Final Products

Evaluation Questions

After completing the planning and research stages of my A2 Media Studies requirements and also completing the three required final pieces, I have to write a formal written evaluation on my work and the process. The questions I am required to answer are the following: 

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

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

• What have you learned from your audience feedback?

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

I will be answering these using a variety of different media platforms.

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

I chose to produce a music promo package for a song which I have established on my own, by my artist also singing the song, however the song is not an original; it is a cover of a song. The song I chose to feature in my video and for my artist to manipulate to her own style was Coldplay 'Fix You'. I completely changed the video and song so that it sounded like an original and appeared legitimate for my media products. I undertook planning and research stages to create my production and once I had finsihed my final verison of my music video, I uploaded it onto YouTube.com After this I then made the decision to create a six panelled Digipak for my fictional artist, along with a maagzine advertisement to then help promote the products.

Below I will evaluate my media texts on the effectiveness of use of conventions, how the products work cohesively and the use of digital media during all stages of production, then I plan to contrast this with audience feedback.

Although the music video to the original music video by Coldplay is purely performance based including live perfromance, this does not link with the lyrics Coldplay have implied there song is about. Chris Martin, the lead singer and frontman of the band, once stated he wrote the sing for his current wife Gwyneth when her father died. The lyrics demonstrate how he wants to try and help her and be there for her. However I wanted to manipluate this idea and create it so that the artist and singer of my music video actually wanted to fix herself as she is facing internal struggles. I feel to a certain extent my music video portrays this idea, through the use of abstract and performance features. Thus I have not followed any of the original conventions displayed in the music video, except for performance features including my artist lip-sycnhing and playing the piano, which is shown in the original video by Coldplay, as shown below:



Here are some examples of the shots I feel looked professional in my music video, as they were inspired by the original music video and I have taken some conventions and cinematography into my own video. Part of my research included looking at the original music video and this has really helped me to use the correct conventions to enable my product to appear professional. These include:

• Range of cinematography (angles, movements etc)
• Range of mise en scene such as costume change
• Lip synching and performance
• Editing to match the beat and pace of the song
• Different locations
• Editing techniques
• and many more

 

I was inspired by the camera pan featuring the artist walking past the focal point and decided to include it in my own video. It has connotations of the artist walking away from her past and inner struggles.

 

I knew I wanted to add the performance aspect of piano in the video, as not only does this reflect the live performance in the original video, but it is the artist actually playing the piano both on the song and the music video, thus creates a sense of authenticity and uses conventions of real media products.

 

 

 

I also wanted to include the very popular performance convention of lip synching, as although my video is abstract, it is very conventional of real media products. Furthermore it emphasises that it my artist who is also singing the song I have used.

 

 

 

The original music video includes camera track and movement of following the artist walking, I was inspired to incorporate this into my own music video.

 

Editing

 

 

The most commonly used conventional editing techniques that feature in Indie music videos are the use of slow motion frames. This is to convey the message and emotions behind the song, in addition they usually depict the emotion of the actor/artist. Therefore, by using the effect of slow motion throughout  alot of my video, this is a very conventional feature of existing products. In addition, another important convention is that the pace of the editing goes in conjunction with the movement. This is so it would be in sync with the beat of the music video, so that it fits well with the music and creates cohesion. This creates a very professional style to the video, thus I have tried to convey this as muh as possible.

 

 

Digipak

 

 

I have used all of the relative conventions of a professionally made digipak and poster, these include:

• Barcode
• Copyright infringements
• Artist Webpage
• Dates of year
• Label logos
• Tracklist
• Album title

I also made sure the design of the promotional products were to a standard, thus these include a colour scheme, house style and use of continuity.

 

 Creating the CD'S with chosen music labelIn order to create a professional looking CD for the inside of my Digipak, I carried out research into music labels. I wanted to create a realistic and professional digipak that could be sold in shops, that would also fit into my Indie genre. Thus I decided to create my CD's with the style of smashed mirrors, as not only does this show a new and creative design, but it also creates cohesion with the album cover of my digipak, and also the use of props in my music video with the cracked mirror. This brings all three of my products together and creates familarity for my artist with the audience.

