Final evaluations
For my Media A2, I decided to select, a promotional package for
the release of an album, including the production of a music video, with two
other potential products: A poster for the website and a cover for the release
of a digital which is the digipak. For the evaluation stage of the A2, I will
be addressing 4 main questions:
· 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, research, planning and evaluation stages?
This is mainly based on the statistic that I have picked out:
This graph shows teenage pregancy of england and wales of under 18 per 100,000 in 2009 which is the recent update of this theme we will be doin a music video from. The rate is always increasing meaning that some people choose to have babies but others have an abortion.
Through my research, I discovered that different genres of music
produce different styles of music video, and therefore the specific conventions
of the music video differ according to the style of the music. As the song I
chose fitted into the Rap/RnB genre, it was required to research the
conventions of this specific genre:
There is a large mixture of narrative and performance.
•
· There should
be a direct link between the performance and the narrative.
•
· The lyrics
are not directly followed, but instead are manipulated to create a story.
•
· There is a
relaxed feel to the performance (casual clothing/attitude)
•
· Main focus
of the performance shots of the singer.
•
· A variety of
shot types and angles are used (some close ups of the vocalist, some of the
MAIN CHARACTER, while there are also long distance shots of the settings) lots
of angled shots and very shaky shots of feeling of distress and anxiety
creating mood and suspense
•
· Making sure
the protagonist is seen at all times
•
· Arguments
and relationship agreements
•
· A moral in
the end but ours subverts this by having an ambiguous ending
•
· Sexual
scenes of women
•
· Breast and
male figure brought to attention
Firstly, I believe the video we produced included a variety of screen-time for performance and narrative. It included fades from the darkened setting of the music video, to the more vibrant appearance of London. We explored more on the lighting and to synchronise this with the narrative.as the song related to the fact that the girl got pregnant and they guy questioning this and reacting in a negative way the music itself was mainly all sadness. We also compared the original looked at the original J Cole lost one video and saw that there is all doom and gloom all the way to the ending of the video. We challenged this convention by making sure we had a date scene in the middle part of the music video. We thought hard on the scenery and were we would take the date scene. The first part of the doomy atmosphere was taken in the house and also out in the streets with the colours mainly dark grayish and a fade grey sky style to show it was a memory and reminiscing scenes and then the arguments being of a strict dark colours. Then we were shooting the date seen it was hard to find a really good day to do it as all the days It was either raining wet and the surrounding wasn’t appropriate for the scene because there was a lot of mud on the floor in the park.so we decided to wait longer to make our date scene look bright and chose a particular good sunny day to go out filming. We also managed to film things three or four times for perfection as the lip singing was off to synchronise it with the music. There was also an ambiguous ending to our music video, which was different and showed how; we challenge conventions by making the audiences choose what decision they should make. In addition to this, the key element was focusing on different locations that relates to our music video.
When creating the poster and digipak plus the full music video
there was an extensive research that we made before we decided on what we
should do. For example looking closely at drake and rick Ross and their
addition of the poster and other accessories following it made it clear that
they always had a main character glamorised in the poster and music video and
we followed this convention and incorporated it in our own work. In addition,
another convention that was followed was the inclusion of the release date of
the album, seen towards the bottom of the advert. This was included so that
consumers would be aware of when the product would be released.
When creating the digipak, again, research was conducted into
similar products. We investigated a wide range of music genres, from. We
followed some of the basic conventions, in that the back cover listed the song
titles, and the front cover listed the band and album title.
I would say that the target audience of our video are young adults, although college/university students would take a preferred reading as the majority would easily be able to relate to the alcohol influenced behaviour, partying and sexual scenes. These are the type of people we are targeting the most as outgoing and are adult teenagers who find themselves living the “wild life”. We know by our research this is mainly people who are living in the urban areas and have a social life of going out and enjoying themselves. However, the video is definitely more glamorous than an episode of Channel4’s Skins, therefore some sexual innuendos are masked, helping to attract a more widely aged audience. I learnt from my research that even female artists with a young fan base in this genre, e.g. Beyonce, allow themselves to be filmed in provocative ways. From the research I also learnt that many famous rapper that are male like to have women to sexualise them and represent them as pretty and sexy however we wanted to talk about more serious issues that are involved in the media but not explored because there is only some common relative videos that we found that can relate to pregnancy and losing a child. I also furthered my investigation by doing more research on Rick Ross and drake who are upcoming rich artist that are male who like to glorify them self’s and talk about money. The other rappers are old time rappers who look more closely at their own life’s and talk about these issues that face them every day and them being 2pac Shakur and Biggy.
