Advert Drafts

Between us we created two adverts to work on. I designed the one on the left, for which Alice took the photo and Alice designed the one on the right, for which I took the photo. We divide the designing like this so that we would have more inspiration to work from for our final piece.

I drew inspiration for my design from the Rise to Remain poster, advertising the release of their Debut album City of Vultures. I liked the simplicity of the poster as it would be easy to emulate and found that this simplicity was more effective than other more complex posters which became easily overcrowded and colourful. For the title font of mine, I used Beartooth's official font hoping to create a visual link so that the piece would be easily recognisable. As we had not finished the front cover of the digipak yet, I was unable to use the official digipak cover and instead made use of the original image to show where the final image would be placed.

In the end we decided to use Alice's design as it complimented our final digipak better but we want to make some changes so that the image is larger and not so dark.

Advert Final (Fern O'Gorman and Alice Sandom)

Our final advert shares many similarities with both our digipak and our music video namely, that it features our performer as a main focus. It is for that reason that we used this design, which so closely resembles one of our previous drafts. The one main change we decided to make, was to enlarge the image of Richard Skeratt and to remove the background from the original image. This meant that he became the centre of the poster without stealing too much focus. We also faded the image out and softened the outline so that he merged better with the background and looked more natural.

We designed this together but worked separately as we could not work on the same computer at once. Instead, we shared files and sent back feedback of what we liked of each others ideas and what we believed needed improvement.

Evaluation 4 (Writing)

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

For our research and planning, we were eager to try out new techniques that we had previously studied but had not done before, which meant we needed to do a series of practice shots.  We spent one afternoon in our chosen locations using a DSLR camera to practice these techniques that we wanted to include in our video.  We alternated between using a tripod and free hand to see what would work best for certain shots and mutually agreed that close-up shots were better for our sequence as they captured more emotion.  We also found that using the camera without a tripod allowed us more movement, which meant we could keep to the conventions of a good music video and not have too many stationary shots.

However, our main focus was to practice and perfect our dolly zooms.  Prior to our practice, we had researched uses of dolly zooms on YouTube to find examples in other films, with most popular examples coming from Hitchcock’s 1958 thriller ‘Vertigo’ and Spielberg’s 1975 film ‘Jaws’.  As we had no prior practice of filming them ourselves, our first attempts were not successful - we had to tread over uneven ground which complicated the technique and made the footage shaky. However, by the end of the practice run we had managed to get a few shots we were happy with and, with the aid of stabilization in final cut we were able to smooth the footage out. Whilst constructing our final footage we continued to use these dolly zooms but chose to position ourselves on smoother ground so we would get better footage. This time, we did not want to have to rely on stabilisation as we found this blurred the shots too much and we wanted to keep a slight shake as this added to the effect and fitted with our rock genre.

As mentioned before, the use of YouTube was instrumental throughout our coursework as it greatly enhanced our research, planning, construction and evaluation. We used the website to discover new techniques and to find aspiration from similar music genres.  This was significant in us finding:

• ·   Suitable locations
• ·         Conventional Lighting
• ·         Prop and Costume design
• ·         Narrative

We also uploaded the sequences we had filmed and prepared within final cut to YouTube, so that we could get feedback from our rough cuts, allowing us to improve our work based on the decisions made by our audience. Our voiceover evaluations were also uploaded to it, to explain some of our decisions whilst the footage was happening.

Newest to us however, was the use of Prezi – an online presentation tool that we could embed into our blogs.  This allowed us to explain and evaluate our choices with ease as we designed our points to be viewed smoothly from one another.  We had some difficulty at first in embedding the finished presentation into our blogs as the sites refused to upload such a large file. However, after watching a brief tutorial we managed to embed the presentation by copying the code into the HTML layout of our blogs.  music genres and then filmed similar locations that we felt would be suitable for our own piece. 

Evaluation 3 (Writing)

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Our feedback was mainly positive however, there were some comments about our chase scenes, performance shots, strangling shots and colour correction. These suggestions pointed out some new errors and some that we were already aware of however, it helped to see how an audience approached these errors and their feedback really helped us to improve our work. Some comments included that our chase scenes needed to be choppier to create more tension and to avoid repetitiveness and that our performance shots needed to include more close-ups to give more variety to the sequence, especially as the performance had all been filmed in one location.

