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

Marie's presentation into media technologies from Marie-Nicole

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

I have created a director's commentary, which conveys the brand identity of the artist, as a starting point on discussing how my three media products were connected.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Target Audience Feedback

To gather feedback, I decided to ask a sample of people to see what they think about my media products.

Gender

 

Age

First impressions



Genre



Music channels

What they like about the music video?

20% liked the setting

40% liked the arist

40% the narrative





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

U - uses
C- challenges
D-develops


Convention

1)
Visuals of a pop music video may be associated with the lyrics of song

Uses
In my music video, I incorporated shots linking to the lyrics, for example I had a clock showing 'it was a quarter to eight' as well as showing a shot of the father figure during 'my father walked us all the way to the car'.


2)
Pop music songs engage with ideas of romance, or romantic conflict

Uses
The song is associated with the attraction the girl feels towards the boy, but he is shy, and quite passive, whilst she displays a more active front, but there are still shots of the boy acting nervous, and looking into the mirror, making her sure looks good, but then there is the comic aspect that he shows up after she leaves, which could suggest the conflict, and that maybe they're just not meant to be together


3)
Artists portray emotion through facial expressions

Develops

My music video develops this element as my music video as my artist displays a variety of facial expressions to tell the narrative as both facial expressions and body language used highlight her emotional state how the main artist is excited, and when she is nervous, she steps back away from the camera suggesting her vulnerability. Further the frustration of the girl when the boy is late is reflected as  she paces in the shot, whilst the male figure maybe seen as more relaxed when he is laughing and smiling on the phone. My poster and digi-pack include images of my artist as reminiscent and vulnerable, juxtaposes to her bright energy in the music video.



4)
Setting in my production has an atmosphere relating to theme

Uses
The setting in my product is very pastoral with images of the countryside highlighting freedom, as well as suggesting the opportunities in the artists life. The pastoral relates to emotional aspects, further developing ideas of innocence, relating to my media production the way that the characters reflects to this aspects. In my digi-pack and poster, I incorporated visuals of the pastoral to make the artists brand identity more reminiscent.




5)
Pop music video use many interesting editing shots between scenes

Develops
My music video incorporates different types of editing between shots, which is a convention used in music videos, but is usually between fast-pace editing, or slow-pace editing. I developed this convention through using editing like fade in and out, as well as have shots showing a parallel between the artist and the main female character.


6)
Girl trying to look good for the boy

Challenges
This music video displays that the girl is the one who is trying to win over the affection of the boy, yet the boy is the one who is nervous and looks into the mirror to make sure he looks good, go against the gender stereotypes that women are the ones who spend time caring for their appearance.







7)
Happy Ending

Challenges
Both characters do not remain together as they both showed up at different times, going against the idea  of fate and a conventional happy ending.

Annotation of an advert that is of a similar genre to my artist

Annotation of Katy Perry advert.

This advert of Katy Perry displays her name in bold pink, making her brand name stand out. There is a a picture of her album, the mise en scene linking to the poster. She s dressed in bold, bright colours, which heightens her femininity.  The lettering is white and bold, with 'I kissed a girl' standing out as audiences would already be familiar with the song. The typical conventions used include: brand name, album image, image of the artist, name of the album, and new single, as well as the release if the date.

Collage

Conventions of a magazine advert

Functions and conventions of music video magazine adverts

While making our magazine advert we feel it is important to consider the functions and conventions of them and will do this by analysing them. First we discussed what they were.
Functions are:

• To Promote the artist
• To sell the song
• To be eyecatching- visually striking

Conventions are:

• Song/Album title
• Visual links to videos- Intertextuality
• Reviews (Newspaper, Music press, Celebrities/DJ's- Trend Setters)
• Condensed information on content
• Release date
• Artist name
• Where is it available to purchase (HMV,Amazon)
• Record label logo
• Website (official artist site, Myspace)

Screenshots of my finished digipack

Front cover-  My artist is looking away from the camera which suggests she is keeping something away from the audience, reflecting on past events in her life. The red coat, along with the font suggests a mixture of danger and passion, along with a romanrtic element.

The lyric booklet uses a similar image to the back cover. The red coat stands out very boldy. The openess of the field highlights her freedom, furthermore, she is smiling towards the camera suggesting she is happy there.

The cd cover more emphasis on the pastoral then on the main artist, suggesting she is part of the scenery itself. She is sitting down crossed legged at the the roots of tree, suggesting her youth, as she has not fully grown up yet. She is looking towards the camera, suggests she is seeking out the attention of the target audience.

My back cover conveys my artist. She is smiling. She is looking towards the camera, and her appearance is very natural. She takes up only one side of the picture, whilst the other side is displays the depth of the fields.  The back includes the record label along with the bar code. The artist hands are over the fence, suggesting an openness.

Artist brand identity

During class, we watched all each others music videos, and we discussed each video's brand identity. The consistent themes which I got feed back for 2am was for my digi-pack to have very bright colours, such as red, similar to the coat the lip-syncher was wearing. Also, the artist should be conveyed with positive energetic, and vibrant. The look of the artist should be natural and sweet. Maybe in one of the shots, I could write 2am.

