Evaluation (Part 4)

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

Technologies used in my coursework



View more presentations from GeorgieToseland.

Technologies used in my main construction;

To begin with I had to find a way to download the song I needed, I did this using a software called Audacity. This allowed me to download the song. It does this by playing the song on YouTube and recording it on the song.

I used Final Cut Pro for my main construction, this enabled me to get my shots from the camera straight to the software through the ‘Log and Capture’ tool. The log and capture tool takes some time to upload however I used this time to get on with my ancillaries.

I then watched each clip individually and dragged them into the main sequence to edit; this allowed me to pick and choose which clips I used. Final Cut Pro allows this to happen very easily as you can watch the clip in a separate window and then drag it into the space you require it. This is important as it meant that I was not uploading clips into my actual music promo that I did not need.

Final Cut Pro also allowed me to use tools such a split screen in the shot demonstrated.
I used this as I have seen it in other music promos and felt it has been effective when helping to demonstrate a narrative as it gives the effect of seeing the story in two perspectives. I therefore followed this idea to help me to conform to the conventions of music promos.

Through the construction of my music promo there were parts I felt weren’t as effective as others. For example, there was one shot in my hallway which was quite dark due to the door blocking out the spot lights on my ceiling. I therefore used a brightness effect on Final Cut Pro allowing me the shot to be brighter and clearer. This helps with continuity as the rest of my shots are much brighter.

Final Cut Pro also meant that I could upload my promo onto YouTube to then go onto Blogger. This was very important as without this export tool I would not be able to get the drafts onto Blogger to gain both teaching feedback and audience feedback.

Technologies used for my ancillaries;

I used a product online called ‘Picnik’ to edit the images I chose to use for my ancillary. Although many of the effects I used would have been on Serif I felt more comfortable using the online software and therefore felt it would save time as it is a lot simpler. The only problem I felt may occur is the loss of quality of the image however; the software allows you to pick the quality you want to save the image as so this problem was easily avoided.

I used Serif Page Plus to create my package, the software allowed me to use a variation of different tools to make it as effective as possible. For example, Serif allows you to open shared documents and then edit them yourself so I was able to use a template to make it look effective and professional as it gave the template of the ancillaries.

Serif also enabled me to create what was like a C.D through the use of a tool that allowed me to import and image but as the shape I would like it. This is effective as it meant that I could create a C.D that would fit the style of my music promo allowing continuity rather than just a plain block colour circle that would not look like a C.D you would get.

Evaluation (Part 3)

How have you learnt from your audience feedback?

(1) Feedback in Research & Planning stages

The first parts of audience feedback I recieved were for my 'Research and Planning.' For my research and planning I used a focus group.

There were main points I found through audience feedback in R&P -

- Narrative based promos were preferable

Therefore I created a mostly narrative based music promo

- Audience enjoyed music promos where the lyrics matched the visuals

I therefore intergrated parts where the lyrics matched the visuals for example 'don't tell me that you didn't try and check out my bum' I had a close up of the artists bum and 'sitting in restaurants' I created an restaurant setting and had the artist singing this in these surroundings.

- The audience weren't 100% clear as to what the story was

I therefore developed the story clearly by using different shots. For example, it is very clear that the male character likes the artist however does not want to be with her and therefore she can be on her own, this is shown through the male character writing 'I love you!' and then the male character leaving her and then the female artist being happy on her own on her bed.

- Some of the audience feedback showed that they did not like how long the introduction was

I therefore found a copy of the song that the introduction was shorter so the audience wouldn't lose interest and therefore want to continue watching the music promo.

(2) Feedback within the music promo;

When creating my music promo I chose to use audience feedback from the same participants of my focus group in the research and planning phase as these people fit my target audience. I however this time instead of conducting a questionnaire did the feedback over Facebook, a social networking sight. I originally was going to conduct the feedback through a questionnaire again however for time and convenience reasons I did not. The feedback is as follows;

This feedback was for the first draft of my music promo. It stated that there should be some longer shots and some shots of the instrument being played and these were shared views of my focus group. This feedback helped develop my product because originally I had the idea of only including visual matching lyrics shots and to have the artist playing the piano I believed was an effective idea. Also, including some longer shots of the artist would also work well so I decided to also implement this idea as longer shots would also help with promoting the artist as you'd be able to see her image for longer.

I also conducted feedback after my 2nd draft, the recorded feedback is below;

(url for feedback)

I conducted this feedback to discuss transitions with my focus group. I felt that my music promo did not fit the style of music promo to have transitions such as fades/swipes/maps so thought just using jump cuts would be more effective without as it is a fast tempo song. However, with the help of my focus group although they believed that most of the song did not need transitions that throughout the chorus where the lyrics are more meaningful and where I have longer shots I could include transitions here.

