Evaluation

Evaluation

For my advanced portfolio in media studies I was asked to produce a promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two other products. I decided that I was going to design a DVD cover for its release and also a magazine advertisement for the DVD.In order to get ideas for my video I did lots of research around the music industry. I began by looking into the history of the music video to discover how the music video industry came about and see early conventions of the music video. From doing this particular research I found that the development of music videos reflected society at that time, with the 80s being a very inventive, adventurous era. The developing of music videos and music channels such as MTV changed the music industry dramtically. Previously the music video video was of very little importance, but the phenomenon of MTV gave the music video power and importance in the music industry. The channel marked the beginning of the music videos ruling over the music industry. This research stressed to me the importance of the music video and the impact it has on possible sales of music. I also decided research heavily in modern music video to discover typical codes and conventions of a music video. From the beginning I decided to research around the Indie Rock n Roll sector of music videos as I wanted to see what conventions were of that particular genre. I didn't want to look into other genres as certain stylistics of that genre would not fit in with what i wanted to do. For example in the dance genre we see a lot of dance and singing, and i believe that this wouldn't fit the song I chose to do. From the research I aimed to discover narrative, conventions and get a general insight into the videos being produced.

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

During the research and construction I used many different media technologies, some that I was already familiar and some that I hadn’t used before. Firstly in order to produce an effective video I had to do careful research to discover what makes a good music video. I started of by using basic programmes such as Google which most people are familiar with. It is a very popular and powerful search engine with millions of links. It allows you to search for specific information required. I used it to analyse the history of music videos by simply typing in the history of music videos. I also used sites such as Wikipedia and Ask to find relevant information. All this to me is relatively familiar and wasn’t very challenging. During the research stages of my process I decided to analyse the song I had chosen lyrics. I first of all printed of the lyrics using a normal printer, and analysed the lyrics on the paper. I wanted to then add this to my blogger to show my research. In order to do this I had to use a technology that I knew of but have never really used. With help I used the scanner to put up the analysed lyrics on my blogger.

Blogger itself is a technology that I have used throughout the process of research, planning and production. It is a programme that I am familiar with as I used it last year in my previous production. However I used new tools such as a poll. A poll allows you to add questions to your blog, receiving audience feedback which can be very useful to see how effective a product is. I constantly used blogger throughout the process, updating blogs and adding new ones every so often.

When producing my video I had many difficulties that I had to overcome in order to produce my final product. For example the main idea for my video was to shoot it in the blue room, and then fill the background with complete darkness to give the impression of space and emptiness. However I am not familiar with editing tools and had to be shown how to do this. In the end I used matrix chroma keys which enabled me to black out the background without covering the actors in any way. I believe that this is a key part of my video and one that I wouldn’t have been able to achieve without the effects. Another being the Matrix advanced tiles I used in order to give the effect of a puzzle during the video. This effective gradually removes the content of the screen block by block, giving the feeling that the people are gradually fading away. Once again this is a tool that I hadn’t previously used, and found is a very useful tool. Finally another effect that I found very useful was the matrix cubes. I used this effect on the lights that appear throughout the video. This effect makes the image appear almost 3D, and that it is moving round the screen. I thought that this effect was very fitting to the song as it produced an almost psychedelic image.

When producing my two ancillary texts I used many different technologies. For example I used a screen print of the music video to go on the front cover of my digipak. I decided that I wanted the front cover and inside covers to have a white background, to do this I had to change the background of the screen print from black to white. To do this I used a programme called Photoshop. What I did was relatively simple but was very time consuming. As the image I wanted was straight lines I used the ruler to as a guide and painted the black areas in with the paint tool. This allowed me to retain the straight edges and have a sharp, crisp image.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

In order to decipher whether my music video and two ancillary texts were both meaningful and effective I needed to receive audience feedbacks from unbiased participants. I did this not only to see whether the ideas I put into the video were good and effective , but also to see were I could possibly improve the video further. I did this by creating a simple questionnaire in which the participants simply had to circle their answer. The questionnaire contained questions related to my target audience group, for example what age range do you fall into with the answers simply being 12-16, 17-21 etc. I also included questions relating to the song/video relationship and whether they found a link easy to come by in all three of the products I produced. An example of this being do you think there is a common theme between my music video and two ancillary texts, with the answers simply being yes or no. the feedback received was very helpful and allows me to see what could be improved. One of the main things that I found useful was that all of the participants were able to find a common link between all three of the ancillary texts, which I believe is one of the strong points of my overall idea. Some commented that the use of the face breaking off into cubes in my video was also integrated into all the other ancillary texts. I also found that generally people believed the video to be very well suited to the style of music, with one person saying the slow steady music suited the psychedelic lighting in the video, which almost feels like its flowing with it. However others providing useful information on what could be altered and improved. One thing that stood out to me was the comment that I could possibly use more actors in the video rather than just three. They explained that each person could make up a different part of the song then fade out into the next person. I believe that this is a great comment and would really improve my video further. All in all the audience feedback I received is very useful in seeing if my video has worked, and also how I could improve it further.

