Hannah Slaney Evaluation Post

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

Throughout our music video we have used various techniques to portray different conventions. We researched generic conventions in which were primarily used within indie music videos and used this research to develop ideas which would influence ideas towards our final product.

 A convention in which we used was the costume that Joe wore. We found that when researching the indie genre, the costumes in which all the band members and artists wore were very similar in terms of style. I looked at bands such as The Kooks, The Script and individual artists including Jason Mraz and James Morrison. I found that nearly all of them wore very casual and relaxed clothes in their videos which frequently consisted of a patterned shirt, jeans and plimpsols. This could be to reflect the style of the indie genre as it is recognized as a laid back genre and therefore this is shown through the aesthetics of the video. We can also comment on the genre hybrid as this image portrayal is seen to have a very “country and western” style.

The costumes in which they wear can also determine the type of audience that is fond of this genre of music. Young men who like this style of fashion may aspire to these artists especially people who want to become musicians. We asked Joe to wear a detailed shirt, jeans and plimpsols as identified in the other indie videos. We designed this costume for Joe which corresponds with this as this was a convention in which we carried out successfully.

 Another convention in which we used was the alteration of colour correction. In our video we decreased the de-saturation of some of the shots to give the idea that these shots were memories. We did this to give an arty effect giving the deliberate implied meaning that these shots are memories. It is seen to be a recognized narrative code to use decreased saturated shots as the audience is expected to understand this cultural difference. In our video the only de-saturated shots are of the unidentified female. This implies to the audience that these shots are all memories to the artist and accompany the narrative as he reminisces about his ex-girlfriend. An example of using decreasing colour saturation is shown through Oasis “Little by Little”

A convention we developed was the idea of keeping cast members identity anonymous. In our video the narrative shows shot of the artist with his ex-girlfriend as a memory. As well as these shots decreasing in colour saturation we have kept the character unidentified and unnamed. This gives the narrative ambiguity and the audience question who the female is. This continues throughout the video as we don’t develop her as a key character. The codes of the character imply that even though she is in the background of the video she is important to the narrative. We can relate this to Katy Perry’s video “Hot and Cold.”

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY3CehyfUko

However the connotations of the sequence being at a wedding indicate the happy ending but on the other hand this is dissimilar to our video as we keep the female completely unspecified which points out the reason for the artists bitter expression.

Another convention that we developed was the element of performance. It is known for artists of the indie genre to pride themselves as musicians. This is done by acoustic performance to show the artists musical talents. In our video we have shown the artist playing a guitar in the countryside. The fact that he is alone shows the relationship that the artist has with his music as his position, arched over his guitar implies that he is absorbed in what he is playing. For the audience this is aesthetically pleasing as they expect to see the artist playing the guitar and doing what he is well known for. We have noticed that Jason Mraz in the “I’m Yours” video although the artist performance is based on the accessory of the guitar rather than the relationship between the artist and the instrument.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkHTsc9PU2A

 As well as using conventions we decided to challenge certain conventions to create individuality for the video and to attract a wider audience. One of these conventions we challenged was the use of only using 2 cast members throughout the whole video. It was essential for our narrative that we included shots of the female character so the audience were aware of who she was and her relationship towards the artist. The use of saturated shots indicates that she is a memory towards him which really amplifies the narrative of the video. From the shots in our video we can see that the female is the reason for the artist’s bitter tone which is shown through his expression. We can relate this to Jason Mraz “Lucky.” In this video the characters are never pictured together which also relates to conventions that we have developed with the anonymous cast as in this video her character is never develop in the same way as ours video.

