Question 6

How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

Research

The best place to find information was google as it shares the most accurate search results. Because of that most of our findings and questions were easily found. Google was used for developing our plans and understanding our criteria and objective a lot more for our coursework. For example, we now have a better understanding of EDM music and its foundation. Not only that but the people who listen to it, we were able to deduce the minds of EDM listeners and eventually draw a conclusion. We also used YouTube as a main way of watching existing music videos. From YouTube we were able to look at many options in the EDM genre and make a final choice on what song we want to make a MV based on. Despite that, we had problems connecting to YouTube as the internet connection wasn't that reliable so choosing music videos wasn't too easy. However, we were still able to get the job done. Other music streaming websites like SoundCloud was also in support. We decided to look at some underrated music that didn't have music videos which made it a lot harder to develop ideas to fit the lyrics. We also had other options like magazines and television, but the power of YouTube and Google meant that we only needed those two.

Blogger

For all the research and information we collected, we used blogger as a mean place of sharing and presenting our work. We used it as well for our AS coursework as it was the best way to present work or process. Blogger has all the tools for you to share all your work and creative ideas i.e allowing you to embed special types of work presentations and videos like youtube videos and prezi. This just makes everything more convenient and efficient. Instead of clicking links and waiting for the page to load, the work already loads in the blog. However, some work presentations websites don't embed very well to blogger as sometimes it's out of scale or it is not very well optimised (it can sometimes stutter or it's very slow). However it's still very favourible and it's free. Blogger keeps your work very well organised, showing each documents as lists. Changing the name and the dates of your work is very simple and there's a search for you to find your work. Blogger also allows you to design the template of your blog, meaning to can set to style you wish to show. I've set the theme of my blog to my music and album giving it the vibe.

Planning

Planning was done on both computer and paper. Eventually paper work will be scanned and placed into the blog. Our planning consist of lyric analysation, storyboards and deconstructions of selected musicians/ genres. We also had documentations like risk assessments, location surveys, and various reports which were then later scanned into the blog. Essay work and research was done on computer, just for that fact it looks more neat and organised on a document processor. Location scouting is done in a video format, giving a better perspective/understanding of the place we took the music videos. We recruited a group of friends to help shoot our video and the way we made schedules for our shoots was through facebook and LINE (messenging apps). We were able to discuss our availability and times to do shoots. However, most discussions were done at school because everyone was there to receive the schedule and the times for the shoots, but they were reinforced in group chats.

Software/Hardware

For hardware, we were supplied with the school's dslrs. They were pretty standard DSLRS but they got the job done. If you had a camera you can you that as well. We didn't have our own camera, we meant that were limited down to a few features provided by the camera. Because of that, the shots and scenes we planned to do had to be recreated.

However....
With the help of the internet, we were able to find solutions to these limitations. A couple of searches lead us to finding a ways to crack the camera. We were then introduced to "Magic Lantern".  The software is an add on for Canon EOS DLSRS that runs through the SD card which adds a new range of features that weren't included by the factory software. We decided to give it a go, with a slight concern as we thought it might completely brick the camera. However, it worked out really well. The features that we required were time lapse mode (a way of an object or place e.g sky progress over time at normal speed). Another featured that we needed was the full control of the recording frame rate. Our aim was to cinematic shots and the feature was there to support us. There were many more useful features provided by Magic Lantern, but we didn't need to use them.

We were able to acquire a drone, which open a much bigger path to what shots we can do. More ideas came in mind, making the whole process a lot more creative. We can up with the idea that the drone will be used for long shots and wide shots. The car scene where, the gang was on their way to kill 2 henchmen was shot with the drone. Pretty much, we were lucky to have the drone. It made the whole thinking process a lot more creative.

Editing Software

For our music video, we used Adobe Premier Pro as it is the software I'm most familiar with. The needed tools to edit my music video were easily identified so it made the whole process a lot better. The only slight problem we din't enjoy about Adobe Premier Pro is that you had to find the footage file again whenever you moved it to another location. For example, I had to move all the footage from my old hard drive to a new one which meant that I had link the software to the footage again one by one.

We also brought Adobe After Effects to the action. It was used to edit the raw footage's to make it look the way you want your music video to be. Again, I was familiar with the software as I've used it during AS for coursework. What I really enjoyed and liked about the software is that you can cross-link both After Effects and Premier Pro. This means that you can work at 2 things at once. For example, you can do all the trimming and cutting in Premier Pro and do the colour grading and adjustments in After Effects and they both sync meaning that you don't have to construct the edited footage again. That saved us loads of time and that's why we prefer them over other softwares.

For our photo shoots and digipak, we used Adobe Photoshop. We did all the colour adjustments and filters to give the photos the theme we had going for the project. I've been using Photoshop for quite a while, so all the tools I'm very familiar with. Had no problems with the software, it was perfectly fine.

Finally, for our website we were recommended WIX, a very well know website builder for everyone. We never built a website before, but WIX made it so simple and easy to use. Most of the time, it was just a drag and drop scenario. It was simple yet the website looks very professional. The only thing we didn't like about it was that there were WIX branding on the website, so it just gives it away.

