Evaluation

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

As I was planning the digipak and print advert I kept in mind that the style of the texts had to connect with the stylistic imagery of the music video. The digipak and print advert have kept a noticeable resemblance and maintained a clear brand identity for the artist allowing the audience to familiarise themselves with the artist. The fact that the ‘Daylite’ music video has a strong resemblance to the digipak front cover promotes the album creates a clear relationship between the media texts. For the front cover of the digipak and print advert I took a photo from a scene in the music video. This link helps build noticeability for the video. For my the front cover of the digipak, I used Photoshop to create the effect similar to the image and mood of the music video, creating a relationship between the media texts which brings out the dark tones and expands the sinister theme of the music video.

Representation of the artist

The artist is wearing a grey jumper, black skinny jeans and Doc Martin boots. The image I have created for the artist is an indie look that is outside of the mainstream artists, allowing to focus more on the music rather that the image. This build on the brand identity of the artist which appeals to people with similar attitudes and fans of the genre.

I initially wanted the artists brand identity to be underground or outside of the mainstream. The unusual filming technique and gritty post-production effects that have been duplicated in the design for the digipak were used to make the camera look cheap and old fashioned-something the opposite mainstream artists would use. This makes the artist seem it doesn’t want to be mainstream and is against the mass production of the modern day music industry.This contrasts with many voyeuristic representations of women in music videos.

The black and white effect creates adds a gritty atmosphere to the artist. I used this effect in my digipak and print advert to create a link between the texts, building on the artists brand identity making the artist more recognisable among the audience.

Digipak and print advert

The theme of the digipak and front cover has clear references to the music video including the two main characters of the story. This promotes the single as the main single which increases recognition of the song. I used Photoshop to achieve the stylistic imagery that was portrayed in the music video to continue the brand identity. To allow my digipak to attract people into buying it I have included additional features that fans could otherwise not get. With the inclusion of a poster a code that can be inputted on the artists website to get 20% off merchandise and a bonus DVD including a live concert and a documentary, the digipak appeals to fans to make them feel they are getting more than just the music.The front cover of the digipak has been used for the print advert to promote the album and make it more familiar. Featured on the print advert are reviews buy leading music magazines and newspapers. This ensures fans that they will not be disappointed with the record. Also on my digipak, it features another two images chosen to reference the video and further referencing the artist.

Audience Feedback 100% of people recognised that the music video has conventions of rock/indie music videos. This is good as I intended to represent the artist and use the camerawork and effects to create an indie/underground video that was anti-corporate and reflected to attitudes of indie culture.

From this result there is not a clear overall opinion. This is good as I intended to challenge the forms and conventions of music videos. The music video has a dark ambience whereas the song is much brighter. I intended to challenge Goodwin’s forms and conventions to make my music video unique and interesting.

100% of people said that editing is effectively used. This was really important to my music video as editing brings out the mood and emotions in the song to make it more meaningful. It cuts back and forth between the artist and the characters in the story. This technique is done in many staged music videos to promote the artist while creating a connection between the lyrics and visuals and making a story out of the song. The editing was also carefully done to at some points build tension, reflect the mood of the protagonist and create a psychotic mood for the audience to be positioned in the protagonists situation.

Most people agreed that my music video challenges the forms and conventions of usual modern music videos. I intended to break Goodwin’s forms and conventions with the use of a sinister, violent narrative and a dark tone. These features would not be shown in mainstream music videos as the age group intended for my music video is 16-24 and appeals to that target audience whereas mainstream videos have to appeal to all ages.

This is good as it shows people agree that the representation of the artist is appropriate for the genre as she is wearing indie clothing. I wanted to artist to relate to the target audience by wearing similar clothing and not being represented as mainstream pop artists are. This allows the audience to identify themselves in her. This creates a connection between the artist and the audience. I also intended for the artist to look ‘anti-corporate’ and stay as ‘one of the people’. Rock/indie cultures tend to rebel against the mainstream so the representation of the artist allows her to reflect her fans attitudes and opinions.

