An evaluation of my A2 media coursework.

1. How did you use mediatechnologiesinthe construction & research,planningand evaluation
stages?
The internet/Google
As one of the most reliable searchengines inthe entire world,itwasinevitable
that itwouldhave beenutilisedheavilyforthe researchandplanning stages.
Duringthe researchprocessgoogle hasallowedme tocomplete myinitial
individualresponse andinitial groupresponsetothe brief byallowingme tosearchfordifferent
mediaproductspreviouslymade bydifferentartistsfroma varietyof genresinorderforme to
complete ananalysisof theirproductstoact as inspirationonwhattodo as well aswhatto avoid
whenitcomesto producingmymediaproductand ancillarytexts.Into the planningstages,google
allowedme toresearchthe band‘The Wombats’and againhave access to theirmediaproductsas
well asprovide asa connectiontootherwebsitessuchas‘outlook.com’ sothatIcould sendanemail
askingforsong permission fromthe band.
Digital Monitor
Thispiece of mediatechnologywasusedbymyself inthe
constructionstagesof my advancedportfolio- toproduce amusic
video.The digital monitoractsas a computerdisplay,allowingthe
videobeingfilmedtobe seenona large screen.The ideaof the
monitorwouldhelpmyself,the camerawomananddirectorgeta
betterunderstandingof how the videowouldlookinreal time,ona
largerscreenthan the viewfinderonthe camera.It wasmountedto
the camera and readyforfilming,however.Onsetitjustwouldn’twork,myteamtriedtohelpme
fix it,butas none of us hadneveruseda digital monitorbeforeitbecame impossible andsowe
couldn’tuse the monitor.If Iwere to do thisagain.I wouldmake sure thatI fullyunderstoodhowto
use the monitorpriorto filming.Aswell asIwouldcarryout equipmentchecksthe daybefore
filmingtoensure thatall equipmentwasreadyforfilming.WhenIdecidedtorentoutthe
equipment,Iwasshownhowto use the monitorand soI believe thatIwastryingto use it correctly.
Furthermore, Iwastoldthat the monitorhad onlybeenusedonce inthe pastand so ithadn’tbeena
piece of equipmentrecommendedtouse forfilming.
Digital camera
The digital camerawas usedforthe researchand constructionstages.
My teamand I usedthe digital cameraduringthe planningstagesto
record audience interviewstofindoutwhatan audience wouldlikefrom
a musicvideo.Thiswasthe firsttime the camera wasusedfor thisyear’s
coursework,Iam veryfamiliarwithhow touse the camera ina basic
wayas I have previouslyusedittofilmandtake imagesatGCSE and ASlevel.The camerawas
heavilyusedforthe constructionstages.Iwasthe camerawomanforthe musicvideotherefore I
spenta lotof time focusingthe camera,recording,changingthe exposure levelsandwatchingthe

