is a key conventions of movies and music videos; adding this made my project feel more like a music video.

At A2 I believe that i have become more competent in my post production skills, I only had previous knowledge of Pinnacle Studio during my preliminary task and opening title sequence during AS media to test basic tools such as straight cut and clipping. However, during A2 with Final Cut Pro I used straight cut more confidently, implemented jump cuts and used to slow motion tool/replay as well as expanding the time line gap in order to ensure that my lip syncing was accurate as possible because if it wasn't it would instantly make the video seem artificial. Being more confident in my editing skills made me use it as a further advantage for example in post production I cropped my video to an extreme close up instead of relying on production on the day which was evident in my opening title sequence. By using the cropping tool in post production I could apply Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory and use close up shots of the actress in order to appeal to my male target market.

In also used PhotoShop in order to help produce my final product in both years, photoshop was used in my opening title sequence at the very end of my video where the title of the film was displayed. When creating the title of my opening title sequence, very simplistic tools were used such as the text tool and the bucket tool (to colour the background). However, during my A2 music video an extensive amount of photoshop was used in order have an impact on the final outcome, for example during the music video the boyfriend receives a text message from his girlfriend. I decided to replicate the bubble design from an iPhone which required me to use the eyedropper tool to get the exact same colour of the tool, the magic eraser tool to get rid of the white background and the gradient tool to give a two colour tone on the text bubble. I also used photoshop in other sections of the music video such as the text overlay at the start of the video and the band logo at the very end.

Photoshop was also widely used in my ancillary task whilst creating the magazine poster and digipak, having had previous experience in Photoshop it meant that I could creative a product that was aesthetically pleasing but also implement further new tools such as the use of the gradient tool, the slice tool and the spot healing brush tool. Using photoshop frequently meant that I could also learn keyboard shortcuts that I wasn't familiar with during AS media. for example CTRL + C meant that I could copy images from my photoshoot and CTRL + V meant that I could paste these images onto my Photoshop document; this ultimately saved me significant amount of time which had also developed my time maintenance and organisation skills.

During my AS opening title sequence I used very basic fonts that were preinstalled within the Pinnacle Studio software, I also picked a font which looked good in my eyes so not a lot of thought or consideration was taken into account when selecting the typography for my opening title sequence;. However, during A2 media in the post production process I spent hours searching for an appropriate font which was suitable for a music video. I used DaFont.com in order to assist me into finding the correct font, DaFont allows you to download any font you need, I decided to use Bebas Neue which is big, bold font which was capitalised and embossed in order to match the conventions of typography within music videos. This is a significant progression because it makes my media product stand out as users can use the unique typography that I used to familiarise it with my band.

In terms of sound, during AS media I uploaded a song to my project that was initially copyrighted which meant that i had to remove the soundtrack as YouTube didn't allow this, this is because I assumed you didn't need to contact an artist to use their song in a media production. Consequently it meant that i had to replace the soundtrack with another song which was very time consuming as I had to re-render the whole project. However, upon realisation and in order to prevent this happening again, in A2 media I contacted the owner (Bastille - Virgin Records) to use their song in my media product, which then meant that i had the lawful rights this meant that I was well organised but also being critical when producing my final outcome.

In conclusion, the progression from AS media to A2 media in terms of post production has been significant, it has enable me to become a competent student and a stronger candidate, for example using advanced transitions and effects in A2 media in comparison to AS media where I used a basic editing software which meant that the final outcome was rather limited.

• During AS we made a thriller OTS which meant that we had to stick to a specific genre (as Steve Neale would say), however in A2 I created a music video which meant that I could be more flexible because my video was 'amplification' under Goodwins theory which meant that I could add new layers to the meaning of the song. 

1A Digital Technology essay (2)

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
In terms of my foundation portfolio (AS) I had to create an opening title sequence for a thriller movie which I named vindicate. It focused on 2 male protagonists who were on a look out for an assassin in an abandoned house, in order to prepare for the opening title sequence I was also required to complete a preliminary tasks which taught me the basics about maintaining continuity and familiarising myself with the editing software.  My advanced portfolio (A2) production focused on a music video for the indie band 'Bastille' and their song 'Pompeii', we decided to hybridise the type of the video and created a performance based music video with a narrative based twist, the advanced portfolio was also accompanied by a magazine poster and a digipak (CD cover) which was part of the ancillary tasks.

