Evaluation - Sheridan

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The media product that our group created was based around the song, Way Back into Love, we created a generic music video and two ancillary texts for this love song. The music video and ancillary texts demonstrate typical characteristics of the love song genre for example the young couple performing a duet is very romantic. We had the characters singing to each other is very typical in a love song, a music video that follows similar characteristics is No Air by Jordin Sparks. This video has the two performing artists singing directly to each other for a lot of the video. It is important to promote the artist so we included a lot of lip syncing, performing and close-ups as well as creating a narrative structure throughout. The lyrics are about two people wanting to fall in love and this gave us a lot of inspiration for the visuals, for example we presented the characters on the day that they met for the first time and gradually built up a relationship between them. The fact that the couple both woke up alone is very significant in our video because this shows that they need to find love to save them from being lonely. I really like the way our lyrics and visuals interact as it amplifies the meaning and significance of them.
The music and visuals interact very well as the pace of the music is quite slow which is why we made our shots last for quite a long time. I also think that because we let the shots last for a while longer the image of the performer is improved and the impact is heightened as the audience see her lip-synching for longer. The piano at the beginning directly links to what is happening with the music because at the beginning of the song there is a piano solo and we used a piano to open our video. We chose to include this in our video because it makes the performer look talented which will attract an audience, it also sets a mellow tone for the duration of the video. I think that we have created an interesting visual style; all of the colours in our shots are ‘girly’ and mellow, this includes the costumes that the female performer is wearing. The tone that is created by these colours brings out love and loneliness as a theme, we help this along by hinting towards love in some of the shots. We did this by including a cardboard heart which re-occurs throughout; we did this because we wanted to create a motif that would distinguish our video from any other typical love song videos.
We did not make our music video voyeuristic in any way because not only was the music video intended for audiences of all ages but we think that the love and lust was equal between the male and female characters and we wanted to show that the attraction was mutual. We showed the attraction between the two by the motion of the characters looking into each others eyes. We also showed emotion by having close-ups of the character singing into the camera I think this made the video very interesting. Way Back into Love is a song from the film Music and Lyrics however we chose not to have ant intertextual reference to this in our music video because we wanted to include fresh ideas which we created ourselves. Altogether I think that we created a music video that includes the genre characteristics of a love song which means that we achieved what we were aiming for.


How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
Our main product and ancillary texts all interrelate, they work well together to promote the artist and entice the consumer. All of our products represent the artist because of the colours and pictures. For example on the front of the digi-pak cover we have pictures of Hayley Bennett that we have edited to look quite abstract and modern. The digi-pak cover that we created on Photoshop was very ‘girly’ and mellow in that the colours were popular ‘girls’ colour. For example we used a lot of purple and baby blue to in the background; I think that this attracts women of all ages because the colours and pictures are subtle. We chose to add hearts along with pictures of the artist because it represents love which represents the song and the video directly. The magazine advert that we created was different to our other products because of the vibrant colours and bold pattern. We chose to make this different because we wanted to attract the audience with the bright colours, red, orange and green. This product still links in with the other two products because it has a silhouette of the artist and it is also quite feminine like the digi-pak and video. I do think that the package as a whole would see well together and apart, I could see all of our products being genuine and professional which is the look we were going for. All of our products represent the artist because of the colours and pictures. For example on the front of the digi-pak cover we have pictures of Hayley Bennett that we have edited to look quite abstract and modern.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
We have received a range of audience feedback which not only influence our work but taught us how we could have improved. The first feedback that we received was by our peers and was an analysis of our rough-cut. This was important because we had a chance to edit our video if they pointed out any faults or new ideas; we also had a chance to do some more filming. For this we were analysed on the videos cinematography, editing, mise-en-scene and genre conventions. For cinematography we were told that we had a good variation of shot types and lengths, they expressed that they enjoyed the split screens. However they said that our shots got a bit boring towards the end because they drag on too much. This helped up when we went to film again because we got some more shots so that we could cut down the lengths of the shots. We were then analysed on the editing which we had not yet finished as it was the rough-cut this was very helpful because we had a lot of time to adapt and edit. They said that our synching was very accurate, they also liked the order of shots and the range of transition types. However they said that we had too many fades at the end of our shots, they said that the shots were two long and could use some variation. We took all of this on board and cut down the shots and added some new shots. We did not reduce the amount of fades because personally we liked this effect and thought that our video suited this well.
The other groups also commented on our mise-en-scene saying that the costumes were good and that we had a nice use of location. They said however that we should not use the college in our video. We improved this by filming more away from college making it look more professional. They said that we followed all the genre conventions because it was a typical love song and it was very focused on both the characters. They also liked the hearts in the background of the shots. However they thought that there was no chemistry between the characters which was disappointing so when we re-filmed we tried to improve the chemistry between the characters by making them closer and more intimate. We receive some other feedback on our final video however it was not very detailed. They basically just said that our final product was good and that it had improved since the rough-cut. They liked all of the new shots; they said the piano was very appropriate, they also said that the chemistry had improved to a certain extent. This gave us confidence in our video that we didn’t have before which was needed.

