There are many different platforms that we are able to see interactive media on, one of them being the World Wide Web. The internet is our most dependant source of interaction, being easy to access with internet connection, we are able to use it in our daily routine to: shop online, download music from well known sites such as youtube or flash animation, catch up on the latest television shows and films or watch a preview of the upcoming episode, read interactive books and research global affairs.
There are a few different internet browsers available for download or which work specifically against a certain operating system, and they have different attributes when it comes to browsing. Firefox for example is the web browser for Linux operating systems, but can be downloaded for use on Microsoft PC’s; this favours a faster browsing speed than Microsoft internet explorer. I use Firefox because it is safe and quick when web browsing and downloading certain media such as; games, images and software.
Email attachments provide use of video allowing data such as; spreadsheets, audio and video files, images and e-cards to be transferred quickly and easily from person to person.
DVDs and CDs are different ways of saving data. DVDs have a higher capacity and are known for the use of films, documentaries or moving images and have the additional features such as: director's commentary, how the film was made, deleted scenes, interviews with the cast and crew. Whereas CD ROMs have a lower data capacity and are primarily used for burning audio and video onto the disk. They are also used for educational purposes such as; accessing presentations and briefs. However these days there has been a rise in mp3 downloads because it is easy, cheaper and faster, resulting in CD's becoming more redundant.
A more recent platform of video in interactive media are Kiosk's. These are interactive stations located in places such as: bus stations, shopping centres and tourist hot spots. This type of platform contains tourist and local information, for example; a kiosk found at a bus station would provide information stating bus timetables, cost of a bus fair and how to plan your journey. Whereas a kiosk located in a tourist destination such as London; Imperial War Museum will provide architectural and historical facts of this attraction. Kiosk's are free to use and are updated regularly maintaining reliable information.
Similarly to interactive Kiosk's is the use of the "Red" Button. The "Red" Button is used through the television it gives the viewer variety on what to watch and global affairs. For example, If you missed Eastenders you are able to click the "Red" Button and view the episode you missed. If you would like to know what the weather prediction is for the next day you can easily view the forecast. It is also accessible for gaming, allowing you to watch your chosen programme whilst playing the game of your choice.
Presentations are used to pitch an idea across to an audience. The most common programme to use is Microsoft Powerpoint. A presentation can consist of entirely one typecast, such as entirely text, or entirely video. It is more effective to use more than one to add variety to try and not bore the subject matter. A Powerpoint presentation about how to perform your best in tennis for example, could not only consist of facts and instructions but short clips of the movement you pursue when in the game. You are able to embed short clips from youtube or flash player into the presentation.
This is a very effective way to explain the subject to an audience without a vast amount of paper work and big paragraphs of writing. The audience can easily keep interested because the visuals help explain the topic.
The uses of video in the interactive media
Advertising is the biggest most widespread use of interactive media technology. You find advertising everywhere, on TV, in magazines and newspapers, in emails and on websites. Advertising is a very important part of making any interactive media successful it is one of the cheapest and easiest ways of promoting a product, it is very simple to show a trailer of Spielberg's newest film or a preview of Lady Gaga's latest single because it instantly attracts the target audience and word of the mouth is passed on.
Majority of the adverts on the internet consist of downloads or links to other sites such as gaming websites like Miniclip are most likely to advertise other games and previews for other gaming sites, showing links. And similarly to music websites, this is an effective way to advertise because it is designed for the target audience to feel tempted into trying out new games and listening to new music.
Adverts on Television are most likely to be promoting products you are able to find locally in store for example, food, toys or electronics. The audience are able to identify which products they would like to purchase because the advertisement uses someone within their target audience to promote the product having fun, showing how it should be used which will influence them to purchase the product.
There is two types of advertising, first one being promotional advertising, where the audience are attracted by free trials and downloads hooking them onto the game or programme. For example, Photoshop promotes a 30 day free trial offer for their programme, after the trial has expired if the user would like to carry on using the software they will have to pay a price. This is a good way of promoting a companies product because the audience will want to carry on using it.
