When planning the video, we decided to plan the settings/locations and the costumes and props as a group because we wanted everyones opinion. We felt if one person had to plan this it would be a lot of pressure on them and the rest of the group may not look what they have produced so we planned as a group. We also planned what would be happening in each of the scenes for the video because we were all wanted each others opinions.
Outside of the group I acted as one of the actresses in our music video and lip-synced along to the song. We also used my camera to film for the black and white scenes that were filmed at my house with a black and white sheet that I had purchased previously. By using my camera for these shots we were able to produce a high quality video and also we were able to experiment with both hand held camera shots and steady camera shots as I had the access to a tripod when filming these scenes. Once we had filmed the footage for the music video and we started to import the footage, I downloaded the song off the internet to include in the music video.
I also edited the whole music video from beginning to the end. I was the one to edit the video because I knew how to use Final Cut Express due to working with it in our previous project for AS. Knowing how to use the software meant I could experiment with the footage and create some interesting shots for the music video. During the editing process of the video I made sure to ask my other group members what they thought of the video to get everyones opinion. In the video I experimented with the different filters and transitions to make the video interesting and eye-catching and enjoyable to watch. Then once the video was edited, I exported the video and uploaded it onto my personal YouTube account to gain more views and gain feedback from a variety of different people.
Tuesday, 28 April 2015
Friday, 24 April 2015
4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? | Evaluation
Overall:
We decided not to film any shots for the stage scene due to the limited time we had, and also one of the actresses was away throughout some of the weeks when we could have filmed. We also didn't have the permission to use the stage to film due to it already being booked for different events. Although we originally wanted these scenes in our video we didn't feel like they were too important as we found replacements for the footage quite easily like experimenting with the different effects and filters that were available to us through the editing software. I don't think the stage scenes would have made a big difference to our final product, as the scenes we have work well together.
When looking back at the planning stages of the video, due to one of the members of the group being absent, we needed to find a way to communicate with her about our ideas and progress. We decided to use the technology available to us and contact her through 'FaceTime' on our phones. This was useful as we were able to discuss with her some of our ideas and the progress we had made with props and costumes. However, it was easier when we were all together as a group to discuss the ideas, but we were glad that we found a way to communicate with one another.3. What have you learned from your audience feedback? | Evaluation
We created a questionnaire to collect some audience feedback on our music video to see people's opinion on it. Through this questionnaire we wanted to gain both positive and negative feedback to see what people liked about it and what we could improve. We have asked a range of ages to get an older generations view on the video as well as our target audience which is around 16 and 21 years old.
We asked a 17 year old female, which is suited to our target audience.
We can see that she has viewed the video and she feels it fits in with the pop genre conventions. She has also seen that the video is a performance based one which is what we wanted to portray in the video. She is a little unsure about the actresses in the video looked natural and she feels we could improve on this to make our video look more professional.
To improve, based on the answers in this particular questionnaire, we should use more camera shots and maybe experiment with other themes or features rather than just having the power paint. This could mean she felt the video was a little repetitive, which is something we could improve on. However, the video is repetitive due to us wanting to exaggerate the powder paint theme. We have tried to use as many different camera shots as possible within our video, however we could have experimented with the angles of the shots a bit more. She gave the editing of the video a score of 10, which shows that she enjoyed the editing techniques we used, but also it shows we have greatly improved in our editing from our AS level project. The female states that she didn't like the song choice, but the reason for this is because it isn't her favourite genre, which is understandable as not everyone will like the same genre as one another. She said she wouldn't purchase the video on iTunes due to her not really purchasing videos, and she gave the video a score of 9 which we are very pleased with as it shows that she enjoyed it.
We then asked a 27 year old female, which is a little older than our target audience. This female said that she felt our video was a pop genre and it was a performance based video which is good as we know the audience outside of our target audience can tell what our video is portraying. She said that we should have included dancing in the video, due to it being a pop video and dancing is usually seen in the pop genre. This would give our video more of a pop vibe because the dancing would suit the conventions of a pop music video, and a girl group. The audience member said one of the actresses scrunches her face when the powder paint is being thrown at her, and this should be improved to make it look more natural and professional. If we had a bigger time schedule, we would re-film some of the powder paint shots and make sure both actresses look natural and composed, but since we were on a short time scale, and the filming process was fairly complicated we decided not to re-film. The female gave the editing a score of 9 which again shows that we have improved on our editing skills from our last unit. She has also given the music video a score of 10 which we are very happy about especially since this audience member is a little out of our target audience.
We chose to ask someone who is younger than our target audience to see how she felt about our video, so we asked a 14 year old female. This person could tell it was a performance based video and agreed that the video is of the pop genre. She also said both actresses look natural throughout the video which is good as it makes the video look more professional. However, she did say that the actresses needed to show more power in their emotions when lip syncing the chorus, which is a good point as the song is quite dramatic and it needs to be seen through their body language and emotions. This is something we could improve on if we were to re-film certain shots of the video. This audience member gave our editing a score of 8 and gave the video a score of 7, which is a good score due to us having a strict time scale and it's our first time creating a music video. Having these results from a 14 year old is good as it shows us that people outside of our target audience enjoyed the video, and maybe means we could push ourselves to try and achieve a bigger target audience.
