Gaining Permission

 

I left out this stage of my email to Def Jam records, which is vital as i am enquiring to use the song 'Pour it up' for my music video. Here is proof that i have emailed them and what i have written. This confirms that i have asked for there permission and have gone about it in the correct, legal way as if i was to leave it they could sue me for copyright and for using there song without consent.

Final Products

Magazine Advertisment




CD Cover



Album Ring



Insert in my album



Back of my album



Album Spine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qLHLv6MYQk

Link to my final video

Evaluation

QUESTION 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY2NWn_PrXA

QUESTION 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypTC5RIdPfE&feature=youtu.be

QUESTION 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF9b50DbrbY&feature=youtu.be

Questions 1-3 I completed 3 separate multimedia slideshows with my voice narrating in the background. By doing this it has shown my knowledge and skills within the computer and the software's on it. I provided images, evidence and clips of Grace to compliment what I was saying in the background and this created an evaluation using media platforms and I then could publish my slideshows which I created on windows moviemaker onto YouTube.
For the last question I wanted to show my writing skills and attention to detail, so I have simply decided to answer this question in essay form so I show a range of skills instead of presenting them all in the same way. I have been creative in the past 3 questions so I am now going back to basic with writing out my answer in the structure of an essay.


QUESTION 4
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

For my main product I choose to create a music video, and straight away I already knew that I wanted to use my cousin Grace to feature in it, she's very unique, outgoing and independent and I wanted to create her into a feisty pop artist. I researched various music artists and watched tons of existing music videos, to give me inspiration and ideas of what song to choose and how to initially create my own music video. Eventually the song I had selected was Rihanna's 'Pour It Up' its a fast paced, loud and edgy song that would fit Graces identity and be a modern and suitable song to use. During the construction stage the first thing I needed to do was to film and take some photos to give me something to work with and begin putting it together. I used my Nikon D3100 which is a very high-tech camera and video recording device that shoots in HD (1080p) and holds 64GB of memory and the quality is very clear and professional. I am also very familiar with this camera as I use it for my own personal use so I could get straight to filming without any complications. It was very easy to use and that allowed me to shoot from various angles and capture different shots as I was capable of using the video camera and could play around and see what worked and what didn't. I also used a tripod which meant that I could balance the camera and secure it on to the tripod and move it around so it would be straight and wouldn't shake from myself holding it. I also used my Nikon camera for my ancillary tasks as well as it could take clear images that would not be pixelated and blurry and it was easy to transport them on to my computer. The Nikon camera also held a lot of memory so I wouldn't have to worry about it not having enough storage space for all the photos and clips of filming I had taken.
To edit my images I used photo shop, this software allowed me to put different effects on to my photos and change the color of them as well. I could change the photo into sepia, black and white or transparent and even crop out any unnecessary background objects and blur out imperfections. Photoshop allowed me to make my images look professional and allowed me to crop, color and add in text and this is how I made my magazine advertisement and digipak. For my magazine advertisement I added an image of the chained wire fence on to my original image and added an extra effect on top of it, to emphasis the wire and I placed it on top of Graces face so it faded in and made it look like the wire was on her face. I felt like this looked very effective and created an illusion when looking at the image.
To put my video clips together I used premiere pro, which is a software for video clips, it allowed me to put them together and to also crop them down. Although I found it very complicated to use and often would have to wait a long while for my clips to render and load. Once I had finally put them together I moved on to Windows movie maker.
 To edit my filming clips I used Microsoft moviemaker and this is what allowed me to add in my transition clips, and helped me to crop the clips if they were to long and I could also put effects on the clips as well, such as slowing them down or speeding them up to fit in with the lip syncing. For example I used this effect as in the song 'Bands make your girl go down' I had Grace standing away from the camera raising her hands in the air this connotes her 'rebel attitude' and that she does what she wants' in the original clip the shot happened quite fast but by editing it on moviemaker it allowed me to slow it down so the clip was emphasized and noticed and it fitted in with the lyrics in the song. This software was much easier to use compared to premiere pro and i had no trouble with it at all.
Everything that I did I would post on blogger, and this showed the process from beginning to end and my thoughts along the way, it also shows my media product being created and the changes I made along the way.
I used YouTube for the construction and research of my product, before and whilst making it I used it to view different music videos and compare others to my one. I also looked at Rihanna's music videos and used conventions from hers and added them into mine, for example Rihanna constantly has close up shots of her facial expressions which convey her emotions and make her videos more appealing to watch as its a story as well as a video and that is exactly what I wanted to do in my video. For the construction I uploaded my music video on to YouTube, every draft I created I would upload and gather research from my target audience. Without YouTube I wouldn't be able to upload it online for anyone to see and it enabled me to show it to family members and friends.
To gather some more information about my artist I used 'Wikipedia' so I could research and gain some knowledge about her background and her likes and dislikes. Although Wikipedia can be deemed as unreliable, I also looked at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1982597/bio which is a celebrity/music artist profile website with all necessary information available, this is a reliable website and I also looked at this to influence my artist Grace and helped me with how to dress and style her, and how she should act. I also looked at Google images, which sourced me with tons of images and showed me all of Rihanna's previous looks, and showed me the type of clothes she wears.
For my evaluation Questions 1-3 I wrote up what I was going to say on Microsoft Word so I had a plan and so when I was recording myself I wouldn't stutter and think about what I needed to say. I recorded my voice on my Iphone, it was a simple, easy and effective way to record my voice and I could easily import it on to my computer by my Iphone USB wire. I used moviemaker where I then imported the voice clips and then added, video clips on mute, images and text to have a visual effect along with my narration in the background.
For the last question of the evaluation I wrote out everything on to blogger, which was a more simple way compared to the other more complex way.

