Evaluation Question 4

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

Throughout the entire production we have used a vast portfolio of media products and technologies. We continually used YouTube to present our practise piece, our draft promo video and our final product. YouTube was beneficial to our production as it helped us to reach feedback from larger audiences when completing the audience feedback section from the research and planning stage.

Blogger has continually helped us to organise our production from the very beginning, all research and planning has been recorded in detail on the blog. Using the blog has helped our analysing skills and our use of different media technologies to differentiate our blog to make it interesting for the reader.

The internet was used frequently in the research stage of the production so we could compare our ideas and the codes and conventions with existing similar products.  We retrieved many screen grabs from a variety of online sources so we could compare and discuss; ensuring we created a product that would be professional, successful and popular with the chosen target audience for our product.

The main software used for creating the Digipak ancillary task was Adobe Fireworks CS4 as this enabled us to make a professional product that reflected what we wanted to produce. Adobe fireworks CS4 took some getting used to at first but we persisted; we were very happy to have taken the decision to continue using the software as we believe our technical skills have improved dramatically and the final Digipak reflects this.

We edited the production using Sony Vegas as we were familiar with the format from the previous year. We used extra features from the upgraded version to help our product progress from the year before work. We furthered our ability to use the software by including more technical effects in more detailed areas adding increased professionalism to our work.

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation question: Audience feedback

In the whole journey of the creation process for our A2 music video we had to improve our video step by step with the aid of audience feedback. There were many ways in which we tackled audience feedback using different media and different styles. Every part of pre production we consulted our audience for feedback and advice to sculpt our video to make it the best it possibly could be.
           

 Before shooting our video we had to come up with a concept, a storyline for our video which correlated to both our target audience and the lyrics of our chosen soundtrack. Our group were undecided and had a few different concepts which we wanted to explore in more detail, but ultimately we knew we could only choose one so there was no point in chasing lost causes. We tackled this by making a quick decision and letting our audience feedback tell us what our demographic would mostly be attracted to. We successfully created a PowerPoint with all three ideas in detail to show to the rest of our media group. The decision was unanimous and we decided to explore Neon Tree’s ‘Your Surrender’ for our final piece as it had strong lyrical/image potential.
           

 Secondly we decided to use different formats of feedback. This was in the form of the widely acclaimed social network ‘Facebook’. As our friends and family were on there and the majority of them are in our target audiences age bracket we thought this would be suitable as it also allowed different ages to watch our video. Thus giving us a greater range of feedback as our video is definitely aimed at a specific type of audience but we would also like it to have a universal side to it which would make it watchable for all ages.
           

Initially we didn’t know how to make our storyline universal as it would be difficult to adapt our contemporary storyline to suit an older audience. Again, to tackle this problem we used audience feedback and posted our different ideas in the style of a poll where people could vote. We did this on our own blog pages as this was only available to our fellow media class mates; this was beneficial as we wanted feedback from people with knowledge instead of our target audience.
           

We also decided to create visual representations of our audience feedback so we could easily compare our results so we could clearly see the majority’s decision. This was produced in the form of pie charts, bar charts and line graphs. This information was retrieved from random stratified samples from our questionnaires which we handed out to ten people from every year. This surprisingly was a success with every year with the students participating taking the questionnaire seriously giving us valid and suitable feedback which we could act upon.
           

In terms of our universality, after our rough cut was produced we showed our parents and peers to see if they were able to see if the storyline suited the song and also if they could relate to the video. This ranged in success with a low percentage of parents finding it uninteresting but we thought this was because it was an unfinished product. We did take their points and opinions into consideration and implemented them to improve our final video.
          

  Again, after our final video was produced and refined we showed it to both our class mates and put it on facebook to make it available to wider numbers of people. We managed to get much more positive feedback with 95% of people liking the video. This was due to people being able to sympathise with the storyline itself.
           

Overall, after every step of pre-production, whatever we thought of, ideas, techniques, locations we consulted a range of people to see if they hit our target audience. By doing this we were able to design and sculpt our video specifically allowing us to use our time more efficiently while also conforming to our target audience’s demands.