One piece of technology that was used throughout my coursework was blogger, this platform has made me more confident in my progression from AS media to A2 media. Having spent almost 2 years on it, it made me work more quickly and efficiently. Blogger allowed me to embed insightful YouTube videos, write up my own essays and also embed soundcloud audio files by using a HTML code.

The use of camera equipment had also progressed from my foundation portfolio to my advanced portfolio. For example, to film the opening title sequence (OTS) I used a Canon Legria HD camcorder, this piece of tool was satisfactory because although it had remarkable quality and battery life some of the functions were rather limited for example you couldn’t change lens meaning that you could only zoom in 32x with optical zoom. However, for my advanced portfolio I used a Canon 700D DSLR camera which has additional features which the camcorder lacked such as AF Focus, high speed shooting and a ISO feature to shoot in dark conditions.

I also used digital technology to help inform and construct my project, during AS media had a skype interview with Mike Harrowes; an industry professional editor who gave me key hints and tips on how to edit a media product. In A2 media I progressed in the sense that I had two separate industry professional to help inform me, for example Ryan Mackfall (music director) helped me with my pre-production roles such as tips on a treatment, whereas Ian Haughton (branding designer) helped me on my ancillary tasks (post production). Having a skype interview with these industry professionals helped me think about pertinent questions to ask in order to get valuable feedback for the products that I was making.

The use of digital technology was also beneficial in my evaluation. In order to portray my information in a more amusing way I used web tools such as Piktochart and Issuu (advanced portfolio), this made my more aesthetically pleasing but also easy to interpret for my teacher. During AS media I used tools such as PowerPoint and Slideshare, whereas In A2 media I used more advanced web tools such as PowToon and Piktochart (these were great alternatives to PowerPoint). In A2 I was more selective of using web tools in the sense that in A2 media I used tools that were most appropriate according to the task that was set for example I used Issuu for my ‘digital technology pre-production’ post because it is a digital magazine web tool which links into the theme of modern technology.

Photoshop was also significantly used in my throughout my foundation and advanced portfolios. I used Photoshop to created 3D text for my opening title sequence, the reason why I used another software for the text is because Final Cut Pro has very basic text which doesn’t allow you to have 3D text, however using Photoshop meant that I could import 3D texts. In terms of my music promo I used PhotoShop in multiple ways such as my bands logo, the digipak and the text bubble from the iPhone. This meant that I became more confident in PhotoShop but also helped me construct a more competent piece of work.

Photoshop was also widely used in my ancillary task whilst creating the magazine poster and digipak, having had previous experience in Photoshop it meant that I could creative a product that was aesthetically pleasing but also implement further new tools such as the use of the gradient tool, the slice tool and the spot healing brush tool. Using photoshop frequently meant that I could also learn keyboard shortcuts that I wasn't familiar with during AS media. for example CTRL + C meant that I could copy images from my photoshoot and CTRL + V meant that I could paste these images onto my Photoshop document; this ultimately saved me significant amount of time which had also developed my time maintenance and organisation skills. 

In order to edit my opening title sequence (foundation portfolio) I used Adobe Premiere Pro; this helped me enhance the visual imagery of my project as it has extensive features such as colour corrections, transitions and a wide range of fonts. However, there were some issues with Premiere Pro which slowed down the process of meeting the deadline. For example, we had issues with rendering out the project as the footage became green and the audio was missing. In order to eradicate this issue, for my advanced portfolio, I decided to edit using Final Cut Pro. This is a more sophisticated software which is used by industry professionals, this software made rendering a lot easier because it has rendering templates which you can set prior to editing; enabling the template meant that there was no issue with rendering my final pop promo.

In conclusion, when making my A2 music promo I pushed my boundaries in the sense that I combined different media platforms in order to produce the final outcome, an example of this using Photoshop, not only did integrate Photoshop I also incorporated Apple iPhones by displaying a text bubble using iOS8 (iPhone operating system). This was a lot more advanced than my OTS; because my AS project was all about a strong narrative and creating enigma whereas the music promo was more about editing skills in order to maintain audience interest and gain multiple viewings.

• I used an internal mic in AS which meant it was quite hard to hear dialogue but in my A2 project I used an external mic meaning that I didn’t have to create my own Foley which was time consuming. 

• In conclusion, I believe that digital technology was very helpful in producing to effective pieces of media over the 2 years. As my skills further improved it enabled me to be a more comptent student but also use digital technology effectively in order to produce a high quality product.

1A Progression on Creativity on all sections (5)

DIGITAL TECH

creative in the sense that we used foley in our music video such as when the main character recieves a text we hear a vibration noise which means that it adds a sense of familiarity using this piece of diegetic sounds. Diegetic sounds in a narrative music video isn't used so much therefore we took a risk and in that sense we were being creative. 

we used a go pro for a POV shot when the boyfriend is running

used photoshop to make own production logo/logo of our band 


RESEARCH AND PLANNING

In terms of research and planning, I was creative in the sense that we used Skype to help us in A2 media such as speaking to Director Ryan Mackfall, he analysed my treatment and gave me tips on how to make an effective music video this is creative in the sense that getting tips from an industry professional meant that our video could be very creative when it comes to production. 

By using other formats to make our work presentable for example, in AS i used slideshare however in A2 i used piktochart, vimeo, youtube, prezi and powtoon. 


POST PRODUCTION

In A2 the music video was more creative in the sense that final cut allowed me to use effects that were exclusive to the software; final cut is used by industry professionals; for example it let me use effects such as Luma Keyer which meant that I could overlay two pieces of clips. This couldnt be done during AS media because Pinnacle studio had limited effects such as fades and dissolves which meant that I couldn't explore more features. 

a unique style of filming such as a freehand shot where the camera moves with the performer (one take shot for 30 seconds) this isn't often done in music videos but this was done in order to break up the tempo of the song as it came off the chorus. 


CONVENTIONS FROM REAL MEDIA TEXTS

In the sense that we used unique shots and offered a sense of intertextuality in our A2 media product, intertextualised John Newman love me again but we played a different type of narrative which wasn't linear narrative.

1A Research and Planning Essay (1)

RESEACH AND PLANNING


In terms of my foundation portfolio (AS) I had to create an opening title sequence for a thriller movie which I named vindicate. It focused on 2 male protagonists who were on a look out for an assassin in an abandoned house, in order to prepare for the opening title sequence I was also required to complete a preliminary tasks which taught me the basics about maintaining continuity and familiarising myself with the editing software.  My advanced portfolio (A2) production focused on a music video for the indie band 'Bastille' and their song 'Pompeii', we decided to hybridise the type of the video and created a performance based music video with a narrative based twist, the advanced portfolio was also accompanied by a magazine poster and a digipak (CD cover) which was part of the ancillary tasks.

Research and planning is fundamental to any coursework production and it allows for a measured, well timed production that is fully informed by both primary and secondary research into audience, genre and representation but also ensures the filmmaker is fully aware of the extent he/she has to go to in terms of production values and construction.

One piece of technology that was used throughout research and planning was Blogger; this was a very helpful and informative all the way throughout my coursework; this is because it let me embed insightful YouTube videos, write up my own essays and also embed soundcloud audio files onto it which all helped contribute to my knowledge and further enhanced my knowledge. Although blogger was very helpful at times it did have some issues, for example sometimes blogger would not work in certain rooms such as the common room or the library this meant that the use of blogger was limited and I had to use it in the media room which wasn’t accessible at all times. However, to eradicate this issue I done a lot of my blogger work at home which meant that I could catch up.

I also used YouTube to help me analyse existing media products to help inform my one. For example in preparation for my AS opening title sequence I looked the opening title sequence for ‘Se7en’ this made me aware of what exactly opening title sequences were, what they consist of and how long they are. In progression to A2, as well as looking at existing music videos from established artists I also looked at exemplar work from previous A2 students; I looked at a range of music videos ranging from level 1-4 this meant that I could analyse what they have done good and what they have done bad. This ultimately meant that I could pick up the good things and incorporate it into my media product.

In order to help inform me about by treatment (in terms of research) I had a skype interview with music director Ryan Mackfall. Ryan Mackfall gave me insightful information on how to write a good treatment and what a music video should consist of. During AS media we also had a skype interview with Mike Harrowes; an industry professional editor who gave us key hints and tips on how to edit a media product. Having a skype interview with these two industry professionals meant that I gain feedback from people who have actually had professional experience with film-making. However, a key issue with Skype was that it was quite hard to have a good connection and we only had one hour time slots which meant that we couldn’t fit as many information as we could have.

