The document summarizes the student's use of forms and conventions from real media in their music video project. They researched popular music videos and found conventions like telling a story and using different shot types. They developed conventions by using a plain background for singing instead of outdoor locations. They challenged conventions by using a full-length shot on their CD cover instead of a close-up. Audience feedback showed liking for the storytelling and shots but disliked some locations. New media like YouTube, Photoshop and video cameras were used for research, planning, production and evaluation.

1. Evaluation Fifteen Kelly Westwood

2. In what ways does you media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

3. My media product used similar forms and conventions to real music videos that have been shown on TV and the internet but also developed these. I researched and analysed several music videos of a similar genre to ‘fifteen’ (pop) and used this research to find out what typical forms and conventions are used in them. From my audience research I found that many younger girls like to look up and aspire to be like the artist playing the song such as Miley Cyrus. They see her as a role model so I used this research to make my own artist into a type of role model for younger girls. I made her wear typical clothes that many younger girls to show that she is just like one of them and anyone could aspire to be like her. I chose the song ‘Fifteen’ because it is aimed at younger girls who have either gone through the experience of being fifteen and starting high school and they can reflect back and relate to the song and also younger girls who are not yet fifteen could also listen and watch the music video to know what they will go through. This means that all tween ages can be targeted by this song. It is also an easy song to create a storyline to as it goes in order from the first day at high school to the end of the year.

4. It was challenging to find suitable locations that would be typical conventions of pop videos for this song as many teen pop artists are American and are set usually a stereotypical American high school where there is a big difference such as the modern look of the school and also the stereotypical students such as cheerleaders and footballers. To overcome this problem I had to use the most modern part of the school and film only when school kids were in lass as they would be wearing a school uniform and this would not look like a stereotypical American high school. My actors also had to look stereotypical of an American student so I dressed them in casual clothes whereas if you were 15 in England you would be wearing a school uniform. We were also fortunate to have lockers in the sixth form area so I was able to film in this area to get the look of a stereotypical American high school student at school.

5. In many pop music videos you have the artist singing as well as telling a story. I used this convention in my own music video. I used shots of the artist singing in front of a white background but also used shots of the artist playing out the story. I also analysed the amount and types of shots that are used in music videos. I found that many music videos used around 60-70 different shots in the whole video. I used this information in my own media production as this is what keeps the music video interesting and keeps the audience watching. I challenged real music videos by using the green screen. Most pop songs do not use plain background colours but instead use some sort of outdoor location for the chorus. I found that it was main bands playing indie music usually used this sort of settings but as my song is much softer than most pop songs I thought that by using a busy background setting for the chorus would ruin and take focus off of the artist singing. I found that by using a plain white background gave focus on the artist. As well as challenging this I brought in conventions of pop music videos by using different types of shots such as pan shots and zoom shots to make it look more interesting and more like a pop music video.

6. When creating my CD cover I used typical forms and conventions of many other tween pop music covers. From my audience research I found that bright colours attract people to look at the CD. I used this information in my own CD cover. From analysising similar artists CD covers such as Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift I found that the dominant picture on the cover was of the artist I used this key convention but also challenged this as I used a full length shot of my artist whereas many other artist use a close up o mid-shot of themselves. I thought that this would make the CD cover stand out and I also wanted to show the Emily's full length dress as it showed her as a girly girl which would have targeted the right audience. My poster also followed typical conventions of many other promotional posters. I kept information to a minimum like many other posters so that it was easy to glance at and be seen.

7. How effective is the combination of you main product and ancillary texts?

8. My pleminiary tasks were a promotional poster and CD cover and my main task was a music video. The music video of for Emily’s song Fifteen can be used to show my target audience what Emily was like at school and can show girls how she acts. It also help boost the awareness of her and lets people know about her. People of the targeted audience and other people around the same age are most likely to be watching music channels and watching music videos online so a music video for Emily is a good way of getting more people to know about her.

9. If people are seeing Emily music video out on TV and the internet and like the song they will be more tempted into buying her album. Making sure the CD cover looks good is important as this is what will attract them to buy it. It was important to make sure I captured Emily’s image and showed her personality through the CD cover as pictures are often stereotyped as to what type of person she is. By giving her a pink dress it shows that she is girly. It is important that I kept my poster and CD cover to a theme as this shows what type of person my artist is. I used girly colours. Making sure that the CD cover and poster promoted Emily properly was a very key factor as young teens today are very used to illegal downloads I needed to make sure that my album cover and poster would convince the targeted audience to actually buy the album Looking at all parts of my task, the music video, album cover and promotional poster all work together well. I have made sure that I have targeted the right audience and also made sure that I gave the right image of Emily through all 3 tasks. I kept to a girly theme which showed who Emily was and what type of people she was targeting her music at.

10. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

11. To find audience research I created a short questionnaire for 7 members of my targeted audience. I used girls aged10-18. They firstly watched my music video and then I gave them the questionnaire. From this audience feedback I learnt a lot about what was good and what could have been changed, added or improved on. Looking at the completed questionnaires I found a lot of the target audience liked that the artist is telling a story. They found this a good form to use in the video as they wanted to know what happens as well as listening to the song. They can also engage with the song as many of the people who completed the questionnaire are going through or have been through high school which is what the song is about. They found that the storytelling type of video was similar to other popular pop artists such as Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber.

12. The amount of shots also kept it interesting. Many of the targeted audience liked the amount of different shots that I used as it kept the story going. The transitions used between each slide were also a good form to have as it kept with the song and the faded transitions suited the tempo and slowness of the song. A lot of the targeted audience didn’t like some of the locations that I used. They thought that they didn’t look very good and you could see some people in the shot that weren't supposed to be there. I should have reshot these so that they looked more professional.

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

14. Research Stage In the research stage of my coursework I had to make sure I had access to the internet so that I could research into similar texts such as music videos and album covers. To research into similar texts I used websites such as YouTube and Google images. By using YouTube I was able to use the search box to type in music videos that I wanted to watch. I was able to watch these music videos which allowed me to analyse typical conventions and also gave me ideas for my own music video. I was also able to look at different record companies which would sign my artist. Without being able to use the internet I would not have been able to do a lot of audience research and would have had to base my music video from my own primary research of questionnaires and interviews with the targeted audience.

15. Planning stage When on the planning stage of my coursework I used technologies such as a computer and iTunes when planning my story board This made it easier for myself so that I could match up scenes with the music that was being played through iTunes easily without having to remember all the words in my head. I also used Photoshop and adobe premiere to make myself familiar with the software before actually constructing my music video, poster and CD cover.

16. Construction stage In the construction page I used several different technologies. To create my CD cover and poster I used Photoshop which is a photo editing software designed for creating professional looking products. To take the photos used in my CD cover and poster I used a Samsung digital camera. With Photoshop I was able to edit text and pictures t create the look that I wanted. This enabled me to produce good quality products targeted at the right audience. To create my music video I used adobe premiere. This allowed me to upload all the footage the I took. I used a Sony HD video camera to shoot my music video. With this I also used a tripod which held the camera and was able to move this about to create different angled shots.

17. Evaluation Stage After completing my music video, CD cover and poster I was able to save it onto a memory stick. While creating an evaluation for my work I have used several technologies including Microsoft word to create a questionnaire as well as using the printer to print several copies out for the target audience to fill in. I also used Microsoft Excel to create graphs from the results I collected. Throughout the process of creating my coursework I have been using the internet to upload all my work and progress through blogger.com.