Introduction to Evaluation and how did you use new technologies in the construction and research and planning and evaluation stage?

Introduction

For our media coursework we chose to do a music video and the two ancillary products, a DigiPak and an advert for a DigiPak. I chose this because I have an interest in music, I was interested to find out the ways in which music videos are created and the aspect of music as a media and how it can be seen as a form of media.
We chose the genre of pop for the music being as it is a genre of music we both like and we felt that if we chose any other genre we would have to do much more in depth research. When shooting the music video and DigiPak photographs, had the idea of using the same place to shoot the video and photographs so the target audience could also relate to where the artist was from.
When making the products I was influenced by the film makers Anton Corbijn and Walter Stern. Corbijn uses imagery as a focal point in his music videos as seen in his work with Nirvana (Heart Shaped Box) and Joy Division (Atmosphere). Through Stern's work I took the simplicty of the video and how watching his work it can be very simple but then effective for the audience viewing it. This is seen his work with Massive Attack (Teardrop) and Nine Inch Nails (Into the Void).

There have been many new technologies I have used when working on my moving image product and the two ancillary tasks.

Blogger
When we first created our coursework blog, we chose the site Blogger for us to post our information on being as we found it easy to use and we both could access the site through our smart phones. This was very effective because even if we weren't at a computer screen we could still post information up wherever we were.

YouTube
Through using YouTube we were able to show our final product to a mass audience and also get critical feedback on our final product.

Facebook
Facebook was used as part of the audience feedback process. We also found if we posted the video later in the evening then more people would be able to view it because more people would be online at that point. This was the case and from this we were given essential feedback.

Twitter
I set up a Twitter account for the artist featured in our coursework and posted the link to the video on YouTube on the account so we could receive audience feedback from a different professional perspective.

Photoshop
When creating the ancillary tasks we used PhotoShop CS3 to make and edit the DigiPak and the DigiPak advert. It is through this software we were able to make the DigiPak and advert look as professional as possible with use of different fonts, colours and editing techniques such as changing colour level on the photos and taking out red-eye from the model in the DigiPak advert.

Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro was the software used for when we created and edited the moving image product. Because we had never used the software before we were apprehensive after filming the footage. As soon as it was explained to us we found the process easy being as the concept of our video was simple. Through this software we could cut out film clips we didn't want or need in the final film, place the track on easily and put the shots together in a way that made a product that has been well received.

I feel that the use of new technology has strengthened our coursework vastly. Through sites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube we have been able to attain feedback from many different perspectives which has helped us greatly when working on this project. The software used has helped us create products that look professional enough to be viewed as genuine pieces of media production. I am therefore very happy with how this project has gone.

What have you learnt from audience feedback?

For my audience feedback I posted my moving image product onto the site Facebook, so I could get comments from my friends as to what they thought. They commented that the camera was unsteady in places but it wasn't that much of an issue. Looking back, maybe a camera set up on a device with wheels would've been better to shoot those sequences on. Some people also suggested some techniques we could have used such as the model actually holding the camera and lip syncing to it. I believe that the unsteady shots could have been solved by a device with wheels in some parts but then because of the surface we were filming on I feel some parts would've been even more unsteady. Overall, the video has been well received and I am pleased with the finished product.

'fantastic stuff... really good work. lip syncing needs work though'
'I liked it and the tune was catchy'
'I really like the song and the music but i just think there needs to be something to excite the audience a little bit more like some more effects or different shots or something but other than that i think it's great'

How effective is the combination between your main product and your anicillary tasks?

A way in which producers advertise music products is through cross media advertising. This is where, for example if they are advertising a music product, they will relate back to the product in different ways. We have done this by using the same person in the moving image product, the DigiPak and the DigiPak advert. We have also kept the location the same throughout so it links back to our mise-en-scene.

This is the location where the DigiPak advert was taken and also the starting point for the moving image product.

 

I think it is important that the target audience can relate to the artist producing the music. The method we have used to do this is by shooting all three elements in the same place so the audience can get a feel of where the artist is from and his background. This shows the audience what they can expect from this artist.

In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge the form and conventions of real media products?

