ITS OVERRRR :(

Although I admit it has been a VERY STRESSFUL year, I have really enjoyed working with everyone and I have appreciated all the time the media teachers have taken to help us all conclude this part of our year. I loved the group I worked in and I really enjoyed being the face of my music video, it was so much fun to see people's reactions to my performance. Thank youuuu to ALL the teachers for putting up with my annoying voice in workshop all the time, I know it must have been hard. I have to admit, I will miss this blog. 

Till next timeeee, 
Carina Andre 

MY SCHEDULE FOR COMPLETING MY EVALUATION QUESTIONS

I hope to finish most of my question 1 by the end of this weekend then come into college to complete the rest, where I will need the Mac's, also I will start question 2. I plan on coming into college early on Monday to get some work done and I may also stay for workshop as well as going to workshop on tuesday if I am able to. On tuesday I will try to begin questions 3 and 4 so I am comfortable with my timing. 

EVALUATION QUESTION 4: What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Audience feedback is something that is extremely important and can determine whether you are successful or not. The target audience that we aimed for was from the ages of 16-21, as our artist is urban and it would fit into the style of today's teenagers. It was good that this was our target audience since we had many people between these ages all around us at college. 

When we went to the cinema to watch our music videos, our video came on last and the wait was definitely worth the wait. The audiences reaction was exactly what we wanted and we were surprised at the amount of noise and feedback we got from our colleagues about our video. Many people came up to me and commented on my performance and mentioned that if this was actual artist, they may be drawn into listening to her due-to the clothing she wore and her attitude. 

These are two feedback videos that we got straight after the cinema viewing. (They are a little bit confusing because everyone was excited)

I commented on some of the feedback we got from our music video and I gave my own opinion on what I thought of it all. 

What have I learned from the feedback I got?

From the feedback I got from our video, I learned that our use of the rose as one of our synergy products was very efficient. We were able to effect our target audience with the rose as many people commented on it and said they really liked it. I also learned that the time you spend planning and researching is crucial as it allows you to dig deeper into what your target audience likes. Due-to our thorough research, we got an amazing feedback from our audience and we were extremely happy when we heard the loud cheering after our video was played at the cinema. 

FEEDBACK ON MY ANCILLARY PRODUCTS:

I also received numerous good comments on my ancillary work which also made me very happy. A very common comment that I received was on my use of colour and the fact that the pictures are in black and white and are then contrasted with the red lipstick. I learned that the research I done into London's urban culture was worth it because I was able to design my digipak and advertisement using photo shop and I was able to focus on specific things that would make my digipak and advertisement more urban. I also looked back at my ancillary work after I heard these comments and I noticed that I forgot to add my cereal number in, however only one person commented on that and if I were to do it again, that would be something that I would add in. 

EVALUATION QUESTION 3: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Throughout my construction, research, planning and evaluation stages I have used a series of technology that allowed me to be able to achieve the level of work that I have reached.

These were the technologies I used in the research, planning, construction and evaluation stages of my music video:

Using media technologies in the research, planning, construction and evaluation of the Ancillary Work:

Research: When I was researching for my ancillary work, I used the MAC's in every lesson. I used Google images to search up other artist's ancillary work and It allowed me to get some inspiration for my own digipak and advertisement. I also used the blog as I put all of my research work up on it.

Planning: When I was planning for my ancillary work, I used mainly the internet in addition to other things like paper where I would draw out some of my ideas.

Construction:  For the construction of my ancillary work, I used mainly photo shop. I used photo shop to design both my digipak and my advertisement. In photo shop I was able to add effects to the pictures and experiment with different filters that had a different look on the pictures and the fonts.

 

On the left, we can see the spine of the digipak. The first image shows the spine without anything and the second image shows the changes I added. On the top right is the version of the front cover of my digipak without all of the copyright information at the bottom and also without the 'www.karma.com' website. 

 This image on the left is the image I decided to use for my digipak. In the image above you can see the filters gallery shown on the right side of the screen. This was where I applied the effects to my pictures on photoshop. Below is the finished version of the front cover of my digipak with the artist's name and the albums's name on it. For this I used the font 'Mix Tape' on photo shop which is found on the left hand side of the page. 

 Evaluation: For my evaluation stage for my ancillary work, I used quite a few technologies. The very three clear ones are the MAC's, the internet and the blog where I posted my work. I used programmes like prezi, powerpoint and slideshare, camtasia, screen shots and videos in order to answer my ancillary questions. These technologies were essential for me to do my work as they allowed me to explore different ways of presenting my work and made it much more interesting when analysing my ancillary work in detail. 

EVALUATION QUESTION 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

EVALUATION QUESTION 1: In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

There are a number of music video conventions that make up what we see on the screen. At the beginning of the year we were asked to research about Andrew Goodwin, Carol Vernallis and Laura Mulvey. Andrew Goodwin discussed the different types of videos and some of the rules they followed. Carol Vernallis talks of the editing and camera work in videos very closely and Laura Mulvey speaks of the 'male gaze' and the fact that women are used as sexual objects in many music videos to attract the male gender. 

After carefully analysing our video, I noticed that we followed some of the conventions explored by these three individuals. The first convention we slightly followed was Laura Mulvey's theory of woman being presented as sexual objects in music videos as as a way to get men's attention. 




These screenshot of our video show the artist's body and there is no part of her face shown at all. We definitely followed Laura Mulvey's theory here as this shot may receive more male attention as opposed to female attention. This would be due-to the fact that this panning shot of the artist shows off some of her assests. 

How did we use Laura Mulvey, Carol Vernallis and Andrew Goodwin's theories?

