Evaluation - Bradley Norris

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

This is a link to the first part of my answer to this question:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohzBC4a7fU8

In terms of lighting within music videos I feel that it is essential to create effective lighting within the performance aspects. The main purpose of the lighting we used, was to give a more interesting look to the band. The Arctic Monkeys have created this effect evidently and this is the look we were aiming for. In my opinion we added a more "live band" feeling with the use of the red lighting, but it would have looked more professional if the lighting was more dominant.

By using several mid shots on band members throughout our music video, we have managed to make the video look more like it belongs to the indie rock genre. This is evident as in our research the Kaiser Chiefs, Arctic Monkeys and The Killers have all included several mid-shots in their music videos. These shots allow the audience to see the detail in the roles of each band member and how they perform. Moreover this draws viewers into the instrumental parts of the songs as the focus is moved to the individual instruments. For example when there is a mid-shot on the bassist, instinctively you would expect the audience to centre their attention to the sound of the bass in the song.

In addition the close ups we have used on the lead singer make the music video more direct and involving. For example the people watching the music video are likely to fall under our target audience; our target audience according to the research we carried out in our questionnaire said that they would expect to see several close ups on the lead singer as he is the most important band member. This is due to the fact that our particular target audience will listen and decode the lyrics, whereas someone who listens to pop music might pay more attention to the melody of the song. Therefore knowing this, the band will have chosen specific lyrics for a meaning, so by adding in these shots it emphasises the meaning of the lyrics.

The idea for having one main character in our narrative also developed through the feedback that we received in our questionnaire. Relating to the theory of synaesthesia, one of our participants explained that when they listened to the song they imagined a person running. We felt it was important to use and develop on our feedback. Although there isn’t much narrative in our song we took advantage of this. Because it is a fast paced song, we wanted to keep the video parallel with the pace of the song. We experimented with longer narrative shots but felt that when compared to the performance shots they didn’t appear as effective. However the narrative sequences do fit nicely with the lyrics and this is due to the fact that when we storyboarded our music video, we purposely came up with a narrative that would match a fast paced song and conjoined with the lyrics.

What's more, when asked in our questionnaire what costumes they would expect to see in our music video, our target audience gave the same answers. They clarified that although the lyrics may be meaningful, characters in the narrative are likely to be in a story that isn’t deep and meaningful; therefore there it would be best to stick to clothes similar to those of the actual target audience. Consequently we kept the costumes of the band members the same because we wanted to portray the band as cheeky and hedonistic, this has become part of their star image.

However, we have also managed to stray from conventions of real indie rock music videos. For example during our production we experimented using a long crabbing shot with the whole band performing in it. Although music videos such as Arctic Monkeys “I bet that you look good on the dance floor”, contain several camera movements, we felt our music video would be improved if ours didn’t.

In addition our digipak and magazine advert consist mainly of Lucida Calligraphy font. This is quite a feminine font, and usually indie rock bands stick to neutral fonts such as the font I researched from the “The Killers’” digipak. 

However our digipak and magazine advert contain the same font and the picture on the front of the digipak is used in the magazine advert. This is conventional of bands and artists - to keep their fonts consistent.  For example Eminem uses the same font for all his albums and his magazine adverts. By doing this it is keeping the band’s style consistent emphasising their unique image.

In the “The killers” digipak I analysed it contained separate images of each band member. As they are an indie rock band we felt it was necessary to include images of our own band members in ours. Therefore we decided to stick to this convention. Their digipak also included a website and various information about the producers. This isn’t stereotypical of indie rock artists but it is universally used in most digipaks. Subsequently we included these details in our own.

We analysed a Florence and the machine magazine advert, and on it, it included the artist’s name, the artist website and where it is available. We decided to stick to these conventions, as the details are crucial and they sell the band and will therefore attract and appeal to the target audience. However the magazine adverts we looked at didn’t include a quote about the album, they only mentioned details such as ticket prices and how to buy them. We felt it would be beneficial to adapt this selling point convention by adding a quote about the album, as this gives the audience comforting evidence that the album is good before they have bought it. In turn persuading them more to buy the album. In addition the Florence and the machine album had a black background. We thought this looked eye catching and appealing, therefore we chose black for our own background.

