Link to the bands evaluation documentary!

Abbas A2 Band Evaluation from Abbas Tajik on Vimeo.

Narrative commentary!

EVALUATION - Audience feedback

Music video

EVALUATION - Comparism with chemical brother's video for Electrobank

Comparism with Chemical brother’s video and mine:

http://www.woodstock.com/music-video/526/the-chemical-brothers-elektrobank/

This video for Chemical Brother’s similarly compares with the music video I have produced. The narrative is quite similar because my music video is related to sports in which Chemical Brother’s is also just the difference is that their video relates to gymnastics but mine relates to running. The videos however are still quite different but the narrative is similar. For example, within the video for Electrobank, they portray two characters that are competing against one another. The blonde character is represented as antagonist and the brunette character is represented as the protagonist. The brunette character is also represented as the underdog as she firstly struggles thinking she cant finish the competition but then she tries again and gives it her all in which her efforts paid off as in the end she actually won the competition and become victorious. This storyline is the one I linked closely too within the production of my music video for “We are the champions”. I wanted to create an aspect of rivalry within my video so I therefore used two female characters, one blonde and one brunette and I represented the brunette as the underdog within the video which created a stereotypical aspect to my video because many assume that the blonde girl is the most popular and always wins but in this case, the brunette character wins and becomes the champion which is what is shown within the video for Electrobank. My music video is closely linked with the Chemical Brother’s as the narrative theme is similar. There are a few differences but I am thoroughly happy with how my music video has turned out because I believe the narrative aspect of my video will keep my audience more appealed and drawn to the screen. I wanted to create the effect on the audience that if you don’t succeed, try again. This is what I portray within my music video as the brunette character doesn’t win the first race, but then she tries to pick up again by training consistently and therefore in the end winning the race and becoming the champion. As the protagonist wins the race, this refers to the fairytale of “Good always wins evil”.

EVALUATION - Audience feedback from media student and teacher!

Emily's A2 project - CE and Ruth discuss from Chris Earl on Vimeo.

EVALUATION - Written document about pitch!

How close was our original idea with our final ideas?

http://vimeo.com/15451185

This link above demonstrates mine and Abbas’s pitch which was filmed in October. Our ideas are similar to our final idea. For example, within the pitch we are stating we are either going to use the song “We will rock you” or “We are the Champions” by the Queen. From the beginning, we have always been attracted to the songs Queen has produced. It just took us a while to decide which out of the two songs to go for. As the pitch shows, me and Abbas didn’t just research British rock bands, we also looked at American rock bands such as Nickleback for example and so on. Our final decision was however to use a British rock band because that the British audience was who we were trying to appeal too. This shows a clear link to my final idea because from the beginning we were always planning on using one of the most famous British rock bands, Queen.

Speaking of the music video elements, our original idea was to film a narrative music video instead of having the band on stage filmed throughout like most stereotypical rock videos would be like which links clearly with our final piece where our music video portrays a traditional narrative theme. Our original idea for the video is much different to what we first set out to do. For example, in the pitch we are talking about relating our music video to Peter Kay and Tony Christie’s video but as the process gone on, we moved away from this video and began to base our video around Chemical Brother’s “Electrobank”. We initially thought that if we were to base around our music video around sports, it would closely relate to the lyrics within the song and create an effective traditional narrative. At the beginning of the process, we were going to use just one male actor showing how he becomes a champion. Different to our final idea, we changed the idea to using two female characters that were competing against each other to try and become victorious. After looking at the video for Electrobank, I decided it would be best to use two characters instead of one. The idea behind this was to show rivalry between the characters and create a sense of excitement for the audience where they will be drawn closely to the video.

Within the pitch, I and Abbas talk about both our ideas for the Digipak and Magazine advertisement. Our original idea for the digipak was to have a white background on both the front cover and back of digipak as we believed this would create an appealing affect. I did experiment in the process of making the digipak to use a clear white background but it didn’t seem to fit nicely with the images and it didn’t create that much of an affect. However, my final idea was similar because I still wanted to use the colour white apart of my background so for my Digipak, I decided to use a contrast of both black and white for the background because the colours contrasted well together. I did in my pitch that we were going to display the logo in black and bold but when experimenting and playing around with the digipak, the logo just didn’t look effective so as a result my idea was to not use the logo as the digipak looked effectively more creative without it. The back of the digipak is quite similar. My original idea was to use a white background but my final idea was to go for the contrast of both white and black just as what I chose to do for the front cover. I firstly set out to create a clear link between the front and back of the digipak and I still managed to achieve my original goals. We also said as one of our other original ideas, to use a white background for our magazine advertisement. Linking with this idea, I actually did use a white background for my magazine advertisement which means I have followed upon what I first set out to do. All my original ideas are closely linked with my final ideas. The only difference really was at the beginning of the process I didn’t know what pictures or typography I wanted to use, but as the process moved forward I independently chose what looked the best for all print products and I am thoroughly happy with what I have achieved.

