Question 4: Evaluation

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Script:

Katie: Youtube: 

Initially we used YouTube to research our chosen artist and their existing music videos. We analysed the existing music videos to decipher their conventions and see what kind of things we could include in our video. We watched music videos from different genres in order to identify conventions and see if we could incorporate those conventions in our EDM genre. By researching different conventions we would be able to create a more diverse music video ourselves. Of course our genre was EDM therefore we focused on specific artists who produced EDM music and videos.

Grace: Google: 

During planning we researched Andrew Goodwin's key points which were;

• Technical aspect of a music video
• Star image, lots of camera shots making him/her the main focus and centre of attention
• Narrative and performance of the song
• Thought through beat (seeing what the lyrics mean in your head)
• Relationship between the song and visuals

We specifically used the narrative and performance by focusing on Phoebe all throughout the video. we also created links between the visuals and song by linking shots such as the 'rearview mirror'. We used blogger to track our progress and also used social media in order to contact the band. Social media was also used to contact our focus group during every aspect of the process.

Bonnie: Pre-filming: 

During the pre-filming we used DSLR cameras to go to our locations and take shots of where we were filming. We also took reeky shots in order to prepare for our actual filming day. It was important to take practice shots so that we knew what we were working with and we were able to see if our ideas would work.

Katie: Filming: 

We filmed in different locations which therefore meant we had to use different set ups. This meant we had to play around with the camera and adapt the lenses when necessary.  It was important to adapt the shots in order to create more dynamic when filming. By manipulating the lens we added more depth to the shot. We filmed a lot of extra footage so that we would have leeway during editing and wouldn't run out of footage. We filmed things which weren't on our storyboard however those shots worked out really well and we wanted to include them in our video.

Grace: Editing: 

We used Adobe Premier Pro which is a software we haven't used before which meant we had to learn from scratched how it worked. To do this we watched tutorials on Youtube and google to find out about different techniques. A new technique we tried to use was colour grading however we didn't like the effect it had on the video and decided the original colour didn't need changing in the music video, our digipak nor our poster. Adobe was quick and relatively easy to use once we had gotten the hang of it. We were thankful that Adobe allowed us to make a relatively high quality piece that each of us was happy with. 

Question 3: Evaluation

What have your learned from your audience feedback?

Overall, the feedback we received was mostly positive with some even-better-if comments. One of my favourite comments from our focus group on our final production was "I really love the emotions Phoebe is portraying in the music video and it goes really well with the song. The whole concept works really well and I can easily understand what is going on." The comments focusing on the negatives included talking about jumpy cuts and the drafts not looking polished enough. These comments were good as it allowed us to look at our product from a different perspective and make the corrections. People made positive comments regarding the different shot types we were using saying that the different angles and shots added more dynamic and depth to the narrative. 

Despite the few comments regarding what we needed to change and improve on the comments from our focus group were good. It was important for this focus group to be successful as the ages of them were those in our targeted demographic. There were lots of comments regarding the colour of the video saying it was ver 'sharp' and 'clear'. This was positive as we hadn't manipulated the colour so it was good people liked it the way it was. 

Below are the comments from our focus group - aged 16-24

Strengths 

“I really love the emotions Phoebe is portraying” “The whole concept works really well” “I like that they kept putting new ideas in there” “like the use of different shots and angles to portray different messages and meanings” “The audio goes with the visuals and you can see that links are being made” “I really like the transitions used and the reversed sequences.” “I think the girls have made this video look really cool!” “final product looks really refined”

Weaknesses

“corrections needed” “continuity issues” “completely different to the storyboard” “fix the issues”

“promising first draft” “jumpy cuts” “Quite rough in places” “needs refining”

The positives outweighed the negatives in the comments we received back from our focus group. The jump cuts were highly criticised as were the other issues present such as continuity. As we received these comments early on we were able to go back into editing in order to fix them. If we were to redo the entire product I think we would've tried to stick to our plan more in order to avoid these issues however, as we managed to fix them I wouldn't feel the need to change any part of the process.


Below are the comments we received from social media - aged 11-60

Strengths

"Good link between song and visual" "the colours match well with the theme""clothing matches Phoebe's mood" "good use of social media" "indirect information works well" "smooth editing" "sleek transitions" "transitions fit together well" "not overused"

Weaknesses

"filming was jumpy when the mirror balls were shown" "not enough emotions expressed" "didn't get the theme straight away" "could have used more sophisticated editing techniques" "quite amateur-like" 

In summary the comments received from social media were overall positive with some constructive criticism regarding the filming, editing and even planning process. Regarding the filming critiques I think that if we were to re film the piece then we would've filmed more footage to pick from in editing therefore wouldn't have this issue. In response to the editing critiques we were facing a new software which we had never used before therefore we kept it as simple as possible in order to make a successful music video. The positive comments regarding colour and the theme show that our planning and editing payed off and people understood what we were trying to achieve. The social media feedback has taught us that our planning has come through as people understood the theme, it also taught us that we could've used more sophisticated techniques to make the video even better.


