Evaluation Question 4

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

In this blog post I will be evaluating the media technologies that I have used for the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages. Through my time studying A-Level media I have developed my use of technologies, which is evident by my blog. Looking back at my AS blog you will instantly notice the difference in appearance of my blog you will also see in my A2 blog I have correctly named my work and the layout and format of the blog is neater. I have used more media technologies compared to the amount I used in my AS project; in this post I will also be explaining how I also used certain technologies for the making of my products. 

Difference/Similarities

Blogger

As I have briefly explained my A2 blogger has improved from my AS blogger, for example in my AS blogger there were some problems with the pictures and videos, some of the images where blank and some were also not able to play. With my A2 blogger I have been able to fix these errors. In my AS Blog some text were also cutoff from the blog post due to some glitches I was also unable to change some of the text of the blog posts. Although A2 blogger I have encountered text issues I have come to solve if not most of the issues within my posts. Another problem I have with my AS blog was that I separated section of the same pieces of work into different posts, this made is harder to navigate through my posts as the reader would have to search for the next piece of work. With my A2 blog I have not done this and all the work have been named correctly, made it more interactive and has more depth making it easier to navigate and more interesting for the reader.

Advanced Editing

In IMovie I have also used much more advanced editing as my abstract narrative of my music video allowed me to incorporate interesting and creative editing. I have used cutaways, footage editing, and changing to opacity. As well as this I have also pre-edited some footages as IMovie only allows two layering of video, pre-editing enabled to add as many layers of footages making the video look more abstract and interesting. I have also be able to be more creative with my shot and filming different colours of light to create film burns and light leaks which I have used to overlay and filter my footages making the music video seem more vibrant.

New Software

I have also learned how to use new software such as Photoshop which I very much enjoyed doing and I have now made it a new hobby to edit and manipulate images to make artwork. Learning Photoshop is small amount of time tested my abilities in photo manipulation and how much I already know. In my AS I also managed to learn Garage Band a short amount of time however this year I feel I have learned more about Photoshop due to my commitment and interest in it. As well as this I have used several other online softwares such as Glogster and Powtoon, using these softwares enabled me to be more interactive with my blog posts allowing me to enjoy the work I produce and also allowing the audience to gain more interest in my work. Compared to my AS work where the majority of my work were writer posts I have included more Slideshares and Prezi for my A2 making my blog seem more lively and enabling me demonstrate my genuine interest in the subject.

Below I have produced a video presentation of the media technologies I have used:

Below is a video demonstration of how I came about doing the editing of my music video, digipak, and magazine advert:

Evaluation Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback? 

Before making final decisions whether that be about my ideas, my ancillary texts or my music video I had to get some feedback from my peers and my audience in order for me to recognise the strengths and weaknesses of my work as well as knowing the needs of my audience. In this post I will be discussing my audience feedback and what I have learned from it.

Pitch Feedback

For my Pitch I gave a treatment for my chosen song and also my intentions of my music video. The video below discusses my audience feedback for my Pitch.

From this audience feedback I used it for my benefit to develop further develop my ideas and to also take in considerations what my audience what for a conventional real media product.

Rough cut feedback

Below a video showing the audience feedback I got from a media student Akshay Jude and from his well thought feedback I improved upon my music video.

His response from my rough cut of my music video allowed me to improve upon my existing product as well as keep things the same that I may have changed. 

Surveys I have conducted three surveys for the rough design of  my ancillary texts, I gave links to my survey to my family and friends via messaging and asked for there responses on the three questions given:

This first question asks how effective my digipak is, by doing this survey it allowed me to understand if people would like my product and to see if I have made a good enough effort to make product effective. As you can see on the table on average it was rated 5/6 out of 10 meaning there are some elements to my digipak that still needs improving but also some elements that also makes it effective.

Again I asked the same question but for my magazine advert to get acknowledgement on what went well and what could be improved. The table above had more answers to my digipak question and the design of my magazine advert proved to be less developed then my digipak as the rating went to an average of 4/5 out of 10. This showed me that I have still much to do with my magazine advert to make it effective and to reach its potential. 

Lastly, I asked if the ancillary texts and music video show continuity. This has less response then both my other surveys making this less reliable than the other questions, however all 6 response answered a 100% continuity between my music video and ancillary texts which suggests there is clear identity and relationship between both products. 

