1. Point Blank – Real Strife Evaluation By Nadine Cowan

3. How effective is the combination of yourmain product and ancillary texts?

4. What have youlearnt from your audience feedback?

5. How did you use new media technologies in construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

6. Marketing Aims One of the first things that we did when we started this project was to research on artist similar and different to the artist that we found. By researching similar artist we got a incite into a typical conventions of music video similar to the genre our artist was in. And looking at artist from different genre gave us the opportunity to find out what was popular in other genres and possible incorporate into our video which could lead to a wider target audience. We also did research on distribution and promotion similar to the product we were hoping to create . Doing this initial research allowed us to gain knowledge which would help us to create a music video which shows typical conventions of videos in this genre, but also a few unconventional things to makes it stand out. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

7. In what ways does your media product... A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

10. I also believe that location is important when listening to the song as it allows you to visualise what our artist is talking about.A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

11. Ethical Issues When watching the video many people may believe that it promotes gangs as the video contains a number of shots with a group of young black boys throwing up ‘Gun fingers’. Often when you watch the news young black boys living in inner cites such as London are shown negatively and often associated in things such as gun and knife crime in the city. Sadly this is a dominant ideology that was a challenge when creating the music video as it was essential to keep the music video as realistic as possible without sending out the ‘Wrong message’. Us playing up to these issues could be seen as quiet controversial as it would be seen as us promoting this negative behaviour. Although it could be seen a negative we believed that it was important to keep it real in the video. Many videos in this genre are filmed in locations similar to ours. Also our song has a positive message. We could have sugar coated our artist with Bling and expensive cars, but that would be unrealistic and wouldn't fit the song. The location and casting shows where he is coming from and the song tells us were he wants to be in the future A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

14. By making our whole video black and white it makes it stand out slightly to typical videos.The Video A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

16. Although grime videos don’t typically have costumes the artist and extra many have a dress code such as ‘All black’ or the same style top.

17. As you can see in the two pictures on the left, in the top picture they are all in similar coloured outfits and in the bottom picture they are all in the same top promoting the crew ‘Boy Better Know’A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

18. Ethical Issues With the costumes a dominant ideology of young males (often black) in Hoodies and sagging jeans are that they are thugs up to no good. The sagging of jeans came about in American prisons as they often wore jeans that were two big and as they weren't aloud belts the jeans began to sag. Nowadays it has become a fashion statement which is present world wide. Hoodies are worn by everyone black white Asian and of all social class. But for some reason boy from a working class background get a negative response when wearing them. As i said previously, when talking to our artist and extra about costumes we wanted them to feel as comfortable as possible in order to make the video as realistic as possible therefore they wore what they chose which included Hoodies and sagging jeans. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

19. Techniques used to create meaning... At one point in the video our artist says ‘eyes going blurry’ and we made our video go in and out of focus this is a denotation connecting the song with the video. This line could also have a deeper meaning that people on the outside don’t always see what’s going on in the less privileged parts of the city, also it could imply the tears that he has cried for the people that he has lost growing up. He then says ‘take a walk in my shoes ’ and the video switches to a pathway in his estate, this reinforces that our artist is in his area. Also by him saying take a walk in my shoes it could mean that he doesn't want to be judged by people until they have been in his situation. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

20. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

21. Making the video While filming we came across a number of problems; One of the biggest was with one of the cameras that we used during our first session of filming. The setting had been changed resulting in all the camera setting appearing on our raw material when opened up on editing software this set us back as we had to reshoot those scenes again. Another problem that we came across while editing was that we didn't have enough footage e.g. cut aways, so special effects had to be used to give the effect of more footage. Although we did have a number of set backs and complications i can say that making the video was a fun process . We gained knowledge on how to film a video using a digital camcord and then using editing software to put it all together. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

22. Throughout the video there are number of shaky shots and shots that are in and out of focus. We did this intentionally as we believe that it gave our video a more realistic feel instead of something that was staged. Also the shaky shots relate to the outside location that we choose. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

