How effective is the combination of you're main product and ancillary text

The video, magazine and digi pack all have a great combination between each other because they represent the artist very well to his main audience and fans that he has as the clothing used in all of them are cloths that represent him as a rapper and the style that he brings to his fans.

The back cover of the digi pack has a very good combination with the music video because it re-enforces the idea of what is going on in the video into the album because there is a repeated shadow effect used to tell the audience that this constantly moving around as he is running away from something in his dream and the picture was taken in a particular way so that the background could have half shadow and the other half where the sun shines out and we placed the artist in the shadow to show that he is running away from the light as said in the lyrics of the song, as shown bellow.

(back cover)

In the advert the clothing used is a black dark hood which is also used in the video this all links well because as explained above it represents what the artist wears on a daily bases and to show that he is not just using this type of clothes to impress the audience therefore this stand out to the fans and audience and this may make them be more interested in the album as well as in the music video . This point is proven in the images below.

(kanye west daily clothes)

The front cover of the album also has a great relationship with the video because there are 2 Yomi’s to show that there are 2 story and 2 sides to him and this is also shown in the video because part of the video is based in his dreams and thoughts and part of him is when he wakes u and gets fired so its seem like he doesn’t really know what is going on and this links well with the front cover because one Yomi is in his normal form and the other has been edited to a blur blue colour to give the impression to the audience that he is not from this planet and he is unfamiliar from his surroundings.

I think that the video, magazine and Digi pack all come together as one to re-enforce the title of the album “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” because the things that are going on in the video are very strange but it always comes together at the end of the video to give the audience the clue of why he may me acting is such a strange way. The big mystery of what may be going on in the video then goes further on with the Digi pack for the album where all the pictures have been edited in a particular manner to fit well with the video and give a further clue of where may have been going on in the video. The picture in the advert is also there to give the fans and audience a clue of what is going on as Yomi is wearing a bag which could mean that he is new and his carrying his belongings with him, and the headphones in to support the lyrics as he is lost in his own world and not really listening to the world his living in and that’s why he gets fired.

posted by antonio paulo

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

The feedback received from you audience was successful overall because they all enjoyed our media product. Although like all audiences there is always room for critism however we took the comments made as constructive critism.
The critism received mentioned was mainly about the lip singing I think to avoid this problem in the future would to give the characters in the video a script so they can prepare beforehand rather than on the spot overcoming this problem would also reduce the amount of time spent doing takes on scenes when the character is lip singing.

The other comments we received was the how original the video itself actually their isn't another video in the media department made this year or previous year quite like ours. Other comments received the song choice how it was a good one due the artist of the song being Kanye West the choosen song is completly from anything he has made in the past the closest song to Lost in the World would arguably have to been E.T featuring Katy Perry. Additionally we received great feedback from the use of the special effects which Antonio Paulo was responsible for because he put a lot of time and effort into it plus he had a good sense of knowledge before hand on how to use the software program Final Cut Pro. The most popular effect out of them all would have to be the rewind one its the effect that makes you realise that Yomi is in a dream.

One positive comment which made us feel our video was successful is how the video broke the conventions of the genre most RnB made today are either in a Club or surronded by riches in wealth the theme of money is shown either by cash on expensive items however since we didn't have a big budget this idea of a typical RnB video didn't even come across as a possibility of making.

We got our ideas from making our idea from the artist himself because like our media products Kanye strives to be different to gain a positive audience feedback.

As mentioned before the track itself Lost in the World is very different in terms of the style and what is currently out there in the RnB music scene. If you compare to whats out there now its strange that Mr West would do something like this however being different is the key to gain recognition and bigger fan base in the music industry this is why we think that My beatiful twisted fantasy album which has release in 2010 because it gives RnB a different edge since many audience don't listen to this genre because the songs made sound the same however with Kanye around for a good few years to come he will bring the increase in fans to RnB.

