Q3

Digipak final piece

Album advert final piece

Dapa Deep - Mine (radio edit) final music video

Q2

Focus group suggestions

As my focus group have suggested I tried putting some pink filter over a few bits of my ancillary products just so it would be linked together better. I am still not too sure whether I like this better than the ones before though. 

Q4

Focus Group

I have used my A2 Psychology class as a focus group. I did not take a video, but rather took photos because everyone was too shy to comment on my work out loud, therefore I have given them three simple questions and a piece of paper to everyone to write it down, then collected it.

My questions were : 

1. What do you like about the video/advert/digipak the most?
2. What do you dislike about them?
3. Do you think three of my products (the album advert, the video and the digipak) works well together in terms of editing/colour scheme/use of images)?


I have gotten back quite a lot of responses (about 15). In the group there was only one media student, which makes it less bias. However this focus group might not be the best for my particular genre, and I will explain it later on.

FINDINGS

- 100% of people said they have liked the video

- 55% of people said they did not get the narrative/or it was slightly confusing to understand what was happening. Another 45% said it was VERY clear it was to do with the break up/loss of family (in which case it might simply mean that those 55% of people in the room were not in a target group (did not like house music/never listened to it before/are not fans/not in the age group etc) and therefore this was the reason they did not get the narrative, as opposite to the 45%, all of those participants said it was very clear what it was about - they might simply be into house music)

- 100% said they liked the advert and the digipak the most, it seemed to really impress them and the use of black and white rather than colour, which worked well.

- Also most of my respondents mentioned editing techniques for the video as very good, going well with the beat.
- About 25% of respondents said there might be too many shots layered together, especially in the middle, as it makes them confused with what is actually happening, what is only a memory
- One of the respondents said that maybe the video should not end so unexpectedly quickly, as it just sort of cuts off

CONCLUSION

Overall I am very happy with the feedback, a little bit concerned as I did not get a proper feedback, as I had too many people in the room and they did not want to speak out loud, this meant I can only give them specific, more generous questions.

The only down side as what I already mentioned is that I did not get all of them to be specific to my target audience, therefore results cannot be generalised to my TA.

All the responses I got were very positive and helped me understand that the way I am going is the right way to go. Things I was mostly concerned about seemed not to be a problem for my participants (such as having a digipak and album advert in black and white, when the video does not carry any black and white shots).

Peer feedback (media students)

Peer group assessment from Evelina Vyšniauskaitė

This is the same video as in the powerpoint, just in case it wouldn't work there.

Amended album adverT!

I have changed some things on my advert after researching into this a little bit more. Electronic dance music adverts tend to have very minimalistic design on their posters, usually only the name of the Dj and the date when the album comes out. 

This is the reason I made mine look more like it, however I still put one review underneath the date - to attract attention as this is the most popular dance music magazine,

Advert in progress!

This is my advert. still in working progress, but I am quite happy with the way it has turned out. As by following genre convetions I should not put anything else on it, because usually electronic dance music adverts are very minimalistic.

Photoshop - learning new skills

One of my colleagues taught me how to resize the original landscape picture into an A4 format one, because the backgroud picture that I am working on was landscape.

I have also taught myself how to work with cloning things, therefore I have blended three main images used in digipak onto one, which means it ties in better, and my TA will recognize it all together.

Q1

Q1 media new from Evelina Vyšniauskaitė

Digipak progress

This is how far I have gotten with my digipak so far. The first one is the front and second one is the inside. The way I have constructed, it opens up from the other side than normally, however I did this purposely in order to challenge genre conventions, as deep house music usually breaks all conventions in music, in adverts, digipaks and music videos.

I have chosen to use black and white, as another genre convention, and because it makes it look more serious as it is. 

The logo I have used is the original logo the Dj uses and the name of the album is the name of the song which I have made a video for. I have chosen to put the look as in TA is looking through the keyhole and seeing the woman looking after a child and a man watching them two. It is clear that the woman cannot see the man, however the child was running towards him. This is a connotation to what happens in the music video (linking story back).

For the back of a digipak I have used the original pic which is used under the CD as well, only cut out the surroundings (the sky, softened edges, etc) in Photoshop, which is a new skill I have learnt as well, as I was not sure how to do it before. The picture kind of connotes the man being proud of who he is what he possibly done, he is not afraid to show himself, after seeing this picture audience is sure that the man is important in the story, plays a big part. 

The third part is the original hand written note from the Dj's to their audience, works more like an insert in this case. As digipak is more expensive than a simple CD, TA would expect to see either more information inside, an insert or some pictures. I thought that using an original hand written note would make TA feel like they are more included, they are welcome and they are almost like friends, therefore they would feel they have to be loyal to the Dj.

