Media Evaluation

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

There are many ways in which our media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products. Whilst researching, we decided as a group that we were going to follow the conventions of real media products and this was done so that we had a clear aim for our target audience. Our target audience was aimed at the teenage market as this age range seems to listen to the type of real media products we were looking to follow. The genre used throughout the music video was RnB which is very popular within the teen age group that we aimed our product at. As a group we decided to use a song by Rhianna, who is very well known worldwide for her excellent music talents. However we decided to use a song that has no music video called “Fire Bomb”, which is not a well known song however we came across it throughout our research.

The conventions found in other RnB real media products follow a pattern of performance and narrative. This can be seen in the research that our group produced and in particular my textual analysis video, whereby I research another video by “Rhianna” called “Love the way you lie”. We took it upon ourselves to follow this trend of a music video with performance as well as a narrative, following videos such as “Shontelle – Impossible”, “Leona Lewis – Bleeding Love” and again “Rihanna’s – I love the way you lie”. The music video would construct of mainly narrative work however it would be broken up by the performance parts that we were to add in, as this was also shown in the previous videos analysed. Narrative parts of the video would not have any singing or lyrics; it would mainly be acting involved, with mimed words. The performance would generally be by themselves and not with a band or backup singers.

On the other hand music videos of this genre may also choose to construct their videos differently, for example “Tinchy Stryder - Game Over” and “Lupe Fiasco - The Show Goes On” which are predominately performance based videos that follow the acts walking and performing as if they were on stage. However further to this a lot of videos use performance styles,

whereby the artist does not actually sing throughout the performance and has dancers in the back ground which are also performing. This is visible in “N-Dubz ft. Bodyrox - We Dance On” and in Ne-Yo “One in a Million”. However our music video challenges these forms and conventions by following the singing part of the performance and a story telling narrative.

Throughout the research produced by the group we decided to convey the forms and conventions of the concept style video. To help us conclude if this was the best choice for us we produced questionnaires and conducted interviews that specifically asked whether people liked performance, narrative or concept videos and on the whole are feedback showed that concept videos were not all that popular. However we decided that with all our ideas put together, and a good use of blending of three of these styles, we could produce a music video that would “wow” everyone who watched it. Once the style of video was decided we then could start laying down the foundations of our music video to suit to song chosen “Fire Bomb”. We used the forms and conventions as an advantage

to create a fresh new story line, as well as one that would match the lyrics of the song.

In the end we decided that the performer’s boyfriend would get stabbed and die. This also follows the forms and conventions of a typical RnB song or film, for example in “Get rich or die trying” which is 50 Cent’s film whereby there is a lot of violence which relates to this type of culture. However, to develop the conventions of an RnB song, we would have to show the raw emotions of the artist. By this you show a short scene of what happened and then the rest of the narrative part is the emotion the actor is showing from the loss of her boyfriend. We did this with scene such as flashbacks of them both in bed, kissing and being happy. A technique in the editing suit which I would have liked to of used again was the black and white effect for past memories, as this worked well with my thriller trailer from last year. However as a group we decided that putting a “Red Devil” effect would work better throughout with the genre. This effect was accompanied by the fact we put the performer in a dark room which goes along with many videos especially the start of a lot of music video performances where it tends to be very dark to start with. A good example of this can be seen in “Lupe Fiasco - Superstar (featuring Matthew Santos)” where it starts slowly with the lights bringing more lighting to the stage.

Further to this we managed to challenge the idea of having designer labels in the video, whereby fashion makes a big statement. This was not ideal as there was no large budget for the music video and therefore we had to work with what we had. However we used a colour theme system in which to capture the audience’s moods and enhance their emotions, which is not done in many of the latest RnB songs. As a group we also decided that the use of colours

would be key in the theme and genre conventions of the video as if we got the colour scheme wrong then the audience may be puzzled or confused as to what we were trying to convey.

In contrast I think that we used a good range of genre forms and conventions in relation to real media products, as well as targeting a young audience. This was only achievable through hard work in the research stage of the product as it made it clearer to us what the audience would like to see in the video.

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

The combination of our main product and ancillary texts are well linked through many different ways. Firstly we used similar themes in all the products, which was to relate to fire as the song name was “Fire Bomb”. Secondly the colour themes used throughout all of our products are similar so that it is clear to the audience that they can recognise the different products as a whole. Our digi-pack and CD cover consisted with the elements of fire. We were heavily influenced by adverts we saw from Lady Gaga, which consisted semi nakedness. This influenced our group because we wanted to think of something original that would contrast with fire. We decided that bare skin would help to contrast the fire theme. We then compared other digi-packs and CD covers to other artist’s products, such as Lady Gaga, Lily Allen and Pixie Lott.

Once we had decided as a group that we were going to contrast two ideas with each other we started to come up with ideas of how we are going to construct the digi-pak and poster that was going to be produced. Due to the theme of nakedness we decided that having the performer on the front cover would match many of the latest albums that have come out into the chart recently for example “The Lady Killer by Cee-Lo Green”, which has a close up of Cee-Lo Green as the front cover of his new album. We decided to adopt this popular theme and use it to our advantage. Furthering this we decided

that instead of just having the artist posing in the picture, we would use a prop or object in which we can enhance our theme. As a group we came up with the idea of the performer holding her hand out as if fire was coming out of it. We managed to create this effect using

the programme Photoshop. This was something that even with our vigorous research we could even find a match. Therefore it was quite clearly our idea and shows good create skills.

As for the photo itself, it’s a mid shot of the artist’s body and face, naked however she is covering up some parts. We did this from the influence of the Lady Gaga photo we had found as we believed it would attract a large audience because not many artists have semi naked photos of them on their own front cover. However, the fire is also an attracting element on the front cover. Our digi-pack contains the same theme as the front cover. We did this because the audience will see the same reflecting images and therefore the audience can associate one media text with another.