Comments on Final Product

Final Cut (Teacher’s Feedback)

For my music video I was given the advice by my teacher to sort out some of the filters due to it being to distractive and also it not having continuity she explained that it was quite hard to differentiate some of the scenes that were from the narrative or a part of my abstract shots because of the filters. She also noted that maybe I could have added more weird and quirky footages and also include more overlays similar to ending scene as she stated the ending scene was visually stronger. My input to this is that if I added more shots it will ruin the syncing of my music video also if I added more overlays it will ruin the climax of my music video as I have intentionally made the beginning less visual and more about the camerawork and editing. In terms of the filters I have fixed that and have re-uploaded my final music video.

Text Message

When gathering feedback from my ancillary text I sent out messages from my phone, I also gave a link to my blog so they can view my ancillary and give me feedback. This ensured that my research would reach a wide audience with a variety of age rangers and genre preferences.

The responses I got gave me insight to the strengths and weaknesses of my existing products as well as knowing on personal level what they like and dislike about the product, this is the main reason I asked for feedback via text as it is much more direct to one person and sometimes it is better getting one thorough advice rather than lots of minor touch up advice from lots of people.

YouTube Comments

I have also posted my music video the YouTube so that I could reach a real audience and not just friends and family. The responses I got allowed me to get further insight of the success of my music video

Publishing my product in YouTube means that the product is there now for everyone to see this is good as it allows me to know if I have successfully made a professional product and if my audience likes it. The majority people commented on how they liked my creative use of editing. I have also made the right impression to my audience someone commented that they could watch the music video over and over which is needed for music video and another mentioned that the song and video are well suited. 

Evaluation Question 2

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

Throughout the creation of my media product and ancillary text, it has been crucial that I made sure all my products have continuity with each other so that they are identifiable and easily recognised by my target audience, so it is noticeable that each text are all for the same purpose. I believe all three of my products are successful and that I have created and combined theme in an effective way as I have met the desired conventions and expectations. In this post I will be discussing the effectiveness of the combination of my three products.

(click an image for full size view)

An important aspect that would create identity to my product is the linkage between my ancillary and music video. To do this I made sure that the use of colour, font, imagery and mise en scene. My running theme was influenced by relaxing elements such as nature (which is a big convention within my genre), and watercolour as water symbolically refers to tranquillity and peace. My main colour scheme throughout all my products were orange, green and blue, I have chosen these colours due to their symbolic meaning; green for nature, orange for summertime, and blue for spirituality. The imagery throughout all my products have remained continuous in terms of the composition of images and also the imagery of the artist – I have even developed a motif for my artist; his heart condition I have used as way for his audience to recognise him this also played a major part in the narrative of my music video. In terms of font I will only but this in context with my ancillary task as I have not used any for my music video; the font matches throughout and the name of the artists flows with my watercolour theme. 

Below I have made a Prezi discussing more about the consistency of my products:

Does it meet the expectations of a real media product?

All three media text that I have produce meet the expectations of a real media product as I have used the conventions of real media products and the conventions of my genre of chillwave. For example as my music video is narrative based I have used Todorov’s theory of narrative as music video follows a common structure of equilibrium, disequilibrium, and resolution, the reason I did this is so that my music video seemingly has the structure of a real media text.

Blumler and Katz also theorise that audiences have expectations which they expect to be satisfied, my product offers the pleasure of diversion and personal identity; my music video as it being from the chillwave genre provides a form of escapism from daily life especially when the person has had stressful day or after a party/getting stoned they may finish a night listening to chillwave, the viewer of my music video may feel influenced by how we see ourselves and our place in which we live as personal identity is a major element to my narrative and its meaning.

I believe my target audience will be satisfied by all three products as I have followed the conventions of chillwave. Neale’s theory of genre states that genres are made up of not just groups but also audience expectations, and discourse including marketing, and media discussion. My audience will understand that it normal to have a weird abstract narrative however in indie music video it would not be therefore audiences will have different expectations through different media text. My audience will also have different criticism and feedbacks about my product. In the chillwave genre it is common to not use the artists’ imagery as a way of creating recognition unlike pop artists which there promotional packages will typically have direct emphasis to the artists’ appearance hence why I have decided to make my music video as a narrative rather than a performance and also why I have decided to make digipak and magazine advert less direct and more emphasis on the artwork.

Improvement

Critically speaking there are still a few improvement to be made for instance with the music video it is still lacking the cinematographic professional look of most real media music videos – if filmed with a high quality camera I believe a real audience would appeal more and take the product seriously. The magazine advert also has bit of an issue with the positioning of the character due to incorrect cutting and placement in Photoshop, for a real media text this would not be acceptable as the audience may get sceptical about quality of the design of the product. In terms of my digipak I am pleased with the whole design a part from the front cover as I feel I could have used a better quality image or one that is less up front.

