Thursday, March 17, 2011

Case Study Work: Audio Visual Production


Form
It is a realist narrative which tackles real life situations and it is a music video (and a song) which is linked towards life. One can also say that it is also stand alone as in some parts it is showing different people with different cultures and believes which gives the idea that whoever we are and where we come from we walk together the same 'thing' called life and facing the same situations in our everyday life.

Style: Very commercial indeed. The shots where the owl appears throughout some parts of the video can be so effective and most probably it's the first thing that the viewers notices.  It is also kind of dramatic in a certain way.

Codes & Conventions: The visuals compared to the song and the emotion in the voice of singer. This combination builds up the whole and message is being delivered crystal clear. 

Techniques Used: When there is featured a lot of different faces (showing different cultures) they are shown as jump cuts (but done on purpose) edited a camera flash look alike effect to combine with it.

Techniques
Hidden or Clear Messages: As I already stated before the whole message throughout this music video is being delivered in a clear and understandable way. It is surely adapted with the song in which they are both influenced from social affairs happening around us. It is also passing a message of diversity. Showing that each individual is unique and also letting us recognizing our individual differences as in race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious and politic beliefs or other ideologies.

Emotional Response: It gives the viewer a solution to a problem response in a way as it is giving the message of ''Walk With Me'' even if I have different religious beliefs for an example. There is also the concern and compassion impact on the viewer - that is automatically! There is the self-perception and social position. These two responses are quite obvious in this particular music video as that is the whole meaning and concept of it all. 

Asssociation: One can automatically associate the different people with different orientations featured with either the song or with the band, in this case, Airport Impressions. Another association of this video can be with the shots of owl shown in the beginning of the video and nearly at the end.

Celebrity Endorsement: Since it is a music video of a stablized maltese band there is obviously the celebrity endorsement element which is the band itself!

Characteristics
When it comes for the brand identity it is shown from the colours which are quite warm and easy for the eye. The music video has also got a life style appeal.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

What does the role of researcher involve?

A researcher is somebody who performs research, the search for knowledge or in general any systematic investigation to establish facts. Researchers can work in academic, industrial, government, or private institutions.


The goal of the research process is to produce new knowledge. This process takes three main forms:
  • Exploratory research, which structures and identifies new problems
  • Constructive research, which develops solutions to a problem
  • Empirical research, which tests the feasibility of a solution using empirical evidence
Research can also fall into two distinct types:
  • Primary research (collection of data that does not yet exist)
  • Secondary research (summary, collation and/or synthesis of existing research)
In social sciences and later in other disciplines, the following two research methods can be applied, depending on the properties of the subject matter and on the objective of the research:
  • Qualitative research (understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern such behavior).
  • Quantitative research (systematic empirical investigation of quantitative properties and phenomena and their relationships).
  • Exploratory research, which structures and identifies new problems.
  • Constructive research, which develops solutions to a problem.
  • Empirical research, which tests the feasibility of a solution using empirical evidence.
Research can also fall into two distinct types:
  • Primary research (collection of data that does not yet exist).
  • Secondary research (summary, collation and/or synthesis of existing research).
In social sciences and later in other disciplines, the following two research methods can be applied, depending on the properties of the subject matter and on the objective of the research:

Qualitative research (understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern such behavior).

Quantitative research (systematic empirical investigation of quantitative properties and phenomena and their relationships).

Reference: Wikipedia (Research)

What does the role of Marketing involve?

Marketing is used to identify the customer, satisfy the customer, and keep the customer. It is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.


Product marketing deals with the first of the "7P"'s of marketing, which are Product, Pricing, Place, and Promotion, Packaging, Positioning & People.

Market research is any organized effort to gather information about markets or customers.


Market trends are the upward or downward movement of a market, during a period of time. The market size is more difficult to estimate if one is starting with something completely new. In this case, you will have to derive the figures from the number of potential customers, or customer segments.
Through Market information one can know the prices of the different commodities in the market, as well as the supply and demand situation. Information about the markets can be obtained from different sources, varieties and formats, as well as the sources and varieties that have to be obtained to make the business work.

Marketing research, as a sub-set aspect of marketing activities, can be divided into the following parts:
  • Primary research (also known as field research), which involves the conduction and compilation of research for a specific purpose.
  • Secondary research (also referred to as desk research), initially conducted for one purpose, but often used to support another purpose or end goal.

