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

From my research I learnt that artists carry the same style throughout due to their album. For example, as shown on my website research, artists often use graphics from their album cover on their website, and often these are in the same style or images from a music video for a track on their current album.
If an artist creates a new album and the style changes, then they change the design of the website, but they also match and keep to the same style.

I wanted to create this with my products. As the track I chose, was off the album Rated R, where all the tracks are quite dark and gothic like, I decided to have a dark and edgey style to my products. So I stuck to a monotone colour scheme with hints of red.

During the filming of my music video, I did photoshoot’s for images I could use on my album digi-pack and website to ensure my products matched and had the same professional style.

My album digi-pack featured only images taken from the music video shoots and I edited these to fit with the style. They were edited to black and white, with sharp shadows to fit in with the holding cell shots of the music video, and I also added a warm red tint to the images to give the album a little warmth but of a colour that represents ‘danger’. This tied in with the subtle meaning of the message about domestic violence.



My website was created with a dark colour scheme, with splashed of red and images from the music video shoots.



My overall collection of, music video, album digi-pack and website work really well together and follows the same style and it is obvious they are all part of the same artists.
My artist Facebook Page, again contains images from the shoots as well as the music video itself, giving an extra product to tie in with the collection.
I feel all my products look professional and met the forms and conventions of professional products.

Written Evaluation: What have you learned from your audience feedback?

After analysing my audience feedback (Featured on the Audience Feedback Post), I feel I understand my strengths and weaknesses of my music video as well as areas I could improve and my overall achievement.

Example from the feedback from youtube.com;

‘This looks amazingly professional, the composition of the shots is always strong and interesting. I liked the contrast between light and dark. I would have liked some quicker cuts? Unmistakable genre.’

My aim was to create interesting composition and I feel I achieved this. My lighting in the holding cell was there to represent, light – innocence, dark – the darkness of domestic violence (described in my directors cut) and the fact she picked up on the contrast means my aim had come through strongly.

Quicker shots is something I would like to do if I produce another music video, as I am now comfortable with the software, however I am still happy with the speed of them now, but to push my product further I feel it could be improved in that sense. ‘Unmistakable genre’ – I am pleased that she feels it fits the forms and conventions of the genre and finds it similar to other music videos as my aim was to create my music video with strong genre characteristics.

Another example of feedback from youtube.com; (Screenshots on audience feedback post)

‘great - love the shots of her in the headlights. your lighting in the cells is really good and appropriate for the character in the video’

I wanted to light the outside shots realistically, with headlights. I feel it made an interesting lighting source as the main focus was lower on the shots almost disguising the characters face, as stereotypical gangsta like to almost hide their identities. I’m glad she comments on this as I feel I achieved a creative light source. Other people I have spoken to, along with comments from my Facebook account also mention the lighting of the outside shots, so I feel this part of my music video was a success.

Comments from my youtube account tended to be other media studies students that could comment on the more technical aspects of the product and the meaning, whereas my Facebook account reached my target audience that doesn’t fully understand the production of music videos, like the majority of people watching professional music videos.

I received many comments such as ‘this is so good’, ‘impressive’, ‘this is amazing etc’ but the more detailed comments are below.

Examples of my Facebook feedback; (Screenshots on audience feedback post)

‘Wow, this has really worked, love the outside scenes in the dark, and with the car headlights, think that works really well’

Again I am glad I received another positive comment about the outside scenes as these were the trickiest to film due to having no electricity supply for artificial lighting.

However talking to a media student made light of the fact they could have done with being a little lighter. I agree with this, that if I was a professional company I would have made the lighting a little brighter however due to have limited equipment and budget I feel the shots came out better than expected and really worked.

Another comment was again positive and also said ‘this could be a real music video’. I feel that I have achieved more than I had hoped for, as my target audience appeared to really enjoy the product and saw it as professional and exciting. The comments on the lighting, especially the light and dark of the holding cell, have confirmed that, that particular scene had worked to my intentions and the light and dark contrast was obvious.

Talking to people are they are watching the video allowed me to understand the shots they liked and thought worked. Many people really liked the shots of the CCTV screen where you can see the character in her cell, I was told it was ‘creative and effective’.

Another popular comment was that the editing of the product was done really well, with the lip sync being bang on time. I am pleased they commented on this, as I thought receiving perfect lip sync was the hardest part of the editing process.

