Evaluation

Poster Feedback 

• Good use of logos, layout and use of stars
• use a clearer font and the photos meed more style and effects to impress
• Good pictures they look professional 
• The font is a good font and compliments the poster well
• The bottom of the poster doesn't look as good as the rest of the poster, the bottom could be black like the top to make it look more professional 
• The use of logos works really well in order to make the poster look professional
• The layout of the poster is well thought out and represents the artist and genre really well
• The pictures are clear and professional 
• The use of the stars and rating makes the poster look professional 
• Could have included a release date

From the feedback I received in regards to my poster, I have once again picked up positive aspects and area for improvement. The main piece of feedback I received was that the bottom half of the poster was not as professional as it could have been. To improve this I could have made the bottom half of the poster the same colour as the top. Some audience members said they liked the font I used, where as other's said they did not. This shows that different people have different thoughts, therefore what may be appealing to some people, may not appeal to other people. However all of the audience members said they thought the images I used throughout the poster were professional, this is important within posters as they are the main aspect, and often which catches the audience's attention. The audience also said they thought that the use of logos at the bottom of the page worked really well in order to make to the poster look professional. The fact that the poster also has a rating from a well known music magazine works well, as it shows that the album is rated highly which can entice audience to purchase the album. Looking back at my audience feedback has taught me that in order to sell a music video, you have to impress the audience, whether this be through the use of the ancillary texts or the music video itself, therefore it is important to base the product around your audience rather than what you think your audience want. Therefore I have found out the important of audience research, as this is a way to find out exactly what your audience want from the product, because it is them that is going to be purchasing the product therefore it is important that the products appeal to them. Therefore ensuring that the audience research is carried out thoroughly and covers all aspects, as it means that I have a baseline to follow in order to ensure my products are meeting the audience's requirements.  

Question 4) How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

During the research stages Chloe and I spent a lot of time researching existing products. Therefore by watching the music channels such as MTV, allowed us to learn more about the conventions of a music video. By doing this we also decided on which song we were to use for our video, as it was on MTV where we first heard the song.
 



 Throughout all stages of the task, I have used a variety of products, whether this be new media technologies, or using technologies I've used previously to a higher level. We filmed our music video on a JVC everio HD. Chloe and I used this camera for our media project at AS level. Therefore we knew how to use the camera, and what to do to ensure we got the best possible shots. This would include the different angles I could point the camera in, as well as using a tripod for a steady shot or using the camera hand held for the shots we wanted to create a home filmed feel.Chloe and I also used our phones a lot for the construction stage. I used my Sony Xperia U in order to take pictures of our model throughout the process, as well as using it to contact Chloe and our character, to arrange filming dates as well as sending pictures to one another of existing images we thought we would be able to incorporate into our music video. Using our phones allowed us to quickly and easily get hold of one another in order to change plans if the weather was going to effect filming.  I also used my Sony Xperia U to take pictures of our character for my digipak and poster. My phone has a 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus, LED flash camera, therefore I knew it would produce clear, professional looking shots. However some shots did not come out a clear as I had hoped therefore using Photoshop would allow me to edit these pictures in order to gain a picture that I was happy to use on my ancillary texts.


Media technologies I have previously used include Adobe Premierpro and Photoshop. However these were both used to a basic level. For example I used Adobe Premier pro, however only to a basic standard, whereas during the construction of our music video we developed these skills. We had to do this in order to ensure the lip syncing throughout the video was on point. To do this we had to cut down each clip to the exact same place as the track. Sometimes our character sang too fast or too slow. Therefore this meant cutting the clip more than once then slowing parts down and speeding other up, we then had to put the clips back together to ensure during the video the audience do not see a jump between the different clips.

During the construction of our music we edited a number of shots in order to maintain the vintage theme throughout. This required layering effects on top of the shots and experimenting the the different settings in order to ensure that the settings are best for the genre and narrative of the video. After finding the correct effects, I then ensured each clip was edited in the same way. This was essential as it is important that there are no jumps within the video, as it will be really noticeable and will make the video look unprofessional. We slowed down and sped up a number of shots, we did this in order to fit them into the narrative of our video. A lot of shots were edited to look grainy, like a home made video. This was done on purpose in order to show the difference in time throughout the narrative. The shots made to look like a home video were used to show summertime whereas the more vintage shots showed present time. During the construction stages of the music video I felt I thought about the editing in more detail i did this by thinking about what methods would work well in order to represent the artist and the narrative well, in order to please the audience. Photoshop was used to make my ancillary texts, this required me to use a number of layers in order to blend my photographs into their backgrounds. As well as cropping and using the lasso tool to crop the pictures so they are precise. I used a number of layers on each panel of my digipak. For example on the photo panel, there was a background, then on top of the background was a close up of lips with a layer of text on top.

Using the skills I have developed by experimenting with different tools on photoshop allowed me to do this. I also used photoshop to edit my photographs. The photos I took were originally in colour, by using the colour change tool on photoshop I was able to change the photos so they were in black and white. The photos I kept in colour I still edited them so they complimented the vintage theme I wanted to achieve.

During the evaluation stages I used Prezi, Powerpoint and Slideshare, these are all media technologies that I have used before, therefore I knew how to use these programs before it came to me evaluation. However, I have only ever used Prezi for basic presentations, whereas my evaluation used a large number of paths, this meant I had to edit the order of my path, and add a large number of text boxes and ensure they were in the right position in order for the Prezi to flow. I also incorporated different forms of media onto the prezi which I had not done before, for example, the powerpoints I had made were added onto the prezi through the use of a hyperlink. I also added youtube videos.  Through out the different stages of Chloe and I's music video I have developed my skills on these media technologies, which I feel I can not put into use for different projects. I now also feel confident using these media technologies and feel I can put together a well thought out project which I know I have been put together to the best of my ability.

