Evaluation

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Ways in which we stayed with conventions

 We stayed with conventions the way we did this was that we had our artist lip syncing with him artist looking at the camera . The reason we included this  to create a strong connection between the artist and his fans. We implemented this in the way we thought that it would be most effective which was getting our artist to look directly at the camera and sing the important lyrics of the song which are ''you're the one I want to hold'', this has an illustrative meaning as it communicates to the audience as if they are the target of the song.We decided to do this because it makes the fans feel like he is singing directly to them which makes them feel involved and feel like they personally have a connection with the artist as they may have a similar situation in their life for example from the male audiences perspective they could be relating to the fact that they have a girlfriend or want a girlfriend of who they ''want to hold''. Alternatively from a perspective of the female audience our artist could be singing to them. This could cause the female audience to be attracted to our artist as they get the impression that our artist wants to ''hold'' them . Frank Turner also does this in his video for Photosynthesis but the lyrics are '' And I wont Sit down, And I won't shut up ''. This could also relate to his audience as they may be experiencing troubles where they are not being recognised or heard in their life. Exhibitionism is used in this convention due to the fact that women may be attracted to our artist. In this case our use of  Exhibitionism is on a more subtle, mature level to establish a long term connection, this helps the audience understand our artists expressions and how he is feeling we knew we had to show this as we studied the theorist Andrew Goodwin. In comparison to Lady Gaga who is promoting herself to be exhibited in a sexual way.

The reason we included this convention is because the majority of our lip syncing parts are those in which we are performing a close up this highlights the artists feelings and expressions this makes the fans feel like they know the artist more as a person as they may be able to empathise with our artists feelings. We also drew on the fact that the artist does not show that he is in anyway superior to the audience this makes the audience reassured that 'ordinary' people can be successful in the music industry This is the way in which constructed our artist which is part of star theory which is proposed by Richard Dyer ''A star is an image not a real person a star is constructed (as any other aspect of fiction is) out of a range of materials (e.g advertising, magazines etc as well as films [music])''. Dyer relates to our artist as our artist is shown as 'ordinary' we decided to do this as the target audience can relate their own lives to our artist. We also constructed our artists clothing and image this is related to Dyer as without these choices of clothing and image being made then our artist would not be a 'star' which proves that stars are constructed.  From this the audience also feel that the artist is on the same wavelength as them. This makes them feel a greater connection with the artist.

Frank Turner-Photosynthesis

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQMVHhxTtLc

 

When we watched Frank Turner - Photosynthesis we were inspired by the black background that he used in his video. In our video we incorporated the black background we did this because it shows that our artist is isolated or not with his girlfriend. Black is also linked with connotations of sadness which is also conveyed in Frank Turners video. This is due to the sadness of growing up and that you do not have your childhood forever, he emphasises that he does not want to grow up with the lyrics ''And most of all I wont grow up''. We also used this because Frank Turner used this effect in his video and we though it would be effective to use in ours. From our research we found out that what people thought should be included in our video was the idea of having a narrative and a performance we took the knowledge that we gained from our research and decided to use the idea in our video we used this setting and crosscut between this setting and our narrative.

We included a combination of close ups, high angle shots and mid shots we also used the rule of three to keep our artist in the middle of the frame. We chose to use these shots in this location to provide variety to the audience also to show the contrast between the narrative and the performance we had various shots of our artist playing and pacing around an environment of low key lighting with a spotlight. In one of the shots we have the artist walking frustratedly around the studio which emphasises that he wants to 'Hold' his girlfriend.

Frank Turner- Photosynthesis
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQMVHhxTtLc

Ways in which we developed our conventions

When we were conducting some similar artist research we looked at the video The A Team - Ed Sheeran, from this we decided that the black and white effect was an effect that we wanted to use in our video. We developed this idea by having a flashback of our artist and of his girlfriend this shows that our artist is thinking about his day and especially about his girlfriend. Our audience can relate to this as they may be experiencing or have experienced a relationship, even people who have not experienced a relationship can understand what he is going through as you can see that is girlfriend is an important part of his life . Having a flashback also connotes that our artist is thinking and has feelings and emotions this enables the audience to think about our artist as a person as well as a star.

