Social Networks
Social networks have grown more and more in recent years with many different people using them for many different reasons. Uses such as communication, sharing videos and images, music and advertising are all popular. Many artists use social networking sites to inform their fans of any upcoming events or releases and also to share new music, images or videos. The most popular social network site that is used today is Facebook. Facebook is used by many people around the whole world for many reasons including keeping up to date and interacting or liking the artists official page.
Below is a screen shot of Everything Everything's official Facebook page. At the top of the page they are promoting their latest album and the three popular released songs off it as well as the album cover. It also shows three buttons where a user can like, listen or message the band. There are also buttons where you can view their photos, events, buy tickets and mail them. This page also shows the direct statuses that the band writes themselves to their fans.
Below is a screen shot of Everything Everything's official Facebook page. At the top of the page they are promoting their latest album and the three popular released songs off it as well as the album cover. It also shows three buttons where a user can like, listen or message the band. There are also buttons where you can view their photos, events, buy tickets and mail them. This page also shows the direct statuses that the band writes themselves to their fans.
Below is the bands Twitter page where again they have advertised their newly released album. On here you can follow the band which will then inform you of every picture, video and post they put on their page.
Audience Feedback
When I uploaded my video onto Youtube I decided to put it on to Facebook the day after. This was so that I could get audience feedback from friends and relatives on the social network website. Another reason why I put it on Facebook is because not many people would know to go on YouTube to watch it and also to leave feedback. When I first posted the video onto the site I kept an open mind and welcomed both negative and positive feedback. I felt that the feedback that i received on Facebook was important to let me know what the audience really thought. Overall I am very pleased with the feedback that was left on my post as it was all very positive.
I posted a status and shared my video on to Facebook the day after I put it on YouTube. As you can see in less than a week, 10 people have liked my status and four have commented. One person commented on which particular bit of the video they liked the most, it was nice to see that someone had a favourite bit in my video. Others commented on how good they thought my video is and how I or my video could be successful in the future. This was a nice reaction from my friends and family, helping me to feel even more successful with my finished product. Below is a screenshot of the YouTube page of my video. Here you can see that in less than a week I have received 74 views. Since putting my video on it has gained more views considerably which I am very pleased with.
Uploading to YouTube
After completing my music video I decided to upload it on to the video sharing website YouTube. I chose this site in particular because it is the most popular one around the world, therefore it would give my video a lot of exposure. When I first exported my video I had a lot of trouble putting it onto YouTube as the file format needing changing and it needed to be compressed. I finally converted it from an MOV to an FLV so that it would upload quickly and would still be good quality on YouTube. When I uploaded the video, I changed the name of it and added a description. I also added particular words as tags so that when people search with specific words such as 'cough' or 'A2' my video would come up. At the moment my music video has 10 views on YouTube as i only uploaded it late last night. I am going to put a link to the video on my Facebook so that it can get lots of exposure and so that more people can leave me some feedback on it.
Editing my Music Video
My original plan was to get all of the filming out of the way first and then begin to edit it and put it together. However half way through the filming process I thought it would be best to start putting the video together to get a sense of what it was going to look like. To edit my music video I thought it would be best to use my Apple Macbook Air as it is recently new. It also has Final Cut Pro X on it, which is one of the top editing softwares for Apple when creating media. These were both superb assets to have when I was editing my music video, as they were of a high standard, reliable and easy to use for myself.
When I came to edit my music video, I realised that I hadn't got enough footage to last the whole 3:42 of the song. This is when I had to do some more filming and decided to do it in my back garden and the little woods. When I had finally got all of the footage I needed I worked hard on the editing to get it exactly how I wanted it to look. All together I spent about three days editing my video, until I finally completed it to my high standard.