We decided to ask members of the older generation to see what their opinions on the video were, starting with a 49 year old female. She saw that our video was performance based and it was of the pop genre, which is good as it let's us know that people of all ages recognise the video as pop and understand what we are trying to portray. Much like one of the other audience members we asked, she felt the shots of the actress scrunching up her face in the powder paint scenes needed to be re-filmed or edited slightly as it makes the video look a little bit unprofessional and less natural. She felt the exploding balloons with the powder paint was the most effective part of the video as it showed a dramatic effect and created a contrast between the colours shown throughout the video. She stated that she would buy the video off of iTunes which is good considering she is not in our target audience, which shows that even audience members of the older generation enjoy our video. This means that we could try and branch out to different age groups in our target audience.
We then asked a 51 year old female due to them being of the older generation as well to see their views and opinions. She said that she felt our video was of the pop genre and agreed that it was performance based. She also mentioned that the actresses were natural throughout the video, except for the powder paint scenes where they could have been seen as a little more relaxed and natural. She gave the editing of the video a score of 8 showing us that the video isn't too repetitive and we have used the editing in an effective way, which is what we wanted the outcome to turn out like. She said she wouldn't purchase our video on iTunes, but she gave the video a score of 9 showing that she enjoyed the video overall.
Getting members of the older generation to fill out the questionnaire shows that music artists may have a specific target audience age, but members outside of that age range may also enjoy the video as well.
Here are a couple of other questionnaires we had filled out by males to see what the other gender thought of our video.
We can see that she has viewed the video and she feels it fits in with the pop genre conventions. She has also seen that the video is a performance based one which is what we wanted to portray in the video. She is a little unsure about the actresses in the video looked natural and she feels we could improve on this to make our video look more professional.
To improve, based on the answers in this particular questionnaire, we should use more camera shots and maybe experiment with other themes or features rather than just having the power paint. This could mean she felt the video was a little repetitive, which is something we could improve on. However, the video is repetitive due to us wanting to exaggerate the powder paint theme. We have tried to use as many different camera shots as possible within our video, however we could have experimented with the angles of the shots a bit more. She gave the editing of the video a score of 10, which shows that she enjoyed the editing techniques we used, but also it shows we have greatly improved in our editing from our AS level project. The female states that she didn't like the song choice, but the reason for this is because it isn't her favourite genre, which is understandable as not everyone will like the same genre as one another. She said she wouldn't purchase the video on iTunes due to her not really purchasing videos, and she gave the video a score of 9 which we are very pleased with as it shows that she enjoyed it.
Getting members of the older generation to fill out the questionnaire shows that music artists may have a specific target audience age, but members outside of that age range may also enjoy the video as well.
Here are a couple of other questionnaires we had filled out by males to see what the other gender thought of our video.
Audience members will interpret the video differently and we know this by looking at Stuart Hall's reception theory. Most of the feedback we gained from the questionnaires were from females, and although we have varied the age ranges, we haven't varied the genders equally. The two males who did fill out our questionnaire have stated a few negative aspects of our video showing there opinion. Our song choice is composed by a girl group and the music video we created was aimed towards a female audience. This means, by asking males, we have some critical feedback about our video.
The video we created has gone against the stereotype of females being seen as 'sex objects' like they would usually in pop music videos. Our intention was to create a sense of 'girl power' throughout the video to make females look strong and independent rather than being seen as an object. We decided to give the actresses a natural but trendy look by wearing appropriate costumes and a fair amount of make-up rather than dressing in skimpy outfits with make-up plastered onto their faces. We did this so our target audience can come away after watching the video and take the message of female independence with them.
Thursday, 23 April 2015
2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? | Evaluation
Combination of ancillary texts:
For the promotional package we decided to use the front cover of our album for the background image of the poster. This includes the image of the powder paint, the album name and the group name with the specific font we chose to use. We thought this was a good idea as the poster is used to promote the album and by using the same image and the same font we felt it would promote the album very effectively.
The promotional poster is a complex version of the album cover due to the extra features we needed to add onto it. When adding text onto the poster, we needed to think about what colour they would be. This is because we didn't want the text to over power the background image, but we also didn't want the text to be unclear, we needed to find a clear balance of colour. We added the release date of the album underneath the name so it would be clear and what attract our target audience to not only the release date but to the name of the artist and album as well. We chose to show this in white font and a black outline to add some contrast to the poster, and to also make it eye-catching and different to the album cover. We used the colours white, pink and purple for our additional text underneath the release date as we thought the colours matched the colours of the background image. The names of the singles in the additional information are in seen in pink and purple to highlight the tracks that are featured on the album. This was done to add interest to the poster and entice the audience to purchase the album. The colours we have used throughout our work show a link and they are all eye catching to our target audience. We chose to use feminine colours due to our target audience mainly being young females. We feel as though these colours represent the group and create a recognisable image for the group.
Combination of ancillary texts with our music video:
Due to our ancillary texts being based on the image of the power paint and not the faces of our music artists, it might be a little hard for us to show some clear comparisons between our video and album cover.
Our album package has a theme of power paint on the main images, and also we have powder paint included in the fact files behind the information. This is because we have quite a few shots in the music video of powder paint through the balloon scenes and the scenes where the band members are getting powder paint thrown at them. We have done this because we felt like the powder paint matched the name of the song 'Louder' through the effect powder paint has when it has exploded. Having the powder paint as the main theme has allowed us to promote the song and gain audience awareness.