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

After viewing my music video it is clear to see that my videos uses, develops and challenges conventions of real media products. Firstly from analysing other real media products such as Farewell to the fairground and Papillion I found that a typical convention of a music video is the performance. In the video we traditionally see the artist/band performing the song in full or just in parts. So therefore I can say my video uses typical conventions as it includes a performance throughout the video. The video is focused around the artist’s performance, bringing the audience closer to the singers. I would also like to argue that my music video also challenges conventions of real media products. Many videos show performance as I have already discussed, but it is rarely more than one artist performing the song. In my video there are three different people who sing the song, which is generally unheard of. I believe this adds an extra dimension to the performance, as it gives a feeling that the song is representing the people rather than just themselves. It is hard for the audience to establish the artist, therefore challenging the conventions of other music videos.

Another way in which my video challenges typical conventions is its lack of narrative. As my video is purely a performance there is no actual narrative structure, which is usually seen in music videos to portray a story. Artists use a narrative to give meaning and it is also pleasure for the audience as they get to witness a story. In my video there is only performance, so there is no protagonist, antagonist, equilibrium, disruption and resolution. By doing this I believe that the audiences focus is on the words of the song and their meanings. It is very rare that you see just a performance; with most videos having a mixture of performance and also a narrative structure. In this way my music video challenges typical conventions as it doesn’t have any real narrative.

Another way in which my video challenges conventions is the lack of different locations. In my video I only used one location, the blue room in Wyke College, which challenges the norm. By using different locations the artists can differentiate from the performance and narrative. For example in white lies’ farewell to the fairground the narrative part of the video is set outside in the snow, were as the performance of the band is in a run down room. They also may use different locations to possibly contrast make believe and reality. As there is no narrative in my video there is no real need to use different locations. Another factor why I didn’t use different locations is that I wanted the background to be black to, incorporate space and emptiness, which wouldn’t be achievable in any other location. Overall I believe that my music video challenges typical conventions, but one that can relate to my target audience.

My two other ancillary texts use and develop typical conventions. From my research I found that the majority of CD front covers display the bands name and also the name of the album. This is for the audience to establish a link between the band and their music. I believe that it is essential to include the bands name on the cover, but I decided against putting the name of the album as I wanted the focus to be on band recognition. I included the bands name no surprises in clear text to stand out. Another typical convention of an album cover is it usually includes an image of the band or artist. I used the research when deciding to include an image of one of the performers. Once again I used the for band/artist recognition. After doing research I also found that many covers have a link between both the videos and also the magazine advert. So when producing my advert I wanted to keep it as close to the original cover as possible which I believe I did. A major example of this in a Green day’s American idiot, in which the poster is exactly the same as the cover. I believe that this creates an overall identity of the band, enabling the audience to know who they are when seeing any of the three products.

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

In order for me to produce an effective main product and two ancillary texts I found it necessary for me to do plenty of research into both products. Firstly I began looking at music videos using the website YouTube, which is used to upload and watch videos and is shared all around the world. I also looking into CD front and back covers to unmask typical codes and conventions. Finally I researched the poster that go on with the albums to discover any useful ideas that I could implement into my products. After research I found that the videos, album covers and posters generally all portray the same designs and ideologies. A great example of this would be Green day’s American idiot, which has common theme running throughout the product. The iconographic image of hand holding a heart shaped grenade is seen in all of the products. During the video we see it on the drum set and on the TV monitors. Then when looking at the front cover the image is once again there, which is gives audiences who have viewed the video instant recognition of the band and promotes product recognition. The poster that supported the album is identical to the album cover, continuing the theme of the hand holding the heart shaped grenade. With this research I decided that I wanted all three products to have a very close link that would be instantly recognisable to audiences. To do this I took a screen print from my video of one of the performers with an unrecognisable face. This then became the main focus of my front cover and inside cover. Little was added to the image to show a clear relationship between the album and the music video. I altered the background from black to white to show that although sometime we may feel lost and empty, there is always hope. I used white as it symbolises purity and goodness. Otherwise the image stayed much the same, once again creating product recognition. For the magazine advert I wanted to keep it very similar to the video, as it is a typical convention of magazine adverts. Once again the image remained undisturbed, with just a release date added. I believe that if my ancillary texts were released in a campaign people would identify the link between the three and it would be very successful. All in all by using this convention of all three products it almost creates an identity for my band, something that the target audience can relate to and become part of. Overall I think that all three products are an effective combination as they have similar ideas and show the same ideologies.

