Note to Examiner

In the post below, you will find the final edit of my group's production work; a music video for the song "Sorry" by Nothing But Thieves.

Under the labels "Digipak Production" and "Magazine Advert Production", you will be able to final the ancillary tasks I have created in relation to the music video, as part of a package of promotional material for the song we have chosen.

The remainder of my posts are also organised into labels via the sidebar, for ease of navigation of my blog.

I have enjoyed every aspect of the process that contributed to creating our music video, and our final product is something that I am very proud of. I believe that my skills in all areas - research, production and evaluation - have improved considerably over the course of my studies. However, having started my A Level studies with very little production experience, I feel as though my skills in this area have advanced most, especially in terms of cinematography and editing.

Final Edit of Our Music Video

Here is the final edit of our music video:

I am extremely pleased with the completed version of our music video, and I believe the quality is demonstrative of all the hard work that was carried out by the group. Despite experiencing problems and set-backs throughout our production process, I think that our final product highlights that we were able to combat the issues we faced effectively. Our ability to work efficiently and creatively as a team is evidenced by this piece, via the range of cinematography and editing techniques that are included.

Evaluation Question 4

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

In addition to the technologies specified in the presentation above, we also used other media technologies during the construction process of our music video.

iPads: At the very beginning of the year, our school had just invested in some iPads and iPad tripods. Due to the very poor quality of our school cameras, we decided that we would attempt to use an iPad to film our music video. On the first day of filming, we took the iPad and used this as our method of recording. However, on reflection of the footage, we realised that the shots were not very good quality. We could see that in shots that were not brightly lit (very little of our music video was planned to be filmed in bright locations), the footage appeared grainy. This diminished the professional feel of our video, and therefore, we wanted to find another method to film.

Mobile Phones: After trialling the iPad for filming, and realising the it did not allow for good quality footage, we decided that we would attempt to film on our mobile phones. We carried out a direct comparison between the footage of the iPad and the footage of the mobile phone, and we could see that the mobile phone footage was much clearer. We then made the decision to film the rest  of our music video on our mobile phones, as we did not have access to a DSLR camera, or similar. We found this to be a convenient use of equipment as we always carry our mobile phones, which meant that we did not have to worry about picking up extra filming equipment. The only problem we encountered using mobile phones was that when filming constantly, the batteries begin to run low very quickly. To combat this problem, we made sure to always carry a charger for our devices, and to carry a portable charging bank, too. 

Evaluation Question 3

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Throughout the process of this project, we have received audience feedback in many areas; our storyboards, our edits and our ancillary tasks. Audience feedback is vital in the creative process, as it allows you to develop the final product to be more suited to want the audience want, hence making your project better and more appealing.

Media Showcase Evening...

The Media Studies department held a 'Media Showcase Evening' on the 15th of March, in which they invited friends and family of students along to show them the work that the students have been producing throughout the year. We took the opportunity of having our piece showcased in this event to obtain some audience feedback for the final draft of our product.

The showcase not only provided us an opportunity to show our music video, but we also got the opportunity to show our ancillary tasks. In the picture below, you can see some of the red boards that we used to display our digipaks and magazine adverts.

As people were viewing my ancillary products, I took the opportunity to ask them some questions to gain some audience feedback on the final draft of my digipak and magazine advert.

1. "It is evident that you have good skills in using Photoshop, as the pieces you have created could be mistaken for professional pieces"
2. "The consistency of images, typography and colour throughout your creations demonstrate that they are all part of a promotional package for the same thing"
3. "The selection of images you have used is particularly effective. I like that you have used a frame from the opening shot of the music video on both the digipak and the magazine advert. I think this establishes continuity throughout the pieces, making them recognisable"

It is evident to me from the feedback that I received that my products are successful in their purpose to promote the song, in conjunction with the music video. I liked that people were able to draw on the consistency of the imagery that I have used throughout the tasks, as this suggests that the promotional package I have created for the song is recognisable. The feedback I received also made note of the Photoshop skills I had had to employ to create the products, which suggests that I carried this out well. From this feedback, I believe that overall, my ancillary tasks are successful in their purpose. 

After all of the pieces had been shown, we asked members of the audience if they would be willing to answer some questions for our group, so that we could gain audience feedback. I produced a video of of the answers we received in relation to the four questions that we asked the individual:

After reviewing the footage of the feedback we received on our music video, we were able to draw these conclusions:

• The audience thought that our song choice, and the narrative we chose, fitted together well. They thought that the lyrics of the song helped contribute and tell the narrative, and that the narrative of the video helped to shape the meaning of the lyrics.
• The audience enjoyed that our narrative focused around LGBT relationships, as they thought that our video provided important representation of a community who still face prejudice in today's society. The transition between black and white and coloured shots was effective in demonstrating how the mood of the piece changes, reflective of how the protagonist feels. 
• The audience were not able to easily identify if Hannah and Jade's characters actually got into a relationship at the end of the video. There was confusion as to whether the sequence demonstrated a really good friendship, or whether it showed that their relationship had moved on from platonic to romantic. This lack of understanding highlights that we were not quite entirely successful in portraying the narrative of our piece. The audience suggested that in order to make the relationship more clear, the final sequence of footage should have included shots in which the characters were seen to be more intimate, as this would have made the relationship explicitly obvious.
• The audience perceived our target audience to be broader than we had identified, though they did identify our target audience within their estimates. At the beginning of the project, we specified that our target audience would people age 16-20 of both genders. The feedback we received in the video does successfully identify that our target audience was predominantly younger generations. We had not thought about specifying our target audience in terms of sexuality, though our audience said that the piece would be suitable for viewing by both straight and LGBT individuals. The audience thought that the message we portray in our video is important to be seen by everyone, as diversity in our society should be encouraged. It was raised that the theme of same sex relationships in our music video makes the piece important to show younger generations, to encourage people to embrace who they are from early on in their lives. 

That night, there were awards up for grabs, that were voted for by the audience. We were awarded 'Best Cinematography' as we received the most votes for this category. This form of feedback shows us that the audience thought that our music video was the most visually and aesthetically pleasing, and that the camera handling/work was the best out of the other productions that were showcased that evening. 

This is the award we received for 'Best Cinematography'

Audience feedback throughout the project...

Throughout the course of the project we received feedback that was vital to the development of our products; our music video, the digipaks we created and the magazine adverts we created.

For us to gain this feedback, we reached out to the Media Department staff, as well as individuals of both genders aged 16 to 20. It was imperative that we gained feedback from individuals in our target audience, as they could tell us exactly what they liked and disliked about the piece. They made suggestions for improvements based on these things, and we also brainstormed ideas based on their likes and dislikes about the piece. These were particularly important as we needed to know what we could do to enhance the viewing experience of the target audience, to make them really engage with and enjoy the piece.

Here is a table outlining some of the audience feedback we received on different pieces throughout the project, and what we did in response to those comments:

Evaluation Question 2

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

When creating my music video, digipak and magazine advert, I was aware that their purpose was to act as promotional material to promote the artist and the song. This meant that the products should be recognisable as promotional material for the same product, by incorporating similar images, themes and colours. Below are the three media texts that I created:

My video:

This music video was created by my group, of which we all had an input on the ideas and the final outcome.

My digipak 9with demonstration of functionality):

The digipak was created by myself individually, which means that all ideas incorporated are that of my own. 

My magazine advert (with demonstration of functionality):

The magazine advert was created by myself as an individual, which means that all ideas incorporated are that of my own. 

How effective is the combination of the pieces?

Throughout these pieces, I made sure to include imagery that was consistent across the three media texts. 

The opening shot of the music video is a canted long shot of Hannah walking towards the sea. It is the first thing that people see when they watch the music video, and seeing it immediately means that it is the most recognisable shot within the video. I chose to use this shot on the front cover of my digipak and on my magazine advert, too. Using the same image across all 3 media texts meant that they were all recognisable as promotion for the same song. To people seeing them, they can visually tell that the promotional material is linked. The consistency of image and colour use across the music video, digipak and magazine advert gives a sleek appearance to the package, and therefore, it gives it a professional feel. The predominantly blue, white and black colours I have used across the three pieces reflect the protagonists loneliness, but they simultaneously create quite a calming effect. The image I chose also left ample room for me to include text over it, without the text and typography being disturbed by the subject of the image. 

Official typography:

The use of typography in creating recognisable branding of an artist is vitally important. I chose to use a font very similar to that used in the official promotional material for this song. I chose to do this as the font they have used is obviously suitable for promoting the alternative genre of music. Therefore, I decided to use a style similar, to ensure that the typography of my piece would also be suitable for the genre of music. Additionally, when deciding on the font, I had to make sure that it gave a nice overall effect on the piece. When choosing the colour of the texts in the titles of the music video, I had to make sure that it was easily readable on the background of which it was placed.

As I added the titles to the the music video via a video editing app, the font I used was not available for me to use on my other media texts. I searched through the fonts available of Photoshop, which was the platform I used to create my ancillary tasks. Therefore, I had to search through the fonts to find the one that was most similar to the one I had used in the music video. I eventually found one that I thought would be suitable, and as is demonstrated in the grid, the fonts are very similar. Much like in the official promotion material, I made sure to make sure that my text was all in capital letters.

A difference between the typography of the ancillary tasks, and that of the music video, is that I included a line between the name of the artist and the name of the album on the ancillary tasks. When creating the titles for the music video, we did not have the option to add in a line between the names with the editing app that we used. However, I do not think it would have fitted particularly well even if we had had the ability to include it. I chose to use a line between the artist name and the album name on the ancillary tasks, as I believe that this helped you to visually separate the text. It made it stand out more, as encouraged you to read the names separately, making it easier to take in the information. I thought this was particularly useful for marketing purposes.