For the promotional package we decided to use the front cover of our album for the background image of the poster. This includes the image of the powder paint, the album name and the group name with the specific font we chose to use. We thought this was a good idea as the poster is used to promote the album and by using the same image and the same font we felt it would promote the album very effectively.
The promotional poster is a complex version of the album cover due to the extra features we needed to add onto it. When adding text onto the poster, we needed to think about what colour they would be. This is because we didn't want the text to over power the background image, but we also didn't want the text to be unclear, we needed to find a clear balance of colour. We added the release date of the album underneath the name so it would be clear and what attract our target audience to not only the release date but to the name of the artist and album as well. We chose to show this in white font and a black outline to add some contrast to the poster, and to also make it eye-catching and different to the album cover. We used the colours white, pink and purple for our additional text underneath the release date as we thought the colours matched the colours of the background image. The names of the singles in the additional information are in seen in pink and purple to highlight the tracks that are featured on the album. This was done to add interest to the poster and entice the audience to purchase the album. The colours we have used throughout our work show a link and they are all eye catching to our target audience. We chose to use feminine colours due to our target audience mainly being young females. We feel as though these colours represent the group and create a recognisable image for the group.Combination of ancillary texts with our music video:
Due to our ancillary texts being based on the image of the power paint and not the faces of our music artists, it might be a little hard for us to show some clear comparisons between our video and album cover.
Our album package has a theme of power paint on the main images, and also we have powder paint included in the fact files behind the information. This is because we have quite a few shots in the music video of powder paint through the balloon scenes and the scenes where the band members are getting powder paint thrown at them. We have done this because we felt like the powder paint matched the name of the song 'Louder' through the effect powder paint has when it has exploded. Having the powder paint as the main theme has allowed us to promote the song and gain audience awareness.
The images above are print screens from the music video we created, showing the theme of powder paint which is carried throughout the whole video and throughout our ancillary texts. We've done this to create a link between our music video and our ancillary texts, which will in turn help the audience recognise the different powder paint images when they watch the video.
Once the products had been completed we created a questionnaire in order to view the publics thoughts on our ancillary texts and the video, and whether they were well combined.
From the answers we collected, we found that our ancillary texts linked in well with our music video because we have the running theme of the powder paint and the bright colours within both elements of the product. This is useful as it shows a positive representation of our music video and the fact that song the music video is to is the top of the track list helps advertise the song a little more. This means that the audience will be able to spot the link of the powder paint theme. Also from the feedback we found some people found it difficult to read the lyrics on the lyric sheet due to the coloured background we used. In order to improve this we will need to either edit the background to make it less eye-catching or we will need to find another background to use. Or we will need to chose a different font so the lyrics are more noticeable against the background. I think we could have made the lyric sheet a bit more eye-catching and interesting to view like the fact files as it could attract a larger audience. We could have added the title of the song on the page while using our signature font so the audience know the name of the song and know it's our bands product.
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? | Evaluation
What we did:
When creating the video we used the programme 'Final Cut Express' to edit the footage. We used this programme for our AS media coursework, which meant we knew how it worked and it would be quite straight forward to work. By using this programme we were able to experiment with different filters and transitions as we knew how to access them. In the video we wanted to experiment with the different filters that were available to us, and we wanted to change the colours in some of the clips. We used the colour corrector filter when changing the colours of our footage, and we used this to make our footage look more realistic and to balance the colour.
We also wanted to create a split screen in our video, and by using this programme this was easy to do. With the help of the internet we found out how to create the split screen and added it into the video using the footage we filmed. The split screen added some entertainment to the video, and also made it look more interesting. We used multiple different shots in our music video, the majority being close up shots. We also edited the footage in a quick pace to make the footage go along with the fast paced music. The lip syncing was fairly easy to place in the video due to us singing along to the song when filming the footage.
When creating the Digipak, which involved the creation of the album artwork, we used the programme 'Photoshop' to edit the images we had taken. A few of us had used this programme previously in other subjects, so we knew how to use it for advance editing. Also the programme isn't too hard to work out, so it was easy to use for someone who hadn't used it before. By using this programme we were able to experiment with the different colours that were available to us and we were able to experiment with the different filters as well. We wanted to keep the powder paint theme in both our music video and our Digipak, so we needed to have a paint effect. We searched on the internet and found a few different brushes that we downloaded to use on our album cover. This was useful as it allowed us to experiment with different images and different colours within the brushes to add some interest to the album cover.
We decided to go against the stereotypical pop genre convention of having the music artist on the front cover. This is because we wanted the powder paint to be the main overall theme across the Digipak and the music video, and we thought it would help advance our target audience slightly.
We made the colours on our album pink, purple, blue and green to help towards reaching our planned target audience and ranging out to different genders as well. The photo we used was a photo of the powder paint mess we had after filming footage, and we decided to use that to our advantage. After editing the colours slightly and adding some brushes to the image, it was completed and we all were really happy with the outcome of the image.
