Links:

Here are a few links to the posts of my final products and my evaluation.

Final Video

Final Poster

Final Digipaks

Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 4

Evaluation: Question 4

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

Throughout my coursework I have used several different technologies that have helped me to research existing products, create my own products and evaluate my final products. I have used various deceives such as computers and laptops where I have been able to record my own work, find software to create my mocks ups and final products on and websites where I have easily been able to evaluate my work. By using technologies such as computers where I was able to gain easy-access to other technologies such as the internet. 

By using the Internet I have been able to use several different websites throughout my research and planning, production process and finally throughout my evaluation of my products. One of the main websites that I have used throughout my work is Blogger; which I used to showcase and present all of my work together in an organised way. I had decided to use Blogger as I found it was simple and easy to use and understand. Furthermore, it was an easy and accessible website where I was able to upload images, embed my footage and embed power-points easily.

I also mainly used the website Prezi throughout my work as it is an interactive power-point. I preferred to use Prezi than Blogger as I found it easier to create my work on there. Also I liked how on Prezi I was able to include an interactive element where my work was presented in a more spaced out manner and in different methods; while on Blogger at times I felt I was a more limited to present my work as I was only able to create blog posts. Furthermore, I liked how on Prezi I was able to edit and manipulate the design of each original template so that I could design the presentations to be presented a clear way that was suitable for my work. 

Additionally, for my research I had used a website called Poplet where I was able to create mind maps such as what different types of music videos there were and what different types of genres there were. However, I rarely used Poplet than the other websites as I had found that Poplet too simple to use. Additionally, Poplet unlike Blogger and Prezi wouldn't let me save my work and I found this to be irritating and difficult at times as I often had to redo my work on there. 

Similarity, I also presented my work on a website called SlideShare, where I was able to upload my power-point presentations. I found that it was easy to upload my power-points onto SlideShare and then onto Blogger. However, I did have some issues with SlideShare as unlike Prezi I wasn't able to re-edit my work, instead if I had made a spelling or grammar mistake I had re-upload a copy of my presentation to SlideShare. I also found that at times when I was uploading my presentations to SlideShare that the layout of my presentation would be altered, such as my text would be covered up the images I had planned to used. This caused problems as I kept having to change the original presentation until SlideShare presented a layout of my presentation that I was happy with and which didn't remove any of my information.

Google was the main search engine that I used to find existing products such as music videos, digipaks and posters. I made sure that I only googled products that were relevant to my chosen genre so that I could easily view the conventions from the genre pop and so that my research would be more precise for when I planned my own music video.

While I also used websites like YouTube and Vimeo to watch and analysis music videos. I decided to use these websites as they contain a wider range of pop music videos and I found that this would give me a better idea of the different conventions of music videos; that I could then follow and apply whilst creating my own music video. However, while I was making my product I also used these websites to upload my own footage on like my rough cuts and then my final video. I found this to be effective as these websites often contained a wider audience so this allowed me to gain more relevant feedback for my work rather than just asking my peers. After I had uploaded my video to YouTube, I had some problems with Youtube's player size as my video didn't fit within in. Instead black borders where around my video. I had problems with this as I had tried using YouTube's editor to change the size of my video. However, I found that this did reduced the quality of my video. Although, I was eventually able to overcome this problem; after I experimenting using the editor more. I found that was able to find the coding for the YouTube's player size so that I could change the size of my video within the quality being lose.

While I used social media websites like Facebook and Tumblr to ask people from my target audience to fill out my questionnaire. I did this because I knew that I would be able to find a wider audience that was part of my target audience rather than just asking members of my peer group; this allowed my research to become more precise and relevant to my work as I was able to use my target audiences’ opinions but also the opinions of other people that may not be within the age range of my target audience. Furthermore, after making my video I decided to use these social media websites to advertise it. As from my previous research I had found out that these social media websites often impacted my target audiences’ lives. This was beneficial to me as by advertising my video on these sites I was able to gain a bigger audience and this also allowed me to gain more feedback for my product that was relevant.

I decided to use the website SuveryMonkey where I was able to create online questionnaires. I liked using SuveryMonkey as I was able to gain a wider variety of feedback from a bigger example of my target audience rather than just collecting feedback from my peers. Furthermore, I liked how on SuveryMonkey it collected my results from my questionnaires in the format of bar charts as I felt that this was a well presented way to collect my feedback - rather than comments.

Finally, I used a website called Da Font where I downloaded two different font styles, ‘Thin font’ and 'From Where You Are’ which I have then used throughout my digipaks and my poster. I found that downloading and installing these fonts on my computer was quite simple to do. I had decided to use the website Da Font as there was a wide variety of different fonts to choice from. However, at times due to the large amount of font choices this did make my choice of deciding what font style I wanted for my products more difficult as there was too much choice.

