Evaluation - Question four

4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
For this question, Simran has chosen to create her answer using the website Time Toast. This timeline is an effective way to answer a question based on technologies, because it allows us to look at all the different types of technology we have used during the stages of production during our music video. Embedded below is the timeline Simran has created.

Evaluation - Question three

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
Simran has chosen to answer this question in the form of a mind map, using a website called Bubbl. She has created a mind map as it is different and interesting, yet it is still a presentable way to answer this question. Embedded below is her mind map.

Evaluation - Question two

2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
This part of the evaluation was answered by group member Amy, she has chosen to answer question two by creating a prezi. The prezi is embedded below.

Evaluation - Question one

Now that our music video is finished and edited, we must look back at the process of our work and look at where we could have improved, and what we have done well.
Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?:
I have chosen to answer this part of the evaluation, by using screenshots from our final music video, as it conveniently establishes the conventions we have conformed to, and how they fit into the pop music genre.

• The first typical pop music convention that we have used is product placement. During research, we noticed that many leading pop stars make use of product placement during their videos, for example we noticed artists such as Jessie J, Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj all use product placement in many of their music videos. I believe this is a convention of pop music because pop artists have the power to be highly influential in their videos and give their fans an insight as to what brands and logos they support.

• The next convention that that audience will see is a main one that appears during the whole video - performance. Pop music videos tend to be performance based, more so than a narrative, as the lyrics in our chosen song are quite repetitive, as a group we decided it would be more effective to base the video on performance, in order to give the audience something else to focus on and enjoy. The inspiration for this came from the original 'Domino' music video, the entire video is performance based, and is therefore a pre set success.
• Soon after, we see the character have an outfit change, as well as a change in the location. This is a pop music convention, as it can also be identified in other pop music songs including; Domino, Hot n' Cold, and Call Me Maybe. This convention is used so that the audience have something to keep them drawn into the video, also the settings are key in creating the illusion of the atmosphere of the music video.
• The next main convention that appears next is the use of an extreme close up of a facial feature, such as eyes or mouth. In our video we have included a close up of the character's lips, to connote phallic imagery, to conform with Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory. This is conventional because it can be seen in other pop music videos where the artist has been made to look seductive, for the pleasure of a male audience.

• Pop music videos are usually fast paced and upbeat, conforming to this convention, Domino is a fast paced song. Conventionally the cuts in the video must change with the beat. We have conformed to this in our music video, in order to please our target audience. Especially towards the end of the song, as the pace of the song increases, the cuts rapidly increase, so that the video works well with the song.
• Typically in a pop song, the bridge has a slightly different tone to the rest of the song, to compliment this, the video must have a different image to accomodate for the difference in the tone, even when it is for a couple of stanzas. In our video we have changed the setting of the video, to conform to this convention. The bridge can be seen as low lkey lighting, and a slightly more serious image than the rest of the song. The main image of the rest of the song soon resumes after the bridge.

Overall, our finished product conforms to pop music video conventions, as it would be expected to. We have done this in order for our target audience to be pleased with our video, and see the conventions they would expect to see when watching a pop music video. It was with thanks to our peer feedback and audience feedback that we have determined the main conventions of a pop music video, and have applied then to be as effective a spossible. Many of the conventions we have used, we have only been able to create through the use of technology. For example the use of close ups can only be achieved by zooming in with the camera, or the lighting used has been emphasised by filters available on Final Cut Pro.

Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
This question in the evaluation was based on how well the digipak, magazine promotional advert and the final music video, are linked together. To answer this group member Amy Smith created a prezi, that details similarities and differences between the three. Below is the link to her prezi. 

Question 3: What have you learned from your audience feedback?
Simran Takhar answered this question using a website called Bubbl, below is a copy of her work she completed to answer question 3 in the evaluation.

I chose to answer this question by using an online mind map, created on the website Bubbl, I have embedded the mindmap below. I chose to use a mindmap to answer this question because it is an easy to read and well organised as well as interesting to look at. Also I've never used Bubbl and I wanted to try presenting my work in a new and creative format.

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

This question in the evaluation was answered by fellow group member Simran Takhar, below is a copy of the work she completed to answer it.

To answer this question I've chosen to use the online timeline website called TimeToast. I've created a timeline that shows all the new and different forms of technology I have used through out this piece of coursework. Using a timeline was effective for this question as it makes it easy to see all the different forms of technology I have learnt to use over the time span of this project. I also chose to use TimeToast because is more creative and appealing to reader the information in an interactive unique format rather than a long written blog post.

Final Music Video

I have embedded out final music video in this post, the song we have created a musi video to is Domino by Jessie J. We chose to use this song as it simply conforms to many pop music conventions, that we could re-create in order to please our target audience. Some of the conventions we have conformed to include; colorful imagery, outit changes, product placement, extreme close ups of facial features and evidence of appealing to male audiences (Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory.)

During the creation process, my group member Simran Takhar had the main responsibility of digipak research and creation, and Amy Smith and I had the responsibilities of; directing, editing, mise en scene, camera work and cinematography.

Final digipak and final magazine advert

Shown here is my groups final digipak design, we came together to decide which conventions worked best, and which ones we didn't like, Simran then created the digipak using Photoshop and this is the final design. 

We used Jessie J's 'Who you are' poster to influence some of our ideas, so that our poster was conventional with a song from Jessie J's album.

• We aimed to use a similar font to this poster from Jessie J, as it is simple, yet suggestive of the mood of the album which is important in attracting our target audience. 
• We have also tried to stick to one colour scheme, we chose to use more brighter colours than the original, because we believed that the colour scheme we have chosen, is more in key with the mood of the song. 

Sketches of magazine advert design

Shown below is a rough outline of our intended magazine advert;