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

I have used many new technologies in the production of my coursework.

In the contruction I used a video camera and digital camera. For the editing of my video I used a linear editing software Premier Pro to capture the footage on to the computer and edit it according to both our story board and what we thought would fit best. I had not used this software before but found it useful and a great tool for video editing, especially for fitting particular clips to cues in the music. For the poster and cd cover I used Photoshop which I have experience with. I used it to experiment with many different layouts and effects before settling on the final product. An example of tools I used on photoshop are cropping, magnetic lasso and saturation.

During my research new technologies I used were sound recording to capture interviews to use on my blog. Also I used youtube to research existing videos recomended by my audience research and google to find out more about similar artists and find lyrics. I also used Facebook to communicate with other members of my group when sharing images and videos.

In my evaluation I used a Blog which I have not used before. I found it useful in logging my progress and keeping all my research and creative planning together, it was also easier to peice together all my research to come out with ideas for my final product. I used it to write my evaluation as well as embed important videos and images for examples and reference. I think it is a good way display information to my audience and for myself to look back eaily at important information.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

The combination of my main product and ancillary text is effective because they all link together in small ways however they are all seperate peices of media to make it more interesting to our audience. The main text on all products is a similar font and in the fluro pink colour. We also use the same group of people to cleary link the products together and give the audience a group of artists they can recognise and relate to in whatever media they are seen, by doing this we are using synergy to promote the promote the product.

I think the overall package is succssesful in promoting the album because it displays all relevant infromation in a way our target audience will be interested in viewing. For exaple our A4 advertisement shows an image of 17-18 year olds who are the age of our target audience so they could relate to the artists.They are each dressed individually to suit different genres so I think the package would appeal also to a wider range aswell. To make an emphisis on this,the people are the only thing on the image that is not in black and white. The text is the same colour as the girls leggins, to emphisise the text. The image will draw in the reader to study the advert closer. When they do, they will find a relevant information on release date, reviews and band website however it is only enough for the reader to find out more and not get bored reading too much text. For example the reviews are 2-3 words and I have put a black fade behind it to make them easier to read.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Video
My video generally follows conventions of other Bassment Jaxx music videos for example the video for Oh My Gosh involes an element of mime, in this case by old people, as many of their videos do. Our video also involves mime with some close up shots.

Alot of music videos our audience enjoyed contained good story lines like Paparrazi by Lady Gaga. Our video contains a vague storyline but uses a structure more like that of Bingo Bango which uses random clips of both ordinary and strange, extravergant people.




We also develop themes as seen in Praise You by Fat Boy Slim (below) directed by Spike Jonze. We shot the video guerilla style (in a public place without permission) for example the bus scene, because we felt that it would be entertaining as we were entertained by this particular video, it would also leave the opportunity open for any unplanned happenings. The camera work is also simialar with lots of medium shots to capture the action and some elements of shaky handcam to add to the atmosphere of a group of friends doing their thing.




Cd cover

Our Cd cover follows the coventions of Basement Jaxx videos by using bright, funky colours in abstract ways like the saturation of the front and back images. We develop and challenge this convention by using real people who feature in the video. This is extremly rare for any Basement Jaxx cover or any album cover of this genre. (see below)



(left to right)
-Chemical Brothers
-FatBoy Slim
-FatBoy Slim
-AudioBullys
-Hotchip
-MIA






It is a typical cd cover in the sense that it features the band name and album title. We have also featured a logo for Basement Jaxx own record label Atlantic Jaxx. On the back I have included the disk contents for both disks and the barcode and also information on track production. It also relates to the front of the cd cover by incorperating the saturation of the front cover on the forest image. In these ways the conventions of cd covers are followed. From these cd backcovers you can see that there is alot of freedom for the way the information is presented. For the inside of the cd cover, I used an array of images on a film reel to make it look like memories and outakes from the video. I used images taken on the day of filming and also screen shots of the video.





