Thursday 16 May 2013

Memes

I found two definition for Memes:

  • An element of a culture or behavior that may be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, esp. imitation.
  • 2. An image, video, etc. that is passed electronically from one Internet user to another.
    These are famous, well known, funny memes that I have found on the internet. These all interest me and do there job of being silly and funny.



    Wednesday 15 May 2013

    Narrtive

    Narrative theory
    There is a lose narrative used in my music video which is based on a few of the lyrcis that are shown through the performance of the actresses in my music video. The main concept used in the video is 'fun' and 'excitiment' as these are the two elements used throughout all pop genres which is a convention that is followed to get the right audience for the media product. Any people can relate to the actresses in my video as they are young up coming stars and are shown to be close friends which  the target audience can connect with and see them as role models because they are so relaxed and give off a good persona about themselves.
    My music video uses a closed narrative as there isnt a second sequence used to this song.
    Iconography is an important element to use when making a pop video as I used props through my video such as dance performance, fashion, make-up and bright colours that all represent the pop genre.
    Music is important in the video as it uses the tempo and tone as they are quite fast pace which give the video a dance and fun feel, as well as using the beat to steps and movements they do.
    Editing through my video was used to speed up shots and link each clip together in time so there were no stilll gaps. I also used lyrcis that were shown on the screen to get the audience more invloved and using the key words through the song to show to the audience how important they are which shows the overall narrative of the song.
    The themes that run through the video are bright colours and fun, exciting shots that best show off the pop convention. I used muitple backgrounds to show the different girls personalities and a range of location that all fit in with the genre that best represents the narrative story showing the girls lifes seperately and together as a group of friends.

    Mise-en-scene
    I added authenicity through my settings and relationships in the video which is shown through the mise-en-scene by using real locations that best fit the narrative as well as the girls fitting well with the stereotypical girl band with a bit of a twist as they used their own fashion products when it came to the clothing style which gets across better to the audience as their clothing can be bought in all hight street retail shops, nothing outragesly expensive so others can buy it if they like the products.
    John Stewart says the mise-en-scene emphasise an 'asprinational lifestyle' for the audience which can link to my video as the girls are seen as role models to many as they are down to earth and my young girls may want to be like them as they want a close friendship group or want be confident and out going like them.

    Theorists
    Roland Barthes, Culture code is when 'the audience derives meaning in a text from shared cultrual knowledge about the way the world works'. This relates to my video because the text in my narrative is about standing stronge on your own and be able to achieve anything you want which relates to everyone who has goals in life as well as showing the young teen society we have these days and my band are trying to give power and faith to young children to never give up. This message is perseved through the video but indirectly as it isnt straight forward.
    Andrew Goodwin, Illustrative which means 'images provided in a literal representation'. This relates to my narrative as I use dance moves and lyrcis on screen to present the narrative of my video. The group shots show the close friendship they have and the single shots show their individual personlities to come through. Also the backgrounds used are fun and colourful showing the pop genre convention.
    Steve Archer, Videos will 'cut between a narrative and performance of the song by the band'. This fits my narrative very well because as I use shots of the girls singing and showing their relationship together but I also used dance performance through the video towards the end to show a stereotypical pop video using the right elements to gain the target audience.

    The Artists Role
    Music videos can be characterized by three broad typologies and my video fits into the performance category as my music video doesnt particularly follow a narrative it uses a dance performance throughout to describe the lyrics. This sort of video is used to draw in their viewers that will covney the indirect message hiden in the performance and lyrics of the video as it is straight forward as this is no actual narrative.

    Narrative video codes
    The narrative of my video is simple and lose allowing for repeatability to gain a wider audience so they dont get bored of the video after a few views because they use a tight realistic narrative. This is made through using bright interesting colours, dance performance and a repeated chours that is catchy so the audience get hooked to it.
    Musical synaesthesia used in the narrative of my video is the dominant musical arrangement that sets the overall mood of the video by key the beat or rythm used through the video such as the drums as the girls dance and use their body language to communicate this beat across to the audience, giving the overall video a up beat fast tempo making it fun and exiciting to listen to. This narrative code leaves the audience wanting to listen to it again as the sound/music is something they enjoy. The pop genre also uses bright and visual locations in different areas of a city as well as using green screens of colourful backgrounds to bring interest to the music video.

    Performance video codes
    Conevention of a bands performance that is included in my video is a range of lip syncing, close-ups, mid shots and long shots to show different performance angles of the girls that show a range of ideas such as their dance steps which use long shots and mid shots when they are together in a group to see their body language and movement. Also close ups used when they are singing individually and extreme close ups when they are lip syncing so the audience can see the technical side of the product. A lot of the chours shots are repeated using the usual angles and shots so the audience know its the chours and this can be memeriosed in their brains. It also shows the real meaning to the song and explains the narrative story.

    Thursday 9 May 2013

    Genre

    Genre is a vital key that helps people study texts and audience responses to the text by dividing them into different categories depending on the common elements used in them.
    When doing my coursework i produced a pop genre music video and by choosing this genre it placed my video in a certain category with conventional ideas and elements that are similar to other pop genres.

    Steve Neale- "genres are instance of repetition and difference". It is a good thing for genres to try new things to bring in a wider audience in their genre.
    In my coursework I used some of the same elements seen in pop music video but as well as using a few diffident features to give my music video a interesting look. I used the same chorus shots that are repeated in my pop music video and using dance performance throughout the video too, to give it a fun side to the genre as this is usually included in the pop genre. This attracts the audience as its the type of elements used for a pop genre but also have a fun and exciting side to it which intises people in even more as they may relate to the girls in the group. I also used ideas that would make my product distinct into which genre category it was in. For example using bright colours and colourful high street fashion.

    Performance, Illustrative or Disjuncture- Andre Goodwin
    The media product I produced in A2 features my artists in a performance style of music video, because of this many of the generic conventions I used in my music video were related to the artists performance. For example the use of close up lip syncing, repetition of chorus shots to add repeatability so the audience recognise the video and their star image by what their wearing and the way they take to the camera getting the audiences involved.

