Construction - Website final design

Website final design

https://joybrett10.wixsite.com/teenageheartbreakers

Changes I have made

Wallpaper - the changes I have made to the wallpaper is incorporating an boldly coloured electric grid style wallpaper, inspired by the 80s. This is the wallpaper I created on Photoshop using this tutorial video.

https://youtu.be/Ci4mHgfZQKA

After feedback I was given, I decided more colour needed to be present in my website, and I took inspiration from the faded colour effect seen in the Duran Duran website. Duran Duran was a band that was big in the 80s therefore this inspiration is a partial intertextual link to the 80s band and their website. The colours seen in this are commonly associated with the 80s, therefore the colours are also an intertextual link to this period also. The use of the grid effect was important to me in creating this 80s aesthetic/style, as it is a reference to the electric era and the rise in tech seen in this time, and the grid effect was commonly seen in video games of this time. It has come to be recognised in recent times as having 80s connotations, with it being seen in current programmes set in the 80s, such as American Horror Story:1984, and Stranger Things s3. The wallpaper is the biggest change to the website.

Small bits of change have been made to the colours seen in the navigation bar at the top of the scree, with the red font being changed to electric blue, which has more connotations of the 80s, as well as being an intertextual link to the colours of the font used in the music video. The navigation bar has kept its black/grey colour to highlight its rock/grunge punk genre influences, as seen in the band logo which combines punk/grunge with 80s pop.

The use of video clips from the music video is an element that has been kept from the first website draft, as it is a good teaser for fans who may not yet have seen the music video. As well as this, it maintains the link between the music video and the webpage, making it look like a more cohesive project. This was an idea inspired by the Gorillaz website, in which they displayed clips from all of their different music videos at the top of the webpage. The contact logo on the bottom right of the page has been changed to the electric blue to maintain the theme seen in the music video, as well as on the website.

The highlighted pieces of text in this notification section on the website keeping fans up to date with recent news has been changed to the electric blue, also done to maintain consistency throughout the website. Based on feedback I was given, I was suggested to make the colours used more consistent with the video, therefore I have done this. Another suggestion I was given regarding this section was to make the text smaller, which is what I have done, so it is not too in your face. I have also maintained the use of putting the content in the second third in order to keep audience focus, as eyes are naturally drawn to the middle, therefore I kept this in my website from the first draft. This register was inspired by the Duran Duran website which had its content in the centre on the screen in the second third.

The use of Spotify playlists is something I have maintained from the original draft design for the website, as it fits in well with the target audience, who are heavy users of this app in daily life. Fans also like to interact with what their favourite artists enjoy, therefore creating playlists allow audiences to get involved with the band. Not many changes have therefore been made to this section, apart from the new wallpaper giving more cohesiveness with the album cover I created , which is heavily 80s inspired with its use of neon sign symbols, and the space theme, an intertextual link to David Bowie, which is more present in the symbolic use of lightning bolts on the album cover, as seen worn by David Bowie in his early persona as 'Space boy'. The purple seen in the album cover merges well with the purple seen in the wallpaper.

A new addition to the webpage is the Final draft of the music video, which was teased about in the notification section seen earlier. This version showcases a different cover to show the variation from the first draft, vs the final draft of the video.

 Again, as seen on the first draft of the website, I have kept the tour dates section, which allows the fans to keep more up to date on events that are taking place or going to take place. The colours in this section have been changed again from red to electric blue to for continuity reason and to keep the link between the website and the music video.

The colouring of the map in this section have been changed from the red and black grunge colours to the black/grey, white and blue colours to show a hybridity between grunge/rock and 80s pop music. This makes it stand out more from the background with the blue maintaining the consistency.

 In the ABOUT section the font has been changed to be more consistent with the font seen in the music video. More feedback I was given was the font needed to be made smaller, which is what I have done. The new wallpaper combined with the 80s inspired album cover keeps more of a consistent theme throughout the whole website, for example, the font seen in the album cover is a variation of the same font seen in the webpage. The album cover features a shot of the actors from the music video therefore highlighting the music video within the website.

 Some feedback I was given was to put the text into a text box to make it more clear to the audience, which is a change I incorporated into the website. The font was also shrunk here and made to match the font seen earlier on the webpage, and as seen in the logo. I kept the use of photos from the shoot to act as behind the scene photos from the process of making the video, as well as to act as teasers for the real video.

In this bottom section, I wanted to keep the 'message for the fans' section, but the original font used that looked like a handwritten font was not popular, therefore I changed it to a more original, electric, 80s themed font, which makes it stand out very well against the bottom of the backdrop which is a purple turning blue faded colour.


