My director's cut of my music video, answering the above question.
Outasight - Good Evening (unofficial video) (director's cut) from Sam Paterson on Vimeo.
Monday, 9 May 2011
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Digipak Designs
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
My audience feedback was compiled by showing my piece to peers from the media department, and then asking them to complete a sheet summarising their thoughts on the piece, and also estimate what mark they would award (out of a possibly 40) based on the criteria detailed in the mark scheme.
The range of the marks was between 24 and 38. Clearly, there was a great deal of varying opinion, with some responding incredibly positively, whilst others responded with an opposing, more conservative mark, thus indicating to me that each audience member will have his or her own, individual reaction to my piece, and it will appeal differently to individuals.
The mean mark given by the audience was 33.4, which is around 84%. This is a strong mark, and is well into the top 'level 4' band, showing that they believed that my work had, in general, exceeded basic skills and was excellent in most areas. Above all, I can learn from this that, for the most part, people thought my work was of a high standard, and as a result can be considered to have some success.
One of the key areas that was highlighted in the 'comments' section of the sheet to be successful was the use of stop-motion animation. People were complimentary of its successes, and it received only one limited criticism. Many comments highlighted how fluid the motion was and not 'jumpy'. I have learnt from these comments that I was right to be ambitious, and attempt to work with stop motion, and that the meticulous attention to detail had helped my piece's success.
The most frequently mentioned weakness in my work, however, was the narrative. People often commented that the plot did not maintain their interest. I chose to use a very familiar setting and feature routine tasks, thus I agree that the subject matter may well not be of interest, and indeed that was my intention. I intended to create visually interesting scenes through the use of photography and animation. Some noticed this approach an commented that whilst the actions were everyday, they would be familiar to the audience, adding humour at how they were being carried out by small red men. These critical responses taught me that maybe my intention was too subtly portrayed for some within this audience, and that people of around my age are looking for something more obviously interesting than photography alone, and need an exciting plot to truly engage with a video.
Another common negative response was that some of the shots, particularly towards the end of the video, were too long. This was noticed by a fair number of people, and is a point I am more than willing to concede is true. When editing my footage, I realised that I would need to make some of the cuts longer, in order to fill the entirety of the running time of the music. Thus, some of the cuts are longer than the ideal. One of the people who picked up on this commented that it may fit in with the slow, relaxed feel of the song. This may be true, but for a more general audience, a few of the shots last longer than seem natural, and people are quick to pick up on such things. I have learned from this that I should plan more shots in future, to avoid a shortage at the editing phase.
One criticism that I found particularly hard to understand was that of people commenting that my work lacked attention to 'mise-en-scene', with people suggesting that I should work more on it, or that I had only made a limited effort. I was particularly puzzled by this as I had spent a great deal of time establishing a mise-en-scene. For example, using only natural light was a particularly difficult and unconventional task, yet I undertook it to maintain a natural feel to my work. I carefully selected props like the coffee cups, and Cafetiere to establish a familiar breakfast environment for my viewer. The symbolic use of costume to signify my character's move from the fantastic world, to the ordinary business world. All of these were conscience decisions made to better my mise-en-scene. It may be that they were, again, too subtle for this particular audience.
The audience feedback, however, was largely positive even though comments were largely used to suggest improvements, most made more general statements of approval also. It is worth bearing in mind that the audience feedback wasn't taken strictly from my target audience and that it is possible that members of the audience I had in mind when creating my work may have noticed things like the more subtle mise-en-scene, or found enjoyment in the narrative. Despite this, my audience feedback has taught me a great deal about where I could improve my work, as well as confirming to me that it, in general, is a strong music video.
The range of the marks was between 24 and 38. Clearly, there was a great deal of varying opinion, with some responding incredibly positively, whilst others responded with an opposing, more conservative mark, thus indicating to me that each audience member will have his or her own, individual reaction to my piece, and it will appeal differently to individuals.
The mean mark given by the audience was 33.4, which is around 84%. This is a strong mark, and is well into the top 'level 4' band, showing that they believed that my work had, in general, exceeded basic skills and was excellent in most areas. Above all, I can learn from this that, for the most part, people thought my work was of a high standard, and as a result can be considered to have some success.
One of the key areas that was highlighted in the 'comments' section of the sheet to be successful was the use of stop-motion animation. People were complimentary of its successes, and it received only one limited criticism. Many comments highlighted how fluid the motion was and not 'jumpy'. I have learnt from these comments that I was right to be ambitious, and attempt to work with stop motion, and that the meticulous attention to detail had helped my piece's success.