Real videos VS our video:
In the Little Mix music video, 'Move', they use a variety of different shots showing the music artists, but the shots they use more often are close-up shots. We decided to use quite a few close-up shots in our music video because we wanted to show our music artists to gain some interest to the video. We also chose to shot multiple different close-up shots because we wanted to add some drama to the video, which is similar to the use of close-ups in 'Move' as it creates drama. Little Mix's song is up tempo and the edits of the video are cut at a quick pace to add to the drama, which is similar to ours as we have edited the shots to go with the music and make it look fun and dramatic through the quick cuts. Close ups are usually used in pop genre music videos, so we took this convention of a pop video and added it into ours to show the pop genre, and attract our target audience.
Also in the Little Mix music video, 'Move', they use a variety of different shots showing the band together. This shot is used in music videos of a girl band, or a boy band, to attract the fans and the target audience. By having everyone together in one shot it gains the attention of the viewers as it shows the friendship of the girls. We decided to use a few group shots in our music video to show the band together and also to show the parts of the song where we are singing together. Doing this helps gain the attention of our following, and the target audience as they will see the girl band we have created together in the video. In their music video they use a lot of bright colours to make the video stand out, and the colours of their outfits contrast with the colour of the setting they are filming in front of. We decided to keep a lot of colour in our music video to attract the attention of our target audience. We have, however, used a mixture of colour and black and white shots to show some contrast within the colours.
In the music video to 'Change Your Life' by Little Mix, we noticed they have some footage, throughout the video, of when they went on tour. This means that the footage was previously filmed and also it shows the band outside of a music video setting. This makes the video look more relaxing and also increases the attraction of their following due to them wanting to see what the girl band get up to behind the scenes. We liked the concept of this as we liked the casualness of it, so we decided to add something similar at the beginning of the video. When filming we had a few moments where we forgot what we were singing, and also we filmed some footage of us talking and laughing before going to film. We used clips of this footage and added it to the title sequence to make the video a bit more casual, and also to attract the attention of our target audience.
When it came to costumes, we decided to go against the pop convention and challenge it slightly. The typical convention for pop genre are tight outfits and short as well showing some skin due to the 'male gaze' theory. In the original 'Louder' music video, the girl group wear short outfits that are showing quite a lot of skin, so we decided to go against that and wear casual clothes. The costumes we decided on in our video matches the location and the shot type. In the wood scenes we wore big fluffy coats and boots to go along with the outside location. In the powder paint scenes we wore black leggings and black tops to make the powder paint stand out and be the main attraction in those type of shots. In the black and white shots we wore outfits that contrasted to the background, but they were plain outfits and were quite casual. Going against the stereotypical tight clothing helped attract our audience as it brought some interest into our video.
Ancillary text comparison:
We have gone against and challenged a lot of the stereotypical conventions of a pop genre cd album cover. We decided against using an image of the band members in our video as we didn't want the main focus to be on the artists. We wanted the powder paint to be the main theme overall as we had included a lot of powder paint scenes in our video, we felt it was only right to keep the powder paint theme on our album cover. We took a photo of the powder paint and edited the colours slightly, and added some different effects on Photoshop to exaggerate the powder paint element of the album and the video. We still wanted the album to attract our target audience, so we decided to make the colours of the album feminine and attractive. We used a mixture of shades such as; pink, purple, blue, green and hints of yellow. These colours are quite bright and will bring the attention of our target audience. These colours are also seen in our music video so we are making links between the video and the album all throughout our work, which is what we wanted the outcome to be like.
The font we used is quite large and eye catching which means it will attract people to the album and also it will hopefully gain the attention of people that are outside of our target audience. When choosing the font we wanted something that we could use as a recognisable font. Most music artists have a font that is recognisable to them, this helps attract the audience to the album of the music artist as they know it is their work through the font. Neon Jungle also uses this technique with their band name on their album cover. They use the same font for their name in both their single cover and their album cover so their following recognise their album through the font. We then had to add the usual conventions of an album cover. These include the barcode, the record label logo and the copyright message. These are used to make them accessible in shops and the record label own the album so they are liable to challenge any copyright issues with this album.
When creating the video we used the programme 'Final Cut Express' to edit the footage. We used this programme for our AS media coursework, which meant we knew how it worked and it would be quite straight forward to work. By using this programme we were able to experiment with different filters and transitions as we knew how to access them. In the video we wanted to experiment with the different filters that were available to us, and we wanted to change the colours in some of the clips. We used the colour corrector filter when changing the colours of our footage, and we used this to make our footage look more realistic and to balance the colour.We also wanted to create a split screen in our video, and by using this programme this was easy to do. With the help of the internet we found out how to create the split screen and added it into the video using the footage we filmed. The split screen added some entertainment to the video, and also made it look more interesting. We used multiple different shots in our music video, the majority being close up shots. We also edited the footage in a quick pace to make the footage go along with the fast paced music. The lip syncing was fairly easy to place in the video due to us singing along to the song when filming the footage.When creating the Digipak, which involved the creation of the album artwork, we used the programme 'Photoshop' to edit the images we had taken. A few of us had used this programme previously in other subjects, so we knew how to use it for advance editing. Also the programme isn't too hard to work out, so it was easy to use for someone who hadn't used it before. By using this programme we were able to experiment with the different colours that were available to us and we were able to experiment with the different filters as well. We wanted to keep the powder paint theme in both our music video and our Digipak, so we needed to have a paint effect. We searched on the internet and found a few different brushes that we downloaded to use on our album cover. This was useful as it allowed us to experiment with different images and different colours within the brushes to add some interest to the album cover.
