Thursday 6 May 2010

EVALUATION

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

I believe that are video does follow the conventions of real media products as when hearing the song you would definitely expect to see a narrative in the video however as having narrative the whole way through could get a little boring and the same with having performance all throughout the video, we decided to put the best of both in and mixed are video with narrative and performance.

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

When making are promotion package we needed to have something that linked with all 3 pieces so it looks like part of a promotional package and not just 3 different separate things. Are main target was to appeal to a variety of audience we wanted to appeal to both the older generation and the younger generation e.g. in our music video the song and the band were both old however we used young characters fort the narrative to attract a young audience as well, also for the cd cover we used a piece of graffiti which consisted of a guitar and a cup of tea the cover looked rather animated kind of like something you would expect to see in a comic book so again applying to a younger audience. Furthermore we used the same image for are magazine advert and placed some quotes to add effect one of the quotes read “still some life left in these old timers” this shows that even though they are old they are still young at heart. We represented the band as happy, cheerful people that just want to have fun, the cd cover is in bright jolly colours to represent the band as bright and jolly people and the same with the magazine advert.

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I would say are typical audience for our package are either over 30’s or under 20’s as because the song was released in the 1980’s it is more likely that people over the age of 30 will be more familiar with the song as they were listening to it when it was first released. Another reason is that the band are rather old therefore automatically appeal to an older audience however we wanted them to attract a younger audience as well so we had to make are pop promo, cd cover and magazine advert to attract a younger audience. we achieved this by using younger actors in the narrative so it would attract a younger audience. We made the narrative easy to understand and used a range of shots and scenes so the video wouldn’t get dull and to prevent the audience loosing satisfaction.

When showing are pop promo to the class everyone said they liked it some of the good points they made were that the two characters had strong chemistry between them which made it seem realistic. However some of the negative feedback was that it was difficult to tell who the lead singer of the band was and the band could have been more enthusiastic. The class really liked the use of narrative and performance they said that it makes the video more interesting they also enjoyed the narrative they think the story builds up the relationship between the two characters well and the story also matches the song but it doesn’t match the lyrics at all times which is even better. The class really liked the shot of the two characters looking at each other when they walk past and they also loved the slow motion effect when they look back at each other they said it really worked well and shows the chemistry between them. Furthermore they think having the band in black and white looked excellent, made it more interesting and divided the video up very well.

They said that the location suited the video and the costumes matched the description of the characters in the song and that the switch between narrative and performance was perfectly timed, it switched just before the class would lose interest.However they expressed that some of the cinematography were not very good and looked a bit amateurish at points, in addition they also said that there should of been more use of close ups in the video which would have made it more interesting. Overall they stated that this was a good promotional package and it also suited the bands target audience very well, they also believed it appealed to both younger and older people this was our main target so I was particularly pleased with this.

4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
At the beginning of this project I had no ideas at all on what to put or how to make a promotional package, however by using various media technologies I was able to do this, firstly I used YouTube to watch an assortment of music videos including Journeys previous music videos so that I could find sum inspiration and to help me develop my ideas. Moreover I used Google images to research other artists and bands cd covers and magazine adverts. For the planning stage I used blogger to present my findings research and planning I also used Photoshop for the first time to produce ideas for are cd cover I found that this programme majorly helped me with my task. When filming we used a CANON HV30 DV Camcorder on a VELBON DV-7000 tripod we did not need to use a microphone as we were not recording sound. Finally to edit are footage we used Adobe Premier Pro and for our cd covers n magazine advert Adobe Photoshop CS4.

THE BANDS FEEDBACK

After watching the pop promo, the band said that they thought it was fantastic. 'Can you make another one for us?' - Sandy Sutherland. 'It was so much better than I thought it would be.' - Gary Nunn. They have decided that the pop promo is so good that they wanted to put it on their website, they also put it on their social networking site and on YouTube. They all agreed that the band were all represented in a positive light to the audience. They liked that they were put in black and white as they said it made them look smart and made the pop promo look slicker.


Do you think that the video as a whole worked well with the lyrics in the song?
Yes, we think it works well.


Do you think that the pop promo would appeal to the audiences you attract?
Yes, everyone that has seen the video, our audience, really liked it.


Are you happy with the way in which you are represented as a group in the video?
Yes, we thought that we would mess the video up (laughs) but it looks really good.


Do you think that the younger characters and, you, the older artists work well together?
Yes, we like that you have incorporated the young with the old.


What did you think of the black and white?
We think it makes us look really smart and slick.


Do you like the video?
Yes, we love it!

MUSIC VIDEO CRITIQUE FEEDBACK

Initial impressions: good areas

Theres good believable chemistry between the two characters, the class Liked the shots of two characters looking back at each other, they thought there were good shots of the band, liked the band being in black and white because it divided them up from the narrative.


Initial areas: weak impressions

They thought the band could have been more enthusiastic and that it was difficult to realise who the main singer is, the main singer could of been put in the middle or had more shots (close ups) of him to show the audience he is the main singer. Some of the cinematography looked a bit amateurish at times.