The most frequently mentioned weakness in my work, however, was the narrative. People often commented that the plot did not maintain their interest. I chose to use a very familiar setting and feature routine tasks, thus I agree that the subject matter may well not be of interest, and indeed that was my intention. I intended to create visually interesting scenes through the use of photography and animation. Some noticed this approach an commented that whilst the actions were everyday, they would be familiar to the audience, adding humour at how they were being carried out by small red men. These critical responses taught me that maybe my intention was too subtly portrayed for some within this audience, and that people of around my age are looking for something more obviously interesting than photography alone, and need an exciting plot to truly engage with a video.
Another common negative response was that some of the shots, particularly towards the end of the video, were too long. This was noticed by a fair number of people, and is a point I am more than willing to concede is true. When editing my footage, I realised that I would need to make some of the cuts longer, in order to fill the entirety of the running time of the music. Thus, some of the cuts are longer than the ideal. One of the people who picked up on this commented that it may fit in with the slow, relaxed feel of the song. This may be true, but for a more general audience, a few of the shots last longer than seem natural, and people are quick to pick up on such things. I have learned from this that I should plan more shots in future, to avoid a shortage at the editing phase.
One criticism that I found particularly hard to understand was that of people commenting that my work lacked attention to 'mise-en-scene', with people suggesting that I should work more on it, or that I had only made a limited effort. I was particularly puzzled by this as I had spent a great deal of time establishing a mise-en-scene. For example, using only natural light was a particularly difficult and unconventional task, yet I undertook it to maintain a natural feel to my work. I carefully selected props like the coffee cups, and Cafetiere to establish a familiar breakfast environment for my viewer. The symbolic use of costume to signify my character's move from the fantastic world, to the ordinary business world. All of these were conscience decisions made to better my mise-en-scene. It may be that they were, again, too subtle for this particular audience.
The audience feedback, however, was largely positive even though comments were largely used to suggest improvements, most made more general statements of approval also. It is worth bearing in mind that the audience feedback wasn't taken strictly from my target audience and that it is possible that members of the audience I had in mind when creating my work may have noticed things like the more subtle mise-en-scene, or found enjoyment in the narrative. Despite this, my audience feedback has taught me a great deal about where I could improve my work, as well as confirming to me that it, in general, is a strong music video.
Friday, 8 April 2011
How effective is the combination of your product and ancillary texts?
The relationship between my project and ancillary tasks is key to their successes. It is important to note that the ancillary tasks should combine with music video in such a way as to enhance its success, and that of the entire project, and such the links between them should be strong and exist in a way that draws an audience into the franchise in general, and not focus their attention on a single element.
I chose to use a simple, brown paper style theme for both ancillary tasks. In a way, the magazine advert section was directly linked to the album by the shared theme, and would act as more effective advertising as a result of recognition. A person may walk into a record shop, for example, and immediately pick out the album on the shelves due to recognising the cover image from the advert they had seen in their favourite music magazine. In turn, this would generate more interest in the music video through increased popularity of the album. I feel that this method of visually tying the two ideas together is a successful form of advertising, and increases the success of my work as a combination. This idea was confirmed somewhat by a short discussion raised using the social network 'Facebook'. The audience members who replied to my post commented on how they would automatically associate the two pieces, and that the album would be far more likely to register in their minds if presented to them in a music shop.
In terms of visuals, the links between the ancillaries and the main task are not immediately clear. The theme of my ancillary does not make a visual link with the mise-en-scene of my music video, and an observer may have to more actively decode the significance of the brown paper idea. In my view, I chose to use the brown paper not because of a obvious link to my video in how it looks, but more so in how it makes you feel. The qualities people associate with brown paper packages usually feature nostalgia, optimism and excitement. These are traits that I attempted to portray in my music video. The optimistic, excited start to a new day. The feeling of nostalgia that goes with the jazz-influenced hip-hop sound, harking back to the days of Marvin Gaye. The symbolic connotations of brown paper is that of a gift. It represents a gift in much the same way that the efforts of the Plasticine men represents a gift. As such, the combination of my portfolio is more than visual, it is emotional. Tying into what a person feels rather than sees which is, in my opinion, far more powerful and makes for a more successful combination. By looking at the responses to the question I posted on my facebook page, it is fair to say that other people's interpretation of the look of my ancillary tasks somewhat match my own, reinforcing the idea that people will associate the two sections of my portfolio.I tried to keep an ongoing trend of simplicity through my work. This is shown in the homogeneity of my ancillary task, and the modesty of my music video. The use of a straightforward, yet effective design for my ancillary creates a great deal of symbolism and a lasting impression from a basic idea. This is also true of my production work. It held a philosophy of simplicity, based on an idea containing little dis-equilibrium or raw emotion, but merely suggested ideas and feelings to the audience. By utilising this idea of a single set of ideals running through my entire portfolio, it gives an impression of identity, promoting a single idea more effectively than three projects with little linking them together.
