Closing Blog Post

To all concerned..
This is my finished blog ready for assessment.
To find and assess the research and planning, which starts from the start of October to January. The print tasks (preliminary tasks) were done late December Early January. You will also find further research in early January. The finished music video (main piece of coursework) was completed and blogged in February and my evaluation was finished and blogged in early March. I have layed out the dates to help make assessing my work easier.

Evaluation Question 4

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

Throughout this year and the previous year i have used many different forms of technology to finish all of my products. My first project this year was to research and planing which meant that i could upload all my research onto the internet service blogger, i also used youtube and facebook throughout the year i found that all the internet programs or websites were very useful and always reliable and without using this website i would have found it extremely hard to complete my task. Later on in the year i started to use more practical forms of technology for example stills and video cameras. The cameras were used to capture all my 3 media products the music video, the magazine advert and the digipak. But i had to use other programs along side these cameras to produce the work i have today for example i had to use the adobe programs alot including photoshop and premier pro. I was able to use the adobe programs to help create a more professional look by actually manipulating the photgraphs or video footage to my liking. It would be impossible to create a professional media product without using these programs or programs similar so i relied heavily on these programs. I owe a lot to technology for my media product and how technology has evolved so quickly as before computers one would have to edit images using dark rooms taking alot of time and effort and with the invention of the computer this brought the ability of the process to be speeded up alot.

There is a large debate over the theory of media 2.0 which is the world of media and how it has evolved and how it gives new opportunities for everyone to be more creative as one would be creating their own products by doing something similar to what the professionals have done. Which really means with the expansion of media 2.0 everyone has the ability to show how creative they are through the website such sites like youtube and to creat the products by using programs like adobe premier pro. Media 2.0 has changed the world we live in today.

How i used media technologies in the construction

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Evaluation Question 3

What have you learnt from you audience feedback?

Audience feedback is essential to see if your music video was a success as the reason why you have created the 3 media products was to sell and promote the band and to please your audience. I firstly wanted to see what people in my target audience would think of the video but i also wanted to breach out and find out views of other people who may not officially call them selves an indie lover. The methods i used to show and gain audience feedback was first for my A2 media class to view the video and then to leave comments on pieces of paper and to stay anonymous. I had also used the social networking site facebook to show the video and gain responses from many different people. I also set up a media focus group with a number of friends giving out a questionnaire for them to finish and to question them about my media products. I then took a number of people i believed to be indie and someone who was from an opposite genre of music to speak on camera about their feedback they want to leave about my media products. I believe all my methods of obtaining audience feedback was overall successful and i was able to gain many different peoples views and my own target audiences views. This was important as i wanted to gain a deep and valid understanding on what people thought about my music video and print tasks. And this was only obtainable by asking different sexes and ages.

Here is a few quotes I have retyped out which were given to me by the rest of my class: I had asked the question if they believed the misc en scene was creative and fitted with the genre.

"Great Misc En Scene. really matched the genre!"

" Loved the video, the locations were good it will be interesting to see what inspired you"

"Really liked the outdoor shots but found the indoor shots a bit confusing"

"The Lip Syncing was great and you could see it was a indie video"

I think it was really useful to take feedback from such a variety of people as not everyone in my a2 media class would enjoy indie music. The feedback from the class has showed me that the music video was a success and that I have learnt how to successfully shoot a video using the right misc en scene and it was easily understandable that the genre of music was indie through the video. I think it was really important to gain this information as i was worried that through the entropic eating scenes the audience wouldn't understand if the video was related to the indie genre but by asking this question and getting such positive feedback i am happy to say my audience feedback shows that i have set up a video in the genre theme. An example of an oppositional reading would be the comment that "the indoor shots were confusing" this is a bit worrying but i would believe that maybe this student did not have the cutural capital to understand my music video.

Another Method of retaining feedback from people was to use the social networking site facebook and here is a screen grab of me posting my video to be viewed with a question people may comment on:

I was lucky to have a number of people comment on this thread here is a number of useful comments:

Here is an example of Emma Draper an A2 media student who has commented on how well the video has been edited, how the performers have acted and how the misc en scene has been really effective. Audience feedback like this is really important especially from a fellow A2 media student as Emma would know about the task of editing and the misc en scene. I have learnt from this feedback that I was able to edit a video within the rhythm of the song to make the video look suitable and professional. But also Emma goes on to talk about the idea being creative and innovative which I was really happy about as i really wanted to create something new that would challenge other media forms.