Throughout my project I used deceives such as cameras and mobile phones to take photos and record my footage. Within my research and planning I used cameras to take photos of different locations and props and outfits that I could use for my video; as by taking photos I found that it gave me a better idea of what my video could look like. I mainly used cameras to record my footage, however I did find that I had some issues with this as at times my camera was placed on the wrong setting and this caused some of my footage to be blurry. This caused issues with filming as at times I had to re-do some of my previous shoots. Another issues that I had with filming is that at times the camera I was using would run out of power and die. However, whilst I was filming I made sure to bring back up cameras and mobile phones in-cased this did happen; although, the issue with filming on too many different deceives is that it did cause the frame my footage to be different sizes. This gave me problems whilst I was editing my footage as I often had to re-alter my shots digitally and had to change some of my long shots to medium shots so that they fitted with the other frames of my footage. 

I used software such as Photoshop to digitally edit and manipulated my images. I did this to improve the quality of the images that I used to create my other products. I did simple edits on my images such as slightly using the curves tool and by slightly increasing and decreasing the brightness and contrast of my images. I found Photoshop to be quite effective as I was able to improve the quality and add detail to my photos quickly and easily.

Another software which I had used throughout my products is Fireworks. I used Fireworks to first create my mock ups and then eventually my final products. I found that Fireworks was easy to use as I was easily able to create borders for my products, create advertisement and eventually create a logo which would display the company that supports my chosen artist. I liked using Fireworks, as I found that it was simple and easy to create symbols and shapes unlike Photoshop. I also liked how Fireworks contained a variety of different colours and this allowed me not to be limited for choice when I was finding colours that would be an effective colour scheme but also infer elements of the genre pop. Furthermore, I liked how on Fireworks that I was able to group certain items together; this made it easier for me to create the final layout of my products, as I was quickly able to drag multiple items into different compositions rather than dragging items once at a time. 

I used the software Sony Vegas Pro 10 to edit my video. I decided to use this software as I had a copy of it on my laptop and I thought that I would be quicker with my editing at home rather than using the school's software. At first I had some issues with using Sony Vegas Pro 10 as I had no idea how to use it. However, after I had watched some videos off YouTube and experimented with the basic edits and cuts that I could make on there. I was able to go from a lack of knowledge of understanding how to use Sony Vegas Pro to having a better understanding of the tools I would need to use on the software that would be effective in editing my footage. I also decided to use Sony Vegas Pro 10 to digitally edit my footage. I was able to brighten parts of my video, such as the beginning section of my video where my main actor is getting ready. I decided to use the levels tool to digitally brighten the light exposure of this clips and I found this to work well. However, when I showed my video to my target audience they mentioned within their feedback that they still felt that parts of my video, such as the beginning part when my main actor is getting ready, was still slightly too dark. Similarly, I use further editing tools within the software such as luminous tool to cause parts of my videos black and white. I found this to work effectively well as I was able to change the setting for each clip that I wanted to be black and white, rather than changing all of clip to black and white at once. I was also able to have different video playing simultaneously, such as the different dates my main actor goes on. At first I had trouble with this as I wasn't able to crop down the video to the same size as I had planned to do within my storyboard. Although, I eventually decided against the idea of having each video be a similar size and instead I cropped down each clip so that the parts of the footage that I wanted to show were displayed instead. I found that I was also able to change the ratio of some clips, I found this to be quite useful as not all of my footage had the same ratio. However, the only problem that I had with this, was that clips that were originally long-shot images were now changed to medium shots. I found that I was also able to easily add text and transitions. I was able to add my text onto a video track above my current video. After text had been added - I was able to use the generated media tool, where I was able to change the font of my text, size, colour so that it could reflect my current colour scheme from my other products. I also found it easy to add transitions within my video; I mainly decided to add transitions to my text. I decided to use transitions such as push and bright lights as I felt they were quick and I felt this would further add a tone of my fun to my video. At first, I had difficultly when changing the length of the transitions so that they matched the beat and lyrics of the song. However, after I few tries and I was able to effectively time my text transitions so that were in time with the song.

While I used software like Microsoft Word to write and plan out the annotation that I have used throughout my work. As unlike most of the websites that I have used, Microsoft Word had a spelling checker and this allowed me to make sure that my work was fully correct and that there were no spelling or grammar errors.

                     

I used other software such as Microsoft Power-Point to create my power-points that I planned embedded on the website SlideShare. I intentionally used Power-Point as I wanted to display a use of different technologies throughout my work. Also I liked the layout of the presentations and I felt that by using PowerPoint I was able to present my work in a more layout way rather than Blogger.

I used software of a digital voice editor called Voice Memos that I had downloaded onto my IPod, I found this to be effective whilst creating the commentary for my music video. I found that by using this software that I was able to view the recording time while I was speaking, which was beneficial as this gave me idea of how long my commentary would be. Furthermore, this helped me to create director's commentary that didn't go over the length of my current track. Additionally, I found that was able to go back and re-edit parts of the voice memo while I was creating it and this was helpful if I decided to change the word order of my points.