Question 3

Question 1

When it comes to EDM music, they tend have a very limited amount of codes and conventions, giving a lot more freedom in terms of making a music video. Typical Conventions of an EDM song are partying, drugs, live performances to focus more on young audiences that experience the same lifestyle. Artists such as Calvin Harris's and Alesso's feature mainly a vast number of fans dancing to their concerts. EDM usually don't have narratives, which is why they make a montage of their previous concerts which are more appealing to their audiences. This is also a very effective way of promoting their next concerts as they express how exciting and "a moment of a life time" it is, thus  enticing the fans into buying their tickets.

However, after analysis the lyrics of our selected song, we decided it was best that we make a narrative music video.

There is a very strong potential to form a visual story out of the lyrics as the singer expresses his struggle. "On a caution Weep" the singer expresses sorry and grief by shedding tears and "I called your name" trying to find the person but they couldn't . "In the cold and Snow"  refers to death painful messages or an end. The lyrics is supported by slow tempo and an empowerment of the depression drowsy beat. Before the chorus buildups the last lyrics is "For a better day". At the point the tempo and the rythym of the music stops. This empahsizes that it's time to start doing something or something has to change. The phrase "For a Better Day" suggests that it's time for a new start or a beginning of somthing big (revenge, war).

In addition to that, the rhythm of the song establishes a linear attraction and suspense which eventually leads towards excitement. Despite of songs unusual drop, the arrangements and rhythmic consistencies pars in very well with the lyrics and builds up a good potential for a climax. The quick tempo and bass is removed most times in song, but only during breakdowns and following buildups; then it returns to restore the song's wholeness, which is the climax and the story line. For example from 0:59 to 1:14 you can see that the cuts fit in with the music, which supports the  choice of creating a narrative music video. Other than that, it looks very professional, inducing a greater appeal to the audience. Other example, is 0:00 to 0:50 onwards.

Andrew Goodwin Arguement

A female performer will frequently be objectified in this nature through the use of camerawork and editing. This emphasises the sexual image of the star.

Male performers are instead exploited within a music video to flatter their ego. For example, the women are very sexual clothing or completely naked.  

This argument is true for most scenarios when the female is the center of attention. Their music video features explicit content in frames and edits. Most EDM music videos focuses on females that are trapped in situations, usually moving from point A to point B (running away from the problem). In the meantime, males are there to guide them.Females have a good sense of voyeurism. In our case, we challenged this argument. The males in the video are flattering their own egos, with revenge and violence. There are no appearance of females, while males dominate.

Another Theory by Goodwin is that a narrative music video requires the artist to be a part of the music video by being the centre of attraction. They are either singing or they role out as the main character. This allows the music video to share a special connection and express its intentions to the audience. 

We know that our music video is narrative and the plot of the video goes well with the lyrics of the song. However neither of the 2 DJs are either sing or play as the main characters. By using this method it gives a better impression of the song to the audience, thus giving them a better understanding.

While there is no sign of a typical objectification in this video, we believe that we have challenged it. While males only exist in the music video, they are also used as figures to be played around with, such as killing and torturing. At most times males are involved in some sort of violence, which could be killing, fighting, protecting (seen as the strong ones) while the females are being protected, fearing, hiding (week ones). In addition, the character has gone through some horrific experience of seeing his friend die, and now he's expressing those feelings by taking revenge.

We decided that it was best if we were on the same tangent as avicii. Most of Avicii's music videos have a narrative structure towards them, and we beleive that it's best if we do the same. The only way to visualise the lyrics of our song was to make a narrative video, because making a concert based video wouldn't make any sense. In support to this choice, we decided that the music video requires the elements of a cinematic narrative music video. Letter boxing was an ideal choice, which gives the video or more movie-like setting. The cuts of shots also matched with the rhythm of the song to allow a better story telling and expressing the right mood and plot to the audience.

b) Conventions associated with your sub-genre

DIGIPAK

PhotoShoot Plan

Created with Padlet

Album Cover Behind the scenes

Website Diary

Drone Diary: WE CRASHED IT!!!

                              

We never thought we would come to this day, but the drone shooter has crashed it into a power line. While filming one of the scenes for our music video, the drone shooter lost control of it and ended up crashing into the power cables. We called in the electricians to come and try take it out of the power line. From then it became worst, they said it wasn't possible to pick up the drone because it's stuck on a very high voltage (150,000 WATTS) power cable meaning that it will kill you if you're close to it. We asked them if we could turn the electricity off, but the power line control several districts including one of the main ones (CHAENG WATTANA). That means no power for houses, buildings lights etc, so that was a no go. Things got worst. The electricians said that if the drone had done some damage to the cables, it would've costed us (200,000 Baht (4000 Pounds)) to fix it. From that point, we just left it there. If we're able to take it out, I wouldn't have made a difference because all the internals of the drone has been toasted. However, we were able to retrieve the remote and the battery which can save us a lot of money if we decide to make another drone purchase. We will have to wait and see.