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

I tried to conform to the typical conventions of media products as much as possible when creating my own as I wanted it to look a s real as possible, for example:

-I used a variety of camera shots (Big close-ups, mid shots, extreme close-ups, long shots, extreme long shots) which is a key convention in music videos as they make the video more visually interesting and allowed me to particularly emphasise certain parts of the actors (e.g. hands) or show off the costumes of the band (using medium long shots).

                                                                  



 -I also used a variety of camera movements, such as pans and zooms















-I used slow motion which is used a lot in music videos, especially indie, as it makes the video more dramatic.

-I have also shown my band on a TV screen which is used in a lot of music videos. Although it is only in the shot for a couple o seconds I think it is still effective a it links the band in with the beginning part of the narrative.

-I have framed the singers off centre like they do in most music videos.

-The pace of my editing changes according to the tempo of the music- a good example of this is towards the end of my music video where the beat of the music becomes faster so does the pace of the editing.

-I have used a mixture of narrative and performance which is used in most music videos.

-The mise-en-scene of my video is typical to that of an indie music video, for example
       -I used bright, natural lighting
       -It was mostly set outdoors

       -The costumes were laid-back everyday clothes

 

       -The make-up was minimal

-For my digipak I have also tried to conform to the typical conventions:
      
-There is synergy within all of my media products as there would be in a real product

-The basic layout is the same as real products

 


However I have also challenged the conventions of music videos through my own:

-Many music videos, although not all, show the name of the band and the song at the beginning of the video. I decided not to do this as the beginning scene of my video is quite light and when I applied writing you could not see it very well so I decided not to put it on the video.

-I did not use many zooms in my music video as there were not many opportunities for them and when I tried using some I was not pleased with the results as it did not look very professional.

I also challenged some of the conventions of digipaks through my own:

-Many Indie albums do not use images of the band however I wanted to use mine as it created more synergy between the texts and I could show the fun side of the band easier.

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

How are your three products clearly linked?
 
-They all include the theme of red
-All show the same characters (excluding the narrative character)
-The characters all appear in the same costumes as they do in the video
-They all show the same setting

Do you think the music video, digipak and magazine
advert combine to have the right effect on the audience?

From my audience research I found that they all thought that the ancillary texts linked to the music video because...
-the frames were used in both
-the theme of red was carried through in both
-the setting was the same
-the actors were the same
From this I know that the ancillary texts had the right affect on the audience as it clearly showed them that I was advertising the music video and album which was the purpose of the texts.

Also from my audience research I found that they thought that the image that the band was trying to portray in both the ancillary texts and video was...
-"A happy, friendly image"
-"A unique, fun band"
-"A contemporary, upbeat band"
I am really pleased that my audience picked up on these as this means that the images had the right effect on them as I wanted to show that the band were a unique, fun band!


How did your planning (analysing video, digipak and adverts) help you to develop your own?

My planning helped me to understand all of the different conventions of music videos and digipaks and the things that needed to be included in order make a real text. I believe that this helped me to make a more accurate and professional looking piece of work that had the appropriate effect on my audiences.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

How did the audience research you did as part of your planning shape your planning and final product?
 

The audience research I did in the planning stages shaped most of my planning and music video as I wanted to make a product that my target audience would enjoy, here are a few examples:

-When asked about the types of costumes they would expect to see they said "laid-back", "every-day, normal clothes" so I tired to accommodate this in my video, none of the actors are wearing anything designer or anything too flashy. However I did have to give the main female singer a bit more style as she 'face' of the band.

-When asked about the mise-en-scene they expected they answered with "instruments", "natural setting". I have used all of these things in my music video as I too believe that these are common in indie videos.
 

-The most like type of music video was a combination of narrative and performance which is why I decided to use the type for my music video. I also tried to use a rough 80:20% of narrative: performance screen time as this is what most of my audiences suggested was the most effective. 

What did you learn from the way the audience 'received' your products compared to the way you intended, what were the most effective elements?

When asked "What did you like most about my video?" the most common answers were:

-"The red elements of the music video e.g. the red hand prints, the red tissue paper and the red powder paint"
     -I'm really glad the audience connected with these parts as it was a key thematic element of my music video (showing the guilt of the girl). The fact that the audience picked these out as their favourite parts shows that it had the desired visual effect and that it was eye catching enough to grab their attention and make them connect more with the narrative.

 

-"The storyline"
      -I am happy that the audiences enjoyed the storyline of my music video as it shows that it was interesting and engaging enough to keep them entertained for the duration!

-"How the shots blend with the music e.g. the long running shot that blurred for the instrumental"
       -It is good that my audience picked up on this as it is a key convention of a real music and by them picking up on it shows that it was done frequently enough for it to be noticed.

-"The lip-syncing was very accurate and good"
       -I am pleased that my audience thought this as I spent a lot of time on this in order to make it look as professional as I could.

When asked "Do you feel the video tells an appropriate story in relation to the song?" all of my audience answered:
- "Yes"
When asked "in your own words describe the story of the music video?" all of my audiences...
...got the idea of the music video-that it about an abusive relationship, then the girl shot the man and was running away from her guilt which was symbolised in the red theme. There was a lot of deliberation within the audience whether the girl actually shot and killed the man or just thought about doing it- I am very pleased that they weren't quite sure as I wanted them to really think about the characters actions and what they would do in her situation in order to connect with her and the narrative.

When asked if the camera techniques conformed to the conventions of real music video all answered...
-"Yes"
And when asked what shots specifically they said...
-"The various pans throughout"
-"The tracking shot at the beginning"
 

-"The out of focus shot"   

                                             
 -"The mid shots and close-ups of the band singing"
     -I am really happy that they thought the video conformed to the conventions of a real music video because that was my brief and I hope that from the comments audiences believe that my music video looks professional and 'real'. I am especially happy that someone liked the blurred shot because I had doubts about it as I thought that some audiences wouldn't think it was intentional.

