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

Research/Planning

Google: I used Google when carrying out everything for my music video, this included accessing my blog, researching thoroughly for music video examples, album cover examples and to research anything and everything to do with my music video. For example, I used google to research where to get the props from for my music video, I also used it to learn how to overlay an image on top of a video on the new version of iMovie, and finally I used it to research genre theories and expand my knowledge. The pros of Google is that it is an extremely easy way to find information and it allowed me to access everything that I needed to. However, the cons of using this, is that due to it holding billions of websites, it was sometimes hard to find the really reliable ones and I had to do a lot of comparing when researching for my music video and media theory.

YouTube: I used YouTube to research music videos and watch a large number, to gain examples and inspiration for my work. I also used YouTube to upload my music video and the bloopers to put on my blog. The pros of YouTube is that (just like google) there is a vast amount of video and information on the website, however there are also a lot of unreliable videos when it came to media theory. It also made it hard to find music videos to use as examples, because at times it felt that there were far too many. We can link YouTube to the media theory of Web 2.0 where we can see how the internet has changed in the past 10-12 years, and how it is no longer controlled by large web corporations but it's content is controlled by the public and we have the freedom to post anything and everything on the internet.

Soundcloud: I used Soundcloud to access the songs of my artist Polly, It was extremely reliable and I was able to access the songs to plan and brainstorm any ideas for my music video. I was also able to then download the music from the site without having to ask Polly for a master copy.

Blogger: I used blogger to document the journey to making my music video and the products to go along with it. I was able to post every update as to what I was doing with my music video, and I also used it to research media theory and post it to my blog. The pros of the website are that it allowed me to document everything and include images, videos and gifs. However, the cons of the website are that I was only able to access my posts when on a computer and I was unable to edit anything on the go from my phone.

Construction

Sony Camera A5000: I used this camera to do all of my filming, it is a digital camera with a detachable lens that is specially made for video recording. I decided to use this camera because (as it is my own) I know extensively how to use it and I really like the way it shoots scenes and how the camera automatically focuses on the main subject in the middle and blurs the background. The camera has special settings to adjust from landscape scenes to footage featuring people and objects. The pros of this camera is that it is extremely easy to use, and allows beautiful shots and images to come out completely crisp in high definition. However, the cons are that you are unable to zoom in or out of shots to a high level, and the battery runs down very quickly when left on for a long time. I had to be extremely careful when it came to leaving the camera on, and I made sure that I charged the camera up fully before going out to use it.

iMovie: I used iMovie to edit my music video, I was originally going to use Adobe Premiere Pro however due to the fact that I have less knowledge of the software and am much more skilled with iMovie, I decided to remain with this software, as I knew that I could get the editing done quicker without having to teach myself how to use the software in full. The pros of using iMovie is that because of my knowledge I was able to apply this to using more advanced editing techniques within what I was already doing, and I was also able to get the work done quicker and to a higher standard. However due to iMovie being less advanced than some other editing software, I was unable to do anything extremely advanced and interesting with my footage because of its lack of cutting-edge features.

Photoshop: I used Photoshop to create all of my adverts and my digipak. At first I found it hard to understand how to use as I hadn’t used it in a number of years. However, once I got used to it I was able to edit my images and add fonts, along with using the paint tools to create a fun and trippy feel to the digipak. This helped me to stay with the psychedelic theme, and motif that I had been carrying though the music video and the rest of the products. The pros of using Photoshop was that I was able to learn a lot about how to use the software, along with being able to successfully and skilfully edit my images. However, due to the complexity of the software at times, I had a number of issues to begin with that I managed to successfully resolve.

Evaluation

WhatsApp: Throughout my evaluation I used WhatsApp to correspond with my friends from the Uk and abroad to ask them to watch my music video and respond to my questions. The pros of using WhatsApp was that I was able to easily send them the music video, and they were all able to answer my questions instantly. However, the only cons about using it was that I was unable to get any visual footage from them using my camera, and they couldn't all reply to my messages because of the time difference, and the fact that they had not seen the messages.