We decided to go against the stereotypical pop genre convention of having the music artist on the front cover. This is because we wanted the powder paint to be the main overall theme across the Digipak and the music video, and we thought it would help advance our target audience slightly.We made the colours on our album pink, purple, blue and green to help towards reaching our planned target audience and ranging out to different genders as well. The photo we used was a photo of the powder paint mess we had after filming footage, and we decided to use that to our advantage. After editing the colours slightly and adding some brushes to the image, it was completed and we all were really happy with the outcome of the image.
Real videos VS our video:
In the Little Mix music video, 'Move', they use a variety of different shots showing the music artists, but the shots they use more often are close-up shots. We decided to use quite a few close-up shots in our music video because we wanted to show our music artists to gain some interest to the video. We also chose to shot multiple different close-up shots because we wanted to add some drama to the video, which is similar to the use of close-ups in 'Move' as it creates drama. Little Mix's song is up tempo and the edits of the video are cut at a quick pace to add to the drama, which is similar to ours as we have edited the shots to go with the music and make it look fun and dramatic through the quick cuts. Close ups are usually used in pop genre music videos, so we took this convention of a pop video and added it into ours to show the pop genre, and attract our target audience.
In the music video to 'Change Your Life' by Little Mix, we noticed they have some footage, throughout the video, of when they went on tour. This means that the footage was previously filmed and also it shows the band outside of a music video setting. This makes the video look more relaxing and also increases the attraction of their following due to them wanting to see what the girl band get up to behind the scenes. We liked the concept of this as we liked the casualness of it, so we decided to add something similar at the beginning of the video. When filming we had a few moments where we forgot what we were singing, and also we filmed some footage of us talking and laughing before going to film. We used clips of this footage and added it to the title sequence to make the video a bit more casual, and also to attract the attention of our target audience.
When it came to costumes, we decided to go against the pop convention and challenge it slightly. The typical convention for pop genre are tight outfits and short as well showing some skin due to the 'male gaze' theory. In the original 'Louder' music video, the girl group wear short outfits that are showing quite a lot of skin, so we decided to go against that and wear casual clothes. The costumes we decided on in our video matches the location and the shot type. In the wood scenes we wore big fluffy coats and boots to go along with the outside location. In the powder paint scenes we wore black leggings and black tops to make the powder paint stand out and be the main attraction in those type of shots. In the black and white shots we wore outfits that contrasted to the background, but they were plain outfits and were quite casual. Going against the stereotypical tight clothing helped attract our audience as it brought some interest into our video.
Ancillary text comparison:
We have gone against and challenged a lot of the stereotypical conventions of a pop genre cd album cover. We decided against using an image of the band members in our video as we didn't want the main focus to be on the artists. We wanted the powder paint to be the main theme overall as we had included a lot of powder paint scenes in our video, we felt it was only right to keep the powder paint theme on our album cover. We took a photo of the powder paint and edited the colours slightly, and added some different effects on Photoshop to exaggerate the powder paint element of the album and the video. We still wanted the album to attract our target audience, so we decided to make the colours of the album feminine and attractive. We used a mixture of shades such as; pink, purple, blue, green and hints of yellow. These colours are quite bright and will bring the attention of our target audience. These colours are also seen in our music video so we are making links between the video and the album all throughout our work, which is what we wanted the outcome to be like.
The font we used is quite large and eye catching which means it will attract people to the album and also it will hopefully gain the attention of people that are outside of our target audience. When choosing the font we wanted something that we could use as a recognisable font. Most music artists have a font that is recognisable to them, this helps attract the audience to the album of the music artist as they know it is their work through the font. Neon Jungle also uses this technique with their band name on their album cover. They use the same font for their name in both their single cover and their album cover so their following recognise their album through the font. We then had to add the usual conventions of an album cover. These include the barcode, the record label logo and the copyright message. These are used to make them accessible in shops and the record label own the album so they are liable to challenge any copyright issues with this album.
Monday, 6 April 2015
Social Media Promotion | Feedback
For us to retrieve feedback on our music video we uploaded our project onto all of our social media platforms. We originally uploaded the video onto YouTube and shared that link on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr in order to get some feedback from the audience. The feedback we wanted was both positive and negative feedback so we knew what we did well and how we could improve. By sharing the video on our social media accounts we gained quite a lot of feedback that was useful when reviewing the video, and it meant we had a wider audience that would see our video and give us feedback.
Twitter
We shared the video on Twitter, but we have yet to gain any responses and any feedback on this platform. However, by sharing the link it means more people will find it on YouTube and give us feedback through that platform.
YouTube
We uploaded the video onto my personal YouTube channel as I already had some subscribers that would view the video. We gained quite a lot of feedback through this platform, and all of them being positive. We have gained quite a few views as well as likes with one dislike which is ok because it helps us know that not everyone enjoyed it which is fair as its their own opinion.
Facebook
We shared the video onto YouTube and gained one comment expressing positive views with a few likes. Due to the views on YouTube we know that some people have viewed the video, but they've decided to not share any feedback which is ok.
