Evaluation and Feedback of video

I have presented my evaluation of how my video uses, develops or challenges forms and conventions of real media products on a PowerPoint presentation which can be found here.
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0BxbvbzM5_eUWNzQyOGRhMDYtOTAyZS00NTkyLWIwYTMtZDgwNGE5YTU2OTkz&hl=en

• How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? 
To promote our video we had to create a digipack which consisted of front, back and inside covers. We also had to create an advert to help sell the digipack.


 I took the most influence for my advert from 'We are Scientists' album 'Impatience'. I thought having the writing run down one side of the advert and the picture on the other worked really well. Although it was basic, I think it got the message across and gave the audience all they needed to know. The feedback I got for my products working together was all very positive for example 'it does look good with the video'. This shows that my products are consistent within eachother. However if I was to do the advert again, I would use brighter colours that were more eye catching because I feel that the promotion of the digipack is more important than the digipack itself, meaning it needs to attract the audiences attention. 


I feel that the use of the same fonts on the digipack and advert make them work well together and makes the product more likely to stick in the audiences head. Also the fact that all the pictures for the digipack and advert and the footage for the video have all been taken in the same setting makes them very consistent as does the same costumes, props and other elements of mise-en-scene. 

What have you learned from your audience feedback? 
To gather feedback about the digipack and the advert I used Facebook. I feel this is an accurate way to gather feedback for these products because 'The Temper Trap' actually have their own fan page on Facebook. At the beginning of the project I established that the target audience of 'The Temper Trap' is generally a mixture males and females of younger ages. I felt that Facebook would be the best place to feedback from this specific audience although I don't think that the feedback was of the best quality it gave me a brief idea of the improvements I could have done to my products. The main criticisms I could take from my feedback is that the writing on the back of the digipack is slightly difficult to read, and the advert is a bit plain and basic so could be filled up with more relevant information. 


I also used Facebook to gather feedback for my actual music video but I wanted to get some more in depth feedback and opinions on it so also conducted a focus group. This is the feedback I gathered from Facebook. 

The feedback we gathered from Facebook about the actual video I feel is very limited. One of the pieces of feedback states that the part where the shot of the character walking out of the train station and it goes to a plain white screen is too harsh. If we were to have more time to go back over and edit we would change this to make it a bit more softer and not as much of a shock to the viewer. Also they believe there is a few faults with the acting, if we were to have more time we would re-shoot the shots which we felt weren't absolutely perfect on the acting scale. We would also change the brightness of the shot of the text message because it appears that it is hard to read. 


The second piece of feedback states that they like how the video is portrayed as a journey. I am really happy about this as this was one of the main aims of our video. From their feedback we can take that we just needed a bit more footage to fill up the end. We would have done this if we had just a bit more time to complete the project.


How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages of all your products? 
The majority of this project was completed using IT. I feel that my skills of using Adobe Photoshop have improved dramatically compared to using it at AS Level. I now know how to edit the brightness and contrast and change the colour of fonts, logos etc. Photoshop is simple to use but the products created by it look very professional compared to using a program like paint. 


Before I started this project I had never used Final Cut Pro before. At first I found it very tricky to use but after about two weeks it became a lot easier. This really helped us create the narrative we wanted for our video through layering, brightening shots, cutting shots forward etc. If we had more time I feel that we would have further experimented with the effects that this program had to offer. It enabled us to quickly cut the shots to the length we wanted them and to put them in the required order.


When filming our project we used a Canon XM2 camera and Mini DV tape. We had to learn how to alter the white balance and exposure. We also had to do things such as edit the speed that the camera would zoom at. Where possible, we put the camera on a tripod to ensure that the footage was as still as possible and the pans, tilts and zooms were as smooth as possible. 

Finished video

This is the link to our final finished music video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiuBM3InauM
To get feedback about the video we are going to post it on a facebook group. 



Creative camera use

We used some interesting techniques and special effects in the video to get the desired effect or distortion and being intoxicated.

We used a pan from the stairs to the exit of the train station round to the exit of it. When we panned round, the sun made the footage really bright. We used this to our advantage. We made the whole shot go to a white screen to make it look distorted and show the characters confusion.

Another effect we used was layering. This also fits in with the idea of being intoxicated. It suggests that the character is seeing things and in particular seeing herself.

This is another example of the layering technique we used. This one is of the character looking back on herself. This is another suggestion of confusing and seeing things when intoxicated.

