Monday 11th March 2013
Today I finished the entire project and all the tasks required, I am happy with the overall outcome of the project and all the products that I made with it.

Music Video: Final

Monday 11th March 2013
Below is my final music video, previously I had trouble with the new clips from the re-shoot due to them being overall brighter however a quick tweaks with brightness and contrast didn't effectively change anything. Therefore, I began experimenting with the levels and got the new clips as close to the old clips as I could. I have uploaded the video on youtube, and the quality can be increased, depending on the speed of the computer you view this one will depend how fast/smooth the video will run

Question Five: Project Overview

Monday 11th March 2013

Project Overview

Overall, I feel as if the project as a whole was very successful and I have completed it feeling proud about the three main products that I have created; however I do wish I managed my time more carefully and was more organised as a lost a section of time due to commitments in other subjects.

The A2 course, in my opinion, has been much more interesting and challenging to complete compared to the AS course; particularly, in terms of the genre I have chosen. I initially begun the course researching the indie genre however in the initial stages I took the decision to change to the Pop genre; this is because, I had studied the indie genre in AS therefore I initially chose this genre as I had a lot more knowledge on it, but then I decided that I wanted to challenge myself and choose a genre that I had never looked into before hence my move to the Pop genre.

I felt as if Pop music videos were generally labelled “cheesy” so I wanted to challenge this preconception that was made and create a music video that could be enjoyed by almost anyone. I also took the decision to tie both my magazine advert and digipak into the same theme as my music video so it was evident that I had this continuous theme.

Throughout this entire project I have learnt a lot about the music industry and other factors within it and feel as this growing knowledge was beneficial in the success of my products. In addition, I learnt a lot more skills in terms of the new pieces of media technology used e.g. I had used the program Adobe Premiere before, however I only learnt the basic functions of it, but during this course my skills within this program have greatly improved as I have gained more knowledge on the features available e.g. altering the levels of a video, shortcuts to different tools, changing the “curves” of a video to alter the colour correction etc. In addition, I feel as if I have a greater understanding on the equipment available to me and overall feel as I could use similar equipment successfully and professionally in the future.

Also during the project I have understood the importance of gaining feedback on the products I have created this is evident in some of the  drastic changes in some of my products which was a combination of myself and feedback from media students, my media teacher, and people from my target audience. This mixture of feedback has been very beneficial and enabled me to make some great improvements to my products.

In conclusion, I have thoroughly enjoyed this project as I got to experiment with all different types of media from print tasks, to a production of a music video and finally being involved in the editing process and as a result I am happy with the overall outcome. 

Evaluation: Question Four

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

In terms of the research, planning, construction and evaluation the first piece of media that I used was a blog, within the blog I continually uploaded any tasks that I have completed throughout the entire process. The benefits of creating a blog was that it provided me a place where I could access any completed work to reference, review, or to enable other people to feedback my products, it also allowed me to remain organised throughout the project and keep up to date on completing the tasks for example one feature available to me on the blog were the ‘labels’ this is where I could easily organise my work into different  categories and therefore enabling me to access any of my work much faster than I would if I had to continually scroll through a blog.

In the research and planning stages the use of the internet was vital; I mainly used it as a tool to research the genre, target audience, and typical codes and conventions of my music video all of which were important to make a successful music video. To display the work that I have research I took full benefit of online presentation tools e.g. Prezi which allows me to create an interactive online presentation where I can input images and videos, this became extremely useful as the initial stages involved me looking at a variety of music videos and analysing them; therefore, this was very helpful. Once again I used my blog to upload any work completed and any progress I made on certain tasks e.g. when completing planning tasks I would upload drafts of my storyboard/digipak and magazine advert.

During the actual construction stages I used a variety of different media technologies. Firstly, I created my music video on Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 and used the tools provided on the program to complete the final cut e.g. cutting, trimming, lighting effects (this had to be done a few times due to the re-shoot as the lighting was different on the two days), and video transitions. I was also able to use the program to sync the music video I shot to the song itself which I found very easy to do due to the simplicity of the program which was down to me having previous knowledge on how the program works. One of the problems with the program however is that it was very slow on certain computers and would sometimes crash due to the video being shot in high definition; in addition, this program was only available at school so I occasionally found it difficult to fit all my editing during school therefore, I was fortunate to take a laptop home from the media department that was equipped with all the up to date programs. To actually shoot my music video I researched a few pieces of equipment that I could use before I eventually filmed, eventually I chose to shoot my music video with a Cannon 550D as it has the ability to shoot videos in high definition, a tripod as this allowed me to easily alter the shots I want to take as I could change the levels, and two studio lights which were place on either side of the white screen that I set up these essentially lit up the area my performer would be positioned and ultimately provided me with a bright location to shoot my music video which would overall create a happy and upbeat atmosphere.