How I implemented this idea

I built on this idea along with the idea of using shots of the piano to create a new dynamic to my music promo. The use of transitions and shots of the piano allowed me to bring in a new idea for my music video that if I were to use a fade type of transition it would be almost like the artist is thinking of the story whilst playing the piano is it fades in and out. This continues to conform to the conventions of narrative but also allows me to challenge the conventions as I have included performance based shots within the narrative.

(2) Feedback within the digi-pak;

A lot of my digi-pak planning included audience feedback conducted on blogger. For example, here I have used comments being left as audience feedback for my fonts. There were clear favourites picked of the 4th and 5th fonts. The fonts were taken from the website http://www.blogger.com/www.dafont.com. I was using the fonts and copying them into the Serif Software included however, I wanted the fonts to be the same colour as the dress worn by the artist in both the music promos and ancillaries, this became a problem as it was not possible to change the colour of the fonts imported. I therefore had to find another substitute font that was already on Serif.

I then received my first feedback for my first draft of my ancillary. I asked around my class as to what they felt could be improved, although they are not my focus group the majority of the group fit my target audience as they are the right age. Here is the feedback I received;

"I like the idea of the back cover being simplistic and outdoors to fit your tracklist on but I feel it does not reflect your artist as well as it could and although digi-paks are there to inform the audience they also most continue to promote the artist."

"I like the front cover a lot and feels it promotes the artist well however the back pane is quite boring in comparison and you could use the plain outdoors idea on the inside where it is not as important to reflect the artist"

These are my first and final draft ancillaries after bringing in the feedback; I brought in new images for my back cover to meet the balance of it still being outside and being simplistic but also continuing to show the artist as the audience felt was necessary.

Dolby

georgie, you are specific as to what conventions you have used but make sure you are considering why- the close-ups of the artist are for that promotion and star quality and the instruments to show their talent. Is this why you used them? It is also important that you say what you challenged and why- how is yours different and how does it stand out from the crowd. It is all about WHY- be analytical not descriptive.

Evaluation (Part 2)

How effective is your combination of your main products and ancillary tasks?

The song I chose to use as my music promo was 'Merry Happy' by Kate Nash.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OejkAoRo-s

The song is based on how a girl knows that a boy likes her and has feelings for her however also knows that he does no want to stay with her in a relationship and therefore accepts the fact that she can be alone and do everything she once did with him alone.

I used a mixture of locations in the shots to develop the story, for example it starts off with her being watched by the male character, to them then doing things together for example cooking and eating out and then the chorus tells the main story and I show how he does not want to stay around with her and then it goes on to show how she can be alone and content that way.

I chose parts of my music promo carefully to allow aspects of it to be continued successfully throughout my ancillaries. For example;

- Costume

Costume was an easy way that I could allow continuity throughout my products and allow the combination to be effective, therefore I used a reddy/pink dress within the music video and then used this on the main cover and advert of my ancillary allowing continuity throughout and the products to link together.

-Location
I also used location to show continuity throughout my products for example in my digi-pak there is an image of the artist in the kitchen, this kitchen and surrounding is also used in my main music promo. Also, because a main lyric of my song is 'I can be alone yeah, I can watch the sunset on my own' I felt that it would be effective to have some shots outside as this is where the sunset would be. I have continued this theme of being outside on the front cover of my digi-pak and also on the advert.

-Fonts and general look of ancillaries and music promo
To help continuity between all of my products I also made sure that throughout my advert and digi-pack I have used the same font of 'Smarty Pants BTN' on Serif Page Plus. I have also used the same colours of fonts as the same colour of the dress and white. The pictures I took outside were a problem for me as the weather conditions meant that they looked very dull, I therefore had to edit the pictures on an editing software online called 'Picnik.' This then became a problem as my inside images were not edited so this wasn't showing continuity meaning I then had to edit the other images to match the effects I had used.

What I could have improved to make my combination of products effective?

One main aspect of my products that I believe I could have improved is the main images of my ancillaries. Originally, I wished to have my main images of the artist outside to link with 'I can be alone yeah, I can watch the sunset on my own' as this is a main lyric and is repeated continuously. I took images of the artist outside and had feedback abou the feel of this picture and how it didn't link as well as it could with the feel of the music promo, however, due to timing and weather conditions I was not able to retake this image and therefore edited as well as I could to make it look brighter and more 'fun.'