There also exist additional modes of marketing research, which are:
  • Exploratory research, pertaining to research that investigates an assumption.
  • Descriptive research, which, as the term suggests, describes "what is".
  • Predictive research, meaning research conducted to predict a future occurrence.
  • Conclusive research, for the purpose of deriving a conclusion via a research process.
Promotion is one of the four elements of marketing mix (product, price, promotion, distribution). It's the communication link between sellers and buyers for the purpose of influening,informing or persuading a potential buyer's purchasing decision.
Besides information about the target market, one also needs information about one's competitors, customers, products, etc. Lastly, you need to measure marketing effectiveness. A few techniques are:
  • Customer analysis
  • Choice Modelling
  • Competitor Analysis
  • Risk analysis
  • Product research
  • Advertising the research
  • Marketing mix modeling
  • Market information
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing)

Monday, March 14, 2011

Product Proposal

My product is The Definitive Guitar Handbook
Author(s): Rusty Cutchin (Editor), Paco Pena (Editor)
Publisher: Flame Tree Publishing (1st Jan '09)


What are the benefits that it offers?

For anyone who wants to get to grips with playing the guitar. Practicle advices, guides, tips, step-by-step.


Its Unique Selling Propostion (USP) is:

It's going to improve your guitar skills.
Getting to know better your guitar and extending your knowledge on guitar gods (such as Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, David Gilmour, Brian May, Steve Vai... etc). Knowing different music genres (acoustic and electric, rock, blues, jazz, country and folk)

What are its advantages over other similar products?

Fantastic reference source. Easy to understand step-by-step handbook.

What are its disadvantages over other similar products?

There are many other books based on this same topic.

Does brand identity come into play?

Can be bought from online:

How does its Lifestyle Appeal come into play to its target audience?

Anyone who is interested into the world of music and guitars.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Experimenting with Photoshop!!

During last weekend, I just WANTED to get more familiar with Photoshop. So I downloaded the trial version of Photoshop CS5 Extended on my home PC and then searched for some tutorials on YouTube and this is the outcome......
And YES! I used pictures of the Airport Impressions' guys - haha!

Here it goes.. another banner, my dear little fellow :)

Really liked how the colors came out!!!

Note to self :  Next time increase the measurements of it's dimensions, so they'll fit the banner area perfectly!

Infographic is ready. HALLELULJAH!!


And to compliment today's post :


Enjoy! :)

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Information gathered for my infographic!

Pixels:
In digital imaging, a pixel (or picture element) is the smallest addressable screen element in raster graphics; it is the smallest unit of picture that can be controlled.  In color image systems, a color is typically represented by three or four component intensities such as red, green, and blue, or cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.

Raster and Vector Images:
A raster image is a collection of dots called pixels. Each pixel is a tiny colored square. When an image is scanned, the image is converted to a collection of pixels called a raster image.

A vector image is a collection of connected lines and curves that produce objects. When creating a vector image in a vector illustration program, node or drawing points are inserted and lines and curves connect notes together. Vector images are object-oriented while raster images are pixel oriented.

Bit Depth:
In computer graphics, color depth or bit depth is the number of bits used to represent the color of a single pixel in a bitmapped image or video frame buffer. This concept is also known as bits per pixel (bpp), particularly when specified along with the number of bits used. Higher color depth gives a broader range of distinct colors.

Color Space:
A color model is an abstract mathematical model describing the way colors can be represented as tuples of numbers, typically as three or four values or color components (e.g. RGB and CMYK are color models).

Image Capture:
Is an application program that enables users to upload pictures from digital cameras or scanners which are either connected directly to the computer or the network.

Optimising:
When you optimise images for the web is a tricky business. You have to get the right balance between filesize and picture quality. There are three key areas where bytes can be shaved off your graphics: bit depth (number of colours), resolution, and dimension.

The process....
                        
                                

Adding the drop shadow FX!



Ready! 

Monday, March 7, 2011

First attempt using Photoshop!!


Basically, I did this by what I have learnt from school and from YouTube tutorials in which I found them quite helpful! Now I'm hoping that I find a way out on how to upload a banner here, on Blogger.com :)


Ready !