2. footage backvia the settings.AsI’ve mentionedpreviouslyIhave experience withthe cameraandso
was therefore comfortable withusingit. The downside of usingthe camerawasthat ithas an
autofocusfeature thatcan be extremelysensitive andtemperamental.Duringfilmingitwouldoften
shiftoutof focusand thisbeganto become veryannoyingaswe’dfilmsome greatscenesbutthen
realise thatat some pointthe focuswaslost,whichtherefore ruinedthe footage qualityandsowe’d
have to re-film. Anotherpartof constructionthatthe camera was usedforisthe Digipak.Myteam
memberAbi tookthe photosandshe didalso agree that the digital camerawouldoften be too
sensitiveaswell asbecause itwasdigital the batterylife isveryshort,andeventhoughwe always
tookspares,stoppingtochange the batterybecame irritating.
SurveyMonkey
SurveyMonkey isanonline surveydevelopmentsoftware.Itallows
usersto create surveysforanyone whohasa connectiontothe
internet,aswell asitprovidesquantitativeandqualitative data
collectionfromthe resultsof yoursurvey. SurveyMonkeywasused
duringthe researchand evaluationstages. Duringthe researchstage,
it wasusedto findoutwhat an audience wouldlike tosee inamusic
videoandDigipaksothat whenitcame to planningourownmediaproductswe hadstatisticsand
audience statementstoguide usonhow to create mediaproductsthat wouldappeal toour
audience.Inthe evaluationstage ithasbeenusedtocollectaudience opiniononourmusicvideo
and digipaks.We cantherefore use SurveyMonkeyto see if we have understoodaudience opinion
and incorporatedtheirthoughtsintoourmediaproducts.
Social media- Snapchat
Social mediahasrecentlychangedthe veryface of communication.It
has enabledvirtuallyeveryone fromcelebritiestomothersof three for
example tocommunicate notonlytofriendsandfamilybutona global
scale. I thoughtthatsocial mediacouldbe incorporatedthroughoutthe
researchto evaluationstagesbecauseitwouldallowme toreachmy
target audience directlyaswell ascollectalargersample of the targetaudience.Idon’thave
Facebook,soinsteadIusedthe app Snapchat.Snapchatallowedme tomake a post withan
embeddedlinkof mychoice.Therefore,whenitcame to try to getparticipantstofill inthe surveys
on SurveyMonkeyitmade iteveneasierforthemtofill inthe surveysasmy snapchatposttook
themstraightto the surveyas well astheythencouldfill inthe surveyimmediatelyontheirphones.
I have almost70 ‘snappers’sotherefore itdidallow the surveystoreacha somewhatlarge
audience.Although,those snappersdoconsistof friendsandfamily,thereforeitcould be saidthat
the resultscollectedfromthe surveysare biased.Aswell asSnapchatonlyletsuserssee postsfora
certaintime limit- the maximumbeing24 hourstherefore mypostwasonlyup for24hrs and so may
not have beenseenbyeveryuserthatI’mincontact with.
SlideShare

3. SlideShare isawebsite whichallowsuserstouploadfilessuch
as PowerPoint,word,PDFetc. publiclyorprivately.SlideShare
has beenusedthroughoutall the stagestouploadmy
courseworkontomyblog.It worksby creatingan accountvia
the site itself orLinkedIn anothersite whichallowsyoutouse
the same loginforboth sites tomake managingyourwork more
efficiently. So, forvirtually all mycourseworkIwill uploadfiles
such as the analyses,release forms,myevaluationetc.toSlideShare.Fromthere I’dmake the postto
SlideShare public, click‘Share’andembedthe linkintothe html sectionof myblogpost.Thishas
reallyhelpedinthe overall lookandprofessionalismof myblogasit has meantthatall my
courseworkisinone place.Thus,whenviewingmycourseworkonline there aren’tloadsof linksto
otherwebsitesmeaningthatmyworkisn’tscatteredall overthe internet,difficulttofindorrequires
a viewertoopenloadsof tabs withdifferentwebsites.
Word
Microsoftword hasbeena staple whenitcomesto anywrittenworkat each
stage.Word acts a digital penandpaperto whichmy annotationsand
informationcanbe savedtobe viewedonline.Asyou cansee I’musingword
here to write upmy evaluationandithasbeenusedpreviously toprovidean
overviewof the band‘The Wombats’,AnalyseRihanna’s‘777’tourDVD,
create shootingschedules,release formsetc. Wordisan extremelypopular
piece of software because itisveryeasytouse.If I had the opportunityto
re-domycourseworkI wouldperhapsuse the software lessasalthoughitisfantastic,Icould’ve
useddifferentwaysof presentingthe informationsuchascreatingvideostalkingaboutthe
informationIwantedtopresentasIt wouldallow me toutilise other,more impressive skillssuchas
editing.
PowerPoint
Similarly, PowerPointactslike aworddocumentbutinsteadof pages,
slidesare usedtopresentinformation.PowerPointwasusedthroughout
my coursework ontasksthat requiredalotof information tobe
presented/different type’s informationtobe presented,forexampleI
have usedPowerPointtoanalyse the surveyresponses,outline my,
personal ideafora groupmusicvideoandthento outline the final,group
chosenmusicvideoidea.PowerPointhasbeenusedtobreakupthis
informationintosmallerchunksandithasallowedme topresentthe
informationinawaythat is differenttojustutilisingMicrosoftword.Yet,itdoesn’tmeantosaythat
PowerPointisn’tuncommon,tomake mycourseworkstandoutagainstthe majorityIcoulduse
similarsoftware thatactslike PowerPointbutisnew andcurrent for example, Prezi operates in
virtuallythe same wayasPowerPointbutinsteadithasmore effectsandtemplatessuchastailoring
your presentationforeachaudience- withoutflippingthroughslides.
Dafont.com

