Thursday 18 May 2017

Evaluation: Question 1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Tuesday 16 May 2017

Evaluation: Question 2) How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

https://prezi.com/view/FMyLeejVUeUHLQR9AD4p/ <-View Evaluation Task

Planning: Outline of narrative

Outline of Narrative

What was the task? Why do we do it

As a group, we analysed the lyrics and identified the narrative and how it develops according to each line and beat. Additionally, we applied theories and ideas that we have previously learnt which allowed us to form an idea and a plan on the structure of the music video.

Evidence of annotated lyrics




Themes

  • Happiness
  • Youth
  • Women
  • Culture
Apply ideas to the theory.

Video Narration: 

From analysing the lyrics of the song we have identified that the main theme is around angels and culture as well as the music the music industry. Additionally, we discovered the song doesn't have a narrative rather the artist expressing his ideas or morals to his target audience. We on a plan to portray this in our own unique and distinctive way.

The opening video will be a medium shot of the artist. We may have an establishing shot of Stratford or ponders end London. Setting the scene of the music video. at "I got my city doing front flips" This is when the artist will start lip syncing to the song.


Conclusion

Overall, working on this post has been highly beneficial for my group. Because it allowed us to discuss the narrative structure and the final narrative for the music video. We also discussed ideas about the songs and how we were going to shoot different scenes. By planning the narrative according to lyrics. It has allowed us to increase our knowledge of the regarding the stages and the plot which will help us later on with the final product. As a result of this were are now confident in planning the music video as a group and to ensure that we know what are we doing. Additionally, without the planning, we wouldn't able to come up with a structure of the music video and we wouldn't know we are doing. We are also now aware what locations and additional content that we need to include in the music video.

Planning: Final idea

Final Idea

After discussing our initials ideas and after some planning, we decided that none of the initial ideas didn't appeal to us. Then we discussed additional songs which we came to the conclusion that there were two songs we could pick and which we could agree on. Chance the rapper, Summer and Chance the rapper friends. However, we finally decided that the best music video we should do was Chance – Angels. And we chose the former because it could appeal to a young target audience. Moreover, we had more ideas that we could do with the song when filming and editing compared to our initial ideas. The Genre of the song is hip-hop which is quite popular with young people. The target audience of the music video would be 16 - 28 since this age group is the most likely to enjoy the music video. The artist has worked with mainstream artists before and most of his music area aimed at a mainstream audience.

Video content and structure.

We decided the that we should follow the conventions of the hip hop genre. The music video itself will be performances and narrative based music video. Therefore we will be creating the music video based on the lyrics and the music. We will have the artist performing throughout the music video hoping that the audience can engage with the artist. Because we felt star image was important to an audience a concept style music video wouldn't work additionally it would confuse the audience more. Since the narrative is quite vague we won't have a clear structure compared to other narrative music videos. Most music videos would have an equilibrium, disequlibirum and then ends a new equilibrium. Instead for our music video the theme of the music video is quite bright and angels. Therefore we would

Star Image and Mise en Scene:

The main artist needs to be portrayed as a young male between the age of 18-24 and needs to be unique however conventional to the genre. Additionally he needs to be relatable to the target audience which is between 18-24 which is mainly young males and female with various different ethnic backgrounds and working class. Our artist should follow hegemony and look like a perfect role model however the artist shouldn't be perfect. He should be relatable and promote his ideoliges and his moral star image.

The mise en scene will include:

Lighting - High Key lighting to reflect brightness with the song as well colours that can be used to contrast the brightness of the song. Light colours such as white and yellow to set the atmosphere of the song.

Costume hair and Makeup - Since we planning have two characters in the music video they will look different.

  • The artists will wear clothes that teenagers/young adults would usually wear. Which would consist of a T-Shirt and a Jumper as well as jogging bottoms or jeans. He needs to reflect an average teenager. Doing this allows the artist to be more relatable to the audience.
  • Were also planning to have additional characters who are fans of the main artist who are also teenagers and will be wearing similar costumes to the artist.


Facial expression and Body language

  • The artist facial expressions will be cheerful and happy. Because of the nature of the song. This will be supported by there body language which express an cheerful and excited attitude.

Setting 

1. Startford Westfield - Were the artist will be singing and performing as well most of the lyp syncing will be taking place
2. Ponders End - Were the artist will be performing and additional scenes for the lyp syncing.
3. Dance Room - For some of the narrative scenes
4. Meeting Room - For some of the narrative scenes

Iconography
Phones - For certain scenes in which the lyrics match the video.

Hip-Hop genre: The male artists will wear clothing which young teenagers/young adults would wear on the streets. The themes are usually around women, something happening there lives, politics or culture in general. For our music video it will be culture however we will be staying conventional to the costume hair and makeup and setting.