As my music video is concept based and doesn't have a narrative storyline it was fairly easy to edit. I wanted Teagan to look innocent and sweet on certain parts and then suddenly change to an evil side of her. This was the only plan that I wanted to follow throughout my video, which I did. I most certainly wanted my video to be edited to the beat of the song, as this is why I chose this particular song at the beginning of the project. It has a cutting and edgy, fast beat to it which was effective to edit to with the more sinister footage of Teagan.
Mainly at the start of my music video and on a few other parts of the chorus, I have added text onto the screen. At the very beginning of the video the word 'cough' appears multiple times to the word being said in the song. I chose to do this because it looked very effective and also because Everything Everything did a similar text in their own video for the song. Also on certain strong words in the chorus I used the same text as I thought it was bold and was edgy. The font I used was 'sacrificial' off dafonts.com, which I have used for the majority of my ancillary tasks. This is so that all of my promotions for the band, as well as their own video are consistent throughout.
When I came to edit my music video, I realised that I hadn't got enough footage to last the whole 3:42 of the song. This is when I had to do some more filming and decided to do it in my back garden and the little woods. When I had finally got all of the footage I needed I worked hard on the editing to get it exactly how I wanted it to look. All together I spent about three days editing my video, until I finally completed it to my high standard.
As my music video is concept based and doesn't have a narrative storyline it was fairly easy to edit. I wanted Teagan to look innocent and sweet on certain parts and then suddenly change to an evil side of her. This was the only plan that I wanted to follow throughout my video, which I did. I most certainly wanted my video to be edited to the beat of the song, as this is why I chose this particular song at the beginning of the project. It has a cutting and edgy, fast beat to it which was effective to edit to with the more sinister footage of Teagan.
Mainly at the start of my music video and on a few other parts of the chorus, I have added text onto the screen. At the very beginning of the video the word 'cough' appears multiple times to the word being said in the song. I chose to do this because it looked very effective and also because Everything Everything did a similar text in their own video for the song. Also on certain strong words in the chorus I used the same text as I thought it was bold and was edgy. The font I used was 'sacrificial' off dafonts.com, which I have used for the majority of my ancillary tasks. This is so that all of my promotions for the band, as well as their own video are consistent throughout.
Everything Everythings 'cough' text
My Music Video 'cough' text
Whilst editing my video I decided the more effects there were, the better. I wanted Teagan to look cute in certain parts and scary in others, therefore I used many effects on my footage that Final Cut Pro X had to offer. For the innocent images and videos I put them in slow motion or just added a softer tone onto them. This made them look lighter in colour and appearance to the opposite footage. For the sinister side of Teagan I used dark and shadowed effects and filters. I also reversed the clips and fast forwarded them to make them look quick and scary for the viewer. If there were still images then I would add on certain effects that make them look like they are moving such as 'bad tv' or 'projector'. All of these effects, filters and speed differences were added onto the clips which created the music video I wanted to achieve.
For the chorus of my video I decided to repeat the videos and images shown, changing them slightly. I thought this was a good idea as the lyrics to the chorus are obviously repeated throughout the song. Every time the chorus said the same lyrics, my video would show the same footage. However on the second time its repeated I have changed the images that flash up. This is so that the viewer can see other footage and it changes it slightly when repeated.
As I was creating a music video I wouldn't of needed the diegetic sound that was on each single video I had taken. Therefore I detached the audio that was on the videos and deleted them, leaving just the non-diegetic sound of the music track that was over the top. This reduced any unwanted background noise that wasn't needed and that would make my music video look and sound unprofessional.
Filming My Music Video
Cast and Crew
I asked my eight year old sister, Teagan to be in my music video as I wanted a young girl to be the main focus. When she agreed to help me I knew that I didn't want anybody else in my video as it wouldn't follow the theme I had in mind. I didnt even want the public walking by as I thought this would distract the viewer from the main focus of Teagan. I didn't want to star in my own video as I knew it would be impossible with me directing, filming and editing. Although I filmed all of the footage myself I did have a helping hand from my other sister and my mum. This was due to me not being able to film Teagan and also help her with props and costume. A few pictures i took that I have used for my ancillary tasks are when I got my mum and sister involved. Below is an image of Teagan and her hair is blowing about, here I took the pictures whilst my mum and sister got multiple hair dryers and crouched beneath Teagan to blow her hair up in the air. These photos turned out to be very effective and important, so I am glad I got the extra help from my family.