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

Audience feedback is extremely important when it comes to meeting an audiences needs and being able to reflect on the work that you have created and better it in the future. Many large production companies rely on audience feedback to sell their products and also to improve further work that they produce following on from their original. This is extremely important for large production companies, who rely on audience reviews and word of mouth to help sell their products.

Audience feedback is more crucial to the media and music industry than the views of a critic. The views of the critics aren't always detrimental to how well the product sells and a lot of the time a product will receive bad reviews but still be consumed in mass amounts by the general public. This is why audience feedback is used to market products, if one audience member says that they love something, another person is very likely to listen to them because they have heard it from another person. People are less likely to listen to the views of a critic who they think can be pretentious and biased with their opinions, and not truly represent the likes of the mass market. 

When collecting audience feedback, large corporations will look to forums and comments on websites to establish what people thought about their product. This also happens through the rise of social media, as it is extremely easy to type the name of a new film/album out on twitter and millions of tweets are at your fingertips with the reviews and thoughts of normal people. It allows for the companies to not have to directly ask for the opinions of the public, but are able to access these opinions and views more readily as a result of this.

Ignoring the views of the public would be extremely detrimental to how the public respond to future products. For example, if there were to be a large amount of people who disagreed with the marketing of a particular product and the corporation behind it completely ignored the public's views, they could find sales of a product completely drop, and also this could affect future product sales. However, sometimes companies ignore audience feedback because the drastic changes they could make would completely alter the original product and corresponding products. When making my Magazine Ad I asked a friend what image she preferred to go on the front,and she picked the opposite to what i chose. This was due to the fact that I wanted to follow my original idea, and stay with the theme I had been pursuing, so that my products were all cohesive.

When carrying out my own audience feedback, to find out what people thought of my music video and the products to come along with it, I was pleasantly surprised by what people thought of it and the things about my music video especially that they did and didn't like. I found the people really loved the editing style and the locations that I had shot the video in,and that they also really liked the way that this fit to the genre and how the trippy effects were slightly postmodern and almost in the form of a montage. My feedback also showed that people didn't think that it was important for the artist of the song to be featured in the video, and one of the audience members even went on to say that they 'prefer videos without the artists as they're often more meaningful'.

In terms of negative and more constructive comments, all the people asked could not see a clear storyline through the music video and one even said that they 'had to watch it twice and am still not sure I fully understand'. To some degree I agree with this, however I feel that I would only have  been able to delve into a storyline more, if I had a larger budget. This would have given me access to advanced editing software, that would enable me to do post-production effects or CGI to help carry on the 'Alice in wonderland' theme that I was initially going for. I also think that the story is supposed to be slightly subjective and not completely clear at the start, but the audience can interpret it in their own way. I also noted that one of the audience members mentioned that they didn't like the way that it was very repetitive, but they then went on to say that they 'understood it fit with the genre'. I again agree with this to some extent and got to a point with editing where I felt I didn't have enough good footage to use lots of different shots so I had to repeat myself. Although I am actually glad that I made it repetitive and very fast paced, because this moulded to the genre of the music well and helped to enhance the overall experience.

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

Motifs linking my products

When planning for my music video, I immediately knew that I wanted to use bright pastel colours throughout. I wanted create a bright and psychedelic atmosphere to link into the genre of music 'Psychedelic Pop' I wanted to use gems overlaid over my video, and bright coloured paint canons to emphasise the genre of the music and to create a mystical and fairy-tale type theme to link into the original Alice in Wonderland theme that I was going for.

As you can see below, I have overlaid these images on top of the footage shot on location to fit with the motif that I was aiming for, I wanted the video to be psychedelic and trippy as well as feminine and innocent and by using pink sparkles I was again able to link the motif together and carry on with the pink and blue colour scheme. Visually I also carried on the use of nature throughout, with the use of the woodlands in my video and the pink flowers that I included. The use of nature as well as some of the urban locations by the docks, fit in with the motif and theme for my psychedelic pop video. The urban docks linked to the real world, and the nature and sparkles were linked to the trippy and psychedelic world.

When creating my Digipak and Magazine Ad I used images and screenshots from my music video, to help connect these two products together, I wanted my work to be completely cohesive and linked so that the repetition would create a common theme for my artist Polly Howe and this would therefore help to sell her work easier, by creating a recognisable and memorable image that people would instantly see, like and know who it belonged to. As you can see I have used a screenshot of the flower and the trees to use in the gaps in the corners of the digipak. I used the screenshot of the trees for the ‘special thanks’ section and the flowers were used to add a bit of colour to the outside sections of the digipak, as well as completely link it to the bright colours of the music video.

I also used the images from the music video for the adverts and an extra Billboard poster that I made. Again I wanted to completely link all of the work together to make sure that the work was completely recognisable as Polly’s. Cohesion is extremely important in order to sell a product for an artist, it allows you to grab their USP (Unique Selling Point) and make that the primary thing that shows through their music video and advertising. This cohesion allows me to create an image and brand for Polly and carry it on throughout the rest of her work. I used the same colour pink and colour blue throughout the editing of my advert and album cover, at one point I changed the colours of the fonts so that they were different but after looking at it a few times I decided to make sure that they matched.

If I could change anything about my work next time, I would probably have featured Polly in the advert or album cover somehow, I would maybe use the images from the video of the character but then also get Polly to have photos taken similarly to this so that she could be more included and shown as the ‘face’ of the ‘Pollygon’ brand. Overall I am extremely pleased with the outcomes of my advert and music video and I'm especially happy with the cohesion throughout the products and how I was able to carry on certain traits through all of my work.

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

MUSIC VIDEO

In terms of my music video, and the products this relates to, my genre ‘Psychedelic Pop’ is not necessarily an extremely common genre in the music industry. It is inspired by the sounds of psychedelic folk and psychedelic rock, but applied to a pop music setting and still occurs in the music industry today, through bands like Tame Impala who use effects like phasing, delay, reverb and fuzz throughout their music. I decided to make a music video for the song ‘They Are’ by my friend Polly Howe which also includes electronic beats –like Tame Impala- that help to give it a bright poppy sound whilst also not veering towards traditional pop too much. Although the song is slightly unconventional compared to what we hear on a daily basis, the indie side of the song increases its interest and could resonate with a wider audience. When brainstorming what I wanted to do with the song, and the type of music video I wanted to create, I knew from very early on that I wanted to go with the psychedelic pop genre and create a video that was bright, colourful and matched the music well.

I looked at a number of music videos, before I started formulating ideas for my own. I watched music videos from Beyoncé, specifically her homemade music video ‘7/11’ because of the intimate nature of the video, but also the unconventional style of the video in comparison to what Beyoncé usually creates. I also looked at the music video ‘Somebody Else’ from the indie pop band The 1975, and really liked the muted tones they had used on the video and the way it was cut together so well to gradually reveal what was happening. After watching The 1975’s video, I took inspiration from the colours used and decided to start off with my video looking dreary and boring by using this colour palette, but then reaching some kind of climax and everything becoming bright and colourful. 

My chosen song ‘They Are’ includes the theme of loneliness through the lyrics ‘I’m alone’ so I decided to reflect this gloomy and desolate mood throughout the song, but only focusing on the loneliness at the beginning of the video before giving the only character in my video a sense of companionship through the use of the balloon that she finds along the way. I was able to experiment with my video by using different shots and props to create the type of video I had imagined whilst also not moving away from the conventions that I had looked at. I used Andrew Goodwin’s theory as a guide for my music video however I decided that I didn’t want to completely stick to the genre conventions so that my music video could be slightly unconventional and fit in with the song that I had chosen.

Goodwin’s theory consists of:

1. The music video demonstrating genre characteristics. (e.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance for a boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop.) 
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images. 
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visuals reflects the music. 
4. The demand of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style) 
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc.) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. 
6. There are often intertextual references (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc.)

When looking at my own video in line with this group of conventions, it is clear that I stuck to half of them whilst trying to distance myself from the others. For convention number one, my music video clearly demonstrates the genre characteristics of psychedelic pop through the use of bright colours, trippy editing and quick cuts that increase the speed and intensity of the video. I also stuck to the convention of the music video having a relationship between lyrics and visuals. I did this through the theme of loneliness from the repetition of ‘I’m alone’ and I also put emphasis on my female character, and what she was wearing when the lyrics talk about a woman being ‘honked at’ because of the clothes she wears. My video also links to the music and the beat that it follows. When it came to editing my music video, I knew that I wanted to have the music in sync with the shots, and differing actions that the character in my video does.

