Audience Feedback:

Editing on 'iMovie

I then showed my current video to a group of people that would be found in my target audience. I asked them what they thought of my video so far and what are some things that stood out to them and what were some areas that i may need to improve.

Audience Feedback:

pros

-The reverse shot with the leaves is effective

- Love the feet shot

- The action-match shot with the boy walking on his hands is really effective
- The whole vie of the overall film is really feel-good and energetic

- Stop-motion animation is very effective
cons

-The string on the moonwalking scene is very irritating

- Some of the lip-synching is a little out of time

-More quirky, weird shots

Taking on all of this valuable feedback, i am going to ensure i become a little more experimental with my final few shots. Therefore, i will hopefully have a few funny scenes to lighten up the overall mood of the video that i am currently conveying. I am also going to pay more particular attention to the timing of my lip-syncing shots as it will look much more professional if they are all perfectly in time with the lyrics and the beat of the song. Additionally, i plan to also re-film the moon-walking scene and ensure there re no distraction in the shot and the quality of the footage is better! 

Final Ancillary Poster and Album Cover:

Fat Boy Slim- Music Poster

Fat Boy Slim- Digipak/Album Cover

Morphing Inspiration:

I have included some mid shots of multiple people lip- synching to my song. This video by 'Godley and Creme', i thought was worth making note of as it is quite similar to the technique that i used in my own music video. However, i especially love how perfectly still each person is held in each shot as it then effectively morphs into the other very fluidly. From this, i have decided to include some fading in and out of the mid-shots to hopefully have a similar effect as this video.

Music Poster, Final:

Poster 1

Poster 2

Poster 3

Poster 4

I am currently at the stage where i am happy with the design of my music poster, however i need to decide on one of these four color-hues. The collaboration of images and bright bold colours that catch the viewers eye work very effectively to successfully connote my music genre of 'Electronic/ Funk'. I have ensured that the text is extremely clear as i have found, when researching into similar music posters, that it was vital to make it clear to the audience what it is that the poster is advertising. Therefore, i chose to use a very bold, clear and basic font type that contrasted with the electric, bold collage of colours and patterns used in the background. Furthermore, the overall design won't look too over-powering and confusing as the white text seems to break up the colour effectively. I used the 'Mika' poster stated in my previous blogpost as a source of main inspiration. It had a similar collaboration of colours and comic-like images. However, it didn't have much of a focal point which i didn't like. Therefore, i chose to incorporate my album cover design into the poster and used the large red lips as the centre image to act as a focal point, similar to my album cover. 

At this current stage, with the four different posters placed side-by-side i am almost certain that i prefer the look of 'Poster 4' as the colours are slightly more natural and vibrant. 

Album Poster Inspiration:

1) I love the powerful 'explosion' of graphics in the centre of the page. There is also a sense of personalisation as the title has been created by using cellotape and a stamp-like title. The yellow text at the bottom of the page is also a very eye-catching colour and it helps to balance out and break up the large amount of graphics up on the top half of the page.

2) Another really unusual, but creative effect is this use of collaging and morphing. The four members of the band have all been included in the poster which i think is also important and the colours used also give a powerful and strong image. The release date again has been highlighted with the use of a vivid, bold colour.

3) This would probably be my favourite of the three as i especially love the exciting comic book inspired colours and computerized images. The collaboration of unrelated objects have also given me the idea that the genre of music may be a quirky, upbeat and happy. 

Album Poster, Experimental Design:

I thought i would experiment with the design of my second ancillary task- the creation of a music poster. I felt it was necessary to make a link between my music video production and this poster as it would ensure that my audience will understand what it is exactly that i am tring to promote.

After creating this poster, i have decided that i did not like the finished product. It is slightly too simple and not as creative as i thought it would look.

I asked a few people from within my target audience, what they thought about my design. They too felt it too wasn't very successful and said that they think i could create something alot more interesting and creative.

Music Video Poster, Design 1) from aprilmccullin

Audience Feedback:

I wanted to get some first hand impressions from my target audience and so i chose to upload a copy of my album cover onto my Facebook account. I got very positive feedback from the responses that i received.

Including:

- Good song choice.

- Effective collage effect.

- Represents my genre of music.

- Good colour palette.

- Eye-catching center image (lips).

How/Who will market my product?

What is music marketing? 

Wikipedia says: "marketing" is a business term referring to the promotion of products, advertising, pricing, distribution channels, and branding. 