Throughout the research, and evaluation stage I had difficulties using slideshare, as it was often the case that the website was not working and wouldn't let me upload the powerpoint I wanted. Therefore I had to research into similar programs which would let me upload the powerpoint. I came across auto stream which allowed me to upload a powerpoint and embed it into my blog, like I would have done with slideshare. Through out my evaluation I wanted to use as many different formats of presentation as possible. I came across glogster, which allowed me to present my ideas in a poster form them embed it onto my evaluation. I used the presentation method when writing about my audience feedback.

Poster

The music poster I have created includes images of the artist, the artists name, album title as well as a review and links to Lana Del Rey's facebook page as well as her own website. I think it is important to include these aspects as it are all ways of selling the album as well as more Lana Del Rey products. People that are looking through the magazine are all potential costumers. Therefore if the poster includes the artists picture and name they will be able to pick out the album easily when looking for it, whether this be online or in store. A review is a selling point. If the potential customer sees that it is highly rated by a well respected music company, it could persuade the customer to purchase the album. Having the link to Lana Del Rey's facebook page can increase the number of people she has on linked to the site. This means that more people are viewing the latest news, such as products for sale, tour dates and new releases, meaning that more people are aware and can increase the number of sales. The same applies to the link to the direct and official Lana Del Rey website. The icons on the bottom on the poster show the record label Lana belongs to, as well as her own logo. The iTunes logo shows potential customers that they can purchase the album on iTunes.

Final Music Video

LJCA2 from George Spencer Media on Vimeo.

Digipak

Feedback of draft music video

·        After completing our first draft of our music video, Chloe and I thought it would be important that we looked back over our completed draft and pick out strong points and weaker points of our video. As this would allow us to see what worked well within the video, as well as what could be improved. By doing this it would allow us to have a clear idea of what we need to change, therefore allowing us to decide upon whether we need to re film certain aspects or film new shots. By completing this analysis we hope to produce a final music video which is to a high standard and works well as a whole. 

    

  From looking back at our video Chloe and I realised that a number of shots were wobbly these shots include the shot at 0.04, 0.28, 0.46,0.48,1,46,2,11 2.30. This means that these are shots that will need to be re-shot, or edited so that the wobbly parts of these shots are not within the shot anymore.

   Another weak aspect we picked out from out draft were that a number of lipysyching shots were not accurate. Therefore once again these are shots that will need to be re-shot in order to improve our music video. 

Draft Poster

 

Once again, due to not having a time suitable for both the actress and I, I have not been able to produce a poster to the the standard I would have liked. I have once again used an image from the research and planning part of the task. When producing my final poster I will ensure I have a number of pictures I can choose from in order to produce a high quality poster. I will also be more experimental with fonts and colours. By doing this it will allow me to produce a poster which is to a similar quality of existing posters within magazines. I have used an image that is on the front cover of the digipak, as if a potential customer see's the poster in a magazine and then goes to buy the album, they will be able to pick out the album and know that they have picked up the correct one.

Draft Digipak

My first draft of my digipak is not how I originally planned my digipak. However due to work commitments and commitments of the actress we could to find a suitable time to take photos for the digipak. Therefore I used images I had taken during the planning and research task. The scenic pictures are pictures from different locations. The CD holder panel is a picture of a flower bed at one of our possible locations. The Picture of the actress was taken during our first filming session. The picture of the actress was originally used to show the hair and make up style of our actress. The Inside panel is a picture of one of the locations we used within our music video. Once again the picture of the actress was originally used to show the actress's hair and makeup. The back panel is again a picture of a possible location. However we did not use this location within the music video. The back panel shows Lana Del Rey's record label's logo. The front panel shows three pictures of our actress layered up on top of each other, then text blending into these images. 

I decided to do my digipak this way as even though the images are from my research and planning section of the task, I believe that these pictures fit in well with the genre of existing Lana Del Rey album covers. I also felt it was important that our actress was the main feature on the front cover, as it is often the artist's image which sells the product. This is because it is often the fact that consumers don't know the artist's name but they may recognize the artist's image. The fact that her image is central is also a selling fact as it will stand on shelves as customers can quickly identify the artist's album.

First draft Music Video

Shooting schedule

This shows the days and times of what shots we will be filming and where these shots will be filmed. We put the schedule together so that all the shots that are at the same location are filmed on the same day, this will allow us to keep track of what shots we have done. 

Mock up of digipak

Storyboard

 The storyboard is a basic idea of what shots we want to feature throughout our music video. We have drawn a basic idea of our shot, and written underneath what the picture is illustrating. We also included lyrics, as it gives up a better idea of how the shots fit together. We will only use this as a basic outline because when it comes to filming, we may discover that certain shots don't work well together. Therefore by creating our storyboard this way, it allows us to move round shots or change them completely.

Possible Locations

These are other possible locations we found around Nottingham. These locations are not for definite,however they are potentially going to be used for the shots within the music video which show picturesque views, and vintage type locations.  

Location 4

This location is West Park Cemetery, we decided upon this location because we liked the entrance to the church, we also thought it went well with the other location we had chose. We are not certain if this location will be definitely used within our music video. But we decided to consider it and take pictures so when it comes to producing our music video we can film here if we need.

Location 3

We decided upon using an airport as one of our locations, as during the music video we are having moments where the female has flash backs of her previous summers with a male. One of these flashbacks include the two characters filming themselves coming back off holiday. These shots will show the 'arrival' signs within the arrival lounge of the airport.