please use the navigational search bar located to your right, or equally use the label cloud to refine your search too.
Thank you,
Sachin, Michael, Max and Milo.
Thursday 21 January 2016
NOTE TO EXAM BOARD
We hope you enjoy looking at our joint group blog, and the journey we took to deliver our main and ancillary products.
Monday 18 January 2016
Sunday 17 January 2016
Saturday 16 January 2016
Digipak Changes from Draft to Final - Michael
This was my first completed draft. Originally I was pleased with this as I liked the continuity throughout. From feedback I received I was pleased with people's initial reactions. Many people commented on the photography and said the inner stretched out photo worked very well alongisde the front cover. I also received a comment that stated the change in colour between the black and white collage and the inner two panels worked well. as it was a nice blend.
In my second draft, I decided I wasn't fond of the use of the collage as I believed it looked messy and less professional than it could, so I got rid of it and took another photo that fitted in and had a similar style to the photo on the first inside panel. Many people told me they liked this photo and it suited the overall digipak much more than the collage and that the layout still worked well.
In my third and final draft I decided to keep the same photo that I used in the second on the right inside panel. However, I also decided that this didn't fit with the theme that had continued throughout the rest of the digipak, as only one person is present in the picture. To fix this issue I went into Photoshop and duplicated the first figure. This then meant my final digipak was consistent, clean and appeared professional throughout.
In my third and final draft I decided to keep the same photo that I used in the second on the right inside panel. However, I also decided that this didn't fit with the theme that had continued throughout the rest of the digipak, as only one person is present in the picture. To fix this issue I went into Photoshop and duplicated the first figure. This then meant my final digipak was consistent, clean and appeared professional throughout.
Magazine Advert Changes from Draft to Final - Michael
Even when creating my first draft I was aware that I wanted to make a obvious visual link between my album cover and the advert that I would create. I decided I would do this by incorporating the image used on the front cover onto the magazine advert. In my first draft i decided to put the image in the middle of a white border and used the band's name as a visual statement by making it bold, black and by locating it at the top of the poster. Originally I liked this advert as I believed it looked clean and simple but I was recommended, through feedback from a friend, to try a different design as this one may not look as good in a magazine, as the white border makes the page appear smaller.
In my second draft included all the same information, but instead of keeping the same layout, I moved it around. I focused the majority of the white space on the image and only left a small rectangular shape at the bottom for the text and information to go. I also made the band's name a lot more predominant by changing the color of the name and putting it over a black background. I did this as the band's name is very important as people will need to remember it i it is to be advertised properly.
In my final draft I left everything the same as the previous, except for the colour at the bottom of the advert. It was suggested to me by a friend that I make this section of the poster black to make the white text pop even more than it did before. I tried this and kept this idea as I believed that it made it look as if the over image was carried on and the space beneath the two figures was a lot larger, further adding to the desired professional appearance.
The final changes I made to my magazine advert were minimal. I removed one of the star ratings as I believed it looked a little clustered. As well as this i simply changed the names of the companies that had given ratings. I decided that the previous names didn't fit into the correct genre, so entered magazines and companies that did.
Friday 15 January 2016
Thursday 14 January 2016
Final Evaluation Question 1 // Sachin Mistry
In AS media one of out tasks where to create a magazine cover, contents and double page spread. I have decided to present question 1 as a double page spread.
Cover:
Contents:
Evaluation question 1: Double page spread
Final Evaluation Question 2 // Sachin Mistry
For my final evaluation question 2 I have presented my answer on Pinterest.
The picture is a link which leads to my Pinterest account which contains the answer to my Evaluation Question 2.
Or optionally read it below.
Final Evaluation Question 3 // Sachin Mistry
For my third evaluation question, I have created two video with my answers.
Part 1: - This is my full evaluation answer which I did a voice over for over our music video.
Part 2: - I conducted an interview with my target audience.
Part 1: - This is my full evaluation answer which I did a voice over for over our music video.
