Final Digipack:
Evaluation:
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Video - Evaluation Video
Written Evaluation
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge form and conventions of real media products?
My music video follows the codes and conventions of a real music video to an extent and obviously if I had enough time to develop my final products I would develop them further to fit more into the conventional music video. It follows the codes and conventions because like a proper music video it has a story line that the audience can understand (in my case it was a documentary of the artists on what they have achieved over the past few years), the song itself is mainstream and is accessible to a target audience and something else that is quite obvious is that the story board was well thought out with a wide range of shots and the song is in synch with the video. My idea of having a mini documentary in the music video sparked off from looking at “Justin Bieber – Never Say Never” music video and “Chipmunk – Superstar”. These videos had flashbacks of the main artists from their performances them having fun and also working. The reason I think they would do a music video like that is because apart from them being mainstream accessible, they also appeal to a younger audience which would essentially inspire younger artists to work towards their goal. Furthermore, before shooting the music video I had made sure my artists featuring in the music video was dressed a certain way to appeal to my target audience (13-18) e.g Cleve September dressed in a Mickey Mouse jumper, chinos and high-tops. I had specifically told him to dress this way due to the fact that one of the biggest mainstream artists out at the moment is Justin Bieber, so I had named this look the “Justin Bieber” look. By doing this, focusing on dressing of the artists this stuck to the typical codes of what a main stream music video would look like. The “Justin Bieber” look would appeal to predominantly young girls and young “trendy” boys. This was done with the rest of us like me dressing up like an urban star, I wore a lot of jewellery, varsity jacket which would appeal to urban listeners of music, and this to me is what a conventional rapper would dress like. Whilst the video shoot was going on I got a friend of mine to take pictures of it happening so that I would later on go to edit and use them for my magazine advert and digipack. My reason for this is so that there is a kind of “house style” seen through the music videos and the art work e.g Katy Perry’s “One of the boys” advert for her album. Looking at some other digipacks and adverts I could see that there was a particular house style seen so if did the same with mine. The reason I had come up with a gold brown colour was because when the vocals begin in the song there is the same brown warm glow on Cleve September so I decided to go along with it. Looking at “Clash” magazine which is a magazine for young music listeners I got an example of an advert and looked at the layout and did the same in my magazine advert. The theme of the song is meant to be motivational telling the listeners that whatever they want to do in life they can make it with perseverance and hard work with a little belief.
2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?
Reiterating what I said in my previous answer. The reason I had decided to go with a gold brown colour is because when the vocals come in at the beginning of the song, Cleve September has the same brownish glow on his skin and this is scene all throughout the music video. This colour was not planned but I think it worked. The colours where calm but at the same time notable and appealing to my target audience. For example, if I were to use dark colours it would be more appealing to punk rock fans. Inside the album package, I decided to digress away from the brown gold house style and go with a black and white image. The reason I decided to go with a black and white picture is because the picture is a 3 shot of all the artists looking somewhere and asking some of my target audience what they felt looking at the picture they had basically said that the picture being black and white makes it look elegant and make them feel like they have something to look forward to in life and the fact that we are all young, they feel like we represent our generation in a positive way. Then in the back cover the same gold brown house style resumes. In all the main images used, I wanted to also give off an ambiguous look. An example would be that in all the images, it looks like I’m looking at something, perhaps the future apart from the images on the back cover which shows me pointing up to the sky. The reason done this pose is because in the song lyrics there are religious references which once could argue would appeal to another type of audience. In the front cover, not only am I looking away, the background is the horizon. I put the contrast of the image up to make the buildings in the background look darker and mysterious. Showing that positivity and perseverance is in close reach. In all, I have made sure that the digipack, music video and magazine advert come together to look like a holistic package that in my view looks real enough to be made public.
3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
When I chose the song I had asked people who fell into my target audience (13-18) to listen to the song and give me feedback on how the song made them feel and whether the song was a good choice to do a music video for. I used networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Also the traditional way of approaching and asking people to listen. One was a teacher who was 25, she had said that this song “Climb” was defiantly suitable for 13-18 year olds as they are the ones still in education (most) and have inspirational targets. She had also highlighted that the song, as well as it being motivational, was multi gender as it had a male singer apart from there being a male singer and rapper. Furthermore she also made reference to the song being melodic and because it was melodic the appeal of the song would be wider. Initially my target audience was 13-25 year olds but after speaking to this female teacher and listening to what she said, I changed my mind and went along with what she said. It did not make sense with me appealing a song to older people because they would have known where they would like to go in life so this was a crucial decision in all of my tasks. After looking into conventional dress codes for mainstream male singers (“Justin Bieber” look), urban rappers (gangster look) and female singer (dressing like someone influential like Beyonce) I went on to shoot my music video. After shooting the music video I did private viewings for my target audiences. I asked questions such as:
