Media evalutation
- 1. By Tevin CampbellAdvanced Portfolio Evalutation
- 2. During the production of my advanced portfolio many different media products were used such as official music videos and album covers.In total six music videos were used for inspiration for my music video. From these video’s I used numerous conventions to produce my music video, these consist of; The use of handheld camera, which can been seen in all the real music videos I analysed, was an effective convention that was used for various effects such as, making my music video look realistic, cinematography reflecting the rock music genre.
- 3. The handheld camera also allows the audience to feel more involved as they are watching the video with movements similar to if they were actually watching the gig.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
- 4. Another aspect that was incorporated from actual music video’s was the use of fast paced edits to match the genre of rock music which also contributed to establishing the genre to the audience. This video clip of the beginning of the video shows an example of fast paced edits that I obtained from videos such as Mcflys video, ‘Umbrella’.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?Link for clips online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHUtYh3CxG4
- 5. Linking with fast paced edits another convention taken from the real music video’s is to use as many different and interesting shots as possible. Here are some examples; Using footage that focuses on just the instruments, such as the guitars and drums, is another attribute of the real video’s that was used within the making of my music video. This allowed the establishment of the music genre and also gave a direct visual side to the music that was being played.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?Examples
- 6. Shots to show the audience and close up of the band members to show their concentration and enjoyment of the gig. This will lead to audience repeatability as they would watch the video again because they find it fun themselves and they can see the commitment of the band. This idea was taken from all the music video’s that were analysed as they present the band as enjoying themselves.This also links with the way that you present the band members to the audience. A method that is subtly used in various music videos, such as 30 Seconds To Mars video, ‘Closer to the Edge’, is to allow certain band members to ‘appeal’ to the audience which would make them want to watch it again.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?Close up of band member to show his facial expressions.Mid shot of the audience to show their enjoyment towards the video.Close up can also allow Josh to be ‘appealing’ to a female audience
- 7. Unlike a conventional music video, of any genre, the soundtrack of my music video is also live. Conventional music videos have a mastered version of the track used within the video, while my music video has a soundtrack that hasn’t been edited. This gives the music more authenticity an realism which allows the audience to relate more with the video and the music.This sound clip is an example of what I mean;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPfJwBqKEMoIn what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
- 8. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?Before beginning the process of producing my album digipak I first researched into other album digipaks to understand the layout and house style that they apply, again I decided to continue researching media products that relate with rock music.This digipak is for the band ‘Madina Lake’ which are a four piece rock band who produce music similar to the music that I decided to work with. This album digipak; Red and black reflect the genre rock, with ambiguous meanings like danger and ‘darkness’ which are conventions of rock. I ensured the colours representing the genre was focused throughout.Colours are similar to the digipak, having same house style. An idea used when making my album digipak, sticking with similar colours on all four sides.
- 9. The use of one main image at the cover and then the same house style for the rest of the digipak was an idea I decided for the digipak but wasn’t certain if it would suit the conventions until looking at this digipak. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?Main image for front coverReddish and black house style used throughout digipak
- 10. For the album covers I also used various conventions from actual album covers in the creating of mine. These consist of; The use of colours is a distinctive attribute of all the album covers that I used and incorporated within my own album cover, and entire digipak.
- 11. My Digipak Album Covers AnalysedAll the album covers that were analysed have bright and contrasting colours which are also unique, surreal and creative. All of these attributes link with rock music genre and furthermore shows how I used media products that already exist.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
- 12. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?During the production of my album cover I decided to place images of the band members on the front cover. This is different from other rock/indie genre album covers as they never have images of the band on the front cover itself.I did this because I thought presenting the band to the audience was an important factor when It came to advertising both the music video as a product along with the album.However I decided to keep with acreative approach to make the album unique as the being ‘unique’ is a key factor of anything created along thelines of rock genre, whether it be musicor any other design style.Actual band members are not present within any of these albumsUse of band members within the album cover.
- 13. When it came to the production of the magazine advertisement I looked at various real magazine advertisements to exploit the ways that anything relating to a band are advertised. Ideas that I used from these adverts are; Keep the text on the page limited and go straight to the point.
- 14. Use images and colour schemes that relate to what is being advertised.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?The colour scheme of the album cover is the same as the adverts house style
- 15. This ‘Green Day’ advert which is advertising the bands tour is using a colour scheme and house style that relates with the album that they are promoting and performing for at this gig.Mine on the other hand is both promoting the bands new gig while the brand new album at the same time along with ensuring that the house style of both products are similar.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
- 16. The ancillary task presents the genre of rock music in a symbolic way which forces the audience to recognise the genre of the music.The main product presents explicitly to the audience exactly what the genre of the music is and allows them to enjoy it more.Therefore the ancillary task introduces to he audience what the genre is and gets them hooked both visually and mentally, while the main products, which now has their interest presents, gives the audience what they wanted. How effective is your Combination of Main Product and Ancillary texts?Creative colours hint at indie genreCostume reflects stereotypesof the genreText reflects connotations of indie/rock
- 17. How effective is your Combination of Main Product and Ancillary texts?Use of shots of the band with instruments to explicitly show the genre.There costume show them to be dressed how they usually dress, highlights its a live performance and shows them as just average people.Shots to show both the band and the audience. Number of people show that its a band.Shot shows that its live as well due to stage and audience.
- 18. Audience feedback was important in establishing whether the decisions that I made throughout my coursework were the right decisions to make, especially when relating to conventions and how the audience reads the connotations that I am creating in order to portray and establish the music genre.What have you learned from your Audience Feedback?QuestionnaireThought it needed abit ‘more’.Audience thought something was ‘missing’genre music properly.Complex with a lotgoing on, representsgenre more.
