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

With the exception of Wix website builder all of the technology we used for making our video we have used before several times and have a relatively large knowledge on all of it. This helped us greatly as it made the time it has taken to complete the task quicker. Except Wix there is nothing new we have learnt from the technology. With the music video we did, we actually went more in depth into the usage of the camera and adobe programmes in AS. Although Wix was new to us, it was very simple and easy to use it.

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

 We had completed a questionnaire in order to get some research into the genre we had chose and to understand if the way in which we had represented the type of people that listen to that genre of music. Overall the target audience are people of our age, targeted at our social groups ranging in ages between 16-25.

Location - We have used a mixture of outdoor locations, mainly through the city centre of Peterborough, the embankment and Werrington Skatepark. We was aiming to create an urban scene and style. Props, with the use of 'old school' cycles helped create exactly the style we wanted, often emphasising the scene and style of today. We added an extreme sports element to make the video a bit more exciting and to encourage the audience to carry on watching. Editing, with the use of fast cuts and video affects made the video to flow with the beat of the music and increasing the frames per second when a drop occurs. We hope that this further entices the audience and makes it more exciting than just a bunch people riding on bikes.

Consumption - The song we have used, 'Cassius - I love you so (Skream remix)', is of the 'Drumstep' genre. This is the mixture of the fast pace beat of drum and bass with the wobble of dubstep. Using research I have was able to analyse the target audience, the recipients were an audience we are aiming the video at.

Question 1 - Male or female?

We wanted to determine whether the recipients where of an equal number of males and females. We asked 50 recipients in all and found that there were 22 females and 28 males. This will determine the audience by the types of people rather than the sex.

Question 2 - How old are you?

We wanted to find the ages of all the audience and found that most of the recipient where ages between 18-20, some between 16 and 17, and 5 over the age of 21. This showed me that five of the recipient where not the target audience but could show me results if that age are interested.

Question 3 - Do you like the genre Drumstep, dubstep and drum and bass?

We wanted to get straight to the topic and ask a question with two results, this would determine whether we were targeting the right age group and audience. 43 of the respondents answered yes and 7 no. We then deciding to exclude the results of the 7 people as this could affect the results.

Question 4 - We then gave the respondents 5 quotes and asked them to tell us which one they best agreed with:

- 'Keep things the way they are' - 1
- 'Work hard, play later' - 5
- 'Live for now and enjoy life' - 25
- 'To be something later' - 1
- 'To have, to be, to play' - 10

This question allowed us to determine the audience. Most of the audience are 'Hedonists' and their view is 'to play, or enjoy life now'. These are the target audience.

Question 5 - What is your thought on illegal drugs?

The results overall showed mixed emotions, some people accepted drugs some didn’t. It wasn’t a particular area recipient where keen to answer although drugs are often a common factor in the audience we are targeting.

Question 6 - Please tick any artists you have heard of?

The artist we gave:

Skream
Krome and Time
Camo and Krooked
Chase and status
Drumsound and Bassline Smith
High Contrast
Mt Eden
Nero
Noisia
Modestep
Rusko
Netsky

We decided that these where the artist best known and familiar in the scene. Our results show good results, showing that most recipients had heard of at least 9 of the 12 artist given.

We then showed 10 of the recipient best suited as our target audience, and they all viewed the music video. We then had an open discussion about the audience opinion on the video. Nearly all the audience enjoyed and liked the video, some gave criticism but overall a positive result. We asked whether the audience believed our video showed a representation of the young adults of today; the audience agreed with this which was exactly what we was hoping for. Although some of the audience felt it was slightly boring as the extreme sports element wasn’t something they were interested, but said some of the tricks where impressive.
Overall our questionnaire supported mostly what we had assumed, and also help us determine the target audience and receive feedback from the target audience.


Size - We believe that the audience/market is an upcoming and developing market that we gain mass market attention.

Subjectivity - We believe the video would be aged rated and some viewer may find some footage offensive, but found that some audience may simply not be interested in the video, especially older audiences.

We had also shown our production to our class in order to receive feedback from audience that are experienced and are also working on their productions. Feedback had suggested that what we had shown had no meaning to the song, although we had tried to convey a hidden meaning to the audience. We had used random clips and edited them together using affects but overall we believe this created exactly the style and representation we wanted. We also researched into similar products and had found that often music videos of this genre, due to the lack in lyrics, often showed some or no relevance to one another.

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

The main brand for the artist has been the artist logo 'Skream!'. We decided to use this thought all the ancillary tasks and production so that the artist was constantly recognised by this logo. We also were trying to constantly keep the urban but modern style and scene throughout. The website is basic, only showing key information which we believed overall gave the same style in which we consistently wanted.

