Directors Commentary

Front and inside panels and poster done

With the deadline vastly approaching, we have pushed ourselves to get all the cd panels and poster done. We believe that they look professional and fit with the song; 'foundations', that we are promoting. This being that we have used images from our music video and they link back to each other. We can now concentrate on the blog and make sure that it is up to standard, answering all the evaluation questions.




















This is our front cover. It shows both the performers and clearly states the artist and album title. We thought this was a good image for the front because it is bright in colour yet shows the on going contrast between the two characters. We have therefore carried through the red from the bench to the text to help hold together all the items together to create a full cd cover that works well. The cover is very simple, keeping with all cd covers that are published today. However, even thoguh it is simple, the image we have chosen is powerful and strongly promotes the main song on the album; 'Foundations'. We have also put a little detail on the front cover this being 'Award winning Album 2010' this helps to show that it is the album cover and states that the album won awards.

For the inside covers we decided to use the lego figures as they were not used much in the video as they were fidly to stand up and move about. We therefore took the images we had taken for what we were meant to use for our stop motion and cut out the individual figures to put together on a screen like we had photographed them together, even though we only had one lego figure of each. More so, because we have quoted they lyrics of the song across both inside pannels we thought that having similar backgrounds but different colours to show the opposing characters would again promote the conflict shown between the two characters.

The poster again uses an image from our music video. We thoguht that this image was contriversal yet mellow, making it suitable for the poster. It still supports the on going conflict between the characters, but its not as bright as the front cover. It is also from the end scene so technically helps show the ending to something, in this case the relationship. More so pole in the centre of the image makes it look like a split screen, so when people look at the poster, they do a 'double take' on the poster to see the clever photography we have used. It then makes people notice the poster more and see what it is promoting and notice the cd image and the artist Kate Nash and her album; Made of Bricks. It also holds simple details of where the song can be downloaded from and when it is available to download.

CD Cover Progress

After choosing a freeze frame image from our music video we managed to come up with a final design. We thought as we are doing the song 'foundations' it would be good if we had both performers feature on the front cover to help promote the song.

To help us decide what we should put on the front cover we looked up Kate Nash's original cd cover:

We realised that not much is put upon the front cd covers and that most of the information is on the back.

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

During the construction phase of our music video, we used multiple forms of technology that we are new too. The first was the studio, this introduced a new form of technology for us which enabled us to take multiple shots from multiple angles from behind a computerised system to manage what we recorded and when. This worked by switching from one camera to another from a control board. We used this ability to our advantage in the beginning of the video so that we could cut in time, with the beat of the song. In the studio we also had access to specialist lighting equipment which we utilized to get the low key light we intended to use in the piano scenes, this help significantly with the construction of the music video, as otherwise it would be very difficult to get the correct lighting, camera angles and transitions that we wanted in a normal room environment. The dark lights help to add the sad, drab effect we wanted to create, to show the difference in Caroline’s personality when she is without the male character. In addition to the construction side of this, it also came in helpful for completing are Audience Feedback as we used the studio as the filming area. The reasoning for this was due to the fact that the studio was quieter than the class room, and we were able to set it up to work effectively without much difficulty.

















During the construction stage we also used a digital cam recorder and tripod, perhaps the most important piece of equipment used, it allowed us to record a majority of scenes that are used in the video. Since it used digital as the method in which to record, the quality of the video itself was improved slightly over the more traditional method of tapes. The tripod allowed us to ensure that the shots we filmed were steady and straight. This is a clear benefit over using a cam hand held, as it ensures their are no distractions in the actual video due to shakey movements. Similiarly unlike tape recorders, digital cameras are capable of taking still images, this was especially helpful when preforming stop motion in the 'Lemon' & 'Help' sequences
















During the research stage, we used websites such as YouTube and Muze, to look at songs we could choose to do a video to. We also used them to find a video to do a detailed analysis in an attempt to discover what makes a pop music video good, this was particularly helpful as we were not required to purchase or bring in any music videos from home in order to analyse.














During the construction stage of the print based work, we used Photoshop as the main provided some benefits, using the guidelines feature we were able to place images and mark locations for barcodes, logos, and dimensions before actually beginning the creation stages of making our CD case and magazine advertisement. We used different effects and layers to create images that looked professional and attractive.















Final cut pro was a very important tool during the construction and evaluation stages. We used it to edit our music video and add effects to make it look more like a pop video. It also allowed us to edit the most complicated areas like stop motion to help with the continuity of the video. As seen in this screenshot, using final cut pro allowed us to do very fine cuts for the stop motion so that the images were not displayed for too long. This stopped the stop motion from looking jumpy.