My most significant role was actually being the main character
in the video, my colleague Abdiradi has done most of the editing and making
sure he went out and seen what type of shots we could take. I was also
responsible to do 4 takes in the bedroom scene in the beginning of the music
video. I was using the technique of zoom in and zoom out and seeing which one
suite the music video. The first one that I done wasn’t well crafted because it
cut off the top of my head. I learnt from my research that the camera
tends to linger on certain parts of the female body for example, legs, chest,
bum, eyes and also lips. The lips are the most sensual part of the body and on
screen if filmed the right way, can look incredibly sexual. I also had to do
the lip singing, which I found the hardest thing to do, and also trying to
establish a performance face on as well. Someone miming the lyrics in the video
would be off putting and look less professional as everyone regularly hears J
Cole iconic voice.
Having an ordinary girl singing the words and showing her
emotions it’s important because the lyrics is sang in present tense and thought
it was important to follow this particular conventions. The fact that we had a
male character which was me preforming and the girl retaliating to what I said,
shows the intense relationship that we had and having two different viewpoints
from different characters. The swear word expressed by the female character
shows her emotions expressed verbally by the use of the swearword “mother………”
We also knew that these swear words weren’t appropriate but because the girls
frustrations of him turning his back on her shows that its important to have
some bad things said. The close up and the distance when she shouts "you
aint shit nigga" shows that she’s shouting it out. Therefore, I
thought that using just the lips to mime parts of the lyrics looked much more
authentic and not showing the whole face. I made sure that
we researched different theories and the common theory we related to
our music video was Goldings theory which was important in following
because it helps the lyrics and music link together.
Firstly,
in the music video, while there appears to be a slightly relaxed feel, put
across by the clothing they are seen to be wearing, they are not as perhaps
relaxed as they may have been. There is still a professional side to their
appearance, which can show contrasts to real media products, there is also
a music from "Drake Worse Behaviour" which shows that they using a
range of clothing and there is a relaxed atmosphere. Although his voice becomes
passive and very loud in emphasising some key lyrics our music video took a
calm arithmetic tone in the whole music video as the seriousness of the
narrative was concluded from the tone from J Cole voice. By seeing Drake who
fits in the rap genre with loads of other artist in his music video and he includes
them in his joyful music shows that his trying to create a relax atmosphere and
fun involved. however our music video was much more serious following our
research more on the narrative there is a lot of sadness on the things that the
girl says and much a regret feeling on saying them because of frustration and
the time of the event. So we thought it would be best to just wear casual
clothes of jeans and instead of a shirt a jacket and a jumper.
Another
thing which we followed that is seen in all music videos that when the pace of
the music in the middle fasten is evidently down to the characters feeling the
need to say everything quick or relaxed to create a atmospheric vibe. we also
showed that the female character looked out of breath saying all that she
wanted to me (main character) to show her rage on what I have said to her based
on the lyrics. Therefore we used this technique to speed up the scenery and to
show the same type of emotions as seen in j Cole lost ones original video, as
we didn’t want to get rid of that feeling of anger from the female character.
Another
method in which my music video developed conventions of real media products, is
the use of the lead singer in the narrative. This helped create an emotional
link between the audience and the characters involved through the music video.
This is created through the initial sequence, the scene involving the mobile
phone being hold and her shouting on the phone is significant because it
shows her anger and the audience can identify immediately who shes talking
to.this is because we can see the main character from the start till that part
so the audience already understand what he has done therefore it was
particularly affective to do that scene in the middle of the music video so
that audience don’t get confused.