Theory:

Goodwins theory

The relationship between lyrics and visuals: There will be various instances of this occurring in the music video. One of them will be "Apples for free" During this scene, we will have a couple of actors stick up there iPhones towards the Camera. Additionally, there are several occasions in which the lyrics mention his fans and this will be shown as visuals of the main artist meeting up with the fans.

Notion of looking: There won't be Notion of looking in the music video.

Star image motif: During the scenes, there will be close-up with the artist as he performs and during sections with the narrative.

Performance, narrative or concept?:  The Music video will be narrative and performance based.


Discuss your final choices in relation to your audience feedback?

After we have received feedback from our target audience about final idea relating to the hip hop genre. It allowed us to finalise our decisions and make changes and developing new ideas for our narrative. We wanted to follow conventions also being unique to the scene. One of our main feedback received by the audience was that the music video should relate to the artist. And a majority of our target audience agreed with this additionally they are other factors that we need to consider when we got our feedback. Overall the audience feedback allowed us to improve and finalise our decisions and allowed us to have an insight on what our target audience want to see and what appeals to them.

Why and how is this music video conventional to mainstream music video making?

The music video will be conventional to mainstream music videos. This includes the main artist evident throughout the music video, lip syncing, a narrative, special effects, editing to match the beat and the lyrics and glamour. These are conventional music video techniques which will be able to enhance the quality of my music video. Moreover, it is important to that we are targeting our audience who expect mainstream conventions in conventional music videos. If we did something more niche it may be less apealing to the audience which may jarpodise the music video sucess. Addtionally if the artist isnt evident in the music video the audience may ot be able to relate the music video. We need to ensure the final music vdieo apeeals and can be enjoyed by a mass audience. 

How is this music video conventional to your chosen genre?

The music video is conventional that we have picked is conventional to the genre because the theme, the link between the lyrics and visuals, rapping, The words are spoken with the rhythm and in the text with rhymes.The song is upbeat with subtle undertones of darkness and is about life and about the artist life and "angels" which are around girls. Most Hip Hop songs are narrative based which is our music video is based on. Therefore various conventions will be appearing in the music video.

Existing videos that have influenced our decision

When deciding our final idea, we deiced to watch other music videos to compare our ideas to other music videos and we had found certain videos that have influenced our decision this includes the following videos:

Alabama Shakes - Sound and Colour - The video is a narrative based song. The music video is quite conventional to the hip hop genre because of the use of the narrative throughout the music video. The narrative is centred around a male character waking up in what appears to be a space pod. The song is in most ways linked to the lyrics, allowing for the use of a narrative and concept based platform.

Asap Mob - Yamborghini High - The music video is also narrative based however is in certain areas there are unconventional themes that occur in the music video with subtle dark undertones throughout.

How does your music video represent your artist

My music video will represent the artist as the original artist of the actual song. However, we will be changing certain aspects of the song to meet our own criteria and our own style of performing. We want our artist to follow most conventions that are seen in the hip hop genre. However we also we want to be unconventional in some areas and the artist should promote his own ideologies. And shouldn't be perceived as similar to other artists rather we would prefer the artist to be unique. This should be done through is body language and facial expressions. Overall our music video will portray our artist as an upcoming artist as cheerful and upbeat with certain undertones. His portryal will be benfical for him becaause he will be popular amongst his target audience and may suceed and gain more fame after the video. 






Planning: Shot-list

Shot List

We created a shot list, which identifies the different shots. This also includes the camera shots, movement and angles that we are planning to use in our music video. This was beneficial for our group because we could chose a mixture of different shots, angles and size rather than repeating the shame shots. Therefore during filming will be using the shot list to ensure that we capture the scenes correctly.

Below is the shot list.



Conclusion

The shot list will allow our group to look at and identify various different movements and shots as well angles. Its an imperative that we capture all of these shots for our music video to be effective and successful and makes it easier capture important shots for the music video. Additionally it will help the camreaman to know what shot/angle and movement is nesccarry for each scene. Additionally it will help the editor to understand what shot is needed and what types of movements and angles that we have used to help during the editing process.

Sunday 14 May 2017

Research and planning – advert: Drafts of adverts

Research and planning – advert: Drafts of adverts

After looking at and identifying key elements that help create a successful advert. We have started to look at creating our advert for our work. It is important to have an advert as it will help promote the album and is a form of synergy. Therefore it is important that it looks appealing to the audience as well as relevant to the genre and is consistent with the digipak


Draft 1


Analyse your use of conventions using PEER.

  • I have included an image of the main artist however he is not facing the camera directly is looking down. I captured this using a long shot. I wanted the artist to look mysterious and used low key lighting when I was capturing this shot. 
  • We have only included key information in the advert so it doesn't confuse the audience.
  • Additionally, there aren't any sub-images so it doesn't confuse the audience
  • The typography that we have used are conventional to the genre.
  • The advert 

Audience Feedback.


