1a – Creativity

My creativity developed from the production of my foundation portfolio to my advanced portfolio. When starting on my foundation portfolio, I had little knowledge on how to be creative because of my lack of experience with digital technology and not knowing how to use conventions properly. Research and planning helped me develop my initial ideas into more direct decisions which helped me decide which direction I wanted my work to go. I used digital technologies to research how conventions are used on other real media texts so I could gain knowledge on how to use and challenge them if possible. I found it was very hard to be original even by the time I was producing my advanced portfolio so I just used the conventions but made them look similar to other media texts so that they looked realistic.

For my foundation portfolio, I started off by researching album art for ideas on what conventions would be suitable for my rock music magazine. I did a lot of detailed analysis on different types of magazines on both front cover, contents pages and double page spreads. This helped me identify what conventions I could use and which ones didn’t look so successful. Without this research I would not be able to think creatively and my ideas would be very basic. The digital technologies that I used also helped me think more creatively because I learnt how to present my ideas in more than one way. I produced mood boards, videos, presentations, posts, surveys, posters and pitches to present my ideas and shoe the progress that I was making. Before actually making my foundation portfolio I produced artist and audience profiles as part of my research to identify who my magazine was targeting. The artist profile was used to present my ideas and to also compare my artist to other existing artists in the same genre and to also build hype. By identifying my target audience which was individuals aged between 16 and 24, it allowed to pick out suitable conventions that they find appealing by getting their feedback on particular features that they like on real media texts that they read. This developed my creative thinking as I was building my magazine on what my target audience like and I was learning crucial information about conventions before actually making the magazine so I was also learning in the process. When it came to the practical work and actually starting to make the magazine, this development of background knowledge helped me. I started to produce draft versions to experiment with initial ideas and play around with basic conventions such as layout, font, images, colours, location choice for images, costume, artists, mastheads, cover lines and plugs. When these draft versions were completed and had been adapted, I gained feedback from peers and teachers to get honest opinions to see which were successful or which could be improved before the final version. Once I got the feedback that I wanted, I used this for the development of my final music magazine so that it was up to the standard that I was hoping for. The development of my editing skills also aided my creative thinking because I had very little experience with Photoshop before this portfolio. I used tools such as the magnetic lasso tool, the colour fill tool, the eraser, the cropping tool and many more. I also learnt how to alter the brightness and contrast of images, add filters, add picture boxes and also add text. Outside of the practical work, I produced more research on rule of thirds, the golden spiral and also using different camera angles when taking test shots such as close ups, mid shots and long shots.

By the time it came for me to produce my advanced portfolio, the creative skills that I developed from my foundation portfolio came in handy as I felt a lot more confident with using Photoshop although I also had to learn how to use Premiere Elements for this portfolio. I conducted further research on the band members for the music video and ancillary texts such as costume, style and acting so that they looked and sounded like any other indie band. I once again analysed a range of real media texts to gain further creative ideas on conventions. As I had never produced a music video before, I found this was a crucial stage so that I understood how to make it as realistic as possible. I made a storyboard for each shot of the video and then used my creative skills to develop an animatic using Windows Movie Maker to give me an idea on what the video will look like as a whole. This was also important so we could identify any obstacles at an early stage. I applied my creative thinking for making decisions such as set design, acting, costume, lighting and space. We researched all of the features in other indie music videos and used the same conventions and made them our own. The music video was shot in a basic drama studio which was confined with only the instruments as props. We made the band members fool around and told them to have fun with it to enhance their personalities as the song is very upbeat.  We dressed them like any other band such as vans, chinos, shirts, ray bans and ankle socks and the band made direct address to the camera to involve the audience which also brought more focus to the band themselves. Experimenting with editing skills on Premiere was also crucial before making the final video such as adding effects, cropping clips, syncing music, adding cross cuts, using fading tools and adjusting the brightness and contrast. I also used social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to get a wider range of audience feedback and create a buzz for our band.  For the ancillary texts, I challenged myself to use more complex conventions and put my creative skills to the test. For example for my digipack I drew my own cover so as part of my research I developed a range of sketches then edited these on Photoshop by adding filters and colours.

Overall, I feel that it was easier to be creative for my advanced portfolio as my skills has developed over time by using technologies and gaining ideas in the process. I could be more imaginative for my advanced portfolio as me and my partner combined our ideas together and worked as a team so we challenged ourselves to aim higher.  We found it very hard to be original so we just took suitable conventions from other media texts we found inspiring. I found it was easier to be creative for my advanced portfolio because I had more time to experiment with software by developing my editing skills. By A2, I learnt how to present my ideas in more creative ways rather than just doing basic research and presentations at AS.