When creating our products, we used the forms and conventions we researched taken from real media products to help create our moving image product and our two ancillary tasks. We first had the initial idea of making a video that was just one shot following a man walking down a street but we then thought this would be challenging to the audience watching. We then decided to keep the idea of the man walking but then added cutaways like a shot of the man from behind, a point-of-view shot, shot of the feet and a profile shot at the side. After editing the video, we found that lip syncing was the hardest aspect of the process. After looking at our audience feedback, some people have commented on how it is slightly our of sync at some point. After looking at our video we agree to some extent but we believe it is not a major issue and the video is mainly successful. As we had never used Final Cut before, we found the initial stage of editing challenging. Once we got into the process of editing though, we found it a lot easier to make the product. The model used in all three products stays the same being as he is the main vocalist of the group. An example of an image being used in all three aspects can be found in Coldplay and their album artwork and advert for Mylo Xyloto and video for Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall. In this all three feature bright colours used in the album artwork for Mylo Xyloto. We have incorporated this idea but using an actual person.

Moving Image Product

Template for DigiPak Back Cover

Template for DigiPak CD Panel

Template for DigiPak Inside Cover

Template for DigiPak Front Cover

New Location Recce and Storyboard

For the Location Recce and Storyboard for the Stratford filming please see
http://grace-howells.blogspot.com/2012/01/location-recce-2.html
http://grace-howells.blogspot.com/2012/01/celtx-storyboard-2-stratford-upon-avon.html

Back Cover of DigiPak Analysis

After researching the back cover of DigiPaks, I feel there are certain elements I had to include in mine.
These are

• Track listings
• Record label logo the artist is on
• The artist's website
• Barcode

I had the idea of replicated the same image from the front cover of the DigiPak but placed the image in reverse. This is seen a number of times where an album has the image on the front and the back but something has changed for example the Oasis album (What's the Story) Morning Glory? has a front cover of two men walking down a street. On the back cover there is just the one man walking down the street with his back to the camera.

Front Cover of DigiPak Analysis

When creating the front cover of the DigiPak, I looked at many other DigiPaks to see what I could link into mine from them. After looking at a lot of new debut albums by Britsh pop artists, I found that a lot of them have the artist on the front cover and the text across their body, such as Katy B and Paul Weller. I also found that a lot of debut artists, especially groups, name their album after their band, such as Gorillaz and Kasabian. I incorporated these features into my front cover. The place where the photo is taken is the starting point of the music video. This links to inspiration from the photographer Anton Corbijn who directed music videos for groups such as Joy Division and Depeche Mode, artists who influence the artist we are looking at. Corbijn used a technique in which he used the album artwork in part of the video, for example in the Depeche Mode video for 'Enjoy the Silence', there are snap shots of the album artwork for Violator, from which the track was taken from. We have incorporated this into our DigiPak front cover and our moving image product. The picture shows the artist who is a young person which links to the genre of pop music and the target audience.

Final DigiPak Inside Front Cover and CD Panel

Final DigiPak Front and Back Cover

Analysis of Final Magazine Advert

Included in this advert are parts that link the new media technologies we have around us today.

These include

• A QR Code that when scanned links back to my A2 Media blog.
• A link to the artist's website.

I can then create screengrabs of both those sites and post them on as seperate blog posts. Also included are general album advert conventions such as

• The picture being the main vocalist in the group
• Title of the group
• The date of release
• Quotes from magazines
• Reviews of the album by music magazines and newspapers.

The image shown on the advert will also appear as part of the front and back covers of my DigiPak. This will link back to the album adverts I have studied, such as Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto which uses the same style of colour and font on their album artwork as they do on their advert. This is done in my advert by using the main font of the band as the band logo oin the DigiPak. The other font will be used for the track listings and inside cover of the DigiPak.

Magazine Advert - Final Product

Change of location reasons

After arriving in Coventry, we found the place where we were originally filming was under construction so we sourced a new location in Stratford-upon-Avon. We had done a substantial amount of filming in Coventry already and looked to find a similar location in the city. We found that a similar amount of construction and roadworks were on-going. Therefore it would've been hazardous and not practical to continue filming in this area. Therefore we started again to find a suitable location. We chose Stratford as the location because it was easily accessible to us as a group and also because of the scenery around the location. We also decided to shoot the moving image product in the day rather than at night so we could use natural daylight to our advantage and not have to worry about portable artificial lighting.