    Tom Ryall- types of conventions found within genres can be grouped into four categories:
    Iconographies (symbolic forms associated with the genre)
    Narrative (structure, opened/closed)
    Representations (characters/stereotypes)
    Ideologies (beliefs and ideas of the 'ideal' concept)

    In my course I used all four of these convention categories, in both conforming and challenging ways. I used the narrative structure to open and close my music video like any other pop video but I didn't have a strong narrative through the video as it mainly used the elements of dance and performance. I also used representation when it came to my artists in a stereotypical pop group way, but some shots were just for fun to get the audience attention. I used ideologies in my music video that were very vague which includes showing a close group of friends shown by  body language and movement, also it shows that they are middle class because of the clothing they were which are taken from the high street stores that shows anyone can buy them who likes their fashion sense. I used a few iconographies in my video like bright coloured background that the girl stood in front of to show their styles and personalities as this is associated with the genre and the incorporated dance steps which is a main feature of a pop music video.

    Representation Essay

    Tuesday 7 May 2013

    Representation

    • Documents, adverts are not real as they are seen through the directors eyes.
    • Show us what they want to show us. The news only shows us what they decide to show.
    • Meaningful- genre, the things that are regonised.
    • Ideologies- believes, like staying at school or through my video showing close friendships. (positive role models)
    • VERSIMILITUED being realistic, how real life is.
    • Representation, people, props, places used.
    • Opinion of my own representation through the video but audience might take it on differently. How we interpret things.
    • 'The gaze' girls look up to the band and take on their role model form.
    • Page 7 extend on representation
    • Women are objective too but in my video that girls are the main priority and are respected.
    • Stereotypes- pop girl group
    Theorists
    Levi Strauss- Ideaolgies behind the video. They are encoded into the texts and others are left out in order to give a preferred representation. This is shown through my video as they use fun colours and lyrics to get everyone interested and dancing but it also shows the lyrics on screen and a meaning between the friends which is shown through the camera angles and the way the girls are all represented by their clothes, posture and the close bond they have are friends which is the main element of the video which is identified by the audience.
    Dyer- The band is representated through their album cover by using bright and colourful palett choice which is also reflected through the music video by using the same pattern for one of the band members background which represents the style of the band. From using this style you can tell what kind of genre my music video is because of the clothing and camera angels used. In pop music videos close ups and mid shots are used a lot to get a overall view of the band as a group and as individuals. When each girl sings on their own I use a close up so you can see them lip syncing with different backgrounds to show their individual personalitys. Using dance perofmance through the video straight away links the video to pop as this is the stereotypical element used in pop music video. Also the girls are shown in a positive way because of the age range audiences as they are seen as role models so they have to use a stereotypical persona.

    Definintion of Representation 
    • How media shows the audence things about society.
    • For it to be meaningful to the audience there needs to be a shared recongintion of people, ideas, relgions, beliefs ect.
    • Representation has ideaolgies behind them.
    • Representation is about constructing reailty, this simplifies peoples understanding of life.
    • This is construction in any medium especailly shown in a mass media aduience.
    • Can be constructed of any aspect of reality including people, places, events, ages, gender, cultural and abstract concepts.
    • The term reference to the processes invloved as well as the product.
    • Peoples identities can be marked differently in ralton to the demographic factors included. Example issues of 'the gave' when men look at women, women look at men, men look at men and women look at women.
    Questions regarding analysing media representations:
    -What snese of the world is it making?
    -Who it is speaking to?
    -What does it represent to use? and why? how we respond?
    -What does it suggest? Is it typical of the world or deviant?

    Representations used in media for example class. Mainly all higher classes are richer, more respected and snobby on the other scale lower classes are poor and less respected.

    Tuesday 23 April 2013

    Essay Structure For Audience

    • How did I put/make my music video to target my audience
    • What did I include
    • Keeping to the genre conventions, expecting them
    • Including lip syncing, specific camera shots, clothing
    • Media lauguage e.g mise-en-scene (costume, props, settings)
    • Lauguage (text) colours, editing, lighting
    • Representations
    • Quote either agree or disagree with it. I agree as I targeted a mass audience as this is the style of pop genre
    1. Identify audience-
    My target audience for my music video was teenagers, mainly aimed at girls as they can relate to the band members and it is entertaining for the audience to watch so anyone can reallu enjoy the music.
    2. Identify examples of ways you appealed to them-
    By using three grirls who are close shows the audience a friendship which they can relate to. It also uses dance performances to show the fun and exciting side of the music video and this shows the pop genre to the audience which gets them involved.

    Thursday 18 April 2013

    Scott Pilgrim

    Postmodern elements that are seen in Scott Pilgrim so far are:
    Hyperreality-
    • Room breaks away
    • Game music
    Intertextuality-
    • Ikea/ fight club link
    • Bomb logo on drum kit from bomber man
    • Zellda noises which is a reference to the comic book
    • Manipulates time and sapce- scene after scott has a vision of Ramona
    • Desert (wide screen)
    Self reflecxtive-
    • On screen text

    Audience- Music Video

    Mass- a large audience.
    Niche- a specialized audiences, specific.

    My pop music video is aimed at a mass audience because it appeals to a wide market of people as it is in the charts as well as listened to on the radio and is a often played genre. It is a main style of music that is used and is very popular because everyone likes it and can enjoy it to. The pop music is also the type of genre young children listen to and it inspires people to be better in life as it uses groups of friends that show a close society.
    The target audience for my music video would be teens as many kids enjoy the pop genre as it can be joyful and exciting something to dance to as well as being a bit cheesy. The audience can relate to my music video as it shows a group orf girls that are very close and singing about life which lots of teenagers can connect to as this is the age where they make their true friends and start to go out and enjoy music more. The video is seen as fun and exicting which will get the audiences attention as all they want to do is have fun. It illastrates the lyrics and is entertaining  for the audiences advantages, this makes them want to join in and shows a close friendship which is seen a lot in society and many people can relate to.
    I made a twitter account to be social with our audience to show them what was going on in the bands life. It was also used to communicate with the audience. This allowed the audience to keep up to date with what was going on with the band and see when their next performance was and what was happening with each of the memebers everyday.
    I put my draft on my blog for my class mates and teachers to see so they could leave comments so I could make improvements on the final video. I got class feedback and teachers comments as well on a activitiy we did watching each others videos and leaving comments on what we thought this helped a lot as it was on paper and I could quickly look at it and pick out key things I need to change to make the vidoe more professional.
    Dominant or prefferred is what we want the audience to believe is real so they can connect to it. It can either be relivate to someones life or be entertaining for the audience to enjoy. Active is getting invloved with the video and being able to make a personal desicion on what to believe as their own person.