We also used Motion to add different lighting effects to the footage taken in the studio so that the shots did not look too plain. Motion was very useful because the lighting effects we used could be applied in 3D. This allowed us to cast shadows on different parts of the screen and add to the characters mood, and the contrast between the studio footage and the rest of the video.

















Search engines such as, Google played a very useful part in the research stage of our project. It allowed us to look up CD covers and research lyrics and song lists so we could put them on our CD cover. We also saved images for the CD case such as the iTunes logo.











Blogger has allowed us to make posts explaining what we are doing. We have therefore been able to upload videos, sometimes using the medium Youtube to host videos and images to give visual feedback on the work that we are producing and how its progressing. This also has allowed us to evaluate work and analyse the features we wish to use in our music video, poster and CD.

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

From the audience feedback, we have learnt that sometimes we have to look at our own work through other people's eyes. We say this because we are so used to seeing our own work and watching it develop every lesson. We therefore, get used to seeing the video and some parts may not stand out to us as much as it would to someone else whose looking at it with 'fresh eyes'. As a result, we learnt that asking for audience feedback helps pick up any changes that need to be made before finalising it, to ensure things work well for the video piece.

In balance we have received both positive and negative feedback, however we feel the positives outweigh the negatives as it stands.
The overall impression we got for our music video was that it was professional and had an outstanding performance that told the story of the song well.
This shows that our video is to a standard of work has the potential to match the work seen in professional music videos.


From the three positives given about our video, we have questioned ourselves why in particular these three points stood out and why they were chosen as opposed to anything else in the video. Keeping this in mind, we realised that yes, these are the three strongest points of the video, and we did enjoy doing these areas the most, especially the stop motion. It was a lot more fun and didn't require any acting. More so, it was easy to take a series of photos and place them together to fit in with the song. We have therefore, learnt that maybe if we had used a lot more stop motion, it would of boosted the video and would have emphasised the pop element to fit within the song.

Mover over, being able to portray the story of the song was fun to play, as Caroline and Lilian had to get into character. Through out all the filming, both performers had to make sure they had the right facial expressions, body language and mannerisms. It was hard sometimes and there was a lot of laughing in scenes. However, we managed to capture the essence of the characters and this clearly showed in the scenes of the video as supported by our audience feedback.

However, not only did we ask for positives, we asked what could be improved of our video if we could go back and make it better. This in theory, should enable us to pick out the weaknesses and improve on them, should we get additional time to make the necessary modifications.

Consequently, we thought that the bold use of colour saturation in some scenes helped emphasise the contrasting conflict between the two characters, however, our audience feedback taught us that it was very detracting from the video and didn't seem like it had fit in well with the video. We were advised that maybe it would be better if we didn't include this effect and left the colours as they were or used a completely different effect. In light of this we have been unable to change the video effect, as we felt it made the video more 'poppy' making it fit in with the specification better.
Moreover, we were told that having quicker editing to fit the pace of the song would have been better and making the video brighter and more eye catching.


We have therefore learnt that for next time we should play to our strengths and include a lot more stop motion and things like this to add to the pop elements of the song we had chosen as well as speeding up the cut rate so that it is more fitting the the beat and tune of the song.


Here is a video of some audience feedback we got:

2. How effective is your combination of your main product and ancillary texts (the magazine advert and CD digipak)?

We feel that the combination of our main product and ancillary texts work well together. This being that we have chosen to use images taken from the actual video to be our front and back cover of the CD case. This ensures that viewers can see the link created between the different products and that they reflect each other.

Also, we think that the images used are very powerful as they help tell the story of the song; 'foundations'. We decided to take a literal response on the cover showing the performers together but annoyed with one another on the front and then when you turn over to the back, its like you're literally turning over to reveal how the female protagonist is really feeling, which is alone and unhappy, the mise en scene of the image helps promote the feeling of isolation.

We therefore thought that we would have a more humorous take on the inside covers and use the lego figures to help do this as they represent the characters Caroline and Lilian play in the video. We also put the lyrics of the chorus across the left and right panel so that they link together. We also found that most cds have the lyrics of the songs inside so instead we thought to have a new take and use one line instead, this being; ' My finger tips are holding on to the cracks in our foundation'. By having this across the inside it helps support the song throughout the whole of the album cover and makes it a main feature of the album.

The products are also held together well through the theme of conflict. This is illustrated throughout the whole of the song as the female performer tells us all the things she dislikes about the male performer. It is also shown through the images we have chosen for our ancillary texts, as they are taken from our video. It's portrayed through the fact that they are always separated in the images taken from the video or any scenes in the video where they both appear. Specifically on the front cover as the characters are sat away from each other and although they are together in the same image, you can tell they are not happy to be there with one another. The front cover and poster show direct links to the video as they are literally taken from scenes of our video. More so, the image on the poster is from the end scene of our video so this again links back to the video.