On this shot we used a time lapse to make it look like it was happening faster. This creates a sense of urgency to get ready but also made the footage fit better and more in time with the music.

Rejected footage

Some of the footage we originally recorded we didn't use in our final video.

 
We didn't use this shot because of the puddles in it. This meant when I walked through I was slipping everywhere. Although we wanted to create the effect of alcohol abuse, it was too slippery and looked bad. Also the lighting is too dark compared to our other shots meaning our video would have lacked consistency.

 On the day we shot this shot, the weather was particularly bad. This means the lake looked cloudy and horrible. It also meant we couldn't get a very good shot of the characters reflection in it which we wanted.

 This shot had the same problem as the first piece of rejected footage. It was also too slippery for the character to walk over without it looking obvious that it was the mud making me slip and not the fact I was intoxicated.

 This shot was rejected because we forgot to move the camera and tripod bags before we shot it.

This shot was rejected because we didn't feel it had particular relevance to the narrative we had created.

 These shots were both rejected because the camera accidentally moved and therefore they went blurry. We did want the idea of being intoxicated but they were too blurry so weren't particularly suitable.

Storyboard and Animatic

Before we actually started filming we created a storyboard. We decided to take pictures instead of using drawings to give us the most realistic idea of what the final video will look like. 


Our storyboard included information on shot types, camera angles and movement, and description of the characters action. The storyboard assured us that we had used a variety of shots including extreme close ups and over the shoulder shots. 

We then put the photos we took into sequence alongside the track. This gave us a really good idea of what our final video would look like. This is the link to our animatic.

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0BxbvbzM5_eUWYzE3OGM5NmItNWM5NS00YjRkLTg3MjQtNTQwNGM2OGNjZGNj&hl=en

Health and Safety

Every time we booked a camera we were required to complete a Risk Assessment form. We had to look at all the risks of using the equipment on set. This covers the college insurance policy but also helped us identify any risks to ourselves, the general public or to the production equipment. Examples of this are:

• Access requirements or permission to film
• Cables trailing on the floor
• Damage to the environment
•  Weather- if it was raining we decided against filming because of the danger to the actors of slipping over and also the danger of the electrical equipment getting wet.
• Filming at night or in a licensed establishment
• Noise levels when filming

Advert Task

I am going to create an advert for the DVD digipack I have created. I will create this using Adobe Photoshop using images I have taken myself. Similarly to the digipack images, as I feature in the video I mounted the camera onto a  tripod to take the image of myself.

This is the first advert I am going to analyse which is an Advert for We are scientists' album 'Impatience'. I like the way that the characters look like they are both looking at the same thing. However some of the black writing is hard to read and the fonts are a bit bland and uninteresting.

This is the second advert I am going to analyse. It is for Flobots album 'Handlebars'. The image on the background is very relevant to the title of the album.  The writing stands out well compared to the background colours although the colours used are a bit dull and boring. The fonts are easy to read.

I created flat plans of what my final advert could possibly look like.

I have decided to make my advert A6 size. I have it in mind as something that would be handed out to people on the screen rather than something displayed on billboards,bus stops etc.

These are the original ideas of what my advert could have looked like. The first idea has a photo on the right hand side of it with the character sitting on the log on her own. To make sure it is consistent with my other products, I will use the same fonts for 'The Temper Trap' and 'Sweet Disposition'. I think this would work well as an advert.

The second idea uses a close up of the characters face. The details about the digipack will be on the right side of the image. I don't think using a close up of the characters face gives much consistency with my other products as our video is mostly made of long shots and the digipack images are mid and long shots.

The third idea uses an image of the rear of the character walking up the path. The writing is displayed around the edge of her body. I really like this idea,  but the back of my digipack is very similar so I think although it is consistent, it will be too repetitive.

I have opted to use the first flat plan for my final advert.

This is the final advert I have created for my digipack. I have also uploaded this to Facebook to gather feedback.

I have kept my advert consistent with my digipack and the video in many ways. Firstly it uses the same fonts as the digipack. This makes it clear to the audience what the advert is for. I have used a picture from the same shoot as the digipack and in the same location as where the video was shot. 


I made sure that my advert contained all the key information. This includes the bands website address, their record label and the date of release. 

This is the feedback I gathered from the Facebook page. From this I can take that there is too much blank space on my advert and that I should have filled this with more information such as a rating from NME.  They did like the picture used though and said that it fits well with the digipack and video meaning that my products are all consistent.