Overall not many changes had been made, the biggest change was seen in the background, which is now more cohesive with the other elements of the website. Small changes have been made to font style, size and colour, but the webpage is mostly the same layout as it was in the first draft.

I believe that my webpage has the enigma element  (Bathes) that I initially planned my video to have, such as having the teasers for the music video within the webpage, so that fans that have not yet seen the video will be intrigued to watch the full video and see what happens in the plotline. The disruption elements in the plotline (Todorov) are what are displayed on the video, as I suggested I wanted to see in my statement of intent. I also spoke in my statement of intent about attracting audience by adding elements to website which fans could interact with, and I achieved this aim, by adding a chat setting to the webpage, allowing fans to ask questions or contact the band and eventually get a response form the band or a representative of the band. I allows the audience to have some interaction with the people they see as 'icons' which appeal to my age group specifically, as in the 16-25 age bracket, teens are looking for inspiration. As well as this, i added in playlists created by the band that show the music that they have been listening to, and music they recommend to the fans, as well as adding a few behind the scene photos from the music video shoot. As well as this, there is a news notification section with updates which the band have sent out to fans that are looking on their website, such as teasing the music video release. With the theme of the website being 80s pop, the colours are appropriate the this style, and to the outcast audiences i am trying to appeal to, as in recent times, colours have begun to lose their associations to certain genders, meaning a variety of colours can be seen linked to a wide variety of different people. Also, because the colour scheme is inspired by the 80s which was very vibrant, fans can all engage with the colours as equals, as the wallpaper is a reflection of the electric era, not as colours associated with a certain gender. This was something i commented on in my statement of intent, and overall I believe I have met every aim i set for myself at the start of this project. Although the biggest area i failed to hit was in representation of different races, this was something I highlighted in my statement of intent that I would not be able to achieve, due to limitations in actor availability.

Construction - Final Music video and Evaluation

Final Music video + Evaluation

Link

https://youtu.be/e3luxBK1BmE

In this final draft of my music video, I wanted the 80s theme to be more consistent throughout the whole video. In the first draft of my music video, we didn't see enough of the grief stage of the separation from the males perspective, therefore I decided to put the flashbacks in during his clear turmoil towards the end of the video. This highlights more to the audience that the breaking down of the relationship is a stressful stage in the males life. It also breaks from the stereotype of male characters being represented in the media (as Van Zoonen states is constructed through discourse) as strong figures that never feel anything, and women displayed as the emotional wrecks. I wanted the female character to seem sad but not the stereotypical emotional woman seen in break up sequences, and as we see in this video, she is a strong character through the break up. For both of the characters, I decided I wanted each of them to have their own individual colours to reflect how they were feeling, and the colour filters are reflective of this. The pink hue tint on the female when she is looking over her memories is meant to have connotations of love, as this is what this colour symbolises. The blue for the male character connotative of the sadness he feels. I took inspiration for the use of colour symbolism from the 11 minutes music video, where we see the male character go through all stages of grief, and we see the colour changes to symbolise this. The use of all colours within this music video where chosen with the intention of creating certain connotations and denotations, as seen in Bathes semantic codes, as audiences are able to draw their own conclusions on what the colours mean to them.

I also incorporated Bathes symbolic code into my video, as the use of handheld footage is meant to be representative of the unsteady and spontaneous lives of the characters seen in the video, and I used a tripod to be representative of times of boring normalcy where life has no excitement. When the couple are happy and free, the camera is handheld, and when the couple are unhappy, the camera is seen in tripod format. The symbolic meaning of this is that especially among the target age group 16-25, we are often most happy when life is chaotic, exciting and spontaneous. Sitting still brings no joy to anyone, and I wanted to emphasise this.

I incorporated Todorov's Narrative theory into my music video, with the equilibrium being the two characters from outcast backgrounds being content and sharing their life as a couple, the disequilibrium being the negative comments that split the couple apart, the acknowledgement being when the male character comes to terms with what has happened and realises what he has long, and the return to equilibrium is when the couple reunites together. Disruption to equilibrium was an element i talked about in my statement of intent, I believe my music video displays this section of Todorov's theory successfully, as it is a key element in the plotline.

My video look at the binary opposites in society (Levi-Strauss), with normal vs different being portrayed within the music video, however with the video being more from a different perspective. We saw how the characters lived before when they were different and seen as outcasts, and we saw how they lived when they were normal. It showcases how some people are more happy when they are seen as outcasts, in comparison to when they are living a more traditional life. The way I tried to differ between he two was in the use of colours, which are more vibrant when the characters are seen as outcast, and slightly more traditional when the characters are portrayed as normal. I believe I achieved this aim set out in my statement of intent.

