Wednesday, 24 March 2010
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Question 3: What Have You Learnt From Your Audience Feedback?
Audience Research Music Video
In the evaluation stage of my music video, I have carried out some research into what my target audience think of my music video.
I chose to gain primary data by interviewing a male aged 25 called Matt who is a professional in the production of music videos. The method I used to interview him was straight forward, as I screened the music video to him in a room and after he had watched it all the way through, I proceeded to ask him a series of questions based around what I felt worked well in the video, what might need improving, and to get the response and opinions from someone who I would call a member of my target audience of my music video. From this I would make notes and document his answers for future referral, analysis and interpretation. The responses I received I could then take with me to my next editing session and amend to better suit my audience and improve the quality and appeal of my music video.
The questions I asked, the answers he gave and how I used his answers to adapt and improve my music video are as follows:
1. How effective did you find the transitions and effects?
>Matt: “I found the cross fades to be smooth, which I think works well in collaboration with the music you are using”.
I used cross fades with the part of the video that involved showing the Polaroid photo and the shot of the couple walking together. It was important that this was smooth and that both shots were equally visible to keep to the mood of the film and help the audience understand the representation of the state of the couple between each of the shots. The affirmation from Matt telling me that my transitions and effects have worked well, I have accomplished my intentions here.
2. Was the narrative clear to follow?
>Matt “The narrative is very much film like and seems like you have set out to shoot it in this way, so yes it was clear to follow, it fits the linear narrative well”.
Matt here has stated that he believes that the narrative in my music video has been shot as a linear narrative. I am glad he has picked up on my intended narrative structure as I have shot the narrative progressively to make it easier for my audience to follow the story line and how it is affecting each character simultaneously. As Matt has found my video easy to follow, then this should mean that further people of my target audience will also find it easy to follow for the ease of their viewing and understanding.
3. Was the contrast too sharp?
>Matt: “In places, the close up shots focused on the lips in particular need less contrasting because they look pixelated”.
I asked this question to Matt because in my own opinion I felt that some shots in my music video such as shots of the lounge where my male character is situated did look too pixelated and sharp. In actual fact, Matt felt that the close up shot of my male character’s lips was the most poorly edited in terms of contrast. From his comments, I have since lessened the amount of contrast edited onto the shot, which makes the picture look softer, natural but however darker. I am glad that Matt did agree with me on this as it shows that my target audience are engaging in the media that they watch.
4. Were shots angled well, and were they varied?
>Matt: “Photo on the window is strong. You have used a good range of shots which adds to audience appeal and makes it look more interesting. The shots of the birds were good but perhaps needed shots that were focused in closer to the birds, from the perspective of looking up at the sky”.
From Matt’s answer to this question, he has reassured me that the range of shots in my music video are varied, and also given a reason as to how it strengthens audience appeal and the video appeal. This is always a good sign from my point of view as the producer because my audience are telling me ways in which I have been successful to sustain their attention and interest. Matt has given me an example of a shot that achieved this, that being the shot at the end of the video with the 2 halves of the Polaroid pressed up against the window. I composed this shot to sustain their attention by giving them more than one thing to focus on. By this, I mean how I used the image of the photo and the writing on the back, and how my audience have to simultaneously make connections between each half of the Polaroid, and think about how this affects the state of the relationship of the couple in question.
Matt has proposed I revise the shots of the birds to show them closer up. He hasn’t given me a reason why he thinks this shot could be successful in my music video, but in my opinion it could be either for appeal or to understand the role that the birds play in my music video clearer; to which the reason to this should become apparent in question 5.
5. How noticeable were connotations and metaphors within the composition of the shots and music video?
>Matt: The connotations and metaphors you have used, such as the black and white, the birds and signposts with the sun are relevant to the lyrics, which make them more noticeable and clear. Connotations in a story like narrative tend to work better when they are subtle rather than obvious”.
By connotations and metaphors in this question, I am relating to the use of the birds and their connection to the relationship in metaphor, and the connotations of how sign posts pointing to the sun represent a point of view, and if two sign arrows pointed towards the sun, then both characters was on the same page.
In Matt’s response, he has picked up on my intentional use of black and white, the use of birds and signposts with the sun. This is positive as he has picked up on the use of this, and although he has not stated to me if he has understood what they mean, he has not said that he hasn’t understood them either. Hopefully by him not mentioning if he understood or not, that he has understood, especially as he has related them to the lyrics, which would relate these techniques I have used to the familiarity of the lyrics.
Matt has also hinted to me that with the linear narrative I am using, subtle techniques work better than obvious techniques. To affirm this, I had another look at my music video and switched the order of the establishing shots that include the birds to make sure they follow in a logical sense, for easier familiarity for the audience.
6. Was the use of black and white effective?
>Matt: “The use of colour, and lack of colour in this case (in relation to the use of black and white) is good, it serves the story well and shows contrast between the characters. It also helped me as the audience understand the mood of the video, being on a minor note rather than major and when the focus switches between these”.
From Matt’s response to this question, this is definitely positive feedback to assure me that my use of black and white has been understood by my audience. I used this technique to show negativity and contrast between my characters and the state of the relationship, so when the relationship is healthy there is colour. Matt has successfully received this intention as he has informed me that as an audience lack of colour has helped him understand the mood of the music video when it is on a minor note. He also tells me that he understands the switch between the major and minor tone of the video. Therefore he is interpreting successfully that the use of colour is the major and lack of colour is the minor. He has quoted back at me that this technique shows contrast between characters, which is a good sign as this was one of my intentions when I applied this effect.
7. Does the video withhold audience attention, or when does it lose interest?
>Matt: Your video has a good replay value, such as returning back to the production shots of the male character playing guitar, and the divide of the photo”.
I asked this question so I can understand what works well in my music video to keep my audience’s attention and help them understand the progression of the music video.
Matt has told me here that the use of replay value and the divide of the photo have worked well to achieve this. It is positive that he has picked up on devices I intentionally used to achieve this, with the use of the photo and production shots. I referred back to the Polaroid photo to establish the state of the relationship, that the characters are still divided and also how each character is thinking about what the photo reminds them of; the first shot with the argument and when their relationship and the photo becomes divided.