4. Dafont.comis a website thatallowsinternetuserstodownloadfontstotheir
desktop forfree.The website hasagreatrange of highqualityinteresting
fonts,which range frominterestingquirkyabstractfontstomore restricted,
professionallegible fonts.Dafont.comwasusedtodiscoverfontsthatwe
woulddeemappropriate forourmedia products.Forexample,whencoming
up withthe ideasforthe digipaksthe fontsusedwere fromthe site.We were
able to use thembypressingdownloadthenrunningthe fontviaa
programme sothat it wouldinstall tothe desktop.
Blogger
Bloggerisa website thatallowsuserstocreate blogsforfree viacreating
eitheranaccount or usingyourgoogle account.I have uploadedall of my
workfor my advancedportfolioaswell aspreviouslymyfoundation
portfolio.I’ve have changedthe layout,settingsandstructure of myblog
page.Bloggergivesyouthe opportunitytocustomise yourpage.My
page differs,frommypreviousfoundationportfolioblogbecauseithasa
more professional layout.Unlike mypreviousblog,I’ve includednew
thingsintomyblogsuch as gifs,embeddedvideos,asearchbar etc.As
I’ve mentionedpreviously,Ihave uploadedeverypiece of courseworkontothiswebsite.This
evaluationwill thereforebe uploaded ontomyblogalso.
In what ways doesyour media product use,develop or challenge formsand conventionsofreal
mediaproducts?
Comparing themusicvideo for ‘Let’s dance to Joy Division’ to ourmedia production of ‘1996’
In myblogyou will see thatIhave analysedanexistingmusicvideomade forThe Wombats(‘let’s
dance to Joy Division’).Usingthis analysis, I’mgoingtouse the codesandconventionswithinthat
videoandcompare/analyseourmusicvideotosee if we’ve used,challenged,ordevelopedthe
formsand conventionsof anindie musicvideo.
We’ll startwiththe formsand conventionsthathave beenusedwithinthe musicvideo. Indieartists
settheirmusicvideosinlocal locations.Forexample,in‘LDTJD’the settingwasasmall home studio
and in‘1996’ we usedtwotowns,an ice creamparlour,riverside andahilltoptowhichwere all local
to us.Local locationsare usedas indie artistswanttoappear as home grownas possible plusthey
don’thave a big budgetwhenitcomestofilmingandsotheycannot affordto payfor exotic
locationsthatcan be seeninmainstreammusicvideos.

5. Anotherconvention thatwasfollowed wasthe use of performance,‘LDTJD’wassolelyperformance
basedand ‘1996’ had the bandin the studioperformingparallel toanarrative. Performance is
heavilyimplementedinindie videosbecause the genre isall about displayingraw talentfrom
musicianswhocanplayinstrumentsandsing,ratherthanchoreographeddance numbersand
flirtationwiththe camera.
The costume itself followedthe conventionof relaxed,distressed,“Don’tcare”t-shirtsandjeans
that we so oftensee withinthe indie genre.Forexample,in‘LDTJD’the bandwere seentobe
dressedinsucha way whichtherefore inspiredthe clothingwornbythe bandmembersin‘1996’
and as forthe charactersin the narrative theyfollowedthe grungystyle of indiekidsinthe 90swith
A-line skirts,converse andretrojackets.We know thatthisisa conventionasitdiffersfromthe
mainstreamwayof dressingfora videoof designerclothesandshoesthatcan be seeninthe ‘Sorry
not sorry’videobyDemi Lovato,to whichIhave previouslyanalysed.
Furthermore, we cansee thatthe shottypeswithin‘1996’ follow convention.Close ups/extreme
close upswere usedin‘LDTJD’ to illustrate the emotionandpassion goingintoperformingthe song
and the message behind/withinthe lyrics.We thenreceive some closeupsin‘1996’ againof the
bandperformingthe songintheirownway.
Finallyone of the otherwaysour musicvideoconformstothe indie genre isthroughthe use of
distributionchannels.The indie genretendstouse cheapermethodsof distributionasagainit’s
downto the budget. YouTube istherefore anextremelycheapandefficientwayof distributing
musicvideostoyouraudience. Userscan uploadtheirvideosforfree viathe site.‘LDTJD’was
uploadedinthiswayandso we decidedtouploadourvideotothe site too.
Challengeand developmentof Indieformsand conventions (musicvideo)
As above Ihave mentionedthatmymusicvideofollowsthe codes, forms, andconventionsof those
withinthe genre.Therefore whenitcomestochallengeanddevelopmentIstruggle tofindanything
that standsout withinthe musicvideothatfulfilsthisrequest.However, if Iwere toredom music
videotomake it more challenginganddefiantof formsandconventionsof real mediaproducts,I
woulddothe following.
Firstly,I’dtryto be more creative withthe costume used.The actorsinthe narrative could’ve been
wearingDoc Martens,heavydarkeye makeup,aswell asclothingthatwouldcreate fora more
interestingvisual.Forexample,if the femaleparthadworndistressedorrippedtightsitwould

