Tatiana Lauritsen Zahid's blog

How did you use media technologies in the construction and

research, planning and evaluation stages?

For our media texts we had to create 3 different artwork pieces, a digi-pack, website and music video. This meant that we researched into the same artist for each of the different artwork because we wanted to make sure that our three different products fit together and had a link in-between them. For my groups different media texts we used several media technologies continuously throughout our production from beginning to end including, the internet, final cut pro and Photoshop. These technologies were necessary for us to complete our project in the way we wanted it to be.

To plan for our music video we used the internet as a social network skill to send out information to our cast about rehearsals, costume recommendations and shoot day. We also used this to plan before addressing the cast by booking a rehearsal room before hand, here are a couple of examples on emails we have sent using the technology of the internet making it easier for us to address the entire cast at the same time. Sending the cast emails also allowed us to attach photographs to show them images of costume that we wanted them to bring with them.

After we had planned these rehearsals at first we used a camera Nx5 but came to realize this was not needed for a mere audition or rehearsal and it was much too intimidation for the person behind it, therefore we decided to use my nikon camera d5000 to shoot some of the material and we used our smartphones for others. This is a way how technology can be use in efficient ways, also doing this allowed us to edit the videos together on a program such as iMovie instead of having to synch it all up in Final Cut in the edit suite. This footage was not to be shown to anyone other than us so that we could look back at the audition and make a decision on who we wanted to cast or what we needed to work on.

For our website we researched into artist such as “the kills”, “the pretty reckless” and “the veronicas”. We did this via the internet. Whenever you research a topic it is easy to use Google to find out the main information. We found the websites made for the bands, we found their twitter, myspace, facebook accounts and posts that were made about them.

These different websites allowed us first of all to get information about bands similar to our own, but also to see how their websites had been constructed and what message they were sending and which was the most important information they wanted to stand out. We found that it was common for the band’s newest video, their tour dates, recent photos were the most visual within the website, therefore we used this information to incorporate it into our website.

We had our music video on the front page, the newest twitter updates and photos. Because we came to find that the fans are most important to a band, it is what builds them and gives them recognition. Accounts such as twitter also allows the fans to feel that they are in direct contact with the star as Richard Dyers theory leans towards. That the star can seem so close to you but actually they are so much more and you almost feel it’s privilege to have them speak to you “directly” through the internet. The internet also allows these bands to promote themselves. This impacted us to also create a twitter account for our band which we put on the website.

Above is a tweeted picture from Taylor Momsen showing her new tattoo. This refers back to Richard Dyers theory of the star image of rock and roll which in this case is showing off her new "rock and roll" tattoo which connects to her music and helps complete her full image.

This is a photo of our lead singers profile on twitter and some updates that she had made about concert etc. this interest fans very much as they want to know what their favorite star is up to.

Through our research on websites such as Myspace, Twitter etc. we also took deeper research into the fans of Taylor Momsen to see what they focused on, and we found through this research via the internet that several young people dressed like Taylor Momsen and even made their own music very similar to hers which meant that we knew from this research that the costume of our band in the video was very important as it creates an image for the fans that they can hook onto.

For our music video we used Final Cut Pro to edit our film and use it’s functions to synch our song to the shots we had filmed. After all of our shots had been uploaded to the computer we started synching the tracks to the first beat, so that all of the tracks would be synched to the cut.

This means that all of the track would be on top of each other and would allow me to cut in between and slide the shots forth and back to only have the good shots without any of the shots being out of synch. We decided to edit only the performance element to begin with and then cut in the glitter sequences afterwards.

We did this because we knew that since our band had a rock and roll image, the performance element is the most important to the audience as this is what will sell tickets to live concerts. As we discovered while we researched our websites. In reference to selling tickets for concerts we also incorporated low angles shots within our video, this appeals to the audience because they get the sense of being first row at the concert, looking up at the lead singer/band.

An effect we picked up on while researching similar videos on youtube was that the editing is quite specific in videos in that genre of music. There is much focus on the instruments (referring back to selling concert tickets) but also because it is a main aspect in rock and roll. Plenty of people will appeal to a band because of one of the musicians. In this way we edited equal footage between the 3 man band and every time there would be a switch in music there would be focus on that band member playing.

For example in the beginning of our video there is only focus on the guitarist because he is the only person playing then we cut to the lead singer as she starts singing and then to the drummer as he starts drumming. This makes the viewer aware of the instruments straight from the beginning and also will feel a flow because the visual is matching the aural. We used this editing technique throughout the film, changing the shot by the drop of the music, also when the hook of the song came on which in our song was “owoah all you cities lie in dust” the main focus would be on the singer. The research we did on videos helped impact our video in the way that we were more aware of editing techniques within that specific genre and we could imply it throughout the video.

