Evaluation Q4: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Evaluation Q3: What have you learned from your audience feedback?

We uploaded the video to Facebook, in order to get some audience feedback from other users. Generally people liked the video; however, there were one or two criticisms. The fact that someone had said the phone number idea wasn’t very clear made me think that we could have illustrated this in a much better way. Our initial plan was to have someone giving the main character the number at the beginning of the film, however due to complications with filming we never managed to get the shot. I think if we had done this, it would have shed light on the whole idea of the video, however I quite like the way that by not including this, the narrative of the video is slightly ambiguous. In addition to this, the way that (as noticed by Paul Waiting) we made sure the moment that he picked up the phone the sample of the girls voice comes in gives the audience a clue as to who the number belongs to.

Another comment was that the editing was slightly slow in parts, so we lost the energy of the song. I would agree with this and I think had we the chance to do it again, it would work better if the cutting rate had increased at the time that the song became louder and more energetic. I think when editing the video, we were more concerned with the narrative and almost lost sight of the relationship with the music unless it drove the story forward. I think this also led to the point made that there perhaps wasn’t as much footage of the band as there could be, however many music videos of a similar genre don’t feature the band at all, so I think this could be really down to personal preference.

We also carried out a focus group within our media class and got feedback from our classmates. Comments from them were all very positive and examples included; ‘The dissolves worked really well’, ‘The split screen in conjunction with the colour and monochrome really helps to separate the narrative from the band performance’, ‘The narrative of the following of the thread is really engaging and the video is edited very well as a whole’. Another aspect that was mentioned was that we had made use of Barthe’s ‘hermaneutic’ or ‘enigma’ code very well in the sense that there are many questions that arise in the audience’s mind in response to watching the video such as ‘who’s number is that?’, and ‘where is this thread leading?’.

Evaluation Q2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

We tried to make our package work as a whole by ensuring that there was a running theme throughout. The overall theme of ‘blue’ (background of advert and digi-pack, and a recurring colour within the video itself – mug, bed clothes, sweater) references the nickname ‘the blue album’ which fans coined the album shortly after its release, as well as tying the three new products together.

There are many clear links between the digi-pack and the magazine advert. The way the album artwork is featured on the advert means that if a consumer were to see the advert they would be able to easily identify the album within a shop and because of the rating included on the advert (***** - Q) will be more encouraged to buy it (the Two-Step Flow Model). By doing this, we have stuck to the conventions of existing products as many other bands do this, for example Nirvana - using the swinning baby from the covewr of Nevermind on their tour poster, and R.E.M who also depicted the cover of their album Green on an advertisment. These album covers and posters are featured below. In addition to this, we have used the traditional ‘Weezer font’ of Century Gothic on both the digi-pack and advert – meaning that it is obvious to the audience and fans that the album is a Weezer product.

We decided to make the artwork of the album fairly song specific to The Sweater Song – including a photograph of an unravelling sweater and ‘sweater texture’ as the background of a number of the panels (all blue to maintain the brand image) - as we had seen a number of albums that also use this technique (Jens Lekmans’ Night Falls over Kortedala – featuring the artist having a haircut which reflects the lyrics in the song Shirin and The Pixies’ Doolittle – featuring a monkey with a halo and the numbers 5, 6 and 7 reflecting the lyrics of Monkey gone to Heaven ‘If man is five and the devil is 6 then God is 7’). We decided to follow these guidelines, not only because its conventional (and Weezer are a very conventional band) but also because it implies to the audience that this particular song is an important one to the band, which could be the selling point to someone who is considering buying it. 

In addition, the way we have included the ‘special features’ sticker on the front of the digi-pack mirrors the little information given on the advert, which further persuades consumers to purchase the album. 

Evaluation Q1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Finished Music Video

Magazine Advert

CD Designs

This is our design for the main 'Deluxe Edition' CD within the digi-pack. We used the TV featured on the cover of the digi-pak as the background of the CD to create a 'running theme'. Also we have used the TV to enable the audience to distinguish the difference between the main disc and the bonus CD's. On top of the TV, we added Weezer's logo, which adds the 'brand' of the group to the digi-pack as a whole. As their logo is already well established, it seemed acceptable to cut a part of it out of the CD for the purpose of having a well fitted size ratio compared to the screen. As its already well established as its used regularly by the band, people will be able to recognise the logo without it being completely visible.