Time
It took me around three weeks all together to film my video, with pauses in between due to doing other work, availability of me and Teagan and also the weather. Although things got in the way and stopped me filming at times I still pushed ahead to get the appropriate footage I wanted.
Filming the Video
On the first day of filming it was snowing, however I decided this would be a good effect on the images and videos I could take. I drove me and my sister to Cannock Chase in the morning with her all ready in her costume. I made sure that I had all of the necessary equipment with me to film her. I spent about an hour taking pictures and filming her in the snow, however we then decided that it was too cold to carry on and i felt that I had enough footage of what I wanted in the snow anyway.
The day after, as the snow was still there, I decided to take some pictures inside of Teagan standing against a plain wall as the backdrop. This was a good day to film due to the weather and the footage that I needed to capture. I took a lot of photos on this day with the help of my mum and sister, with the ancillary tasks in mind.
On the next day of filming it was nearly a week ahead, as i was waiting for the majority of the snow to melt away. Again we headed up to Cannock Chase, around the same area of woodland with the right equipment, props and costume. Although there was still snow, a lot of it had melted away, therefore it wasn't as cold and we could film for a bit longer than the last time. We took more images and videos until I decided I had enough of the footage I was after.
The next day I filmed, we travelled to Burton to film inside my nans house as she has a narrow landing that I specifically wanted in my music video. I brought all of the appropriate equipment and costumes with me and set it all up upstairs. First I filmed down the landing which I had in mind for quite a while. However I then decided to film in one of my nans bedrooms as it is Teagan's and is pink and innocent looking. I got her to play with the toys and rocking chair in there to portray her as a sweet young girl.
On the final day of filming I decided to film Teagan in our back garden and also the little woods behind our house. I thought these were nice locations that suited my music video and they were also different scenery for the viewer to look at. I took pictures and filmed her in both areas until I knew I had enough footage for the whole of my video.
Ancillary Task - Website
Another ancillary task was to create a website for my chosen artist and their upcoming album. I chose to use a free service called weebly.com, this was because it was free and easy to use and also included everything that I wanted to put on my website. For the main design of my website I chose a specific style and colour background that I thought suited my them and image in mind. When it came to the text, unfortunately I couldn't use the same font from dafonts.com as I have used on everything else as it wasn't on the website. However I did find a suitable text that went well with my chosen design and what I wanted my website to look like. After choosing my font and lay out, I decided to insert a picture of Teagan to be shown on every page so that all of the website would be consistent.
A website can give an audience a lot more details about an artist and their album, therefore I thought this task was an important one to do. Whilst making my website I kept on looking at Everything Everything's official website to get ideas of what to include on my own. Below is the link to the bands official website.
About the Band
On the home page I wanted to keep it simple and just tell the viewer the background of the band. I inserted a picture of the band so that the viewer can acknowledge what they look like. I then got information about the band from wikipedia and put it on my web page 'About the Band'. Also in the top right hand corner of the website there are two popular symbols of Facebook and Twitter, these are links to the bands official social network pages so that the audience can like and follow the band.
Gallery
On the next page I decided to make a gallery of the band and the music video I had made. I inserted a few pictures of the actual band and their album cover, followed by images from my music video. These are interesting for the audience to look at as they can see different pictures of the band and video and may influence them to buy the album.
Videos
I decided to make a page specifically for the artists videos for the audience to view. Here I have put on the three latest official videos from Everything Everything. The first obviously being 'Cough Cough' the next being their second release from their album 'Kemosabe' and the last is their latest release off of the album 'Duet. I have also added my own music video onto this web page.
