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

The first piece of technology which was vital to the production process, was finding the song on SoundCloud. There were a variety of possible song choices on the website, which we were able to listen to in full and quickly decide options and then the final song. After this I used a downloading website in order to quickly access a quality copy of the song.

Carrying on from this, I constantly throughout the process used YouTube to research music videos in the same or a similar genre to my own. This was fast and gave me the ability to replay the video as many times as I needed in order to grasp different aspects of mise-en-scene, shots, the narrative and characters.

Once we decided on the song we were going to use for the music video, we had to somehow contact the artist/band to ask their permission for us to create a music video to their song. The way in which we did this was via the social networking site Facebook. We messaged the artist after we came across their page, which was quick and easy and sent them a message. Without this method of technology, it would of been far more difficult to contact the band and ask their permission - especially since they live abroad.

Once this was decided we had to pitch our ideas behind the music video concept to the class, in which we used example music videos to portray what we wished to achieve at the end of the process as well as downloaded images in order to pitch our  concept well. Many of our ideas were influenced by a range of music videos - for example Lady Gaga's 'Alejandro' was a huge influence on our editing process, without YouTube we would not have had this same influence.

When searching for suitable locations, such as a suitable hill which looked over the city and an area which would suit the outside scenes of Ellie spinning, we took pictures of all possible locations. This was so when we came to clarifying the definite locations, we could observe the areas again and directly compare based on how they look on film.

Throughout the entire production process, my mobile phone played a vital part in ensuring everything was organised and ready for shooting. When shooting I played the song through my phone in order to have some awareness of how long the shots needed to last and to listen out for any defined lyric we could incorporate into the shot. We experimented with Ellie having a performance element also, therefore playing the song alongside the shoot raised her awareness of the lyrics.

When it came to actually filming, one of the scenes which heavily relied on technology were the flashing lights shots. Not only did we need to play the song in order to merge the lights to the beat of the music, there were a limited number of sockets in the room. Therefore we had to use a number of extension leads throughout the room to create the affect that lights were surrounding the room and the actress. There were difficulties with this stage - such as ensuring the leads of the lamps had enough length to place them suitably in shot. However without the extension leads, this scene would not of been possible at all.

Because our music video was not planned to feature any specialist video camera effects, we used a simple video camera which was of good quality. Before we used this camera to shoot the music video, we tested that the camera looked aesthetically pleasing in black and white. Due to using a SD card with a large amount of space, we were able to reshoot any scenes which were not perfect the first time. This also gave us the freedom to film various aspects of nature which we could use as transitions; which meant that when it came to the editing process we had more than a suitable amount of footage to create the music video we desired.

In terms of the print productions, the digipack was created on Photoshop. In the editing process of the digipack I added a green/blue tint on all of the pictures used. This reiterated the theme of nature and the connotations of water. I also created a collage made from pictures from a high-quality digital camera. Both of the cover images were taken using an underwater digital camera; this enabled me to not only photograph under the water and use one of the elements we portrayed in the music video. However also, enabled me to mix being underwater and over the water to create connotations of confusion, nostalgia and peace. Not only this, Photoshop provided a wide selection of font choices. This enabled me to thoroughly look through each font option and choose a suitable font which would suit the simplistic, aesthetic tone of the covers that I aimed for.

When searching for inspiration for the images I used within the digipack, Google provided many, many different unique images I could take inspiration from. Not only were there various fashion, amateur and abstract images taken underwater, there were articles about the revolution of underwater photography and the connotations of it. A Daily Mail article explains that under water photography is a  'beautiful form, light and composition create a surreal world that really captures people's imaginations.'

However, neither the music video or digipack would of been as successful without BlogSpot. BlogSpot through embedding images, videos and links allowed me to record my progress throughout production. Due to labelling and the organised structure when editing the music video it was quick and easy to search for music videos, already on my blog, which inspired us. Therefore I could directly compare my music video with any I had previously written about.

