This document provides an evaluation of a student's A2 media project, which was a music video. The student discusses how their music video used and developed conventions of real music videos, such as including a narrative and mixing performance and storyline scenes. They also challenged some conventions by not including the artist's performance in some scenes. The student feels their main product and ancillary texts, like a digipack and magazine ad, connect well to help audiences relate the pieces. Most audience feedback was positive, praising the editing and production quality, though some did not fully understand the intended storyline. The student used various media like YouTube, magazines, and online presentations in the planning, research, and evaluation stages.

1. EVALUATION
This is my evaluation for my A2 media project. In my evaluation I shall be
investigating what could be improved, what was successful, what was
unsuccessful and how I achieved my goals.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
In my opinion, my music video reflects the conventions of a typical music
video, including traits like narrative – where the song involves a narrative and
therefore the words and meanings of the song are acted out in some way and
mixture – where the artist is performing the song as well as a narrative storyline
occurring and so the camera cross cuts to each scene. However, I have
developed some of the conventions such as performance – as the artist is
playing the music when recording the song, but is not however playing it in the
music video, and cameo – which is where the musician features in the narrative
but is not part of the storyline and does not perform in it, however in mine the
performer is in the narrative and is part of the storyline and does not perform the
song in these scenes. I got the idea of flashbacks from other music videos,
however most only contain a few shots whereas nearly the entirety of mine
include them as the flashbacks are they key part in my music video.
I followed the typical conventions of camera movement and cinematography
when filming my music video, including shots like close ups, establishing shots
and panning shots, as I felt these reflect the song in the way I planned and it
makes it look professional and modern. When editing, my main technique was a
split screen, as I had a performance and a narrative and therefore it makes them
flow together and makes it fit in with the song. However, this was one of the
only techniques I used, I decided not to include techniques such as changes in
the level of sound, CGI effects and diegetic sound as I felt these were not
appropriate in correlation with the song itself, and although these are quite a
common convention in music videos, I decided against the idea as I felt it did
not fit in with the narrative or the song itself. When it comes to mise en scene,
there were not many props used as I felt they were unnecessary, however in
some scenes, they were very appropriate. The costume was extremely important
as it reflected the characters and performers personalities and therefore had to
be very specific. The location matches the conventional location used in music

2. videos as it was a simple setting where many people can relate to – in my
product it was open fields and woods. I decided to follow the conventions of
music videos such as Taylor Swifts as my song is relatively the same to hers
and therefore I wish to present mine as hers is presented. However, I took ideas
on what I have researched and created my own ideas to include originality.
In my ancillary texts, I followed the simple conventions of a digipack and a
magazine advert as these are normally quite similar anyway. My digipack
contains – obviously – a front cover and back cover, and also includes lyrics to
the main song, photos of the artist herself, and a thank you message from the
artist. I could have chosen many other things in the digipack but I felt these
were appropriate as they reflect the artists personality the most. The magazine
advert contains the front cover to the album, the release date and where it is
available, I chose to do it this way as these adverts are normally the most
effective as it tells the audience exactly what they want to know and is therefore
simple and easy to understand.
I feel that I have used the conventions of a normal music video and have
developed on some techniques that are normally used, however I haven’t
challenged the normal conventions as I felt it wouldn’t match or be necessary
for this particular song and music video.
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
I feel that my main product and ancillary texts connect very well. As the
ancillary texts both use the same front cover it makes them both relatable and
therefore easy for the audience to recognise. Also, in the digipack I used shots
of the performer while on set shooting for the music video and therefore she is
in the same location and costume, this means the audience can relate the two.
So, if someone is wishing to buy the album, they can look in the digipack and
realise that they have seen clips of the music video before, and then wish to see
it again. Therefore I feel the combination of my main product and ancillary texts
are very effective as it helps the audience relate to each piece and they can find
it easy and recognisable.
What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
There was a variety of feedback from my audience but most of it was positive
and constructive. Most of my target audience felt that it was edited very well
and it looked professional. Some said that they would watch it again which was

3. very reassuring as these were the people who would like the type of music
which was produced, and some said they would if they liked the genre of music,
but because they don’t they wouldn’t want to, which was also reassuring as
even though they don’t like the music, they still liked the product I produced.
Some commented saying that the editing helped explain what the story is about
which is what I was trying to achieve, and most agreed that it looked
professional which was also one of my goals to begin with. Many also made a
statement that the performer looks like a professional singer and was very
talented with being in time with the song, which also made them comment
about my editing as it was all in sync. Most gave my product a 4/5 rating (5
being the highest) which is very satisfactory for me as the director, editor and
producer.
Although, most of my target audience did not understand the storyline I was
trying to pursue. Most assumed she was with her boyfriend and she wasn’t
happy anymore, however originally it was meant to have the narrative that she
has broken up with him and she doesn’t like him anymore but she misses him
and is confused by her feelings. However, they are similar in ideas and although
they didn’t fully understand the narrative in detail, the general idea is still
relatively the same.
I feel that my music video is targeted at the right audience and is a good piece
of production, but in my opinion I think that it could be re-edited in a certain
way to get the narrative across more effectively but this would mean re-shooting
a lot of the scenes.
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research,
planning and evaluation stages?
The media technology was a key part in the research and planning stage of my
production as I had to use secondary sources for this part. For the research I
used YouTube and music channels on the TV to research other music videos
then created a template sheet for my analysis on these videos. I used magazines
and newspapers to research what magazine adverts look like for albums and I
also used the search engine Google to help me find the codes and conventions
of music videos. Ifound presentations on slideshare (www.slideshare.com)
which helped me understand the common codes and conventions of music
videos and digipacks and I used other music videos to plan my product as it
gave me a rough idea on length of shots, different coloured effects, and camera

4. angles. The only media technology I used for my evaluation is the internet and a
magazine as I looked back on the music videos I viewed when creating my
proposal to see if I had achieved my goals and – more importantly – to see if my
music video looks professional or not and also to reflect what magazine adverts
look like for albums.
In conclusion, I feel that my main product and ancillary products were very
successful and I used my knowledge to the best of my abilities to achieve my
goals.