All of our products produced are effective in different ways because they have one image running through them which is the image of the fire which links the song’s lyrics, however use other objects or themes in which help them to be individual an unique. However coming back to the theme of fire our audience will see this and automatically think “Fire Bomb”. Therefore when the audience see other images of fire they can relate back to our work and therefore we are

getting created for work that is not ours.

Our music video is also effective because it meets the needs and wants of our target audience. From research we were able to find out what the target audience wanted and then target those wants to suit the needs of the audience. These were things like a concept video with a story line, and having the main singer perform. Our digi pack and CD cover are also effective because having the main singer on the front cover, also being semi naked attracts the audience to view the product this is because people can relate to the nudity to being quite natural, innocent and vulnerable, which is the image that we are trying to convey because of the loss of her boyfriend. This causes a media theory which is called personal realisation, where the audience can relate to the product that has been produced.

Finally I just wished to explain that our group as a whole knew that the print products, use of marketing techniques would be essential, otherwise people would ignore the music video without even listening to it. So therefore because of this we made it one of our top priorities to make the print products as appealing as possible to a wide market. In turn this attracts more

people and therefore your audience will be larger, which is also one of the conventions of this type of music genre.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Our target audience was teenagers, we decided to aim our products at this particular audience as we are teenagers ourselves and therefore have a great understanding of the marketing we were about to enter. In order for us as a group to find out what people thought of the video, we conducted audience feedback. We created a questionnaire in which we could gather information from the public after they had watched our music video that we had put onto You Tube. After collecting our questionnaires we then analysed the answers and then concluded the answers.

1) Did you enjoy the video?

Once we analysed the feedback we found that as a group we managed to reach our target audience because we followed the forms and conventions of an RnB music video. I also learnt from our audience feedback that the sex that mainly enjoyed the

video and song were females. This is because it is a female artist and the story line concept video is very emotional so teenage girls can relate to the artist, where as males find it hard to do that. However, from our audience feedback we also learnt how we can improve our video. The audience said that we could of opened the video a bit slower and also said that the opening of the music video was a bit fast and we didn’t establish who the boy and the girl were, what they were doing there and what sort of relationship they had. Further to this the audience had no clue as of the relevance of the stabbing so therefore we could have made that part of the video clearer, by maybe introducer the attacker first. Further to this from the audience feedback we discovered that it was best not to have flashbacks but instead opening up with the flashbacks and then establishing the death afterwards. This way the audience will be able to establish who the characters are and what relationship they hold with each other.

Generally on the other hand the audience feedback that was gathered showed a positive feedback and that many of those who watched it thought it was done to a professional quality. Here are some of the quotes we collected from those who saw the video.

Audience feedback on final video:

‘Wow, really good video, loved the editing and also the locations picked’

‘Enjoyed the video because I love song, Emily looks really nice and the different props included are relevant to the song.’

‘Loved the performance bit I wanted to see what happens next’ will there be a part 2?

‘I enjoyed it but thought that some bits didn’t go with the song, such as the Christmas tree.’

Audience feedback on digi-pack:

‘The picture is amazing and the tattoos around Emily look fabulous.’

‘How did you manage to make such a professional picture?’

‘Love the fact that the picture goes from the front to the back it’s so unique’

‘Love the colours used in the picture and her makeup is really different and suits the song title’

‘I really like the fire in her hand as it relates to the song title’

Audience feedback on Magazine advert:

‘How did you manage to get the writing of the lyrics on her body?’ it is really creative

‘I love the fact that it has a fire background because it links to the song’

‘love the chain because it’s exactly what Rihanna would have’

Overall I think that it is clear people who watched the video had very few bad things they wanted to say about it and therefore this to me shows an element of success which always makes things worthwhile. Further to this in particular I think that the print products have really made the products as a whole succeed as they match what we set out in both our brief and our research.

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

The use of the internet and internet search engines was extremely important as with regards to the whole coursework. In particular the use of youtube, myspace, facebook and bebo were very helpful throughout the research stage of the coursework, as this helped us collect information and feedback

from others about what they liked in music videos. Further to this these sites became useful towards the end of the coursework where we had to use blogger.com in which was also a valuable website. Without the use of these websites the blog would not be complete and are coursework would be nowhere near the same high standard it is, a couple of examples of this would be when we had to get audience feedback however had very little time to gather the information or when we had to put our textual analysis videos on the blog.

The camera that our group used was the Cannon XM2. This was different from the camera I used last year; however I found it quite easy to pick up all the requirements needed to use the camera to an acceptable standard. We not only used the camera mic but also used a separate one whilst filming outdoors. This was so that the lost of sound quality was kept to a minimal level.

Another vital part of our music video production was the lighting. This was essential that we got this right especially when using the green screen because certain positions cause shadows in the wrong area and therefore when in the editing suit it can become hard to create the background of professional quality. As this was mainly my responsibility I learnt that the organisation of lightly was extremely important to the finished product, as bad lightly could cost time and money.

The editing of the video was yet again essential. I

personally was able to bring quite a lot to the group in terms of the editing as I did all the editing in my coursework last year. This year however was my first time in using the green screen and therefore extra editing techniques were required to learn. The editing programme used throughout the production was “Final Cut Pro” and this is a professional programme still used by the BBC today.

The editing of the print products was also beneficial to our coursework as without the correct programmes or tools, this would not have been done to such a high standard. Last year I never used the programme “Photoshop CS4” which is what we used to create the print production images and I learnt a lot about how to do the basics, however without the help of others in the group who did this last year I would have found it very difficult.