Evaluation Question 1

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

The research that I did before creating my video ensured that my media product uses a number of conventions from real media products in my genre. The genre of my video is indie rock however it could also be seen as indie punk rock as the form of the song used for my video often portrays elements of the post punk revival genre. However before making my video I researched a number of music videos in this genre so that I could see the forms and conventions that should be in this genre of music video and what I should consider including in mine.

I watched a number of videos from a range of artists within this genre such as Kings of Leon, The Kooks and The Killers which showed the key conventions that should be in an indie rock music video and how these are portrayed and perceived by the audience. In watching these videos I noted the key aspects of these videos and started to think how I could integrate these techniques into my video effectively. The videos also allowed me to explore the range of indie rock videos and see how different bands present this genre.

After I had watched a few of these videos I had quickly realised that band performance was the main convention in this genre of music and a number of these videos showed the bands playing in concerts with huge audiences. However others used a more relaxed show of performance with a range of different locations used to give the video more of a casual performance feel. Although I would not be able to film a concert with a mass audience for my music video I knew that I had to challenge the conventions of these real media products by having clear band performance in my video but doing this in a different way.

I did this by keeping to the usual elements of an indie rock video with the use of a guitar and drums when showing the band performance and these shots are shown throughout my video. I identified this feature as a necessity in a music video of this genre which is why I decided to heavily include these shots in my video. The combination of these band shots with a narrative is also something that is used in this genre of video with these shots interchanging. This was shown in a number of the music videos that I researched with the majority being dominated by band performance. This included the Kings of Leon 'use somebody' which shows a range of shots with the band performing at a concert.

The digipak that I created also challenges the forms and conventions of a real media product due to the research i gathered before creating it. I researched into a number of album covers as well as adverts and put these onto blogger with an analysis of these talking about the layout, designs, colours, font and images shown and how these are presented and perceived by the audience. I then used these CD covers and adverts to help in the designing of mine as I became aware of the typical layout and conventions.

The majority of the album covers that I researched had an image of the band on the front cover which is a very common feature in not only this genre but is used by a high number of bands from a range of genres. The use of a band image on the front helps to make the album easily recognisable to people who may see the album in a shop or online. This is why I decided to use an image of the band on my album front cover as then the cover can be linked to my video and the album advert. When i began researching adverts I decided to try and find the adverts for the bands that I had already researched for the CD covers. This was so that I could link the two together and clearly see how they were similar and also the differences between them. I noticed that a high number of album adverts show the same image that is on the front cover of the CD but enlarge them to make it more appealing and add large font to it with the name of the band and the album. This allows the advert to be clearly recognisable to the audience and can be clearly linked to the CD cover and the main video itself.

I thought that by using the same image on my CD cover and advert as is done by so many bands in my genre that this shows me using the typical conventions of a real media product. I also challenged these conventions by using a large font as a logo which also creates a brand image which again is something that is constantly used by bands in my genre and in other genres.  The Killers advert for the album 'day and age' takes this form by using a bigger font in the middle of the advert so that the band title immediately draws attention.

Overall I think that my media product uses, challenges and develops the forms and conventions of a real media product in a range of ways. This is because of the research that I gathered which has been hugely influential in all stages of my media product. The are a number of things which reflect this research and how it effected and contributed to what I put into my video. This includes the idea of using band performance in my video along with a separate narrative and using these shots together effectively. I also displayed the conventions and forms of a real media product in my digipak and advert which reflects the research that I did on other bands digipaks and adverts and how the genre of indie punk rock is shown through these.

Evaluation Question 2

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

When creating my digipak i was well aware that there should be a link between my main product and the ancillary tasks. The combination of these are vital and and I believe this combination to be very effective and successful in my project as they all interlink. I felt that I wanted and needed there to be clear synergy between the three media texts of the video itself, the digipak and the advert. In both the advert and the CD cover the same image is used and throughout my project consistency is kept by using the same three people to be the band in my video and also in the ancillary tasks. I also made sure that I used the same band name and the same title of the song throughout which is also the name of the album. Although these are similar as an audience the advert is more effective than the CD cover as although it offers the same image as the CD cover there is more in terms of extra information.    

The music video is the most important marketing tool for the release of the single and the album as it is used to draw in the audience and help them to identify what the rest of the album will contain and the general sound of the band. This may not be as important for a well known artist but as my band is not well known sand this is a debut album the music video needs to be enjoyable and appealing. The video and the song help to showcase the band and their music. This then helps to create a link between the music video and the ancillary tasks which helps the audience to identify the music and the band through these different forms of media.

