Evaluation Script

Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In our media product we used several different music video conventions from real media products. In our research and planning we researched into the different types of music genres and what conventions are normally seen in music videos to see what makes the music video more effective. I looked into the conventions used in music video such as lighting, mise-en-scene, camera shots and camera movements that were most commonly seen in music videos.

I looked at the conventions used in different genre music videos such as Indie pop, folk, pop hip hop and rap. From watching some music videos on YouTube we got some ideas, which we used to help develop our music video. The first music video was ‘Dear Darlin’ by Olly Murrs we got the idea of using flash backs to explain the narrative part of our music video.

The second music video we got inspiration from was by Ariana Grande’s ‘The Way’ video. In the video Ariana is singing in front of the projector this is where we got the idea to use the projector when Luke is performing in the studio. The projection in our music video that is showed behind Luke whilst he is singing is the footage we filmed of our actors Luke (who plays the artists Ed Sheeran) and Dani (who is his girlfriend) having an argument and breaking up. We used the projection to show what is going on in his mind and how he is feeling. 

After looking at different music videos we decided to make a music video for Ed Sheeran’s song ‘Give Me Love’ that is in the indie pop genre. We then went on to looking into Ed Sheeran’s music videos and what conventions are usually seen in his videos.

After doing research into Ed Sheeran’s music videos, we choice two different locations for our music video to be set in. The locations we choice for our music video is the drama studio for the performance feature in our video and Portishead Marina for where the narrative part of our video took place. We were originally going to use Bristol Harbourside but afterwards decided to film down Portishead Marina as it is easier for me and Kate and all the actors to get to.

It was important that we included the performance in the music video so that the audience can connect with the artist. Also because ‘fans’ of the artist might ‘fancy’ the artist therefore it might make them want to watch the music video more because they get to see the artist performing. On the other hand it is also important that we included a narrative aspect to our music video as well as the performance because the audience enjoy watching a story behind the song.

We then looked at different camera shots that are used as a convention in indie music videos. We mainly used mid shots and close up shots of Luke in the studio singing the lyrics and playing the guitar to show the performance element of the music video. We also used these shots in our film because they are the most typically used shots that are used in indie music videos. In our media product we also developed the idea of the commonly used establishing shot that we used at the beginning of the narrative to address the audience of the new location being used in the video. This leads to the audience to question the story line and make them intrigued to know what the song is about.

In our media product we also used a common lighting convention used in music videos. We used a spotlight on Luke whilst he was performing in the drama studio to make sure that the audience are focused on Luke’s performance.

Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

For my coursework we had to design and produce two main ancillary tasks. The two main ancillary tasks were to produce a digi-pak and album advert to go with our main piece of course work, which was to create our own music video to the song ‘Give Me Love’ by Ed Sheeran. For the digi-pak ancillary task we had to design and create a front cover of the album to go with the song ‘Give Me Love’, a page for where the disk in the cd will go and a back cover with a list of the songs that are included in the digi-pak.

As we used Luke in the music video as the artist we decided to use images of him in the digi-pak as well, as we found that in most real life digi-paks the artists is commonly featured in the digi-pak. We then researched into previous digi-paks for Ed Sheeran and we found that Ed Sheeran didn’t tend to feature on the front cover of his digi-paks. We decided to go against this convention and featured Luke on the front cover of the digi-pak. The colour scheme that we used throughout was black, white and orange. We chose these colours because they stand out and they suit the style of the artist. We also used the same font throughout the digi-pak and album advert.

We also decided to use the same logo throughout our digi-pak as Ed Sheeran uses in his products but we changed the colour of the ‘paw print’ logo to match the colour scheme that we used in our digi-pak and album advert. When creating the digi-pak front cover I wanted to use an image that was appropriate to the style of the music genre but also to the artist. The artist Ed Sheeran always plays an acoustic guitar so we decided to use an image of Luke sitting down holding the guitar as if he is about to play it.  We decided to keep to album cover simple but effective. We did this by keeping the picture of Luke holding the guitar as the main focus of the cover by putting the picture of Luke on a black background. The artist name is written at the top of the album cover, in a big font above the image of Luke in the colour white because it stands out from the black background and it is consistent to the colour scheme. Underneath the artists name I put name of the album ‘plus’ in white but made it bigger and bolder so that it stands out to the audience.

I decided to contrast the back cover of the album with the front cover by using the same colours that we used in the front cover which were black and white. The track list is in the middle of the back cover in white. We added the logo of the paw print at the bottom next to the track list. On the bottom right we added the barcode and in the bottom left we put the asylum logo and underneath it put the copyright agreements.  We didn’t add a picture to the back cover as we wanted to keep it simple like the front cover of the album because Ed Sheeran’s real albums tend to be simple.  

We made our poster after we made the digi-pak as I wanted to make them similar so that the audience would associate them with each other. We used another image of Luke with the same black background as we used in the digi-pak. The only difference between the poster and digi-pak is that in the image of the poster, it is just of Luke ‘posing’ rather than holding the guitar. We choose to do this because it attracts the audience more as it focuses more on the artist. We also decided to use the same font and same colour as we used in the digi-pak. However, we did the artists name in orange instead of white so that it stood out more so that the audience can easily recognise the artist. We decided to also include the name of the album, the paw print logo and what singles is on the album. To help promote the artist even more I have included Ed Sheeran’s website and his record label, this may influence the audience to research the artist.

