Final Production Music Video - Don't Take it Personal

Evaluation Part 5

For our final production we used technologies that really helped us progress and played a huge part in completing our final product. Technology was used at all three different stages which was: pre-production, production and post-production.

Pre-production

 I used OneDrive to convert videos into blogger.  OneDrive was very successful as i was able upload files such as videos to convert into blogger which was very helpful as it was safe on OneDrive through having an account i was also able to access at home.

  Google drive was used to upload files such as images and videos. This was successful as I could communicate with my group members as we saved worked in the drive which was kept safe and emailed any work we had allocated to ourselves. Also because i don't have access to a Mac outside of lessons this technology allowed me to be able to access work from the drive after saving it from the Mac in school.

Blogger was used to upload work to keep track of coursework. Blogger was successful as it was a new technology that was introduced to us this year. Last year, we saved work on the computer and for you to access the outside of lessons was to have a USB and a disadvantage was if you lost the USB you lost your work. Whereas blogger enabled you to save work online and was accessible at home and also accessible elsewhere as they also had an App so I was able to access my work from my phone.

  Twitter was used to contact my artist to ask for permission to use his video. This was successful as I got in contact with my artist through social media and asked for permission in the direct messages on twitter. This use of technology allowed me to see the social trends which i was able then to consider implementing into our final production.

   This was used to edit the audience feedback and cut out scenes that were disruptive and irrelevant. This was very successful as this advanced technology of being able to using features such as the blade tool in final cut pro allowed me to cut out scenes that had no relevance to the video.

  Powerpoint was used to present our idea to our class mates. This was successful as this application was useful in order for me to express what I'd like my video to look like. Also the visual references i was able to show through the slideshows helped the audience be able to understand my vision for the music video I want to produce.

Production

   This was used to take pictures of our media products and taking pictures of locations. This was successful as through taking pictures of our media products I was then able to implement them into my blogger to show the flat plan before creating it. It was also a success as i took pictures of locations where me and my group 

The film camera was used to film the music video. Using the film camera was very successful as it was a technology i used last year and quite used to it. A tripod is required to use in order for footage not to be too shaky but i decided i wanted to be more free with the camera so it was hand-held. 

Post-Production

  Photoshop was used for editing our magazine cover and digipak. I believe to photoshop was initially unsuccessful  as it was my first year experiencing the software. I believe i created a well produced magazine cover but my digipak could do with a huge improvement. Towards the ending i developed my skills in this area as i was able to use the magic wand and lasso tool which initially i didn't have no idea of how to use or what they do.

  Twitter was used to post and share our music video. I used social media to gain qualitative feedback as twitter approved easy to use and saved time as the feedback was immediate through retweets, favourites and people leaving their views under the post.

This was used to upload our final production to receive feedback. After the final production i used Youtube to upload my final production which was a success through receiving feedback of both positive and negative. I believe it was a success as it gives me the information i need to be able to improve for next time which wasn't a software i used last year for the post-production.

Evaluation Part 4

I have learnt quite a lot from our audience feedback which went very successfully. First of all I believe that we have reached our target audience as all three participants which were young males could relate to the music video in a way. They believe ethnicity played a big role in to our music video with the mindset there is also a secondary target audience we targeted which was the white background. Our primary target was black young males (African/Black American) as they tend to go through the lifestyle of being in the hood. One of the audience feedback was they could relate to it with personally knowing people who have been through the similar stages the artist went through. I believe being able to reach our target audience helped the audience be engaged as one of the audience members said: ''There was no scene that I thought that was boring because every scene was related to the lyrics'' it essential the audience feel like this as it enables them to stay on their seat and watch on.

When planning my production me and my group thought of having a full-on narrative video which wasn't the case as there was narrative scenes but not for the whole video which wasn't bad as we was still able to catch our target audiences attention. We also wanted to show in detail of Yungen's lifestyle in before he became a superstar for us to be able to show a clear juxtaposition between Yungen as a teenager and him now. The reason for not showing his past in detail as I believe the target audience would get the gist through the brief shots of no food in his fridge and his non-luxury clothing and him robbing people which they did. Also being also to show scenes of him hanging out with his friends and playing around with his older sister enabled me to fit the stereotype of what young teenagers do as one of the audience members say: ''I believe I can personally identify with some of the scenes like him play fighting with his sister and him hanging out with his friends because it kind of portrays a stereotypical teenage life.

In addition,  the audience also believe we were able to create a secondary target audience of including a Portuguese female and the sister as the way they were presented subverted the male gaze theory of women being sexual objections for mens pleasures. As in the music video they were represented as females who played a role of being there for the artist Yungen. The secondary target audience created here may be females who may have brothers who go through the life of growing up in the estates getting caught up with trouble and females like that watching this will be able to relate and empathise with the female character.

Overall, what was very successful in our production was the huge difference in comparisons to other grime which usually included conventions of weapons, drugs, half-naked girls, luxury assets etc. One comment a audience me member gave was: ''Rather than having half-naked women, you had a showing of a bond of a brother and sister which is different to what you'd normally see'' Here, we have subverted conventions of what you'd expect to see which conforms with stuart hall's reception theory with three ways of looking at things which are the dominant way, the negotiated way and the oppositional way. Our music video is opposing what the audience would expect from a grime video as we used the theme of love in the sense of 'family love' shown through a brother and sister.

To conclude, what me and my group would need to improve on would be to show how close the artist was with his sister as one of the audience says. I believe for for future references if I was to create this again I wouldn't create more scenes of him and his sister as the song is more about his mother and father not being there for him. What I believe i'd need to include or show more is how he managed individually as he was used to being alone most time in comparison to his superstar lifestyle. Also another suggestion was there was too many happy scenes which wasn't the theme and alternative would be show more scenes such as being alone and take it step by step with the lyric of his past.  