Self-Evaluation!

Evaluation written document!

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

My media project that I have recently completed for A2 level uses and challenges forms and conventions of real media products effectively. Thinking back to the beginning of summer last year, I did firstly want my product to be based on the genre of either rock/indie. It took me a lot of time to decide with my working partner Abbas on whether we should go for a rock or indie song for our music video. We then came across the famous band Queen and within our research we came across well-known songs in which appealed highly to us. The song we chose in the end to create a cover of was “We are the champions” so therefore as a result our genre was based on rock. When speaking of what ways my product uses and challenges form and conventions of real media products, my music video is not the typical professional video you see on the music channels, my music video is more of a narrative piece in which is demonstrated more of a short-film to effectively link with the lyrics within the song.



Narrative music videos are becoming much more popular now and when I begun reading the lyrics to the song, I strongly believed that a narrative piece would fit well. I was at first going to shoot just the band playing on stage but then I came across a music video by Chemical Brothers – Electrobank http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0dxByaPWhM&ob=av2e in which displayed a narrative storyline in which two individuals were competing in gymnastics and it shown the progression of the brunette girl trying her best to win and even though she hurt herself during the competition, she eventually won at the end and the blonde girl who was stereotyped as the antagonist lost. I really liked the storyline in which were you never give up to succeed. The song lyrics within “We are the champion” related to that type of storyline so as a result it seemed like a good idea to portray that type of storyline within my music video. I chose to have a brunette and blonde girl like in the Chemical Brothers video and at the end to have the underdog (brunette) becoming victorious by winning the race through hard training and effort.



As my final decision for the storyline was linked with running, the ideas of how to shoot the running scene was extremely diverse. I and Abbas came to the decision that we would go find the most suitable running track to film and that we would shoot some test footage because in order for our storyline to become reality we had to develop our ideas by shooting some test footage first. We found a great running track at Maiden Castle which is located closely in County Durham. We had a go at shooting the track and seeing which parts of the track looked most convenient for our music video. I had a run round the track while Abbas filmed me just so we could see what it looks like on camera. I also asked Abbas to film me running up to the finish line so we could see whether it looked effective. The track looked so professional and clean on film as all the tracks markings were clearly there. From having the opportunity to shoot some test footage, it really helped our work come together. For example, after spending a fair amount of time shooing some test footage, we could clearly see that this was the place where our music video would be shot. The week after I, Abbas and my other star actor Bethany went down to Maiden castle to film our first race scene along with my other actor Sophie. As I and Abbas had already investigated the track and which part looked best on camera we knew exactly where we wanted to shoot and how we wanted to look. By shooting some test footage, it really helped our work develop effectively as we knew exactly what and how we wanted it shot.





Moving on to my print products, I did a lot of excessive research on the internet and in stores looking at diverse ranges of digipak covers, digipak booklets and magazine advertisements. One poster that inspired me was for the “Scott Pilgrim” film in which displays a split screen of individual characters with two of the main character below standing back-to-back.

This film poster really caught my eye and I really felt strongly towards using a split screen of my band and have me and my co-star actor Bethany standing back-to-back. I firstly designed a look-a-like magazine advertisement like this one but in the end I used the idea for my digipak front cover.

This is an example of one of the drafts of my magazine advertisement in which I uploaded onto my blog. As you can see I used a similar concept and design to the “Scott Pilgrim” poster in which the two main characters are standing back-to-back and the band are up above in split-screen. I created this on Photoshop in which effectively helped me to create a similar poster to the “Scott Pilgrim” one.

Here is my final piece of my magazine advertisement in which I have just recently posted onto my blog. As you can see this is very different to the one I firstly desired to create. After looking in magazines such as NME and Q the music my ideas changed. I am really happy with how my magazine advertisement looks and again I used Photoshop to create this piece. I did at first try to create it on Microsoft word but the software was too amateur and didn’t contain the appropriate functions and materials. Photoshop has helped my print product to look really professional in which I am thrilled.

This is my final piece of my Digipak front cover in which was uploaded onto my blog last week. The front cover still is slightly similar to the “Scott Pilgrim” poster in which I and Bethany are standing back-to-back and the band individually shot above. I have gone for the contrast of colours black, red and white to fit in with the genre of rock effectively as those three colours are most associated with rock especially black and red. I am really happy with how the front cover of my Digipak has turned out and Adobe Photoshop is the software which effectively helped me create this piece. When I was in the process of looking at digipak’s I found many online. For example, I came across many on the HMV website and as I was expected to do one of Queen’s songs I accordingly had a look at their CD and albums to get some ideas. I looked at a diverse range of album covers and published a few examples onto my blog. I changed my mind a lot during the process of planning and production but now I am finally happy and satisfied with my album front cover. Alternatively, I think my media products use and challenge conventions of real media products as I believe both my print products and actual practical piece look really professional and effective and I even think that they are up to a great professional standard that could actually be used for a professional signed band.