A4 advert



The A4 advert challenges the convention of a typical Basement Jaxx album advert in that it does not use the same image or graphics as would be on the album being advertised. The image is still eyecatching by the way it uses the artists in colour in a black and white world, this is symbolising the importantness of the people to the advert.It does however follow the use of bright colours and text on a readable background. It also gives a nod to the title of the album 'do your thing' by the way the young people are dressed in bright clothes, which is an idea used in many Basement Jaxx adverts. For example the poster adveritising Crazy Itch Radio uses an image of a dog with a radio for a body 'itiching'.
It uses general conventions for any advert by putting the title at the top and trying to make the image and text as relevant and informant as possible.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

This is an image of audience feedback from our video on youtube.com. (click to enlarge)


We got the feeling from our feedback that our audience enjoyed the atmosphere of the video and they thought we captured it well. They really enjoyed the dancing and quirky editing as predicted from out audience analysis.(film an interview) We also posted the video and digipack on Facebook but most response was generated from YouTube.com.

Final Digipack

This is the finished Video, Cd cover and A4 magazine advert.




VIDEO










A4 Magazine Advert (click to enlarge)

Final CD/DVD cover and inside ( click to enlarge)

DigiPack progress

For the Digipack our group decided we wanted to encorperate images of the performers in the video so the different media platforms linked. We also wanted to encorperate some bright colours and quirkynes as a refernce to Basement Jaxx. The images used were ones that were taken on the days of filming. We tried different effects, images and positionings to see what worked best.
Here are some screen shots of different images we have tried.



This image uses quirky colours well but it looks too neat and predictable for the design we wanted.

I liked the idea of lots of duplicated people but we thought the image was messy and the meaning was unclear. Also the text would not fit well.

Due to the use of animals in the album covers we wanted to try and use that idea and put animal heads on the people. The file became corrupt so we decided to move on with another idea in order to save time.

For this image the people were deselected and on the backround we used a blurry glass effect. I liked the was it made the people the focus, so we kept this effect and tryed to add some colour.

Because we wanted some colour in the image we saturised the backround with the colour from the people which we really liked and it gave the image a natural wierdnes so we kept this image to use for a front cover.

Text was added to the front and we found the logo for Basement Jaxx own record label Atlanic Jaxx.

We decided to used the same saturation technique on the back cover as the front, but we broke it up into horizontal strips to make it slightly different.

For the track listing we researched Basement Jaxx's highest charting singles and used them. ( See screen shot below)

Album cover research

The singles (2005)

This is the album cover for Basement Jaxx 'greatest hits' Cd. We are thinking about doing the cd cover based on a Basement Jaxx greatest hits.

The cover uses a rainbow of bright colours in an array of verticle stips which ends in random lengths and flicks. The image is simple and follows the typical Basement Jaxx theme of happy and strange. The title is very simple which contrasts the busy lines.

Rooty (2001)

Rooty is the Duo's second studio album. The cover involves an albino gorilla, which is a rare being much like Basement Jaxx themeselves.It is placed on a starry backround with some bright graffitti. The title is in their trademark mark text in an array of eye catching colours.

Crazy Itch Radio (2006)

This cover also involes the image of a rare animal. It involves a dog with a radio incorporated into the body which is a referane to the title of the album as the dog is also scratching. The backround is again bright with absract graphics. The Basement Jaxx is in their own text however the title is a different bold font in black with a white backround to stand out.

Filming and editing

Filming went great, although we had some trouble with the camera and the quality of the footage however we can work around it. We managed to nearly all of our shots and some extra footage which we thought would look good as we went along.



Editing is going well and the extra footage is becoming useful for our corrupt footage. We are working as a group to see which footage goes best where and with what music.

Digipak research - A4 advert

This is a flyer for a Basement Jaxx gig. I thought it would be good to look at to get a feel of style and colours.

