Feedback On My Rough Cut

Although the original feedback for our video had been corrected in my most recent cut, I requested feedback from my peers and found a few areas which could still use some brushing up.

• People liked the shots of the dogs. To be honest I'm not sure where they went, I do not remember taking them out, but I will gladly invite them back in for my final cut.
• There was a close up, low angle shot of Josh lip syncing for the lyrics at 2:35 which was left out of this cut, but apparently it was good and should be used in the final cut.
• The blur effect at 1:09 did not go down as well as expected. It was supposed to portray that Josh was tipsy from the alcohol but it ended up looking like a poorly focused shot in actual fact.
• Josh appears to poorly lip sync during the booth shots at 2:39 and 2:42 and at the start of the 2:47 shot, so I plan to cut out the first two, and only keep the end of the 2:47 shot.

I plan to act upon this feedback before my final cut, and possibly make other changes which I feel are appropriate along the way.

Rough Cut - My Own Edit

Although my group and I have already finished a rough cut of our video, I have taken that cut and edited some of the footage on my own now. I have changed or edited around 25% of the footage from the original rough cut. Some differences are noticable whereas others are less obvious, such as minor effects being added or some shots coming in slightly earlier or later.

Qualitative Feedback

I asked some peers and classmates for feedback on our second rought cut of our video so that we could ammend anything that people felt did not go well or looked un-professional or out of place. This also allowed us to find out what aspects of our video people enjoyed the most so that we could exploit these shots or editing methods even more in our final cuts. Although we came out with much more praise than criticism we understand that this may be because people don't want to be rude, and we are not under any impression that all the work is done because people already like the video.

The Good

• People liked the extreme close-up of Josh's eyes at 0:05 as it looked professional.
• The high-angle shot at 0:18-0:20 followed by the low-angle shot from 0:20-0:23 praised as it showed a variety of shots.
• The very quick longshot of Josh at 0:24 was also singled out as it was cut to the beat nicely.
• Josh was also praised for his performance in this cut. We anticipated that there was a lack of enthusiasm or creativity in the performance in our first cut so we were glad that this improvement was picked up on in the second cut, for example with Josh's dancing at 0:54
• The shot of Josh in the music booth at 1:03 and 1:14 also went down well as people liked the way the camera was shaking and the performance was becoming more energetic as the song also became more intense at this stage.
• Josh drinking at 1:09 produced a few laughs, as intended.
• We were also told that the longshot of the dogs at 1:31 went well with the beat.
• The very short shot of Josh jumping a fence at 1:38 was also singled out as a good shot.

The Not So Good

• Concerns were raised about the lip syncing during the close-up of Josh at 0:36 to 0:38.
• The shot from 2:07 to 2:14 was criticised for being possibly too long, and would look better with another quick shot in the middle at around 2:10.
• People said that as the outro plays from around 2:50 to 3:10 people wouldn't mind seeing Josh dancing again.
• Obviously concerns were also raised about the general missing spaces in footage but we fully intend to fill all the gaps!

Rough Cut 2

This is an updated edit of our video. In this cut we start to get an idea of what the video may look like, although still about a third of the footage is yet to be either filmed or inserted, and we have not added effects or advanced editing techniques yet. We re-shot some footage as we felt Iceburg needed to perform with more energy, but we feel that he is coming along well now. Also, I feel that my longshot of the dogs really adds a new dimension to it. You know it makes sense!

Clarification

Although it may seem odd that we have a track called 'Rizz' on our tracklisting, and our track features the words 'It's Rizz!' while we claim our artist's name is Iceburg, we have a good cover story for this. Many rappers have alternative names, for example UK rapper Giggs is also known as 'Hollowman', and Eminem of course is also known as 'Slim Shady', we are simply promoting the fact that Iceburg is also known as 'Rizz'.

Research On Record Label

The record label I have researched is the one we chose for our artist; Atlantic Records. We chose Atlantic Records as similar artists to ours are signed to them such as Ed Sheeran and Plan B. It was a toss up between Atlantic Records and Island Records (Rizzle Kicks' real label) but we chose the former as they seemed to have less big artists, which means they would concentrate more on the ones they do have.

