CD Planning

Fish Tank; Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

In this film, Andrea Arnold has demonstrated her mastery and fluency in the social-realist idiom, and simply makes it fizz with life. Having now watched Fish Tank a second time, I am more exhilarated than ever by Arnold's idealism, and in a movie marketplace where so much is vapidly cynical, this is a mistral of fresh air. Arnold finds a way into the fashionable notion of a "Broken Britain", but in place of the pundits' dismay and contempt, she offers tenderness and hope. If Ken Loach were ever somehow called on constitutionally to nominate a successor, it would surely have to be Arnold. She's got the grit; she has Loach's humanism and optimism and she has a happy knack of getting great performances out of her cast, particularly from Michael Fassbender, who proves that he's not just sex on a stick – he's complexity and vulnerability on a stick as well. Added to this, Arnold and her cinematographer, Robbie Ryan, conjure some glorious, almost Turner-ish images of the Essex countryside, with its racing summer skies.


At the centre of the story is newcomer Katie Jarvis, playing Mia, a tricky, lairy 15-year-old in trouble with the social services for breaking a girl's nose after a contretemps in one of the windswept municipal canyons lying between tower blocks. She has inherited from her mum, played by Kierston Wareing, a stroppy insecurity and a nascent fondness for the booze. The family dog is actually called Tennent's. Mia has a feisty younger sister, Tyler – a scene-stealer of a performance from Rebecca Griffiths – who is always winding Mia up with shrill threats to "tell on her". There is no dad in the picture. Mia has just one interest in life: urban dance, and she isn't too bad, but the moves she practises are moody, introverted and subdued, rather like the dancer herself.

Their torpid lives are disrupted when Mia's mother miraculously gets a new boyfriend, Connor: and Fassbender gives his best performance yet. Connor is funny, sexy, confident and utterly relaxed where everyone else appears clenched with resentment. Noticeably articulate, Connor appears to come from a marginally more middle-class world and he is also, tellingly, a breadwinner. Mia rifles through his wallet while he's upstairs with her mum and instead of immediately nicking the cash, she gazes fascinated at his payslips: a man who actually works for a living. How many of those has she ever met?

Without consciously realising it, Mia is hoping that Connor could be a father-figure, and both sisters are secretly thrilled when he takes them all out for a drive in the country, and shows them how he can catch a fish with his bare hands. While her mother and sister cringe on the riverbank, Mia wades out into the cold, slimy water to help him and Tyler squeaks: "Is it minging?"

No, it is not minging. It is sensual and exciting, an exotic experience such as Mia has never known. And it marks the decisive point at which Connor and Mia's relationship drifts past being that of a quasi-father and daughter. Connor even takes an interest in her dancing, and casually lends her his expensive camcorder to tape an audition for a local competition, trusting that he will get it back. "You dance like a black," he tells her, with studied, flirtatious insolence. "I mean it as a compliment."

Mia has an enormous, poignant capacity for love, but she has never received any, certainly not from a damaged mother, whose one moment of intimacy with her daughter comes when she ferociously tells Mia that she was thinking of having her aborted. So she has no idea how to express or manage love and it is her muddled, suspicious longing for the safety and comfort of a father's care that makes the situation so explosive. As for Connor, it is far from clear how much baggage he has: he moves in to Mia's mum's flat because he says his own mother has thrown him out and often has to take calls from his "mum", but what is really going on? It becomes all too clear that if Mia has her own issues about family, then so does Connor – whose secrets are shabbier and more poisonous than either Mia or her mother could have realised.

The situation heralds an unwatchably tense finale as Mia's adoration turns into anger and then a determination to survive, to outgrow her surroundings, and to forgive. Arnold shows us that what makes the relationship between Mia and Connor so transgressive is not their obvious sexual attraction but their quite genuine, if thwarted and delusional longing to be father and daughter.

Jarvis has given a wonderfully honest and open performance to be compared with David Bradley in Kes, or Émilie Dequenne in the Dardenne brothers' Rosetta. Her relationship with Fassbender is what gives the film its beating heart.

