Evaluation of finished production work: Closing off my blog

I honestly can't believe this is the last ever blog I'll ever write for A2 Media. Two years of media have been a rollercoaster! I've learnt so many things that I'll carry with me for a long time.  It's been full of laughs, stressful days, tired/cold/long days of filming, editing but nonetheless it's been great. I've had a strong group who've despite anything, have always stuck together for the best final outcome. I'm proud of myself for getting to deadline day, but it's been very close. Thank you to Rebecca, who has been such an supportive teacher! I can't forget the technicians and Phoebe who have also been a great help.

I hope you have enjoyed my posts.

- Julie Luong

Evaluation of finished production work: Final Progress Review Blog

My A2 in comparison to my AS is much, much better! I can see this in my huge grade improvement. Last year I had C's in my blogging health check lists and this year I have improved a lot. I'm proud of my effort that has made this happen. I have blogged in much more detail this year, using a range of ICT and ways of presenting my work. Also, last year, I didn't blog out of the blogging checklist but this year I have tried to do extra blogs. My A2 blog effectively shows all aspects of research, planning and production of my advanced portfolio. I have tried really hard not to leave gaps and blog as extensively and detailed as I can. If there was anything I would change, it would be definitely to do every single piece of work as soon as I got it so it never built up. Overall I am happy with the progress I've made from last year!

Evaluation Question 1

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

We were influenced by music videos such as:

Ariana: the projection starts at 0:04 and repeated throughout the music video,

Rihanna: the projection starts at 1:00 and is also used throughout the music video.

We liked the use of the projector in both Ariana's and Rihanna's music video which we incorporated in our music video. Here we have used projection lighting after being influenced by Ariana and Rihanna.

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We took inspiration from Little Mix's video - Word Up and included a title in our music video similarly.

In addition to our promotional music video, I have created a digipak and advertisement. The ancillary work is conventional too as I have taken inspiration from existing ancillary work. 

Jessie J inspired me to make my digipak monochrome with the red highlighted. The contrast between monochrome and red stands out. 

I have used a similar shot to this for the front of the digipak. From research I found that female pop artists nearly always feature themselves, looking glamorous, in a medium closeup. The text is mostly at the bottom, as text shouldn't cover the face which is why I have used the positioning of the text in a similar way. My ancillary products are conventional as I carried out extensive research to make sure my one would be convention to appeal to our target audience.

Overall, I have used and developed conventions of real media products in order to be conventional and recognizable to our young female target audience. Following conventions has helped my work develop into the end product it is now. As our promotional music video and ancillary products are marketing tools, we haven't challenged the conventions as the aim is to sell and advertise our products. 

Evaluation Question 2

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

This is the promotional music video on Vimeo. We used 'Dirty Love' by Cher Lloyd.

17. Anuli, Julie, Sabiha, Katherine from 283goswell on Vimeo.

Synergy is when one or more products work together for a successful outcome. It is important as they all help ensure a successful outcome. We planned to use synergy through the red during the planning stages after looking at other female pop artists such as Rita Ora, Rihanna and Taylor Swift. Our synergy is the red bandana used in our promotional music video and ancillary products as well as red lips. Also, the same person who sings features in the video and ancillary products, making it easily recognisable by the audience. The synergy links between my products is quite successful as there is a clear link, my target audience recognised that the red bandana and lips are the synergy element and they liked the sophisticated red colour. My promotional package is girly yet simple which would attract young teenage girls that are interested in the pop genre. I think my target audience would be attracted to my promotional package as I have taken ideas from successful existing artists and incorporated the ideas in my own work.

As shown above, in every media product I have included the red bandana and red lipstick. In the promotional video, we had the red bandana in various places, mainly on her hand but we have shots of the bandana around her neck and hand. The synergy was shown throughout the music video apart from the bridge, the slow part to show a contrast between the upbeat tempo to the slow tempo. On my digipak, I have still included the red bandana but the rest of the photo is black and white. This makes the red really stand out to the audience and highlights the visual link between all my products. The two same fonts have been used throughout my digipak to my advertisement, 'cute love' and 'Geo Sans Light' which shows a direct visual link between the two. I have continued the visual link by making the font of 'Saffron' the same colour as the bandana. It looks less harsh and tacky in comparison to the typical red. The audience can clearly identify my digipak, advertisement and promotional video as linked products as the same person features in them all and the red synergy elements.

Rita Ora's digipak inspired me as it's simple yet clearly shows the album name, artist name and shows the artist herself. The colour scheme is quite neutral with the red standing out, which is something I did on my own digipak too. She has a clear visual link through the digipak to the music video. This is something I have illustrated in my promotional package. 

Overall I believe the combination of my main product and ancillary texts is effective as the red synergy is used throughout the video and stands out in my ancillary, making it easily recognisable as linked products by my target audience. 

Evaluation Question 3

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

I have used a wide range of media technology during this project.