1b – Genre

I am going to discuss genre in relation to my advanced portfolio which was a music video to the Little Comet’s song ‘One Night In October’.

The type of narrative that the video falls into is performance when being applied to Andrew Goodwin’s theory. The video includes a closed, linear narrative as it is based solely on band performance. To make sure that our music video fitted in with similar ones in the same genre, we did a lot of background research on common indie conventions which we thought would be suitable for our video. These include quick, sharp shots, lip syncing, mimed playing of instruments, repetition of shots, long shots, mid shots, close ups and extreme close ups. The contrast of these shots is what keeps the audience captivated. These range from long and include a mix of angles including high angle, low angle, eye level and point of view shots. We also used tracking, panning and tilting so that the camera was not still throughout as it would make the shots very dull and boring. It was crucial to have this range of camera shots and angles to ensure it looks like other indie music videos as we took this common convention from videos we found inspiring. We did this by cropping each individual clip on the timeline to the correct time on our storyboard and also putting them in the correct order and making sure there were not two of the same clip or any similar ones.

Representation of our band members was also important because we wanted them to look like any other indie band so that our video looked as realistic as possible. We found that in most indie music videos, the videos are based solely on simple band performances and there is no clear story to follow. This brings more attention to the band which enhances their personalities so we just let our band member’s act and have fun which did this quite successfully. They made direct address to the camera, made eye contact and also interacted with each other which highlighted their playful acting, personalities and laid back attitudes. We wanted our band to look like a stereotypical indie band but we dressed them so that it was so obvious that it almost mocks the genre as we took it so far. We also used codes and conventions such as iconographies which are symbolic forms associated with our indie genre. We used common indie conventions to enhance this genre such as acting, set design, costume, lighting and space. We also tried to include ideologies to represent the indie themes and to keep this theme consistent throughout. We both thought that if we make the genre as clear as we could by addressing it directly to our target audience, the audience would gain enjoyment from spotting the common indie conventions that we had taken from other inspirational videos. This way our target audience would compare our video to other videos that fit into the same genre which is what we were hoping to achieve.  From the feedback that we gained after finishing the final video, we found that our target audience mostly enjoyed the humour and fun aspect because of the acting which complemented the genre of the song itself. The feedback also showed us that the audience liked the anticipation of waiting for the predictable features and getting involved in the video. Therefore our video successfully appealed to our target audience of individuals aged between 16 and 24.

Thomas Schatz claimed that there are just 2 genres. These are the genre of order and the genre of integration. I personally disagree with this statement as genres are constantly mutating and there is such a wide range developing all of the time with help from the developments of technology. Our video does just focus on one genre but it is still possible to mix more than one genre together such as electro-pop. There are no fixed genres. We picked the indie genre because it is so diverse and is a useful critical tool because it can be applied across a wide range of texts. The theorist Chandler once said “How we define a genre depends on our purposes.” The purpose of our music video was to appeal to our target audience as they are of a similar age to our band members and we wanted to portray them as role models for those interested in this particular genre. This way the audience could relate to them and find them inspiring whether it is due to their style or just their music. Our music video made it clear what genre the band fit into with help from the common indie conventions that we used and adapted so that it looked realistic.

1b – Media Language

I am going to discuss media language in relation to my advanced portfolio which was a music video to the Little Comet’s song ‘One Night In October’.

The type of narrative that the video falls into is performance when being applied to Andrew Goodwin’s theory. The video includes a closed, linear narrative as it is based solely on band performance. Within the video there are a range of camera shots such as close ups, long shots, mid shots and extreme close ups, the use of lip syncing, mimed playing of instruments and repetition of shots to keep the target audience captivated. During the editing process of the video, I ensured that there was a mix of long and short clips as well as a range of camera angles such as high angle, low angle, eye level and point of view shots so that the audience do not lose interest and the key focus is on the band throughout. During filming we also made sure that the camera was not always still so used panning, tracking and also tilting. It was crucial to have this range of camera shots and angles to ensure it looks like other indie music videos as we took this common convention from videos we found inspiring. We did this by cropping each individual clip on the timeline to the correct time on our storyboard and also putting them in the correct order and making sure there were not two of the same clip or any similar ones.