It uses an absract bird image with some bright reds, oranges and yellows. The text 'scars 09' is in an indian type font which runs which the theme of the colours. Text is presented in white on a mostly black backround. There are also lots of logo's for sponsers and such like. I like the central focus of the image.

This is a advertisement for Bassment Jaxx greatest hits called 'the singles'. The advert is similar to the cover for the album, using the same funky colours and design. All the text is white on a black backround and in the same font apart from the usual Basement Jaxx logo. It tells you some of the biggest hits on the album.

This advert is also the same as the album cover with added text. The text tells you about the release date and album details. It is very simple and does not feature any reviews or real people as like many Basement Jaxx products.

Production Schedule

Filming schedule

This is a planned schedule of our filming so we can keep track of time and progress over the two days we plan to film on.


Filming Schedule


14/10/09









16/10/09

Story boards

Story Boards
The idea my group has come up with after analysing audience research and taking inspiration from existing videos, is a group of people all from different cliques 'doing their thing'. This invloves a selection of dance scenes, friendship and gerneral sillynes in various locations around york. The aim is to produce a happy, feel good video which has been influenced by the song and our audience will enjoy.

Edits to our storyboard are in orange

1.





















Shot 1 - MS of Chav, Granny, Goth dancing in between the bookcases in the college library.
Shot 2 - MS of Geek and Raver spinning on the chair. Both Shot 1 + 2 were cut from the video due to filming difficulties.
Shot 3 - MS of group going through the double doors - This shot was cut because the group felt it was not needed due to the lack of the first two shots.
Shot 4 - MS of group bursting through the double doors- This shot was used for the opening as we felt it gave a better effect of spontinuity. We also added a high angle shot of the group going down the stairs.













2.

























Shot 5 - MS of group walking down the street. We added the kicking of boxes at the end of this shot because we felt it flowed better, this is instead of Shot 5.
Shot 6 - Close up of Raver singing the first verse.
Shot 7 - Close up of Granny stealing the papers. We used a slightly different angle to show all the action. We also added a close up of the shocked expresions after this Shot.
Shot 8 - Full body shot of dancing and miming. We used a shot of the group dancing on the bus instead.
Shot 9 - CU of trumpet playing. We cut this scene because we couldnt find a trumpet.
Shot 10 - Medium shot of group running away from gaurd. We cut this scene and used a series of shots of the characters popping out various places in the Museum Gardens to fit with the music.
Shot 11 - Speeded up long shot of the group running into the park. We cut this scene as the characters were already in the gardens



3.
























Shot 12 - MS of dancing in the park. We changed this shot to a long shot and framed it by dancing in an arch.
Shot 13 - CU of smiling faced. This shot was changed to the group doing poses on a wall and running towards the camera. We did this because we wanted to encorperate the scenery more.
Shot 14 - LS Chasing pigeons. We could not use this footage because of technical difficulties with the camera.
Shot 15 - MS of dancing and miming. This shot was cut to encorperate more variety.
Shot 16 - Group gets chased away by gaurd. We cut this scene due to lack of a gaurd + costume
Shot 17 - MS of fountain + dancing. We used this scene later
Shot 18 - LS of fountain + dancing. We used this scene later.
Shot 19 - Speeded up footage of camera following group running to Mcdonalds.
4.


























Shot 20 - MS speeded up of group being silly and eating.
Shot 21 - Close up of burger. We did not use this shot.
Shot 22 - Close up of chicken nuggets. We did not use this shot.
Shot 23 - MS of group chatting. We didn't use this shot.
Shot 24 - Chips appear one by one to spell 'Do Your Thing' We used this shot and cut in shot of dancing with in it. However we did not take out the hand placing the chips on we just speed it up.
Shot 25 - MS Tower of rubbish. The film was corrupt when being transfered.
Shot 26 - Group leaving. We did this shot similar to Shot 19.
After this we added a CU shot of the geek miming and dancing. which cuts to the group dancing speeded up.

5.



