Finally, I created my digipak and magazine advert to coincide with my music video in Adobe Photoshop CS6. Even though I had used this program before I decided to familiarise myself with it before creating my digipak and magazine advert, for example I relearned what certain tools were called, the purpose of the tools, how to effectively edit an image and the use/purpose of layers. Overall, the reason of this was so I could complete my digipak and magazine not only at a faster pace but so I could produce them both to a high standard so they could be enjoyed fully by my audience and so I could effectively follow the codes and conventions of the Pop genre. The first step to creating them was to actually take some photos which I again used a Canon 550D as this camera can also capture high quality images. The photos for my digipak and magazine advert were taken at the same location I shot my music video (in front of a white screen in a studio); once I had taken the desired photos I then individually imported the chosen images into Photoshop to begin editing them. A lot of the photos I took consisted of my model holding a piece of card with either the artists name or song name on, this is so it would directly link to music video and my target audience could make the connection; in addition all my photos were taken on a white back drop. As a result, the second step I took in creating my digipak was by removing the white background from the chosen photos, I did this by using the ‘magic wand’ tool which worked very well on the photos I had taken; however, if I found any of the edges to be too rough I took the eraser tool and changed the brush hardness to soft so I could successfully soften the edges. Next depending on the photo I experimented with changing the brightness and contrast levels as I wanted my photographs to be bright and vibrant so they fit into the Pop genre and portray the bright and happy atmosphere; therefore, I also increased the vibrance and exposure level on all my images. In terms of my digipak’s front cover I also looked at increasing/decreasing the threshold of an image. When creating my magazine advert I used the shape tool to create the signs illustrating key information about the release of the artists and album and once more changed the brightness, contrast, exposure, vibrance levels of any photos included. Overall, the appearance of the magazine advert mirrored the digipak.

In conclusion, the use of different media technologies were partially responsible for the successful creation of all three of my products and the research and planning behind them and ultimately benefited me to reaching the needs and wants of my target audience and finally for me to be able to challenge and follow the typical codes and conventions of the Pop genre.

Evaluation: Question Three

What have you learnt from audience feedback?

The song I chose for this project was “King Of Anything” by the artist Sara Bareilles; although she is not necessarily considered an extremely popular singer some of her songs have reached the top of the charts for example “Love Song”. As a result, I took an unconventional approach by taking an unpopular song and trying to make it popular as it could and does easily fit in the Pop genre.

Obtaining and using audience feedback has been a vital part of my production process as it is ultimately what enabled me to continue improving each individual product so I could create three different products that would directly relate to my target audience. It has been really important for me to meet my target audiences needs and wants to allow my music video, digipak, and magazine advert reach as a wide of an audience as possible as my overall aim is for them to be “popular” which is ultimately what the pop genre is; as result, it was important for me to obtain a wide range of different opinions from a range of different people in terms of age and gender.

One of the first things I got feedback for was the first draft of my music video which illustrated the early stages of my music video production, when I completed this first draft I showed it to two media students; this is because they both studied the subject and knew a lot about the typical codes and conventions and ultimately what audiences look for, as a result, I knew I could gain some constructive feedback before I showed any audience members my music video. What I learnt from this type of feedback was typically media related, for example I was asked to experiment with using different shots to broaden the range I’ve used, change some of the lighting in the video, and to take a look at any possible transitions, all of which I knew would make my music video more exciting and engaging for my audience.

Next I began asking some people that would fall into the age range of my target audience to view the second draft of my music video, I did this by posting it on Facebook and getting a few friends to view it and comment on what they think. However, as Pop music can obtain such a wide audience I understood that I needed a mixture of people so I could get a good range of comments and opinions; therefore, I also began asking family members on their opinion. Throughout this feedback I also asked a mixture of males and females as pop music can be liked by either gender. What I learnt from this type of feedback was what my audience actually wanted to see in a music video, what engages them and makes them want to watch a music video, and lastly what they don’t like seeing in a music video. This part was one of the most important pieces of feedback as I was directly getting it from my target audience who are the most important people to consider throughout this process as they are ultimately the people who are going to view and enjoy the product.

