Evaluation

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

My target audience is people aged between 14 and 26. This is mainly because the artist himself is in this age bracket. Also I would say that the music video would appeal to both genders, as the male gender would admire him and just want to be like the artist and the female gender just like his good looks.

My aim has been to try and create a media product that follows the forms and conventions of a real media product, but at the same time appeal to my target audience. My chosen song is Lego House by Ed Sheeran. The genre of my music video is soul/acoustic. My music video is aimed to make people feel happy, chilled and relaxed, just like the music itself.

I want my music video to flow with the song, if this means that I have to slightly break the forms and conventions of a real media product I will. But I still want my audience to enjoy the music video.

I have also taken the opportunity to look at other music video by Ed Sheeran, I have chosen two that I really like, The A Team and Drunk, both these music videos are very well done, they seem to mainly follow the forms and conventions of a real media product. One thing I really like about both music videos is, they seem to have an amateur feel to them even though they look really good and appeal to their target audience. My main aim is to appeal to my target audience, the best way to do this will be to find out what they want and like to see in a music video.

This video is The A Team by Ed sheeran;

This video narrates the story of a girl who is addicted to drugs living on the streets in London. She tries selling magazines to earn money; the artist is the only one to buy a magazine from here. The girl was struggling so much that she decides to sell herself to get more money. She doesn’t seem to like it, but it provides her with money that she desperately needs. Later on it becomes too much and she decides that she want to end it all. The girl trades in the money for drugs, getting high, this bit is referenced by in the lyrics “and in the pipe she flies to the mother land.” This is intended to mean that she is using the drugs as a vehicle to enter her own world to escape reality. This video I very well crafted and I feel that it really tells the story well.    

Throughout the whole music video you can constantly see links between the lyric and the story told in the video.

The second music video is Drunk by Ed Sheeran; 

     

In this video it features a cat that takes Ed out to get him drunk to help distract him from his break-up. The video very much fits the feeling that you get from the song. I really like the way the artist is portrayed in the video and also how the video follow the lyrics.           

Many directors in the music industry choose not to follow the form and conventions of the genre of music there are doing, this is partly because directors are trying to make something a bit different and hope it turns into a hit.

I have been looking at other music videos of the same genre and have found common links between them. I have decided to use some of the ideas in my music video.  

       

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

I feel that the combination of my main product and ancillary texts are very good. Whist the process of creating my music video was going on I was coming up with idea for my ancillary texts that would fit the style of my music video. I ensured that I took time to find the right style/s that fit. After finishing my music video I found that a good I idea for my poster and digipak would be to take the main strand of my music video, this was the park scene. My aim was to take lots of different pictures of my artist in the park and use them for my ancillary tasks. This meant that I now had a strong link between my music video and my ancillary tasks.

For my poster I decided to use a font that looked a bit like handwriting, this was to make the customers feel like the artist himself had signed it, also it went well with the style. When I was taking the pictures my aim was for the artist to look chilled and relaxed to fit with the style.  

Have you learnt much from your audience feedback?

Throughout the whole process of making my main product and ancillary tasks I wanted feedback so that I could use the feedback to improve my pieces of work. To obtain my feedback for my music video I used YouTube, Facebook and twitter. By posting my video on these sites and asking people to comment I found that quite a lot of people responded. To gain feedback for my ancillary tasks I asked my teacher and classmates to give me there opinion on them. I also received some good comments.  

So through my own experience I have learnt that audience feedback can be very help in achieving a good piece of work. I have also learnt a great deal of thing through audience feedback, like, for my music video my teacher gave me the idea to use overlay somewhere in the video, so this is why I chose to put overlay in the basketball scene. Also for my poster some classmates suggested that I put in the same logos from my digipak as it would act as another link between the two.

Generally speaking the audience feedback I received was positive, like, this is an outstanding video, excellent camera angles. Good work, and this is brilliant, love it, especially when he’s on the stage.

In the audience feedback the thing that everyone seemed to love was the overlay part of the artist singing in the foreground and playing basketball in the background, one comment said “the overlay is best part as it looks very professional”.