6. create a more grunge feel.Thiswoulddevelopindie formsandconventionsbecause itwouldbe
showingoff the indie wayof dressingwhilstamplifyingtheirstylesothatit ismore interestingforan
audience tosee onscreen.
Secondly,Iwouldchallenge indie formsandconventionswithinthe musicvideobycastingactors
withdifferentethnicbackgrounds. Withinthe indie genreitisconventional tosee white actorsand
white artists.Thisisprimarilybecause Indie musicwasfoundedbyalternative groupsinAmerica
whopredominantlyconsistedof young,white individuals.Duringthistime inAmerica,Afro-
Caribbean’swere pioneeringrapand hiphopmusic.Therefore withinthe genre there isn’tan
accurate representationof BAMEgroups(Blackand minorityethnicgroups).
It istheorisedthatan audience will connecttoareflectionof themselvesandtheirdesiredlifestyle if
presentedonscreen.So,if Iwere tohave includedsome representationof ethnicminoritiesitwould
ensure thatthose membersof the audience whoare of a differentethnicbackgroundfeel asthough
that theycan see a representationof themselvesandfeelevenmore of aconnectiontotheir
favourite genre.
Anotherwaythat mymusicvideocould’ve challengedthe formsandconventionsof anindie video
couldinclude filmingamusicvideothatparodiedamainstreamone thathadbeendone previously.
For example,forthe musicvideoof ‘BeautifullyUnconventional’the bandWolf Alice createdavideo
that parodiedaperformance inspiredbyMarilynMonroe.Thisworkedreallywell forthe message
behindtheirsongaswell asit wasn’tseenas a traditional wayof creatinga musicvideoforthat
genre.Inour musicvideo,we could’vedone somethingsimilar.Asitcleverlychallengesthe
conventionsandformswhilststickingtothe genre’sstyle of beingdifferentandprovocative towards
mainstreamculture.
Furthermore,Genderrolescould’vebeenchallengedwithinthe whole assemblyof ourmedia
products.The musicvideodisplays,acouple whobothconformtotheirmale andfemale gender
expectations.Tochallenge thiswe could’ve putgrunge make upsuchas heavyblacklineraroundthe
male lead’seyesorseenthe femalepartwearingmen’sgrungystyle clothing,orcasta female witha
shavedheadforexample.Thiswouldhave challengedconventionsasindievideosdon’toftensee
thisbeingdone eventhoughitisa genre all aboutexpressionandmainstream-rule breaking.
Comparing theDigipakfor The wombats compared to ‘My Love is Cool’by WolfAlice
Firstly,bothDigipaksutiliseartworkaspart of the frontcoverdesign.‘MLIC’utilisesan abstract,
contemporaryart image.Similarly,‘1996’Uses silhouettesandanurbancity skyline tocreate a
unique fantastical image.Whatcan be saidfromboth coversisthat it isa typicallyindie convention