Evaluation: Question 3

Evaluation: Question 2:

Evaluation: Question 1

Final Poster:

I decided to place my main image within the centre of my poster. I did this so that it was in a hotspot and would be the first thing that my target audience would notice. I decided to use a polaroid border around the my image so that it further stood out. Furthermore, I decided to do this as I have used the theme of polaroids throughout my digipaks and this can display how I have used a constant house style throughout my products. Additionally, I have used this theme as I felt that it reflected the album’s name. I chose an image of my main actor smiling while she is holding a copy of my digipaks. As she is smiling this can suggest how she is happy about the album and its release date. Furthermore, it could suggest how the album contains positive themes. I like how this photo included a copy of her holding the digipaks; as it allows my target audience to know what they looks like, making them more memorable in my target audience’s mind. On my poster I have used two fonts, ‘From Where We Are’ and ‘Thin Font’. I first decided to use these fonts as I had included them throughout my digipaks, this can further display how I have used a constant house within both of my products. I decided to use the font 'From Where We Are' to highlight information such as the artist's name, the album name, the release date and the tag-line. I decided to use this font as it was thick and bold against the page, this caused it to stand out against the page - making it more eye-catching to my target audience. While I used 'Thin Font' as it is a san-serif fonts and modern fonts would appeal to my target audience as fonts present the text clearly on the page. On my poster I have followed conventions of using a tag-line ‘party like it’s 1989’. As tag-line as often catchy and memorable. On my poster, I have used limited yet precise information. I did this so that my target audience would be informed about important information such as the album release date; however, I used a limited amount so that my poster didn’t look bottom heavy or was over cramped. I have also used the convention of using a border to highlight key-information such as the artist’s website. I decided to include the artist’s website as this then allows my target audience to be able to find out more information about the album release for themselves. Similarly, I have used the convention of advertisement on my poster, 'win a chance a meet Taylor Swift'. This will be effective in attracting my target audience, as fans of the artist will want to enter opportunities where they can meet their idol. Additionally, I have include the convention of a review on my poster. This gives my target audience a rough idea of what others think of the CD. Furthermore, as it is a good review this will further persuade them to buy it. I used a colour scheme of cream, purple, black and white on my poster – as it was the colour scheme that I have used throughout my digipaks. This can present how I have used a constant house style throughout my products. While I have also included the colour red, as it was bright and eye-catching colour; I thought this would be effective in attracting my target audience. Furthermore, it can display how I have follow pop conventions by using bright colours.

Final Digipaks:

Front Cover:

For my front cover I have decided to use the theme of polaroids as I felt that they were effective in reflecting the album's name; as polaroids often represent the ideas of time and age. I have used a medium close up image of my main actor flickering her hair. I wanted to use a medium close up, so that the outfit which my main actor was wearing was displayed. The outfit which my main actor is wearing displays a t-shirt of my chosen artist. This can instantly portray the importance of the artist and how well supported the artist is. I decided to include a photo of my main actor flickering her hair because I wanted to showcase the singer dancing but I didn't want to use a blurry photo. Similarly, I have used an edited version of this image on my front cover instead of the original photo; as the original image was lost due to the photo's dark exposure. For my front cover’s colour scheme I decided to use the colours white, cream and black; as I felt that these colours reflected the album's name. Furthermore, I like how the colours complimented each other. I decided to use the colour cream as it connotes the ideas of being relaxing and calming, and this could suggest how the album contains songs that are relaxing to my target audience. I decided to the use the colours white and black as they both connote sophistication, which is something that my products and artist aim to be. For the artist’s initials and the album’s name I have used the font 'From Where We Are’. I decided to use this font as it was a handwriting style font. As I felt that by using a handwriting font this would further reflect the theme of polaroids that I planned to use. Furthermore, it is effective as it can suggest a personal tone to album, showcasing how the artist has placed a personal touch on the album. 

Booklet:

On my booklet, I decided to place my main image within the centre of the page, so that it would be the first thing that my target audience would be. I decided place my image in a polaroid boarder so that I could display a similar theme of polaroids that I have used throughout my digipaks. The image that I have chosen to use, is a medium close of up of my main actor looking shocked. I decided to use this image as it was a visual representation of the lyrics, 'She's like 'Oh My God'. Similarly, I decided to use this image as I like the location that the image was taken in. I liked the location as it was bright and eye-catching and felt that it would catch my target audience's attention. I decided to use lyrics on my booklet so that I could showcase my chosen song's importance. I decided to use the lyrics 'My ex-man', 'brought his new girlfriend' and 'She's like 'Oh My God', as they were well known lyrics from my chosen song. I decided to use the font 'From Where We Are' as it was a handwriting style font and polariods often include text that are handwritten.

Spine:

I decided to only include the artist and the album's name on the spine, as it is a common convention of spines to only include brief detail. I decided to place this information onto the white border so that the text stood out more on my digipak. I have used the font 'From Where You Are'; as I have already used this font throughout my digipaks and this can display how I have used a constant house style. Furthermore, I chosen to use this font as I like how bold the text become against the white background. I also decided to include music notes between each word, as I felt that would make my spine look less dull. Similarly, I decided to use music notes on my spine as I had used already used them on my CD.

