How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? (Final Cut Express, Livetype, Youtube, Slideshare, Garageband, Adobe Photoshop Elements, camera and equipment, etc)
To help me complete my music video and ancillary tasks i used a range of media technologies throughout. The areas i used are Research, Planning Construction and Evaluation.

Research
During my research I began to look into music magazines, music videos and digipacks to help me with my ancillary tasks and carrying out my music video. To find out about the information I needed I used several websites such as MTV.co.uk to watch music videos and get inspiration, and also music magazines and CD covers.

From my research I found out about the Kooks and the indie genre, this allowed me to have an insight into the themes of the genre and the Kooks themselves. I found my research very useful and this is reflected in my ancialllary tasks and music video.



Planning
My planning started with my storyboards, I produced these so that I was able to have a plan of action when it came to filming. I found that the storyboards were a very useful thing to have as it helped me when I began to film. I also planned ahead for my filming by booking out the camera and tripod. I also had to arrange with my cast a suitable time to begin filming and a place to film.


Construction

When I began to construct my music video, I realised that I was using skills that I learnt during my AS production. This enabled me to use the equipment correctly and to remember skills such as the rule of three. During filming I changed location; this is due to having planning difficulties. So instead I decided to use my own bedroom, this was because I found it easier than mimicking a bedroom. Throughout the editing process of my music video I used various different technologies but the key one to my music video was Final Cut Express. This is the program that I did all of my editing on.
For my ancillary tasks I used Adobe Photoshop Elements to add an effect on to the photo. As I had never used Photoshop before I decided that I would play around with different effects for the photo before I chose the one I preferred. By me testing out the different effects I was able to familiarise myself with the program. I decided for my titles I was not going to use LiveType as I was able to do the same thing on Final Cut Express.


Evaluation
For my evaluation I decided to use PowerPoint this is due to me struggling to use Prezi. I used little technology for my evaluation as I felt it was unnecessary and could easily be done without technology.

Evaluation

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Evaluation

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In what ways do your music videos, CD digipack and music magazine advertisement use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real music videos, CD digipacks and music magazine advertisements?

I think that my music video challenges the forms and conventions of The Kooks as I have tried to use the same simplicity theme that The Kooks have used in previous music videos. My music video is also relevant to the bands previous videos as it is a performance based video that at the same time tells a story.



I was looking into mimicking a bedroom for my music video however, I decided to use a real bedroom in my video instead; this is because I did not have the facilities to carry out the plan of mimicking a bedroom. I purposely decided to use a bedroom that was decorated with simple colours and has a plain layout.




I also chose to dress my male around the colour scheme of the bedroom, matching him to the red duvet cover and the beige sofa, this because I did not want too much going on within each scene that may cause a distract to the audience from the overall performance and the story that I am trying to tell.



I am trying to get across to the audience that the girl within the video reads too far into magazines, for example nowadays you find that girls feel they need to look like what they see in magazines based around the whole size zero look so I have tried to replicate this within my video. The male singer in the video tries to make the female feel better about herself by hugging her and holding her hand and just generally making her feel loved and accepted. This was included in my video as in this generation you tend to find that males make females happy and they are all that they need, and on occasion they end up not caring about what they look like as they feel that they have all need.


I thought that having my male singer playing a guitar throughout the audience would realise that it is a performance video. During the chorus, I decided to split the screen into four; I did this because I wanted to break up the use of just one screen that is persistently used throughout my video. I feel that this works well due to ‘Shine on’ being repeated a number of times during the chorus.



I think that my CD digipack challenged the forms and conventions The Kooks because I had a photo of 4 band members which is the same amount as the Kooks have in their band. I decided to have them doing plain poses all at different angles, and again this is because I wanted to keep in line with The Kooks simplicity theme.



Due to only having one of the band members within my music video I decided to use an effect that would disguise the males faces, I thought this was appropriate as it still went with the simplicity theme. To mimic The Kooks CD digipacks I included their record label Virgin Records, this is because if I made a digipack without the label it would mean that I do not have rights to make the CD digipack as it is normally the record label that pays for the CD’s to be made.



My music magazine challenges the forms and conventions of The Kooks as I used the same photo as the CD digipack, however again to disguise faces I used a different effect for the photo. Within my music magazine I also included opinions from other music magazines such as Q and NME.

The Kooks Music Video; Editing

I have now completed my filming and editing which took me around a week and a half. I feel that I have made a strong music video that I am very proud of and despite my drawbacks I think that I have done well. At first I was sceptical of the task as I was unsure whether I'd be able to complete it.

