Media evaluation 1 (1) (1)

Jennifer Griffin

Media Evaluation

1. In what ways does your media products

use, develop or challenge forms of real

media products?

Conventions of a music video Conventions of an album cover Conventions of a magazine advertisement Conventions of the genre

- How my products fit the conventions- Which were followed/broken- Effectiveness

Conventions

Conventions of music video

StylePerformanceThe music video followed the conventions of style as it had a main artist and other characters putting on a ‘show’ and telling a story which has a message to it. It is not exactly an abstract video and it does follow a pattern, but it is a lot of short clips mixed together in a quick and energetic way. The video includes costume changes, lighting changes and props which are common features of a music video.NarrativeThere is a linear narrative to the story in the video as it goes in chronological order and shows the stages of the party and the emotions felt throughout. The narrative goes from beginning to middle to end and does not jump between times so it is simple and easy to follow.

CameraThere are several different types of camera angles and movements included in the video such as panning the room and high and low angled shots. This creates different effects and gives the audience a chance to take in the location and the roles and importance of different characters. It also expresses the characters feelings within throughout the story. This follows the typical conventions of a music video and makes the video more interesting to watch.

EditingThere was a lot of editing used to create my final video. This made everything fit in to place

and run smoothly, making my video look professional. I cut scenes out, cropped scenes, added colour, changed the speed and used transitions in my music video. This ensured that

all of the scenes followed on from each other in a smooth, timely fashion and that the scenes moved in time to the beat.

SoundI used non-diegetic sound in my music video as the track was added in after the video was filmed. This follows the typical conventions of a music video as artists usually record the sound in a studio and then place it over the video when it is being edited.

Mise-en-sceneIncluded in my video are many features of mise-en-scene.Lighting was used by adding in party/disco lights in the scenes that were necessary and using different types of added light (such as lamps, natural lighting) in the scenes where there need to be things highlighted. The flashing lights made a difference to the video as it made it seem more realistic and establishes the location.The costumes used in the video also make the video seem more realistic as they suit the scenes and the location. The location is a party location so the girls are scene wearing dresses and heels with hair and make up done and the boys are dressed nicely. Hair and make up is used throughout the video to show the stages of the effects of alcohol and drugs and is effective as the further on the video goes, the more of a state the characters look, emphasising the message. Props such as alcohol bottles and pills were used throughout my video to illustrate the narrative and help to tell the story. This also created the entertainment factor and made the video more interesting to watch. I feel I used these props in a fun and imaginative way to make the video intriguing. Colour was used to portray emotions and give the vibe to the video. Green was used for the first half of the video to show that the scenes were part of a party as green is a main colour when it comes to strobe lights and flashing party lights. I then used black and white for the second half of the video to show the transition of emotion and express the depression and dark feelings.

Overall comment on how I used conventions in my music video

I feel that the performance, narrative, camera use, editing and sound all went well throughout my video and complimented each other to create the feel and vibe that I wanted the video to be. There are several ways I could have improved when using Mise-en-scene. In some scenes the lighting was not as good as it could have been, making the story unclear and look slightly unprofessional. I also could have used a more interesting variety of props, as there were many of the same type of prop and not as much difference as there could have been. As well as this, the dominant colour in the first half could have been changed to one with better connotations such as red, which is thought of as a dangerous and powerful colour.

Conventions of a CD cover

FrontColour schemeA simplistic colour scheme is a convention of an album colour which I feel like I stuck to with the basic black and white with red to make it pop. I think this colour scheme was effective as it not only linked to the video and magazine advertisement but it had it’s own unique appeal and the colours worked well together, drawing the eye to the image and the theme of the video.Simplistic designA cover which has too much going on will draw the viewer away from what is necessary and the message/theme will not come across as easily. My design is simple – with one basic image and only the name of the artist and album distracting from the focus. This is effective as it makes the main image stand out and look bold and the cover looks more professional as it doesn’t look cluttered.TitleAs this is my artists first album, the name of the song, ‘stay high’, is being used as the name of the album. I have done this as it is meant to be a popular song and can be recognised by the audience before the artist builds up more of a reputation and fan base. I also thought the name of the song fit in with the images and style I wanted to use. The name of the artist and album are in a clear, bold font that is also interesting and stands out. I liked this font and felt that it really fit the theme of my cover and magazine advertisement. I wanted to use the same fonts for both the advertisement and the CD and this one suited the style of both. I used this font for the name of the artist and the album as I thought it stood out enough to make a big enough impact on its own and any other font would not have suited it.

