Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In my opinion, the main conventions of a music video are the pace, the pace of a music video is always fast paced, to keep up with the beat of the music, because a music video must be shown within such a short space of time this means that the producer must attempt to tell the story of the song, or include a lot of action in a short time period, again this means that the shots must be snappy and quick in order to keep the audience entertained and interested in the song.

Another main convention of the music video genre is the inclusion of the star artist, however, in the genre of music that we have chosen this is often not the case, as our band in particular value the fans reaction to the music more than the reaction to their inclusion within the video, because of this we decided that we would only use the actors posing in the band in the chorus, this means that the whole song is not dominated by a well-known face, but it also means that the most memorable part of the song include the two/three stars. Therefore we still managed to somewhat stick to the conventions of a music video.

Lighting is another main convention of a music video, in most cases excluding the rock and Emo genre bright lighting is the key, take for example a pop video, the music is upbeat and lively and therefore the lighting needs to reflect the connotations that are given from the song. In the case of our music video, we decided that we did want some large lights; however as the lyrics of the song do have some dark deep connotations. For this reason we decided that big main lights would be too bright for the genre of music that we have chosen. To get around this problem we decided that the best option would be to bounce the light from a turned over table, this was enough for us to be able to gain sinister shadows upon our backdrop which was the effect that we had hoped to get, but it also meant that the actors were not lit up extremely brightly.

In the indie song genre, many of the above connotations do not seem to carry across, for example more often than not an indie band will use an actor to play the story instead of featuring in the story themselves, for example ‘Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun goes down’.

Another feature of the standard music video that is not featured in the indie genre is the use of many shots and fast paced cuts and dissolve, instead many artists tend to use long or short shots depending on the song and how fast and lively that song is, take for example ‘Coldplay’s’ song, ‘yellow’ many of the shots that are included in this music video are extremely long takes of the lead singer walking along a beach clearly remembering some aspects of his past and one assumes a female that was part of his past. This feature is similar to some of the shots that Sam and I have included in our own music video, for example at the very beginning of the video as the couple are walking along a lengthy gravel path hand in hand.

Click the link in order to see the coldplay song - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAME8GDRTfI

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

I feel that the main product that I and Sam created works well with the ancillary texts in an overall feel. In the ancillary texts that I created I attempted to re-create some of the connotations that are portrayed by both the lyrics of the song, and also the video that we created.

In our video, particularly in the chorus we tried to give a dark feel, using heavy lighting in order to create sinister shadows given from the singers against the bright white background that we selected. I tried to carry these dark connotations across to the CD cover that I created. In order to give this effect, I imported some photographs that Sam and I had taken, in place of the band and I then changed the contrast to make the photographs dark and sinister, as to match the darkness that we created in the chorus of the song.

I feel that the combination of the website that I have created and the final music video works well, the music video gives connotations of youthfulness, and I think that this feel is reflected by the website. This is done by the use of bright colours on dull coloured backgrounds to make them stand out, also with the cartoon effect that has been places on the photos of the actors posing as the band.

Another link to youthfulness that can be seen in my website is the link to various social networking sites such as Facebook, twitter and MySpace. I feel that these websites give connotations of youth as they are commonly a feature of the typical teenager’s life. After analysing various other artists’ websites I decided that a link to the main social networking site was a stereotypical feature. After noticing this I felt that it was necessary for me to include links to the social networking sites.

The first website that I analysed was that of Ben Drew (plan B) and on the page when the end user scrolls down the page, the background stays in the same place. This was a feature that I wanted to utilise in my own works as I felt that it gave an impression of professionalism.

Another feature that I feel combines the products is the use of the font, we attempted to use the same font throughout every product that we have produced in order to gain a sense of continuity and the ability for fans to recognise other band products that may be produced in the future, for example logo’s which are often used by bands such as ‘The Libertines’.

Another continuity feature that I entered was the same three actors posing as the Canterbury band, for the photographs that we needed to take I decided that Sam and I would play two characters and the third character that we needed to use would be another member of the media course, Robert Mills. The reason for this choice was because Robert has knowledge of the Media course and knows how much the little details are going to count towards my final grade.