Evaluation Question 2

There are many similarities between our Ancillary tasks (Digipak and Website) as this was the case with the similar products we researched into. We also ensured there were strong links between the main task and the ancillary task to ensure the audience could easily distinguish the similarities and therefore recognize the product. We made these links strong by ensuring the font type, colours and pictures were all similar throughout.

When tackling the continuity in terms of colour scheme we decided we wanted to create a ‘rainbow’ effect as a rainbow has a continuous pattern throughout. We took this continuous pattern ideas and geared relevant colour through all our different types of media. This technique was also implemented with the use of the actors appearing within all of the products we created, this in turn allows the audience to recognize the products at first glance further keeping the main conventions we adhered to.

As you can see here, the three products we have created all contain similar colours and font. Visually, clear correlation between the images below provides a sense of unity which collectively groups the image to make an overall product for our specific target audience and genre. The images combined illustrate an effective, professional aspect to our work, which is a key attribute we were attempting to fulfil.

All of the similar products we researched used this convention between their media products, as the similar products we researched were hugely popular with the target audience we were targeting. This helped us as a group to collectively agree to meet this convention closely in an attempt to ensure our main product and ancillary tasks were also popular.

We decided to consist our theme of actors and scenery. We did this as normally a digipak directly correlates to the website colours, but as this is a one off video we decided to link all of our products together and we felt the most effective way of doing this was by using these features. Hence, visually our target audience will be able to immediately link our products spreading awareness. Our logo is simply the band’s name, this as well is spread throughout all our products. Finally, we also use symbolic shots on our webpage as again these were directly representational of our overall message.

Evaluation Question 1

Here is a presntation of Evaluation Question 1 shown using 'Prezzi'

http://prezi.com/_gwmsltnyk9b/copy-of-evaluation-question-1/?auth_key=79a78dba0e4e94a505b67ca508cc434936cff577

We used straight cut transitions mainly between the shots when editing as we were keen to keep the professional and contemporary image we were searching for. When completing our research and planning we noticed all of our favourite and most desirable/entertaining promo videos used straight cuts and were very popular with the consumer audience we were targeting. The transitions have all been adjusted to meet further the common codes and conventions by ensuring the shot change was perfectly timed to change at the tempo of the song. 

Many technical aspects were used throughout the film such as the projected image on the sheet at the beginning of the product (this was completed in after affects using Sony Vegas) However, the majority of technical aspects within the production were achieved by the cinematography team when the shots were filmed such as focus changes, horizontal pans and depth of field which was a key tool we used to add a higher dimension to our piece and further distinguish it from similar products. Over the course of the Production we believe we have all developed and progressed our skills immensely especially in the area in which we specialised.

We challenged the convention of including a star character in our product to again help our product stand out from similar pieces. This was also beneficial to our production due to the difficulties in arranging to meet the star who makes the song as the demand would be very high and non-achievable within our budget. In the similar products we researched back at the beginning of our production we found that nearly all of the promo videos we analysed did contain a star; this information we found made us all agree we would in fact like a star within the video but also agreed that it was not viable.

We have met the conventions of the Titles that we have analysed in our similar products. All of the products we researched all contained simple but effective titles that tended to be only at the beginning or end of the promo video. The titles font, colour and text size was a key aspect of the conventions of titles within a promo video as all of them were fluent and used throughout the website and digipak also; this created a strong link between the main product and the ancillary tasks that we made (following closely the conventions of the similar product we analysed)

Our initial opening shot veers off the path of conformity and we have decided to take a more symbolic approach. Instead of the universally accepted extreme long shot (establishing shot) we have decided to go for a medium shot of the main characters which creates enigma for the audience/viewer while also igniting the storyline without wasting any time. Our opening shot therefore is unique as we have purposefully challenged music videos codes and conventions in order to make our product stand out from the crowd. We have included other types of media techniques in this first shot also to add a whole new layer of interest which is reflected in the projected images. We believed our level of technical ability was at a sufficient standard to push the boundaries and venture into different types of media, this allowed us to experiment with different filming and editing techniques. The progression from AS to A2 flowed smoothly with steady progression of our overall skill sets and knowledge on producing a music video. All these skills and techniques helped in the creation of our product. 

