Audience Feedback

After a recent media showcase where in which we had a range of individuals from the age of 13-60 viewing our music videos. We were fortunate enough to have some feedback left by some of these people.

We asked the following questions:

What are your initial thoughts on the music video?

Did you feel the ballet worked well with the music? Or did you feel it was challenging the conventions of our genre too far?

What did you think about the editing technique of ghosting throughout the piece?

Do you think our piece appeals to our target audience? If so how? If not, what could we do to improve it?

• Do you think our music video and print tasks compliment each other? If so, how?

After reading all of the comments left by the viewers we picked out the parts in which we thought were constructive and appropriate:

The ballet worked well with the music genre- good contrast

Editing techniques gave the music video a professional look

The ballet and the skate park worked well together

Could have appealed to a younger audience as well as the teenager range

Ghost effect was 'perfect' in coalition with ancillary tasks.

Interesting camera angles and shots- particularly when driving

The use of ballet was a good contrast with the music

Fitted the target audience 'perfectly'

Ancillary tasks complimented the video

Good style and setting

The reversing technique along with the ghosting technique worked well

Driving alienates some teenagers

The music didn't fit the content

We took into consideration all of the feedback we received and were quite shocked by the unexpected comment that the music didn't fit the content as this was one of our biggest factors we wanted to achieve.

I was also shocked by the comment that driving alienated some of the audience as we didn't think it'd be an issue so perhaps this is something to consider when choosing our target audience.

If I were to do this project again I'd probably make sure there was more of a storyline as some viewers said this was a factor that was missing, and also it would have made editing easier as we would have a significant start, middle and end.
The editing techniques we used may have been over used so if i were to do another music video I'd try to avoid doing this as I wouldn't want the audience to get bored.

Altogether I think that the questions were answered well and therefore we chose a good variety to give us enough feedback on our music video. I do think that we could have included a question about what the audience would change if they had the choice as this could have shown us where we went wrong. However I believe that we got some really positive results especially as the genre and content isn't to every ones taste.

Evaluation

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

Our media product uses the surroundings to reflect the mood of the song, as we needed a location that would include fast action pieces, choosing the skate park allowed us to record people hanging out with friends and performing tricks on BMX's. Using editing software we were able to tamper with the speed of the recordings and make the action seem a lot more upbeat. By cutting these recordings in the right place it enabled us to add it to our piece to fit in with the beats making the piece look upbeat and individual. 

The ancillary tasks fit conventions for our music video and the conventions of that genre, this is due to the synergetic relationship we have built between the ancillary tasks and the music video as it includes the same character throughout. using photoshop we have manipulated the character to follow on with the 'crazy' theme expressed throughout the video. The inside cover also reflects the video as we take a snapshot from the suspension bridge and split it into two, one color and one side black and white, this theme is prominent throughout our video, therefor strengthening the synergetic relationship. Our digipak fits with conventions found in remix's, due to the simplicity as there is low funds for album artwork. 

The poster also follows a similar style, creating a synergetic relationship between all of the projects. The poster does it job and promotes the album by including a similar theme to avoid confusion. The poster is the same grey as found on the digipak and also sports the same character. We continues the 'crazy' theme on the poster too by ghosting the top and bottom image, but didn't want to over do it so left the middle image looking relatively normal. The name of the album and the artists' name were put in extremely bold font which we found to be the most successful after researching similar artists such as 'rudimental' who have a great success. also due to research we knew that we should include quotes and reviews to make our poster seem more legit and to encourage listeners to purchase the album. We also layered an image of the digipak onto the poster so people would find it easier to purchase.

DEVELOP

Although one of our locations fits well with the conventions found in a urban dance video (the skate park) we decided to develop an idea and use the Suspension Bridge and its green surroundings. This goes against conventions as they usually involve being in a club with heavy lighting where as ours is in a outdoor location with a lot of natural light. However we still include the dance element so it wouldn't exactly challenge conventions, instead it makes the viewers question the sanity of the main character and therefor makes it more thought provoking. 

The music for our video could be deemed as developing real media products as we decided to feature a remixed piece by Andy C, instead of Major Lazer's original. This allowed us a lot of leverage as due to research we found that no remix song had an actual video instead it featured the DJ playing the set to a live crowd. We instead were able to use our own ideas for our piece which ended up developing some of the usual conventions.