In terms of planning there has been a clear progression in our group work and contribution from AS to A2. During AS media, my group had randomly assigned pre-production roles to each other meaning that we all got randomly allocated to tasks (non-bias). However, in A2 media we allocated roles accordingly to what a person felt more confident with for example I put myself forward with schedule list because I can effectively meet deadlines and I have had experience with creating schedule lists before, and Jeremy was collectively assigned as prop and costume list as he is a drama student and has had experience with costumes before. This had developed our group skills more because as I group I feel like we have co-ordinated well as opposed to last year where group working wasn’t considered as important.

Researching equipment was also vital to help me produce a better final piece in A2 as opposed to my AS product. For example in my AS opening title sequence I used an internal camera microphone which was poor and didn’t have much range; as a result of this I had to record my own foley which meant that the sound seemed quite artificial. However, in order to eradicate this issue in A2 media I decided to use an external microphone for the dialogue at the start of my A2 music video; this meant that the sound was crisp and clear and meant that foley was not required as the sound was easy to understand. This meant that mistakes were kept minimalistic which meant that my
technological knowledge had increase because during AS media I would have not even considered using an external microphone.

In conclusion, the importance of new media has been apparent in my research and planning. Audience members are now being fragmented more than ever meaning that it can be harder to reach out to an audience, but websites such as YouTube are also making it easier as we are our own consumers (a term David Gauntlett used meaning that we produce and consume our own content using web 2.0). I feel that I have made a significant improvement from the transition of AS to A2 media, which has made me a much more competent student. Websites like YouTube have also made it easier for me to research key ideas for my music video such as camera tutorials and exemplar work from previous AS and A2 students; as media theorists Michael Wesch says “YouTube is a cultural phenomenon” which I can totally relate to as it has helped me in so many ways in terms of research and planning.

1B REPRESENTATION ESSAY (3)

'Analyse one of your media productions in relation to representation'

Representation is a key feature to the development and creation of my product. Representation, as described by Stuart Hall, refers to the idea that all texts are encoded with specific ideas and expressed through careful mediation. Presenting reality is a twisted and specific way. My production is my A2 music video, 'Pompeii' by Bastille, which comes under the genre and sub-genre of indie rock/alternative rock. I will refer to a range of theories that reflect or challenge the concepts of representation in my music video, analysing and using examples to apply such theories to my product.

1B MEDIA LANGUAGE ESSAY (5)

1B AUDIENCE ESSAY (4)

1B NARRATIVE ESSAY (2)

1B GENRE ESSAY (1)

1A Conventions from real media texts essay (4)

CONVENTIONS FROM REAL MEDIA TEXTS

In terms of my foundation portfolio (AS) I had to create an opening title sequence for a thriller movie which I named vindicate. It focused on 2 male protagonists who were on a look out for an assassin in an abandoned house, in order to prepare for the opening title sequence I was also required to complete a preliminary task which taught me the basics about maintaining continuity and familiarising myself with the editing software.  My advanced portfolio (A2) production focused on a music video for the indie band 'Bastille' and their song 'Pompeii', the video is about a couple who are on the verge of a relationship breakdown, we decided to hybridise the type of the video and created a performance based music video with a narrative based twist, the advanced portfolio was also accompanied by a magazine poster and a digipak (CD cover) which was part of the ancillary tasks. 

In order to get a better understanding of conventions of real media texts during AS media; during research and planning I viewed existing opening title sequences of mainstream thriller films, this made me get a better understanding of opening title sequences in general and what their main conventions were for example, Jack Reacher (a thriller film starring Tom Cruise) had specific conventions such as titles shown consistently through the film and theme of protagonist vs antagonist (binary opposites). However, during A2 media not only did I analyse existing music videos made but I annotated them and considered aspects such as mise-en-scene, editing, sound and camerawork this meant that I knew what props were used in pop/indie music videos, what type of editing was sued (usually fast cut) and the variations of camerawork; this ultimately meant that I studied the conventions more which made me understand the concept. However during AS I was limited in the sense that the thriller genre was quite generic as it needed to consist of specific conventions (as Steve Neale would say) however in A2 media I had to create a music video which come in all shapes and different sizes and could vary in forms such as a performance based, narrative based or concept based music video. 