Main imageFor the main image I used the same girl that is featured in the video, wearing one of the dresses wore in the video. I used make up to create a tear running down her face and decided on messy hair and appearance to show the message of the video and song. I turned the image black and white and made the red stand out to create a powerful image and make it stand out and draw in attention. The image uses direct address which makes it feel more personal to the viewer as it makes it feel like she is looking at them.

Parental warning stickerAs some of the songs may contain strong language or have messages unsuitable for children, I have placed a parental warning sticker in plain view so that parents can make the decision of whether their children can listen to it.

BackTrack numbers and namesTrack numbers and names are used on my album in the order that they are on the album. They are written clearly, in the same colour scheme used on the front of the album cover. The font used is the same font that is on the magazine advertisement, so it suits the theme that the ancillary products have and they fit together. Colour and themeThe black, white and red colour scheme has been carried on the reverse of the CD cover and is used to make the names of the songs stand out. This theme fits with the genre and vibe of the song, video and advertisement. Band logoI created a unique, simple band logo to use on my album and magazine advertisement. This is a signature logo that audiences can recognise and relate to my band. I have used this on the back cover of my album and made it clear to see.Production detailsOn the reverse of my album cover, I have put the record company logo and the website of the artists, where the fans can find further information on the artists and details about their products. As this is less important as everything else on the back of the CD, I have made them small so they do not attract attention away from the focus. BarcodeThere is a barcode on the back of my album to so that the album can be sold in shops. This is an important feature.Background imageThe image of smoke has been carried on from the front of the album cover and it has also been used on the advertisement to create continuity and make it look professional and recognisable. This image suits the theme and the colour scheme of the video and advertisement and is a good image.

The spineThe spine has to have the artists name and the albums name so that it can be seen on shelves. I have also included the record company name and the serial number of the CD to make it seem realistic.

Overall comment on how I used conventions when creating my album coverI did not challenge the conventions of CD covers when creating my album as I wanted it to be as realistic as possible and I felt all of the conventions were important. I ensured that all of the conventions were followed well and tried my best to make my album stand out and look good. I think my album cover is effective and looks bold and powerful. As well as this it fits the theme and relates to the music video and the message it has.I could improve by adding more to the reverse of the cover, a main image could have been used and I should have added some more production details to make it look more realistic.

Conventions of a magazine advertisement Artists nameThe name of the artist is clearly displayed on the magazine advertisement in a nice, bold font that suits the theme and style of the video and ancillary products. This is one of the main focuses on the page to ensure that the viewer knows who the artist of the album is and who the advertisement is promoting. The font is the same font used on the CD cover to resemble it and make it recognisable. Name of song/albumThe name of the album is also clearly displayed on the page in the same clear, bold font that is used for the name of the artist. This is because the advertisement is trying to sell this album and it is important that the viewer knows what is being sold and what to look for in shops. This font is again the font used on the CD cover. As well as this, the song that the music video is for is written on the left hand side a long with another song that was released. This is written in a bright red font, fitting the colour scheme and also making these details stand out so that it will appeal to fans of the song. ImageThe image used for the advertisement is the same image used on the album cover so that the audience can recognise the album in shops. The background image is also the same to resemble to the album cover. This also promotes the artist and draws attention to the advertisement as it is a bold, eye catching image with a bright, powerful colour to make it stand out. The connotations of the red colour is danger and power, which makes the image interesting. The image also suits the theme of the video and represents the message as the girl featured has a tear running down her face and clearly looks distressed. Direct address is used to make it feel more personal to the viewer as it feels like the artist is looking directly at them.

Release dateThe release date is clearly displayed in a bright font to ensure that the public know when it is available to buy in shops. Record label logoThe DIM MAK record label logo is placed in the bottom left hand corner of the advertisement so that it is not a main focus but still clear to see as this can attract fans of the labels other artists and people who think they are a respectable record label. It also gives an indication as to what type of music is featured on the album.

Overall comment on how I used conventions when creating my magazine advertisementI think I followed the conventions of a magazine advertisement quite well and that the advertisement is bold, eye catching and promoted the artist well which is the function of an advertisement. I also think the style of this advertisement will make people want to listen to the music as it is interesting and well presented.However, I feel that the advertisement could have been improved by adding in where the album was available to buy and what shops to look out for it in.