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

In the construction and research stage of my coursework I used lots of different forms of technology to help me gather idea and thoughts. I mostly used the internet to obtain the information needed but I also look at TV channels, such as Viva to see what real music video where like.

The website I mainly used to gather ideas and thoughts was YouTube, as this had many different ideas to choose from. Through looking at the different music videos on this website I found common thing that seemed popular in them. It also gave me a clear understanding of the type of thing I needed to create for my genre of music to ensure a great target audience.

Throughout the planning stage I found that posting ideas on Facebook and Twitter became very useful as I received feedback to help me make decisions and as gain a wider audience.

For my filming section I used a Sony Handycam HDR-CX115 which worked very well and had many different features to use, like the spot focus. After getting all of my footage I uploaded to my computer. This was very easy to do as I had no problems with the format of the footage which meant that it was compatible with the software. To edit my video I used a piece of software called Adobe Photoshop Element 10, this software was very big so it took at lot to run it, this was the biggest problem I encountered as the program kept freezing and shutting down in the middle of doing work, but eventually I managed to get it working properly.

I used a Fujifilm camera to take pictures for my ancillary tasks, to edit the photos I used Adobe Photoshop. Like the video editing software this also caused problem for me as it also kept freezing up.    

The software I used gave me the ability to produce some good work, as I had many different editing tools at my disposal. The editing software meant I had the ability to add different effects and transitions to my music video to give it a more professional look.

The effects and transitions that I used in my music video work well as this is what my focus group and I felt.

My music video consisted of many different shot, Like, Low and high angle shots, close-ups, mid shots, long shots, hand held shots and many more shots. This was done to ensure that I used a full range of shots to give my music video a more professional look. The hand held shot idea was done on purpose to create a more important imagery. When I asked my focus group what they felt, they all said that you can see it was done deliberately because it was made apparent that the angle of the shot was impossible to do with a tripod. I was very pleased with the feedback as this was my intention.                 

Final Music video

This is the final version of my A2 music video, Lego House by Ed sheeran;

Final digipak

This is the final version of my digipak.

Final poster

This was my final poster with the new photo of the artist. I have also asked for feedback on this poster and everyone seemed to think that the photo worked and poster looked good. This was pleasing to here as It is my third attempt.

Poster 3

This is my third attempt of a poster, with the new photo I feel that this has worked well. I had also asked for feedback on this version and most People said that the photo worked well but it needed more information, e.g. tour dates etc.

Poster 2

This time I when for a more relaxed photo of my artist. I asked for some feedback from the class, and they all agreed that the photo didn't fit the page, which I felt was a good point.

Poster 1

This was my first attempt of a poster, my teacher said that the font was good but the picture wasn't so good, she seemed to think that he looked to serious, which I agreed.

Poster sketch

This is a ruff sketch of the way I am hoping to layout my advertising poster. It will include the artist name, album name, tour dates, release date, web address and logos.

Poster research

Today I spent researching for idea and example of advertising posters. Though the research I found that for each genre there where different type of style's, here are some example;

Classical

Rock

Pop

As you can see all three of these poster are completely different, but there purpose is the same. My poster will look most like the Pop poster, as even though my genre isn't pop it's quiet close. Looking at Ed sheeran's posters I have found that they are similar to Pop posters, here is an example;

   

Digipak version 3

This is the third version of my digipak, this time I have added some writing, firstly it just talking about the new album then I have added a few words from my artist. In my research I found that talking about the new album is found in many different digipak's. Even though I didn't find any digipak examples with a few words from the artist I felt that it would be a good addition to my digipak.

Digipak version 2

This is the second version of my digipak, this also includes the inside cover picture. I have chosen to go for one long panoramic photo of the artist with trees and bushes in the background. I had found that this seemed to be quite common for digipak's.

Digipak version 1

This is the first addition of my digipak, I have done the front and back covers but not the inside covers. The front cover includes the artist name and the album name, I felt that this is all it need and looking at real digipak's I found that this was the case. For the back cover I have listed the names of the song on the album, logo's and some writing, this is what you generally see on a digipak.

Digipak sketch

This is a sketch of the layout and style which I want my digipak to look like. The digipak includes artist name, album name, pictures of artist, logos, word from the artist, CD info, copyrights, bar-codes etc.