7. to have albumartworkon the cover todecorate the digipak.Therefore ourproducthasfollowedthe
conventioninthissense.
Otherconventionsthatourproducthas followedincludethe necessaryinformationsuchasbarcode,
record companyname andcopyrightinformationare placedall onthe back cover.Aswell asboth
back covershave a listof songtitlesfeaturedonthe albums.Ididn’tgettosee the interiordesignof
Wolf Alice’salbumbutIwouldimagine thatthe graphicprintoverthe CD wouldinclude the band
name and title aswe have included onourCD design.Furthermore,bothCDsfollowaconvention
across all genresof havinga theme/colourscheme tothe album.Forexample Wolf Alice use ablack
and goldcolourscheme,whereaswe’ve usedared,blackand white one.The colours/themes
themselvesrunacrossthe frontand back cover.Both digipakscontrastsignificantlyagainstone and
other.The colourBlack especiallyhasbeenpopulartouse withincolourschemesof the genre asitis
knownto create an elementof mystery.Furthermore ablack backgroundmakesanycolouron top
of itstand out,so the white usedinourdigipakstandsoutsignificantly.
Challengeand developmentof Indieformsand conventions(Digipak)
Againlike the musicvideothe digipakdoesn’tstandoutto me as one that developsorchallenges
conventions.The onlyaspecttome thatwouldstandout as challenge anddevelopmentwouldbe
the use of bandimage inthe interiorcover. AsI’ve mentionedonthe frontcoveran image of the
bandisn’ttypicallyused,asindie artiststendtodelve intocreativityratherthanjustdoingwhat
wouldbe expectedi.e.animage of the bandto sell the product.Therefore the use of bandimage
withinthe digipakhasbrokenindieconventionsbutnotmainstreamones…Itdoeshoweverdevelop
itsindie conventionasto the editingof the band’simage.The image hasbeeneditedsothatthe
audience canonlysee the outline of the band,theirfacial featuresandclothing.Ithastherefore
mergedthe backgroundandforegroundtogetherintoone ‘Redandblack’image.The editingof this
image hastherefore revertedthe original imagebackintothatof an indie genre.
‘1996’ digipak by Abi, Charlie, Joni and Holly.

8. Comparing ACDCs‘Rockor Bust’ cover to The Wombats ‘Europeantour’ (DVD cover)
I understandthatRock and Indie are twoseparate genres- howeverforthisevaluationtheyhave
beenputunderan “umbrella”genre of alternative musicasthere are plentyof similaritieswhenit
comesto conventionbetweenthe twogenres. ‘ROB’(‘RockorBust’) hasa continuingthemefrom
the front tothe back coverof the DVD.Thisis expectedof all professional mediaproducts,ashaving
a theme showsa connectionandtransmitsamessage.OurDVD cover,titled‘The Wombats-
Europeantour (‘ET’) alsohasa continuingtheme asthe images usedare solelyof the band withthe
accompanyingcolourscheme of Red, White andBlack.Unintentionallythe same colourschemeas
‘ROB’has beenusedin‘ET’.These colours,whentogether,therefore create adark,edgy, cool,and
rebelliousoverall appearanceandsohave therefore beenutilisedinbothDVDcovers.
The style of fontdiffersbetweenthe twoDVDcovers.‘ROB’hasusedtheirinfamouslightningbolt
logowithpointedtextforthe title andthena cleaner,“normalised”fontforthe accompanyingtext.
In ‘ET’ a plainformal fonthasbeenusedforall text,thiswasdone as we feltthatit lookedbetter
than the previous,suggestedabstractfonts.The plainfontensuredthatall textwasreadable,andit
communicatesthe authenticityandsimplicityof the indie genre.It’snotaboutaestheticbutabout
the music.The textsize itself appliedwiththe conventionslargertextwasusedfortitlesetc.
Anotherdifference amongstthe twoDVDcoverswouldbe the style of images.ACDC’sDVDcover
had performance shots.‘ET’utilisedclose upsandlongshotsof the band“posing”as themselves.I
thinkthat the covercould’ve improvedif we’dhave usedsome performanceshotsasitwouldreflect
the contentof the DVD betteraswell asit wouldgive the DVDcoverlessof a formalityasthe shots
appear,tame and constructedwhichdoesn’treflectthe genre.
Evenmore so, ‘ET’ has beenconstructedmore efficientlythan‘ROB’asit had nonecessary
informationsuchasbarcode etc…Inmy previousanalysisIpointedoutthatdoingthiswasflawedas
it makesitmuch harderto publishandpurchase the video.Therefore,byincludingthe necessary
information we have followedDVDcoverconventions andhave therefore made the cover upto
professionalDVDstandards.
A similarityoccurswhenbothcovershave usedthe synopsissectioninanon-traditional way.‘ROB’
usesa numbered,tracklistsuggestingthatthe DVDaimsto mimic,analbumcoverand ‘ET’ has each
tour date and destinationlisted.Traditionally,we’dexpecttosee abrief description,infull
sentencesof what’sincludedinthe DVD.
ComparingThe Wombats ‘ModernGlitch’magazine advert to The Wombats ‘1996’ advert
The Wombats advertitself ishighlyconventionalof onesseeninindiemusicmagazines.The advert
has featuressuchasa Logosto symbolise the differenttypesof waysthattheirnew musiccanbe
downloaded/listenedto.For example, the greenlogorepresents‘Spotify’apopularappthatallows
people tostreamnewmusic,the audience will be veryfamiliarwiththe appastheyare of a younger
generation. Thisfeature differsfromthe advertfor‘MG’ as they’ve justincludedthe linkstothe

