Progress Review Blog

EVALUATION - Question 1

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

What was said in the vlog above:

In our music video we develop Andrew Goodwin's theory which is breaking the 4th wall hence there is a relation between the artist and her viewer. Most(if not - all) music video's break the 4th wall for the same purpose. This is why following this convetion was essential and would help promote the artist. 
Additionally we also followed Vernallis' theory by having consistant jump cuts, basetracks and camera movement. I have not seen a pop music video that does not follow her theory - if the theory was challenged the music video would have been boring and dreadful to watch. Recording basetracks meant a variety of shots to choose from when editing and making jump cuts and this means the audience is entertained. It would have been unpleasant to have one or two shot types used for a music video which lasts for 3-4 minutes. The camera also moved to the music video; it was never still and if some shots were still - we made them short and produced jump cuts. We also edited to the beat. 
The group and I decided to challenge Mulvey's theory - we did not want to attract the male gaze as I thought females should have more of a role in music videos rather that be presented as sex objects. Artists such as Adele, Emeli Sande and Ellie Goulding herself go againt Mulvey's theory as they show themselves to be ladies rather than objects. I feel that challenging this convention was the right option as. I would want Yasmin Feruz to set a good example to her audience considering that the target audience is females. Being a good role model would leed this artist to have a bigger fan base because if Feruz is a good role model then she would be liked by other women who are not speciffically targetted. 

Influential music video's 
JAI HO - PUSSYCAT DOLLS

The music video to 'Jai Ho' by the pussycat dolls was a influential music video which  i found appealing and very useful. The location where it is all white and the camera is on Nicole had my attention as a fan. The reason for this is because of the amazing white lighting and the props which just dangle around her. Base tracks and jump cuts were used in this part of the music video a lot which made it exciting to watch. Her performance in itself was amazing as she really gets herself into the song and we can see this through her eyes; she confidently looks away and shows that she knows what she is doing - at some points she closes her eyes which portrays her as a strong artist. 

This music video links to the one my group produced. We had white trees which were used as the prop but had a green background rather than white. The green in these shots allowed the sub-genre of Indie to come out a bit more as the song in its self is actually Pop-Indie. These two colours are consistant throughout the music video as we have a location with green leaves and also Yasmin Feruz is wearing white/cream in almost every shot. 

DISCO LOVE - THE SATURDAYS

The music video to 'Disco Love' by the saturdays also was an influence to me. The main things which i liked about the music video was the structure. There was three main locations and three years which were being presented and this gave the music video a fantastic structure to it. I felt tat having this structure meant that it seems like these young girls are going on a journey as it starts of with one locationa nd ends in another. 

In our music video we also had main locations however we did not use one location at a time. However when watching the music video it did feel like a journey as the artist starts off singing in one location and ends up in another. I felt that this journey helps build a relation further with the audience as it is almost like they are going on the journey with the artist - Andrew Goodwin's theory helps built the relation. 

ANCILLARY WORK 

The ancillary products followed conventions too. Usually in digipaks and adverts there isn't more than two fonts and three colours; the reason for this is because if there was then the products would look ammature and messy and this is the reason why i followed this convention as i wanted my ancillary pieces to look sophisticated and proffessional. There are links between the music video and the digipack which is the colours, synergy and font. The font of the artist name is consistant and could be seen as a piece of synergy as it could be what allows the artist to be noticed. The lipstick which is the main synergy stays consistant as that is what the artists is remembered by; the most clear example of how this piece of synergy is emphesised is on the inside panels where the actual disk is a extreme close up of the lips(lipstick). 

The digipak also consists of what goes on real media products such as the catalogue number, record labels, barcodes and copyright information. All these conventions means that the final piece starts to look professional and would fit in music shops. Also these conventions give the audience what they need to know about the artist; what would we do if one of these were missing?

In some ways some people may see that I have challenged the genre of the music which Yasmin Feruz specialises in - because of the ancillary work. A lot of black was used as that is the main background of the two products and this goes against the convention that pop media products should be all bright and have vibrant colours.

On the other hand there are pop artists such as Ellie Goulding herself which use black as a background although it may be a bit different for Yasmin Feruz as she is younger than Ellie Goulding.

Usually people may expect a 17 year old girl to use bright colours for her digipak and advert rather than dark colours - 17 year old aren't expected to have a 'sophisticated' look to them.

