2. In what ways does your media product use, develop
or challenge forms and conventions of real media
products?
Consideration of codes and conventions is very
important whilst creating a product for the music
industry. Starting this project, I have made a clear
decision that I would follow something that I am
familiar with, just to make my life easier for me.
However, lacking for unique ideas has made think
again and change my decision. This decision was
a very challenging one as I have decided to go for
something which I am not familiar with what so
ever. So, from hip-hop to experimental music was
a very huge step. The challenge has begun for
me when I had to make my own brief as I knew
nothing about experimental music. Researching
into unfamiliar artists was not very easy as most
of them are not that famous, however as I have
begun to find some interesting artists I knew that
this challenge should be a very interesting one.
Just before looking for ideas and inspiration I
have came across to an amazing artist Soap &
Skin, aka Anja Plaschg. Her music has seemed
very unusual but also beautiful which has drawn
my attention to straight away. After a long
consideration I have chosen my song, ‘Fall
Foliage’. As I have started to think of ideas for my
product I have decided to avoid contact with the
3. As I have began my idea overflow I have wanted
for my music video to come out very unique. This
meant using unusual techniques, locations and
props. My overall idea was to get the message
across that the artist is trying to get away from
herself as she is unhappy about herself, like seen
in her lyrics ‘We have nothing more to share, only
air, that old breath’. My most obvious idea was to
use a mirror, however to make it interesting my
ideas were to use a few mirrors, different size
range too. To let the audience know what the idea
of my music video is I have came across to an
idea of a scruffy drawing of the artist in a mirror,
this is to show he the artist sees herself whilst
looking in the mirror. I then wanted the artist to
sing some of the lyrics showing who this song is
about. The beginning lyrics are ‘You made me
smile with my heart; you made me, bag for
admission cards. You will never stay, in my home,
on my way’. This introduction is very simple but
affective too, as the audience should by now know
that the artist is singing about herself. One of my
unique ideas which put the genre of experimental
across would be using projections of the lyrics.
The body language of the artist fits in with the
lyrics, which once again, lets the audience know
how the artist feels. Due to me being the creator
of the video as well as the artist herself, I believe
that it was much easier to get the message across
how wanted it to. This is because I knew the
character inside out and for that reason I could get
into that character. Also, if any of the body
4. Overall I feel that I have
followed the codes and
conventions thoroughly
as my understanding of
experimental genre has
been put across within
5. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
Making my digipack I have wanted to put the genre of the artists’ music across, which meant uniqueness. I
have also wanted to let the audience know what the album is all about and this meant me making the digipac a
reflective of the songs within the album. So, to do that I have used all of the images from the video, as ‘Fall
foliage’ is the main song of the album. Making it unique I have been inspired by Sagmeister. I have cut out the
pieces of the face from the front cover, making it look like a broken mirror. The front of the digipack is the most
important feature within the digipac as it is an introduction to the audience. This means that it has to be very
attractive to draw people’s attention.
6. The same story goes to
making a promotional poster,
for the album to sell. The
poster has to be extra
attractive due to only one
image being used. I have
used a photo from my music
video once again, because of
the same reasons. However,
I did not use the same front
image. This time I have used
a photo of the artist lying on
the mirror, as this lets the
audience know hat the album
may be about. I could not
use the same image as the
digipack front cover, due to it
being too simple. If I have
used the same technique of
the cut outs on the poster it
would have not worked that
well, as the poster is not
hand held. Due to the digipac
7. I believe that the combination of
my main product and ancillary
texts is very effective as all of
the images used for my ancillary
texts have been taken from the
music video. I also find effective
due to ‘Fall Foliage’ being the
main song of the album. This
means that it not only it
introduces the album but the
main song also. I am also
pleased with the fact of giving
away the experimental genre,
for people who are interested in
this type of genre both my
poster and my digipac would be
familiar, and easy to spot.
Overall all three tie in together
extremely well.
8. Through the process of making I have constantly been reflecting, revising and adapting the feedback received from the
audience. There is no doubt about audience being in control of my music video constantly, due to me having to appeal to
them. Due to me constantly thinking about the audience I have not received as much feedback for improvement. However,
the feedback which I have received I have always taken into consideration.
Some of my most memorable feedback would be from the older generation as they are more experienced and would not be
scared to criticize my ideas. However, due to my music video appealing to a wide range age group I have tried my hardest
to get as much feedback as I could from all the age generations. My very first way of achieving feedback would have been
by me making a questionnaire to give out to everyone. The feedback received has mostly been good feedback, which I was
very pleased with.
The audience have taught me a lot, such as reducing the length of some shots as viewing long shots can get boring. Also, I
have re-shot quite a lot of shots to make them fit in perfectly with my video. My most successful change has been adding
the suicide bath scene which was recommended by one of the students in my class. I believe that it fits in perfectly and that
the story line has extended in a more interesting way. I have also taken into consideration the fact that the very first shot of
the artist singing as way too long, looking back at the feedback it has also improved my video due to me adding shots of
the artist going all over the place between the singing shots. This has made it clearer that the artist does not know where
she stands with herself and that she is all over the place. Things that have also been improved by the influence of the
audience were changing the order of some shots due to minor confusion.
9. To gain constant feedback from all different age groups I have used a networking website facebook.
This has let lots of different people feedback their thoughts and changes that could be made freely.
More than half of the comments were positive, and no changes have been made after the facebook
feedback has been received.
I have learned that feedback from the audience is one of the main things that could improve things
in the line of everything not just a music video. I believe that feedback from others is a way to
perfection and it has helped me get to where I am now, and that is a thoroughly good music video
which I personally am pleased with, thanks to others opinions.
10. In terms of construction I have used Final Cut pro
for editing my music video. This new technology
was quite hard to get the hang of, but once I’ve
got used to it I have managed to successfully
create my music video. I have had previous
experience with this program from year 12,
however I have managed to forget a few things
during the summer holidays, which has made me
think back. Apart from that, I have learnt many
new things, which were very useful within my
music video. Speaking of construction, I have
also used other technologies which have helped
me to get everything the way I have wanted it to.
One of these things were to get the lip singing
right, for this achievement I have used my phone
to play the track whilst filming. Using my mobile
phone was a very good idea as I have managed
to get the lip singing right the first time which I
was rather proud of. This has also made my life
much easier as I could get it done quickly and out
of the way, letting me move on to the making of
the rest of the video. To create my digipac and
poster I have also used the help of new
technologies. The main program which I have
used is Photoshop. Due to me doing two art
subjects I know how to use it quite easily.
However there is always a lot more to find out
11. Research and planning wise I have mostly
used the internet, this is because it holds a
lot of information about anything and
everything. Also, it is easy to use and takes
less time than books, meaning that I could
get much more research done in less time. I
have used google.com for most of my
written research and Youtube.com for all of
the moving research, such as examples of
music videos. Looking at other music
videos has helped me gain more initiative
and greater ideas towards my creation. To
collect research on what the audience have
thought of my music video, also known as
feedback I have used a Networking website
‘Facebook’, I believe that this way many
people would view it due to Facebook being
a very popular networking website which
gets used by every day.
