Evaulation

45

After finishing our ancillary tasks, we decided that the CD that we had burnt our Music Video onto, still looked relatively modern and plain. It didn't fit in with our '60's' style that we had kept continuous throughout our music video and ancillary tasks, so we decided to print artwork onto the CD. We took inspiration from old vinyl and designed our own which featured the name of our record company 'Spiretown Records' (a spin off from Motown) as well as the name of the artist and song- a typical convention.

This just gave the finishing touch to our Ancillary as it fits in with our minimalistic and classic theme. Both me and Megan were happy with the outcome and agree that our CD fits perfectly with our other tangible ancillary products.

Ancillary

As part of our ancillary task, we created an advertisement. In order to do this we used typical conventions of the 60's era, keeping a minimalistic approach as we have done throughout our A2 course.

 

 

Our Music Video

Here is our final cut of our A2 music video. 

 

 



Making our ancillary

DigiPak and Insert

 Here is the completed version of our Digipak and insert. We have attempted to adhere to the conventions of a typical Digipak and insert from the modern day, whilst still including characteristics from the 60's. We decided to use pop art and brighter colours on the Digipak to represent the contemporary elements of our music video. We also chose to only use black and white on the insert in order to show the minimalistic style of the 60's as well as representing the Motown genre.

Re-filming

We had already filmed most of our music video however whilst in editing we noticed some of the shots weren't how we wanted them to be. In order to correct this, we came into school during the holidays to re-film the shots we weren't happy with. This was a success as we were able to complete all the shots that we needed too. After we had re-filmed some of the shots we watched them back and began to add them into our shots that we had already filmed/edited.

 

We have now completed editing our music video however after watching it on a bigger screen we have decided to make some minor improvements as we felt that the lip syncing wasn't as in time as we had anticipated.

Acillary

We originally planned to create a typical record sleeve however after looking at a variety of different album boxes/sleeves we took inspiration from 'The Rolling Stones' album box.

Mr Hudson (our media teacher) was able to get a hold of some example records for us to have a look at and gain inspiration. We measured up the sleeves in order to get an idea of the size our box would need to be.


Here are a few pictures of me and Megan making our album box:

 As we are mixing both contemporary and 60's style together, we decided to do a monochrome theme on the front of the box showing the classic 60's style that the Marvelettes represent. The front of the insert then has a very modern/pop art theme in order to show the contemporary aspect of our music video. We chose to do this in order to appeal to both younger and older audiences.

We plan to use this on the front of our album box in order to create a very minimalistic and glamorous effect which our music video represents.

QR Codes

Continuing with our planning, we looked at conventions utilised in magazine advertisements in order to promote a band/ artist.
Contemporarily, there are many sub-advertisements lined along the bottom of the advertisement, including: the record company (Spiretown records), tour dates, album release dates etc.
One thing which interested us was the usage of QR codes and how they are so accessible to a contemporary consumer, as the quick scanning available in most smart phones enables consumers to reach extra storage quickly and efficiently.
"QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response Code) is the trademark for a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional barcode) first designed for the automotive industry in Japan. A barcode is a machine-readable optical label that contains information about the item to which it is attached. A QR code uses four standardized encoding modes to efficiently store data; extensions may also be used" -Wikipedia

To utilise this, we decided we'd create links between our ancillary pieces (CD insert and advertisement) by posting QR codes linking to our blog websites. We've created these in advance and intend to use them at a later date!

Location

As part of our planning process, we decided to look around different locations in order to see what looked the best. We liked the vintage look of the curtains, however we understood that we would need to frame the shots well in order for them too look how we wanted.
Here are some shots of Megan stood in front of the curtain. When we started to film we used stage blocks to raise the girls off the ground and give a more 'Stage like' effect. We also used extra lighting equipment in order to create shadows. We also recognised that in order to give a contemporary twist in our music video, we would have to include narrative. We filmed the postman scenes outside however when uploaded the footage to Premier Pro, we didn't like the background. Due to this we plan to re-film these shots next week.
The shots of the girls performing the song turned out really well, however we feel that we have a lack of shots with the 3 back up singers performing with the lead singer, Zaylie. We also plan to re-film these shots again next week.

 

Ancillary

After we had our pictures, we decided to experiment with Photoshop and merge two photo's together.
 We wanted to create the illusion of a hand reaching out trying to touch Zaylie's face. The hand would replicate the boyfriend who is away at war and not returning and Zaylie reaching out towards it. We first merged the two separate photo's together and then converted it to black and white to match the theme of our video. We plan to use these pictures in the insert of our Vinyl.

Vinyl

 

Me and Megan decided to look at different vinyl's in order to gain a greater understanding of how they looked and get inspiration for our own.  Mr Hudson was able to get hold of the Vinyl's for us to look at which provided useful as we then decided to stick with the black and white theme of our music video, and also create an insert which gives it more of a modern twist.
We plan to feature a shot of the whole band on the front of the Vinyl and then feature shots of Zaylie (the lead singer) as well as the other shots we have taken in the insert.

Ancillary PhotoShoot

Here are just a few of the shots that we took to use as part of our ancillary task. We plan to use these pictures on our vinyl and insert. We chose to do a black and white vinyl as this replicates the genre of music and the time era that our video was set.

The pictures feature Zaylie, who is the main character in our music video. The pictures show the story of our music video as Zaylie is singing about missing her boyfriend who is away at war and later finds out that he is not returning.  

Regulation

In the past decade over sexualised content has become a popular way to advertise and promote music video's. This has led to a debate whether these music videos are appropriate whilst younger children are able to view them. Artists such as Miley Cyrus and Rihanna have made a career out of their sexualised image and music video's. But with fans who are of a younger age group, parents are worried that the actions of the pop stars will rub off on there children. Are these artists a bad role model for the young of today?

Ofcom states that it tries to protect younger children from viewing inappropriate content. Whether that be Preventing children from watching a music video that contains explicit sex, drug use and offensive language; Or protecting children from other unsuitable content such as violence. Music videos will often bleep out any bad language if it is broadcast before the watershed. However it is worth noting that what is viewed as inappropriate now wouldn't of been inappropriate in the 60's (which is when our music video was made). This is due to social attitudes changing which can be recognised with the way that women are presented in music video's there and now.

We can see above how the representation of women in the music industry has changed as social attitudes change. It wouldn't of been acceptable in the 60's to dress provocatively and use abusive language within music video's however in the present day it is deemed as 'normal'.

Digipak

Our first attempt at a DigiPak design follows conventions needed for a sixties record sleeve.
The cover is mostly black and white, creating synergy with our video, which we intend to be fully black and white, with vintage grain effect, to integrate with the demands of a tangible product from the sixties era.
The font sporting the name of the band 'The Marvelettes' will be in colour, reminding our audience that despite the record sleeve being intended as a temporal piece, the colour shows our versatility and intention of bringing a contemporary audience an aspect of sixties soul.
The deceiving 'white circle' in the centre will be hollow, filled with polythene in our final product, fitting the record sleeve conventions further. This will be the print on the respective interior sleeve.
Our plans for a larger 12" vinyl exterior sleeve are under way.

Our Christmas Music Video

As part of preparation for our A2 music video, we decided to spend our last media lesson of last term by rein acting 'The Rogues Fairy-tale of New York'. Although we recognise that our final music video will be a lot better than this as we only spend 1 and a half hours filming editing etc.