I linked the lyrics 'walking down the street' to the shots of her walking.

In terms of the remaining three conventions, the idea that I had come up with for my video didn’t fit with the expectations of Goodwin’s theory. The use of the artist in my music video from the very beginning was something that I wanted to change. I had looked at so many music videos and only a few of them didn’t include the artist. I didn’t simply decide not to do this to be different, I wanted the female in my music video to be young and child-like. Polly however didn’t fit this role, due to her height and her age of 18. Instead I used my 14 year old sister in the video, who is small in height because I wanted her to look vulnerable and innocent. 

I also tried to subvert the male gaze through the use of my character, because I wanted the focus to be completely on the song and the video, rather than the female character in it. However, I do think in some respects that I didn't subvert it enough due to her innocence and vulnerability at the beginning, and also how she is completely unnamed and therefore does not seem to be seen as a person because she does not have a name. However, I do still think that I did subvert the male gaze in some way despite this and she was solely used in a completely non-objectified manner simply due to the fact that I didn’t want the focus to be on the artist for once, I wanted the focus of the music video to be in what was actually happening in it and the music that went along with it.

The effect that this has, is that it will distance itself from conventional music videos. I also wanted this to help the viewer think more about what they are watching, and the music going along with it. I didn't want the story to be completely clear, as I wanted the audience to be able to make their own mind up about what they are viewing and have a completely subjective view about what was going on.

Overall I am extremely pleased with the way that my music video has turned out, I feel that it is very postmodern and challenges normal conventions of music videos through the use of the female in the video and also the trippy nature of the video that corresponds with the theme of psychedelic pop. Despite there being some changes that I would make in the future, I am really happy with how I subverted convention and stereotypes through the music video.

CD COVER

When it came to the research for my CD cover, I was able to see that the typical generic conventions were that there was some link to the artist of the music on the CD cover. I also noticed, that most of the artists had a type of theme with their CD cover and the music video and advertising seemed to carry the same motif and colour scheme. I noticed this was extremely common through the work of Beyonce, for her self titled album 'Beyonce' the music videos for each song in the album heavily stuck with the bold pink font used on the cover of the CD.

Because of Beyonce's continuation of font and colour throughout her Cd cover and her music videos, I decided to do something similar and use the same font and colours for my music video and the cd cover and adverts that go along with it. Beyonce's work also shows compete focus on her as the artist, and despite not being on the cover of the album, it is clear that she is the artist because of the album being self titled. 

When analysing CD Covers the typical conventions I noticed were:

1) Artists name and Album name are on the front cover.

2) An image of the artist is also on the front cover.

3) The image on the cover links to a song in the album or a music video that goes along with it.

For my CD cover I used the typical generic conventions of the cover including the title of the song and the name of the artist, I did this so that the album would be completely recognisable as Polly's and also to help to create a 'brand' for her that would continue with her future work. I used the same font 'courier new' on all of the adverts and the digipak to clearly link them all together and make the products completely cohesive. However, I did subvert the usual convention of the artist being on the cover of the album, I decided to follow more of what some of the other artists had done and had their album cover looking more artistic rather than it being centered around them. Some artists do this because they feel that their music is simply about the story it tells, the way it makes you feel, and they are simply the voice that puts across the music. 

I decided to not use Polly for the front cover because I wanted all three of my products to be completely cohesive, and link together. Also because Polly had not been in the video I felt that it would be confusing for her to then be on the CD cover. I however did use an image on the cover that links to the song, I used an image from the music video for the front cover so that there was a clear link between the artist and the music video. Due to the theme of loneliness being clear through the song 'They Are' I again wanted to carry this on through the digipak, therefore I used an image of the female character in the video completely alone for the front cover of the CD. I also then edited the image so that the pink of the balloon would pop and draw comparisons to the pink colours used throughout the video along with the advert and the font colour. I was overall extremely pleased with the way that my Digipak came out and how the theme and style was clearly for Polly's music.