In the research that I conducted I reviewed the music video and CD covers and album adverts for a number of bands within my target audience. This is what helped me to realise what I need to include in these media tasks and how to link them together effectively to appeal to the target audience. An example of this is the Kings of Leon album 'only by the night' with the video linking to the digipak with the use of the band and a green filter which is evident in the music video and on the front of the CD cover. An image of the band is also shown on the front cover however, the image is made up of four sections with one section from each band member and then also small sections of an owl integrated into this. Although this seems a strange design it clearly links to the title 'only by the night'. This image is then shown on the advert so the link to this is obvious as this also shows the title of the band and due to the size and style of the font it is very eye-catching to the viewer.

The research of videos and digipaks was influential in helping me to create a link between my main product and ancillary tasks. This was because after viewing a number of these I became aware of the links that are shown between popular music videos and there digipaks. There were a range of links between the bands that I looked at and there music video and there digipaks and I decided to use some of these in my project. This research had a huge affect on my music video and the ancillary tasks as it allowed me to gather different conventions and elements that were presented in these and apply them to my project.

The link between my main product and ancillary tasks is also clearly evident on my CD insert which is part of my digipak. I created the insert using Photoshop as it allowed me to make the changes i needed and wanted to make. The insert that i created is made up of four images of my band, these images are all taken from shots within my video. This shows the clear link between my video and my digipack. The actual images are of my three band members with three of the photos being a separate one for each band member and the fourth  image being of the whole band together. As the images are taken from my video the band members are shown whilst performing in their separate picture and then they are shown performing together. This shows again the link between the main product and the ancillary tasks and  again links with the conventions and themes of this genre with the performance and also the use of the instruments is shown on the insert.

In conclusion I believe that the combination of my main media product and my ancillary tasks is very effective and these links are well presented and portrayed therefore they are clearly recognizable to the audience. This is shown throughout my ancillary task with my CD cover showing the band that is used in my video and then the same image is used on my advert to create a clear link there. A factor that has massively helped to create this effectiveness is the research that i did before completing these tasks as I was able to become aware of how popular bands in this genre make the link between their videos and there album covers etc and the typical conventions of these.

Evaluation Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

In mine and any project audience feedback is vital through every stage and can really help something to develop, and to be successful and effective. This is why once I had made a rough cut I asked fellow classmates to watch my video and give me feedback. I asked them to write the feedback down with what they liked about my video and what they didn't and then any suggestions for improvement that should be in my music video. It was also crucial that the media students in my class are in the bracket of my target audience. This meant that my music video was intended for people of this age and they are aware of the typical conventions in a music video aimed within this target audience and also they were aware of the genre.

The feedback that I received was very influential in what I planned to change to my music video and although it was good to receive positive feedback it was the suggestions for improvement that were key in this. The majority of the feedback was similar which made me aware that these issues that were recognized by all needed to be addressed but also there were suggestions made that were only noted by one or two and these also proved to be important. After I had gathered this feedback from a number of people I went onto blogger and made a post to put this audience feedback on and then i noted the changes i was going to make due to the response of audience feedback.

There were a number of positive things noted about my video with a lot of the people who watched my video saying that they enjoyed the shots of the band in my video and the lip syncing was good. However it was the negative comments that were beneficial in my video when it came to the difference between my rough cut and the final cut. The main issue noted was that shots of the night were needed in the video as this tied in with the song. It was also suggested that the shots of the protagonist walking in my video were shortened and broken up with a wider variety of shots. This feedback was instrumental in the changes I made as I realized that i should have included these shots of the protagonist at night when i first filmed and i decided to film again to get these extra shots needed.

When i had filmed these shots i went back onto iMovie and added these shots into my video. I also made other changes to improve my video with some of these changes being from my opinion on what could be improved. However these were only minor changes such as the use of a filter or transitions with the major changes within the video being due to the audience feedback. This included breaking up the walking shots with a wider range of shots and angles used. I also decided to show more shots of the band in the video as this is a major convention in this genre of music videos and my audience feedback recognized this.

I have learned even more so in this project that audience feedback plays a huge part in all stages of the project. Audience feedback helped me to improve my video drastically with a number of changes made to my rough cut due to the feedback I received. This meant that once I had a final cut of my video the major issues had been addressed and the difference between the rough cut and the final cut was very good in terms of what i wanted to achieve from the audience feedback.

I also used audience feedback for my ancillary tasks as when I began designing them I asked a number of my classmates what they thought of my ideas and if they thought I could improve any part of my digipak or advert. These comments also turned out to be very useful and beneficial to my ancillary tasks as it was minor adjustments such as the brightness or contrast which were suggested and led to a big difference in the quality of my digipak. I decided to make a few of these small changes and this made me realize that audience feedback can help something to improve dramatically.

