The document discusses the media student's process in creating media products for their coursework assignment. They analyzed real pop music videos to understand conventions of the genre and audience expectations. They researched styles, shots, costumes, and lighting commonly used in music videos. While incorporating these conventions, they aimed to create their own unique twist. Feedback from a diverse audience helped them evaluate if they successfully conveyed their narrative and message. A variety of media technologies were used at different stages, including YouTube for research, Photoshop for design work, and Final Cut Pro for video editing.

1. MEDIA A2
EVALUATION

2. In what ways does your media product
use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
Before I began the planning of my media products I analysed
different pop promos that were in the genre of indie/rock,
to understand and see what the pros and cons were. I done
this for the audience expectations which would have
created a high consumption unit, I used codes and
conventions from real media products to make the
audience satisfied with the products I created. I also done
this research as I wanted to emphasise on an archetype,
however I never planned to imitate the somebody elses
indie/rock media products as I wanted to create a unique
twist to my products.

3. Continued..
Different styles are used in pop promos to give it a specific genre, this is done by the
mise-en-scene, different shots, costumes, props and lighting. These are conventional
elements of a music video being used to make it interesting and attract the correct
target audience. Different shot types are used to show emotion such as a close up or
the body and movement in a long shot. Close ups are often used in my pop promo as
it is based on bullying so I use them to show the emotion in the characters.
My pop promo is performance and narrative based so my choice of
costumes, locations, lighting will be varied to what scene it is and what is being
represented. This is conventional as performance and narrative based pop promos are
more popular in real media products as the audience are more likely to go and see the
artist live.
The characters costumes are based on realism, therefore they are wearing casual
clothing, however the character which is being bullied wears the most plain and
simple clothing to represent vulnerability. Casual clothing is conventional in this genre.
In the editing I used a special effect called glow, this enhances colours and where light
is shining it increases it. This is an unconventional feature for the genre as indie/rock
promos tend to be dark and dull.

4. Continued..
These are two of many DVD
covers I analysed, ‘GREEN DAY’
and ‘THE BEATLES’. I liked the
simplicity and stand out images
so I used these in my product. I
also liked the ‘GREEN DAY’ font
and the dark colours used in
both covers, this is a
conventional colour for this type
of genre. My DVD cover is to the
left and you can see that I have
incorporated this design.
However, I made the back of the
DVD cover more outstanding as I
wanted to create the ‘twist’. This
is why I used photo shop to
smudge and blur the images on
the back to allow the audience
to wonder what is happening.

5. editing..
As you can see I used Adobe
Photoshop, on photoshop you add layers
with different images, background colours
and text on. I Love the font of my band
name ‘KUDA’ it reminds me of a stamp, so
I put it on the slant to make it stand out
more. I have five images on the back
which are screen grabbed from my pop
promo. The twist I added to this was I
used the smudge tool to go around the
edges and then used the blur tool to go
over the images. This gave a great effect
and will intrigue people. Apart from the
band name ‘KUDA’ I used the same font
for all text, different fonts confused me
and I got this idea from the real media
products I analysed.

6. Continued..
I also wanted to create a the
actual CD cover. This makes my
product look more
prefessional. It is very simple
however its different, I used
the ‘KUDA’ which is also the
logo and I used ‘FAKE
TRAITORS’ below but upside
down to make it unique. I also
analysed different CD covers to
get some good ideas and
feedback.
The cover in the top right was
the inspiration.
I also created this on Adobe
Photoshop.

7. Continued..
This is my final
magazine
advertisement, it is
very similar to my DVD
cover. I done this to
make them link, if
somebody saw this
advertised and liked
it, it would be easy for
them to find the actual
DVD. I used the same
font and front image. I
added a quote from a
newspaper to persuade
buyers. I also added
the ‘hmv’ and ‘itunes’
logo to show where it
is available to buy. This
was an idea that came
from real media
products as it is
professional.
Above is a screen grab from
the editing of my magazine
advertisement. I used the
magnetic lasso to cut away
the background from the
hat so I can overlap the layer
of the ‘KUDA’ text. This is
professional and I learnt this
in AS media whilst creating a
magazine.