In order to improve our piece, we took this advice by blading shots in final cut to make them shorter and to catch the actors in the middle of their action, focusing specifically on the chase scenes to increase the tension and fasten the pace.  We also included more unused footage of close-ups as we felt this too exaggerated the speed of the footage, which in turn, created a sense of urgency.

Moreover, we also cropped certain performance shots so that the footage included more close-ups of our performer as well. As we wanted to have subtle pattern to run throughout these shots, we only did this on shots where the lyrics are supposed to be screamed into the camera. We found this increased the intensity of the lyrics, creating a more diverse sequence and a sense of continuity throughout the interchanging strains of narrative, abstract and performance.

To improve the other issues, we filmed more footage of the strangling sequences so we would have more useable shots to include. In order to create a sense of variety we also flipped some shots so that they looked as If they had been filmed separately. This was particularly useful for giving a different perspective and elaborating on the narrative.

Our feedback also suggested that colour correction was our main issue and that we needed to work on this to improve the quality of the video as a whole.  Scenes that were badly effected were shots filmed in the bathroom and outside as they had constantly changing lighting.  We also decided to lessen the saturation on the strangling scenes as the red wall in the background was too bright and attention-catching.  Similarly, we felt that to stick to rock conventions we would have decrease the golden lighting seen within these shots and lesson the expose throughout to create a darker light.

The effect of colour correction was perhaps the most significant thing we learnt from our feedback, as the other issues were small and easily solved whereas editing the colour slightly could lift the whole product to a more professional level. With hindsight, if we had more time to film our piece, we would have liked to re-film more shots with the tripod as we found the footage from this came out clearer and, like the colour correction, lifted the professionalism of the whole piece.

Evaluation 2 (Writing)

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

During the process of making our Digipak and advert poster we made certain that they linked together with our main video so that they are recognisable to the audience. We included the singer in the main video performing the song, and an image of him on both the poster and inside the digipak so that the audience recognise him throughout the different texts. Therefore, it is not only recognisable that these are for the same band, but also the same album, thus the audience can know exactly the band and album without having the read the poster or digipak.

                                     

It is not only the main singer than links together the main and ancillary products together, but the overall themes of the video and the digipak. The video portrays the difficulties of domestic abuse, and follows a character in pain and anguish, similarly, the front cover of the digipak shows a broken lightbulb bleeding on the floor to represent how the character possibly feels in the video. This theme of pain and violence is continued throughout the band’s songs, therefore having the digipak follow these same ideas as the music video links them together for the audience to identify each of them with. It is vital for a band to maintain themes and ideas to hold together a consistent fan-base, otherwise all their songs would appeal to different audiences.

A music video showcases the band’s talent, establishes a band theme, highlights the issues raised within the lyrics song and provide as an accompaniment for the digipak. Neither the digipak nor music video have a particularly cinematic style, they are not particularly ordered or neat, which contrasts with artists such as Taylor Swift, who has an almost pristine album cover to follow her gracious and lady-like look to both her style and her music. Therefore, as Beartooth is the very opposite to Taylor Swift we would expect this to be evident by contrasting both their music videos and their digipaks, as these two components should give off the same style and theme.

When putting the digipak and poster together it is evident that they are representing the same band and album. The use of pictures and minimal use of words, overlaying the same background on most features acts as a house style for the album and sets out to let the audience know what style the album will be, and whether this will fit their taste. The point to correlate the poster and digipak is so that the audience becomes more and more aware of this style being related to the band, and therefore feel more in touch with who they are.

Evaluation 1 (Writing)

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

During our research, we viewed many other metal core music videos, mainly by bands such as Parkway Drive and Bullet for My Valentine. During this, we discovered the main conventions of metal core portrayed within these music videos. These included things such as domestic issues such as violence and neglect, a mixture of narrative and performance style of video and dark lighting to convey entrapment etc. Therefore, we ventured to use these very conventions in order to create a music video that would clearly suit its genre.

