Evaluation

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

I used effects within my music video in order to use forms and conventions of real media products. I used effects such as dissolving in order to combine the various clips/filming together without pausing or breaking as in real music videos you do not see breaking or pausing when a new clip is introduced. I also used effects such as glimmer to give the main protagonist's (me) face a sense of bolness and shine. I decided to use effects such as these because clips in the music video looked plain and basic/simple and I wanted to add a touch of professionalism to my music video. 

I used a studio as a location for my music video which uses the conventions of real media products. I aimed to make my music video look as professional as I can. In many music videos, studios are used as a location and I wanted to conform with this real media product element to try and make my music video as professional looking and successful as possible. I also used studio light to give my music video a sense  of natural light to ensure the video had a good amount of natural-looking light in order for the video to be clear and bold. The studio light was very useful in doing this and I aimed to use as much as I could.

The Monica - So Gone music video has a storyline of a young woman who's partner is betraying her and shows aspects such as her crying, lying on a bed with him in the background as well as her smashing up his house. I took these aspects of the music video into account when creating my own, as I wanted mine to be professional-looking also. However, I decided to challenge the conventions of real media products in a way as I was the only character in my video, although this was partly due to having to change decisions at a late date. I wanted to show that a music video may not need a group of different people in it. By showing this, I used different locations, costumes and props in my music video; I used various outfits/costumes such as a black dress and pink dress at different points of the video. I also used different locations, from the studio in my college to a location at my home. I wanted to do this in order to meet the conventions of real media products as various locations are usually seen and used in real music videos.


I used various shots and angles in order for my music video to conform with real media product's elements. Many professional music videos use various angles and shots in order to add a sense of emotion, as well as helping to tell the story of the lyrics and music video itself. I aimed to show shots such as close ups, to express the emotion within the main protagonist's face, I also used mid-shots in order to show body posture/language to express feelings the main protagonist feels. I aimed to make my music video as professional-looking as possible in order for it to meet real media product's elements, I did  this by taking inspiration from the real Monica - So Gone music video and using aspects of her music video in mine, I wanted to develop the conventions of real media products within mine.

When considering my concillary texts I used forms and conventions of real media texts. I aimed to use close ups and mid-shots when choosing pictues for both my digipak and magazine poster. When producing my magazine poster I used an image which shows me in a fur coat and pink heels, I used this image because I thought that it used conventions of real media products as in music videos, video girls/artists are often seen in dresses and heels and in some cases fur coats (as this explores a sense of wealth, sexuality and sex appeal). I added effects to the image which added a sense of mystery as well as the main protagonists face not being fully revealed. When creating my digipak, I used 5 images of myself as I was the main protagonist and 1 image of a bottle of champagne and a champagne glass. The images I used all had an added effect to them in which they either looked brighter, abstract and had an added sense of professionalism. I used an image of a bottle of champagne/champagne glass to both use and challenge forms and conventions of real media products. Most real digipaks usually show images of the main protagonist and the main protagonist only, but I wished to challenge this by using an image of something else. However, the use of a champagne bottle and glass may also use the conventions as it shows a sense of wealth.

 

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

To ensure my ancillary texts were effective I made sure that the picture used for the front panel of my digipak was the same as the one used for my magazine poster. I tried to use aspects of sexuality, femininity and sex appeal within my media products by using body posture and costume/clothing. I aimed to make them effective together so I used images of me as I was the main protagionist and I added effects to these images which helped to develop them in showing a sense of professionalism and developing the sex appeal within them. My main media product and the ancillary texts combined together are very effective as they explore a large sense of sex appeal together, as I aimed. The music video is about a young girl who's boyfriend is betraying her which she later finds out and I wanted to reflect this when thinking of the title of my digipak 'Broken'. My ancillary texts go together more than my music video as I used one main picture in both of the texts in order to show that they go together.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I learnt from my audience feedback both positive and negative aspects. The positive feedback I gained considering my music video expressed that the use of different/various locations was a good idea and that real media products often use more than one location. I also got feedback expressing that the use of using a studio as a location explored a sense of professionalism. I got comments such as "I think the music video Rianna created met conventions of real media products. I think the use of different costumes used within the music video was a good idea as most music videos do this also. I also liked the use of effects she used in it as it gave it more of a professional look." This feedback from one of the individuals who watched my music video showed me that the individual was impressed by the idea of using different locations, as well as the effects I used. I also received feedback on my idea of using the blue screen in the studio in my music video. The blue screen was used in order for me to add action/filming to the background whilst I was lip-singing. I also received feedback which helped me realise what I could have improved when planning and filming my media product. This person could have however gone into detail in what I ideas I could have included. After collecting my feedback I gained information which was both negative and positive and found that if I was able to go back and improve upon my video.

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

I used the Mac computers which I would be mainly using when planning, researching and evaluating my media products. I would use the Mac's to not only plan my media product but also to edit and produce my music video and produce my digipak/magazine poster. When planning my music video I used the computer (Microsoft Word) to note down the ideas I wanted to undertake. I then started my coursework by producing a blog on Blogger, this would be the base of my coursework, where I would plan my media products as well as note down things such as shooting times, my pitch, costume/props I planned to use, locations I planned to film at, a lyric planning sheet etc. This enabled me to know what I planned to do and note down if/when I needed to make a change to anything. I also used the internet (YouTube) to watch the Monica - So Gone music video to find aspects which I found inspiring and would want to use when filming my own music video. I also used this software to search other music videos which inspired me.

Feedback from my Music video

After producing my music video I needed to get feedback on it as this would help me when completing my evaluation. Therefore, I planned on ways in which I would get this feedback. I listened to other members in my class and saw how they would be getting their feedback and instead I wished to do it in other ways. The ideas I thought of were:

• Recording people watching my video and then going on to get individual feedback.
• Getting people to watch it, asking them their opinions and writing notes.
• Showing a group of people the real Monica - So Gone video and then going on to show them mine and asking them feedback.

I decided not to record people's individual feedback as many people were doing this and I did not want to show them the real video and then mine and this may have had an impact of what they thought of mine as mine was not as professional as the real one. In conclusion to this, I decided to produce my own surveys and handing them out to people after they had watched my music video and told them their feedback would be anonymous. I decided to do this because it would be more likely that they would be honest and the feedback would therefore be more reliable and valid.



Feedback..



Person 1
"I think the music video Rianna created met conventions of real media products. I think the use of different costumes used within the music video was a good idea as most music videos do this also. I also liked the use of effects she used in it as it gave it more of a professional look."

Person 2
"The thought of using a studio as a location was a brilliant idea. Studios show a sense of professionalism and is used in various real media products. I also like the idea of showing action behind the main protagonist whilst singing. This showed a sense of creativeness and creative-thinking."

Person 3
"The music video was good but I think Rianna could have broadened her ideas when planning/filming the video"