I came up with the idea of my CD covers being an allusion for cracked mirrors by existing artist's CD artwork.

Kanye West - Yeezus

I was inspired by Kanye West's album 'Yeezus' artwork, as it creates the allusion of a clear CD case. Although Kanye does not fit into the 'Indie' genre, this artwork creates originality, and provides the image of a low-cost album, which would be associated with the indie genre.









I found this CD template on www.wizbit.com it was a huge help for me in the deisgn and construction process of creating the CDs for my digipak because I was unsure on how to create a CD prior to this task. After finding this disk during my research, I knew exactly the layout of one. However, once I had decided I wanted my CD to just be a plain design with no tetxt, I did not need to work into designing the pathways on the disk for copyright, as seen in the image on the right.




I am pleased with the final design of my disks, as they are simple which reflects the simplicity throughout my products, as well they create cohesion of not only the use of props in the music videol of smashing the mirror; but it also fits in to my colour scheme of black and white.
It is typical to have some brand names on album disks for copyright purposes, however, because I made the decision to not include these on the disks, I added them to my back album cover instead. These include:






I made the decision to place the logo's in the bottom right hand corner of the back cover of the album, so that they do not take away the attention of the main artist image and the tracklist. But also I have placed them alongside the barcode, which is conventional to be situated in the right hand corner.
Back Cover
Before I consturcted the back of my album cover , I researched existing designs of artist's albums and found inspiration from them. These include:

I was inspired by this back cover of Britney Spears as I liked the layout of it featuring a simple close up of the artist and how the tracklist was presented. I knew that I wanted to present my own tracklist in a similar format.

I also took insiration from the album back cover of Lana Del Rey. Firsrtly, I found it admirable as it features the same simple oclour scheme as mine, thus I knew if I portrayed a similar design mine could appear professional. In addition, the artwork also features a close up of the artist, which I have now found as a conventional feature for albums and made the decision to include this cinematograpy into my own deisgn. Moreover, the positioning of the tracklist was also what I had in mind and I would like to design mine in the same way.
Poster
After gaining feedback form my media teacher, I was recommeneded that the image I had created on the front cover of my album was very strong, and it would be a good idea to use the same image for my posterm, as this would create cohesion and recognisation.

I aimed to make my poster very conventional, thus I included copyright and promotional logo's which were also included on the back cover of my album.
I inserted my posters in several advertising locations to see how effective it appeared and to see if it would be eye-catching. This is a conventional proccess for posters to be advertised in public locations. I felt these images were appropraite as it shows globalisation and also creates realistic situations.



 

 

 

Evaluation Question Two: How effective is the combination of your mainproduct and ancillary text?

Music exists in many forms and has become not only the essence of auditory curiousity but something that has manipulated and influenced people in a visual sense. These musical traits when combined drives stereotypes to exist, indiffernent to society and its ways. Music affects what people like and how they look and act. Stereotypes are inescapable but neccessary for people if they choose to use them as a learning experience about the world around them. Tessa Perkins stereotypes theorist (1979) quoted one of her five identified assumptions that not all stereotypes are negative. I do not feel that the stereotype that I have conveyed to my audience of the Indie stereotype as a negative one. By creating a video with the theme of identity and suffering I feel I have succesffuly shown the stertype for indie consumers and it will relate to existing products and artists such as Lana Del Rey and Daughter - Youth.

I enjoyed working with a chosen soundtrack which I had created my own cover of, as it fitted more into my selected genre and benefited the artist and cohesion more. This gave me a chance to explore my media texts and create something unique to my genre.

In addition, I have created a digipak and a magazine to support the release of the music video. I attempted to create an effective and professional cohesive style across all of the products, such as using the same shared features, including font, colour scheme, cinematography and theme

Mise-en-scene
I have tried to create cohesion via mise-en-scene across all of my products for them to be effective. For example, I have carried the use of props over, such as the smashed mirror that takes place in my music video is also included in the digipak, by having the two CD covers as two shattered mirror effects. This also adds to the theme of identity, as mirrors are a classic symbol for identity, thus this carries on cohesion further.

