Media Studies A2 homework

1. Presenting the initial ideas to the class
In September 2017 each student of the course presented three ideas for a music video
that they developed independently. The songs of my choice we “House of The Rising
Sun” by Alt-j, “Brothers on the Slide” by Cymande and “The Fade Out Line” by Phoebe
Killdeer. I received the following feedback from the classmates and the teacher:
House of The Rising Sun
- It is risky to rely on movement of the sun as the main element
of the video. Because the filming date would be in January the
shoot could be jeopardised by unpredictable winter weather.
- The number of filming locations should be reduced to ensure
the efficient use of time on the shoot day.
Brothers On The Slide
- Reduce the number of locations by means such as
combining several elements in a single location. e.g. the
capoeira fight and the band could be in the same room.
- Develop the capoeira element to make it more surreal
and visually interesting.
- Develop the capoeira element to make it more surreal
and visually interesting, thus establishing it as the main
element.

2. The Fade Out Line
- Depict the characters’ fears more abstractly. Less realistic
setups will reduce the number of locations required and
make the video more visually interesting.
- Think of the set design that would reflect the atmosphere
best before developing any other aspects (costumes, props
etc.). The diegetic space should be the strongest aspect.
After reflecting on the feedback I decided to keep only one idea - Brothers On The Slide. Its presentation received the
best reaction from the audience - my future colleagues. I implemented the commentaries that I mentioned earlier, as
well as made the following developments which I hoped would raise the interest of my teammates:
- Simplification of the ring for the capoeira fighting sequence. Instead of
being a realistic set up of an underground fight it became just a pool of light
in the darkness, inside which the fighters would perform.
- Seeing that most of the class members picked a modern genre for their
music videos, such as electronic or techno, I searched for an alternative to
the funky rock that I originally wanted to use. I therefore made available a
substitute of Brothers On The Slide for Opr or Viol by Gesaffelstein, hoping
that these soundtracks would raise my classmates’ interest.
Development of The Idea

3. Pitching
The final song choice of my group was Baby Baby by Tropkillaz. We made a
treatment for our music video and pitched the project on 20th of September 2017:

4. We received the following feedback from the teachers who played the role of
producers in our campaign:
- Reconsider the TV element. Having a separate set is too much contribution for this minor detail.
Either think of an alternative way to present it or get rid of the scene.
- Collect more information on capoeira and see their performance live. Their part will be the most
difficult to film, so it is important to thoroughly know their performance.
- The lead singer will be the centre of attention. It is vital to rehearse singing and dancing with him.
- Find out requirements of the boxer to provide the best conditions for an impressive training scene.
These comments helped us to make the final decision about the concept we were going to produce. We
dropped the television element and distributed tasks among ourselves to do the research necessary for
the shoot: I was to go to London to film the capoeira fighters’ performance, Kristien was going to work
with the lead performer and Aidan was to communicate with the student who was going to the the boxer
so that the best conditions could be provided for him.
Email sent to the
Capoeira Academy
A note about responsibilities
made on the day of the pitch

5. Screening the test video
This prototype of our final product was a way of testing out how
concepts would correlate with cinematography and the music. After t
After showing this product to members of our target audience (17 to 19 years old)
we decided to make the following changes to our project:
- Find a new pianist, because the initial actor was unconfident on camera
- Introduce a base guitar
Filming a rehearsal was an effective way of briefing the performers on the expectations
from them and providing them with an opportunity to develop their roles independently.
- Attempt to choose performers all of the same ethnicity

6. The Focus Group
Website
ord label can get an insight into whether the products currently communicate the ideas they are intended to and get ideas
- Observations that one is unaware of before about how the product may be interpreted by the audience
- Suggestions about how the products might be further refined to make them more effective
Results:
Although the group liked the website’s design due to its bright colours and the
animated image of the artist, which they thought was successful at quickly
grasping the attention of the viewer, they did not guess that the genre of its music
is electronic. The first impression was that the genre is rap or pop due to Ray’s
outfit on the homepage photo, but as I scrolled down they changed their minds
and said the genre is indie or alternative rock. The bar chart below shows the
results of what genre each product was considered to be. Yellow colour
represent the website, blue the digipak and purple the music video:
Another fault was the unclarity of text on the Tour page due to the
lack of contrast between the text and the background.
However, the group’s favourite page was merchandise due to the
way its layout changed as I moved the courser.

7. Before showing the website to the teacher: The Tour Page before the Focus
Group:
our of text on the Tour page and introduced more interactive features in the final version. Here is the development of the website a
Response
The Tour Page in the Final Version:

8. Nevertheless, the focus group did not think that the design of the digipak looked professional because of the
unclear text for the album's and the artist's name, lack of correspondence between the colours and the low
quality of the used photographs due to high grain noise levels.
Digipak
The group thought that the design of the digipak was more suitable for the electronic genre that the website
because of the wide variety of colours that were used on its front cover and digits that there were present on all
four covers. The former aspect worked because it associated with colourful lighting in nightclubs, while the digits
represent programming used for writing electronic music.

9. 1st Draft
Response
I therefore will need to introduce new generic conventions to my website that would be similar to those
presented by Aidan on his digipak. Aidan decided to create a completely different version of the digipak. This
is the progression of the digipak as Aidan reflected on the audience’s feedback:
2nd Draft 3rd Draft

10. Music Video
of our website and digipak designs and clarified the electronic genre by providing the focus group with the artist's mus
There was a mix of opinions on what element of the video (the band, the boxer or the ballerina) was the most
enjoyable. This was the best possible outcome, because it proves that there are no weak aspects in our video
that we would have to modify.
members of the focus group found to be enjoyable and could not think of significant improvements that we could make
Response