Final Evaluation Question 4 // Sachin Mistry
For the final evaluation question I presented the answer on my own website, please click on the link below to access the website.
Tuesday 12 January 2016
Friday 8 January 2016
Evaluation Question 2 - Michael
(Unfortunately 'Scribd' had messed up the original layout of this answer, but the main body of text is still readable)
Evaluation Question 2 by michaelwilsonasmedia
Evaluation Question 2 by michaelwilsonasmedia
Evaluation Question 3 - Michael
The link above leads to my soundcloud account which contains the answer in separate tracks to my Evaluation Question 3.
Or optionally read it below.
Evaluation Question 4 - Michael
Visit the address above to view my full answer to question 4.
Or optionally read the complete version below
Or optionally read the complete version below
Wednesday 6 January 2016
Evaluation Question 2- Milo O'mahoney
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
The combination of my ancillary texts (my digipak and magazine advert) started off rough and vague for I had not used the same photo for my advert and album cover so they had virtually no similarities.
This is because I did the two separately with two completely different 'visions' of what I wanted each product to look like. Feedback that I received also outlined that, as I decided not to include the name of the album on the cover, so I could not then intentionally emphasis a difference as an alternative feature because the two products could not be recognized as related to each other. If you saw the advert in a magazine then the album cover online or in a shop you wouldn't think they were the same the product. This is the main reason why I changed the photo on the advert to the one I used as my cover and then I made some minor adjustments to the photo I had set as my cover.
Since I made the adjustments, I believe that the consistency and overall effectiveness of my ancillary texts has greatly improved. Not only do the two products match each other, but I also believe that the overall quality of the texts has increased simply due to a better image on the magazine advert and a better layout on the digipak.
One example of consistent ancillary texts could be 'the 1975' by the 1975. Both their album cover and magazine advert were of the same design and featured a black rectangle with a border of white light leaning against a wall with "THE1975" in a strange font in the middle. This is the same for any poster or magazine advert and is now instantly recognizable.
Monday 4 January 2016
Draft Evaluation Question 4 - Max
Evaluation
Question 4: How did you use media technologies in the construction and
research, planning and evaluation stages?
Research
and planning
During my research and planning the task were very
dependent on the technology I had used. I used many different platforms to
complete the various tasks I was set, these ranged from programmes on computers
to reading through magazines to fins different images. Google was the search
engine I used most as it is very reliable, I used this to find images for my
creative journey which eventually led to my final advert and digipak. From
Google I was able to use different websites that helped in research and
planning. I used UK tribes to find what the target market was for my digipak
and advert as well as my group’s music video. This helped as it allowed us to
get a clear understanding on what they liked and disliked also the style of
clothing they would wear. I also used YouTube to look at music videos that my
group and I liked s that we could get a good understanding at how they are shot
and what type of shots work well for the music video we filmed. The magazine I
looked at for inspiration on my front cover of my digipak was Fader, I like the
style that Fader uses by having a bold image on the front to catch the eye of
readers. I used blogger to post updates on my work, for example I posted all of
my research and planning on this. Blogger is very easy to use and by using tags
allows someone on my blog to find a specific piece of work that either I have
done or somebody in my group.
Ancillary
Tasks
I used Photoshop CC and C36 to create my digipak and
advert, this software was very easy to use as the layout was simple also if I
could not find anything, due to it being a very well-known software I could
research how to use different aspects of it. To get the template or my digipak
I downloaded a 4 panel template from disk wizard, and then I imported it onto
Photoshop which then allowed me to alter the size to get the correct fit. On
this software I created and edited my digipak and advert, this worked very well
as it enabled me to do anything to my images to make them suit the band. The
research and planning stage helped my knowledge of real media products that
worked, having looked at lots of different styles of advert and digipak I was
able to identify trends that worked and ones that didn’t, this allowed me to
create a piece of work that
Pre-production
In the pre-production of my digipak and advert I used
various types of platforms to get images and information to be explained in my
research and planning. I used platforms such as Google and Google Images. Using
Google this allowed me to search the internet for information that could go
into my research and planning; also from this I could use Blogger which is what
I posted all of my work onto. During pre-production my group produced a story board
which consisted of the various shots that we would use during the filming of
our music video as well as an animatic which was a picture video of the story
=board to show what it would look like. To create the storyboard we used hand
drawn images and little text to get the bases of our music video. To create our
animatic we used Final Cut Pro X on the Apple IMac as this was the best
software to edit on.