The use of guitar playing shots I felt helped further establish the music element of the video (as a music video), but also how the male character is further expressing his emotions and feelings through the correct instrumentation of the track (guitar) and through the lyrics of the song, using lip sync to make it obvious this is the case and how I repeated the use of the close up shot of the male characters lips to show this.
8. Does the pace of the editing suitable; is it in time with the music?
>Matt: “Most of the time this is good but I would advise you to check the pace of your shots during the instrumental at the end as the pace appears inconsistent, and also you should make sure your music video ends on the last beat of the song.
I have been advised with the feedback to this question to revise the pace of the music video towards the end. What Matt has picked up on here is that the pace of my editing is inconsistent with the timing of the track and also the previous tempo applied earlier on in the video.
From this comment, I progressed to look at my music video and found that the music video did not end on the last beat accurately. I extended the track to re-cut the audio file successfully and fade the track out at the end to make the ending appear more natural and smoother. I also progressed to use such shots as the male character walking out of the shot to the left when passing a group if friends as I felt this had an element of action from the group of friends that I found to be displeasing to the audience, and the shortening of this shot made it easier to keep a similar length to the shots at the end as I found when after shortening the previous shot I explained, the shot had moved to be more in time with the music track.
Part of working as a group meant that another member of my group received audience feedback from asking questions to our target audience on a social networking site (a similar approach I took when gaining feedback on my digipak work). A group containing C1 and C2 demographic including male and female participants was constructed, in the format of a forum so each participant could view the video and other responses that had been made and if they chose to, debate between each other what worked well and what needed improving.
A noticable debate between these participants were how they interpreted our representation of birds in the music video and what they meant. For example, when one interpreted them as "Metaphors for each character", when another thought the birds referred to "The artist using his lyrics to move both characters onto a parallel trail of thought, towards the sun representing this". It is interesting that the birds were interpreted in this way because both interpretations are along the right lines, showing we have successfully broadcasted the messages we wanted to send, although some work might have to be done to get the exact message running through each participant's minds.
A point in the video that the audience strongly agreed on however was that the shot at 1 minute 30 lasted too long and contained unneccessary movements by extra characters in the background. From this we were able to detect this shot distracted the audience, made them uncomfortable and interrupted their satisfaction of the experience of our music video. Since this comment we have moved to cut out the unneccessary movements of the extras, and once screened again the audience preferred our ammendment to the original.
On the 16th March 2010 we received news on our artist's Myspace page of a comment he had posted there including a link to our music video uploaded onto Youtube and a comment of one word "Interesting! =D". This is great news as it shows the vastness in range of how a site such as Youtube distributes it's content to recipients, and hopefully with the inclusion of the link in the social networking site of Myspace, will accumulate our video of more viewers and enhance the reputation of our work and gain the artist and us feedback on a wider scale through a potential target audience, this time dictated by the artist and who he sees as his ideal audience. This is placing empowerment of our content out of our hands and into his allowing him to freely distribute our work and our connotations of his work if he agrees with them and sees them appropriate. The comment itself we chose to interpret as positive because of the smiley face he put after the word interesting. This we thought told us he is interested into how his audience have used his media and also our interpretations of his work.
Digipak feedback
I thought it would be vital to gain audience feedback for my digipak to get an understanding of my target audience’s opinions of my work.
I set a method of using the social networking site of Facebook to group together hand picked individuals (5 male and 5 female for even gender responses and larger numbers strengthens the accuracy of my responses to discover patterns in their answers) that fit into the parameters of my ideal target audience, and from this I sent them a web link to my blog where I have uploaded a video that screens all my print work of still images and a video of the digipak being opened. I chose this method because it was simple to group together a set of individuals and as the artist who I was designing the digipak to promote has a profile on social networking site Myspace; I could assume that his target audience would have a social networking profile on such a website. This method of gaining feedback also allows me to diversify from how I gained feedback for my music video and this time use technology to document and distribute my work and allow comments to be posted back to me. Another advantage of this method is that my planning for this project I have also documented on my blog, which should help my audience understand how I created my print productions, what had influenced me and my intentions of my work.
A female of my target audience posted a comment that stated that my work flows well, however my CD slide was boring. It is good that my work flows well because this means my video is made in a way that helps my audience understand my work well, what each piece of my work is and how it is related to the other slides of the video. To link with her comment that my CD slide (where the CD will be held) is boring, another participant of my audience stated that I should inform them of further detail of the slide, “Point out that the CD pane isn't just blank and has a hole in it because that isn't completely clear.” This shows that I have been unclear in the detail I have given my audience about what this slide involves, and the disadvantage of using graphic images in my video that do not show these dimensions. To improve this part of the video, I could involve real still images of photography taken with a digital camera and use them either embedded in the video or embedded separate from the video in the same post to help my audience understand what the physical product looks like as an end product, and from these they will be able to look at the video of my print work and understand where I have applied these graphic images on my digipak.
This female of my group also informed me that “I really like that fact that you have put in a video of you opening the case as it makes it interactive”. The effect of using a video to show how the product opens is that the audience can imagine themselves opening the digipak. This shows the success of using a video to show my target audience how the real product works, and stronger emphasizes the need to input photos of the real product onto this blog post to boost this understanding of the real product, this at the moment appears to be the main improvement I will need to do to successfully amend and improve this blog post of my print productions.
In contrast to the need of real still images of my digipak, a male participant of my audience group mentions that “The digipak looked very professional and well made”. As I have only included graphical images at this point, the use of technology and graphic images appears to have made the project appear sharper and more professional to this member of my audience, which seems to make my project more appealing to him.
Another male member of my audience commented on my magazine advert, as he thought “It is simple but impacts”. I kept my magazine advert simple by using a larger size graphic image of a Polaroid from my digipak and maintained the same font, when also using the same background graphic to look like paper. A female member of my audience had picked up on my repetitious use of these to maintain a theme throughout my print productions. She replied that “You have tied the Digipak and the advert together really well by keeping the themes and images the same”. My print productions therefore are coherent and follow a set theme and style that combine these productions together in an obvious and successful way that my audience take a liking to.
