Creative Journal - Evangeline Leonard by Evangeline Leonard

Week 1 - Thoughts and Feelings on the course

evielm_ — 2022-03-01 05:41:41 UTC

I'm excited to deepen my understanding of Digital Media. What exactly it is, the different forms and how those different forms/components can be used to express ideas.
It's not an area I feel particularly confident in and I'm sure there will be a pretty steep learning curve for me at points throughout this course. I have particularly little experience in making websites. That said, I do have some experience with brainstorming and targeting products toward particular audiences.

1. 80 Ideas

evielm_ — 2022-03-01 05:56:55 UTC

1. Good Company Theatre Collective - Independent SA based Theatre Collective
2. Starlet's SA (children's performing arts school)
3. Animal welfare
4. Human rights
5. Environmental education and awareness
6. Food security
7. Educational equity
8. Invisible/dynamic chronic illness awareness
9. Mental health awareness
10. OCD awareness
11. Diversity and representation on the stage screen and behind the scenes
12. Importance of getting preventative screenings
13. Golonka! (band)
14. My artwork
15. The importance of arts education/participation for children
16. Banana lollies are the best lollies
17. Importance of responsible pet ownership (esp. for kids.)
18. Anya Anastasia (social/environmental justice music) - making change through the arts. The importance of the arts in activism.
19. The Fish Bowl (play about people living with dementia)
20. The importance of accessible theatre/live performance
21. A video promoting a more plant-based diet as better for you and the environment.
22. Campaign to include education around gender and sex in schools earlier and more comprehensively.
23. Free school breakfasts and lunches
24. More resources should be allocated to public schools.
25. Basic life skills (food preparation/growing, budgeting, etc...) should be taught in schools, starting early.
26. Campaign to make fines such as those for speeding, drink driving should be determined based on income to provide a more equal deterrent for everyone.
27. Fossil fuels should be phased out starting immediately.
28. A campaign to include the holidays, festivals and traditions of more cultures/religions should be a part of our national calendar.
29. Owning 'exotic' animals is not a great idea.
30. Adaptive and assistive technologies should be cheaper or free
31. The definition of 'low-income'/'financially disadvantaged' as it relates to government support should be updated to reflect the current cost of living.
32. There should be a complete overhaul of Centrelink forms and their website. Including easier to understand language and a more user-friendly interface.
33. Centrelink should offer an email address as a form of contacting them or adopt a real-time online chat function where people can ask questions.
34. Public transport should be free or low cost for all and options such as trains and trams should be expanded further throughout South Australia/Australia.
35. More comprehensive indigenous history and language education should be a part of schooling. K -12.
36. An add on to your calendar to inform you about other culture's holidays.
37. More comprehensive sex and body education (including menstruation) in schools.
38. Hats should be mandatory for school kids when outdoors, all year.
39. Cheng.e (Artist)
40. Plant rescue boxes (older, unhealthy plants from supermarkets, etc...) are taken and revived (instead of being thrown away) and you can purchase a lucky dip style box of these plants.
41. Auto immune disease awareness.
42. Cherry Darlings Vegan Bakehouse.
43. RSPCA
44. SAHRA
45. Maremma Rescue of SA
46. How meeting or striving to meet the access needs of Disabled people is often beneficial for everyone.
47. Ivan Aristeguieta (Comedian)
48. Becks Bakehouse
49. Cake Boy (Vegan Donuts)
50. Ping An Veggie Time (plant based Thai food)
51. Deserving Dogs Rescue.
52. Chilli Mojo
53. Vegan spam.
54. Promoting the many native edible plants that grow well in the adelaide region.
55. The importance of eating locally.
56. Landcare
57. Living off Grid
58. Carla's Confessional Cabaret
59. i am root (theatre show)
60. Period Undies
61. Share the Dignity
62. Moving beyond the stereotypes of OCD - the different presentations and the diversity of the disorder.
63. The Mill on Angas st
64. Save the Bakehouse
65. Silky Pot (chocolate/caramel)
66. Coyo (Coconut Yogurt)
67. Zen Zen Zo
68. Post Dining
69. Period Pack subscription service - A subscription that delivers your choice of sanitary items, snacks, drinks, self care products each month.
70. A vegan/sustainable/as-local-as-possible snack box subscription service.
71. A subscription that sends you tickets each month to a different art exhibition, concert, performance, film. You take a quiz at the start and the surprise tickets are curated based on your answers.
72. A free or low cost, well made, intuitive and accessible dating app for Disabled people with advanced speech to text and text to speech functions that learn as they listen to minimise mis-hearing/pronouncing.
73. Plant 4 markets (Bowden)
74. Willunga Farmers Market
75. Willunga Almond Blossom Festival
76. An audio tour of the botanic gardens. Along the same lines as 'City of Trees' (book). Weaving personal stories, indigenous stories and scientific information. Once a participant reaches/comes into proximity to a particular tree/plant/area of the garden, a story in triggered. Participants could either move through the gardens at their leisure or there could be a predetermined suggested route. Instructions could also be given aurally or via a screen. There is an option for a text based version for d/Deaf and hard of hearing people.
77. Manna Cafe - Mclaren Vale
78. Affordable/subsidised/bulk-billed in home care for elderly people to support them to continue to live in their homes and retain that sense of familiarity.
79. Old folks home for 4 year olds.
80. Hand sanitiser that helps to heal skin with eczema/dermatitis.