CD:

My intention for my CD were to make a panel that would contrast with the rest of my digipaks. I decided to use the colour purple for the main colour of my CD as it was a bright colour. I did this because pop products are well known for using bright colour schemes to grab their target audience's attention. Additionally, I decided to use the colour purple as it can connote ideas of transformation; and this can suggest the idea of the artist's own transformation into the genre of pop. Furthermore, I have used the colour purple because it can connote femminity and this will appeal to my target audience as majority of them are females. Furthermore, this could suggest how the album has songs which are more relatable to females. I decided to use the font, 'From Where We Are', for the album's title as throughout other panels of my digipaks I have often used this font to highlight key information. Furthermore, I felt that it was a good font choice as it was bold and stood out on the CD. The image for my CD case was of a sunset. Although, this doesn't link into the rest of my digipak and I decided to use this image to further emphaise how my CD contrasts with the rest of my product. I also decided to use this image as sunsets can often symbol transformation; this can further imply the artist's transformation from country to pop.

Back Cover:

While on my back cover I have placed the track-list within the centre of the page, I did this as it is a common convention that is used on back covers. Furthermore, I did this so that my track-list would be placed within a hotspot and would be the first thing that my target audience would see.  For the track list I used the font 'From Where You Are’ as I have commonly used throughout each panel of my digipaks to highlight key information. Furthermore, I think that this font style has been effective on my back cover as it stood out against the background and image. I decided use the font 'Thin Font' for the copyright information as it was a modern style font that would be appeal to my target audience as the font was clear on the page. On the right hand side of my back cover, I have included a bar code, copyright information and the company's logo. As I couldn't use any found images for my products, I have made my logo for the music label Big Machine, which supports my chosen artist. I have decided to include the company logo on my back cover because it can display the support that my chosen artist has for her album. While on the left hand side of my back cover, I have included a long shot of my main actor. I decided to use a long shot image so that my target audience would clearly be able to see her outfit, which is similar style to the outfit that she wears in my video. I do like this image as I think that my main actor is portrayed in a similar pose that most models pose in; however, I do think the location of the image is dull.

Overall:

Overall, throughout my digipaks I have mostly used a constant house style. I have used two selective fonts, 'From Where We Are' and 'Thin Font'. I mainly used the font 'From Where We Are' as it was a handwriting style font as I felt that this could display a more personal touch onto the album. Furthermore, I felt that this handwriting font further emphaise the theme of polaroids that I used throughout my digipaks. While I used the font 'Thin Font' as it was a san-serif font; as san-serif fonts are modern font style this will appeal to my target audience as the text are presented clearly. On my digipaks I have most used a constant colour scheme on my front cover, spine, booklet and back cover of cream, black and white. I decided to use the colour cream as it can connote ideas of calming and relaxing; this can suggest that the album contains songs that are calming and relaxing. While, I decided to use the colours black and white as they often suggest sophistication, which is something that the singer is often viewed as or wanted to be viewed as. I think that these colours have complimented well with each and I feel that they reflect the album’s name effectively. While on my CD, which contrasts with the rest of my digipak, I have use the colour purple. I included the colour purple as it was a bright colour and this could display how I have include pop conventions of bright colour within my digipak. Furthermore, I decided to use the colour purple as it can often connote transformation, which can imply the artist’s own transformation from country to pop. Additionally, it can connote femminity, which can suggest how the album includes songs which are more relatable to females. This can appeal to my target audience as a majority of them are females. Throughout my digipak, I have also included a range of different shot style images, such as long shots to medium close ups. A common feature within all of the images are that I have included the main actor from my video. I decided to use images of my main actor in different poses as I felt it would quite repetitive and boring if I had used similar poses throughout my digipaks.

Final Video

This is my final video for my coursework.

Director's Commentary

Director's Commentary Speech

This is a copy of the script that I plan to follow for  my director's commentary. However, I may add other points which I think of when I am filming it.

At the beginning of my video I decided to use fast cuts of my main actor getting ready as I wanted to express how upbeat the first four beats of the song were. I decided to use an outdoor location and film at night for the lyrics ‘I stay out too late’ as I wanted to use natural dark lighting to add a tone of realism to my video. Additionally, I wanted to show a visual representation of the lyrics. However, my original footage of this was quite dark so I had to digitally brighten it on Sony Vegas, so that you can see my main actor. I think in some aspects this has worked well, however looking back at my feedback and after re-watching my video I could re-lighten them so that my main actor’s face is portray more clearly. For the next few lyrics I decided to use regular cuts on a mixture of clips, to show my main actor getting ready for the different that she was on. For the lyric ‘I go onto many dates, ’I decided to use the technique of spilt screen. My original intentions were to have all of the date scenes playing at the same time whilst vertical, however as I had filmed most of my footage horizontally I had to work around re-sizing the different videos until I could get them to play at the simultaneously. I had also planned to do a similar format of spilt screen technique for the line “but I can’t make them stay” but in the end decided against this as the videos looked weird and unprofessional when I arranged them together and instead opted for fast cuts from each video instead. For the lyric ‘at least that’s what people say’ I decided to use footage of people gossiping to again show a visual representation of the lyrics.

For the lyrics ‘But I keep cruising’ up to the lyrics ‘it’s gonna be alright’ I used a range of footage of my main actor after the different dates. I used regular cuts, that kept in time with the beat, to showcase not only how the narrative of my video was building up but also how the beats of the song where building up as well. In these clips, you see my main actor tapping objects and starting to dance; this can portray how she is starting to let go from the tension that was shown in the dates. Additionally, it can show how she’s getting ready to dance and shake off it. In these parts of my footage I have followed conventions of most current pop music videos by using the technique of lip-syncing. I felt that by lip-syncing parts of these lyrics it display how my main actor was speaking directly to the audience.