The Kooks Music Video: Editing

I am in the final process of the editing for my music video and I am at the moment happy with the outcome. I had a few setbacks, howeber I now feel that my Video is almost complete. I followed my storyboard and successfully synced the lips to the music. This was something that I was very worried about when it came to my music video. During the first verse I found that my male was very awkward when it came to singing the lines 'safety pins holding up the things that make you mine' and this reflected in my music video.

The Kooks Music Video: Editing

When i was looking at my footage the 'Sha la la' scene seemed to be slightly jokey and not in line with the rest of the video so i was unsure whether to include this, however I decide to have a trial fun with it in the video and in the end decided to keep it in, this is because I think it breaks up the video meaning that it's not all the male lip syncing.

The Kooks Music Video: Editing

During my chorus I decided that I wanted to split my screen into four whilst having the same scene laying each time.

I found this quite challenging due to trying to line up each frame. However i feel that it has worked out well in my music video.

The Kooks Music Video: Editing

During editing I came across another problem. This was that my cast members did their lip syncing etc well but straight after them finishing they instantly changed what they were doing, this left me with little lee-way with the footage that I had causing problems as I was having to cut scenes straight after the lip syncing giving me little footage to play around with.

The Kooks Music Video; Editing

During my editing process I realised that the size of my screens changed as the filming went on. The screens went from standard at the beginning to widescreen for the rest. This is only noticeable once you have watched the video several times.

I have still kept this within my video as around half of my footage was in standard and half was in widescreen, and although this has caused problems, it is not highly noticeable.

The Kooks Music Video: Editing

After I uploaded and exported my footage I began to edit. At first I was unsure about how I was to go about starting the editing however, I found it easiest to follow my storyboard religiously. I started at the beginning trying to find enough footage to cover my thirty second instrumental, I found this tough as I realised that my male was very awkward when it came to being filmed. Due to this I have had to make some early cuts as the longer the footage went on the more the awkwardness shone through the video.

This is a scene where I felt my male actor was most awkward.

Music Video Planning - Uploading Footage

I am in the process of uploading and exporting my footage so that I can then go onto editing.

Music Video Planning - Filming

Today, I carried out the filming for my music video. I found it difficult as the casting i had enrolled didn't know each other so I feel that there was an awkward atmosphere between them. I also feel that when lip syncing my male could not take things serious, this put me in a very stressful situation as I had to film the same scene a number of times more than I usually would. The whole filming process became very stressful and I now have the worry that the filming isn't very good.

Music Video Planning - Preparation For Filming

So that I am prepared for my filming I have written the lyrics down on A3 paper in board marker so that if my singer forgets the lyrics they will be able to look at the sheet to refresh their memory.
I have also made sure that my room is spotless and in a layout that is suitable for filming. This is because if I was filming in a messy room it would all be picked up on camera and would make the video look tacky. Setting out the furniture in a suitable way is key for my video due to my female having to look in the mirror. I will have to make sure that you cannot see anyone or anything in the mirror.

Music Video Planning - Change Of Location

I have decided to change where I am going to film my music video. This is because I have had troubles trying to fit my schedule around the drama halls timetable. I have now decided to film in my own bedroom. This is because I feel that this fits in with the theme of a teenage girls bedroom.

Music Video Planning - Female Clothing

I will also need to choose the clothing for my female star of my music video. As The Kooks are of a indie theme I will need to make sure that my female is also of an indie theme. This is because I am trying to aim my video at The Kook fans and if i was to use quite a chavvy girl instead of an indie girl this will not appeal to the fans of The Kooks.

Female
My female could be dressed in a pretty smock dress or a top and trouser. By me using a floral smock dress this instantly gives a indie look, as does this top. I have also used clothing that is a little more busy, this is because the song is being sang all about this girl, therefore I do not want her to blend into the background.

I have chosen to either put my girl in jeans or tights depending on what I would like to make her wear on top. I have chosen this because I think that if i choose plain and simple clothing for the bottom I will be able to make her stand out but not too much. This is why I have chosen to use nude simple colours, although at the same time quite bold colours.

I have chosen these types of shoes because I feel that they instantly reflect the indie look that I am trying to go for. Again, i have chosen quite plain colours due to them being quite subtle shoes and if I added too much colour to the outfit I'd take away the theme of the song.



I have chosen to look at hair accessories as I feel that this can be seen as a statement piece of the outfit. However I i decided to use a busy kind of top/dress then I will not be able to have the girl wearing a statement headband. This is because it will become too much, as in my video I'd like to make the girl stand out, however in a subtle way.

I have chosen simple however statement jewellery. This is because the girl in the video is going to be presented as quite glamourous. I have done this because the song is about a girl who is insecure about the way that she look, and she wants to be glamourous like the people in the magazines. Therefore she will begin to copy them.