In both of my productions props was used, for example whilst analysing thriller films it was evident that there tends to be use of weaponry (key convention of a thriller film in terms of props) however, the act of obtaining/creating was rushed during AS media as we made them the day before production meaning that we didn't have enough props to relate to the genre film and they were not done at an adequate standard. However, during A2 media we looked at the conventions of props (and mise-en-scene) and in an indie music video and these tended to be a microphone, mic stand, and instruments. All these props and the costumes (clothing) were obtain a week prior production which meant that we were well organised and meant that when it came to filming our props were not rushed and were maintained at a high standard. 

Researching into existing music videos allowed me to recognise the different types of styles within music videos and how we like Hype Williams could be an Auteur. An auteur is a film maker who has a distinctive style, Hype Williams' videos are unique in the sense he commonly used fish-eye lenses, he put his name in all of his videos and made references to money. In relation to my music video using Final Cut Pro allowed me to have unique factors within my music videos which challenged conventions of real media texts such as a white letterbox (as opposed to conventional black letterbox's), having a watermark of my name in my videos using the font 'Bebas Nue', this is a unique font which helps me as a potential film-maker to be recognised. However, during AS media my opening title sequence was quite generic and didn't significant stand out which meant that it could become blurred with other media productions.

In terms of my ancillary task, looking at existing magazine posters of bands had also developed my my product. For example, posters tended to have specific band logos with the title of their new album capitalised in order to make the magazine stand out, they also tended to stick to 3-4 colours and not over-saturating it with various colours; therefore I was able to push out on the ideas and make my poster seem professional; in order to help me do this I used photoshop CS6 and used tools such as the gradient tool, background eraser and the brightness tool where I increased the brightness of the photo to make it look more bright and vibrant. 

Furthermore, in terms of my digipak (ancillary task); within real media texts I have noticed that an artist will attempt to achieve continuity across all their products, so their appearance, brand and style us recognisable to the public. This inspired me to use the same consistent colours within all of my A2 media products; for example, the four main colours (red, blue, green and yellow); I used this in my magazine poster and digipak through the help on Photoshop which provided me with tools such as filters to change the colour scheme, but it was also used in my music videos due to professional studio lighting - this meant that all three of my A2 media products were unified. 

Overall, my analysis of conventions have significantly improved from my foundation portfolio to my advanced portfolio in the sense that my knowledge has expanded and that by analysing real media texts allowed me reinforce the ideas to my products. For example having a particular style of editing, using particular props to reinforce the genre of that product. I also felt very confident with the understanding of conventions and challenged some as well. 

Guideline Template 1A

Paragraph 1:  should be an introduction which explains which projects you did. It can be quite short.

Paragraph 2: should pick up the skill area and perhaps suggest something about your starting point with it- what skills did you have already and how were these illustrated. use an example.

Paragraph 3: should talk through your use of that skill in early projects and what you learned and developed through these. Again there should be examples to support all that you say.

Paragraph 4: should go on to demonstrate how the skill developed in later projects, again backed by examples, and reflecting back on how this represents moves forward for you from your early position.

Paragraph 5: short conclusion

Evaluation 4

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

http://issuu.com/fatehkhaled/docs/final_ever_eval_4/1

Evaluation 3

Evaluation 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

*please view in full screen for a better viewing*

Evaluation 2

Evaluation 2

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

Below is evaluation 2, this was created on 'Piktochart' which is a fantastic web tool and a great alternative to Prezi and Slideshare.

Source for statistics used

**print out Digipak and poster and choose images from promo relating to the poster etc**

Evaluation 1

Evaluation 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge form conventions of real media products?

My contribution to the final construction

My contribution to the final construction

In terms of the final construction, I contributed a significant amount. I helped contribute to the drafts and created final product itself. The drafts were created at first to help us give an idea of what the final product would look like; it was from this we gained feedback and looked at what our strengths and weaknesses were. Although the drafts took a lot of time and planning they were very helpful because they would of not made the product look like how they are today. 

In order to successfully film the shots that we needed to i created a schedule list and told my group (and reminded them) what days we were filming and what equipment we may need. This made my group organised and helped us film on the correct days which meant that no time was wasted and then we cracked on with the filming; therefore we knew what scenes/shots to film on what exact day whether it was a scene recorded outside or a scene within a house.

