Evaluation

Ninthuja Saseetharan

Evaluation

Q1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The song in which we’ve chosen for our music video is ‘Move it 2 the drum’: DJ
Chuckie featuring Hardwell, which is a techno/dance genre.Our music video is
structured in a non-linear format and is concept-driven stylised as a dream
sequence. In addition, we also decided to produce the video in a multi-strand
concept, to provide a sense of exclusivity; and counterpart the upbeat tempo
of the music with pure attentiveness, thus including more than one character
aside from the main in order to achieve this aim. I feel this particular ideology
does slightly deviate from established music videos’ forms and conventions, as
many that are produced today are based around dramatised reality if it is a
narrative format. There have been music videos created in the past which
reflect upon fantasies and dreams, whereby in our music video Jignesh (main
character) is drifting in and out of consciousness, which converses with the
audience that this is his virtual fantasy. In contrary, the sequence style of existing music videos based on fantasies,
conventionally begin with a prompt when the actor is falling asleep, and nearing the end of the video waking up, with
the fantasy scene incorporated throughout the music, and the realistic scenes being merged with the narrative.
Although the concept of a dream-like fantasy isn’t somewhat new, I feel the sequence is one that is original.

The mise-en-scene
camera work, editing and
sound technique of our
music video does follow
the conventional
technical, symbolic and
cultural codes. For
instance, the club setting
is an extremely typical
choice of location
considering the music is
suited for the club scene; techno/house music. We were fortunate enough to be able to access a very professional
looking club which was equipped with advanced lighting fitting for the club scene; and the decks being one of the main
props, happens to be one of the finest pieces of equipment that is creditable amongst all DJs hence promoting a high
quality appeal and brand identity. Wholly, the mise-en-scene aspect of the music video does cover all the artistic appeal
that is expected of an up-tempo number in a club.

In terms of intertextuality, we have drawn a considerable amount of inspiration
from existing music videos which carry a similar theme to ours; and this is clearly
evident in our music video. Elements of editing and mise-en-scene significantly
corresponded especially with the music video of Bass Hunter’s: Now you’re gone,
which is the most relative in terms of capturing the essence of the club scene, and
intertwining this with the narrative of the main female and male character’s re-
union as a couple. These references and signs of influences were apparent in the
making of our music video, carrying near enough a similar theme, with long shots of
crowds within the club to reflect the liveliness and pace of the music, but also
cutting to the main characters in clear form, then distinguishing significance to
colour, lighting and make-up of the setting to highlight the bright tone of the music.

(Basshunter Now You’re Gone Official Music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgFwiCApH7E&ob=av2e)


Lady Gaga Bad Romance Music
Dancer in our Music Video Video
The most popular perception of
male targeted videos such as the
male gaze was to some extent
incorporated in our video, by
showing snippets of exotic
dancers throughout the video to
appeal to the idea of Jignesh’s
fantasies, also connoting the
attraction of every other male viewer. Voyeuristic characteristics are presented strongly by the females whom appear in
the video. This impression also vaguely reflects existing music videos, with Lady Gaga’sdistinctively being prime
examples of conveying provocative nature on the extremities and provision of sex appeal which can be slightly
controversial in reference to appropriate age groups.

Moreover, rather than presentingan overly boisterous emotional representation, we had decided to create humour as
the fundamental of our music video to receive a light-hearted yet compassionate response. We introduced characters
that all interrupt his fantasy which allows the viewers to sympathise with him but also revel in the amusing effect.
Slightly exaggerated stereotypical characters were included to rouse this particular effect which were; “The Sexy girl”,
“The Bucktooth Geeky Girl” and “The Transvestite”. Jignesh’s daydream begins with his dream girl and suddenly
worsens as these unwelcome characters keep entering his dream indicating the entertainment factor with his baffled
reactions, but also generates a polar emotive effect, suggesting this is turning into a nightmare.