Overall, the majority of people enjoyed the video and are very impressed with what we have created.
We shared the video on Twitter, but we have yet to gain any responses and any feedback on this platform. However, by sharing the link it means more people will find it on YouTube and give us feedback through that platform.
YouTube
We uploaded the video onto my personal YouTube channel as I already had some subscribers that would view the video. We gained quite a lot of feedback through this platform, and all of them being positive. We have gained quite a few views as well as likes with one dislike which is ok because it helps us know that not everyone enjoyed it which is fair as its their own opinion.
We shared the video onto YouTube and gained one comment expressing positive views with a few likes. Due to the views on YouTube we know that some people have viewed the video, but they've decided to not share any feedback which is ok.
Overall, the majority of people enjoyed the video and are very impressed with what we have created.
Album digipack | FINAL
This is our album Digipak including the front and back covers and the full album with both covers side by side and the spine.
Front Cover
For the front cover we decided not to use any images including the group members, so we chose to use two images of the powder paint across the floor and then merge them together to make the final image look more vibrant and more effective. When we had merged both images together we decided to play around with the colours and filters to make it more eye-catching and attractive, and after this was one we agreed that the blue/green and purple combination worked really well and we felt it represented the group really well as well as attracting our target audience. The paint splatters at the bottom of the cover are paint brushes that we downloaded from the internet. We chose a serious of shades of purple and added the paint brush onto the cover with the different shades of purple and we all really liked the outcome. We decided to have the fonts in a white colour as they needed to be clear and they needed to stand out against the background. We all agreed white would make it stand out and it would contrast with the vibrant colours in the background. We added a white shape around the text of the album title as we wanted it to be different to the artist name, and I think it makes a good impact on the image by adding more attention to the album name.
Back Cover
Front Cover
For the front cover we decided not to use any images including the group members, so we chose to use two images of the powder paint across the floor and then merge them together to make the final image look more vibrant and more effective. When we had merged both images together we decided to play around with the colours and filters to make it more eye-catching and attractive, and after this was one we agreed that the blue/green and purple combination worked really well and we felt it represented the group really well as well as attracting our target audience. The paint splatters at the bottom of the cover are paint brushes that we downloaded from the internet. We chose a serious of shades of purple and added the paint brush onto the cover with the different shades of purple and we all really liked the outcome. We decided to have the fonts in a white colour as they needed to be clear and they needed to stand out against the background. We all agreed white would make it stand out and it would contrast with the vibrant colours in the background. We added a white shape around the text of the album title as we wanted it to be different to the artist name, and I think it makes a good impact on the image by adding more attention to the album name.
Back Cover
Our album back cover was a lot simpler to make as we only had to add the text and the different images onto the original image. For our main image we experimented with the brightness and the saturation to make the powder paint as bright as possible but still keeping the powder paint theme visible. We then had to add the important extra images onto the back cover. These images include the logo of the record label, the barcode, and the copyright message. We found the image of the barcode on the internet and we placed that onto the cover. When finding a logo we had to experiment with different types as we wanted it to stand out against the background. We eventually had to find an all white logo as we knew it would show up well against the background. For the copyright message we researched what needed to be included and we then typed that onto a PowerPoint document and copied that onto the back cover at the bottom by the logo and the barcode. The font for the track names we used the Demi Lovato Neon Lights font on DaFont as we thought it would match the album cover well. We had the font in a white colour so it would show up against the dark background. We made sure the texts were all the same size and they weren't too close to each other as we wanted it to look simple.
Full Album
This is the full album cover with both covers side by side. For the spine we agreed to have it plain black with white writing sticking to the same fonts. This was done because we didn't overpower the album cover and we didn't too busy. We wanted all the focus and attention on the front and back cover rather than the spine. I am really happy with the outcome of our Digipak and I think it looks really professional and it represents our band well.
Storyboard | Planning
When creating the storyboard for our music video we decided to use post it notes for each shot. This is so we were able to keep the storyboard neat and readable and if we had to change any of the shots around in the music video we could just move the post it notes around to match the music video.
We chose to use a variety of different shots and filters in our music video to portray the various conventions of the pop genre and to attract our target audience. For all the shots Nadine and Hayley drew them individually and if they contained an effect or transition we noted down what they were on the post it. We also stated who was in the shots by noting their name in brackets on the post it.
We chose to use a variety of different shots and filters in our music video to portray the various conventions of the pop genre and to attract our target audience. For all the shots Nadine and Hayley drew them individually and if they contained an effect or transition we noted down what they were on the post it. We also stated who was in the shots by noting their name in brackets on the post it.
Lyric Page | FINAL
As well as creating the fact files of the member in our group, we made a lyric page as well showing the lyrics of the song 'Louder' which is the song the music video is too. This will be featured in the inside of our CD Digipak.
When artists in real life use lyrics pages in their albums or singles they will usually include the lyrics of all of the songs included on the album. However, we are only doing it for one song as we only created the song titles for the rest of our album and they don't have actual lyrics.
When we created the lyric page we used Photoshop as we were confident in using the software. We decided to use the image from our back cover as the background image of the lyric page because it features the initials of our artists name 'Vintage Strobe' and we agree that the vibrant colours in the image was quite effective as a whole. We chose a bold lettered font and decided to have the colour of the font as white because it shows up well against the dark background image. The lyrics are clear and easy to read. We could have added a song title on the lyric page to show what the song is called, but we wanted it to be simple and not too small, so I think it looks ok without a title.