In our research we found that there were universal conventions included in Digipaks. Some of the examples we followed were having the title of the band on and the name of the album on the front pane. Also an image of the band inside the digipak. On the back pane we included track listing,  a bar code and a band website.  Inside of the digipak we have a circular section where the disc sits. All of the above are crucial to help sell the digipak. Not only do they make the album look more professional and appealing, but they also make the digipak look like a real product. My group wanted to make the digipak look real, therefore we included these conventions.

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

This is a link to my video where I have answered this question.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZJ00t3mrCQ

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

These are screenshots of the audience feedback that my group received via Facebook.

This is a link to a video containing a section of my audience feedback.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcgUpAgldaY

After receiving the feed Back halfway through the production my group made some changes to our music video. As the lip syncing was out of time we re filmed the clips that needed changing and we changed the positioning of the other clips on the timeline. We added in a caption at the end of the music video providing the name of the band and the name of the song. Furthermore We improved the lighting my changing the settings to make it more consistent with the rest of the video and we made the red lights more influential. Additionally We re filmed the first drumming clip so that it looked in sync with the song. Moreover we added more clips of the band members playing their instruments.

Unfortunately we couldn't change the green patch in the background, however when we looked at other music videos the performance parts didn't always have spotless backgrounds. One of the videos where this is clear is the Arctic Monkeys “I bet that you look good on the dance floor” video.

This is a link to a presentation that I have made answering this question. (It may say there was an error and not enough space and ask you to close the tabs), however when I press ok it shows up with no problems).
It may also ask you to log in. My E-mail is Bradders_1994@hotmail.co.uk and my password is abihsot123
http://prezi.com/z2vqena2o3jd/edit/#19_14586512

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

In the planning process of my multimedia project my group used a variety of technologies: Blogger, Prezzi, a DSLR camera, Final Cut, Myspace, Unsigned.com, youtube, Microsoft word, an apple mac.

Blogger/Blogspot is the website where we uploaded all our research and classwork. This website was good because its user friendly and easy to keep your work organised. However it is difficult to upload large memory videos, therefore I had to make hyperlinks instead. It has helped me keep organised with my coursework.

I used Prezzi to make a blog on my research into the uses and gratifications theory. This website is good because there are several ways in which you can choose your own setting to present your work. However I didn’t find the website very user friendly to begin with and I had to work out how to change various features through trial and error. It did make my blog look more interesting overall.

Using the DSLR camera was very beneficial as the quality is HD and it worked well with the tripods we had. In the planning process of our coursework we filmed our questionnaire and our swede with it. However sometimes we had issues where we didn’t film a focused shot and the clips took longer to upload because the camera is high quality. Furthermore the macs that we used in school had trouble recognising the camera meaning we had to upload most of our footage at home. However by using the camera it made our clips look sharper and more aesthetically pleasing.

We used Final cut to edit our questionnaire in the planning process. We also used it to edit our swede. I found the software fairly straightforward, as I have had a years’ experience from using it last year. This was beneficial as I could overcome problems I faced last year. However the software did cause a few problems as some of our clips took hours to render, which meant the whole process took much longer. Although it took longer, the software allowed us to make smoother videos with pleasing effects.

We used myspace to contact the band 10000 pieces to ask for their permission to use their song in our music video. This website was good because it allowed us to contact the band. We didn’t have any difficulties with this website.

Unsigned.com is the website we found our band on. We wanted to find an unknown band so that we would have a good chance of them allowing us to use their music. This website was beneficial as it allowed us to find a good band. We had no difficulties with this website.