1. Did you like the music video?
2. What did you like about the music video?
3. How did the music video make you feel?
4. Do you feel the message that I tried to put through the song and music video was clear?
5. Would you buy the song if it was released?
6. Are there any other comments you would like to make?
One boy had said the lyrics related to “real life” and that how you need to “try if you want to do well in life”. This was said by a 14 year old boy. Looking at a 17 year old female, she had said scenes in the music video showing the artists having fun worked really well as it showed a more laid back side to the artists apart from working hard. I had asked her this as there was the same reaction with the audiences when this particular scene came up of an artist eating chicken. I was glad to hear that this worked and they were not laughing for the wrong reason. After the viewing I went back into the editing again to change some things like adding more female scenes to the video so it had a sense of gender balance and also I added a wide variety of camera shots as I felt different camera shots showed different emotions. For example a close up would show more emotion and determination in the actors. Although in the preview viewing the same thing was repeated over and over again which was the lighting how I should tone it down a bit. I decided not to take their advice in this because I wanted that warm glow feeling on the artists. I also questioned the fact whether the final scene after the song had finished at the end should stay there or not. I decided that I should leave it at the end because the beginning of the music video links to it. When the video begins it shows the2 main artists on stage performing, although this is seen as work it also showed a lighter side to work as there is always a pessimist view towards it. We staged a performance and filmed it, making sure there were smiles on the artist’s faces. The end is similar to the point I just stated because it is at a video shoot but shows that whilst working you can still have that same fun with friends. Work is not necessarily meant to be bad but it’s good. Asking my target audience these relevant questions helped secure my final edit that I was happy with. Whilst designing my magazine cover, I came up with 2 drafts. One had all the main artist details (Phantomz) and one without. Speaking to a music teacher they said they preferred the one with all the details as it was not only conventional but it would be the best thing to do as it shows different ways fans could get in contact with the artist and also told me to add album release dates on the advert as well just to make it that more realer. And the same with my digipack. Not only did I look at other digipacks I also asked my target audience the same questions as I did with the advert. The main pictures in the digipack were not always the same but asking my target audience they changed my view on the pictures I chose and helped me come up with my final product. In my final draft of the magazine cover I added at the top left hand corner a label logo to make it look official. I then went to 18 year olds asking them:
1. Do you think having the advertisement of the up and coming album looks better without or without?
2. Is there anything unconventional in the adverts & digipack?
3. Do you think adding more info on the artist is better or not on the advert?
4. Is there anything you don’t like as a person part of my target audience?
5. Does the advert and digipack suit the song?
In my opinion asking my target audience what they thought of my work I put towards them came out to be something useful as it made my work better and more conventional. Asking them was the right thing to do as they would know what they would buy and what would interest them.
4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
During my coursework, at different stages I used different new media technologies. Things such as:
· Facebook – I used this to inbox different people in my target audience I felt would give me the most appropriate answers.
· Twitter – I used this again to ask different people that they thought of the song “Climb” not only people I know but random people.
· YouTube – This was used for the uploading of my pitch, my viewing and also where I uploaded the song “Climb” for people to hear through Facebook, Twitter etc.
· iDVD – This was used to burn my final music video onto a DVD ROM so it would be able to play through a DVD player.
· Blogger – This was used to record all my research and planning. I also used the link for my blog from time to time for some of my target audience to give me feedback on first drafts f designs that I’ve done.
· Final Cut Express – This was used to edit my music video. I used this because this is what industry people use to edit music videos and I wanted it to be of industry/mainstream standards.
· Windows Movie Maker – This to me is a simpler version of Final Cut Express. I used this to edit my preview viewing footage and my pitch.
· Video Camera – This was used to film my music video, pitch and the preview footage.
· Photoshop CS5 – I used this to edit my digipack and my magazine advert.
· E-Mailing - I used this to get hold of different people that I needed to talk to in regards to using their equipment and using their space to shoot my music video.
· Facility E-Portal – I used this as a source of promotion for people to read to the advert to the children that I had a music video coming out that they should check out. I also inserted the YouTube link.
· Microsoft Computer & Apple Mac – These where the foundation. I needed both to do all my planning and research and to get the final designs and edits for my footage.
All of these things helped contribute to not only my final pieces of coursework but with research and planning, being able to contact different people to use their equipment and space etc.