We believed that all products made constantly related to one another with the use of cycles especially between the main production and digipak. Although, a main difference between the website and digipak is that the website does not have the cycle theme as much; we only wanted the cycle theme for the main production, but have the artist focusing on the urban style.

We decided we wanted to create a representation of the type of people that would listen to the music rather than the artist themselves.

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

Before making our video we researched into similar products (other drum & bass/dubstep [drumstep] music videos) to see what the codes and conventions were which we could either follow or challenge.

Although we didn’t shoot or edit our video in chronological order we did the opening scene first. Because the song we chose has such a long intro before it truly gets into itself, we made the opening scene of the video like this, slow and not much happening. We did this because we followed other similar media products’ codes and conventions with a long slow intro, where the video takes the same time as the song to kick in. We followed this as we had a good idea to do this and make it look professional, without it getting boring. We did a time lapse from day to night and then back to day, over an urban area in Peterborough. We filmed it on a night where there was some colour in the sky from a sunset to make it look interesting and a visual you can’t take your eyes off. When it came to putting the titles on there, we used simple, yet aesthetically pleasing font appearing on and off the occasional beat.

When it came to setting/locations we again decided to follow the codes and conventions of similar products. We filmed in Peterborough city centre, Peterborough embankment (under the bridge, next to the train track), Werrington Skate Park and random places around the city. All of these places look very urban and cool. The locations we used were either places where the target audience would “hang out” or places which looks good to them. This is just like several other drumstep videos.

The costumes and props was the easiest decision we had to make for the whole process of making the video. Because we ourselves are the main target audience of the song choice we had, we chose to wear the clothes we like to wear (baggy tops, skinny jeans, caps etc.) and used props which we enjoy using (road bikes, bmx, skateboards etc.). In some similar products the costume and props is like ours, very real and down to earth, however some are very surreal and out of this world. We obviously chose the first option. This is because we wanted to make by us for us. A video to explain who we are and what we enjoy no matter how random it is you could say, after all the only line in the song is “I love you so, but why I love you I’ll never know”

Because of what I have explained in the previous two paragraphs, the relationship between the lyrics and video is strong but not too obvious to prevent it to look cheesy. The target audience are the characters in the video doing what they want to do wearing what they want to wear, care free and having a good time. Also, as I previously stated, the shots are taken in the locations where the characters would hang out or like the look of. As everything in the video is what the target audience love, when considering the lyrics you can then realise the relationship between the lyrics and video. Often in similar products, the video is completely unrelated to the lyrics in any way. However we decided to go against this as it would have looked more random than our video already did. Our song is still not directly related to our video but there is a meaning in there.

Target Audience

I will be analysing the target audience defined by location, consumption, size and subjectivity. Location - We have used a mixture of outdoor locations, mainly through the city centre of Peterborough, the embankment and Werrington Skatepark. We was aiming to create an urban scene and style. Props, with the use of 'old school' cycles helped create exactly the style we wanted, often emphasising the scene and style of today. We added an extreme sports element to make the video a bit more exciting and to encourage the audience to carry on watching. Editing, with the use of fast cuts and video affects made the video to flow with the beat of the music and increasing the frames per second when a drop occurs. We hope that this further entices the audience and makes it more exciting than just a bunch people riding on bikes.

Consumption - The song we have used, 'Cassius - I love you so (Skream remix)', is of the 'Drumstep' genre. This is the mixture of the fast pace beat of drum and bass with the wobble of dubstep. Using research I have was able to analyse the target audience, the recipients were an audience we are aiming the video at.

Question 1 - Male or female?

We wanted to determine whether the recipients where of an equal number of males and females. We asked 50 recipients in all and found that there were 22 females and 28 males. This will determine the audience by the types of people rather than the sex.

Question 2 - How old are you?

We wanted to find the ages of all the audience and found that most of the recipient where ages between 18-20, some between 16 and 17, and 5 over the age of 21. This showed me that five of the recipient where not the target audience but could show me results if that age are interested.

Question 3 - Do you like the genre Drumstep, dubstep and drum and bass?

We wanted to get straight to the topic and ask a question with two results, this would determine whether we were targeting the right age group and audience. 43 of the respondents answered yes and 7 no. We then deciding to exclude the results of the 7 people as this could affect the results.

Question 4 - We then gave the respondents 5 quotes and asked them to tell us which one they best agreed with:

- 'Keep things the way they are' - 1
- 'Work hard, play later' - 5
- 'Live for now and enjoy life' - 25
- 'To be something later' - 1
- 'To have, to be, to play' - 10

This question allowed us to determine the audience. Most of the audience are 'Hedonists' and their view is 'to play, or enjoy life now'. These are the target audience.

Question 5 - What is your thought on illegal drugs?