    Theorists
    -Hypodermic
    Passive- taking it in, injects ideas into peoples head.
    It influences girls in a positive way as these girls are shown in the right clothing and could be seen as role models as other girls look up to them as they have a positive persona because of the lyrics used and the close friendships they have which are relatable for teenage girls.
    -Julian McDougal
    Difficult to define specific audience. This theory doesnt fit into my music video as my music video has a specific audience that is easy to find and understand why people listen to it. The pop genre brings in a large audiences.
    -Mc Quail
    Changing niche, Specific group of audience.
    -Ien Ang
    More sub-categories, very specific to the audience needs.
    -John Hartley
    Understanding your audience.
    -Pluralist
    Own interpretation, can relate to any music video.
    -Uses and gratifications
    Escapism, relastionship and surveillance.

    Monday 15 April 2013

    Exam Question On Media Language

    Media Language- Music Video

    Camera
    There are two ways the camera is usually used by considering the positioning and the veiw thats provided on the scene and the movement the camera gives to the overall veiw. When it came to my pop music video I used mid shots a lot when the girls were together as a group or on their own as this showed how close they were as friends and gave a slight look to what the location is like. This allowed the audience to see their facial expressions as well, which are very important as it shows their reactions to the situation and dialogue. I also used close ups when the girls sang individually as this focused on their lip syncing and the lycris they were singing. This filled the scene which allows the audience to see their reactions and emotions. Long shots were also used for the dancing clips as the audience needs to see more of the girls to see their body language and gives more information, so the audience can see the location their in. A long shot gives a scale of the performance the girls are putting on and shows them as a group which is used near the begining of the video to establish the location their in. I used straight on shots most of the time to get the overall veiw of the band and some times used higher shots to give the audience a look from above so they can see the scale of the location and the people invloved in the shot.
    Editing
    As part of the post production process I linked my clips together which is a transition where you dont visual see them changing as each clip joins together in time and flows quite easily into one another. I did this by cutting each of my clips down to the right time frame so it would fit in time with the lip sycning of each artists in the shot. As I did a music video my transitions from one shot to another were done pretty quick showing different locations and scenes in the video. Each shot was no longer than two seconds long and there were a lot of clips that were less than a second long to fit in with the genres style, as pop uses fast clips making it look fun and exciting.

    Lighting
    Lighting is important when it comes to the video as it allows use to see the moving image. The lighting I used was nautral sun light or lights that are found in the house as this gave the video a natural look. I used low key light in the garage scenes as I used one light which was shown up above the girls when they performed which gives the frame selected light and shadows are made in certain areas like around them making it focus on them as a group. When it came to Beths shots I used natural sun light which was bright and gave her a vibrent effect giving it a fun aspect. When filming Beckys shots I decided to film them later on where I used natural light that wasnt much giving it some mystery and darkness to the video. Alex's shots were done in the garage using the lighting that was above her giving her a bit of a shadow.

    Sound
    The sound I used was the sound track that I had picked out which I liked and wanted to use. It covered the whole of the music video as this was the dialogue the girls used to lip sync to throughout the video which gave the performance a realistic look. This song choice fitted in with the style I was going for and the girls portrayed it very well that made them look like a perfectional girl band.

    Mise-en-scene
    When it came to picking where to shot for my music video I thought about the kind of backgrounds I wanted to use as it didnt matter so much about the actual location. I picked four different background in four different place, this icncluded outside locations and inside. In the video you see all these locations come together which work well as they are all different and have different meaning and feels to them. This brings fun and excitment to the music video. I used a few props when making the video to give it more of a style and to make it interesting to the eye. I decided to use paint pots and brushes so the girls could paint out their band name on the wall behind them which is shown through the video. The girls take it in turns to paint out different words that make their band name which is shown at the end behind them making the video and letting the audience know who they are. The costume used are bright and smart which are the kind of clothes you would find on the high street and show the pop genre as these are the sterotypical clothes used in this sort of genre. The girls have a few outfit changes through the video to show all their different styles as this shows their personality. When it came to casting I chose three girls as I was going for a pop girl band and this fitted perfectly to the genre I was using as they are close friends and when working together have fun which showed through on the video. I used mid shots of them together and this was also used on the very last shot showing them happy and the type of relationship they have. When singing the dailogue the girls used different body language depending on the lyrics as this showed their feels more through their facial expressions which allowed the audience to see how they were feeling and how connected to the lyrics they were. Framing was very important as in the garage shot I made the smallest girl come to the front to give it a different feel as well as changing each persons role so they all had a chance to be up front in the video showing that they are all equal which is a common method used in pop videos.

    Special Effects
    After making my film I used a tool that allowed me to speed up or slow down my clips to give more of a overall effect of the genre I was doing. I used this effect on extra added clips of my artists jumping in time with the beat of the music. This enhanced the images and gave them a more interesting look than the actual camera could do. These certain shots iv used through the video give it more of a pace and joins the video together better as when the girls are singing I used this clips to give it more excitment and fun to the overall music video as this relates to the pop genre.

    Theory
    Roland Barthes (1967)  signifier/signified- to discuss connotations that can be attributed to denotations (signs).

