Evaluation

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

The main conventions of a music video would be the close ups of the band, singer and audience. My music video uses an array of close ups, fast cuts and still images. Music videos use these techniques to sell the artist or sell the song, however music videos that sell the artist is Richard Dyers theory, as it is his theory which sells the artist to the audience, the producers do this by filming primarily the artist while they are singing and performing the narrative.

In different genres of music videos the conventions can differ, such as different shots, images and techniques. In R&B music videos the artist sings to the audience while performing the narrative. However an R&B song has a balance of a narrative and
performance. Usually in R&B music videos the artist is in on a dark set, this is where lighting becomes important, as it certain positions of a light can create different emotions for the audience.

A majority of R&B music videos suggests the video is to show a slow and emotional connection with the audience, this is used to conform to Shuker’s theory of the artist connecting to the audience on an emotional level. Through this theory I have researched certain artists such as Usher and Michael Jackson who have performed both R&B and Rock music videos. In Usher’s music video “Trading Places” he frequently faced the camera which then created an emotional connection with the audience. Also in R&B music videos there are prolonged shots that cause a greater effect for the audience as it can create certain moods and emotions. To create these emotions and connections with the audience the video contains longer shots as this generates the sense connection with emotions that the artist portrays. A rock music video also conveys the conventions of the balance of a narrative and performance however they implement a more of a performance rather than a narrative. Fast cuts and short shots are taken to portray the artist as being aggressive and angry; however in Michael Jackson’s music video of “Beat It” he is shown to dance with gangsters. However the lighting in this music video is dark and dull, this portrays Jackson as being the victim.

My music video consists of some of the major conventions of an R&B music video, however it does not include many close ups of the artists due to problems I had with the actors being unable to lip synch correctly. This was a key problem with the progress of my music video however; I have attempted to correct this mistake by changing the performance of the actors. I have done this by changing the colours and opacity to blend the performance in with the video, resulting in my music video seeming similar to a narrative based video rather than a balance of the two. Though I had problems with the actors, I followed various conventions of an R&B music video such as using long takes, this is because I wanted to capture the audience and create a connection with them, and however I feel that I have not accomplished this because of the lack of a clear narrative. I tried to convey to the audience the connection between the two narrative performers and to create a link from the narrative performance and the track. This I believe was a partial success as the lyrics and video did connect through parts of the performance.

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

My website and digipak both follow the conventions of real media texts as they both include text and images; also my website includes the links from the homepage to the different pages around the website, which include the news, biographies, music, media, store and galleries, and my digipak consists of the images and track list of the band.



My music video and my ancillary texts are similar by name and title, however the contrast of the music video being black and white and the website being three main colours: red, blue and yellow. This use of colours proved productive as the differences gave it more character and gave me the opportunity to edit that allowed me to create the images that I would think is creative and effective for the band name. However the editing is effective but I find that it does not signify the true image of the band as the images are not clear.

After researching various websites such as Kings of Leon and Michael Jackson and digipaks such as Black Eyed Peas, I was able to conclude that both had to include a variety of texts and images. Though the digipak and the website both share the themes I have design, they do not offer a brand identity, such as a logo. This is a minor detail, although if it were a product that a company would want to use then the ancillary texts would both have to include the logo. Through the creation of the ancillary texts I have been able to develop a theme for the band and able to create a band identity: the three colours of the three band members. However I was unable to create the combination and connection between the music video and the ancillary texts as it had not occurred to me, although by implementing the colour scheme of yellow, red and blue to different members of the band I was able to create a connection between the website and digipak, however not with the music video.

The combination of the website and the music video is stronger than the combination of the digipak and the music video, as the music video follows part the black and white colour scheme. The colour of the font in contrast to the background creates the black and white theme that is associated with the music video.

Through my ancillary texts I have used images as a means of advertising as they are a key factor in the context of advertising. I have designed the images to appeal to the audience and be an image that catches the audience’s eye. On my website, the images are on the margins, creating an eye appealing effect.