Dark themes are highlighted in our video through dark lighting and desaturated images. We also felt it was best to show a release from the abuse our character suffers to give some hope to the audience, as they may also be going through the same thing and therefore need some support. Similar themes of abuse and release can be found in the video ‘Cigarettes and Saints’ by The Wonder Years. In which, the female character is escaping from a supposed difficult domestic situation, however this part of the narrative is not focused on as it is in our video. However, other videos by Beartooth do focus on the tougher aspects of life, such as the video for ‘Beaten in Lips’ which highlights the issues of domestic violence.

A mixture of narrative and performance in music videos are also a common convention in the metal core genre which we felt would be a good to carry on, as it both showcases the band’s talent and portrays an effective narrative. The narrative and performance should, however, link in some way, as they have done in the video for ‘Never Lose Your Flames’ by Issues, as both parts of the video have similar lighting, and similar location. Similarly, our narrative and performance link through the use of dark and desaturated lighting, and the setting of a dark alley represents the anger and torment the character feels in the narrative. However, the performance is in the dark whereas all the narrative is in the daytime which separates them to give a distinction between the two so that the audience does not confuse between them.

Our music video develops conventions of other metal core videos in the fact that we use shaky camera to portray a vivid imagery of the pain the character is feeling. We include fast-paced close-ups while the main character is being abused, which is similarly done in the music video for ‘Love the Way You Lie’ by Eminem and Rihanna. To portray a broken atmosphere full of pain and fear. The use of a hand-held camera is common in this genre of music video, as they often portray similar atmospheres and emotions, similar to the movement of the camera in the video for ‘Come out Swinging’ by The Wonder Years. Therefore the use of these movements, mise-en-scene and lighting in our music video is to highlight common features in other videos for this genre and thus make it recognisable to the audience.

Digipak: Roles

	Fern	Alice
Front cover	Composition of front cover - where the titles looked best on the front composed the image for front cover chose the font for the front cover	took the image for the front cover edited the image onto the cover
Back cover	chose the background image and put the image onto the back chose handwritten style font	wrote the copyright note at bottom of page took the image for back cover wrote the song titles on the page
Lyric page	wrote the lyric page chose to use the same background	chose to use the same front
Note from Richard Skerratt	wrote the note from Richard Skerratt	came up with the idea for the note
Image of Richard Skerratt	took the image of Richard Skerratt	came up with the idea of the picture composed the image
Poster	came up with the idea to use the image of Richard Skerratt	edited the poster together

Problem Solutions

Solutions to small problems included:

• Holding up paper with lyrics on for the the verses the performer did not know
• Rescheduling filming dates around illnesses, weather and dates when actors needed to be together.
• Finding new locations for better footage.

Main Problems (Lighting and Weather):

For our issue with lighting, we had to use another location as the alleyway we wanted originally had no street lights and our small torches would not have cast enough light for the footage to be usable. We also had to film twice to improve footage, taking the same lights each time but with a plan on the second date to use more of the street lighting as it provided better footage. We also made more use of a tripod which meant footage looked clearer so that the only blur was created by the lighting, which we could later colour correct if needed. This footage from our secondary filming is significantly better thanks to these changes and by manipulating the light provided, namely that cast by the street light, we emerged with lots of good night time footage. Moreover to even out the changing lighting we added the filter "Cold Steel" which made the footage look more professional and removed any golden glows which would not have suited the rock genre.

Original footage: Filmed without tripod and using
less street light

Secondary Footage: Filmed with a tripod to create
 steadier footage and filmed directly under street light.

Our weather problem was not solved so easily as we could not keep delaying filming certain shots. Eventually we had to film sections at times when not everybody was available, just to get the footage. We also had to adjust the character's outfit to work around the weather as even on days when there was no rain, the ground was still muddy from the day before.  This meant giving our actress Wellies and not filming a scene where she was supposed to trip over so that she did not get too muddy. Fortunately, when we did film the day stayed clear and we were able to get good golden hour footage.