When researching various genre concepts and convention, through the blog archives I researched what previous students had explored and researched. This enabled me to view my genre from a different perspective and be able to compare and contrast our work. Which in itself encouraged me to evaluate my work.

Teacher feedback on the blog constantly enabled me to improve certain blog post and know when the direction I was going into (especially in the initial stages of production) was the correct one. The blog is also a successful way to share my work with non media students and gain their impression of the aims behind both my music video and digipack, and see (as my target audience) if they anticipated that it would appeal to them.

Throughout the process, from planning to production I constantly used my phone to take images or record down certain ideas. Towards the end of production, I had created lengthy lists of concepts, ideas, connotations etc. that I wished to achieve in both my music video and print productions. For example I had a list which contained costume ideas for both products and then proceeded to add images which were in keeping with the ideas I had written, in order to regrasp the idea if I came back to it.

To edit our footage in order to create the music video itself we used Adobe's Premier Pro. One of the first things I did in terms of large editing changes, was create two different sequences and put a greyscale effect on one of the sequences. This enabled me to compare how effective the video looked both in black and white and unedited in terms of colour.

This enabled me to compare how aesthetically pleasing different shots looked in both black and white and colour, then throughout the process I compared and at the end of the editing process I decided that the greyscale effect was the most effective colouring.

One of the main features of the music video, which Photoshop editing played a huge role in was the use of the quick dip to black's in between the shots outside of Ellie. The sequence - inspired by a sequence in Lady Gaga's Alejandro music video, features a dip to black every 3 seconds in between shots to create an interesting visual effect. I also wanted to create the impression of fragmentation and distortion to show the complexity of the young girls life. I also wanted the next shot to appear quicker than the last shot disappeared to create a certain flow and evenness to the shot sequence.




A shot of the young girl spinning uncontrollably originally seemed too steady and normal to fit in with the other shots in the sequence. Therefore in Photoshop I flipped the shot horizontally, then vertically to give the impression that the camera is at an obscure angle therefore fitting in with the sequence more.


Without Photoshop I also would not of been able to alter the colour contrast and tone in individual shots to correlate with the others. Such as when Ellie is shown running from the kitchen, since we filmed the foot shot and long shot in different locations, for the long shot I edited the contrast to be higher in order to fit with the bolder coloured shot of the young girl running. This meant that in the music video sequence the audience do not view a shot as not fitting in/belonging in the sequence.

Without Premier I also would not of been able to create the opening sequence, cutting shots important to the narrative with the shots of the camera spinning -capturing nature and serene shots. This enabled me to create a clear narrative for the audience, create the music video as aesthetically pleasing as possible and also captured the nature which was so important to the meaning behind the music video. The spinning also may be seen to the audience as the manic confusion going on within the young girl's mind, then the more still shots represent how calm she seems to everyone else, including her family.

Question 3: What have you learned from your audience feedback?

The first method of receiving audience feedback I used was to hand out ten questionnaires. These questionnaires heavily focused on the music video. I handed out questionnaires due to the fact I knew that they would be a non-time consuming method of gaining feedback, for both me and the audience that were filling them out. Below is an example of our target audience.

Looking over the results it was easy to categorise and get a collective idea for how the audience felt about certain shots etc. For example one audience member said that 'the shot of the fire' was their favourite shot because it was 'aesthetically nice and symbolic' therefore from this feedback I knew that in terms of this shot I got across what I wished to in terms of using nature to connote peace throughout the music video. Firstly I tried especially hard to create a visually stimulating music video; and I thought that the idealistic look of a warm open fire would create this impression.

 However they continued to state that the shot at 1.37 (a shot of Ellie at the dinner table) wasn't a 'bad shot' it was just more 'simple' and 'plain' than the other shots. Another audience member also reiterated this point, that overall their least favourable shots were the dinner table ones. Therefore if there was a section within the music video that I would film again - it would be this scene which I would reshoot.

