Evaluation- Question 4

https://prezi.com/view/VtV7ndoFpy69KUF1oGs4/

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

When it came to the first stage of research and planning, we didn’t use many technologies as we didn’t feel it was much needed, as it was a case of drawing a storyboard and creating a draft shotlist. The only type of technology we used was creating a table on the equipment, location and shots needed. We also needed to find out more about the artist, as we thought we should know what her style and what work she has already done. As a group we decided to create research into our chosen genre and artist, to form generic conventions. This was aided by the use of the internet to find out more about the artist and her previous music videos.

However, when it came to the construction phase of our final media products, we then started to use many more types of technology. First of all, we needed to consider what we needed to use when filming our shots, meaning we had to think about what we were going to film the footage on. Due to the easy access, we filmed our footage on a Sony A5100, as a group member has this as their camera. This camera allowed us to get clear images and was easily uploaded to the Mac to edit. As well as this camera, we decided to use an iPhone 7 plus to film extra footage that we needed as this was also easily accessible and convenient. Once we had finished filming our footage, we needed to upload these to the school Mac to allow us to edit these together. Firstly, we needed to decide what editing software would benefit us the most, between iMovie or Final cut. Previously, each group member had used both of these software’s and created some benefits and draw backs. Final cut is a more powerful software and has more advanced technology to use, however, can be complicated for a beginner to use. Whereas, iMovie is more simplified and can be easily uploaded, however, has limited storage space and doesn’t have as many editing tools. From using these pros and cons, we decided to use Final Cut pro to place the clips together as we are used to editing and believe it’ll create a better quality music video. Whilst editing, we learnt how to add a filter to a clip, add in the music, and edit clips to the beat. There were times in which we didn’t know how to complete a section of editing, such as darkening a clip due to it not fitting the party setting. However, we easily came over this by watching a YouTube clip to help us find out the solution, which was helpful to us as it saved editing time.

Also, we needed to consider editing our ancillary products, magazine and digipak. The main software which was available to us was Photoshop, in which we uploaded our images to piece together. This was easier for us as we were used to using as a group, meaning we could use the tools with confidence. By using this, it means that we could complete it to the best quality and make sure they are like real media products.

Finally, when it came to planning and completing the evaluation, I needed to decide what media platforms I was going to present each question on. Prezi, directors commentary, animation and linking of images, were example of options in which we could complete it. Therefore, I decided to use a range of these for each question to showcase my editing knowledge.

Evaluation- Question 3

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

·         Throughout the planning and research stage of our music video, we created a group questionnaire to ask our target audience to get an idea of what they would prefer to see in a pop music video. From asking a selection of people, we gained many different answers that helped us when creating the video, which we then turned into graphs to make this information more presentable. These graphs gave us a clear reflection of what would be the best elements to include to lead to success, such as many people wanted to see bright colours. Therefore, this audience questionnaire was helpful for us in the first stages of planning to get a good starting point for the video.

·    Once we handed in our first drafts of all three products, we gained feedback from our teacher to help guide us through what works and what doesn’t. This helped us it was constructive feedback on all of our products. We continued to do this each week to meet deadlines, and also get feedback from each time we add the previous improvements. For example, when the magazine advert was too plain, we added in a glitter background and two of the dancers.  

         As well as group audience feedback, I also conducted my own feedback from my family including my brother and sister. This allowed me to get truthful feedback from my target audience, feedback that isn't just based on media terminology and is just purely the visuals of it. This is helpful as it is what a general person would want to see in a music video, which lead to me telling my group members on what their opinion was. As well as this, I also showed them the draft of the magazine advertisement and digipak. Feedback included, changing the colour of the font to make it more visible and adding more elements to the digipak. This allowed us to put all feedback together and find the most common points to improve on.

      Another form of audience feedback was asking our class, meaning we got more structural feedback that will relate to the quality of the video. This was beneficial as they are our target audience age and we could find out what their honest opinion was on our three products. Through this research, we found out that they enjoyed the narrative as it was current an d they could relate. Another opinion was that the range of locations was releastic and fit the narrative well. After showing them the music video, we showed them the digipak and magazine advert. The feedback was positive as they stated they all have a good link between them.

