Evaluation: Question 1 Planning

Question 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Overall I feel my music promo mostly follows the codes and conventions of a music video due to the various camera shots, editing techniques, costumes, props and location. My music promo fits into the category of narrative but also performance in a small part of my promo. Therefore, I am following a code and convention of music promos. The camera shots such as close up, mid shots, long shots and establishing shots all used for various reasons again show that I follow the codes and conventions of a music promo.

Alot of my editing techniques included cross- dissolves and fade in/outs. This again shows that my music promo follows the codes and conventions because these are the most popular editing techniques used within music videos. Although, I also used additive dissolves and lunar transitions which make the promo more unique because these are less common transitions to use and you don't see them very often in music videos, meaning the codes and conventions are challenged slightly.

The costume and props helped me to follow the codes and conventions of a music promo because I knew it was important for my artist to be dressed in clothes which fit the style and genre of the song, which is what all music videos do. The guitar which I use may challenge the codes and conventions because it is not very common to see a guitar in recent music videos, and are mostly used in live videos rather than recorded, however instruments such as the piano in Bruno Mars's video for Just the way you are, are a popular choice.

I used '9 frames' to aid me in answering this question because I felt it was quite a creative way to express my points and answer the question. I then thought it would be useful to do another 9 frames for an already existing music video from Taylor Swift, so I could compare and see if I used the appropriate codes and conventions in my music video.

Magazine Advert Draft

Draft digipak

3rd Draft Music promo

Deadline reflection

I stuck to all my deadlines for each stage of the project including: research, planning, first draft construction, second draft construction and final construction. However looking at my calender I planned to do particular tasks on specifc days, and I did not stick to this schedule completley because I realised some areas needed to be done instead of others. For example I was planning to do a whole week of working on my ancillary task, but I realised I also had to work on editing my promo and not just my ancillary in order to meet my deadline. I felt the system of balancing out music promo and ancillary weekly worked really well and aided me to meet my deadlines and keep up to date with the work load.

Some of the deadlines from the calendar altered slightly, but not matter what day it got moved to I made sure I was organised and did all the work to meet them. Overall I felt I was very good at time keeping and I kept a constant pace which worked for me, through the entire project. I am pleased with myself that I met every deadline because missing one deadline means it would affect whether you meet the next deadline, which is why I found it so important to do the work.

Music promo feedback

When asking my target market about what they thought of my first draft of my music video, they said that they liked the setting of the woods because they felt that it linked with the song and genre of music it is, but they said that to improve I should include different locations and different outfits to make it look like more of a music video and to make it more interesting. They also said that they think black and white may work well for some parts of the video to show flashbacks or for the bits were she looks sad because she is on her own and black and white is quite a dull and sad colour scheme to use and therefore reflects her dull emotions in this particular part of the video. I listened to this feedback and filmed more footage of her in different locations (the cafe and train station) and in different outfits. After seeing the second draft, they said it looked much better and the short takes worked well in matching with the pace of the song. They thought the shorter takes were much more interesting than the long takes of her standing still singing in the same place.

How my music promo has changed from my storyboard

The first 27 seconds of my music promo is how I planned it to look in my storyboard, starting off with a close up and then moving out into a medium shot and then finally a long shot to show the road so that the lyrics link with the visuals.

For the chorus, I completley changed the camera angle from a medium shot of her standing still to a long shot with her walking towards the camera. I felt this worked better because I didn't want my chorus to be the same as the rest of the song because it would have made my music promo look quite boring. I also felt the chorus needed some movement because it was a slightly faster pace than the rest of the song. However after doing my first draft, I realised that I didn't like how far back the artist was because you couldn't see her very well and therefore was not very effective. Due to this issue, I decided to change my chorus to have her in different locations in different outfits to provide a contrast between the chorus and the rest of the song. I feel that the more frequent short takes during the chorus work well because it matches the faster pace of the chorus. The different locations make it more interesting to watch because it isn't her just standing there singing in the same location which is what my storyboard looks like. For the end of the chorus 'trying to find a place in this world' I said in my storyboard that I would have her lift her arms, which is what I did in my music promo. I felt this looked effective in my promo and I chose to keep it because again it was linking in visuals with the lyrics.

In my storyboard, I didn't take into account the instrumental bits and thought that I could just have her standing there and not singing. However, I realised this would be quite boring so I thought I could incorporate a guitar within the promo and have her playing it. I really like her playing the guitar and I think it was a good idea because it is different from the rest of the video and works well with the country- pop genre I am going for.