Digipak research

Today I have been researching idea for my digipak. There where many different types of digipak's, e.g. 4 panel, 6 panel, 8 panel and many more. I decided to go for the 4 panel as this seemed to be very common with music digipak's. Here is the Digipak template and a example of a digipak.
 

         

                    

Music video feedback from Facebook

Music video feedback from YouTube

Fifth week of editing

This week was spent touching up the music video, by adding the additional transitions and credits, just to finalize the music video as a hole. It only took a couple of days to finish. The rest of the week was spent uploading it to YouTube and posting it on Facebook and Tweeter to gain feedback and comment on my music video. My teacher was very pleased with the finished project, she said "I like it! I think some of the camera angles are 'arty' and the transitions work well.".
Here is the finally version of my A2 music video;

A2 music video final version

Fourth week of editing

This week my aim was to try finishing the remainder of the editing, the week started of well, With having of 2.40 mins done by Wednesday. but towards the end of the week I ran in to some problems with the software as it kept crashing. Although this delayed me I had managed to finish my music. I had added most of  the transitions and effects needed to make my music video look good. Next week I am aiming to add the credits and the remaining transitions, to polish up the music video so it look professional.
here is the finished version of my music video with most of its transitions;


  

Third week of editing

This week I have been improving the first 40 secs of editing and also adding to it. I have now managed to do 1.20 mins in total.
It has turn out to be a very successful week, as the editing when quite well, although it was running a bit slow at times and the footage seem to work well and fit with the music. This week the teacher seemed a lot more pleased about the footage and editing, which was good to know. My plan for the next week is to near finish the editing so I can get on with my digipak and poster.
Here is 1.20 mins of the edited music video;

Second week of editing

This week my aim is to edit the first part of the song, about 40 secs. At the beginning of the week I spent sorting out the clips that I will need for the first bit of the song. Unfortunately the footage I originally had for the beginning part of my song wasn't any good as my teacher said that the mise-en-scene was poor, and need redoing. the following day was spend re-filming the first part of the music video.
Later that day and the rest of the week was spent editing the first part of the song. With the new footage it seemed to be coming together quite well.
Here is the first 40 secs of my music video.

Re-filming

Early this week I have be re-filming the first part of my A2 music video. The reason that I re-filmed part of my music video was because my teacher and I felt that the footage I originally had was not good enough, as I had not taken the mise-en-scene into great consideration. Also the clips just looked very amateur and not very good. I have now taken into consideration the mise-en-scene and also tried to make it look more professional. Here are some photo's from the day of filming;

First week of editing

This first week of editing was spent organizing all the clips to see what I had, what ones where and at what where bad. There where several different clips that I disregarded straight away as they where very poor. It was very trying work as there where lots of thing that when wrong. For example I couldn't find out some of the features that I wanted to use on Photoshop.

Although there was a few hiccups I believe the week was somewhat a success, My aim for next week is to get the first 30 -40 secs of the music video edited.       

Day 4 of filming

Today was spent filming the basketball scene, it seemed to take quite a while as I was trying to find the best angles of him playing basketball. Many different clips where shot o that when I came to edited I had plenty of film. Also today I filmed the car scene, I had to ensure the timing was right with the music.

Day 3 of filming

Today has been the longest day so far as it was spent filming the park scene which took over 2 hours. It went surprisingly well though. The hardest thing today was trying to get the right camera angles and positions, also making sure that the sun wasn't obstructing any of our views.

Day 2 of Filming

Today was mainly spent filming the same part of the music video but just from different angles. This was to give me more options when coming to edit it.

 

Day 1 of Filming

Today I started filming for my music video. For the filming I used a HD Panasonic Camcorder with a tripod. Today I spent it filming the beginning of the song, this involved him playing the guitar and lip-syncing. I would say that the day went pretty well. Here is some snap shot of the days footage;

Final Storyboard

This is the latest editions of my storyboards, it includes all of the changes made to my video.