For the first time that the chorus plays I used the same location from the previous scenes of my main actor still on her dates. Throughout the chorus, I decided to stick to the fast beat of the song and make regular cuts. I also decided to make cuts each time a word was repeated, such as play, hate, shake and break. For the lyric ‘players gonna play’ I shown how my main actor and three other characters were playing cards. For the ‘play play play play play’ I made cuts to of medium close ups on each player. I did this to set the tone of the chorus. Whilst the hate hate hate hate hate, I decided to use fast cuts of negative facial expression like eye-rolls and sighs to show that the other actors were angry or disappointed at my main actor. Whilst the repetitionof the word break, I decided to show my main actor being upset – which could suggest how she was a bit upset with the failure of her dates. However, the repetition of the word shake – my main actor is display as dancing and has positive facial expressions. And this can display to my audience how she dancing off negativity from the dates. Also throughout the chorus my main actor is constantly displayed as smiling so this can display how the positivity of the song and how she doesn’t’ care what other thinks.

For the second verse, I decided to move to a location of a work environment, as jobs and work places are often relatable to many people. Furthermore, it can showcase how the storyline of my music video is moving on. I decided to display more of a visual representation of the lyrics such as for the lyric ‘I never miss a beat’ I decided to show clips of my main actor clicking her fingers, for the lyric ‘I’m lighting on my feet’ I decided to show a close up of my main actor’s feet dancing. For the lyrics ‘that they don’t see’ I decided to use regular cuts to show slight conflict between my main actor and another actor. The other actor had a bored facial expression, suggesting she didn’t like my main actor. However, my main actor still had positive facial expression, showing that she didn’t care what others thought. For the lyrics ‘I’m dancing on my own’ I decided to show how my main actor was dancing to get to her desk. I decided to have her dancing as a form entertainment for my video and also to showcase the positivity of the song.  While the lyric ‘that’s what they don’t know’ I decided to include shocked facial expressions from other workers, suggesting that they don’t understand why my main actor is being positive. I did have some problems whilst I was editing this part of my video as some of my footage were originally filmed vertically while my other footage that I had used was horizontally. This caused me to have black borders around my footage. However, I got past this by changing the video ratio of my clips to 16:9. Although, a problem with this that I found was that a lot my long-shots were now changed into medium shots.

For the lead up to the chorus I decided to have, my main actor at her desk. However, she was constantly shown tapping pencils and slight dancing. I used fast cuts here to show the build of the beats of the song and how my main actor was getting ready to shake off negativity. I decided to have her shaking off negativity in a work place, to showcase how she wants to break free from a work environment, which many members of my target audience would be able to relate to as well. I also decided to use fast cuts, like I had done in the previous chorus, to reflect the fast beats of the song.  I felt that some of the clips which I had used within the chorus, such as the clips of her tapping objects for the repetition of the word play, weren’t relevant to the storyline. I also decided to experiment using some transitions such as push, within this part of my video to see if they would further reflect the energy from the song. The lyric ‘hate hate hate hate hate’ I showed conflict between the other actor and my main actor. My main actor had paper thrown at her, which then used to throw over herself in the lyric ‘I’m gonna shake shake shake shake shake’ which can show how she is being positive about negative about conflict and still not caring what other’s thinks. For the repetition of the word break, I decided to use extremely fast cuts to try and display a visual disruption of the video to reflect the connotation of the word break. Whilst the rest of my video, leading up to the ‘hey hey hey part’ I decided to use regular cuts of my main actor dancing to her car.

My original intentions were to have the whole footage for the ‘hey hey hey part’, to be black and white and use constant fast cuts; that would lead up to the line “my ex man”, of my main actor entering a café.  However, as I didn’t have enough footage to do this I decided to re-film my main actor lip-syncing the words as well in a different location. While I was editing, I decided to mix the footage together. Although, I only had the clips when she is at the café as black and white and kept the speech in colour. This allowed me to show a contrast between the two an also could suggest with the black and white lighting that main actor is thinking of the past.

From the lyric “My ex man brought his new girlfriend” to “but I’m just gonna shake”, I decided to use constant cuts between the couple and main. Although these cuts are at a regular pace. While from the lyric “And to the fella over there” to “we can shake shake shake, my cuts are then shown between the main actor and fella actor; these cuts are fast as my intention was to show suggesting flirting between the two. When the song stops video stop as well and only returns when the song starts back up again. The video returns back in colour, which can portray how it is showing present time. For the clap clap clap part, I used fast editing used to match the fast beats of the song. In the first clap, there are two videos, which are the same, are presented diagonally from each other on the screen, of my main actor dancing. While the second clap shows two video of main actor dancing, like pervious clap however opposite side. Then the third clap shows four videos of my main actor dancing.