9. record company’swebsite andthe band’swebpage itself.Intermsof modernity,ouradvert
connectswitha techsavvy,modernaudience aswebsite linksare effective buttheydon’trepresent
howthe audience are utilisinge-mediain2018.
The titlesare appropriatelyplaced,awayfromthe mainimage asthatis the bodyof anymagazine
advert.The advertfollowsthe same designandtheme asthe digipak.We didthisisasits betterto,
to have a followingtheme acrossthe textstoshow that theyare interlinked.Furthermore ‘MG’had
alsodone thistherefore we knewthatitwas professionaltodo.
‘1996’ Digipak by Abi, Joni, Charlie and Holly

10. ‘This Modern Glitch album cover by The Wombats’
Lookingback at the mainimage,bothadvertshave utilisedthe enigmacode aswe are unknownas
to the identitiesof the peopleinthe image,we understandthattheyaren’tthe bandmembers
themselves,butwe knownothingabouttheiridentitybesidesthe general assumptionsthatcanbe
made fromtheirclothing.Bothadvertsutilise differentcolourschemesandfeelingstotheiradverts,
‘MG’ createsa happy,vibrant,playful feelwithitsbrightcoloursandseaside background. Whereas,
The Wombats adverthas a moody,edgy, andcool feel toitwithits use of dark coloursand
silhouettes.

11. How effective isthe combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
Throughoutthe courseworkeachmediaproducthasconstantlybeenscrutinisedanddeveloped.
From initial ideastothe final productsitwouldbe safe tosay that the productsas a combinationare
successful.
Firstly,itisevidentthatthe mainproductand ancillarytextsrelate toone andotherbecause of the
recurrenttheme.Fromthe blackand redcolourscheme,tothe fontstyle we cansee a relationship
betweenthe texts.The musicvideohasthe bandmembersinthe thumbnail,aswell astheycan be
seeninthe DVD coverand albumcoverand sothe audience willknow thattheyare related.

