FINALE BLOG

"Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn. They teach you there’s a boundary line to music. But, man, there’s no boundary line to art."
Charlie Parker

I believe that the pop video we created of ‘Ta Douleur’ by Camille reflects this quote perfectly. We showed that there are in fact no limits or boundaries to pop videos, through the use of jump cuts, discontinuity, bright colours, and the abstract performance of both artists. It appears that the artist is expressing her true thoughts on a distracting situation through her lyrics and movements, and with the help of a camera, we tried to give truth to what the famous saxophonist stated.

There weren’t any technical problems that we encountered during our process of making the pop video. It was an enjoyable experience, although at times it was difficult, I learnt alot about pre-production, green screen and layering, as well as other aspect to contribute to pop videos, like Negus’ conventions, which we tried to imitate and subvert throughout the video.

If I were to do this process again, I may have changed the song, for a more upbeat song; therefore I could incorporate more dance, and therefore short and sharp shots, which can be more enjoyable to watch. It would, however, like to keep a French song, as I like the dynamic and how it meant the visual aspects of the video were far more important, due to the lyrics being unknown to much of the audience.

I felt that the two artists, Ruby and Lukas, were particularly successful in their work. They both were talented, Ruby in that she worked great of camera, and was a fantastic dancer, similarly, Lukas, whose talent on the trapeze meant we could incorporate something very unique into our video. The use of colour, in the set, make up and the costumes worked well, as it heightened the abstract world that we were trying to create, and it made the whole atmosphere brighter.

Overall, the process was a great experience, and I enjoyed working with practising film makers to make the pop video, and I felt that it was a success in that it was interesting to watch, talented in form of editing and filming, and enjoyable to make.

DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY - AUDIO RECORDING

We wrote a ‘directors commentary’ which was analyzing the pop video and talking about the concept, message and elements of that pop video that were most important. We recorded ourselves talking about the pop video, whilst also watching the video on screen in front of us.

Here it is attached:

BLOG TASK THREE: WHAT I LEARNT FROM MY AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

To assess audience feedback we took data from various sources – You Tube, a focus Group, our peers and our family. I tried to use open questions throughout so that the focus group we asked questions to were able to answer easier as they had little restrictions on what they could say. Having collected a variety of feedback for our pop video and ancillary products from members of the target audience, and from other audience demographics – via You Tube, a Focus Group and Questionnaire, and other sources, I looked to answer questions about my pop video and therefore get the best feedback possible.

Our target audience was quite particular, due to the song being in French; it was inevitable that only a small niche audience would be interested in the song and the band. However, the Jictar audience would be ABC, A consisting of well educated and wealthy people; B being less educated but still wealthy; and finally C being the wealthy people. As the song is about a woman, and the main artist is also a woman, it was more likely that females would be interested in the product, although males could too as she is an aesthetically pleasing woman. The message behind the song could relate to many women, as it is about a woman being cheated on, and therefore then trying to make herself happy and proving that she is in fact an independent woman. The age range of the target audience would be 16-25, this is due to the content being explored, as well as the bright costumes and set of the pop video, which is visually pleasing and entertaining, therefore this age range would not only appreciate what is being explored, but also the visual beauty of the song. The target audience would most likely be quite intelligent and have a high education to understand the jump cuts of the video, however, because the pop video is largely visual, it could be possible for any level of education to appreciate it on different levels, because they can enjoy the colours without necessarily understanding the concept. The aspiration that would be connected with the pop video are that of the artistic world, as a surreal world is created, artists would appreciate the set design and also the costume.

Unfortunately, the pop video was only on You Tube for two days, this is due to the production company who had its copyright took it down off the internet. However, in that short space of time, the video had 23 hits, and 2 good comments. It was unlucky that the pop video did not get to stay up on You Tube, as while it was up there is was quite well liked, as it got alot of hits in a short space of time. Also, the comments that could have been written would have been useful in understand the success or failure of the pop video, and therefore could have contributed to what I learnt from audience feedback.

We organised a focus group of sixteen teenagers, nine boys and seven girls. They were between the ages of 16-18, which is inside our target audience; therefore this was good in finding out what our target audience would have thought of the video. In our focus group discussion, we wanted to find out, primarily, whether they enjoyed it, if they understood the message, how they feel the artist was represented and if they were stars in the making. We did this using open questions; therefore they could expand without being restricted to closed question. Our questions were as followed:

1. What did you think of it?

2. What message did you get from it?

3. How is the artist portrayed/shown/represented?

4. Is there a journey? What does this story tell you?

5. What did you think of their performance?

6. Do you feel they are stars in the making? If so why?

7. Has it got a serious message about anything? Does it address any serious

issues? For example, men or women, and love?

8. Were you entertained throughout?

9. Did you learn anything or was it too confusing?

10. Do you feel connected with any of the characters?

11. Do you feel that we successfully got our ideas across?

12. How do you think we could improve it?

We wanted to create open questions, and ask easy ones so that the focus group could understand what was being asked of them. However, through the questions, theories were being explored, for example, question 6 about stars, is relating to Richard Dyer, and whether they potential stars. Also, question 8 is relating to Blumler and Katz and their theory of ‘uses of gratifications,’ which the focus group may not have been aware of, but we were able to get information that was useful in relation to theorists aswell.