Evaluation- Question 2

Question 2 - How effective is the combination of the main product (your music videos) and ancillary tasks (digipack and magazine advert)?

·         Throughout the planning of our products, we made sure there was a definite link between the three to make it clearer to the audience. The main product, being the music video, sets the main narrative and artist style first before the ancillary task. This is done by presenting the artist how we would like her style to be, fashionable and feminine, to allow the image to be drawn. For example, the artist is very stereotypical, in which most artists are, as she is shown to have a fashionable style with her clothing. This style links effectively to the magazine advert and digipak, as one of her outfits, blue trousers and black bodysuit, is the same throughout the products in the images. By keeping the outfit the same, it means that the target audience, which is younger and current, would be able to relate to her style. It also makes it stand out to the audience because they are all similar and share the same conventions, which makes it easier for the audience to see the artist.

·         As well as the style of the artist, the tree products link by the references of lips throughout. On the digipak and magazine advert there are images of lips, as if the artist has kissed the product. This makes it feel more personalised to the audience as it is like it is the artists lips, the idea of the lips came from the imagery of Amber blowing a kiss to the camera. We decided to use this idea as an image to create a linking theme across the three products. The idea of imagery is also carried through each product, by the idea of party lights. On the magazine advert, the background includes purple sequin lights to link to the idea of the ‘purple glitter’ and the LED lights we have used within filming. Also in the digipak, we include an image of the light shown in one of the last shots of the music video on the CD cover. This also keeps the party vibe throughout, and also it keeps the narrative following through. From this, it allows the audience to follow the artist and narrative throughout all of her products she is promoting. This would make it more successful as we also included many conventions seen in magazine adverts and digipak, such as release date and a song list. Overall, I believe our three products all link effectively as there is a clear theme throughout and they all include the same text and font. The font and text is the same in the magazine and digipak, which is feminine and bold for the audience to read. The colour is purple as it links to the line ‘purple glitter’ and is a stereotypical feminine colour, in which is a convention of our target audience being mainly females.

Evaluation- question 1

https://prezi.com/view/8qr1soEtA9HojAHaTII9/

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

• Whilst planning our music video, we looked at the main conventions of our chosen genre. As our chosen genre is pop, we carried out finding information around this topic, such as generic conventions. These included, bright colours, high key lighting, normally an upbeat and positive narrative and many close ups of the artist. Therefore, throughout the music video, we included these elements to make the video as realistic as possible. For example, having a party narrative, it is youthful and includes the bright colours from the LED lights. This gives the video the element of a positive narrative and includes the range of colours throughout.
• Goodwins theory was also considered when it came to planning the content of our video, we included some of the theories to challenge the conventions of a real music video. This is because the theory is based upon what is commonly seen in professional music videos. For example, we are using the statement ‘the lyrics have a relationship to the visuals’ throughout our video. This is evident when the lyrics state, ‘gonna come crash the party’, as Amber storms through the door into the party and others give her a dirty look. We have challenged this by including it into the narrative as well as making it clear in the lyrics, as this then leads to her meeting the boy and leaving the party. Another example of the lyrics matching the visuals, is ‘falling down the stairs’ as Amber and her friend literally fall down the stairs. Actions like this make it interesting for the audience as they will understand the lyrics more, and it also uses conventions of real music videos. Comparing to real music videos using this Goodwins theory would be, Dua Lipa New Rules. This is clear when the lyrics state ‘don’t pick up the phone’ and ‘don’t let him in’, as the main artist is literally being stopped by her friends to not answer the phone and not coming through the door. This makes the lyrics clearer to the audience and reflects what the narrative entails.
• We also used the theory ‘The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist’. We develop this by including close ups of our main artist throughout the video, such as when she is looking at the boy she met at the party. We decided to incorporate this theory as it is seen widely within real music videos, such as in Katy Perrys Roar. She is presented as an attractive female throughout as she has many close ups showing her beauty. This links to the male gaze theory, which was written by Laura Mulvey and is the idea that female is presented to be looked at by a male for her beauty. Therefore we also included this idea by having lower shots of the artist and the close ups also reflects this.
• Overall, our music video includes many generic and normal conventions of a real music video as it has a wide enough range to be similar to a real music video. 

