Final Video

Website and Digipack

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

Gil

Richard Dyers theory of star image suggests that artists are able to construct an image of themselves in which are attractive to audiences and able to be marketed through different formats such as media, TV & magazines. Common values of star images can hold: Youthfulness, rebellion, sexual magnetism and originality. He also states that artists are represented to audiences in a way to make them seem both normal and also extraordinary, in order for audiences to identify them whilst having an element of superiority through their fame and talent.

For our artists, who are electronic music producers, the concept of star image is not sold on what the artists look like whatsoever. An example of an electronic music producer that uses his star image in alternative ways is Skrillex. Instead of selling himself based on his looks, and his features in TV, music videos etc. His key representation is his logo, with three lines. This helps an audience to recognize Skrillex, and relate to him. This is something we wanted to re-create with our artists. Also in music video’s Skrillex has a re-occurring aspect of violence, in which the audience can also relate to and identify. This is also what we wanted to achieve.

Bee

The design of our degipak is a combination between nature form and geometric shape. Geometric shape represent electronic genre. The shape is twisting the forest image in the background which imply that it has distort the way of nature. The design is simple ,subtle and minimalistic. This emphasise the artist star image of being unique and artistic. As we chose not to put the artist faces in. It makes the artist becomes mysterious which according to Richard Dyer’s paradox theory the artist has to be both present and absent at the same time therefore this is the absent bit. The extra thing we did for the digipak design is put the record label logo on it. This element is not usually being emphasise. However, because Inspected is a record label that specialise in this genre of music which means by putting the logo it will help cross promote with other artist under the same label. We also put Inspected logo at the end of the music video as well.

The concept of nature flow across all our media product. The design of our website is very clean and minimalistic with simple homepage. We also used geometric shape which is very similar to our digipak both in terms of style and colour. On our website we have social media section which include twitter, facebook and instagram. This will keep the audience update and inform about new release, events or even get in touch with the artist. This fill up the present part of the artist’ star image.

One of the key symbol of Koan Sound is the fox as it is the protagonist in our narrative. Therefore we include this fox symbol on our digipak to help people recognise the image. Also because we are not promoting the look of an artist or their voice the ‘name’ of the artist becomes very important. We emphasises this by putting it in the opening of the music video as well. We remain the bold clean font in all of our product to keep the modern and artistic image. This kind of opening are often used in many dubstep music video as well.

As we are aiming at young audience, We sell merchandise on website. This include T-Shirt with the Fox print and also other design. These symbolic designs are seen across all of the products. The purpose of this is to make people recognise the artist and at the same time feel more involve.

 

Elizabeth

The KOAN Sound’s image was an important aspect in our music video to which we constantly had to refer to. With “Trouble in the West” we wanted to make the audience wonder but also create an unforgettable adventure in terms of the plotline. For example the use of masks in the music video was inspired by Martin Garrix and his famous “Animals” video, we felt that the surrealism theme was something of a trend in dubstep music videos and therefore decided to try such stylization ourselves. It also would identify better with our target audience who are artistic individuals and who appreciate the combination of both, art trends and music.  In terms of costume design, Wes Anderson’s stop-motion animation “Fantastic Mr. Fox” was our greatest inspiration, as we wanted to transfer the same level of quirkiness and uniqueness into our music video making it more entertaining for our audience. Also such unique wear complimented well the type of music KOAN Sound produce as it differentiates and is more niche than an ordinary dubstep track. KOAN Sound is an organic artist and doesn’t represent itself as a commercial performer so to highlight this we used a very naturalistic location such as “the forest” and “cave” instead of solely a club or a bar.  Such set designs gave the element of honesty and realness that are often absent in dubstep sequences. The more aggressive part of the music video was when Mr.Fox was battling the Boss. Such glorification of violence was largely inspired by a well-known artist “Skrillex”. This part of the video was really appealing to the young male segment who enjoy performers like KOAN SOUND therefore that scene of violence was almost necessary to increase our views and the popularity of the artist.  Also there is a common value that is presented in this scene which is the rebellion against the system, against globalization which appeals to many audience members and makes the artist more likable as he is more relevant and relatable.

3 - What did you learn from your audience feedback?

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

BEE

In order to shorten the track, we used program ‘Soundtrack Pro’ this allows us to make the track a suitable length for music video to keep the audience attention as the original track is over 5 minutes long which will be hard to make a video for.

We used Photoshop to create lettering at the beginning and then inserted it with After Effect. We used bold clean font to emphasise the star image of being modern. This also allowed us to creates stylish opening which is used in many real media product in this genre.  