This is an example of someone who doesn't do media but fits into the niche market i am aiming for perfectly! I am pleased he has been able to make a comment even though he hasn't left much feedback or said anything about specific media aspects or used buzz words. But it was nice to have a comment saying how much he enjoyed it.

The comment above is very important to me as it is the lead singer from the original band commenting on this saying how much he liked it and we was able to have a conversation over facebook on how much he enjoyed the video meaning he must of thought it looked professional and was happy it suited his piece of music. It was great to get this feedback and has showed me that the media video was a success. The lead singer of the band was so pleased with the video he took to the time to post the video on his wall and for his friends to view the video and comment on them. Meaning he believes that the video would be effective and entertain an older audience.

The comment above shows someone enjoying the video and having cultural capital with inter textual references meaning this person can see the similarities between my video and another popular video which would be in the same genre as mine!

This is a comment from another A2 media student and learning from this comment i have no found out that the location is important to the genre and i am glad that my viewers picked up on that also it shows that this person guessed the genre straight away which was really important for me!

Audience feedback from my media focus group

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From this media focus group i have learnt in detail that my music video and other products all fit well within the indie genre and i received some interesting comments on how the cinematography was used and how that has effected how the viewers enjoyed the product but also how different things have connoted things to my viewers it was really interesting to see that my viewers saw the rebellious side of my band and saw it was closely linked with my genre of choice. It's always nice to hear nice things about your work but it was important to hear criticism and this was apparent when it came to the subtitles used in my video. So through this piece of audience feedback i now know how to in the future improve on work like this and this is very important as i want to carry on with media at university.

This video response is important into showing and comparing how to different people who like two different genres of my music! As with Jake he really enjoyed the video and gave back great responses on how he thought the video looked and how he thought it was so effective that he would go out and buy the product if it was a real product. Jake also commented on how he knew it was an indie themed video due to the clothing and the instruments which was really important in identifying a look and style for the video. Tommo who was the second male to feature on this response who prefers the grime culture commented on how he didn't enjoy the video and thought it was boring as he did not enjoy the indie conventions used for example the playing of instruments and the eating scenes even though he did comment on how he thought it was a good indie video and it met the needs for the indie audience but he made his feelings apparent when he said he thought it was boring and not what he's used too. We could compare the culture capital for both of these feedbacks as Jake has alot of experience in watching indie videos while Tommo spent his time looking at grime products two completely different genres.

To Conclude the audience feedback has been very important in to what i have learnt about my media products. All conventions of getting feedback has been helpful and i have gained some positives and negatives about my work. After looking back on what everyone has said and especially on what my target audience has said i believe i have created an enjoyable collection of media products which has been suited to the needs of my target audience. I have done this by making my products as entropic as possible with low levels of redundancy but still keeping in with a level of easily understandable scenes, which is similar to the work in the rest of the indie genre making my media products look professional. I think it has been important that my feedback shows that there is a house style and the video in question two backs that up. My audience feedback has shown me that a lot of people would be interested in buying products from this band making the media products i made a success as the original aim of those products were to promote the band within the genre. It shows in my audience feedback that i have been able to catch the eye of my potential customers by creating an entropic environment which help me sell more copies of the products. Looking back at my feedback i was worried that i hadn't chose the right cast but everyone who i have spoken to loved the cast and thought they were appropriate for the genre with the match misc en scene. I'm glad i was able to produce a prefered reading which shows the video and print tasks were a real success. So overall i am happy with my own products and really happy that my target audience and most others are happy and have enjoyed the 3 products i have made.

Evaluation Question 2

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

For A2 Media we had to create a music video for the main product and two other ancillary texts i had to produce a digipak for an album and a magazine advert for the same band. We had to produce the ancillary texts first so when i was researching before i started any of my practical work i knew i had to both keep in mind the ancillary texts and the music video. As i had started my digipak and magazine article i will have to admit i did originally put a lot of research into that and the main product the music video followed and almost had to mirror or be similar to the ancillary products by using the connection of food and live performances.

I firstly did a lot of research in to how artists and bands was able to keep a theme running throughout their media products here is an example of the libertines and how they have completed their media products. As below we can see both the album cover from a libertines album and a screen grab from a libertines video.

As we can see both media products look similar in facial expressions,colours, lighting used and most importantly all band members are on show meaning the band is getting full publicity making them an easily remembered image.

