3. Sound C
loud is an online distribution based in Berlin, Germany that allows it’s users to record,upload, promote and share their
created music in January 2012. It is a relevant, useful form of media technology which is reflected through it's ten million
registered users that Sound cloud recently announced.
I started off using sound cloud, as it is a reliable form of media technology due to it helping me identify my artist and song. T
his
was the first stage of my research and planning, that is also evident from my first post on my blog. ( Another useful media
technology that I have used.)
T screenshot shows my chosen song, it was useful as it allowed me to listen to the song through so that I could evaluate how
his
suitable the song would be to use. the image of the artist too which gave me an ideas to what she looks like. T appearance of
he
the artist was important to consider.
as their look will inspire and appeal to a specific target audience. T
herefore,as Sound C
loud showed us the image of the artist to
be featured and helped me and my partner visualize who the artist sunday girl is and how suitable she would be for our
conceptual theme. Additionally, it shows how many times the song has been played at that current moment as well as showing
how many people had liked and commented on the track for an unsigned artist as the views had been played on Sound C
loud
11,809 times we deemed this an successful viewing for an unsigned artist from Sound C
loud.
From her Sound cloud she had made herself available through a direct link to Facebook, T
witter, MySpace, Youtube and has even
made her own official website called Sunday Girl W
ebsite. T emphasizes her dedication to her music. W wanted to work with
his
e
a artist that is committed because it will improve the overall outcome of my music video because she will be the artist featured
within it.
W noticed instantly from looking at her webpage on soundcloud that she already has 15 songs. T suggests that she is
e
his
dedicated to becoming successful and possible signed as she has already produced a lot of tracks that she has sung and it
suggests she is passionate about her music. . Her dedication makes us want to have her as a client as her dedication and passion
for her music determines the success over all of our music video.
W looked at the website Sound C
e
loud and found our artist ‘Sunday Girl’. Instantly, the name of the artist is memorable and after
listening to some of her music, we thought that it was relevant to todays society of music. It is important that the music is
relevant so that it can be effective on the clients target audience, and therefore successful. W found out through Sound C
e
loud
that the genre of her song Heaven is Indie Pop and therefore her target audience are people who like Indie Pop music. It is
important that the music video is successful therefore we believed that this artist would be suitable for us to use make our music
video with, Additionally from looking at Sound C
loud, we found out that she is based in London which makes it easier for me and
my partner to contact her. Also, as we live in the same area as the client, it will be be easier to communicate ideas as our
opinions on the concept of the music video may be similar to her own when producing the song. T is important to consider as
his
we are trying to communicate this conceptual message to her audience.
After finding Sunday Girl via soundcloud and picking her song 'heaven' for our music video, we then found her fans, which would
be the audience for our music video.W found out that her audience to be both male and females however they we
e
predominantly female. T main theme through her fans was a indie vibe, a niche market , that has suddenly almost in itself
he
become main stream, meaning our music video had to be quirky and conceptual to keep our audiences attention and enjoyment.
T the left are some examples of her fan base taken from sound cloud.
o
4. Sound Cloud Converter
T was also useful as it allowed us to convert the Sunday Girl - Heaven song from sound cloud quickly and efficiently. T form of media technology
his
his
was reliable as I could easily download and convert the audio file from the internent. T is practical as the internet is easily accessible to myself and
his
my partner. Additionally, the service is available 24 hours a day and did not require us to register or sign up to use the service. T was beneficial to
his
us as we wanted to work through the research and planning segment at fast pace to ensure that we met all the needed criteria within this examined
section. T
herefore this form of media technology allowed us to quickly receive our chosen song which we could then upload into final cut pro.
Additionally in converted the audio file in high quality will no muffled noises and had good clarity. this was important as we wanted to ensure that the
visuals were clear as well as the audio being clear and easy for the audience to understand too. Moreover, by having a high quality audio file it
ensures that our music video looks professional and not amateur.
5. T is me contacting the cast through Facebook, T was useful because it
his
his
allow me and my partner to find out where the cast lived, as they could write
dow there addresses through Facebook. Additionally I posted production
schedules onto the Facebook group so that they could see what days we
intended to shoot on and what we would be doing at each hour so that not
only myself as an director was prepared a the cast members were too. T
he
group chat was also beneficial in terms of asking the cast members to bring
items of clothing with them such as white shirts and black trousers for the
boys and long dresses and skirts for the girls. T cast members old then
he
easily respond through this form of communication as they all have Facebook
and frequently check it through app version of it on there mobile phones.