Evaluation (Part 1)

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

At the beginning of the project we were given the codes and conventions of music promos they are as follow;

Performance based promos (band/artist playing), Narrative based promos (band/artist telling a story through the song) and Concept based promos (visuals are not relevant to song).

There are also a range of conventions that must be used within the narrative/performance/concept based videos. They are as follow;

- Camera shots; long shots, close ups and extreme close ups
- Camera movements; pans and dolly track shots.

- Editing; jump cuts and raction shots
- Mise-en-scene; is associated to the intertextual link of the music video and therefore depends on the representation. There are different types of mise-en-scene
- i.e. Lighting, Props, Costume, Colour, Sound

The genre of my music promo was alternative pop this genre alone has conventions that I found through my RMA's and also through being taught conventions of different genre of music promo for example;

- Colourful

- Majority of shots involving artists

- Fun and light hearted shots

- Jump shots to match feel of music

- Location friendly - i.e. houses domestic settings and outside

How my product uses conventions of real media products;

The majority of my music promo is based on conventions used in a narrative based video for example, visuals match lyrics; in this part of the music promo the lyrics are "watching me like you never watched no one" so the image is of a boy watching my artist so the visuals match the lyrics, this is a continuing theme throughout the music promo. I have used visuals matching lyrics because it allows the audience to not only hear the story but can see it as well making the video easy to watch repeatedly as it tells a story so you can watch it again and again without being bored, this is important as the more times an audience watches it the more recognition the artist will get.

I have also used aspects of performance based parts of my music promo as there is a lot of piano parts this is shown through the artist playing the piano throughout. The artist playing the piano breaks up the narrative again increasing repeatability as it gives a sense of diversity to the music promo making it more interesting to watch. It also helps promote the artist as it shows their talents other than acting in a music promo. This is matches the conventions of my genre of music because it is more alternative music the artist will feel it's important to show their talents more than in mainstream music.

I have also used camera shots that conform the conventions of music promo's for example, here I have related back to my RMA's in that they use a range of different camera shots for example here I have over the shoulder shots as used in one of my RMA's to help present the storyline. I have also shown how I have used extreme close ups, these shots are important for a music promo as the whole point of a music promo is to promote the artist and allow recognition of the artist for the audience and extreme close ups will allow this happen.

Camera movements also allowed me to conform to conventions of a music promo. I used tracking in the last shot of my music promo to follow the artist into the house to bring the story to an end. This follows the ideas of a narrative based music promo as it allows continuity of the story being told. It is also important as it allowed continuing close ups of the artist, whilst continuing to tell the story so it was being narrative as well as helping to promote the artist in the use of close ups.

I also use panning in the beginning of my music promo to introduce the artist by following her walking, I believe this helped conform to a music promo as it is important to create definite recognition of the artist and by following her to begin with it would help the audience in knowing she is the artist of the song.

I have also used editing to conform to the conventions of a music promo, for example, the music is very fast beat as the piano plays continuously quickly in the background therefore to conform to this type of music the shots would be quick jump shots which I have used for the majority of my music promo.

Mise-en-scene also allowed me to follow and conform to the conventions of my music video. For example, in my RMA of Foundations I found that because the audience would be teenagers/young adults, the props, location and costume would be very familiar to them allowing them to create a relationship with it, I have followed this idea as shown below.

How my product develops conventions of real media products;

How my product challenges conventions of real media products;

Originally my music promo was going to be made up of only shots where the lyrics matched the visuals however, as it came to editing I realised that not all of the song had lyrics as there was many instrumental parts. I therefore needed to find a way that I could fill these parts, this resulted in me challenging the conventions of real media products because;

The music promos I studied in my RMA's followed just one type of genre of music promo, for example they would be narrative, performance or concept based. However, because my song features short parts of instrumentals throughout I believed that it would be effective to include some performance based parts rather than my music promo just being of the artist singing the lyrics or acting the lyrics. I felt this would be effective because it would break up the storyline allowing the music promo to be more interactive with the audience as they would get a feel for both song and the artist and her talents.

First draft evaluation

Music Promo Final

Advert Final

Digi-Pak Final

Mrs D

Your music promo has lots of potential Georgie. The pace and tone is really effective. Are you creating the same branding across your print tasks with the images you have chosen? The music promo is cheeky and fun - can you say the same about your still images?

2nd draft music promo

Dolby

Georgie, I can see that you have some great shots and ideas here but needs lots more footage!