If I was to change anything about the music video it would be that the colour scheme would flow with the website, as the website is a key factor in the advertising industry, as it is the selling of the band rather than the songs. Creating a website that is interactive with the audience; this is an example of Roy Shuker’s theory of the artist connecting with the audience, I tried to implement this into my website by including interactive links that lead to more information about the band which leads to the audience knowing more about them and strengthening their emotional connection between each other.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

During the audience feedback sessions we viewed everyone’s music videos, websites and digipaks and gave them good points about them and the improvements in which can be made. I felt that this was an effective way to personally evaluate my peer’s work as watched it in a group, and could give the person who created the products a contrasting view of what people thought as there were people who felt some items were stronger than others.
Once the class watched my video, I received both positive feedback and constructive criticism. Firstly, the audience liked the effects that I used to convey the band members and the fading effects I used “fading out of different players, creates movement and action”. I was particularly pleased when I received this feedback as I tried to use these effects to show the audience the transparent feeling from the song; also they commented on the effects of colour “the black and white effects add the emotion of sadness and loneliness”. This effect also received criticism as it did not clearly show the band, which flouts Dyer’s theory of selling the band.

I was disappointed as my video received more criticism than good feedback, however I knew this would occur as after watching my final video there were places in which I could have improved such as a clear narrative. As my video did not have a clear narrative it lacked the effect it had on the audience, and I did not receive much positive feedback. Some of the criticisms I received were about the shots I had taken “you used the same shot more than once” which was true as I had run out of film to edit, however this could have been avoided by re-filming. Another criticism was about the length of shots “your shots are too long which lack action”.

After the video, the group gathered around and analysed my website. The positive feedback that I was given was primarily about the colour scheme, and how I incorporated the name of the band with the colours of red, yellow and blue. I also received positive feedback on the instructiveness of the site and that the hyperlinks to the other pages and the other areas of the website give the viewers choices of which area to visit. I agree with this feedback as I designed it to create a welcoming feeling for the audience. The audience have also given me positive feedback on the images that I have used; they felt that the images gave emotion to the band members.
The positive feedback from the audience about the website, they were intrigued by the link bar as it gave the website more character and the sense of being interactive and as the rollover image changed to the colours of the head bar with “The Colours” written over it. They also commented on the organisation of the website “it looks well thought-out” in addition they commented on the “interactive elements” on the website such as the sign in and the link bar. As the genre of the band is R&B I felt that the website should flow and become emotionally attached to the audience, I felt that the website did create this emotional connection but to a minimal. However the criticism of website was that it lacked real images of the band, this criticism I agreed with as it was a valid negative point that I could have avoided during production. I received conflicting feedback as one student gave me a positive comment on the position of the central section “white background behind the central black box” whereas another student gave me the opposite comment on the same item. However some of the students did not like the all black background I chose.

When my peers came to look at my digipak, I was surprised as it had very little amounts of negative feedback. The negative feedback that I received was about the little amounts of text that were included on the inside cover. However after researching various digipaks it was true that there was text on the inside covers, and this was an error that could have been avoided. The positive feedback that I received from my peers was that the outside cover was well laid out and had a good use of images and the shots that were used were effective as it gave a diverse image of the band members. The use of colours was also mentioned about the digipak, which also related back to the website as it follows the same colour scheme, however does not include any black.

All the feedback that I received about both the ancillary texts and the music video were fair, however due to commitment in making the ancillary texts I was unable to repair the faults that were discovered in the music video, which if redone, I would immediately repair.

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

During my research stage of the course, I looked into the variety of genres that were available and suitable for the viewers and my own liking. Google has been the key factor to the research and planning as it is the largest search engine on the internet. Google has enabled me to filter main sites into the specific ones that I have been looking for, whether it is for bands websites, information and examples about genres.

As the internet has become the key source for most information during this course, certain websites have allowed me to search for the most difficult objective: the unsigned artist. This was a difficult task for me as there are very few sites that offer lists of unsigned artists looking for the star light. However, I found a number of sites that offer unsigned artists and the types of genres. I chose to go with a three man band called “The Colours” on www.unsigned.com/thecolours this enabled me to contact them and after waiting for quite some time they responded and gave me permission to use their track “For You”. During the waiting time, as I still did not have a band or a song, I returned to searching then I resorted to using another unsigned artist website: www.totallyunsigned.co.uk.