Advertising our product | Produce
We decided we would Photoshop our album Digipak onto well known items that are used and seen everyday. Firstly we used Photoshop to place the cover onto an iPhone music player. To do this we used an image of a song that we already had in our library and took a screen shot of that and placed it onto the computer. Nadine and Hayley added the album cover, the artist name and the album name onto the image where they would usually be. It was a simple process and all they had to do was lighten the album cover image slightly so it could be seen clearly and place it into the image. This has turned out well and it looks really realistic.
They also used Photoshop to place our album cover onto the iTunes store home page. They first placed the album cover under the new music category and then added the artist name and album title to make it look realistic. Then they placed a bigger image of the album cover one of the top banners on the page, because artists would use this opportunity for extra advertisement to a wider audience for their new music. This again was a simple process and it looks realistic as it shows us what it would look like in reality.
We used our promotional poster for the next one, but we used a bus stop this time as you sometimes see movie posters or music posters on the side of them. They used the same process of placing the poster onto the image and sizing it correctly. The process was simple and it looks very realistic. Doing this has helped us view what it would look like if it was released in reality and we are very happy with the outcomes.
Promotional Poster | Produce
For our promotional poster we agreed that the background should be the actual front cover of our album to advertise the album a little more without any additional images. Since the album name and the band name was already included on the cover we just had to add the additional information about the release of the album. Again, we used a font from DaFont to advertise where the audience would be able to find the group followed by logos of each social media website which include Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. For the release date we decided to use another font from DaFont and we wanted the release date to be at the beginning of July, in the summer. This is because a lot of popular artists release their new music in the summer and also it will create summer memories for the audience.
We then used a simple font from Photoshop to show what songs the album features. We stated that Louder (the song we are using the video) will be the new single and a previous single that we agreed on, Not My Style, would also feature. We decided that the song names should be in a brighter colour so they stand out against the main background image, and this will catch the audiences eye as it will give them a sneak peek of the track list. We then used one final font to type out where the album will be available to purchase. We chose the popular UK websites and stores such as iTunes, Amazon and HMV. The font for this is plain white as it stands out against the background which will catch the audiences eye.
Overall I am very happy with the outcome of this poster as I think it suits our target audience and also it is very eye-catching which means people will be attracted to it.
Media Theory | Research
There are multiple different media theories that can linked to music videos that would be helpful when creating our own video.
Two - Step Flow Model
This was originally suggested by Katz and Lazarsfeld and they said that the media produces messages to send to an audience, however these created messages don't directly affect the audience or their perceptions of the music video. The messages that are sent out by the media are promoted to an audience through opinion leaders and these opinions can be develop biased opinions on other peoples comments. The opinion leaders are given messages by the media and they lead other people by using the word of mouth method to make the audience believe the opinion leader's statements. This is the two-step process.
Hypodermic Syringe Model
One of the main media theories, where there's an idea of the media injecting ideas into the audience's minds like they are being brainwashed with these ideas. This suggests a direct passing of information from the sender to the audience which then suggests that messages are injected to the audience without any realisation of it actually happening. This shows that they are immediately influenced by the messages being injected into their brains. This highlights that impact and the power the media has over the mass of audience.
Uses and Gratifications Theory
This theory argues the facts that an audience has a set of needs and requirements that are fulfilled through the media texts. There are multiple uses of media which include diversion from social interaction and integration, reality, and personal identity from other people and information. The theory suggests that the media gratifies the audiences needs and we look for the media products we want, which shows the power of the consumers.
The Male Gaze
This theory is mainly based on music videos and the use of camera angles in the eye of the heterosexual male. This includes sexualisation of women through the camera by wearing revealing outfits and promoting them by making them seem 'sexy' and appealing to a male audience. This theory can be used in the opposite gender as well by making the male characters look 'sexy' and strongly built to please the female gaze.
Two - Step Flow Model
This was originally suggested by Katz and Lazarsfeld and they said that the media produces messages to send to an audience, however these created messages don't directly affect the audience or their perceptions of the music video. The messages that are sent out by the media are promoted to an audience through opinion leaders and these opinions can be develop biased opinions on other peoples comments. The opinion leaders are given messages by the media and they lead other people by using the word of mouth method to make the audience believe the opinion leader's statements. This is the two-step process.
Hypodermic Syringe Model
One of the main media theories, where there's an idea of the media injecting ideas into the audience's minds like they are being brainwashed with these ideas. This suggests a direct passing of information from the sender to the audience which then suggests that messages are injected to the audience without any realisation of it actually happening. This shows that they are immediately influenced by the messages being injected into their brains. This highlights that impact and the power the media has over the mass of audience.
Uses and Gratifications Theory
This theory argues the facts that an audience has a set of needs and requirements that are fulfilled through the media texts. There are multiple uses of media which include diversion from social interaction and integration, reality, and personal identity from other people and information. The theory suggests that the media gratifies the audiences needs and we look for the media products we want, which shows the power of the consumers.