The second type of marketing is called viral marketing. This way of promoting a product or a programme is sneaky yet very clever. We as a vulnerable audience are uncertain whether the advert is used to promote the product or is just a piece of user-generated content. Viral videos are put on sites for user-generated content sites, such as YouTube. The video of the "hot girl playing wii fit" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW9jxPAGl-s turned out to be a viral advert collaborating with the production company; a very clever way to advertise for free to a vulnerable audience, the message portrayed within this advert was effective to young girls of her target audience. If they were to purchase a wii fit they can become slim, sexy and confident.
Virtual reality tours are a very interesting form of interactive media. This type of media is primarily used on property selling managements and estate agents. With these you can go through a virtual tour of the house or property your thinking of buying from the comfort of your own seat. This can be extremely attractive to the buyer as if they live a busy lifestyle they can pick the houses they wish to view more carefully than from just a few select images. Also this is a clever thought by the realtor, as they can make the expensive houses look even better to persuade people to buy, as the buyer will be viewing all aspects of the home.
I've used a VR when going on holiday, the realtor website showed a 360 degree view of the property and the surroundings. I as the audience was very overwhelmed with the picture and size and as I noticed when arriving at my villa it was different to the VR but with no disappointment.
E- Learning is a way to be taught via the internet by yourself. Sites such as the BBC have programs that can be used for self learning, if you wanted to learn about the Dinosaurs there are news articles, and even specific slideshows on the subject. There are also pages on the subject to learn about specific types of dinosaur, if you are looking to do research or just have an interest. There are also educational games that can be accessed on subjects. These let you play through certain scenarios as if you lived in the time or if you were a dinosaur yourself, with facts about what would happen along the way, so as you were playing you were learning as well. There are also other sites such as Sam learning, which is a revision site for GCSE’s and SAT’s. These contain question and answer slideshows to help revise for your chosen subject, it also has educational videos to watch while learning about your subjects. This is a very good way of learning as it is entirely self taught, therefore it shows you wish to learn and are going to concentrate, rather than being sat in front of someone talking to you.
Games are a form of entertainment and are accessible to anyone with internet access on a computer, or who own a games console. These are more popular with the younger audience as they offer a distraction to doing work. There are many kinds of gaming platforms to cater to everybody; there are games for little children all the way up to adults, depending on your preference. For example the game ‘Viva Piñata: Party Animals’ is a very colourful game and very easy to play, this would appeal to the younger audience as it involves a lot of paper talking animals competing against each other. Whereas the game ‘Borderlands’ is dank but cartoony in appearance with a lot of violence about it, this would appeal more to the teenage-young adult audience as it is a harder game and offers more of a challenge. Games are extremely good as most people like to go for them for a bit of entertainment, and can even be played with multiple people to offer a group playing experience.
Codec’s are used to compress all kinds of file, from video, to game. There are specific Codec’s for each kind of file, and to use them you need the same codec on both ends of the file compression transfer. A codec is needed to compress files to send over the internet, seeing as the average download speed is about 2MB/s and a full length film is around 800MB it would take a long time to download, so codec’s are used to compress these files down to make it easier for download. However to decompress these files you need the same codec on your side of the transfer, for example MPEG-4 is one of the most commonly used codec’s on windows computers, and are preinstalled on things like windows media player so when you download files there are automatically decompressed for you.
If you are downloading a game file however you would need a different kind of codec to work off. WinRar is one of these; it can open and decompress files to full size to be able to transfer onto disk. These are good ways of transferring data as it helps downloading take less time, but is only good if you have the right codec to work with.
Streaming video is what is done on sites like YouTube or Newgrounds, and is majorly user-generated content. This means you can put anything you want on the internet to share with anyone; these videos are only viewable on the internet and don’t involve any downloading.
You can embed certain videos off YouTube onto a blog or any other website you may own. This is useful if you are writing up about these things or just want to show off a good video. Embedding involves taking the specific HTML format and copying it onto a different site to show the video as it is in its own little player. You can choose the sizes of these as well if you wanted a larger video than normal.