Another reason why I used the same style between the two was because of genre. A male participant of my audience picked up on this and said “The fonts, background, images etc all really suit you genre, target audience and artist”. Again this shows coherence between each of my productions have been successful with consistent use of Polaroid images, photography and paper graphic background. Also this member of my audience agrees that it does indeed suit my audience well, and as he is part of this audience, it shows my productions were well received by this audience. It is important that this member of my audience agrees that it suits the artist well, as this quote brands my promotion of my artist as successful, positive, and accurate portrayal of his image and style.
In the evaluation stage of my music video, I have carried out some research into what my target audience think of my music video.
I chose to gain primary data by interviewing a male aged 25 called Matt who is a professional in the production of music videos. The method I used to interview him was straight forward, as I screened the music video to him in a room and after he had watched it all the way through, I proceeded to ask him a series of questions based around what I felt worked well in the video, what might need improving, and to get the response and opinions from someone who I would call a member of my target audience of my music video. From this I would make notes and document his answers for future referral, analysis and interpretation. The responses I received I could then take with me to my next editing session and amend to better suit my audience and improve the quality and appeal of my music video.
The questions I asked, the answers he gave and how I used his answers to adapt and improve my music video are as follows:
1. How effective did you find the transitions and effects?
>Matt: “I found the cross fades to be smooth, which I think works well in collaboration with the music you are using”.
I used cross fades with the part of the video that involved showing the Polaroid photo and the shot of the couple walking together. It was important that this was smooth and that both shots were equally visible to keep to the mood of the film and help the audience understand the representation of the state of the couple between each of the shots. The affirmation from Matt telling me that my transitions and effects have worked well, I have accomplished my intentions here.
2. Was the narrative clear to follow?
>Matt “The narrative is very much film like and seems like you have set out to shoot it in this way, so yes it was clear to follow, it fits the linear narrative well”.
Matt here has stated that he believes that the narrative in my music video has been shot as a linear narrative. I am glad he has picked up on my intended narrative structure as I have shot the narrative progressively to make it easier for my audience to follow the story line and how it is affecting each character simultaneously. As Matt has found my video easy to follow, then this should mean that further people of my target audience will also find it easy to follow for the ease of their viewing and understanding.
3. Was the contrast too sharp?
>Matt: “In places, the close up shots focused on the lips in particular need less contrasting because they look pixelated”.
I asked this question to Matt because in my own opinion I felt that some shots in my music video such as shots of the lounge where my male character is situated did look too pixelated and sharp. In actual fact, Matt felt that the close up shot of my male character’s lips was the most poorly edited in terms of contrast. From his comments, I have since lessened the amount of contrast edited onto the shot, which makes the picture look softer, natural but however darker. I am glad that Matt did agree with me on this as it shows that my target audience are engaging in the media that they watch.
4. Were shots angled well, and were they varied?
>Matt: “Photo on the window is strong. You have used a good range of shots which adds to audience appeal and makes it look more interesting. The shots of the birds were good but perhaps needed shots that were focused in closer to the birds, from the perspective of looking up at the sky”.
From Matt’s answer to this question, he has reassured me that the range of shots in my music video are varied, and also given a reason as to how it strengthens audience appeal and the video appeal. This is always a good sign from my point of view as the producer because my audience are telling me ways in which I have been successful to sustain their attention and interest. Matt has given me an example of a shot that achieved this, that being the shot at the end of the video with the 2 halves of the Polaroid pressed up against the window. I composed this shot to sustain their attention by giving them more than one thing to focus on. By this, I mean how I used the image of the photo and the writing on the back, and how my audience have to simultaneously make connections between each half of the Polaroid, and think about how this affects the state of the relationship of the couple in question.
Matt has proposed I revise the shots of the birds to show them closer up. He hasn’t given me a reason why he thinks this shot could be successful in my music video, but in my opinion it could be either for appeal or to understand the role that the birds play in my music video clearer; to which the reason to this should become apparent in question 5.
5. How noticeable were connotations and metaphors within the composition of the shots and music video?
>Matt: The connotations and metaphors you have used, such as the black and white, the birds and signposts with the sun are relevant to the lyrics, which make them more noticeable and clear. Connotations in a story like narrative tend to work better when they are subtle rather than obvious”.
By connotations and metaphors in this question, I am relating to the use of the birds and their connection to the relationship in metaphor, and the connotations of how sign posts pointing to the sun represent a point of view, and if two sign arrows pointed towards the sun, then both characters was on the same page.
In Matt’s response, he has picked up on my intentional use of black and white, the use of birds and signposts with the sun. This is positive as he has picked up on the use of this, and although he has not stated to me if he has understood what they mean, he has not said that he hasn’t understood them either. Hopefully by him not mentioning if he understood or not, that he has understood, especially as he has related them to the lyrics, which would relate these techniques I have used to the familiarity of the lyrics.
Matt has also hinted to me that with the linear narrative I am using, subtle techniques work better than obvious techniques. To affirm this, I had another look at my music video and switched the order of the establishing shots that include the birds to make sure they follow in a logical sense, for easier familiarity for the audience.
6. Was the use of black and white effective?
>Matt: “The use of colour, and lack of colour in this case (in relation to the use of black and white) is good, it serves the story well and shows contrast between the characters. It also helped me as the audience understand the mood of the video, being on a minor note rather than major and when the focus switches between these”.
From Matt’s response to this question, this is definitely positive feedback to assure me that my use of black and white has been understood by my audience. I used this technique to show negativity and contrast between my characters and the state of the relationship, so when the relationship is healthy there is colour. Matt has successfully received this intention as he has informed me that as an audience lack of colour has helped him understand the mood of the music video when it is on a minor note. He also tells me that he understands the switch between the major and minor tone of the video. Therefore he is interpreting successfully that the use of colour is the major and lack of colour is the minor. He has quoted back at me that this technique shows contrast between characters, which is a good sign as this was one of my intentions when I applied this effect.