Another combination of the products that works well is the usage of the final music video in my final website product, this allows for a more professional feel on my media website, as well as a sense of continuity. When analysing many other artists websites I noticed that more often than not an artist would include their latest music video on the website so that fans would be able to watch and listen to music, not only would this be good for the fans to be able to listen to a free sample of the music, but also this would promote the artists music and get the song across to a wider variety of people using the internet.

I feel that both my CD case and cover and my final website would be able to be used in order for the artists music to be promoted, there are many reasons for this for example the inclusion of the music video on the website, this means that a member of the audience would be able to watch the video as well as listening to the music, which in turn would advertise both the track and the video, hopefully this would then lead to the most favourable way of advertising among artists, and this is the word of mouth, when one person watches the music video then they would hopefully tell one of their friends about the video depending on their reaction to what they have seen.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

From my audience feedback I have learned a variety of things about the way others have seen our music video.

In order to get feedback from class mates Sam and I held a screening of our final product in an un-used classroom, and then asked our classmates to give us their reaction on the product that we have created, in terms of feedback we received mainly positive feedback regarding the way that the video was shot and edited.

Another main response that we got from the audience was positive in terms about the acting that was featured within our video, particularly in the chorus. Also comments about the background of the chorus were made, particularly about the shadows created from the heavy lighting which we used, in order to do this for the correct amount of lighting that we needed we bounced the light from table tops and other classroom objects as the standard light would have been too bright for the camera, and we would not have been able to achieve the sinister effect that we desired.

In my own opinion I agree that the acting in the video was high quality, in the chorus Sam and I did the acting for the video, recording each other singing. As we have both been media students for a few years now we understand that it is important for characters in a media product to act professionally in order for the product to look high quality at the end of the project, this meant that instead of miming the words to the song we would sing them loudly as we imagined the band would when performing or rehearsing, this allowed for the chorus scenes acting to be very high quality and give a sense of realism.

Another piece of positive feedback given was the editing that was seen in our final product, comments made were initially revolving around the animated entrance to our video, in which the screen is designed to look like a sheet of paper, and the action from the video placed into boxes that appear to be drawn, this gives a teenage feel to the video which was reflected by the feedback given from members of our target audience.

Outside of the classroom Sam and I asked other members of the target audience age group what they thought to the quality of our final product, again the response was mainly positive, many people saying that it was a professional quality video, however not up to the standard of an accomplished artist, for example ‘Plan B’.

In terms of negative feedback the main response that we got were not enough shots being used in the opening sequence of our music video, the main conventions of a music video make it fast paced, and this means that more and more shots are used in order to gain a fast paced feel to the video, in this case Sam and I have gone against the typical conventions of a music video as we felt that a long dramatic shot for the opening sequence would be more suitable with our style of music.

When Receiving feedback for my Digipack production I received mainly positive comments about the realism of the content that I had produced, insertions such as the scroll bar on my website and discoloured photographs on my CD case and cover helped to give a professional feel to the products that I had created. Personally I feel that the product that we have created is of a good and fairly professional quality

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Throughout the production of my music video, CD case and website new media technologies have given me great creative advantages, and I have utilised these technologies in a variety of different ways. For example, when researching music websites I was able to do this on my iPod Touch, this enables me to type about the website whilst looking at it at the same time, this was a great help and time saver as it meant that I did not have to switch between my work and the website so that I was able to get ideas.

In the planning stages of my production, I was able to use the internet in order to get evidence and media products on the subjects that I am stating to the reader, and it gives my work a more interesting feel, for example when talking about Plan B’s website in my evaluation the internet at college enabled me to include pictures of the website to back up what I was saying.

During the construction stages of our production Sam and I were aided greatly by the file sharing website YouTube, YouTube enabled us to upload every draft of our music video, we were then able to share the video on our blogs using the embed code, not only did YouTube give us a place to upload our videos and then transfer them to our own blogs, but we were also able to get valuable feedback from other internet users, as anyone can find the video on YouTube.