Videos can also be tagged with certain keywords associated with the content in the video, making the video searchable on Google, or Bing for example, this can help you get your video onto the web quicker and found by people searching for your keywords. This works on streamed videos as well as downloaded videos so you can choose to get the video either way.
Tuesday 9 February 2010
Sunday 7 February 2010
Synopsis
Purpose of Research
I understand the purpose to carry out research because it allows one to build upon their knowledge of the subject they are investigating. There are two types of research; first being primary. This type of research is carried out by you as an individual, collecting information from the target audience such as: writing surveys; to collect the audiences opinion on the subject matter, organsising focus groups and group feedback; to build opinions and discussions between a certain topic.
I understand the purpose to carry out research because it allows one to build upon their knowledge of the subject they are investigating. There are two types of research; first being primary. This type of research is carried out by you as an individual, collecting information from the target audience such as: writing surveys; to collect the audiences opinion on the subject matter, organsising focus groups and group feedback; to build opinions and discussions between a certain topic.
Secondary research involves information summerised and collected by another person. The internet is a very dominant source of secondary research, it holds a vast amount of information collected by other sources. However, although the internet is very up to date, it isn't always the most accurate source information but it is very ideal to begin using some background knowledge. It is ideal to research a variety of sources to give you an accurate overview. A few more examples of secondary research are: books, government statistics, newspapers and magazines and journals.
Our music video is based upon a love story between two mystical woodland creatures. Our target audience being aged between 12 – 20. The idea is to take the video beyond the predictable love song to create a contrary fairytale, keeping the visuals light hearted to compliment our lyrics. Realising the relationship between our visuals and audio being unpredictable, we intend to structure our video as a love story to keep the audience engaged.
The location chosen for filming is Pin Mill in Chelmondiston (Ipswich, IP9 1JN). We have many ideas about where to film this project however due to cost and time it is agreed that this location is the most successful. We have agreed upon a daily budget for petrol keeping costs low and fair. Pin Mill is approximately 15 – 20 minutes from Ipswich travelling by car. Being to look at our chosen location it is exactly what we had planned to find; A large woodland, situated near The River Orwell giving us stunning views. It is easy to access by car and within walking distance from the nearby car park.
The woodland gives the video a sense of insecurity and uncertainty. The trees are positioned within a short distance between each other allowing the creatures to emerge from their habitat in disguise and with promiscuous feeling.
To begin our music video we had the idea of the sun rising creating a feeling of surrealism. Seeing the sunrise introduces our video and helps form the structure of the day awakening. We have 23seconds of introduction before our lyrics begin, after the sunrise we decided to introduce our location being the woodlands. To create a feeling of emptiness, the movement of shot will be panned across the abandoned walk way, engaging the audience to feel out of the norm.
Following on from this scene we then introduce the woodland creatures, these mystical creatures awaken from their habitat behind logs and from trees creating a sense of curiosity. The creatures carry a threatening identity towards unfamiliar faces, they portray their identity through colour; wearing bright and bold face paints and shabby yet unique attire.
To allow the audience to visualise the relationship between the two creatures, we have choreographed a short dance. The dance begins as the chorus begins. This dance involves three other students being Arti Patel, Sharni Sayer and Amy Rush Da Silva. We need extra creatures in order to form a circle, allowing the two creatures in love to be hidden in the middle. The two in love will gradually be revealed as the group separates. This scene is dominant to the video because it emphasises the creatures happiness and acceptance for the couple in love and showing a alternative side to the audience, seeming understanding and cheerful.
Beginning of the second verse, the creatures are lying down side by side lip syncing. For this scene we plan to use a rotating shot creating a magical feeling. The song picks up again on the chorus repeating the previous dance however this time the dance is emphasising a celebration for the two as the creatures all come together once more.
We end the song on the sunset, we decided to use the same shots of the sunrise which will be used in the opening scene but reverse it for this scene, so we see the story come to an end.
