Evaluation- Question 1- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Media Evaluation

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

Well lit and accurate mise-en-scene
for the pop genre

In every music video conventions are used, developed and challenged but this does depend on the genre of the music video. The main conventions of music videos are fast cutting- fast-cutting shots which should rarely last more than three seconds, the shots should be well lit- this depends on the genre, accurate mise-en-scene which fits the genre and lastly a wide variety of shots- a wide variety of shots – but particularly close ups and extreme close ups.

The theorist Andrew Goodwin identified a number of conventions that music videos should follow. These conventions include-

-          There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.

Artist Lady Gaga which is in the pop
genre

-          There is a relationship between the music and the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music.

-          Genres are complex and diverse in terms of music, video style and iconography.

-          Voyeurism is present in many music videos, especially in the treatment of females, but also in terms of systems of looking.

-          Inter textual references

Many of these features are present in music videos depending on the genre of the song and the aim of the record company and/or artist.

The genre of our music video is pop. From my research which I completed earlier in the year there were many conventions which I established for the pop genre. Music videos which are in the pop genre usually are very good at appealing to the audience.

Different shots from my music video-
shows a mid, close up and an
extreme close up

-          There is usually a simple narrative or story which intercuts between the singing and performance.

-          Through pop videos the artist engages the audience by using a select of different camera angles and shots, for example, close up shots of the artist’s lips or eyes.

-          Pop music videos are also used to illustrate the meaning of lyrics and visualise the music, there is usually a direct link to the narrative and the song.

-          When editing pop music videos they’re usually edited to the beat or rhythm of the song, for example, if the song is upbeat there will be quick cuts to illustrate this.

Shows a screenshot of my music
video

In the industry the music video is a fundamental tool in selling the artist, so it is important that the artist’s image is well represented throughout the music video. Therefore this means that the mise-en-scene is an important part in selling the artist. All of these conventions listed above are important in selling the artist’s videos.

Showing my two ancillary texts- shows font/style,
colours, positions of objects and special
effects- black and white

Artists which I researched and chose to follow the
conventions

Visuals are an important part to the production. Visuals include images of the artist, the font/style, colours and positions of objects and special effects used- black and white. We chose to follow these conventions as they work successfully for well-known artists in the industry, such as Adele and Katy Perry. In both of our ancillary texts we used the special effects which were black and white images. We conformed to this convention as we used black and white throughout our music video, as we believed this added more to the video and looked better in black and white than in colour. We followed this theme throughout as this will allow the audience to relate to the artist. The colour black and white also shows the mood of the artist and the song choice.Black and white was used in both the ancillary texts and the music video. We also used the same font throughout the ancillary texts as this shows a strong link between one another and therefore when the audience sees the magazine advert this can be related to the digipak. We used the colour white for the text as this relates to the black and white theme which is running through all of our texts. Even though the images are black and white I think the colour white stands out on the images. Also, the colour white shows no emotion as it is very plain which relates to our sad song choice.

Text on the magazine advert, from our ancillary text

According to Andrew Goodwin’s theory there should be a strong link between the visuals and the track. As the song which we used had quite sad and emotional lyrics we tried to show this in the three texts by using strong images. I think throughout all three texts have successfully done this and this is recognised to the audience.

Camerawork

Image showing our digipak- Can see the different
angles and shots used, therefore being able to
see the emotion shown in the face. In our digipak
we adhered to conventions of pop genre. 

When completing the three texts our main aim was to advertise and promote the artist. We used a variety of shots and angles in order to frame the artist. On the magazine advert we angled the artist looking away from the camera so that the audience will be able to see the emotion on her face which therefore relates to the song. In the digipak we used a selection of different shots and angles. We shot the images in mid shots, long shots and close ups. This gives the digipak a dynamic edge and shows a variety of emotions from the images. After researching into conventions of pop music videos, we recognised that shots should rarely last more than 3 seconds, knowing this we used fast cutting throughout out music video and mainly throughout we tried to ensure that we adhered to this convention and had quick, sharp cuts throughout. Also, throughout our music video we tried to use a wide variety of shots as this is also a convention of pop music videos. Throughout all three texts we have tried to incorporate a wide variety of shots to adhere to this convention. In all three texts we used similar if not the same images in order to get the artist in the public eye and hopefully this will help with the advertising.

