Reflective Evaluation Part Four

Reflective Evaluation Part Three Ewan Moore

A few days ago we screened our completed video to a room of the rest of our group. Males and Females aged 17 to 18. Above are the five feedback sheets we gathered and one wordle collating the key words from said feedback. Generally, the screening gathered positive reviews but the main issue was that a few people were unclear as to what was going on. Admittedly it can be hard for someone in the group who wrote what is going on to see that it's hard to follow and I think that at points the plot was a little ambiguous. This was something that we did struggle with as we had to try and tell a clear yet emotional story of a runaway in three minutes. Something we obviously didn't manage very well, but overall the group seemed to have gotten the general idea. The aspect that got the most positive reaction was the performance. This is something we weren't surprised with as we were very proud of it and think we've captured a real Blink style with it. The pots and pans drumkit split people down the middle, some loved it while some just didn't get it and everyone thought the synching was pretty spot on. The one slice of feedback I just can't agree with was the comments from one or two that it didn't really feel like Blink. This would've been true of the old Blink 182 look of messing around and being kids, but as we have constantly pointed out on this blog and way back when in our pitch, this is a new look for Blink, not decided by us but something they themselves have pursued since the reformation in 2009. It's something we even illustrated with the recent Up All Night video, and it's even similar in tone to the serious old Blink songs like Stay Together For The Kids and Adam's Song. Something we always pointed out from the start (almost too much maybe) was that this new Blink isn't the old Blink most people remember. All in all I am mostly happy with the feedback and can agree with most of it.

Reflective Evaluation Question Two Ewan Moore

How Effective is the Combination of Your Main Product and Ancillary Texts?


Throughout our project one of our main goals has been to try and maintain a visual link across our webpage, digipak and video. As the above images depict, I would say that we have been fairly successful in this. Both the digipak and webpage are both linked visually through the iconic Blink 182 logo which has been their staple since 2003. They are also linked through the style of font, and black and white street photography that Sarah took. The webpage and digipak both have a very limited colour pallet, being almost entirely black and white to try and capture moodiness and angst. However, using simple black and white for our video would have looked plain and dull, so instead we simply adjusted the lighting and used iMovie effects to darken the tone even further. To this end, we were pleased in the way that all three aspects of the project have a dark tone that implies the mature and dark subject matter of the song. In short, it all looks and feels like Blink 182 and that should apply to all the right people (namely, Blink fans young and old).

Existing Digipaks and Webpages

Above is an image from Blink's most recent video, which shows a dark and moody looking lighting effect. Also on display is the Blink webpage and the Boxcar Racer digipak. These things appeal to their audience by being simple yet stylish and accessible. This mirrors what we have done, not making things to complicated and having it all as stripped back as possible while still looking stylish, iconic and onbviously Blink 182.

Reflective Evaluation Question One Ewan Moore

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

Our video for Natives

The official Blink-182 video for Up All Night

Sum 41's music video for their single, Pieces 

All three of the above songs deal with a dark subject matter. Natives deals with running away and isolation. Up All Night deals with angst and the fears of growing up and Pieces deals with depression and isolation. Up All Night and Pieces both have moody, dark lighting, something we wanted to achieve with our video and for the most part have. Usually Pop Punk doesn't look like this, but as we have mentioned in the blog before the genre can do "mature" and it always looks like this, dark lighting and old, run down urban/suburban locations. The emphasis on suburban life as seen in Up All Night is something we wanted to do mostly because it was easier to shoot in suburban areas, as well as the fact it follows the conventions. Our choice of location for the performance was taken from Up All Night. We wanted an area that looked fairly ruined and desolate to represent what homelessness is. The point was to try and show that it isn't a nice thing and that they are alienated from society, the band are playing in an isolated area surrounded by junk and rubbish. In the Up All Night video, they're playing in a ruined street, but we obviously couldn't afford to make it look quite so cinematic. In both Pieces and Up All Night, the entire videos are shot at night. This is something we considered doing as it may well have suited the tone of the song better. In the end it just became an impossibility as our actors had work/other commitments etc. Arguably in that respect we have challenged the standard convention and still managed to give the video a dark style through editing and playing with exposure on the actual camera. Many in our media class did comment on liking the distinction in lighting between band sections and narrative points. In this way we again challenged the norm as in Up All Night there isn't a distinct switch in light or tone. As for Postmodern concepts, we have indulged in intertextuality by showing a Blink-182 poster in Rory's room, and Rory dials 182 when in the phonebooth. Besides that, we show no sense of awareness as that might have underplayed the seriousness intended in the video. The same is true of Up All Night, which is played straight, despite a quick flash of the Blink logo on a fence. Pieces is different, having some arguably light moments of comedy with the people in the vans, though it might just be me who finds those scenes funny. Everything is subjective in the end.