I would perhaps shoot it outside, to create an Alice In Wonderland (lost girl) tone to the scene, it would also make it much more visually appealing as the lighting would be brighter, natural light. In this scenario I could also make sure that there was nothing in the background apart from Ellie and her family - ensuring that the shot seemed much more interesting, like in the rest of the music video when the audience's attention is fully on Ellie.

Another option I could have approached, was to shorten this scene and create a completely different one. Perhaps another scenario of the parent characters arguing to reiterate how much fighting there is within the household. Then this would put less emphasis on the argument scene and if it was even more quickly edited - it would seem as interesting as the rest of the video.

Successfully, all of the audience feedback confirmed that they did empathise with Ellie in the music video. For example audience members said that:

'The eye contact throughout engages and acknowledges the active audience and she is portrayed as innocent, vulnerable and a likeable character.'
'I definitely felt sorry for her.'

It was very important that during the music video the audience empathised with the young girl because due to the lyrics, it was important that the audience felt this way about the young girl in order to understand and form a connection with the song itself (and therefore the artist). Also we didn't want the video to seem pointless with no connection to the main character at all - which is why there are a vast number of shots of Ellie looking into the camera therefore breaking the fourth wall. We deliberately used this method in order for the audience to form a connection with the girl. 

One audience member referenced the 'active audience' and therefore I was very pleased to hear this since I wanted the audience to feel involved in the narrative, having to gradually put the pieces together to discover the story of the young girl. This was to keep the audience engaged and interested in the music video at the same time as portraying the message we wished to get across.

Many gave the answer that the shots with the flashing lights were their favourite ones. For reasons of aestheticism and for flashing co-ordinately with the beat of the music. Since this was one of the most time-consuming scenes to construct the mise-en-scene within the shot, I was pleased with the fact that it was reviewed as an impressive shot.

My final questionnaire question was 'one thing in the music video you would change?' and many examples said to include more shots of the boy drumming, since this was a shot which was exciting and worked well with generate interest in the narrative. Therefore, since especially males gave this feedback, if I made the video again I would incorporate more of these shots.


During constructing the music video, from planning to filming - I often asked members of the class/students who fell in my target audience for their thoughts on ideas such as the greyscale effect, whether to include certain shots, their thoughts of the narrative etc. This helped me to construct a music video that I felt would appeal to the target audience successfully.

An example of asking the opinion of my target audience; was when deciding the costume which Ellie's character should be presented in. As a young girl I wanted the costume to reflect her innocence yet a development in her character throughout the video by her clothing getting progressively darker to suggest her growing up. An example of this, was originally I wanted to use a white Victorian dress which would suitably portray the class and elegance of the young girl. However, I was unsure if this would create an alienating aspect and the audience would feel that the music video was dated. Therefore I asked the opinion of two of my classmates and they agreed that the idea of using a white dress would produce the connotations I wished to achieve, yet the Victorian style wouldn't suit the modern tone of the music video due to the theme of a broken home. Therefore I decided upon using a plain white dress which has neither heavy modern or retro connotations.

Another method of which I used to gain audience feedback was via interviewing a variety of people that fell within the bracket of my target audience. This meant that the audience could go as in depth as they pleased with their answers and gave me the opportunity to ask them to develop their answer if I felt it could be developed. For example, one of my interviewees was seventeen year-old Jade Smith. Jade explained 'I like the blue and green theme running through, it seems calming and serene. I also like the repetition of the half-underwater image and the fact that you cannot see the girls eyes. This means that whoever the girl is, is a mystery which means that as an audience member I was not alienated and felt that the image would relate to anyone.' in response to questions about the magazine advertisement from the print production package.

I was firstly pleased with the acknowledgment that the blue tint was calming, since the beginning of producing the print production I wanted the digipack to seem calming and serene. Therefore I was glad to hear that the cooling tints I put on all of the images used, created this impression. On the other hand, when using the half in and half out of water photograph the main reasons behind this were because I saw the connotations of claustrophobia and a difficulty to breath/survive.