As regards to the final product, I contributed a lot of the ideas. For example, the one screen text in which the boyfriend receives in the video was my idea; i believe it would help the audience what is going on in the video in terms of where the couples relationship stands; it also allows us not to focus the camera on the phone which we found quite difficult as it was quite blurry at times. The text bubble itself was created by myself on PhotoShop CS6; I obtained an image of a text bubble and wrote a piece of text over it and saved it as a PNG and exported it onto Final Cut Pro. 

I also filmed some of the shots in this years music video; this is because last year I was restricted just to editing so I I wanted to explore camerawork as well as editing; this is because I am hoping to study media production at university which will consist of both elements (camerawork and editing). I filmed quite a lot of the shots within the final construction and a lot of the shots were my ideas such as a low angle shot when we see the boyfriend running back after the text he receives (low angle suggests patriarchal domianance and hope) and then a high angle shot at the end when he arrives at home (to foreshadow that his relationship could potentially be in jeopardy - a sense of enigma). 

I also colour corrected the video accordingly, this was after post production at the very last stage; it was also very time consuming because I had to colour correct each individual clip accordingly because if I was to do it altogether then some of the clips may look darker than each other because when filming some of the original clips some were darker than the others. However, I believe that although it is time consuming it made the overall product look more aesthetically pleasing and I am happy with the final outcome. 

Overall, I believe the input made by myself helped inform my group and made us more organised as a whole. I believe that this year we have made more progress in the sense that our pre-production was used a lot more than last year; it is amazing how being organised can help produce a better final product. 

Final Music Video (CONSTRUCTION)

Final Music Video

Below is my final music video which was uploaded to YouTube. After months of preparation and filming it is finally completed, the music video itself was filmed with a Canon 700D (DSLR) and was edited by myself on Final Cut Pro X.

Final Audience Feedback On My Final Digipak and Magazine

Final Audience Feedback On My Final Digipak and Magazine Poster

So these are my final designs on my digipak and my magazine poster, even though the designs will not change according to the feedback given; I wanted to gain feedback anyway to see how effective my final designs were.

Feedback:

So in terms of feedback based on the final designs of the digipak and the poster; I asked a member of my target audience what the thought about my final designs; to which he replied "I think the overall aesthetic really stands out , "I think it looks really professional and in terms of real life music industry if you look at existing digipaks from artists such as Drake and Kayne West it certainly matches something of that stature" this immediately suggests that my digipak is at a high standard and that it suits a person of that demographic. 

He went onto say "the four band members in the picture stand out visually and you can see all the different components gone into it such as the bright colours used which makes the overall design stand out" - again this suggest that the choice of colour I used was done well and that it suits the poster itself. 

When i asked "Do you think there are any issues with the digipak or the poster", he responded with "I wouldn't say there are any particular stand out issues, but maybe there are too much colours as in Haughton mentioned in our Skype interview, you can never have too much colour but at the same time you dont want to draw your audience away from what you're actually going for". 

He proceeded and said that "as Bangladesh is a place filled with colours it's right to explore these colours on your poster, however you could stick to one variation of a colour such as yellow or green, but overall I don't think it makes a difference it still looks good". So again the feedback given here suggests that my final product is good but I could maybe reduce the amount of colours that i have used instead of going for four different colours.

Overall, I am satisfied with my design and I am happy that I decided to plan the designs before I went onto the computer straightaway. I believe that this made my final outcome a stronger piece and that I have effectively listened to the feedback because i have made changes according to the feedback that was given (evident in previous blogs).

Ancillary Task - Magazine Poster (AUDIT)

Ancillary Task - Magazine Poster (AUDIT)

Below is the marking criteria of the magazine poster ancillary task, next to each criteria I have outlined what I have done in order to make the final product at a high standard.

1. Awareness of conventions of layout and page design.

When designing my magazine poster I wanted it to be conventional; by this I mean sticking to a specific colour scheme, consistent use of text across all my media products, images of the artists and the correct choice of grammar. I done my best to stick to the conventions and was aware of my layout and page design; in order to do this I first sketched my magazine poster. Doing this gave me a clear idea of how I wanted my poster to look like. During the skype interview with designer Ian Haughton (Handsome designs); he stated that you must not jump onto the computer straight away, you must think about how you can communicate your ideas first. Therefore the conventions of the layout and the page design was carefully considered by myself by planning the ideas first and then going onto photoshop and creating the final product.

