Q4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

To find our unsigned band we first looked on the website www.unsigned.com as we wanted to avoid and copy write issues as the licencing and ownership of the bands original songs can impact the way that the promo is filmed or interpreted. However we could not find any bands that we connected with or could envision creating a video for so we decided to go on Youtube and see what we could find on there and we found the band Call Atlantis. We listened to their track and we knew that it was the right song for us to use. We came across the song ‘What if the Zombies Came?’ when we were looking for inspiration from the band Paramore as we knew that their videos could be very basic but effective which is what we wanted to create. Once we had listened to the song we researched the band and found they had a website stating that they were an unsigned band which meant that we could use their song as they would not have any copy write interference. We also looked to see if the band was on any social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter as we wanted to get an idea on what the bands following was like and to see what people thought of their music. This also meant that we could get in contact with the band and ask for their permission to use their song. Upon discovering that they had already produced a music video for another track they had written (posted on their social media fan page), we decided to use social networking sites to look at our audience research and to promote the video as the vast majority of people have Facebook allowing them to view the video and allowing us to get feedback from the video and our research.

To research further what was expected of a music promo we used Youtube to look at many different genres of music and how they represented the genre and the conventions of each genre. Throughout this process we used the theorists that we had studied, such as John Stewart’s modern media theory, Julia Kristiva’s absorption and transformation theory and Laura Mulvey’s  male gaze theory, and applied them to the promos that we looked at to see what was the most conventional theory used within the music industry. We decided  that we wanted to apply more than one theory to our promo as we wanted to be unconventional and use different people opinions to create contrasting views on the promo making it more memorable to our audience.

Youtube also helped us to analyse what was popular at that time and what was associated with these videos as we wanted to see what people found interesting and what shots were used specifically to each genre. We also looked at the promo’s that were created previously within the pop punk genre and analysed them in detail to see how we could either replicate or take inspiration from them. The promo that I found most influential was the Mr. Brightside promo by The Killers. They are of a similar genre and have create a very influential promo by using fast paced editing to suit the pace of the song and have used a multitude of shots and angles that make it look visually more interesting.  

The technologies we used to create our texts were iMovie, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, photo studio’s (to create our photos for the digipak and the website) and mobile phones. We wanted to use iMovie as it was the quickest way to create the video in the time that we had as we had a lot of complications and re-filming to get to the point where we could actually edit the promo together.
Even though it was more basic than Final Cut, I still learnt how to use iMovie effectively and how to create a more interesting promo by using multiple shots and clever editing techniques. We wanted to create the other texts with Photoshop and Dreamweaver as we had members of our group that were more experienced with using these particular software’s. We also used a photo studio to create the photos for the digipak and the website as we wanted to make them look as professional as possible and we did not feel that we could get the best quality images with our phones as the megapixels on the camera were higher and it also allowed us to gain experience with the studio and how the slightest lighting adjustment can have a great effect on an image. However we used our mobile phones to record the performance shots as we felt that they were a better quality and picked up the lights and the effects better. This also gave us more manoeuvrability with the camera as we could move with it more as it wasn’t heavy nor did it need any other components to film the shots (such as tripods etc.)   

Throughout the filming process I have learnt a lot about how to construct a music promo and the different shots that are needed to create a visually interesting piece. The multitude of shots and angles that were needed to create a promo were more important than when we created other videos as they needed to be more fluent and exciting to watch.

Editing a music promo was a new experience for me as I had never edited in such detail before and I found it challenging but very informative as it allowed me to experiment with shots and lip-syncing. Using the MAC’s was also another interesting experience as I had not used the MAC since creating our last video but I picked up the skills quickly and was able to edit the video in detail and at a good pace.

Whilst we were filming our promo we encountered some technical issues that put some of or filming on hold. This meant that we had to improvise and be prepared for anything as we needed to ensure that the promo was of a good quality 

The technical issues we came across when filming the footage for the promo was

•        Low level lighting- able to gain lights from behind the camera to produce more light on the performers.  

•        Camera Quality- because the normal handheld cameras were not picking up the lights well and were looking grainy, we decided to use our mobile phones to film as the camera quality was better.

•        Soundtrack whilst filming- we needed play the soundtrack whilst we were filming to ensure that we could get the lip syncing correct when we were editing so we had to have someone holding the phone with the soundtrack near the camera.  

•        Restrictions with movement- we had restrictions with movement however we worked with the space that we had and set up shots that would be effective and easy to get to.

Overall, the production went well and the products that have been produced are of a high standard and are authentic and interesting for our target audience.

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