Critical Analysis

I would also like to discuss what meanings there are behind my video and ancillary texts and why I decided to use certain aspects. Firstly I would like to discuss my music video, in which I used the song no surprises by Radiohead. I began by listening to the song and analysing the lyrics to discover what ideologies it was giving out. I found that it was a song about maybe failed expectations, being told to believe in your dreams and then them not coming true. It feels like quite a sad song, almost as if the singer has had enough of this world. It shows that life isn’t always as it seems, and that everyone’s life is not brilliant. It also has a sense of unity, like he is talking on behalf of many people, often using the word us. From this I decided I wanted to produce a video that showed lots of different people who’s life may not have gone the way they expected, and make them appear that they are looking for that something to complete there life. However I think when I set out I wanted to include lots of people, maybe ten to fifteen but later found out how hard it was to get people to commit and then participate in the video. I believe that if more people were added the video would become much more effective. The first idea that came to me was to make this video simple, commutating that this is what life is, and that is it not something you see in the movies. So I decided to simply show a performance of a few different people to get variation, and show that everybody has problems. I then came up with the idea of making the singers appear in an empty space, as if their lives are empty. I did this by filming in a blue room then filling the background in black. It gives a feeling of emptiness and that there is a large gap in their lives. I decoded to add an effect to the performers faces which slowly removes their face block by block. I did this to give a meaning that life is like a puzzle, and that you have to find all the different pieces to complete life. The lights that I included in the video were not originally planned and I was not sure whether to include them. I began thinking of added a shot that would capture happiness and hope. I believe that it was a good choice to include this as it breaks up the video and also reflects the music well with it sluggish movement. I think that overall my video represents the transition through life, start of with the bad times near the beginning with black emptiness, searching for that certain something that will make you with the puzzle blocks, and finally reaching happiness at the end with the complete image of the performer and surrounded by the happiness and hope of the lights in the background.

The two ancillary products both present similar meaning to that of the music video, just as I wanted. From the screen print of the video I used the image of an incomplete face on the front cover, inside covers and also the magazine advertisement. I feel that this portrays a feeling of no one being complete, that we all must search for that something that makes us tick and makes us happy. After playing around with different backgrounds I decided not to use a shot of the lights directly behind the image of the face. I wanted to encapsulate the idea of peace and happiness, but found that the background distracted the attention from the main image which I wanted to stress the importance of. So I decided to remove the black and replace it with white, which is thought to be a very peaceful and pure colour, and I also believe that it makes the main image stand out more than the black. I also decided that I wanted to keep the front cover very simplistic, again emphasising the realism of life and how it is not everything it is made out to be. I decided after much research to keep the magazine advertisement very similar to that of the front cover, showing the same meanings and ideas. I simply added the date of the album release so the audience are aware of when the album comes out. The writing was plain black and white writing which ties in with my idea of simplistic products. I believe that all three of the products produced are very reflective of the song lyrics and their meaning. After analysing the lyrics I developed ideas and thoughts about what the song is all about. I believe it is from the point of view of someone whos life hasn't gone accordingly to plan, describing all the bad things that he has been exposed to and how nothing pure is left out there. I think my products present the ideologies of both the band and song well, and continue using the same conventions and codes.

Conclusion

In conclusion through careful research and planning I have produced media products that relflect the music I have chosen and also develope typical conventions of a music video. From the use of editing computers I was able to cut and edit footage I had shot, enabaling me to make a video that I felt not only matched but also challenged conventions of a typical music video. From the research I had done I found that music videos usually include parts of a performance, which I then in turn included in my video. By showing no obvious structural narrative I also challenged typical media convnetions. I knew that many music videos are accompanied by advertisements and album covers, that all have a similiar theme or ideas from both personal experiance and also research that I had done. By using this knowledge I all three of my products show a common link, and share ideologies of the music. From audience feedback I found that the link between the three is obvious, and that genrally the video I porduced reflects the music well.