25. In the studio While filming in the studio one of the main things that we had to think about was lighting. There was no natural lighting so the lights positioned on the top of the camera was the main source of light that we used. When it came to editing and changing the footage into black and white the lighting that we used during filming gave the footage great shadows. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

26. On Location; Rayners Lane estate While on location we had to be cautions of the time, As it was winter when we filmed it became dark very early, so sticking to a time schedule was important. Additionally we had to watch out for the public incase they got into one of the shots and take the weather into consideration as it was a cloudy day and could rain at any time. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

27. Digipack While filming we decided to do a photo shoot of our artist. The images in the photo shoot could then be used for our adverts and CD front, back and insides. These are some of the images that we took while filming... A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

28. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

29. Advert These two album covers by ‘Dizzee Rascal’ were two big inspirations when creating my advert. I like the use of big bold colours and the fact that it is very simple and easy on the eye. I thought that this was key when creating the advert as it had to be eye catching and easy to remember. Also the same font is use on both album covers which many people can then relate back to Dizzee rascal even if his picture isn't present. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

30. Initially this was the advert cover that I started designing. I changed it as this image is used on the front cover of the CD and I didn't think it was a good idea to use it twice. Also we took so much images in the photo shoot i thought it would be a waste to use the same image several times. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

31. Editing I added in the 5 stars and quote. Erased the background. Changed the background to yellow. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

32. Advert I choose the yellow as it is a very eye catching colour and can be seen from a distance. Also the colour yellow and black together has a connotation of being quiet ‘warning’ colours when together. Insects such as Bees are black and yellow and when stung by them they give off a poisonous chemical Also black and yellow tape is used by people such as police when cornering off a area to warn people. By using these colours it catches people eyes but also a has a subliminal message that he is a new artist that wants to be taken seriously. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

33. CD When making my CD pack I wanted it to fit in with the ‘grime/ UK rap’ genre but at the same time stand out from current singles out at this time, something slightly unconventional to this genre of music as he is a up and coming artist. Wretch 32 Skepta Chipmunk All up and coming artist from the same Music Genre as ‘’Point Blank A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

34. Chart Toppers This shows that when the song was first released it reached the top of the charts and nearly a year later it is still in the charts top 100. This shows us that in his (Chipmunk) first week of releasing his newest track champion he had sold 90,000 copies and beaten Jessie J in seconds to take second place. I believe that it was important to do this research as it shows the success of artist in the same genre and background.

35. This mix tape by Bashy was inspiring when it came to me making my own CD pack. I like the mix of reality and futuristic techniques, not to much of either makes for a good combination. It allows to show his personal style but still be recognizable to consumers. This is a roll deep album cover. Although I do think that this I a excellent album cover for an artist I think that all the animation may be too much. As he is a up and coming artist it is important that consumers can recognize him and his product and with a lot of animation that may be hard for them. This kind of stuff would be perfect for future single or album covers. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

36. Front cover This is my final front cover for my CD. I think that its a good mix of reality and futuristic styles. I flipped the image. The background is a artists aspect of a cityscape. I used Photoshop to change the colour to fit in with the theme The ‘P’ in Point Blank is a font called ‘God of war’ and I used it as I think it stand out slightly to usual font, also I reflects the ‘P’ on our artist hat. ‘Impact’ font is used for the rest of the font. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

37. Insides When doing the inside of the CD pack I didn’t want to do much editing as there was a lot of that on the front and back. I simply use two images and cropped them so they were closer up. I use a image of a microphone because when I was doing my research I found that often the inside of a CD case were images of what the artist like. E.g. in the inside of 50 cent album there is a close up of just his arms with money laying on top and ‘Bling’. I Also added a quote that our artist say during the track ‘RL Real Life…’, I think this makes it more personal to him and the song. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

