Evaluation 4

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

Research

During the research stage of my blog, I used multiple technologies to help increase my knowledge based upon music videos their conventions, digipaks, and magazine advertisements. Without these modern technologies I would have most certainly struggled to establish any knowledge/ facts or even general ideas about what I intended to achieve in my coursework

Internet search engines played a vital part in my research, especially 'Google'. Google allowed me to access a variety of useful data such as revealing to me a range of music videos, a variety of album covers, spines, and magazine advertisements in addition general information which benefited my coursework). Without this I would not have been able to explore and analyse extracts in great depth, as I lacked valuable knowledge about my tasks. Google Images also allowed me access images, which were relevant to my tasks, which moreover assisted me in explaining my points.

'Wikipedia' also played a major part within my research as I could explore information from the 'free encyclopedia' in great depth. Wikipedia allowed me to explore definitions of certain key words that generalised key terms and meanings, which then further made clear sense and understanding. For example Wikipedia attended to my rescue in terms of identifying  the meaning of a digipak.

Although Wikipedia had many answers to my questions, I was in doubt in stages because of its lack of reliability due to its information  edited by its online community, so therefore I opted to cross reference information with Google or another additional search engine such as 'Bing' to double check if it was accurate.

'Youtube' was my final internet source that gave me the chance to watch certain music videos such as Wizkid Pakurumo, Beyonce - Halo, Rihanna we found love etc... Which were vital visual information I could take on board and use within my research.

Planning

In the planning stages I used various technologies to help me prepare and organise myself for when it finally came to the filming section, without these technologies I probably would have struggled.

'Google Maps'  and Google Imaages' was used in some parts of my planning stages before filming. It allowed me to access satalite images of one of my chosen locations. The modern advancement of 'street satalite' images allowed me to capture the image of my location second hand. This made organisation that extra easier, I then print screened the image of my location, and copied and pasted it onto my blog, in addition via URL.

I used the social networking site 'Instagram' to access images of my potential actors during this section. I believe that this was useful, as it allowed me to visualise them, and allowed me to investigate whether they would have been suitable enough for my music video. Thankfully Instagram allowed me to effectively select actors Bemi and Lewis.

I used 'windows live movie maker'  to make assumptions about how I intended my very first scene to look (evidently in my planning section) This was beneficial towards my final product, as the timing which was taken in movie maker, in addition to my storyboards was so accurate in comparison my final product.

I used the scanner to scan my storyboards onto my blog. I found this fairly easy to use as I own a scanner in my own house, and use it regularly. The scanner helped me in terms of bringing my written work, to visual terms on my blog.

I also used my iPhone to also take photographs of some of my locations 

Construction

During my construction stage I used a more wider selection of modern technologies and editing software. Without the use of these technologies and editing softwares I would have failed to produce a successful music video, an effective digipak and magazine advertisement.

During the filming stages I used my iPhone mostly and sometimes my Sony Camcorder. Despite the fact that I used my iPhone, the visual quality was a lot better than I expected, and 90/10% of the time it was more effective than my camcorder. I was able to upload my clips and footages onto my computer majority of the time without any hassles or difficulties. The modern advancement of the iPhone 4s allowed filming  to be more defined and moreover easy to operate with a tap on the screen.

The iPhone modern capabilities such as a multiple zoom of more than 20x, has been a major advancement compared to the multiple zoom in of 5 which was only a few years ago. Moreover the battery life has also increased, as chargers have become more powerful, meaning that I could film for longer periods of time. This demonstrates how in recent years media technologies have cross converged to make life a bit more easier and simplistic.

The editing software 'windows live movie maker' was a vital component which helped me make my music video. Although this wasn't a professional software it has been more use able widely amongst amateurs like me. Windows live movie maker gave me a chance to adapt, edit and cut certain shots and footages to a suitable length as I began to link pieces together. During the editing process I used a wide range of effects and filters such as 'fade in' 'fade out' 'adjustment of play back speed' 'brightness' etc to help capture the shots I was looking for. These features would have never been available on previous versions of movie maker, so the advancement in technology has benefited my project.

'Photoshop' and 'Pik monkey' gave me the chance to 'manipulate', 'merge' and 'filter' certain photographs to maximum effect. This was most beneficial during the digipak process, for example filtering Temis face to present that 'flawless' look. Without this It would have failed to present the modern interpretation of the independent woman, to represent a solo female artist in the R&B/Soul genre. Overall these technologies were vital during my construction stages.

Moreover I used 'youtube' to upload my final pieces, which I found very easy, and beneficial to other media students seeking ideas for their own media music videos.

The use of media technologies was finally used to help me gain audience feedback and analyse them which I then broadcast it  onto my Blog. I used Microsoft excel and Word to analyse work from my questionnaires. I used Microsoft excel in which I created series of graphs in the process. I produced bar graphs and pie charts, which were labelled to some extent. I found it difficult to label both axis, however without using this modern technology  I would have struggled as a lot of my time and effort would have been consumed if these figures and graphs were hand drawn and written. 

From this I have learnt overall that most importantly media technologies have made my life a lot easier, and more simplistic as I can access valuable sources at my fingertips requiring little effort and  little of my knowledge. Without these new and advanced media technologies my life would be time consumed and over complicated.

FORGOT TO INCLUDE THIS IS MY AUDIO

I USED SLIDE SHARE AND MICROSOFT POWER POINT - Slide share allowed me to upload my power point representations onto my blog, because I print screened my editing steps onto the power point instead of enduring the time consuming process of uploading it onto my blog. I found this the easiest software to use, as it was very simplistic. 

I USED BLOGGER - This was to upload every single one of my posts

Evaluation 3

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

I created questionnaires open ended and closed ended
I analysed the results through graphs
I joined and formulated group chats, and gained feedback informally through verbal conversation

My audience feedback helped me become aware of what my audience thought went well and what they liked and disliked about my main product and ancillary text, by doing this it helped me improve certain aspects of my projects

Music Video
I received feedback from a representative group of girls age 17-18 in my media class, including my media teacher before I even began filming. Their opinions helped me gather aspects of my narrative and what visual aspects was expected from the lyrical content of my chosen song.
My target audience did not like that Bemi was marginalised in a shot in my music video, because it lacked authenticity, and did not fit in with the upcoming scenes/shots. I then took this advice on board, and replaced it with another shot, where she was in the foreground of the screen.
Similarly my target audience did not like the idea that I included a black and white effect as it again looked random and out of place within my music video. Therefore leaving me with no choice but to remove it, as my audience did not favour it. This taught me that receiving feedback can be an important aspect of the success of media products, for their opinions can be useful in terms of perfecting my work
In contrast to the negative points I received positive feedback about my actors lip syncing, and the narrative of my music video, for they both worked extremely well, for it was believable and relate-able

Digipak
I recieved feedback that my album cover was 'Simple yet effective' which I am pleased about.
The majority of my feedback stated that the red colour scheme was very effective with the narrative
I did not include the logo of the record company on my back cover which led me no choice but to do this for my aim was to increase its authenticity

To conclude I do not believe that my media products and ancillary tasks would have been as effective without my audience feedback

Evaluation 2

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

Strong representation of independence throughout my products, 

- Close ups in music video and Portrait based album cover. 

Narrative functions involving binary opposites

Facial expressions

Love and hate in music video and front cover 'smiles' left insert 'sad facial expression

The notion 'Stranger'

Fading hallucinating effect of Lewis and Paris in the music video. Digipak and magazine advertisement with the use of the 'overlay effect' to create a fading effect.

Colour scheme and narrative
Red lipstick - connote love anger and danger 
Red hair and red title in the left insert - continuity within the narrative

Evaluation 1

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

The genre of my chosen song was a mix of R&B/Soul. 

Conformed to codes and convention of fashion e.g. Lewis to wore a hoodie and baggy jeans with trainers these all represent an urban aspect in the R&B genre.

I have challenged the convention of iconography and male gaze which are mainly featured in R&B music videos, where women in the video are seen as an object for the male desire, and place emphasis on their sexuality through minimal clothing and their make up.

I challenged this by having Bemi dress in innocent outfits and natural make up, connoting her innocence in her relationship.

However I dressed her quite ‘sexy’ in a tight pencil skirt, and a pet plum style top, just to have her right to dress up and be sexually attractive, which can be explained by the Post Feminism female gaze approach.

The music video I produced for the song ‘Stranger’ by Jhene Aiko can be categorised as a narrative based music video because of the lyrical content of the song, which reveals, love, frustration, and confusion. 

 Rihanna We Found Love. (link) This video implemented a mixture of real performance and narration, where Rihanna and her boyfriend present contrasting moods and relations with each other, similarly, I presented the yo-yoing events of a young relationship between Bemi and Lewis, which involved love, anger, and distress.

Many Soul songs are slow paced, and their music videos have editing styles to match. I followed this convention by using slow-paced editing throughout the majority of my video, and by slowing up the pace of editing at appropriate moments in the song where the song slows down This technique is used in the music video for Beyonce Halo where the pace of editing was very slow as a result of the pace of the song

For my ancillary tasks I used the majority of the conventions for an album cover and for a magazine advert for an album cover.
When constructing my album front cover, I used a portrait based cover, because I felt that this aspect was crucial for a female solo artist, where I have used a close up image of my artist.

Moreover my album cover features the name of the artist ‘Lola Cruz’ and the album title ‘Stranger’, and these are conventions of an album cover.

My album's back cover used many more conventions, list of tracks, a bar-code legal information at the bottom and company logos. 

I kept the colour scheme similar from the front and back cover, to the inside cover and the spine, as this is an important convention that keeps the whole album cover presentable and increases its authenticity to the audience

The album cover's spine followed the conventions of real media products, with the company logos on and the artists name and album title in the centre, with the same fonts and colour scheme used in the rest of the album. This is present on the sine of Monica ‘Still standing’ album.