I was also told, by a female aged 42 - that she felt very connected to the character and engaged by her as she looked down the camera and it appeared she was talking to you inparticular.
I feel this is a great comment as I wanted females to feel connected and that my artist was talking to them as this helps to put accross the meaning of the lyrics. (the artists recruiting females to stand up and speak out against domestic violence)
This also has confirmed that my music video conforms to the point of 'looking' in Goodwins theory.

Overall I received very positive feedback from everyone I spoke to, with only minor constructive criticism. If I were to do this project again, with a larger budget, I would perhaps make the lighting on the outside shots a little lighter so everyone can see exactly what is going in, but still keep the effect of the headlights.

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

With reference to Goodwin's theory of music videos;

1 - Relationship between the lyrics and the visuals

- This can mean that the themes, mise-en-scene or events of the video match with lyrics of the song, to help put across the message of the song and video

My music video conforms to this typical feature as well as develops it. The lyrics repeat ‘gangsta for life’, so I have taken the stereotypical gangsta image and interrupted it through costume and locations, however the fact my character is female it also challenges the stereotypical stereotype.
My other locations, costume and make-up ties in with the lyrics representing women standing up and fighting against domestic violence and develops Goodwin’s theory. These references are more subtle with a more in depth meaning, for example, my character is set in prison cells, representing the justice women can received if they speak out, and in some shots she is wearing nude colour clothing and has smudged eye make-up to represent the vulnerable side of the females; a complete contrast to the outside shots.

2 – Relationship between the music and the visuals

- This can mean that the cuts and edits of the video are in sync with the rhythm and beat of the song matching cuts or effects to specific drum beats or notes.

My music video conforms as well as develops this Goodwin point. My video cuts to the beat and reflects the speed of the track, as it has slow movements and cuts during the verses and speeds up during the chorus, and when the track’s tempo increases sufficiently towards the end my cuts become quicker. Some of my cuts are edited to the ‘off-beat’ and not the main beat. This gives my video a little more variety and this is often featured in R’n’B music videos, where shots aren’t always cut on the dominant beat.

3 - Music videos have genre characteristics

- This means that certain features are expected out of a video depending on the genre of the music, for example a girl band is expected to have dancers and close ups of the singers, whilst a metal band is expected to have performance shots of the band.

My music video conforms strongly with this point. Solo female artists of this genre, along with pop, always have performance shots featuring in their music videos and the majority of the times are the dominant shots.
My music video only features my artist and is a performance video with an underlying meaning and representation.
Female artists often play on sex appeal in terms of their costumes, make-up/hair and performance. My artist is dressed ‘seductively’ in the majority of the video, even when the costumes are representing the gangsta stereotype. (This is discussed further down, under the point ‘looking’)

4 - Often due to the demands of the record label, artists videos will include many close ups of the artist and will often develop motifs that recur across multiple videos.

- This allows the record label to promote a set image for the band, which will help target audiences empathise with the band.

As I have only created one music video for my artist there are no set motifs, however female artists especially within this genre tend to keep a similar theme to the music videos in the same album, and then change style when they create a new album and many motifs and styles tend to flow through. If I were to create another music video for my artist, with a track from the same album I would adopt a similar style and give my artist a ‘signature’ motif as many female artists have created.

5 - Emphasis on 'looking'

- The 'male gaze' is often used to attract a male audience. The male gaze is a focus on presenting things that appeal to men.

My music video again strongly conforms to this point. Female artists who create a performance video usually perform and dress with sex appeal to attract a male audience, especially in the genre of R’n’B. My music video features a character dressed in leather and lace, with her hair styled down, wearing high heels for the dominant scenes. Her dark eye make-up also adds the sex appeal that attracts a male audience.
The shots outside, where the character is dressed as a stereotypical gangsta, sex appeal is still present as she is wearing a short black dress, high heels etc.
Even in the modern cell shots, where she is dressed in a nude jumper to represent vulnerability, her jumper is short and shows a lot of flesh, giving off sex appeal in a different way.
Throughout the music video, my artist looks directly into the camera frequently to engage with the audience. Female artists looking directly into the camera can give a sense of seduction to male audiences as they feel connected and engaged to the artist.

6 – Intertexual references.

- This means that music videos reference other forms of media.

I have no references to films or a television programmes etc, however I feel I incorporated a performance style of typical female artist, such as Rihanna, Lady Gaga or Katy Perry. Things that are featured in my music video can be seen of a similar effect in other classic music videos.