I believe this music video is a fair reflection of the lives of people in the target age group, 16-25, as it portrays life as less serious and more fun, in how it showcases the characters in an informal environment, in informal outfits, makeup, hairstyles, etc. The characters are shown as wanting to have fun and taking life less seriously, which therefore targets the audience perfectly. We see them out getting food, but not getting drunk, we see them going shopping, in age appropriate locations, and there is no drugs or illegal activities present. This is something that was important to me, as stated in my statement of intent, and I believe I hit this age bracket well.

In relation to Neale's genre theory, I believe the layout of my music video has a lot of elements of a rock video with the use of dark grungy lighting, mostly low key, high saturation colours. The heavy use of neon lights is a common theme seen in both rock and pop music videos, therefore this video is a hybrid of the two genres. The one area that differs in my music video is the emphasis on love within the video, as in rock music video, if there is a love theme it is deep-seated and always clearly present. Within this music video the love theme is very clear, therefore it differs from the traditional conventions of a rock music video. I stuck to my plan in the statement of intent, and decided to stick to a narrative based music video, which is different from the normal format of a rock music video that is mainly performance based.

There were heavy elements of horizontal integration (Hesmondhalgh) within my music video, with the use of 80s references being strong. The electric lighting and use of neon signs have connotations of the 80s electric era. This will therefore appeal to both young and old audiences, with the young audiences loving the nostalgic elements of the 80s which have been especially prevalent in recent times, as well as the older audiences that may feel a connection to the theme due to them living within this era.

I believe the representations within the music video fit in with what I initially planned, with no sexual representations of the female character being presented in the video, as I gave her a respectful costume, makeup and hairstyle, therefore subverting from Van Zoonen's theory on representations of women in the media. However the hair and makeup where important elements in my music video with them being influenced by the 80s style, therefore I created a more toned down version of the 80s style so that the female character did not fall into the heavy makeup and fake hair stereotype of female characters, instead it was inspired by the 80s but a more naturalistic version of the look. For the males look, he was not dressed in the stereotypical suit and tie, instead he was seen dressed smartly in a Fred Perry shirt with braces, jeans and Dr Marten boots. Therefore this incorporates the formal and informal styles and breaks from  the stereotypical look for males. Similarly, the female is dressed in Dr Martens, breaking from the media stereotype of women being dressed in pretty clothes, instead she is seen dressed in working class boots. Gender was therefore fairly represented within this music video, as it showcased the changing world of how different genders dress, with it not playing into the stereotypes of males and females. However, I could have improved on my representations of different races within my music video, as it is white dominated, however this was caused by limitations in actors availability.

The Intended audience for my music video was the age group 16-25, who were fun loving, from the working class background, however I decided to target D-A, as I wanted my music video to be further more inclusive of all groups. To target them, I made the activities in the music video inexpensive, so anybody could do it, which is simply an inexpensive day walking around London, as well as making the music video relatable, especially to the age group. The video will also appeal to the older audiences with the 80s references in the music video being something they could relate to. The specific audiences I wanted to appeal to were the Reformer and the Explorer from Young and Rubicam's 4 C's theory, as these two groups may be seen as the outcasts, but the aspire for change, and excitement in life, and these are the audiences I want my music video to appeal to, or to inspire audiences to be like. I believe that I achieved the target that I initially set for myself in appealing to this audience.

This final version of the music video shares the same footage as seen in the first music video, with much of the focus being put into the editing process. Therefore there was no need to redraft the storyboard as it was the same as it had previously been, with the final draft focusing on changing elements of my editing work.

For there to be continuity between the music video and the website, I decided to add video clips from the music video to the website to act as a teaser for the fans who had not yet seen the full music video. I took inspiration to do this from the Gorillaz website, which features clips from music videos through the years at the top of the webpage. The video played a huge part in keeping the link between the webpage and the music video.

In conclusion, I believe i hit every aim/target i set for myself in the statement of intent, by constantly referring back to my initial plans and making alterations to suit what i wanted to see in my video. The only area i failed to hit was representation of different races, as the cast of the video is white dominated, however this was something i highlighted in my statement of intent that I would struggle tog eg diversity in, due to the lack of availability of diverse actors during the time of shooting. however what i also highlighted in my statement of intent and pitch, was that the video is about accepting those from diverse backgrounds, and this message came across strongly, so a different form of diversity was seen in the video.