The purpose of the questions was to find out information; however, it is different to a questionnaire. A questionnaire is when closed questions are asked, and therefore the answer can be straight forward and simple, simply answering the question. However, the focus group questions were open so that they could expand on their answer.

The focus group had similar reactions, partly due to them being of similar age and experience, and also as they are in a comfortable environment they share alot of their opinions. The entire focus group enjoyed the pop video, and their answer to the first question was similar it that they “enjoyed it” and “it was different and original.” This was positive feedback and exactly what we wanted to achieve, as they realised that it wasn’t a usual pop video but had strange elements to it, and the world created was “surreal” and “ethereal” which is what others said aswell. However, a down side to the focus group feedback was that they were unable to connect with the artists and understand the message because it was in French. We knew this was the case when choosing to do the song, however, one student, a male expressed that he felt the message behind the song was that it was exploring that “traditional role of the male worker can now be done by women,” he believed this

through the ladder sequence when the male artist climbed up the ladder, and the female came down. Therefore he thought that the message was about female empowerment, and consequently the independence of women. Most enjoyed the variety throughout the video, although some said it was “a bit random,” I felt this was something that we were trying to achieve because the artist is scrambling at ideas to entertain herself and make herself happy.

The two artists were a success with the focus group. They enjoyed their performance and thought they acted well and a clear bond between the two was shown. However, they felt that they could only be stars for a limited audience, as the genre of the song, and it being in French is quite particular to a niche audience.

Although the target audience is between sixteen and twenty-five, I showed it to my family to seek their approval and get a reaction. They enjoyed the bright colours of the costume, set design and generally brightness and happiness of the entire video. Whilst in the editing process, people were able to see us putting rushes together and therefore seeing our journey from the beginning to the end product. They felt that the concept was interesting, and the use of colour grading, green screen and layering added to the surreal world, and that it was a hard video to pull off, but felt we successfully did that.

The theorists Blumler and Katz had a theory of ‘uses and gratifications.’ They identified four separate outcomes that an audience can get from watching a media product. The first being diversion, the ability to escape from everyday life and enter into the world created. This was successfully done in our pop video; the abstract and uniqueness of the video meant that people could suspend their disbelief that the discontinuity could not be possible, and could fully embrace and enjoy what they were seeing. Secondly, Blumler and Katz said audiences can get personal identity from watching something, therefore relating to the characters, also personal relationships, finding and appreciating the relationships shown on the screen. This is true for our pop video as the focus group felt there was a clear bond between the two artists, which make them enjoy it further. Finally, information can be extracted through media products, in the form of surveillance, however, in the case of a pop video; we were unable to gain that gratification.

Stuart Hall has a theory of encoding and decoding. He argues that a media text will be created with a preferred meaning, which is the message that the producer is trying to send to the audience. In this pop video, the preferred meaning being sent in our pop video was that women can be self contained, independent, happy individuals who enjoy life .This is shown through a series of close ups and mid shots with discontinuity editing and coloured layering.

Hall says that the audience may give the media text one of three interpretations. The audience may accept the preferred meaning with a preferred reading; some of the focus group got, although they knew it was about happiness, but not necessary the exact message we were trying to achieve. However, they may negotiate a slightly different meaning of their own, for example, that the artist actually appears slightly mad and irrational and therefore not independent. Finally, they could completely disagree with the preferred meaning, and therefore have an oppositional reading. However, this is almost not possible for the pop video as they cannot completely disagree with what is being shown in front of them because it is clear that it is a happy, entertaining video, which everyone, from the focus group to friends and family agreed with.

To conclude, the focus group felt that the pop video was successful and they enjoyed it; they thought that much should be kept the same, especially the strangeness of the fictional world, and the bright colours and costumes. However, alot of them felt that they could have enjoyed it more if people were not “coming in and out of the cinema seats” as they felt it was “distracting.” The main
downside to the pop video was that it was in French, and therefore the message could not be completely understood, however, we knew this was the case when choosing this song.

A POWERPOINT PRESENTATION TO EXPLORE HOW EFFECTIVE THE COMBINATION OF MY MAIN PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY TEXTS IS

Each of my products - the pop video, the magazine advert and the digipack cover - are designed to work together in energetic synergy to sell the singer and her song, the brand and the image on an ongoing basis. To do this, we wanted to create one image that would dominate each product.

The theory of Stardom from Richard Dyer, the ideas of Carlsson and the ideas of Levi-Strauss relating to universal myths all helped to create the image. Levi-Strauss especially is useful as we tried to explore themes that we touch the audience intellectually and emotionally.

Once we had our aims in mind, from these theories we moved to using film making in the pop video, design in the digipack, and illustration in the magazine advert to communicate our message as strongly as we could. The powerpoint explains our thinking as we went.