Problems Encountered

Other than scheduling problems our filming process has run rather smoothly. Smaller problems included actors not learning lyrics and not being able to film on the same days as other actors however, we had expected such issued and prepared for them. Our largest issues on the other hand, where not so easily solved, they included:

• Lighting - For the footage filmed at night we had hoped to have small battery powered floodlights to heighten the light around our performer.  However, we were unable to obtain these and had to rely on street lights, phone lights and small L.E.D torches. This created a number of problems as it meant that to have the required amount of light, the source occasionally appeared in the clips. A large majority of our earlier footage had to be scrapped because of this and often appeared dark and discoloured. 

The lighting in this appears very different from the other footage for example,
 as it was filmed directly under a street light.

• Weather - We misjudged how significantly the weather would impact our product. As a large number of clips were filmed outside we had to cancel and rearrange many of our filming dates around the rain.  This meant a lot of our editing had to be delayed as we needed the extra footage to continue with the process. With hindsight, we would have tried to film earlier in the season in hope that the weather would have been better.

This was filmed after a rainy day, the path was extremely muddy and our actor had to wear wellies, which changed the appearance of her costume. We also had to scrap a scene where she was supposed to trip as the ground would have ruined the outfit. 

Techniques: Dolly Zoom

A Dolly Zoom is where the camera is moved backward at the same rate as being zoomed in or vice versa. It is used regularly in films to creates a feeling of disembodiment and unreality, a theme which is used regularly throughout our production to the show the disembodiment of the lead character. 

We really wanted to include a dolly zoom in our product because of this and attempted several dolly zooms within our test footage to add variety to our shots. The result was not as smooth as we would have liked but the trial strengthened our eagerness to include a dolly zoom within our final product.

As you can see the dolly zoom is still very shaky, despite the addition of the stabilization tool in final cut.  This tool made the footage more blurry and distorted but fortunately it does not appear too out of place with the aggressive music. However, in our final product we would still like to have a smoother shot so that the footage appears to glide on.

Famous examples of the Dolly Zoom include:

• Alfred Hitchcock's film 'Vertigo', where the effect was first used by Irmin Roberts.

The two short moments where dolly zoom is used in the film, elevates the fear of the characters and exaggerates the height they are at.  It accurately creates the sense of falling and thus oppose the effect we wish to create in our own production where we want the background to move away from our character to show the character's disjointed view of reality. 

• Stephen Spielberg's 'Jaws'

This is more similar to how we want our production's dolly zoom to appear as it shows the background moving away from the character. However, whereas this has been used to show a dawning realisation we will use ours to show our character's physical and emotional separation from reality. 

Final Video (Fern O'Gorman and Alice Sandom)

We were surprised when we realized our piece was ready to be named a final cut.  We had changed the colour correction, re-filmed some strangling shots and cut and cropped scenes throughout.  With the benefit of hindsight however, we would have like to film more shots with a tripod just so that the shots were more focused and balanced. On the other hand, we are very happy with how the music video has turned out. We feel the choppiness and the interchanging elements enhance the rock genre and we feel that there is a sense of continuity as the shots appear in a subtle pattern.  

Rough Cut

Our rough cut displayed our clips predominantly in the order we wanted them. However, in order to get some clips placed more precisely on a beat, we realized we would need to re-order some of our footage and scrap some of the material.  Our feedback was to:

• Colour correct - We were aware some clips appeared discoloured, but were unsure as to which ones needed the most correction.  Eventually, we decided to focus the majority of our editing on the scenes filmed inside as these had too much of a soft glow for the rock genre of music.
• Crop - In order to give the footage variety it was suggested we cropped the size of some clips so that the performers face was larger and thus the intensity of his singing increased. 
• Shorten - Some clips were too long or off beat. We decided to shorten these clips so that they fitted better with the music and built more tension during chase scenes.
• Add titles - Although our music video is not cinematic it was suggested we added at least a small title naming the song, as this is a convention of music videos that we were unaware off. 

One thing we noticed particularly was how more intense shaky shots appeared off of final cut, this led to us debating on whether or not to remove some footage or to at least shorten it to reduce this undesired effect.