38. Back cover This is the back cover for my CD pack. I wanted to keep it very simple and to the point. Use of the ‘God of war’ and ‘Impact’ font again authenticates the product. I added the ‘Parent advisory’ censorship logo as I think it again authenticates the product as something genuine. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

39. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? Overall I do think that our music video and digipacks have a lot of synergy. All the images that I have used include our artist with headphones on this reinforces that he is a musician and is passionate about music. Again the city background reinforces that our artist is from a city. Although the background may not look like the estate that he lives on, in the song he talking about himself getting out of that area to a better place and the use of modern buildings shows were is he aiming to get. On the insides of the Digipack there is one image of a microphone and another of our artist and his friends. These two images again reinforce that our artist is passionate about music. The insides of a CD pack is often very simple. The advert that I created represents and promotes our artist very well. It is straight to the point yet has all the details needed for people interested in his music. Also the bright yellow background is something that is eye catching from a long distance away and also something easy to remember. Also sends out a warning that he is a serious artist. Using the same font for both parts of the digipack makes it more recognizable to consumers and something they will hopefully connect to our artist in the future , meaning that they wouldn't have to see a picture of him to know that it was his work. Overall I believe that the combination of our main product the music video and ancillary text the digipacks has created a synergetic product which all compliment each other. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

40. What have you learned from your audience feedback? A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

41. Final cut raw When we completed our video to a final stage we got a group of people to watch over it and give their honest opinions. By doing this we had the change to say what we would improve in the future, but also do slight improvements if possible. This is the feedback that we got A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

42. It was an ok attempt. I like the Varity of shots and changing in colour of the jacket although there is a lack of footage. Really liked it, positive song, not the usual UK grime vide; editing was also good. Good, Very good! Good, Some of the clips could have been smaller. I like it! The song is good, not your typical ‘grime’ song. I feel like I could be friends with the artist. Really good, i like the use of black and white. ‘HARD’ although more extras would make it better. Its good, I couldn't do better so I'm not going to criticise. Some clips are to long! Very good editing. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

43. Hearing the audience feedback let us know what was good about our video and also the things that we needed to changed. Overall the video was a success and everyone enjoyed it. The one thing that kept on popping up was the ‘lack of footage’ that we had used and this meant that some shots were too long and become boring. Thanks to the audience feedback we gain the chance improve those aspects of our video A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

44. Questions Do you think our music video would be suitable on music channels such as MTV base and AKA? Has the addition of footage made our video better? All the people that we asked agreed that more footages benefited the video as it didn’t become boring and reparative like it was previously. Majority of people agreed but a small amount believed that it suited a different music channel. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

45. After seeing our video and Digipack how much would you pay for our CD pack? Would you watch our video again? Most people said that they would pay between £4 and £6 . The rest of people said £7 to £9 . 100% yes !! A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

46. Do you think our product is representative of the ‘Grime’ Genre? 13 people agreed that our music video did fit in with the ‘Grime’ genre due to things such as the locations, casting and message in the song. 7 people didn't agree that our music video didn't fit the ‘Grime’ genre as it didn't follow some of the conventions such as the black and white theme throughout. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

47. Do you think that our music video and digipack is technologically advanced? 25% didn't agree mainly saying that some of the editing between shots wasn't sharp. That is also personal opinion, what one person might like another may not . 75% of the people that we asked agree that it was technologically advances, most people quoting ‘considering it was your first attempt the editing is at a decent standard and the use of black and white must have been something quiet challenging to do ’. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

48. Do you think it relates more towards males than female? Majority of people said that both males and females can relate to the video and song as girls as well as boys could have been brought up in this kind environment. On the other hand a few people said that it appeals more to males as they are more likely to listen to this kind of music. This kind of music could be seen as kind of masculine with the lyrics, that could be another reason that people believe it is targeted toward males more than females.

