Ryan Star- Last Train Home Finished Product

Directors Commentary

Evaluation Question 1- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our music video uses techniques associated with successful popular music videos such as performance and narrative. However, we have also included our own original ideas perhaps not seen as often in other modern music videos to also challenge conventions of real media products.

We agreed as a group, that in order to achieve a good grade, we needed outstanding Mise en scene, great cinematography and an inspiring performance. We made sure we had a solid shot list to use on the video and used real media products such as final cut pro for our editing. We were prepared like any other media product

Like the majority of music videos, we have included close up shots of the performer's face and mouth to capture the lip syncing effectively. Lip syncing is often part of the post-production phase; real music videos include lip syncing to give the initial impression that the performer is singing live with their natural vocal ability. This is done to hide the fact that it is pre-recorded and edited to improve the sound quality. For our music video, we included lip syncing initially to make our performer look like he was the actual singer of the song, Ryan Star. We included lip syncing throughout the whole of the song so that we would have a substantial amount of shots that we could choose from, in case some areas weren't of a high enough performance standard. It made sense to choose sections from one whole length of lip syncing, as appose to having inadequate amounts of little short ones, with the chance of having to film again if we didn't like the shot. Also, this popular technique was included as it is a popular element used in all music videos. By including the celebrity performer it primarily promotes the artist and the song itself.

Particularly for lip syncing purposes, we decided further that we wanted to create a master performance of the lead singer in the video, like many other real media products have done, one of the most popular examples are, Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares to You, and the dance sequence from Beyonce - Single Ladies.

To achieve the best quality like other media products, we used the college’s studio so that we could capture the best definition of shots with the high tech cameras. Due to the song being a powerful soul rock ballad, we dimmed the lighting whilst creating some spot light effects. Handheld cameras were also included to capture the singer (me) lip syncing for the whole song, even in the areas we defiantly didn’t need.

Our media product can be linked to real media products because we also included narrative and performance within our finished product.

Below Insert: Halle Square inside Manchester Arndale was one of a number of areas where we were asked to stop filming due to no permission.

When producing our music video we faced many problems, mianly not allowed permission to fulm in private areas around Manchester.

We did not gain any planning permission as we only had a few weeks to film and it was not considered enough time to gain access to do what we ideally wanted to film. To overcome the problem, we still filmed in the locations we wanted, quickly and quietly, in some cases a one shot take had to be done as we were being moved on during the actual filming process. If we would have been a popular, professional media company we would not have faced these problems, as they are be able to pay to hire areas and have permission to film in places where we are most definitely not.

We challenged conventions of real media products through a variety of tripods shots. We were going to use a lot of hand held clips, to give a sense of a P.O.V shot of the audiences perception of the performer in the video, to make them feel more involved and included, instead of just a viewer.

Another way that we challenged media products was perhaps through the costume worn. Whereas most celebrities wear extravagant, expensive branded clothing, we decided to wear casual clothes. This was because our target audience was primarily students, because of ourselves being students, there would be an immediate connection. It is showed the performer to come across as a regular person, so that there would be a better link. The dress code can also be linked with other media products, as we are also stereotyping students by portraying them as dressing casually whilst still staying with the late fashion trend, but still looking slightly untidy.

To conclude, I feel that we managed to follow popular media guidelines to create a highly quality piece of work, worth a deserving good grade. I also feel that we added our own adopted techniques to the video to make it a totally unique one, whilst still adapting other successful elements, to make our media product look equally as professional.

By Michael and Bethan

Evaluation Question 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts (the magazine advert and CD digipak)?

In our group, we came to the conclusion that we created a successful combination of the music video and the ancillary text. Firstly, we decided to create a music video for Ryan Star’s- Last Train Home, the main genre for this song is soft rock, the song is redeemed as a somber, minor toned song as it has implied lyrics, “tears coming down” which reflect the depressive state of the performer in the video.
After creating the video, we decided that we needed to design a similar style for the C.D panels and the poster. We decided that we wanted to have the star performer on the C.D and poster cover as it would reflect onto the audiences who sings the song and how the power of the star image could attract a wider range of audiences, so we taken a still camera and we shot in the filming green screen suite in our college.

Left Insert: Poster was filtered in black and white, then added colour to Michael's shirt.

The reason why we used such and unoriginal destination was because we wanted to create a simple, plain image for the ancillary texts to reflect that the performer not happy and in a somber mood like it is reflected in the video. We taken many shot, the props we used in the design were vital as we introduced alcoholic substances which contends sadness due to the stereotype of him being a depressive drinker, we also included his guitar to indicate that he is also the performer in the video, the audience loves to see a versatile image in the media, they like to see the authenticity of having one sole person being used for the whole filming and distribution of the song.