Monday, 21 March 2011
Audience Feedback - Brief Analysis
In general, I would say that the audience feedback was fairly positive. Most responses placed it within the top Level 4 marking band. People did identify, however, some things that, as a media product, limited my video's success.
Many people commented that the content of my video was not interesting enough to hold their attention. The basic concept of dressing in the morning was not enough. This may be explained by the fact that for the most part, these people were towards the lower end of my target age range, and maybe didn't represent a sample of my target audience. I attempted, through photography and animation, to create interesting visual images within an ordinary context. This may be something that they would not be able to appreciate.
One person commented that they thought I could have paid more attention to the mise-en-scene of my product. This was a very unexpected comment, as I spent the majority of my time creating an interesting image, through mise-en-scene. The fact that I used a great deal of props that are symbolic of breakfast and a optimistic morning. The way I used costume to show my characters transition from the fantistic world of slumber, to the harsh world of reality, work and suits. It may be that this person was thinking of mise-en-scene in very blatent, conventional and superficial terms and was not able to understand the subtleties of my work on visuals.
The animation was, however, very well reviewed. People complimented the motion, and were clearly aware of the time and effort that had gone into making it. This was an observation I can agree with, and people seemed to appreciate that comprimises had to made in some areas to accomadate the difficulty of animating using stop motion. I maybe couldn't include as much animation as I wanted to, due to the time commitment of the animation.
Many people commented that the content of my video was not interesting enough to hold their attention. The basic concept of dressing in the morning was not enough. This may be explained by the fact that for the most part, these people were towards the lower end of my target age range, and maybe didn't represent a sample of my target audience. I attempted, through photography and animation, to create interesting visual images within an ordinary context. This may be something that they would not be able to appreciate.
One person commented that they thought I could have paid more attention to the mise-en-scene of my product. This was a very unexpected comment, as I spent the majority of my time creating an interesting image, through mise-en-scene. The fact that I used a great deal of props that are symbolic of breakfast and a optimistic morning. The way I used costume to show my characters transition from the fantistic world of slumber, to the harsh world of reality, work and suits. It may be that this person was thinking of mise-en-scene in very blatent, conventional and superficial terms and was not able to understand the subtleties of my work on visuals.
The animation was, however, very well reviewed. People complimented the motion, and were clearly aware of the time and effort that had gone into making it. This was an observation I can agree with, and people seemed to appreciate that comprimises had to made in some areas to accomadate the difficulty of animating using stop motion. I maybe couldn't include as much animation as I wanted to, due to the time commitment of the animation.
Monday, 14 March 2011
Magazine Advert analysis
I chose the brown paper idea as I think it has a nostalgic quality that reflects the mood of the song. The track I chose takes several influences from retro music, and I think that using the brown paper implies that. It also has the symbolic connotation of being a gift, tying into the idea that the help given by the red men is a gift to my character.
I think, presented on a page, this would stand out in comparrison to other styles of advert. It seems to me that the technique of black background, white writing is a little over used and is no longer as effective. I think the fact that my advert looks as if it has a texture will encourage the reader to pay closer attention to the advert, and encourage them to touch it.
I chose to include reviews and comments on the advert, obeying the conventions I have seen in other promotions. Although it is a commonly used convention, I think it still is good to include. I know from personal experience that I tend not to trust an advert when there aren't at least a few possitive reviews.
I think, presented on a page, this would stand out in comparrison to other styles of advert. It seems to me that the technique of black background, white writing is a little over used and is no longer as effective. I think the fact that my advert looks as if it has a texture will encourage the reader to pay closer attention to the advert, and encourage them to touch it.
I chose to include reviews and comments on the advert, obeying the conventions I have seen in other promotions. Although it is a commonly used convention, I think it still is good to include. I know from personal experience that I tend not to trust an advert when there aren't at least a few possitive reviews.
Saturday, 5 February 2011
Filming update.
Been busy filming more and more today. Very pleased with how it has been going. Lots of challenges to overcome however. Such as realising my plasticine men can't hold up a knife to butter some bread and having to use a plastic one instead, nor is he able to pull some toast from the toaster so I had to make cunning use of some thread to pull it out instead. Most problems are overcome through creative thinking, and copious use of Blue tack and cotton thread.
Help today came in the form of my dad who proved to be far more successful at animating than myself, so I took more of a directing role.
The process is becoming increasingly organic, which I like. Plans are subject to alteration during the production process. For example, today I planned for the figure stirring the coffee to fall off the cup backwards in a humorous and slapstick style. We realised it was easier to animate him falling into the coffee itself. This was also funnier. Everybody wins!