49. Comparing our Digipacks... We had to choose the best digipack. When it came to comparing we only had myself and Shakira to do so. We took them around asking people which one was most eye catching and which one they like the most. Shakira front and back was more popular. Maybe people said although my one was technically good Shakira one caught there eye at first and that is what is most important when promoting a medium as you don't have to like the look of something to buy it, as long as it is eye catching . A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

50. My insides won out of the two. As people said they looked like they connected with the same background unlike shakira who had different colour backgrounds. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

51. My advert got more votes. People said it was more eye catching and easier to remember. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

52. Instiue This was my attempt at putting my product into situation. I asked 10 people if they could see any changed in this print screen and none of them could. I think that it was important to put my product into a real life situation as then I would know if it fitted into its target market, or if changes needed to me made. Luckily for me it fit it and no changes needed to be made A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

53. What music/ radio channels will your product be air on? First I think that channel aka would be a good place to start airing our video as it is a channel that focuses mainly on British urban music so our target audience is already in place and bound to watch it. hopefully creating a fan base for our artist making him well known. Flava is a music channel that focus mainly on hip-hop and RnB music but often play songs that have become popular from music channels such as AKA. And with a wider audience that AKA it would hopefully give our artist more publicity. MTV base is the most popular and commercial music channel out of the 3 and is also very popular world wide. If we were able to get our artist one this channel we have open a new door into possible in a Varity on counties. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

54. At 1xtra Tim Westwood presents a show between 4pm-7pm on weekdays and 9pm-11pm. He has had a lot of artist from that same genre as our artist pass through his show including chipmunk, Wiley and Tinie Tempah who all now have successful music videos playing on all the TV channels that I spoke about. Choice fm is also one of London's most popular radio stations for hip hop and RnB and similarly to 1xtra a lot of artist from the grime genre have passed through the station and had a number of there tracks played on a regular basis, including Tinchy Stryder and N-Dubz. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

55. Underground to mainstream Chipmunks is a Musician from north London. At the beginning of his music career his was very much a underground artist and that was visible through is appearance, Song lyrics and his Videos. After a number or underground song he became more well known and started making commercial songs and videos. Recently he mad a track with Chris Brown who is a Huge American Artist. Although becoming mainstream has been huge success for him many fan don’t like the new commercial music that he and many people in the same situation have made and consider him a ‘Sell-out’ to what in a way got him to the position he is in now. Before After One of his first songs… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDwI7KQAlD8 His most recent song featuring Chris Brown… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlnMVb2XVVk

56. UK USA Many British artist have been taken under the wing of American artist in the hope of making it big in America including artist such as Estelle and Mr Hudson. Recently Grime/UK artist have made this transit including Chipmunk and Skepta who have made hit with huge American stars including Diddy and Chris Brown. I think that this transition has happened as the USA is known as the land of dreams and for many musicians if they have made it in American then they have made it worldwide. Powerful companies such as new corporation owned by an American man is both horizontally and vertically integrated which means for music companies owned by the production, broadcasting, distribution and exhibition would be huge. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

57. At the moment our artist would be seen as a underground artist. A low budge video, casting, Location, song lyrics all add to underground image. In order to make our artist more mainstream we would have to make a few changes … Lucky we have what could be seen as a ‘mainstream’ chorus to our song, it is positive and also very catching which is important when appealing to a mainstream audience. During the verses of the song in order to make it more mainstream I would advise him to make the lyrics more general where a number of people in different locations from different upbringings could relate to. At the moment it is very personal to himself and people that he grew up with. On the underground this is ok as most people could relate but on the mainstream it may not be the same case. Finally I think that a slight change in image, casting and location would be essential if our artist was keen to make it in the mainstream. For a first video the realness is ok as he wants people to know who he is and where he is coming from but for future work this kind of look doesn’t appeal to a wide audience who usually associate this look with hoodlum and thugs. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

59. Internet social networks such as MySpace and face book allowed us to search from up and coming talent.

60. Only magazine such RWD kept us up to date with new artist and popular trends. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