Overall we took all comments in consideration to make our next media project even more successful than the last one. The Key to success in our video was originality which was a risk however it payed off and made a popular video.
By Clive

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

To evaluate and plan our music video and research into locations etc we used the college's AppleMac's
In the early stages of making our music video we used the Mac's to look at other music videos's made by kanye west and video's of the same genre (Hip-Hop).
Also to complete the blog and upload all the posts we had made, this was very helpful as it was the key item we used to halp put all the research and filming together.
The Mac's also came in handy during the post-production stages as we were able to do the editing for the video and to use phtoshop in designing the digipak and advert.


To research all the music video's we used YouTube as its a handy free to use website on the internet with loads of various things on there, which was good as the songs were easily findable along with the video's they were made with. as we looked at the song we chose 'Kanye West- Lost in the world' there wasnt a proper video so we looked at one a previous group of students had made which gave us a few ideas We wanted to analyse particular artists like Kanye West and YouTube allowed us to do this as there was so many albums and songs of his uploaded onto the website which were free to view.


To film our whole video we used an Canon Legria FS306 which is an SD camcorder, the camera was useful as we could film all our shots and even take locational shots of the surroundings and props we used. It was very useful as itr alowed us to store all our shots and scenes on the SD card inserted which could then be put into a cardreader connecter to a pc. The use of the camera being small was a bonus as it didnt cause carrying or handling trouble.

When we first planned our music video we was going to attempt to use the GreenScreen in the college's studio, we attempted the green screen numerous amounts of time but then our whole idea changed and we didnt use any of the shots we took, the green screen was useful as it alowed us to create a whole other world of our chose through using pictures of google and editing them so they could be used as a background set.

To edit our video we used Final Cut Pro 7, Final Cut is a non-linear video editing software developed by Macromedia Inc, that allows the user to manipulate there scenes by adding effects and using transitions which enabled us to cut down the scenes, combine them together and make them longer.

We Used Photoshop to create our ancillery tasks. Photoshop is a graphics editing programme that lets the user add graphics and effects to images. This became very useful as we were able to upload a picture and add affects onto it. Photoshop also allowed us to access better feautures to edit our pictures which let us create better products and make titles in fancy fonts etc; as we were using photoshop we experimented and used various different effects to see which worked well together and to see which ones didnt.

Director's commentary

by anonio paulo

Interviews

By Antonio Paulo

Lil Wanye-How To Love

This video music video interested us due to the special effect of rewind we took this effect into consideration and the editor (Antonio) use this effect to improve our video.

Here is the link to the music video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8Gf4-eT3w0&ob=av2e

Digipak

by Antonio Paulo

Advert for Digipak

by antonio paulo

Kanye West-Lost in Video

Editing done by Antonio Paulo

Props 5-6

5. Paper (written lyrics on them)

6. Climbing frame (we used this in the video to film on and act on)

Props 3-4

3. Jacket (for the woods scenes)

4. Black hoodie (for the hooded figure)

Digi Pack Research

This magazine cover is interesting due the timing of this issue of 'Vibe' as the time of the year was coming up to Eminem's release of the 'Recovery' album. The album is mainly about the issues what Eminem has faced with drugs and how he has overcame the cover is effective as it would seem to gain the Rap Star the need build up for his album release at the time.

The cover of this magazine is effective as well as eye-catching because of the boldness of Eminem posing angrily in the centre of the cover. Another point to mention is how the brief words of from the article which contains the rapper is on the left of the image this makes you interested as a reader or fan of the superstar.

By Clive

Digi Pack Research

This is an advert for Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg featuring Bruno Mars, the title 'Young, Wild and Free' straight away gives the audience a feel of what the song will be about and how well the 3 artists work together, the image its self relates with the tiltle, as the word 'Young' supports the blackboard as they are noramlly used in primary schools, aslo 'Free and Wild' are supported by the font of the words as each artists name are is different font.

The overall image is rather good because you can tell straight away the type of music Wiz Khalia, Snoop Dogg and Bruno Mars can produce together, it also gives a feel that life is maybe too short so you should live it exactly how the title says 'Young, Wild and Free'.