Although we did not use Carol Vernallis' idea of jump cuts, we did have effects to simulate a jump cut. We used the same clip however we drew it closer several times and cut between the closer version of the clip and the normal version of the clip to make it look as if there was a jump cut, we also done this to the beat of the song. The screenshots below show both shows that we merged together to create this jump cut effect. We edited between these two in time to the beat and we achieved our aim. 

We also had slow motion which I did not mention in the camtasia as well as having discontinuous editing. We broke her theory in the way we edited, since we have many edits that interfere with the possible continuous editing. This is one of the examples in our music video:

A video that we looked into was Beyonce's 'Broken Hearted Girl' music video. It really influenced us on alot of the choices we made. One idea we took was the use of the black and white effect, which Carol Vernallis would say is quite common in music videos. As well as that, we noticed her use of fast motion in one of the sections of the video, and we decided that we would show some parts down instead. Another inspiration I got from this video was the rose idea. This was the first video where I saw an object being such an important part of the song and adding that much more meaning.

     

ANCILLARY PRODUCTS:

The outside panels of my digipak has followed many conventions and challenged some. One convention that I developed was Carol Vernallis' idea of editing. I used effects to enhance my pictures and I also used an effect to outline her lips, which is a key aspect of all the ancillary products.

In the digipak and the advertisement I did however challenge Laura Mulvey's idea of women being portrayed as sexual objects. None of my body parts are exposed and I am in fact quite covered up.


                                                           

In my advertisement I followed some conventions that are quite obvious. I placed a big picture of the artist taking over most of the advertisement as most would do. I also placed the actual CD cover on the advertisement in order to advertise it and make it more known to the public. The 'OUT NOW' is also found in a few advertisements that include information about the albums. The website is also quite conventional and the layout of the advertisement it also conventional. The artist's name is at the top and is the biggest writing on the page as are most advertisements. I again challenged the convention that women are seen as sexual objects in the music industry.

The Rita Ora Advertisement and Album cover were a very big inspiration for me when I was creating my ancillary work because they really reflected the type of artist I wanted Karma to be seen as. I wanted her to really challenge some conventions but then again develop them in a way that would make her unique and unlike other artists. 

EVALUATION QUESTION 4 NOTES AND IDEAS

For my question 4, I hope to use Final Cut Pro to bring together some of the comments that I got for my music video and my ancillary work. I will also use videos to demonstrate the audience's ideas and feelings. 

EVALUATION QUESTION 3 NOTES AND IDEAS

I will be commenting on the use of the technology like the MAC's and the cameras we used to film our music video. I will also comment on the programmes used like photoshop and Final Cut Pro to edit my ancillary work and my music video. I hope to talk about how I used them thoroughly and how I learned from using them. 

EVALUATION QUESTION 2 NOTES AND IDEAS

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

I will talk about the synergy product that is used in all three of my products which will be the use of the colour red. I will also talk about the rose as it is also used in all three products. 

I think my promotional package is very well used throughout my products as I do not exaggerate on the use of the red as well as the use of the roses, however i have used it enough to make the artist be known for these synergy products. 

Even though the font is not a synergy, I will still comment on it because it is the same throughout all products and I thought this was crucial because as soon as her fans see that font, they will know it is connected with her.

ANCILLARY PRODUCTION: Feedback on DIGIPAK and ADVERTISEMENT

ANCILLARY PRODUCTION: FINAL ADVERTISEMENT

ANCILLARY PRODUCTION: FINAL DIGIPAK (Inside and Outside)

ANCILLARY PRODUCTION: Creating My Advertisement

ANCILLARY PRODUCTION: Creating my DIGIPAK

ANCILLARY PLANNING: Mock Up of my ADVERTISEMENT

ANCILLARY PLANNING: Mock up of my DIGIPAK

This is the mock up of the front cover of my digipak. I decided to go for a black and white theme which is quite urban and will therefore create the look I want for my artist. I am also going to include red as well as the rose because these are two of our synergy products. 

This is the inside of my digipak mock up. 

ANCILLARY WORK: Choice of locations for Photos

When we first thought of where we should shoot, we thought the best place to do it would be in the room where the green screen is since the black curtain is in there and we wanted a plain background. However, when we got into the room and started taking pictures we encountered a problem. I was wearing black and the curtain was black; as well as my hair being quite dark, so this did not work. We then decided to try the other side of the room where there was a white wall, however it was a little dirty so we decided to go and find a cleaner white wall. We went to one of the staircases and we found a large white wall that was perfect. We also had a fan on us, and since there was a plug next to this white wall, it was perfect. 

ANCILLARY PLANNING: Overview of Costumes in the Photos

The reasons behind the use of the colour black was mainly because we did not want the photos to look too messy and confusing. We were not sure how we would be using the images and what effects we would possibly be putting on them so even though our artist is urban, we did not want to mix too many colours as we were afraid it may not look good with the effects we may decide to use. 

We also decided to keep the red lipstick as we did not have a rose on this day and the red lips is one of our synergy products. We also decided to add on the fur scarf as we thought it would create a very trendy look for the artist. Many artist now compete for fans and many of them use fashion as a way to reach out to these fans. 

ANCILLARY PLANNING: Photos of our Artist for the Ancillary Work

 These were some of the pictures we took for our ancillary work. We decided to stick to very plain black and white backgrounds as we were not yet sure whether we would need to crop out any pictures and we were told that with a pattern in the background it would be much harder. 

 

We tried many types of pictures but we were happier with the pictures that were closer to the artists face as opposed to pictures that were further away. 

ANCILLARY PLANNING: The DO's and DON'T's of Design Work