Evaluation Part 3

We used synergy effectively through colour, iconography and the mode of address. 

The two images on the left are screenshots of me and my groups digipak and magazine cover which we created for our final production. There is an appealing connection between all three media products ensuring all three products are able to identify each other using synergy. We was successful in doing this as we were able to include a variety of themes that connoted to the lyrics such as crime, love, and religion, which was an unusual theme you normally wouldn't see in grime videos. The main colours we used in both the digipak and magazine video were black and blue which was to connote the idea of having a dark side. Black was to symbolise him having a bad past and the blue to represent his present lifestyle of him being a superstar. When making decisions of what costumes to pick for our character to wear we denoted he was associated with the colour black and red so we wanted to take our imagination and create a similar but different approach of the character using different costumes and colour. We was able to represent his happiness and current situation in the magazine cover through the luxury watch that he wears.  Whereas in the digipak we are able to denote his past through a wide shot where he is sitting down in council flats where that idea isn't shown in the magazine cover. Although that aspect is shown there is a clear interlink as we use the same font in both media products which was Bronx graffiti which was done to  create the  idea of hoodlum aura which will attract the intended target audience of young black males. The theme of religion is used in all three media products through the iconography of crucifix cross which was done in order the final production to be advertised by the magazine advert and also the digipak. It was important to ensure all three media products were similar in a way so they can all be identified for the purpose of the music video. For example, having bright colours through the digipak and magazine advert wouldn't be ideal and wouldn't relate to the video when watched as the audience get a different feeling from the two media products which lured them into watching the music video.
                                                                          

We also wanted to a create a clear juxtaposition of innocence and his hood lifestyle. In the digipak we can denote him opening up his hands which signifies forgiveness and was the action of bringing the religion theme to life. A Jesus cross is on the CD and also placed in the magazine advert above his head and is done to show the seriousness of how important religion is to the artist as we ensured it is supported by the lyric where he talks about God.




This is screenshot from our final production of our artist in the studio. With this close up of him rapping into the the mic with his eyes close was done with the intentions of showing passion for music. This also shows he is a hard worker of practising and expressing his feelings behind of scenes of working towards where is today which sends out a message to the intended target audience to keep pushing forward to get to wherever they want to be.


Here, we used a low angle shot to show the superior power he has rapping to the camera this a  convention we decided to agree and include into our final production. Here we are able to see he is with his friend having fun and is later on in his life where he isn't isolated like he was in past where he says his mum and dad was hardly there for him. The black clothing connotes the past will always stick with him despite moving on and being who he is today.




This medium wide shot shows the character with his hand on his head representing the stress and frustration he's going through.  The dark lighting signifies the turbulent period the artist is going through. We were able to to relate this shot with the lyrics of his mum leaving home alone most time as this shot shows isolation and how he is separated from society.




This is a medium wide shot where we denote a the artist with his sister playing on the iPad. We have added of the effect black and white to represent the past which supports the lyrics when he mentions he felt like his sister was the only one there for him. The theme of love is shown here through the strong bond you denote in the scene.






This a close up of the artists face which was done to be able denote his facial expression which seems about down an depressed. The black hooded jacket shows the rebellious action he has in him with the colour having connotations of evil. Even though, we have showed his religious side and we have represented him with that clothing in order for the intended target audience to empathise with the character as they'll able to relate to the scene.



In this scene is a birds eye view of the artist sleeping with his hoody which was to symbolise the isolation and support the lyrics of not being able to sleep because of the his house being too cold to sleep but as we cannot physically show his house is cold we had to improvise and use our imaginative by using clothes to cover himself to symbolise he is cold. This specific scene subverts the theme of love as love isn't shown through the situation we denote him in.

Evaluation Part 2

Evaluation Part 1 - The Brief

What brief were you working to?
I am currently working for SC records who have hired me to promote one of their new acts. Furthermore, I have been asked to create one music video package, a cover for the artists digipak and a A4 magazine advertisement promoting the digipak.

The artist was Yungen who is a 23 year old grime artist from Herne Hill. Yungen is known for his versatility in grime whether producing upbeat and slow songs; he is also known for the a lot of punchlines he tends to uses in his grime videos. Yungen has his own clothing line called Forever Yung where hoodies, shirts and hats are distributed for his fans. I have inserted an image below of Yungen advertising his clothing line. He is also part of music label PlayDirty with Krept & Konan who are his fellow team members.

I found Yungen through social media such as twitter and youtube as he is on popular youtube channels such as Link Up TV, SBTV & much more. I was able to contact Yungen through twitter on direct message where I was able to approach him formally; evidence of this is placed below with a screen shot.

Grime is the music genre that we have taken into our final production to edit. Grime is english music that emerged in London round the 2000s and started off in East London. Grime has gone on to be one of the most popular genre in the UK. The often included a 8 or 16 bar verses with large bass and various of instruments depending on the song. Artists such as Dizzee Rascal, Wiley & Kano were all part of the first people who brought the genre to mainstream media producing albums based on the genre. Since then many other artists have followed footsteps of these UK artists and engraved their own input in the grime scene era. Grime videos tend to have conventions of men smoking illegal substances, a lot of cash on the table, luxury cars and much more. What really attracted me to Yungen was how he has came with a different approach to the grime scene. For example, in one of his previous released videos called 'Too Real' we denote a medium wide shot at 1:25 seconds of a Jesus cross on the door. Here, I believe Yungen brings a religious side and feeling towards the grime video as in comparison to other videos you wouldn't see nothing do with religion which also shows that young males from the hood also have their good side to them that other people wouldn't see due to what grime artists usually rap about.

Flat Plan