In terms of finding music to make our video around, Sam and I attempted to use a variety of new platforms in order to contact artists about the possibility of using their music, these platforms included a standard email and phone call to quite big named bands, for example The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and many others, however when this did not work, we decided that it would be more beneficial for us to try a different approach, therefore we decided to create an account on the popular music sharing social networking site MySpace, as this is where most up and coming bands share their music with fans in an attempt to get more notice. Therefore we emailed the band ‘Canterbury’ and received a rapid response, making MySpace the best option, and meant that the new media technology helped us greatly to get a song to work with.

When editing our product we decided against using the software provided by the college, and instead opting for the option of doing the work on a home computer and the ‘Sony Vegas’ programme, this allowed us to achieve different effects than the rest of our classmates as we were using a different programme, this also allowed us to add professional effects such as the introduction of the split screen that we included in the chorus for example.

In the making of the digipak, I feel that I used new technologies well; this is mainly because I had used the programmes before in my ICT courses, for example the Dreamweaver software. However, despite previous attempts at using the software I still found problems with the layout that is required to make a decent sized website. Despite this I was able to add some complex features to my website due to previous experience, for example a scroll bar which is a feature of many websites that I analysed, I feel that the introduction of the scroll bar gives a professional feel to my website.

During the making of the music video, I think that my use of new technologies went very well, as I had used the cameras that are provided by the college before I was able to navigate how to use the camera extremely well, meaning that I was able to do tasks such as setting the white balance with ease, something that I would not have been able to achieve at the same time last year, when I had not used the cameras before.

When making the CD case and cover I decided that the main features I was going to be using would revolve around photographs, I wanted the fans to be intimate with the band as this was the idea I was given whilst listening to music produced by the band. In order to make the photographs suit the style of the rest of my products I used the Adobe fireworks programme so that I could change the contrast of the photographs to suit the dark and sinister themes that are seen in the rest of my products.

When thinking about the distribution of a music video product I personally feel that YouTube is a great way for an up and coming artist to promote their work, YouTube allowed myself and Sam to, not only upload our work to the internet, but also to advertise our creative ideas to other likeminded music fans on the internet.

This is the link that we uploaded our videos too - http://www.youtube.com/user/swillis1993

Blogger was a fantastic way for me to be able to display my work, a paper folder would have limited the amount of creativity that I was able to place into the work, whilst using the internet I was able to place into my blog interactive media features such as videos from the internet, not only this but I was also able to upload pictures to reinforce the ideas that I was writing so that the audience of my work could gain a better impression of my ideas.

Final Cut music Video

This is the final cut of our music video, the only thing that we have altered in this take of the video is the introduction of new lighting schemes, particularly during the flashbacks that were supposed to take place during the actors life, we have increased the white contrast to these shots. The main reason for this is to show the audience that there is something different about this shot.

Final Music Video

Above is the final music video for the song 'Diver' by Canterbury created by Sam and I. Overall I feel that the music video we have created is an extremely professional product, with many difficult transitions being used in order to create the final effect that we desired. The bits of the video that stand out for me are the chorus. It is a common quality of many music videos for bands to have the screen divided into sections for the singer.

I think that this feature helps the audience to familiarise themselves with each member of the band and the role that they play in the making of the song. Another part of the video which I feel works extremely well is the introduction to the video which was invented by Sam on his home computer, I think that by using this transition the professionalism of our final product has been increased as it was an extremely difficult effect to accomplish.

I feel that the acting in the video portrays the sadness and confusion that can be heard from the lyrics of the song. In particular the chorus involving Sam and I. Another great bit of the video is the use of the black and white transition to display a memory, the different transition gives a connotation of difference to the member of the audience and lets them know that this particular sequence is a flashback from a past experience regarding the actor.

Canterbury final Website

To the left hand side of the page is my final product for the band website, as can be seen my final products has a massive difference from my draft, the main reason for this is the feedback that I received from various classmates of mine. The things that I have changed include a different background. The main reason for this being that I felt that my old colourful background drew the audiences attention too much away from the main content of my website, I also felt that a more neutral coloured background would complement the content of my web page well.