7. Does the video withhold audience attention, or when does it lose interest?
>Matt: Your video has a good replay value, such as returning back to the production shots of the male character playing guitar, and the divide of the photo”.
I asked this question so I can understand what works well in my music video to keep my audience’s attention and help them understand the progression of the music video.
Matt has told me here that the use of replay value and the divide of the photo have worked well to achieve this. It is positive that he has picked up on devices I intentionally used to achieve this, with the use of the photo and production shots. I referred back to the Polaroid photo to establish the state of the relationship, that the characters are still divided and also how each character is thinking about what the photo reminds them of; the first shot with the argument and when their relationship and the photo becomes divided.
The use of guitar playing shots I felt helped further establish the music element of the video (as a music video), but also how the male character is further expressing his emotions and feelings through the correct instrumentation of the track (guitar) and through the lyrics of the song, using lip sync to make it obvious this is the case and how I repeated the use of the close up shot of the male characters lips to show this.
8. Does the pace of the editing suitable; is it in time with the music?
>Matt: “Most of the time this is good but I would advise you to check the pace of your shots during the instrumental at the end as the pace appears inconsistent, and also you should make sure your music video ends on the last beat of the song.
I have been advised with the feedback to this question to revise the pace of the music video towards the end. What Matt has picked up on here is that the pace of my editing is inconsistent with the timing of the track and also the previous tempo applied earlier on in the video.
From this comment, I progressed to look at my music video and found that the music video did not end on the last beat accurately. I extended the track to re-cut the audio file successfully and fade the track out at the end to make the ending appear more natural and smoother. I also progressed to use such shots as the male character walking out of the shot to the left when passing a group if friends as I felt this had an element of action from the group of friends that I found to be displeasing to the audience, and the shortening of this shot made it easier to keep a similar length to the shots at the end as I found when after shortening the previous shot I explained, the shot had moved to be more in time with the music track.
Part of working as a group meant that another member of my group received audience feedback from asking questions to our target audience on a social networking site (a similar approach I took when gaining feedback on my digipak work). A group containing C1 and C2 demographic including male and female participants was constructed, in the format of a forum so each participant could view the video and other responses that had been made and if they chose to, debate between each other what worked well and what needed improving.
A noticable debate between these participants were how they interpreted our representation of birds in the music video and what they meant. For example, when one interpreted them as "Metaphors for each character", when another thought the birds referred to "The artist using his lyrics to move both characters onto a parallel trail of thought, towards the sun representing this". It is interesting that the birds were interpreted in this way because both interpretations are along the right lines, showing we have successfully broadcasted the messages we wanted to send, although some work might have to be done to get the exact message running through each participant's minds.
A point in the video that the audience strongly agreed on however was that the shot at 1 minute 30 lasted too long and contained unneccessary movements by extra characters in the background. From this we were able to detect this shot distracted the audience, made them uncomfortable and interrupted their satisfaction of the experience of our music video. Since this comment we have moved to cut out the unneccessary movements of the extras, and once screened again the audience preferred our ammendment to the original.
On the 16th March 2010 we received news on our artist's Myspace page of a comment he had posted there including a link to our music video uploaded onto Youtube and a comment of one word "Interesting! =D". This is great news as it shows the vastness in range of how a site such as Youtube distributes it's content to recipients, and hopefully with the inclusion of the link in the social networking site of Myspace, will accumulate our video of more viewers and enhance the reputation of our work and gain the artist and us feedback on a wider scale through a potential target audience, this time dictated by the artist and who he sees as his ideal audience. This is placing empowerment of our content out of our hands and into his allowing him to freely distribute our work and our connotations of his work if he agrees with them and sees them appropriate. The comment itself we chose to interpret as positive because of the smiley face he put after the word interesting. This we thought told us he is interested into how his audience have used his media and also our interpretations of his work.
Digipak feedback
I thought it would be vital to gain audience feedback for my digipak to get an understanding of my target audience’s opinions of my work.
I set a method of using the social networking site of Facebook to group together hand picked individuals (5 male and 5 female for even gender responses and larger numbers strengthens the accuracy of my responses to discover patterns in their answers) that fit into the parameters of my ideal target audience, and from this I sent them a web link to my blog where I have uploaded a video that screens all my print work of still images and a video of the digipak being opened. I chose this method because it was simple to group together a set of individuals and as the artist who I was designing the digipak to promote has a profile on social networking site Myspace; I could assume that his target audience would have a social networking profile on such a website. This method of gaining feedback also allows me to diversify from how I gained feedback for my music video and this time use technology to document and distribute my work and allow comments to be posted back to me. Another advantage of this method is that my planning for this project I have also documented on my blog, which should help my audience understand how I created my print productions, what had influenced me and my intentions of my work.
A female of my target audience posted a comment that stated that my work flows well, however my CD slide was boring. It is good that my work flows well because this means my video is made in a way that helps my audience understand my work well, what each piece of my work is and how it is related to the other slides of the video. To link with her comment that my CD slide (where the CD will be held) is boring, another participant of my audience stated that I should inform them of further detail of the slide, “Point out that the CD pane isn't just blank and has a hole in it because that isn't completely clear.” This shows that I have been unclear in the detail I have given my audience about what this slide involves, and the disadvantage of using graphic images in my video that do not show these dimensions. To improve this part of the video, I could involve real still images of photography taken with a digital camera and use them either embedded in the video or embedded separate from the video in the same post to help my audience understand what the physical product looks like as an end product, and from these they will be able to look at the video of my print work and understand where I have applied these graphic images on my digipak.
This female of my group also informed me that “I really like that fact that you have put in a video of you opening the case as it makes it interactive”. The effect of using a video to show how the product opens is that the audience can imagine themselves opening the digipak. This shows the success of using a video to show my target audience how the real product works, and stronger emphasizes the need to input photos of the real product onto this blog post to boost this understanding of the real product, this at the moment appears to be the main improvement I will need to do to successfully amend and improve this blog post of my print productions.
In contrast to the need of real still images of my digipak, a male participant of my audience group mentions that “The digipak looked very professional and well made”. As I have only included graphical images at this point, the use of technology and graphic images appears to have made the project appear sharper and more professional to this member of my audience, which seems to make my project more appealing to him.