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

Both my main product and ancillary texts are effectively combined. Firstly, the genre is rock and looking at both the video and print products, they are both effectively linked. For example, the contrast of black and white is effectively used. Within my music video, most of it is shot in black and white and also my print products are black and white. The reason for this choice is because I think the colours contrast really well together and also the colours are highly associated with the genre of rock which fills my brief quite nicely. Looking at my various products including the magazine advertisement, Digipak booklet and my music video, they all express the same elements yet they are all slightly diverse. Starting with my print products, in both the poster and digipak, images of the band members and main actors are demonstrated. I have focused on both the band and main actors because within my music video, I decided to concentrate on my narrative instead of filming the band throughout the video playing like many stereotypical music videos choose to do. As my music video wasn’t going to portray the band, I decided to go ahead strongly with using images of the band on the advert, front cover of my digipak and within my digipak booklet so that the audience can empathise with the band and become more drawn to them personally.

The clear link between my music video and print products is that there is a clear congnitive narrative link between the three. For example, I have used the actors for my digipak and magazine advertisement from the music video and I have also used pictures of the band on both my print products. The only difference between the three is that I haven't shown the band within my music video

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Here are a few examples below of what minor individuals think of my overall project.

Audience feedback!

Uncle Doug –

I think that both the magazine advertisement and digipak booklet looks really good and quite professional for an A-level student. I can see as I am a qualified graphic designer that she has used photoshop to put all her print products together which as a result looks extremely effective. I think the colours she has used including black, white and red contrast well together and link well with the genre of rock. I particularly love the fact how she has customised each background accordingly within her digipak booklet. This makes the piece look even more professional and innovative. Overall, I think Emily has done a great job and her overall featured print products are astonishing.

Sophie Balfour –

Emily’s print products look really professional in my eyes especially the digipak booklet. As Emily told me that her genre was rock, I think she has fit the brief quite nicely through the contrast of black, white and red and also how she has effectively created black and white images of the band and both herself and Bethany. I haven’t yet seen her music video but I am sure by looking at how professional her print products look, the video will be great.

Becky Walton –

Wow, I am really impressed by how effective Emily’s print products look. I particularly love how she has customised each background within her digipak booklet. This looks really creative and effective and also innovative regarding the band. The magazine advertisement looks great aswell. I think the contrast of the colours black, white and red fit in nicely to the genre of rock. All the information on the front cover of the poster clearly stands out which makes it look even more appealing. Overall, I think both her digipak and magazine advertisement look extremely professional and I was totally impressed.

Conor Martin –

Both Emily’s print products look really creative and professional. I particularly like the front cover of the Digipak. The way how the band is customised portraying a sketchy look is really effective and how the picture of Emily and Bethany is shaded slightly dark. I think it works really well and if I was to see this in a shop I would immediately be drawn to it. The back cover of the digipak also looks really effective and professional as the bar code and everything is there which makes it look ready for purchase. I honestly believe that these print products look professional and Emily looks like she has put a lot of hard work into creating these products.

Audience feedback is extremely vital in order to see whether the product is actually sufficient. I alternatively, obtained some general feedback from my friends at 6^th form. I didn’t receive any negative feedback which proves that my products are effective and appealing to individuals. All the feedback I received was really positive which makes me feel great. They all honestly think my products look professional for an A2 level student. I have learned from my audience feedback that if you work hard and put everything into your projects then the outcomes will be positive. To complete this section, I am also going to attach a short-film/documentary demonstrating on camera the audience’s feedback. As I do have a minor continuity error in my video, my audience didn’t actually notice it which makes me believe in my project more highly because I did worry slightly about how unprofessional it looks with that error in but all the feedback I received was positive and no one even noticed it.

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

Media technology has not always been my strong point but from the beginning of year 12 to now, I feel that I have got to grips with using media technology in the development of construction regarding my media work. First, there is the digital camera. At the beginning of year 12 I found it took a while for me to get used to the functions on the camera but after I was told by my teacher how to work the camera properly I was able to independently use it when filming my first set projects. My work in year 13 has progressed since the beginning of September. As I already was up to grips with using digital technology such as the video camera and editing software, it started off quite easily but as I have already mentioned the weather became a huge issue as it was constantly snowing and the weather was alternatively changing on a daily basis.

For my final project this year, I and Abbas thought it would be easier and make things quicker if he was to focus on the editing and I was to focus on our print products. As I was responsible for producing the print products including the magazine advertisement and digipak, I used adobe Photoshop a lot to help with the creation of them. I did however use publisher to begin with because I believed that publisher would enough functions to help with effectively creating my products. It didn’t seem to be very effective when trying to create my magazine advertisement so I decided to use Photoshop. At first, I got a lot of help off my media teacher because my knowledge of Photoshop was not very efficient. However, after having much assistance I was then able to go off and independently create my magazine advertisement which is completed. I am thoroughly content with how my advertisement looks like thanks to the help of Photoshop. If my school didn’t have Photoshop on their computers then it would have been a constant struggle to create an effective advert. For my digipak booklet, I used both Photoshop and Microsoft PowerPoint to help create the overall product. I used Photoshop when creating the front and back cover of the digipak but for the booklet inside I used PowerPoint as it made things slightly easier for me and I was able to customise each slide independently in creating an efficient digipak booklet. I did at first try and create the front and back cover of the digipak on publisher but again it just didn’t work and give me what I want as there weren’t enough diverse functions to help create an effective front cover. However, by using Photoshop it helped me to create quite a professional front and back cover for my digipak. I am thoroughly pleased with my final product.