Cher Lloyd and Little Mix may be something which they expect to resemble to Yasmin Feruz. I guess I chose this sophisticated look because females mature at a young age and to portray them as girly, fun and immature all the time wouldn't be fair on those who are 17 years old and mature.

An influencial album cover was by Rebecca Ferguson as i thought that the black that was used in her album really allowed her to stand out as she was wearing black. The colours on her album was very similar to the ones which i intended on using and I thought the colours complimented each other and therefore stood out even though there is a black background. The structure of the back of her album was also influential as it had the sophisticated look which I was after and therefore I did the same layout as her album.

EVALUATION - Question 4

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR AUDIENCE FEEDBACK?

MUSIC VIDEO
Improvements given from rough cut
Two main things which were mentioned for us to change in the rough cut feedback is below.

After getting these two critics we changed the shot where the artists hair was in her hair. We also fixed the parts which were out of sink. 

Feedback from cinema viewing

When the music video was shown in the cinema we got quiet a lot of positive feedback. There was not much negative feedback. Below are a few quotes which I took from Amirul's video of a few people giving their feedback. 

"The colours were really bright and vibrant and I like the way she was moving about, the beats, cutting to the beats - I really liked that"

"The video fit with the song"

"Your artist looked like she was really into the song"

"I liked the lighting because it's a pop song and not dubstep or whatever"

"She was wearing white and when she was wearing white the background was white..and erm when she was wearing the red scarf there were like red and pink flowers behind her and I though that was really really good; you chose the locations really well"

From this feedback I have learnt that the main strengths of the music video was the colours which were used, the lighting and the locations. Below is one of the comments which I thought were the best comments we received by Anthony.

ANCILLARY WORK 

I also showed my ancillary work to the target audience and got some feedback.

A lot of people said that it worked as the vibrant colours in the music video and ancillary products stay consistent. Also the idea of the pink lips carry on throughout and its even more clear that it is the synergy is the lipsticks because of the lips in the digipack. 

Something that was said that could have been changed and improved was the black used in the ancillary products as too much black was used and less was used in the music video. Maybe a lighter colour like white could have been used instead as that colour was used in the music video. 

The comment about having too much black in the ancillary products are understandable. I also feel that I should have made the back ground colour white as there was a lot of white/cream used as it is a pop song. I feel that maybe if I did take this comment on board earlier it may have meant that the digipak was more noticeable and possibly more people may have had an interest in buying it.

Below is a detailed piece of feedback which I got from Mariam Ali.

EVALUATION - Question 3

Evaluation 3 from 09041996

Below is an example of how I used photoshop on my advert.

Below is an example of how I used camtasia. I used quick time player to record the screen recording how I was using camtasia. With this clip I would have wrote a bog post about how this certain part of the music video was influential and how I developed it into my media work.

Below is an example of how I used keek followed by blogger.

Below is how I used gifmaker. With this specific gif which I made I would have talked about how Ellie Goulding uses the black in the digipak whilst being a pop artist.

Lastly this is an example of how I used clipgrab. This specific download was used when adding the song in the music video which went over the lip singing. 

EVALUATION - Question 2

FINAL ANCILLARY PRODUCTS

EVALUATION - Question 2 ideas

Since I am nearly finished my ancillary work I have decided to start planning Question 2.

HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF YOUR MAIN PRODUCT (VIDEO) AND ANCILLARY TEXT (DIGIPAK AND ADVERTISEMENT)?

I will write about how my music video and ancillary products link with each other. I was planning to use prezi for this evaluation question as there is quiet a lot to cover. Additionally I am also hoping to use an annotation app to show how my products all interlink.

Things I will cover:

• Synergy ideas (Scarf to red lipstick)
• Where the synergy is used 
• Main colours 
• Fonts 

Things I am considering to talk about:

• Influential video's 
• Influential albums/digipaks

PLANNING - Digipack

So from some feedback I noticed that I forgot to show how I planned my digipack; the colours, fonts, costumes and locations.

COLOURS:

The colours which I wanted to use were the same colours used in the music video - white, black and red. I feel that these colours do compliment each other and therefore would stand out more. I feel that because they are contrasting colours they would stand out - the red/pink font of the artist name would stand out and this is good because this artist is new to the industry. Below is an album which influenced my choice of colour.