The Male Gaze
This theory is mainly based on music videos and the use of camera angles in the eye of the heterosexual male. This includes sexualisation of women through the camera by wearing revealing outfits and promoting them by making them seem 'sexy' and appealing to a male audience. This theory can be used in the opposite gender as well by making the male characters look 'sexy' and strongly built to please the female gaze.
Music Advertisement | Research
When music artists release new music or new music videos there are various ways to advertise and promote their new release. They can do this in a number of different ways whether its online, on the TV, in magazines or on a billboard. Once our Digipak is created we are going to use Photoshop to show us advertising our product in the real world to see what it would look like in reality.
YouTube
Music artists that release their music videos of their upcoming single usually use this as a way to advertise and promote their new album. This can be done through a pop up advertisement on the video or they add information in the description box below the video. They will usually add links in the description of the websites and the iTunes link where they can purchase their other music or the album the single is featured on. This is done to encourage people to purchase their album and to promote it to a wider audience.
iTunes
iTunes has become increasingly popular over the years, which means artists will now advertise their music as much as possible on here. If they have a new single or a new album that has just been released, it will be featured on the main home page of the iTunes store. This is so their music can be seen by a wider audience and also so the audience can see what new music has been released. It also shows the audience the popularity of the new releases.
Magazines
Popular magazines tend to advertise upcoming releases of music by dedicating a page to that advertisement. This was one of the most popular and effective ways to advertise music or live tours before iTunes really become popular. This is due to the fact that magazines were and still are used to access celebrity gossip or news about different topics and industries. Music artists promotional posters would be used to promote their music in magazines.
YouTube
iTunes
iTunes has become increasingly popular over the years, which means artists will now advertise their music as much as possible on here. If they have a new single or a new album that has just been released, it will be featured on the main home page of the iTunes store. This is so their music can be seen by a wider audience and also so the audience can see what new music has been released. It also shows the audience the popularity of the new releases. MagazinesPopular magazines tend to advertise upcoming releases of music by dedicating a page to that advertisement. This was one of the most popular and effective ways to advertise music or live tours before iTunes really become popular. This is due to the fact that magazines were and still are used to access celebrity gossip or news about different topics and industries. Music artists promotional posters would be used to promote their music in magazines.
Album Track List | Produce
Here are the 11 different track names that will be featured on the back cover of our album. The order they are in now will be the same order that will appear on the cover. We made sure the names would attract our target audience by including words that they would associate with.
1. Louder (Neon Jungle Cover)
2. Faded Lights
3. Don't Let Me Go
4. Weightless
5. Never Knew I Needed You
6. Night Dances
7. Not My Style
8. Remedy
9. Fire and Ice
10. Bound To You
11. 1964
1. Louder (Neon Jungle Cover)
2. Faded Lights
3. Don't Let Me Go
4. Weightless
5. Never Knew I Needed You
6. Night Dances
7. Not My Style
8. Remedy
9. Fire and Ice
10. Bound To You
11. 1964
Album cover ideas | Planning
We have decided on 4 images from the original images that we collected together. We have agreed on what image we want to use for the back cover and we have collected a few images we want to use for the front cover.
Back Cover Image
We are using this image as our back cover because it looks really vibrant and eye-catching, also the 'V.S' in the middle of the powder paint refers to the band and we really liked that idea. It has been edited to make the colours look vibrant against the darker background and the element of powder paint is clear which links to the theme of our video and Digipak. Now we have the image we need to discuss where the track lists will be placed and where the logo and the barcode will be.
Front Cover Images
We have chosen these three image for our front cover as we liked the way they have come out after the editing. We are either going to use the first image as a whole to make the colours pop and experiment more with filters, or we are going to merge to the close ups together to create an image with both of us in. Once we have decided on the image we will add text over the top of the image to create the final product.
Merged Image
When creating the edit of the two images merged together we came out with this outcome. We added the two images on top of each other and edited so one half was me and the other half was Viki. Once the editing was complete we decided as a group that we didn't really like the edit as it didn't look eye-catching and also we didn't think it worked well with the theme. We also agreed that it wouldn't look attractive on our back cover of the front cover. We then decided to use the first image of the powder paint and focus on the colours. We decided this because we didn't want the album cover to look too busy and overpowering.
Back Cover Image
We are using this image as our back cover because it looks really vibrant and eye-catching, also the 'V.S' in the middle of the powder paint refers to the band and we really liked that idea. It has been edited to make the colours look vibrant against the darker background and the element of powder paint is clear which links to the theme of our video and Digipak. Now we have the image we need to discuss where the track lists will be placed and where the logo and the barcode will be.
Front Cover Images
We have chosen these three image for our front cover as we liked the way they have come out after the editing. We are either going to use the first image as a whole to make the colours pop and experiment more with filters, or we are going to merge to the close ups together to create an image with both of us in. Once we have decided on the image we will add text over the top of the image to create the final product.
Merged Image
When creating the edit of the two images merged together we came out with this outcome. We added the two images on top of each other and edited so one half was me and the other half was Viki. Once the editing was complete we decided as a group that we didn't really like the edit as it didn't look eye-catching and also we didn't think it worked well with the theme. We also agreed that it wouldn't look attractive on our back cover of the front cover. We then decided to use the first image of the powder paint and focus on the colours. We decided this because we didn't want the album cover to look too busy and overpowering.
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