 
 

The only criticism I received from the viewing of my music video was...
-Some of the acting wasn't very believable e.g. the drummer and the girl collapsing to the floor.
     - I am really glad that this was the only criticism as I realise that some of the acting was not the greatest but it was out of my control as all of my actors had never acted before in their lives.

When asked do you think the ancillary texts conform to the conventions of real ancillary texts and why? audiences answered...
-"Yes, they feature the band and appropriate text"     
-"The signatures look really realistic"

-"Yes, the style of the text is very similar to the real ones"

-"Yes, they look very professional"
          -I'm am really pleased with these comments, especially to the ones relating to the signatures as I wasn't sure how audiences would react to them because, although, they are used in real ancillary texts I wasn't sure if they look professional enough but these comments have cleared these suspicions

Criticisms I received about my ancillary texts...
-"The male band member is blurry in the poster"
      -I did intend this to be the case as I thought it looked professional and put more focus on the main female singer who is the 'face' of the band.

-"All of the frames should be straight on the front cover"
      - I wanted to make the frames wonky to show the quirky side of he band so I, personally, think this works with the style and the genre of the band.

-"Some of the fonts are dated"
     -I wanted to make the fonts look different so it stood out more and reflected the quirky side of the band.

-"The pictures seem too similar to each other"
     -The pictures are closely linked to each other but I think this is a key convention of ancillary texts.

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

To film my music video I used a Nikon DSLR. As I had never used a professional camera before this was very challenging but through the help of internet forums and YouTube tutorials I figured out how to record my shots to a high standard.
I also used the camera to take my ancillary text photographs. For this I had to be able to manually focus the lens (there were so many things in the shot the camera could not do it automatically) to give a clear and professional looking picture.
The camera allowed me to do all of this to a very high standard and I am very pleased with the outcome of my photography and videos.





I have used blogger throughout this module in order to post about all of the stages of creating my music video and ancillary texts. It has also helped me to share and gather ideas with my peers.





I used Adobe Premiere 13 throughout the construction of my music video. The programme allowed me to cut and arrange my clips, add music, filters and special effects.
The most noticeable effect that I used in my music video was slow motion. Using premiere allowed me to do this very easily, all you had to do select the clip you wanted then click on 'time remapping', select what speed you wanted the clip to go, in my case 'slow' then drag the bar along in order for the effect to carry on throughout the clip.
There were also some effects I used in Premiere that did not make it to the final cut of my music video, for example, I tried using the time mapping tool to speed up some of my clip but as most of these clips were of the main actress either walking or running the pace made the lip look unnatural and obviously tampered with. I also tried using a filter on some of my clips to make them flash red, to emphasise the characters guilt, but decided this didn't really fit in with the indie genre and made the video look tacky. 

I used Photoshop, Fireworks and InDesign to create different elements of my digipak.
-I used Photoshop to edit my photography for my digipak. As the DSLR took very professional looking photos I didn't need to do much to the photos but I did crop them to the correct sizes and brighten the images slightly, especially the red frame, in order to give them a more eye-catching look.
-I used Fireworks to create the logo for my band. This consisted of choosing the right font, colouring it and making the background transparent so it could be transferred to my Didigpak and advert without a white border.
-I use InDesign to bring all of the products made from these programmes to create my digipak and advert.

I used Vimeo throughout the planning stages of this module in order to gather ideas about different music videos such as, their narrative, pace and mise-en scene. This helped me when planning my music video because I knew the conventions of real texts so I could make mine look and feel as real as possible.


I also used YouTube in my planning stages to research music video but as well as this I used YouTube to upload my video in order for it to be viewed on my blog.





I have also learnt how to make gifs during the evaluation stages of this project. In order to do this I used a website called 'makeagif.com'. To make the gifs I had to go to the website, copy the link for my music video from YouTube, decide where I wanted the gif to start and how long I wanted it to last. It was a very simple thing to do but makes my evaluation blog look much more interesting.

How does my actual ancillary texts differ from my planed one?

I made several changes to my actually front cover when it came to the production:
- I couldn't have the actors lying on the ground as I had planned because it was very wet so I had them standing up in front of greenery to still give the 'natural' look.
- The two actors either side of the main singer are not standing side on in my final product because in the end I decided it looked better to show their whole faces not just a profile.
-I had to make the title of the album white in order for it to stand out more.

The back of my CD cover is completely different to my planned one, this is mainly because my planned idea with the sunflower didn't look very proffessional once I had taken the photograph.
I then decided to use a picture of the instruments as it shows off the skills of the band and shows that they are not just singers. I also added the record label, bar code and copyright notice in order to make it look more professional.

I kept the back of the booklet almost the same as my planned idea except that I changed the framing in order to bring the band closer to the audience. I also decided to not put the band's logo on the back cover because it filled up the image too much, making it look too cluttered.

I have kept the CD very close to my plan as I believe it fits in with the rest of my digipak. The only thing that I have changed is the font which I did in order for it to synergise with the rest of my digipak and I added the record label as I believe it looks more professional.

I have kept the same theme (the band in the frame) on my poster but had to re-position the actors because of their varying heights of the actors it was quite difficult to fit them all into the frame. Also I moved the text in order to achieve a less clutered look. I also added the record lable to synergise with the CD case and make the poster look more professional and real.

My Finished Ancillary Texts!

Magazine Advert...

Front Cover...

 

 Back of Booklet...

 

CD...

 

Back of Case...

My Finished Music Video!

Here is the final version of my music video...