While creating a storyboard of intended shots we had to factor in certain shots which visually represented the link between image and lyric. This lyric-image cohesion was very easy to accomplish as there were many different scenarios where we could directly link the lyrics to some aspect of visual reduplication. We did settle on a clear idea which slotted into places correlating with our storyline perfectly. Other factors had to be considered also, the main one being the timing as the shot consisted of Isaac (main character) writing the words ‘You look like a thousand suns’ on a piece of paper in the exact time in which Neon Trees sings the lyrics. This didn’t become problematic as with a few jumpy straight cuts we were able to create the desired effect and our audience feedback seemed to like the final shot.

In terms of storyline and actors, we had to directly design and cast everything in accordance to our target audience and genre. We wanted to create a sense of emotional connection in which teenagers could relate to our video. This consequently creates enigma and makes the video more entertaining. As our video was aimed at teenagers it only seemed fit to cast teenagers for the part. Originally, we had planned on paying semi-professional actors who were looking for acting experience to play the main characters, but after much deliberation, we came to the conclusion it would be both time and financially more efficient to cast our friends in the roles. This relates to costume also as we had to use contemporary attire to make them look more fashionable and more universally accepted. Also, on a more psychological level, we decided to set our whole video in summer, as most teenagers enjoy the summery weather the subconscious link of positive feelings and emotions will rub off onto our video which will affect the viewer’s mindset and make our video more appealing.

We challenged many of the conventions that we researched originally when completing the analysis into similar products. We took great deliberation when discussing the shots we were going to use and the order in which we would use them; we took so much of out time on this as we were selecting which the conventions we would keep to and which we would challenge.

We challenged some conventions so that we created a product that could differentiate itself from other products in the same category. This tactic helps our product to distinguish itself and make the audience remember our product.

However, we did stick closely to some of the main conventions to ensure the product was successful and popular with the target audience and genre we have selected. This was our safety backup if the conventions we decide to challenge were not popular with the audience. Sticking to some of the main conventions helps the audience to recognize the media format we desired to create.

Website

Above is our Website, we have made many clear links to the other ancillary task (Digipak) and the main product by matching font types, colours, images and text. All of these aspects made clear links between the 3 products, we intentially did this so that the audience would find the products recognizable as a brand identity.

Using our research into similar websites we attempted to keep to many of the main conventions we found when analysing. The format was designed by us but we ensured we included the neccessary information found on many proffessional existing websites for bands today.

The sub-headings we used are commonly used in many similar products along with the use of the a large title and images of the band with tour dates and links to merchandise pages.

Here is the website link:

http://releasingsuccess.co.uk/isaac/website1.html

Creating brand Identity

Every band has a brand identity. A symbol, a word, a phrase which is directly associated with the band as a easy way of recognising the band visually. We had to create a brand identity for our group which was directly associated with the style of music, band and our target audience. This brand/stamp has to be an on running theme throughout all our products which includes website and digipak. Here is our final branded identity;

The colours, text and font have all been kept consistent throughout the main promo video and the ancillary tasks to keep a brand indentity for the audience to recognize the product and acillary pieces quickly. This is a key convention of a promo video which we all agreed was very important, consequently we have stuck to this convention to keep popularity with our audience.

Re-Shooting and Re-editing

Due to our in depth research and planning at the beginning of our production we have managed to keep the amount of wasted shots to a minimum. This has consequently made our shooting more efficient and productive; their has also been a huge decrease in the number of shots that needed re-shooting in comparision to last years filming. By completing the filming to a high level from the start we have allowed ourselves mroe time to edit and conclude the promo video to the desired standard we had hoped.

We planned from the beginning that we would try to minimize re-shooting as we did not want to challenge continuity of our product.

As there was less need to re-shoot as many of the shots we had filmed we had enough time to sit down as a group and collectively decide what would be best and most technical to show our abilities. We did however have to re-edit a number of shots due to theacknowledgement of problems when screening for our audience feedback. We acted upon the feedback we recieved and as a result changed some of the editing to increase popularity.

Titles

Our Titles have been designed to be simple, yet effective. We agreed not to include titles that were fancy and technical as we believed this would make our product appear amaturish and un-proffessional.

After completing in depth research and planning into similar products we noticed a common trend, that the promo videos contain simple titles that did not take away the audiences attention for long in order for them to concentrate on the main content (the video).