I did not think, as Jade did, of the connotations of not being able to have sight. Which are obviously a murkiness and confused state (possibly looking into the future), a vulnerability - since a blind state would make the young girl vulnerable and a lack of identity.

Jade's reference to the young girl being inexplicit and therefore easy to relate to, or as an audience member see yourself in her shoes was something which I aimed for when creating my print productions. From the initial planning stages, I was determined that in both my music video and print productions I would use a young girl who was relatable to the target audience. Therefore by looking at the album or music video, they felt that the artist got where they were coming from and therefore there was a high likelihood that the album itself would also be relatable to Indie-Pop fans.

Another way in which interviews with my audience helped me evaluate my music video and print productions was through constructive criticism. 18 year-old Guy Hewson was another whom I interviewed and he explained 'I like the font it just does not stand out enough to grasp the audience'. Even though I aimed for tones of subtlety and elegance, I understood that something which some Indie-Pop fans look for is an album which is completely grasping in it's explicitness which mine is not.

Therefore if I recreated my digipack I may take a different approach to the digipack front cover. I would keep the majority of the digipack as it is, only change the front cover to seem more exciting and thrilling so that the likelihood of the target audience picking up the album is greater. Then the other subtle connotations may be seen after this such as the serenity and classic tone.

Another piece of useful information that I learnt from interviewing my target audience was from Charlie (a fifteen year old who falls into the category of target audience) he explained 'I like that it's not an average, normal music video, which makes it stand out'. The references to the music video not being normal and average, was something that I aimed for from planning both print productions and the music video. I wanted to represent Noccakani in a unique way, which would successfully appeal to an indie-pop target audience. Thereby Charlie suggests that the music video is original and interesting, therefore would appeal. 

The positive feedback in general confirmed that some of the things which I aimed for in the creation of my music video and print productions came through and did successfully appeal to the audience. Overall since the music video 'stands out' from other music videos, on YouTube or when watching a music video channel, this music video would appeal most, thereby sell the brand most successfully. 

Question 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product and your ancillary task?

Additional points:

• The underwater images I used in the digipack correlate to my music video because the water provides a place where the audience could escape to. Both have the same connotations of escape and drowning throughout. Therefore the underwater images reflect the disruption within the family unit and needing a place to seek refuge.
• Originally I used the image of the boat dock as my advertisement due to the connotations of the colours. The dark sky and light, innocent sea connected well with the black and white greyscale editing I used in my music video. However, I altered my magazine advertisement, using a repeated image of a girl half underwater but the same simple black and white text. I felt that this correlated more with the meaning I wanted to get across to the audience through my print productions and music video. (The feeling of claustrophobia, drowning, an escape which is also peaceful and tranquil).
• Throughout both the music video and digipack there is a heavy theme of nostalgia and reminiscing - what it is like to be a lost young girl, in search of an identity, looking for a place to fit in. This was emphasised in order to appeal to older fans, since it is likely that they often look back on their childhood and reminisce over their old feelings and thoughts.  

Final Music Video

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Font choices

For both the magazine cover and the CD digipack I decided to use an extremely basic and petite font. This was because firstly we represented the brand of the artist in the music video as classy and meaningful, therefore an outlandish font would completely contradict what we were aiming for. I used black and white colouring of the font in order to correlate to our greyscale edit.

 

 

The white against the water also represents the band as free, it presents the artists themselves as pure. I chose to place the band name more centrally on the CD cover due to the fact the unique band name hints at unique music. By separating the album title, I wanted to create the impression that the title had floated away. Creating thereby, the impression of a journey the band went through in order to create the album.

 

 

 

On the back cover I used the same font as the front cover, only in black. This is in order to contrast the white dress, which implies that the album consists of a mix of the purity of the classic conventions of indie-pop music, and the dark/black therefore represents different aspects this album has brought to those conventions.