MAGAZINE AD

For the magazine ad once again it was very easy to see clear links between each example that I looked at and there were many conventions that the ads followed. I noticed that on all of the ads, the main image was a picture of the album cover, along with the name of the artist and the name of the album. This is clear on the JAY-Z advert below for his The Blueprint 3 Album. It also shows at the bottom of the ad 'out September 14th 2009' and 'includes Run This Town and D.O.A'. 

The release date was included on all of the adverts that I looked at along with the most known songs that were featured on the albums.

When making my own advert I decided to carry on some of these themes and conventions. On my advert I knew from the start that I was going to use the title of the song and the name of my artist, I was going to do this so that the work was clearly and obviously recognisable as Polly's. I was originally going to use the image from the cover of the digipak. However when I did this I felt it didn't look right and it looked too similar to everything else, and the message was lost.

Here is an image of what it looked like in full colour.

I instead decided to subvert this convention, and use a shot from the music video and make it black and white like the style of the digipak cover. I wanted to reflect the happy feel of the music and video through the use of this image.

I also decided to include the use of review stars from different music magazines. I also included the spotify and apple music logos in the bottom corner to show the audience where the music was available. I wanted to mould my magazine advert to the conventions that I had already noticed in the other adverts. However, I also wanted to do something slightly different and put my own twist on the advert so that it fit to the brand of the music video and the Digipak.

All three of the products together completely moulded and crossed over, so that Polly's music had a clear brand. I knew I would be able to do this, by creating motifs and colour schemes that correlated with each other. Overall, I am extremely happy with the way that my products came out, I think that I fit to the conventions enough without being to similar to the music video, cd covers and magazine ad's of the other artists.

Audience Feedback: Responses

1) Do you like the editing style?

- Yes, Makes the video flow.

- Yes, seamless between shots/locations.

- Yes, bit too trippy for me but kinda cool.

- Yes! I loved it.

2) Do you think the music video fit to the genre of psychedelic pop?

- Very trippy effects and use of spinning, sparkly overlay.

- Effects used gave a dreamy effect.

- The spinning camera effects and it was like a dream the way it was spinning backwards.

- Yes

3) Do you think the artist of the song should have been in the video?

- Not necessarily, made you concentrate more on the song and story.

- Maybe but not throughout the whole video.

- No, I prefer videos without the artists as they're often more meaningful that way.

- No

4) Did you like the locations in the video?

- Yes, harder industrial locations with soft effects.

- More country setting adding to dreamy atmosphere.

- I loved the trees and the docks!

- Yes, very fitting

5) Was there a clear storyline?

- Not too much, but felt that it was meant to be suggesting a story.

- Think you go the story from listening to the lyrics, the dreamy quality enabled you to do that.

- I had to watch it twice and am still not sure I fully understand

- I'm not sure?

6) Would you change anything about the video?

- No I loved it! It was so aesthetically pleasing!

- No! The locations reflected the dreamy qualities of the song.

- No, I think the locations effects and editing created the right atmosphere.

- Maybe less repetition, but i understand it fits with the genre.

7) Did you enjoy it? Would you watch it again?

- Yes very much, reflected the nature of the song well.

- Yes, had quite a haunting feel.

- Yes! I already watched it again.

- Not my style but I didn't dislike it. I enjoyed it but wouldn't watch it again.

Audience Feedback: Questions

1) Do you like the editing style that was used?

2) Do you think that the music video fit to the genre of 'Psychedelic Pop' (Psychedelic pop is a pop music subgenera in which musical characteristics associated with psychedelic pop are applied to pop songs. This includes 'trippy' effects.)?

3) Do you think the artist of the song should have been in the video?

4) Did you like the locations used in the video?

5) Was there a clear storyline?

6) Would you change anything about the video? Location? Character? Editing?

7) Did you enjoy the video overall? Would you watch it again?

Extra Work: Adverts

I also created these adverts for the release of the music video, I did this to enhance the profile of this launch and reach as big a target market as possible.