8. How effective is the combination of
your main product and ancillary texts?
Intertextuality is crucial when creating products to go into the music industry, there
should be clear, precise and effective links between the products promoting the music
video itself and the music genre it has been categorised in. My pop promo which is the
main product does have a very effective combination with the ancillary texts. First off,
my pop promo is under the genre indie/rock, this automatically sterotypes dark
colours, casual clothing, realism and so on. All of these have been related to my
products.
Ancillary text are there to compliment the main product, this is an effective way for
the target audience to make clear links between the products. This is a very successful
selling tool in the industry. The links between these products become memorable to
the audience or relate to audience it is targeted at, because someone who is
interested in r’n’b music would not be drawn to a poster that is aimed towards an
indie/rock genre.

9. Continued..
Same front image is
used in both the
magazine
advertisement and
the digi pack, this
girl is also the main
talent in the pop
promo.
The images on the
back of the digi
pack, although they
have been blured and
smudged in the
editing process, these
have been taken as a
still image from the
pop promo and
audience will be able
to work this out.
Same
background
colour.

10. What have you learned from your
audience feedback?
There’s many benefits of constructive feedback. Feedback can bring to my attention any
flaws that may be in my products. This means I can resolve any issues there may be
before a product goes into mass production. Feedback can also give a suggestion of how
popular the product may be. This means producers can predict sales and production.
Feedback also means I can find out more about what my target audience like, this may
mean I can adapt my product to suit my audience even better which means the
outcome of my products will be more successful.
I had a varied audience to give me my feedback, I used my class mates as they new
what to look for e.g. shot types, lighting etc. They also had a varied taste in music, this
made the feedback more diverse. Also I used family members, old and young, this was
also a very diverse audience and the reason I used them as I wanted to see if I put the
narrative across clearly. I didn’t tell the family members what my narrative was as I
wanted them to tell me what they saw, they all came back with the theme ‘bullying’
which was the exact feedback I wanted. After receiving my feedback it was all very well
and this also gives you a good feeling and confidence about your work.

11. How did you use media technologies in the
construction and research, planning and evaluation
stages
Media was very vital in all parts of my media coursework, its not just the new media for
everyone e.g. blogging, computers etc. But its also the media technologies I have never
used before, such as the cameras.
Planning and Research.
At the beginning of my coursework assignment before I began planning anything I
researched ideas and analysed real media products. To do this I used the
internet, Google search engine, Wordpress and YouTube. YouTube was used to research
other pop promos to analyse, this gave me an indication of what I needed to use for
mine and what I liked and disliked. YouTube also allowed me to embed the videos I
analysed on to my blog which is Wordpress, the blog is a new media and its being used
to document my research and show the process of my pop promo and digipack.
Wordpress. YouTube

12. Continued..
Construction
Media technologies were a must for the construction of my
pop promo. I used a software called final cut pro on a
mac, this is a revolutionary editing software to use Final Cut
Pro has made up 49% of the US professional editing market
who have traditionally used Avid Technology's Media
Composer. The software allows you to log and transfer video
onto a hard drive (internal or external), where it can be
edited, processed, and output to a wide variety of formats.
Google allowed me to navigate my way around the internet
quickly and locate relevant information, which was ideal. The
planning for my pop promo was done on a story board which I
drew out, however I then photocopied it and it went on to
Microsoft word which is the simplest programme to use but it is
still an advanced technology. After this was uploaded I put this
on my blog. To plan my digi pack and magazine layout I used
Photoshop, this allowed me to construct basic layout
techniques, ready to create my product.

13. Continued..
Evaluation
To complete my evaluation, I used Microsoft PowerPoint, Google search engine and
Wordpress. Microsoft PowerPoint is what my evaluation has been made on, it creates
slides and makes them look more interesting and cutes the information into sections
easily. Google helped me download images quickly and research any information I
needed. After I completed my evaluation I have uploaded it to my blog on Wordpress.
In the construction of my digipack, magazine
advertisement and CD cover I used Adobe
Photoshop. Due to the advanced
technology, Photoshop allows you to modifying
the size and scale of an image, or putting one
picture within another. I was able to edit my
photo's, adjust levels, brightness, contrast and
textures. I could use a tool called a magnetic
lasso to cut images precisely. Photoshop also
allowed me to edit my font, ‘KUDA’ was
originally black but I filled it and made it white.