- 19. I learned a diverse mix of information after doing various research through questionnaires to see what the audience thought of my production. Firstly after doing a questionnaire on the album covers that I decided to analyse alongside my own album cover and digipak I learned that the answer given by a person varies and depends on their own experiences with that music genre. What have you learned from your Audience Feedback?(places images of the audience feedback)Questionnaire done by someone who listens to rockLocated the conventions of the album cover easily(Link for actual questionnaires) http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iZupDSyUH5s/TX9CD74xfyI/AAAAAAAAAgI/Of6CNJvkpxY/s1600/Untitled-13.jpghttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DaURIUzbCnU/TX9CEB8mq6I/AAAAAAAAAgQ/jo7BuIwE1OY/s1600/Untitled-14.jpg
- 20. What have you learned from your Audience Feedback?Questionnaire done by someone who isn’t familiar with rockShows lack on understanding of the genre.This basically means how a person who is familiar with all types of rock genre music can easily identify the conventions of rock/indie music, whether these conventions are portrayed through images, colour or text. Therefore people who are familiar with rock music could not only easily identify the genre of the album covers but also make a specific and accurate judgement of what type of rock genre the album is.http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hoXcAaECeuQ/TX9CET-U00I/AAAAAAAAAgg/-DXsj2pI16Q/s1600/Untitled-16.jpghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3Tk3L2w_qcw/TX9CEQ1ikeI/AAAAAAAAAgY/23cAeka8lxs/s1600/Untitled-15.jpg
- 21. I used the feedback from the audience to make changes in the album covers to allow the visual connotations to be read more easily by the audience. For example I changed the colour scheme of the first album cover to become more creative and vibrant to represent the ‘indie’ side of the music due to how surreal the connotations of this specific rock genre.What have you learned from your Audience Feedback?
- 22. Throughout the production of my advance portfolio many media technologies were used for various sections of the work. These technologies are the internet, stills cameras, video cameras, Photoshop Elements and Final Cut Express.When it came to doing research for all sections of the advance portfolio the internet was the main media technology used. When it came to the internet I searched for and on specific websites that I knew would allow me to extract the information that I needed. For example when researching what institutions would distribute my media products I went straight away to ‘Hassle Records’ website as I knew that this was the type of music they specialised in.How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?Goes more in-depth of the music genre they specialise in. (Hassle Records website)Examples of bands and the type of music they associate with
- 23. The internet was also used to obtain majority of the images and videos needed for researching, such as the album covers and music videos that were analysed. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?Shows the images of the covers that were found and used from the internet for research into similar media texts. This also shows an example of a video that was found on YouTube in order to do the rescearch needed.
- 24. For the ancillary task I used a stills camera in order to obtain the photos needed. I took various shots from various angles to give myself more choice to choose from when it came to the production of the ancillary tasks. A feature of the camera that I used was the zoom, this allowed me to take the photographs of the crows without any hassle.I also experimented with the flash on the camera to see what effects I would create when I was taking photos for the background of the album cover/magazine advertisement.How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?Example of the different effects that can be created through the use of the flashWithout Flash With Flash
- 25. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?While using Photoshop in the ancillary task I used many features to make the album digipak and magazine advertisement as creative as possible.The most creative method used was adding the filter effects. These filter effects allowed the charismatic and vibrant look of both the background and the band members themselves. Two different filters were placed on the front cover, one on the background and another on the band members. First go to filter gallery and choose distort and then the glass effectOriginal PhotographThen to change the colour of the leaves I went to enhance and then colour variations where I adjusted the colour tintsFinished product
- 26. Another, more simple features that were used on Photoshop was the magic wand tool. This allowed me to remove the background of the pictures, mainly the pictured of the band members, that I didn’t need in order to merge and present the photos exactly the way that I wanted.How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?Magic wand toolDeleted white space, picture now ready for use.Automatically selected area by magic wand ready to be cut.
- 27. The Video Camera was another media technology that was used in the production of the final piece. A simple aspect of the video camera that made the final piece better was the fact that it was an HD, digital camera. Firstly the HD allowed the viewing experience of both the audience and the people who watch the footage to enjoy it more, this links back to the idea of repeatability as the audience would watch the video again due to their good experience that they gain from it.The fact that the video camera is digital also allows the technology used to edit the footage to be at a higher standard.How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
- 28. During the production of the final piece I used the video editing software ‘Final Cut Express’. There were many features of the software that I used through the process of creating the video. An example of these features is the way that the timeline was set out. The timeline where the footage and audio are edited was set out in a way that allowed the editing of the film to flow much easier, especially when comparing to other software such as ‘Premier Elements’. The timeline allows you to make easy changes such as cutting, placing effects and selecting what sections of the video you want to change.How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?TimelineBar for zooming in or outEasily organised clips
- 29. The use of a button list within the software also enabled the editing of the film to become much easier as you can press a single key on the keyboard and the tool needed will appear. This allowed the using of a software that we never used before to again become much easier to use.Due to the ease of using the button list and the timeline I was able to edit the footage to match the soundtrack at exactly the right second every time. This allowed the music video to flow much better and professional as the footage and soundtrack was never out of sync. It also allowed me to placed footage that initially wouldn’t work together to flow perfectly as the frame timing for cutting and editing was perfect and easily manipulated.How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?Example of tool short cuts in button list.
- 30. Another feature of ‘Final Cut Express’ that was used within the video is the ‘crossdissolve’ effect. This allowed the video to fade from one shot to another. The length of this effect can easily be changed while on the timeline, selecting how long you want the fade to last and from which part of the clip to start.The cross fade effect, along with all other effects on the software, they can easily be removed by simply deleting them. On many other software once an effect is place and you move on, it will become impossible to change that effect.Clip to show cross dissolve: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTQ0UENtf6oHow did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?