How successful are your products? Are you happy with it?

Overall I am happy with both my ancillary texts and music video, I feel that the combination of the products shows my capabilities of planning and producing a promotional package. I through consciously researching different conventions I am pleased about how all three text could easily be interlinked and recognised as being a part of the same media product, through both the similarities in promoting and visual appearance.

Evaluation Question 1

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

My brief consisted of me producing a promotional package for an existing song. The genre I chose was ‘Chillwave’ and within this genre I have chosen a song from the duet ‘Shiloh – Morning’. In order for me to create a successful and accurate products I undertook thorough research and planning. Part of my brief was to create a digipak and a magazine advertisement to accompany my own music video. Each product of mine has used and may have also developed the typical conventions of real media products. In this post I will be evaluating my media product in terms of the typical conventions and my decisions, inspirations and how they are proven successful as a real media product.

In the slideshare below, I discussed what the chillwave genre is, successful artist within that genre, and also the codes and conventions. Briefly the chillwave genre’s main conventions focuses on relaxing visual and sound elements and has major references to summer, nature and ambient down tempo sounds. The visuals from music videos are usually drug influences hinted by the abstract narrative. I believe all my three products have used and developed the codes and conventions of the chillwave genre.

From gathering research into my genre I began to look at music videos and drew inspirations from them, some of my inspiration were gathered from other genres such as rock and indie (which you can view in blog). One particular music video from the chillwave genre drew my attention, presented below is a music video for the song ‘See’ by Tycho. 

This music video was a major influence to the production of my own product. As with most videos the visuals are edited in beat with the music, however in terms of the conventions of the chillwave genre there is certainly the quirky abstracted narrative that also emphasises nature as well as there being hint references to drugs and there effects.

In my music video I have done a similar loop circular narrative. A lot of chillwave music videos are set in locations of a forest/woods or beach I wanted to follow this typical convention. In my music video I have three main locations, the locations transitions from a hill, to the park, woods, and ends again with the hill. The initial idea of these location were to convey different meanings, the park was to convey an equilibrium, the woods was to be associated with the disequilibrium, and the hill was to suggest the resolution, as my music video was mainly narrative based I wanted to  use Todorov’s theory. From viewing chillwave music videos I have also noticed that most videos do not usually present a lot of people, there are usually one or two main characters sometimes people may not even be present and the main focus is nature. I believe this is due to the fact that chillwave is suppose to create a chill-out moment done as a solitary activity after getting wasted from a party or a stressful day. My music video present only one character acting as his physical self and spiritual self to back up the conventions of the genre. In my music video you will also notice that I have also used filters and overlays to give the illusion of summer time which is also the focus of chillwave music videos.

To compare and contrast my music video to ‘See’ by Tycho, I believe the narrative has similar elements of  curiosity and revelation, each sequence from both videos tries to unfold the enigmas of the narrative however doesn’t present the whole meaning of what is going in the video allowing the audience to interpret it to how they perceive each meanings as. There is also a clear sense of nature from both videos and clearly reflects the summer time music of chillwave. Both videos are abstracted and are very ‘out-there’ however maintaining a relation between the music and visuals.

My music video has slight relations to the lyrics and more relations to the visuals, however as there is no lyrics in Tycho’s music video there is no relations rather the beat of the music does. Tycho’s music video also has more references to drug influences and behaviour compared to mine as there is mere reference to drugs in my video; the audience can interpret my second character as hallucination, flashback or spiritual entity. My music video transitions of each locations is very vague compared to Tycho’s where there is a clear instant transition between the locations . Each sequence in Tycho’s music video has a relation to each scene including the performance, there is even a flash back near the end of the video showing each transition in the narrative for the climax. My music video also does this however it is much vague in terms of the flash back and there is also a different kind of climax at the end. The performance of my music video also references the narrative however unlike Tycho’s video the performance does not collide with the narrative scene instead my video gives the idea of my character’s life after his death, my performance also does not include any instruments instead I used a blurry ghostly face lip syncing the angelic lyrics.

I have made a Prezi below discussing more about how my music video uses the conventions of real media products

Inspiration

In context with my digipk and magazine advert design I was influenced by chillwave artists such as Toro Y Moi and Washed Out. I have use incorporated the double exposure effect used in Washed Out’s album ‘ Life of Leisure'.

As well as this I was also inspired by artists from other genres. One Republic’s Native album was an inspiration due to there artwork's composition of the images and its representation of the band.