Below are the comments we received from our media teacher

Strengths

"I like the idea behind your narrative" "clear sense of progression" "literal journey that parallels an emotional journal" "tone and mood" "nice transition" "effective way of time-shifting" 

Weaknesses

"Clean up some transitions" "Fix glitches" "Lot's of repetition" "Takes multiple views to pick up on details" 

A summary of the comments we received from our teacher shows us that our music video had a lot of potential. The comments helped us realise what needed to be fixed and what showed it to be in an amateur manner. Overall the comments were positive and showed that our video had a lot of successful conventions and our planning payed off because our theme was clearly understood. The tone and mood of the video came through in terms of clothing, colour and the emotions Phoebe expressed herself. The feedback from our media teacher taught us that our planning was successful as was the execution of filming and editing. 

Question 2: Evaluation

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

Evaluation question 2 from Katie Howard

Written Copy:

Music video:

The narrative for our music video was about a girl around the age of 18 who had just gotten out of a bad breakup. She is still going through the stages of missing her ex and the video is about her making a reflective journey going to all the places which held a special meaning to the ex couple. She also checks on the social media profile, something we included in order to make links with the song itself. We chose this narrative because we felt it went well with the song. The song had a very sad tone and therefore we decided this narrative would work well. Additionally, we wanted to limit the number of characters involved therefore we decided on a narrative which focused on one physical character and one virtually included character.
The effect of this narrative on our music video was that it was relatable to our audience as many had been in this situation. I also think that as it was relatable it made our main  character more compelling  as she spoke to the audience. The emotions in which our character portrayed throughout the video truly reflected the narrative as she was sad and reflective throughout. I also think our narrative was effective because of the amount of detail in it, especially in the making of the Facebook profile and shots like the keys etc.
The narrative and song combination worked well because there was a clear link in the themes of both the video and the song. The narrative followed the lyrics and there was a connection between what was seen and what was heard. However it didn't work as well in the sense that the song was all about New York City and we obviously had to film in England.

Digipak:

We made the digipak to link with the products because that is a key thing we learnt about in the research process. It was important to make links between our products as our audience needed to recognise that the different products all related to the same artist and song. It was important to have consistency throughout our products. We used certain shots from our music video as covers for our digipak. We used the night shots for the outside and the daylight shots for the inside covers. Additionally, when we researched digipaks we noticed that the font was consistent. Therefore we worked to make sure the size, colour and font itself were the same throughout the digipak. The colour was consistent with the video and promotional poster. We decided against manipulating the colour because we did not want to take away the natural colour which was in the images. Personally, I really liked how the colours represented the song "New York City". I felt that although we weren't actually filming the New York skyline, the same effect was coming through. I think the combination of digipak and music video is effective because there is a clear link between them and the theme is easily recognised across both products.

Promotional Poster:

The promotional poster was actually quite difficult to come up with. The EDM genre is not a genre in which artists release a magazine poster. Additionally, magazine promotional posters themselves are actually becoming quite outdated and are no longer a traditional tool used to promote an album. Therefore during the planning stages I looked at other genres such as Pop where promotional posters were used most often. Using research we were able to identify the conventions of the posters and learnt what we had to include in ours. It was important to recognise the links between the digipak, music video and poster as they were all for the same song and artist. Like in the digipak we used shots we took on the day of filming the music video as the main image for the poster. We incorporated the front cover of the digipak on our poster in order to both make a link and conform to a convention. Also, the same colours and fonts were used in order to show consistency across the products. The video link is shown by the use of images which are similar to the shots from the music video as well as the main character taking the main focus in every product. She is therefore easily identifiable to the audience.  The colour is consistent across the board as we did not want to manipulate the natural colours which were shown nor did we want to interrupt the theme by making the colours overly edited and artificial.

Here is an example of the fonts used:

   

The effect of the overall combination of products is that there is clear evidence of consistency across the board. Each individual product is can be recognised individually as being a part of this brand and as a stand alone thing. By having features which are consistent across the products it makes them more effective and recognised by the audience. They show that the link is an important part of branding and it works better in terms of promotion for the artist. If a product is recognised by the audience it improves the reputation of the artist. 

Conclusion:

In conclusion, overall I really appreciate the connection between the products as I feel like it is a big, important part of branding. By using consistent features it makes clear links. Examples such as font, colour and images themselves show the consistency effectively. We received feedback from various audience groups concerning the effectiveness of the links and they said things like "...." "...." Overall the combination of our main product and ancillary task is effective because the brand is easily recognised and you can clearly identify the ongoing theme between the products. 

Question 1: Evaluation

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

http://prezi.com/mhe2-yez4gqo/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Final Digipak and Promotional Poster

Front Cover:

Back Cover:

Side Panel - Outside:

Front Inside Cover:

Back Inside Cover:

Side Panel - Inside:

Promotional Poster: