Summing up (Prezi)

Evaluation Summing Up on Prezi

Evaluation Question 4- Media Technologies

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

Compared to last year, the technology used this past year was easier to use partly due down to havein more experience but also because the technologies had far more potential. They gave us a wider variety of options and resources to help our group explore its creative side.

Blogger is a very good catch-all tool to display information, research and presentations. Without this, it would be very difficult to compile all of the group and individual tasks together so it was an invaluable tool in helping research music videos. However, Blogger Is quite limiting in making each blog personal and the tools and annoying user interface make it irritating to do tasks such as upload photos in bulk and some tools were erratic with some deciding not to work on certain occasions. Blogger, overall, is definitely good for getting feedback from others but it can be a hassle to upload to Blogger.

We utilised digital video cameras extensively last year so they were very easy to get reacquainted with but we also used a camera to take shots for our advert and digipak as well as for our blog. The camera was very versatile and accessible for even those with no experience with cameras. A novice could take good-quality shots with the camera we used so that was a big help. However, the camera didn’t have a large battery so we were unable to do many test shot sessions although these didn’t hinder us in the long run.

Final Cut is a program I only used sporadically last year but this year I was able to delve in to the clips and edit on the timeline easily. The ease of use is its most redeeming feature as anyone can manipulate the show or add effects in a few minutes. This is especially good for experimentation and it really helped increase our creativity by having the freedom to try new things. One of the shots with the bluish hue in the destruction part of the music video is a good example of this. This myriad of options allowed us to create a professional-looking product without a great deal of effort. The progam is liable to crash on occasions and certain slips can go out on sync if you aren’t careful but any mistakes can be easily rectified.

In Final Cut we used effects such as Cross Dissolve (which is our motif) and colour correction. As well as this- as shown below- we used Chromakey to create a unique effect that made our video stand out as well as break the conventions of the indie genre. We manipulated some shots using the advanced Final Cut tools. It was extremely easy to do reverse shots by using a simple modifier. 

Other effects we were able to use on Final Cut Pro were different types of transitions (e.g. additive dissolves) and also speeding up and slowing down shots to help with things such as lip syncing and time lapses. Overall, Final Cut was an extremely useful piece of kit, without it the music video would have been a lot harder to edit and keep track of as the timeline was a major help.

No one in our group had a deep understanding of Photoshop so we had to learn quickly to get up to scratch. Once the basics had been learned simple manipulation techniques allowed us to create a minimalist design that still looked crisp. One downside would have to be that advance techniques didn’t work and were very hard to attempt to learn with very little reward.

Other technologies we have used include a Dictaphone and using the internet to get fonts (DaFont). Both are very useful and are more in-depth alternatives to other technologies which are far more basic. By taking a risk we have used them to further increase our product and other facets of our work.

The potential for Web 2.0 is enormous and although we haven’t tapped in to all of that potential as of yet we have used Youtube for researching and websites such as Twitter for messaging and looking at certain trends and responses. An advertising campaign with synergy as well as utilising viral videos could make reaching an audience and getting audience feedback far easier than it would be otherwise.

Overall, the majority of the technologies that we have used have benefited us massively in creating our media product and without them it would have been nigh-on impossible to construct a good video that appealed to its target audience.

Evaluation Question 3- Audience Feedback

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Audience feedback was a major part of our product as it enabled us to make changes both big and small to help us. One of our most positive comments from our peers was that it felt like a rock genre music video with the quick shots and variety of close ups to keep with the conventions of the genre. Our experimental shots were greatly received despite not being necessarily what we set out to do in the first place. The motifs also garnered good feedback because that was another convention of the genre. Our overall comments were very favourable to our music video because we spent a lot of time editing every shot and I think that was very well-received. The focus group liked the pace of the video and the story with its ambiguous ending and the narrative resonating with the song title and the brand identity being present through our products (i.e. brick walls). Overall, we definitely received more positive comments than negative comments although, invariably, the negative comments forced us to change more of our products.

Our main negative comment was for our digipak. As shown in the below presentation, our digipak has changed quite a lot in the editing process with the digipak not truly representing the genre at first and then looking out of place with the separate panels looking very much separate rather than being part of one overall package. Whilst it isn’t perfect now we have used the feedback to create a digipak that works as an overall product whilst going against our poster which is deliberately bright and has been designed to make someone ‘feel good’. Another negative comment (as shown in the directors’ commentary) was that our lead actor and other actors were too young for our music video. Also, that the main singer wasn’t included nearly enough. This required an almost-complete overhaul with the lead actor not singing anywhere near as much as he did in the first draft of our music video. Our opening shots also got a fair bit of criticism so we used that feedback to craft a better scene which is noticeable by the lack of sound as we went overkill on effects when we first used Final Cut Pro.


A notable example of something we have changed is our digipak, below is our digipak before feedback and then our final one:

These comments certainly made me realise that a great deal of planning needs to go in to everything and how it all links in to one overall product. If I were to make a music video next time it would be imperative to make sure everything was planned meticulously so we could map out where we are going next. A contingency plan should also have been put in place to help deal with our feedback but we generally worked hard to solve any problems that managed to arise. When producing and editing a music video next time I think we would not play around with different effects and sound effects so late on in the production of the video as it is very time-consuming. It would also have been better if we all worked together on editing the video rather than one person changing certain things then asking for feedback, if we were all involved in the process it would have gone a lot smoother.