Genre conventions of trap music and its productsTrap music is similar to hip/hop, dubstep, grime and R&B. It has an edgy style and a very unique fan base. It is still a fairly small genre compared to the more popular ones out there but the grunge vibe is enjoyed by many people. Typical trap music songs do not have music videos as it is not a big enough genre to sell a lot of albums and attract enough viewers so it would not be worth hiring someone to create a video. However I wanted to challenge this and create a video that could be enjoyed by trap music fans. I didn’t have many influences to work from but I feel like I worked well with the genre and produced something that suited the style of trap music. Products that are based around trap music usually use edgy fonts or graffiti, rebellious styles and themes. This inspired me to make my products edgy and make them stand out. They also rarely include real images, made up, bright, images and graphics are more popular. I also wanted to challenge this and make my cover more interesting and unique while promoting the artist.

Music video influences Album cover influences Magazine advertisement

influences

- Why/how they inspired me- How they helped with my

product- What I kept/changed

Influences and inspirations

Music video influencesEd Sheeran – A teamThis music video had a black and white theme which I loved, and decided I wanted to use in my own project. I felt like this colour scheme expressed a lot of emotion and had the effect I wanted in my video. As well as this, the story line was about the negativity of drugs so I felt like I could gain a lot from this video and it gave me a lot of inspiration. It taught me how to represent drugs in a negative way and what types of styles to use.

Calvin Harris – Blame, Sigma – Nobody to love, Swedish House Mafia – Don’t you worry childI decided to look at these videos as I did not want lip syncing in my video, I just wanted to tell a story using the actions and props. All of these videos include minimal lip syncing and I learnt from this how to pull it off in my own video.

Tove-Lo – HabitsThis is the video to the original ‘stay high’ song. I really loved how this video portrayed the message of the song and I wanted to imitate the style of it myself. It clearly showed the negativity after the original positivity and from this I had the idea to make the first half of my video positive, and the second half negative and to show the transition.

Album cover influencesTove-Lo was my main inspiration for the album cover as she was the original artist and I felt she expressed the message of the song very well. Her edgy/grunge style suits the trap music genre and I liked the rough image she created.

This cover had a different background to the image and I really wanted to do something similar, so this is what I did with my inside cover. I used the smoke theme but I also used an image of lips and smoke inside it and I felt like this looked effective and interesting. This cover had a very edgy style and the image was in black and white with the name of the song in a really bright colour. I really liked the way this looked and it made me want to create the same type of look on my cover.

This image was also very edgy and grunge and suited the style of my video very well. I liked how you could visibly see she was upset and distressed and that helps show the message and theme of the video.

Magazine advertisement influences

Before creating my magazine advertisement, I did a lot of research into music magazine advertisements that already existed and the styles and themes they used.

I gained a lot of inspiration from the Rihanna magazine advertisement when it came to colour scheme. I already had a black and white colour scheme for the video and I thought the red stood out and worked well with this. I also liked the blocks of text used in this advertisement and tried to create something similar, but with a more interesting look.

As well as Rihanna, I gained inspiration from Jessie J’s advertisement. Even though it is a very different genre of music to mine, I liked the layout of the advertisement. As my image didn’t look as good A4 size as it did smaller, I decided to use a black bar across the bottom like Jessie J did to display details and the logos. I felt this worked well and like the way it made my magazine look.

I also liked the layout of the Nelly advertisement and tried to make mine look similar. I gained inspiration from this and placed my main image on the right hand side and had writing framed around it to fill in the negative space and so that the writing could be read clearly. I also liked how similar the advertisement and album cover were.

Target audience Blogger Other media platforms

- Typical traits- Aims/focuses- How I used them

Target audience and

media platform

The age group that I have been aiming to attract is late teens/early twenties as this is the age range that is more into trap music and aware of the genre into trap. This is also the category I fall in to so I felt I could work with this age range well and be able to make my products to suit this audience.The people that listen to trap music are usually also into grime and rap music and sometimes hip-hop as this is the kind of music that is mixed into trap music and is the most similar. Trap music gigs are always very loud and lively and played in fairly small venues with close crowds. The vibe of these gigs/concerts is buzzing and everyone has a lot of fun.Therefore, I knew what type of song I needed to work with to create the lively vibe that would be able to played at trap music events. I needed a song with a good, fast beat that had different speeds and rhythms throughout.

BloggerI used blogger to display my work and present my ancillary products. This is because I felt this was a modern way to present work and would be easy and simple to use. During my time on blogger, I got many views from all different areas of the world, this shows how effective blogger is as it can be viewed by

anyone and attracts all kinds of people.