CHALLENGE 

Our media product challenges conventions of an urban dance video as it goes against the usual norm of dance; this including hip-hop and street dance in which the participants would be based in a club and involve a lot of jumping and unstyled dance routines. Instead we played with the idea of including Ballet, something rarely seen in urban videos due to the nature of ballet being more elegant than the harshness of dance music. The care taken in Hannah's steps is increased due to the harsh surroundings of the skate park in which we set it in, this makes her look out of place and supports the idea of 'crazy' featured in the music video. 
The character all round challenges those found in usual urban music videos, this is due to aspects such as her costume which feature a pink cat jumper and no skin on show which is a contrast to the promiscuous females found in usual dance videos. She also features minimal make up and casual hair which again defys conventions found in usual videos. 

 

•How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

The combination have created an extremely strong synergetic relationship and all work in ways to favour one another all containing similar aspects. To create it so successfully we made sure to include these things: 

1. We chose to use the same character on all of our pieces, this was to create familiarity, it also enabled our pieces to interlock. Having a different character may have confused the viewers and potentially decrease the amount of publicity. Hannah looks good infront of the camera so this made it easy to make the pieces look professional. 

2. Keeping the same effects on all of our pieces made it look genuine, for example the most obvious would be the ghosting effect found throughout our video and on both the digipak and the poster. Having the same effect made and obvious connection between all of the products.

3. Location played a key part in keeping continuity throughout all of the pieces, the poster and the digipak both include a plain grey background which we thought made the pieces look less 'busy' and created a good background to our exaggerated pictures. The middle of the digipak sports the same image found in the music video, the suspension bridge shot was split straight down the middle with one side being color and the other being black and white which also reflects a effect found throughout the video. All of these connections helped keep the synergy strong and easily identified. 

•What have you learned from your audience feedback?

 

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

Throughout research and planning we used new media products such as youtube, youtube convertor, Shazam and Blogspot. 

The mobile app Shazam allowed us to learn the name and artist of our chosen song, using the hidden database stimulated by the recording of the song. This allowed us to access the song without numerous hours of searching.

The website www.youtube.com allowed us to access the videos we had in mind to analyse, having such a easily accessible and clear site, allowed us to analyse the videos to great detail and perhaps even gain inspiration from them. We also searched our song and listen to it multiple times, stimulating ideas.

Using youtube converter we managed to turn the youtube song into a downloadable mp3 file which we then cut using garage band and used  it in our featured piece.

Blogspot allowed us to post all our new ideas and research online almost immediatly, this ment the idea was still fresh. It also allowed us avoid writing it on bits of paper that may get lost instead it is all saved on an online account which can be accessed almost anywhere.

Spreadsheets allowed us to work out percentages and ratios of the target audience we were insterested in, putting the data into graphs and tables allowed it to become a lot more clear what aspects we needed to work on. It also allowed us to create schedules of all the shots needed and the times and dates we were both available to work on.

Filming

We were lucky enough to have a camera from home we could record with a Cannon SLR, this ment we were able to record whenever we wanted to without having to borrow one from anyone. Also as neither of us live far from the location we could go and film if their happened to be any needed.

The tripod made our shots steady which increased the professional element we were going for, as even on a rough surface and fast movements it kept the shot steady. It also allowed us to reach some tricky angles (cut to suspension bridge shot) all the while maintainin reshots g the steady frame. Using a tripod also allowed us to create a vary of different angles. 

Having a phone and social networking sites allowed me and my partner to discuss any changes we wanted to be made on the piece and also arrange times to meet up and film. It also allowed us to frequently check weather forecasts and what time sunset was. 

Editing

Using the software iMovie we could edit all of our rough footage into our final polished piece. It had a big enough space to upload the numerous minutes of footage which on the camera looked useless however once cut down we found a lot of it to be of great quality. iMovie allowed us to access our piece in the exact place we left it with all of editing still intact. All of our transitions including blackouts, fade ins (the beginning) and fade outs (ending) were from the software.
The software made manipulating the clips into black and white easy and allowed us to position the clips into any order we wished while allowing us to skim milliseconds off them.Having our edited music saved in iTunes software it was easy to import into iMovie as they are both supported by Apple. 