We have also developed the idea of black and white because in 'The A Team' the whole Video is in black and white, this is used to connote the dark and depressive mood which is maintained throughout the video. Whereas in ours we have only used black and white on the flashbacks. We chose to make the flashbacks black and white so they stand out and are different from the rest of the video. We used black and white in both flashbacks of the artist and his girlfriend to show memories. We have also shown that their lives are parallel by crosscutting between them which emphasises that they are separate. It also shows that at the end of the day they are still able to spend time with one another.

Ed Sheeeran- The A Team www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAWcs5H-qgQ

In our video we sped up clips of our artist 'busking', We used this convention to show passing of time and were inspired when we saw this convention in 'The A Team - Ed Sheeran'. The way we developed this convention is that we had a performance within our narrative in the same shot. Our target audience will find this enjoyable. This is because when we did our audience research we found out that a performance with a narrative was most popular. This is because our target audience want the music video to be interesting as they want to see the artist performing but they also want to see a storyline so they do not get bored and loose interest. We have developed this convention by having a performance within a narrative. Whereas in 'The A Team' there is no performance as the woman is just sitting there this shows that she does not have a very productive day as we get the impression that she is unemployed and is begging.  Later in the video she has to resort to prostitution to make money. We have used a long shot as this shows the external environment as well as the artist this show that people are walking by and that he is amidst the hustle and bustle of a town.  His day consists of busking in contrast to the people in the town who are doing their everyday activities such as shopping.                                                                           

Ed Sheeeran- The A Team www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAWcs5H-qgQ

 Ways in which we challenged our conventions

In our video we challenged the convention of the video being shot in a 'rough' area for example the streets of London, instead we decided to shoot our video in quite a 'well off' area. This is because our target audience is typically from a this background and is generally better educated. This means that they can relate to our artist in comparison to their own lives. We chose this setting to try and put a different edge on the genre. In comparison to Lego House - Ed Sheeran which is set in a 'rough' area which you can see from the browning of the walls and the fridge. We purposely did not choose to shoot our video in an area similar to Lego House because we wanted to portray our artist as 'well off'. We decided to portray our artist this way as it gives the audience something to aspire to as it shows that if you become famous in the music industry then you can afford to live in a nice area. This is to some extent linked to a convention which is used in hip-hop due to the glamorous lifestyle and the fact that you have earned the possessions that you have yourself. Also having our shots filmed in more natural, pretty areas makes the our video easier on the eye as people may get put off by areas that look run down.

Ed Sheeran - Lego House www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4BLVznuWnU

In our music video we also challenged conventions by having a blur at the start of our video, we chose to do this because it matched the speed of our song which has a slow tempo at the beginning. In other music videos of our genre the artist usually has some unrelated footage at the start of the video or footage that was shot of the band/artist 'messing around'. An example of this is Frank Turner - I Still Believe. Where the drummer lifts his hat. This makes our video stand out from the rest this is because we are doing something different to other artists we also chose to do this because it shows that his day starts with a blur which shows that the activities he is doing before he sees his girlfriend are also a blur. The first lyrics that are encountered in the song are '' These days feel like i'm living in a daydream'' The blur could also create an effect of daydreaming.
 Frank Turner- I Still Believe www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ-D4jmkUiQ&ob=av2n

We also incorporated Goodwins theory of amplification into our video in which there is a relation between the lyrics and the video. In this particular shot the lyrics are ''your the one I want to hold'' these lyrics are amplified because the lyrics ''your the one I want to hold'' are related to our artist and the girl which shows that the girl is the one that he has been singing about and hence the one that he 'wants to hold'. This is amplification because it is amplifying the word hold and the relation to the girl.

Evaluation 2

As said before we made some last minute changes to our inlays after some extra audience feedback, therefore the groups comments are below.

 What we said in text format:

Here on the front cover you can see that our artist is sticking to the conventional dress code of the genre: acoustic indie. This is used in all three media texts that we have produced, in the inlays of the digipack the advert and the music video. We made sure that we kept to this convention in all of the media texts to make sure that the genre was maintained and recognisable.

The high-key lighting used on the front and back cover of the digipack is also used in the music video to help portray the artist in a positive light. It’s also a convention that’s used in two of the inlay pictures to maintain this star image of our artist. We used the high-key lighting in the pictures and shots in the video to create a more positive look to help create the star image that we wanted to portray of the artist being likable. This would help make him more marketable as the audience will develop a positive reaction towards him. This is also represented in his clothing style and the setting used on the digipack back cover and the music video, which show him in clothes that the target audience are likely to be able to see themselves wearing, and the setting is in a rural area, where most of the target audience live, creating a connection with the audience.