Another male member of my audience commented on my magazine advert, as he thought “It is simple but impacts”. I kept my magazine advert simple by using a larger size graphic image of a Polaroid from my digipak and maintained the same font, when also using the same background graphic to look like paper. A female member of my audience had picked up on my repetitious use of these to maintain a theme throughout my print productions. She replied that “You have tied the Digipak and the advert together really well by keeping the themes and images the same”. My print productions therefore are coherent and follow a set theme and style that combine these productions together in an obvious and successful way that my audience take a liking to.
Another reason why I used the same style between the two was because of genre. A male participant of my audience picked up on this and said “The fonts, background, images etc all really suit you genre, target audience and artist”. Again this shows coherence between each of my productions have been successful with consistent use of Polaroid images, photography and paper graphic background. Also this member of my audience agrees that it does indeed suit my audience well, and as he is part of this audience, it shows my productions were well received by this audience. It is important that this member of my audience agrees that it suits the artist well, as this quote brands my promotion of my artist as successful, positive, and accurate portrayal of his image and style.
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
ARTIST FEEDBACK
On the 16th of March 2010 at 10:27am I viewed the Myspace page of Chris Cohen, our artist of our song we used for our music video:
http://blogs.myspace.com/chriscohen27
He had posted a link to our music video we uploaded to Youtube and commented this saying "Interesting!". This is good as we have gained feedback from him, and we have contacted him informing him of our intention to upload our final version onto Youtube and asking him of his opinions. WATCH THIS SPACE!...
http://blogs.myspace.com/chriscohen27
He had posted a link to our music video we uploaded to Youtube and commented this saying "Interesting!". This is good as we have gained feedback from him, and we have contacted him informing him of our intention to upload our final version onto Youtube and asking him of his opinions. WATCH THIS SPACE!...
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
BFI Semenar Notes
Teenage Riot! - Youth, media and collective identity.
How do macro factors affect politics/community?-"Who you are" and how are you unique?
-"What makes you similar" (with others)
-What social groups do you belong to?
Identity and Media
-Jacques Lacan (pyschoanalyst)
-The mirror stage, when a child begins to develop their identity
-What is our relationship with what is on screen?
-What pleasures do they offer? "Helping us define who we are"
-IDENTIFICATION (who we are)
-ASPIRATION (what we want to be)
Influence of Media
-How could they affect us?
-"Beaming an opinion"
-Do we consider representations accurate? "Closure and solidity"
-Inaccurate or distorted portrayals create a distorted identity = False aspiration and beliefs
-Draw confidence in what you are or aren't
Identification/Aspiration could inspire escapism?
Constructing the Teenager
-Youth culture emerges
-19th century "Bowery Boys" of New York
-Own slang, dress code, musical tastes etc (creating a recognisable culture)
-First time entertainment and fashion industries targeted youth groups
1900-1940
-400% rise in school enrollment in USA
-"Peer culture" (making comparisons)
-Magazine industries targeting insecurities of adolescence
-1940 WWii = Labour demand = young people with disposable income
1945-60 'Birth of the Teen'
-Economic potential obvious (market of the future)
-Youth similtaneously represented as "Prosperous and liberated future" and "A culture of moral decline"
-First sign of adult culture dichotomous image of teenagers
-Film example: The Wild One
1950's Rock 'N' Roll culture
-Not trying to fit in to adult mainstream (rebellion)
-Happy to rebel, first indication of Generation Gap
-In values and lifestyles
Adult Hegemony?
-Adult world supplied the culture, targeted it, constructed it
-Dominant social group, keeps an oppressed group in subservent position by making them feel this position is normal or desirable
-Adult mainstream exploited the image of the 'rebel teen'
-Sold to teenagers as aspiration
-Sold to adults as fear
James Dean - An Accurate Portrayal of Youth?
"Rebel without a cause"
-First celeb to capture dissonance of youth
-Delinquent behaviour
-Reinforce adult fear
-Not a 'Bad Boy'
-Confused, sensitive, frustrated
-Empathy/desire
"Live fast die young" = start of adults fetishing youth?
1960-70 Subculture to counter culture
-Next generation of teens cynical about commercial exploitation of youth
-Rebellion chimes with social upheaval
-Civil rights, feminism, anti-vietnam "Rebels now have a cause"
-Resistant to marketing and consumerism, wanted to make world better
-Film example: Easy Rider
Punk and Hip Hop
-Punk = reaction against optimism of hippies and more synical of mainstream
-Not just rebellious or anti-consumerist. Also anti-establishment
-Punk = aesthetic and political rebellion
-Hip Hop = dealing with relaity of poverty and racist oppression
-Film example: Scratch
Recent article: www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/feb/25/emo-pop-tribes-mods-punks
Adult Fetishisation of Youth
-Who is the intended audience?
-Adult obsession with youth (why?)
Women in Journalism Reports
-"Am I Bovvered?" Concensor sexualised images in media, beauty, appearance
-"Hoodies or Altar Boys" over half the stories about youth crime in regional/national papers.
-"Yobs" mentioned 591 times
-"Thugs" mentioned 254 times
-"Sick" 119 times
-"Feral" 96 times
-Positive representations of youth used when they are dead, or killed by other teens
-Images from media 85% afraid of "stereotype"
Internalised Stereotypes
-Self = fulfilling prophicies (representations accepted by search for solidarity and collective identity)
-Film examples: Kidulthood, Harry Brown
-9-14 yr olds spend $300bn per year in US (companies keen to target youth)
-Morgan Stanley "Youth = vanguard of digital revolution"
-Intern opinions made front cover of magazines
-Film example: American Beauty (about adult idolisation and fetishism of youth)
Why?
-Nostalgia (never appreciated youth when they were younger ages)
-Empathy (Adults frustrated with lives to rebel again)
-Envy (Teens don't have a career, relationship, financial burdens etc)
-Envious of adolescent sex drive
-Freedom
Accurate or Idolised?
-'Juno' (do kids really talk like this?)