Overall i think that audience feedback is essential in this type of project and it has been a huge advantage to have audience feedback on my rough cut and has been instrumental in the development and improvement of my music video.  There are also many ways which audience feedback can be approached such as a questionnaire or in the way i collected audience feedback by getting the viewer to write down what they liked about the video and then to suggest parts that could be improved and how this could be achieved. This allowed me to get a range of answers which is why audience feedback is so vital as it covers all areas and can help a project to improve drastically. This is why I think that in future projects I will collect more audience feedback because although I did not collect that much in this project what I did get in terms of feedback was hugely beneficial and helped in many ways.

Evaluation Question 4

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

In this project there was a range of media technologies that I used for the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages. The main piece of technology used in this project was iMovie. The reason for using iMovie was because we use iMacs at school for A- Level media and this is the standard editing software than is installed on the iMacs. Overall i enjoyed using iMovie and found it pretty easy to use and felt that it had a lot to offer when it came to editing my footage. However as this is just the standard software it would not be as good as software that could be brought such as final cut however as we did not have access to this we had to use Imovie.

What i liked about Imovie was how simple it was to edit my footage once i had got used to it this was not only just used in the construction of my music video but in other areas such as the planning in which i had to create an animatic of the video before actually creating the real thing. in Imovie it is really easy to select sections of footage and move them around, crop them and add effects too them. I also used i movie last year for AS so i already knew what i was doing which was different from last year as i had to get used to it but by this year i have become familiar with this software.

However on the other hand even though Imovie has a lot of options such as effects, transitions and titles it is not well designed for precision editing and can be very difficult when trying to match the music with clips such as lip syncing in my video as it can not be edited as precisely as i would like. as mentioned this software is easy to use however that is only after using it for a while as at first the unusual interface can often be difficult to get to grips with.

I also used Photoshop in this project when creating my digipak and magazine advert. Photoshop was not installed on the iMacs at school so i had to download the free 30 day trial and use that for my ancillary tasks. When i first downloaded this piece of software i expected it to be very complicated and difficult to use as i had not used it before, however i quickly gathered how to use Photoshop effectively. After i had got to grips with this piece of modern technology i realized why it is such a popular piece of software in the modern day. This was due to the huge variety of options available when using Photoshop. I also used disclabel for my digipack which is a piece of apple software that you have to pay for but again like the majority of software a 30 day free trial is available to download. Disclabel has a preset layout for designs such as a digipak and there were already templates available. It was really easy to use however the only downfall would be the lack of options available in the program itself when it came to editing images.

When actually filming my video I used a canon legria camera which was provided by my school and these are very basic easy to use cameras. Although they are not HD and the quality is not the best these are still good enough cameras to film with and to create my media project. It was a very simple setup on the camera which meant that I could just use it straight away as I didn't have to figure out how to work it and once i had filmed it was also a very easy procedure to upload the footage to the computer by just putting the cameras SD card into the computer.

When planning and researching my project i used features such as Google and YouTube which were the main outlets for my research. This mainly included researching my genre and the subjects within this such as the target audience. YouTube allowed me to watch videos of bands in the same genre as mine such as The Killers, Kings of Leon and the Kaiser Chiefs. This then  helped me to understand the conventions within this genre and helped in the development of my planning.

The use of blogger was also hugely instrumental in all aspects of this project as blogger is used to record everything that i have done in the project and the reasons for this. I used blogger for every step of my project from the early planning and research to the evaluation and this allowed me to keep track of all the work i had done and it was easily accessible. All of my documents associated with this were stored on blogger and were well organised so i could edit documents such as my filming schedule whenever i needed too. Blogger can also be used to embed images and videos into posts which in the early stages allowed me to analyse existing music video and the later stages i could upload my video and the digipak to blogger.

My Magazine Advert

The magazine advert for my album is shown below and shows the same image that is on my CD cover with added information below the image such as the album being out now and some of the songs available on the album. The image and text is also enlarged so that the advert is more appealing and eye catching to the audience. I believe that by using the same image as the CD cover this creates a familiarisation with the advert and the album itself and the audience being able to link these with the band and their music.

Digipak- CD Insert

This post is to show front cover of the CD insert that will go inside the case of the CD. The image below shows the insert and is made up of four images with three being separate images of the three band members whilst performing with the final image being of the band together whilst performing. I decided to use shots from my video so that there was a clear link between the two and it shows the performance element which is a key convention in an indie rock music video.