For my magazine advert I conformed to the codes and conventions of nearly all magazine adverts where largest item on my magazine advert was the picture, followed by the text for the artists name and the album title. These are all conventions which I have used, and which can also be found on other album magazine adverts such Jessie J ‘Who you are’ and Rihanna ‘Loud’ allowing the audience to associate the album and the advertisement together. Similarly, in my magazine advertisement, I also decided to include the original album cover.

Similarly to Chris browns magazine advertisement, he revealed to the audience where they could purchase his album cover 'hmv', similarly in my magazine advertisement I also included the 'iTunes' logo to allow the audience can easily access the album.

. My magazine advert also includes the album's release date, successful released singles and ratings, which are all things I found on other magazine adverts I had analysed.

Bullet points of the conventions I have followed 

- Album name

- Album title

- Album release

- Artist Image

- A featuring song

- Album disrtibutor

- Artist website

- Critical ratings 

Final Magazine Advert and Audience Feedback

Magazine Advertisement Audience Feedback

Positive Points

It is to my understanding that I did follow several conventions of a magazine advertisement (evidently from my secondary research). Evidently from my audience feedback it is clear that my feedback suggested that I effectively followed the conventions of magazine adverts such as the '5stars/ratings'. This was also the most voted promotional feature in my primary research, this informs me that audience feedback is very vital. I am pleased that my audience has seen this as effective, as I assume it may persuade them to purchase the album.

'Font is good', 'style of the writing is nice', I am pleased with this response, as it suggests that my magazine advert is authentic, and therefore more believable. I am happy that I paid attention to my audience in my primary research where they suggested that my font should be simple.

Negative Points

It has been stated from my audience feedback that the artist name is smaller than album name. However I purposely did this because I was trying to promote the album, by increasing the size of the text, so make the audience aware, in addition I then conformed to a portrait based album cover to promote the artist 'Lola Cruz'. With the combination of these two justifications, I personally believe that it is very effective. And therefore I will be overlooking this point, because it is part of my connotations. In contrast I have taken this point into consideration, and next time I will ensure that I cover this point.

Editing my Magazine Advert / Spine

Magazine advertisement from raliat_x

Magazine Advert Primary Research

Magazine Advertisement Questionnaire Text Focused

What font do you expect to see on the advertisement promoting a female R&B/Soul album, for two reasons ?

Plain Text

Elegant and Swirly

Italics

Big and Bold

Would you prefer the font to stay the same throughout?

Yes

No

What persuasive feature would you like included?

Puff e.g. 5 stars, Ratings

Review

Slogan

Would you like an inclusion of one of the artists singles released?

Yes

No

Reasons why…

I have asked the question ‘what font would you expect to see on an advertisement promoting a female R&B/Soul album, for two reasons

1.       To see what font my target audience are likely to associate with my chosen genre, and 2. To identify what font, they will more likely be persuaded to read.

I have asked my target audience whether they may prefer the font on the advertisement to be identical throughout, because my aim is to keep continuity in the font throughout my advertisement, however if my target audience do not agree then I will have to terminate my idea, and go along with my target audience because their opinions are valuable in the success of my final product.

I have asked my target audience what persuasive feature would they like to be included, I included this question, because I noticed from my advertisement research that nearly all the adverts, contained these features within the advert. However it is laughable for me to include all of these features, as it may lack authenticity. This is why; I have chosen to allow my target audience to choose this for me, as I will be going for the majority vote

Lastly I asked would you like an inclusion of one of the artists singles released. I asked this question because from my secondary research, it was clear to me that the advertisements commonly included a single from the artist; I assume that this is done to provide fans with a sneak peek of the entire album, which further persuades them to want to find out more about the album, and therefore purchasing it.  

RESULTS

What font would you expect to see on an advertisement promoting a female R&B/Soul album?

Evidently from my results, it is clear that the majority of my target audience favour 'plain text' within my advertisement. I am pleased with my results, because I also witnessed plain fonts, especially in Rihanna's advertisement where it involved a plain font, therefore when designing my advertisement I am going to make sure that I use this type of font, not only because of this feedback, but because of the fact that it is a convention of magazine adverts for albums.

Would you prefer the font to stay the same throughout?

Evidently from my results, the bar graph reveals to me that my target audience will prefer that the font on my advertisement should stay the same, receiving 7/10 votes. I am pleased because it suggests that I can conform to the continuity, I have been applying throughout my digipak (where I used the same script 'mancelle script'), however in the case of my advert' I will be using the same 'Plain' text throughout. Therefore when I construct my magazine advertisement I will be applying the same font throughout the advert.

What persuasive feature would you like included?

Clearly from the results in my bar graph it presents to me that the persuasive feature that my target audience would like to be included within the advert is the '5 star ratings' therefore I will be placing (5).stars onto the advertisement to conform to my audience preferences.

Would you like an inclusion of one of the artists singles released?

Lastly evidently from my bar graph, It is clear to my understanding that 10/10 of my target audience would like some form of inclusion of one of the singles released by the artist. I will be selecting one of the singles from the back cover that I created, which will be included in my advertisement.