THE CREATION OF MY MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENT FOR MY POP VIDEO

When creating the magazine advert, I wanted to convey the eccentric, wild aspects of the band, whilst keeping it simple so the audience can connote elements without being bombarded with images. Also, if the image only took up a small amount of space, there would be room for the details of tour dates, and the name of the album and band, which is vital information needed for the poster. The main purpose of the poster is to see the band and give information of the tour.

I thought it would be most effective to use a photo that had also been used in the digipack, therefore the audience could relate to what they have previously seen. In order not to be too repetitive though, I used a photo from the montage, therefore in the digipack it is only small. I was trying to create an image that the artist was eccentric, unique and unusual. I did this by using a photo of Ruby, the artist, being carried by Lukas, the other band member, on the trapezium, wearing a black feathery dress. I cropped the image from the photo of them on the trapezium, using Adobe PhotoShop. The artist also looks aesthetically pleasing, especially with her looking down as she appears modest. This is placed on the right hand side in order to create space for the information needed for the poster.

The name of the artist ‘Marie’ is placed on the left hand side in big writing, with a clear and attractive font so that it is easy to write.
Furthermore, the name of the album ‘le fruit defendu’ is placed underneath the artist’s name.

The tour dates are in the centre at the bottom of the poster. Aswell as the image, an audience immediate attention will be drawn to the tour dates, which is the most important information needed for the poster. The prices of tickets is also available on the poster, and the venues of where they will be held; all the information needed is shown on the poster, which is the purpose for it.

I used an effect on the photo that made it look slightly old and washed out. This consequently made it look like a circus advertisement, which is good for the concept of the band image that I was aiming for.

THE CREATION OF MY DIGIPACK COVER

When creating the digipack cover, I looked over the photos that were taken of the shoot day to be the front cover, back cover, and the inside left and right. I wanted to use photos of the day because they would be better quality than using screen grabs of the pop video taken from Youtube.

I was trying to create an image of the artist and her band member to be eccentric and wild. The song itself is unique and unusual and this is reinforced by the characteristics and performance from both the artists. Due to the use of jump cuts, costume and the mise en scene, the initial look of the pop video is loud and indifferent; therefore I felt the digipack cover should reflect this. With the concept of semiology in mind, I wanted the audience to denote what they see in front of them, but also connote hidden aspect that would reinforce the brand image of the band.

The front cover is simple and stylish which gives the audience an initial attraction to the CD. It is a close up of the artist’s face with a feather bower around her neck, in black and white, with the eyes and eye lashes in bright colour. On the shoot day, we got the artist to wear sparkly, bright fake eye lashes that were a mixture of red, yellow and orange. Although I changed the photo into black and white, I wanted to capture the eccentric eyes so on ‘Adobe Photo Shop’ I used two layers and rubbed out the black layer to reveal the coloured eyes. I felt this would be effective because the eyes are sometimes known as a ‘mirror to the soul,’ therefore if the artist’s eyes are bright and strange, in comparison to the rest of the photo, the audience will connote that she is unusual, wild and a slight rebel just by the colour in her eyes. The title of the album is written near her mouth, it reads “le fruit defendu,” which means the forbidden fruit. I purposely placed it near the mouth to show that although it is forbidden, the audience could connote that as it is by her mouth, she is consuming it anyway; again suggesting she is wild and has her own rules. Her artist name of ‘Marie’ is also written slightly higher than the album title, to show its importance over it. The font of both words are the same, and are slightly tilted to one side, therefore they are aesthetically pleasing, and appealing to an audience.

The back cover is of the cinema seats against the green screen which we edited into black. I colour graded the cinema seats so the red looked richer and more vibrant, especially against the black background. The track listings are in a easy font to read, and placed in the centre of the photo, to make it look tidier, and they are white to stand out against the black. The bar code and music company details are at the bottom right of the photo, therefore not taking attention away from the track listing.

After doing the front and back cover which are simple, I wanted the inside covers to be louder and more exciting. I felt this should be done to suggest on the surface the artists can appear simple, but once you look at them perform, or listen to their music, they are unlike other bands. The inside left cover has a picture of Lukas, the band member, in an orange jump suit with a bright umbrella hat, sitting on a bike. The audience can denote this as it is plain to see in front of them, however, they could connote that the artist’s ‘side kick’ is just as eccentric as the artist, and therefore together they are an exciting band. He is placed on the left hand side of the photo, therefore the stage, with the paint splattered everywhere, is perfectly visible. This meant that with the free space, I could put the lyrics to the main song “Ta Douleur’ on the right hand side. The font is easy to read and is in black to contrast against the brightly coloured set. Lukas’ facial expression look inviting and welcoming, therefore the audience can connote that they are a friendly band.

Finally, the inside left cover is a montage of nine different photos of the shoot day. Each photo is slightly linked to another, for example, the diagonal three from left to right are of Ruby on the swing, and the middle left and right photos are of Felix. The actual CD will be covering this photo, therefore when someone removes it, it will reveal the unique montage of photos, which the audience could connote as exposing their true self, which is unusual, loud and eccentric.