 

The minimalistic text and font brings the audiences' attention mainly to the images, which was my intention. Despite promoting the name of artist and album is important, I think that the main importance behind the digipack is representing what the band want to say about themselves. Therefore the stylised underwater images, tinted with blue (creating a nostalgic, dream-like tone) needed to be bolder than the font and text.

 

At the beginning of creating the print productions the font was a very small 8pt in order to emphasise the visuals of the digipack more - however once printing these out and finalizing the cover, I realised that the text proved difficult to read or even notice. The name of the artist and album is as equally important as the images since the text too helps to form the brand of the artist, therefore it's important that the audience gains any connotations they need to from the text.

 

For example the album is called 'Hurt Me' which connotes that the album is multi-layered and meaningful, since it is such an enigmatic album title. Therefore the mystery would generate interest for the audience, and possess them further to purchase the album.  

Question 1

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

The first choice we made when planning our music video was to edit the video in black and white. This presented the video as elegant, sophisticated yet meaningful - something we felt that indie-pop fans would appreciate. Greyscale is quite frequently used in indie-pop music video because it can connote many themes such as grittiness, good vs bad, simplicity, social realism etc.
After shooting I decided to edit and cutting quickly would be one of the best ways in which to generate excitement for the audience when watching the video. This is a classic convention of the indie-pop genre, and most up-beat music genres. Firstly it makes the music video as a whole seem more thrilling, but also it can put emphasis on the different dynamic parts of a song. For example in our song, the drum beat at the beginning is the most noticeable instrument within the song - therefore we decided to cut very strongly to the beat and very quickly in order to generate as much interest in the opening section as possible. A convention which we decided early on to challenge was voyeurism featured in many music videos (especially R'n'B and rap music videos - but occasionally pop). Goodwin has identified 6 different conventions of music videos, one of which is voyeurism.

 Due to the deep and meaningful lyrics, especially the line 'do you see your own face in his eyes do you see him like I do?' contains many heavy connotations which we viewed would not suit featuring any shots appealing to the male gaze. At first I thought of featuring a couple as the main characters in the video, possibly the woman in the relationship was undergoing domestic abuse. However after exploring this idea, we decided it was too conventional to have a plot line which focused heavily on a couple's relationship. Therefore we began exploring the idea of using a young girl who comes from an abusive background and in the video, (in keeping with the tone of the lyrics and the song) would escape from a world which she did not fit in or feel safe in. Since a physically abusive father-daughter relationship would be too difficult and controversial to film, we decided upon a more subtle yet equally impacting mental abuse.

The young girl comes from a family which made her feel neglected, lost and unwanted. I used a young girl because it appeals to the age of the audience, hopefully creating a common ground amongst young indie-pop fans and thereby generating an interest in the band's music. It also is a very unusual concept for a music video - of any genre- to cover. However we felt that it added another layer of meaning to the song itself, where an audience would be able to attach their own connotations to the song because of what we did.

 Despite it being conventional in some indie-pop music videos to have a young female as a key character in the narrative, sometimes this shall be for voyeuristic purposes, often it will be as the other half of a couple or shall tell the narrative of a young girls life (for example Daughter's music video for 'Still' gradually reveals aspects of the main characters life throughout the video).

 However we thought that the difficult home/family life would be more effective to the audience if the main character was a very young girl, it would certainly evoke more empathy. When developing this idea, I knew the target audience was older than the young girl in the video, however they could relate to her and having difficulties growing up. By the artist having a music video which makes a social statement, they are represented as down to earth and intelligent. I thought that this type of music video would be more effective than a video of a young girl provocatively dancing with no real meaning or depth.

 Our music video, and the genre it is based in, in itself, is aimed at a niche market which does rarely use the male gaze to appeal to it's audience. Since classically the target audience finds it's appeal in complex ideologies behind the music, rather than for promiscuous pleasure.