For the last time that the chorus played I decided to use regular cuts on each certain word such as the word  “play”, “hate”, “shake”, “break”, “fake” to showcase the fast beat of the song. Within most of these clips I decided to use dancing of my main actor and other actors to showcase a form of entertainment that most narrative videos use. I decided use other actors that were shown as people who mocked or who disliked the main actor start to dance along with my main actor. They appeared to dance with my main actor one at time, before all joining in this can showcase uncertainty and how people are uncertain to shake off negativity. However, when they are dancing they have positive facial expression like my main actor had throughout my video, this can showcase to my target audience how important positivity is. For the lyric ‘Shake it off, I I I, shake it off” to the line “You have got to” I decided to use footage of different people having bad days but ‘shaking them off’ by dancing. I did this did this as I wanted to explore a storyline outside my main actor, but also I did this as entertain value for the audience. Plus I did this to reflect the inner meaning of the song – not only dancing but of people having to shake off bad things. For the lyric, “You have got to”, the video comes back to main actor lip-syncing them words – showing how this is an important message to my target audience and how at times they have to shake off bad things. For the rest of the lyrics my video shows my main actor dancing with others before tripping over. She is then shown to shrugs, showing to the audience how she doesn’t care and then starts dancing again until screen blacks out. This can finally showcase to my target audience of the song’s inner meaning of not caring what other thing and shaking off negativity.

Also in some parts of my video I challenge conventions by adding text, as most narrative music videos don’t display text. I only used text briefly and at the end of the lyrics such as, too late and brain, as I didn’t want to district my target audience away from the narrative. I chose to use text on lyrics from the each verse as they might not be as well-known as the chorus is and this can allow my target audience to learn more of the song. However, I think they have worked effectively as they add a further tone of entertainment and fun to my video.

Adding Text

To further add energy and entertainment to my video, I have decided to use more transitions and add text onto parts of my video. I plan to use text on the last few words of the lyrics in each verse, such as the word, brain or too late. I have decided against using text on the chorus or the verse leading up to the chorus as they are often well known and recognised. By only adding text onto the verse’s lyrics this will be effective as they aren’t as well known and this could allow my target audience an opportunity to learn the lyrics to the song. I have decided to use the font ‘From Where We Are’, as it a thick and bold text so I feel that it will stand out against my video. Furthermore, I have decided to use this, as I have used throughout my other products, and this can display to my target audience how I have used a constant house style.

Feedback for my Video

I decided to gain feedback from members of my target audience about my video; as I had wanted to know if my intentions of making a successful music video that reflected my chosen genre of pop. I also decided to gain both positive and negative feedback from my target audience so I would know both the strengths and weakness of my video furthermore how well it did or didn't reflect my chosen genre. Additionally, my target audience also decided to give me ideas of where I could improve or how I could improve my video. This was beneficial to me as it will give me ideas of how I could further make my music video further successful if I decided to re-edit it.

Positive feedback:

• My target audience liked how I had included a split screen of different videos for the lyric 'I go on too many dates' as they felt it was interesting, as they were able to view different things rather than focus on one date. Furthermore, they liked the use of different videos at the same time as they felt that the use of different videos emphasised the point of the lyric.
• They said that they liked my use of editing and they thought it was especially good at the start of my video as they liked the amount of cuts that I had done; they felt it emphaised the beats of the song well. They also liked scene where I had my actors surrounded at the table during the first part of the chorus. I liked the editing that I used for the lyric 'play, play, play, play, play' as  they liked how I had edited fast cuts of each actor's face; they found it to be effective and thought it set the tone of my video.
• They liked how I didn't fully show the actor who played the character with the 'hella good hair'. They felt that by only showing parts of the actor's body it added a tone of mystery to my video and allowed my target audience to think up their own interpretations of his look.

Negative feedback:

• They felt that in some areas of my video that I had included clips that weren't relevant in reflecting the song's lyrics. Like the clips that I used to present the lyric 'play play play play play', during the second time of the chorus, where I had my main actor tapping different objects against tables. They disliked this scene and said that they didn't how these clips linked into the lyrics of the song and that I should have included other clips that reflected the lyrics such as people playing video games or even have my main actor lip-syncing the words.
• Although my target audience did feel that I used a wide variety of locations they felt at times I could have used more different locations. They felt that the location where I had placed my date three was too cramped and that I should have used an area with more space. Furthermore, the disliked the locations that I had used at the end of my video where I had my main actor and three others dancing as they said they could tell it was located in a living room.
• My target audience felt that despite using a range of shots within my video, they felt it focused mostly around medium and close ups. They disliked this and said that after a while the same types of shots did become boring.

Areas where I could improve:

• One of the ways that my target audience felt that they could improve my video was by brightening the lighting at the beginning of the video as they felt that the clips were still slightly too hard to see.
• Although my target audience did like the use of outfits that I had used throughout my video they felt at times that they did feel a bit bland. To improve they would suggest to include a variety of different outfits such as jeans and dresses rather than just placing my main actor into different skirts and t-shirts.
• They also felt that I could have repeated the technique of split screen and having different videos playing at the same time for the lyric 'but I can't make them stay' as they felt it would have been interesting than just including quick cuts of each date. Furthermore, they felt it would have emphaised the point of how much she couldn't make people stay on the dates.

Full Version of My Video

This is a copy of my video to the length of the whole song. I found that my video plays best on a smaller player, as I had to change the size of my video on the YouTube editor so that my video fitted to its player size. However, by doing this it has caused the quality of my video to be reduced.