YouTube was a very resourceful Web 2.0 site that we used. We used this website to watch other music videos to use for research. It was very beneficial as it was easy to find relevant music videos. We didn’t come across any difficulties with this site. Here are some of the music videos I researched using YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK7egZaT3hs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SxTyvOixJA

Microsoft word is the software we used to write the lyrics of the song we were using on as we could not access the lyrics on any websites. We found this website beneficial as we could easily save and access work to and from it. We didn’t experience any difficulties with it during our planning process.

The apple mac was where we did the majority of our work as all the software and websites could be accessed from there. We found the macs beneficial as we could keep all of our work in one place. However we found the mac difficult when some of the programmes wouldn’t open properly.

In the Production process of our multimedia project, we also used a range of technologies: Blogger, a DSLR camera, Final Cut, iTunes, Photoshop,  an apple mac, digital audio recorders and speakers.

We used blogger to upload our final projects. This was simple to carry out and we didn’t have any problems.

Again we used the DSLR camera to film, however this time we filmed our actual music video. This was beneficial as we could access the camera whenever we wanted as it belonged to our group. However the camera did run out of battery during filming one day which meant the filming process took longer than desired.  Overall we found the camera allowed us to film better material as it was higher quality and simple to use.

Final cut was the software we used to edit our music video.  We found this software beneficial as it allowed us to crop down unwanted footage and add in any effects we wished. We had difficulties with the software however. As the clips were saved onto a memory stick, we could only edit with the memory stick in the apple mac. When we didn’t use the memory stick the files went offline. Furthermore we had to render clips for long periods of time which pushed us for time more. However it did make us produce better work as the raw footage was turned into a better final product.

iTunes was the application we had to use to import and export the song onto. This was beneficial as it allowed us to place the song onto the timeline easier. We had no problems with this application.

We used Photoshop to edit our magazine advert and our digipak. This was extremely beneficial for making our ancillary tasks as we could change the pictures to make them look how we wanted them to. We had trouble resizing the images from Photoshop to match the size of the cd case but we solved this problem. The software overall gave us the chance to enhance our pictures and make them look more stylish for our band identity.

Again we used the mac to use the software on it. We experience no problems at this stage with the mac.

We used an iPhone 3gs to record the song and play it back when we were filming our music video. This was helpful as it made it easier for our band members to play and sing in sync. However there was a limit on the volume of the phone so it only helped to a certain extent.

Although we used the iPhone in order to overcome the problem of the volume limit we managed to play the song through some speakers. This allowed the band to play at the same time as the song. The overall result made our video parallel to the song.

In the evaluation process of my project I have also used various technologies: Blogger,DSLR camera, Final cut, Prezzi, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft word, an apple mac, a windows PC.

I uploaded my evaluation onto blogger as it keeps all my work together. I had to upload the videos I made as hyperlinks as the website came up with errors when I tried to directly upload them.

The DSLR camera was the device I used to record myself in my vlogs that I made. This was beneficial as I could upload the videos from home. I had no problems with this task. As it was my own camera it meant I was able to re film the clips whenever I wanted which meant I could choose the best footage.

Final cut was the software I used to edit my vlogs so that they looked smoother. Whenever I stumbled In a sentence I could crop it out. Therefore the software acted as punctuation improvements.

In addition I used prezzi for part of my answer to one of the questions. This was beneficial as it gave me another way to present my evaluation. However it requires user account setting which makes it more difficult to watch the presentation I made.  However the presentation looks more appealing than an essay.

Furthermore I used Microsoft PowerPoint in order to use another type of presentation. This application was simple to use and it allowed me to note down the key points so that I could expand and elaborate on them in the style of a vlog.

Microsoft word was also a useful application in the evaluation process. I typed up all the things I was going to say in my vlogs on word first so that I could refer to the word document when I wanted to talk about the point I was making.

Again I used an apple mac to access final cut. I had no problem with this.

Moreover I used a windows PC to type up my evaluation and to make my prezzi document. This is because I am more familiar with windows PCs. I found this beneficial as I am confident in my competence to use windows computers. I did not come across any problems I couldn’t solve. As a result I could add everything I wanted to in so that my evaluation was the highest standard I could make it.