Throughout my web page I have used attributes that I noticed have been used in various other artists web pages, therefore giving connotations of realism. These areas includes the links down the left hand side of the page, the links that I have included are roll over links that when hovered over or clicked change colour, so that the end user of the website knows which link they are currently poised to enter, also on the buttons I have included a stick man that moves when clicked, as mentioned with my CD cover I did this as I feel that it gives connotations of youth, something which I feel the band portray in some of their songs.

Another area which I feel that my website excels in is the use of coding to produce a text box for a band blog, this is something which I encountered often when analysing real websites and is a difficult feature to produce using Dream weaver. Other items that I have included in my website are social networking links and the option to log into the website if you are a member. These are again typical website features.

Other band website features I have included are, the option to purchase tickets and merchandise online, to look for gig dates, and to read up on the latest band news and gossip.

Canterbury final CD case

This is the inside of my CD case and cover, for this product I decided that a minimalistic approach was the one that would prove to be the most successful, this is because I analysed many CD cases and I felt that the ones that worked the best were the ones that had not been overcrowded with things to read. The middle compartment of the CD case and cover is where the CD would be placed within the pack. To the left hand side the white flap that can be seen would be used to hold a bands message to the fans, which is depicted below. Again, I felt that a message to the fans was a common occurrence amongst many bands CD when I was analysing band CD packages in particular. For the background of the CD case I decided to use action shots of the members of the band, there were a few reasons for this and the main one being that I wanted the band to come across as fun loving and normal teenagers, and I feel that the pictures which I selected for usage gave these connotations with success. Once I had imported the pictures onto my canvas I decided that the contrast of colours gave a feel for a lack of professionalism and therefore decided to add a black and white fade to the photographs, making them fit together nicely and regain the sense of professionalism that I feel the rest of my products have achieved.




To the left hand side of the page is the outside of my CD case and cover, again matching the inside I decided to go for the minimal approach with regards to 'less is more' for the outer cover. I also decided to give the CD case a sense of continuity as I decided that the main image to be used on the outside of the case would be the same as the main header which can be seen on my final website, the reason for this is that I believe this is the approach that would be taken within the real market, with regards to a sense of identity. For example a band logo or colour scheme, once a band has used something that people can identify them with they use it on most if not all related products. To get the effect of the photograph I used different artistic effects using the Adobe Photoshop programme, this allowed me to get a cartoon effect on the photograph. Something which I feel gives a teenage connotation. I also believe that the photograph displays a sense of friendship between the band members. After analysing real products I decided to use some attributes which can be found in many of them for example the barcode and copyright paragraph. Overall I feel that my approach to the CD case and cover worked well, however I would have liked to of had the chance to develop a design for the actual CD to go inside the case.

Video Draft 3

This is the third draft of the music video that we have created, we felt that the chorus would appear to be more professional if the screen was sliced into three different screens of the two singers participating in the chorus, after analysing the second draft of our music video we felt that this option was a common aspect of the modern music video, along with other advanced editing options, and felt that this would add a touch of class to the final product.

Also within the third draft we Incorporated the black and white transition as to tell the audience that the clip of the video that they are watching is a memory, they can tell this as the transition makes the certain clips stand out from the rest of the video and therefore gives connotations of difference.

2nd draft video

This is our second draft music video, as can be seen the shots are beginning to come together and the emotional connotations of the song are beginning to be portrayed through the images and footage that we have captured. There are still some imperfections with the video so far, for example the chorus. For our third draft of the video Sam and I intend to have two singers for the video, this will give the video a sense of authenticity as it reflects the amount of singers in the original song.

We also intend to to split the screen on the chorus into 3 different shots, consisting of one large screen and two smaller ones, displaying the singers for the chorus. This will give a different feel to the music video, one that is not often seen.

Another problem with this draft is the improper lighting at places, again we intend to of fixed this for our 3rd draft.