I then used Facebook to contact the client- Sunday Girl. W
e
wanted to receive a response from the artist for legal
issues relating to copyright over the song. Facebook was a
effective technology to use due to it being easily
accessible, and it had the relative contact of Sunday Girl
on there too. W therefore emailed the client to ask for
e
permission to use her song ‘Heaven’ to create our own A2
music video.
W relation to promotional techniques,
ith
Facebook was useful as I could share the music
video directly from youtube onto a post. I then
wrote a comment asking if people who are my
friends on Facebook could view it. T was
his
evidentially a successful promotional
techniques as I received over twenty likes on
the post and 12 positive comments on the
post.And additionally when I checked my
viewing on Youtube the next day they had
increased from 24 views to over 300 views in
the space of twenty fours of me sharing my
music video onto Facebook.
6. Allows me to promote my music video effectively. I could share my music video onto Facebook, blogger and T
witter, which helped increase my views.
Additionally, I could add tags to my music video, which meant that when a Youtube viewer is searching for a music video such as an A2 music video, my video
will appear as an option for them to watch. T creates more views and publicity for my music video, this was an effective form of promotion that was
his
reinforced through the media technology of Youtube, as It allows me to promote my music video to my correct target market through the form of tags. For
example ‘A2 Music Video’ ‘Boys’ ‘Relationships’ All relevant interests of my target audience, similar to my clients- Sunday Girl.
It was important within the research and planning stages of my music video that I researched into relevant
artists music video’s. W retrieved this research from Youtube. T was an effective sit that allowed us to
e
his
search for relevant music artists such as Florence and h machine, Haim and Ms Mr. For example, from
Youtube we were able to watch the band Haim’s music video’s. W drew inspiration especially from their
e
song ‘Falling’ Moreover, their was a slow motion effect from 2.30 onwards on the Youtube clip. T effect
his
was then used within our music video with the main girl and the conscious girls on either side of her do
similar dance movement that I edited into slow motion similarly to the video' falling' additionally we took
inspiration from their clothing too. T is due to our video being set in natural locations and as the
his
characters in this video are in natural locations there costumes were therefore be suitable for our music
video too. Additionally they inspired us to shoot in dark locations with a bonfire set too, which is evident
through my music video.
From Youtube I found useful camera
shooting tips too .As a high minority of my
music video was shot in the dark,T
herefore
on Youtube there a guide that taught me
how to shoot clear, visible footage in the
dark. T ensures that the image is still
his
good quality by suing a light and covering it
to create a light that surrounds the body and
the face of the character. Also the light
allows you to adjust where light should and
shouldn't be focused. T was a useful
his
technique that I used on the night scenes
within the music video to ensure that the
overall image looks good quality and that
the characters are visible.
7. T internet also provided us with the capabilities of using useful, resourceful websites such as Blooger. com.T blog helped me through the research and
he
he
planning and construction stages. ‘Blogger’ is a effective blog publishing service that allowed me to blog my research and planning, and construction stages
neatly with time-stamped entries. T blogger allowed me to easily keep track of my progress throughout the coursework. T included blogging at every stage
he
his
from the introduction to project until the evaluation of my project. Additionally, I used Blogger as a form of a diary; updating it regularly with my research,
planning ideas and my evident progress in the construction of the music video. For example, uploading images of me shooting the music video and then editing
this footage on final cut pro.
T
ags
T tags were useful as it allowed me and my partner to tag our own work that we individually contributed towards the stages
he
of the music video process including research and planning, construction. (filming and editing) T was also beneficial as the
his
examiner was then aware of what we had both done. Additionally, if the work was not evenly committed from both sides we
could then discus this as a team to work on these issues regrading equal contribution within a task. For example, all tags
labelled by me are referred to as Nicole Burrows and Vice versa with my media partner India Bennett.
As all of our work is presented over blogger, it means that when we gain feedback we know that we will need to improve on that area because if it’s not on
the blog then it means we haven’t done it. T
herefore, Blogger was also useful for the examiners to give me feedback on work that I have uploaded to the
blog. For example, I embedded the URL of my completed music video from Youtube onto Blogger. T
here is a section where comments can be left and the
examiner was then able to easily watch my music video and then give me feedback on it, as well as the grade awarded. Additionally, within the research
and planning stages I also received feedback on my grade for this segment. T feedback regarded my mark given which was 20 out of 20 as well as
he
improvements that could be made; this was to upload website drafts, which we then as a team did within that following week. T
herefore, Blogger was also
effective in receiving feedback to let us know where we currently stand in terms of grades and what we can do to improve our grades even more, T was
his
important as I wanted to receive the highest grade possible for myself.
