Evaluation 4-What have you learned from your audience feedback?

What I learned from my audience feedback is that the audience really enjoyed it. Also the acting was really good. The sunlight didn't make it obvious that  it was actually filmed in the winter. I learned that the actual narrative was understood well and also that the theme of the narrative was easily recognised. The theme being a sweet summer time love story. The audience was really pleased with the video which was good. Above are the comment of some of the fellow media students in the cinema. It make me look at my product in a different light as I didn't expect to get such good feedback especially on the editing of our video. I realised that the editing was really good and I didn't need a lot of transitions which was one of the things I was going to put in before.

Evaluation 3-How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

when beginning
this project I had to do a lot of research to get some ideas of what kind of video an ancillary products I wanted to create. I used Youtube to look at different videos that related to the genre my music video was on. When planning the different stages we used blogger to post up our planning and the progress of how we were doing. We used it to post up our storyboard and our mood board.
















During filming we used brand new state of the art cameras, we learned how to use all its features e.g. Auto/manuel focus and filter etc.

We then used final cut pro to edit the video. I edited it to fit in with our love story so there was slow motion parts that were quite effective in portraying that love feel. Also because some our shots were badly filmed final cut pro helped to cut out certain parts using the image and wire framing tool.

 

When editing i had to do it carefully with alot of thought to make sure that I was editing to the beat of the actual song.

When creating my ancillary products I used photoshop on a mac. Photoshop allowed us to cut out images background also it allowed us to have a template of the actual digipak.  

When creating the digipak I had to ensure the theme reflected my video so I stuck to using the flowery theme. In photoshop there was a shapes tool that allowed me to create shapes. On my advert there's yellow flowers scattered around it and I used the shapes tool on photoshop to create these. 

There was a range of flower shapes and I selected the one that I thought suited my product. I was able to choose a colour that also went really well with my overall theme. 

The shapes tool aslo allowed me to put the big red star there. I thought this was very handy as it attracts my audience to the advert. Its very bold and stands out well. 

Evaluation 1+2

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

Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product (video) and ancillary texts (digipak and advertisement)?

 

Feedback from draft evaluation

Hello group 14
You will find feedback from me on your draft responses to your evaluation questions.  To get to my comments please click on '1 comments' at the bottom of each blog entry.

What you learned from your audience feedback?

How did the audience in the cinema react to your video?

The wordle was used to show the different words that the audience connotes whilst watching my music video. This highlights that the audience understood the concept of my music video because it was set outdoors with a happy message. The message was clear to the audience, as they used these words to describe it.

 The written views that people in my class had about my music video, which had negative and positive opinions. This was done to give feedback from everyone's music videos in my class. This was useful to  know and understand when they fet we went right and wrong.

Views on my video 

                                          

How could/would you change your product in relation to this feedback?

As the song was upbeat, my peers felt that I should have used more locations. On contary to this feedback  is that the season was changing from Autumn to Winter, so we could not go to as many places as we wanted to. Also, there were too many protest/strike so travelling became impossible. As we originally wanted to film mostly at Kensington Gardens. This was difficult to go for long because the equipment needs to be returned for another class to use.  

There was a comment about my music video having too many kissing scenes because they felt that the target audience were slightly to young to see so much kissing in one music video. They felt it was too explicit.Therefore, I would change some of the kissing scenes for embraces with the couple. This allowed me to realise that the couple did not always have to kiss to show that they are in love. I could have varied this with having more hugs to show the affection between  the couple than kissing.  

What I have Learnt?

I feel that A2 media involving the ancillary texts and music video, which has progressed my skills that I learnt at an AS level. I have learnt how to more layers around on Photoshop to duplicate an image or text for my digipak. Also, I had a lot of floral shapes, which could cause the program to crash. So, I had to 'Merger' the digipak to compress the memory size.

Whilst making my music video, it is vital to be organised because if someone is not into a more specific. It causes turmoil, as the schedule can become delayed. Furthermore, I used the application 'Handbrake' to compress any video I needed for my feedback /interviews into an i-pod/i-pod touch file.This is compressed into a mp4 file,which can be small enough to be uploaded onto blogger.  

My skills in using the camera for handheld (stedi-cam) filming improved because I understood that you need a very steady hand for holding the camera. For example, I used tracking in the movement of Katherine and Damon's feet as they walk to meet each other in the middle of the pavement. 