Textual analysis in class 2

Katy Perry- Chained to the Rhythm

This song was released in 2017 and was written by the artist Katy Perry, with the help of Skip Marley and Sia. This song is known for its strong views about the society and in this analysis I will be talking about the views.

Genre

The clear genre to this song would be pop, as it is upbeat and positive, with the genre of the video following this theme. The video included lots of bright colours and wacky costumes. This video is based inside a theme park called 'Oblivia', which could have connotations of people who enter are oblivious to the real world.

Narrative

In this video, the narrative is shown to be a happy setting within a theme park. At the very beginning Katy Perry enters the theme park herself and seems to be in ore of the atmosphere. This soon changes when she pricks her finger on the red roses and draws red blood. This could connote the idea that there may potentially be trouble in 'paradise'. Also due to it being roses, something pretty, could connote the idea the real troubles are trying to be covered up with something that is pleasing to look at. Which draws peoples attention away. There is then a scene in which the ride is called 'The Great American Dream Drop'. This was a ride in which houses were falling down off the the small strings they are being help up by. This could present the American house crisis, that made many families homeless. The next scene in the video shows Perry going on a high force roller coaster, in which she still lip syncs the song perfectly with no problems. This tells the audience that everyone in that theme park and trance are perfect human beings and can do everything they attempt to do.
Towards the middle/ end of the video, there is a scene in which they are in a 3D cinema and Skip Marley literally comes out. She realises that everyone is moving in unison and this lead to Katy Perry to come out of the 'robotic' trend and become her own person. Once Katy Perry has come out of the theme of being controlled, there is a scene in which she is standing on the wheel. With people watching her, waiting for their turn she 'rebels' and doesn't decide to run until the point of exhaustion. Showing she is stronger and can see right though the false paradise.



Representation

There are strong representations throughout this video, such as in the middle of the video, there is a visual of someone running on a hamster wheel with a large queue of people waiting. This connotes the idea that people are on following the same route and it comes back around to be going nowhere. Linking to the idea that I mention about the roses, the colour red is used, with the roses and blood. This colour connotes the idea of danger, which further leads to the audience to prepare themselves for something negative to be represented. Another key hidden message would be the ride in which a large white fence says 'safe trip home'. The representation of this could be the fact Donald Trump had the idea to build a wall from the US and Mexico border.

Audience

This audience can range between different ages, as it has a mature deeper meaning but on the surface seems fun and colourful. The denotations of this video would appeal to the target audience of 12-20 primarily, as the aesthetics of this video is a good example of a fun pop genre song. The younger audience would enjoy this song and video to watch and listen to for fun. Therefore, due to the lack of deeper knowledge it would be successful for this target audience. However, as there is a deeper meaning behind the video, this would target an audience of 21-35. This target audience age range may not be able to pick out all of the representations, but would definitely be able to realise there is a meaning in the recent society. On the artists, Katy Perry's, behalf this is a clever way to create a music video, as the target audience has been widen. Meaning that the video is more likely to be successful overall.

From this piece of work, it has allowed me to look at a music video that has a larger issue involved within the narrative. It is interesting to analyse as it allows me to realise how simple something can be but mean many different things.

Textual analysis in class

Plan B- Writings on the Wall

In this analysis of the video Writings on the wall, I will be assessing the use of genre, narrative, representation and audience. Writings on the wall was written by Plan B an was released in 2010.

Genre

in the jazz club

The clear genre that is shown in the video is pop and drama, this is because the artist himself has a genre of pop and jazz. This is shown as the video starts off being set in a jazz club, with the artist performing his song. This is shown as he is performing with a live band, giving it the jazz feel. Location is used quite a lot in this video as it includes, in the club, at a house, in a different after party club, in a lift and in a hotel room. The range of locations could connote the mess and confusion of the relationship.