Atlantic Records' parent company is Warner Music Group, whom are widely seen as the second biggest record label in the world and are constantly in contention with the other 2/3 major labels; Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and EMI who prior to late 2011 would be regarded as one of the major labels, but maybe not now, as the latest yet to be approved list just contains Sony, Warner and Universal respectively.

Atlantic Records is an American label founded in 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. It was in 1967 that Warner became their parent company. The label are most famous for being host to many major rock acts over the years such as Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones, and also helping the evolution of African-American music, as they held such talents as Ben E. King (best known for 'Stand By Me') and Ray Charles (best known for 'Hit The Road, Jack') in the prime of their careers. Currently their most popular artists are of the urban genre, as their website mainly promotes rappers; Wiz Khalifa (similar style to our artist) and T.I as well as RnB star Trey Songz.

Just To Let Y'all Know

There seem to be rumours flying around that I don't do any work in media. Okay then. I've done 43 legitimate posts, some containing up to 3 post-worths work. Other people I have spoken to estimate to have done under 30 posts. So why does my name keep cropping up? Also, just to clear it up, I completed every task seen on my blog. There is one analysis task of 4 album covers which I completed with Josh, each of us doing 50% of the work. There are two presentations on here which are credited to other people (Manan and Josh respectively). Their names are on it because it was done on their account. In actual fact Josh and I worked on that presentation together. He did 50% of it and I did 50%. The one credited to Manan was a task which we all actively participated in. Josh came up with and planned the image change, I took the and uploaded the pictures, Manan wrote it up on his account. So don't be thinking that I stole these pieces of work, I fully participated in all tasks. Cool, safe.

"Problem? I didn't say there was a problem." - Jme, 2011.

First Draft Digipak Design

I used a template to create this preliminary digipak design. I decided to use a 6-panel design which includes a front cover, back cover (track listing) and 4 other panels which fold out to reveal different images. The bottom middle image will be revealed when the CD is taken out. I originally changed the contrast and exposure so that the people in the background of the bottom left image fell into shadow, but decided it would be best to use this on all the images for consistency and to spice up the images a bit anyway, as we felt some of them looked plain and dull. We creatively decided to use the black poster on the wall of the music studio (top middle panel) as a background for our track listings.

Possible Digipak Photos

These are a few images which we feel would be appropriate for different panels of our digipak, excluding the front cover which we have narrowed down to two other images which should appear in a later post.

Random Pictures

The first one is a behind the scenes picture, and the second one is a picture I will take from here and edit at home.

Vernallis Analysis on 'Stan' by Eminem

Narrative
The video's narrative starts off with an obsessed Eminem fan in his bathroom, dying his hair so that it is the same colour as Eminem's. This shows the degree of his obsession. His pregnant girlfriend then raises concerns about this and Stan is dismissive and aggressive towards her, showing that he has let his obsession take over his life, and seems more interested in Eminem than he does in his partner whom is with child.

As the first verse plays we see Stan go to his basement; a room which is more or less dedicated as a shrine to Eminem, with pictures and posters of him visible all over the walls. He begins to write a fan mail letter to Eminem. He is frustrated because Eminem hasn't replied to his previous letters however acknowledges that maybe he scribbled the address poorly as an excuse for his idol not replying to him.

As the chorus plays we continue to see Stan refusing to pay attention to his girlfriend, and mistreating her further. A key moment then comes as Eminem's letter in reply to Stan is dropped in the postal office, meaning although Eminem replied, Stan will not recieve the letter now as it has been lost.

During the next verse we see Stan's frustration grow as he thinks Eminem is simply too lazy or rude to reply to him. He also vents his frustration about the fact that Eminem did not sign an autograph for Stan or his little brother when they waited outside for him at one of his concerts, although as the viewer we see that Eminem did try to sign it but was whisked away by his body guards before he could do so. The severity of Stan's obsession is then expressed again as he takes a photograph of himself and his girlfriend and pastes a picture of Eminem over where his girlfriend was in the picture, as seen below.