Question 1: In what ways does you product challenge and conform to real media products?

The content of our video can be seen to be a hybrid of linear/non-linear narrative, drawing content that references a lot of different films and music videos we have found ourselves exposed to. One of the first sequences we filmed was the poker scene, a pivotal scene within our video which attempted to showcase the hedonistic ideal and excessive lifestyle gained from our characters whilst being exposed to the lifestyle that comes alongside being in a rock n roll band.

The main influence for the content within the poker scene was a very similar scene within Guy Ritchies film 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' which showcases the excessive grandeur of the game in the same light we wished to.

This panning shot within our video is a direct homage to the same shot within Lock Stock, with the comparison shown below,  Lock Stock's use of panning shots of the raised poker table shows a desperation to view the going-ons of the game and an inability to join the table which highlights the grandeur of the game alongside it being an efficient establishing shot: with the fame of the characters involved in the game. This connotation is what we wished to mirror for our characters, who we wish to be aspired to by the audience and shown in a very grandeur light.  Not only is the shot itself identical, but the use of non-ambient lighting within both shots makes the viewer unable to look away from the action and great emphasis is put upon the players, reinforcing the high risk that comes along with the game, which emphasises the hedonistic ideals we wished to portray.  

 

The first person view of the dealer that shows each player throwing either cards of chips into the cameras direction pinpoints the swagger and egotistical players- a trait mirrored in our video, as well as allowing the viewer to be finally placed in the game, this connection with the audience coercing them to pay more attention to the scene. The use of slow-motion highlights the fact that one second can change everything in this high risk game; emphasising the fast and loose lifestyle of the players that we also showcase in our video- the use of ECU reinforces the emotions of the players and reinforces the importance of a 'poker-face.'

If Andrew Goodwin's theory of Music Video conventions was to be applied to our music video, then a mix of following and challenging conventions would be derived from our product. Goodwin's first point is that there is a relationship between the lyrics and the visual; which in one point of context is true as the performance shots see the band lip-sync the lyrics- empowering their message and, as Goodwin puts it, 'amplifying' their presence. However despite the fact the song is called 'Waiting For Tomorrow', the band immediately waste their sudden gain of wealth in a storm of excess, it could be interpretated, on the other hand, that the lyric 'I'm wasting a lifetime waiting for tomorrow' is referencing the mundane aspects of life explored within the opening of our video, which shows the vocalist simply making a cup of tea and showing his disdain at the state of modern daytime television.

With Goodwin's second point, that their is a relationship between the music and the visuals, the product can be seen to be conforming with everyday media products. With the use of fast paced editing and a variety of camera shots in quick succession, it can be said that the product is reinforcing the fast pace and disorientation  connoted with the rock n roll genre, alongside the mis-en-scene of the instruments themselves, and the use of mise-en-scene which also amplifies the message given out by the music.

The mis-en-scene shown here of the dark-coat-clad teenagers smoking can seen to be amplifying the message given out by the music of the rock n roll genre; with this notion in mind the product is definitely conforming to the criteria set out by Goodwin of music videos. This alongside the use of band shirts and leather jackets shown below also reinforces Goodwin's point that genre-related style and iconography are present. With said band-shirts in mind, alongside references to bands such as Sonic Youth portrayed in posters around the location for the performance shots, Goodwin's point that the product contains intertextual references to other products also rings true: especially when considering the homage to Lock Stock shown in the poker scene of our music video.

 

As a large amount of the shots within our video feature close-ups of the character, the vocalist (pictured above and below) in particular, the product is also complying to Goodwin's point that the product contains many close-ups of the artist. It could be said that with close-ups of the artist such as those shown below, there is a sense, as Goodwin believes, of voyeurism in connection with female fans, however this point is fragile to say the least: as their is only one female within our video shown only breifly, this sense of voyeurism is false within our product. 