This storyboard took a long time to create as it involved lots of different clips. The storyboard I original created for my music video meant that when I changed some of the footage I also had to change the storyboard, as there so many changes I decided to scrap it and make a new one.
Here is my storyboard;

Storyboarding

What is a storyboard?
A storyboard is a plan, a way of figuring out the story of the film before you put in the enormous amount of work of the animation itself. Basically, it is the story of the movie drawn in pictures, very much like a comic strip.
Here are some examples of storyboards;

Conventions of a Music Video

Camera shots - In music videos you tend to find that close-ups are often used to show the artist, long shots and mid shots are also used fairly often in music videos. This is to create emphasis on the artist, emotions and locations in the music video. Close-ups are also used to show the artist lip syncing the song.

Camera movements - This is used to follow the artist/bands movement. This includes pans, tilts, crane and tracking shots.

Mise-en-scene - This means how the props and artists/performances are arranged in the scene/set for the music video. Mise-en-scene stress the importants of what the producer is trying to represents in the music video.

Editing - A common transition used in a music video is a jump cut, this is a sudden change from one scene to another. Also another very common transition used is a fade/dissolve, this creates a different effect. For example, In Dappy's music video No Regrets, he uses lots of fades/dissolves which creates the specific effect that Dappy wants.

No Regrets - Dappy  


Lighting - The is very important, as it helps set the mood right from the beginning of the music video. As a dark music video usually give a sad/dull representation.

Sound - In a music video the main sound is the vocals/song, but some music video can be like a short film. For example, the extended version of Last Friday Night by Katy Perry is very much film like.

Last Friday Night - Katy Perry  

Props - This is hugely important for the representation of a music video, it also helps create significance on a person or object. 

Costume - This help to represent the genre of the music video. It also sets a style for the artist/band and can have a effect on the way the artist/band fans dress.

Colour - This helps to represent the genre and mood of the music video. It also gives the music video a certain type of atmosphere. As you mostly like would find the colour pink being used in a heavy metal music video.  

Target Audience description

To identify my potential target audience I will need to include;

• Age 
• Occupation
• Gender
• Style
• Media Grouping  

I have collected information on audience theory which help me to understand what I will need to consider When I create my music video.

Two-step Flow

This is the idea that an individual (opinion leader) who pays close attention to the media and then passes there own interpretation of the media onto other people.

There are two types of opinion leader

• Monomorphic (influential on one topic)
• Polymorphic (influential on many topics)     

For example, A man goes to the cinema to watch a film and then after the film meets up with some friend and tells them his opinion of the movie and then his friend's tell there other friend's that a mate of there's said that it is a good films.

The Hypodermic Syringe      

This is the idea that as an audience we are manipulated by the the creators of the media texts, and that our thoughts and behaviour can be hugely influenced by the media makers. In other words it is like a media message being injected into a passive audience which is immediately influenced by it.  

Audience Questionnaire

I have made a questionnaire to find out what sort of of thing people would want to see in a music video, I will also included what genre people pefer. I posted the link on facebook and am waiting for results;

Open link to see questionnaire;
Audience Questionnaire

Audience

In a music video an artist has to make a connection with the audience, here are some features that have to be considered when it comes to how the media portray them;

1. Icon
2. Relate - (a ack ground story that can be related to by the audience)
3. Belonging
4. Identity
5. Visualisation
6. Connection (communication)
7.  Role Model (aspiration)
8. Entertainment
9. Awareness

Intertextuality

Intertextuality is the shaping of text meaning's by other texts. The term 'intertextuality' has been borrowed and transformed since it was coined by Julia Kristeva in 1966. Julia augured that she was against the idea of text as a secluded object.
Intertextuality can be found in so many different things, including genres of music, celebrate icons, films, narrative and many others.

Here are a few examples of intertextuality in music videos:

• Californication by Red Hot Chili Peppers - this is an example of a music video which has been influenced by video games.
• Cheers (drink to that) by Rihanna - this is an example of  celebrity icon in a music video.     

In my music video I will not be using intertextuality as a infleunce in my music video, as I feel that there is no need.

Stop Motion

I may be using stop motion in my music video. My idea is to use stop motion for the Lego house which would be shown slowly building throughout the music video and then getting destroyed at the end of the video.
Here is an example of the type of thing I hope to do;