Contact Us
This web page allows the viewer to contact the band. The audience can type their first and last name and also type in their email address for the band to send them promotions, deals and news and also to possibly contact them back. The audience can also leave a comment to the band, for fans to give feedback or express their love of the music etc.
Below is the link to my website that I have made.
Ancillary Task - Magazine Advertisement
Another ancillary task was to create a magazine advertisement which I also chose to do. For this I used an image I had taken for my video and edited it so it was suitable to be advertised in a magazine. First I put the image in black and white and also put a paint strokes filter over it, this is very similar to the digipak album I created as I wanted all of my ancillary tasks to look consistent. I chose to put these effects on as it made Teagan look chilling and creepy as she is in parts of the video and on the album cover. The magazine image is very similar to the front cover of the album, this again is so that the bands promotions look consistent and the audience knows from the image that its that particular band. I then added on the text of the band and album names, using the fonts from dafonts.com. This again was so that all of my ancillary tasks and the bands merchandise was consistent throughout. Further on I added on two reviews which I got off metacritic.com, one from Q magazine and the other from musicOMH.com. I thought that putting reviews on my magazine advertisement would be very effective for the reader as they can see what professionals thought of the album, something that might make the want to buy it more. Finally I added on my ancillary website URL that I made, the reason for this was to mazimise the potential audience that would see the promotion, visit the website and then buy the album.
Ancillary Task - Final Digipak
As I did each part of my album separate, I was excited to see what they all looked like together. I knew what I had in mind and that it would be the way I wanted it to look but putting it all together makes me pleased with what the final outcome is.
As you can see I have put the front, back and middle together to create my album. I have also decided to print them off and insert them into a physical CD case to see what it would look like on the shelves.
As you can see I have put the front, back and middle together to create my album. I have also decided to print them off and insert them into a physical CD case to see what it would look like on the shelves.
Middle of Album Cover
Middle Cover
I chose to use three images that I had taken for my video for the inside of my album, this was so that there was a link between my video and my album all together. I chose these certain images because they were disturbing but catchy and looked sinister which is what I wanted to portray through Teagan again. Again you can see that i have edited all three images and put them in black and white, this is so that they all look similar to each other and the rest of the album cover. I decided instead of using one image I would change it up and use three different ones that look the same. This is so that the audience can see multiple pictures and not just one on every different page.
Back of Album Cover
Back Cover
For the back cover I chose an image that I had taken for my music video, again because it would link between my video and the album. I chose this because it looked chilling and creepy, referring to the twins in the shining. Although this was going to be the back cover I still wanted to make it eye catching so that the audience will remember it. If the front cover catches their eye they will probably pick it up and turn it over to look at the back, therefore I wanted an edgy image that will stay with them. I have edited the image as you can see and put text onto it. I chose an image which has a lot of free space around it, a perfect canvas for more text than the front cover i.e. the song list and artists name.
I edited the image in Microsoft Word again as this is an easy way to do it, however the latest version has lots of effects on it. I changed the image to black and white to match the rest of my digipak and added a paint strokes filter over it, this made it look blurred and creepy just as I wanted it to. I then added the text of the artists name and the thirteen different song names, again I used the same unique fonts from dafonts.com and the same font size, this was so that my digipak would all look the same and would be consistent throughout. I changed the dimensions of the image, again so that it would be the same as an album.
Front of Album Cover
Front Cover
I chose to use an image that I had taken for my video as my album cover, this was so that there was a link between my video and the front cover of the album. When I was taking these photos, I originally hadn't planned for one of them to be my album cover, however I knew straight away after taking them that I wanted to use one of them as they were eye catching. I chose this certain image because it was edgy and looked sinister which is what I wanted to portray through Teagan. I also chose this image as it had a lot of free space around the edge, giving a great canvas for the text to sit on. As you can see I have edited the image and added text onto it by using effects and special fonts. I decided that I not only wanted my album cover to be in black and white but also the whole of the digipak. I thought this would look effective and catch the audiences eye when going to buy an album. It also looked better in black and white because it represents Teagan's evil side like in the video.