The results overall showed mixed emotions, some people accepted drugs some didn’t. It wasn’t a particular area recipient where keen to answer although drugs are often a common factor in the audience we are targeting.

Question 6 - Please tick any artists you have heard of?

The artist we gave:

Skream
Krome and Time
Camo and Krooked
Chase and status
Drumsound and Bassline Smith
High Contrast
Mt Eden
Nero
Noisia
Modestep
Rusko
Netsky

We decided that these where the artist best known and familiar in the scene. Our results show good results, showing that most recipients had heard of at least 9 of the 12 artist given.

We then showed 10 of the recipient best suited as our target audience, and they all viewed the music video. We then had an open discussion about the audience opinion on the video. Nearly all the audience enjoyed and liked the video, some gave criticism but overall a positive result. We asked whether the audience believed our video showed a representation of the young adults of today; the audience agreed with this which was exactly what we was hoping for. Although some of the audience felt it was slightly boring as the extreme sports element wasn’t something they were interested, but said some of the tricks where impressive.
Overall our questionnaire supported mostly what we had assumed, and also help us determine the target audience and receive feedback from the target audience.


Size - We believe that the audience/market is an upcoming and developing market that we gain mass market attention.

Subjectivity - We believe the video would be aged rated and some viewer may find some footage offensive, but found that some audience may simply not be interested in the video, especially older audiences.

We have designed our digipak design. We believe overall we have created a proffesional looking CD case.

Website has been made!

Using an free online website builder, we have built a website that we belive is suitable for Skream!

Skream! Website

The digipak will be uploaded soon!

Creating the digipak

Origanally we had produced a different back cover but it was withdrawn for being unacceptable on a public website. Although this meant we had lost time, we understood and created a new back cover.

The photo is of the three main character standing at one of the locations. We decided that we wanted to take an urban looking photo to carry on the same stlye and theme of the video. We have decided that the font used for the front cover is exclusively to the natural disater album cover. Adding the exclamation mark, we belive makes the artist name more interesting. We also used special affects in order to made the image darker with higher exposure, this created again a more urban style.










After research we had discovered that the artist Skream! had release several remix tracks and decided that this would be the remix album. We added a natural disaster clip art which emphasised the album name 'Natural Disaster'.

I had visited Amsteerdam October 2011 and had taken the photos of bike park. I decided that we didnt want any text just a image relating to the production; one of the main ideas in the production is old school cycles, which in amsertdam are extremely popular. 

Digipak Layout

Quality of the images was lost but it shows the layout of the images on the case.

Props

A main prop we will be using throughout the the main production will be cycles. We have used 3 road bikes; two 1980's fixie raleigh road bikes and a CBoardman road race road bike.
This where supplied by both me and Craig Wooley, a character in the main production.
We believed this created movement for the characters so we could record a mixture of shots in different locations, making the video more interesting and exciting.
We also used BMX bikes during the skatepark shots, supplied by the riders themselves. This again made the video more interesting.

Cassius - I Love You So (Skream Remix)

Rough Cut

First rough cut was viewed by a small number of members in our class in order to receive feedback from whta we had produced. We got some mixed feedback, although the improvements stated were already improvements I had set my self already. 

We will continue to edit the final piece and upload a final version to YouTube.

Editing sessions..

We have viewed all shots and believe we have some footage that we can use in order to produce a music video specific to what we want. Through the use of special affects, video transitions and quick cuts, we can produce and up beat and appealing video.
We will be using Adobe Premiere Pro to edit the shots as this program is one that our group has used before, and we know how to use it.

Production Begins

The weather has been warm, bright and sunny. We decided to take advantage of all the sunny weather and record all the shots for our final piece.
I have organised a few friends to all meet up for a bike ride across Peterborough. We believe this will allow us to gain some really useful shots.

Risk Assesment

We will be filming our main media production in the City centre of Peterborough, embankment, unused railway station and surrounding streets and roads. We will be riding cycles while filming, and filming characters on cycles both on cycle ways and roads.

·         Traffic

·         Members of the public

·         Props are safe to use

·         Equipment will be used both on the tripod and on cycles handheld

·         We will also need to safely carry the equipment to location while riding cycles

·         Aware of other skate park users when filming inside the skate park ramps

·         The weather is key

Firstly the characters riding the cycles could fall off cycles either down to personal error or obstruction with something which could cause serious injuries if not fatality. We could also harm members of the public and road users as in some locations they will be present. People in the skate park could also be injured while performing a trick or surrounding people in the skate park hurt from a performer’s accident. Finally the equipment  could be damaged from weather, accidently dropping the camera, or damaged in an accident .