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

New media technologies are an integral part of any contemporary music video production.

Research

The internet was my main source of information when it came to researching each aspect of music video production, as well as album digi-packs and professional artist websites.

Youtube.com was my main source to the access of any professional music video. I was able to search any music video, as nearly all music videos ever made are featured on the site, and view the, quickly and easily.
This made it very easy to research forms and conventions for each genre, as well as detailed research into my chosen genre.

Researching into new filming techniques, such as the video produced by Doritos for Professor Green's video 'Coming to Get Me' which allows the viewer to interact and direct a 360 degree camera. As well as this being a new and unique way to consume a music video, it was also a great advertising stunt. The internet also allowed me to look into how artists promote themselves, using social networking sites and websites for example. This allowed me to understand the importance of promotion and gave me the idea to create a Facebook page for my artist.

Interviews on youtube.com allowed me to get a more in depth knowledge and understanding of the music industry and music video productions.
The internet also allows easy research into the designs of the majority of album digi-packs. This made it easy to find the vital features that needed to be included on my own digi-pack as well as understanding the typical designs, effects and overall look of the digi-packs made for the same genre and female artists.

Researching Photoshop techniques allowed me to learn new skills that I could apply to my album digi-pack and ensure it looked as professional as possible and fit into the forms and conventions of the designs of the particular R’n’B genre. Youtube.com was another large source into the research of techniques as many online tutorials can be found. Finding website builders that allowed me to create a professional looking website for my artist, allowed me to choose a suitable builder that would accommodate to my designs and the features I wished to include.

The internet also allowed me to research the functions of windows Movie Maker, from effects, to cutting techniques so I was able to plan my video understanding the effects I could use, for example black and white.
The internet was a major source in the research aspect of my production process and has contributed to the success of both my music video and ancillary products.

Planning/creating

Movie maker – Editing software are increasingly being produced/developed as well as becoming very accessible to allow amateurs to edit their own videos effectively and easily. I used windows movie maker to edit my music video and I was able to apply a range of effectives, produce quick and smooth cuts as well as applying features such as slow motion. The software also allowed me to eliminate the diegetic sound and add non-diegetic sound (music track), all these features allowed me to produce a professional looking music video fairly quickly and easily.

Photoshop – Photoshop is a photo editing software with a large range of features that allow you to edit images any way you want. This allowed me to create professional looking album digi-pack with all the vital features, from bar codes to the track list and music label symbols.

Weebly.com – Weebly.com was the website builder I decided to use to create my artist website. This allowed me to add are the common features of artist/band websites, from an image gallery, log-in area and live Facebook feed. Due to the developed software I was able to create a professional looking fully functioning website for free, with a good variety of features.

EvaluationHaving a range of media technologies allowed me to distribute and gather audience feedback easily for evaluation.

Youtube.com – Youtube allowed me to distribute my music video easily to millions of people all over the world, this ensured my music video hit my target audience as well as reaching to other people who may not initially listen/watch that particular genre. Youtube has also been developed to give me stats on the upload, from the number of views, and how they have viewed it, from either facebook, typing in the search bar or watching it from being suggested. It also gives you the audience that your video is most popular with, mine being: Male aged 13 – 17, which is a good section of my niche target audience.




Youtube also allows anyone to post and comment to your video, which has allowed me to gather some opinions and feedback to help me evaluate whether I achieved my objective and hit my target audience.



Facebook – Facebook allows you to post the video/link from Youtube onto your Facebook account that your friends can view. Facebook is aimed at students, which was perfect for hitting my target audience, and gather comments and feedback from my exact target audience.

Audience Feedback

I received audience feedback from both facebook & youtube as well as talking face to face with people after they had watched it.

Facebook - Feedback was all positive with a couple of constructive criticisms that I can use to evaluate my piece as well as having notes for improvements if I were to do this project again.
Facebook reached a wide audience, mainly - Males & Females Aged 13 - 22 (My main target group)

Click on images for a larger view:



Example of some comments:














Youtube: Youtube was my main distributor and can reach any age, all over the world.
I received a couple of comments from youtube -








Receiving audience feedback was really helpful, and I feel I acheived my objective for the project in terms of reaching my target audience, creating to a particular genre and editing well.