Similarly I said that I would have my artist sitting on the window sill for one of the verses with the radio playing like it says in the lyrics. I filmed this and realised it worked well within the rest of my video so implemented it into my final promo. Although I didn't have the radio in the background because I didn't want it too look to set up and cheesy.

For the verse starting at 1.12, I again was just going to have her standing there singing in the woods but when it came to filming we found a bench within the woods, which I felt was suitable to use in my promo because it still linked in with the style but made it clear that it was a different verse within the song. The last chorus starting at 1.50, was going to have a lake in the background when I was creating the storyboard and she would be facing the camera and singing. I used this idea when filming about having a lake involved but adapted it slightly and had her singing whilst looking at the camera and walking away from it towards the lake and then looking out on the lake. This is one of my favourite shots because the lake looks good and the misty feel gives it a nice wintery effect, which links with the clothing I chose for my artist to wear.

The last chorus is different to the other chorus' because I didn't want it to be too repetitive. I chose to have her sitting in the cafe were she was in the flasbacks in the previous chorus, but this time she is actually singing in the cafe. The last part of the song consists of a couple different flashbacks which were not used in the first part of the video, but were in the same location, again linking all of the shots and locations together in order to show her journey. I didn't plan for the part where she throws the leaves in the air for the 'Oh I'm alone bit' but once I watched it I felt this looked really good in the video because it flashes back to the woods location just before the song ends. Finally, I said that I would end up with a close up like the beginning which I did do because I wanted to show that her journey had come to an end and emphasise the narrative style of video I created.

Second draft filming reflection

When re filming the first 17 seconds we had some issues because there were road works down the road which were not there when we filmed first, meaning we had to turn the camera in the other direction. We had to go closer to the corner in the road meaning it was very hard to shoot without a car being in the background. Once I began to edit this new footage, I realised that the original footage was a much higher quality and it was much clearer, therefore I used the original footage. Unfortunatley, I did not adjust the focus on the camera lense which is why some parts looked more blurry. I didn't have time to re film this because I did not want to fall behind on my evaluation deadline, plus I don't think it was a major problem because when I put it all together, as a whole it looked successful. If I got the chance to do this again I would make sure the camera is in focus before, everytime I film.

Filming in the cafe was successful because it was empty when we did it so didn't have to get anyone's permission apart from the owner. This meant that we didn't have any interuptions of disturbances through the filming. The main reason why I wanted to film in the cafe when it was empty is to emphasise her being on her own. I then chose to film at the train station because I feel these are quite lonely places. The train station filming was also successful although it started to get busy as a train was due to come, however we had already completed our filming by then.

Dolby

A much better draft. I think the second half is more successful than the first half as it has more of a variety of shots and is well shot. I think the main area to look at is the timing of your cuts in the first part. They are very sharp and often a bit early.

Ancillary task feedback

When I did my drafts for my digipaks, my target market said that they liked one of the fonts that I used called 'freehand' because it linked with the feminine style of my artist. I took into account this feedback and used this font for my digipak and poster to create continuity. They also said that they liked the front cover image of my artist which is why I chose to use it for my digipak final. They suggested that I could change the inside left pane image so I changed it and put a black and white effect on it which looked better. I feel the black and white effect makes it look slightly different so that the digipak does not look like a single release and looks like an album.

Here are some comments from my target market about the final drafts of my ancillary task, after taking into account their advice:

Chloe Price (17 year old female)

I really like all of these designs. I think the picutres you have used are really good as they help to promote the artist. The information that you have included informs the reader but doesnt dominate the page still making it eye-catching and standout. I think my favourite design is the one that has been uploaded most recently as it promtes her style of music and her as an artist as its fun and exciting, in the way she is posed. The colours used work well together and standout from the main image. I like the fact the style matches the digi pack design as this links them together and clearly shows the audiance that this song is featured in the album. Very good!!! :)

Kasey Thomas (17 year old female)

I really like all of the posters presented, however my favourite is the first because although you can see the artist you can't see her face which I think is very effective. All of the posters are very lovely but they could be improved by using more femine fonts because it is too advertise a female artist. The album is also successful due to it all linking together and I feel the black and white panes work well with the other panes.

Second draft digipak

Magazine Advert Draft

Second draft music video

Ideas for extra pane of digipak

 I may create two extra panes for my digipak with one pane having information about Taylorw. I feel this is useful and effective because it makes the audience feel closer to the artist and get that little bit extra that they wouldn't if they just downloaded the album online. I will use this page of Taylor Swift to inspire me for what I should include in my information pane. This page of Taylor's includes very specific things about her such as 'I have blurry' eyesight which helps the audience understand what she is like as a person and any flaws she may have. I will include some of these specific factors like Taylor has because I feel that these are the things which are most effective and would appeal to the audience the most because they obviously like the artist if they are buying their album and therefore will want to find stuff like this out.

