A2 Media Evaluation 'Get Away'

1. A2 Media Evaluation
Tiffany Leung
Get Away

2. In what ways does your
media product use,
develop and challenge
forms of real media?

3. In what ways does your media product use, develop and challenge forms of real
media?
Firstly, I began my A2 project by researching into different types Music Videos and the history of it so that I
was able to understand the codes and conventions of existing music video. I learned that music video
generally have a performance and narrative based to it and they like to use a lot of extreme close-up on the
artists.
As I have chosen my genre to be singer/songwriter, I researched more into singer/ songwriter artists such as
Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and Jason Mraz, this gave me a better understanding what I needed to include in
my music video and what codes and conventions they use most of. I learnt that singer/songwriters music
videos vary, there are a lot of narrative based music videos but most are performance based this is because
they like to show the artist emotions and want to connect with the audience. I also learnt the shot angles are
very important in music videos. They tend to like using a lot of close ups and extreme close ups as it really
connects with the audience, also close ups on instruments as it shows that they are songwriters.
Evidently, throughout my music video final media product, there is similar aspects of mise-en-scene, editing
sound and camera. I am going to explore how my music video, digipak and poster, develop and challenge
real forms of media first, however I have also added my own creativity and style to challenge and develop on
the convections of singer/songwriter genre.

4. In what ways does your media product use, develop and challenge forms of real
media?
In the past production stage music video, I was inspired by real media forms which I have used and
developed it, as well as creating my own style. I have definitely improved from AS to A2 as I have a
better understanding how to use premier pro and the different effects and techniques. Editing is the
process that concludes the making of the music. I had to edit it, cut scenes down, add special effects and
add the track to the music video. As my music video was going to be black and white I had to change the
effects to the scenes. This showed the same skills I did in AS as it was a film noir title sequence. I had
trouble changing effects in AS however during my process of my A2 I found it quite easy to change the
colours of the scenes.
when analyzing and looking at an existing music video ‘The A Team’ by Ed sheeran, throughout the
music video, it uses a black and white effect, which is conventional, when a music video wants to
conveys emotion and themes of darkness and unhappiness. I got this idea and put it into my own music
video this is because my music video is about fantasy vs. reality. During the reality clips the clips are
shown with no colour effects where as the fantasy world I have changed the clips to black and white to
show the contrast between the two life's.
The lighting used is also dull and dark, which is usually seen in music videos that are more towards the
indie/rock/alternative genre, which is opposed to pop music videos, which bright colours are usually
used. The pace of the music is usually synchronized to the pace of the editing. The music in the video is
quite slow, so therefore the editing doesn’t really have any jump cuts. The music video does track the girl,
which is a conventional, as it allows it to emphasize the focus of the person, so that they conveyed as an
important character to the video. This is similar to my music, the soundtrack is very slow pace and tracks
the girl to emphasize my characters emotions and feelings., this is also similar to the video it has a lot of
close ups, mid shots and longs shots these are common to use in all types of music videos, as it allows the
audience to get a good sense of the emotions of the videos and the location.

5. In what ways does your media product use, develop and challenge forms of real
media?
Editing:
My music video is quite similar to others from the singer/songwriter genre through editing. For example
Ed Sheeran ‘The A Team’ the black and white video clips are similar to mine and also the emotion of the
characters faces. Also the lip synching is similar to Gabrielle Aplins as I made Anna Duncan as my
narrative performer. I made her lip sync to the song she wrote. Initially, I didn’t add in the lip syncing as I
never thought about the idea until I re watched some music videos. However after adding the lip syncing
I realized how much more professional and better my music video looked, even thought I found this the
hardest part of filming as Anna had to be completely in sync with the song whilst singing it.
I think the performance parts of my music video worked much better than my narrative parts as I knew
exactly what I was doing with Anna, however whilst filming Sofie is was a lot harder as there were many
more changes whilst filming I needed to do. I changed my storyboard numerous of times as I wasn’t
happy with it. However my narrative clips worked out fine in the end but took a bit more time then I
thought.
The editing of my music video I think fits in well with the codes and conventions of a singer/songwriter
music video as I have narrative and performance base, the pace of the music is quite similar, such as just
before a chorus the music tends to get a lot slower as it build up to the chorus, singer/songwriters like
doing this as it builds up tension and makes words more powerful, this is similarly to what I have done.