Director's Cut

My director's cut talks about my intentions, and what I have done technically to portray these and put across the correct message.
Evaluative throughout -

Consumption

I distributed my Music Video through; Youtube - Youtube is one of the most popular ways of consuming music videos in modern day society. A single video can reach millions of people in seconds.This was my main form of distribution;

My music video also appears in the suggested video side bar when other similar videos are being watched/searched, this helps to reach a wider audience;



The stats of my music video show that my video has been viewed by a link from facebook, by people typing the video in the youtube search bar, and by people clicking on the video from a suggested link. It shows my music video is being consumed in a variety of ways.



I used facebook as another form of distribution. I posted it onto facebook, and this has the opportunity to reach a different audience more suited to my target audience. It has proved to be very popular -



Other people can also share my music video on their own facebook accounts - again reaching another audience - Gary Addison - Aged 43 posted it on his account where an older audience could view it, compared to the younger audience viewing it from my account.

Facebook Page

I created an Artist page on the socil network site: Facebook. It allows fans to keep up to date with the artist's new, videos, photos etc. Once fans have clicked 'Like', any updates from the artist will automatically pop up on the fans feed. More about facebook in the Social Networking Post Here is a link to the facebook page I have created: Facebook Page

Screenshots:

Final Music Video

Editing - Music Video

My first step of editing was finding all the important filming and elminating anything i didn't need.
On my first day of filming I filmed a lot down my a bridge but whilst editing I realised it didn't fit in aswell with the other shots and they were not dark enough. Even when trying to edit them darker I still didnt feel it worked, so I decided not to use these shots. I now know that it is possible to film in darker lighting and next time I will save time.



During my editing process I cut all the shots, added effects such as black and white and slow motion, as well as eliminating the diegetic sound and adding the non-diegetic sound of the music track.

Album Digipack Creation

I created my album artwork using Photoshop. I ensured I had every important feautre that are displayed on the majority of artists album artwork:
- Barcode

- Track List

- Record Label Logo & Distributor Logo

- Record Label & Artist website

I used images taken from a filming day photoshoot as they had good lighting and created interesting shadows. I feel the photographs looked professional and are similar to many featured in professional album packs.

I edited the photographs with a warm redish tint to them, to represent the 'emotional pain' that each song from the album represents, especially G4L being about the fight against domestic violence.

For the front cover I chose a close up shot, which is very stereotypical for the R'n'B genre as it gives a feel of intensity and closeness to the artist.

For the inside, the black circle indicates where the CD would fit and the black line represents the pouch in which a booklet will hold. Artists often included a booklet of either pictures, song lyrics or information about each song.

Click on image to see a full sized verison

Album Digipack - Research

As the album rated r is quite a unique style, I thought it was best to research the album cover of Rated R itself as well a single from the album, to analyse the style so I can adopt it into my designs to ensure my product fits the genre. The album is full of very dark and edgey tracks and her album cover and single covers reflect this, with the dark colour scheme, fake barbed wire and a stern look to herself.

Like many solo female artists, the images are close ups to allow the audience to feel engaged by the artist and to portray the emotion.





On the Russian Rouletter cover, even though she is wrapped in barbed wire, she still portrays sex appeal which is important to the majority of solo female artists.



The back of albums are important;



After researching these, I found that the main features that are found on the back of female solo artists albums are;

- Track List
- Bar code (doesn't always appear on the bottom of the album)
- Image
- Record label - In form of a website or symbols
- Some also feature an artists website.



I wish to include these feature into my design.

Website Creation/Link to website

Link to the fully functioning website: http://izzy-music.weebly.com/

Plan:

I created rough plans in order to design a suitable navigation system for the website, including all the important features.





I created my website using an online service: Weebly.com It unfortunately did not let me add every aspect of my original plan in the: Ideal Website Post. I was able to complete the following things in my fully functioning website:

Home Page - A page to enter the site

News Feed - news updates incl. new music video, album artwork and behind the scene photos

Live Social-Network feed (Facebook)

Gallery - Photos from various photoshoots (behind the scenes photos are hidden and can only be accessed through the news bulletin)

Music - Featuring the music video

Community - A form allowing fans to contact the artist and sign up to the newsletter

Tour - List of tour dates

Ideal Website Design

After researching into professional websites, there are many aspects I would want to feauture on my own.

Social Network Feed - Live twitter, and facebook feed, as well as links to the social networking sites. It promotion for the social networking sites as well as the artist. Fans can view this on the website and link themselves directly to another form of promotion for the artist.

Downloads - I would want to give the option to download the artists music, and occasionally give free downloads to keep the audience fresh, as well as attracting new audiences.