Digi Pack Research

This album cover is from the first Game album The Documentary. The font used match to the theme of Rap this is due to the Big font the colour of the font is red this is an interesting choice but its due to his personal life of being in the gang known as Bloods this gang is known through out the world. The writing underneath it almost like its written from a felt tip this is to give the image of the cover a street feel like the image the Game gives you when you look at him.

The image of the artist sitting on the tires give the album cover a urban feel although the white canvas background maintains that proffesional look.

By Clive

This advert has big bright colors to attract the audience attention, against a simple black background. This makes the artist stand out more. Close-up shot of the artist promotes the artist. This Advert of Tinchy Stryder advertises his new song with Taio Cruz, the font used in the text, is effectively big and bold and is really bright hightlighted colours.

this Advert is good because it shows you how Tinchy Stryder is an artist, and it puts across that his music is full of energy and he is serious in his music with his facial expression.

Craig Davis Analysis

Our video is an illustration, it’s a straightforward Performance Video, in the video we express the meaning of the lyrics very well with the use of, being in the woods alone scared and of no way of getting out. We also make the lyrics very clear with use of the running, the views of the town and the disorientation of the video. We have visualized the music also straightforward as we don’t try and mix it up or change it we keep it simple and easy to follow, we even keep the images of the town centre in time with the beat so it was easy to follow.

Our music video is a denotation, because as the video is playing with the lyrics you can instantly see the links between the music and the lyrics straight away.

Applying the technical codes and using Goodwin's theory

Camera work-

In our video we used a large variety of medium shots, from in front of the performer, behind and from the side as well, we took allot of medium shots, so that you could see the body structure of the performer and the costumes he was wearing.

We had some long shots to capture the performer running allot through the woods, this was effective because it shown the full body structure of the actor.

We had a few close ups as well to show the performers emotions, to his surroundings looking confused and scared as he is ‘lost in the world’.

We also used zooming for a couple of shots, because as we was filming in deans gate there were members of the public walking past uncomfortable with being filmed, so we had to zoom in to the back of the performer.

Editing-

In the editing stages, we used allot of cross dissolves, so each scene we took and out on Final Cut Pro we could link together smoothly without there being any gaps.

We also added a shaky black and white effect to the film, so that it created the illusion of the performer being lost, scared and very delusional.

Mise en Scene-

We had the main performer, dressed in a black jacket throughout, to show the link to the dream.

We had the hooded figure dressed in a black hoodie, to show the scariness of the character towards the performer as he was being followed by a hooded figure.

We had the boss in the meeting in a suit to show his high status and he was holding the interview and firing an employee.

We used a piece of paper to write the chorus on, we did this because when we came to editing we could put the paper in between shots as the lyrics came on the screen

Goodwin’s Theory-

Music Video Demonstrates genre characteristics-

Yes it does because Yomi is wearing a suit, which supports the genre.

Is there a relationship between lyrics and visuals-

Yes because as the lyrics “lost in the world” come on, we have our performer running through the woods lost.

Also when the lyrics say “I’m new in the city”, we have various shots of Manchester Town Centre so we can link them together.

Is there a relationship between music and visuals-

Yes as the beat starts to pick up and get quick, we have the town shots changing throughout in time with the beat very well.

The demand of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist so that the artist may develop motifs-

Yes we have some close-ups of the performers face, to show the emotions etc..

There is frequent reference to looking and voyeuristic treatment of women’s bodies-

We don’t really have any reference to look or treatment of women’s bodies, partly because we didn’t have a female in our group and ‘look’ wasn’t really mentioned in out music video.

There are often intertextual references to films, TV Programmes and other music videos-

No intertextual references in our video.

Artworks and films we were inspired by

Paranormal activity we gained ideas from this is because of the way it goes against the traditional methods of making media product another reason why we was inspired because of the budget the film had it didn't even half a million. It's a lot of money but in filming it's barely anything to work with but the success and worldwide recognition of the film gave us a positive mind frame to work with and overcome the coursework demand.

Other media products that inspired us was the artwork by the famous Vincent Van Gogh we found this artwork particularly interesting because of the figure of the 'Screaming Man' the early ideas we had related to the artwork.