Mock Website

Above is a print screened picture of the whole of my mock website homepage which I have created. Although the web page is not fully completed and not fully operational I have already implemented various stereotypical website features within it. For example, the scroll bar down the middle of the page gives a realistic web page feel, it also maximises the space on the homepage that I am able to use, as the scroll bar can fit as much text as I would like without taking up more space than the size of the scroll bar. In this case I have decided to put 'news' within the scroll bar as when my research was completed it became clear that a typical feature of a bands website was a news feature on the homepage, displaying important information to viewing fans. Another stereotypical website feature which I have added are roll over buttons, meaning that a button is able to change colour when a cursor is hovered over it. This again gives my website a realistic feel, I created the buttons using different states on the Fireworks programme, which were then inserted as a roll over image into Dreamweaver.

First draft music video

This is the first draft music video that Sam and I have created, there are still things that need to be done within the video to give it the effect that we require, however we feel that we have some decent shots, with nice lighting for a first draft. I feel that the chorus works well with Sam singing against the sometimes tense drama action within the verses, at times the video is fast paced. This is commonly found within music videos.

Audience questionairre

Sam and I created a questionnaire to find out more about our potential audience.

We asked 10 people aged 17 the questions are below are the results.

1) Did you like the track (We played our chosen song to them before this question)?
-Yes: 8
-No: 2

2)Would you listen to the bands other songs after hearing Diver?
-Yes: 7
-No: 3

3)Do you often listen to this genre/type of music?
-Often: 6
-Occasionally: 3
-Rarely: 1

4)What mood does the song give off?
-Happy: 4
-Sad: 3
-Mixed: 3

5)What should the mood of the video be for the song?
-Happy: 3
-Sad: 3
-Mixed: 6

6)What do you think the song is about based on the lyrics (We showed them a sheet with lyrics on)?
-A relationship breakup (love): 5
-A relationship breakup (friendship): 2
-A death: 2
-Other: 1

As our results show, the general idea is that the song is about a male and female's relationship ending, and that it is shown in both a sad and happy way. The audience mostly agreed that they would want to listen to more of the band’s music, as well as being fans of the genre.

This is good as it shows us that our audience agreed with what Sam and I believed the song to be about and so the video that we create should be suitable.

Target Audience

Canterbury are an indie/pop/rock band, made up of some extremely young members, mainly meaning that the target audience for the band mainly consists of the younger generation.

In our final music video, there will be both a man and woman as an actor. This means that our video will appeal to both males and females, due to the genre of the music involved in the main target age for us would be around the 16, 17 and 18 mark. This is due to a few reasons. I feel that the target audience would be no younger than this due to the depth of the bands lyrics, which mainly revolve around love, or the loss of a loved one and give connotations of loneliness and depression. Something which does not really appeal to the youngest of generation’s e.g 15 and under.

Due to the bands heavy influence, I would imagine that our product would be to target an audience of an indie nature, that are into similar bands, such as you me at six, and Forever The Sickest Kids, whom both follow the same type of pop rock/indie genre and aim their music at the teens. Both of the bands songs mainly revolve around love and how it can be a negative influence, similar to the product that we aim to create.

Filming Schedule

5th October – Start filming the chorus


6th October – Finishing filming the chorus

12th October – Start filming the verses

13th October – Finish filming the verses

15th October – Start editing the clips together

22nd October – Hand in draft copy


30th September - 22nd October - Create CD cover and band Website

Storyboard

Below is the storyboard that Sam has produced for the music video, the first shot starts at the bottom and finishes at the top of the page.

Equipment required

.Filming Equipment-
Video Camera
-Tripod
-Blank Tape
-Digital Camera

Props
-Mobile Phone
-Paper Note Pad
-Microphone

Actors
-2 Male
-1 FemaleCostumes
-Male 01: Jeans, t-shirt and hooded jumper
-Male 02: Jeans, t-shirt (light coloured)-Female: Jeans/leggings, t-shirt, hooded jumperComputer

Software
-Adobe Photoshop
-Adobe Dreamweaver
-Sony Vegas

Locations
-Empty Classroom
-Grassy Field-Pavement/Path-Females Bedroom

Risk assesment

Risk assessment
Weather- severe weather conditions may affect both the video equipment our crew and our actors.