 

Examples of Weezer's logo being featured in a lot of their promotion and events.

Both of these CD's were inspired by the original Weezer 'blue album' CD designs, by doing this we have stuck with the conventions of the band. By using the same textured background that is present on the digi-pack, it means they are integrated well within the product, and the 'theme' is still present as we are referencing the digi-pack itself. This can be seen on many other existing CD designs within a similar genre;

Smashing Pumpkins - 'mellon collie and the infinite sadness'

Radiohead - 'in rainbows'

R.E.M. - 'green'

Digi-Pack Finished Design

This is our finished digi-pack template (the top section is flipped so it's legible - in reality this would have to be upside down). The top three panels would appear on the inside of the album, and the bottom three on the outside. We have stuck with the blue colour of the original album - thus referencing it in some way - and also included an unravelling sweater which alludes to the lyrics of the song that we have created the video for - The Sweater Song, another album that does this is The Pixies' 'Doolittle' - referencing their single 'Monkey gone to heaven'. In addition, we have stuck with the conventions of the band by including them standing 'awkwardly' on the front cover, however have added something different with the presence of the TV. This makes our digipack a little different yet still fitting within the conventions of the genre.

Doolittle - Pixies

(referencing their single 'Monkey gone to heaven' by depicting a monkey with a halo on the cover)

Weezer (blue album) - Weezer

We attempted to capture the same composure that Weezer have in their original album, capturing the essence of Weezer. This is important as Weezer have established themselves as a different kind of rock band, a 'geeky' and awkward one. It only seems right that to follow this convention and get the complete Weezer look.

Digi-Pack Prototypes

Pitch Feedback

We showed our new pitch to the rest of the class in order to get feedback on our ideas. The response was very positive and it was clear that our classmates preferred this new idea. Someone commented that this idea was a lot more realistic and we would be able to do it well quite easily compared with the last idea which was quite ambitious. It was also said that the idea of following the string is quite surreal and will make an interesting and quite different music video. 

New Pitch

New Shooting Schedule

Day 1 - January 17th

Time	Activity	Location	Cast/Crew	Resources	Shots
12:20– 13:20	Shooting end scene (Jack finds the phone number)	York College green screen room	All crew and Jack needed	Camera, Tripod, Instruments, Paper, Wool	10 +
13:20- 16:20 (or earlier)	Shooting band scenes	York College green screen room	All crew and band members needed	Camera, Tripod, Instruments	25 +

Day 2 - January 18th

Time	Activity	Location	Cast/Crew	Resources	Shots
9:00- 12:00	Shooting following thread scenes	York City Centre	All crew and Jack needed	Camera, Tripod, Jumper, Wool, Paper, Payphone	25 +
14:00- 15:00	Shooting ‘awakening’ sequence	George’s house/travelling to town	George Howard and Jack Rientoul	Camera, Tripod, Jumper, Food, Crockery etc.	10 +

New Storyboard

Changing Our Idea

We decided as a group that the idea to use the mirror and have the character 'falling into it' was a little ambitious and unrealistic. Because of this we have decided to take the video in a different direction, still incorporating the same themes and ideas just without the complex mirror sequence.

Initial Storyboards

These are our initial story boards for the new idea, they are only rough so we will be re-drawing them at some point. In this version of the video, the main character is handed a phone number by someone out of shot which the character then loses. His sweater begins to unravel and the string leads him in different directions as he follows it. Eventually the string leads to a mirror and the character 'falls into it' to the world of the band.  

Locations, Talent, Props etc.

LOCATIONS 

York Center / River Ouse (following thread) - 

  

York College Green Screen Room - 

PROPS

Instruments: Guitar, Bass, Drumkit, Microphone & stand x2

Other: Wool, Jumper, Paper (for phone number), Payphone, Mirror (?)

CHARACTERS

Band members: 

Isaac Whiting

Will Hirst

Lachlan Mackay 

Main Character (boy):

Jack Rientoul

New Idea

After the first filming session, as a group we decided that we disliked our current idea, and some of the footage we had shot turned out either too dark or too shaky. In light of this, we had a 'brainstorming session' and have come up with a new idea that we think will be better suited to the song, and create a better product overall. We have decided to keep the design for the digi-pack the same as we think it follows the conventions of the band quite well.

New date
The filming will start on the 17th of January and finish on the 18th of January. Filming will take place over the majority of both of these days.