(insert image of shattered poster)

In addition the main image I used for the promotion poster is also the image I have used for the digipak album cover. This links the two products together and provides continuity. Furthermore, the image that I manipulated in Photoshop to create the shattered effect, which resembles the shattering of the mirrors also. In addition, the use of cinematography effectively combines the products, as the images I have captured on the ancillary texts are all close ups, this reflects the many close up shots I have used throughout my music video. Moreover the appearance of my artist is cohesive as she is wearing the same hairstyle and no makeup across all three products. This gave the artist a distinct and consistent look, for audiences to consume.

Font and colour scheme
For the whole of my products I have used only one font which is 'basic courier' from dafont.com. This is to create the simple design and layout for my products and add to the cohesive style. In addition have kept the whole of the text black, as this adds to the colour scheme of black and white, which is also the theme throughout the music video.

I made the decision to add the colour red to my font and colour scheme of my promotional advert as not only does this create the poster to appear more eye-catching. In addition, the logo for Sony which is the music label for my artist is red, which features on the product, therefore by adding red to the design it creates more cohesion with the colour.

Genre
I decided to make my artist and music products fit into the genre of 'Indie' as this is the same as the original artist's Coldplay, who also fit into this genre. However, also following Coldplay, I made the decision for my artist to be signed to a major record label, as I am portraying her as an already well established artist who has a global fanbase, and after investigating into the advantages and disadvantages of each record label, I made the decision to sign my artist to Sony. Thus I feel all three of my products have conventions and appear to have conventions you would expect from the Indie genre in both independant and major labels. These include: the use of editing in post production, which are done to a major label standard, yet create a unique style which is expected of the indie genre.

The combination of my main product, ancillary text digipak and promotional poster in the reality could lead to cross form synergy or cross media convergence, This means different types of media coming together to create related merchandise for example.  My products have a running house style of black and white in all three products therefore you can tell as music package that they all fit together and come from the same album "Fix You". This house style then becomes a recognisable product and fans and audiophiles see them as a collectable of their favourite artists. I feel that all three of my products would work on the Indie market and also possibly the alternative market as they are sophisticated but still show the youth that I am portraying in the music video to represent my target audience; the texts would sell well in my opinion due to it having a very different approach on the genre.

Audience
I wanted to create a music video that would be suitable for any audience members to watch and relate, however due to the products that I created the main target audience would be the younger generation, around the ages of 16-28 years old. This is because my artist fits into that age category, thus the audience would find her and the products more relatable. In addition, I researched into what the Indie genre age group is, and the majority of people in that genre were around that age group. I think that my media texts have a strong ideology due to the content, appeal of consumers and the group source of the stereotype; Indie individuals.

 My target audience are in social group E so I would price my Digipak at £11.99 which is an affordable price for teens aged 16-28. I as a teen in this age category and demographic wouldn't probably buy an album for more than this price unless it was a special occasion or I got paid from a part time job because a lot of people in this category are students. Students have little money to live on after paying fees therefore I feel this price would be appropriate enough for this selected demographic. I would advertise my video and soundtrack on iTunes for £2.99 again an affordable price for the single choice on what they would like to view.

When I carried out my audience feedback survey, I asked the question 'Do you think my video reflects the song'? This was to see if a sense of cohesion was created amongst the product; and the feedback I received from audience members was wholly positive stating yes.

 

Theory

In order for the combination of my main product and ancillary texts to be effective, I inevitably adhered to certain media theory. This means my products links to aspects of narrative, representation, audience and genre theory.

 

Narrative Theory

 

Sven Carlsson (1999) stated that music videos fall into two rough categories: Performance clip and Conceptul clip. My main product features both performance and concept, with conventions from both. For example my video includes lip synching and my artist playing the piano; which Carlson highlights that performance based song include filmed song and instrumental performance. Conceptual clips can either be narrative or abstract based, and my video is an abstract style based on a very loose narrative of a girl suffering with herself. This matches carlsons theory, as my video has a 'visual story that's easy to follow'. 

