Evaluation of the process of pre production planning, post production planning, and the filming of the music video.

1. JEM EVALUATION QUESTIONS

2. In what ways does media products use, develop
or challenge forms and conventions of real
media products?
During the production and post production of our music video, we wanted to experiment with both
contemporary filming and editing techniques, as well as authentic techniques. Combining the two forms
of film making was an important stage when planning the video, this is because my group and I wanted to
present our band in an timeless, yet modern light. Post production gave me the chance to further
emphasize the bands style and characteristics, for example, when designing the digipak, website, and
social media pages , I could further express my artists style on a more personal level. When searching for
inspiration during pre production planning for my digipak and website, I looked at other, modernized
indie-pop bands, and how they had used graphics and photography to create a contemporary CD for their
chosen audience. For example, Nine Track Mind by Charlie Puth (shown opposite) was a huge inspiration
due to the use of clear, skilled photography, incorporation of a bold colour, and graphical, yet simple text.
Personally, I love the use of the half black, half white text, I think it adds an extra, more modern dynamic
to the CD, and shows that the artist is professional and appealing to a young, however sophisticated
audience. Other inspirations were covers such as Flume, Emilie Sande and Beyoncé's most recent album,
Lemonade, which was extremely effective when it came to the graphics, because of the bold, simple and
professional photography. Each of the album covers shown opposite have a bright/bold colour dominating
the majority of the cover. This is something that I personally really wanted to incorporate in my own
digipak and website because I think it is an effective and clever way to attract an audience without coming
across as too ‘young’ or unprofessional. When discussing ideas for our digipak collectively as a group, we
all came to the agreement that we wouldn't’t photograph a band, this is because a band wans’t featured
in the video, and we weren't able to get the actors we wanted together at the same time to shoot.
However, it worked in our advantage because we could be more flexible when each creating a unique
design for our digipaks.

3. How effective is the combination of your main
produce and ancillary texts?
The main product, being the music video to the song ‘Oceans’ by
Coasts, and the ancillary texts, being the website and digipak,
supported the bands success rates in the music industry due to more
recognition with the public. The inspiration behind the video and
ancillary texts were taken from our initial mood boards and lyrics
analysis. Visuals play a huge part in the connection between the two
products. Personally, I wanted my digipak, website and video to have a
clear link, in terms of aesthetic and target audience, as you want to
stay on a stable level of age appeal and be clear to whom you are
targeting. My age target was from ages 15-20, therefore I made the
font clear, so it looked professional, and incorporated skilled
photography with a bold colour (red) to add a confident and bold
aesthetic and style to the artist. I personally think that when creating a
business, be it in music or any other creative profession, its important
to have all your platforms linked visually and academically. For
example, the same font, and photography should be used. This also
makes it a lot easier for the public to recognize the artist when they
are browsing, or when they come across a piece of advertisement or
merchandise, because they can instantly remember the logo or the
photography. This also creates a unique style for the artist, and
establishes them in the music industry.
When taking inspiration for the ancillary texts, I looked at other artists
websites such as Sam Smith, Emilie Sande and Charlie Puth. They all
have a very similar aesthetic, with a strong statement image, and
simple black or white font. This makes it look sophisticated and
professional.

4. How effective is the combination of your main
produce and ancillary texts?
i also included social media and further information in my website and digipak. For example, I had hyperlinks to all my
social media pages, that being Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. I also put the email address of the artist, Jem, and
the company logo on both ancillary texts. Personally, I think that if a band or artist is willing to interact with their fans
via social media, it puts them in a positive and friendly position in the music industry, and shows that they are
appreciative of their fans. This creates a more personal connection between the public and the artist. Social media is
also an extremely effective way of getting more recognition from the public, and helps distribute the artists music etc
online.
Example from my
website.

5. What have you learned from your audience
feedback?
Whilst editing our music video, we were constantly updating our audience feedback, with the use of several focus groups, ranging
from the ages of 16-18 year olds, which was our original target audience, and people who we had access too in school. This technique
of focus groups really helped emphasize the more successful parts of the video and the sections that needed working on. For
example, we found out that people wanted the video to be more fast paced, to match the rhythm of the music. This is something we
took into great consideration as we really wanted to make our video as good as it could be, and as appealing as it could be. Some of
our focus groups consisted of the same people, and people who we knew. Others consisted of people who had never seen the video
before, and people who we didn't’t know. This was really helpful and effective for my group and I because it meant we would receive
completely honest responses, and people wouldn't’t feel obliged to give a positive answer.
Overall, the feedback we received was a really positive comeback, and a direct reflection of what we wanted our music video to come
across as. This boosted our confidence as a group and made us more motivated to further improve our video. People loved the song,
using words such as “catchy” and “energetic” to describe it. Both the older and the younger focus group feedback was similar, and it
appealed to both categories. This was an amazing response for our group to receive. As well as positive feedback, we also received
criticism, which we took on board instantly. For example, people said they thought the video should be more colorful to make it more
energetic. In response to this, we added a filter to some of the scenes in the music video.
People said that our music video reminded them of videos such as Jake Bugg, Flume, The Chainsmokers and the 1975. This is a real
compliment because these are artists we took inspiration from during pre production planning, when looking at other indie-pop
music videos. This shows that by having an organized pre production system, it helps create a successful final product.

6. How did you use media technologies in the
construction and research, planning and evaluation
stages?
During filming, we used a variety of different technological devices, such as cameras, tripods and other miscellaneous equipment and
camera gear. In further description, we used a Manfrotto tripod, which was very important, especially when filming on the beach at
Brighton, because the sand and pebbles made the camera very jolty. The tripod wasn’t so vital when shooting on the pier, or the roof,
because we wanted a more casual filming effect, and we wanted the camera to look like it was walking behind, and following the two
actors, Jem and Raphi. If scenes came out too jolted, we used the stabilizing effect of FinalCutPro when editing. However, to decrease
jolting in the camera when it wasn’t on a tripod, we used a shoulder mount, which gave us a more controlled moving image. This also
gave a more intimate connection between the artist, Jem, and the audience, because it feels more realistic and as if the audience is
involved in the video. To film, we used two cameras, one being the Canon XF 100, and the other being a Canon 7D camcorder. Both
cameras gave high quality footage and were versatile enough to capture different angles and perspectives.
Social media also played a huge part in the pre production planning and during the whole process because it enabled each group
member to communicate clearly and quickly each others ideas. We made a drop box account, a google drive account and a Facebook
group. This made it very easy to relay new ideas and share photos and movie clips to our group members. It was also great if we were
ever stuck with what to do on our individual digipaks or websites, we always had accessible help.
We also had to make story boards before filming to ensure we were organized with all the necessary equipment and the order of
scenes when filming. The story board also had a list of camera movements and angles, this again, was a great help when it came to the
organization of the filming day.
During the filming of our evaluation, we used software such as Screenflow, Final Cut Pro and the Canon XF 100 . All three filming and
editing software's we had used before, so we were familiar with how to use it, this also saved us a lot of time.