    Wednesday 27 March 2013

    Hard


    The music video for "Hard" was directed by Melina Matsoukas and filmed in December 2009 in Los Angeles. It was the first Rihanna video directed by Matsoukas, who would go on to direct videos for "Rude Boy" and "Rockstar 101". Before the premier of the video, Rihanna told Kyle Anderson of MTV News: "It's couture-military. Everything is surrounded by the whole idea of something military. We have tanks, we have troops, we've got helicopters, we've got explosions. Tight gear, lots of cute outfits, lots of bullets. Crazy.
    The video's first scene is set in a desert at night. Rihanna, wearing a garrison cap, sunglasses, and a stylized white top, stands in front of an army. This scene is inter-cut with scenes of Rihanna in a bunker; she wears an army hard hat, pink lace up boots, and a skin-coloured top with small black rectangles covering her breasts. Half way through the first verse, the scene changes to a daytime desert scene in which Rihanna wears a low cut, short black dress with spiked shoulder pads, and walks through the location as small explosions occur around her.
    As the first chorus begins, earlier scenes from the video are inter-cut with each other; Rihanna is shown commanding her troops, firing a machine gun, and dancing in the bunker. As the second verse begins, Rihanna is seen with slicked-back hair wearing a metal bikini top, rolling in mud and surrounded by troops on a stone structure before a mountainous backdrop. She is shown gambling with (and winning against) soldiers in another bunker.The video's first scene is set in a desert at night. Rihanna, wearing a garrison cap, sunglasses, and a stylized white top, stands in front of an army. This scene is inter-cut with scenes of Rihanna in a bunker; she wears an army hard hat, pink lace up boots, and a skin-coloured top with small black rectangles covering her breasts. Half way through the first verse, the scene changes to a daytime desert scene in which Rihanna wears a low cut, short black dress with spiked shoulder pads, and walks through the location as small explosions occur around her.
    As the second chorus starts, Rihanna, wearing a bullet bra and a helmet similar in appearance to the ears of Mickey Mouse, stands on a pink army tank. During Jeezy's rap verse, Jeezy is seen in the middle of a crosshair, and explosions occur around Rihanna. During the bridge and final chorus of the song, scenes of Rihanna from throughout the video are inter-cut with each other. In this sequence, Rihanna wears a high-waisted black bikini and waves a large black flag with a white "R" in the middle of it.

    First Single



    Prior to signing a record deal with Def Jam Recordings, Rihanna was discovered in her home country of Barbados by American record producer Evan Rogers, who made the necessary arrangements for her to fly to New York. There, she recorded a collection of demo's for a demo tape to be sent to record labels. One of the demo's recorded was that of "Pon de Replay", which was written and produced by Carl Sturken, Evan Rogers and Vada Nobles in 2004. The first to respond to the demo tape was Jay-Z, who had recently been appointed as president and CEO of Def Jam Recordings, where Rihanna auditioned for him and music executive L.A. Reid, in his office. Looking back on the audition and meeting Jay-Z, Rihanna said she was so nervous and had butterflies whilst jay-z was sat across the table from her. During the audition, Rihanna performed Whitney Houston's cover of "For the Love of You", "Pon de Replay" and "The Last Time", the latter two of which would go on to be included on her debut album, Music of the Sun. Initially, Jay-Z was sceptical about signing Rihanna, because he felt "Pon de Replay" was too big for her, saying "when a song is that big, it's hard for a new artist to come back from. I don't sign songs, I sign artists". It was soon released about became her number one single.

    Rihanna



    The accompanying music video for "Rude Boy" was directed by Melina Matsoukas, who also directed the video for Rihanna's previous single, "Hard". The video relies upon the use of green screen, and contains strong references to critically acclaimed famous artists, including Andy WarholKeith HaringSalt-n-PepaM.I.A. and Jean-Michel Basquiat. In an interview with Carson Daly on his radio show, Amp Radio, Rihanna described the video as "completely different from any other video" she had done before and "pretty freaking cool". She explained its artistic qualities, and said, "A lot of my videos are really dark and edgy and tough. 'Rude Boy' is more playing along the lines from my roots. We used a lot of colour, but also the costumes were very Jamaican dance-hall-queen type." This is the type of fashion and styling Rihanna uses but it is different to other music videos she has done as it uses a more fun a vibrant side to it.
    The video features Rihanna in a multitude of vibrant, brightly coloured, Caribbean inspired scenes. In the opening scene, Rihanna approaches a drum kit, which she plays as the song progresses. During the rest of the video, Rihanna engages with and plays with a variety of props, including a male extra, a zebra, a motorcycle and a stuffed lion; these scenes are inter-cut with scenes of Rihanna playing the drum kit. Rihanna wears a variety of outfits in the video, including a gold net bodysuit and a black and white zebra print catsuit, which she wears while sitting atop a stuffed zebra. Rihanna performs various 1990's dance-hall dance moves, such as the Bogle.

    Inside To Rihanna


    File:Rihanna 5, 2012.jpg
    Robyn Rihanna Fenty was born February 20, 1988. She is known by her stage name Rihanna and is a Barbadian recording artist, actress and fashion designer. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, she began her career as a result of meeting record producer Evan Rogers in late 2003. 
    At age 16, she moved to the United States to pursue a recording career and began recording demo tapes under Rogers' guidance, subsequently signing a contract with Def Jam Recordings after auditioning for Jay-Z.
    Rihanna's debut studio album, Music of the Sun made in 2005, peaked at number ten on the Billboard 200 and features the Billboard Hot 100 top five hit single "Pon de Replay". Her second album, A Girl Like Me made in 2006, peaked at number five in the United States, and produced her first Hot 100 number one single, "SOS". Rihanna's third album, Good Girl Gone Bad made in 2007, spawned the international hit singles "Umbrella", "Don't Stop the Music", "Take a Bow", and "Disturbia". The album was nominated for nine Grammy Awards, winning Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Umbrella". Her fourth album,Rated R made in 2009, produced the top ten singles "Russian Roulette", "Hard", and "Rude Boy", with the latter achieving the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100. Rihanna's fifth album, Loud made in 2010, spawned the number one hit singles "Only Girl (In the World)", "What's My Name?", and "S&M". Her sixth album, Talk That Talk made in 2011, served the worldwide chart topper "We Found Love" and the top five single "Where Have You Been". Rihanna's seventh and most recent album, Unapologetic made in 2012, was preceded by the lead single "Diamonds", which became Rihanna's twelfth number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
    In 2012, Rihanna was awarded by her label, Def Jam, for selling 25 million records worldwide and 75 million singles, since the beginning of her career in 2005, which makes her one of the best-selling artists of all time. She has achieved a total of twelve number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the youngest solo artist to achieve the feat. Billboard named Rihanna the Digital Songs Artist of the 2000s decade, and ranked her as the seventeenth overall artist of the same decade. In 2012, Forbes ranked her as the fourth most powerful celebrity of 2012 with earnings of $53 million between May 2011 and May 2012. The same year, American magazine Time named Rihanna one of the most influential people in the world.

