A2 Coursework Final Production Evaluation Question OneRoop Arora

In what ways does your media product use,

develop or challenge forms and conventions of real

media products?

Media platforms I used to present my videos and ancillary tasks

In terms of the media platforms I used to present my video, I used the video-sharing website ‘YouTube’ via the Internet. I used this website in particular as I knew I would be able to release content to a potential mass audience. YouTube is home to a diverse 1 billion users and set of media such as film, music, TV, video logging and more and so my production " a skating music video had its place amongst many other genres. This contrasts with websites such as ‘Vimeo’, which serves the same purpose but doesn’t have the same sheer mass of people utilising it from day to day.

Ancillary Task

In terms of my ancillary tasks, my web pop up would usually be a form of an online piece of work, this meant I had to create it on the computer using Adobe Illustrator CS6 and so I made a collection of sketches in my sketchbook to give me a better idea of how it would look in reality before it would be released onto the internet.

To digitally create the web pop up, I used specialist programmes such as Illustrator and I couldn't use forms of social media to advertise and present this because this is my own made-up company so advertising it would be misleading and a bad idea because the Arora drumsticks do not exist. Alternatively, I used the BBC homepage as a website to place the web pop up on in the corner of the screen so it is not so distracting to the user but is also intriguing because when it is small enough to notice in the corner, people are more likely to notice it as opposed to it being a large, annoying and distracting advert that covers the whole screen so people are more likely to dismiss a larger advert.

If i were to publicly advertise this, I would use Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and create physical printed billboards to look to the public.

Television Sponsorship Sequence

For my television sponsorship sequence, I used an iPhone 6 for the filming of the product and YouTube.com to present it as it is a moving picture piece and so YouTube is the best place to appeal to people and showcase work to millions of people. There is no definitive or specific genre to my piece, it is a drumming advert. This is closer to a music genre but it isn't because it is not a musical.

My television sequence shows a drumstick hitting a drum cymbal in slow motion whilst the audience are informed that this company sponsors a specific programme on 'Kerrang TV'. A typical TV sponsorship sequence would involve something fast paced, colourful and fun for the audience. I decided to go against this and want to create something that is visually dark but impressive such as a drum cymbal vibrating at 240 frames per second after it is hit. Also, it is related, it is a drumming company so using drum related equipment being drum sticks and cymbals makes perfect sense and works well in my opinion. However, it may come across as dull and boring but the main idea behind the slow motion I that is takes time so the viewer can absorb the visuals being shown.

The genre conventions

There were not too many specific codes and conventions that appeared in advertisements like mine that had a very similar style to what I wanted to produce. A lot of advertisements follow a certain pattern or were shot in a specific way.

Here are the features of the genre that the audience would expect in my

production

Still Camera

More close up shots of the drummer (camera placed on skateboard - man made dolly)

More intricate angle of the drum playing rom crevasses in the drum kit

Slow motion (usually used during stick tricks)

Impressive and extravagant stick tricks when the drummer be wanting to show off

A general sense of cinematography – aware of ways to make the video look visually impressive/appealing to the audience using the editing software effectively.

‘Whiplash’

I cannot think of any films that are made specifically about drumming other than 'Whiplash' - looking at this film made me want to find some more different looking shots that the stereotypical camera angles of a drummer. My film did not show many if not any of those two types of camera angles showing a drummer`

When filming my production, I didn’t want to use a too many close ups of the drummer. I wanted my adverts to have an odd style and be very different to he narration that you would find in a typical advert and want to make the visuals and soundtrack do the explaining. I intended to portray the story of a drummer walking to the venue of where he will play a concert and get ready before hand, rather than produce a video with no real character to get to know or relate with. In my production I wanted the audience to get to know my character better and so to do this I dedicated the introduction/build up of the song to doing exactly that –getting to know the character and allowing the audience to develop an impression of him. This is why I chose the soundtrack I did for the first of two adverts because it has a really nice and well crafted build up before the drums come in which is where the drumming comes in mixing a concert scene up with pre-show activities.

Making a conscious decision to challenge any forms and conventions:

Was I successful?

I created two adverts so it is difficult to evaluate that so quickly. However, after a conscious review, I do believe I was successful. This is because when I imagine watching television, I would not expect to see what I created shown as an advertisement because it has specific feel and build up about it that it could be a short film or even a part of a programme. Adverts are supposed to be short, snappy and effective but mine is slow. During the beginning stages I think I succeeded in showing what the character is like not by getting his personality put across but knowing what he looks like, his playing style and way he acts before a show. I demonstrated this through the use of a range of camera angles extreme close ups, low angle shots and dolly shots. I do believe my two productions are different to what would be expected of a typical advert. This goes from everything from the soundtrack choice being expected to be soft and gentle but in both, the songs are aggressive and dark because the genre of music the drumsticks being advertised for is metalcore and heavy metal so it makes sense to have that as the non-diegetic sound.