Here i have found a website that breaks the definition up and helped improve my knowledge of the term and the aspects of 'marketing' that i will need to consider for my product:     

http://www.musicmarketing.com/

Source: http://blog.nielsen.com/

After doing some more research into how music is now marketed, i have found that since 2004, digital downloads of albums has rapidly increased! I have also found that as a result of some audience feedback that i received recently (see earlier blogpost), not one of the people that i interviewed claimed to be purchasing physical music product such as CD's or Vinyls. Therefore, if i was to market my product, i would most certainly be promoting it through the web. Taking advantage of Web 2.0 and ensuring it reaches my target audience.

I would have my product promoted through a number of Smartphone Apps:

Just a few of the Smartphone Apps that i feel would be ideal for promoting my product.

I would also promote my product through many of the available social networking sites.This would directly reach my target audience as a majority of the users are from the ages of 16-27. It is also free and would be highly effective.

The most popular social networking sites include...

Who will market my product?

I have decided that i would market my product with the company 'Essential' as i have found they work on many levels of distribution. And depending on the type of genre they are marketing, will select the most appropriate means of distribution to suit my target audience. They also distribute across the Uk and worldwide.

Filming, Day 4:

Today i had a friend over to help me with my filming. I experimented with the different ways of lighting up the scene, as it was nighttime and i was only able to use artificial lighting. To begin, we tried a dancing scene on the bed, which was highlighted with the light from my chandelier. I elevated my tripod to get the crystals in the shot and to get a wider view of the scene. After this, i decided to do some more dancing scenes in my bedroom as i could then have more to work with in the editing stage. Therefore, i got my desk lamp and raised it so that it was shining on us dancing acting alm,most as a 'spotlight'. This i was really pleased with as it will ensure my audience focuses on us and doesn't get distracted by the surrounding busy environment we are within. We also dressed in very bright, quirky clothing as i think it will suit my genre and the audience i am trying to target. 

Ancillary Album Cover (Final):

Album Cover Designing Progress:

Original scan of my design- created entirely from magazine  images.

The edited copy, with enhanced colours and sharpened quality.

 Above are three different colour possibilities. I thought to make things easier for me to decide on a favourite, to screen print and place the three options side-by-side. From here, i can clearly see that the pink lips 9top left) is my favourite as the colours are alot less harsh on the eye and i find it much more appealing. My target audience also shared the same thoughts.

Editing My Album Cover:

Thinking how i could create a really appealing and unique Album Cover that connotes my music genre of 'Electronic/Funk' i decided that i wanted to make something that wasn't entirely computer generated. Therefore, when flicking through some magazine's and putting together a slideshow of the album covers already available on the market, i became certain on the type of cover i wanted to create.

Similar also to Andy Warhol's work, i have ensured to include a combination of bright, striking colours. As i felt that my genre of music is a particularly vibrant type of music that represents youthfulness and happiness. 
I also decided that it was necessary to make my album cover related to my music video production as i want my target audience to make the connection and to have a vague idea of what to expect from my video. Therefore, i have included some close-up shots of mouths and bright bold colouring that is represented through my actors clothing and the scenery i have included.

I am currently at the stage where i am editing the original scanned image of my cover. I have used a variety of different online programs to edit it to my preference. These include 'Microsoft Paint', 'Pixlr' and 'Adobe Photoshop'. Below is a screen print of my editing on Pixlr; where i enhanced the colours and sharpened the image. This resulting in a more clearer and eye-catching design that appears much better in quality than the original.

Editing on the program 'Pixlr', to bring out the colours and make them more eye-catching and bold.

Choosing a font for the Album song-name on the program 'DaFont'.

Technical Difficulties:

I am currently experiencing some technical difficulties that i am trying to resolve. My video footage has been recorded onto my SD card however, it is not a 'readable file'. Therefore, i have booked in a meeting with the technician and hopefully, i will be able to solve the problem. In the mean time, i plan to do some more research into my ancillary tasks.

Filming Day 3:

TODAY, I was filming my dancing scenes. I decided originally  that i would like to have a long shot of three individuals dancing in sync with each other and the song...however, i recently chose to film a sequence of close-up shots/foot shots of a variety of different "people" dancing. I gathered together a mixture of different shoes and socks for my character to wear in different locations as i also decided that it would be more efficient if i used only one single actor to represent numerous other dancers. This was a very good idea, i thought as it allowed us to work more consistently and productively, as it was not necessary to explain to my actor more than once what it was i wanted them to do. However, the only problem we encountered on the shoot was that we eventually ran out of dancing moves. However, we soon resolved this by looking on YouTube for some dancing inspiration and we were soon refreshed and full of great ideas! 

Song Popularity/Stats:

After doing some research into how appealing my song choice will be to my target audience, i have found that the song was incredibly popular. (Hitting Number 1 on the music charts in the UK for instance) Therefore, i feel very pleased with my choice of song to base my music video production on as i am almost guaranteed now that my target audience will enjoy the song.