Album Cover Research
For preparation of the ancillary tasks, I first chose to look at album covers to see what different styles there were so that I could get an idea of what my digipak could look like. A digipak is the packaging of a CD, this is what the fans see when going to buy the album, therefore it is important for the artist to make it attractive so that it catches the eye of the audience. Digipak's include the front cover, which the audience most likely will see first, the back cover which often has the list of the song names on it and the middle when it is opened. The middle of a digipak can vary with different artists, some may be plain and just contain the actual CD itself, others may extend out to reveal images or text and others may include a booklet with either images or even sometimes the lyrics to the songs on that specific album.
Most famous pop artists have their own face on the cover of their album as this is simple, cheap and the audience will know the artist just by looking at the cover. For example some that I found on the internet are Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Tinie Tempah and David Guetta, as you can see it is both male and female artists that establish their face on their album covers.
However the band that I have chosen aren't extremely famous and they are not in the pop genre. Although Everything Everything's latest album cover has their four faces on I am not going to follow that path as I want to change it up a little. Instead I am going to use an image from my music video, possibly of Teagan to go on the front cover. This makes mine different as it is not the artist being shown but that it has a reference to the music video that I have made.
Location
The main location that I used throughout my music video was Cannock Chase, this was because i thought it was a great open landscape that suited my idea well. I wanted a vast wooded area where there were no houses or people to be seen as I just wanted my sister Teagan to be alone in the video. This would create the creepy effect of a young girl alone in the woods that i wanted to achieve. During the time of filming it started snowing, this could of been a real problem due to continuity, as the snow would be in certain shots and then melted away in others. However as the snow kept on falling I decided to shoot some of my video on the chase in the snow. I thought this would put a nice effect of scary snowy images of the woodland in my music video.
For the other location I filmed in a child's bedroom and the upstairs landing at my nans house. I chose to film here as I wanted a long narrow landing for Teagan to walk up, so that it could look similar to 'The Shining'. I wanted a contrast of her looking young and innocent in the pink child's bedroom and then looking more evil and sinister down the narrow landing as it is in 'The Shining'. I also liked the lighting at my nans house as it was soft in the bedroom which matches the sweet young girl and then bold spotlights shining down onto the girl as she turns more evil.
The final location that I used was my back garden at home and the little woods that run behind it. I chose to film here because it was a bit different to the other locations and it would let the viewer see a different piece of scenery. I didn't originally plan to film here but when I started to edit my video I realised I hadn't got enough footage to last the whole length of the song. On the other hand this was a close by and handy location that worked well and suited my theme for my music video.
The final location that I used was my back garden at home and the little woods that run behind it. I chose to film here because it was a bit different to the other locations and it would let the viewer see a different piece of scenery. I didn't originally plan to film here but when I started to edit my video I realised I hadn't got enough footage to last the whole length of the song. On the other hand this was a close by and handy location that worked well and suited my theme for my music video.
Mise-en-scene
Costume
As I was directing, filming and editing my music video, it would of been impossible for me to star in it as well. However i didn't want an adult in the video or even a teenager of my age, i.e. my friends in it either as I thought this would look unprofessional. I finally decided to ask my eight year old sister Teagan to star in it and she happily agreed to. I thought having a young child in it would set the scene that i was trying to create. When it came to deciding on what she should wear I wanted to make her look innocent but portray her to be evil in the actual music video. The image that came to mind was of the girl twins in 'The Shining' directed by Stanley Kubrick. I chose to replicate this costume idea as the characters look sweet and young but are later perceived to be scary.