Sexy Girl Bucktooth Geeky Girl Transvestite

Q2) How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

I feel the combination of our main product and ancillary texts work
considerably well, maintaining a suitable theme which reflects upon key
elements of branding especially in terms of the print work design which
consists of the digipak, inside leaflet and the advertisement to promote the
music and the video. We wanted to retain a positive visual image of the club
scene within the video in the ancillary text, hence maintaining the colourful
bright aspect of the lighting in the club scene, which is supposedly a part of
the brand identity of this product. The same way in which Nicki Minaj for
example has a notable brand identity which is her Barbie image that she is
recognised for (being known to look like a live Barbie doll); the audience will
always expect this element to be greatly integrated in any artistic form of
creativity she is involved in, therefore presenting this image in each of her
music videos; also being known as a trademark. An example where she
expresses this persona is in her Super Bass Music Video:
Nicki Minaj (Background); Barbie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JipHEz53sU&ob=av2e
prototype (Foreground)


Digipak Inside Leaflet

Advertisement

In reference to our music video, taking inspiration of leading artists and how they deliver a unique stamp to depict
personality; we have not used the original artist to feature in the video, in attempt to explore a different take; having
someone else’s story told behind the ideology of a big dream which can relate with the audience on a more personal
level, drawing attention. Thus, the brand identity of our product tends to be the props within the video belonging to
such characters like the ‘Bucktooth geek’ and the ‘Transvestite’, which are features anticipated to stick to the mind
being the prominent buckteeth and the blatant wig; which strongly associates with the comical component of the video.

Our digipak emanates simplicity and a somewhat clear and consistent portrayal of what the music video is about,
further rooting the brand identity of similar themes and relevant information throughout the video and the print work.
We guaranteed the advertisement interlinked with the digipak cover reflecting on an effective branding method of
dreams especially in the case of Jignesh and his relevance to wanting to be a DJ and working at the club. We wanted to
provide pertinent information expected to know of the audience which will illustrate the nature of the video.
Nonetheless, it was important to capture the appropriate qualities of the storyline and type of music within these
promotional print works in order for the audience to initially understand what the music video is wholly about, which
can also be considered an essential attraction factor.

The editing software Photoshop, allowed us to innovatively manipulate the images from our video in the most apt
waysto portray the ideology of the music the best way possible. The slightest of tweaks in presentation had shown to be
highly effective considering we realised how we felt sustaining a bright tone involved lightening the whole ambience of
the image, and this does immensely impact what communicates with the audience and whether they have received the
right message before viewing the music video; therefore usage of colour properly was one vitality; which was
experimented via Photoshop.Moreover, the digipak, inside leaflet and advertisement bear information about character,
leaflet, theme and genre appropriately whereby the branding image is created.

Q3) What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Our target audience is between the ages of 15 and 40 years
old; we opted for this age category after finalising whom are
mainly interested in dance music videos, deciding to target this
age group. The majority of those within this age category
thoroughly enjoy the likes of Katy Perry’s ‘California
Gurls’(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F57P9C4SAW4&ob=av2n)and Lady Gaga’s
‘Telephone’
(http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_url=/watch%3Fv%3DGQ95z6ywcBY%26ob%3Dav2e)collectively. Both stars
are successful pop artists whom have unique branding images created by their own individuality, which the general
public have come to identify them by. Therefore, having already decided it would be interesting to challenge the
conventions of typical dance music, the same way in which our target audience are captivated by global superstars, in
order to provide them with the same charm as the existing, we felt it would be interesting to create our own style in
production.


The favoured music genres were betweenRnB (leading), Pop and Indie. The wiser choice for our music video would have
been between RnB or Pop considering it is the most appealing to our target audience. However, we didn’t follow
through with this decision purely due to the fact that neither of us had a greater interest in those genres of music, and
we all agreed it would be beneficial if we produced a music video with music which we all had some background
knowledge and passion for. Conclusively, we decided to choose the Dance genre which was the fourth most popular
option, but the data collected from the surveys were of biased opinion, thus the music can be widely appreciated
regardless.