Camera equipment-
the weather conditions may affect how our camera equipment works, for example a strong wind may blow over the equipment whilst on the tri-pod and break the camera, which can be extremely expensive, if the camera is wet by rain, then the camera work may again stop working.

How to solve the problem- the simple ways to solve the problem is to make sure that the camera work is secured tightly to make sure that there are no chances of the camera coming off the tri-pod, to prevent rain and water damage, we will make sure that the equipment is kept in its protective casing so that rain damage is improbable.

Actors and camera men- the weather conditions may make the filming area slippery and actors may fall and be injured
How to solve the problem- make sure that the surface for filming is solid and stable to make sure that nobody is injured.

Pedestrians-

Equipment being stolen- We have to make sure that pedestrians are not in risk of being tripped over by wires, and also that we keep valuable equipment away from anybody that may be looking to steal it.
How to solve the problem- The simple way to solve both of the problems is to film in a secluded area away from the public, if this is unavoidable then we need to make sure that all eyes are kept on the valuable equipment.

These are the only risks that we are running whilst filming out in the open, most of these risks are avoidable, therefore we are able to film safely with no problems.

Mock website and CD Cover

(Currently unable to upload hand drawn image as i'm having problems with my scanner)

Sam and I have both made up mocks of the website and the CD case and cover, this way more ideas can be put down onto paper and Sam can be marked on his ideas and how he feels the two items should look.

Having seen Sam's original mockup of a CD case the theme of sunshine and clouds seemed to work well in relation to the bands aura and feel of the song, for this reason I decided to continue the theme into my ideas of both a CD case and Website, the colours contrast well to the song that we have chosen and create a different vibe giving it a sense of irony.

For the mock up website, I have decided to use a variety of large block colours, this is mainly to catch the eye of the audience, but I also feel that a simple layout is much more user friendly than a website made up of many different and contrasting colours that can be confusing to the eye.

After analysing different artists and bands web pages I decided that the most popular options for the homepage of a website are, tour guides for example when the band is going on tour, and the option to buy tickets. Another popular link on the home page is the option to purchase band merchandise such as clothing, posters and much more. I have also included an option to watch the bands latest videos and also see the bands latest news without having to click on a separate link, meaning that a busy user can scan the website quickly, making the site very user friendly and also extremely accessible.

Treatment

This is the treatment that Sam has written for the music video.

I have decided that I want my music video to seem as though it as been drawn. I will scan a copy of a piece of lined paper and draw boxes on it. Each box will contain a different part of the video and as the song plays; the video will sort of zoom out from the paper, and pan across to the next box before it zooms in again to show the next clip. Each box will contain a portion of the music, such as: 1st verse, chorus, 2nd verse, and chorus. I will also experiment with different filter effects for the video to create a hand drawn look. This will hopefully go well with the paper style background. However, altering the effects may make it hard to watch the video and so this idea could be scrapped in favour of unedited clips. Overall, I want the video to seem like a photo album. I believe that the song is talking about the singers past where he has recently had something bad happen. I am assuming that he has split up with his girlfriend and is trying to get away from the bad memories and feelings, hence the line “I’ll keep you in mind when I run”.

The actual video recording will show a band playing and singing during the chorus and a flashback sequence during the two versus. This will help enhance the idea that the video is a virtual photo album as it will show what has happened in the past. The flash backs will have a filter on them to make them slightly brighter and vibrant, making it clear that it is a flashback. The chorus where the band will be filmed will mostly just be the singer as it is meant to be a story about him. Therefore, the other band members, (drummer, guitar and bass) will only appear in brief clips, such as the drum heavy quiet parts in the intro instrumental.

Reply from canterbury

Sam and I decided to email multiple bands and artists to ask for permission to use songs, as we knew that we wouldn't get replies from a good amount of them. Sam set up a MySpace account and proceeded to email bands telling them about the project and asking if we could use their songs. Sam finally got a reply from Canterbury (Canterbury's Myspace) who were happy to let us use their song Diver. Below is the email that we received from them:hi Sam, sounds sweet! Feel free to use it, but please spread the word about the album in doing so and we'd love to see the finished video =]x

How important are stars in music videos?

