Evaluation Question 1

In order to answer the first question for my evaluation - (1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?) - I created a prezi as I felt it allowed my work to look more creative and interesting.

Evaluation Question 1 on Prezi

Music Video Final Edit

Here is my final edit of the music video to "Icarus - Death & Taxis"

Although the video comes up as a standard size in Youtube, when I put them embedded code into Blogger the shape of the video changed. I have tried to help this but have been unsuccessful as I would rather the settings don't change in Youtube.

Music Video Second Edit

I decided to add improvements to my video and finished it before the deadline with time to spare, so here is my second edit. I am looking to show others this copy and hope to have even more feedback to add more improvements in time for my final edit.

Ancillary Task - Digipak Final

This is the front cover for the final edit of my digipak. I decided to use a simple photograph I took myself of the lead singer playing the guitar. This image suggests simplicity and shows the audience the artist and his talents. I photoshopped this image to make it appear more aesthetically pleasing and made the colours more dull, as I felt this made the image moody and mysterious which would make it more appealing to it's audience. I used a simple font for the text and felt having it in black would allow it to look subtle but slightly stand out. I also decided to have the font reasonably small to allow all of the focus on the artist. The title of this album is also named Death & Taxis so I decided to just have one piece of text on the front cover which spoke for the title and name of the band. (- also known as an eponymous debut album)

The two images above would be pages 1 and 2 (refer to draft images to show where they would be placed.) When the front cover is opened on the digipak, these two images will be spread across the inside. I also took this image myself and split it in half in order to have it stretched across two pages which I felt looked really effective. I have changed this images colour to 'sepia' which allowed it to look more moody and subtle. This image also ties in with the theme of the band name as it's a dead street filled with only taxis.

I decided to have a plain black background on both of these pages as I felt artwork was unnecessary. Similarly, I wish to have a black background on both of the CD's and to have magazine cut outs for letters to create the words "Death & Taxis" on both of them. This creates simplicity but the use of colourful, different shaped and sized letters makes the name of the band/album stand out and adds some colour and nice visuals.

This is the back cover of the digipak. I wanted the names of the songs to stand out the most so felt there was no need for any artwork on the background. I used a simple text to tie in with the simplistic theme and made the white shade slightly grey to look moody and blend better with the black background. I also put the logo of the record company on the bottom left hand corner and a barcode on the right. This creates authenticity and I feel makes the cover look better and more realistic.

Ancillary Task - Magazine Advert Final

Ancillary Task and Video Feedback

In order to gain an idea of what needed to be improved on my draft ancillary tasks and music video, my teacher sent emails with feedback.

Feeback for draft music video:

Well done for meeting the deadline early & for working so hard & single-mindedly on this.

You have some nice ‘arty’ shots & some good ideas in this video & there are some good performances from your star performer.

To improve: in general all of the takes are too long.

The tree silhouette shots are nice as are the silhouette shot of you & the star but they are too long.
The ice cube melting works well but is too far away; I suggest a re-shoot in CU/XCU from the side, level with the cube & insert it sporadically into the video. You could also use a candle & melting wax (ref. the title), perhaps feathers floating about?
Not really sure about the external shots in the countryside, everything looks nice & is shot proficiently, but I just don’t get it.
There is a confusing discontinuity between the shots of you both singing (together & alone); sometimes the mics are there, sometimes not, you are on the star’s left (screen right), then when he is singing he has a brick wall next to him
Only one shot (too long) of the star playing the keyboard in what is an electronic track – can you make any more of the instrument(s)?
Overall this first draft lacks the pace & dynamism that it should have, which could be rectified by editing & some re-shooting, perhaps using more inserts?  
Work-in-progress = Level 2, 23/D

After taking these comments into consideration I have planned to take new shots and edit most of the video in order to make it better.

Feedback for ancillary tasks:

Digipak individual panels must be uploaded, so cannot see the detail to grade;

Advert works well, strong, stylish image, good font & conventions applied (itunes logo?), should the bottom black band be smaller? 8

Similarly, I have taken this feedback into consideration and have planned to make changes and improvements to my ancillary tasks.

The Filming & Editing Process

This is a print screen of the editing software Premier Pro including my project, I took this print screen as I was adding final improvements to my work which is why the entire video can be seen in the timeline. I faced no issues while editing and had the ability to complete my work before the deadline and to a standard I believe is good.

Above is a photograph of me filming the location for the shots taking place in the live studio, where the singer is lip-syncing.