Filming our promo in the woodlands means we have to weigh out our pros and cons. It is important that we keep up to date with the weather forecast, because if it rains we can have the option to fall back on a plan B rather than become stuck. Following on from this, the temperature is reaching minus degrees Celsius within the next week meaning we have to consider other costume options preventing us from becoming ill. Due to our Sunset scene it is important to make sure we keep in the know about the weather. If the weather forecasts fog and cloud this results in us being unable to shoot this specific scene because the sun will be not be visible. We also have to find out what time the sunrises in order for us to be successful and giving us enough time to prepare before the shoot.
Our music video is based upon a love story between two mystical woodland creatures. Our target audience being aged between 12 – 20. The idea is to take the video beyond the predictable love song to create a contrary fairytale, keeping the visuals light hearted to compliment our lyrics. Realising the relationship between our visuals and audio being unpredictable, we intend to structure our video as a love story to keep the audience engaged.
The location chosen for filming is Pin Mill in Chelmondiston (Ipswich, IP9 1JN). We have many ideas about where to film this project however due to cost and time it is agreed that this location is the most successful. We have agreed upon a daily budget for petrol keeping costs low and fair. Pin Mill is approximately 15 – 20 minutes from Ipswich travelling by car. Being to look at our chosen location it is exactly what we had planned to find; A large woodland, situated near The River Orwell giving us stunning views. It is easy to access by car and within walking distance from the nearby car park.
The woodland gives the video a sense of insecurity and uncertainty. The trees are positioned within a short distance between each other allowing the creatures to emerge from their habitat in disguise and with promiscuous feeling.
To begin our music video we had the idea of the sun rising creating a feeling of surrealism. Seeing the sunrise introduces our video and helps form the structure of the day awakening. We have 23seconds of introduction before our lyrics begin, after the sunrise we decided to introduce our location being the woodlands. To create a feeling of emptiness, the movement of shot will be panned across the abandoned walk way, engaging the audience to feel out of the norm.
Following on from this scene we then introduce the woodland creatures, these mystical creatures awaken from their habitat behind logs and from trees creating a sense of curiosity. The creatures carry a threatening identity towards unfamiliar faces, they portray their identity through colour; wearing bright and bold face paints and shabby yet unique attire.
To allow the audience to visualise the relationship between the two creatures, we have choreographed a short dance. The dance begins as the chorus begins. This dance involves three other students being Arti Patel, Sharni Sayer and Amy Rush Da Silva. We need extra creatures in order to form a circle, allowing the two creatures in love to be hidden in the middle. The two in love will gradually be revealed as the group separates. This scene is dominant to the video because it emphasises the creatures happiness and acceptance for the couple in love and showing a alternative side to the audience, seeming understanding and cheerful.
Beginning of the second verse, the creatures are lying down side by side lip syncing. For this scene we plan to use a rotating shot creating a magical feeling. The song picks up again on the chorus repeating the previous dance however this time the dance is emphasising a celebration for the two as the creatures all come together once more.
We end the song on the sunset, we decided to use the same shots of the sunrise which will be used in the opening scene but reverse it for this scene, so we see the story come to an end.
Filming our promo in the woodlands means we have to weigh out our pros and cons. It is important that we keep up to date with the weather forecast, because if it rains we can have the option to fall back on a plan B rather than become stuck. Following on from this, the temperature is reaching minus degrees Celsius within the next week meaning we have to consider other costume options preventing us from becoming ill. Due to our Sunset scene it is important to make sure we keep in the know about the weather. If the weather forecasts fog and cloud this results in us being unable to shoot this specific scene because the sun will be not be visible. We also have to find out what time the sunrises in order for us to be successful and giving us enough time to prepare before the shoot.