-Misfits/Skins (Do kids really have these lifestyles?
-Aimed at teens or adults audiences?
-Film example: Ferris Buellers Day Off (in Chicago 1988, more adult audience?)
How do macro factors affect politics/community?-"Who you are" and how are you unique?
-"What makes you similar" (with others)
-What social groups do you belong to?
Identity and Media
-Jacques Lacan (pyschoanalyst)
-The mirror stage, when a child begins to develop their identity
-What is our relationship with what is on screen?
-What pleasures do they offer? "Helping us define who we are"
-IDENTIFICATION (who we are)
-ASPIRATION (what we want to be)
Influence of Media
-How could they affect us?
-"Beaming an opinion"
-Do we consider representations accurate? "Closure and solidity"
-Inaccurate or distorted portrayals create a distorted identity = False aspiration and beliefs
-Draw confidence in what you are or aren't
Identification/Aspiration could inspire escapism?
Constructing the Teenager
-Youth culture emerges
-19th century "Bowery Boys" of New York
-Own slang, dress code, musical tastes etc (creating a recognisable culture)
-First time entertainment and fashion industries targeted youth groups
1900-1940
-400% rise in school enrollment in USA
-"Peer culture" (making comparisons)
-Magazine industries targeting insecurities of adolescence
-1940 WWii = Labour demand = young people with disposable income
1945-60 'Birth of the Teen'
-Economic potential obvious (market of the future)
-Youth similtaneously represented as "Prosperous and liberated future" and "A culture of moral decline"
-First sign of adult culture dichotomous image of teenagers
-Film example: The Wild One
1950's Rock 'N' Roll culture
-Not trying to fit in to adult mainstream (rebellion)
-Happy to rebel, first indication of Generation Gap
-In values and lifestyles
Adult Hegemony?
-Adult world supplied the culture, targeted it, constructed it
-Dominant social group, keeps an oppressed group in subservent position by making them feel this position is normal or desirable
-Adult mainstream exploited the image of the 'rebel teen'
-Sold to teenagers as aspiration
-Sold to adults as fear
James Dean - An Accurate Portrayal of Youth?
"Rebel without a cause"
-First celeb to capture dissonance of youth
-Delinquent behaviour
-Reinforce adult fear
-Not a 'Bad Boy'
-Confused, sensitive, frustrated
-Empathy/desire
"Live fast die young" = start of adults fetishing youth?
1960-70 Subculture to counter culture
-Next generation of teens cynical about commercial exploitation of youth
-Rebellion chimes with social upheaval
-Civil rights, feminism, anti-vietnam "Rebels now have a cause"
-Resistant to marketing and consumerism, wanted to make world better
-Film example: Easy Rider
Punk and Hip Hop
-Punk = reaction against optimism of hippies and more synical of mainstream
-Not just rebellious or anti-consumerist. Also anti-establishment
-Punk = aesthetic and political rebellion
-Hip Hop = dealing with relaity of poverty and racist oppression
-Film example: Scratch
Recent article: www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/feb/25/emo-pop-tribes-mods-punks
Adult Fetishisation of Youth
-Who is the intended audience?
-Adult obsession with youth (why?)
Women in Journalism Reports
-"Am I Bovvered?" Concensor sexualised images in media, beauty, appearance
-"Hoodies or Altar Boys" over half the stories about youth crime in regional/national papers.
-"Yobs" mentioned 591 times
-"Thugs" mentioned 254 times
-"Sick" 119 times
-"Feral" 96 times
-Positive representations of youth used when they are dead, or killed by other teens
-Images from media 85% afraid of "stereotype"
Internalised Stereotypes
-Self = fulfilling prophicies (representations accepted by search for solidarity and collective identity)
-Film examples: Kidulthood, Harry Brown
-9-14 yr olds spend $300bn per year in US (companies keen to target youth)
-Morgan Stanley "Youth = vanguard of digital revolution"
-Intern opinions made front cover of magazines
-Film example: American Beauty (about adult idolisation and fetishism of youth)
Why?
-Nostalgia (never appreciated youth when they were younger ages)
-Empathy (Adults frustrated with lives to rebel again)
-Envy (Teens don't have a career, relationship, financial burdens etc)
-Envious of adolescent sex drive
-Freedom
Accurate or Idolised?
-'Juno' (do kids really talk like this?)
-Misfits/Skins (Do kids really have these lifestyles?
-Aimed at teens or adults audiences?
-Film example: Ferris Buellers Day Off (in Chicago 1988, more adult audience?)
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Jacques Lacan - 'The Mirror Stage'
Jacques Lacan was a psychoanalysist who is famous for his mirror stage theory. He described the mirror stage as "Formative of the function of the / as revealed in psychoanalytic experience". In much simpler terms, the mirror stage was inspired by the creation of the Teenager era, and was about the time when a young individual would look at themselves in the mirror and start to crave change to their identity to make them unique or suit themselves to a collective identity, and invoking mental and image developments to the young individual.
Lacan proceeded further to explain how he believed that youth would go on to build an ego via objectification, and how the result of this ego was adoption of dissent of emotions and reality, aiming to avoid alienation through what i believe is the new ego formed and hoping to acquire the reverse of alienation, and find acceptance, confidence and security (perhaps through a collective identity or individual identity, what the individual would associate themselves with or assume themselves part of).
The idea of a mirror image could influence youth within the media that they choose to watch and associate themselves with. They must see a theme or icon within the texts they associate themselves with to create aspiration, familiarity and security that they can develop a connection to as this is what would reinforce, affirm and secure these aspects. Drawing aspiration from this could develop a stronger interest and the individual will strive to discover more media texts along similar lines which features similar themes to those of before, matching their new found identity.
Lacan proceeded further to explain how he believed that youth would go on to build an ego via objectification, and how the result of this ego was adoption of dissent of emotions and reality, aiming to avoid alienation through what i believe is the new ego formed and hoping to acquire the reverse of alienation, and find acceptance, confidence and security (perhaps through a collective identity or individual identity, what the individual would associate themselves with or assume themselves part of).