Our main locations we used for the music video throughout are set outside, we used a lot of outside imagry such as rivers, fields, trees and pathways in order to create tranquil tone to the music video. This aspect merges well with the representation of the young girl as lost and in search of peace and quiet. This is another convention we decided to go against, (indie-pop videos being set inside, in stylish houses (such as Tom O'dell's 'Another Love'), set at a party scene or somewhere that provides excitement).
We decided against having our music video set in one of these locations due to the fact that despite some of those settings do appeal to the young indie-pop fans because it is a scene that they can relate to and see themselves. However I aimed more for the audience to watch the video and be able to escape from any pressures in their lives in a similar way to the girl in the music video.  The tranquil locations are also visually appealing to the audience, therefore creating quite a angelic looking music video as a whole. Indie-pop fans do appreciate visual attractiveness because they tend to have many cultural interests perhaps landscapes for example. We also developed this idea in order to keep the video exciting, therefore when shooting we spun hand holding the camera in order to create a disorientated, uneasy tone to the shot. When editing I found that these shots worked well as transitions in order to keep the pace of the music video flowing throughout the entirety of it.












One of the key concepts we used, that we had from the starting point of planning, was the idea of using flashing lighting. I thought it would look most effective set in an old abandoned house, with lamps surrounding our key character of the young girl turning on and off at the same time, which we could place at the beginning of the video in order to help reinforce the beat (and audience interest) as the music video begins. However when we started filming, we experimented with this idea and found that the lights flickering at different times also creates a disorientated, dream-like effect which we could use at points in the song where the instruments and vocals come to a climax. Although the lamp idea wasn't wholly conventional, many music videos use defining lighting effects in order to captivate the imagination of their audience.





Both Katy B's 'Crying for No Reason' and Disclosure's 'F for you' use lighting effects in order to create a visually interesting music video. In a similar way to our music video (despite being very different in other aspects) the lighting is used to highlight particularly interesting points of the beat in the song, and the song as a whole. Both video's use minimalist locations so that the lighting effects are not too alienating, it also enables the characters in the music video to also be presented as more interesting. Including my music video, the three use lighting which creates shadows on the characters in the video. Therefore the band/artist is not fully seen, which makes the impression that their music is more important to them than their image. We also, like these two videos, conventionally used quite a lot of black in the video as well as shadows in order to highlight the dark lyrics. For example in my video, when the father character walks towards the door, only his silhouette can be seen which creates this enigma around him but at the same time bring the audience's attention to 'stolen from your mothers bedside'. The mysterious lyric implies that there is something going on which firstly has taken a childhood away from a young girl, but also that her mother doesn't know about. This is one of the reasons we began to construct a music video featuring a problematic father-daughter relationship.

The music video has a very strong linear narrative, which is conventional of an indie-pop genre music video. Various genres such as punk, rock and R'n'B are less reliant on a narrative and rely more heavily on instrument shots, dancing girls and shots of the artist. Whereas indie-pop genres often feature a narrative that does not even involve the artist, but a message or story that they wish to portray.

One of the main, however small ideas we had from the initial stages of planning we valued the idea of having dogs at various points in the music video. There is a reference in the lyrics of 'never where the dogs bark' which gave us the idea. We took inspiration from Drake's video of 'Take Care' where a variation of animals are presented to the audience, often in slow motion, in order to emphasise how the artist is feeling. For example the bird used at the beginning connotes a desire for freedom and to escape. Having dogs throughout the music video, in the young girls arms often, connote vulnerability, loyalty and a genuine persona.

This reflects the representation we aimed for with Ellie but not only that, seeing the young character with the animals presents her as nurturing and therefore creates sympathy for her, which makes the song as a whole more impacting. Our shots of the dogs we included in the music video were shown in slow motion as well, so any movement seemed more sincere (such as the dog looking up at Ellie). 'Take care' also uses similar dim lighting, (and black and white) in order to get across to the audience the expressive, profound tone of the video. I didn't subvert the convention of having the visuals of the video suit the tone of the song. We incorporated the drumming against the table very deliberately, in order to reiterate the strong beat at the beginning of the song. This only once more appears in the song sequence, highlighting when the dynamics of the song change, helps to emphasise the talent behind the song I believe.