12. The repetitionof titlesandsongnamesacrossthe textsalsodemonstrate alink.‘The Wombats’and
‘1996’ are constantlyrepeatedasthatis the mostimportantmessage acrossthe texts…Itiseven
seenonscreenat the start of the musicvideo. Furthermore, itisalsoconventionaltosee the same
imageryrepeatedacrossthe texts.Thisisseenin‘The Wombats- ModernGlitch’wherebythe
powerful mainimage,whichwasappliedtovoyeurismandnotionsof looking,wasthe same forthe
albumand magazine advert. Asyoucan see the bandmembersandthe silhouettesof the girlsare
repeatedacrossthe textsandso we have therefore demonstratedthatwe understandthe
conventionsof anIndie musicpromotionalpack.
What have you learnedfrom audience feedback?
Audiencefeedback:Musicvideo
“Wow!I loveit!!!! It lookslike you’veput a lot of thoughtinto the differentshots andI like the use
of differentlocations”- AnnaClarence
“I likethe use ofband performanceas their costume/appearancemademe thinkinstantlyofan
indiegroup as well as their performance style connectedwell with the genre”- Tom Fills
“You’veincludedtitletext at the start and the credits at the end which has made me believe that it
was a professional musicvideo”- LucaTimpargo
“I wouldwatch thisagainas you cantell it has been directed well plusI enjoyed the structure and
flowof the video”- NikitaOlson
These quotesillustratesome of the positive feedbackthatwe’vereceivedfromstudentsinYorkand
the surroundingarea. We think it’sgreatthat the audience wouldagree thatwe have incorporated
a good use of shots andlocations.Especiallyasthe storyboardshadto be alteredquickly.What
we’ve learnedfromthisasateam isthat it wasworthspendingalot of time on the storyboardsand
choice of locations.Ittherefore highlightsthe importance of shottype andlocationtothe audience.
Furthermore,we’velearnedaswell fromthe audience thatwe have successfullyproduceda
professionalindiemusicvideo.Qualitiessuchasthe title screens,the bandperformance and the

13. structure of the videohave beenpraisedandhave helpedthe audience identifythatitwasin fact a
musicvideo.Therefore,we’ve learnedthatwe’vecommunicatedexactlywhatthe audience would
like tosee froma video.
Anotheraspectof the videothatwas well praisedwasthe performance style of the banditself.An
anonymousstudentcommentedonhowtheyenjoyedthe factthateach memberof the bandhad a
personalitythatcontrastedagainstothermembersof the band.Forexample, the drummer,was
excitable andenthusiasticwhereasthe guitariststook ona straightfaced,relaxed,“we don’tcare,
we’re usedtothis”,cool persona. We learntthat thishelpedtocreate a setof “characters” thatthe
audience canidentifyorrelate theirownpersonalityto.
“The lip syncingisn’t great”- Anonymous1
“That’s a poor-qualityshot as hishead cuts off at the top”- Anonymous2
“Youshould’ve useda tripod to steadythe camera and geta clear shot”- SimonSmith
Amongstall the positive feedbackwe inevitablyreceivedsome fantasticcriticisms.Firstly,itwas
mentionedthatthe lipsyncingfromthe singerwasn’tuptostandard.Thiswouldbe because the
singerhadn’tlearntthe lyricspriorto the shootas there wasn’ta lotof time. Therefore,we’ve learnt
that itis importanttoleave enoughtime inbetweenshootstohelpthose beingfilmedprepfortheir
role effectivelyoncamera.
We’ve alsolearntthatwe needto be superfocusedandprecise withthe cameraworkoneach shot
we film.Insome scenesthatinvolvedcloseups,some of the performershadtheirheads“chopped”
off inshot. Thisthenlinksinwiththe followingcommentthatsaidwe needtoutilise atripod,we did
utilise ashouldermountforthe outdoorscenes aswe couldn’tfilmthemwithatripod,towhichfor
the majorityof scenesgave usclear shots.The shotof Ashleyonthe hill wasfilmedwithashoulder
mount,butas we were filmingfromdownthe side of ahill we couldn’tbalance he mountasmuch
as we couldon flatland.Thus,we’ve learnedthatwe needtotriple checkeachshotwe shootbefore
we submitthe footage asacceptable.

14. Audiencefeedback:Digipak
“Yourmedia textslook amazing! Love the overlappingshapes,imagesand colour scheme.The
silhouettesandperspectivesare so cool!”- Anonymous3
“It looksvery cool and mysterious”- Anonymous4
“I like it,it’s very coordinated,professional and genre fitting”- Anonymous5
The digipakshave beenverywellpraisedbythe audience,andso itwouldbe fairto say that the
audience have taughtusthat we are able toconstruct an indie digipakeffectively.Forexample itfits
the genre as it givesacool andmysteriousfeelbyusingshapes,silhouettes,perspectivesanda
grand/appropriate colourscheme. Furthermore we’vealsolearnedthatwe can puttogethera
professionaldigipakthatiscoordinatedandcool.
.