Digipak- CD Cover

This post will show the front and back CD cover for my digipak as well as the design on the CD itself. I will then be explaining why I chose the design I did. I took these photos with the intention of using them for my digipak and edited them using Photoshop.

The image shown below is the ancillary task part one the front cover of my CD. The image shows the band members as the clear focus with them sitting down. This gives the cover a serious and professional look which links to the seriousness portrayed in the bands music. In contrast to the back cover this is lighter and even though there is still a dark background the image is of a brighter nature with the lighting used for the image however the band members juxtapose this bright background. The font is also clearly shown by putting it on a darker background so that it clearly stands out.

The net image shown below is ancillary task part two the back cover of my CD. This is a basic design however I feel that it is very effective and meets its intended purpose. The band members are clearly shown as the main subject with the lower section of the cover a plain black background. However the top half is lighter and it seems like a light is shining on the band to reveal them. This can also be seen as the moonlight which can be linked to the song 'Midnight Wanderer'. The band members appear more relaxed here which juxtaposes the dark and serious background.

The image below shows the actual CD and the design that will be on the CD. This is a basic design with the black background which makes the writing the focus of the CD and I also added the lines to give the design a slight edge as if it was just the writing on the black background it would be too plain.

The image above shows the actual CD and the design that will be on the CD. This is a basic design with the black background which makes the writing the focus of the CD and I also added the lines to give the design a slight edge as if it was just the writing on the black background it would be too plain.

Album Adverts

This image shows the advert for the Kings of Leon album 'Only By The Night'.The advert contains the same image from the album cover which helps the audience to clearly recognise both the advert and the album cover. Therefore allowing them to link the two together. Above the image the band name is clearly displayed and the use of the white font on a black background  makes this easily visible. The name of the album is also shown as well as the names of some of the more popular singles from the album. This again helps the audience to recognise the album by these singles and helps the audience become aware of the album. The release data of the album is also shown and again the use of a large font makes this stand out to the audience. This also allows the advert to be easily visible from a distance.

This shows the advert for the Killers album 'Day and Age'. This advert again shows the same image that is on the album cover itself. This is a very common feature for album adverts as it allows the audience to clearly recognise the advert and link it to the album. This is shown in this advert and the kings of Leon advert above, however this image is more basic than the one on the kings of Leon album. The album again clearly displays the title of the album and the name of the band which clearly stands out due to the bold font used. The advert also names the main song that is featured on the album, this makes the album recognisable and may encore sales due to the advertisement making it clear that this song is on the album.

The third advert shown is advertising the Kaiser Chiefs album 'Off With Their Heads'. This is a simple yet very effective and professional design which again displays the basic features expected in an an album advert. This gain includes the same image that is on the album cover and is presented on a plain white background. This is a very effective technique as the image clearly stands out when on this background and the title of the band and the album is also clearly displayed. The release date of the album is again displayed and is again shown clearly for the audience to see. There is also a slim banner line down the left hand side of the advert which works well to add colour to the advert. The banner contains what is seen as logos and images of the kaiser chiefs combined with a mood board style.

Rejected Shots

This post will shows some or the shots that I had filmed but decided not to put into my video. I will also briefly explain these shots with the reasons that I rejected them.

The two shots below shows a shot that I rejected of the protagonist walking out of his front door. The reason I rejected this shot is because there was already shots of the protagonist walking out of the door and I had better angles of this so therefore I did not use this particular angle.

The shots that are shown below were also shots that i did not use in my video. I video this type of shot of the feet walking on a range of surfaces and put the best ones into my video. These two shots were not as good quality wise and also due to the height of the camera when compared to the other shots.

Hardware/ Equipment Used

In completing this project I had to use not only a range of software but a variety of Hardware/ Equipment that has greatly helped me along the way. The first example of this is the Apple iMacs that we have access to for our project. This is due to our school having a separate a-level media suite with students who are studying media to have the access to these computers to get the best we can out of our ideas and music video. The iMacs are a very good piece of hardware to use as they are simple yet professional and the software upon these is of fantastic quality.

When filming my music video i used a Canon Legria FS200. These were the cameras that we could borrow from school to film our projects. The camera is of a simple design and is easy to record and upload footage via and sd card. However these cameras are not HD and this is clearly evident in my video as the quality is not of the highest standard. Although it is not HD this is still a good reliable camera to use even if the quality is not amazing there is nothing that can be done to change this on mine or anybody else's video that was filmed with these cameras.