Source: www.last.fm

Source: www.youtube.com
(the video clip has a huge 6,491,636 views!)

How does my target audience access music?

Whilst thinking about my ancillary tasks, i thought it was important that i am aware of the ways in which my target audience access their music nowadays. As i understand that the music industry is ever-growing and the growth of Web 2.0 has had a dramatic impact on how people are consuming music.

This is a link to a Guardian article that outlines the rapid increase of digital downloads. As it is now the fact of physical music sales remaining less and less in demand.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012

I also asked a variety of different aged people how they access their music:

"I have a 'GrooveShark' account that I use to create playlists. It's free, easy and accessible" 

(Anna, 17)

"I don't like the idea of downloading illegally. I'm also not so good with technology; so I prefer to just listen to the radio"

(Chris, 39)

"Either through the radio, or the music channel on the CV machines at the gym"

(Lara, 20)

"Mostly through YouTube, as I like to sit and enjoy the video that compliments the song...it's all about the visual treat for me" 

(Jasmine, 19)

"I usually just download my music via iTunes and then I can access my favourite songs from my Mp3 player" 

(Jack, 17)

"I only really listen to music through the radio when I'm driving to work"

(Paul, 42)

"Streaming through YouTube video's as I enjoy the visual side of music just as much as the song itself!"

(Sarah, 19)

"I just listen to new and upcoming music artists' through 'SoundCloud." 

(James, 15)

FIlming In-sync:

I am currently at the stage where i am filming my dancing scenes. I originally thought that it would be easier for my actors, and equally as effective if i was to film them dancing free-style and however they wanted, allowing them to express their own individual style of dance. However after watching this video, i have been inspired into wanting to change this thought and now film so that my actors dance movements are in-synch with the beat of my song. Therefore, it will have a more professional look and will look more like i have worked along with the music, and not ignoring the beat.

Andy Warhol:

I was recently browsing through some artists' work on 'Tumblr', when i came across the artist 'Andy Warhol'. He uses some really creative and unique techniques and his use of extremely contrasting and bold, bright colours really caught my eye. Therefore, i though i would make reference to him as he will be a great source of inspiration to me when i am creating my ancillary tasks (the creation of a music poster and album cover).

Warhol was an American artist; a leading figure in the visual art movement known as 'Pop Art'. His works explore the relationship between celebrity culture, artistic expression and advertisement that flourished by the 1960s. The artist encompassed many forms of media into his work, including drawing, painting, printmaking, silk screening, photography, film and music. Additionally he was also a pioneer in computer-generated art using 'Amiga computers', that were introduced in 1984.

Album Cover Inspiration:

I have chosen to begin my research into album covers, to provide me with some inspiration for my ancillary tasks. The PowerPoint presentation I created is a series of album covers already available, and well-known, in the music market. They inspire me because of their bold, creative and unique use of colours, lighting, special effects and use of fonts. I also feel that each individual cover has the codes and conventions that connote my chosen music genre and therefore i shall be using these to help influence my own album cover creation. Ensuring also that I researched into both modern and vintage artists' and compared the codes and conventions used for both..I now have a better understanding of what works/doesn't work, therefore can apply this knowledge to my own production. 




I also plan to incorporate the original 'FatBoy Slim' logo into my ancillary tasks. This is what it looks like:

Filming Schedule/Action Plan:

To help me manage my time effectively and to ensure my filming times are appropriate and accessible to my characters i have put together a brief schedule. This is just a list of dates that i plan to film and what tasks i will be taking out on each of those days.

 By including details such as, the lyrics that i need each of my characters/actors to lip-sync, where, when and most importantly the type of shot that each scene will need to be..ensuring that i include a wide range of techniques and camera angles/shots. As i aim to have a finished product that includes a huge use of variation, drawing in the attention and keeping hold of the interest of my target audience! 

Filming Day 2:

TODAY, i was filming my gymnastics shots. i got my actor to show how he could walk on his hands and i thought it could look really effective if i was to fast-track the footage. We began by filming some tracking shots (see image on the left and right) and i decided that it looked much better outside, where there is little distractions, such as household objects.And the audience would be able to ficus more of the character.
We then moved onto some filming of him walking across the shot, whilst it was on the tripod, held still. This looked very effective and i also found it would be a very good idea to also include a close-up shot of his hands, as he walks across the screen. These two shots could then be edited together so that it appears like a 'match-action-cut'.

Costumes:

 

I thought to sort through my closet to try and get an idea about the type of costumes i have available to use for my actors. The type of fashion ii was going for is something that can connote my music genre...so i aimed for a neon colour palette and bright fun patterns/graphics. I also thought to choose shorts as this will ensure my actors feel comfortable when dancing and jumping around in front of the camera.