As the chorus kicks in again we see Stan's girlfriend get up in the night to investigate the basement and see what Stan is hiding down there. She is then shocked by the ridiculous amount of Eminem pictures and memorabilia in the room, and is disgusted to find the picture where Stan replaced her with Eminem. Stan then comes down the stairs, catches her going through his things, and whisks her away.

We then see that Stan is definitely psychologically unstable as we see him driving through the rain in the middle of the night while recording a tape message venting his anger at Eminem for not acknowledging his support or fan mail. We again see the extent of his obsession as there is a picture of Eminem hanging in his car. His frustration is then shown as he is seen smashing his TV in the basement. We then find out that Stan has locked his pregnant girlfriend in the trunk of the car and is planning to drive off a bridge, killing himself, his girlfriend, and of course the child she is carrying. Just before he reaches the bridge Stan realises that his suicide recording will never be heard, and Eminem will never find out how he feels. At this point the car crashes off the bridge into the water as seen below.

As the final verse plays we see Eminem finally recieving and replying to one of Stan's letters, not knowing of course that it is too late. Eminem can tell from the manner of Stan's writing that his obsession is unhealthy. Eminem apologises for not signing an autograph for his brother and also advises Stan to treat his girlfriend better and possibly seek psychological help for his temperament. The video then cuts to a shot of Stan's little brother at Stan's grave with his mother. The young boy then takes off his hood to reveal that he has also dyed his hair to be like Eminem, causing his mother distress and shock as she knows that an obsession with Eminem is what got her other son killed. The video then cuts back to Eminem finishing off his letter to Stan when he decides to mention a case he saw on the news about a man killing himself and his pregnant girlfriend by driving off a bridge. Eminem then recollects the name of the man and realises it is Stan, and that the unfortunate sequence of events such as Eminem's letter getting lost in the post and him not being able to sign an autograph for Stan's brother, combined with Stan's unhealthy obsession, has led to Stan's suicide.


Editing
The video consists of different editing speeds at different stages of the song. An example of this is at 3:16 when the second ends, a slow fade transition is used, however at other stages where the song focuses more on Stan's raging moments such as during the 3rd verse, around 3:40 to 4:30, there is more fast editing including shorter clips and an interlinked sequence of Stan driving at speed and smashing up his basement in an out of control rage, as seen below.

Camera Movement and Framing
The camera movement is very steady in most the video and the characters are framed carefully in many close-ups and extreme close-ups, as the video very much focuses on the emotions of Stan and his girlfriend which are visible due to the expressions on their faces during the close up shots. Eminem is also framed clearly in mid-shots and close-ups as he is shown replying to Stan's letters. Many slow rotating shots are used as Stan writes letters in his basement, and he is also framed on the left on many occasions to allow for nose room, although there are many shots from the front where he is framed simply in the centre. An example of a close-up shot of Stan can be seen below.

Diagesis
This video contains three main interlinking scenes as the narrative, these being the recurring scene of Stan writing to Eminem (driving his car in the 3rd verse), Eminem writing back to Stan and reading his letters (especially prominent in the 4th verse), and of course the recurring shots of Stan's pregnant girlfriend looking lonely, abandoned and frightened by Stan and his obsession. The video also contains other scenes which express a point such as the few scenes involving Stan's little brother or Stan's past experiences meeting or trying to meet Eminem, as seen below.

Updated Album Advert

This is a newer version of our album advert. Based on feedback we have compressed the icons in the bottom left to a smaller space, we have changed the colour of 'Unorthodox' to a more unorthodox colour, and we have made the font of 'Iceburg' blue so that it stands out more and so that it fits the name of the artist (icy theme).

First Rough Edit For Video

This cut is our first rough one which we did on final cut. We do not have all of our footage yet and are yet to fully decide on which shots to use for which parts of the track, but this is the first effort so far, which covers just past the first verse.

Updated Album Advert

We updated our advert by making the font look more professional. We also moved the title of the album lower down to clearly seperate it from the artist's name. We compressed the icons more as we saw this done in Wretch 32's album advert. We also assured that the 'December 12' was on one line to make it professional and clear. We also removed unnecessary words from this sentence to make the poster more bold, clear and simple. The artist name is transparent and it looked poor when we had the album name transparent too so we had to figure out how to change it and blend it as the same colour as the artist name at the top. We used www.1001freefonts.com to specifically find a good and professional font rather than the default and amateur looking ones we had before.

