Evaluation question 4

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?


Over the course of this A-Level we have used a variety of software to help construct our videos. In AS we used a program called iMovie to edit our movie, however this year we had to use a new program called Final Cut Express. Whilst we had many problems with this because we had little time learning how to use it, I think we created an excellent video which relates to our audience. I stayed a lot in my free lessons learning how to import our video and then edit in Final Cut. Then I learned how to sync our music with the video which took us a lot of time. 





As we edited our video a lot of it was edited on lines V3 and V4 which meant when we tried to add effects this did not work because the computer doesnt think we needed to add effects therefore our video should have been on V1. Me and Niki managed to copy and paste and move it all down to V1, which meant we could now add effects. 

Evaluation question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?


Before we began editing and filming I took into consideration the age and gender of my audience. Through research I found that the rap genre was more popular with boys than girls however many girls also listened to rap. I also found that from the ages of 16 -19 was the most popular age group of people who listen to rap music. Throughout our editing we asked people to watch our video and to give feedback, therefore along the way we made adjustments and edits to help the audience to connect with our video. The main point people said we needed to do more of, was to include more effects. Therefore we took some time to look through our video and managed to insert effects where needed to enhance the entertainment of the video and keep it from being ambiguous. 





This is the questionnaire me and my group used to find out which genre was the most popular among teens and we found that rap was the most popular therefore we used this genre to create a successful video.


While we did consider other genres we thought a rap video would be a challenge because no students at Coombe had done it before. I new a good performer in the lower year called Shaquille. He is also apart of a real life rap group outside of school, this is why we thought he would be the best choice of artist for this genre. Shaquille also known as the performer 'Jester' always manages to engage the audience with his powerful performance as he does not get camera shy or get distracted easily when filming. You can see by his performance that he is a born performer and loves what he does. I think that this is shown throughout his performance in our video '12 Rounds'. 

Evaluation question 2

How effective is the combination of the main project and ancillary tasks?

I think my music video successfully works well with my ancillary tasks as i have ensure they target the same audience and present the same style. I created a digipak and website for my artist which both promote my artist and show him as an excellent rap artist. My album cover shows other songs which he will be releasing on his album and also says to follow him on twitter where he will gain more followers and fans by the day. The wesbite also gives further information on him and his personal life which will help the audience to understand him better and what he is about.

The Net generation is taking over the TV generation, this is why I have chosen to promote my artist more over the internet which will increase circulation about him through social networking sites such as twitter and facebook.

Evaluation question 1

Evaluation question 1 on Prezi

Our final video

The animatic of our video

Storyboard

My DigiPack

Research-The Unit Advertisements

Pictures of 'The Unit' Music Video

Audience Feedback and Changes made

When we were editing, we had various members of the classes in our years look at our footage to see what they felt could be improved. Below are the list of things we were advised on and how we changed them:

1. Make the edits cut in time to the beat of the song. This is often seen in rap videos as the beat of the song is the main aspect of it and is normally heard throughout the whole music video. This made the editing process much longer yet had a better effect on the video at the end.
2. Use different footage instead of the same over and over again. When filming, we filmed at different locations, yet not the locations I wish we had filmed at. The locations are what I personally feel have the let the video down and made it less professional. However, when editing we tried to use different locations we filmed at to make the music video more interesting and different.
3. Not too use too many effects. In rap videos, effects are not used throughout the video as the message of the video is harder to get across if there was, as the audience would concentrate on the effects. Rap videos consist of lyrics with meaning and ideas so we ensured we didn't use many effects so the audience could hear and visual what is being said properly.

Initial Idea- Casting issues

Analysis of an artists Poster- Sneak Bo

SneakBo Analysis
The lighting in this poster is quite dark which makes the men look quite sinister and scary. They are both wearing blacked out sunglasses which suggests they do not want to be seen fully and they want to keep some aspect of themselves a secret. The man on the left is holding his arms out as if he has a gun in his hands. As rap is generically related to violence and guns this is a perfect stereotype for this poster.

Questionnaire Results

As we first began researching an appropriate target audience for our music video we found that a Rap video infact does appeal to young people aged 15-19. Therefore we made a questionnaire and asked 100 young people aged 15-19 whether they prefer indie, pop,rap or rock music videos. Our questionnaire found that amoung boys, Rap videos were the most popular, however slightly more girls prefered an indie video to a rap video.

Analysis of an artist who has influenced me- Andre 3000

Andre 3000
The rapper who influenced me was Andre 3000. He influenced me by the way he incorporates rap into r'n'b and hip hop music videos. Which gives him a wider audience of fans as he does a variety of genres. Often he uses humour in his rap to show his personality and to show that rap does not always have to be what is expected of it. For example the audience usually expect rap to be about guns, violence and sex, etc however Andre 3000 previously known as 'Outkast' rejects this label and shows us that rap can be fun and enjoyable.