 

Changes to Digipaks

After looking at the feedback for my digipaks, I decided to make some changes to my product that would be beneficial in further making my product look more professional and link into the genre of pop. 

I first decided to make changes to my back cover, as I decided to move the track so it was the centre of the page. I did this as it would display how I have followed layout conventions of most digipaks.

While on my booklet, I decided to remove the black background, which was behind my main image. Then decided to change the width and shape of the white rectangle that my main image was on in an attempt to make to look like a polaroid. I decided to do this as it would link back to my front cover and display how I have used a theme of polaroid in my products. Furthermore, I felt that the use of polaroids would reflect the album’s title effectively. I decided to place the polaroid in the centre of the page, so that it would grab the audience’s attention. I then decided to place the lyrics of ‘my ex man brought his new girlfriend’ around the outside of the polaroid. 

I also decided to make changes to my CD. I decided to remove the music notes from my CD as I felt that they were unprofessional and made my product look messy. Instead I have decided to leave my CD a block colour of purple as I liked how it stood against the image that I had used for my CD case. Furthermore, as purple is a bright colour I thought this would reflect the genre pop; pop products often use bright colours to attract their audience and to add an element of fun and positivity.

Changes to Final Poster:

After looking at my target audiences' feedback for my final poster, I decided to make changes that would improve the quality of my poster and so that it displayed the conventions of the genre pop better than my previous poster. Some of the feedback that my target audience gave me was that they felt that my previous poster had too much information displayed on it. They thought that this caused my poster too look too bottom heavy and they were distracted by the information and missed out on the key points. I decided to make these changes by first removing the text so that it only displayed the key information that I wanted my target audience to be informed about, like when the album was going to be released, By cutting down the text, I was able to place my other text in a bigger font, and this made it easier for my target audience too read. However, I decided to keep the website address to my chosen artist's website, as this allowed my target audience to be able to find out further information about the album release for themselves. I then decided to remove the font 'Bold Ariel Black' and instead use more of the 'Thin Font' that I had used within the kickers on the left hand side of my poster, this then allowed my poster to display a constant house style. Furthermore, as Thin Font is a san-serif and modern font, this would appeal to my target audience more as it is presented clearly within my poster. I next decided to remove the kickers from the left hand side of my poster, as my target audience felt that they were taking up too much room on my poster and took away from my main focus point of my poster. After doing this, I moved my image into the centre of my poster, so that it was in-direct eye-contact with my target audience and would be the first thing that they viewed when looking at my poster. After this I decided to move the tag-line of my poster 'party like its 1989' under the main singer's name as I felt this was effective in being presented more clearly rather than its previous placement. I decided to remove the second border on my poster, as although it did help highlight some of the information, my target audience felt that it wasn't beneficial to my poster and instead took up too much room. I also decided to make the stars from my review red with a black outline so that they were bold and clear on the page. Furthermore, I decided use red fonts for the artist name and lead single so that they were more highlighted than the rest of the text on my poster.

Rough Footage: 'Make the moves up as I go'

I found whilst I was editing this part of my video that I did have some issues; as my footage which I had filmed ranged from different sizes. This had happened as I had to record my footage on different decieves such as cameras and a mobile phone, as the current camera that I was orignally using died on me that I was using had died on me. As I had to use different cameras - this has caused my footage to come out in different sizes. The effect which this has had on my video is that it has caused my footage to look messy and unprofessional.

 

I decided to digitally crop and change the sizes of my footage by using my editing software. I did this so that all my footage were the same size and to make my video look more professional. I changed my footage to a size of 16:9, as that was the size that my other footage was. I found as I was changing the ratio of my footage that I had to change shot that were originally long shots to medium to close up shots.

 

Rough Footage: 'Hey Hey Hey' part

My intentions were to have fast cuts leading up to the lyrics 'My ex man brought his new girlfriend' - however, I realised that I didn't have enough footage of that location to do this. So instead of re-filming more footage, I decided to use a different location and have the singer lip-sync the 'Hey hey hey ... to this sick beat'. From doing this, I then had the idea to  incorporate both the pieces of footage together for my video.

 

After editing my previous video, I then decided to re-edit parts of my footage where my main actor is at the cafe as black and white. I found this to be effective as it enhance the quality shots from that location. Furthermore, I think that it allows my video to imply more of a reflective look, as well it can contrast with the shots where she is sitting in the cafe lip-syncing - possibly suggesting to the audience that she reflecting on an event of the past.

Stills From Footage So Far:

This is a collage of stills from my music video so far.These stills are mainly from the first minute of my chosen track. I have chosen to upload stills from my footage that showcase the different locations and shots that I have already used within in my video.

Rough Footage: First Few Seconds and lyrics

These are the first few seconds and beginning lyrics of my chosen song that I have edited. However, I feel that in some places the lighting is too dark e.g. when my main actor is outside and lip syncing the words 'got nothing in my brain' - which can cause my shots to lose clarity and quality, causing my video to look less professional. I think that I will digitally edit this to try and improve the quality of this.

   

 Additionally edited my previous footage by slightly increasing contrast and brightness of my video. I think this has worked well as now my shots can clearly show the singer - however, without making my lighting look less realistic and further promote a dark outdoor look to my location.