Representation of our band members was also important because we wanted them to look like any other indie band so that our video looked as realistic as possible. We found that in most indie music videos, the videos are based solely on simple band performances and there is no clear story to follow. This brings more attention to the band which enhances their personalities so we just let our band member’s act and have fun which did this quite successfully. They made direct address to the camera, made eye contact and also interacted with each other which highlighted their playful acting, personalities and laid back attitudes. Because the song is very upbeat, we wanted to create a positive but simple atmosphere that keeps the focus on the band. This is where our choice of mise en scene was crucial. We chose a very simple set design which was the same throughout the whole video and only had the instruments for props. We shot the video in our school’s drama studio which was perfect because of the plain background and professional lighting equipment. The lighting that we used was artificial and diegetic. We used the spotlights that pointed towards each of the band members making it clear that the focus is just on them. The space was very confined but this is what we were hoping to achieve as we didn’t want the audience to be distracted by any other surroundings. If the location where the video was shot was too big, the video would not be as successful. Costume choice also had to be suitable for the band to look like a realistic indie band. We dressed the boys in ray bans, ankle socks, chinos, shorts, t-shirts, vans and other indie accessories for them to appeal to the target audience and have a recognisable style. Acting was also important because we found that from our draft video, the band members did not look enthusiastic enough and the audience lost interest because they didn’t look like they were having fun which didn’t match the tempo of the song. During the filming of the final video, we both made sure that the band members looked like they were having fun and fooling around. This looked much more effective and looked more like an actual band. The acting really brought out their personalities and enhanced the fun aspect of the song. By addressing the lyrics of the song directly to the camera, it involves the audience more so that they can relate to it. We also used framing and blocking by editing each of the band members into the video when introducing them at the start of the video. We faded the shot in with the kit in and then edited each band member in when the song started.

When editing the video we used cutaways, we synced the music onto the timeline, used cross cuts, parallel editing, transitions, cropped clips accurately to the correct time on the storyboard, put each individual clip in the correct order, adjusted the brightness and contrast of each clip and ensured that there was a mix of long and short clips. We found that the tempo of the music drove our editing as we made changes that we didn’t necessarily plan on making at the start of the process. The genre is reflected in the mise en scene, themes included, performance and editing. The camera work also impacts meaning. For example the movement, angle and shot distance all enhance the representation of the band. We also repeated some shots that we thought were successful but may not have been that recognisable to the audience after seeing it only once. This was effective because it created an interesting contrast and mixed the type of camera angles we used up. We adjusted the brightness and contrast of each clip to increase the quality and make it look more realistic. The framework of the video is attached to the song and ends within the structure so the video is therefore self contained. We used low key lighting, fading at the start and end of the video and our set dressing involved just the band and their instruments. For the framing we created a contrast by moving the band members around physically but also through editing. The positive feedback that we received for the video as a whole showed us that we got the reaction that we were hoping for and the target audience were happy with the final product because of the conventions that we used and the similarity to other indie video that they enjoy and can compare it to.

The future of music.

Below is an article that I found on the internet focusing on postmodern music and where it is heading in the future. It refers to sampling, pastiche, development of technology and cultural aspects. These factors relate to our discussion that we had about how we can reinvent artists and bring them back to life by creating holograms such as the Tupac hologram. Also the idea that films may be based around the concept of video games.

So, has music become a postmodern art form? It depends on how you look at it. Sample-based music, in my opinion, is postmodern. But as long as instrumental music still exists, music as a whole will remain outside of the postmodern realm. But what about the future? Where will music be in 30 years? The past thirty has seen a rapid development of technology that has shaped almost every aspect of the way music is produced. My cynical side wants to say that in the future we will no longer need acoustic instruments. Every sound will be at sampled and at our fingertips. The technology will become so fluid, and so ingrained into the way we learn to make music, that samplers will replace all ‘real’ music. However, there are factors which could prevent this from happening. The first is tradition. We, as human beings, take great pride in our cultural music, and therefore these traditions may be preserved. The second factor is what Goodwin calls the ‘aura’ of the musician. We need to see our musicians doing something on stage, which could help to prevent the increasing technological advances from taking over completely. We are at a crossroads in our musical history. We are teetering on the edge of postmodernity and the water looks inviting. I have attempted to demonstrate the various ways in which sample-based music is changing how we perceive music. I said in my intro that we shouldn’t try to fight the advancements of technology. I am going to take that back. Although is still feel resistance is futile, we should try to preserve our musical traditions for as long as we can. I hope that we can hold onto our instrumental music, while at the same time embracing new technology. It wont be easy.

http://shawjesse90.wordpress.com/the-future-of-music/

Lady Gaga presentation.

Lady Gaga. on Prezi

Fun - We Are Young ft. Janelle Monae