This Rebecca Ferguson album is very outstanding. I feel that this artist is the centre of attention even though it is not a close up but rather a long shot. Her costume is red which makes her look attractive for her audience but she is covered up at the same time which could mean that she does not intend to attract the male gaze and females could be her main audience. The white font in the middle of the album is quite sophisticated and simple at the same time. I like the fact that the colour of the font is white since the background is quite dark and therefore it looks good on the page. 

FINAL COLOURS: BLACK - WHITE - RED 

FONTS:

I decided to use two separate fonts - I wanted to use the same font which was used in the beginning of the music video so that there is a clear elation between the music video and the digipack. The whole idea that I wanted the font to be quite big and bright was from Robin Thick's music VIDEO blurred lines.

Although I am not using this font - I am using the colours which he used and having the idea of the big fonts. The font of the artist name was called 'Century Gothic' - I feel that it is not too formal or too informal.

For the font of 'city lights' and the rest of the fonts I used again a quiet simple text because I wanted the digipack to look sophisticated rather than full on girly. I used the font 'Tw Cen MT'.

COSTUME:


LOCATION:

PRODUCTION - 09/01/2014

Today the first thing which I did in the lesson was add the copyright information. I looked at the back of the 'Gorillaz' digipack and took the copyright information from there.

I replaced the record labels with the one that Yasmin Feruz is signed to (Island Records).

This is what I changed the copyright information too and it also has the website for Yasmin Feruz - this will promote the artist further. I then decided to make the font of the website bold so that it stands out a bit more so that people will actually consider looking at it instead of looking past it (Teenagers are more likely to NOT pay attention to the copyright information).

Additionally Mary suggested that I make the font size of the catalogue number smaller as they do tend to be smaller.

The outside of the digipack is finished - I needed to take a picture for the inside panels therefore I will come back to that and focus on the advertisement instead as I have what I need for it. 

OUTSIDE OF DIGIPACK

I then decided to start on the advertisement of the digipack. Since I have a mock up of the digipack it made it really easy to get on with what I was doing as I intended to have the same layout and writing as on the mock up. 

Below is the draft of the advertisement and possibly the final piece.

PRODUCTION - Album Layout

So from some research I have decided that I would change the back of the album layout. The reason for this is because I came across an album by 'Rebecca Ferguson' where the barcode was at the top in the middle followed by the song names, record lables and the copyright information. I thought that this gave the album a very suphisticated look and would look nice on my album cover as the back is pretty much plain. Below is Rebecca Ferguson's album back cover.

Below is my back cover which is very similar to hers.

PRODUCTION - 06/01/2014

Today I changed the font of the album name. I saw a few which catched my eye however a few were a bit too fancy and a few were too formal. Above is a gif which I thought were nice and I could use. I came to a decision in the end thanks to Rebecca's help (teacher). My final desion was the one shown below.

I feel that this font is nice and simple and fits with the pop genre and the audience which is teenage girls to adults.

I had to change the font on the back of the album as the maximum amount of fonts which I wanted and is normally used is two. Also the barcode was too big so I had to change the size. I did some research which will be shown on a research post will show where I saw this layout from where the barcose is at the top and the song names in the middle and the record labels and the copyright information and the bottom.

 

I chose Island records and Lava records as I saw that Jessie J had these record lables and then I realised that she has quite a similar audience to Yasmin Feruz and would be helpful to use these. Additionally Jessie J is a British artist and so is Yasmin Feruz and I feel it would be good if they have the same record labels as each other for their location, audience and music genre.

 

I will go out to a store and get copyright text which I will need as when looking on google I could not find it.

 

PRODUCTION - 19/12/2013

This is the name of the artist and the album name 'City Lights'. I chose this red/pink colour to continue the colour which was used in the music video (synergy=red lipstick). I also felt that I should add some pink as the main audience is girls and therefore I feel that they may be more attracted to this album.

 

Here is a few layers which I screen shot to show that I have been using photoshop.

 

By the end of the lesson this is how the album cover looked like. The fonts may be changed possibly however there is a lot more work to be done.

PLANNING: Do's & Don'ts

DO'S:

• Include a barcode; Copyright info; Record label; Artist name; Album name; List of songs included.
• Have minimum of two colours.
• Make sure fonts and colours compliment each other.
• Make sure everything links to the genre.
• Make sure photo's are in focus.
• Follow the rule of thirds. 