61. Blogging Blog spot was something new to me and most of my media class. Usually our work would be done on the computer and the printer into hard copies. But using blog spot allowed us to upload our work online. I think doing it this was beneficial as it lessened the changed of losing our work which often happens if it is saved on a USB or Paper copy. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

62. Making the Video... When filming we used relevantly good digital cam cords that allowed us to have sharp footage, we gained basic training before filming but also learned as we went along. Also when in the studio we use a number of Hot light to create light and dark areas, we had to be extremely careful when used them as they did get very hot (as in the name). Props such are microphones and microphone stands were used to make it more realistic and when we were on location in Rayners lane estate a portable wireless stereo was essentially so that our artist was in sync with track. As this was our first ever time making a music videos while making the video we were actually learning at the same time. This could be seen as negative aspect as we had to leave from our mistakes as we went along and with a certain time scale we couldn’t really afford to make mistakes. One of the biggest set back that we came across was with the settings on one our video camera, someone had changed the setting on the camera that we weren't aware of so we continued filming and only when it came to log and capturing the footage did we realise that a setting had been turned on to show all the footage details on the footage itself. This meant that all that footage couldn’t be use. Also with such a short time scale the second time round the filming quality wasn’t as good as before as our artist wasn’t as willing to take as much time out to film like we did the previous time. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

63. When editing our footage we used a editing soft ware called Final cut pro. At first we hardly knew how to use the software but as the weeks progressed we all got better. The first thing we did was to long and capture our footage to get all the useable footage in once place, we put them in different folders e.g. two shot and establishing which made it easier when dropping it on to the timeline. Once everything had been sorted into different files be began to drop the clips down onto the time line, at first syncing the footage with the track but practice makes perfect and after a while it became easier. When everything was on the time line we started to add little effect such as in and out of focus (which went with the lyrics at one point) , we also used a lot of fades when changing between shots. This type of editing is a typical convention of our music video. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

64. Making the advert / CD pack... Photoshop was the main program that I used when editing images for my digipack. Overall I didn't find this aspect that difficult as I use this program at home sometimes and in photography weekly. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

65. Youtube Youtube was one of the biggest helps when making our music video. When doing research it allow us to look at video of a similar genre and the type of things that were included in the video. Also it allowed us to see comments from that public about the video and the things they did and didn't like. It also allows world wide coverage of the video, artist such as Soljah boy became famous after continuously posting music videos of himself now he is internationally known. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

66. After just 3 days on youtube we have had some really good feedback and a good amount of views. This is promising for the future of the video and artist. 71 views in 3 days Comment ‘ARD’ A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

67. This print screen was taken after the video being posted on Facebook for one day. As you can see all the feedback that we got was positive . This encourages us to believe that our artist is going to do well.

68. Conclusion Overall I believe that making this video had been a great experience. From the planning, to filming and finally the evaluation. I have learnt the importance of doing the boring things such as planning and how it helps you to get a great final product. When starting the projects we had to get deep into our target markets minds which I thought was pointless at the start but when we started planning our video it made complete sense. Also we had to deal with a number of different set back such as losing a team member and having to find a new artist, this was beneficial as things like this happen everyday and is bound to happen to us in the future. So learning how to deal and overcome these problems have become life long lessons which will help us in the future. As a team i think we worked suffiently together. We got the work done in the time given. Although we did have little problems with team member. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

69. Using new software such as final cut was a challenge at first but with most things practice makes perfect and over time we became better, also our main editor wasn't always around so me and my other team mate had to step in to do a large amount of the editing . Our final product was a success and many people said that it looked like it was something of semi professional standard and believed it was a excellent bit of work for our first attempt at making a music video and digipack. In conclusion I have learnt that a lot more work going into making a media product and promoting a artist that what we see on TV or in adverts. Also i have learnt how to make a marketable media product.