Evaluation Question 3:

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

After a group of peers viewed my music video I sat with them and asked for feedback “it’s really good, as if it could be an actual music video, proves the following conventions and stereotypes I managed to correctly convey the artist and genre through my video.

After viewing my magazine advert I was told from one member of my group “ it’s very basic, but the use of colour is good” from this I found that studying other artists CD covers, posters and advertisements I was able to convey the correct connotations through colour however the audience felt it was basic but through the use of bold fonts and bright colouring another member of the group stated “ the main points are clear”. From audience feedback I have learnt that knowledge of genre, stereotypes and studying similar artists allows you to create effective and successful media products which are relative and provide a clear link between relating products such as digipaks, video and advertisement.

Evaluation Question 2:

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

Whilst creating my key assignment and ancillary texts, I wanted there to be an apparent theme throughout so the audience could make the distinct link between all three products, this is important as the posters and magazines advertisements are meant to be a clear display of genre and artist for example a soft, lightly coloured poster with the connotations of perhaps a cheesy pop band wouldn’t then go on to make a dark heavy metal video. This would confuse and displace the trust of the audience.

The main theme throughout is the use of red’s and seasonal colours with a cartoonised element. I decided upon this theme as its very stereotypical of the acoustic artists and genre.

Effectively creating a relationship between audience and artist’s proved easier then appeared by sticking to conventions and stereotypes I was able to clearly portray the artist and my video genre with a clear link with magazine advertisements and the digipak.

Making the artist the main focus of the magazine advertisement instead of obscure images or drawings gives the audience an opportunity to connect and relate with the artist as in seeing an artist on any other media product such as television or radio bridging the gap between artist and fans.

This means that the combination of the video, magazine and cd cover is very effective, as all 3 allow the song’s promotion to reach all possible places (whereas if there was just a poster for example, it would not be able to reach TV, cinema, etc…) and this is very important to attract all possible different types of audiences and just simply increases the chance of people seeing, knowing and liking the look of the video. So in my opinion the combination of my main product and ancillary texts is very effective.

Evaluation Question 4:

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

I believe that the construction stage is the stage that most relies on all media technologies from the use of camera to the editing programmes. In this stage of my portfolio I ventured into using a new range of media technologies that I hadn’t in the past.

During the research stage I used computers to view and analyse magazine advertisements , music video’s, artists of the acoustic genre and CD covers. Too gain knowledge and inspiration from these media products, so that my 3 products would end up looking authentic and professional .

The software I used was the internet: for research general knowledge and into conventions, which involved looking at and analysing real film posters, magazines and trailers,
My magazine advertisement which both followed and challenged conventions allowed me to display my creativity and knowledge of the genre and media as a whole.
For filming my college had provided new cameras, which we had never used before, and they were difficult to get used to so I decided to use my mother's video camera, again one I hadn’t used before but with a simpler lay out so I became accustomed to it quickly.

For an editing programme I used i-movie 09 on the i-mac a very high tech and easy to use system and one i had used in my AS production so I was accustomed to it. On this system I was able to add effects, reverse clips and apply backing music and sound effects.

For editing the photographs I used for both my CD cover and magazine advertisement I used lunapic.com. As i had not used a programme of this sort before initially I found it difficult but quickly became accustomed and was able to use it successfully to apply different effects and texts to my images.

Again, college had provided new tripods also. These were a lot more sufficient then the one’s used in my AS media allowing for smoother movements and panning shots . Also I used Microsoft word and paint to copy and paste images onto my magazine advertisement and CD cover to allow for a more professional and authentic image and product.

Evaluation Question 1:

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

Music videos within the acoustic/blues/indie genre usually use performance, narrative or music videos with a narrative concept containing elements of performance. As my music video is a narrative with elements of performance it could be considered to conform to conventions associated with acoustic/blues music. Colbie Cailat,’s, an acoustic artists video’s also comply to conventions and utilize stereotypes within the acoustic genre. One that I researched before creating my music video was ‘Bubbly’. Colbie Cailat features in this narrative video which shows her in both the narrative and performing through lip syncing and playing the guitar. This is similar to my video as my protagonist lip sync’s throughout the video in between the narrative. Narrative based videos are the less common of the three categories and so in a sense I am developing the convention. The music video ‘9 crimes’ by the acoustic artists Damien Rice is again a performance based video containing a small element of narrative. Exploring these videos in depth, I realised that a performance/narrative video would best suit my genre also studying the video’s and artist’s named I was able to apply and utilise the correct mise-en-scene to create an authentic feel to my music video. The narrative concept applied to my video initially appears to be a generic love story. This conforms to ideas and themes within the acoustic/blues genre. incorporating Todorov’s theory of there being five stages of a narrative I created a boy-girl love story, however, my music video develops this theory as instead of the conventional linear narrative, I create a twist to my ending by reversing time and engaging the audience as this would not be expected. Also I challenge the idea of a the typical love story by presenting the girl as emotionally unconnected and the man sad, lonely and chasing the woman through this incorporating the post modernist view of challenging stereotypes.