By Clive

Arrangements

We can't upload any face book messages due to it being banned however we had over ten conversations discussing ideas and meeting times for the music video I think preparation was the key to our music video being completed and edited.

Another was arranged was the structure of the blog and who done what overall we split the work amounts fairly to keep all the members of the group satisfied

By Clive

Video Evaluation and Analysis

Q1.The inspiration of our music video initially came from the acclaimed Kanye West “My Beautiful Dark Fantasy” album. We thought the album is just the perfect product and genre for our type of video. Because of the variety in his music in terms of contrast and raving elements, we decided to use this genre for our music video, which is Hip-Hop.

Lost in the world in particular, come about because we wanted to make a unique an different type of video. This song contains more element than a normal Hip-Hop track nowadays. It features tribal drums, astonishing vocals, gospel-styled chorus and increased and final measured tempo. All of these features created the atmosphere of a really dynamic video. We knew that we had lots of ideas and creativity to include in it, and so we went for it.

Firstly, we took a look at the video made for the song originally. Apparently there wasn’t an official stand-alone video, instead there was a 34 minute long Full-length film made for the video album and so we took elements from the part we was interested in; which was the last seven minutes, in our video we knew we have to include a really thick woods in our shots. We had lots of establishing shots showing the environmental properly. This is a major factor, because the idea of the music video is about a teenager who is having fantasies about this girl and being lost in the world trying to find her.

Secondly, we can agree that our music video breaks away from the abnormal conventions. It stands out and alone in terms of textures, footage and narrative.

There were mostly few to no contrast used in most of the shots, which is one of the reasons of it being different from other types of videos. The way we used and merge dissolving effects in the video, to emphasize more of the important shots and images is a positive step that makes our video unique. One major reason behind this is that we know the lyrics has to nerve with the flow of the video, and so we made use of the cross dissolve allot.

Another effect mostly used that makes our video different is the use of slow motion. More than 60% of the video was in slow motion. This shows and emphasizes on the fact that the main performer is in a world that is well dead, no help, no clues and no one to cry out too, like also made the slow motion an important shot such as when clues and strange moments are shown.

Moreover, we think our music video consists of the 6 major conventions found that are meant to be found in a music video. Our video demonstrates Genre Characteristics in both the lyrics and video. The lyrics, if listened to properly, could be recognized straight away as an hip-hop type of music at the start of music. Our video also stresses on this by combining both fast paced shots and slow motions together. Fast paced shots mostly for when the beat goes fast, and we even try and make the editing and drums form together through use of Synchronized Editing. Although, this could be seen as a common feature amongst music videos, but we used it in a way to demonstrate our genre.

Another factor is the relationship between lyrics and visuals, which was mentioned earlier. This is a major, if not the most important feature/factor a music video should have. So we went for the idea of shooting in locations that rarely have audience or extras. Clayton, Manchester which was the location for most of the woods shots, is a very rare area with dense woods and we know it was the best idea and location for us to film in. For example, every time the lyrics is about “lost in the world”, we try and put in an establishing shot to show the location, more importantly to stress the fact he is all alone.

This is almost what we did regarding relationships, between music and visuals. We knew this is another important factor amongst music video conventions. Also we achieved this by the use of establishing shots, synchronized editing, close-ups and slow motion. This is where we knew close-ups were important. Because the artists have to develop themes and styles and so we had close-ups on him to create that image for the audience.

Normally, music videos often have intertextual reference to other music videos or films or even TV programmes. We could say out music video is a reference to or connected with the movie-like music video done by Kanye West for the whole album. This is because we took ideas from the video, which helped us a lot in our video.

However our video doesn’t compete the 6 theory of music video, as it lacks voyeuristic treatment of women’s bodies, we could not have achieved his because it was hard finding a female that will be willing to do the roles we had in mind. Because, the role has to depict and portray the female being Gory, Gruesome and brutal, it was hectic to find an outsider that will take up that role, as our group doesn’t have any female members.

By Mark