For our Digipack we used Photoshop as an editing tool to create it visually. We had inspiration of looking at our other band influences. We came to find that all of our products should link together so that the person viewing/buying our product would be aware of the genre and have a sense of familiarity if they had seen one of our other products before hand. Therefore we used a CD template to begin with as our basis. On the front we wanted to have a picture of the band the three of them with the lead singer further to the front than the others as this is the most common way of marketing your product, with the lead singer as the “star”.

We used the liquefying tool in Photoshop to airbrush the lead singer’s arms, making her appear slimmer. We chose to do this in order to represent her as sexy and attractive. We intend for her sex appeal to offer an additional layer of appeal to young male fans, a key audience segment of the glam/rock subgenre. In order not to over sexualise and trivialise the singer (and retain a powerful, rebellious star image) we thought that since our music video had the edge of “glitter” we wanted to incorporate that same edge in all of our products therefore we created a way to have both. First we used the photo of the band and then we placed a close-up shot we had taken on the day of glitter and placed it directly on top.

Then we used the “overlay” tool which will lay the glitter on top of the bottom photo and have a slight opacity so that both images are visual but are mixed. This created the edge we wanted for the front cover. It makes it naughty but nice, the band is rock and roll but is still has the feel of “dance/electronic” which is also a genre type that our song falls into. This was a great tool for us to show both sides to the type of music that our band makes.

I also used my nikon d5000 camera on the shoot day to photograph as well as video tape the action so that we could take full account of the shoot day and remember all the details up until now. I did edit the video in a rather artistic way rather than just for details, but that's the fun in editing. Here is the behind the scenes video I filmed

And because I had filmed on the day I was able to account most occasions that had happened on the day. As I prefer being creative than just writing I chose to make a video commentary/account of the shoot day. Here I used the technology of using Photo Booth on the iMac as it is easier and more efficient than having to set up a camera as it was right in my computer and doing this on my macbook camera itself allowed me to transfer it directly into iMovie as that is also a apple program. Here is my video which was using the Photo Booth and function of the iMovie. (You don't have to watch it all, it's quite long).

I did some research into products that are similar to our and found out what kind of audience they had, because if it was products like our it is most likely it will be very similar people that are going to be looking at our product. I chose to look up Taylor Momsen which is the lead singer of The Pretty Reckless, who is known for her image of rock and quite dramatic stylish, she had also toured with Marilyn Manson, this gives you and idea of the music she makes. Our lead singer has a few similarities to Taylor Momsen but we did not want the image of our band to be too dark. It is slightly rock but also seen as alternative and electronic at the same time.

I researched on sights such as Myspace, Twitter and Youtube. Taylor Momsen has these sights so that she can be in constant connection with her fans and update them about tours, songs and her private life. I found what I had expected, a lot of trait marks within the fans of Taylor Momsen have obviously been very inspired by her style and image. A lot of the fans also have shown to have a similar taste in music, such as other rock bands as Nirvana etc.

This above is a picture of a fan that has tagged Taylor Momsen on her photo on MySpace, it is obvious in this picture that she has similar clothes and animal prints, her eye make up is very heavy and it is obvious that she has been inspired by her style.

Here is picture of Taylor Momsen so you can se the similarities..

This is a man named J.C. Nelson who follows Taylor Momsen on Twitter. You can tell by the way he is dressed and his whole image that he is very inspired by his taste in music. He has also chose to make a replicate of a Rolling Stone magazine with himself on the cover with a guitar. As Rolling Stone is a famous magazine for musicians you can tell he aspires to be more.

Here you can also see the inspiration he has gotten from her classic black guitar, and the rock and roll clothes with leather and the choppy black hair.

You can tell by the music that J.C. Nelson also has songs that look very relatable to hers. This is some music he has written himself and for example the first song he has on his list is "Get sick and die" one of taylor momsens most popular songs are "Makes me wanna die".

As I looked through more pictures from fans and of Taylor Momsen. I also discovered the sexual image that she has. It's not enough that she barely wears any clothes, it has also become common known that she has female fans come up on stage with her undressing until their standing in their bras on top or less. So I looked through more of her fans and found this one above, and when she writes about herself she writes that she is bisexual. Seeing the image above from one of her concerts, this can be seen as she is portraying an image of exploring with sexuality which is inspiring her fans.

All in all Taylor Momsens audience which is going to be quite similar to our are inspired by her style, and the image she has created for herself. They like that she shows herself as someone individual and a rebel, meaning that her fans are more likely to act out as well. They are also very interested in her live performances and the way in which she performes, bringing fans up on stage etc. We hope that the audience we would have is going to respond to the same way of being hooked on the style of the people within our band, and that they would enjoy the performance in our video so they would be very interested in tour dates and live performances.