Outkast
Andre 3000 was previously known as Outkast. The significance of his name has great importance as the meaning of 'outcast' generally means someone who does not fit in with the 'norm' and feels as if they are different or have been rejected from friendship groups. He released himself as a new artist because after beoming independent of the group Outkast and used his stage name Andre 3000 to show a different side of his talent through r'n'b. Outkast were a hip hop group whom encourparated rap into their lyrics. Whilst his strong accent turned away many listeners it also opened him up to a whole new audience, in which he had the ability to use langauage to paint beautiful pictures and make poignant statements and as Andre 3000 he still remains a wonderful story-teller.

Filming Day 1

We first shot our video under a small bridge located in Kingston by the river. We chose this location because of the art works on the wall and we thought they would suit as a background for part of our video.

I also came up with the idea that we should use other boys in our Sixth Form to be in our rap video because as i have been looking at other rap videos i found that large groups of boys are normally used perhaps to make the performer look more intimidating and important. Although we were only able to use three extra boys i think this gave an importance to our Rapper which made him look Superior to them.

Filming Day 2

'The Unit' Music Videos

Moodboard

Pictures of us filming

Planning Locations

Throughout the duration of our planning we decided on a variety of different locations, however after watching several rap videos i noticed that the background is not always significant as our video does not have a narrative. The main focus is always on our performer. Locations we considered to use were:

• Waterloo Bridge
• South Bank- Skate park
• Fields
• Cafes
• A plain Brick wall 
• Graffitied walls

Problems with Group and timetables

Editing continued and problems

We carried on editing today however we came across a few problems while trying to add effects. We have been editing in iMovie and have found it difficult learning how to use it however we have overcome these problems by practicing regularly. We finished the final video and I am happy with how it looks. We are currently starting to make our CD front cover using a picture of Shaq (Our Artist).

Editing

Today me and Niki edited our music video, we made very short cuts in between our videos to make the video seem fast pace. We jumbled up all of our footage and put it into a sequence matching the movement of Shaq's mouth to the footage of him rapping. We spent a long time putting the footage in the right areas, while playing the sound track over the top.

Character Profile- Jester

Jester's real name is Shaquille Falque and he is 17 years old. He is a very confident performer and in his spare time is a part of a rap group called 'The Unit'. He studies A-levels with the rest of his time including Media. He is a dark skinned male and roughly 55ft10.

Throughout our videos his outfits change. His first outfit is a red hat, blue jeans, black puffer jacket and black gloves. The red hat shows significance because it shows danger and passion which matches the lyrics of the song. The black puffer jacket and gloves signify aggresion and follow the lyrics which have reference to boxing, 'We can go rounds in the ring'.

Conventions of a Rap Video and Locations

Using the generic conventions of a rap video we began filming an all performance video. Our video does not have a narrative as this doesn't suit our song and genre. Jester gives a very confident performance and is not camera shy. Therefore the video has a serious feel to it as it is mean't to feel intense.

We used a variety of locations in Kingston and filmed many different backgrounds. As the song has no narrative, it does not matter about the background location. We are going to film more in a variety of locations around Coombe with him wearing different outfits.

Our New Performer- 'Jester from The Unit'

Our new performer is a boy called Shaquille. He is in a rap group called 'The Unit' which are signed by a local record label in South London and have given him the name 'Jester'. He is the only person out of the group we used due to lack of time we had to plan and organise our filming. The song is called '12 Rounds' which is written and performed by Shaq. 'The Unit' is locally known around South London for their rap music and they also feature on Youtube and channels such as AKA (music channel).
They are also seen in local venues and performed with other rap artists who are up coming artists this year. The song he has written does not yet have a video therefore by myself and Nikita looking at The Unit's other videos, we have tried to capture a similar effect in our video.

Change In Ideas

Initially our idea as a group was to use the song called It's always like this by Bombey Bicycle Club however our idea had to change as we had unreliable actors who decided not to film.  Our first idea was of a boy wanting to be with his girlfriend again after they had broken up. In his dream he was with her however in reality they were not together.
Our group split as Myself and Nikita decided to change our idea and organise a new group, storyboard, actors and filming locations for our new video within a short period of time we had to arrange and organise our ideas. Therefore we took this opportunity to change our idea and simplify it. We used a well known performer called Shaq. He is a part of a group called 'The Unit' and in this he is known as 'Jester' when performing. They are a small group from South London who rap. We only used 'Jester' from this group to perform one of his songs solo. The song is called '12 Rounds' and was written by himself.