The ancillary tasks were made possible by Photoshop which we used for both the poster and the digipak, the software allowed us to make our visions real. Our font was selected out of the hundreds available on photoshop, the style we wanted to go for was presented in numerous ways before we finally found the perfect bold font. Our main images were manipulated to make the main character seem as though she was moving / had two heads also known as 'ghosting' this was made possible by importing the same image again on a different layer and placing it on top, we then had to change the opacity to make it almost see-through. The good thing about layers is they can be added and deleted easily without any outstanding work being effected. 

Final Images

Inspiration

Candence Weapon - Hope in a Dirty City

The first inspiration that has actually stimulated ideas for our digipak is the one above. The cover is a mismatch of a picture, almost representing a smashed mirror and therefore a smashed persona which fits in with our main character who is potentially 'crazy'. The colours in this digipak are a lot like the colours we intend to include in our digipak. The broken font also fits the picture and the theme of the cover. The digigpak includes everything essential to the requirements our product desires.

DJ Fresh - The Feeling

The artwork for this single, oozes with excitement, the bright colours of the lights represents the lights commonly found in dance videos and clubs. The picture is simple but the brightness and dark city backdrop make it look modern and interesting. The brightness is something we'd potentially take from this artwork. The synergy between the artwork and the video is perfect and more empathise the excitement. 

 

 

Major Lazer - Get Free

This is the original version of our chosen song, so looking closely at this artwork seemed essential. Major Lazer uses the same animated character throughout his digipaks, advertisements and it is his original image. The videos, like ours feature unordinary aspects going on and most of the time include dance in a weird form. The fact that the same cartoon elements are used makes it recognisable and therefore has built up a great careers for the duo. We however will not be copying the artwork here and instead be taking a human route.

 

 

Rudemental - Feel the Love

The best thing about this single cover is the synergy between it and the music video. The use of including a clip of the video as the main picture directly links the two, making the single so recognisable and potentially increasing its profile. Rudemental are a similar genre to the one we have selected, therefor it is key we look at there work due to their popularity. The bold artist title makes it so easy to read, and is definitely something to include in our digipak.

Marketing our Product

Now that our music videos are complete, we are working on how to advertise them and the ancillary products to follow. We have to create a Digipak to hold the CD and a poster to advertise the release. Our teacher has given us a brief to stick to and to help stimulate our products

  You are required to produce a digipak that will contain a CD and a DVD of the band whose song you have made a video for.

  You can make a 4 panel or 6 panel digipak

  All images and artwork should be your own

  You only have to submit an electronic version of the digipak

  You can get up to 10 marks for your digipak

  You can submit a group or individual digipak

  You should look at examples of album artwork from the band/artist whose song you are using and also examples from other bands/artists in the same genre

  Your plans should include drafts and sketches of designs

  Your plans should detail when, where and how you will capture your images

  Your plans should include detailed examples from real products to support the choices you have made

  You should think carefully about how your digipak will work alongside your advert and in support of your music video

Here is some inspiration:

Updates

Due to time me and Alice, my partner decided that some realistic changes would need to be made in order to finish our product to a standard we were happy with on time. Although are previous ideas were good and fit conventions, they were also unrealistic and difficult to achieve. Here are the changes we made:


Character

Hannah Bryant, is taking part as out main character as it was easier to film with Hannah as she lives closer and has a less demanding schedule. In fact this worked in our favour, Hannah dances outside of school so we decided to include this in our Dance track. Hannah also chose her own outfit and due to her kooky nature we were able to empathise the 'crazy' persona of the girl. It also allows our character to break out of the social norm not only by her clothes but by dancing Ballet instead of the stereotypical hip-hop.








Location

Instead of travelling all around Bristol, we decided to only have two Locations; The Suspension Bridge and Horfield Skate Park. The idea of the skate park has the same effect as the paint explosion would have. It has also allowed us to have a urban edge to our music video as we film local teens bmxing in a graffiti ridden skate park.

Finishing..

The day has come for the final chance of editting our music videos, a lot of time and effort has been spent on making our video look as proffesional as possible, luckily thanks to some extra time we have an even longer time scale to finish up some rough parts. The process has been very educational and myself and Alice have learnt some valuable skills in editting. As the red box indicates, we are on target and the end is looming closer. We are now moving on to marketing our finished product, including a poster and a digipak.