The sight lines of the artist used on the front and back cover of the digipack are directly looking into the camera. This is also a convention that we use in the music video when the artist is singing lyrics to the girl, which creates a connection with female members of the audience in particular, as they feel that this ‘fancyable’ guy is looking and singing about them, creating a connection with them.

In all of the inlay images we made sure that the artist’s sight lines were looking away from the camera and audience, for the opposite reason to why we used direct sight lines on the covers and in the video. We wanted to portray a feeling of innocence and vulnerability of the artist, this would attract more female members of our target audience into finding this artist attractive, and in turn would make the artist more marketable.

For two of the inlay images we wanted to show the audience a different angle of the artist. The two black and white images are both set in a more urban setting- the opposite to the rest of all of the media texts that we produced for this artist. We decided to use this convention because it sticks to the typical forms and conventions of the genre acoustic-indie, the poorer and rougher areas where the artists normally come from. We thought that it was necessary to use this convention because it’s what the audience have come to expect to see, but with our artist we wanted to be unique and different from other artists, so the majority of the things that the audience see of our artist is a rural, peaceful setting.

From our research we found that it was necessary for a guitar to be the main prop for the artist. That’s why we used it throughout the whole music video and on the front and back covers of the digipack. We discovered that this was the main prop used in the genre acoustic-indie, and if we didn’t use it very much then we wouldn’t be creating the correct star image for this genre. The guitar is iconic to this genre and we tried to make it iconic to our artist, so that the audience would immediately associate our artist with this genre.

On the advert we used the front cover of the digipack as the main subject of the poster. This would mean that the audience would immediately recognise the product, creating awareness of the artist and the conventions that they can expect to see in all media texts that he produces.

We changed are inlay pictures as they were not working in conjunction to match our video as well as they should be, by changing the inlay pictures this should create a better connection between our artist and our targert audience. We did the 3 spread inlay to show are artist's different movements and expressing a different feeling by the attitude and facial expressions. The fonts we used were the same one as we used on our front and back cover of the digipack 'sweetly broken' to stay conventional within our indie acoustic genre. We included our artist's name on the wall to create the image that he had just signed the wall. The fourth inlay picture we selected to use was the one with his tongue out to create a cheeky boy effect and this will help our artist having the likeability factor. We presented him in this way to construct his star image as nice, funny and an intelligent individual who people can relate to as a real life person. Not someone like Lady Gaga who is just so extreme with everything she does to gain audience appeal. The light is quite high-key light to match the rest of are digipack and it makes him look a bit more cheeky unlike if it was low-key light we wouldn't be able to create this effect. The use of colours we used are greens and grays as this is to try and hit the more male audience and we thought the inclusion of quite dark colours would help us to do this. The dress code is still in the genre but its saying he is comfortable but also likes to make himself quite presentable which is shown by the jacket as he is not wearing just sweats.


Evaluation 3

Here is the answer to question three of the evaluation. The first video is of the rough cut that we made and then showed to the audience to get feedback. The second video is of the updated version, that we made changes to after receiving audience feedback.




 
Audience Feedback

Comments
Very good
Really good
Good mimiming
Good song
Needs more connection
More emphasise on them being a couple needed
Didn't see a storyline
It doesn't flow

Comments
Story good and clear
Very sweet
Good style
Clear song
Indie video
Lots of guitar
Tells a story
Concept and setting fits the genre
Guitar playing is bad
Good
Similar to others

Comments
Obvious mostly
A little
Some extent
Lyrics fit with what's shown
Good lyrics
Narrative works well
More close ups of 'Hold'

Are There Any Improvements We Could Make To Our Video?

Improve performance (mainly improve lip syncing) 13

No 3

Yes 2

Make narrative slightly clearer 2

Improve last shot

Improve the bedroom shot of our girl actor

Less repetition

Vary shots

Less variety

Evaluation 4

 Our product is an example of Above the line advertising as we use print media to promote our product in the form of an advert.

We also used a USB Mass Storage Device which we used to transport our files for our digipack, advert, inlays, blog post material this proved useful as we could trasport our files to any computer we wanted and access them.