2. Message/Product Summary - Anya Anastasia

evielm_ — 2022-03-08 05:11:34 UTC

Anya Anastasia (musician/creative)

A video promoting the music of Anya Anastasia and her band.
Why is socially/environmentally conscious music important to her?

Potential ways to deliver this message.
- Performance footage.
- Interview with Anya.
- Possible footage of home studio/country life.

4. Annotated Bibliography

evielm_ — 2022-03-08 05:11:53 UTC

Scholarly sources

-

Railton, D. & Watson, P. 2011, Music Video and the Politics of Representation, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.

As this project is a promotional video about a musician rather than a music video, much of the information in this book did not apply. However, there is interesting discussion in this book regarding the change of the music video format from one manufactured primarily for distribution via TV to something made to be disseminated via the internet. It investigates how critique of a form needs to change along with it. This is relevant as the final promo video should be able to be distributed on a number of platforms so approaching the creation and refinement from only one perspective could be detrimental.

-

Bellantoni, P 2005, If it's purple, someone's gonna die: The power of colour in visual storytelling, Routledge, Oxfordshire.

Clear and concise. Based on extensive research conducted over 20years. Useful identification of the difference between the intellectual and visceral associations with colour. Very approachable and full of useful examples. I was planning to use green throughout this video due to its associations with nature but being made aware of its duplicitous nature, I’ll put more care into testing the colours to make sure it's the right green.

-

Barber, C.F. 2013, 'The use of music and colour theory as a behaviour modifier', British Journal of Nursing, vol. 8, no.7, pp. 443-448

This was a much more scientific analysis of colour and music and how they interact in our body systems to produce various effects. It does have a focus on using music and colour to generate feelings in people which is useful in ensuring the promotional video connects to the audience's emotions. However, I found it a bit dense to read compared with the book above. It is geared towards medical/healthcare professionals.

Video references

-
InVision 2015, DESIGN DISRUPTORS Trailer #1 - A documentary from InVision, YouTube, September 30, viewed 27 March 2022,

"Design is human. What connection do I have with it."
This is an example of a documentary trailer.
Uses inspiring and uplifting music that complements the spoken messages. It is full of one line quotes that grab your attention and make you feel something/want something.
The inter-cutting between the interviews and related images and the overlaying of the interview audio onto those images is something I'm interested in exploring in this video. Performance and rehearsal footage inter-cut with an interview with Anya.

-

Stellie 2020, How do we look so good? (Visualiser), YouTube, April 2, viewed 29 March 2022, .

This video invites you to get to know the artist and see them as approachable while also showcasing their music. It begins with interviews and backstage footage before transitioning to audio of the song over performance and festival footage. There is a dreamy and etherial quality to this video that seems to convey both glamour and peace. These are elements I aim to include in my final video, however to a lesser degree as I feel there should be a more grounded and primal quality to complement the style of Anya's music.

-

MTV 2019, Billie Eilish on Her Musical Beginnings, Inspirations & More! (Full Interview), YouTube, April 13, viewed 29 March,

This video illustrates a lot of the style that I plan to emulate. There will be alterations as this video runs for over three minutes but the interview happening over the top of and interspersed by moments of performance is very close to my goal. It is relatively simple in it’s composition and execution but it allows the viewer to feel like they have insight into the performers mind.

Non-Scholarly sources

-

Apple, W (dir.) 2004, The Cutting Edge, streaming video, Informit Edu TV

-Documentary about the importance of film editing and the various techniques. Demonstrates where placing even somewhat unrelated dialogue over a scene/s can be used to generate or enhance a meaning.

3. Target Audience

evielm_ — 2022-03-08 05:13:36 UTC

HIERARCHY OF TARGET AUDIENCES

- People interested in and able to buy her Dissenter EP.
- People who stream music.
- People with an interest in social/environmental justice music.
- People looking to book Anya Anastasia for gigs/event organisers.

