Evaluation.

Before we began filming for this video, it was decided we would simply film feet walking through woods as a direct link to Alice walking through Wonderland. However, half way through filming I had the idea of making it almost a 'chase', as if someone or 'Alice' is being chased by the media; quite a political topic in society today. I think this links conveniently with the research we conducted on both Alice in Wonderland and the work of Banksy. We wanted the idea that perhaps we do not know the real 'Alice' from Wonderland, linking to the picture of Dorothy from Wizard of Oz and the Policeman by Banksy. Keeping this idea in mind, we did our best to make some of the shots look voyeuristic.

The sequence of shots begins with a 'rabbit hole' effect, surrounded by Ivy - hence the name 'Poison I.V.', which fades into a close-up shot of the back of a big red symbolic bow, tied in the back of the characters hair (played by me). Throughout the video the shots vary, including close-ups, mid-shots and long-shots. When the music changes and we hear the dubstep beat we contrast the previous close and mid-shots with quite an extreme long panning shot of the character running, quite fast, through woods. This, I believe, is where the audience will recognise this is not as innocent as some of the previous shots such as picking flowers might suggest.

After this shot comes a canted angled shot, beginning with the feet and then moves up to reveal the rest of the character. This angle was put in place to give a obscured and slightly disorientated view of the character, subtly suggesting there is perhaps a lot about the character the audience do not know. Following this comes a shot of the character bending and going under a thick tree branch, seemingly unaware of the prying camera behind her. The camera almost turns into the leaves so the character goes out of sight, leaving quite an uneasy and voyeuristic approach to the shot.

There are a couple of panning shots that carry on panning even when the character is out of sight, giving again a sense of uneasiness, as if the character is being watched. There is one panning shot of trees and a lake that doesn't feature the character, suggesting the camera is looking for her.

After this comes a sequence of still famous paparazzi shots, which I believe adds a vintage effect which we were inspired by originally from the mood board we created and is also a relation the overall theme of the video. The ending shot, consisting of the red bow the character was originally wearing being caught on a tree, questions what the characters / cameras (media) motives are and leaves an ending quite open to interpretation.

In what ways does our media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Although the song we used does is not within the rock category, we still incorporated some of conventions associated with the rock genre as I feel it complements the raw and edgy sound of dubstep. Having been inspired by our mood board, the video was put into the 'old movie' vintage effect, shown in The Rasmus video, the Blink 182 video and the Hawthorne Heights CD cover mentioned previously in my research. We also took the fading effect between shots from the Blink 182 video. I feel that our video can be compared alongside videos like 'In the Shadows' by The Rasmus as it tests the conventions of external themes and brings in a sense of mystery.

Looking back at the research I conducted into existing media products, I feel that our themes are similar to the themes brought forward by Fightstar in their CD cover. Instead of keeping it obvious and rather basic, they have used artistic, thought-provoking imagery which I feel our product does. Our CD cover not only relates to Alice and Wonderland but also suggests deeper meaning, implied with the gas mask and the handcuffs. Our video is perhaps not in keeping with the gas mask idea, but is similar in that it again raises existing controversial themes within society today. Using this suggestive technique implies the intended demographic for the product; sophisticated individuals who take music seriously.

In terms of challenging and developing existing media products, I feel that generally the use of a controversial and surreal theme suggests a challenge in conventions, developing and altering the fabrications associated with Alice in Wonderland.

The portrayal of 'Alice' was a subject we were debating on all the way through the planning and into the editing suite. We wanted the video to be surreal, the feeling that we get we listening to dubstep, and we needed the character in the movie to fit this. We left the characters situation open to interpretation; why is this character ('Alice') running from the media? Leaving the questions: Is she an innocent person being harassed? Or has she got something to hide? This idea is carried through in our C.D cover where 'Alice' is wearing a mask and the idea that unless you turn to the back of the cover, one would not know the true reason her hands are behind her back. Our C.D cover is perhaps a direct relation to Alice from Alice in Wonderland and to Banksy's work. However, we simply used the red bow to represent 'Alice' in the video and the watch to represent the theme of time and we used some of the ideas and topics raised by Bansky being showcased in his work.

Audience Feedback:
- Interesting use of the camera, some shots are creepy.
- Video needed the photo sequence in the middle to break the shots up.
- Like the old movie effect, gives an edgy look to the video.
- Slightly hard to understand the theme but once told, it was easier to follow.
- Didn't have a clue what the video was about until the photos came up.
- Love the backdrop of the woods, sets the scene nicely.

Considering the audience feedback, If I were to create this product again, what would I do differently?

Overall, I am pleased with the digipack as a whole. I feel the vintage and surreal look is carried throughout the C.D cover, the poster and the video. However, if i was to shoot this video again I would allocate more of a time slot to the filming, perhaps experimenting with some more unusual shots. I feel that a downward turning shot would of been appropriate to recreate the idea of Alice falling down the rabbit hole and into Wonderland, however, due to limited equipment it was difficult to film shots like this. I would also have the character wearing perhaps a more vintage outfit such as a dress to tie in with the old movie themes but due to planning on just filming the feet to begin with then changing our minds once down in the woods, it seemed appropriate to just film myself in what I was wearing at the time. I think the use of music to the video is good, spending such as long time in the editing suite trying to match the shots to the music. To conclude, I feel the ideas behind the video have been thought out and we have been inspired by the best parts of our research, however if we would have allowed ourselves more time I feel the video could of displayed these ideas better. ♣

Poison I.V. Music Video