Right Insert: Poster with the insert of text layers and imagery of the companies endorsing the artist.

After we decided on our shots we taken the pictures to Photo shop and played around with a few designs, at first we thought we could of created a blurred image to reflect the lack of clarity in the music video between the two performers, then we decided that we might as well created a similar style to the video, yet design the ancillary texts with a design not used in the video, so what we decided to do is created a black and white filter, just like one of the lip syncing clips in the video. We then had some time to reflect on our decision and we decided that we needed some colour to catch the audience’s attention, so what I decided to do was to create a red filter over the image, i coloured in every red area in so that the main colour scheme was gray and red, this then portrayed a bright red blur in the middle of the panel and poster which would be more attention grabbing with the induce of colour.

Right Insert: Original photograph for the front cover of the C.D case.

For the inside of the panel, we decided that we wanted to imprint the lyrics on the left hand side of the C.D so that the audience could perform the track themselves as many people prefer to sing ballad typed songs than any other genre, the right panel included a bio about Ryan Star, the reason behind this is because Ryan Star is not known as a fully established star so if the audience could be given better information about Ryan Star, it would be easier to indicate a product that he brings out at a later date.

Evaluation Question 3- What have we learned from audience Feedback

We asked a sample audience for there views on our music video and to give us some feedback. Below it shows the feedback we requested from our sample audience.

David Lloyd- The camera work was good. Elements that I like were the shaky effect where the boy was in the park and he was running and really drunk. I think that the settings are appropriate and the costumes link in well with the video. I think that the target audience is young teens to young adults. I particularly liked the lip-syncing, which was done by Michael in the studio I thought that was done very well. Overall I think that the video is good.

Maryam Ismail- I think the camera work fits well and particularly I liked the transitions that were between the shots. I think that the setting was very appropriate as it is a love story, again the costumes fit well as it is typical casual clothing that people of our age actually wear which makes it feel more realistic. The video is probably aimed towards teenagers and young adults. My favorite scenes are at the train station where the boy walks away because at the start of the video I thought the boy and the girl would get together but he walks away so its an interesting storyline through out the whole video.

Adam Smith - I think the video was good I liked the whole video in general I liked the ending in particular it demonstrated the feelings of the male lead very well, emotionally invoking. The settings of the scenes are good and not to over the top like many people have in there music videos. The camera work is really good as well and I liked the fact that both characters got into character and it feels more realistic.

Kate Blair- I think that the camera work was on and off, I could see some parts were rushed. But overall it was pretty good. I like the effects you put on the clips. It captured the emotion of the ballad style song. I particularly like the scenes shot in the park and you went back and forth showing emotions at “happy times”. I feel that you were efficient considering the resources you had. I liked the costume, I thought that it was nice and stylish, fitting in with the genre of the music and setting of the video. I think that the narrative needed to be stronger and apparent, it was rather vague. The story of about the relationship was unclear, why did they separate? It could have been structured better. I also think that the lip-syncing wasn’t in line with song.

Holly Atkinson –

I have to give credit to the camera work in it looked really professional and I liked how showed the emotions of the characters involved. I liked the different filters and effects like shaking off the camera when Michael was in the park and drunk. I like the fact that it didn't go with the majority of the types of videos that are on the music channels now that just feature guns, drugs and girls in bikinis. I also liked the fact that it wasn’t a “typical” love story music video.

Leah Andrew- I think the video was good I liked the video in general. The settings were good. I liked it, the use of ideas for example the idea of where the performer Michael was drunk and depressed and went rushing around Manchester looking for his girlfriend. The props that were used My favorite scene was at the end where the couple walked past giving it a great level of emotion. Overall I think you did a great job.After requesting feedback from a sample audience, our music video received really positive feedback.

A typical comment was that it was creative and the ideas for the storyline was really good. This storyline also related to some people’s lives and so this immediately interested them.

The audience’s overall response from the video was that we had used a wide range of different shots, from close up shots to location shots; to stimulate interest. The use of different types of shots encourages the audience watching the music video to perceive it in different ways, and also creates a successful and professional feel towards the music video.

Another strength that was given was the lip-syncing, which was done by Michael in the studio. A comment we received by the audience feedback was the lip-syncing was done in time and matched the lyric of the songs perfectly.

Not all music videos are made the way people want it. There are things within our music video which we could have improved on and made better.

The audience, which viewed our music video, felt some of the lip-syncing wasn’t in line with the song.

Another problem addressed was that the narrative needed to be stronger and apparent, it was rather vague. And the story should have been clearer about the relationship.