Production
During the production of our media products we used a
large amount of technology that enabled us to complete tasks. To begin with we
used a Panasonic HC-V700, however after reviewing some of the videos we had
taken, we realised that the image quality was not to a high enough standard,
therefore we decided to change to a Nikon D7200 and a Canon 100D to film our music
video, this proved to be the correct choice to make as the quality of the
videos were far better than the Panasonic. The decision to use two cameras went
down to not having enough free time together as a group and with the actors. Me
being in the music video meant that I could not film any of the shots myself,
however the people that did film took into account my suggestions on various
shots that we took, this meant I had the same impact as them of shots. During
production we set up a group chat on an app called ‘Whatsapp’ this made it
easier to communicate with each other when we weren’t together, also we could
get each other’s feedback on different posts which was very helpful.
Post-production
In the post-production stage as a group we sat and edited
it together, this meant that if one group member was not keen on one of the
shot placements they could say and suggest a replacement. We used Final Cut Pro
X to edit our work as this was the best option on the school computers. In this
software we used different effects and techniques to edit the video. Clipping
was used the most as it allowed us to cut down different sections of the video
to make it fit. This was the most important software we used as it was to edit
our music video, the other option we could have used was Adobe Premiere Pro;
however we chose to use Final Cut Pro X as it felt a lot easier to edit.
Other
We also used other types of technology that helped in
many areas, we set up a twitter account that we posted on occasionally with
updates of filming and editing process. We also used Vimeo to upload or music
video due to copyright reasons on YouTube.
Draft Evaluation Question 3 - Max
Question 3: What have you learned from audience feedback?
During the process of creating a
magazine advert, digipak, and music video audience feedback has played a
pivotal role in how I have designed my pieces of work. After posting a draft of
a piece of work I would then get comments on parts that the audience liked and
disliked.
Pitch:
Feedback was first given on the pitch we as a group created to explain what
style we were going to follow throughout the process. By getting feedback on
this part of the course it allowed us to then edit parts that out target
audience may not like, for example:
Feedback
such as the one above helped us a lot as we could get an understanding of what
worked well and things that needed improvement. We also presented the pitches
in class so that if anybody had any questions regarding the contents we could
answer them. A benefit of getting feedback from people in our class is that due
to them being in our target audience’s age this gave us more of an insight into
what their likes and dislikes were.
Digipak:
The next piece of work we had our classmates give feedback on was our first
draft of the digipak and in-slip. These were the first pieces of work that we
had done individually therefore feedback was very important. I got comments on
a blog post from the people in my class this helped as it meant that I could
look upon these regularly to remember what they had said, also I got feedback
from my media studies teacher on a printed out version of my digipak. This was
very helpful as it also meant that I could look at this if I am stuck. My media
teacher, however he does not fit into the target market of this project, due to
his knowledge of the subject I took his feedback the most seriously.
This
comment from Millie was one of the most helpful as she told me what she liked
for example the colour scheme, also she has told me that could do with
improving such as the inside left panel explaining that it could do with
something on it. As well as doing that Millie has also suggested to me what she
would do if it were her work. This helped a lot as being in my target market
Millie’s opinion was valuable. All of the comments I got on my digipak helped
as they each influenced my decision of what to create. All other comments can
be found on my blog with the heading of ‘Feedback on Digipak’.
Advert:
The same as my digipak I got feedback from classmates who commented on my blog
post as well as the feedback from my media teacher. This comment from a person
in my class stood out to me as the most helpful, this was mainly due to the
clear things he liked and what could do with improving. Comments like Nathan’s
were very useful as it meant that the changes I could make will make my work
more professional. All other comments can be found on a previous blog post named 'Feedback on Advert'.
Music
Video: This was the final piece of this project. For this piece of work my group
was given personal feedback from our teacher along the process of filming and
editing our music video, this was very helpful as it meant that if we had shot
a scene poorly we had time to rethink and re-film parts of it. We did not receive
any feedback from people in our class however I feel that the comments made by
our teacher had enough influence on us.
Draft Evaluation Question 2 - Max
I believe that the combination between our music video
and my ancillary texts is well done. When creating my digipak and advert I
thought about the music video and how they would link together.
As when we took the photos for my digipak and advert we
had already created our storyboard, this meant I could take ideas form the
storyboard and recreate similar effects in a photo. An example of this is when
the actor in the music video is sat on a bed with a grey background; I
replicated this to a degree as on my front cover I have the band members stood
in front of a dirty white backdrop, as well as on the background of my advert I
attempted to get the closest colour to the back ground of the image.
Also on the inside
panels of my digipak I had an image of a blurry fire which went very well with
style of the music video as it is very similar to images on the video. I used
the same image for the front of my digipak and on my advert as I felt that
having that link between them will make it easier for someone looking to
associate the two pieces ancillary texts.
The overall style I went for in my ancillary texts was
very similar to our music video as the main theme of the video was dark and
depressing however there were little segments of happiness. I tried to make my ancillary
texts very dark to match the video, I did this by editing the images to make
them look a little darker however was still easy to see the image, also the
inside panels are from the music video.
Draft Evaluation Question 1 - Max
Question 1
In what
ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of
real media products?
When
creating my groups music video and my own digipak and advert, research and
planning had a huge influence on the design I would go with. I would take
inspiration from professional music videos, album adverts and digipaks.
Digipak: My first insight into the design I
wanted my digipak to look like was one of the Pet Shop Boys albums from 1987
‘Actually’. I liked this album cover as it was very simple, this was the design
I went with throughout the project. In the Pet Shop Boys album they’re dressed
in suits, this was the only difference between mine and their album cover. I
chose to use different clothes as I wanted the album to have a modern look to
it. The positioning of the text was actually an idea one of my classmates had,
they commented on my draft post with ideas of improvement. I have altered the
text on my front cover compared to the Pet Shop Boy’s album as I felt that this
looked better as above the head of the artists there was not much space
therefore it looked squashed in. I chose to have one member of the band
slightly in front of the other as he is the lead singer in the music video; I
wanted to make it clear that he was the lead.
Advert: When
creating my advert I analysed a wide variety of adverts for albums as well as music
magazine covers. Whilst researching the already existing album adverts I found
that a common theme between them was that they would use the front cover of the
digipak as the main image and then have the text around, after looking around
for more inspiration I found that this looked the most professional and
therefore went for this style. Also I chose to look at music magazine covers as
well due to me wanting to widen the genres of music I would look at. Looking at
music magazine helped me as I looked into best-selling music magazine such as NME
and Q magazine; these showed me what caught readers eyes and therefore what
would stand out. As well as this they further developed my knowledge of where
to position the text depending on different front covers. I went for a very
simplistic style as after looking at many advert I found that these, in a way,
stood out the most.
Music
Video: When doing research into the type of music video we would create my
group and I looked at many videos in the genre that we were going for; this
meant that we could see how different bands would style themselves and the type
of shots that worked during different emotional parts of the song. We looked at
the original song music video by Amber Run as this gave us more of an insight
into the emotion behind the song and the underlying message. We decided to
shoot a sad music video as, after watching many of Amber Run’s music videos for
other songs, we found that they created music videos that were very
heavyhearted. We also looked at songs that were classed as the same genre as ‘Spark’,
this helped as we found how many other music videos were shot and the style.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)