YouTubeI used YouTube to present my music video as many young people use this website to view music videos. Music channels are becoming outdated and YouTube is becoming more and more popular when it comes to music. YouTube can show how many people have viewed the video and also let viewers comment and express their thoughts on the video.

2. How effective is the combination of your

main product and ancillary texts?

Synergy is used throughout the music video and ancillary products. The different products combined have a greater effect than each individual product and this is because of continuity throughout

Design/layoutThe ancillary products are extremely similar as they use the same images and the style of layout. This follows the regular conventions of a magazine advertisement and CD cover as it should be recognisable for marketing, which I believe my products are. Theme/mise-en-sceneThe message is followed through from the video to the ancillary products as the construction of representation has stayed the same. It clearly shows that the message of the video is negative as the girl is featured crying which shows her being upset/depressed. Also has the smoke as a background as the video features many smoke tricks and is a main theme in the story. As well as this, the same female character is used in the video and on the CD and advertisement and the same item of clothing that is worn in part of the video is used for the image. I think this is important as it stops the advertisement becoming abstract and is relatable to the main product making it identifiable to the audience. Colour schemeThe second half of the music video has a separate colour scheme to the first half, to show the transition of emotions. Black and white is a very simple and effective way of representing depression. The black and white colour scheme has been continued on to the CD and the advertisement however the colour red has been added in as it is bright and powerful which attracts attention and makes the advertisement stand out and look fierce. I thought red would be a good colour as it has connotations of danger and power, which is how the alcohol and drug abuse is meant to be depicted. This colour scheme effectively represents the dark nature of the video and gives a good first impression of the album.

Personal commentI like the way my products all link together and think the continuity of the pieces is effective and that makes it successful in being recognisable to the audience. I feel they all went well together and that the ancillary products complimented the main product, portraying the message in a negative way, just like the story is meant to be represented. The ancillary products have an edgy feel to them, which is how I wanted it to look and I think it is all effective on the whole. However, some improvements I would make towards the combination of the main product and ancillary products is the main colour. Instead of green, I would have used red as it is a more easily transferrable colour and it can be used in more ways, with more effective connotations.

TheoriesThe reception theory is important to my project as own personal experiences can effect the way someone views and interprets the message of the video. The audience can have a certain amount of agreement on what the message is and how it is portrayed by the actions of the characters in the video. Uses and gratifications also links to my products as it can offer an emotional release to the viewers and gives a way to divert from real life situations. The video could reinforce the viewers personal values about alcohol and drugs and the respect they have for their bodies. The hypodermic needle theory can also be connected to my project as it could be reinforcing stereotypes and the way certain groups of people are judged. Young people are usually thought to be reckless and are the group of people in society that are usually associated with getting drunk and using drugs as it follows the whole stereotype that young people go through the process of destroying the body before they grow up and mature.

My video focuses on binary oppositions and the good and the bad side of alcohol/drugs. It uses the good and the bad side contrasted together to give a stronger impact on the audience. The video begins with everyone happy and having fun but then the mood changed to reveal the negative side and everyone in a distraught state. This shows that instead of making you happy and helping to avoid/solve your problems, it actually does the opposite.As well as this it used dominant ideologies to show that the common views in society are shared by others and stands by the stereotype and representation of teenagers and their behaviour.

3. What have you learnt from your

audience feedback?

Before I created my products I carried out research to see what the audience wanted to see in a product like mine and to get to know my target audience . On the following slides are my questions and answers. I used SurveyMonkey to create my survey. From this I learnt how to create my product and the type of people I am aiming to please.

I also carried out a question and answer session with a friend of mine who is a trap music artist as I thought this would give me very specific ideas and feedback as to what I need to improve on. Read the interview here.

Previous audience research

To get feedback on my final products, I showed several people that are part of my target audience to get real opinions. The questions and answers follow on the next slide. As well as this, I again got feedback from my trap music artist friend, Dan Rigby.

Feedback on final products

"Do you think the video fits with the trap music genre?"- It's a lot like Tove-Lo's orignal video, I like that it has it's own twist and I do think it fits with the genre.- In a lot of ways it does but it also looks like an r&b style, which is similar to trap anyway.- It fits with the song, which is trap, but it's unusual to see a video to a trap music video.