Artist similar to Poema - Taylor Swift

- Album 'Red' - Taylor is conveyed as shadowed, as if her identity is hidden. The lettering used is bold, compared to her earlier albums, where it was quite girly, could symbolise that she has matured. Her lip colour matches the colour 'red', so even though she is looking away from the camera, there is still a connection made. Her white shirt could suggest purity. This is her latest album. There is only an image of her face and hair, which could symbolise an emotional passage.

- Album 'Speak Now' - Taylor is conveyed attractive, with the bright purple dress, symbolises her femininity. The lettering used her is elegant, with 'Now' being emphasised with under lining. Around the lettering, there are some sparkles which could add a more dreamy, and girly aspect to the album. There is a bold white back drop to allow her image to stand out.

- Album 'Fearless' - Taylor is portrayed as an innocent figure in this earlier album, with a very dark background, but the lighting on her face allows her to stand out. Her facial expression suggests that there is a sense of vulnerability around her, but the way she is looking towards the camera suggests that she wants the audience to know how she feels. The background is black suggests that she is overshadowed with issues. The lettering contrast to each others as her name is swirly, while the album name is bolder, though is not that visible as 'fear' is merged with a skin.




From this research, I am aspired to use the image of my artist on my album cover, with her face being visualised, though facing the side.  I also feel that the image should be minimalistic, with one colour that stands out amongst the rest, and to keep the artists image very pure and simple.

What is a digi-pack

Digipak is a patented style of CD, DVD or BD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI-Shorewood, an Atlas Holdings LLC company.

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.

Since Digipaks were among the first alternatives to jewel cases  to be used by major record companies, and because there is no other common name for Digipak-style packaging made by other companies, the term digipak or Digi-Pak is often used generically, even when the media holder is a hub or "Soft Spot" rather than a full plastic tray.

Digipak-style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums and the tall DVD Digipak (DVDigipak) is used as a premium package for DVDs and DVD sets. Such packaging is less resistant to abrasion than jewel cases, so it tends to show signs of wear relatively quickly. Licensed digipak manufacturers such as domestic U.S. printer and disc replicator Oasis Disc Manufacturing recommend coating the raw printed paper with a protective UV coating, thus ensuring greater longevity.

Although less vulnerable to cracking than a jewel case, the disc tray inside the package (particularly the "teeth" of the hub which secure the disc in place) remains rather brittle and is prone to cracking if the package is crushed. Digipak-style cases grew in popularity among record labels and recording artists in the early 2000s.

Digipak with recycled tray made from sugarcane

Manufacturers have sought to reduce environmental impact and improve functionality by introducing recycled components into its trays; one has announced a 100% post-consumer PET tray made from recycled bottles, which also eliminates the need for the brittle "teeth". Another one goes one step further by totally eliminating the plastic tray and replacing it with a paper tray made from sugarcane and egg carton. Many printers use recycled or sustainable material for the board stock.

Digipaks have been heavily criticized as they are prone to deforming with the spines becoming unreadable.

Editing process

1) Describe how you have tackled editing process
2) What are the 3 most important decisions you have made whilst editing?
3) What went well during editing?
4) What have been your biggest hurdles whilst editing?

- I have tackled the editing process better than I had for my foundation portfolio production. Before editing, I had made a storyboard to have an ideal plan of how my music video will map out. I have followed parts of the storyboard. I tried to create a music video by including cross-cutting, and making the shots sharp. It was good that the song structure was simple with verses, a chorus and a bridge, which allowed me to plan before hand how I wanted the cutting to go. I also added a selection of transactions between the shots.

- The three most important decisions I have made whilst editing are the narrative perspective, and where the lip-synching was going and how well it had integrated to the understanding of the music video. I have also thought closely about my visual metaphor, and I have focused on the time, as well as the nature. The song resembled a pop/country theme so I was aiming to achieve this. As well as this, I wanted the song to reflect a positive mood.



- What went well during editing was that I had enough footage to use, especially with the lip-synching, so that was a positive aspect.  This enabled me to get shots of lip-synching in a selection of settings, and if I had to re-film any lip-synching, I could rely on myself. The song was about three minutes, meaning it wasn't very lengthy song.

- The biggest hurdles whilst editing were trying to get the balance between the narrative and the lip-synching, and to try to align the narrative with the lyrics of song. It was also difficult getting the actors over to film, as a majority of time, they weren't free, so I had to negotiate relevant timing between my cousin, and my friend, which meant that the two of them did not see each other during the filming, preventing me getting shots of them together. Another hurdle I overcame whilst filming was the decision on lip-synching, because at first I wanted the girl in the narrative to do it, but she had not learnt all the lyrics, and her confidence was not represented,  so I decided to do it myself.

During the weekend

I had finally filmed my cousin so now I have a male lead in my music video, which will mean my narrative will make more sense. I have done cross-cutting between the girl and the boy to add a connection between them.