The process of my magazine

 

 

Image A

 

Image B

 

 

 

Here is my feedback chart from a group of girls in my target audience range. I asked them to choose a photo for me to go on the front of my magazine advertisment, and 70 per cent of them choose image A which i was happy with because this is the image that i knew i could get more out of because its a close up shot and theres not as much going on in the background. Where as Image B there is a lot of field and space and that would distract peoples attention and they would look at whats going on when i want all the focus to be on Grace. I collected my results in a pie chart so it was a clear and easy way to see how the vote was more for Image A and not many girls wanted Image B, i decided to go with the popular vote as i feel like i can also work more with the image, and alot of magazine advertisments Rihanna is in, a close up shot is normally what you see.

 

Here is an advertisment with Rihanna on, she is looking directly into the camera, exactly like Grace and she is in the centre of the photo so the main focus is instantly attracted to her, and that is what i want to happen to Grace. I feel confident that my choosen photo will enable me to produce a sucessful advertisment.

 

Here was my first draft of the image i was planning to use for my magazine advert, I created a template and cropped the image so that it fit into the correct dimension, i then added some chained wire at the bottom of the image to make it look edgy and unique and then decided that i liked this effect and placed it further up her face and added a 'linear' light effect on photo shop to give the defining look it gives to the chained wire on Graces faces. It blends in to her skin which makes the image look very powerful and relates hugely to the music video and digipak album. She looks dangerous and fierce and the chained wire connotes this further. I also blurred out the background so it is still visible, but the main focus is on her. Her clothing and red lipstick is also clear and you can still see it. It looks like 'Her danger is coming to life' as she looks slightly evil and mischevious. I now need to add font and some more information on to it, to make it look like a professional magazine advertisment.

 

 

 

 

This is my finished magazine advertisment, it is the original photo from above, but with the text added to it. I included her name at the top of the page, with a blurred effect so it looks as if her name is melting into the background, this shows her power and independence. I tried to create it as though she is so feisty and powerful she is melting her own name above her and this helps to link to the colour red which connotes to danger and is used consistently throughout all of my media products along with black. I have also included her facebook name and twitter address so her fans can contact her and recieve the latest updates. Along with her album cover, to inform fans what it looks like and to let them know her album is out now! Many magazine advertisments are quite basic and sometimes i believe that less is more and i feel that the photograph is powerful and eyecatching enough and will draw attention to it instantly so lots of text would overpower the advert and would block out the effectivness of the image.  

 

 

Finishing Parts Of My CD

 

 

Here is the front of my album cover, i am very pleased with the outcome and i believe it looks professional and unique. I asked some students for there opinion and what they thought of the image. ' I really like the lips and i think its clever that you have added them into her name' ' i like the forest background, i think it looks edgy and scary' ' it looks realistic because of the parental sign at the side, thats what i have on my albums at home. These were some of the comments i receieved from the girls, i was pleasently surprised with how they reacted and was thrilled that they recognised the parental advisory sign and apperciated the lips in her name because they are actually Graces real lips that i have edited and placed there.

Although there has been an issue with the dimension of this image and i need to create it again and add copy and paste everything on to it as its rectanglar and i need to make it a realistic size of an actual cd.