Both the video and the album cover look very similar with the red military jackets on both media products and looking back into my research i have found the band often used these red military jackets in live performances, photo shoots and videos. This is something similar to what i wanted to create by having a similar look throughout my media products by using similar colours, hairstyles, dress senses and instruments. The reasons why the libertines have done this and why i wanted to follow is that if the band can repeat an image like this through promotion purposes this will help them be easily recognizable and rememberable meaning the possibility for me record sales is fully maximized. But also to repeat an image or house style will help the customers and fans relate to the band and gain a deeper understand if the band by learning more about them.

Now Looking at my media products and looking to see how effective all 3 of the products are as a combination.

Here is the example of how i used similar conventions throughout my media forms. As we can see i have used the running theme of food. the location is the same and the clothing style is the same meaning we can see through all of my media products i am using a typically indie genre look making it attractive to those in my target audience.

Here we can see the repetition of destroying instruments this shows a sense of rebellion throughout all of my media products which is essential to linking in with the genre and targeting a particular niche market. But also we can see that the colours are similar as the backgrounds are both using plants or greenery helping giving the effect of a rough or rugged outlook helping to fit in with the genre.

Here i have produced some screen grabs of the video and my two ancillary texts and looking back over all 3 products i believe they all match and link well with one another and share a particular house style. I believe this is similar to what the libertines have created by also having there products follow a particular pattern/house style. This means i would be able to successfully promote the band using these media products as it would create a reputation and a rememberable image for the band that the fans can be come accustomed too. I made sure through all my media products that the band or lead singer would get maximum publicity making the figure of my lead singer popular and easy to recognize. e.g the costumes the lead singer was wearing throughout all 3 media products was similar with a long jacket military style. But also the band can easily be seen as an indie band just due to their appearance and this is apparent through the way they wear their hair, their clothing and even the way they stand and act in each media product. This is similar to the band mumford and sons and how they have their setup within the genre of folk as we can see all there instruments facial expressions and clothing are all very similar throughout their media products. I was able to use a house theme by having the opportunity of using the same characters throughout my media forms so i must admit credit is due to the members of the band for being reliable but more importantly i was able to manipulate how i wanted the band members to look like and as they have already got that indie vibe going on it was very easy to tweak and change a few aspects to help create a band that was able to connect with an audience by being stereotypically indie. I think the main similarities throughout the media products is how i use food in them this would help the band get coverage as it is seen to be entropic to have weird foods in music products but i believe by consistently using foods i have been able to create awareness of the band, create a remembered image and an image which will attract customers.

These shots from the mumford and sons almost look identical but they are both used in an album cover and a video. Everything from clothing to the way they are standing is very similar or identical showing that in the professional world it is essential to have an effect combination running throughout your media products

Throughout my media products and even including the extra product i made the CD design i have used the same minimalist text trying to give that arty/ professional look but also this again will make the appearance of the media forms remain recognizable. The text of a media product is one of the most important and most underrated aspect for a media product as the text has to be easily readable attract the eye and be creative which i believe all my media product text is! I believed containing a house style of colour was needed and now looking back at my products and it can be seen that i use a consistent array of colours being earthy and neutral this helps again contribute to the genre of music and most indie media products have similar colours. For example i empathized the background colours and made sure i used similar backgrounds of greenery helping create a running house theme.

To conclude all of my media products use the same colours, fonts, band members, misc en scene and lighting. All these aspects will help me close in on a specific target audience which is really an indie niche target audience.

Showing above is an example of me carrying out a filmed audience feedback but i have specifically asked questions to do with how effective the combination of my 3 media products are and I was very happy with the results. As Owen is interested in all music i thought he would be a perfect candidate to view the media products as he is very interested in music meaning he would have viewed many different media products. The answers that came from Owen help back my theory that I believe I have designed an effect combination of media products and Owen used a number of buzz words for me even though he is not a media student. Owen spoke about the way the costumes matched all the way through showing consistency the way the band acted and how the colours matched all the way through.

Evaluation Question 1

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

My A2 media products consisted of a music, a digi-pack and a magazine advert which is all linked to the same piece of music/band. The music was from a band who were seen to be a alternative/indie band. The genre of the band was important to grasp and this is where my research and planning blogpost so i could fully understand the genre and to develop methods on how to recreate the genre within my media products. Researching into my selected genre helped me decide on how i can draw inspiration and ideas from other media products which are in the indie genre scene by doing this research and comparing different media products to one another in the same genre i was able to develop on other ideas and theories to help me develop my own my knowledge and skills

The Steve Neil Audiences take pleasure from repetition of difference. meaning that
This is my prezi showing youeve Neil Theo in detail how i have managed to use, develop and manage different media products