In order to avoid all the risks motioned we must take precaution in everything we do. I will state each risk and state how we will ensure everything is as safe as possible:

·         Traffic; we will be riding on the roads and must ensure we pay close attention to road users, and avoid getting in the way, or dangerously riding near them

·         We must firstly ensure all cycles, skateboards and inlines is safe and suitable for what we want, and that all characters involved in filming can safely ride them and a member of the group is a cycle mechanic so he will check over all equipment.

·         We will need to be aware of all members of the public both walking and other cyclists and avoid getting in their way which could result in an accident.

·         Sol Ilett a member of group is a cycle mechanic and experienced cycle user, so filming on the cycle will be done by him, he must ensure equipment is safely attached to him, and that he can still safely ride the cycle

·         We will secure the camera in its own camera bag and put this with the tripod into a large rucksack, secure completely and carried on the back

·         All other people in the park will be clear on the path of the performers in the skate park including surrounding areas within a 10metre distance

·         We will check regularly the weather reports and ensure for hot sunny weather to allow us to get bright shots

·         We will overall aim to make sure everything is as safe as possible and everyone involved happy.

Definition of Drum and Bass

Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980’s/ The genre is characterised by fast break beats (typically between 160-180 bpm, occasionally variation is noted in older compositions), with heavy bass and sub-bass lines. Drum and bass began as an offshoot of the UK rave scene of the very early 1990’s. Over the first decade of its existences, the incorporation of elements from various musical genres led to many permutations in its overall style. Today we see releases of both remixed tracks and new compositions.

Filming has Begun

We have started filming our final piece. We are finding that filming in the winter can be difficult, as the weather is a factor we must always consider.
We are expecting clear skys with sun within the next week, so plan to make the most of the pleaseant weather.

Letter of Permision to Record label

Click to view image, this is a printscreen of the email we sent to Skream's record label.

Analysing similar artists

The genre to this song is Dubstep. Usually in dubstep video you visual will be either very surreal or very cool and current. This video is the latter of them. The video follows to attractive women rollerblading though sunny streets around people playing basketball and skateboarding etc. There is no singer in the video just following the two girls.

Relationship between lyrics and visuals.In a dubstep song it is rare to find any form of relationship between lyrics and visuals. Normally the visuals look completely random with the lyrics. Although with this video there is no direct relationship between the lyrics and visuals you can link them together. There are only the two girls in the start of the video and at the end there is a party at the skate park. As the lyrics repeatedly day “louder” throughout the song, more and more people appear in the video.

Relationship between music and visuals.Although in dubstep songs the lyrics do not tend to have a relationship with the visuals, the music does. As dubstep songs is mainly music with little lyrics, and the type of sound it is, the visuals have to be on point with the music to make it look good. This is exactly what has been done in this song, every shot cut and effect which is in this video is timed to perfection. Also some dubstep can sound dark and angry; however some can sound happy and exciting. Because this song is has a happy and exciting the fact that the video is shot in the sun with everyone in the video smiling.

Analysing Similar Artists

Codes and conventions of music videos

They can be divided into two separate categories:

Technical:

-          How equipment and technology are used to construct meaning

-          Camera – angles and shots

-          Editing techniques

-          Music style, genre and digetic sounds

Symbolic:

-          Meaning created beyond what is obvious to see

-          Mise en-scene

-          Facial expressions

Codes and conventions help the audience to become more familiar with a certain genre as they become accustomed to seeing certain things. Also it ensures that the style of the production created fits the genre of the song.

Style:

A short action story with characters running a group of people and fights when encountered by the group. The contrast of being safe to fearing the group and encountering them.

Camera:

A mixture of extreme close ups and medium close ups allow the viewer to both see the expressions on characters face but also to show the fighting scene, and allow the audience to understand what is going on. The use of a tracking system during running scenes and panning a tilts at different angles to show clear to the audience what’s going on.

Editing and Sound:

The editing has been mainly supported by the song; when the beat per second increase, more cuts are made and more shots are used to make the scene more intense and more exciting for the audience. Supported again by longer shots when the two characters are safe from the bad group of people to contrast the difference between the rhythm and a drop. This creates a build up for the fighting scenes supported by the music.

Mise-en-scene:

Location:

In the United States of America in a neighbourhood, a home, under a bridge, shop, small baseball park and surrounding areas and streets.

Costume:

Male Character – Wearing a white t-shirt, blue jeans and black jacket

Female Character (girlfriend) – a black dress with stripes on the front and a leather jacket
The chasing group – All wearing dark black colours

This creates a clear contrast between both the good guys and the bad guys in this video.
Extreme close-ups are used regularly to show facial expressions of fear from the two main characters. Overall I believe that its hard to make a relation between the song and video. I believe that the contrast between the two characters being safe and away from danger and then a twist to them running and finally a main fighting scene with relation to ‘kick-starts again’ meaning the action starts again.