    Wednesday 20 March 2013

    Essay

    Post Production Essay

    Theories

    Creativity: 
    • "A process needed for problem solving...not a special gift enjoyed by a few but a commonability possessed by most people" (Jones 1993)
    •  "The making of the new and the re arranging of the old" (Bentley 1997)
    • "Creativity results from the interaction of a system composed of three elements: a culturethat contains symbolic rules, a person who brings novelty into the symbolic domain, and afield of experts who recognise and validate the innovation." (Csikszentmihalyi 1996) 
    • "There is no absolute judgement [on creativity] All judgements are comparisons of one thingwith another." (Donald Larning)
    • "Technology has taken all the creativity out of media production." 
    • "A project that is too well planned lacks opportunities for spontaneity and creativity."
    • "Media producers can learn nothing from studying the conventions of old texts" 
    • "The creation of bringing something new into existence"
    • "This particular understanding of creativity involves the physical making of something, 
    • "If creativity is not inherent in human mental powers and is, in fact, social and situational,then technological developments may well be linked to advances in the creativity of individual users" (Banaji, Burn and Buckingham, 2006).
    Research & Planning
    DIKW Triangle
    • "A project that is too well planned lacks opportunities for spontaneity and creativity."Using Conventions from real media texts :
    • Irony, parody, pastiche, bricolage, intertextuality
    • "Media producers can learn nothing from studying the conventions of old texts" 
    • "The making of the new and the re arranging of the old" (Bentley 1997)
    Digital Technology: 
    DIKW triangle
    • "Technology has taken all the creativity out of media production."
    Post Production 
    • "Technology has taken all the creativity out of media production." 
    • "The creation of bringing something new into existence"

    Monday 11 March 2013

    David Bowie


    • David Robert Jones (born 8 January 1947)
    • known by his stage name David Bowie
    • English musician, actor, record producer and arranger
    • Bowie has been a major figure in the world of popular music for over four decades, and is renowned as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970's
    • He is known for his distinctive voice as well as the intellectual depth and eclecticism of his work
    • He is also known for having a different theme/genre for every album

    Discography:
    • David Bowie (1967)
    • Space Oddity (1969)
    • The Man Who Sold the World (1970)
    • Hunky Dory (1971)
    • The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)
    • Aladdin Sane (1973)
    • Pin Ups (1973)
    • Diamond Dogs (1974)
    • Young Americans (1975)
    • Station to Station (1976)
    • Low (1977)
    • "Heroes" (1977)
    • Lodger (1979)
    David Bowie could be seen as post modern because of the way he had created an new identity for himself. David Bowie's imperial period is often cited as a break through of post modern ideas into popular music. His musical genre is a wide range of lyrical influences that make his music endless jumble of subject matter. He describes himself as a xerox machine and a pseudo-intellectual which is someone who doesn't innovate himself but recombines other peoples innovations and uses intertextuality references in his songs.
    This is 'the next day' album cover which will be Bowie's first album of the new material since 2003 over ten years ago. Shocking fans with his newest album which was realised on his birthday as he then again surprised them with a free streaming of the album on iTunes before the official release. The cover is a adapted version of Bowie's 1977 album 'heroes' which is a new art cover. This is a perfect example of bricoloage, taking something existing and changing it to become something new and inspirational.
    This is the original album cover which David Bowie used again for his new album but by making it more exciting and up to date. He did not use any guest on his album but he did use some of the musicians he's worked with in the past, including Earl Slick who recorded his parts for the album in July 2012. Gail Ann Dorsey who is a bass guitar player and sterling Campbell who plays drums who both  worked with Bowie since the 90's, who also contributed to the album.
    • Scary Monsters
      (and Super Creeps)
       (1980)
    • Let's Dance (1983)
    • Tonight (1984)
    • Never Let Me Down (1987)
    • Black Tie White Noise (1993)
    • The Buddha of Suburbia (1993)
    • Outside (1995)
    • Earthling (1997)
    • 'Hours...' (1999)
    • Heathen (2002)
    • Reality (2003)
    • The Next Day (2013)

    Post Production

    AS Coursework:
    When it came to editing my photographs I decided to use the Iphone. I could use cropping tools (magic wand), colour editing tools (brightness, lightness, contrast, colour replacement ect) also image improvement tools (red eye corrector, airbrush, smudge).
    Strengths and weaknesses whilst editing my photographs on the Iphone- I used photoshop for my preliminary task which was a weakness of mine as i found the tools hard to use and needed to spend extra time on learning what everything does. However when it came to taking my final photographs i decided to use the Iphone as this was very simple to use as I could crop the size of the image instantially which was one of my strengths within As post production that also looked professional and realistic. Some tools I wasn't to sure on which is a weakness but I asked my friend how to use each individual tool to make my photographs as good as possible. Editing was quite straight forward after learning the tools and my image improvement skills to get them to a good level and to produce a more professional finish. This programme was unfamiliar at first but was pretty straight forward to use and gave the final images a very realistic look.
    Software pros/cons- there was positive and negative elements to using the Iphone for the post production stage of my AS coursework. The positive elements of using the Iphone is it is quick and straight forward to use and gives a professional finish to my product as it provided me with the necessary tools to make this work. The negative elements of using the Iphone  is that it doesn't have all the tools and software like the photoshop technology does which means the photographs weren't as detailed.