Firstly I have used Blogger to document all stages of research, planning and evaluation. During the research stages we looked at Andrew Goodwin and Carol Vernallis' theories on music videos so that we followed their ideas and use their ideas similarly. During the planning stages we looked at many music videos, made an Animatic  so we had a rough idea of what locations/shot types to use. I have made sure to update my blog regularly so it is easily followed and there are no gaps from research to the evaluation stages. Blogger has helped me keep all my ideas in one place, now that I'm doing my evaluation I can look back at my older posts and reflect.

I have used a range of apps and websites to help display my work to make it more interactive and interesting. Ways that I have presented my work include mind maps, presentations/slideshows, Prezi, GIFs, ThingLink, Emaze, Word it Out, Animoto. These all help to present my work in an appropriate way that also engages with the reader.

To film our music video, we used a brand new - JVC camcorder. As it was HD and amazing quality, it helped us make our music video as professional and realistic as possible. We stored the clips on memory cards which we then imported the footage onto the Macs so we could edit on Final Cut Pro. Final Cut Pro is what we used to edit our music video. We added markers onto clips, made them base tracks, added post production effects such as slow motion, jump cuts etc. It allowed us to make our music video conventional with the use of editing,

We made an Instagram and Twitter to interact with our teacher during the process by updating regularly about our filming progress and our progress after. I also used Twitter to engage with Cher Lloyd fans to see what they'd expect to see in one of her videos so this helped us shape our ideas.

The internet has been vital to this project, I have used it throughout the start of the project from researching ideas to the evaluation currently. It has been vital as we have had to analyse existing products to gain inspiration and see the conventions to use in our own work. YouTube has been important as it's a huge platform to see other pop artists and keep my work conventional to appeal to my target audience. I have used the internet to research fonts, colours and style for my ancillary work to make sure that my work is conventional to the pop genre.

Using photoshop for the construction of my ancillary from julieluongx

Evaluation Question 4

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

We received feedback on our music video throughout the editing process. Audience feedback helped us change things in light of their feedback. After the rough cut screening, we received comments such as...

'When Saffron appears with a female friend. It looks random and doesn't fit the song.'

In light of this.. We removed this clip and replaced it with a different base track that was just Saffron by herself. This feedback was important as we want our target audience to understand the music video and be clear of what's happening which is why we removed it.

'The motorcycle scene is nice but it's too dark'

In light of this.. We replaced this scene with a clear, well lit shot as we were unable to reshoot as the motorcycle was a one off opportunity. This feedback was important because it will look bad and unprofessional if shots aren't well lit, this wouldn't attract our target audience.

'The editing in the boy scene is out of beat'

In light of this, we reapplied the markers and made absolute sure the markers were on time with the beat so the editing was in time with the song. This was useful feedback because once again if it was out of beat it would look completely off, especially in the cinema. The unprofessional editing would no attract our target audience. We changed this straight to ensure that our music video was in sync with the music.

All the audience feedback we received throughout the editing process helped us improve and progress. It helped us to find out what looked good, what didn't and what suits the genre and song. All of this information shaped our final music video. Without audience feedback, we wouldn't be aware of what works well. We made changes in light of people's feedback to make sure the overall quality was as good as it could possibly be on our finished piece. It helped us make a successful music video. In conclusion, audience feedback is very important. 

At the cinema screening. we received a good reaction, there was cheers and positive comments. I learned that conventions must be followed because if something looks unusual to the audience, it confuses them. Audience commended the use of costume/makeup because it is conventional to be bright, girly and colourful. Her performance of bubbly and a fun youthful personality really showed in the music video, so this is expected of someone from the pop genre in contrast to someone from the indie genre who may look 'introverted'. Her confident, natural performance is important to an audience because they want to see someone who looks natural instead of awkward and stiff.

I collected lots of audience feedback during the making if my ancillary products, this allowed me to see what others thought was effective or not so effective. The feeback helped to go change/add things in order for a conventional, thus successful link between my ancillary products and promotional music video.

Below, is Nadia responding to my final ancillary products. Overall, she (and others thought my ancillary products were very effective). Therefore, me following the conventions of pop genre has made my work successful.

Evaluation of finished production work: Audience feedback - using survey monkey

Audience feedback has shown me..

In terms of editing and sound

• People liked the slow motion at the end.
• Base tracks are important as it gave our music video a structure.

In terms of mise en scene and lighting

• They noticed that all locations were bright and colourful - suitable for our pop genre.
• Red lips stood out and they recognised a direct visual link to my ancillary products.
• Outfits were successful as they were girly yet not too over the top. Shows a relaxed side.
• The use of the dedo light was effective as each shot is well lit and clear.

Production of Ancillary work: Completed digipak

Front panels of my digipak

Production of Ancillary work: Completed advertisement

Production of Ancillary work: Audience feedback on ancillary work so far

Production of ancillary work: Overview of using Photoshop in class

Digipak

I took a full colour original photo of Saffron into Photoshop.  

Firstly, I used the magnetic lasso tool to trace around the red bandana, to keep the red colour and then made the rest of the photo black and white.