The advert looks great and the artist stands out. The font looks good and easy to read. And all the key details and company details are there, however. There is a lot of blank space, you should include where I can download the music from and you need to edit the artist more because I can see some white spots.


Draft 2

Analyse your use of conventions using PEER.

After receiving feedback we have made several changes to improve the advert. We have tried to keep the advert consistent. we also additional key information since the advert was quite vague. The colours and the background sends a clear message to the audience about the context and the theme of the album. 

Audience Feedback.

Looks much better than the previous version. You have kept the colours consistent throughout and the current revision looks more effective.And could entice the audience. 


Conclusion.

The drafting process has allowed us to create an advert that is deemed acceptable to the audience and receiving feedback which allowed us to improve on the original design. It is important that we receive feedback from our target audience and why it's important for the industry to get feedback since its important that we are able to effectively target audience. We have included key details about the product that would help inform the audience as well as keeping the information simple and minimal.

Thursday 11 May 2017

Evaluation: Question 3) What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Evaluation Question 3 -  What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

What have you learned from your audience feedback?



One of the key important things that we learned was that it was vital to identify our demographic/target audience. The main reason why is the key elements that audience such as Mise en scene, artist, characters, themes, and settings depend or related to our target audience and can change because of our target audience. To ensure our music video appealed to our target audience we had to ensure that we had found out what they like or disliked and from that, we have been able to make appropriate decisions regarding our music video. The key areas that we have identified were the following. 


  • Genre: The Genre of the song was Hip, Hop and we chose Angels by Chance the rapper.
  • Gender: The music video was more appealing to males rather than a music video with certain areas within the music video targeting both males and females because of how the narrative changes half-way through the music video.
  • Age: The age range that the music video was targeted was between 18-30years old.
  • Ethnicity: The music video was designed to be targeted all ethnic groups which were reflected by the variety of characters that we have chosen. Which should appeal to a larger and wider audience.
  • Occupation: The target audience in regards to occupation is normal and working class audience and students which are E1-C2 Occupation. Because the music video narrative relates to some of the feelings or view held by people in those categories.
  •  Hobbies and interests: This isn’t applicable because the music video itself wasn’t niche or aimed at any particular group. However, the music video draws upon various themes which may interest particular interests within music and within a certain genre. However, for this category, we can say that we aimed for everyone.

Questionnaire and Graphics

During the planning stage of the media project. The group and I carried out a questionnaire in order to receive feedback about our ideas for the music video. At the time we were interested in what our target audience thought about the music video and what ideas would they have. From the questionnaire, we have identified important things such as what was popular according to our target audience and what is needed in music videos. The questionnaire allowed me to make clear decisions about my narrative, characters, mise en scene and which helped in the production stages of the music video. 

Below is the questionnaire. 


Some of the important questions were





How did this help you make decisions

The questionnaire helped us making decisions because of the question and the feedback that we have received that allowed us to identify our target audience expectations from a music video. We based our decisions on key factors. For example “” The questionnaire was vital for our media project because in order to make a music video we had to understand that was important key factors that had to be included. And without the questionnaire, we would have less valuable feedback. Overall the questionnaire helped us to understand the convections and the expectations of our target audience.

What is the importance of receiving critical feedback once the production has been made?

It was important to receive feedback about our final production. Additionally, it has to your target audience who should see the production rather than a large range of different audiences. Because of you're more likely to receive precise feedback on coursework. Additionally, once we have received feedback we can then make amendments if we have to. The fore it was important that we held a focus group which included our target audience allowing us to provide feedback on our media work. Doing this allowed us to work more effectively and make amendments to the music videos in certain areas and most importantly maximising the music video success and was able to meet the expectations of our target audience. 

Focus Group pictures and feedback comments on Sound cloud








What did you learn from this audience feedback in terms of whether you created a conventional and successful music video?

The audience feedback was overall positive. Additionally, it was conventional and we have received constructive feedback which allowed us to improve the work. Criticism has been varied and highlighted some very important things we should have done to improve the music video. This includes???. Overall a majority of the final project and how the artist was portrayed in the music video.

What did you learn from this audience feedback in terms of whether you created a conventional and successful music video?

Over this project, we have learned that our majority of the audience and our target audience like the music video. Giving me various feedback which is both positive and negative response. The music video was widely viewed as conventional however in some areas. From the response received we have been able to make amendments to my video so it helps improve the final video. Additionally, the criticism could be useful later on if I was to make any more music videos.

Conclusion

Overall I used various media platforms to promote the music video. This includes Facebook and Instagram. Which are accessible to almost everyone and allowed us to receive feedback on our media. Additionally, we have aimed at a target audience. We have received a mixture of positive and negative feedback which has allowed us to make amendments to the final music video. They was various examples such as lip-syncing was on point in some clips, There werent really enough editing techniques used and some shots should of been re-done and suggestions on what could be improved. As the editor the feedback is important to me because it can allow me to further improve my work later on. And make adjustmeants to the final music video.