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
We used many new technologies to create our video and ancillary texts. Internet was played a big part in the planning of our video. We used the website www.blogger.com to record all of our planning, this helped us to gather a lot of information together in one place and really express our ideas to each other. An essential website that we used was www.youtube.com this gave us a lot of inspiration and ideas during our planning stages because we had the opportunity to look at other music videos of the same genre. This was also a useful programme because we posted our music video on here which is nice because we are able to see what the public think of the video we created. The internet in general was useful for our research as we wanted to find our more about the artist and we also wanted to send her a message to tell her that we were creating a video for her song. We did not get a reply which would have been very interesting. Sometimes you can not rely on the internet because it is created by every one and some parts might not be true.
We used the cameras which were quite easy to use however the tripod was quite irritating because it was wonky and we had to find a way around this because we could not film with a wonky camera, we got around this by making on of the legs lower it then turned out we. We used final cut for all of our editing, it is a very sophisticated programme which takes time to get used to but we worked out all of the different techniques and special effects that we needed for our video, so we found a way to make final cut work in our favour and without final cut our video would not have been such a good quality and it would not have been very interesting. We used Photoshop to create our ancillary texts we worked really we with this programme because it helped to create a lot of interesting effects, it made our digi-pak and magazine advert look professional and visually appealing. To communicate with each other we used mobile phones which were very important because we needed to contact each other about filming dates and times and also deadline dates and times. Altogether new technology and equipment was essential in creating our music video.

Editing of evaluation...

So far our editing has really improve the footage and the evaluation is starting to take shape! The use of clips from our music video makes the evaluation look much more professional. We will probably need some more footage or audio as there is alot more that we could talk about.

Filming evaluation...

We filmed our visual evaluation in a class room in front shelves of books because we thought it looked more interesting than just a blank wall. We found it quite difficult talking on the spot and in front of a camera but tried our best to relax and talk about out music video. We based the information around the questions given but could have gone into a bit more detail. Watching our footage back we weren't very happy with it but with some editing it should look ok. We need more information really so will have to film some more or just do audio. We want to combine lots of our video footage and digi-pack into the evaluation to explain our answers better as well as make the footage more interesting.

Evaluation ideas...

Open with the beginning of music video and fade out to speaker. Show different clips throughout when appropriate and get different people to talk about the music video.

*Why we chose the song- easy to come up with a good narrative, we like the song of the song overall
*Research, where we got inspiration- Bad Day (split screen), No air etc
*Our initial ideas and how they changed e.g. man with sign to hearts
*What technology we used, what we learnt about it and what we found difficult e.g final cut and the split screens, lining up lip syncing
*Outtakes- discuss the challenges we had with different parts of the music video e.g. Walking down street, piano, rough cut.
*Different angles and how effective they are in terms of the beat and narrative
*The costumes and location- why we chose them and how effective they are
*Initial idea for digi-pack and what changed
*How we think our video went, if we would change anything and what would we do different next time
*What we think of the digi-pack, what we would change and whether we think it links to the music video
*Feed back- talk about peer feedback, get someone to what the video and tell us what they think

Evaluation

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

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

3. what have you learnt from your audience feedback?

4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and reasearch planning and evalutation stages?

Digipack and Magazine Advert self evaluation

Our final DVD cover is very different to any that we have seen, we wanted it to be unique and interesting and I think that we have achieved this. It includes a two pictures of the artists and the rose combines with the song genre and the title of the song and album (Way Back into Love). The concept of the DVD cover matches well to the video content it is important that these concepts relate so that the consumer knows what they are purchasing and that they can see a link between the two. The colours of the DVD cover are considered to be very romantic like most of our artists music, there is also a heart on the cover of this which connects to the heart that appears in our video. We have included all of the needed information, the name of the album and the artist, content titles and photos of the artist.

The Magazine Advert that we designed is also very unique it is very eye catching and bright so the the viewer is drawn into the colour and design. It also includes all of the right information for the consumer for example we added the release date and the distributing company logo, so that the consumer knows when and where to purchase this product.

DVD Cover - Way Back Into Love

Magazine poster Final

Advertisment

We need to combine lots of information with an attractive visual and colours that catch peoples attention. We would like the advertisement to be simple but bold and modern to appeal to different ages and listeners. It would be good to take ideas from our music video such as the location or the heart symbol in the background. Are first thoughts are something that looks almost hand drawn that isn't cheesy or messy, we want a professional looking advertisement that compliments the song and artist.

