Question 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

Our music video has a upbeat feel to it and has connotations of childhood memories and the temporal relationship between the music and visuals really brings out the underlying messages of the video. It demonstrates the indie genre characteristics through the use of mise en scene and a variety of props. The music video will link to the alum cover and website as they all have an edgy feel to them which is what a lot of independent bands have.

The albums intentions were to capture the audiences attention and make them intrigued to listen to the music after being appealed by the design of the album cover. Even though it doesn't entirely match the happy and upbeat nature of the music video, it still demonstrates the indie genre characteristics. of being unique and different and we think it works well as an album as a whole

The website is easy to navigate and has a friendly vibe to it where you can easily see information about the band and a store where you can buy merchandise of the band and connect with them. The website links all three tasks together as the video is available to watch there and the album is available to purchase so it is almost like the website is the at the heart of the band as a whole.

Question 4 - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Hardware

The DSLR camera was used in the planning, production and evaluation of our media product. It was used in the planning when we took pictures for our location scouting and took a few practice shots to see how effective it would be for the production. In relation to our production, the camera was used throughout as we knew from our AS productions and our A2 preliminary tasks that it is effective and record good quality. However it could be argued that we could have used a less quality camera to really capture the indie genre characteristics of it looking amateur but we felt that we could capture this in other ways and it still look good.

We also used a 360 degree camera in the research and planning to gain some audience feedback on our ideas and intentions. this worked okay as you was able to see everyone and gage everyone's opinions and reactions to what is being said, however it was a tedious process to film and then convert onto a device where it could be edited and used. Therefore I would not use this in future productions in order to save time and focus on other areas which are needed.

Phones were used to capture photos for our evaluation as the quality on the iPhone 7 is very good and captures our album cover very well.

Software

We used premiere pro throughout the planning, production and evaluation. It was used in the planning to first edit some test shots that we filmed to see how effective they were etc. It was then used in our production as it ensured we could sustain our strong editing style from the A tasks to the A2 tasks. Due to the fact we are developed on the software, we were able to capture the style and message that we intended to capture. It is visible that we were able to capture the intended message through the audience feedback we received. This software was then used in our evaluation to edit the answer to one of the questions.

We used messenger to communicate with each other as to when to meet up an film our product as we realised from our AS task that it is better to be planned and organised when it comes to filming so you are not rushing to complete filming and then rushed to complete editing.

I used prezi in my research and planning and used it throughout my AS so it has become quite a repetitive program which I have been reluctant to use. However it is easy to navigate and use and is quite effective in my research to see a whole perspective.

Question 3 - What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challange forms and conventions of real media products?

One way in which our media product uses forms and conventions of real media products is through Goodwin's conventions. One of his conventions states that there will be a relationship between lyrics and visuals. This is illustrated in our music video when the lyrics read, "If I follow the light the light that I deem the brightest" and it tilts up towards the sky (light). Also when the lyrics read, “It was there on your mouth but it’s not what I heard”, the clip shows a cut from a mouth to a shot of an ear.



Additionally, another convention of Goodwin’s that we used is that we demonstrated genre characteristics. The Indie genre is about creating a piece of music that challenges the mainstream productions and steers away from being owned by big companies and having the freedom to make whatever kind of music and video they like. Also, the music videos are usually ‘do it yourself’ videos that intentionally look amateur to illustrate that they are independent and can create a piece of media without being controlled my large record labels. We have demonstrated genre characteristics through the mise en scene; we have locations such as woods, car parks, homes and fields which shows how it our video is make shift and has connotations of that independent making etc.



Furthermore, we also illustrated a convention of their being a relationship between music and visual as in our music video there is a temporal relationship. The fast cuts that we have in our music video match the beat of the song and the audience can connect with the song more because of this.



In our ancillary tasks, we also used forms and conventions of real media products. On our website, we had links to various social media accounts including Instagram and twitter which are common features of band website as it boosts their profile and allows fans to see what the band is getting up to daily. It also allows them to connect with a band on a personal level as they can message and talk to them which is restricted on the website.



As well as using forms and conventions of real media products, our website also challenges them as our website focuses on information about the band; tour dates, contact details, merchandise etc. whereas other websites focus on the image of the band and the ‘star’ they have. This links to Dyers star theory as it states that a star is created through practical means such as magazines, advertisement etc., and we did not want to conform to this as our message is about the music instead of creating this false image of the band.



Other forms and conventions that we use our uses and gratifications in the fact that our video along with many others is used for entertainment as a way of diverting from the problems of everyday life and having an emotional release. This release may be through the nostalgia that people feel when reminiscing over the childhood memories in our music video.

Location scouting

Before we could start filming for our production, we had to ensure that the places we wanted to film at were suitable and would be effective in our music video. Therefore we went out to a variety of locations and took some pictures so we could establish whether they would be useful in our music video. Some of the locations are pictured below.

Band logo

We have created a band logo using a picture we found online of a mantis and then added our own text and style in order to use it as our logo.

Finished Production

Finished album

This is our finished album cover guys, the theme of the band is reflected in this album and shows how we like to capture something in every piece of media we produce. Enjoy!!

Finished website

Our finished website guys, enjoy! http://mantistheband.weebly.com/

Website

One of our ancillary tasks is to create a website for our band. The brief is to simply create a homepage but our group along with many others have chosen to go a step further and will add other pages such as a shop, tour dates and other information.


We will keep you updates with our process along the way and publish the finished product upon completion.

Merchandise

In order for our audience to gage a connection with the band, we have created our own merchandise which can sell to people in order for them to be apart of the Bombay bicycle Club community. Additionally, if people are wearing the merchandise then it increases the popularity of the brand and it can be used as a form of advertisement as people could see the t shirts and jumpers etc and want to go out and buy their own merchandise.


Here are a few examples of some merchandise that we have created -

Video storyboard

In order for us to visualise what the music video will actually look like and to better our understanding of timings etc, we have recorded our storyboard frame by frame in time with the song. At the end of production we will be able to compare our finished piece to the storyboard video and see if they are similar and if we were able to produce what we set out to achieve.

Research on the theme

Presented below is a selection of pictures that represent childhood memories which is the theme and base for our music video. This only includes a few childhood memories but more will be shown and visible in the production of the video.

Now storyboarding is complete

Now that storyboarding is complete, we can start to think about when we need to start shooting for the video. We will have to create a shooting schedule so we know exactly when we are filming and so there are no excuses my group members that they forgot when we were filming etc.

Additionally, we will need to fill out a risk assessment that will outline any potential risks and how we will control them so that nobody is harmed in the process of making our music video.

Storyboard update 3

The final page of our story board has been completed -

Storyboard update 2

The second page of our storyboard is complete -

Storyboard update 1

We have finished the first page of our storyboard and it looks as follows -

Storyboarding

We are about to start storyboard for our music video and we will be giving you regular updates on the process and how we are going on in this stage. Storyboarding is very important when it comes to making a piece of media as it directs and guides you to what you want to achieve. That being said, it does not mean that you have to follow the storyboard frame for frame, if you have an inspiration and idea when filming then you can still put it in. A storyboard is flexible but needs to be done so you have a clear focus of what you want to achieve.