To me, the importance of stars in music videos depends on a variety of different variables, the main one being how big the band or artist is. There are many bands whose music I know that I would not be able to place upon seeing them in the street, for example Chase and Status and Pendulum. Having the stars from these particular bands in their music videos would not really make any difference to the viewer, as they are probably not able to place their face anyway.







In pendulums hit song ‘witchcraft’ they do use the band on the video, however throughout the video their faces are blurred and the audience is not able to see them properly, not only does this fit in with the bands dark and underground aura but it also gives the connotations that the band feels that their fame and fortune comes second to the actual music and narrative of the video, instead choosing to use a woman floating for the most part of their video, moving in time to the beat drops. Which are the most nostalgic pieces of the song, again showing that their music is more important to them than their image.






For these reasons I do not feel that it is incredibly important for an artist to be featured in their video, however I do feel that the more high profile that artist is, the more likely they are to feature in their own video, for example main stream pop music artists like Beyonce or JLS are bound to have the artist within the video so that the music producers are able to sell the product with ease.
Some music videos do have stars in, but they are not the stars that have produced the music for example ‘uptown girl’ by Billy Joel features glamour model and playboy bunny of the time Christie Brinkley









In conclusion, I do not think that it is mandatory to include the star of a song in the music video; in some ways having a big name in the video overcasts the point and narrative to the song, and can become boring after a while. Personally I prefer artists such as Pendulum that concentrate more on the music and storytelling side of a music video, as to engage the audience into the point they are attempting to portray.

Plan B website analysis

Above is the website for well known rapper, singer and actor Plan B (Ben Drew). The website I have chosen to analyse is a series of abstract images placed together in order to create a background that gives the impression of a kind of scrap book related to the artist, making the audience know that he is the main focus of this site.
In the top left hand corner of the page lies the navigation bar, it appears to be in the shape of a stamp continuing the scrapbook theme for the artist, the navigation bar is made up of 9 links all written in bold black text in a serif font, again giving the website a homemade scrapbook feel, taking up most of the navigation space is what we can assume to be plan B’s logo, this again gives the connotation that the artist and his fame is the most important factor of the website.
Down the middle of the page stands a news section which is complete with text files and also video files so that the audience are able to watch the artist in action as well as being able to read of what he is currently doing in the music industry, in which his art is mostly displayed, the text used in this section of the website is a bold maroon serif font which stands out nicely again the crème background, making it eye-catching for the audience, and also extremely easy to find.
To the right hand side of the page both commercial and social factors are listed, for example Facebook, this is convenient for the fans as they are able to keep track of what the artist is doing on the social networking site without having to log in, or if they are not a member. Also on the right hand side the option is given to book tickets to see Plan B, and also buy his merchandise which gives the connotations that money is important to the artist, but also is his fans support.

Album Cover Analysis

This is the CD album cover for the ‘Best in town’ album by Welsh band ‘The Blackout’. The main colour scheme to the CD cover consists of many different shades of greens mainly dark with small bursts of light green. The mainly dull colours can be seen as a representation of the name of the band, the blackout as the main image on the artwork appears to be a small village in darkness, giving the connotations of Halloween. This again fits in with the image that their name gives off. Below the title of the CD cover there is another image of a man whom appears to have the appearance of an angel being either saved and sent up to the sky or abducted, the first suggestion fits in with the title of a song in the Album ‘Save our Selves’ The text that is used on the cover is a sans serif font, coloured in a combination of yellow and also orange, the text is scribbled and messy like hand writing this gives combination of un-professionalism this reflects the bands small up and coming status in the music industry.