For
the poster, we included the restriction "parental advisory for
explicit" lyrics to warn this is only for adult teenagers and that there
is some language that could be inappropriate.This is crucial thing to put on
the music video because it shows straight away that who our target audience is
based on. Also me and Abdradi made up a Logo that was necessary for our
music video which was placed at the top right hand corner to show
professionalism and that the poster is from a company name.We also had just the
male character on the poster because me and colleague Abdiradi research more on
different posters.
In
the performance part of the production, as there is shots of a date scene
showing that there is also happiness in our music video. The reason we chose to
put the date scene Is to challenge the conventions of other music video that
are telling some serious situations or problems but to show that there isn't
just hardship on deciding a decisions theres also positives in it.
Another
convention we subvert was leaving the ending ambiguous with me hugging the girl
to let the targeted audience choose what to decide If they were in that
situation.whereas the j Cole lost one it was just of a blank image of hims
facing away from the events front of him and at the school nursery.this can be
seen at this stage of the video.
another
way we have challenged the conventions of the use of slow motions shots to show
that more of the action rather than just the story flowing all the way through.
In other music video of rap and RnB they tend to not use slow motions shots and
rather just show the action from the time.we thought also the slow motions
chose in the end when I putting my hand down and I'm too late to arrive shows
that I regret what I have done and the audience could sympathise with the main
character rather than criticise him all the way that he does understand what
his actions led to.
Finally
we also managed to use flashbacks particularly right in the beginning of
the video to show that all the good memories and me looking up the sky
remembering the good times.this is not evidently scene in many rap
RnB music videos as their main focus is on the lip singing and getting
straight to the story.we used this because we knew in our music video it has a
long intro and therefore we manipulated this intro by using it to show the good
memories and all the fun stuff we were doing.this was key to telling our story
throughout the music video as we wanted to show the opposite of being depressed
and sad.
When
examining how effective and clear the synergy is between the products, I
believe there is a strong connection between the poster advert and the Digipak,
as both contain images of the main character at the front cover and
front page. This would allow the products to stand out when released to
the public, and would allow for instant recognition of the male character as
the main character.
In
addition to this, the lyrics and the main song type is also shown so people
know what the music is about.
From
being shown in great quantities during the music video, to being present on the
poster advert and inside the inlay card of the CD. Having the main character
seen even in the inside layer of the CD is showing how important and
influential he Is in the music video.
Furthermore,
the font that was used across all the three products is very similar to one
another. The positives of this is that this, again with the previous points,
the font is stylish linking to the type of RnB genre that J Cole comes
around and his stylistic way. It involves a female point of view in the music
video we decided to use a stylish font for the poster to reflect this and to
make it stand out attracting teenage females. The main product being the music
video and the poster plus digipak had a direct link because of the use of main
character and colour scheme of black and grey with white added. There is also
the title being shown
However,
there is a slight aspect to which the combination between the main products and
the ancillaries is less clear and perhaps less strong.
For
example, the use of main character through the two ancillaries helps create an
identity. Although they are completely different , there is still a distinct
feel that they both come from the same background. However, with the exception
of the song title itself, there is no presence or mention of any form
of showing that the video is redirected to someone else as J Cole done the
video for the respect of his mate. The other thing we might and should have
added in the beginning of the music video we should have added the title of the
song and the end putting the accreditation's of the producer making it more
professional and easy to identify. This was a major downfall for our music
video because it just started with the performance making it harder for our
target audience to know the title of the music video.
What Have I Learnt From The Audience Feedback?
•
The “happy sunny scene was excellently
acted”
•
The initial shot of the pond scene and
showing the establishing shot of the area “unconventional but works very
well”.
•
The slower scenes and the pace of the
music very good
•
The “perfomance from the actors were
realistic and performed amazingly”
•
Near the ending the “reversed scene was
understandable”
•
The angles that are used throughout the
performance are “very varied and creative”.
•
The cutting and setting really good
•
Black and White colour nicely used
Teenagers 16-19
•
The casting “for both performance and
narrative are very strong”.
