Evaluation question 4: How did you use media technologies in theconstruction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

I had to use many types of media technologies throughout the planning, research and creation of my final product. The media technologies I have used are to achieve the best outcomes I could and make my work look the best it possibly could.

The technologies are:

Canon 70D DSLR camera

64GB SD card

32GB USB stick

My own tripod

Samsung handheld camera

Online:

Prezi.com

Google Chrome

Microsoft Office

YouTube.com

Wyke.ac.uk

Software:

Adobe Photoshop cs6(64bit)

Final Cut Pro

I have used both mine and the colleges own equipment. I used two types in camera to film my music video, although the Samsung video recorder was of an appalling quality which meant I had to re film on  another day. I filmed on a DLSR camera which I thought might be a bit more difficult as it is heavier and harder to control than a small handheld camera but it also gave a much better quality than another camera would have. It also helped me take images from my ancillary texts which was a great help. Final Cut Pro was easy to use and get my head around, it was simple to use to edit my video and add effects to it. 

Evaluation question 3: What have you learned from your audiencefeedback?

When I have shown my music video to other people I have gotten very good reactions. These reactions are ones that I have based upon my second draft of my music video so that I could take them on board and improve upon my video if needed.

Patricia Wilson said "The varying shots really make the video interesting and intriguing to watch. The colours really convey them of a country music video and the costumes are casual and relaxed, making the music video relatable and easy to identify with"

Katy O'Hara said "To the younger girls out there this is an ideal music video for them. It is simple yet interesting enough for them to watch it over and over. It relates to the events happening in their life and the artist is someone for them to look up at"

Owen Wood said "The slow motion really adds a certain edge to this music video, it makes it that little more attractive and it really goes with the music. I would maybe make some of the shot lengths a bit shorter and add some others in towards the end to make it just that little better"

Adam Brocklebank said "The hand held camera look really tops this music video off. It makes it look homely and makes it easier for the viewers to relate to the music video because it feels like it is made from someone's point of view"

Because of these reactions I decided to shorten the shots towards the end to make them fit in better with the music. I have learned that the more the shots go with the beat of the song the more interesting it looks. It makes the music video more dramatic and creates a better vibe.

I have also learned that the handheld camera look makes a video more relatable. 

Evaluation question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Along with a music video I had to create ancillary texts to promote my music video. I chose to create a digipak and a magazine advert because I felt these were the ones which would promote my album the most and be the easiest to create and distribute.

I feel like my music video and ancillary texts coincide with each other very well. I have ensured that I use images that I have either taken whist filming of that I have taken from my actual music video. My music video has a very old look to it which can't be recreated within photoshop, so to ensure the continuity I have made sure to use the same images with the same effects on so that you can clearly see that they link. I feel like my digipak recreates the country genre very well, the colours and the effects that are on the music video create an antique look which links with country music really well. It is full of beige, brown, and gold colours which I feel are colours that feature a lot within the country genre.

I have made my magazine advert a lot more abstract tan I was planning to. I planned to feature my artist centrally within the image and use text centrally within it too. This didn't go to plan as I figured that I hadn't gotten and decent images of my artist which are central. Because of this I improvised and used a photograph of the church where I had been filming. I used this image because you can very easily make the link that it is the same church, also I felt like it was a powerful image because it is just the door of the church. Because it is the door I feel like it is inviting you in and this links to love very well. I feel like using my magazine advert image as an abstract now has a more powerful message than it would of if I was to have used an image of my artist. I have used the same typography on my magazine advert that I have used on my digipak. This creates a continuity that I wouldn't have if I had used a different type face on each.

The front panel of my digipak is my favourite part of my digipak itself. I like the easy link it creates to one of my scenes within my music video. I also like the framing of the shot. My artist isn't completely central and she is looking off into the distance. It's like she is looking on to the future and trying to find answers. I love the simplicity of the typography within my image, I feel like it is really eye catching and would draw the audience in. The curvature of the word 'TONI' also creates the country feel within my digipak, this gives people an indication as to what sort of songs will feature on the album and will entice them into buying it.