 

Here is my final Front cover of my CD, i changed the dimension and made the frame in the shape of a square so it is a realistic CD size, this took a while but eventually i got there. I then copied and pasted my text and images on to the background and replaced them suitably around the photo. I slightly changed them as the photo is now smaller, i asked the same girls what they thought of the newer, most professional edition and they said 'It looks much more like a CD cover now, i did think the other one looked to big' and another girl said ' I prefer it now because theres not so much going on in the background so i can focus more on her and what she is doing'. This was nice to hear that my changes have been appreciated and my target audience believe that it looks real.

 

 

Here is my album ring which I have created and will go inside my case, I chose this image because it is a great close up shot of Grace and looks edgy and fits in with her whole image, it also looks very effective being placed in the circle frame. Her mouth piercing and ear piercings are also on show and these run through consistently throughout my music video and in my shots I have tried to include them where possible to compliment her style and also the chained wire in the background was a necessity for me to ensure was involved as this has appeared regularly throughout the video and on the album, also her signature chain is also in the shot. My target audience feedback came back mostly positive except for one small issue that I did not wish to change as I wanted to stick to my plan. 2 girls said I should change it so it is in colour, but my initial plan from the beginning was to have the inside of my album in black and white and the outside of it in colour, im sure my target audience will forgive me for keeping one small element the same and other then that the feedback was all positive mentioning how her facial expressions are 'fiesty' and that is the exact message I wanted to perceive. The dimension of my album ring was the correct size so I didn't have to change it.  

 

 

For my insert, i didnt want to stay to the conventions and just print the song lyrics on the photo so i decided, to make it look edgy by putting the song name across the photo of Grace sticking her tongue out, you can still see the image it just adds a hint of Grace to it. I asked some girls in my class what they thought of it and they liked that the image was in black and white and you can still see her tongue piercing and gold chain, so her image and style is still clear and visible even though the font is over the top of it. Its very iconic and eye catching, and stands out and will match the other inside compartment which is the album ring above. My aim was to make the inside parts in black and white and the front and back covers to be in colour to attract the audiences attention and then when they open it they will feel Graces deep, dark, dangerous attuitude and her face is very recognisable so i felt it was important to include photos of her in every part of the Digipak so it was obviously Graces with her music on. Even though the insert is quite basic it advertises her song clearly and fits in with the theme and my music video.

 

With this image i had the same problem as the front cover, and that was the dimensions are out and not in the correct size, for this i would need to do the same as before and create a new template, crop my photo down and copy and paste my text and images on to the new template. This shouldnt take to long, but i dont want to challenge the conventions so in that case i have to ensure that all parts of my digipak album are the correct size and all are the same length and width so they look professional and could be a made into a real lifesize creation.

I kept the image in colour, to match the front cover and included her twitter and facebook accounts for fans to keep in touch with what she is doing. I also kept consistent to the font colours and put grey around the red writing so it blends and matches to the chained wire. The red font also compliments her red lips and the chain is also visible through the chained wire. I also included the producers names and websites with her music on as this looks very professional and this information is realistically avaliable on real CD covers.

 

Here is my spine i have created, it is very basic and i have kept the consistency flowing by keeping the colours red and black and have used the same font throughout the whole CD digipak. I have included the name of the album which is 'Pour it up' and her name which is 'Grace' with the album sort code which would be her intials, and then a set of numbers which represent her album. It keeps to the theme of my whole album throughout and i didnt want to make it to complicated and fussy because many spines i researched were just basic and had plain colours which shows i was keeping to conventions and not going against them.

 

 

 

 

As my old draft of the back of my digipack CD was the wrong dimension, i had to change the size and some of the things on it. As my old one had 10 songs on it, i tried putting that amount on my new one and it was way to cramped, so i halved it and placed 5 on to it. Although a normal album has 8/9 tracks, i decided to challenge the conventions and my album will be a 'special edition' copy with less songs on. Artists such as Justin Timberlake and Rita Ora have done this, and fans still buy it, i have kept everything else the same except removed the twitter logo, because fans can follow her twitter via her facebook page, so i decided to remove it. I have kept the executive producers names at the bottom and the barcode is also still at the bottom.

 

Feedback of my Final video

Throughout the whole process i have showed my video to my target audience to get there views and ideas on how to improve it.
The first draft i made the feedback i recieved was that
. The lip syncing was completley out of time 
. Some of the clips were to long and blurry
. There was some spaces between clips that needed to be filled in
. And there was to much of her sticking her tongue out.
There also were some postives.
. Her clothes were suitable and fit her personality
. The locations were nice and varied
. The camera angles were good and interesting to watch
After this my aim was to fix the problems and things that my target audience didnt like.