Target demographic - People of any gender, between 25 and 55 years old.
People with some disposable income who would be inclined to buy their music but also an often younger, more tech savvy group who enjoy the bulk of their music via streaming services. Within those two groups there is a focus on people who have an interest in social and environmental issues as this music is centred lyrically around the discussion of these topics.
While not a primary focus, there should be consideration of people looking to book the band for gigs and events. This can be done in part by providing pathways for viewers to find out more information and get in contact with the band.

Refining the Message and Method

evielm_ — 2022-03-22 07:16:38 UTC

Message

I wish to promote the music of Anya Anastasia and her band. By extension, I also wish to promote the importance of music in social and environmental activism.

Method

Using an interview with Anya as a base. Layering that dialogue on top of performance, rehearsal and nature footage. Combining that with music from their EP to create an engaging glimpse into the motivations, process and how that results in a product.
The final moments of the video will provide information as to where you can stream or buy the music and how you can contact the artists.

...S.C.A.M.P.E.R.

evielm_ — 2022-03-22 07:24:48 UTC

Substitute
- Anya and the band with puppets.
- Footage of the band rehearsing/recording/performing with sweeping nature shots or images and footage related to the lyrics and audio you're hearing.
- musical instruments with sticks, vegetables, fruit, plastic polution.

Combine
- Combine a video of a performance/concert with audio/video of a band interview.
- Humor with facts
- Serious messages with fun and joy

Adapt - other contexts
- zoom performance
- music about natural environment, played in concrete jungle.
- funeral for the planet
-

Modify - changing the shape, look, feel of the product
- gradual build of music with images and video to an overwhelming point. Then cut to black and we hear a lyric with a particular message.
- used for a car ad.

Put to another use
- dubbed on top of political speeches about the importance of fossil fuels, etc...
- background music for protest footage/a protest
- showing it being the inspiration for someone to do something environmentally/socially positive.

Eliminate
- visuals of the bands faces.
- them performing
- images of Anya speaking during the interview.
- lyrics from the songs
- images entirely and have everything communicated sonically.

Reverse
- movement - otherworldly (movement of people/animals) or regenerative (reverse of a time lapse of plants food rotting/wilting.) ominous (clouds moving across the sky backwards.)

Treatment ideas - A.I.D.A.

evielm_ — 2022-03-22 07:25:38 UTC

Attention - How to capture their attention
- Using Anya's music.
One track in particular has a very strong beat that could work well under an opening sequence.
- Dramatic and interesting footage from a performance or rehearsal. Framed where we don't quite get the whole picture. Seeing a silhouetted figure on stage. ECU's of hands playing instruments, singing, speaking.

Interest
- Not showing everything at once. Teasing out the information.
- Providing a glimpse into the behind the scenes of making and performing the music.

Desire
- to hear more music
Music is a great way to appeal to someone’s emotions.
- To get involved or more involved with social and environmental issues.

Action - How to inspire/call them to act
- Through a combination of only using parts of songs, showing the band and Anya having a great time making/playing the music, making them feel as though they have a personal connection to her/them and wanting to get in on the fun.

5. Mind Map

evielm_ — 2022-03-22 08:03:30 UTC

I began thinking about this promotional video with quite clear ideas of the visual style and the intended message/goal. By working through the mind map I have changed and refined my ideas and ended up moving in a direction I did not expect.
To help my product/message stand out from similar ones I will lean into the personalities, quirks and sense of humor of the performers. Additionally, rather than conducting the interview in a recording studio or performance venue, I aim to hold it in the garden at Anya's house. By doing this I hope to both reinforce the connection to nature present in the music and to foster connection between audience and performer, showing them as relatable.

Permissions - Anya Anastasia

evielm_ — 2022-03-29 02:23:36 UTC

6. Treatment

evielm_ — 2022-03-29 04:12:47 UTC

The video begins with the opening few bars of Losing Wild. The strong beat matches with the pace of the footage. It cuts between short shots of Anya's house, garden, the band, rehearsal room, instruments, sheep and hot tea. We see close ups of eyes, instruments, leaves, animals. This sequence finishes with a hold on the band posing for a photo in their rehearsal room. We stay on them as the photo is taken, the music track fades out and they relax and laugh.
As the band relaxes, we hear audio of the interview begin before we cut to a shot of Anya by herself in her garden speaking about the catalyst for this music, the Dissenter EP and the formation of the band. We never hear the interviewer. The interview continues as we cut to footage of the band rehearsing/writing in Anya's home studio and the track Spinning Heads starts to play beneath the interview audio. This track continues throughout the following action with its volume lowering when we are watching/hearing the interview with Anya and raising when we are only watching action. As the interview continues, Anya speaks about why making music about social and environmental issues is important to her. We see performance footage and stills from various performances before ending with footage from the Dissenter EP launch. We hear the audience applaud as the performers bow. The image fades to a deep purple screen containing information about where the audience can find her music and how to contact her. This final image and the track fade out together.