Within my project, I have had to accept that there is a continuity error during the second race scene. This is due to the fact of the horrendous weather conditions we experienced through the beginning of the year when I and Abbas were filming our project. As we filmed on separate days, the weather kept consistently changing so therefore this was really unfortunate. As a result I believed that the digital technology would resolve the problem but unfortunately it hasn’t. The editing adobe premier software has helped to improve the filming slightly but unfortunately the continuity error is still slightly noticeable. I accept that we have an error but hopefully this won’t result in loosing many marks because due to weather in the North-East lately with all the ice and heaps of snow, hopefully the situation will be reviewed on behalf of that.

I have been through such a long, yet good process from the beginning of year 13 to now. When I first started my final project for A2 level, I had many diverse ideas of whether to go for a pop song, hip-hop, indie, rock and many more. After a long deliberation, I decided it would be really adventurous and effective to create a music video based on the genre of rock. As I decided to work with my other media student, Abbas he also wanted to create a rock music video. We did a lot of planning and research to find out which song we would use and what type of music video we would create. We came across Queen’s famous songs and ended up choosing “We are the champions” which is a well-known song over the globe. We believed that if we created a cover for this song then we would attract an increased majority of the public because the song is so well-known and popular therefore more appealing to our audience. When planning and creating my music video and print products, digital technology guided me along the way and helped to create an efficient piece in the end. The internet, digital camera, and photoshop and Microsoft PowerPoint, these are all the sources of technology I used in helping of the construction of my research, planning and evaluation. At the moment, I am about to film a short documentary for my evaluation so therefore, the digital technology is effectively helping me to create an efficiency evaluation as I am using a digital camera to film some parts and also Microsoft word to write up an analysis.

Filming the bands first reaction on Thursday!

On Thursday lunch time this week, I and Abbas have booked out our media room so we can film the bands first reaction when seeing both the print products as well as the music video. After we have filmed the bands reaction to our products we have prepared some questions we would like to ask them.

1. What do you think of both the print products and music video?

2. Do you think the main products and ancillary texts link well together?

3. Do you think the products represent you well?

4. How were you approached for permission?

5. How does this compare to similar music videos or products you have seen in the past?

6. Do you think any improvements need to be made?

I and Abbas are hoping for a positive result and by asking these questions and filming it, this will help provide the basis for our evaluation documentary.

Evaluation principles!

For my evaluation, Sir has said to me that I can either produce a written document for my evaluation or produce a documentary on film. I am going to produce a written document as well as filming a short documentary demonstrating my peers views about my products and also I am going to interview the band asking them what they thought of the film and how it could have slighly being improved and etc. I am also going to film myself talking about my product and also my working partner Abbas as I think it will look really effective if our personal views and opinions were expressed on camera. Next week, I and Abbas are going to film eachother expressing our views on how we have improved from beginning to end and the choices we have made. Also, We are going to see when the band is available next week because we are going to ask permission on whether we can film them being interviewed.

Final draft of magazine advertisement!

Improved and changed slides for digipak booklet!

Here is my new changed slides for my digipak booklet. Slide 1 - I moved the writing up a little because it was coming off slightly at the bottom of the page. Slide 2 - I rearranged the slide so that all the writing fit on the page. Slide 5 -I did the same as slide 2, I altered the size of the slide so that there was no writing coming off the page. For slide 7, I added in that all the song were written by Astound because I forgot to include this within my credits before. Last but not least, I added the Sony logo on my back cover because it makes it look more professional.

Digipak Booklet!

FINAL DRAFT OF BACK COVER OF DIGIPAK!

Another up-dated draft of the front cover of my Digipak!

I decided to make the image of me and Beth more darker so that the image constrasted more effectively with the picture of the band above them. I have asked my working partner Abbas and he thinks that this example of the digipak cover is much more effective than the other one I produced.

Draft of the front cover of my digipak!

This is what I have created for the front cover of my digipak using Photoshop. I thought it would be effective to have the band in a torn edges style - high contrast black and white image and then me and my rival in colour so we stand out to the audience. I have used the contrast of black and white for my digipak as the colours associate with the genre of rock and both the colours effectively contrast well together. The colours also relate to the narrative of my music video. For example, black associating with darkness/sadness which is portrayed at the beginning of the video and white associating with happiness and success which is portrayed at the end of the video.