First draft ancillary task

Here is my the draft which I have chosen to take forward into developing it into my first draft. I feel this image works really well as a poster image because even though the artist is not directly looking at the audience, it is clear who the artist is and works well because it is an edgy and unique image therefore the audience are more likely  to remember the poster.  The font for Taylor Swift is also used on my digipak to create continuity and to ensure that the audience know that it is all from the same artist and promoting the same artist. I feel the script like font fits in with the feminine style of the artist and the country- pop genre of music. The date is also in the same font to show that these are the two most important factors on the poster. I may change the font of the quotations and album name to the 'Segoue' font used at the bottom of my poster. I included the icons at the bottom of the page so the audience can remember the logos and what social networking sites they can used to get information on the artist.

This draft is the one that I have chosen to take further and develop for my first draft. I have made the two inside panes black and white so that it doesn't look too similar and that I am only promoting the single. Although I like the black and white, I am not sure if it makes it look too different because I am not using any black and white for my music promo or poster therefore I don't know if I will be using the black and white style. I may look into taking more photos with my artist in a different location/outfit but don't want it too look like it doesn't belong in the same album.

Dolby

Danielle, clear images and fonts and a functional layout. My only conceren is that it still looks like a single release rather than an album as it is all so similar.

Second draft filming

I am going to film some more footage on Tuesday 20th November because I need some footage without my artist singing in some parts so that it is easier to speed up and slow down, and so that I can insert these into my video to shows flashbacks and shorter takes, because at the moment, it is all quite long takes with her standing there singing. I also need to film her singing with some more close ups so that it promotes her more as I haven't got many close ups at the moment. While she is not singing I may have her sitting down looking across a lake to show that she is thinking and reflecting. I may also have her sitting down and singing while she sings the chorus to have more of a calm and tranquil feel. However I am worried that the medium pace of the chorus is too fast to have her just sitting down but I will film it to see how it looks.

For the first first were it says 'I don't know what's down this road, I'm just walking' I currently have her standing still while singing but I think it may be better if I have her walking whilst she is singing this verse because it fits with the lyrics better. I will see which looks better and implement the best footage into my promo. I am thinking of having the artist in a few different locations and outfits not singing, so that half of the chorus is sung while leaning against a tree for example and could pan around her, and the other half she is not singing in and she in another location such as a cafe or at home on her own making a coffee, or in her bedroom looking out her window to show that she is on her own. I definatley need to incorporate more short takes because all my takes are very long and make the video look slightly dull and boring.

To do list:

• Re- film first 17 seconds due to the jogging. Begin with close- up and then zoom out 9 seconds into the song. Also shoot footage of close up then begin walking instead of standing still.
• 30 seconds in: Begin to film in the cafe with her sitting down drinking a cup of coffee on her own. Try and get no one around her to show her feeling isolated and on her own. NOT SINGING IN THIS PART
• 33 seconds in: Flicks back to the 'present' where she will be standing against the tree- close up. May pan around her if it looks good but will also film a still one to see which looks the best.
• 2:06: 'Oh I'll be strong'- Close up against the tree
• 2:16: 'Oh I'm alone'- Flicks back to coffee shop
• 2:24: ends with the close up like the beginning to show the journey has come to and end and nothing has changed.
• Film any extra parts with he not singing incase I need to show flashbacks: e.g. sitting down looking out onto a lake, walking across a bridge, throwing pebbles into the lake, trying on clothes on her own etc.

Mrs D

These adverts look good Danielle. Well done. I like the immages and your integration of text and image is effective. Get some audience feedback to help you decide. Don't forget about the music promo - it is worth twice as muich as both ancillary tasks put together.

Magazine Advert Drafts

Reflection on drafts:  On the first 3 drafts here, I like the image because I think it is unique. I wanted to put the font at the bottom as some black and white so it didn't look too overwhelming however the black font at the bottom was too unclear so I changed it all to white. The italic fonts fit well with the swirly font for Taylor Swift, providing a flow throughout the poster. I then decided to change the image on the fourth draft of her standing in the middle of the road with trees either side of her. I feel this image is a strong image and therefore emphasises her as a strong woman. I have chosen to develop the poster with her standing holding the guitar in the air and her not facing the camera for my final.