Changes made through feedback

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Evaluation Question 2- The combination of our products

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

When targeting your audience it is extremely important to have a house style or a brand identity to ensure there is a link between each of your products and this also makes your brand (in this case, our band) much more recognisable with a simple motif such as the neon text. Other artists show a recurring theme through their works and this it also present on both our poster and on our digipak.

Snow Patrol's theme of seasons

Eminem's motif of a performer on stage

 Because it is unique it gets people talking (social interaction is becoming increasingly prevalent with today’s media) so this sets our products apart from the pack as well as relating to the song somewhat with the upbeat message of the song shown- albeit not until the end of the video- and this relates to every product we have created. With this link to all of our products we give the audience a chance to form their own thoughts on the brand identity without forcing it upon them too much.

Our digipak design draws heavily on ‘Feeling Good’ as we take the song title as literally we can. Because the digipak is bright and vibrant it will make it much more eye-catching than another trademarks of the genre which is perhaps more suited to using darker colours to suit the mood of the song but we have gone about things the other way. The digipak design is fairly simple and the minimalistic feel of the digipak could sell the album in itself. Often, albums are cluttered with too much information and pictures but our album has a clean look which is likely to stand out and we have certainly taken our target audience in to account when creating the digipak as well as looking at previous successful examples of album covers. However, I feel that the song would sell the digipak much more than the digipak would sell the song.

On the other hand, our advert will do a good job of selling our digipak before the aforementioned brand identity. Our digipak is essentially a modified version of our advert so this stands us in good stead when thinking about the combination of our products.  The advert gives a host of information about the band and the digipak so it would be very hard to ignore the album when looking at the advert. The advert is our main tool for advertising and we have done our utmost to ensure it would ‘sell’ our digipak to our audience.

Our digipak and advert generally goes with the conventions of the rock/indie genre. It does go against our poster which is meant to catch the eye. The most obvious indication of that is the neon glow that dominates the poster although the darker purple could be seen to be a normal convention of rock as the rock genre utilizes darker colours to appeal to their target audience. The style of the band is not really shown through the advert and digipak so nearly everything has to be said about in the band in the music video which could be a criticism.

Overall, I have shown that the house style is integral when it comes to advertising and creating a brand identity across the products allows the target audience to both identify the product and sell the product to them. This is done through similar font and style throughout as well as communicating facets of our band through the music video.

Evaluation Question 1- Forms and Conventions

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

Conventions and the form of a media product hold the key to appealing the audience. Because of this, a lot of research has to be put in to ensure everything was done for a reason and to make sure it appeals to the target audience of a product as well as those outside of that demographic. A main convention of a music video is, generally, to have members of the band in the video performing or featuring somewhat in the narrative. We decided to use this convention because it fitted in nicely with conventions from the rock/indie genre. Also, we did not particularly want to make our video abstract so we decided on a more appealing and straightforward performance/narrative video which holds less risks when it comes to captivating an audience.

One convention that the music video challenges is age. Because the video is aimed at a 16-24 demographic we put in solely people from this category in to our music video. This helps with identification- this is present in the Uses and Gratifications theory. It also creates a bond between our audience and the product as it can be seen to relate to each other.

In the rock/indie genre there are quite a few conventions that are ever-present in these types of videos. One that we decided to challenge was performing on a stage or at a concert. The story in the video is more intimate and personal and a grand performance wouldn’t have been appropriate. This, again, leads back to the aforementioned identification.  We also made sure as a group we paid close attention to the clothing of the lead singer because he would be the one conveying the song to the audience. Ergo, we set apart the lead actor who represented a certain type of person (possibly hovering around the BCD demographic) and the clothing suited that. Quick shots were prevalent throughout, as were the playing of instruments. We included these because it went well with the pace and tempo of the song as well as being aesthetically pleasing to our audience. Check the directors' commentary for more on our conventions.

Digipaks are an important tool to attract the audience and are effectively used as a marketing ploy in their own right. Whilst most genres stick with bright colours we went down the rock/indie route and stuck to our conventions by using striking, darker colours such as purple. The lead singer is only featured on the reverse cover of our digipak but we have a very simplistic front cover to garner some attention from someone looking at this on the shelves. The lack of clutter helps when creating an album cover and this also gives the band some brand identification so the audience have knowledge of the band in a recognisable way. The normal conventions are on the album, such as four panes, a barcode and the list of tracks. We did, however, drop the idea of a house style (as shown by the audience feedback post).

Adverts are designed to be pleasing to the eye and our advert challenges and develops certain conventions. One definite convention challenges would be the use of bright colours because we felt that reflecting the song rather than the genre would be more apt and this is evidenced by the neon lettering. The band isn’t used again but we went for the idea of the advert looking like an advert for a concert so it is slightly more abstract than your traditional poster that features the artist.

The indie genre’s main objective is to be different from the mainstream and this is what we have set out to accomplish and what we hopefully have achieved. However, we have kept a sizeable chunk of conventions to maintain the core nucleus of an audience. Having said that, we haven’t adapted any conventions from any other genres so it may be harder to appeal to other fans.

Directors' Commentary

Audience Feedback Focus Group