Further to this we challenged the convention of where the video was filmed. We researched many different indie videos to look at the variations of location as we wanted to do something slightly different but still conveyed the basic generic conventions of the indie genre. Most of our shots show the countryside setting as we feel that this connects well with our song as it is quite a smooth melody which reflects the calm surroundings. We have shot some of the footage in a street setting to vary this and to keep the audience interested. The inter-textuality of using both settings integrates the genre of country and western as it is a classic convention to use countryside settings. By doing this we are breaking the convention of location and cross-referencing it with other genres.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJf-p6RYvo

 How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
This video shows all of the digital technologies in which we used throughout our project. The most significant being the blog as we were able to update this with progress reports and research posts. The new range of media was useful as we were able tob use online software to research and use social networking sites for audience feedback.

What have you  learnt from your audience feedback?

 It was important to ask people about our video as we needed to find out from our target audience, what they wanted to see and why this was important in a video. We asked people in as many different places as we could including social networking sites and asking family and friends.

We found that facebook and youtube were good because the comments were from the general public, particularly youtube as we were able to gain demographic figures from the viewers of our video.  We leant that through all of our audience feedback it was hard to keep everyone satisfied and to challenge and develop conventions in a way that would be successful.

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

 

Our ancillary texts relate closely to our main product as we took images from the video and used this within the digipack. This shows continuous intertextuality and cross referencing which link the all the products together. I based the design of the digipack around the album from "The Script" who are an indie band in which I researched as my main stimulus. I took the idea from this of using a neutral colour scheme which corresponds with the natural location shown throughout the video. Connotations shown throughout the digipack also relate to the video as the artist displays a bitter expression during the video which closely relates to why the artist is facing away from the audience and the album name.

Ancillary Task

Evaluation - Grace Hobday

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

Here are some technologies I used - 

These technologies were so effective due to the fact they all worked together. Firstly, I used Garage Band to edit our sound, and I was then able to open it in Final Cut Express and begin editing our footage so that the cuts and transitions were in time with the music. To record ongoing progress I used blogger and twitter, and twitter was particularly useful as I could document short notes on what I'd learnt. In addition, I could view Hannah's twitter account and see what changes she had made to our music video. As well as using Youtube in the planning and reseach stages, I also used it to upload our video for audience feedback. Furthermore, I used Facebook to gain audience feedback and to also organise group meetings and filming sessions.  After that we used Paint Shop Pro to design, edit and produce our ancillary texts which we then uploaded onto blogger.

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

Overall, our artist image is sold through the screen grabs we took from our video which we then used for our digipack and advert so that it was consistent intertexuality. The messages we mainly portrayed were independence and musical talent, and to add to the advertising element we put the official website address of our artist on our advert. We wanted to emphasise that our song title 'Take me on a train' was symbolic of a journey which links to our digipack title 'Finding the courage' and that the acoustic guitar played a huge part in representing our artist, his image and his musical abilities. We were influenced by musicans under the indie genre such as Paolo Nutini and The Kooks, as both artists include their instruments in their videos. In addition,  them representing themselves as musicians establishing themselves in the music industry rather than them not being real people as Dyer said in his theory on star construction.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

We found the audience feedback that we received very useful for a variety of reasons. We gained the feedback through Youtube, Facebook, a questionnaire and opinions from family and friends. We thought  it was extremely important to get this information after producing our final video so that we could see whether our video met the standards we set and if our target audience enjoyed our video. We also wanted to find out if they had any constructive criticism so that we could consider where we went wrong and address the issues. From the feedback that we received I felt there were many positive comments about the artist himself and the locations in which we filmed, however we realise some people thought the lip syncing didn't look as realistic as we had hoped and this may be due to the fact that our 'artist' had braces which made his jaw movements unusual. We wanted to both challenge and develop conventions in a way that would appeal to our target audience and I feel we did this to the best of our ability. 

Here is an image of our audience feedback from Facebook - it shows likes and comments from people aged between 17-18.

 Here is an image of our video on Youtube, which shows the views.

 

The images above show statistics  from our Youtube video where we gained demographic figures from the viewers, which tells us that our video was most popular with males aged 13-17 year olds. 