 

Digipak Feedback So Far:

Front Cover Positives:

• They had liked the image that I used and liked how it had been brightened, they felt it made my image look less a photo and blended into the background of my front cover well.

• They also liked the font that I had used. They liked how it was thick and bold against the white border. They also felt that as I had picked a font that was thick and bold; additionally they liked how it stood out against the white border.

• They liked how I created all my borders to look like a polaroid as they felt it was a different design to most pop music videos. Additionally, they felt that it suited well into the title of the album.

Front Cover Negatives:

• Although they liked the placement of my image, they still thought that in some parts it was too dark. They felt that I could have digitally lightened my image more. Furthermore, they disliked how my image stood out against the background of my front cover; they felt that I could have blended the image into the background more.

• They disliked the location of the image that I had chosen. The felt it was too dark to see and it was unclear where the location was. Furthermore, they felt this took away from the image and they thought to improve this I could blend the image into the background or chose another image with a better location.

• Furthermore, they disliked how on the photo that I had chosen the female’s face was hidden. They thought it would have been better if I had used an image which displays the female’s face and her expression.

Spine Positives:

• They liked how used the same colours that I used on my front cover. Furthermore, they liked how simple that they were.

• They also liked how I used a white border behind my text. As they felt that by using a white border it brought out my text more.

• They liked the idea of using music notes in between the spaces of my text. They felt that these music notes did help bring out the text more.

Spine Negatives:

• Although the liked the music notes, they felt that the second one looked too rushed and they felt that this made my album look less professional.

• They also didn’t like how the music notes were the same colour as my text. They felt that if I used a different colour for them, then they would have looked slightly better.

• Furthermore, although they liked the concept of the music notes they felt that didn’t really go with my chosen font due to the way that they had been drawn. They felt that if I had used an image of them rather than creating them on Fireworks then this would make my spine look better and more professional.

CD Positives:

• They liked how I used a different colour than my colour scheme. They also felt that the colour purple was a good colour to use as they felt it bright and eye-catching and linked into the conventions of pop CDs; as pop CDs tend to use bright colour schemes.

• They liked how I used the music notes from the spine behind the title of CD as they thought that they linked well together. Additionally, they felt that it added to the cd and would be more interesting to look at rather than a plain block colour CD.

• They liked how I used the colour white for the title of my CD as they felt it complimented well against the purple. Furthermore, they liked how I used a colour from my colour scheme as they felt that it showed that I still linked back to my current house style.

CD Negatives:

• They didn’t liked how random dots had been placed near my music notes. They felt that this made my CD look less professional.

• They also felt that I had placed too many music notes on my CD and this caused my CD to look a bit cramped. They said to improve this I could remove most of my notes and make others bigger as this would make my CD look more spaced out.

• They disliked the colour scheme of my CD was too dark. As they thought that I could have chosen a better image as my CD case as they felt it was too bland and dark.

Booklet Positives:

• My target audience liked how I had included lyrics on my booklet. They felt that it reflect my main actor's facial expression well. Furthermore, they felt the use of lyrics could showcase the song's importance.

• They also liked how I had used a black font and uses capitals for my text, on the poliard. They felt by the use of capitals this could emphasise the lyric; furthermore, as the other lyrics were in lower-case letters they felt that by placing 'She's like Oh My God' in capitals this allowed to be highlighted on the page.

• They also liked the image that I had chosen of my main actor. They felt that it was a good representation of the lyrics. Furthermore, they liked the placement of my image was in the centre of the page; as they found that it was the first thing they noticed.

Booklet Negatives:

• They also liked the image that I had chosen of my main actor. They felt that it was a good representation of the lyrics. Furthermore, they liked the placement of my image was in the centre of the page; as they found that it was the first thing they noticed.

• Although they liked the white boarder that I had used, they felt that it stood out too much against the cream colour. They felt that I should have blended the white boarder into the cream background instead.

• They also felt that I should have used an image that concerned on my main actor's face more. They also said that they had found the image’s location to be quite distracting at times. Furthermore, they disliked how my image was slanted. They felt that this made my cover look slightly messy and less professional.

Back Cover Positives:

• My target audience liked how I had used a different style image compared to the image that I had used on the front. They liked how I had used a long shot image as they liked how they could see the location of my image and my main actors outfit.

• They liked the layout of my back cover. They liked how I had placed the track in the centre of my page, as they felt that they were highlighted to the audience’s attention. Additionally they felt that everything was spaced out well and this made my back cover look lore professional.

• Furthermore, they felt that the lighting of my image was better on my back cover. They liked this as it allowed my image to be presented more clearly.

Back Cover Negatives:

• My target audience disliked the location of the image that I had chosen to use. They felt it was too boring and bland. Furthermore, they suggested that I should have used a location with a white background. Or they suggested that I should have chosen an image from my video instead.

• Although, my target audience liked the layout of my back cover they felt that bar code stood out too much. They said that to improve this, I should have blended bar code into the back cover.

• Although, they liked my back cover my target audience felt that I should have included white borders or used the theme of poliards on my back cover; so that I could have shown a constant use of that theme throughout my digipaks.