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.