After we finished the rough cut in Final Cut Pro we went to shot a footage of trees using Sony NX-5 which is for a green screen sequence in the studio. We shot the footage in different shot sizes and angle to match the sequence we did in the studio. We then used Chromakey to erase the green screen and insert the footage. Using the green screen help us to create a shot that otherwise will be impossible to create, in the studio as we have limited time and budget.

We used Color to add blue filter to our shots. This added cold, dark effect to our music video which suit the style of this music genre which is usually, quite dark and quirky.

The leaflet is one of the key prop in this music video. In order to make it we used Photoshop to collage the actor portrait with a picture of the shopping mall and add a tack line to make it looks like a real leaflet. This make the narrative more convincing and flow better as we are going to see this actor later on in music video 

Elizabeth

At 0.39 seconds we had our fast transition from Fox’s house and into the city. It is significant as it represents the beginning of Mr. Fox’s journey and his adventure to capture the Boss. To accomplish such transition, we used After Effects to speedup the scenes as well as create this illusion of the wall which would transfer the audience to another location. At 0.42 seconds, with the use of Final Cut Pro we created a Jump Cut effect to make the sequence look faster. This added more tension to the overall product and at the same time complimented the song’s rapid beat. The lighting in “Trouble in the West” played an important part as we had to stay true to our narrative. Since foxes are nocturnal animals, the background had to be dark and represent the night time, so we used After Effects to adjust lighting in the video and make it look more blue. The dark lighting also made Mr. Fox look more menacing and mysterious which would entice our audience as the Fox isn’t the typical protagonist in the story which people would expect. At 0.52 we used Final Cut pro to fast cut the scenes of Mr. Fox and the Boss, the now intense beat of the music raised the needed suspense and signified the future fight of both of these characters. At 1.08 the effect of the blur was used with the help of After Effects software. The purpose for it was to show it from the bosses point of view as he was being hit and injured by our main character. Such use of violence in the video was inspired by many of Skrillex’s music videos, “Equinox” in particular. For the exterior forest shots which start at 1.13 minute we used Sony NX-5 without the lense adjustment as we wanted to give it a real organic feel without those studio/performance gimmicks. At 1.18 we used an After Effects Program, Key Frame Animation notably to merge two shots together creating a pathway to the performance location, the cave which would set the beginning of our performance sequence.

 

Gil

To make sure that the crowd was dancing in sync with the second drop, we used markers to mark the point on the drop and then matched up the shot of the crowd to make sure it looked effective. In the studio we used the Sony FS100, which allowed the focus of different shots to look very effective whilst filming the crowd or our DJ’s. We also used colour grading, to bring out the more vibrant colours in order to give our crowd more youthfulness. In order to get a big enough crowd to give off the impression that the studio was a real venue, we used social network sites such as Facebook by sending people messages and making sure they were available. Here we used a blur on the DJ’s so the transition to the next shot could be more smooth, and flow nicely. Originally this shot was very slow and did not fit into the track, therefore we used Final Cut express to speed up the shot speed. . When we used this crane shot, we had to change the lenses in order to achieve the correct focal length. Finally we used a blur to bring attention to the inspected logo which was imported as a Photoshop file.

 

 

 

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

1. Use of performance and showcasing the artist

In order to indicate our artists genre/ability we needed to showcase their performance scene, which involved DJ'ing. We decided to make this clear by using a variation of shots of different things. Firstly we used a mid-shot of the DJ from the side, showing the audience the DJ looking down with his headphones, indicating he is looking at his decks. This is a common shot u sed in real media products such as in the Modestep music video where we see the DJ in a very similar position. In our music video however we have challenged this form of performance as typically the DJ is human in a club or a festival. However we have made it clear that the DJ is a fox and is DJ'ing underground in a secret 'club-cave'.



To strengthen this idea of performance we used a number of different shots, such as long shots in order to see the DJ equipment and the DJ's using it. We also used close ups of the decks to really wrap it up. Again we used similar shots to those in real media products, such as in the Modestep video we see a long shot of the DJ handling the decks with a light illuminating him making him stand out more. We used a very similar shot (below) with our two DJ's with light making them glow and stand out. In terms of action, to really give off the impression to the audience of the characters role we made them do 'typical DJ moves' such as raising hands, head bopping etc... really developing typical forms and conventions. Also these conventions also allowed us to reach our target audience  and create a marketable star image for young people who go out to events to watch DJ's such as KOAN Sound play.