From our audience feedback we have learnt a lot, the audience feedback picks out both positives and negatives about the music video and it allows us to get an idea of what people think of it, and what can be done to make it better.

Evaluation Question 4-How did you use media technologies in construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Making a music video is impossible without technology; it's the most important tool in order to create a good one.

One of the first tasks we did as a group, was researching music videos. To do this, we used 'youtube' to find them to help us analyse the footage. We used some of the music videos as inspiration, showing us good techniques and effects that we may have also liked to include. Also, on the music videos, people are able to like or dislike the video, this enlightened us to which music videos were perhaps liked more than others and look into the reasons why, so that we could include essentially what the majority of people 'like' in our music video, to make it successful.

Another preparation task that we needed to decide as a group was the locations of our music video. To help us decide and locate suitable areas to film, we used 'google maps'. This gave us a chance to observe the place without us having to actually go there. We didn't want to waste time visiting a place that we decide we don't like when we get there, when we could have been filming somewhere else.

Throughout the course, we have primarily been using a hand held digital camera to collect all of our shots assisted with a tripod. Due to the quality of the camera, we avoided using certain functions such as zooming in and out, because compared to other music videos which we have analysed it didn't look professional enough.

After we finished filming, we collected all the footage onto a professional editing software called, "Final Cut Pro". With it being complex, it was equally as difficult to get use to the program again and all of its functions, but we had to discover even more effects to include to make the video look professional, and to show that we have put the effort in to make it appear as good as a modern music video. Constructing our music video was a challenge on the program; to search through the various effects to find the ones that we thought suited our music video and our desired concept best. The effects which were included were a light ray effect on the flashes of the memories when the couple were together, demonstrating their happiness together in the past. For the performance shots, we used a negative effect in contrast to the rest of the footage where it was in colour. It was intended to show the different time periods, as though a back flash of him performing.

To enforce the professional look of our music video, we used the studio and its professional equipment to shoot the performance side of the music video including lip syncing. Being in the studio enabled us to use better quality cameras to use close ups of the face, to focus on the mouth of the performer to establish that the lip syncing was in time with the music, as part of the criteria of the course. The high quality lighting in the studio also allowed us to establish the performer more, focusing the light primarily on his face so that he is more defined and recognised, rather than outside where the weather often disrupted the clarity of our shots. We weren't able to distinguish the character's expressions as clearly as we would have liked, which is important in demonstrating our concept and plot.

Adobe Photoshop was another technology that we used in order to create a professional CD cover and poster design to promote our music video and the single. It was initially difficult to get use to all the functions because we were not required to use the program last year. However, this program enabled us to include features associated with a professional CD cover, such as the barcode. Other features we included to influence people to buy the CD were putting logos up of awards, such as an 'MBE" therefore making it look worthy of buying because of all the awards that it looks like it has won. Another tool used was, 'blur'. This enabled us to combine two different images and merge them together. This would not have been possible on an amateur program. Moreover, when editing the original photo that we took, the picture was too large to be saved for the album cover. To fix the issue, we brushed over the guitar, to effectively make it look like the object was never there.

We also dominantly used black and white effects throughout the whole album, to establish the sad lyrics of the song, showing the audience the genre 'soft rock' as appose to a heavy metal example which would be loud and colourful to demonstrate the chaos and loud music. The black and white is also used to indicate the performer's state of mind, showing that he is not seeing things as brightly as he did when he was with his girlfriend. The dull colours should show the buyer that this is a sad song.

When evaluating our music video, we went into the studio for the final time, to record our overall outlook of our progress and discuss not only the challenges that we faced, but the main important techniques that we included that made our music video stand out and look professional. The studio was the best quality technology available so that when recording our voices, it was clear and you could understand the answers that were given from the evaluation.

Final Poster Design

This is our final poster design, the man features of our poster is the black and white filter, with the insert of a red colouring on Michael's t-shirt, this creates a somber, negative approach to the album, this is vital for the target audience as it is a soft, slow rock genre that we tried to promote during our advertisement of our music video. We then created a text layering informing the reader of who the artist is, what the album is called and the release date, we created a stroke boarder around the text to make the text more eye catching if the audience is walking past the poster, the border is also important as it creates a contrast in colours throughout the poster of three major colours, Red, Gray and the border Black.

We also inserted images of the record company for copyright issues and we also inserted two companies which sell the music for Ryan Star, Hmv and itunes, the reason why we chosen the these two companies was because they are major music record shops, so the target audience will be able to easily access the album from there desired company. We also inserted a unique item of an award nomination, this was an easy decision for us to insert the item as it would connote that the music is a award winning piece of music, so more people would be attracted towards buying the album.

By Michael Redmond