    A2 Coursework:
    When it came to my editing in A2 I used photoshop for my ancillary text and final cut pro for my music video. Photoshop I used cropping tools (lasso, magic wand, select tools ect) colour editing tools (brightness, tint, lightness, contrast, colour replacement, saturation ect) image improvement tools (red eye corrector, blur, smudge, airbrush, paintbrush ect). Final cut pro I used cropping tools to shorten the clips, the speed up and slow down tool making the clip either x2 or -2 to get a exggarated effect, colour editing or effects that can be added to each individual clip to give it a brighter, darker or blurred look.
    Strengths and weaknesses whilst editing my photographs and music video- I used final cut pro for my preliminary task that allowed me to gain skills through the making which gave me more confidence when it came to making my final music video. I also gained skills from using the different types of tools on photoshop such as various cropping tools which I felt gave me a strength in my A2 post product. The weakness of using these software's is that I had to watch a few tutorials on youtube which explained how to use each tool when making my ancillary text on photoshop and on final cut pro to make my final products look professional and realistic and become one of my strengths. I also had to spend a lot of time on making the colours work on both of my products and change the brightness to give it a high level look. Doing these elements to my product took a while to learn as I was not familiar with the final cut pro program and had to start at the basic level and extend my knowledge through teaching myself the tools.
    Software pros/cons- There were positives and negative to using photoshop and final cut pro for the post product stage of my A2 course work. The positives were that using photoshop included a professional software package which helped me to product a much more professional finish on my ancillary texts. Final cut pro was a high level software package that is quick and has a good range of different tools to make my music video as realistic and professional looking as possible. The negatives of using photoshop is that it would cost a lot to have the package at home on my laptop and therefore I was limited to using this technology in school which is similar to the final cut pro negatives as it only works on the mac computer's and also can afford a lot to download to home computers so a lot of time was spent on these software's at school.
    Key Media Concepts (A2 main product & ancillary texts):

    • Institutions: I used Simon Cowells famous syco label brand. This is well known for Pop music and the mainstream music that can be seen in the charts. I believe this label fitted the product very well as it shows the style of music Iv chosen and it is also a very well known label that everyone listens to. This allowed the band to communicate with the right target audience.
    • Media Language: I used a blue white and red colour scheme on my ancillary texts and black text as this is a well know colour used to make the words stand out on the page. These colours were also used in the music video giving it a fun and exciting look.
    • Representation: The girls in the ancillary texts are wearing high street products that a lot of people wear and can relate to. This shows a realistic young group of people and was also the same in making my music video and using similiar clothing style to fit in with the genre I was doing using a budget video shoot. Using a simple background for the magazine gave the indivdual artist a clean clear look and stand out. I did the same thing in my music video but decided to make the girls wear simple smart clothes and give them interesting background to show their personalities and individual styles.

    Wednesday 6 March 2013

    DIKW pyramid- Theory


    Data- finding music videos and magazines
    Information- anaylsising videos and magazines
    Knowledge- understanding the information and able to create
    Wisdom- reflect on what I made and what I could change (evaluation)

    • Useful theory to apply to the areas of research and planning as well as digital technology. How its applied to me coursework:
    Data- making prelimary work, first time using the technology and learning the tools
    Information- know the key features to use on the magazine and video
    Knowledge- know how to use the technology to make my products look professional and realistic
    Wisdom- what I could of done better second time round to get a higher grade

    Tuesday 5 March 2013

    Digital Technology Essay

    Drive




    Actors:
    Ryan Gosling- 'the kid'
    Carey Mulligan- Irene
    Bryan Cranston- Shannon
    Ron Perlman- Nino
    Albert Brooks- ?


    • Uses lights in the lift to change the mood- self reflexive/ romantic. Focuses on just the two actors.
    • Hyperreality- A constructed of reality.
    Gangsters: They use sterotypical scary gangesters that have a lot of money and invest in 'the kid' but when things go wrong they go looking for the kid and try to kill him and the people he loves. Nino is you typical ganster has a say in everything and seen as the well off over the top ganster. Irene is the boss and is a bit shamy and doesnt look like a typical ganster expect through the way he talks. It all becomes clear in the last scene of the film what his real like when he goes to stab the kid.
    Hero: Tragic hero- gets involved in the girls life which is bad luck for him. The kid who kills two men to save the lady but then leaves her to live more and go on new adventures. Anti-hero/ criminal/ brutal killer (said to be a psychopath) this is shown in the elevator scene when he kills the men.
    Violence: Shannon cuts down his arm so he can kill him self quickly. Kicking someone to death and making their face collapse in. brutal murders comitted by the kid to the kit men. Every kill is quite grusome and is done quite simply.
    Fairytale: Has expected characters- hero, princess, villain. modern grimm fairytale. Hero saves girl but being denied the "happy ever after ending". Not typical ending to a fairytale (don't end up together). goes through a journey as he kills people to save her life. He killed 2 hit men in the motel, 1 man in the elevator and Nino and his driver, also the boss.
    The City (setting): No people or cars around in the scene (empty) this isn't normal for Los Angeles. The camera is looking down onto the city looks like a shot from grand theftorto the driving game. The only cars that are on the road through the film is the kid and the police there is never other cars and if there is there is few of them which gives a main focuse on the characters.
    Music: The sound track for the film is 80s-style, synth-pop. Martinez built the film’s sonic landscape from ideas pioneered by European electronic bands, such as Kraftwerk. This gives the overall film a chilled and relaxed feel. Each song shows a different scene and gives you a feel of what the charaters are feeling.
    Ending: In a lonely and isolated existence the same as the beginning of the film. Not a full ending. He leaves money so the people don't go after his girl and kill her. It isnt the typical ending you want and you dont know what will happen next. Finishes with the audience having doubt on what happens next could be another film.
    Dialogue: Does not talk much the main actor (kid) which is the same as the weston films (using simple illiterate). 