I cut out some of the clips with her tongue sticking out and filmed some more and replaced them with her doing different things some as singing and doing different hand gestures and singing to the camera.
The clips that were to long i cut down so they were shorter and the blurry ones i also cut out.
The spaces that were between the clips i filled with my clips! And the lip syncing i fixed by slowing down the clips so they matched the song.

The second draft i showed to my target audience i receieved the following.
. Some of the lip syncing still needs fixing
. Transistions need to be added
. And its a bit jolty at points throughout.
I was happy with this and determined to fix it as it i knew it was fixable and i was nearly there to creating a better and professional music video.
They continued to like
. The new clips and locations that i added
. Her outfits and the camera shots that of her moving close and speaking into the camera
. And her attuitude really suit the song

I made some more changes, and made the clips run smoother by cutting them shorter and slower so they wont run fast and be jolty.
I also added some transistions, but the right amount so there was not to much and it wasnt to overpowering.
And i finished the lip syncing so it is now perfect and fits in completely with the song.

The last viewing i showed my target audience i recieved the following.
. Lip syncing is really good and fits with the song
. The transistions look professional and make the video better to watch
. The camera angles all match and work really well with the song
. The locations also work well with the song
. The colours are vibrant and very varied
. Its very different and unique
. Her style and outfit show her personality and attuitude
. Her piercing shots look really good and effective.

I was very happy with my feedback and the final outcome of my video. My audience gave me positive messages and points that are strong and compliment my work. I also feel that i have made a professional, sucessful video that supports everything i orginally wanted to create.

Link to my finished music video

I am very pleased with the outcome of my music video. I have completed exactly what i set out to do, and have finished up with a edgy, fiesty and confident video. In total i had several different locations including the chained fence, an alley way, a dark woods and a park. To make sure it looked professional, i ensured that i filmed in quiet places and avoided getting public people in the shots and making sure i just had my artist singing and posing or moving infront of a suitable background.

 

This is the chained wire fence i have used throughout in my photography and video. I think it connotes her edgy style and makes her seem dangerous and full of attuitude. My locations are filmed around nature and the environment which contrasts with her 'no nonsense' attuitude as she is fiesty, electric and doesnt seem to care about anything and she is very strong minded where as nature is calm, peaceful and relaxed, in some parts though like the alleyway this emphasises her power and her cheekyness as she smirks and gives attuitude to the camera by waving her hands and consistently sticking out her tongue.

 

 

I also filmed some shots of her infront of a brick wall, this connotes the ' street and gangster ' theme that is very popular in todays music. Although my message isnt to connote that it still looks effective with a basic brick wall background as all the attention is focused on her. She is waving her hand infront of her face to show ' she doesnt care ' and to show her big ego, she also has her statement red lipstick and big cold chain to keep the consistency going.

 

 

Here is a different background again, the main focus is on Grace and her vibrant piercings. Her piercings are shown in many shots and i have purposley done that to show off her unique style further. The grass and field in the background is also very basic and i blurred it out so the focus is on Grace it also stays consistent with the Environment theme and is edgy as she is going through the woods/ alleyway as this connotes her fearless attuitude and her fierce ego.

 

 

These shots are very exciting to watch as there is so much going on and so much colour. I have a few shots of Grace singing and moving closer and closer to the camera, this feels intimidating and that she is in control. Which is exactly what i wanted to show, the background is very bold and she is completley enclosed in the woods which shows a sense of danger and still has so much attuitude about this. Her chain and red lipstick are still clearly shown and this still relates to her style and her fashion sense which is shown constantly throughout and it also relates to the theme of nature which has run through the whole video.

I wanted to have nature and the environment as a large part because i knew instantly that the alleyway and chained wire would be very effective and suitable to her personality and the edgy fast song, it would connote a feel of danger. I then took some shots of Grace in the woods and liked the background and atmosphere around by all the trees and the dark lighting, i then decided to shoot and video some more and see if any positive filming came out of it.

As the alleyway and wood shoots would be dark, i decided i needed to even it out and film some in the natural daylight and that is where the shots in the park fields came into it because it stays consistent with the theme, shows her in different locations and in dark and natural lighting.

 

Here is the final link of my music video which i have posted onto youtube.

I have completed all the neccessary changes and this is the finished product. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qLHLv6MYQk