1st Draft Advert

This is the second draft of my advert, again I recieved audience feedback and was told again that they liked the main image and how it linked with the main music promo as she wears the dress and also liked how it links to the digi-pak front cover. They did however advice that I should change the font/font colour on the bottom of the advert so that it is clearer, so I will try different colours to allow this to happen as I do not want to change the font as it allows continuity between the rest of the advert and the digi-pak.

Digi-Pak 2nd Draft

This was the second draft of my digi-pak. I have recieved audience feedback and they stated that they liked the front cover but felt the back cover was not quirky enough to fit the whole project. Therefore, I will go back to my original images and find a better image to fit the general feel of my music promo to allow continuity.

1st Draft Digi-Pak

This was the first general idea for my digi-pak. I felt that the quality and effects of the images did not feel as happy and vibrant as the music promo feels so I must change the effects of the images to make them brighter and more colourful. I also was advised to change where the text is on my front cover as it was not as clear as it should be so I will have to look at the position of my image and text.

1st draft construction

Dolby

Some nice images here Georgie, maybe write a few lines for each one and more importantly,I still need to see a draft of the video please as time is running out!

Draft Digi-Pack

Original images

This was an image I took for part of my digi-pak however I do not think I will use it as the framing does not allow the whole lampost to be in. And if I were to have the whole lampost in the artist would be too far away and it would not promote her very well as you would not be able to see her.

This image I was going to use for my back cover for the tracklist as it has space in the middle to fit a list in. However, the weather meant the sky and general look of the picture is very dull so I would have to change effects on it.

I preffered this image for a back cover for my tracklist as it allows the artist to continue to be promoted as it features her and also I could use the tree as a background for the list of tracks to go on.

I will probably use this image for my main cover of the digi-pak front cover as it features the artist in the centre therefore will do the job of promoting her look, she also looks happy and content and is on her own therefore fits the lyrics of the main music promo. I however like the picture above will have to edit this image to make it look brighter and more vibrant. I prefer this image to the one below it as it has a better framing and I also like how you can see the road continuing behind her as it feels as though she has walked the way alone which matches how the song shows her developing the idea and accepting that she can be alone.

This image again has the artist in the centre however she is not walking dead down the centre of the road so the framing will not look right when I crop the image.

Mise en scene shots

First Draft - Music Promo

After completing the first sections of editing for my media music promo I was not able to upload it due to a technical fault with YouTube, however Mrs Dobbs and Miss Dolby have seen it and it will be uploaded after the half term.

Filming (2)

On Sunday I did my second part of my filming. By following my storyboard it allowed me to film effieciently and gave me a clear idea of what I had to do from one take to the next. I managed to follow closely what I had chosen to do in each take and I did not have any problems that needed changing or adapting. There was only slight changes that I made in terms of mis-en-scene.

Filming (1)

Yesterday I did my first section of filming. I filmed it within school at a bench under a tree as this is the mise en scene I was looking for as it is alternative and looks like it is within a random place rather than somewhere like a high street. I originally had plans to track the movement of one character however, because it was on an unsteady ground the dolly did not move smoothly and it would have affected the quality of my promo. I therefore, chose to carry the camera myself as this made it smoother as I managed to keep it steady. I also was going to use the tripod to create an eye line match effect in my music promo, however this did not allow me to get the correct angle my actor was sitting at, I therefore sat where he was sitting and again held the camera in the characters position.

Storyboard (2)

Ancillary tasks - font 1

I have chosen to narrow down my ancillary task fonts down to two. I have chosen one called 'sketchy' that was popular with my audience when asked and also chose one called 'skinny jeans. My audience chose this font because they felt that it was appropriate for an alternative artist as it is different but also felt that it wasn't predictable so has an edge of excitement. However, it is also simple and clear to see and I will be able to use a different font for the main text that will match it as it is simple. I have made sure that I have chosen a font that is attractive and has colour as this is what my audience of my questionnaires suggested and said that a font and a colour would attract them to an album title.




I have chosen to narrow down my fonts to this one also as it was another favourite from my audience. However, I prefer the first one as I believe it is more alternative and attractive to an audience. And although the second one is simplistic and clear, the first one also follows this wilst being attractive.

Ancillary task - fonts

1

2

3

4

5

Mrs D

This has lots of potential Georgie. The visuals are very effective and you have obviously thought carefully about the lyrics and the narrative. However, you haven't really thought about framing as most are long shots and you haven't shown movement or any effective transitions. Are you starting with a black screen for that length of time? Also the song is only just over 2 mins and if you plan on cutting more out it will be too short. the ending is also very abrupt. See me for a suggestion on how to use repetition effectively. This needs another draft asap please.