Use of cinematography:

There should have been more shots and also more close up shots, the shot of the two characters turning heads was really good. Although there were a lack of shots the overall camera work was good.


Use of mise- en- scene:

The two characters looked the part, the band also looked good, the location worked well with the narrative and performance.


Use of editing:

The switch between narrative and performance was perfectly timed so the audience didn’t get bored of watching it, the story built up the relationship well the story also works well with the song, the lyrics were represented well so were the cuts and they loved the slow motion effect when the characters were looking back at each other.


Suitability of visuals to the music & lyrics:

It fits nicely and the music and visuals reflected the lyrics well.


Response to brief:

Everyone said yes


Production values and technical ability:

One of the zoom ins was a bit wobbly it could be improved, again the lack of shots and lack of close ups moreover the class thought we should of either used tripod all the way through or use handheld all the way through however because we used both it wasn’t as professional as it could have been.


Suitability to the genre of music:

Yes it was suitable to the genre of music


Suitability of creating a bands/ artists image (representation:

The band didn’t seem very enthusiastic and there was a slight conflict between a young narrative and an old band.


Suitability for target audience:

Mainly for older people however by involving a young love story it opens it up to a younger audience as well.

MUSIC PROMOTION PACKAGE CD/ AD FEEDBACK

Initial impressions: Good areas

The class liked the main picture on the front and back of the album cover, they thought by having graffiti on it we are able to appeal to a younger audience, it kind of has that comic book look which again will appeal to a younger audience, also the use of italicized writing gives the cover more energy also there are no difficulties in reading the text.


Initial impressions: Weak areas

The inside of the cover doesn’t match the outside therefore it’s a bit too contrasting furthermore the lead singer should be in the middle of the picture so the audience can easily identify the lead singer, the picture of the band doesn’t look very professional.


Use of images:

The images work well with the cd cover and print advert.


Use of mise-en-scene:

It was ok


Use of fonts and typography:

The class like the fonts as they were italicized and easy to read.


Use of colour:


The class thought the was an excellent use of colour in both pieces


Use of layout and overall design:

They are both good


Production values and technical ability:

This is also good and the work was well put together


Suitability of creating a bands/ artist image (representation):

They expressed that it followed on from the pop promo



Suitability for target audience:

Yes it is suitable


Suitability and combination of all 3 promo package elements for target audience:

It works well, overall it is a good package

ANALYSIS OF STILL IMAGES FROM POP PROMO

This is the first time the two characters notice each other the exchange of glances between them shows that there is somethign there from the begining, in this image it shows the girl looking at the boy.



This is the second time they notice each other this time it is more meaningful and in depth as they make direct eye contact as they walk past each other. it is clear to see that there is some chemistry between these two characters.



The boy looks back wanting to see the girl more, this show that he may have devoloped some feelings for her.



The girl also looks back wanting to see the boy more, agian this shows that she could have devoloped feelings from him as well.



We watch from a high angle as the boy approaches the girl and sits on the table next to her, to make the first move. having this shot from a high angle allows the audience to see things from a different view and prespective.



This is the first time the two characters speak, by having a mid shot of this it allows the audience to see hteir facial expressions ( the girl is smiling) and also allows you to notice their body language, as the girls body language changes as the conversation goes on.



The boy and girl get on very well and end up getting up and leaving together, as we are on a higher surface than the characters we can follow them as they walk on in to the distant to show the start of their proper relationship.



Long shot of whole band to see them performing as a group also to show off the location. We used the shots of the band in black and white so that it helps divide up the narrative from the perfomance, as the band are also old it is typical to use black and white, and as the narrative invloves youger characters its typical to have them in colour.



Close up of the drummer to emphasise key drumming sounds in the song.


Shot from a different angle focusing on the drummer and guitarist.

Close up shot of guitar its an interesting shot to watch as you are on the same level as the guitar is.


Mid shot of the other two members of the band (shows off their costume)


Shot of band without any filters we can see the colour of their clothing, their lighting , the locations.














DEVELOPMENT OF FINAL ALBUM COVER

This was our original image for the album cover before being edited.



We then copied the image on to Photoshop and placed it over the cd digipack design which consisted of a square with 4 smaller squares in we placed the image over the top two squares as we are using the whole image for the front and back cover.



We then trimmed away the rough edges showing the trees and bushes behind the wall, we also wrote the neccessary text needed to be included on a digipack e.g band name, album name etc.



Furthermore we used a posterize effect on the image to brighteng it up and make it look more animatic and eyecatching. we also used an image of the band on the insisde cover so that the audience will recognize them, we kept the picture in black and white so it conflicted with the outside cover because by mixing it up with bright colours on the outside and dull colours on the inside made it a nicer digipack overall.




For the final picture we used an close up image of a guitar being played, like the one from the graffiti shows, however this is more realistsic and just makes the digipack look more full up.



Finally we changed the picture of the guitar to black and white to match the picture of the band. Also we put each members name below their picture so that the audeience can get to know them more on a personal basis, so rather than saying the bands name the can address them indiviually.