Digipak Ideas

Front cover ideas
For the front cover of our digipak we do not want any picture of the artist however it will still have the conventions of a love song... For example we have some ideas of what images we would like to use; a dove, a heart. The shapes and colours will be simplistic and a little bit girl with pinks and blues etc. we will use a pretty font to write the artist name.

Back Cover
the back cover will include all the information that is needed plus all the albums song titles.

Digipak research

Digipaks typically consist of a gatefold (book-style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside.



We like this because it is very simple and dull however it catches the eye because of the bold colour which stands out.



We liked this one because it conforms to our ideas it has a heart which is a convention of a love song, we also liked the idea that there is a picture on the cd. This gives you an insight into the genre of the song we liked this idea we also liked the idea that it doesn't have the performer on the cover which gives it some mystery.



This is very simple and to the point. We didn't like this one too much we want to use it as an indication of what we don't want. We want our digipak to stand out. PIZAZ!

Peer anaylysis

We would write feedback on the goodwin analysis, however there is not enough information to write comments on so we are just going to write a comment on our overall video.

Our music video includes typical love song conventions for example the subtle hearts in the background of the performers whenever they meet. They also seem very in love especially when they kiss at the end, there is usually a kiss in a love song.

There is a link between lyrics and visuals, the singer is lip syncing and it is in time with the visuals. There is also a story throughout the video which is based around the lyrics.

There is a link between the music and the visuals. The piano at the beginning matches the piano in the music. Also the pace of the video is slow like the pace of the music.

There are some close-ups of the performer singing which is a requirement for the record label. there sre not that many close-ups of the male singer however he is in most of the shots, he is not seen as the main performer.

The main characters look into each others eyes which demonstrates thier love. There is not any voyuerism however the two performers are looking back on their past from before they met.

There was a slight intextual reference to Daniel Powters video, Bad day. Because of the split screens. Also the song that we chose was writen for the film, Music and Lyrics.

Last lesson of editing!!!

This is our last chance to edit our video at the beginning of the lesson we had a lot of work to do, there was a big gap towards the end of our video and it didn't seem like we had enough footage. In the end we decided to use some of our older footage and padded the video out with some useful footage that we got on our first day of filming. I am very pleased with the final music video all we have to do now is upload our video to the blog :)

New Shot: Together

Pretty much the same as the kissing shots, the together shots link with the duet, being together, love type feel to the song so these shots are showing the audience that the narrative of the music video has gone full circle and all is well.

New shot: Kissing

As our song is a love duet between two lovers, more romantic kissing shots have been taken with natural lighting creating the mood and idea of the natural love at first sight which is one of the points of our music video.

New Shot: On the steps

Also new shots of our character which are in different angles and more closer up making the video more of an duet instead of one main character and a back in singer. These shots are in the hall as well as the other new shots

New Shot: By the window

More shots of Sheridan in a completely different area by a window because of the feedback of the rough cut stating more close ups of the singer, so these shots have been placed within the music video.

New Shot: Piano

A new range of piano shot's for the final music video replacing the old piano shots because of the new range of angles and shots as well as a more attractive looking piano compared to the old one. this piano looks more proffesional and realistic in a music video it also fits this the conventions of our music video .

New footage

Yesterday we managed to get some good footage of the two different characters singing the whole track. We used the main hall to do this which looks really good with the big window in the background. It was really useful because there was a piano in hall which we could use and it looks much more professional than before.
We made sure that this time Callum and Sheridan showed more chemistry and we re filmed the kisses to make sure they look more romantic :)
We realised when watching back footage of Sheridan that there is a white board in the background so when editing we will try to get that out of the shot!!
Now we are going to upload the footage and put it into our original with better more professionally organized footage and editing.
When we have edited all the footage and if we are still not happy we can take the camera out again as we made sure not to use all our time just in case!

Extra filming...

After hearing what people thought of our video and from our own point of view, we want more strong lip syncing footage. Because most of the lip syncing has some laughing in we want to re-film Sheridan, Callum and the couple together lip syncing the whole song (maybe a couple of times if needed in different places).
Some people said that we shouldn't film in college (although about 90% of our footage is from outside of college) so when shooting our lip syncing we will try to find places that look completely different to what we already have.
The editing also needs some adjustments and we need to add the other shots such as the bus stop and cafe scene which we didn't have time to include in the rough cut. This should give more variety and a more obviously linked narrative.
When re-filming some scenes of the couple together we need to have more chemistry between the two, as some people didn't think they looked in love...
The beginning piano part will also need to be re-filmed as some people thought that it didn't match up or look real.
With some more strong footage to use and more editing we should be able to put right the things that people didn't like as well as make our video more professional.
Because people liked the heart symbol we put in different locations we want to use that more in our new footage. This would make our footage more unique and recognizable.

We hope to take the camera out for the day (4th November) and get everything we need so there is plenty of time for editing :)