Question 4 of Evaluation: How did you use Media Technologies in the Construction and Research, Planning and Evaluation Stages?

Blogger

The blog format, which we used for our practical coursework, was called ‘Blogger.’ It helped me to build and create my ideas and plan them in a very organised manor, as I was regularly and frequently updating and posting on my blog. I found the blog an extreme

assistance as I could just easily post my ideas and concepts. The fact that the blog was online really was an advantage as a large percentage of my practical work was to do with planning my ideas and researching conventions of my music video and ancillary texts.

Photoshop

Another media technology, which helped me during my practical coursework, was ‘Photoshop.’ This was a program I used to edit my digipak and advert therefore it was incredibly important for my ancillary texts. I found Photoshop very difficult to use at first, but I seemed to get used to using it. During the practice lessons before we started our

digipaks and adverts, was when I found it the hardest as I had never used Photoshop before. I was not familiar with the different tools that you could use on Photoshop such as the editing of pictures and images you put on there. You can turn up and down the brightness and contrast; making it stand out more, make it black and white etc. Another thing I learnt was about the different layers on a document. These layers allowed me to put different texts/ images on top of other items. Below is the layout of Photoshop, which I had to learn to use:

Final Cut Express

Furthermore another technology I used when planning and constructing my music video was ‘Final Cut Express.’ This is the program I used to edit my music video and I have used it once before in AS Media Studies when making our film openings, so I was very familiarised with this program. The only difference when using Final Cut this year, was the fact we used it to lip sync the artist’s singing in the song to our shots and music video. I found this part of the editing particularly hard, however my group and I discovered that one of our group members was very acquainted to editing and lip syncing, therefore she did the

majority of the editing. Nevertheless my other group member and I still did some of the work, but just the smaller parts prior to the task and the easier parts of the editing. Moreover, when one of my group members or both were not in for the lesson, I did do some of the editing myself. I found it a lot easier than last year as I knew what I was doing this time and I was far more imaginative than last year as I put a number of transitions in such as; dissolves and fade in to fade outs. Since my group and I had so much footage I was able to easily get rid of the bad parts or the parts that we did not want to use, so the process was quicker and more effective.

Below is a screenshot of the layout of Final Cut Express:

Hotmail

Hotmail was a very significant Internet based technology, which my group and I used. This was one of the reasons why my group and I could choose the song we did for our music video. We e-mailed the manager of Gabrielle Aplin asking for permission to use her song ‘Please Don’t Say You Love Me,’ after our other unknown artist that we were going to use cancelled on us and said she did not have time to be in our music video. We easily overcame this problem when we got a reply from her manager saying that it would be a pleasure to allow us to use the song.

YouTube

YouTube was vital to the planning and researching process as well. This is because it was very useful and beneficial when I was looking up music videos and how they had been

edited and structured. Additionally YouTube was one of the reasons as to why my group and I chose the artist we did. The artist we used ‘Gabrielle Aplin,’ was an unknown artist at the time, however she was Internet famous through YouTube.

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

I decided to create a number of questionnaires/surveys/focus groups in order to gather audience feedback of my music video and ancillary texts e.g. my digipak and magazine advert.

Pie Chart: What radio station do you think my artist’s song would be on?

I created a pie chart from the feedback I got for what sort of radio station people would think that my song would be on. From my findings I discovered that 5 out of 10 people (50%) said that my artist’s song belonged on Capital FM radio station, so the majority of the focus group. Furthermore 3 out of 10 people (30%) said that the song belonged on Magic radio station. Additionally 1 out of 10 people (10%) said that it belonged on Heart. Finally 1 out of 10 people (10%) said that my artist’s song belonged on Smooth Radio. Overall I noticed that most of the people in my focus group said that the song fitted into the songs played on Capital FM.

Table of Negative and Positive comments

Positive Comments	Negative Comments
Clear filming	Could’ve made more use of visual aesthetics when cynical atmosphere occurs
Scenic shots	Repetitive shots
Nice mix of static and handheld shots	Lack of footage
Excellent use of natural lighting
Good use of close ups

I made a table from the feedback I got for the positive and negative aspects of my music video. It was made clear that there were more positive comments that people said than negative ones. I got a total of 5 people to write positive and negative comments, all of which wrote an optimistic comment. I had 3 negative comments, however 2 of the people could not think of anything negative to write about, which I was happy about.

Bar Graph: What would you rate my music video on a scale of 1 to 10?

I decided to create a bar chart of what people would rate my music video on a scale of 1 to 10. I made it so that 1 would be the lowest and 10 being the highest. I got a total of 20 people to vote, and the feedback was very useful and optimistic.

From my feedback I gathered that people really enjoyed my music video. This is because there were no votes for the ratings 1,2,3,4,5 or 6. I got 3 votes for the rating of 7, 6 votes for the rating 8, 10 votes for the rating 9 and 1 vote for the rating of 10. I was happy with the results as not one person rated my film lower than a 7.

Pie Chart: Did you gain a clear concept of the music video's narrative on first viewing?

I created a pie chart on whether my audience gained a clear concept of my music video’s narrative on their first viewing. I asked a total of 30 people and even though a couple of people said that they did not initially gain the concept of my music video’s narrative most of my viewers said that they gained the concept. I was really pleased with these results because almost every single person understood my music video’s narrative.

Comments: What genre of music does this advert/digipak fit into?
How would you define this artist's brand identity?