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

The task for my media project was to create a music video and promotional material to go with it. The music video I created was to the song 'love' by Jana Kramer, to create this music video and promotional material I have to research the forms and conventions of existing media. I will be explaining how I used and challenged these.

In Jana Kramer's original music video for the song 'love' it is set in a remote third world village, I didn't see how this linked with the song so I have set my music video in an urban city. With the beat of the song being very slow and sometimes repetitive I felt like I had to incorporate this within my shots. By making some of my shots slow motion, and editing them to the beat of the song, I have recreated what Jana does within her music video just with different scenes. I feel like I have switched up the range of length of my shots enough for my music video to be interesting. For example I have made some of the shots with miming in quite long, and some without miming in short, I feel the changing in length of the shot mimics that of Jana's original music video and keeps the audience interested.

In her own music video she features a lot within it, which made me think that I had to feature my artist a lot in my music video too. I featured my twin in my music video as I felt she was the only person I could really get the end product that I wanted out of it because I could tell her exactly what I wanted and she would do it.

I did feature some of the same conventions that Jana did within her music video, she uses tracking shots from the front and the back quite a lot on her music video and I also incorporated this in my music video.

I feel like this give the audience a perspective from the artist's point of view, you can see them walking and moving forward and I think this will create a sense of inspiration for some viewers. I have also centered my artist within the frame so that she is the main focus like Jana is in hers. 

I have also replicated tracking shots of Jana from the side. 

Although the framing is a little off in my scene this is my version of Jana's side tracking shot, I feel like it is a nice shot to use because it conveys a message that you can't always see where you're going to end up. Because the audience can't see where the artist is heading I think it creates this message very well and again gives inspiration to the viewers for the future.

I have used a cantered angle within my music video which Jana doesn't use.

I used this cantered angle shot because it shows confusion and distorts people's clear view. I feel like this shot really goes well with the message of the song because the subject of the shot is a church which is one of the biggest symbols of love. This is a challenges the conventions of Jana's music video but I feel it is for the better. This shot's message is that it is ok to be confused about love, there is never a clear view ahead and that is alright, love is always there you just haven't found it yet. I feel like a church is a huge convention of not only songs about love but country music itself. 

When it comes to mise en scene although I haven't exactly copied the style of Jana's costume exactly, I have made my artist's costume casual and day to day just like Jana's is within her music video. I couldn't have my artist in a short sleeved top and jeans because unfortunately it was winter when I filmed so I just has her wear jeans, boots and a leather jacket, casual enough for you to wear day to day but also warm enough to film in winter. 

When it comes to my digipak I used shots from my music video to create a link between them. I didn't have a clue how to set my digipak out and what to incorporate into it so I did some research into what existing ones looked like. What I found was that almost always the artist will feature within the digipak and it will incorporate the same theme as the music video does. Because of this I used the scenes within my music video whilst creating my digipak and this created a really nice continuity between the two products.

With my music magazine advert I did the same thing. I made sure I used all of the conventions that you would see within a professional advert for example, the artist's name, the name of the album, the release date and the copyright. etc. By not featuring my artist within my magazine advert I am breaking conventions. I did this because I wanted the church to stand out as the message of love and create a link towards my album. My magazine advert is very simple and only has a few words on it. It is very central which links to Jana's original advert for her album 'love' and the type face I use looks very similar to the one she does too. 

My Music Video.

Magazine advert.

Digipak

digipak research

This is Katy Perry's digipak for one of her albums. I like the continuity of this digipak, the pink runs throughout and so does the cloud, I really like this because it sets the theme of the album in your head and makes it stand out really well. I like how girly it is and you can clearly see that it could be aimed both men and women. The men would be attracted by the fact that she is naked in the pictures in this digipak but the women will be attracted to the girls aspect, and it will make them want to aspire to be like her.