Toro Y Moi’s album design ‘Causer of This’ interested and I was initially planning to use his composition of layered images as a template for my own work. However I was not particularly keen about the colours and theme style he used. 

As with my music video Tycho has inspired me with my digipak and magazine design due to his use of imagery, style and colour.

I also came across another artist named Ulrich Schnauss who is within the indietronica genre and has also collaborated with Tycho, his album design consists of mainly images of the sky and sea edited in dark smudged effect.

This artwork design was for the song ‘I Take Comfort In Your Ignorance’ by Ulrich Schnauss (remixed by Tycho) which Tycho designed the artwork specifically for this remix. In my music video you will notice this kind of colour theme throughout, I have also used this for my digipak and magazine advert design.

Digipak

I have previously discussed what a digipak is in my ancillary research  there I also discussed its codes and conventions – below is a slide share of that post. 

When creating my digipak I made sure that I included the necessary conventions that I have discussed in my Slideshare. I made sure I included the logos, emblems, and copy right messages and information in order to protect my product. I had to research my artist and the net label that my artist Shiloh was signed to (which is Comonostro). Throughout my design I have used the same theme as my music video; the colours, style, and props I have used is included in all my products. I have maintained a watercolour effect to add upon the typical chillwave artworks.

Front Cover

When creating my front cover of my digipak, I had to analyse the conventions that are required. The image is visually appealing and eye catching and will easily catch the viewers attention. However compared to other typical digipak my design is less direct and has more of an enigma; the purpose of this is get the audience thinking and to intrigue them to purchase the product. My front cover is the only design where I have decided to place my artist the reason for this is because I intend to represent the artist I allow the audience to know who the artist is as this is the debut album. I have also used the same mise en scene from my music video allow the audience to recognise the album from the music video. As with the most Digipak designs the name of the artist is usually written in the same typography through each products, the name of the album is also very distinct from the rest of the text – my digipak follows this convention.

Back Cover

The back cover presents an image of my hand holding the pebble present in my music video, the hand has been double exposed with an image of the pebble on a rock behind that is blurred image of the me. When creating the track list I used the same typography as Shiloh’s name however I changed it to black in order for the audience to easily read the text – this is important as the audience will need to know what song are on the album for them to make there purchase. On the bottom of the back cover I included the relevant websites of the artists and record label which is a convention for digipaks. I also added the logo on the bottom right corner with the barcode as this was typical in most digipaks. 

CD Design

I have added the logo on the CD design on the bottom middle so it is easily recognised by the audience. This design is composed of two images; an image of me walking a hilltop, and an image of a bird flying through the sky. The image is then splashed with blue and green watercolour to relate to the my theme. Water symbolically can refer to tranquillity and peace hence why I have chosen to use watercolour as my theme. As with most CD designs the typography is usually the same as the front cover and the text that are present is the artist’s name and also the album’s name there may also be some other information such as quotes or brief description. I have used the same white typography for the name of the artist and the same red typography for the name of the album.

Left Panel

The left panel is bit more different from the front and back cover. The front cover and back is what catches the viewers attention therefore most digipaks will have less emphasis in detail with there inside images. The artwork is still relevant to the theme however the style and how the artwork looks a bit more different. Inside the left panel, digipaks will usually have more information about the album and the artist I decided not to do this as there is not enough information about the artist due to the fact that they are still undiscovered and not well recognised. On the left hand corner I have placed a text ‘live, relive, revel and regret…’ This quote is placed below the title of the album and have done for the purpose of creating and interest and to also give a brief description of the album.

Right Panel

The right panel will hold the CD, this design is completely different from the back and front cover, this image acts as the background for my CD and I think this image is very relevant to my artist motif and identity. I have framed the image as with all the design to make it fit the part of my digipak. The left panel and the right panel have a different but relevant design however, the purpose of this is to make the CD stand out when placed on the right panel  as the CD has the same style and design with the front and back cover.

Magazine Advert

In my previous post I have also discussed what a magazine advert is in my ancillary research  there I also discussed its codes and conventions – below is a slide share of that post. 

When creating my digipak I made sure I included all the necessary conventions of an advertisement, I included release date, artist/ album/song name, label logo, and where it is available to purchase.

As with my digipak I decided to use warm colours as I have previously before chillwave is known as summer music. I have not used the same image for my front cover of my digipak and magazine advert like most typical magazine adverts as I decided that it would look better as its own individual artwork. My magazine advert maintains a constant theme with my digipak; both products have similar element of design i.e. the use of water colour, mise en scene, and style. With most magazine adverts the texts are usually align, I decided not to do this as I wanted the text to form a swaying effect to reference the title of the album ‘ Venus Sway’ I also noticed that some magazine adverts tend to place the front cover of the album on a corner I decided to do this as the image I have used on my advert is different from my front cover therefore my audience will know the album and easily recognise it when at the shops.