Props
I decided that I didn't want to use a huge amount of props in my video due to the continuity and I didn't think it was necessary. Teagan holds a barbie doll in a few pictures to show how young she is. Further on into the video I wanted to match the image on screen to the lyrics in the song. The lyrics say 'and you wake up just head and shoulders in a glass jar', for this bit I dismembered and burnt the barbie doll so that it was just its head and shoulders in a jar. I thought this was a nice contrast and also a back reference to what the viewer would of seen earlier when Teagan was holding it. Through some parts of the video Teagan is playing with more dolls, again this is to emphasise her innocence and that she is a young girl. On certain pictures throughout the video and on my ancillary tasks I, along with my mum and other sister held three hair dryers beneath Teagan to make her hair blow up, another prop that helped me set the mood for my video.
Equipment
Before filming away from home I had to make sure that I had all of the necessary equipment so that I was fully prepared. If i were to forget anything important then I wouldn't be able to film or it would look unprofessional. Here is a list below of what I needed:
- Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ10EB camera
- Tripod for steadiness
- Spare SD card and battery
- Any props that I used
- Same costume throughout for continuity
Lyrics to 'Cough Cough'
(cough cough) yeah... (cough cough) so...
(cough cough) um... (cough cough) wait a second...
(cough cough) Yeah! (cough cough) So!
(cough cough) Um! (cough cough) Wait a second!
Sold your liver but you still feel in the red,
Sold my feelings now I'm hanging by a thread,
Bad! and it's creeping it’s way through my windows,
and it’s slithering under my door!
And it's in my peripheral vision,
and it's boring up under my floor!
It's whispering into my eardrums,
and it's telling me that I want more, more!
But I’m coming alive!
I’m happening now!
And that Eureka moment hits you like a cop car!
And you wake up just head and shoulders in a glass jar!
Oh! You clear your throat and raise your eyebrow but you don't sayOh!
There's something wrong but it's ok if we're still getting paid,
Yeah you're ravenous, you're champing at the bit,
Just a cog next to a cog next to a pit,
I would burn to break away and waste my years,
No more ladder no more solace in arrears,
Bad! and it's creeping it’s way through my windows,
and it’s slithering under my door!
And it's in my peripheral vision,
and it's boring up under my floor!
It's whispering into my eardrums,
and it's telling me that I want more, more!
But I’m coming alive!
I’m happening now!
And that Eureka moment hits you like a cop car!
And you wake up just head and shoulders in a glass jar!
Oh! You clear your throat and raise your eyebrow but you don't sayOh!
There's something wrong but it's ok if we're still getting paid,
But I’m coming alive!
(cough cough) um... (cough cough) wait a second...
(cough cough) Yeah! (cough cough) So!
(cough cough) Um! (cough cough) Wait a second!
Sold your liver but you still feel in the red,
Sold my feelings now I'm hanging by a thread,
Bad! and it's creeping it’s way through my windows,
and it’s slithering under my door!
And it's in my peripheral vision,
and it's boring up under my floor!
It's whispering into my eardrums,
and it's telling me that I want more, more!
But I’m coming alive!
I’m happening now!
And that Eureka moment hits you like a cop car!
And you wake up just head and shoulders in a glass jar!
Oh! You clear your throat and raise your eyebrow but you don't sayOh!
There's something wrong but it's ok if we're still getting paid,
Yeah you're ravenous, you're champing at the bit,
Just a cog next to a cog next to a pit,
I would burn to break away and waste my years,
No more ladder no more solace in arrears,
Bad! and it's creeping it’s way through my windows,
and it’s slithering under my door!
And it's in my peripheral vision,
and it's boring up under my floor!
It's whispering into my eardrums,
and it's telling me that I want more, more!
But I’m coming alive!
I’m happening now!
And that Eureka moment hits you like a cop car!
And you wake up just head and shoulders in a glass jar!
Oh! You clear your throat and raise your eyebrow but you don't sayOh!
There's something wrong but it's ok if we're still getting paid,
But I’m coming alive!
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