Shot 27 - MS of group dancing in front of the minster. We added a pan down from look up at the minster.
Shot 28 - A Vicar or Nun chasing the group away. We added the Nun dancing.
We added the fountain scene here and also a shot of the group checking themselves out in a mirror. We also added a low angle shot of the geek dancing in a tree because we thought it was comical.
Shot 29 - LS of the group dancing down the shambles. We decided to use a low angle shot down an alley way instead.
A zoom in of the group dancing was added here before more of the geek miming.
Shot 30 - LS of the group running of into the sunset and jumping. We used the running off and jumping but could not find a sunset.
The film ends with a MS of the Nun bowing.

Do your thing-lyrics

I don't need no tv, I don't need no news
All I need is a bumpin beat to bump away my blues

I don't give a damn what the people say
I'm gonna do it, gonna do it my way
Gonna let it all out an do my thing
Boom boom boom an a bang bang bang
Oooh-

Do your thing
Do your thing, make my body sing
Do your thing, your thing, my thing, oh oh oh oh

Say shut your mouth you're in a fatal tiz
Free the mayhem in your mind, release the need inside of you
You're gonna suffer, coz the crowds so loud

Do your thing, do you
Boom boom boom an a
Oooh-Do your thing
Do your thing, make
Do your thing, your
Give me ying-yang
kick it like a tin can
Do your thing, make
Do do do

Audience analysis

Audience research analysis


From looking at the questionnaires answered by young people of our target audience with a common age of 17-18 I found that;
· The most common genre of music listened to is pop and rock.


· Overall, favourite music videos contain storylines for example Wake me up by Greenday and Tribute by Tenacious D. Also combined with dance performance like Lady Gagas Paparazzi, Cry Me A River by Justin Timberlake and Michael Jacksons Thriller.

• The features our target audience enjoys most about music videos is the story and performance by good looking people with fast pace editing.
  
  
  · Things people said they associate with Bassment Jaxx are dancing and having fun and the video to Where’s Your Head At
  
  
  
  
  
  · Research showed people thought Bassment Jaxx videos were imaginative, feel good, weird and funny.
  
  
  · An overwhelming Response for the question ‘What would you expect from a video for Do you thing' mentioned dancing. Along with ‘people having fun and doing their thing’

We also recorded a some interviews. Here is a video with a few clips on it.

Existing videos

Existing videos

Do your thing
Relevant words from lyrics are written out on different peoples t-shirts going about life in a park including skateboarding, table tennis and football. Costumes are bright and funky. Editing flows with music, this is something I would like to include in my music video. Close ups of t-shirts are frequent.

Bingo-Bango
Camera tricks, image on one side reflected to other. Close/medium close up shots of happy faces singing lyrics. Weird. Filmed in everyday locations

Romeo
Bollywood film inspired lots of dancing, I think this is an important element to Basement Jaxx videos and something I should include. Rich colours for mise-en-scene.





Where’s your head at
Monkeys with human faces playing as a band/singing/Djing then losing control and destroying equipment. Chaos involving monkeys attacking human, dog with face. Realistic mise-en-scene with an extremly unrealistic storyline.






Raindrops
Fluorescent African inspired costumed dancers. Kaleidoscopic effects. Bright colored lights. I really like the use of the colours throughout the video.





From looking at existing Bassment Jaxx videos I have found they all have different individual themes and usually incorporate some kind of dancing and an element of twisted reality. The themes are quite random.

Bassment Jaxx research

Genre-House Basement Jaxx are a UK house music duo- Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe, started in Brixton, South London in 1994.

Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe

These are some of the various singers Basement Jaxx have used.

Lisa Kekaula and Corinna Joseph

Simon Rattcliffe and Lisa Kekaula

Joy Malcolm

Do Your thing

This is blog that will log my progress in my music video project for A2 level media. This will include ideas, research into audience and existing products and storyboards aswell as progress, the final products and evalutation.

The song my group is doing a video for is Do Your Thing by Bassment Jaxx.