Email for permission to use song

After emailing Island Def Jam of universal in order to gain permission to use the Kate Nash song Merry Happy, I came across the problem that this was not Kate Nash's record company. I have therefore gone directly to her website and found that actually, Fiction Records (an independent label of Universal) are the record company of Kate Nash. I have therefore emailed them saying;

Dear Sir/Madam
As a Media Studies student I have been given the chance to create a music video as part of my advanced portfolio. We were given the choice to choose a song that we wished to use for the music promo, and would therefore like to ask permission to use your artist Kate Nash's song - Merry Happy.

Please could you let me know if this is possible.
Yours sincerely,

Georgina Toseland

Edgbarrow School

Dolby

Looking at the storyboard, the cuts are all very quick. If you are having movement/tracking, the frame length needs to be much longer than a second! Go back and look at things like length of shots and also transitions or zooms.

Storyboard (1)

Filming schedule

Mise-en-scene

Casting female – Hannah Mitchell
Casting male – Maxwell Toseland

Outfits – Hannah will be dressed in floral shorts for the main parts of the video where the main narrative is taking place. However, there will be parts of the song where she will be wearing more of a dressed up outfit for example a party dress for the lyrics ‘dancing at discos.’
I will also need the younger girl and boy to use the same sorts of outfits so that the relationship between the two characters are clear. Max will be dressed in chinos and a polo shirt with vans. So that he looks fashionable but quite quirky.

Items I will need -

- Cheese on toast

- Discoteque items such as a discoball or discolight

- Pearl necklace

- Telephones

- Flowers

Proposal - Lyrics

Watching me like you never watch no one
Don't tell me that you didn't try and check out my bum
Cause I know that you did
Cause your friend told me that you liked it
Gave me those pearls and I thought they were ugly
Though you try to tell me that you never loved me
I know that you did
'Cause you said it and you wrote it down
Dancing at discos
Eating cheese on toast
Yeah you make me merry make me very very happy
But you obviously, you didn't want to stick around
Dancing at discos
Eating cheese on toast
Yeah you make me merry make me very very happy
But you obviously, you didn't want to stick around
So I learnt from you
Do do do da do do do do do da do do do do do da do
So I learnt form you
Do do do da do do do do do da do do do do do da do
I can be alone, yeah
I can watch a sunset on my own
I can be alone, yeah
I can watch a sunset on my own
I can be alone
I can watch a sunset on my own
I can be alone, yeah
I can watch a sunset on my own
I can be alone, yeah
I can watch a sunset on my own
I can be alone
I can watch a sunset on my own
Sitting in restaurants
Thought we were so grown up
But I know now that we were not the people
That we turned out to be
Chatting on the phone
Can't take back those hours
But I won't regret
'Cause you can grow flowers
From where dirt used to be
Dancing at discos
Eating cheese on toast
Yeah you make me merry make me very very happy
But you obviously, you didn't want to stick around
Dancing at discos
Eating cheese on toast
Yeah you make me merry make me very very happy
But you obviously, you didn't want to stick around
So I learnt from you
Do do do da do do do do do da do do do do do da do
So I learnt from you
Do do do da do do do do do da do do do do do da do
I can be alone, yeah
I can watch a sunset on my own
I can be alone, yeah
I can watch a sunset on my own
I can be alone
I can watch a sunset on my own
(do do do da do do do do do da do do do do do da do)
I can be alone, yeah
I can watch a sunset on my own
I can be alone, yeah
I can watch a sunset on my own
I can be alone
I can watch a sunset on my own
(do do do da do do do do do da do do do do do da do)

Mrs D

You have some nice ideas about how you can use editing techniques and I like the idea of using different people to explore the different ages of the characters. You need to get a storyboard up asap. Good luck.

Proposal - Merry Happy

After beginning to plan my story board for Mariella I felt that the lyrics would not allow me to create a narrative based video that would be as successful as I wished for it to be. This is because the song does not have any real narrative/story behind it. My new choice of song is Merry Happy and is also by Kate Nash, so still fits to what my audience would like and what they prefered. This song however has more of an emotive story behind it that I could fit a narrative too. For example, I wanted to use different aged characters in order to create a very clear story. Also I feel this song will allow me to use skills I have acquired in media for example, the use of camera angles, and editing effects in order to create the best possible music promo that I can. For example, I can use split screens in order for the visuals to tell the story.

DIGI-PACK - Magazine advert layouts

DIGI-PACK - Front and back cover layouts

DIGI-PACK - Inside layouts