Furthermore, results had shown most people enjoyed narrative videos in comparison to performance or concept-based
format. Considering we have chosen dance music, the typically allocated conventions of the dance music genre is
usually performance based structure and most comprehensibly fitting, but for the reasons of provoking inventiveness,
we decided to diminish this particular convention. We made use of a narrative based format using a multi-stranded
element by including up to three extra characters; whereby the main character escapes into his fantasies by
daydreaming about a better life than the reality he is living as a cleaner, but then his dreams are being disturbed by
these undesirable characters in attempt of generating humour. This concept and hilarity had seemed to be well-
received as ratings hadn’t ranged lower than 5 on a scale of 10; which is definitely a positive outcome.

Additionally, from observing the audience feedback, we were able to acknowledge the video had a mediocre overall
response, in terms of criticisms, the dream fragment happened to confuse a few of the viewers, showing this part didn’t
communicate well enough and could have been portrayed more clearer, having said this, the humorous aspect was one
which was noted and praised, and being one of our initial intentions, it is a great achievement. Also, the atmosphere of
the whole club scene was another aspect which was well-received, as it provided more of a professional outlook and
upholds a sense of realism and longing; especially in the case of Jignesh, whereby the viewers are given a chance to
commiserate his situation, the fact of him day-dreaming for a better life isn’t a lone habit of his, but one which many of
us do.

More so, the audience feedback had also gone to show the print work was very much appreciated, and the majority had
linked the colours and style of theme of the background in each piece of print work to reflect the lighting of the club
scene within the video. I feel this had managed to connect well with the audience, as the purpose was correctly
established. Moving on, we had also questioned the audience where they felt there was room for improvement, willing
to take on constructive criticism; unanimously they wanted to clear the confusion of the way in which Jignesh was
fantasising and suggested the storyline could have been portrayed much easier for the viewers to understand. This is an
accountable point considering attraction is extremely substantial to keep interest and appeal from our target audience;
having said this, it would have been helpful to broaden the range of those asked for feedback, as we mainly questioned
teenagers to young adults, where it would have been worthwhile to alsoconcede the insights of those who are older
within the target audience (up to 40 years of age) where there may have been a variable, to compare if certain ages
appreciate different aspects to each other. Overall, from our audience feedback, I can see the product has been
positively well-received, the majority were amused by the comical factor and found the concept interesting; without
hesitating to admit the dream sequence was slightly confusing which could have been illustrated in an easier way (being
the only hindrance).

Q4) How did you use new media technologies in the research, planning, construction and evaluation stages?

In terms of Research and Planning, the essential technologies which I used
involved the core search engine, Google, researching images when I wanted to
accompany the secondary research I conducted, and especially during the making
of the print work; collecting the right images to merge in Photoshop. It was
important to identify the genuine and originally sourced websites in order to
collate correct information. For example one main website I tried my very best to avoid was Wikipedia, since it does not
provide 100% reliable source of information, as these articles can be edited thus could be done so incorrectly and isn’t a
trustworthy source of material on the whole.


In aid of constructing a good project, I utilised various tools in Microsoft Word document when presenting ideas, also
using graphs to showcase correlations in the data findings. These different methods of presentation, not only incites an
aesthetic appeal but also visually helps me to progress further with my research.

I also have used YouTube comprehensively as part of research, especially during the
time in which we were determining a final song as a group, sorting through different
types of dance music; ones which didn’t have a music video, one which already had one,
and ones which fit our criteria the most suitably. Also, YouTube has come into use as
part of my Similar Textual Analysis, when I analysed the music video, Basshunter “Now
You’re Gone”. Finally, this was also used to share our video publicly with viewers.

My group and I had also made use of
social networking sites on a regular
basis, as a means of keeping in contact
with each other, and this was one of
the most efficient forms of
communication outside of the classroom. We were able to build on team working
abilities, and support each other by sending attachments of various written and
visual documents, or even having lengthy conversations on actions plans to take
the next step. These sites were Facebook and Hotmail.