6. In what ways does your media product use, develop and challenge forms of real
media?
Singer/songwriters tend to have a more narrative or performance based music video however, I think I
have done mine equally. I did this as my music video is about fantasy vs. reality. I wanted it to be both
equal to show how different two lives are. However the narrative clips did take longer to film as I had to
think about the storyline more and how clips would fit in together.
Furthermore, in in my music video I had to slow some clips down, as I wanted the audience to see the
artists expressions more clearly, this is commonly used in the singer/songwriter videos I have looked at.
Therefore this editing technique I have used subverts the conventions of the genre. Particularly I have
slowed down the first clip as I thought it was going way to fast and the audience would be confused to
what is happening at the start.
Music Video: Camera
The way the camera is used is crucial in producing a music video. It can have and create different effects
by the different shots, angles, and movements. In general singer/songwriters uses a variety of camera
shots, angles and movements to create different techniques and to make their videos different and unique
in it’s own way to other music videos. Most singer/songwriter music videos I have researched have many
extreme close ups of the artist, this is to relate with the audience by expressing thoughts and feelings but
also to show the viewer what is happening. Also certain shots that they normal include are very wide
shots- this is where the artist is shown visible but the emphasis is still on placing the artist in the
location/setting. Wide shot- this is where he artist is shown taking up most of the shot but the
location/setting I still focused on, a mid shot- this shows the artist from his/her waist to head and focuses
mainly on the subject but still giving an impression of the location/setting. Medium close-up this is half
way between a mid shot and a close up showing the artists from chest to head. These are shots are the
basic shots you expect to see in most music videos, however there can be some more creative ways of
displaying a scene through different camera angles. In my music video I have added some shots and
angles you would not normally see in music videos.

7. In what ways does your media product use, develop and challenge forms of real
media?
Mise-en-Scene
I chose to have the setting of y music video outside, which is quite common setting for
singer/songwriters videos such as Ed Sheeran ‘The A Team’ and Jason Mraz ‘Im Yours’, who both uses
outside scenes.
Mise-en-scene is quit4e similar to Ed Sheeran ‘The A Team’ as my video is also in black and white and
narrative clips are similar with its facial expressions and acting. The performance base is similar to
Jason Mraz ‘Im Yours’ as both artists play the guitar and have some extreme close ups of it, it emphasis
on the singer/songwriter genre for the audience to identify with. It puts importance on the song and the
music that put together to make it which is a main aim of the genre.
The lighting is also quite similar to The A Team. Even the I changed the clips to black and white the
lighting was still different. In the day time even though it was black and white you could still tell that is
was in the day time where as at night time in the woods the contrasts was different. It was a lot more
black than white.
I decided to film it in quite rough and dirty areas such as the alleyway to emphasis how lonely and
upset she is by herself.

8. In what ways does your media product use, develop and challenge forms of real
media?
Sound:
In singer/ songwriter music videos it is very common to use diegetic sound, I also chose to use diegetic
sound in my music video on screen and off screen. At the start of my music video I used it off screen as
you can hear the birds in the background and I have used it on screen with the music and instruments
playing. Videos such as Ed Sheeran ‘The A team had a long introduction, we could here the birds and
background noises , this is something I wanted to re create similarly.
For the music played throughout the video I used garage band to help me edit the sounds of the music
I filmed, when I filmed it there were noises in the background I needed to get rid of as it didn’t sound
professional. I changed the effects on garage band to make the lyrics more clear so I could put it in the
real thing.
I think the song fit into the singer/songwriter genre as the song is quite calm however the chorus is
powerful and people can remember it. I have also used instruments such as the guitar which most
singer/ songwriters use in music videos, I am certain the audience can tell it is a singer/songwriter
genre.
I believe the pace of my music video is similar to ‘Jar of hearts’ by Gabrielle Aplin, this is because the
song is quite calm but the chorus is powerful. But the style of my music video is similar to Ed Sheerans
‘The A Team’, as it is in black and white and storyline is quite similar.

9. How effective is the
combination of your main
product and ancillary text

10. How effective is the combination of your main
product and ancillary text
Throughout making my digipak and poster advert I kept the font simple and clean. I left the font
black as it is most suited to the background of my cover. I also researched into
singer/songwriter poster and digipaks, most of them I research such as Gabrielle Aplin, Ed
Sheeran, Taylor Swift; they all kept the font and images simple, I took this idea and made my
poster as simple as I could.
At first I wasn’t sure which poster to use out
of the two on the left, however I thought the
one on the left did fit in with the genre of my
music video the most. I think it looks more
relaxed and she has a guitar on her which
shows that she writes and plays music.