This is the digipak for Rihanna's album loud. The colour scheme throughout makes the continuity of the product really stand out. The boldness of the album cover image makes this digipak eye catching and draws people in. The picture is an close up which has a great effect because of the colour link between the hair and the lips. The images are full of roses which follows onto the disks. I would like to have the much continuity within my digipak and make it stand out just as much.

This is the digipak for one of Britney Spears' albums. The front album image such powerful and. Ames a statement. The facial expression of Birtney within the image shows sassiness and attitude which will draw the target audience in. The continuity within the images on the digipak make the digipak stand out, there is a colour scheme that they have kept with which creates more continuity. The sexiness will attract both men and women to this digipak, men will be attracted towards Britney and women will be attracted towards looking like Britney.

Second Draft of my Music Video.

This is the second draft of my music video. All of my footage is there and I feel like it is of a good quality. There is a range of camera movement and angles which makes it pretty interesting to watch. My actress is very good in the fact that she really gets into the song and mimes it like it is her own, this makes the audience keep watching the music video because it makes them just as enthusiastic as my actress is. I feel like some of my shots could be a bit less shaky but I wanted the handheld look to go with the country feel of the song. I feel like it makes it more homely and welcoming to watch.
For my final draft I will change some of the edits/shots at the end to make them more smooth, interesting and snappy.

Digipak template.

This is the template I will be using to create my digipak. I have chosen to use the 6 panel, 2 disc digipak. I have chosen the 2 disc version so that I can put the album on one of the discs and on another I can put the music video and interviews with my artist. Also the 6 panels will allow me to show band artwork and promote my artist on its own.

Magazine Adverts.

 This is an advert that I came across for Jana Kramer's album Love. What I like about this advert is the simplicity of it. I like how the image takes control and the typography is very subtle. The framing of the image allows you do read the image from top to bottom because it is very centralized, this is then met with the juxtaposition of the shape of a heart with the word 'Love' in it at the bottom of the image. This really sets the image off because the broken sand is such a contrast to the clean, smooth sand which in turn contrasts 'love' because people assume that love is smooth and easy when really is can be broken and bumpy. The positioning of the text also centralizes the image making you look directly in the center at first glance, the text really stands out on this image which is a good thing because this makes the advert make sense without over crowding it with too many words.

 This an advert for the release of Carrie Underwood's single 'Jesus, Take the Wheel' I don't like this advert very much because of how faded the colors are. The image seems very white washed and this makes it look very old. I don't like this antique look for a album advert because you want to make it seem new and up and coming, not old and already done. I also don't like how close up the picture is taken. The framing is bad as it cuts off the top of her head and I don't think it shows her as well as it could. The photo is very soft and kind of blury which doesn't appeal to the eye. I don't think I will be taking anything from this magazine advert.

I really like the framing of this magazine advert. The rule of thirds has been put in action whilst designing this, you can see this through where, Carrie is placed in the image. She is placed to one side of the middel so that the text can fit in to place. The text in this advert is very dominant but so is the image making this advert very eye catching to the reader. I like the contrast between the lighting with the dark in the background and the light in the foreground because it makes the image seem more powerfuk and makes it stand out even more. What I will consider from this advert whilat creating my own is the framing, I like how they have encorporated her body and how she looks like she is on a mission which really fits into the song that this is for. I would like to frame my work in a similar way, making sure that I capture everything the song stands for within the image I take.

This is an advert for Taylor Swift's Speak Now album release. I don't like the complexity that this advert has, I think it looks messy and could look a lot better if it was more simplistic. This image is not framed very well as it cuts the to of her head off. Her hair is covering her face which also doesn't make the image a very good one. I don't think half of the advert should be covered in text, I think it takes away from the image and makes it look less important. I like the typography within this advert though, I like the hand rendered look of it which I will take into consideration when designing my magazine advert. Apart from that I won't be taking much from this magazine advert.