Another similarity between our music video and 'Take Care' is the focus on carefully stylised imagry throughout. From the beginning of planning the music video, I knew I wanted to focus on having different unique strong images; such as the flashing lights, the hilltop view of a city with focus on Norwich Cathedral, dark bare trees against a white sky etc. In a similar way that 'Take Care' features mountains, burning woodlands, dancers and changing background shading. This creates the impression that the artist takes care in constructing their music video and therefore suggests that they are passionate about their music and album. It highlights the fact that the artist spend time on constructing a message to their audience, and therefore their music is their passion (which helps to promote their brand).

 Another convention that both ours and Drake's music video uses is the use of the elements. Despite being a conventional method to use the elements to emphasise the mood and tone of the song, it is not conventional at all to use all four elements.






Our use of the elements
The first element I decided to use was fire, as one of the first shots in the music video I aimed to create the impression of destruction in the family home. Since the young girl is looking into the fire it creates the illusion that her life is being destroyed in front of her. The light from the fire flickering on her face suggests that because of this destruction in her life and she is stronger because of this - as if a Phoenix rising from the ashes, stronger because of her circumstance. The fire reappears throughout the music at points in the narrative where the young girl finds her freedom and her piece of mind to reiterate this.

The second element we used was water - which was mainly used on my digipack however appeared in various shots throughout the music video in the form of a number of shots of the river. This was mainly to incorporate the feeling that comes along with water - claustrophobia and entrapment. The images used on the front and back cover of my digipack was inspired by the emotions we aimed to portray with the young girl. The idea of struggling to breath and feeling surrounded directly not only links to the young girls feelings, but the lyrics within the song of 'praying at the dinner table, for you to come around' (loneliness). This appeals to the indie-pop fans because often music fans alike like to be reassured that they are not alone in feeling certain ways sometimes (including being lonely).

The third element featured in our music video is the use of earth/natural images, throughout the narrative we included shots of trees, forest land and fields. The wind and the nature is where the young girl finds solace, it thereby represents her free state of mind by being in a place of freedom and tranquillity. I used this because I wanted the audience to relate to Ellie, whether it is through the outside or not, everyone has a way of finding peace. Therefore using clips such as the flowing river, the audience connect peacefulness and moments of the song. The fourth element was incorporated into this, we used wind affecting the water etc. which in itself creates the impression of a path/journey (which is a frequent convention of music videos as the main point of a narrative). Overall the elements added to the particular strong images I wanted to achieve, not just in a few shots, however throughout the music video - constantly impressing the audience.

Magazine Advertisement

 

I explored two ideas behind my magazine advertisement. Firstly, one was a boat dock tinted in blue and purple colouring with a dark sky. Initially I deemed this as appropriate due to the mix of dark connotations due to the sky - an unwelcome, overpowering sadness which is also presented in the music video. Then also the water presented throughout the digipack which connotes calmness and serenity, which I felt would appeal to an audience through a magazine.

However as I developed this idea I came to the realisation that a magazine advert would call for a more commercial stance since the boat dock as a film image was beautiful but not in a grasping, strong way. Therefore I explored on Photoshop with the image I used for the front cover of my digipack. By repeating the image three times, it exaggerates the initial effect of the photo - confusion, distortion and at the same time tranquillity. By reflecting the images against each other it also creates an almost overwhelming, all-consuming impression to the audience which would make a more eye-grabbing appealing advertisement.

The text is also the same font as on the digipack only larger in size and central, therefore more noticeable. Therefore the audience would notice the advertisement and place the connotations of the images with the band name successfully.