Goodwin Analysis: Snoop Dogg - Doggfather

What genre characteristics does this video display?

This music video is not typical of the urban US rap genre, as the mise-en-scene revolves around the idea that the video is set in the 1930-1950 era in America. The video however does show some characteristics of the genre as it focuses on the artist, and shows him in a position of power, as is the case with most the male figures who can mostly be seen sitting back smoking cigars, while the artist's character has the opportunity to appear even more powerful and masculine due to the way he treats the owner of the club, like he is an inferior being.

Is there a relationship between lyrics and visuals?

There is a massive relationship between the lyrics and visuals in this video as the chorus uses the word 'Doggfather' which is a play on words of 'Snoop Dogg' and 'Godfather', and in the video Snoop Dogg appears to be a powerful, wealthy, but dodgy looking man, similar to the protagonists in the Godfather movies, which follow the lives of mafia bosses. 

Is there a relationship between music and visuals?

The music and visuals hold a relationship to an extent as the video is mostly smooth and keeps with the pace of the track. There is a consistent pattern in the editing, where a new shot is used at the start of almost every line, and half way through the line, it cuts to another shot, however this is not always the case for the whole of the video. The visuals are usually neither sped up or slowed down as the song is not a particular slow or fast pace.

Is there lots of close ups of the artist and does the artist develop motifs which recur across their work?

The video contains many close-ups of the artist, and he is the only notable character throughout most of the video. Some motifs that recur across Snoop Dogg's work include him often appearing smoking (often he is seen smoking marijuana in videos, however he is seen smoking cigars here) and the fact that he is often portrayed as a powerful figure and worshipped as a wise man, something that is very notable here.

Is there frequently reference to notion of looking and particularly 

voyeuristic treatment of the female body?

There is frequent reference to the notion of looking in this video. One notable example is the way that Snoop Dogg sits down in the club and then observes the performance of the singer/rapper on stage (also played by Snoop Dogg). There are many cuts to close ups of Snoop's face as he watches the performer and we can see his reaction to the performance thanks to these shots. There is also evidence of voyeuristic treatment of the female body at 1:58 as one of the men in the club can be seen watching a lady from behind in a voyeuristic manner as she walks past him. 

Is there intertextual reference?

There is clear intertextual reference in this video, inspired by the name of the song. The song's name 'Doggfather' is a play on the word 'Godfather' (referring to 'The Godfather' movie trilogy) which allows for the video to parody the general mise-en-scene and behaviour of characters in this movie. As the Godfather movies were mafia movies set in 1930s America, the video is also set in a similar time period, as we can see from the mise-en-scene, with characters wearing clothing from that time period. This time period reference is made clearer by the fact that the video is in black and white, as all footage from that era was. The video also contains dancing similar to that which would be seen in that era, especially in movies and musicals, adding to the intertextual reference.

Mock Magazine Advert For Album (Rough)

This is our magazine advert to promote our artist's debut album. We used a large picture of the artist which shows his face and his style in fashion which allows fans to judge him based on his appearance and get an idea of what genre his music could be (jeans, trainers and baseball jacket are likely to represent urban pop or rap). This is conventional for a young urban artist who is not yet established, with such artists as Wretch 32 and Ed Sheeran using similar images.

We put the name of our artist at the top to clearly let people know, and the name of the album so that people can search it or identify it when they see it in stores or online. We wrote "Available in stores 12th December" as it is vital to let people know the release date so they know how new the album is and when they can get their hands on it. These conventions are also seen in the above adverts, and indeed apply to all genres.