Prelimenary Task

As an entire class we were given the task to re-create the exact music video for the song ‘that’s what I go to school for’ by boy band ‘Busted’. Some of my parts in the production included acting
As an actor I was one of the 3 members of Busted, this was a good experience and taster of music videos for me as I was able to learn how to lip sync properly, and to act accordingly in a proper manor for a music video
For the video to be edited the entire class took turns on leaving their mark on the video, therefore I only spent a short time on editing the video, however this short period was enough for me to be able familiarize myself with all of the different options of the editing software.
Whilst shooting the video it helped me to understand just how many different shots are needed in order to create a good quality final product.

Album Cover analysis

This is an album cover for British indie/punk band The Libertines. Mostly the cover is dominated by an image of the two Libertines front men, Carl Barat and Pete Doherty; this instantly tells the audience that these two are the main features of the band.
The libertines are mainly represented as party animals and the picture on the front of the cover represents them as exactly this, Carl Barrat to the left of the main image appears to have lipstick on his lips and appears to be tipsy from some type of alcoholic drink or substance, as makeup is a common occurrence at an indie party, his hair also appears to be greasy and messy as though he has either been running or dancing, or another physical activity along those lines.
In the picture front man Carl is huddled up to fellow front man Doherty, this gives connotations of extremely close chemistry between the two, which is reflected in both their music and general behaviour as they are the best of friends; this chemistry is what built the libertines to become one of the most inspirational acts of the early 2000’s
In the image Pete Doherty also appears to be wearing lipstick and also appears to be heavily intoxicated, as his head is flopped and eyes are closed. He also appears to be stumbling to his left; this image again reflects the bands rock and roll status and the status of the two front men. Not only does Doherty appear to be intoxicated, but he is also holding an unlit cigarette whilst he appears to be preparing his arm for a shot or hit of a hard drug or substance, again reflecting the bands party lifestyle. The picture also appears to be promoting smoking, which is a heavy part of the lives of the pair.
Heavy tattoos that are seen on both of the men in the image also reflect their rock and roll status.
The text used on the front cover is simply the libertines logo, this looks scribbled on and unprofessional, like they do not care how they appear and gives the connotations that the decoration of the cover does not matter but what does is the music contained within.

The Libertines website Analysis

This is The Libertines website, I feel that the website works well and reflects the bands punk/indie status well.
The navigation for the website is located at the top of the web page towards the middle of the page, the link boxes are displayed as kind of torn pieces of paper, and this reflects the bands rough appearance. The pieces of paper used for the links also share the appearance of a piece of card or paper that one would use as a mouthpiece when rolling a cigarette or ‘joint’ this gives connotations of rebellion and disregard for health, something which the Libertines and Pete Doherty in particular are renowned for. So again the bands rough appearance is reflected by the little details of the links.
Above the navigation bar a photograph of the entire band is located, all sporting old fashioned British military uniform, this gives connotations of the band being extremely patriotic and proud of their origin, this also comes across in much of their music many of their songs being named after ‘The Albion’ which was a medieval term for Britain. Also on the photograph the band looks extremely tipsy or worse for ware, again showing the band are prone to partying and typical rough activities.
The colours used on the background of the website are extremely dull, however the text used is an extremely bright white font, this reflects some of the Libertines music as some of their songs are slow and calming, like the dull colours that are used on the website. However some of the songs are fast lively and vibrant like the colour of the text and the colour used on the military jackets.
Another thing which stands out on the website is both; the picture of the entire band and their logo just above, this gives connotations of them being the main focus of the website and fans of the band will recognize this immediately. Giving them a closer feel to the band.
In the top right hand corner of the web page next to the photograph of the band is the option to follow all of the band members on different social networking site, this is a must in today’s internet as most people are using these websites, for example twitter, Facebook and MySpace and want the opportunity to follow what their idols are doing, and other aspects of their life.
Following on from the subject of subject of social networking sites down the right hand side of the page there is a live feed from twitter from all of the different band members meaning that people whom do not have access to the site are still able to gain full accessibility to what the band are doing.
Down the left hand side of the page is a section of news that is broken up for quick reading, in this case about the bands recent reunion, this means that fans are able to see what is happening in the world of the libertines extremely quickly without searching the whole of the website.