First draft examples of my magazine advertisement!

Example of photos for print products!

Pictures going to be taken tomorrow for print products!

My magazine advertisement is well on the way to being completed. I just need now to take several pictures of me and my co-star actor, Bethany Simpson so I can use the photos for both the magazine advertisement and Digipak. I am going to take various shots of us back-to-back and from different angles tomorrow night as I have arranged for her to come round my house. When the pictures have being took, on Mondays lesson next week I am going to use the photo on my magazine advertisement and then hopefully have it completed by the end of the week with several feedback off my teacher.

Lost footage has all been shot!

Early friday morning, I and Abbas had to go down to Maiden castle again where the running track is to film little parts to our final race scene as last week we lost some of the footage unexpectedly. The only bits that were lost was when I tripped during the race and where I overtake my competition with winning the race at the end. As these were crucial scenes for the innovation of our music video, we took more shots than we did last week to make sure we have a big choice to choose from. All the filming is finished now and Mr Earl is letting us this week to finish off the editing as he understood how we lost our footage and how slow the adobe premier pro software is as the software unfortunately keeps crashing. Hopefully, this week we wont have any difficulties with using the adobe premier pro.

Photos for magazine advertisement

Unfortunately, the pictures haven't uploaded very clearly onto my blog but you can see from above that me and Abbas have took several photos of the band including many individual photos to help us choose which ones we want to use for our magazine advertisement. As seen at the bottom of the contact sheet, I have cut the few photos to make them look more effective for when I carry out a split screen for my magazine advertisement. As we took a few photos of the band as a group, I and Abbas are drawn to one of them in which we are thinking of using on the back of the digipak. As I have already chosen which individual shots I like of the band members, I am hoping by the end of next week to have a good first draft of my magazine advertisement completed in which I can expect some feedback off my teacher to see if any improvements need to be made. I still now need to take a picture of me and my co-star actor Bethany Simpson because the photos of us are going to be used on the magazine advertisement and the digipak.

Exam entry blog

The project I am doing now at A2 level is a music video followed by a magazine advertisement and digipak. All is going well at the moment and I believe that my work links extremely well to the genre which is rock. Firstly, the song I have chosen is already a well-known rock song around the world so from using this song, everyone will assume immediately that my work and music video will be associated with rock. The song “We are the Champions” is quite a cliché and traditional song. To begin with, I started looking at several music videos that were associated with the genre of rock. I came across a particular video that appealed to me which was Electrobank’s video where they portrayed a narrative story in which personally linked with the lyrics where a girl who was a gymnastic sprained her foot while doing a certain move but still was determined to carry out and finish. This story inspired me and as I knew I was going to be creating an innovative video for the song “We are the champions”, I believed that it would be great to create a traditional narrative story line as the song is traditional so therefore by creating a traditional narrative, the music video and the song would link clearly well.

My music video is more like a short-film instead of a performance music video because I wanted to empathise with the audience instead of creating a subverse video. For example, by creating a traditional narrative, my target audience will be drawn to it as everyone likes to see a simple storyline so they are not immediately confused and asking questions. When I was going through the process of thinking what story to perceive, I began writing down a lot of ideas on a piece of A4 paper. At first, I thought of perhaps linking the song with a music video associated with boxing but as it turned out me and my work partner Abbas thought that it would be too difficult to film as there are not many boxing rings around locally. As a result, we decided to go for the concept of running especially after seeing the rocky race scene. We knew that there were many running tracks around locally for the public to use which was to our advantage and we believed that we could portray a traditional narrative with the concept of running as well as personally linking with the lyrics in the song.

The storyline we finally chose was quite traditional. For example, we decided to have two girls who were highly athletic and were preparing to compete against each other in a race. We wanted to portray the message of that if you don’t succeed at first then try again. We gone through the idea of having the underdog loosing the first race, and then gives up but then is determined to try again so therefore she trains hard and frequent and then eventually wins the race at the end of the video. We believed this narrative would link well with our target audience as the storyline is simple and traditional therefore catching the public’s attention into empathising with the characters in the video.

The way how the lighting is used in my music video such as a black and white contrast for the first race scene, this depicts quite a dark atmosphere which immediately links with the rock genre. As I have not yet completed my digipak or magazine advertisement, I am however strongly thinking of using the colours black and red as these two colours signify rock therefore immediately drawing attention to the rock lovers out there. I have looked at many digipak’s online and in store as well as magazine advertisements. Not many magazine advertisements appealed to me but I did however come across a film poster for “Scott Pilgrim VS the world”. This advertisement is extremely effective as firstly, the colours used are black, red and white which are all the colours I am going to use as they immediately associate with the genre of rock. The way how the characters are all shot in split screen at the top is extraordinary and as a result I am choosing to take individual pictures of my band and then creating a split screen to use on my magazine advertisement.