For the other tasks such as the magazine ad and the digipak I took full advantage of social media as I knew I could reach a large part of my audiences demographic and obtain a good amount of opinions. I also continually messaged updates of my digipak and magazine ad in the form of images to a group of friends and asked them to send me any honest feedback. Once more this was a very important step as I understood when you create something you generally miss any subtle improvements therefore by sending updated images of your products to an audience ranging from media students to actual target audience member’s enables these improvements to be highlighted to me for example, syncing problems, colour scheme, spelling mistakes etc. As a result this type of feedback has taught me and enabled me to gain a sense quality control so all three of my products were made to the highest standard possible and therefore would be enjoyed to the fullest by my target audience.

Overall, all the feedback I gathered throughout this process have been extremely useful and directed me towards creating three successful products that would appeal to my target audience which I believe is due to me getting a mixture of both media students and people from target audience as a result I got a large majority of opinions/views.

Evaluation: Question Two

Saturday 9th March 2013

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

Overall the combination of my main product and ancillary texts are very effective as I have tried to create a consistent theme throughout. During the production process of all three products I wanted to make a direct link between all three so the audience can recognise this and therefore identify the style of the artist and as a result be able to recognise one of their products in the future. Throughout, I also considered creating a house style throughout so I could obtain a sense of consistency all the way through.

Firstly, I feel as the structure of my music video is very creative and unique from many music videos out there, ultimately individuality and “creating something new” is what usually makes a song or a music video popular because it becomes viral as audiences has never seen it before. Although my idea isn’t completely original I feel as if the underuse of the idea combined with a popular and upbeat song that fits with the Pop genre could easily make the music video become popular. Within the music video I have incorporated a variety of lyrics and images to enter in and out of the frame throughout the length of the song; ultimately, this engages the audience as they want to see what the next image will be or how this image or lyric will be displayed. As my music video was the first thing I created out of the three products this created the basis of the style I wanted to use throughout (using quite bold and vibrant colours and a simplistic background).

The digipak was the first ancillary product I created and illustrates the consistent style I have used. For example on the front cover I have incorporated four signs which enter the frame of the cover by either string or by hands holding the sign this is the same for the back cover and CD design. Within the entire digipak I have used a consistent colour scheme of pink, green, blue, and yellow on quite a simplistic background so these colours seem more bright and vibrant and therefore stand out a lot more. On the title on the front cover of the digipak I have included the crown which has been a big metaphor throughout the music video and behind the song which is that the artist is in charge and in control of her own life I understood that the artist was trying to portray this as an underlying message in her song so I tried  to reflect this in how I created the digipak e.g. the crown will be one of the first things they are drawn to when viewing the digipak as I placed the crown at the beginning of the title this is because audiences generally read the title before anything else on the digipak. In addition I added the confetti in both the back and front cover of the digipak to once more reinforce the meaning of the song and suggest that the artist is celebrating the fact she has control of her life.

The last ancillary product I created was my magazine advert; I continued the house style and overall theme on to this product as well. Firstly, I incorporated the use of the confetti and the crown to reinforce the meaning of the song; however, I also incorporated the colour scheme I have used throughout. I done this by creating three signs that were filled in green, blue, and pink, and finally I inputted an image of a hand so it is as if the signs are being held. This evidently shows how I have continued the theme throughout (in terms of the signs being used) which I have done so it will be evident to my target audience and easy for them to recognise. Overall, I followed the typical conventions of magazine adverts by including all the useful information in large text and the quotes and ratings from industry experts which as a whole create a positive attitude towards the artist and her music and overall fulfils the aim of promoting the artist in a positive light. 

In conclusion, all three ancillary products clearly link through the use of the colour scheme, text and photos used. I believe that by doing this will allow audiences to recognise the artist’s style and therefore make it easier for them to recognise products in shops; in addition, the creativity used in all three products make them more engaging and eye catching for the audience and illustrate how the fit in with the Pop genre.