Evaluation
Above is the finished project, I believe it could have gone better but could have been worse. I enjoyed shooting the music promo, it was a lot of fun and I felt I expanded on my knowledge. The first idea we had was to film our video on a beach following the theme of a typical love song but we all decided after a lot of thinking that it would be fun, challenging and unusual if we created an article which was unique. We were inspired by Florence and The Machine's music video “Dog days are over” I found watching her video comfortable and different, it was inspirational to watch because the idea was simple yet compelling. The cast in her promo consisted of circus acts; one being a clown which caught my attention due to his eccentric face paints and colourful costume. This helped us realise how we would portray the creatures to our audience.
The most popular idea was to create woodland creatures living in a world full of imagination. The idea was difficult to pursue to the audience without any confusion. I thought it was best to structure the video as a story because it was easier to follow, the audience are able to realise what is happening and the promo itself doesn't look unorganised. It was important that the video flowed nicely and was not uncomfortable to watch because otherwise it wouldn't appeal to our target audience.
During the production it was very important to keep up to date with the weather. Our location had no heating or shelter which meant if rain was expected for the duration of the week we would be able to have a plan B. A problem that we did have was filming the sun rise, We were up Monday to Wednesday morning by 6:45am but didn't manage to produce a clear capture. So Thursday morning I drove to Wherstead and filmed the sunrise, however I was disappointed when I logged and captured my footage because the camera moved which altered the frame of the shot. Talking to Tim in pre-production he thought the most successful technique to use was to use quick time capture; stop the recording every few minutes cutting the shot meaning in editing it allows you to speed up the scene, creating an edgy effect. However because the focus of the sunrise was so still when pressing record it jolted the camera which gave us an unsteady scene. I was happy with the setting, it was beautiful however if I was to film it again I would record the sunrise as a hole shot and then in editing I would just speed it up. This way I would prevent any unnecessary movement of the camera.
I think the hardest part to this project was to create the music. Firstly I suggested we chose a genre, allowing us to explore and find ideas. For example: if we had chosen Hip Hop as our genre our music would consist of dominant catchy beats whereas if we had chosen Rock/Metal the vibe would be heavy and threatening using electric guitars and drums to portray this image. We firstly created an acoustic genre using acoustic guitars and piano but we found it hard to create successful audio to match with our visuals. So we started to chose something more lighthearted finding inspiration from Coldplay, we still used piano and a slow acoustic guitar but our backing track was dominant throughout our piece; meaning our lyrics were able to easily flow with the music.
The lyrics were hard to write, we set each other a task which was to go home and all write lyrics about the certain topic we had chosen and then come back in the next day and compare. Reading through our lyrics we all had different emotions and it was hard to contrast them together. In the end we found the easiest way was to really listen to the music and brainstorm our ideas. I found this most successful because it meant we as a group all took part and the lyrics fitted well with the song. If I was to do the music again I would have chosen a slower paced song and maybe added a bit more of an edge to it due to our visuals being mysterious creating an eerie effect. However I was very pleased with the outcome apart from my singing. I had a lot of fun recording and creating the music.
Our location being Pin Mill was ideal for our video, It is exactly what we had hoped for and it was the easiest location to access. It was very easy finding different points within our location to create edgy and varied shots. One issue that did occur to me in pre-production was lighting, because of being in the woodlands surrounded by trees, light is restricted which may have affected our picture but whilst filming we found the light complimented our piece because we were lucky with the sunshine. The temperature reached minus degrees Celsius some days and because there was no heating we did struggle to film and act. If I was to do this again I would take extra belongings such as, rugs, blankets, coats and jumpers; to sit on, keep warm and have for extra layers. Warm drinks; keeping our bodies warm and energised.
It was very important to have dominant costumes in order to portray the creatures to the audience. In order o keep costs low and fair we decided to use what we had, It was lucky I had lots of old Moroccan summer clothing because the colours of the trousers and scarves were bold and bright and the style of them was unusual. The clothing wasn't ideal due to the temperature of the weather. If I was to do it again I would come to a fair agreement and create costumes using old clothes and accessories. The costumes played an important role because we had to make the audience understand who we were however I didn't think it looked very successful. Using face paint on our faces was a good idea because it added identity to the creatures and the overall appearance looked odd and slightly threatening. Applying face paints each day was time consuming and our group couldn't really afford to lose more time than we needed due to our busy production schedule. If I was to do this again I would maybe suggest using masks and personalise them ourselves preventing time loss resulting in keeping the same identity each day of filming. I would also suggest painting any visible nude part of the body for example: arms; to really emphasis the creatures identity.