Also on the film advertisement, are the two main characters standing back-to-back. This is also an idea I would like to use because me and my star actor, Bethany Simpson are the two individuals that race against each other in my music video. I am going to take a picture of me and Bethany standing back-to-back so I can effectively create a successful magazine advertisement. I am planning to create the magazine advertisement in the next couple of weeks as I think this will be quite easy to create. However, I honestly have not thought too deeply about the concepts of my digipak yet. I do know that I am going to have a picture of me and Bethany on the front and a group picture of the band on the back but as far as the booklet and inside lay is concerned, I have not finally decided on what I am going to include in there. Again, I am going to use a colour contrast of black, white and red as I believe these are the most popular and admiring colours as well as clearly linking with the genre of rock.

The target audience our music video is generally aimed at is young individuals aged 16-35 and so on. I think that my work clearly links well with my target audience as firstly, the song is aimed at quite a young audience therefore having an impact on the general community as the song is so greatly well-known. The song “We are the champions is such a traditional song so therefore I will be satisfying my target audience as everyone will be up-to-date with the song therefore having a sudden urge to purchase it. Linking with my music video, I didn’t want to create a subverse video because I believed that it wouldn’t meet my target audience’s needs. I strongly gone ahead with using a cliché and traditional story line as everyone likes a traditional story with a happy ending so therefore my target audience will be satisfied.

My music video strongly associates with the structuralist narrative theory in which therefore an individual is let down at first or does not succeed and then in turn gives up in distraught. However, after the distraught of not being successful, an individual deciding to give it another go by training and etc by winning and becoming successful at the end. My video is clearly associated with the structuralist narrative theory as my storyline portrays exactly what this theory believes in. My music video portrays a story line in which links with one of the greatest songs of all times, “We are the champions” by Queen.

The story links well with the lyrics in the song as the music video is going to portray a story in which links with a race in which two characters who don’t particularly like each other both want to win. Within the first race, we have the blonde girl winning the race whereas the underdog looses. However, after the first race is finished the underdog has doubts and thinks of giving up but is then determined to try again so decides to train frequently in preparation for the next race. At the end of our narrative finish, I the underdog finally wins the race and becomes a champion which related to the title of the song “We are the champions”.

Thinking about representation, my music video clearly portrays the messages that “if you do not succeed at first then try again”. This links with my narrative in which a girl looses the race at first but then tries again with hard-working then at the end it all pays off as she wins the second race and becomes victorious.

Looking at media language, the choices of shots, sounds, mise-en-scene and in which the editing process is going, everything has being chosen carefully to link with the narrative and genre which is rock. As we have filmed two running scenes, the mise-en-scene was chosen carefully as I wanted to make the race look professional so therefore using a clean and respectable running track. When looking around to see which running track to use, I found a perfect one at maiden castle which is located in County Durham. This track was open to the public and by asking the manager, he gave us full permission to use the track to film our media. When we were filming the other part of our footage which had to be inside, we used a bedroom in which shown effectively me coming in after my race in distraught and then looking determined to try again by walking out the house. We deliberately chose to create this as we wanted to video to personally link with the characters so therefore by filming at home, it will personally create an effect for the audience.

When thinking about camera shots, I strongly pointed out to Abbas about the importance of continuity. We decided to take many shots from different angles as this would make the editing process easier which it has. However, the editing of the video is not finished yet but it is going well. Final adjustments just have to be made in order to effectively create a successful and efficient music video. The way in which our video and everything looks at the end will hopefully be successful. The video is nearly finished and looks good so far so therefore the choices I have made have really paid off in helping to create a flourishing music video.

Looking back at the beginning of my AS year, my skills have developed dramatically compared to my previous work. Firstly, my research techniques have improved. For example, at the beginning of my year 12, when beginning my first project which was the exercise project, me and three fellow friends did not do really much planning or research. However, the task didn’t require much research as we were given a script by our teacher to try and memorise. As digital technology and shooting was concerned, I wasn’t very confident at first with how to use the functions on the digital camcorder. It took me a little while to figure out all the functions and how to playback all the footage. When we about to shoot our exercise project, I was one of the actors within the scene and we decided to shoot the scene in the hall on the stage. When we looked back at the footage, we realised the lighting was not very good. As I just started my first project, I didn’t know much about the effects of lighting or where the best place was to shoot. However, the task did help me develop minor skills especially learning the basics of the digital camcorder which was a result.

The next project that I was set in year 12 was a continuity project in which I and one of my friends Bethany decided to work together. We had the choice of what we wanted to do and we chose on a “Chick-flick” short film. As I had already learnt the basics of the digital camcorder it was easier and quicker to film. As I was acting in our continuity project, I was able to use my acting skills which I personally think is one of my talents as I enjoy thoroughly getting into character and playing different roles. All the filming and shooting went really well and I advised Beth who was filming to take many shots and close-ups as well as shot/reverse shots which were mainly focused on when she was filming the scene in which I was getting told off by a teacher from my bad behaviour of fighting with another student in the corridor.