The combination of my ancillary tasks can be seen visually on my magazine advert. It features an image of the front cover of my digipak, which would be the front cover of the album. Through including this, it not only conforms to conventions of magazine adverts, but it also demonstrates the effective synergy across these two tasks. It is evident that the use of the same image is effective, but also, it demonstrates that there is an effective and slick colour scheme used throughout the two pieces.

In the music video, we introduce colour after the turning point in the video, in which equilibrium is established again; following the final step of Todorov's narrative theory of equilibrium, disequilibrium, to have equilibrium re-established. This is a key element in the video, as our focus on bright and colourful lights act as a reflection of the focus of the video being the LGBT+ community, and the theme relating to sexuality. I thought it was necessary to include images from this section on my digipak, to make sure that the digipak represents the two sides of the video. Subsequently, including the bright and colourful images, alongside the more melancholy coloured shots, highlights the two different emotional states of the protagonist within the video. This combination of the music video and digipak is effective, as if someone was to watch the music video first, then buy the album, they would understand the story that it is telling. Alternatively, if someone were to buy the digipak first, before watching the music video, it would intrigue them to want to watch the video. They would want to find out more about the stark difference in colour, which would draw them to seek to watch the music video, which would create more viewings, and therefore, more marketing, too.

When conducting research into the codes and conventions of album covers/digipaks and magazine adverts, I found that it was common for them to include relevant social media or web links in relation to the artist. Due to this, I decided that it was necessary for me to include them in my ancillary tasks, to make sure they conformed to conventions appropriately. As demonstrated in the table above, I made sure that the web address I included was the same in each, as in official products, this would be necessary. I chose not to include social media links, and only the web URL on the digipak, as I felt that the back panel would become too cluttered if I were to add other social media information. Additionally, the customer would be able to access the social media platforms of the artist via their website. I chose to include the social media handles on the magazine advert, however, due to the nature of the advert. If an individual is reading a magazine, it is likely that at that moment they have time to go onto their phone and visit the chosen social media platform they wish, at the very moment they are reading it.

Evaluation Question 1

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

Here is a video that the other three members of my group filmed in which they discuss the ways that our music video uses, develops and challenges forms and conventions of real media products:

Unfortunately, I was unable to make this meeting with my group, as I had other commitments with another one of my A Level subjects. However, in response to this video, I have created this PowerPoint that I have uploaded onto SlideShare which details my views on how the media product we created uses, develops or challenges conventions of real media:

Evaluation Question 1 from Jasmine Greene

Goodwin's Theories: Our Video

After carrying out research into Andrew Goodwin's theories at the beginning of this process, we kept them in mind throughout the completion of our music video. We thought that it would be valuable to reflect on the ways that our video does/does not conform to Goodwin's theories post the completion of the final draft of our video. Unfortunately, Caitlin was unable to attend on this day to contribute to the discussion. 

In our music video, we used Goodwin's concepts of illustration and amplification, and we did not touch upon the concept of disjuncture.

After filming this video, I realised that we had only touched upon one area of Goodwin's theory; whether the lyrics of the song matched the visuals of our music video. We had, in fact, not discussed genre conventions, the visuals matching the music, star representation and voyeurism/'the notion of looking'.

Genre conventions: I believe our video conformed to Goodwin's theory of genre conventions partly, as there are many indie/alternative music videos that are narrative music videos. An example of this is the music video for "If They Only Knew" by Alfie Arcuri:

However, we did not include lip syncing in our video, which are common features in music videos of the indie genre. We decided that we did not want to include lip syncing, as we wanted to focus more heavily on the narrative of our piece. Due to us tackling the topical issue of LGBT+ relationships in our narrative, we wanted the video to solely focus on this, to highlight its importance. We felt that including lip syncing would be including it when it was not necessary, and we felt as though it would not add any value to our video.

Visuals matching the music: I believe our video did conform to this element of Goodwin's theory, as I believe that the visuals of our music video did match the music. Particularly towards the end of the piece, beginning most prominently during the argument scene, the shots in our music video are fitting to the chosen song. In the argument scene, Hannah intentionally lined up the footage where her arms rise, to coincide with the lyric "maybe". Additionally, in the montage of the shots of Jade and Hannah, it was closely edited to make sure that the shots transitioned on the beat of the song. We also managed to subtly line up movements of the characters heads and eyes to comply with the beat/rhythm of the song. We focused more on this in the second half of the video, as it helped with the build up of the narrative, as it added more of an impact to the section due to it being more pleasing to the senses of the viewer.

Star representation: We did not conform to Goodwin's theory of star representation, as we did not have a celebrity/well-known individual in our music video. It was not featured in our video in any way; not through costume, movements or appearances.

Voyeurism/'The notion of looking": I do not believe our music video includes any voyeuristic treatment/objectification of women, so it does not conform to this aspect. Voyeurism would have had no contribution to the narrative of our video, and therefore, it was unnecessary for us to use this. Additionally, as it was a piece created for school, we did not feel voyeuristic features would be appropriate. 

However, our piece does conform to "the notion of looking", as we include multiple shots of Hannah looking at herself in the mirror. The mirrors, and filming the protagonists in them, are representative of the notion of looking.