Final Products

Music Video

DigiPak

Magazine Advert

Mock Ups

My Music Video 2nd Rough Cut

The music video above is my 2^nd rough cut, there is not much more to improve upon however my teacher gave me the feedback to get the first few shots in sync with the music as well as changing some of the filters that do not work. She also noted that I could make the video a bit more abstract and psychedelic and also to remove some of the darker footages. I have also managed to get some feedback for this video on my YouTube comments (which you can check by clicking the title of the video). These feedback will help me answer evaluation question three.



Music Video Rough Cut

Music Video Rough Cut 

Above is my rough cut for my music video, I am pleased about the narrative of this video I feel that I have represented my idea well, however I feel I could touch more upon the editing by creating a stuttering effect which I initially intended, I also think I could overlay some filters, film burns, and light leaks to make the footages more vibrant and give the illusion of summer time. To improve this video I will need add more of my initial idea from my pitch, I will need to also make the video more ‘out-there’ which could be done by adding more overlays or adding more abstracted footages however I will need to make sure I refrain from editing too heavily especially in the beginning as it could disrupt the narrative and lessen the climax of the ending scene which could put people at unease which is not the intention of a chillwave music video. I do not intend to change any footage I have used as it seems to be working well and if I decide to integrate more footages it may look over the top and would also cause more difficulty to keep the footages in sync with the music.

Magazine Advert Rough Design

Magazine Advert Rough Design

Displayed above is my magazine advert which accompanies my digipak design. I am pleased with this draft in terms of the composition and style however there is much more I could do to improve this design.

My magazine advert was made using Adobe Photoshop and I composed myself siting on a rock and composed another imaged of the sky for the top of the artwork. There is still much more improvement to be made as the image of me is not positioned and edited correctly.

I have not stuck with the typical conventions of using the same image from the digipak front cover  as I wanted this magazine advert to be less direct and more ambiguous making the audience question what the imagery is about and to also make its own individual artwork. The negative aspects of this advert are that it lacks the watercolour style of the digipak design. As well as this the Typography does not seem to work as my original colour for the name ‘Shiloh’ was written in white in my digipak, therefore this will need to be changed. It would also be nice if I add more information i.e. the website of the record company and the artists, I should also include where it can be purchased.  Potentially this magazine advert could look better I included the same elements of design as used with my digipak. 

DigiPak Rough Design

DigiPak Rough Design

Displayed above is my rough draft for my digipak that will accompany my music video. I have decided to with a blue theme colour however I ambiguous about this decision as I feel that it don’t work with the chillwave genre, however I do like the style, as it is relevant and aesthetically appealing.

The artworks presented here were made from using Adobe Photoshop; overlaying watercolour paint onto the images mask layer created the watercolour effect, I also created a double exposure effect to combine images together.

To improve this product I was given the feedback to stick to three main colours either to use warm colours or cold colour in order to avoid it being over the top and confusing, there should also be a clear connotation to why I used the colours and style. I aim to market my artist in a creative, abstract, and a very ‘out-there’ way hence I have chosen to do this artwork. Unlike other genres chillwave artist doesn’t always present there imagery like most pop artist do, for example the image on the front cover is not centred and is less directed to the audience; throughout the digipak the front cover has the only imagery of the represented artist.  The typography would also be another I need to work on, as there is not a very clear link between the text and imagery in terms of the colours used.

Front Cover

The front cover is an image of me dominantly on the left side leaving space for the texts. The image has watercolour style relating the chill vibes of chillwave. The costume used is the same as the one used in the music video for the audience to recognise the artists.

Back Cover

The back cover is an image of my hand, which has relation to the music video. The back cover has an error, as the image was accidently desaturated and the token that was supposed to be held in the image was accidently removed. The image continues the watercolour theme.

Left Insert

The left insert is a bit more different I have used a splash effect and double exposed an image of me climbing up a rock. The image was also discoloured and then used a green blue gradient to re-colour the image.

Right Insert

The right insert presents my CD design behind a white background however I feel that the white background does not match visually with my style. The CD design presents me walking up a hill, which is combined and composed with another image of the sky. The images were then masked with splashes of colour.

Digipak Research

Digipak planning from Jasrolit

Magazine Advert Planning

Magazine advert planning from Jasrolit