We have also injected the theme of conflict on the inside covers as well. Even though these are not images from our video we have made sure that conflict is still portrayed in the image we have used as we have photographed the lego figures separately and have placed them on separate panels. This helps to support the on going conflict between the two characters, even in lego form. The colours used for the backgrounds are also conflicting as pink and blue usually represent the opposing genders.

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

As our music video is narrative, we chose to make it more original and interesting for the audience by making our own performance original though we were also strongly influenced by the performances of other videos that deal with the break down of a relationship. We were particularly influenced by 'Smile' by Lily Allen, as it contained a revealing messages of relationship failure, through a simple and hilarious performance.

We liked how the chosen colours that were evoked through the costume and landscape, coordinated with the upbeat theme of the song, but also contrasted with the seriousness of the actual lyrics. This is much like the ideas we used to create a juxtapostion between the visual and auditory aspects.

To differ our product from its original version we used our characters' costume to reveal the different moods created in different scenes. Whereas in the original version of the video, Kate Nash wears the same dress throughout the video and the characters feelings are expressed through different mediums such as the props and actions.

We decided that our female character would wear a dark green dress when she was alone, to present a feeling of loneliness and distress. However when she is in the company of the male character, who is presented in the song as the antagonist, she wears a colourful dress to highlight the way she feels around him, and to contrast her characteristics to the male character who is wearing darker clothes to show how he is not interested in the relationship between him and Caroline. We have used more mid shots than any other shots, as we believed this was the suitable shot for our product to reveal our character's body language.

This screen shot was taken from 'Smile' by Lily Allen, another song that is about the breakdown of an relationship. This video, similarly to ours has scenes in a cafe, with the couple sitting opposite each other. This shows that some of our choices of what to include as our locations would fit in with what is chosen for other pop videos.

Our music video is different to other pop music videos as we used a significant ammount of low-key lighting, specifically in the studio scenes. This is different to usual pop videos as they are usually bright and cheerful to express the upbeat mood of the songs. However we chose to downplay this typical music video view to highlight the difference between the characters attitudes towards and around each other.

Also we used other ways to highlight the humour in our video by using techniques such as stop motion. This is different to many other music videos because they dont usually have both performance and stop motion in the ways we have used them. For example this video for "It's Only Love" by The Maccabees is fully concetrated on the use of stop motion to tell the story.

Audience feedback

Overall impression

"The music video looked convincing and professional, by having an outstanding performance which revealed the story behind it. we thought that it was surely presented as a commercialised video".

3 Positive techniques

"We certainly, liked the black and white effect at the end to present a dull mood and the location in which it was performed. Secondly we thought that the stop motions was well used and made it a lot more interesting". The performance was also well done, as it explained and told the story.

What to improve

• Perhaps leave out the different colours used.


• Quick editing to fit the pace


• Make it bright and eye catching

Technical area analysis

"The editing technique through stop motions on the lemon with the writing, and on the table was well used and worked perfectly, revealing a conflicting mood between the two characters. "

Back cover done!

We have sorted the back cd cover. We believe that it looks professional and works well with the image we have chosen to base it on.
There were a few problems we came across when making it, but we overcame them. For example, the image wasn't the right size and we didn't want to stretch it because it would have made the image pix-elated. We therefore chose to find similar colours to the background and merge it in with the image. This worked very well as we had photoshop to help blur and fuse the 2 seperate layers together to create one.
To help make the cover professional we got logos of music companies, like Universal and Sony Music Entertainment and also included a bar code.

We thought that this would be a nice image for the back cover as it was off centre and looked as though the song list would fit perfectly on the left side. We also thought that having the keyboard there suggests her making music; that music being those on the song list. This therefore creates a good atmosphere on the back cover and because it is black it gives us almost a blank canvas to work from. Allowing us to add all the text in one colour making it stand out from the background. We also thought it would be nice to use this image as it is the total opposite from the front cover. It shows the other side to the characters feelings and how she really feels when she is alone. The back cover acts as though her true self is hiding behind the front cover; the outer image that she puts on and pretends that she is bright and happy.

back cover reseach

By looking at back covers we realised that most of the information is placed on the back of the cd. We also found that the most common things found on the back cover are:
-Song list
-Bar code

-Music companies

We therefore looked up the song list for Kate Nash - Made of bricks and put this on the back cover. However, we left out the inappropriate songs.