2. Use of a variety of fonts and text size.

I done some research on existing magazine posters to see how effectively fonts were used in posters from different artists but from the same music genre; after analysing the conventions of different magazine posters, I realised that the majority of posters have 2-3 different fonts, the name of the artist is usually the biggest of the font, followed by the name of the band and then followed by the slogan. I met the conventions in the sense that I used a total of 3 fonts in my final design. The reason why I chose 3 fonts and not 4 or 5 or lower is because I did not want to overcomplicate my design or oversimplify it. I also had one main font which is the bands logo, the font I used for the logo was called 'Rakoon' this was consistently seen throughout all of my marketing, for example the digipak consisted of the same font because it was part of my bands branding.

3. Accurate use of language.

The language used in my magazine poster was accurate and was set for the correct demographic and psychographic group; this is because it is targeted for those who are between the ages of 16-24. Therefore we used certain languages that can be easily interpreted by those at that age group for example 'The boys are back with a banger' which is a play on word with our bands name; this type of language is therefore appropriate with our target market. There are also no spelling or grammar issues. In contrary to my digipak, the magazine poster has slightly more language on it and has quotes from famous music institutions such as MTV. Again, in the skype interview with Ian Haughton; he stated that as a designer you must be wary of the type of grammar you use because with different audiences you may need to use a different style of grammar. I personally think the choice of grammar I have used was done well. 

4. Appropriate use of ICT.

The software I used in order to create my magazine poster is Photoshop CS6 (I used this for my digipak as well, although I had attempted using Adobe InDesign I felt much more comfortable with Adobe Photoshop). This software can be quite difficult to grasp at first however it is easy to learn and as I have used this software I was familiar with most of its tools; the looks are brilliant and you have hundreds of feature on it. I used photoshop to crop the white background of our original images which makes the poster more smooth and professional, I also manipulated some of the images and colour corrected them.

5. Appropriate integration of illustration and text.

In terms of integrating both illustration and text to my magazine poster; I personally believe that I have done this well and effectively, this is because I have kept a consistent theme (for example the same text and choice of colours which makes all three of my products unite; for example people may associate my magazine poster with my digipak and may further associate this with my music video and my band. I have also illustrated some of my own images in the magazine poster for example the logo 'Bangladesh Bangers' was created by myself on PhotoShop (CS6) and the QR code which was also created by myself.

6. Framing a shot, using a variety of shot distances if appropriate.

As regards to the magazine poster, I believe that I could have used a variety of different images and shot sizes, however I don't think this would have been appropriate because with magazine posters they are conventionally restricted with one photo therefore I couldn't explore the poster with other shot sizes that I took earlier in the photo-shoot. Therefore, I believe that if I added more images to my magazine poster it was have overcomplicated the design and take the audience away from some of the vital information within the poster such as the band name, the album name and the QR code. However, in my opinion the image that I use was effective because the whole band members can be clearly seen in the shot with enough head-room.

7. Shooting material appropriate to task set, selecting mise-en-scene, colour, figure and lighting.

When I was shooting the images for the magazine poster (which were also used in my digipak) the mise-en-scene, lighting and colour were all carefully thought about before actually producing the final poster. This is because our band kept to a specific theme which we all decided prior to the photoshoot, for example we wanted to wear suits to give our band members a smart, sleek and sophisticated look. We also had professional lighting (three point lighting to eradicate shadows) and white backgrounds sheets whilst taking our photo-shoot so lighting was essential as it gave a glowing effect on our faces which made the overall product more aesthetically pleasing. 

8. Manipulating photographs as appropriate, including cropping and resizing.

In terms of my magazine poster; when I was manipulating the photographs on photoshop I had to ensure that I was resizing and cropping the images accordingly making sure they were not 'stretched' and out of proportion. For example, in some instances when images are resized they can be disproportionately resized to what it looked like in the original photo-shoot. However, because I had experience in Photoshop before I ensured that the images were resized accordingly. In terms of cropping the images, I made sure that too much wasn't cropped; this was very important because in the pictures there are four members and cropping too much could mean that one of the band members could have been cropped, furthermore with the magic eraser tool there is a possibility that you can rub out the image itself when cropping the background, I made sure that this wouldn't occur by carefully outlining each band member; although it was time consuming I believe I done this effectively and I am happy with the final outcome.