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

We used various conventions throughout our planning and research stages and in our final music video. One convention we used was desaturation and this was to portray to the audience that the particular clips in black and white were in fact a memory of the artist's. King's of Leon use the black and white effect to create intimacy with their fans by sharing short clips of  them performing on stage, as well as them back stage. Using black and white is a recognised code within the music and film industry especially, and we used the effect expecting the audience to know what we are portraying and instinctively understand the message we are giving. Previously black and white was the only form of colour used in TV but it is now used as an effect and we have taken that and applied it to symbolise that it is a memory. Another video we were inspired by was Oasis 'Little by little' however, the desaturated effect is not used to show memories or past experiences it is used to create mood and atmosphere.

A screen grab from Oasis 'Little by little'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic-Na--7_NI

A screen grab from our video 'Take me on a train' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcoLc9HOPG4

In early research and planning stages we were inspired by The Kooks image. They are a good example of indie costume and we wanted to replicate this in our artist. The costume relates to their overall images, as they are seen as down to earth, and relatable to the audience. I feel this is a big part of the indie genre and we wanted to portray a laid back casual look through costume. We found many artists wore check shirts and researched into high street stores and found this particular look was very popular. Skinny jeans are another key feature within indie costume and I have found not only The Kooks go for this look but other artists such as members from King's of Leon and Paolo Nutini. When looking at 'She moves in her own way' by The Kooks we found that the instruments played a big part in making up their image as they are included in most shots. This is due to the fact the music is an important part of who they are and the image they are creating for themselves. So, we too featured our artist playing the guitar in most of our shots. The age of the artist was also very important when considering our target audience, and The Kooks also influenced us to get a young performer so that he appealed to both teenagers and young adults.

(A Link to The Kooks 'She moves in her own way' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pquhYpGHrlw)

(The above two screen grabs go with the paragraph below - the top image being from Katy Perry 'Hot N Cold' and the underneath image is from our video 'Take me on a train')

We developed coventions by showing both aspects of amplification, and we did this by using performance and narrative. In our narrative we decided to conceal the identity of what seems to be our artists ex girlfriend. This is similar to the idea used in Katy Perry 'Hot N Cold' where the reason for the male character is ambigous, however I interpret it as if he isn't the right man for her so she is using him as a way to portray the lyrics of the song. We incorporated this into our video so that the audience can gain their own creative interpretations, such as whether the artist is still in love with his ex girlfriend or if he resents her. Furthermore, in the image of Katy Perry the codes of action show a wedding taking place, and the clear wedding conventions suggest strong connotations with romantic success. However, Katy Perry is in fact leaving the male character in the music video, which turns the convention and goes against the stereotypical wedding scenario and the happy ending that is expected. This shows that she is the character that is intended to be emphasised and little attention is meant to be on the male character. So that we achieved this concept in our music video, we deliberately didn't develop the character of our artists ex girlfriend and instead showed the code of the lover through her in the distant dull background.  To also achieve this notion we used a black and white effect to show that it is a memory, and we also concealed the ex girlfriends face and used long shots to mask her identity.

(A Link to Katy Perry 'Hot N Cold' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X75mry1LcFg)

In our video 'Take me on a train' we have developed the traditional convention of performance and its importance within the indie genre. It is expected in indie music videos to see the instrument and in this case the guitar because musicians in the indie genre pride themselves on the fact they make the music. For example, the second screen grab is from Jason Mraz 'I'm Yours' and shows both him and his band performing with their instruments. In ways we wanted to stick to this convention and we did too, however we brought the performance element into the mise en scene. We did this by getting our artist to sit for example by a lake and perform in the natural surroundings rather than on stage to an audience. By developing this idea the mood of the video changes from being a simple performance to creating an imtimate relationship with the audience as they get to see him as a person just making music rather than a constructed star. This is useful as it adds more narrative as the audience view him going through a mental journey which adds interest. Instead of showing clips of a band performing live we have made our artist perform on set, which again draws attention to his guitar and him being a musician. In the image of our artist it is almost a two shot - him and his guitar. As he is pictured alone it hints at him being an individual and there is an implied relationship between him and his guitar. Guitars are very iconic and the fact it is an acoustic guitar highlights again that he is not only a singer but a musician too. The costume and composition of our artist links to Dyer's theory of star image, he says that an artist is not a real person and that they are constructed by various materials e.g. advertising. This could be said about our artist because his typically indie styled costume and guitar that is very iconic could be perceived as a set up, meaning he was styled and put in that position to perform and not his true individuality.

