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1. Evaluation
The research we conducted as a group before we started production assisted us to really understand the
basic characteristics of the indie-rock genre. By exploring the culture of indie-rock we discovered a wide
range of different features to evoke the unique style. By having a clear knowledge of the theme helped us
to follow the conventions and be inspired to use similar techniques for our media product. Even though we
were conforming to the indie-rock culture we still considered different ways in which we could maintain a
unique outcome for our music video. For instance Indie-rock music videos are usually located in urban
areas, although we have filmed in urban places we wanted to challenge the conventions and insert a shot
of rural scenery. This is a short scene at the end of the music video where a crow is flying away from the
ground; grass. This low angle- close up of the crow is an unfamiliar shot, however it was essential to finish
the music video as this shot was very meaningful to the lyrics and narrative. This means that the crow was
used as a metaphor to symbolise the main character finding hope in herself and in God. Also, as there is a
religious theme to our music video in the Bible it states “___________-“which resembles… Alan Rowe
always believed that the narrative should be about the audience questioning what was next in the
sequence, in our music video we applied his theory and left the audience feeling surprised throughout the
sequence. Also the audience was in a constant state of suspense especially near the end where a hand
approaches and the main characters face is exposed.
Throughout the filming sequence each member of the group had a specific role during production. For
instance Aimee was the main character for our music video and would take part in those scenes as well as
having a chance to film urban sceneries of the City. Aiding the editing process of rescaling each frame to fit
accurately and other technical editing processes. Another fellow member Ellen had a role in referring to
the ‘Lyrics to visualisation’ page where we were assisted to scenes that needed to be recorded. Also she
has filmed exterior shots of iconic locations, sign posts and members of the public in Liverpool station, as
well as helping the group to manipulate on the post production sequence. My role was to record the
establishing shots in Liverpool station and in the city where members of the public would be walking
around the main character as well as other shots of the main character. Moreover I have recorded extreme
close ups of the main character, mobile phone, someone posting a letter and the coffee shop scene. For
one of the ancillary tasks I was the photographer of photographing the main character standing in front of
a brick wall. Lastly I have participated in the editing stage where I applied transitions onto some of the film
clips to give a nice smooth motion throughout the music video. As a group we were all enthusiastic about
the planning,filming and the editing stage and all participated with suggesting ideas and alternatives if
our first initial idea wasn’t successful.
When we completed the final media product we were required to produce an ancillary task which was an
album cover and a magazine advertisement to support the music video. The two outcomes were very
successful as they both had an appropriate style to the theme of indie rock as well as being unique through
the use of images and text. Our first task was to produce a front and back of an album cover to showcase
the single ‘You Found Me’. To begin with we watched our final edit of our music video and screenshotted
specific moments that highlighted the storyline and portrayed an important moment for the young
character. We came to a decision to use an over the shoulder shot of the main character with a shallow
focus of a guitarist in the background. This was a very important shot as it was the climax of the
soundtrack and a change in the atmosphere where the main character begins to find hope and a stronger
connection in God. By putting this shot on the front of an album cover reminds the audience of the
significance of the narrative; God gives us challenges in life, but nothing we can’t handle. After placing the
image we felt a dark colour pallet was suitable for the album cover and as a result we changed the
background to a dark murky grey tone and manipulated the photograph to black and white. After placing
the image in the centre of the frame we wanted to insert specific texts including “The Fray” and “You
Found Me”. Using an online website known as “1001 fonts” we selected a font that we felt would suit the
indie-rock culture and positioned it on the top third of the frame, also we changed the colour of the text to
white so that it would strike out and engage the viewers’ attention. To balance out the white font we
inserted white stripes across the bottom third of the album cover, this gave a strong consistency and
resulted a sophisticated, simple, spectacular result.

2. When the album cover was completed we then moved onto the next task of the magazine advert. As we
wanted a consistent flow we used the same font selected on “1001 fonts” however using Photoshop we
altered it and overlaid it with a black format to give a 3D effect. The success of this emphasised “The Fray”
as the black and white was contrasting against each other effectively. Instead of repeatedly using a
screenshot from our music video we wanted to take a new photograph of the main character against a
plain background and decided that a brick wall would really emphasise the indie-rock culture. Using an
iphone6 camera I ensured that the main characters’ face was hidden and captured a range of shots such as
mid shots, high angle shots and long shots. By photographing a range of angles gave our group a variety of
options in which would give the biggest impact. Overlooking the images we selected a mid-shot of the
character and subtly manipulated the photograph to evoke a more mysterious atmosphere. This meant
that we reduced the saturation and increased the contrast to emphasise the different dull tones within the
photograph. Using a simple bold font we included the name of the soundtrack, mentioning how the single
is released, number of stars, and a quote from The Times commenting on our music video. By including this
information really advertised the music video and promoted it through simple ways. By having “THE
SINGLE OUT NOW” in capital letters and slightly larger than the rest of the texts shows how we are trying
to grab the audience’s attention. Simple phrases and different sized texts have an effective impact as it
short and engaging and really encourage the audience see the new release of ‘The Fray- You Found Me”.
Near the end of our rush we asked a fellow student to watch and see the successes of our music video and
areas for improvement. “After watching your music video I cannot tell who is the main character, whether
it’s the person dressed in black or the young couple”. This comment was very important to take on board
because the whole aim of the music video was to show the progressive journey of the main character
dressed in black seeking hope and connection with God. In response to this criticism we removed few shots
of the couple and replaced it with striking shots of the main character. As a result the same person
watched it again and felt that the music video made more sense and that the narrative was clearer. “With
some of the extreme close ups it’s difficult to tell who’s making those actions”. This was also another
criticism to consider as there was a scene where the main character was holding a mobile phone and
seeing how there was no incoming calls or texts. To recover this dilemma before and between that shot we
inserted a mid-shot of the main character holding the mobile phone. Overall, I have learnt from my
audience feedback to really consider the audiences’ perspective instead of my own. Even though I
understood whose handswhere in the shot or the narrative of our music video, it would be better if I
considered ways in which to make the music video clearer and more fluent to understand.
Through the research, planning and evaluation we have used a range of media technologies to achieve a
variety of outcomes leading to our final piece of our music video. To begin with our research we have used
a lot of programmes such as google, slide share, YouTube, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, vimeo
and Prezi. These have all influenced our choices in deciding which genre we wanted to explore and which
artist/group along with one of their soundtracks. Google was the most essential search engine and allowed
us to conduct all our research and document it through a blog online. Microsoft office has also helped me
to file all my research and information for instance I have produced a visual mood board supported with
annotation as a starting point of potential ideas to include in the music video. Even the basics of a mobile
phone were essential as I could contact my fellow members about arrangements for film dates and times.
Moreover I had the ability to access my blog through my phone so when filming we would refer to the
‘Lyrics to visualisation’ page. Media technologies have also been used during the construction where we
used a Canon EOD 100D to film the sequence and transferred the SD card into an iMac computer. As well
as using an iPhone 6 to photograph for the magazine advert in which we emailed them after to gain
admission. We were then able to access various softwares such as AdobePremier Pro and Photoshop
which we have used for our music video and Ancillary tasks. For the evaluation I have presented my work
on a blog using blogger and uploaded the final music video through vimeo. These different media
technologies have influenced my choices and allowed me to consider a range of ideas and alternatives
throughout the different stages of research, planning,constructing and evaluating.