I asked people from my class two questions about my digipak and advert, and they wrote down their thoughts and ideas on this A3 piece of sugar paper. The two questions I asked them were: 'What genre of music does this advert/digipak fit into?' and 'How would you define her brand identity?' The things that people said about them are as follows:

'What genre of music does this advert/digipak fit into?'
- Digipak: Acoustic, Pop and Country. The most popular genre was Acoustic.
- Advert: Country, Acoustic and Folk. The most popular were Country and Folk.

'How would you define her brand identity?'
- Digipak: Casual, Shy, Sweet and Country.
- Advert: Innocent, Sweet, Vulnerable, Youthful, Emotional, Reflective and Haunted.

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

Director's Commentary:

I have created a director's commentary for question two of the evaluation, to show the audience my artist's identity, brand image and the different themes that are portrayed throughout the music video. Here I discuss how my three texts are presented and how they all link to one another.

As mentioned in my directors commentary, for my music video, my artist is wearing very alternative clothing to suit the genre of music that she is singing. The song that Jess sings is Acoustic/Folk, and because it is quite a calming and relaxing song, her image should fit into this. We made sure that she did not wear too much make up, so that she should look natural and prevailing. Furthermore the main two themes that would suit our music video/music/genre of music were romance and love, especially in young people. I wanted to stick to these themes so that my audience did not get a different idea when they watched the music video and then looked at my magazine advert and digipak. However, I would say that there were a few minor differences between my magazine advert/digipak and my music video.

Digipak and Advert:

Similarities: My digipak and advert reflect similar images as my music video as I kept to the pastoral and rural setting, which connotates her natural look. Additionally, I kept to the natural lighting, especially on the front cover of my digiapk, where my artist is standing in front of an iconic country view. Also I decided to keep my artist in her alternative style of attire, so that confusion was not created amongst the audience.

Differences: Even though my digipak reflected similar images as my music video due to the rural setting, there were a few differences between it and my ancillary texts. For example on  the back cover of my digipak and the image I used for my advert, the lighting is quite dark and dim. This was because Jess was surrounded my various trees to demonstrate the idyllic setting.

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

Forms and Conventions of an Acoustic/Folk music video:

- Acoustic/folk music video actors and singers tend to have a unique style of Mise en Scene e.g. their make up and fashion sense being alternative. 

I have used this convention, as both my two actors and singer, have an unusual dress sense, for example my actress is wearing a shirt with shorts.








- Locations tend to be in an isolated and pastoral setting.

I have developed this because my group and I have used quite subtle colours, and I believe that this is quite metaphorical as the location can reflect the artist's feelings.

-Use of instrument in the music video.

I have challenged this convention, as in my music video my artist is not playing an instrument. This is quite unusual and different because in acoustic/folk music videos artists almost always play an instrument and sing, for example a guitar or a piano.

- Slowly paced camera movement and editing used throughout.

I have developed this convention because there aren't really any fast cuts in my music video, however the cutting of each clip is in time with the music. I think this reflects the understanding and the meaning of the video.

- Use of strong emotions and often tends to be based on one person and their feelings.

I have used this, because in my music video the actress I used is singing about her feelings for a boy, and my music video has a sense of romance and love.

- The music video tends to be unglamorous and use unglamorous actors.

I have used this convention, because my actors and artist are quite unpretentious and simple. For example the girls aren't wearing too much make up, just basic and uncomplicated make up.

- They tend to just use natural lighting.

I have used this convention because the sun is the only light source in my music video. This possibly connotates the genre of music to the audience so that they understand.

Ancillary Texts:
Digipak and Advert:

- The digipak/advert of an acoustic/folk singer/band usually uses subtle and pale colours.

I have used this convention, because I used very light and pale colours for my digipak and advert, such as pale blues and yellows. However in some ways I have challenged this convention because on my digipak and advert I have used the colour black for the outline of them, therefore I have challenged this convention because I used some subtle colours and some not so subtle.

- The digipak/advert of an acoustic/folk singer/band usually use a rural outdoor setting for the images.

I have used this convention, as both for my digipak and advert, all the images and pictures that I took of my artist were outdoors in different locations. This is because I wanted to stick to the pastoral, autumnal setting similarly to my music video.

- A digipak of any genre should have a barcode so that they can be sold and also an image of the record label logo.

I have used this convention as I have put the barcode on the digipak so that the audience can purchase the digipak and can also know how much it costs. Furthermore, I put an image of the record label logo, which is 'Dangerous Records.' I put the logo on the digipak and advert for promotion of the record label.

Collage of Magazine Adverts

This is a collage of a variety of magazine adverts that I created on PowerPoint, to show the similarities and differences between them:

The artists that they consist of are:

-Beyonce
-The Killers
-Jessie J
-Ellie Goulding
-Rihanna
-Thirty Seconds To Mars

Finished Magazine Advert

In today's lesson I took pictures of my digipak to put on my magazine advert and finished it all. I took a number of pictures but decided to use this one:

The reason I used this image is because it was the most clear one as I used flash and it was at a very good angle.

Magazine Advert

In today's lesson, I decided to change the font I have been using for my magazine advert. It was originally Snell Roundhand, but now it is Trajan Pro. For the name of the artist and album, I have left as Snell Roundhand, as it is the font that represents my artist and because it is the font on the digipak. The other information such as the release date and the ratings are Trajan Pro. I have also put an image of the iTunes logo on my advert, so that the audience know where they can purchase the album.

Magazine Advert

In today's lesson I have started to put the important information on my advert. I have put the rating of 5 star on there and a review from the Daily Star newspaper. Furthermore I have put the name of the artist and the name of the album. Next lesson I will be putting on when it is being released, the image of my digipak, the record label logo, where it is available to purchase and any extra information that the audience will need to know about.