 

Furthermore, Michael Shore (1984) believes music videos are recycled styles and 'surface without substance'. I feel that to a certain extent my product does relate to this, via mise-en-scene. Such as the use of props and locations used are very sterptypical for Indie music videos eg. mirrors are used in Daughter - Youth and forests are used for Snow Patrol - chasing cars. I also created the appearance and style of my artist to appear like other models in existing music videos, which includes to appear very natural with minimal makeup. This allows audiences to relate and identify with my product because they are an active audience and will recognise aspects of other media forms within my product and will appeal to my target audience. However my products aslo flout Shore's theory that 'music videos are decadent and adolescent male fantasies'. This is because I have conformed to the indie genre with no self-indulgence in my music video. This includes a simplistic style. In addition it flouts the 'male gaze theory' as I disagree with the idea that media texts should be created with the intention to appeal to men.

 

Andrew Goodwin (1992) states that in music videos 'narrative relations are highly complex' and as audiences, we respond to the same media texts in different ways depending on our own understanding of culture. This relates to my product in that it is set around a loose narrative/concept: a girl sturggling with her inner turmoil of emotions. In addition, my music video does not conform to the conventional linear narrative structure which is suggested in Todorov's equilibrium model, in which the narrative contains a beginning, a disruption, then a resolution.

 

Audience Theory

 

Bulmer and Katz's 'Uses and Gratifications' theory state products need to fulfil the audience's needs, including 'personal identity' which I have portrayed in my product. I have established this through the age of my artist, gender and her individual style. The character she portrays can either be relatable or someone audience's can sympathise with, reflected through my very loose narrative. 

 

The 'Reception Theory' by Stuart Hall argues that difference audiences decode texts in different ways: through  the dominant/preferred reading, the negotiated reading and the oppostiional reading. The dominant/preferred reading of my products would be for audiences to watch it, make their own interpretations, then relate to it and find all of my products appealing, which can lead them to buy the album. The negotiated reading could mean certain audiences only like certain aspects of my products, compared to the oppositional view which would mean the audience members do not find my products appealing and they would not purchase the album, perhaps because it is not targeted for them or they do not like the genre.

Representation Theory

My products actually flout  Laura Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' theory. I purposely avoided objectifying and sexualising women, due to disagreeing with the objectification of women in the media as it is unnecessary and belittling, and it would not have matched the indie genre of my products. In addition, as the only actor in the video and on the promotional packages is my only female artist, this creates a dominant image and that she does not need to rely on men. However, I have also conformed to this theory via cinematography. For example, I have used camera shots that feature the artist's naked body including her bare back and soldiers. In addition the artist appears bare on my some images of my digipak and on my advert. This can be seen appealing to men as women display themselves in provocative manners. However, I have not included any shots that display the artists breasts, bum etc thus I have only conformed to the theory to a certain extent.

 

I flouted Richard Dyer's 'Star theory' as I did not create my artist for financial gain. Lucy is in the music business purely to get the meanings of her songs out there and for creativity purposes. For example the use of lip synching is used in my video to focus on the lyrics and the meanings behind the words.The general sales of her products would not be the main issue if I was to publish the promotional package, my main aim was to create an original artist that specific audiences can consume and identify with, with a mutual passion for music, and I believe my products are effective in this way.

 

Genre Theory

Jason Mittell(2001) argues that genres are cultural categories that surpass the boundaries of media texts and operate within industry, audience, and cultural practices as well. In short, industries use genre to sell products to audiences. Media producers use familiar codes and conventions that very often make cultural references to their audience knowledge of society, other texts. Genre also allows audiences to make choices about what products they want to consume through acceptance in order to fulfil a particular pleasure. Through the link in genre between my ancillary texts an audience will be able to look at my ancillary texts and decide or not weather they are going to like my album or my music video or vise versa due to past interactions with that genre. Because the theory also states that Generic Characteristics across all texts share similar elements of the below depending on the medium for example typical Mise-en-scène/Visual style (iconography, props, set design, lighting, temporal and geographic location, costume, shot types, camera angles, special effects).