•
The lighting used is “exceptional”
for the date scene
•
The contrast between the “dark colours
used in the beginning and the locations of the date scenery was well placed”
•
Story being “authantic and believable”
•
The “lipsining was tight and
synchronised with the song” plus the slow motion used was effective
•
The music video “flows very nicely” as a
piece.
•
“The isolation's of the main character
in the beginning was very good editing”
•
“Very good start and controversial to
the ending”
•
The "duck scene and them swimming really
beautifully crafted"
•
The "fast pace going walking around
really well edited"
The Negatives Of The Music Video:
Adults and teachers
•
Some “rapping out of sychnronize”
•
Could have used the tripod for sharp
focus shots
•
Making sure the beat matched performance
•
The pace of shots could be quicker at
some parts.
•
Little bit repetitive
Teenagers
16-19
- • · More “actions happening”
- • · More “slow motions could be used”
- • · Hard to “identify the ending”
- • · “More serious faces used”
•
·
very good “dark” affect well used
•
·
the “setting and the background of the wall good”
•
·
stands out by using “black and white”
•
·
the placing of the “main character in the middle a good place”
•
·
image “large and effective”
•
·
the “pose” is very good
•
·
the font style is very effective
•
·
nice layout
•
·
nothing seems cramped and out of place
•
·
well cropped and is very professional looking
•
·
can see the main character
•
·
not complicating
Adults feedback
•
The “black In the poster is too dark”
•
Could have shown the “face of the
character better”
•
“More colours used”
•
Could place the “logo elsewere”
Teenagers feedback
•
·
more “bright colours could be used”
•
·
a “slogan” maybe
•
·
“More facial expression”
•
·
“Clear face could be shown”
Firstly,
in order to decide which song would be the basis of the whole three products,
we had to do extensive research into various music genres. In doing
this, mp3 players were used to listen to various music tracks (e.g. Akon
Lonely and Ja Rule). Computers were also used to research similar music artists
to the one’s that we had on the mp3 players (using websites such as Last.Fm).
Computers
were also the main technology used when researching into album covers and
poster that had been produced. Additional research into digipaks was undertaken
by the group looking at existing CDs which were owned.
The
others is shown from our research and our blogger from different Rap artist
such as Rick Ross and Drake and also we had to look more on what their
CD covers were in order to understand more of the common conventions used.
During
the construction and evaluation stages of the production, there were a vast
different forms of technology used to create the music video, the poster advert
and the CD digipak.
During
the construction of the music video we used
•
Camera - To film the
music video.
•
I Movie Maker - To edit the
raw footage I had filmed.
•
Audacity (Digital Audio
Editor) - To upload the mp3 file to CS3.
During
the construction of the poster advert…
•
Iphone 4s - To take a
picture of main character.
•
Adobe Photoshop CS4 - To
produce the poster.
•
Google- research more
on different posters
•
Online Logo Maker- to
create our own logo
Using Facebook,Twitter
and Instagram to
post our posters and music video. These social network helped us get constructive
feedback and helped us with the ancillary text . It allows us to
improve on our work by comments on people we know and get feedback from
different age groups.With the
digipak we had a member in our group research and do it and I was doing the
poster as we feel it was needed to give a fair chance of main music video and
the ancillary done by all of us as a group. Using youtube is important because youtube helps has to upload the video.
The end……
During my evaluation stage I used and research how to tackle these questions so I could know how to answer each question. In doing this it enabled me to know how to structure my evaluation and comment on different aspect of my music video and the anicliary task. The evaluation has helped me make some major changes to our development of our music video. Overall I feel the whole project that we worked on was a success however our timing was slightly of the board but we recovered well as a group as we lost a member due to illness. My performance in this whole project was done professionally and I acknowledge the support given by my colleagues who encouraged me to re-film some parts that I felt were necessary to put on but they saw otherwise. It was a great experience as there was lots of disagreement for example, when coming to the editing stages some of the parts were not relevant but others disagreed to this statement however there was a great togetherness that pushed us to the end and having dedicated roles for each group member made it easier to combine the research with our final result of the music video digipak and the poster.
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