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.