 

Evaluation Question Three: What have you learned from your audiencefeedback?

Through the use of web 2.0, I display my work on the program 'Blogger', not only does this provide me easy access to complete work on any computer; but it is also easily accessible for audience members to view my work and provides me with statistics on who is consuming my products.

As I have a number of friends and followers on these social media sites that fit into my target audience, publishing and promoting my products on here enable me to gain a lot of audience feedback.

After reviewing these statistics I have found that the majority of the audience are from the United Kingdom and view my blog through the computer programmes of Google Chrome and Internet explorer, using web 2.0 thus they are familiar with modern technology and suggests they are younger consumers, like my target audience.

 

I published my music video on a range of programmes as well as Blogger and YouTube, including social media such as Facebook, Twitter and via iMessage.

 

 

 

 

In adittion, I also wanted to gain feedback from fellow media students, who have more experience with media language and terminology and can provide me more of a professional opinion. Thus I carried out a focus group, asking them questions I previously planned, consisting of:

 

1. How old are you and what demographic do I fit into?

2. Do my products appeal to you, if so why?

3. Do you think all of my products are effective and conventional?

4. Would you watch the music video again?

5. Is there any improvements you would recommend?

 

 

 

From the information and feedback they provided me, I was able to get a good understanding on how effective my products are and took on board the improvements they suggested.

 

As I have a number of friends and followers on these social media sites that fit into my target audience, publishing and promoting my products on here enable me to gain a lot of audience feedback. As I had requested audience feedback from a range of different social media sites, this enables me to collect from a diverse range of audience members, who would listen to different music genre's and would have different preferences.

Therefore below is a collection of feedback I gathered from a range of interactional sites, as social media is casual communication.

 

 

As I have a number of friends and followers on these social media sites that fit into my target audience, publishing and promoting my products on here enable me to gain a lot of audience feedback. As I had requested audience feedback from a range of different social media sites, this enables me to collect from a diverse range of audience members, who would listen to different music genre's and would have different preferences.

Once I had carried out the improvements that were suggested, I wanted to carry out more questions in detail to gain a further understanding of the audience's opinions on my products. Therefore I decided to create an online survey, so that I could gain feedback from anonymous people, as this could lead their comments to be more honest. Therefore I created a survey on www.surveymonkey.com

The results show that my audience was equally mized genders, therefore this shows creates a unbiased audience average opinion and is also effective as my music video was targeted at both genders, thus suggests I was successful in suiting my video for both genders.

 

These results show me that all of the audience members fit into the youth category equally between 16-19 and 20-25. This is good as this was the exact age range I had targeted for my audience thus their responses will tell me if I have been successul in my products attracting them.

 

The response to this question was hugely positive, as 100% of the audience members thought that my music video reflected the songs, therefore my aim to create cohesion throughout my products was a success. Furthermore, as I had already carried out reasearch in products of the Indie genre, this shows I was successful in conveying the conventions expected from that genre.

 

The responses to this question was also positive as the majority of the replies thought my genre was 'Indie' which is the actual genre of my products. In addition, I have previously stated how their are some sub-genre elements of alternative rock, therefore because the audience have picked up on this, it shows that they are the right age category for my target audience, as they are familiar with these genres.

 

 

The majority of these repsonses were all really positive and on a whole implied my products appeared legitimate and professional, like existing products. Some of these conventions include: the use of originality, the use of lip synching and the creative and wide range of loactions. This gives me the impression I have been successful in my aim to create a professional appearing music video and promotional packages.

 

 

All of the feedback from this question was really positive as everyone said they enjoyed watching my music video and they would watch it again. This is useful as it shows I have targeted the right audience for my products and I have created them to a high standard.

 

 

The majority of responses stated that they thought no improvements needed to be made, and the small minority of people suggests minature improvements including more lip synching throughout the video to make it fluent and brighter lighting. This is feedback I will take on board to improve my video even further.