For the inside, where the CD will be I have used the same image, just a full one without cutting out anything, as on the back of the whole digipak. This is just for being familiar with the material as well as it looks quite different without cutting out bits.

The next two images are the same just mirrored together, which I think works brilliant as it gives the depth for the image and it looks interesting, it is a beautiful environment, but most importantly, the same location has been used for the video, which will make audience feel familiar with surrounding, and it simply works with genre conventions. Black and white connotes memories which means audience will understand the video much better seeing the digipak first, they will expect to see something to do with memories. I have also put some lyrics on the mid part, those lyrics are used in the song, but also they are beautiful and ties in with the story, explaining about the images.

I think overall digipak will work well with TA, as they will recognise the genre conventions (usually being dark, black is the dominant colour. Having the main Dj or mostly having conceptual images rather than real objects - in this case I am using main actors, so TA would relate to the story better, having an insert, but something really small, however personal).

Feedback from the Dj who's song I am using

I have recently contacted the Djs who gave me permission to use their soundtrack to make a music video for them, for the general feedback.

They were very happy with the outcome, however we talked about couple of technical things (e.g. the format it has been filmed in and stuff).

The most important thing for me was to ask whether they understood the context of the whole video or was it too hard to understand. They have spotted the plot in one go and I was very pleased with that. The only thing they criticised was the variety of shots. They would have preferred to see more of the full length shots rather than close ups. However I have explained to them that the reason of choosing close ups was to give out the emotion so my audience would connect to my work, feel engaged and interested.

This is the proof of me asking their opinion and getting their feedback. It is in Lithuanian, however I summed up what they have said above this photo.

Third music video edit

This is my third video edit. I have changed a couple of shots after the last hot desking, for example : I have cut on the videos of the girl leaving the room.

I have also tried to make the story much clearer of what have happened.

I have asked my audience some questions which are important to me at the moment :

- Are there too many shots of the kid running around ?

My audience have said that because of the amount of kid shots they can understand better what is happening, that the main actress is not only losing a man, but losing a kid as well as the unity of the family. It has been mentioned that it made it deeper and more interesting to watch.

- What about the colours? Should I put the filter over the video?

Audience said that I do not need any filters, however I could try and do two edits - one with auto corrected brightness and the other original one and asses it then.

- Are there too many overlayed videos?

It explains story much better, as you can notice that it is a memory more than anything. Also it works well with this exact story. Moreover the audience have noticed that the first shot of the video is the same as the last one - so this means I have done what I wanted. Audience will be aware that there is not 100% the whole story actually happened, maybe she was only thinking about it while walking.



I am happy with my edit right now, however I think I want to change something about the colours. It has been mentioned that I have matched the beat very well with visuals which makes it clearer and used a wider variety of shots - audience want to watch it all to understand what it is about.

New skills

Recently I have started to work on my digital pack. My Photoshop and InDesign skills were quite poor as it is, moreover the last time I used both programs was last year, so I have to learn how to do most of the stuff again.

One of the first things were working with images, changing them in Photoshop so I could bring in InDesign to use. All the images were changed into black and white, also some background changes made so the two same pictures would lay together better.

For the logo bit, as my Dj's are real I have to use their real logo, so I had to teach myself not only how to cut the logo out and bring it in on the original photo, which had to be amended as I had a tripod in the middle of the picture where I did not  need it, etc. I have also learnt how to bring in a keyhole template onto Photoshop, using lasso tool made background around it black and smudged the edges so it would look better.

This is only a trial picture for the front cover, however I am still working on in all,

Peers feedback on the current edit (second)

Digipak first draft (before mock up)

This is the first draft for my digipak.

On the right is the front of the digipak. I will have the main colour as black, while the name of the dj will be in white as it is now. The keyhole will be drawn by me on photoshop. Behind the Dj name we can see the picture of the field where I filmed most of my video, therefore target audience will be able to relate the song and video with the digipak.

Middle bit is the back of the digipak, where I will have a list of 10 other original songs of the Dj (as my artist is an existing Dj).

The last bit is the second page you see after the frontal, therefore I have decided instead of having an insert, have a message of a Dj on to this bit. Again this comes originally from the Dj, I have contacted them and asked to write something up which they would like their fans to see. This is an original handwriting, I will use it, because it will make my target audience feel closer to the artist, like he would be a friend of them.

This is the nside of my digipak. From the left, first page will be where CD goes, it will be completely black. The middle bit is an image which is on the front cover as well. I have the same image on the third bit as well, however I have cut them together, so it looks more like one long image. It shows the depth of the content.

