Media A2 Evaluation

By Alex Patrick-Smith

In what ways does your product use, develop or challenge conventions of real media products?

Initially when I first started my research into music videos the first thing I learned was that they all follow a similar structure in terms of how they relate to the music. This was very important to me because if I was going to create my own music video I would need to somehow develop these conventions of real media products where the video relates to the music itself. The videos did however vary based mainly on the genre of the music that was going with the video. This can be seen in terms of Mise en Scene, editing and the shot types that were used to create a video that fit the style of the music.

Discovering this in my research made me understand that if I were to develop or challenge the conventions of these real media products, then I would need to create a music video that would fit in well with the genre of music that I chose. I think that creating a video based on the Synth-wave genre of music challenges the conventions of real media products because it is not for a very mainstream audience as it contains no lyrics of any kind. Lyrics were the key thing that were in all the videos that I analysed and so I decided to create a video that was different from real media products and therefore challenging those conventions of what make up a music video.

In what ways does your product use, develop or challenge conventions of real media products?

I decided to go into this niche market of music videos because I felt that I could help develop these kind of videos even further. I used a lot of the same conventions from the music videos that I looked at for example the use of fast paced editing is a feature used by many music videos when the music is in the chorus and so I also decided to do this however I did it where the more upbeat parts of the music took place as within the song I used there is no chorus as such. I also tried to add in a narrative with my music video which from my research is a main feature within music videos and so audiences will identify my video as a music video.

In addition to this in post production I also added a posturize filter to the video to add to the aesthetic of the video. I believe that this also develops and adds to real music videos because some videos do include filters such as monochrome and so I think posturizing my entire video shot for shot not only added to the video but also developed the conventions of real music videos. Kavinskys music video for ‘Odd Look’ is most similar to my video and that also uses similar aesthetic to my video and so maybe I have not developed the conventions but have just used conventions that were already there.

In what ways does your product use,develop or challenge conventions of real media products?

Moving onto the poster ancillary task, I think I used a lot of conventions from existing poster products. I made the text bold and stand out so that the audience could easily identify with what it was. I also used the same font from my music video so that the products are linked together to form a bond. This is also done with existing media products and so I wanted to make sure that I used the right conventions. I also developed real media products by using one main image and enlarging it so that it is the focal point of the poster. Furthermore, this image is the front cover of the Digi-Pack and so this also creates a link between my products which from my research I understand that real products do this as well to create a brand for themselves.

In what ways does your product use, develop or challenge conventions of real media products?

With my Digi-Pack ancillary text I wanted to ensure that I used the codes and conventions that I learned from my research. An example of this was that many Digi-Packs included Large eye catching images for the front cover to try and catch the audiences attention. I felt this was very important to do as this is the main focal point of the Digi-Pack itself. In addition to this, I followed the conventions of keeping an effective colour scheme on all sides of the Digi-Pack so that the theme of the video would transpire on to the audience.

However, I also challenged the conventionsof real media Digi-Packs by including imagesfrom the music video itself. From my research I feel that Digi-Packs tend to not do this toavoid setting the wrong tone for the wholealbum. I however believe that this would Work well with the concept of the whole album and I also think that using contrastingimages for the back of the Digi-Pack onlymade it a more stand alone product thatwould stand out to people. Keeping the same Font and general style of the text also used Conventions of real media products as many Other products do this to create synergy with their products.

How effective is the combination of your main and ancillary texts?Within my main and ancillary tasks I wanted to create a ‘Synth Wave’ style aesthetic that would be coherent throughout all of the tasks and create synergy between the texts. One of the main ways that I did this was to put the same font in the video that was also in my ancillary texts. In addition to this, I tried to also have a similar colour scheme between all of the texts which word further create an effective combination of the texts. I think I achieved this to a certain extent where I added a filter to the Digi-Pack which also go well with the video. Throughout the texts I tried to put forward a dark electronic tone however contrasting this bright colours such as the striking pink text that is used throughout. I believe I achieved this by filming at night time and combined this with my ancillary tasks with the colour black being prominent in places however I could of perhaps turned down the excessive amounts of pink and blue in the ancillary texts as this could be considered to overrun the dark tone that I was essentially going for.

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

In addition to this, I feel that perhaps my poster sometimes did not create the synergy that I wanted with the music video itself. This is because I feel it lacks that dark tone that the video brings forward and so perhaps I could of expanded on this within the poster. Also, I think that the poster does not completely create the correct image of what the video was actually about for example it includes no indication of a skateboard within the video. The video itself also contains no hint of rain and therefore the poster and Digi-Pack could be misguiding and therefore not have a very strong connection. I found this a difficult task because there is only so much you can do within a poster and so I think I am happy to some extent that there is still quite a bit of synergy between the main and ancillary texts.

Audience FeedbackIn the beginning of my audience feedback surveyI looked at who was viewing my video and to seewho my video appealed to. From the results I I could see that it had a wide age gap and so this tells me that my music video was viewed byvarious kinds of people which is what I was looking for when I first planned the idea.

To further understand my audience I also looked at what gender watched my video. As you can see from the image to the left it was mostly viewed by males. This is what I predicted when I first started to do research and planning for the music video and so I feel that I have met my target audience well.

Audience FeedbackMy next question was aimed at looking to see if audiences understood what I was going for within the video and if the video was easy to understand. The results for conclusive in that most people thought that it was a montage of clips which indeed the video was. I felt that this met the criteria for music videos and so it appears that audiences understand this as well.However at the same time I was trying to tell a story but it was not exactly linear. The fact that audiences picked this as a category of music video that my video falls into tells me that my video might have been a bit confusing in places. In addition to this its good to see some indication that people knew I was trying to make a somewhat serious video and not a typical party–type music video that mainstream audiences are used to seeing. Linking this back to how all types of audiences viewed my video tells me that everyone seems to enjoy a more underground type of music video.

Audience FeedbackMoving on throughout the survey I then asked what people enjoyed most about the video itself. It seems that people really liked the concept that I was trying to conceive to the audience which was a late drive at night about self discovery. From this I have learned that people do also enjoy the synth-wave genre of music as well and how it can fit in well with what I wanted to present. Also, People also seemed to enjoy the shot types that were used throughout the video. I tried to always use shots that kept within the codes and conventions of

real music videos and so if people thought they were good and suited the video then I think I did to some extent achieve what I was going for. An ’other’ option was also chosen which suggests that they liked the feel of the video and so I think I did create an atmosphere that was noticeable within the music video.

Audience FeedbackMoving on I then asked my audience more specifically if they enjoyed the music video and if not why.

Audience Feedback

Audience Feedback

Audience Feedback

Audience Feedback Conclusion

How did you use new media technology in the construction stage?

How did you use new media technology in the planning stage?

How did you use new media technology in the research stage?

Did I use new media technologies effectively?