Setting and location

Shows one of our locations which we used- Highfields

From our initial audience research we found that our audience like music videos which are set in a variety of locations. To make this continuous, within our digipak, magazine advert and music video we used different locations and took images in these locations to use in our ancillary texts. The locations which we used were an outside location in a back garden, Highfields- for the stepping stones instrumental, inside a bedroom and in a studio. In our initial planning we only planned to use one location but after filming we realised that we would not have enough footage from this location to form our complete music videoand interesting and also this retains the audience’s attention throughout. In my opinion setting the music video in different locations helps it stay realistic and believable.

Shows our outside location- Tom's
grandmas garden

Costumes and props

When choosing the costumes and props to use we had to think about our genre, we dressed the actress in colourful dresses, this represents the pop genre as pop artists are usually dressed in bright clothing. In both our ancillary texts especially our digipak we have incorporated this. On one of the panels of the digipak we incorporated this, we had the artist standing in different locations wearing two different outfits, which represents the pop genre star image (Shown in the image)I think we have successfully portrayed our actress as a pop artist and have allowed the audience to recognise this.

Shows some of the mise-en-scene
which we use on our digipak

In conclusion, I think we have adhered to alot of the pop genre conventions in all three texts and therefore not challenged or gone against any conventions. We did this as successful pop artist do this and they are very successful. By following these conventions I think we have produced three successful texts.

Evaluation- Question 2- How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

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

Throughout my project I have tried to link my main product and my two ancillary tasks together. I have used various elements such as font, colour, theme and image. My music video is the prime element of my project so therefore I wanted to like my magazine advert and digipak to this. As we chose to use the after effects and change the colour to black and white, I wanted to relate my CD and magazine advert to this theme. I continued this theme throughout my CD and magazine advert and used similar images which relates to all three of the texts together. Using black and white for my music video, digipak and magazine advert helps the audience relate to these texts and therefore this helps them to relate to the artists. These shots suggest unhappiness and sadness, which relates to the song and this, was the theme I was aiming for from the start. Also, by using black and white throughout all three of the texts the audience will be able to see similarities between the three texts which therefore promotes and advertises the artist. The image on my magazine advert is very simple but effective, the artist is looking away from the camera with little emotion shown which relates back to my music video. As in my music video little facial expressions are shown. I have tried to incorporate this through all three of my texts.

Richard Dyer has noted: “a star is an image constructed from a range of materials”. For pop music these materials include:

1=The songs and their lyrical themes and musical structures/ genres

2=The record covers- singles and albums display a large part of the image the artist wants to create and present to an audience

3=Music videos, which may draw upon the image presented in each of the other aspects.

I have conformed to this theory by creating coherence between the three items which I have therefore created a star image. In an institutional context an artist releases a song and music video as a lead single from an album before the album is released. During this time it is important that the artist maintains the style of their music and the style of the artist is continuous throughout. In the digipak we used the same costumes and locations to which we used in the music video which creates continuity and establishes to ‘star’. The images we used are set outside which relates to the music video as most of the video is set in an outside location. The costumes which the artist is wearing are fairly plain and suggest she is emotional due to the circumstances. Using the same locations and costumes throughout all three texts allows the audience to recognise the similarities, within the industry this could be a selling point for the artist. 

Evaluation- Question 3- What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Wordle for my music video

Wordle for my digipak

Wordle for my magazine advert

Evaluation- Question 4- How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

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

Images referring to my Xtranormal video

Music Video- Final Digipak

Music Video- Final Edit Video

Music Video- Final Magazine Advert

Music Video- Editing

Firstly, I had to create a new project in Adobe Premiere Pro. I changed the name to 'Everything Lies' so that it will be easily recongised in my B drive.

I changed the available preset to DV-PAL, Widescreen 48kHz. This enables my video to be in widescreen once uploaded onto YouTube. 

One I have set the settings correctly, the screenshot above will be shown where you can begin editing. In order for the footage to be imported into Adobe Premiere Pro, you have to go into 'File', 'Import' and select which footage you would like to import. Once you have imported the footage it will be displayed on the left hand side and then can be placed on the time line in order for it to be edited.

This screenshot shot shows the footage once it has been placed on the timeline, to place it on the timeline  you have to drag it from the left hand side. Using the tools on the bottom right I edited my footage. The main tool which I used was the razor tool, this tool allowed me to cut up the footage and create quick, sharp cuts.  Throughout our music video we tried to ensure that none of our shots lasted longer than 3 seconds as we wanted to adhere to this convention of pop music videos.