The main struggle for me after filming the continuity project was the editing process which I found extremely difficult as I was a beginner. In the process of editing the continuity project, I needed a lot of assistant from my media teacher and even after the project’s editing was finished, I still didn’t feel highly confident with the functions and how to use the editing software effectively. However, as I did gain a little bit of knowledge about the editing software, it made it slightly easier when filming my final AS project which was to create a short-film. Again, I worked with my friend Bethany Stone and we both chose to film a short horror film in which I become stalked and chased and eventually tied up in a cellar. As I had completed both the exercise and continuity project before, my skills had improved rapidly so therefore my focus was to do several planning and bits of research to help us prepare for filming.

I looked at several text books and researched on the internet and found out lots of information about how horror films should be shot and which draws in the audience. The information I found was extremely useful and by the end of year 12 I knew the full importance of planning and research because I understood without any planning or research, then the overall project could fail and not benefit as much as without any planning, then everything could go behind schedule and not as much understanding would go into the project. As digital technology was concerned both I and Bethany were well equipped with the understanding of the functions of the camcorder so this made everything much easier. I also knew the importance of location scouting when filming and how important the lighting was.

As we were filming a chase scene as part of our final AS project, I begun looking at some local forests around to see which one would look most efficient in our video. However, we did have a lot of time free in lessons at school so I decided to film at school near the track as it was most convenient and looked really efficient when filming there. There are many things that need to be taken into consideration when thinking of where to shoot, and how many shots to take and also the mise-en-scene and what to wear and etc. As I had already had a year experience of thinking about the whole process of preparing for filming, over the year from previous projects I think I have made a huge improvement in all editing and acting skills especially as well as becoming highly confident with finding places to shoots and how to use digital technology to its full use.

My planning and organisation skills have also rapidly improved as now I fully understand the importance of planning and organisation that needs to be put into a project. My final as project achieved an overall B grade which I was highly please with as I put a lot of work into the project. I now have a copy of the film on disk so I can watch it whenever I want and see in what I have improved in.

Referring to my current final A2 piece now, I can see by looking back at my previous projects that my skills and techniques have rapidly improved. For example, my planning/organisation, research, digital technology and shooting have improved. As I was so pleased with my final project at AS level, I felt highly confident from the start of year 13 that I would be able to again create a work of art that will hopefully gain a grade B again with all the hard work I have put in so far. Working on my current project this year at A2 level, I have alternatively, even though my skills have improved, experienced a few interferences with shooting. For example, the weather was a main concern as all throughout the middle to the end of December and beginning of January, the weather was treacherous as the North-East had heaps of snow in which was 6ft deep so therefore our filming could not take place as most of our filming was to be shot outside.

However, the problem has just been recently resolved as the snow had stopped so my filming took place last week. Apart from that, my experiences this year filming has been adventurous and extremely exciting. I was able to choose who to work with this year and I chose to work with one of my good friends, Abbas. We both were interested in the same song and same concept of genre which is rock. When planning what to do for the video and which storyline to take on we both had similar ideas so we were able to work extremely well. As of now, my current project is still being completed with a little more of the editing process to be completed as well as extra footage if needed too. However, so far the whole project is looking really efficient and I am pleased with all the hard work I have put into this project because I strongly feel that this piece of work is up to a good standard in which I’m hoping by the end of it to achieve a well rewarded grade.

Today when Abbas uploaded the footage onto adobe premier, some of the footage that he shot yesterday has gone missing which is so unfortunate as we got everything perfectly shot on the day. We have told our media teacher about the issue and he says that we can hand it a rough cut of our music video on friday and then when we have our feedback we will go and film the other bits that are missing next week. At the minute, I am going to focus on completing my exam entry blog which Im hoping to have completed by the end of mondays lessons before starting to complete the final draft of my magazine advertisement.

Final race scene filmed today!

Today has been very successful as we have filmed the final race scene which will be implemented within mine and Abbas's music video. Early this morning just before 8 o'clock, Abbas picked me up from my house and then picked up Beth. He then took us all down to Maiden Castle where the running track is located and when we got there i quickly got changed into my sportswear. Abbas took several shots from different angles when filming the race scene which will hopefully make our music video look more effective. In this race scene we filmed today, I was the one that won. In the first race, I didnt win but as you will see in the music video, there will be several cuts to me training and preparing for the next race. As part of our narrative storyline at the end of the music video I become victorious. We have now got all our footage for the music video. What is left now, is final changes to editing as Sir wants us to have a fine cut ready for the end of friday.

More shooting tomorrow morning!

Yesterday after school, when we arrived at Maiden Castle it was too dark to shoot. Even though there was a light shining on the track, you couldnt see any movement in the lens of the camera. We now have arranged to go back to Maiden Castle tomorrow morning at 9 O'clock as both me and Abbas have a free period therefore we won't be missing any school. Also, by shooting in the morning it will be light so therefore our shooting will be able to go ahead. Another advantage of shooting tomorrow morning is that our star actor, Bethany Simpson is also free tomorrow morning as she doesnt start work till 10 so therefore that gives us an hour for Abbas to shoot the final race scene. As we couldnt film the final race scene yesterday after school, we still were able to film another part of our footage which was shot in a close friend's bedroom. All the shooting went to plan and we now feel that it will look effective when implemented within our music video. The footage that we shot yesterday will be implemented within the video just after the first race scene where I am upset of the distraught of loosing the race and the second part of the footage will be implemented just before the second and final race where I decided not to give up and try again with hard, frequent training.

Final shooting changed to Monday!

Unfortunately, when I and Abbas arrived at Maiden Castle yesterday lunch time, the track was unbelievably full so there was no room at all on the race track for us to film. The manager advised us to come back tomorrow which is monday in the afternoon as the track is supposed to be quiet. I have just been on the phone now to Abbas and after school tomorrow at 20 past 3, we are going to film our final footage of the race scene. We expect the filming to take about an hour the most depending on how the shooting goes. As Abbas drives, he is going to pick up and take us all down to Maiden Castle so we can begin shooting just before 4 before it gets dark. We just hope now that overnight there is no snow because last night the snow came down pretty heavy. After the shooting tomorrow, Abbas is then going to take a few photos of me and Bethany standing back-to-back because I am planning to use them for both the Digipak and Magazine advertisement. Also tomorrow night we are going to film another part for the innovation of our music video in one of my friends house called Sophie Balfour. She said we can use her room to film another part of our footage which will be me when coming home after the first race throwing a stop by throwing my trainers in the bin. This part of the footage will be implemented in the video after the first race scene. We are also going to film another part of footage which will be used before the final race scene where I take my trainers out of the bin and decide to try again while feeling extremely motivated to win.

Booked camera and tripod for saturday!

Just this minute I've been to see Mrs Gibson who is head of Media Studies. I asked her if I could book the tripod and camera out for the weekend to shoot and she said I could go and collect it from her at break-time tomorrow. All is good and set for Saturday now. Mr Earl expressed before that we need to have a rough cut of our video by the end of this week so after the shooting is finished me and Abbas are going to have to knuckle down and make sure all editing is finished by the end of next week so Sir can see an example of our piece. Some more good news is that me and Abbas asked our band for permission whether we could take photos of them for our print products and they said yes. Half an hour ago, me and Abbas took some example shots on his camera just to see whether the lighting in the room was suitable. Abbas took a photo of me against the white board in B17. Looking at the photo, it looks extremely effective. Now we know that it works well, one day next week we are going to take a single shot of each member of the band against the wide background in B17. The reason why we are going to do this so that we can split screen the band and use the pictures for our magazine advertisement. On the day we are also going to take a group picture of the band because we are thinking of using a group picture for the back of our digipak.

Shooting planned for saturday!

Good news is that I contacted Bethany yesterday, one of our star actors and she is available for shooting on saturday as she has the day off work. This is great news for me and Abbas as we haven't being able to shoot the rest of our footage for a long period of time due to the horrendous weather conditions and also work comittments with our actors. I and Abbas have arranged to meet up at Maiden Castle at 12 to begin shooting in the broad daylight. We believe the race scene could take a while to shoot but we are going to make sure we get the final race scene shot on the day so we can begin editing immediately. We are using the same location as when the first race scene was shot as we beleive the running track located at Maiden Castle looks the most accurate and professional.

As I have explained in my recent blog, I want to have a split screen of our band which will be used for both the magazine advertisement and Digipak. Above, this is an exact example of what I want my magazine advertisement to look like. For example, I am going to take a picture of me and Bethany back-to-back which will be displayed on the advertisement and then above have individual shots of the band members in split screen just as shown above. I am also going to use the colours black, white and red because I beleive these colours contrast well together and fit nicely with the genre we are portraying which is rock.

Today is the first day back at school and unfortunatley I have being extremely ill the past few weeks with catching the flu so I haven't being able to do as much research and planning as I had hoped. I tried to access my blog last week but my internet kept crashing so ufortunately I had to wait till now to leave another blog. Alternatively, next week I have alot that I am planning to get done. Firstly, I am going to take a couple of photos of me and my friend, also actor in my video Bethany Simpson. The couple of photos I take of us two standing back to back will be used on the front cover of the Digipak and also will be placed within the magazine advertisement. Me and Abbas in the next week are also going to get in touch with our band and see if we can get permission of taking a photo of them because I have the idea of using a split screen of each member of the band which will be used on both print products including the digipak and the magazine advertisement. Additionally, as the weather before was intefering with our shooting, the weather is now suitable for us to film the final parts of our video. We are thinking of filming the rest of our footage this weekend but due to work committment, my star actor, Bethany Simpson works full-time so I am going to contact her tonight to see which days she is free to shoot. There is quite a lot that I and Abbas need to do so these next couple of weeks are crucial but I honestly beleive that everything will go to plan!