Narrative

Throughout the video, there is a clear theme of love. This is evident as there is a female protagonist that is shown to be married to the male artist, as in the video she is cooking him dinner, getting excited to see him and saying 'I love you' on the phone. This starts to crumble when the male artist goes out after his performance and sees a younger female, the antagonist, and has a one night stand. Leaving the partner trying to ring him and sitting at home alone. This narrative links to the structure of Todorov's narrative theory, the equilibrium, stages 2 and 3, as there is a recognisable disruption with the artist having a one night stand and not contacting his partner. With the stage 3 being no attempt to repair, as the artist doesn't go back home and stays out with the other female. This also has links to Propps theory, as the false hero would be the male artist, due to him starting off as positive and then becomes negative for the viewers. The female protagonist was also be described as the princess as she is innocent and should be what the hero works for. The lyrics, as Andrew Goodwin states, does have a relationship with the visuals. This is when the artist sings 'it ain't over', as the partner doesn't know about the affair, but will still be with him. The artist also sings 'we used to talk, now all we do is shout', this gives the audience the idea that the relationship was already breaking before the one night stand, and that's what made him do it.

Younger female

Representation

male artist drinking 

There are very clear representations of gender evident throughout, these being stereotypical. The female protagonist is represented as domestic, as she is at home and cooking dinner for the male. This is stereotypical as, typically females shouldn't have to work but do the house work for the male. Showing the female to be responsible and mature. The way they present the male, is also stereotypical as he is shown to be professional, being at work, as a performer. From this video, the male is shown to be irresponsible, as he goes out and gets drunk, leading him to cheat on his partner. Representations of age is also shown briefly, as the antagonist is a younger female who sleeps with the make artist. This presents the female to the audience as immature, which is stereotypical, as she knows he is an older man.

The artist Plan B, is represented in a different way within this video, as he plays a man called Strickland Banks, whom is a fictional character. At the very start of the video it shows this name up in lights, with a sold out notice. This immediately tells the audience this character is successful, popular and going to be liked by many people, including women. This then backs up the idea of him having an affair, as he would get a lot of attention from women.

Audience

Overall, this target audience would be between 17-30 as this is of a more mature narrative. As it involves a adultery action with the main artist, breaking down his partner. This wouldn't be understood by a younger audience and could relate to what may be happening at home and affect them negatively. The song also involves a deeper meaning that a younger audience wouldn't understand and therefore wouldn't be successful as they wouldn't take interest.


From doing this textual analysis, I am able to look at the deeper meaning of a music video and what they are trying to put across to the audience. I can use these as references and get my music video as best as possible.

Plans for Digipak

This was my initial ideas for a digipak, which includes a similar front cover to the magazine advert, promoting each other to the audience, as it makes them remember the theme. I also placed a list of the songs in the album on the back, in the same font and colour, which also makes it clear to the audience what the album will play. Also on the back of the digipak, I have included other elements, such as the record company and a space for the copyright issues. This is seen commonly on other digipaks, and makes this one look more professional. The disc itself, could be improved as it is a plain coloured disc and only has the album name on it. Other artist, normally include a photo of them-self on there, which I can improve on when it comes to designing the final digipak. Finally, on the back of the digipak, I have placed a rough drawing of a close up of the artist, in which will be placed on. This works well, as it a clear image of the artist and promotes their look, it also shows a different shot to the front, being a long shot. Overall, I believe this digipak works well in conjunction with the advert as it keeps to the same theme and images throughout. However, this could be improved with more images as it seems to be quite plain with colour so far.

This digipak links to the second draft of the magazine, as it carries the theme throughout, pink and feminine. On the front cover it includes the same image as the magazine advert, which means it makes it more clear and obvious to the audience of what the artist style is. It also includes the same font, which is girly and feminine, following the theme also.