I downloaded the font 'cute love' and used this as the font for the front cover of my digipak.

I added a shadow/glow onto the text to help it stand out as it can easily get washed away with the other colours.

I colour matched 'Saffron' to the bandana to keep the red visual link. I have kept it fairly simply to keep the focus on Saffron.

Furthermore, I downloaded another font for the track listing called Geosans which is simple. It contrasts to the girly font of the front cover but compliments each other as I have kept the same colour.

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 I created my advertisement on Photoshop with similar techniques to how I did my digipak. I imported an image of Saffron and deleted the background using the magic wand tool. I added a shadow to make the image stand out.

Similarly I used the 'cute love' font to add the artist name and album name. I have kept with the same colour scheme on the digipak. I added the star rating from an image on Google. I added the CD cover on the advertisement and added a shadow so it looks more 3D. 

Planning Ancillary products: Mock up of digipak

This is a mock up of my digipak that I hand drew. I intend on using a mid shot with Li looking directly at the camera to engage with the audience and this makes sure they know who she is. Her artist name 'Saffron' is placed at the top of the digipak, being big and bold this stands out. The album name, 'Sweet Soldier' is at the bottom of the digipak, also clear but smaller than the artist name. The colour scheme I intend to follow is black and white with red and gold elements standing out. The text will be bold with girly elements. The back of the digipak consists of the track listing, the bar code and of course additional information such as the copyright. record label, artist's website etc. The spine will have Saffron, Sweet Soldier and an ISBN number.

Planning Ancillary products: Mock up of advertisement

Planning for ancillary products: Choice of costume

Saffron will be dressed in a bright colourful shirt with a black bodycon skirt and black tights. She is in a completely brand new outfit so this outfit hasn't featured in the music video for Dirty Love before. As it is bright it will appeal to the young target audience as it's colourful and shows off her fun, loving personality. It has a pattern to it so it's not too simple but not too crazy looking. A shirt keeps it simple. She will have her bandana on her head and have red lipstick as the synergy element.

Planning for ancillary products: Choice of location

We have decided to use a plain wall to shoot in because we all want to keep the background simple and plain so if we want to edit and add graphics, we can. We're taking photos in college because it is easily accessible/no cost at all to shoot in and all members of the group can be creative in terms of shot types. I want a plain wall for my ancillary as I want to keep the focus on Saffron.

Digipaks such as Ariana and Adele's have inspired me as they follow the monochrome look which I am planning on doing but also use a plain background, keeping the focus on the artist and the album.

Planning ancillary products: Final choice of photos for ancillary

I have decided on these photos to use for my ancillary products.

I will be using this photo on the advertisement. It is very similar to the front of the CD cover but more of a long shot and the angle is slightly different. I want to include another photo of Saffron on the advertisement because it allows the audience engage with her and recognise her. 

I have decided to use this shot of Saffron standing against the wall with her arms crossed on the track listing panel. This is because from my research I have found that from researching other pop artists digipaks I have found that photos that appear on the back panel tend to be long shots instead of close ups that tend to feature more on the cover or inside of digipaks. This photo will allow me to add the track listing in the space on the wall. Her bright colourful shirt stands out, making it conventional to the pop genre. It also features our key synergy; the red bandana and red lips so there is a visual link between all my products. She is looking away from the camera, which is not unusual of the pop genre.

I have decided to use this close up side shot of Saffron to feature on the front cover. Pop artists tend to have close ups on the front cover, some looking directly into the camera and some away. However as Saffron is a new artist she is looking directly into the camera so the audience can identify her easily. She is the main focus which is what others of the pop genre do too. Additionally, we also include our key synergy element which is the red bandana and red lips.

This picture will be used on the inside panels, on the left of the inside. I plan on rotating this photo so that she is facing the right instead of left. This photo shows a different angle of Saffron and her bandana. Her facial expressions are quite neutral, not giving too much away but still looks like a pop star; with her jewelry and looking attractive.

Planning ancillary products: Short list of photos to use for my ancillary

These are my short list of photos that I could use on my ancillary.

Ancillary production pitch - Julie

In 5 words describe the overall theme/style of your ancillary products?

• Monochrome
• Pop of colour
• Bold
• Girly
• Fun

How many panels will your digipak have?

My digipak will have 4 panels.

Where will your magazine advertisement be placed?

My magazine advertisment will feature in magazines such as We Love Pop. We Love Pop is a monthy magazine for pop loving teenagers (our target audience) which has a range of things from interviews, posters and pictures. They feature pop artists such as Olly Murs, Cheryl Cole, Jessie J who are British pop artists. It would be suitable to have my advert in this magazine as it will attract fans of similar genre. 

Where will you get your ideas from?

I'll gain inspiration from our existing ancillary products from those in the pop genre. 

Planning Ancillary products: Do's and Don'ts of design work

Planning ancillary products: Short list of fonts, colours, layout and design ideas

Planning from julieluongx