Videos - videos of music videos are common and give a multi-media advantage on a website. Artists often post video blogs of behind the scenes and special announcements to keep their fans interested and making them want to visit the website on a regular basis.

Gallery - A frequently updated gallery is a vital feauture of any artist website. It allows fans to view recent photoshoots, or behind the scenes images

News - News features on every artist/bands website. Fans are able to see up coming events, personal appearances, single/album release dates, recent photoshoots, tour dates, or any other bits of news.

Tour - tour dates are important in terms of sellnig tickets. Fans can check tour dates in advance to ensure they are able to get tickets. I would provide a link to ticket sellers, for quick access to buying tickets. Fan pre-sale is another advantage of selling tickets as fans feel they are getting an advantage of being served first.

Shop - Giving the opportunity to buy merchandise, albums, songs etc will create a high revenue from the site and allow fans to feel safe and garenteed to be perchasing official products.

Audio/podcasts - Audio clips of new songs would keep fans excited about the site, and will keep re-visiting to check if any new exclusives have been released.

I would want my website to look as professional as possible with the theme fitting in with the current album, for example: rihanna's website appearance changes with the new genre/style of her latest album. The website would be full of interactive activity and lots of multi-media levels for the fans to enjoy.

Social Networking

Social Networking is one of the most modern and popular way od advertisement.

Many bands and artists use facebook as another form of communication between them and their fans. Artists can use facebook to share news, and things that they have been up to etc.

Their facebook pages can allow their fans to comment on their posts, look at their latest videos and links. Thousands or even millions of people can like their page quickly and easily, with just a click of a button and stay connected with the artists.

Artists can advertise anything, from their tours, to their recents singles and albums, as well as posting videos, pictures and set up pages for fans to buy their music, merchandise or tickets.

Website Research

To help me design my website, I researched into Female Solo Artists websites to look for generic features as well as unique ones.

The generic pages that appear to feature on the majority of professional websites are;

- News
- Tour Dates
- Gallery
- Log in/Community
- Video/Music

Other features include things like -
Links to social networking - facebook, twitter etc
(often with a live twitter and facebook feed)

Design;

The design and graphics used on the websites change to fit the artists current album.
For example, Rihanna's website changes constantly. During the time of her Rated R album, the website was very dark, using blacks & deep reds as the colour scheme, with pictures that tied in with her album and music videos.
Now rihanna's genre has changed to pop and electric dance, her website has changed themes and now ties in with her current album 'Loud', with graphics used from her hit single 'Only Girl'.



Another example is Jessie J. Jessie J's website uses the same picture and typography from her current album cover.







Features;

Social Network feed;



Many artists use social networking sites to promote themselves, and links to these often appear on their websites.
Links to twitter, facebook, myspace and youtube are the most common links to appear on a website for a music artist.

Live facebook and twitter feeds also feature on the majority of professional websites, where fans can keep up to date with the artists live posts. These feeds aso link to twitter and facebook, and allows advertising for the social networking aswell as advertisement for the artist to get extra followers on twitter or extra fans on facebook, allowing them to get their name known and their music heard.



Many sites now provide the option to login with your facebook account, allowing you to comment on their gallery via your account.
This also shows up on your facebook profile, allowing your friends to see the activity you have done on the website, which again, promotes the artist.



News;

Many home pages of the artist's websites were full of news, either about new singles/albums, tours or dates for public appearances etc.
This allows fans to keep up to date with their favourite artist and not miss out on exciting news or competitions etc.





Gallery;



Galleries allow the artist to promote video shoots, magazine cover shoots etc.

Tours;

Artists will always display the dates of their up and coming tour, and often have links to where you can purchase tickets from. It's a simple and quick way of promoting their tour and selling tickets.
Often, there will be a partnership with ticket sites such as tickermaster.com and if the artist puts a link to their site they will sponsor the tour.



Login;

Artists website, nearly always allow you to sign up for extra features. Most of the time, when you sign up, you can access fan forums, receive exclusives newsletters and the chance to enter competitions and receive exclusive videos, songs etc.
Many also allow for fan pre-sale on tour tickets.



Music/video;



Artist websites also allow you to listen to their music or watch their latest music video, again for the art of promotion. Fans can hear tasters of their music and then decide whether to buy the single or album. Music videos can consumed a lot through the internet, including the artists websites.


Video blogs are also sometimes featured, allowing the fans to view messages from the artists or to watch the activities they have been up to recently.