Evaluation.

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

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Here is my Youtube Video, annotated with comments that I received after showing my Video to a focus group. Below is a Prezi Presentation analysing some of my Audience Feedback.

Audience Feedback on Prezi

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

Ancillary Texts on Prezi

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

USE:

Focus On Instruments: 

Screenshot from Amy Winehouse- Rehab.

I took inspiration from the video for Rehab by Amy Winehouse. I focused on the emphasis of the use of instruments, and the shots I produced featured close up views of the artist playing a guitar. I thought that Amy Winehouse would be a good existing artist to take inspiration from, as although not in the same genre as my artist, she has a constructed image to make her appear independent and creative. I feel these shots worked particularly well as they show the skill of the artist as a musician, which would be appreciated by the members of her audience who are interested in the technical side of the music.

Performance Aspect: 

Screenshot from Gabriella Cilmi- Sweet About Me. 

The performance aspect was a large part of my video, and is a huge convention in the indie genre. I observed this convention in many videos, including this one by Gabriella Cilmi. I felt that the performance aspect worked well in my video, as it emphasized the talent and authenticity of the artist performing. The target audience of my video would notice and be appreciative of the fact my artist performed and played the guitar, and sang on screen, as they look out for the musical talent and unique creativity in artists of this genre. 

DEVELOP:

Abstract Narrative:

Screenshot from Paolo Nutini- New Shoes. 

In this video by Paolo Nutini, I observed the use of a more literal narrative, which explained and acted out the lyrics. I decided to develop this convention, reading into a deeper meaning in the lyrics of my song, as there was not an obvious storyline that came to mind when simply reading the lyrics. I felt that this more abstract narrative worked particularly well in my case, as it invited the audience member watching to become more active and read between the lines to develop their interpretation of the narrative in their mind. 

Image:

Screenshot from Duffy- Mercy. 

The image I constructed for my artist was directly inspired by that of Duffy in the video for Mercy, as well as others. I took the ideas of her vintage inspired dress, long, blonde styled hair and high heeled shoes to create a vintage inspired and timeless look. By using this as the image for my artist, it has helped to create a look that directly links to female artists of the indie and acoustic genres, making it obvious to the audience where our artist fits in terms of music style. This retro, 1960’s era, inspired look also reflects the individuality of the artist and her music, which appeals to the audience. The styles of this era are popular with modern musicians as it was a time when music in Britain was at its prime and popular culture was taking off, with bands such as The Beatles, and influences from the fashion industry including models like Twiggy. You can compare these models, and stresses, specifically those such as Brigitte Bardot, with the style of Duffy, and similarities in their appearance and styling become obvious. The intertextual reference I used in the narrative was the artist's Blondie Tshirt. This gave a reference to the audience as what inspired the look, creativity and music of the artist. I think that this worked particularly well as it gave the active audience another artist to look to for inspiration for their own look.

 Dyer’s star theory suggests that an artist’s image is constructed for the purpose of audience appeal, in this case, Duffy’s image in created to appeal to the older generation who would remember when that sort of styling was popular first time round, as well as a younger generation who take interest in their parent’s background and inspiration from vintage fashions and music. By creating my artist’s image in this way,I have made her appeal to a wider audience, as her image is put into a context that would make her seem more individual and creative.

CHALLENGE:

Black & White: 

Screenshot from Taylor Swift- Love Story. 

I decided to challenge the convention of having the entire video in colour, due to filming and budget restrictions. In this video, I observed the constant muted colour scheme throughout, that was able to be constructed due to the large budget allocated for the location and filming of the production. By desaturating my narrative footage in Final Cut Express, I was able to worry less about the colours in my filming, as they were not noticable after editing. I felt that this worked particularly well however, as it also helped to maintain the 'timeless' feel and was inkeeping with a vintage look, as it created an intertextual reference to classic cinema, and Hollywood, where starlet such as Marilyn Monroe were famous, who created huge style inspiration for the likes of Blondie, who later went on to inspire my artists style choices. 

 Use of Male/Female Stereotypes: 

Screenshot from One Night Only- Say You Don't Want It. 

To create the image of an independent woman, I challenged the convention of using Male and Female stereotypes. In the video above, I observed the fact that the female character appears passive, as she follows the male lead around, making him appear in control. This challenges the idea of Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze, that the female is purely there for the purpose of the male audience members to voyeur. I did this by including no Male characters in my video, emphasizing the individuality of the artist and making her appear that she does not need a man in her life. The lyrics also agree with this idea, and are emphasized by the fact that she is the only character in the video. I think that this is a positive message to portray to the audience members, as it gives inspiration to the young female members to be themselves and proves that they can be a strong, independent woman without a male influence. 

Final Video

Here is my final video, now on Youtube. 

Final Magazine Advert,

This is my final print Advert for my Digipack. I used the gradient effect on Adobe Photoshop to create the background, which is similar to what I used when creating the Digipack, maintaining a consistent image across my Ancillary Texts. I also did this by using the same font, colour scheme, and included an image from inside the Digipack, as well as the Front Cover, which would make it recognisable in a store to someone who had seen the advert. I included the quote at the bottom, as these are often used in advertisements for Music products, and chose NME as it is a hugely popular Indie and Alternative Music Magazine which would be recognised by the target audience. I also featured the iTunes and Amazon logos at the bottom as these are 2 popular Music buying services that customers would probably already have signed up to, making it appear easy for them to get this product. Overall I think that this advert is effective for my product and maintains a continuous image across my entire production.