During filming we had no major problems, what I did find is that we didn't have enough footage. We all took turns with the camera allowing us to all have a chance at filming and to be seen in our production. However, I was disappointed I only had a short time on camera, I would've liked to contribute a lot more footage to our piece but it was hard because not everybody wanted to be the talent, so we had to come to a fair agreement. If I was to make any improvements I think wearing masks would be a better idea for everybody resulting in us all looking the same meaning nobody feels embarrassed in front of the camera. Allowing us all to have a fair share with filming.
Our group decided to use image stills to create an edgy effect. I had never use this technique before so I had fun experimenting. I was impressed with all the image stills I took and how effective it looked on playback. To emphasis the creatures mysterious mannerisms this effect worked well because it made them look out of the ordinary. I especially liked the angle of Kirstin when she was twirling around within the trees. The angle made her look superior because the camera was positioned beneath her. The only doubt I had when capturing these images was the slight movement of the camera, in Industry remote controls are used to capture the image instead of pressing the button this prevents any contact with the camera causing any slight movement which will affect the end result. I was disappointed with the outcome of images when the creatures came together. The setting was changed due to light conditions which altered the exposure time. If I was to make any improvements on this I would take more practice and use more variety of shots experimenting with the talent.
We used two tapes to record our video, so as a group we alternated times to log and capture because of the amount of footage. But when logging and capturing our footage I realised we didn't have enough which changed our idea. Whilst we were filming I did have that concern, so in the woods each of us took a few shots of the surroundings. Jess captured some lovely shots of the bunting, I found that panning the camera within the trees worked effectively and Kirstin captured some shots of the walkway, These shots help connect scenes together and are able to keep the audience engaged with the creatures habitat.
I felt I had a strong role during editing, I enjoyed watching our footage on playback and piecing it all together however I was very disappointed when the work I had achieved had been changed. But due to our team work we came to a few compromises. I feel that towards the end of the video (2:15) this certain scene is weak and the audience are unable to piece together what may be going on because the sequence becomes random. (2:31) The audience can realise that the visuals are being reversed. Jess and I thought this was a good idea because the visuals connect with the lyrics. Woodland creatures go into hibernation “One day, One Month” suggests how ever long the creatures are apart their imagination will always be true to them. “Imagine us 10 years from now” suggests the creatures have woken from their habitat and rekindled their love for each other and beyond their celebrations and happiness they'll soon have to return to hibernation but their love for each other will continue 10 years from now, 20 years from now, for eternity because it's “Forever you and me”.
Showing our video to our class surprised me because our feedback was very positive. About 5 pupils said they felt that the music promo was unique. I felt pleased by this response because it is what we had planned to portray and we were able to keep that standard continuous throughout filming. Many pupils in our class found the Mise-En-Scene effective, the use of costumes and make allowed the audience to identify the connection with the creatures. One of the main areas I found we really succeeded on was the sunrise, the feedback given was very productive and pleasing to hear, our audience was very impressed with the visual and editing.
However much I didn't like the sound of my voice our group was praised with the effort we put in by our audience. “The music flows very well with the visuals” “A lot of effort has been made”.
It was interesting to notice after the video had been played the audience had mixed opinions about what genre of music it is. “Snow Patrol” was a popular answer which resulted in our genre being Indie. The reason why Snow Patrol was a popular answer was due to our backing track whereas some of our audience suggested “Pop” because of our singing. I was happy with these decisions because it means the audio was lighthearted and the visuals were able to compliment the lyrics keeping a neutral balance between the two.
I found that our music video visually represented us as a band, showing that we are unique to our audience, due to the promotion of our group the audience will now expect our image when listening to this piece of music.
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