I had also resourcefully made use of the Photoshop software (as mentioned previously) in areas
of creating print work involving the promotional aspect. Before we begun the official creation of
the print work, we had regular workshops based on the necessities of Photoshop editing to revive
skills in using the most useful tools of editing graphics and puttingin into practise. Subsequently,
it was agreed within my group that I would be responsible for the construction of the final piece
of advertisement, whereby the skills learnt using simple tools such as the adjustments tool and
rubber tools were predominantly used to make up the final piece of work on the advert.

I expanded on my blogging skills from using the website Blogger, putting
my previous knowledge of coursework produced during the first year of A
level into context by using Slideshare a lot more when posting certain
documents onto the blog. We ensured to maintain a
consistency in the blogging themes such as fonts,
colours etc.; this warrants a neat presentation. We also learnt how to embed YouTube videos and
add pictures the accurate way into our blog, also differentiating between ‘html’ and ‘compose’
format when completing a blog; more so, fully understanding the notion of blogging.

During the filming process, we had used the Canon XM2 Camera with a fish eye lens to
attain wider shots with more depth.Having had previous experience using this camera in
the prior year; we were able to manoeuvre it with slight ease. We’ve also had practise in
using theDigital HD camera during our preliminary shoot. We had noticed many practical
difficulties which were necessary to be improved, henceforth, during our second shoot we
were prepared with dolly equipment, allowing continuous, steady shots whilst tracking.


However during this second shoot is when we
realised the many implications by having a hint of
spontaneity rather than firm decisions. We had to
ensure shots were taken properly in case of losing
certain shots by over-writing or miss-direction when
filming; therefore, it was checked over each time up
to the course of our third shoot. We
alsobroadcasted an events page on Facebook for our
primary shoot, inviting people to attend the
shooting scene to volunteer to appear in the video;
however not having contracted actors at the initial
stage consumed a little time. Eventually, we
managed to secure an actor as the main guy, and even made appearances in the video ourselves as means of acting on
drastic measures being short on volunteering actors.

Other complications includedlighting problems from our previous shoots, as our first
two locations, Grims Dyke Hotel and The Masters Bar did not have the ideal artificial
lighting to portray the night club scene ideally, and we weren’t able to redeem this
setting by using shop-bought disco lights which unfortunately didn’t work as well. At this
point is when we realised we would need to have a genuine nightclub as our location for
professional purposes; whereby we found a nightclub called Mansion in Southend-on-
Sea. This was obviously fully equipped with all the necessary aspects of the desired
mise-en-scene which was adequate for the club scene.

During our editing process in the edit suite, we used the Final Cut Pro software which
enabled us to sequence the shots appropriately, incorporate the music track in sync
with the sequence and add the ideal enhancing effects to complete the music video.
Prominent points of the video are the black and white scenes to reflect the bleak
reality, and the ripple effect transition from the
reality to fantasy; dipping from black and white
to colour, connoting a burst of life. The quality in
recording of sound was one in which was
affecting the process during all the shoots as we
weren’t equipped with sufficientexternal
microphones to capture clearand apt sounds and dialogues when necessary, which
had to be altered accordingly using an audio tool in Final Cut Pro. We merged
various effective transitions, from fading and dissolving. The title and song
information was distributed throughout the video via the integration of apposite
transitions completed with a witty slogan at the end only intended for humour.

Irrefutably, this experience has been eventful, I can admit it was difficult working under the pressure of all these
obstacles which we were faced with, and it only leaves me dumbfounded considering the amount of work and effort
which goes into professional work in the media field which extremely astounds me and is deservedly commendable. My
skills are definitely of amateur status and I have a tremendous amount to learn; however there are many aspects I can
take away with me from the two years taster in the media entertainment field, having experimented in the film industry
as well as the music industry.

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