Hardware
A MacBook pro, used to capture screen shots which were key in the deconstruction of alternative rock music videos as well as my evaluation responses. This piece of hardware also enabled me to access software and online resources, which were vital in completing virtually every task.
An Acer Aspire 6920, a Windows laptop, used to complete additional tasks throughout the whole process.
A Lexmark platinum pro 905 colour inkjet, a fax machine, printer, scanner and photocopier, used to scan my storyboard and moodboard into my Acer laptop, before transferring them to my MacBook Pro, where I uploaded them to blogger.
An Olympus VN6500PC, a digital voice recorder, used to record my interview with a fan of alternative rock music (audience research conducted during planning and research). I also used this device to record audience feedback regarding the final cut of my music video as well as recording one of my evaluation responses.
A Sony Cybershot DSC- T900, a digital camera which was used to take my location photos and photos of my artist which I used in the construction of my magazine advertisement.
A Canon Legria HFS21, a high definition video recorder used to shoot my music video.
Software:
Final Cut Express 4.0, a video editing application, used to edit the audio from my interview with a fan of alternative rock music. I also used this software to heavily edit the footage that I shot for my music video. I feel this product was invaluable in creating the final cut of my music video, as it helped me to be creative and realise my artistic vision. For example Final Cut Express allowed me to manipulate both the colour of my shots and the sequence in which they appear. I utilised Levi Straus’ theory of “Binary Opposition” in order to create a contrast between the colours of my shots, where colour was symbolically used to not only communicate the various shifts in the narrative of my music video but also help in establishing my desired atmosphere.
Screen shots showing how I manipulated the colour of my shots using Final Cut Express can be seen below.
The above shot is from the dream sequence in my music video and denotes the female protagonist laughing at the male protagonist (original footage from an early cut of my music video).
The above shot is taken from the final cut of my music video where I have decided to apply a brown sepia tint (video filter) in order to give it a surreal atmosphere and therefore distinguish it from "reality". I also increased the whites of this shot, although this is not displayed in the shot above.
Shot denoting the present (original footage)
shot denoting the final manipulated image in final cut. In order to achieve my desired atmosphere, I decreased both the saturation and the whites of the shot, as well as also decreasing the blacks of the shots. I felt this manipulation of colour was key in communicating my male protagonist's current conflict and ultimately giving the audience a sense of the bleakness of his situation.
The above shot is taken from the first cut of my music video which denotes a flashback, where my protagonist remembers a moment when he was happy.
The above screen shot is from my final cut of my music video, where I have manipulated the colour of the shot by incraesing the whites as well as the mids of the shot. I did this in order to give the audience an insight into how happy the male protagonist once was, which I hope will trigger sympathy from the audience, especially when contrasted with his current torment.
The screenshot above (taken from the first cut of my music video) denotes the male protagonist's psychological delusion that the female protagonist's new lover is mocking him.
The screen shot above is taken from the final cut of my music video, where I purposely decided to apply a red tint (video filter) in order to make the shot appear more ominous as well as separating the shot from the "reality" of my male protagonist's current situation.
Final Cut Express also allowed me to manipulate the speed of my original footage in order to better complement the pace of the song. Furthermore, this software enabled me to incorporate fadeouts, dissolve fades and dip to colour fades which helped the transitions between the shots as well as adding meaning to the subsequent shots. For example I used fadeouts in my dream sequence to make it more dramatic whereas, I used a dissolve fade which proceeded a still image of the female and her new lover laughing at the male protagonist, in order to embed the male protagonists insecurities – this transitions prolongs the laughter of the other characters in the video and consequently highlights the humiliation felt by the male protagonist – hopefully causing the audience to sympathise with him.
I further used Final Cut Express to edit the audio from my audience feedback which I received during post production as well as editing the audio of one of my evaluation responses.
Adobe Photoshop Elements, a graphics editing programme, used to create my ancillary tasks. I specifically used this application to add text to my ancillary tasks and to darken the photos I took of my artist when creating my magazine advertisement.
iTunes, a digital media player, used to convert a MP3 of my song into an AIFF format in order to make it more compatible with Final Cut Express.
Online resources:
Blogger, a blog publishing service, used to document the whole process from pre-production to production (including the evaluation).
Google, a search engine, used to source information relating to other artists of the rock music genre such as release dates regarding my researched music videos etc.
YouTube, a video hosting site, used to watch and then deconstruct other rock music videos. I also used YouTube to host my storyboard, interview with a fan of alternative rock music, my music video, my audience feedback and one of my evaluation responses.
Overall, my use of the above media technologies has enabled me, a media consumer to become, a savvy media producer, who can create professional media products at only a fraction of the cost of real life production companies.
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