11. What have you learned
from your audience
feedback?

12. What have you learned from your audience
feedback?
Creating an audience survey is a significant part of being able to critically evaluate myself and my
products imperfections. The main purpose of my product is to be able to engage and attract the
audience and it is helpful to know whether I was able to this more not. So that I can learn from my
mistakes. I created a questionnaire on Google Docs asking numerous question related with my
music video. Making a only survey was useful as I could then share it on social media such as
Twitter and Facebook, allowing me to get as many responses as I could. Additionally, another
advantage of posting my questionnaire online to social networking sites is that the answers are
more likely to be critical and non biased as I may not be necessarily close with the person is
answering my survey unlike if I was to ask people to fill in my questionnaire. In order to get the
most reliable data, I needed to ensure I got quite a lot of answers in my questionnaire. I received
more than I wanted which was very useful as the more feedback gained, the better insight I got
into seeing whether my product was successful or not. I can now evaluate each of the different
questions I asked commenting on what I have learned and what I could change f I was to approach
creating this project again.

13. What have you learned from your audience
feedback?
Looking back at my responses the majority I asked were between the ages 16-25 and female which
was my initial target audience so I know the feedback I get will be relevant.
In my survey I asked what the like about the music but also what I could improve in it. Here are
some of the positive comments I received:
“I like that the clips were in black and white and colour to show contrast”
“The storyline, some people can relate to it”
“I like the song and I think the execution of the video is very good”
“The acting and shots used”
Comments on how I could improve my music video:
“I think that the video could be slightly shorter”
“Quite a lot of repetition”

14. What have you learned from your audience
feedback?
The fourth question I asked “what genre do you think the music video fits into?” I asked this question
to see if the audience knew whether is was in the singer/songwriter genre. I was happy as 85% knew
it was singer/songwriter genre and only the other 15% said indie. I showed quite a lot
singer/songwriter codes and conventions such as, the focus on the guitar, lip syncing to the song and
close up shots of the performer to show emotion.
The fifth question I asked my audience was what they liked about my music video. This gives me a
detailed reason and gives them a chance to tell me what they likes about it.

15. What have you learned from your audience
feedback?
As you can tell by my questionnaire, there is a clear appeal of my video to my target audience. I
received 100% positive feedback for this question which means I have been successful as all of my
audience enjoyed watching my music video. One of my audience members commented on how they
liked the music but the chorus was upbeat, this tells me that the effect I was trying to go for (calm
lyrics but upbeat chorus people can remember) has been a success and noticed by the audience.
However one member of my audience stated how there was too much repetition and the music
video was too long, this is an area which if I was to create the music video again, I could improve
and change my my storyline and shorten the lyrics by a few seconds.

16. What have you learned from your audience
feedback?
Therefore, creating an audience feedback survey has been very
useful to me. It has provided me with an insight into how my
audience felt about my music video and allowed my audience to be
critical about my video. I can not highlight the improvements I
could make such as showing a wider range of camera shots and
angles which would overall make my audience be more pleased
with my music video. I feel that I have learned a lot about what I
have done well and what I could have done better, such as my
thought that I have been successful in creating contrasts between
the two characters which is pleasant to hear as this was a feature
which I felt was vital to have throughout my music video. Audience
members also thought that the song was very good, this is another
feature I thought the song was very good, this plays a huge part in
the video as it needs to suit my target audience and if my audience
doesn’t like the song then they might not even both watching the
music video. Furthermore, audience commenting on how they
enjoyed my video presented how I have learned from my previous
questionnaire as I took in the data received and was able to ensure
that every decision I made would target my audience. Overall I
think I have done well in attracting my audience as the majority of
the answers I received were positive which tells me that by creating
the first questionnaire and leaning what interest my audience have.
I was able to implement all the knowledge I had gained into my
video which is why I received a lot of positive feedback.

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

18. How did you use new media technologies in the
construction and research, planning and evaluation
stages?
Throughout the whole of my project, I have used new media technologies in the construction , research
planning and evaluation stages. I used a variety of online technology, software and physical technology
to help me create my music video. I believe that the technology I have used has been very helpful
throughout my project.
Camera:
When filming my music video I used a Sony Handycam, I was reasonably familiar with using a a
camera from my previous AS coursework but as I was in a group of three, we switched it in turns to
use the camera and therefore I didn’t not have as much as I needed. This meant that I needed to
refresh and extend skills when filming this year. Before using the camera I familiarized myself with
the buttons , I found using the camera quite simple.
My favourite shots when using the camera was the first scene of my music video, I like how I took a
pan shot of the tree and sun and then it focuses on the perfomer. Some shots such as zoom in close
ups I found quite hard filming as it went blurry, however after a few shots of practicing I got it right.
Overall, I think I have made progression in my camera work from AS to A2, I was able to work out
and experiment the camera myself trying different angles and shots, I was able to refresh myself with
the camera reasonably quickly which was helpful as I could film quickly after finding out how to use
the buttons. However, I think there are areas of my camera work which could have been improved as
in my storyboard I wanted more close ups however I was unable to this.