Colour palate

evielm_ — 2022-04-04 04:40:55 UTC

I decided on this colour palate through research into colours and their effects and with consideration of the emotional impact I want this promotional video to have.

#470061 (dark purple) is the primary, grounding colour with the others used for contrast or in combination with the purple.

According to the book If it’s purple, someone’s going to die, purple is associated with the mystical and sends the signal that someone or something is going to be transformed.
This is appropriate as the music, particularly Anya’s vocals, has an otherworldly quality at times. Much of the music is also encouraging the listener to change the ways they exist in this world in order to change the world itself.

While red can be an aggressive or lusty colour, #8F004A (Magenta) is closer towards the blue/purple end of the scale which mellows out any aggression and transforms it into a more mature colour with a romantic undertone.

#5100BA (paler purple) combines some blue with the purple in an effort to add some tranquility to the transformation that the purple suggests. It doesn’t have to be dramatic or scary.

#FBAD4A (Golden yellow) is associated with magic and dreams and ties in with the mystic feel of the purple. Yellow also assists in forming memories so the plan is to feature it heavily in the text at the end of the video. Brighter yellow is built into our genetic code as a warning colour and can be anxiety inducing but by pushing it more towards orange, those effects are reduced or eliminated.

#E87003 (Orange) is a generally pleasant colour that has associations with the earth and the sun. Orange is not a typically dramatic colour but there are associations with orange sunlight or an orange sky and pollution which is a topic represented in some of Anya's music. By incorporating orange into the colour scheme of this video I aim to take advantage of both those associations. The benefit in using orange is that even if it fails to generate the above associations inb the viewer, it's less likely than some other colours to generate a negative reaction.

Typography

evielm_ — 2022-04-04 06:14:20 UTC

The fonts I have chosen are Walkway Bold and Walkway Black.
The unadorned and clear look should enable them to be readable on a variety of screen sizes.

The white and yellow lettering offer the best contrast.
The orange, if used, will need to be for larger sized text only as there is a contrast issue when used for smaller size text.

I have decided to use this purple for the background as it offers good contrast and is interesting while not being overwhelming or distracting.

Typography colour scheme version 2

evielm_ — 2022-04-04 06:29:48 UTC

This background and text colour combination offers better contrast but it comes across as a little too harsh for the tone I want to set in the video.

The purple DISSENTER would not be easily readable but I chose to include it for the mysterious quality it has when combined with the black. This colour combination will not be used for informative text but could be used for a logo that sits behind other text.

Typography colour scheme version 3

evielm_ — 2022-04-04 06:30:05 UTC

The golden colour as a background is eye catching and offers good contrast, particularly with the black.
However, as this text will be seen at the end of the promotional video and needs to convey information as to where the viewer can listen to this music and how to get in contact with the artists, I worry that it will be too bright and distract from the information.
There is also an association with yellow as a warning colour and yellow and black is associated with poison, wasps, etc...

Permissions - Track 1 Spinning Heads

evielm_ — 2022-04-04 10:57:20 UTC

Permissions - Track 2 Losing Wild

evielm_ — 2022-04-04 10:57:43 UTC

evielm_ — 2022-04-04 13:37:59 UTC

evielm_ — 2022-04-04 13:38:30 UTC

evielm_ — 2022-04-04 13:40:28 UTC

Permissions - Gareth Chin

evielm_ — 2022-05-16 11:18:57 UTC

Permissions - Location Release

evielm_ — 2022-05-16 11:35:03 UTC

Permissions - Miranda Gillam Grant

evielm_ — 2022-05-16 11:36:42 UTC

Permissions - Satomi Ohnishi

evielm_ — 2022-05-16 11:36:45 UTC

Permissions - Clara Gillam Grant

evielm_ — 2022-05-16 11:36:50 UTC

Revised Treatment

evielm_ — 2022-05-16 11:38:39 UTC

The video begins with the opening few bars of Losing Wild. The strong beat matches with the pace of the footage. It cuts between short shots of Anya's eye blinking open, Gareth’s hand hitting keys on a keyboard, Satomi hitting a drum, Clara plucking a string on her cello and a large white chicken looking down at the camera. The chicken moves aside to reveal a sign saying, “Fund our Future not Gas.” Losing Wild fades as Anya begins to speak about the catalyst for this EP and why she chose to name it Dissenter. The interview continues as the chorus of Spinning Heads begins to play quietly and we see footage of the band rehearsing in Anya’s home studio intercut with stills from their EP launch. As the interview audio ends, Spinning Heads increases in volume. The rehearsal footage fades to a deep purple screen with an image of Anya and Gareth on stage together. This contains information about where the audience can find the EP and how to contact Anya. The track fades out and the image cuts.