2. Narrative

As our music video was very short ( 2 minutes, 50 seconds ), we had to fit in a lot of narrative and keep it fast paced, which also helped give an effect to the fast paced track. For example during scenes of movement, we cut the clip into different sections in order to make it jumpy and fast paced.


We can also see this effect in real media products such as the video to Culprate - Tentacle. This effect also makes the video seem more un-natural and glitch adding to the overall concept of our music video being surreal and different, again this also is seen in the Tentacle video, as the cutting helps to add a surreal effect. This also strengthens the image of our artist, as the fast paced glitches really help to relate and suit the track.



On top of this in order to keep the narrative fast paced and thrilling, we used similar techniques to cut between the narrative and the      performance. Enabling the audience to make a link between the two, and have a nice clean transition. This also allowed the maintain the image of our artists, making sure our audience was aware of their roles.

3. Use of camera, editing and lighting

Firstly we decided to set the video in the dark, giving it a more mysterious and surreal effect, it also helped with the club scene as clubs are normally dark. The darkness also gives less of a clear image on our character, meaning it becomes even more surreal. This is related back to our artists, as our artists are known for their weird, experimental tracks, with a target audience of young adults who love to hear and see new / weird conventions. Similar forms and conventions are seen in real media products such as in the music video for 'Somebody to love', where we see a walking robot walking around London.

In order to build on this form of the music video being surreal we played particular emphasis on certain things. For example we played close attention to the Fox mask to really get the point across that the family was not a normal human family. Paying close attention to the fox mask also helped to re-enforce the artists image, as they have produced a released based around foxes in 'The adventures of MR.fox EP', meaning our audience and fans of KOAN sound will be able to relate to the reference.

To make it feel even more surreal we challenged some forms and conventions in order to really strengthen the idea that the artists are completely different, surreal and modern. As the concept of a human fox running round town is clearly not normal, we decided to try and portray that it was normal, in order to create dramatic effect. We did this by using camera work and editing, to make sure no one in the public would look confused with reaction shots. However in real media products, where people seem to be breaking the norm, there are many indicators from the public, to let us know that it really isn't normal. Again this really strengthens our Artists image, and helps to entertain our target audience with more surreal factors.

4.  The track

As the form of the track is clearly electronically produced 'club' music, we had to use conventions to indicate the tracks properties, audience and artist. As the track would typically found to be playing in clubs, we had to use conventions to really re-create a club scene. To do this we created a small spaced dark environment with coloured lights and a young crowd (Representing and targeting our audience). Club scenes similar to this are scene in many real media products such as 50 CARROTS track 'Bratpack'.

 However we also challenged this convention by making the club under the earth and people getting in by digging down. We did this by using editing techniques between two shots to make the illusion that the camera shot was going underground. (Below) Which really tells the audience that even though our artists are club DJ/Producers, they are definitely experimental and alternative. To fully relate to the song, we used editing in order to match the pace of the track and give the whole video more energy!

5. Artist image

We also tried to give our artists more of a name for themselves by using imagery. In normal music videos the artists record label is less likely to be represented and affiliated with the artists. However in this particular Genre, labels have a lot more involvement in partnering with the artists to have a collaborated product. For example we are shown this in real media products in the music video for MTA records 16bit 'dinosaurs' as the MTA records logo is shown at the end, with small details on things such as release date. We also used this convention as we put the inspected logo at the end of a music video. Instead of using small writing with release catalogues, we decided to challenge this convention to put the inspected logo really big in order to really emphasise the power and brand image of the record label 'inspected'. This will also help us to target our audience, who within this market are mostly likely to know inspected, therefore purchasing our product.

We also used conventions to strengthen the image and name of our artists. We did this in a similar way to the dinosaur music video by putting their name right at the beginning of the video. However for our video we put the text across the face of the fox who was being represented as our artist, so the audience was aware of who the artist was. Again, seeing the artists name at the beginning of the track will appeal to our audience, as they will be familiar with the name 'KOAN Sound'.

 

6. Use of location  

Firstly we used a city, as a city is where most of our target audience are based, so we were able to relate to them. Its also where the majority of clubs are, so it can also shows the forms and conventions of real media products. The club was a way of expressing the talents of our artists, as they are DJ's it is a typical form to have in a music video.



 
7. Digipack

All the forms and conventions we have used here are all very similar to those used in real media products.

8.Website

All the forms and conventions we have used here are all very similar to those used in real media products.

 

Digipak