The similar products we researched into had short titles containing the name of the song and the artist name, many of the promo videos we analysed showed the name of the song at the beginning and at the end. This is the format we also decided to use so the audience were aware of the song name before they viewed the product and if they liked the product they knew the name for any potential downloads.

Editing and description of process, problems and effects used

Editing the promo video took a considerable amount of time using the sony vegas software round Isaacs. As a group we selected the shots that we wanted to use and disguarded the shots we didnt think were up to the standard we were looking for. Once we had the shots we wanted to use we began joining them together using our storyboard we had previously produced. We wanted the shots to change at to the tempo of the song which follows one of the main codes and conventions of a promo video. The shots were relevant to the lyrics of the song so we had to select the appropriate shots that had relevance to the song lyrics.

We encounted a large problem when editing some of the final shots as it proved highly difficult to place an image of the two main characters together in a bubble that was moving accross the screen. We persisted using our technical abilities and succeeded eventually.

We used effects to improve the levels of brightness to create the illusion that the sun was more prominat than in reality on the day of filming. These effects allow the promo to fit in with common conventions making the video fit in with the mention of the sun in the lyrics frequently.

(Increased brightness)

Finished Digipak

We have also decided to include 2 Hologram images, shown at the bottum of the image above.

Creating the Digipak

We have created our Digipak using Adobe fireworks and have attempted to stick to the main codes and conventions we found when completing our research into similar products.

We knew that the Digipak would have to have a strong reference to the Song and the artist/band so this was our starting point. We wanted to use similar shots as still images from the promo video which would provide us with the link we needed. We therefore went out to gather images from similar location to which we shot the promo video.


We all agreed we wanted the Digipak to look proffessional and sleek and to do this we decided that we would not include much information on the outer packaging. We noticed from our research this was the stratergy most of the similar products used to achieve this effect.

To complete our final Digipak we decided to show what we can do technically by including the content on the inside and on the disk. The outer packaging would consit of the minimum amount of information but enough to make a clear link to the promo video and website.

Here how we made our final digipak:

1) We used a plane canvas on fireworks in the shape of a CD case



2) The picture we took from one of the locations we filmed from was used as the initial background, we changed the transparancy by 25% and tinted the colors slightly. We then removed a strip from the background where we could enter the information for the song titles.



3) We changed the color of the strip we cut out to help the colors flow and co-ordinate. The transparency allowed a straight line like a border around the colored strip. This made the change from image to color more fluent.



4) The Strip was then colored black as shown below which covered the green strip but left the green outline which made the transparancy more apparent.



5) We then added the text to the black background which gave us the desired effect of the letters standing out whilts remaining sleek and looking professional.



We used this same technique to create the image on the back of our digipak but changed the Large letters in the centre to the song names to keep with the strong conventions.

Below is the finished back and font cover of our Digipak:

 

We also decided to add a whole new level into our digipak to set it apart from other products. By doing this we added two holographic pictures into our digipak to give our audience authentic memorabilia which directly links to our final video.

Here is where our inspiration came from, I previously purchased the avatar collectors edition and found the holographic cards inside;

 



Finished Product and analysis

We have now finished our main product taking into consideration the audience feedback we recieved from our draft. We have considered the feedback and acted on it making the production hopefully more popular with our target audeicece, here is the production below:



We are happy with the outcome of our production and believe it is mainly due to the in depth research and planning we carried out in our pre-production stage. We also planned the days of filming well which helped us film quickly and efficiently meaning we made far less mistakes and less adjustments were needed from our rough draft.

Our final piece complies with and challenges many of the codes and conventions of popular media products from past and present. We have further discussed in detail how and why we have challenged the conventions in our evaluation. In short; to increase popularity by complying and create uniqueness through challenging.

We are as a group happy with the overall outcome of the promo video and believe we have progressed well taking consideration of a our target audience feedback and group ideas. We believe the product clearly reflects the initial ideas we had as a group and exceeds our original expectations.

Anamatics

We decided to create Anamatics to make a visual representation of the product we wanted to create, this proccess brought out storyboard to life and helped us when filming the proccess to increase efficiency and help reduce wasted unuseable shots.