8. T Internet and it’s W
he
ebsites.
T Internet allowed me to research and stream other relevant media technologies. For example,
he
Blogger, W Google and Slides Share. Additionally, It ensured that I could research into a wide
ix,
range of music video’s, which allowed me and my media partner to build open a range of idea;s that
we had been inspired by through or research over the internet which we imputed into the construction
of our own music video production.
For example we were inspired by the natural locations imputed into the artist’s Haim’s music video, which we found over the internet. W then looked
e
online for possible locations that would be easily accessible. W found Enysford C
e
astle which is located in Sevenoaks, which was roughly a ten minute
minute drive from myself and my media partner. T was useful as it meant we could easily travel to this location to look at it and see if it was suitable for
his
our music video.
T website was also useful as it provided us
he
with opening times, directions on how to get
there, and research into the historical context
of this location too.
Additionally, the Google search engine site was a vital resource within the research and planning stages. T is due
his
to it provided us with links to other website sources to collect information from. Such as accessible locations, the
lyrics to our artists songs, as well as background information on Sunday Girl and her target audience. T
herefore
providing us with an insightful understanding of our clients background and successes. As well an increased
perceptive behind the Indie Pop Genre to help aid us in our understanding of information regarding the range of
codes and conventions that this genre possess, and then putting them to use within my music video.
9. W typed into google maps ‘natural locations’ near Dartford. T was useful as then it meant we wouldn't have to travel far to get to the shoot as both
e
his
myself, my media partner and the cast live in Dartford. T
herefore it would be easy to transport them to the shooting location. From this I could also type in
my current location (where the cast will be getting ready and then taken to Enysford castle) and then the location of Enysford C
astle to get an indication
fo the traveling distance of how to get there. T result then showed that it would take six minutes from this location to get to the our shooting location.
he
this was convenient as I could easily travel back to the location in Horton Kirby where there was food and water, blankets and spare clothing if the cast
required it, or if we forgot anything when on shot. T
herefore it was convenient to know the traveling distance. Moreover, it provided driving instructions
on how to get there too, as well as an image which clearly showed the distance form A to B .
10. Mobile Phones and Ipads.
My Iphone and Ipad were useful within all stages of the production of my music video,
digi pack and website. T was due to my Iphone being an excellent way to contact
his
the cast as I had their mobile numbers. T proved effective when I wanted to contact
his
the cast to remind them to bring warm clothing or to send them an image of the
costumes they would be wearing etc. As well as group chats if I wanted to talk to the
cast all at once, which saved on time as it meant I wouldn't have to contact the cast the
same message individually. I could also contact my media partner through my Iphone
where we would face time each other if we were unable to meet face to face. T was
his
also sufficient especially as my media partner was unwell for some parts of the media
work, and so I would do this regularly. For example, sending a screenshot of a website
or digipack draft.
I also used my phone to go onto the internet if I was not by a laptop. I had the Blogger
App on my Iphone and Ipad. T
herefore, I could write and post from these devices too
which was useful if I was away form a laptop or on shoot at the location and wanted to
post an image or video.
I also used the Google Maps app available on my Iphone. For example, when I went to
collect the cast before I didn’t know where they lived so I had a voice activated sat
navigation system within the google maps app that guided me to their homes safely
without me having to look at my phone whilst driving. T app was simple to
he
understand and was fully functional in it’s purpose to direct me to destinations.
I could also take photos on my phone which I then posted onto the blog as evidence.
Additionally, I filmed us behind the scenes of the video shoot, and would get people to
take photos of my from my iphone of me doing jobs such as the photo shoot or me
directing the cast members in choreography.
W also used the video camera device on my Ipad to film our pitch. From the Ipad we
e
could upload it to Youtube and then embed the URL into the blogger post on our blog.
the pitch was done on my Ipad.
T
aking screenshots for example, this is evident form the pictures on the right as they
are screenshots of my evidence for backing up my points on how I contacted the cast
through iMessage and , screenshots of me using blogger. T
herefore my Iphone was also
useful in the evaluation stages because I could screenshot evidence to back up my
points in my evaluation for this question.