Evaluation: Question One

Saturday 9th March 2013

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

Overall, I feel as if all three of my media products conform to the forms and conventions of real media products. However, I also feel that in some ways I have challenged the conventions of the music video I created in some ways. To begin understanding the forms and conventions of real media products within the Pop genre I did a lot of research on the genre, this involved me looking at similar products e.g. music videos by artists such as Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber and seeing what conventions they follow to appeal to their target audience. During the research I discovered that many pop music videos either use a combination of narrative or performance, or solely a narrative with the artist occasionally performing to the character; as a result, this was something I considered when I went on to create my music video.

Firstly, in terms of my music video I feel as if I challenged some aspects of the forms and conventions. For example, Pop music videos generally use “popular” music that is in the charts and are by “popular” artist’s hence where the word “Pop” originally derived from; however, I decided to take an unconventional approach, the artist I chose ‘Sara Bareilles’ isn’t necessarily a popular artist and is quite unknown however a few of her songs fall into the Pop genre and have entered the top of the charts e.g. “Love Song” as a result I aimed to take a relatively unknown song and make it popular through my music video which I feel conforms to the conventions of real media products and therefore would allow me to ultimately reach my initial aim

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How my music video conforms to conventional media products is that it firstly portrays an upbeat and exciting atmosphere, this is conveyed through the bright lighting that I have used throughout, and the idea that my music video is quite fast paced due to the quick cuts that I have made. My music video also slightly relates to Andrew Goodwin’s theory that there is a relation of visuals to the song e.g. the lyrics of the song match the action happening in the music video, this is relatively true in my music video as the structure of my music video consists of lyrics and images entering the frame that directly coincide with the lyrics of the song, this also reinforces the fun atmosphere I was trying to convey. For example there are three ways music video can promote a song, illustrate, amplify, and disjuncture, my music video uses illustrate and amplify. Firstly, my music video uses a set of images to illustrate the meaning of the lyrics, and secondly I repeatedly showed images e.g. the use of the crown to amplify the meaning of the song throughout.

The second product I created was a digipak consisting of a front cover, back cover and two inside covers. The first thing I considered was the colour of my digipak, initially I used a coral colour as the main colour throughout, however I changed this on my final digipak to yellow. This is because the yellow colour fitted better with the overall theme of the crown being gold also I considered that my target audience was a mixture of both male and females. Therefore, I felt as if the coral colour was too feminine; as a result, the new yellow colour best suited a unisex audience. Next I directly linked my digipak to the music video I created as this is regularly seen in similar products e.g. Katy Perry, I did this by making all the information on the front and back cover being displayed on signs which were held by hands coming in from around the edges of the digipak (this emulated what was done in my music video), not only did this illustrate creativity but it also created a fun vibe for my target audience and made it unique from other digipak’s out there. The inside cover displayed all of the signs and images used in the music video, once more this created a direct link to the music video, it also displayed the bright colours used in the signs which I further increased by altering the vibrance and brightness levels of the pictures. Finally, I created the next inside cover which would be where the CD would be held, I decided to make this simplistic and imitate the white screen used in my music video. For this I simply created a white background with a gold border and finally the words “King Of Anything”, the use of the white background allows the title to stand out from the back and as a result allows more focus on the overall meaning of the song/album, this is illustrated in the digipak of the Pop artist Justin Bieber, the CD consists of a black background with the title of the album ‘Believe’ written in gold. As a result, this illustrates how my digipak conforms to the conventions of other digipaks in the Pop genre; the high majority incorporates a lot of creativity on the front, back and inside cover, and then uses a more simplistic style and layout on the CD.

The final product I created was the magazine advert, for this I incorporated an image of the artist that was clearly taken on the same day of the digipak shoot it also gives the impression that it was taken on the same day as the music video shoot which is a common convention used by Pop artists e.g. this is displayed in Gwen Stefani’s album “Rich Girl”. Once more I created a direct link to the music video and digipak and used the same title “King Of Anything” which was taken from the front cover of the digipak; in addition, I have created signs with information such as the artists name, release date, and the name of the album which I edited and made it look as if they were being held by hands coming in from the edge of the page. Finally, I incorporated an image of the album, quotes and ratings from music industry experts, useful websites, and places where someone can buy the album e.g. iTunes, all of which are typical conventions expected to be seen on a magazine advert.

Overall, all three of main products clearly conform to the forms and conventions of real media texts; however, there are some aspects of them that I have chosen to challenge.