This is followed by icons of HMV and iTunes as these are the top places to purchase the album, with HMV being a popular high-street store and also being popular as an online store where customers can order a physical copy of the album. iTunes is important in the modern music industry as it is the number one online music store, and by searching the iTunes store for the album, customers can purchase it digitally and immediately receive MP3 files of all the songs on the album as well as the artwork which appears when they play the song on their desktop, tablet or handheld device. A link to purchase the song on iTunes will also appear on the 'More info' section of the artist's music video when uploaded on Youtube. The main inspiration for this was Wretch 32's advert, as Ed Sheeran's placing of icons is less prominent, with just the iTunes logo appearing next to the price. The price was included in this advert as iTunes was the only store linked, however with Wretch 32's advert and our advert the different stores promoted could hold the product at different prices. The price is not always inserted into the make up of the advert anyway but is important to some people as it can affect whether they want to buy the album or not.

Below this we posted links to the artist's social networking pages on Facebook and Twitter respectively. This allows readers to visit the artist's page on their favourite sites and learn more about him and follow him directly on those sites which will allow direct promotion onto their homepages in many cases. We mainly used our initiative here, however Wretch 32 has one example of this in his advert as his Myspace URL is at the bottom of the advert.

General Update

This week we have mainly worked on our video. We have shot much more footage since our first shoot on October 17th and almost have enough to fill the 3 minutes of video, although we will have to watch all the footage and piece it together first before we can judge whether anymore footage is needed. We have also started work on our ancillary tasks, taking some photos on Monday which we will use for our digipak, and also on Thursday we started a rough edit of our magazine advert for our artist's album.

Artist Website Analysis

For this task I have analysed the website of UK Urban artist; Skepta. His website URL is www.doinitagain.co.uk as his catchphrase is "I'm doin' it again". This is unique as most artists just use their name or a variation of their name as their website URL.

This is what the website's homepage looks like.
When logging onto the website, the viewer immediately sees a big picture of the artist to promote his image, accompanied by his name clearly written in a grafiti style font to match his urban genre of music. The whole theme of the website is quite urban as this will appeal to his fans more. In the top right corner there is a small music player where the user can hear samples of his most popular tracks to give them a taster of what the artist sounds like. Underneath this is a much bigger clue of what the artist is like, as there is a video player which automatically plays his latest music video in full length. To the left of the music player are links to Skepta's profile on other popular social networking websites such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter and Ping. This allows people to follow him on their favourite websites and means Skepta will constantly be appearing on their newsfeeds for these websites if they choose to follow him. This also means that fans can easily and conveniently recieve updates from these sites without logging onto Skepta's official website all the time.

On the left is the navigation panel. The 'News' option will take users to a page where Skepta's most recent important news and updates are displayed along with 'Headlines'. The 'Gigs' option will take users to a page where they can see details on any upcoming gigs Skepta may be performing at. The 'Releases' option takes users to a page where they can download Skepta's latest free mixtape. The 'Videos' option allows users to watch Skepta's official music videos and 'other videos' such as freestyles for the radio. The 'Gallery' option shows users other press pictures of Skepta. The 'Store' option takes users to a store where they can purchase Skepta related accessories, clothing and of course Skepta's CDs. Fans can even purchase signed copies of his latest mixtape on this page. The 'About' section provides users with an informative text-based page which tells the story of Skepta so far and also mentions many of his associated artists, which promotes them too. The 'Contact' section then allows people to personally send Skepta fan e-mail or ask him any questions they may have. It is however unlikely that Skepta personally replies to these messages, and more likely that he has a PA or agent to do it.

Towards the bottom left of the screengrab is an option to log-in or sign up to Skepta's website. This means that hardcore fans can become a member of Skepta's website which would give them added  benefits of recieving official update emails on such things as upcoming albums, gigs and general information. At the bottom of the screengrab are images of his most recent album and mixtape releases so that fans can easily see if they have missed any recent releases. This is accompanied by a 'News' section so that fans can easily see if they have missed any important updates about Skepta's personal life, plans for any gigs or tours, and information on any upcoming releases.

There is also a list of gigs with dates and locations in the bottom left although this is empty as his tour just finished a few weeks ago and he will not be doing gigs for a while. At the bottom there is a massive section called 'Skepta Social' which allows users to instantly 'like' his page on Facebook, and also shows all of his most recent and most popular tweets on Twitter.