I felt more confident using the Mac in general as I gained a more complex knowledge about have to access my folder on the 'Media Server' by pressing 'Command' + K' to upload my work on my own area workspace named 'Juliana Amaa' on the desktop. This enabled me to save my work from my advertisement and digipak onto my own workspace because I did not need to rely on the video drive, too heavily. As if someone is using it I could still access my work from whatever Mac I was using on that day.

I learnt that I could not save my digipak and advertisement on Photoshop as a PSD file because it is not compatible with Blogger. This meant it had to be saved as a JPG file. 

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

This will be present as a video explaining all aspects of media technology.

The Apple Mac was used to type up my work on blogger, upload my video onto the computer. Also, to make all the adjustment to my music video using the program 'Final Cut Pro' an editing software. The canvas replicates the 'programme' monitor in such systems, where the edited material is viewed. The 'timeline', where media are cut together into a sequence, replicates the edit of th music video.

I used it research music videos that influenced and take screen shots of the direct links to video that complement my music video,which I used in my evualation. In terms of research on you tube, vimeo etc.Also, I had to research a shortlist of possible music videos I would like to use.

I used Blogger keeps my online diary of my work through the research forVlamdir Propp ideology and Andrew Goodwin theory, in terms of which aspects apply to thesong my group and I chose. Also, planning was vital to make sure I stuck to the time I had to shorlist the songs and do my audience task and to explain why I chose the song 'These Words' by Natasha Bedingfield. Furthermore, the evaluation was completed on Blogger which documented and reflected upon all the planning, researching etc from the beginning of this coursework to the end.

The video camera was used to make the music video. This allowed me to experiment with the camera by doing some of the shots hand-held.

I used 'Google' to  research videos that influenced my music video, find concepts that linked with my video and to planning my video's ideas. Also, it was very useful for upload music videos from 'Youtube',which has a direc link from blogger to access.

I used this program to edit my music video because it help me understand that the lip-synch had to be on time. However, if the singing was out of synch, it can make the editing go out of time. This did cause some problems but I did overcome this. 

I used Photoshop to make my digipak and advertisement. Also, I made my flowers using 'Custom Shape Tool' for my digipak (design above).

This is a screenshot of my animatic, which has already been embedded onto my blog.  

I used handbrake to convert any videos that I needed to upload into blogger had to be small enough to fit onto an ipod/ ipod touch,which compresses into a smaller file to go onto the blogger. If this is not done the video file would be too big and would not upload onto blogger.  

4. What Have You Learned From Your Audience Feedback?

These are some of the words that my classmates came up with to describe our music video. I used wordle to summarise some of the words up.

                           Teachers feedback for my ancillary products

                                    
                       My response to our main product and my ancillary products

3. How Did You Use Media Technologies In The Construction And Research, Planning And Eveluation Stages?

2. How Effective Is The Combination Of Your Main Product (Video) And Ancillary Texts (Digipak And Advertisement)?

                                                             Stills from Music Video

                                                                      
                                                                     Digipak Stills

Advertisement Still

These are three stills from our final music video, my Digipak and my advertisement. In each of these, flowers are present and are in yellow. I got inspired to use the consistency of flowers and the colour yellow as a way of relating our final music video, to my Digipak, to my advertisement. I have used flowers all over my Digipak and advertisement to continue the floral theme.

Advertisement Still

 

                                                                        Digipak Still

In both of my Digipak and advertisement, I wanted to keep the style of writing very simple and conventional. I chose a font on Photoshop and used the same font throughout all of my ancillary products to stick to my genre, and the conventions of digipaks.



Final Advertisement

Digipak Front Cover

Stills From Music Video

I wanted the audience to have a clear visual link of the artist as she is new and we want the audience to remember her, so I decided that we should keep the hair, clothes and environment the same so that it is easier for the audience to recognise her. Her facial expression has not changes, her hair, make up and costume are the same which is a clear visual link. I chose to use the same image for my ancillary products as again, it is a clear visual link and helps he audience to recognise her.

How successful my main and ancillary products are and target audience

Q4: What have you learned from your audience feedback? (Evaluation)

Our video on the big screen!

The audience in the cinema did seem to enjoy our video and applauded at the end.

Audience Feedback after Cinema Screening

Class feedback on my main product (VIDEO)

"The editing was good because it marked the pace of the song. However, the lip synching could be improved a little."