 

  With our use of performance shots, our product is conforming to media products of the same type, with music videos of the rock n roll genre attempting to sell their band as a live experience Close-ups of the instruments, such as the conforming 'down the neck of the guitar' shot shown below, are typical of rock n roll performance videos. The use of black and white, which attempted not only to provide a non-linear sense of flashback to the performance shots, also made said performance more dramatic in selling our band as a live experience. This style is mirrored within many music videos, particularly 'Underdog' by Kasabian. 

Shots such as these are typical of rock n roll music videos, the use of colour in these shots was inspired by videos such as 'Underdog' by Kasabian, which is pictured below.

Question 3: What have you learned from your audience feedback?

To achieve as invaluable audience feedback as possible, it was our groups decision to combine quantitative (by use of questionnaire) and qualitative research (by use of taped interviews) to not only be able to confidently explain our findings, but to give said findings depth.

When speaking of linking the song and the video, it is in terms of cutting to the beat, pace in correlation to the track and quality of lip-syncing,- making it very important to gain positive feedback as it evaluates the quality in which the overall themes and ideals are presented by means of the music video. Such feedback was varied, however the majority of the scores can be found in the higher regions of the graft, with 1 audience member even giving us a 10/10.

When our questionnaire subjects were asked to rate our video in comparison to professional productions, the correlation of marks around the 7/10 margin shows a favourable outcome; considering set-backs such as the lack of finance and technology in comparison to professional productions. The scores can be seen to be very successful considering it was created by amateurs such as ourselves.

As can be seen from the graft, all of the subjects of the questionnaire rated our video 6/10 and over in terms of enjoyment, this is very successful as these scores were achieved despite the mixed gender within our audience; our audience demographic being exclusively male.

Evaluating how our music video fits in terms of genre was extremely important, as it would inform our evaluation on question 1: the largest of all 4, alongside our response to the exam in June, if such a question was to arise. It was also extremely important in terms of identification, as we selected a few subjects whom fitted into our audience demographic- whose ratings would be evident within our findings. With this in mind, the findings were very successful, with the majority of the scores being found within the higher regions of the graph, correlating around the very high 9/10 mark. Many questionnaires mentioned that this was achieved due to the hedonistic and excessive ideals fronted from our characters: with images of drinking, smoking and partying informing their decisions.

These results gained from us questioning our audience if they would pursue the band further are very interesting indeed, this is due to the minority of whom states they wouldn't listen further- all of which are female. This can easily be explained by the content we implemented to connect with our target audience, with a white British, male age 16-25 demographic.




To gain a deeper perspective into our audience feedback, we decided to conduct several taped interviews; those three presented above were all participated in by fellow media students, whose opinion we saw as more valuable as their evaluative skills would be greater than others in our particular field, with use of terminology and key terms being able to inform their responses well. All subjects of the taped interviews were white British males aged 17/18, meeting the criteria of our target audience.

One of the first notions we gained from the taped interviews was the fragility of the narrative, with all three subjects of the interview stating that the plot line was rather weak, however the events that are held by the narrative were (to all three subjects) very successful. A particular highlight for Ben in particular was the poker scene; to him reminiscent of the poker scene in Guy Ritchie film 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels', which was a great influence in filming the scene.

Another strength for all three subjects were the fast pace editing, which kept Danny's interest despite the footage of the band in the car, which were seen as weak by the majority of all those viewing: Danny quoted these shots as 'unnecessary' and 'slow' by Peter. This opinion was shared even by ourselves, but due to pressing deadlines and amount of footage these shots were included. James' decision to modify the vibrancy of the colour within our video was met with great reception by all, with both Danny and Peter stating that it maintained their viewing of the footage, with Peter stating he was 'glued' to the video. Use of colour within the strobe shots and the monochrome of the amp was also met with great reception by Peter and Dan N, whose interview we couldn't include as it made the file too large.

Q4: How have you used new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

One of the main examples of new media technologies used in my media coursework is blogger.com, which allows me to post all of my planning, research and evaluation of my media coursework upon my own personalised webpage, something I have done throughout my time in AS/A2 Media. For this factor alone blogger is extremely effective; allowing me to compile all of my work into one interactive blog: which in turn allows me to order, by use of the 'labels tool', all of my work for easy access; whether it is for further working/studying, or comparing work alongside my team so all areas are covered. The factor of the web 2.0 community which blogger has by use of the comment box has also played a momentous part in the planning and research of my media coursework, with feedback gathered instantaneously from teachers and fellow students which would do nothing but strengthen my coursework.