Play.com Advert.

This is an advertisement, for Play.com as well as for the CD being advertised. I think that when I make my Magazine Advert, I need to take into account the distribution of my product, and how my target customers will buy it.

Cee Lo Green- The Lady Killer Magazine Advert.

This is the print advert for 'The Lady Killer' by Cee Lo Green. 

I really like the contrasting colour scheme between the background and the font as the colours reflect those in the image. Although my images from my Digipack are not similar colours to these, I think this shows how important it is to have an interesting colour scheme, and how it can look very effective. I also like the layout of this as the artist is the main focus, but the eye naturally progresses on to looking at the information below. I like the gradient effect at the bottom of the page, and think I should use this as inspiration for my Magazine advert as I used a gradient effect in my Digipack. 

Oasis- 'Masterplan' Advert.

This is a Digipack print advert for "The Master Plan" by Oasis. The overall effect of the advert is fairly simple, with plain fonted text and 1 image. The main focus is the name of the band and the image, suggesting the more important parts of the advert. The colour scheme reflects the image, with black and white, the flash of red emphasizes the name of the Digipack, so it would stick in the viewers mind to make them think about buying it. The small amount of advertising at the bottom informs the viewer where exactly they can buy the product, making it easy to access. I think that an advert like this, with a touch more creative flair would be appropriate for my artist.

Final Digipack.

I used various images of Ellena, my artist, and Adobe Photoshop to create my final Digipack, taking inspiration from Duffy's 'Rockferry' album for the Front Cover, and Katy Perry's 'Teenage Dream' Album for the inside pages.

                                     Front Cover                      Spine                      Back Cover

 Inside Pages: 

I used Duffy as inspiration for the outside covers of my Digipack. I really like the black and white colour scheme as it links well to my video, and paired with the font, creates a classic & timeless look. 

For the inside pages, I looked to Katy Perry for inspiration, creating a more edgy look, but still with a vintage, timeless look. I think that these pages would also appeal to the target audience for my artist, as the images look like photos for a high end fashion magazine, which would be popular with the young females in the audience. 

KT Tunstall- Eye to the Telescope Digipack.

This is the Front Cover for 'Eye to the Telescope' by KT Tunstall. I like this more creative and collaged-stlye effect on the front cover, as it makes the artist appear more creative and individual. I think that the image of the artist could be stronger, as she almost gets lost within the other busy elements overlapping around her. I think the muted colour scheme works very well, and creates a vintage look, and the use of the red, yellow & green being emphasized creates an intertextual reference to the Reggae Genre, and artists such as Bob Marley, who is a strong influence on many modern artists. This reference would be picked up on by audience members, and the musical knowledge of the artist herself would be appreciated.  

Katy Perry- Teenage Dream Digipack.

Here are some images from the 'Teenage Dream' Digipack, by Katy Perry. Inside, there are little words and fonts, allowing for the images to speak for themselves. I think that this is an effective digipack for this particular artist, as she is well established and is portrayed as an independent woman, and this would be good inspiration for my artist. I think that the more posed, fashion style shots look good on the inside of the digipack, and think I am going to use this idea when I make my own. 

Adele- Make You Feel My Love Digipack.

Front Cover for Adele's 'Make You Feel My Love' Digipack. This is similar to the cover for Rockferry by Duffy, due to the strong emphasis of the artist in the image. However, the colour scheme here is more interesting, and despite not being in black and white, still has a vintage and timeless feel as the colours used are fairly muted. I think that the title of the album also links to the overall look of the album, as the word 'you' and the way she is looking directly into the camera, allows for a strong message to be portrayed directly to the viewer. 

Duffy- Rockferry Digipack.

This is the front cover for the 'Rockferry' Album by Duffy. I think that this style of digipack would work particularly well for my artist, as she has a similar look to Duffy. The black and white colour scheme would also link to the black and white narrative in my music video, and the vintage, timeless look would also adhere to a major Indie convention. I also like the fact that the artist is the main focus of the image, but if you look closer into the background, you see the aspect of the train, which could symbolise a journey, moving on and independence which would also relate well to my artist, I think that this would be a good look to inspire my digipack when I produce it. 

Amy Winehouse- Back To Black Digipack

This is the front cover of the Back To Black Album, by Amy Winehouse. The overall look is very simple and understated, with no images, just text. The font is an intertextual reference to the Jazz music genre, from which her music borrows conventions. I think that this type of front cover would not be as appropriate for my artist, because the Indie genre is more about the look and style of the artist, and I think I could capture this more successfully by using images. 

Filming Done.

I have now completed the filming for my music video, and can begin the editing process. During the planned filming, I was concerned that I may not have enough raw footage to edit the video together successfully, so I filmed a set of footage of my artist, wandering through some trees, I think that this could look effective in my video alongside the main narrative and the performance aspect, as it adheres to the 'low budget look' convention of the Indie genre.