I chose to remove some steps from some of the actions, long sections of figures moving from place to place when the audience would assume it had happened if it wasn't shown are incredibly boring, and added steps in other, such as adding a section of the figures sliding down the banister of the stairs when moving between the bedroom (upstairs) to the kitchen (downstairs.) One unfortunate loss was of the planned Dolly shot across the bedroom floor. This proved impossible as the figures were unable to stand up on the carpeted floor.
Progress is good on the animation front and I should be fine to film my live action this time next week. Promising progress in my oh-so-humble opinion.
Help today came in the form of my dad who proved to be far more successful at animating than myself, so I took more of a directing role.
The process is becoming increasingly organic, which I like. Plans are subject to alteration during the production process. For example, today I planned for the figure stirring the coffee to fall off the cup backwards in a humorous and slapstick style. We realised it was easier to animate him falling into the coffee itself. This was also funnier. Everybody wins!
I chose to remove some steps from some of the actions, long sections of figures moving from place to place when the audience would assume it had happened if it wasn't shown are incredibly boring, and added steps in other, such as adding a section of the figures sliding down the banister of the stairs when moving between the bedroom (upstairs) to the kitchen (downstairs.) One unfortunate loss was of the planned Dolly shot across the bedroom floor. This proved impossible as the figures were unable to stand up on the carpeted floor.
Progress is good on the animation front and I should be fine to film my live action this time next week. Promising progress in my oh-so-humble opinion.
Monday, 31 January 2011
The real Digipak
I've just found the Digipak used for the album the song I'm using comes from, so I thought it would be good to look at for some inspiration. Capturing the feel of not only the song, but the artist as well is very important.
I like this Digipak a lot. It has a very cool, urban, New York look to it. It's interesting that they featured the artist quite clearly but I think this works well; his look compliments that of the album cover. It makes sense, listening to the music on the album and the song I have chosen, that they would choose a style like this. It's simple, a single image with a bit of text, but it still captures style and feel of the music well, and represents what inside in an easy to understand format.
I like this Digipak a lot. It has a very cool, urban, New York look to it. It's interesting that they featured the artist quite clearly but I think this works well; his look compliments that of the album cover. It makes sense, listening to the music on the album and the song I have chosen, that they would choose a style like this. It's simple, a single image with a bit of text, but it still captures style and feel of the music well, and represents what inside in an easy to understand format.
Evaluation Questions.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
How effective is the combination of your product and ancillary texts?
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Looking at these questions, I think I should have enough to say about each of them. They seem to have a simular feel to the questions answered at AS. I think I could answer the first questions using a director's cut? It would be a good idea to do at least one or two of my answers in a non-traditional format.
How effective is the combination of your product and ancillary texts?
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Looking at these questions, I think I should have enough to say about each of them. They seem to have a simular feel to the questions answered at AS. I think I could answer the first questions using a director's cut? It would be a good idea to do at least one or two of my answers in a non-traditional format.
Some bits so far.
I've been really busy away from my media work recently, so I haven't posted in a while. I thought it might be a good idea to just give you a quick look at the work I've done so far.
This is by no means anything approaching a finished product, but it just shows you what I've been working on so far.
This is by no means anything approaching a finished product, but it just shows you what I've been working on so far.
Friday, 7 January 2011
Filming Day Two
Filming has continued for its second day. It seems to be going alright. The process in general is very time consuming, just by its nature, so progress is very slow. One of the main difficulties I am finding is that, since my film is set in the morning, I can only shoot between about nine and two to give the right kind of light. This gives me only two days a week, at the weekend, where I am able to film.
Whilst this is unfortunate, it is very important that my film looks visually convincing.
Tuesday, 4 January 2011
Filming Day One
I've begun animating my stop-motion footage and filming some of the live action work.
From the very start I encountered problems which I couldn't foresee. For example, at one point, I had to animate a figure switching on a kettle. However, the force required to push down the switch was greater than the force holding its feet to the floor, resulting in it falling over. I had to use thin thread to pull, and hold, down the switch between shots and to stop it from springing back up. This required more than one person.
I did manage to get some of the shots down. Unfortunately, it's difficult to see if they need re-shooting before I have loaded them into Premier Pro and edited them together. It is fair to say that it is much more taxing and time consuming than I first thought it would be, but we persevere!
From the very start I encountered problems which I couldn't foresee. For example, at one point, I had to animate a figure switching on a kettle. However, the force required to push down the switch was greater than the force holding its feet to the floor, resulting in it falling over. I had to use thin thread to pull, and hold, down the switch between shots and to stop it from springing back up. This required more than one person.
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