The ease in which work is stored and feedback is gained is also found in the website youtube, which was used extensively in the research and planning stages of our music video. The 'likes and dislikes' features allows a rather shallow scope into what the online community think of our video, however such scope is broadened by use of the comment box, much like blogger.  The ease in which videos were found and viewed also helped in the planning stages when we were instructed to analyses music videos of a similar genre.

The web 2.0 community is also the core for social networking sites such as Facebook, which in particular was a very important resource for my audience demographic research.

By going on (our unsigned band) Tilted Smile's social networking page, live pictures like this allowed me to gain a wider perspective of their audience demographic, which I determined to be white British males between the ages of 16-25.

 

The factor of the facebook 'wall' easily allowed me to gain information on the band's fans (their favourite films, music, literature ect.) which thoroughly informed my media production as images of said media products were included within the mis-en-scene of my video, emphasising the factor of audience identification/aspiration further.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the site Last.fm.com, the ability to not only purchase music but to share with friends as part of a social networking element was useful in the planning of our music video. One of the most individual and helpful features upon the site is the 'similar artists' feature; which not only features upon a certain band's page, allowing you to browse for your 'new favourite band', but also makes recommendations based upon your music library as a whole. This not only allowed us to find our unsigned band, Tilted Smile, but also by being able to see similar artists, elements such as audience demographic and conventions of genre were also expanded.

Similar artists of our unsigned band, which informed our audience demographic and allowed us to gain conventions of genre.

The social networking site myspace.com allowed us to make contact with the band, asking them for permission to use their track, without social networking this may have taken a vastly longer amount of time, with many more complications.

 Due to the rapid rise in new technology bringing down prices of film equipment, a new generation of amateur film-makers has risen upon the industry. The combination of affordable cameras such as the Canon Mini DV Camcorder (which was used in the construction of our music video) and social networking video uploading sites like Youtube means that amateurs, such as my group and I, can easily create their own works, like my coursework video, and exhibit it all over the world. The compactability and small size of the camera also helped the construction of my media product; as shots within the car, for example, were relatively simple to pull off. The use of a tri-pod also allowed more flexibility with our choice of shots and their angles, camera shake that would have reduced marks within our construction was also avoided by use of the tri-pod.

Editing software Adobe Photoshop was also used in the construction of my ancillary text (a Digipak), which required the front, back and inside covers of an E.P, alongside a poster advertising said E.P.

One of the most useful tools within Adobe Photoshop is the layering tool, which helped me hugely on the construction of my digipak. The D.I.Y motif which i pursued across my Digipak, particularly the poster, could not have been done without Photoshop, which allowed me to place shredded paper scanned into the computer across my image, shown below.

The shredded paper motif, which acts as a platform for the text, could not have been achieved if it wasn't for the layering tool Photoshop has.

 Video editing software Adobe Premier Elements allowed us to edit our video very finely, giving us the ability to tailor our video to our satisfaction with its immense number of tools/features. The razor tool allowed us to cut our footage as precisely as possible; avoiding continuity errors, cutting over the beat and making the editing as quick as possible to cater for the needs of our audience demographic rock n roll fan.The ability to use cross fades and transitions allowed us to approach our video as creatively as possible, and the decision of team-member James to change the saturation of our video to make the colour seem more vibrant aesthetically improved our video greatly.

 In conclusions, new technologies greatly informed the construction, research, planning and evaluation of my media product; making it cheaper and more efficient to not only construct the piece, but to gain feedback and tune our content to the desires of our target audience. The opportunity to actually approach this task could not have presented to me without new technology, and said technology vastly enhanced my creativity with this approach.

Question 2) How effective is the combination of your main product with ancilliary texts?