This screenshot shows our music video once we had changed  it to black and white. We changed our music video to black and white by using the special effects in the bottom left hand corner.  Initially we wasn't going to use black and white but due to the footage which we had collected it looked better in black and white. If we was able to complete our music video again we would only have the narrative in black and white, as this would separate the narrative from the singing and look more professional. 

This screenshot shows a close up shot of how we change our music video to black and white. After selecting the black and white effect in the bottom left corner,  additional video effects are shown in the middle of this screenshot which can be changed. We was not required to change any other effects as we only wanted our music video in black and white.

This screenshot shows our music video once it had been rendered, to render the music video we had to ensure that the two arrows was at either ends and then you press enter.  Once you press enter, a rendering box is shown which shows the percentage the music video has been rendered.

Once our video had been render we was able to export the file. To export our music video we had to select 'file', 'export', 'movie'.

This screenshot shows how we exported the file, once clicked on 'file', 'export', you select 'Movie'.

Once you select 'Movie' the screenshot shown above is displayed where you can check all the settings are completed correctly. Once you've checked the settings you select 'OK'.

Once you select 'OK', Adobe Media Encoder is opened. You then 'Start Queue' which begins the exporting process. This software will export it to a file which YouTube will recognise  and therefore can be uploaded to YouTube.

Construction of Draft Magazine Advert

1. Create an A4 size canvas

2. Import image which was previously used on the digipak, this allows the audience to relate to the artist by the pictures and it continous throughout marketing

3. Change the colour of the image, as the image did not look professional in colour. A new image will be taken at the next filming date as there is too much shadow on her face.

4. Type the name of the artist 'Amanda Kaletsky' onto the poster. The writing will be in the colour black so that it stands out on the poster. Even though the image is in black and white, the text colour black still stands out.

5. Import Digipak Cover. Having the digipak cover on the magazine advert shows the audience what to look when they are buying the CD in the shops.

Construction of Draft Digipak

1. Create a canvas 42cm x 26cm

2. Split canvas into 6 panels, I split the canvas into 6 panels as I think this will look more professional and  like a professional artist digipak.

3. Find a suitable background on the internet and insert it over the top of the six panels. We added a black background as we took inspiration from artists such as Adele. Also, the black background makes the digipak look professional and as though it has been made professionally. 

4. Begin to insert text on the panels- Insert the CD reviews.  

5. Insert the main image on the front panel and insert the artists name 'Amanda Kaletsky' and the song 'Everything Lies'. We used a white, bold font to make the writing stand out and also we cut out the image of the artist on the front cover. We did this as digipaks which we looked at do this and we thought that it look good, we also did not want to use the whole image as the background of the image was not suitable for the digipak so we had to find a way of cutting out the background. After adding the reviews we decided that they do not normally feature on digipaks so these will be removed for our final edit.

6. Insert the track list, credits and barcode. Use a different font to the rest of the text but continue with the colour white, we used a different font as this is what professional digipaks do. We also added a barcode, the company logo, trademark, distribution company and the logos. All artists digipaks have this information on so therefore this will make our digipak look professional.

7. Import the five images of the artist and make them all the same size and ensure they fit on the digipake panel. After researching into digipaks we found that digipaks tend to use a large amount of images as this is a good way of promoting the artist.

8. Complete the last panel- at a later date I will add two other pictures of the artist. When creating the digipak we did not have enough images so when we next film we will take more images to add onto the digipak.

9. This screenshot above shows our final digipak, whilst we was creating our digipak we did not have enough information to fill six panels and we thought that our digipak would still look professional with four panels. Also, during the construction stage we changed what we wanted to have on our digipak. 

Feedback recieved from my teacher

• Upload on blog needs to be larger, as it cannot be seen currently
• Text on the bottom right cannot be seen
• Images missing
• Reviews are not normally seen on digipaks
• There are two different versions on each of our blogs

Music Video First Draft

Digipak Draft- By Sophie and Tom

Magazine Advert Draft

This is our magazine advert (draft). Before completing out magazine advert we looked at examples of adverts and took inspiration from other magazine adverts such as: Adele magazine advert and Lily Allen magazine advert. We changed the background image to black and white as we thought this looked better than colour, as the image was taken outside. From looking at the example work we found that the information which we included on our magazine advert is what is normally included on a magazine advert. For our completed magazine advert I think we may chnage the colour of the text and the positioning of the text and the digipak image.

Images from filming

The images below are from filming the studio shots, which are used throughout the music video. The images show the artist singing and also evidence of me and Tom filming the shots.