11. W were inspired by Misfits and photos off of the internet that featured
e
men with rabbit heads on. Especially as or music video is conceptual we
believed the rabbit heads would provide their own metaphorical meaning
behind them which would create intrigue for the audience and hence a
conceptual theme. W therefore looked on Ebay which is a multinational
e
internet consumer-to-consumer corporation. On here we found a wide
range of rabbit heads they we could choose from. Ebay was useful because
I could then decide how many rabbit heads I wanted and I could look for
the cheapest price possible ensuring that they would sill look visibly good
on camera. I could then decide what type of delivery, for example an
‘express delivery’ as well as then track my order to see when it should
arrive. It was important to track the order as I wanted to ensure that the
props arrived a few weeks before we begun shooting so that I could see if
they would look professional enough on camera. T would of then give
his
me time to take them back if needed.
I also used other website such as the retail brands ‘River Island’ and
‘T
opshop’ T
hey had a variety of clothes that I could browse through to see
which ones would be relevant and suitable for the cast members. for
example, the websites were useful as they told me what sizes were
available in each garment piece, so that I could see if they had the cast
members sizes or not. T
here was also a delivery segment on both websites
so that I could easily purchase the costumes online and get them sent to my
house within 3-5 days deepening on the price I wanted to pay.
12. EMAIL
T was also useful because this form of media technology allowed me receive emails from my
his
media partner and vice versa that included images or video’s that we had taken within different
stages of the music video For example , sending one another images of us constructing the website
drafts. T allowed us to give each other feedback and then from email be able to post this
his
information onto the blog. Especially , if me and my media partner could not meet each other face to
face, Email was essential when we wanted to show each other our recent work and get feedback.
Additionally, we were deciding on possible locations for our music video. W were considering Paris, as we thought that
e
the Eiffel tower would be a perfect location for the music video. Additionally as Paris is the connotation of love and as our
music video has an element of love within it we thought this location would link well into it. T
herefore I researched into
music videos that would of used the location of Paris to see what it would look like. T
herefore, through Email I was able to
email the manager of the music video 'bottled up tight' 'Julian Deane W
hich was sung by Luke Sital Singh. And I asked him
the following question. T is an screen shot from my email.
his
His reply to this was that they didn't have any
problems with shooting by the Eiffel tower and didn't
ask for any permission. T is an screenshot of his
his
reply. T helped us gain an insight into locations we
his
could shoot in that we thought we may of not been
able to in terms of having to ask for permission.
13. Fina l Cut Pro
Final C Pro is a non linear video editing software which was developed by Macromedia. inc and then Apple Inc I used final cut pro to edit
ut
the footage of my rough cut and then I used it again when I developed my rough cut into my official A2 music video. Final cut pro was an
useful piece of software to use as it is up to date and has techniques , transitions and editing tools on there that would be used on
professional music video's. T
herefore I knew that by using this software i would be able to edit my music video at the highest standard
possible.
One skill that I learnt from Final C Pro was how to multi clip. I experimented with this technique
ut
by editing some footage that I had shot for a performance style music video. T was my practice at
his
multi clipping an music video. I filmed five clips that I then embedded into Final C Pro- and edited into a
ut
multi-clip video where I was able to play the clips in synch with the music, whilst changing the shots with the
beat to the Arctic monkeys track. I could then apply this skill to my music video for Sunday Girl- heaven.
T is me colour grading my work. I wanted to ensure that the work
his
was touched up in brightness and contrast so that it improved the
quality of the overall music video. I used the colour wheels to
increase the white for example on the cast member 'T
om' on his
white shirt. this made it more prominent against the dark
background. Especially as this is a night shot it is important that
everything is lit up correctly.
Text
14. ADOBE Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a graphic editing program that was developed and publish by Adobe systems. I used Photoshop frequently,
especially through the construction stages. As this was when I had to create my website and Digipack which required me to edit
photo’s. T
herefore, I used Adobe Photoshop because there were a variety of different effects and tools that I could use, that
transformed my images into professional looking pictures that would be relevant to a website page or Album cover for my clientSunday Girl. T
herefore, it was useful in allowing me to promote my artist and their album, whilst emphasizing their identity to
their target audience.
EX
AMPLE OF ME USING PHOTOSHOP ON MY DIGI PACK THROUGH DUPLICATION
I started off with this image that I took on Sunday
5th January. T was an image that we were
his
considering using on the Digi Pack.
I then too the the image from the cast member George
with the rabbit head on and using Photoshop I cropped
him out of this shot. I then placed that cropped image
onto this one. I I then began to erase the white
background to make the rabbits look as though they
were actually in this image when it was taken.
I then duplicated the image and place them around to look
as though there were more boys in the image then before.
T image now looks hyper real as there are four men in
he
the shot now sitting on the rocks looking identical.
T
herefore Photoshop helped me exaggerate and distort
the image to make it fit well into my conceptual theme,
due to the hyper reality within the image and
metaphorical message of men being perceived as animals
in nature, segregating them from the females in the shot.
T is another example of me duplicating a possible Digi pack image though Photoshop. I started off with
his
one boy hanging off of the rocks and then incorporated more boys into the shot that I had taken of them at
different stages.
15. W
IX.com allowed me to create a free website, which was useful as myself and my media partner had a
budget, therefore by not having to ay to construct and create a website, it meant that we could spend this
money on more costumes, props and transportation which all helped visually enhance my overall music
video. Additionally, I customized the website using W website builder, with no coding skills needed.
ix'
Moreover, it was simple and easy to use as I chose a design form the provided templates, and then began
customizing it so that i could put it online.
I edited a video together. I then that featured a silhouetted boy in a rabbit mask
and repeated so that when it was on the website as an banner, it continued and
didn't just go black after if had finished playing as that would look unprofessional.
T
hrough a template from the W website. I added a banner on either side of the
ix
main page. i made the video’s play in the sync which made it look more
professional as opposed to it stuttering.
Here was a first draft we made through W W allowed us to embed links in
ix. ix
from Youtube so that we could feature our music video on the home page.
Additionally, we could embed in the official song ‘Heaven’ through sound cloud
too. W also uploaded images into the website and added them into a tab
e
called ‘Gallery’ As well as images of Sunday Girl describing who she is, her
interests, and what she has coming up for her in the future. As our target
audience are interested in Sunday Girl we thought it was important to feature
this within the website.
16. Survey Monkey is a web survey that allows me to write questions about my music video. I can then monitor and see how many people watch the music
video and then answer my questions. T was useful because the people who are interested in watching my music video become my target audience
his
because they are interested in the music video and therefore understand its conceptual meaning. From the results I was then able to look back over my
rough cut and adapt if I thought necessary with the friendly criticisms I had received form doing the survey on Survey Monkey.
From this question hat we wrote on Survey Monkey e found out that from my rough
cut the responses suggested that the beginning of the music video was most unclear
out of the beginning , middle and end. therefore Survey Monkey was useful as it
allowed me to reconsider what was so confusing about the beginning of my rough cut
and what I cold then do about this on my real music video to ensure that the target
audience will not be confused about the beginning.
Beginning of Rough C Beginning of Official music video
ut
W
ithin the beginning she has
already in the hyper reality
world. However this is where I
believe the audience became
confused because I didn't show
why she is in a hyper reality
location with exaggerated
situations. T
herefore, I ensured in
my official one that I would do
something to communicate to the
viewer that the boys have put her
into this conceptual place.
I then modified the beginning in my official music
video. I believe that the beginning is now clearer
because it shows a boys hands touching the girl’s
face and then her eyes roll back to show that she is
dreaming herself into a hyper reality location with
exaggerated conceptual situations. E.g the rabbit
heads.
17. W
ebsites such as Slide-share.com allowed me to transfer presentations that I had made on keynote to the internet on
websites such as Slide share. I could then embed it onto my blog after direct form slide share which was also useful. T is
his
important because my evaluations need to be present on the blog regardless of the form they have been created in.
therefore slide share was able to present the slideshows of my evaluation for this question with professionalism.
It allows me to show the development of my answer to the evaluation question on different slides. Additionally, I am able
to have images within the slides too, this make it more visually appealing to the viewer.
T
here was also the option for me to explore viewing other peoples work too. Each presentation is tagged so that the
keywords I type in will direct me specifically to the type of slide share presentation I may want to look at.
For example when I type in Media A2 presentations, the image below shows that there is variety of slide share
presentations to choose form because it is a every popular used site. Moreover, I could then see how others had structured
their work too. I then took inspiration from other people on slide shares work for when I created this one.