In the magazine poster I also added QR code which takes people to our official website if you scan it with a smartphone. This QR code was generated by using the QR generator website which meant that i could create my own custom QR code which gives it a personal touch to my poster.

Ancillary Task - Magazine Poster (FINAL)

Ancillary Task - Magazine Poster (FINAL)

Below is the final design for my magazine poster. As you can see I have taken feedback onto board and have incorporated social media sites at the bottom. I also added the 'Warner Music Group' logo on the top right. I am happy with the outcome of my magazine poster.

Magazine Poster Draft and Feedback (Progression)

Magazine Poster Draft and Feedback

Below is my draft for my magazine poster draft which is part of my ancillary task. The poster was created using PhotoShop CS6. I am happy with the design so far but I though their could be some improvements. This is why I asked for feedback on my magazine poster, I asked for feedback using the soundcloud app on my iPhone and got peoples opinions on the overall design. The feedback is also posted below.

Soundcloud feedback:

From the feedback that was given to me, it was apparent that the design of the poster was good in the sense that their is a contrast between the colours used (such as the blue background and the burgundy text) as well as the black and white text, however I believe that I could make the colouring of the poster more interesting and colourful to intrigue more of the audience members. 

However, the most common critique that I was given in this magazine poster was the fact that I haven't "incorporated any social network sites on my poster", according to the feedback this means that more people will be aware of the band as it is using the power of new media to spread the word; for example if my poster has a social network site on it a passer by may follow us on a social network site which may make us gain more followers thus promoting our new music video and our new album. 

Furthermore, in the feedback it was suggested that I could use a QR code on my poster to further attract my audience. A QR code is a matrix barcode which is a machine-readable optical label that contains information about the item to which it is attached; they are becoming increasing popular especially in recent years. I can potentially incorporate a QR code onto my poster whereby users with a smartphone can scan the code and it can take users to our band website. The feedback that was given to me about my magazine poster was very helpful indeed and I believe I could add some social network sites to help promote the band overall.

Magazine Poster Sketch

Magazine Poster Sketch

Below is a magazine poster sketch of my design which is annotated. The reason why I wanted to draw me design first is because Ian Haughton emphasised the fact that you should always plan you ideas before actually creating them; I felt that drawing my magazine sketch has helped me get a clear idea and I hope I can incorporate this design onto Photoshop and develop some ideas.

Final Draft of Music Video and Feedback

Final Draft of Music Video and Feedback

In order to get feedback from our music video again I asked my media teacher on what she thought about the music video. I thought that my third and final feedback should be from someone who has had experience in the media industry; I believe that the feedback given from my teacher was very important and I hope to alter the clips based on the feedback, Below the feedback I summarised some of the points that my teacher has given and ways that I could rectify the issues that have been addressed.

Third and final draft of music video:



Feedback:

In terms of positives; one thing our media teacher liked was the performances even though we are not graded on this; however it makes the piece seem stronger overall. She went on to say that the lip sync was accurate and she felt engaged with the singer. Furthermore, she liked the idea of the narrative slipping in and out between the music video. 

However a key issue is that that our teacher said was that "at the moment it doesn't feel like a pop video it feels like a short story; and this is because the images aren't working enough with the music this is because the music is moving fast whereas the story is moving slow. This again relates back to previous feedback that we were given suggesting that our clips are far too long. She also suggested that we could see some more close ups of Jeremy the actor. Judging from this feedback it is apparent that some of our coursework is not fully filmed yet and that we can re-film some scenes in order to fully progress. 

My media teacher went on to say that "the story drags, for me your match on action is superb but your framing isn't good; there is too much head-height and in the beginning scene the flower is seen as a subject" this relates to a common feedback that we are still getting from our drafts which is the repetitive nature of the running scenes which makes the story seem the same and consistent. She also said that "remember to cut off at natural points and also you the shot reverse shot when the camera is focusing on Jeremy so from the girlfriends perspective makes it seem less professional". 

A key question that we asked was "What did you think of the narrative piece at the start before the song started?",  she responded with "it's too long, you know when someone has an argument, you don't need to see the shot reverse shot necessarily... and the shot of the door can be used to see you walking down the street". She further said that the there isn't enough of enigma it needs to be tightened more up and moved onto the more interesting stuff.

I believe that this feedback has made me realise that our piece of work isn't as strong as we though it was, however it isn't too late and we can alter our music video according to the strong feedback given by our teacher.