When it came to making our music video we wanted to make sure that we used a range of different shots to add variation to the video. This is because music videos are mainly made up of different short shots. By adding a variety of different shots to our music video especially in the narrative part of the music video, we used mainly mid shots and close up to show the artists emotions.We also wanted to include both a narrative and performance section so the audience would have two main parts of the video to focus on. To make it more interesting we used a variety of different locations. The performance part was filmed in a studio and the narrative part was filmed at Portishead marina. It also made it easier for the audience to recognise between the narrative and performance sections of the video.

The combination of our main products and ancillary tasks link together effectively but they also give a variety of images for the audience to look at. Another way in which our products link is by the use of the fonts and colour schemes the genre of music is clear to the audience. Not only does it make the genre clear but it clearly shows that both products are consistent with each other which makes it easier for the target audience to identify that they are both advertising Ed Sheeran. 

Question 3: What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Throughout making our main product and ancillary tasks we used audience feedback. The feedback we received from our friends, family and teachers helped us develop and improve our own ideas on both our main product and ancillary tasks. 

At the beginning whilst carrying out our primary research we created a questionnaire to get some feedback from our target audience about music videos in general. I asked 20 people to fill out the questionnaire that I created. I asked them questions such as what was their favourite music genre and how often they watch music videos. I also asked them what they used to watch music video for example YouTube or music channels to find out how our target audience would view our music video.

After the questionnaire and we had decided what song we were doing, we thought it would be a good idea to do a questionnaire about Ed Sheeran. I interviewed three different people who are a fan of Ed and listen to Ed Sheeran’s music. I asked them six different open and closed questions about what their favourite song was by Ed Sheeran and what they expected to see in a music video by him. I did this to get some sort of an idea of what conventions the target audience expected to see in an Ed Sheeran music video and what conventions we could include in our own music video that we created.

After completing our main product me and my partner decided to show our music video to a group of people all within our target audience. We then asked them to give us feedback on what they thought was good about our music video and what they thought we could improve on. Here are some examples of positive feedback we got:

•          The lip-syncing was perfectly in time with the lyrics
•          I like how the music video has both a narrative and performance section it makes the video more interesting

Here are some example of negative feedback we got:

•       The performance part of the video could have been more original in the sense that most music videos have the artist perform in a studio
•          The lighting was inconsistent

Overall I am generally pleased with the feedback that we received as the majority of the feedback was mostly positive. The few negative comments we did receive I think were due to things that we had no control over such as the inconsistent lighting comment.

From using audience feedback throughout making my main product and ancillary tasks I have learnt that audience research is such an important part of the production process, as without it we wouldn’t know if our product was attracting our target audience or not expected to see in the music video then the video that we made wouldn’t have been up to the audience’s standards.

Question 4: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Whilst doing our planning and research I got most my inspiration from websites on the Internet. We used a variety of different programmes such as Google, You tube, Facebook, iTunes, blogger, iMovie Microsoft word and twitter.

YouTube played the most important role in the research and development stage. It allowed us to watch different genres of music and decide what music genre we were going to use for our music video.  It also allowed us to gain ideas and analyse the different conventions seen in a music video. Once we choose what genre we wanted to use for our music video we watched different videos in the same genre to get an idea of what conventions we would include in our own video that are seen in a music video of the same genre.

When we decided what artist and song we were going to do we watched Ed Sheeran’s music videos to see what our audience would expect to see in a music video of a song by Ed Sheeran and to get some inspiration for our own music video.

Google also played a significant role in the research for our music video. I used Google to search for photos of Ed Sheeran to get some ideas for costume and his style, the lyrics of the song so that we could plan what each shot would be according to the lyrics and also so that our actor Luke could memorise the lyrics. I also used Google to look at images of previous digi-paks to help us create our own digi-pak design.

We used blogger a lot to write up our coursework throughout the research and stage. Blogger was useful as it was easy to use and helped us to keep track of our progress. Blogger enabled us to post pictures and videos to show where we were getting our inspiration and ideas from. We also used blogger to show the planning stage by uploading our storyboard, which we created to show what each shot was going to look like and in what order they are going to be put together. We also uploaded our shooting schedule onto blogger so that we know what day and time we are filming, what actors we need, the location, what equipment we needed and what shots we needed to film. In the construction stage we used blogger to write up our progress after filming shoots or any problems we were having with filming or editing.

Microsoft word was useful during the research stage. I used Microsoft word to create my questionnaires and print out to give to our audience to complete. I then used Microsoft word to convert the feedback I received to put into graphs, bar charts and pie charts.

My phone helped me during the planning stage as it was a good way for organising everything and meeting up with my partner Kate. It also helped us make plans on when was the best time was for us to film according to when we were all free, considering we all had commitments outside of school which made it difficult for us to all be available on the same day.

In the construction stage we used the iMac to operate the various software that we used to edit the footage and ancillary tasks. We also used a camera to film our music video. Along with the camera we used a tripod to hold our camera still and in place in order to get the right shots. We then imported the footage onto an iMac and edited it on iMovie. On iMovie we choose what footage we wanted to include in our music video and what we didn’t want to include. We also had to match the footage of Luke lip syncing to the lyrics in the song; which needed to be accurate.