    Thursday 28 February 2013

    Digital Technology

    Software in AS coursework:
    • Tools I used: Colour converting tools (red eye corrector, colour variations) shape tools, contrast, rightness, grid view, layers, cropping tools (marquee/wand tools, lassos). 
    • Photoshop: When using this program I am able to edit images and the page layout in order to create my music magazine. The software allows me to insert text and image by using different and interesting editing skills. I can manipulate the colour scheme I had picked, the contrast, brightness and layout of all the elements  I included in making my music magazine. when producing and editing my magazine I made use of each tool that was included in the Adobe Photoshop software. For example the various cropping tools making my image smaller or bigger and shaping it it a different way to fit on the page. I also played with the magic wand but it didn't look right with the style I was going with but was very straightforward to use which allowed me to crop around the image leaving it with no background making it look effective and professional. But I decided to use the colour effect tools such as colour variations, red eye correctors to give my final image different effective eye catching look to it as it fits my genre of my magazine better. I adjusted the colours to match the overall neutral colour scheme and the brightness tool to give it a hip-hop/rap style. I also improved the quality of my images by removing the red eye on each person to give it a realist look. When it came to the fonts I decided to use I looked on dafont and went through the different styles I could use to fit my genre. I used the font tool to help me manipulate the text within my magazine to appeal to my audience with the layout and the colours used. Including these elements in making my magazines it allowed me to effectively adjust them to my audience and convention. To get the overall look of the genre I was going for the use of colours, layout and the shaping tools really came in useful as these made it easier to see the style of my magazine and made it look very realistic. The photographs themselves could be changed easily by using the brightness, contrasting colours and special effects to give it that overall professional look to the images. These tools can also be used on other elements of the magazine for example the masthead,  as I can manipulate the colours and shadow of the letters to make them stand out more. Using these elements also help me to create the overall look of hip-hop/rap style by matching the layout to the convention rules which helped me clearly layout the contents and elements of the magazine. Using the layer system on photoshop allowed me to keep my work organised and separate in sections that were easy to access and manageable to use. When it came to my double page spread I used the grid view function which allows me to align the content of the page and makes it easier and more accurate to see individual elements on the page by separating the A3 page into two A4 pages.
    Weblogs AS & A2:
    • Website I used: www.blogger.com
    • How I used this website: When completing both of my AS and A2 coursework I kept a blog which allowed me to keep all my research and planning materials on. The website I used was www.blogger.com which is a example of an 'web 2.0 technology', this means it is an interactive technology, making it a two-way and combined system which came in very useful as it allows the audience to give feedback through leaving comments on each blog post. This gives other people who have blogs and my teachers and peers to look at my work and give advice on my research and planning ideas. This gives me extra feedback on what iv done well and what needs improvements getting my work to a high grade overall and making decisions earlier on in the process of making my product.
    • What I uploaded: When I was going through the planning stage I uploaded elements to my blog that included music videos off youtube which I enjoyed and thought would work well with my product, giving me ideas as well as presentations to show these expanded ideas to the class and my teachers. The technology I used included Animoto videos, animatic story board, youtube videos, draft videos and my final music video for my A2 coursework.
    • How I created these: The youtube videos I decided to upload onto my blog were done by embedding them onto my blog post but these weren't created by me they were original videos giving me inspiration. The animoto video I created was made on a website called www.animoto.com which was used for both of my pitches in AS and A2 to show to the class my ideas. I embedded these onto my blog. When it came to making this video it involved placing images, text and music into a basic format, which used little skill to make. I used animatic to show my story board, this program allowed me to insert images from my hand drawings that I had taken photos of and place them in a timeline along side the audio file I had chose to be playing in the background. This is more advance than the animoto video but was also very basic to use. Creating drafts and my final music video took much more skill and time. For the making of my video I used final cut pro which was on the mac computers, this program allowed me to insert clips from my filming and cut the down to the exact time and place I want them and in the correct order on the timeline. I was able to lip syncing the clips quite easily but muting and un-muting the clip to find out if I had matched it up with the audio track, this is similar to other technologies iv used through the year and premier elements. However final cut pro was much easier to use and allowed me to make more specific and advanced changes to give my product a professional and realistic look. For example I could edit the look of each shot such as lighting, brightness, toning and contrast. I could also add extra features in-between the shots like fading in and out and lyrics showing on the screen. In my A2 blogging work my skills had improved a lot as I blogged more and got more feedback from teachers and peers.
    Hardware AS &A2:
    In my AS coursework I started with using a digital camera for taking photographs of my preliminary task that were of a normal standard of quality that I believe could be improved. I then transferred them onto my desktop that allowed me to adjust to the program and learn the basics before starting my coursework  It also allowed me to see the areas I didn't completely understand and need help with. This showed me the things I need to resolve before starting my product as I wanted to be able to use the software easily. It also helped me understand the importance of framing the photographs and other tools on the page that would help me to give a better overall quality to my work. For example using a plain background will make the actors stand out more. I the end I used my friends Iphone as I could adjust the light and brightness on their and could also add effects which was very straight forward and quick to use and it also look very professional and realistic.
    In A2 I did take photographs for my ancillary products and used a digital camera this time round. I also used the premier elements 11 to edit my photographs and to lay them out on the page in the right areas. However because I didn't use this technology in the end last year I wasn't to certain on how to use all the tools and it took me a while to get used to it again. I used a few different tools just to make sure the overall images look professional and as realistic as possible. I also used a digital HD camera to film my music video. Every shot I took was saved straight onto the SD care reader which stored all my filming and then I copied them onto the computers hard drive system and my video required a large amount of memory space. When it came to editing my video I used final cut pro, this program allowed me to place clips onto a timeline and lay them on top of the audio. I put all the clips onto the timeline in the right space them spent a considerable amount of time making sure the lip syncing was accurately matched up with the actress, this also helped to match the audio video. I also made sure each clip came in at the right time and the lyrics that came up on the screen matched the audio too. I used other adjustments to within the program, for example the brightness and contrast.