I agree that the lip synching was out sometimes and I have learnt that if the artist is seen singing a little off synch, this can make a huge impact to the overall video.

" The floral theme matches the summer mood of the song. However because of the sun, the lighting showed a few black shadows especially when the artist is seen singing on the red climbing frames"

We were unable to get the lighting the same at all times on that day of filming as the weather was breezy and some parts of the location were either really shady and some very sunny. I believe that is something to be careful of if making a music video.

The location and mise en scene fitted well with the codes and conventions of the genre. However, more locations could have been used".

We aimed to have a floral, realistic, 'normal day' feel to our video, which was why we mainly filmed in parks. Initially, we did plan to use different locations such as a riverside etc, but when filming, it made sense to keep it all one location but often change the costume of the artist to make it more engaging rather than the location.

Feedback on my ancillary products (DIGIPAK AND ADVERT)

My response to the feedback received about my main product and ancillary texts

Q3: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? (Evaluation)

What technology did you use?

How did you use the technology?

FINAL CUT PRO

We used Final Cut Pro to create our music video. Here we were able to add effects, change the framing of shots and helped to put different shots into one whole production. We imported the video footage that we took for our music video. We done this by clicking on file, import, files and then chose the shots we wanted to import and edit in Final Cut Pro.

We were then able to add the shots onto a timeline along the page. We were able to cut the shots to make them shorter and place them together. We also added a few baselines that we laid on top of each other and cut out the parts in which we did not want or need.

Some of the shots that we had did not have a good framing. We were able to change the framing on Final Cut Pro by clicking on an icon above the shot we wanted to edit and by clicking on image and wireframe.

One of the effects we added was the slow motion effect. We went to

 effects, video filters, then to video and selected the slow motion blur. We were also given an option box which enabled us to type in a number of how slow we acually want the footage to be.

 

Final Cut Pro was very useful for making our music video as it enabled us to see our shots on the side of the page, see our footage so far, the timeline and the shot we want to edit.

We made an anamatic on Final Cut Pro, which helped me to get a real idea of what the main product would look like once put together. When making the anamatic, we were mainly focusing on getting the three part shots on the three part beats as this was this most visible editing technique in our video. We used the scissor tool to cut out excess footage that we did not want or need.

PHOTOSHOP

I did not use Quarks Express to create my ancillary products. I created my digipak and advertisement both on Photoshop. I opened up a new page and started getting creative.

For my advert, I opened a new A4 sized blank page and cropped it in half as that is the normal size in which an advert is in a newspaper or magazine. I then chose the main colours of brown and yellow to match the floral theme. They are the colours one would assiociate with a sunflower, which links with my other products. I then added text consisting of relevant information and a flower on the side from the custom tool bar and also pressed shift and moved a still of the front panel of my digipak on the side of my advert.

For my digipak, I started by opening a four panel digipak template which I found on student, resources. I then decided what colour I wanted the main background to be. I already planned what the colour scheme would be throughout my products and decided a green background to relate to the greenery seen in the main video.

I wanted to make my digipak unique and I also wanted all four of my panels to match in some way so that they can be recognised easily as one product. I found some shapes on custom tools which I decided to use along my panels. I coloured the shape in a darker shade of green to make it visible.I was also able to change the size of the shape to my preference.

The layer tool at the side of the page on Photoshop helped me to see what I had on each panel and it helped me to remove anything I did not want by putting it in a small bin above.

SAFARI (Internet)

GOOGLE Images

The main search engine I used was Google. I mainly went on google images to look at other album covers, digipaks and adverts. I also did some research via google i.e Natasha Bedingfield's original record label etc. I was often linked to Wikipedia where I continued my research. Wikipedia gave me information such as the genre if the artist, their record label, their albums and release dates and other relevant information related to the artist.

I was often on Youtube looking at Natasha Bedingfield's original video of 'These Words' and the other videos that influenced our main product. It helped me to get easy access to these videos and was fast and easy to use as I only had to type in the artist's name and song name and click search! I often did search for other British artists who are in a similar genre of Natasha Bedingfield to get a sense of the codes and conventions of that genre.

BLOGGER

I was constantly logging into Blogger and uploading my work to be up to date with my blogs. I pressed 'new post' and was able to add images, videos and text. I could also change the font, size and colour of my text and well as have a spelling check. Blogger also enabled me to embed videos from youtube.