The idea of a mirror image could influence youth within the media that they choose to watch and associate themselves with. They must see a theme or icon within the texts they associate themselves with to create aspiration, familiarity and security that they can develop a connection to as this is what would reinforce, affirm and secure these aspects. Drawing aspiration from this could develop a stronger interest and the individual will strive to discover more media texts along similar lines which features similar themes to those of before, matching their new found identity.
Monday, 8 March 2010
Case Study: White Girl
'White Girl' is a social realist film that tackles family, social class and ethnicity issues, and is challenging the condition and representation of what it means to be British' and the identity of youth in a British family.
'White Girl' presents a disfunctional family who aim to escape a controlling father figure (who is also their only source of income). They relocate to a different geographical region in England (Bradford) which introduces an unfamiliar culture and religion to the British family.
The contrast between how the British family and the Muslim religion are represented is very apparent. The Muslims are shown to be respectful of their family, the posessions they own, their parents wishes, and are peaceful. The Biritish family clash with this as although they help look after each other (scenes involving Leah making her younger siblings breakfast) they shout and swear at each other, there is constant drug use within the family (unlike the Muslim families) and the mother is very unreliable and needs her mother to help her out (whereas the Muslim family have an authoritarian in a father figure, something the British family escaped as their father figure was abusive of his role). The Muslims therefore show a very strong sense of community and obedience. The British family however abuse the family community, with each parent being neglectful of their duties and using the kids such as Leah's brother to benefit themselves and get them things (the young boy getting his dad items from the local shops). Representations of Britishness in this case is very negative and shows a typical C2 demographic family to be disfunctional and uncohesive with one another, not a strong community.
The impact subsequently on a youth character in 'White Girl', Leah, is ultimately escapism as she begins to adopt the Muslim religion, beliefs and way of life. The scarf (hijab) is the first sign that she is beginning to "escape" Britishness and shape her own identity. By gaining this scarf, and by reading books at school, Leah begins to discover acceptance by being welcomed into the local school and freedom from her teacher to read books about the Muslim community, security through collective identity and foundations of commandments written within the religion and classes at school that teach these, and aspiration by being given books to further teach herself about Muslim life and frequent visits to the Mosque. A prime example of aspiration in Leah's case is the Hijab; by her wearing it she shows neglect towards her British family and safety within the Muslim heritage. The hijab therefore becoming a symbol of acceptance, security and aspiration. All together this is moving her away from the alienation she had been experiencing in her own British family.
Leah's mother however is resentful to her moving away from Britishness, and instantly becomes fearful when Leah wears the scarf within the British family community, this fear could be down too Leah losing her authentic Britishness (her roots) and losing respect for her Britishness, yet also being fearful of Leah's new found valuation of elements of life the mother has rejected in the past, education.
Leah's mother rows with her teachers against Leah's will. This is a key example of adult fear. Through this fear the community within the British family shows that family is a valued concept to Britishness and straying from the roots of what makes us British is not acceptable, in this demographic class at least. However, the fear could also stem from previous educational failure of the mother herself, and how she does not have an education and did not care about her own education, yet how Leah is not at least gaining an authentic British education. British pride and aspects of racism, and perhaps the clashing of beliefs and teachings through geographical region are the resulting factors in this case.
Adult fear is further established during the scene that the hijab is forcably removed from Leah, even though she is stubborn to fight to keep her new identity and what the hijab stands for. She ends up being shut out of her house until she accepts her true British heritage. Here I felt that the door was a representation towards the border divide of a country, where inside the house is Britain, and outside this house and any other house in that region represented the Muslim community as a foreign world and country in its own right. Leah's refusal to walk through the door of Britishness further establishes her neglect of her British roots and rejection of how her social class represents Britain.
Subsequently Leah builds her new Britain around the Mosque, and invites her mother along to visit the Mosque. The rituals of washing her face, feet and hands shown before they enter the Mosque resounded the possibility of this being Leah's initiation or induction to her Britain, and you can only proceed further inside the Mosque and reach the centre of her Britain if you cross the border and comply by washing her hands, feet and face also.
The mother herself has a low class job as a cleaner, and acquires constant drug abuse of cigarettes and a powerful drinking problem. The possible reasons that the mother turned to the drink in the first place is some what suggestive to her using it as a comforter and empowerer to balance her duties for the family and to balance family, work, and social responsibilities mentally.
It is the drug abuse that Leah targets and believes is destroying the family (cans of drink are consistantly displayed throughout the film within reaching distance of the mother whilst in Bradford), and it could be from this that envokes the escapism that Leah has, to get away from her British tag and gain new status and identity under Muslim life. Her happiness and security of this new identity is confirmed by the scene that shows her working and reciting quotes from the Quran towards her father during an argument, which ultimately drives him away.
I feel representations of Britishness through "White Girl" show pride of our roots and of our family and collective identity of where we are from. The insecurities shown in this film lie underneath this, how conflict within family can be swayed by unreliable parentage, drug abuse, lack of respect, and striving to fulfill our aspirations which in this film's case was Leah's education and the conflict being how Leah's mother did not have one and is resentful for this.
Sunday, 7 March 2010
Question 2: How effective is the combination of the main product and ancillary texts?
The combination of my main and ancillary texts hinge on the key of three key factors; the guitar, photography and the notepad with handwritten lyrics.
It is important to have consistency throughout the productions as this is what connects them together, and such connotations and themes linking together. For my production I have aimed to keep an original and first hand approach from the artist, which I believe I have kept flowing by using the guitar to represent inspiration and a way of expression, in all of my media products. The intended audience therefore can identify this guitar as a reoccuring theme throughout each media text and can connect them together and realise such connotations as expression and inspiration from the guitar and further establish further connotations by how each texts expands in its unique way (for example the sketchbook approach, which is kept consistant by the use of the notepad in the music video. The words on the pages (such as the lyrics pane with the lyrics written as they are in the video and inclusion of A4 paper on this pane) allow the audience to realise the connection between the two and gain the same intended representation and connotations from them). It is for these reasons that makes consistency and coherence important to combine my media texts.