This image of Jason Mraz is iconic too, the way the band is laid out is highly typical and it is a very specific visual look. The clear difference between our image and the one of Jason Mraz is that to our artist his guitar is the most important thing whereas to them the instruments are simply accessories. However, they also go for a very casual costume, wearing clothes such as t-shirts and shorts. Their costume represents them as being laid back rather than constructed stars.

(The image above is of an urban setting in The Kooks 'She moves in her own way)

We have challeneged conventions as the indie genre often uses urban settings, whereas we filmed in the countryside. We wanted to do this to fit into our narrative rather than conform to other artists work. The image above of our artist sitting on a haystack wearing a check shirt shows that we have taken ideas from the country and western genre, again showing that we have challenged typical indie conventions. We did this to show our artist is contemporary and to also display illustration. This is where we displayed a message through our artists costume. I believe our video challenges the lyrics, and additionally the way the train is portrayed. This is because real life train experiences are usually busy, rushed and feeling too hot in the process whereas in film fiction it is represented as going on a journey that is usually dreamy with an idealised mood, and this is because it impacts the audience positively in narrative, rather than them seeing the train in our video so realistically.

The two above images are of Paolo Nutini in a typical indie styled costume and the other of a country and western styled character. Our artist wore a check shirt which is typically in the country and western genre but has been brought into the indie style as it is worn with typically indie clothes such as skinny jeans, showing that we have developed and challenged typical indie conventions.

Many music videos have extra people, either for characters within the narrative or for simply passersby to help the audience establish the mood and setting of the song. In our music video we have challeneged this convention because we wanted to emphasise the significance of our artists ex girlfriend as she is the reason for the song and his bitter tone. Similarly, Jason Mraz has used the idea of focusing on himself and another character, however they are never seen together possibly because they do not have an intimate relationship unlike our artist and his ex girlfriend of the past. They are also performing in the moment, whereas we have shown memories of our artist and its importance within the song, as it helps the audience understand why he has such a bitter tone when singing the song.  

(A link to Jason Mraz 'Lucky' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acvIVA9-FMQ)

Final Magazine Advert

I have designed two magazine adverts using 'Q' magazine to help me. My scanner has not been working so I will add the research and planning notes at a later date. On the first advert I decided to go for a simple look, however on the second advert I used a Michael Jackson advertisement, aswell as an advert for a band called Warpaint to help me develop the advert further. A part of the Michael Jackson advert looked like this -

 

 I used this design to inspire me to use a selection of small photos of our artist. I think this idea gives the impression of exclusivity to the audience as they gain an insight into the artists performances and life. I believe this is an advantage, as showing both the actual album cover plus additional photos of the artist would boost sales.

Final Digipack Design

Here is the design for our final Digipack design for the front, back Cover inlay and the cd design itself. We have used a neutral tone for teh background which relates to the natural location in which where we filmed our footage.

Start of Magazine Advert

Images to use in our Digipack

Digipack Research

To follow up our production of a digipack I have researched digipacks that are form the genre of our song and to see what conventions are commonly used and therefore use this information when creating our own digipack.  The following images are from indie bands and artists which are very similar to ours. The laid back approach can be seen through these covers by the position of the artist and the general layout of the covers. I like how the on this back cover the bands name is mentioned on the sides of the cover but placed vertically so that it is an interesting way of presenting the text.