DON'TS:

• Use irrelevant colours and pictures.
• Use unnecessary effects.
• Make the pictures stretched out.
• Put the text covering the artists face.

RESEARCH: Importance in digipacks

Digipacks are different from standard CDs. The reason for this is because a digipack is made of cardboard - and the buyer feel that they are getting something extra from it. Sometimes extra pictures of the artists may be included or even a bonus track so that the fan feel that they are getting something worth the money they are paying.

Digipacks also stand out from standard CD covers. They can have more than four panels. Below is an example of a digipack. Also digipacks show clarity of the artist allowing the audience to become familiar with their face to their music.

If I was to go to a store this would definitely catch my eye. I can see a big difference between the value between a digipack and a CD.

A CD however would look just like everything else on the shelves in the store which means that it becomes nothing special and is not eye-catching. 

Ever since people are able to to download music from the internet and so on the packaging of the album matters a lot - there is a lot of competition and therefore the packaging has got to be as good as possible.

RESEARCH: Album covers

Presentation2 from 09041996

These album covers relate to my genre as they are pop artists. Also they are all females from as young as Cher Lloyd to as old as Katy Perry. These artists have similar target audience as Yasmin Feruz as she is wanting young females to adults to buying her album. Also all these covers have something which I like such as the colours used; props; fonts and shot types. 

MUSIC VIDEO

20. Amirul, Emadul, Abida from 283goswell on Vimeo.

RESEARCH: Advertisements

Advery ad from 09041996

I did some research on artists advertise and found that they used similar colours to their Album covers. I feel that I am also going to do this by carrying on the colours: Red, Black and white/cream.

I will also:

• Show the record lables
• Repeat artist name
• Add ratings/reviews
• It will be a Debute album
• Add an official site

These three magazine adverts which I have analysed relate to my genre as they are pop artists. They also have a similar audience to our artist as we are looking to attract young teens to adults (girls in particular). 

Also the colours used in these adverts would help as colours is something that could be eye-catching and therefore be noticeable for audiences to read on and be interested in.

PLANNING: Mock Up Of Advertisement.

This is a quick mock up of the advertisement which I put together. The picture on this advertisement is the picture which will be put on the front of the digipack with the name of the album and the artist. On the right hand side I looked at a few previous students advertisements and took their ideas as well as took ideas from actual artists. 

I thought that the rating of the digipack was a nice touch and may attract more people to purchase the item.

PRODUCTION: Pitch of Digipack Mock-Up

So after doing my mock up and the photoshoots I had to choose which pictures I will definitely use in the digipack. I talked about my ideas and got good feedback. I did have to also change a few things after pitching my digi-pack to Rebecca. We decided that I should not have a picture of the artist at the back of the cover and also have no random girly words and lipstick. Reasons for this is because it won't look sophisticated but would look childish instead.

For the front cover of the digipack we chose a close up of the artist looking down. This shot was a good shot because it is a close up which is good since the artist is new and therefore her face should be shown properly. 

The colours in this shot go well together to show the main colours which I will use throughout. They are black, white/cream and red. This picture however looks like the lipstick colour is pink - I then thought that it did not matter as long as the lips are bright to show that the synergy is bright colours. 

On the back of the digipack will be plain white with a plane of the names of the songs. Along with the barcode; record label n so on.

For the CD inside of the digipack I will have the lips so they are really being emphasised. The hart shape will we the hole in the disk.

For the other side near the disk I will have a skyline (referring to the city) as that is quite conventional as the title of the album is 'City Lights'.

PLANNING: Photo Shoot.

Last week we went out to take pictures for the digipack. We first used a blank white wall to take pictures in front and then we went to the park to take more types of shots.

Bellow are a few pictures which we took and I thought I may personally use. 

Most of these shots are mid-shots. I feel that they look very natural and shows a serious side of the artist. 

 I later then went home and took my own pictures so I could have a variety to choose from; also I feel that the pictures that were taken at college are not girly and our main audience is girls. Below are a few pictures which I thought I would consider using.

I feel that these shots came out well and look more girly which will be beneficial as the main audience is girls. I am also trying to put emphasis on the synergy (lipstick) and lipstick is what girls are into along with their other beauty products.