I also used a tripod when filming a number of the shots in my video which helped to add stability and professionalism to my project. This again was borrowed from school as they allowed us access to this equipment to help the progression of our projects.

Software Used

The software I am using to edit my footage for the music video is iMovie. This is the same software that I used for last years project as it is simple and easy to use. This allows me to add the music to my footage and iMovie also offers a range of different effects and techniques. When completing last years AS project I also used iMovie for this which helped when using this software again as I was already aware of how to use it. This also meant that I knew the capabilities of iMovie and how I could use its features for my music video again this year. Overall I liked using iMovie as there were a number of options when it came to transitions and effects however I felt that the unusual layout didn't help in terms of using the program itself.

I also used Photoshop for this project. I used Photoshop so that i could edit a number of photos in the program  which then allowed me to use these photos for my CD cover and CD insert . I also used this piece of software to create my magazine advert as it is a very commonly used professional program. However i had not used Photoshop before this project so at first i was unaware of how to use it. although after looking at number of tutorials and trying a few things on the program itself I was able to use it effectively. After I had used photoshop for a bit I realised why it is such a commonly used piece of software due the huge amount of options available when it comes to editing something as it can be drastically improved.

Although I used Photoshop to edit the photos for my CD cover and the insert i will be putting these images onto Disc label to create the actual cover and insert. Disc label is very simple and easy to use piece of software and although i had not used it before i was able to adapt quickly and get the best i could out of the software. This was due to its simple layout and the fact that templates are already made for CD covers and inserts and you can just add what you want to them. However disc label is not as good as other pieces of software such as Photoshop as the options available to the user are limited.

Final Cut

Changes

Once I had gathered audience feedback from fellow classmates I read through the feedback and decided what I am going to change in my video. The main suggestion for my video was to get a range of shots at night. I decided to take this feedback on board and film some of the shots at night and I also decided to film at a different location which was also suggested in the feedback. Another suggestion was that I cut some of the walking scenes down in length and integrate some of the night shots into this as well as using more band shots to make the video more interesting. Therefore the main changes that I will make are:

• To film and add shots of the protagonist walking at night into my video
• Film at another location to add a variety of location and setting to the video
• Use a wider variety of camera angles/shots to make my video more interesting
• Cut some of the current shots of the protagonist walking and add a better range of shots in place of this
• Use more shots of the band in my video to portray the key element of an indie rock music video

Location

This post shows a number of the shots for my location at which I filmed certain points of my music video. This included the locate at which i filmed the protagonist walking in the day and the location where I filmed the protagonist walking at night. I also used a casual relaxed bedroom location for the filming of the band performance in my video.

Audience Feedback

This post will be notes on the audience feedback that i received. This was the feedback from my rough cut when a few fellow classmates watched my video making notes on what they liked about it as well as suggestions for improving my video.

1.
- When the symbols are hit they dont match the shot
-good lip synching but the shot lasts too long
-waking up shot ties well with the narrative
-walking shots are too long
-needs to have footage from the night


2.
-different times of day should be used in shots
-good shots of the band but some of the shots need to be cropped
-greater variety of shots needed
-lip syncing lasts too long

3.
-shots at night needed
-shots of the band are good but should be shorter
-ending on the door shutting is good
-walking shots need to be broken up more

4.
-wider variety of shots needed
-walking shots need to be shortened to keep the video interesting
-shots of the protagonist at night are needed
-the lip syncing is good
-however there is one part where it is slightly out of time
-some of the shots could do with an added effect or filter

5.
-lip synching is good and in time however some of the shots could due shortened
-shots of the band are good but they could be included more
-more angles of shot could be used
-shots at night should be included

6.
-shot of the protagonist waking up links well to the songs narrative
-shots of the protagonist walking are too repetitive
-good lip synching used
-enjoyed the shots of the band
-the location could be seen as too nice for the situation of the protagonist

Props

When making my music video there were a number of props which had to be used to add realism to the video and to make the video effective and fit for purpose. I will be adding images of the props used below and explaining why i chose them to be in my video.

The image above shows the drums that were used in my video and were a vital part of my music video.

This image shows the bass guitar used in my video and like the drums was vital when displaying the features of a music video particularly an indie rock video.

The next image shown above is of the microphone and microphone stand used in my video which again are commonly used conventions in an indie music video.

This image shows the Samsung phone used in my music video as the actor wakes up and checks the time on his phone.

Rough Cut

This post will show the rough cut of my music video. This version of the video will not be the final version as my fellow peers will be evaluating my video pointing out what they like about it as well as mainly suggesting improvements for the video. I will be taking all of the comments into consideration and making changes to my video.