I decided to include aspects of Goodwin’s theory by creating a clear relationship connecting the lyrics and visuals. Within the narrative it say’s “every time you go” showing the female protagonists leaving.

Also I challenged conventions through the use of costume. Acoustic artist’s Stereotypically appear messy and unkept, with the examples of Damien rice and James blunt, yet I decided to dress my male protagonist in jeans a t-shirt and a hoody stereotypical of a young man also at points he appears in a scruffy t-shirt and pyjama bottoms to display the contrast between the narrative and flashbacks and to display his mental state .

Magazine Advert: my magazine advert conforms to the conventions of real media products through applying a stereotypical use of band/artist name, name of single, date due out and ratings from music based magazines such as “Q” and “NME” . Typical to James Morrison's “Songs For You, Truths For Me” I use orange and dull tones to make the artist appear more prominent. Challenging the conventions of magazine adverts where generally the artists name would appear larger than the single’s name, I reversed this making the single’s name larger in a red font and the artist name longer, yet still large, however longer in a bright yellow font so initially the public see the most important elements of the advertisement.

CD cover: like magazine adverts, the CD cover is designed to sell and represent the artist and the genre of the music they produce. Typical to similar artists my single cover contains images of the artist central the photograph in obscure colouring such as James Blunt 'Back to Bedlam” and James Morrison “Wonderful World” my digipak ‘sell’s my artist as he is central to the cover and the dominant image. The back panel consists of the track list, barcode and image right of the cover. This allows the audience to relate to the artist through visual imagery and assists the audience in finding specific tracks. Challenging the conventions of a typical acoustic single back panel like those of Damien Rice, James Morrison and James blunt never appear on the back panel of their singles but obscure images and colours relative to the front panel.

digipak:

BACK COVER - I chose these colours as they are a clear representation of the colours on the front cover to create an on going theme and a relevant link.

INSDE IMAGE
INSIDE IMAGE

INSIDE IMAGE

in these images, it clearly shows close up and long shots of the artist. this allows the audience and fans to look closely at the artist and also they double up as posters as well as aiding publicity so the fan gets extras they wouldn't gain from downloads.

FRONT COVER

- the front cover image is edited in a similar way to James Blunt's 'Back to Bedlam' as I feel that they are aimed at a very similar target audience and are similar artists therefore promoting recognition from the audience and therefore interest.

my final magazine advertisement:

I decided on this image to be my final piece as I felt that the happy image of the protagonist smiling was fitting to the genre as well as the warm oranges, red's and browns and yellows which connote this. In the shot he also looks very natural and in natural surroundings rather than an urban setting or a constructed set in which he is posing for shots. Again I feel that this follows the image created in the video and also maintains appeal for his target audience that he is a genuine musician rather than a 'pop star'.

It contains all the devices my previous two images did not such as price, date of release, purchase information and ratings.

Firstly I seleceted an image I thought would be suitable and create a successful magazine advertisement. I loaded it onto www.lunapic.com and selected both sepia and colour changers to create a cartoon styled image similar to the digipak so there is a clear link with the artist and create warm red, orange, yellow and brown tones to connote a happy, peaceful and passionate artist and single.

magazine advertisement:

these are my first two attempts at creating a good advertisement to place in a magazine to promote the single and artist. i used the cartoonised images similar to that on the digipak to create a on-going theme linked to the artist. the use of red's is also a linking theme throughout as it connotes passion an element involved within the single.

i discarded using these two images as initially, they didn't contain a date of release, information on where to purchase it from, a price or a rating from a popular music magazine. these things are all crucial too and stereotypical of magazine advertisements, i felt that without the use of these devices my product would appear unprofessional and unsuccessful and in the second image the colour used when i applied the rating i felt was too dark.