"Do the ancillary products look effective and eye catching? And do they suit the video?"- They do pop out and look good. I like how similar they are to each other and yes I think they suit the video.- Yes they look effective and you can tell they are advertising the video - they look good.- I really like them. The bright red really stands out and they look professional and original and really suit the theme of the video.

"What improvements do you think could be made to any of the products?"- I think the green colour scheme looked a bit odd, but it looked like party lights so it wasn't too bad.- The CD cover looks quite plain and some parts of the video doesn't look as professional as others.- I did like everything, maybe some parts of the video could have a better quality.

Comment from trap music artist - Dan Rigby"Wow I'm impressed! It really suits the genre and it's unusual to see a video like it. The poster and CD cover look very professional and they do a really good job promoting the video. If anything I'd say the colour scheme in the first part of the video is strange, but it does look like a party so it's done well. I like how bold the ancillary products are and the timing of the video is great. Well done."

4. How did you use media technologies in

the construction and research, planning and

evaluation stages?

Resources and equipmentResearch and PlanningBlogger was where I kept all of my research and planning documented. This was laid out in a way that was simple and easy to follow, showing the date it was posted, with a title to show what each post was about. This was a simple website to use and I feel that a blog was a very modern, up to date way to present coursework. My blog was the place where I expressed my thoughts about the project and told my plans for the upcoming process. Survey Monkey was another website that I used during the research stage of my project. I used this website to gather audience research and ideas about how to go forward with my products. This helped me incorporate other people’s ideas and thoughts into my project and establish and ideal target audience and what I need to do to attract and entice them. The internet and google images also helped with research and planning as I could look up inspirations as well as obtaining important information about the codes and conventions. This was vital for my project as it helped me gather resources to put together a final vision for my project.

ConstructionDigital cameras were used to film the scenes for the video, as well as take the images for the CD cover and magazine advertisement. Computer technologies helped with the process of storing the film and images. Blogger was also used during this stage to upload work on to my blog and display the final products. YouTube was also used to upload the video and share with an audience which helped me gain insight into how they felt about it and if it was effective and successful. This made the video be able to be seen by my target audience and allowed them to express their views in the comment section.

ProgrammesResearch and PlanningDuring this stage, I used Paint.net to create mock ups of my ancillary products and get the hang of using the software for the actual products. This allowed me to create visions of what I wanted my work to look like as well as being able to incorporate different images and texts into the mocks to see which worked best. This also allowed me to give myself a realistic view of what my products would be able to look like.

ConstructionTo create my main product I used a programme called MoviePlus which allowed me to easily cut and edit scenes as well as add effects and transitions to make the video run smoothly and look professional. This was an easy programme to use and get the hang of as it had a simple layout and had all of the features needed to create a music video, clearly displaying the audio track, the effects and the video clips separately. All of the individual video clips could be uploaded to one space and edited before being placed onto the timeline of the video, which made getting timings right and the vision of the scene a lot simpler to carry out. This programme allowed for all necessary and intended changes to be made to the raw footage including things such as colour changes.I had never used this programme before but felt very comfortable using it which shows my progression from AS as I am now a lot more confident to try new software and develop my skills as a media student.

To create my ancillary products I used two main programmes – Paint.net and PagePlus. Both of these programmes were useful and were used for different tasks. Paint.net was used to edit the main image and remove the background so it could be placed on top of the image of smoke. I also used an online photo editor called Phixr to change the colour of the main image, turning it black and white but maintaining the colour red. As well as editing the main image, I created the band logo on Paint.net using the different shapes and text tools to make a logo that was unique to the band. PagePlus was used to put all of the images and text together to make the actual products and to export them. I had used both of the main programmes during AS media to construct my product but I had gained confidence in using them and used a lot more of the features of PagePlus than I had previously, such as the transparency tool. At the A2 stage I was also more confident in combining different programmes and software to achieve the end goal and product.

EvaluationDuring the evaluation stage, I used a multimedia approach to sum up my feelings about the project and how effective it was overall. Hyperlinks are used throughout the evaluation, to allow the reader to explore further into my explanations and view the pages for themselves as well as providing evidence for the examiner. Originally, the evaluation was created using PowerPoint so everything was displayed clearly. This was previously used for AS media, so I feel the form of evaluation has improved since then and my progression is shown throughout. This PowerPoint includes a more multimedia approach and looks more professional and interesting. Then I used Slideshare to be make it easier and more presentable when uploaded to my blog and so that all of the links and clips work effectively.The evaluation was uploaded onto blogger, so that it could be displayed and viewed.