During the course, working Blogger was easy as it has been the site that I have used for the previous year’s coursework. However, the presentation of the blogger had to be in order and organised and the checklists have given me the guideline to what order I should place all research and planning I have done.

YouTube is another key factor during this project as it is a website where I could compare and analyse current videos and past music videos to make sure that my video follows the conventions of a music video. Currently my music video has been uploaded, it has had nine views, however no comments. But has it is on YouTube, I am able to transfer it to my other products such as my website.

For the planning stage of the course, creating a storyboard by drawing the scenes that will occur enabled me to scan them into Windows Media Movie Maker and then create a storyboard animatic with the track on while the animatic plays.

For the filming stage of the course I chose to use a Panasonic Video Camera. This was because the Panasonic camera was reliable and compatible with the college’s computers and I was able to easily transfer the shots taken to Adobe Premier Pro. Along with the tripod I was able to capture stead and high quality shots that could be used in the editing. Though the video cameras are relativity old they performed well during the shoot. For the performance of the band, I used a few techniques such as the usage of the green screen. This enabled me to film the band without going to the narrative scene.

During the editing stage of the course, I used Adobe Premier Pro. This is because Premier Pro is designed and programmed to aid people who have made a video and then develop it into a product. Through Premier Pro, I was able to create the images and shots that I wanted to include, but I had difficulty with the effects that I wanted to use, such as blending of the performance from the band; however I managed to overcome this obstruction by adjusting the opacity and brightness/contrast. Then after I had worked out the effects that I later wanted to use the editing became easier to me as I could use different effects, such as cross fades, dips to black and straight cuts that could create a more efficient effect for the audience.

The website was the trickiest product to make as Adobe Dreamweaver is a new program to me as I have never used it before. Firstly, when I entered the program I did not know how to create, design or plan the website. So after a quick drawing of the website I began. I was able to make a basic set up of the website, with tables and notes of what is going to go where. This then gave me a chance to experiment on how the program works and finding the secret of how to create a successful website. I firstly drew a large table that was within the limit of 800 pixels, and filled in the spaces with what I thought was necessary such as the news section and the tour dates. However I had difficulty positioning all images and texts, this is because the program is designed to make all items static and the program does not include the feature which enables the person who is using the program to position the items anywhere on the page. This was time consuming as I had to align all of the items so that the website did not look obscure and out of place, however I successfully positioned most of the items in the correct place. The red circle indicates the most difficult item I came across when using Dreamweaver, this was the link bar. The link bar is the links between the different pages on the website, unfortunately due to all the items being in one table, adjusting a table size lower down the page would adjust the position of the link bar. I successfully found that splitting certain boxes in the table I could move the items obstructing the positioning of the link bar.

The digipak was created on Adobe Fireworks CS4 and Adobe Photoshop CS4 which is the advanced and improved version of paint. By using Photoshop I was able to create pop-art images from photos I had taken of the band. I have chosen to create them as a pop-art image because they are eye appealing to the audience. I created these images by using the following process:

Image> Adjustments> Black and White
Image> Adjustments> Posterize
Filter > Palette Knife
Image> Adjustments> Photo Filter
Image> Adjustments> Brightness and Contrast
Image> Adjustments> Vibrance
Image> Adjustments> Shadow/Highlights
Image> Adjustments>Hue/Saturation

For the final evaluation I have used Microsoft Word Processor, the internet, Adobe Dreamweaver and Fireworks, both used only access the different products that I have created and paste the images onto the certain areas of the evaluation so that the examiner can see which areas I am talking about. I reason for me using word processor is because the purpose of it is too create a neat, organised and correctly spelt documents.

Overall the course has been an experience and the new found skills that I have learnt such as designing and creating a website, digipak and a music video. Even though the music video was not my largest success I am still happy about my product as it was of my own creation.