    Monday 25 February 2013

    Essay Plan For Using Conventions For Real Media

    Using Conventions From Real Media

    Task 1:
    Conventions of Music Magazines:
    General
    Music reviews
    Album reviews
    Information on up coming albums
    Live gig reviews
    Tour dates
    Upcoming tours
    Interviews with live bands
    Advertisement
    Questions
    Competitions
    What's in next issue
    Front cover
    Front page
    Masthead
    Cover-lines
    Cover-stories
    Principle of thirds
    Route of the eye
    Pictures and captions
    Pull quotes
    Hotspots
    Sans serif fonts
    ISBN
    Mostly black and white colours used
    Contents page
    The title "Contents"
    Route of the eye
    Principle of thirds
    Hotspots
    Eye catching colours
    Pictures and captions
    Mostly sans serif fonts
    Page numbers and what's on them pages
    Double page spread
    Headline
    Big picture taking up 1 page
    Kicker- article starts with a big first letter
    Hotspots
    Route of the eye
    Principle
    Captions
    A important question
    Pull quote from another article
    An important notice
    Conventions of Music Videos:
    Performance
    Narrative
    Animation
    Pans/tilts
    Crane shots
    Jump cuts
    Close up. e.g on artist, mouth, instruments and props
    Split screens
    Props, costume, location relevant to music genre
    Lip syncing
    Male/female
    Conventions of Ancillary Products (digipack & advert):
    Digipack
    Name of the band/ artist
    Name of the album
    Track listing
    Price
    Bonus material
    Website
    Credits
    Recording information, producer, where it was recorded and when
    Who wrote the songs
    Pictures of the band/ artist
    Logo
    Barcode
    DVD logo
    Cd logo
    Website banner
    Colour and style to fit
    Unfolds
    Cardboard sleeve
    Advert
    DVD or Cd
    Booklet
    DVD/ Cd case
    Magazine advert
    Name of the band/ artist
    Name of the album
    Website
    Reviews
    Picture of the band/ artist/ album cover
    Logo
    Task 2:
    Music Magazine:
    Costume, props
    Positioning of artists in photograph
    Layout of each page
    The colour scheme (neutral)
    Language
    Sentence structure
    Masthead/ titles
    Music Video:
    Positioning of artists in Photograph
    Camera angles
    Costume, props
    Refers to other music videos
    Colour scheme used
    Lighting
    Social identity

    Ancillary Texts:
    Costume, props
    Layout
    Colour scheme
    Quotes
    Masthead/ titles
    Artist position in photograph
    Task 3:
    Music Magazine:
    When it came to my music magazines I used the postmodern styles such as bricolage as I took poses from the band I was basing my magazine around which was Rizzle Kicks and I also copied the type of clothing they wore and incorporated into my magazine styling. I also used intertextuality in my magazine as I looked at other articles of the same genre to mine and added in the same information as this would get my readers attention as they would recognise the language and subjects that are being shown in the magazine, for example I used phases and sentence structure that this sort of genre magazine would use as well as using a bold letter at the beginning of the article which is used in every magazine.
    Music Video:
    In my music video I used bricolage a lot when it came to taking ideas from other music videos and adapting them into my own ideas but can be linked back to the original video. I watched the little mixs wings video and  took out the light which symbolizes their bands name at the beginning of the video and incorporated it into mine but using paint instead and having clips of the girls writing out their bands name on the wall and showing the final piece for the last clip so the audience know who the band are. I also looked at the dancing ideas and featured a few of the moves in my music video but not as good quality as the actually video. By using the style of clothing that would be found in a Pop video means I used Pastiche as I showed each one of the girls unique and different personalities by allowing them to sing parts on their own and having different clothing to each other so they could express themselves better and also using group shots to show their a girl band and the close friendship they have between them.
    Ancillary Texts:
    Again in the ancillary product I used bricolage with the clothing of the band as I researched girl bands a lot and saw the sort of clothes they wore which I made sure this element came through in my video as well as the images I chose to go on the products as I looked at other digipacks and adverts and realised a group simple but colourful photo would work on both and then using individual pictures of each girl to show their own personalities with a quote from each of them. This also comes across to the target market better as they can relate to it and would recognise the product as Pop so I have used intertextuality in these products to, for example the 5 star ratings and the label record showing the genre the band is in as well as the quotes and lay out of the products as it draws in a certain audience which would be my target market.
    Task 3 part 2:
    In AS I used a postmodern element called bricolage which consists of reusing images or a style that has already been used in another product but showing it in a different and more interesting way. I decided to base my music magazine on the hiphop/ pop genre as the people I was using defined this sort of style. The main aim was to make them the girl version of Rizzle Kicks as they are quite plain and simple but have a interesting and fun look to them which I brought across into my photographs. Rizzle kicks poses were very simple of them standing up straight with the head down or just gorming in to the camera, which appeals to their target market. This idea gave me the inspiration of making my girls wear hoodies, leggings and vans as it was the girls fashion to what Rizzle Kicks wear and I decided to use a plain background so the main focus was on the girls in the picture as they had their heads down and looked relaxed in the image. I also looked at the sort of layout used on the genre magazine I was using and copied a similar lay out to the original ones so the target market knew what sort of magazine it is from just looking at the layout of the pages as well as the article using intertextual references from other magazine using this genre so the language used stood out to the target market to as they can relate to it and understand it.
    In A2 I also used postmodern elements for example bricolage again as I used backgrounds and featured the bands name in my music video. The idea for these two things came from watching the Little Mixs music video as they show the initials of their bands name at the beginning in lights and I took this idea and expanded on it by showing the girls painting their bands name on the wall and at the end of the video you see it finished. I also decided to use different backgrounds for each of my girls to show their individual personalities and to make it more interesting for the audience when watching the video. This technique is called Pastiche which allows me to copy the genre conventions and apply them to mine to make it fit into the convention of my music video better, and reinforces the importance of friendship and closeness in a society of friends.
    I think I could improve my work by research more of the conventions for my genre and understanding them giving me an in-depth knowledge on the area I was doing, which would allow me to represent my music video with a better overall concept. Overall I believe taking into consideration the song I had chosen should of reflect by the use of clothing, actress/actors and sequence of the video as each genre has a different convention to it which attracts the right audience.