Planning the shots and angles for the music video took a long time as it had to evolve the story while simultaneously connecting with the audience to bring them into the story. POV shots were used to achieve this. Less vigorous shots were used it the beginning to build the story whereas in the chorus and as the story progresses the shots become more violent as the darker themes came up such as the attack. The shots of the artist was done to allow the audience to become familiar with the artist, something that record labels intend to create a brand identity to allow them to become recognisable and promote the artist. As 85% of people agreed the camera shots and angles were conventional of the genre, people agree that my different approach to filmmaking is suitable for the genre and works well with it.

I am pleased that 100% of people said that my digipak and print advert looked professional and attractive. I was careful with the design of the two media texts to make them look both professional looking whilst creating a brand image. This response was also appreciated more as, from my research of other CD covers and print adverts, my design was unique and of my own creation.

6 out of 7 people replied that all my media texts look related. I planned before I produced to pieces of texts how they would be related. With the use of Photoshop I made the texts maintain the sinister mood and narrative of the music video to promote it as well as to make it more familiar and recognisable, building the brand image of the artist.

All of the responses show that all three media texts in a positive light. Many responded with ‘very good’ and ‘very professional’. The comment ‘well edited’ was important as I wanted to challenge the forms and conventional of editing in music videos to create something unique so this one was meaningful to me.

4 out of 6 people replayed that they wouldn’t change anything about the music video which I'm really pleased about. Two of the comments read ‘lighting’ and ‘I like it all really, perhaps if there was less of the shakey camera’. The lighting was really important as it had to reflect the mood of the narrative. Also, the camera work was intended to be ‘shakey’ to get that effect of the audience being in the video and to reflect the psychotic mood of the protagonist and his situation, building tension and make the action scenes more convincing.

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

YouTube was a huge help in my planning. As I planned my music video I wanted to understand my style that I wanted to achieve. I took influence from music videos like Oasis-Cigarettes and Alcohol directed by Mark Szaszy. The mix of high contrast, black and white with a gritty, underground look appealed to me and I used this style in mine. One shot that was really challenging form me was the dolly zoom shot, where it appears to undermine normal visual perception. YouTube helped me as there were many tutorials that helped me achieve this unusual shot in order to convey the antagonists psychotic mind.

To get used to the technology that I would be using, the induction project was set to help us. We could familiarise ourselves with the cameras, how to use effects on Adobe Premiere and Photoshop, many of this training I used in my final piece and was very confident with the equipment to get the takes that I wanted.

To get the track I used a non-copyright website called Jamendo.com. I originally wanted a guitar driven track to appeal to a more male base. Although, the haunting track Daylite by Conway Hambone conveyed to sinister tones of the video much better to create a contrast between the song and the visuals. This helped my intentions of really challenging the forms and conventions of typical, mainstream music videos.

Blogger allowed me to gain information including Goodwin’s theory, and look at previous works to help me understand the project to achieve the best I can do. I was also able to upload my work for people to see what I had achieved.

To construct my digipak and print advert is used Photoshop. This enable me to change to look of the images to create an overall brand image for the artist so all media texts could relate to each other. I looked at existing CDs to understand how to set out the back cover of the digipak. The track listing, label information and websites were used to make my digipak look as authentic as possible.

The Conway Hambone circular logo was designed and constructed from scratch. I took inspiration from the designer brand “Pretty Green”., and the “Rubber Soul” font on the Beatles album to get a retro, 60s styling. I used a font called ‘vintage’ that I found on the website Dafont.com. By warping the image and altering its shape into a circle using Photoshop, I created a logo that reflects the music from the artist.

In the editing stage, the software I used was Adobe Premiere. I had used Premiere before in the induction project, but I wanted to experiment with it. Premiere allowed me to get the effect, tone, and mood I wanted to convey whilst maintaining a brand image. The shot timing was vital to express the emotions in the narrative to create meaning. Premiere was brilliant at achieving this. It also helped me do my voice over evaluation.

Facebook and Survey Monkey were really helpful. They allowed me to gain feedback on my music video and digipak and use that information to see how people respond to it and how I can improve in my future work. Facebook allowed me to share my video with my friends and show what I had achieved. It also allowed me to put the survey I create to get feedback quick and easily.