The guitar was used in the music video as a way for the male character to express his thoughts and feelings, and as previously discussed as a way of inspiration and comfort. By using the guitar in the ancillary texts, these are continued into the presentation of these ancillary texts. I expanded these connotations in the digipak by the reoccurence of photography that featured key lighting and also with the inclusion of the artist playing the guitar. This reinforces the significance of the guitar and shows how the guitar conveys the artists words (for example, each note played on the guitar as a word), thus encouraging the target audience to be take inspiration for his expression (and perhaps be expressive themselves as the guitar may be a common feature of the target audiences lifestyle, through their guitars) and be comforted by his music and lyrics. The expansion of the book cover I felt could represent the guitar case, how the guitar is stored and how there is a message to be told by playing it. This connotes to my intention of how the cover of the book acts as a guitar case, and how by reading the words on the page you learn, you're inspired and you take comfort, which is just like reading a story and by listening to Cohen's music. This is the link between the two.
From previous research into the music genre of acoustic rock, other texts from this genre centralise around a key element of the genre (usually musically influenced), in this case, this would be the guitar. This helps me to establish conventions of the genre and connect with my target audience (the guitar perhaps being a common interest to make this connection). The guitar itself is a humanly played instrument. Therefore I chose the notepad and pen in the music video to adopt the human touch approach that I was aiming for to give the impression that just like the notes from the guitar, the lyrics from the pen stemmed from Chris Cohen himself. This made it easier to influence my approach on my ancillary text to design the sketchbook approach. It allows these lyrics to also be written down just like on the notepad, and allows me to use a handwritten font to continue this theme through my ancillary texts, and keep another theme of originality flowing and become further established.
A second key factor shared between all texts for coherence is photography. In the music video a photograph of the two main characters (the couple) was a centrepiece within the video that was always referred back to that helped the music video flow and has familiarity. By using photography and Polaroid graphics in the ancillary texts I feel helps with this coherence in the video (of which is also helped by handwritten font that was written on the photos in the video and as flourishes on the ancillary texts). Another reason why Polaroid establishes a personalised point of view is the point of view of Chris Cohen in this instance. The point of view in the music video is of the male character, whom that Chris Cohen broadcasts his opinions and beliefs through by the lyrics he conveys in the song (by lip sync in the video of the male character). By broadcasting his messages through ulterior personnel (being the characters in the video - which effectively act as figureheads in his place), it gives the effect that the male character in the video is that of the target audience, who adopt Chris Cohen’s view point in this way. Which means that the photography and Polaroid that feature in the ancillary texts should mean the target audience adopting what Chris Cohen sees, for them self through this personalised human touch approach I have gone for. This also adds coherence again through repetition of themes.
It is important to have consistency throughout the productions as this is what connects them together, and such connotations and themes linking together. For my production I have aimed to keep an original and first hand approach from the artist, which I believe I have kept flowing by using the guitar to represent inspiration and a way of expression, in all of my media products. The intended audience therefore can identify this guitar as a reoccuring theme throughout each media text and can connect them together and realise such connotations as expression and inspiration from the guitar and further establish further connotations by how each texts expands in its unique way (for example the sketchbook approach, which is kept consistant by the use of the notepad in the music video. The words on the pages (such as the lyrics pane with the lyrics written as they are in the video and inclusion of A4 paper on this pane) allow the audience to realise the connection between the two and gain the same intended representation and connotations from them). It is for these reasons that makes consistency and coherence important to combine my media texts.
The guitar was used in the music video as a way for the male character to express his thoughts and feelings, and as previously discussed as a way of inspiration and comfort. By using the guitar in the ancillary texts, these are continued into the presentation of these ancillary texts. I expanded these connotations in the digipak by the reoccurence of photography that featured key lighting and also with the inclusion of the artist playing the guitar. This reinforces the significance of the guitar and shows how the guitar conveys the artists words (for example, each note played on the guitar as a word), thus encouraging the target audience to be take inspiration for his expression (and perhaps be expressive themselves as the guitar may be a common feature of the target audiences lifestyle, through their guitars) and be comforted by his music and lyrics. The expansion of the book cover I felt could represent the guitar case, how the guitar is stored and how there is a message to be told by playing it. This connotes to my intention of how the cover of the book acts as a guitar case, and how by reading the words on the page you learn, you're inspired and you take comfort, which is just like reading a story and by listening to Cohen's music. This is the link between the two.
From previous research into the music genre of acoustic rock, other texts from this genre centralise around a key element of the genre (usually musically influenced), in this case, this would be the guitar. This helps me to establish conventions of the genre and connect with my target audience (the guitar perhaps being a common interest to make this connection). The guitar itself is a humanly played instrument. Therefore I chose the notepad and pen in the music video to adopt the human touch approach that I was aiming for to give the impression that just like the notes from the guitar, the lyrics from the pen stemmed from Chris Cohen himself. This made it easier to influence my approach on my ancillary text to design the sketchbook approach. It allows these lyrics to also be written down just like on the notepad, and allows me to use a handwritten font to continue this theme through my ancillary texts, and keep another theme of originality flowing and become further established.
A second key factor shared between all texts for coherence is photography. In the music video a photograph of the two main characters (the couple) was a centrepiece within the video that was always referred back to that helped the music video flow and has familiarity. By using photography and Polaroid graphics in the ancillary texts I feel helps with this coherence in the video (of which is also helped by handwritten font that was written on the photos in the video and as flourishes on the ancillary texts). Another reason why Polaroid establishes a personalised point of view is the point of view of Chris Cohen in this instance. The point of view in the music video is of the male character, whom that Chris Cohen broadcasts his opinions and beliefs through by the lyrics he conveys in the song (by lip sync in the video of the male character). By broadcasting his messages through ulterior personnel (being the characters in the video - which effectively act as figureheads in his place), it gives the effect that the male character in the video is that of the target audience, who adopt Chris Cohen’s view point in this way. Which means that the photography and Polaroid that feature in the ancillary texts should mean the target audience adopting what Chris Cohen sees, for them self through this personalised human touch approach I have gone for. This also adds coherence again through repetition of themes.
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