19. How did you use new media technologies in the
construction and research, planning and evaluation
stages?
Blogger:
Throughout my project, I used an online website called blogger, I was familiar with this website as I have used
this website for my AS coursework and therefore I did not have any problems with using this. On this website I
was able to write down stages of where I was making my music video and write down every negative and
positive notes about my project. This website enabled me to track all my progress and allowed me to reflect on
what and where I currently was. It helped with my research as every time I analyzed a music video I would
write down my analysis, when coming to the end of analysis, I was able to back and look at similarities and
differences between music videos and then I was able to summarize the codes and conventions of music video.
Moreover, blogger was also extremely useful when I was planning. This is because every time I thought ideas I
would put them on my blog as I could visually see it or I would write a list on blogger with this things I have
completed so I wouldn’t forget to do it. I was able to create brainstorms and upload them to my blog. Also,

20. How did you use new media technologies in the
construction and research, planning and evaluation
stages?
As the when beginning to create my project, I was able to track my progress on the blog as I could
visually see what I was currently editing and what I have and have not done. Also, as the blog is like a
formal diary to me, if I forgot some of my ideas, or even the codes ad conventions of music videos I
would be able to quickly go back onto my blog and re-read the posts. Therefore, using blogger was very
helpful to me throughout all stages of my project.
YouTube:
Throughout the whole project, I used YouTube, I was familiar with this website therefore I knew how
to use the website quite well. In my search, I used YouTube to find music videos which felt were
appropriate to analyse. Also YouTube provided me with a large amount of music videos that artists
and companies have uploaded. This was very helpful to me because I was then able to critically
analyse different music videos and was ale to see what they feature in videos that I could include in
my own. I critically analyzed these music videos and watched videos over an over again. Moreover,
throughout the actually creation of my project, YouTube was very important, this is because when I
created my drafts and eve my final product, I uploaded it to youtube so that I could watch it as a
proper video. YouTube allowed me to uploads and watch my videos rapidly which was beneficial to
me as it prevented me from wasting time waiting for my video to load. Therefore, using youtube was
very beneficial to me throughout all of my project as it helped me with my research and also helped
me when I was creating my project.

21. How did you use new media technologies in the
construction and research, planning and evaluation
stages?
Google Drive:
I used Google Drive to create questionnaire as I already had knowledge from using it at AS. I made
the questionnaire online which I could then put on the internet to a diverse range of social
networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. I chose to create my survey on Google Drive as all of
my previous surveys I have done it on Drive. Therefore, I had no issues using it and made is with no
struggles or help from anyone, I used Google Drive as well as I could create a sophisticated
questionnaire as I could select specific options for the question such as check boxes, texts or lists
therefore it helped my audience answer the question more rapidly as I chose the most appropriate
method for answering the question. The programmer gave me all of the responses in a table which I
could then easily turn them into pie charts, it was easy to compare all the long responses
Tripod:
Tripod was another piece of technology I had to use alongside with the camera. I was familiar with using
the tripod and did not struggle to use it. The tripod allowed me to get still shots which was important as
I wanted all my shots to be still., it would make my music video look professional. It also allowed me to
set the height of the tripod which was important as in some cases I needed the tripod to be very high and
in some I needed it to be small depending on if my actors were sitting down or standing up. If I did not
use the tripod it would have been problematic as I would not of got the correct height and also would
not have been able to get professional shots.

22. How did you use new media technologies in the
construction and research, planning and evaluation
stages?
Adobe Premier Pro:
Throughout my planning and constructing I used Adobe Premier. I had quite limited knowledge of using
premier pro as although I had used it in AS, I spent most of my time filming the title sequence as I knew I
would have much knowledge on Adobe Premier Pro. I had knowledge on basics such as how to cut the
clips shorts and add some effects, however I really didn’t know much about anything else, I had to learn
how to use some of the effect on YouTube.
Firstly, I struggled to make the clips black and white as I forgot how we did it in out AS thriller title
sequence. Therefore, I went on YouTube and watched a few clips on how to change clips black and white,
it took me a while however I got the hang of it and the process was actually quite simple.
overall I would that I did find using Premier difficult because though I learnt some editing skills in AS, I
still struggled with exporting my video which is supposedly a simple task. If I was to improve the way I
approached using Premier Pro I think it would have helped if I had watched more tutorials about using
Premier in general as I could have been more creative in my overall product.

23. How did you use new media technologies in the
construction and research, planning and evaluation
stages?
Therefore, I have used a diversity of media technologies in the research and planning,
construction and evaluation stages of my product. All of my technology I used has
allowed me to make my music video to the best standard as I can. Every programme and
technology I used allowed me to refresh and create a new range of skills which helped
make my music video look and feel professional.