The little page in the middle is just an added picture of the main actors, however I will have to work on it in photoshop because there are things which should not be there (for example a tripod in the shot, I will have to delete that), This relates to the story of the video, as all three actors are in the story. Audience will not notice this, but the girl in the image is a double of the main actress, however it was easier to take still pictures the first time round filming (as later on I had to reshoot my video with slight changes in cast).

The other side of this little page is the same image.

All of images will be in black and white, This might seem very simplistic and minimalistic, but this is the genre conventions and it will let my target audience really concentrate on the story of the music video, as the guy in the picture is in the distance which connotes of the fact that he might of never been there. None of the characters are holding hands, which again connotes that maybe the girl was just imagining the child and the guy, or maybe it was a memory.

I am still working on my digipak design, so it may change in the end, for example I am considering on this small piece of paper, on one side have a full image of three characters, on the other side have only a girl. This would create the confusion, unresolved issues which attracts my particular audience.

This is how it looks from the front (you can see that the next page which opens from one side is the image of the artist, whilst another side holds a CD).

Second edit of my music video

Latest update on my music video.
For now I am still in the process of developing it, I think in some places it is out of sync as well as background colours do not match, but I am still working on this.
I am planning to put the same filter on the same locations, for example shots on the hill will all have the same filter, whilst shots inside have a different one. This will equalize shots, will let target audience identify better what is actually happening, as well as will look neater.
I do not want to have black and white, as colours make it look more 'lively' but I will have to try it as well.

Album cover research (house music)

I have looked at one of my favourite dj's recently released album. Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike does house music as well as deep house, trance and electro, therefore this is the same genre as my music video.

So looking for the different genre conventions first thing I have noticed is the choice of colours, it is pretty dark, with the two dj's on the cover. This breaks the original genre conventions as usually house music album covers do not have dj faces on them, however the choice of colour pallet is conventionally right.

They have used layering two images together in order to get the effect of them both being on top of the world. They have used the picture of lights of the city, the picture was probably taken from the plane. However it is a brilliant way to portray the whole world, as when you are in the plane you feel like the whole world is underneath your feet, this is the feeling they are going for. 

Moreover they have got a small globe as another representation of the world.

The name of the album 'Bringing the world the madness' is actually the name of the festival that Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike have every year, therefore their fans would be aware of that fact, they would relate it to their music straight away.

Also the dj on the right side always wears hoodie and the sunglasses during their sets, therefore it has become like their own iconography.

The posture of both djs gives out that they are feeling cool and chilled out, this is the feeling they want audience to experience when listening to their music.

The back of the album only contains the songs which are inside, as well as where the album has been distributed and produced, moreover it has web addresses for real fans to visit for more information. On the right bottom corner we can see the record label logo (they have used it at the front as well, so audience would be aware of who produced it, who the dj's have a contract with).

At the back, the small plane on the top middle represents flying around the world, therefore I was right about where the picture came from.

Ellie Goulding album 'Lights' advert analysation

Ellie goulding ‘lights’ album advert analysation from Evelina Vyšniauskaitė

Calvin Harris 'I created disco album' album advert analysis

Calvin harris from Evelina Vyšniauskaitė

This is my analysis of the very similar genre album advert as I am going to produce.

Short explanation what is a digipak

This is a very short explanation of what is a digipak, what  is the purpose of it and general conventions. As the only one I have is for house music, it fits my musical choice, however it does not have many images as there are three CDs inside. Therefore I have explained shortly what would my target audience expect to see on a digipak.

First edit

This is the first edit of my music video. I still have to work on synchronising music with visuals, fitting the right lightning in order to show genre conventions therefore audience will be able to read the text easier, moreover it is only 1:30 of the song done, still have the same amount to work on.

I am trying to layer a lot of videos at the same time, therefore making this a genre convention. Narrative might be too complicated for my audience to understand without editing it in the right way. I am on the right track, happy with the outcome.

During this editing I have learnt how to layer two-three videos together (using opancy), also how to try and cut to the beat, how to make the visuals more interesting via using different techniques of editing. I have done my whole video in the slow motion, which not only lets my audience see small details better but also is a strong genre convention used in other deep house narrative based music videos. This was another skill (one of the very first ones) I have learnt.

Dapa Deep Dj research (looking for iconography)

So as I am working with the real Dj's from Lithuania I have to research them a little bit. The first and main thing - logo.

In order to make the great digipak and advert, I had to find their current logo.

This is a recent advert to a concert of them.

Moreover I have looked up some more songs of the dj's, they are carrying the same logo throughout. Mainly using concept images for their posters, adverts or even song covers.