My main product, which consists of a music video, and my ancilliary texts, consisting of a digipak print production, are very much so intertwined by use of theme, genre, imagery (including style and motif) and representation of the characters within both texts.



The main connotation in terms of theme I attempted to portray is the hedonistic lifestyle of the band; portrayed within my music video as young white/British males within a 16-25 age demographic. These selection of characters was done so due to my target audience, who are also within said demographic. This was determined due to viewings of select live images of my unsigned band, British rock n roll outfit Tilted Smile.



As can be seen from the image, the live audience for my unsigned band consists of white/British males within a 16-25 age demographic.



The hedonistic and excessive lifestyle of our characters in our video is represented as stylish and 'cool' as to meet the aspirational needs of our target audience; this is done so by the exemplifying of poker as a stylish game by use of the slo-mo, the tracking and panning shots and the mis-en-scene of the suits, cigarettes and alcohol.

The gang mentality portrayed in shots such as those above not only reinforce the 'brotherhood' aspects of being in a band in presenting the mis-en-scene of the zippo/cigarette but, with this portrayal, the aspirations of the audience who so wish to be in a band are exemplified.

With this demographic in mind, my video attempted to connote an ultimately hedonistic lifestyle, which is current alongside the rock n roll genre, with excess playing a key role in the rock n roll lifestyle; expressed with the infamous statement of "sex, drugs and rock n roll." Said statement is emphasised by infamous punk rock acts such as The Sex Pistols and The Ramones, with their biography littered with tales of debauchery and excess. What made these acts so popular with their demographic (including elements of our own target audience) was the connotations of energy and escapism which they portrayed, making it perfect for the pubescent young males ravaged by angst and alienation to identify with the bands' message. Our video attempted to mirror this identification, and achieves it with images of smoking, drinking and partying; our use of skewed angles and fast pace editing attempting to identify, disorientate and draws in our audience. These factors of our music video are mirrored with my digipak ancilliary text, as can be seen below.



The use of smoking paraphanalia emphasises the hedonistic idealogy of excess that I intended to use as a tool of identification with our target audience, alongside emphasising the select connotations of our rock n roll genre.

This hedonistic ideology, and the consequences of it (unconsciousness) are shown in this shot, which is the back image of my digipack. The viewers of this image will relate to this scenario, as many who chase an excessive lifstyle will find themselves succumbing to this consequence.

Within my Digipak, the use of shredded paper in acting as a platform for the text connotes a sense of D.I.Y which is current in the audience of rock n roll; particularly punk rock. This motif is mirrored within various fanzines for punk rock- particularly the fanzine 'Sniffin' Glue' which has a very amateur motif and thus appeals to its audience, who shirked away from the gloss and glamour of fanzines for other genres: pop for example. 

The aspect of D.I.Y can also be used as a means of identification with our target audience, punks specifically, who in rebellion against the capitalist structure of British either created their own clothing or repaired damaged clothing with paperclips and tape. This rebellion can be seen to be mirrored within our video, as the band undermine the usual scenario of gaining wealth and celebrity status by means of hard work and education by gaining all their wealth spontaneously and mysteriously. This also strikes a chord with identification with our audience who may aspire to replicate the scenario/actions of the characters within our video, with our audience wishing that their friends and them can spontaneously aquire a large sum of money and thus create a band and lead the ludicrous lifestyle shown within the video.

Another factor both my main text and my ancilliary text share is a linear narrative, with both texts telling seperate stories- the video telling the story of a young, white British band who gain fortune and thus entail an extremely excessive lifestyle. On the other hand the narrative which runs from the front to the back panels in my digipak is much more down to earth, making it easy to relate and identify with the story of a young man who gets ready to go out (left) and then succumbs to unconsicousness at the end (below left); this narrative creates an audience pleasure in identifying the narrative which leaves them satisfyed with their purchase, the panels offering more to the audience than a ripped CD or a legal/illegal download. With the digipak enforcing audience identification whilst the video enforces audience aspiration, the combination of the two becomes very effective in drawing the audience into both products.



Digipack

Front Cover

Inside Cover 1

Inside Cover 2

Back Cover

Poster