Evaluation

For my foundation portfolio I chose the task of producing a promotional music video and two ancillary products that would promote the video. The ancillary products I chose were a cd cover from a digipak, and a magazine advertisement promoting the release of the album. To fulfil this task, I had to include a number of research and planning skills, from time management to target audience research. Throughout the research and planning stages I had to incorporate features from media organisations and existing media texts and combine these with my own ideas, to make the products seem individual to me.

I decided to work individually on this piece as I believe it was a more reliable choice. However I did have a little bit of assistance within my production, as a friend helped me with a bit of outside filming for the beach scene. I believe that working individually helped me to rely only on myself and manage my time to complete the project.

In relation to last years foundation portfolio I have applied a number of skills learnt in the first year into this years advanced portfolio. These have been through the use of photoshop, the video editing suites and the use of blogger to display my work.

In my main product I used a number of conventions that are presented within real media texts. I produced these conventions through the incorporation of a number of different skills, including I produced these conventions through the incorporation of a number of different skills, including cuts and dissolves between different scenes so the video would flow together. These types of transitions presented within original media text, such as film trailers, music videos and TV programmes. The cross dissolves that I used throughout my video attached two sections of film together, overlapping them and fading one scene over the other. This allows the video to make the audience feel more relaxed and help the video to just flow directly through one location to the next. These cross dissolves also link in with the song itself and its change in pace/change in lyrics. At the beginning of my video I used a fade in from black which allows the audience to instantly establish the video and the location/characters presented within it. I also used this effect at the end of my video to reveal to the audience the end of the product. This is also a significant feature of a music video, as it allows the audience to decipher the start and finish of the video, as well as establishing location and characters.
On top of the video I added another effect called “Old Movie Matrox”. This effect added grain and jumps to the film itself as were presented in old films. I used this effect as I believe it linked with the colour scheme I used within my video. This effect also relates to the genre of the film, giving it a creative edge that provides voyeuristic pleasure for the audience. I also used this effect to cover small errors in links between the song and the spoken lyrics, which I believe to have been effective.
My video however, does challenge some forms and conventions of typical music videos. This is through the overuse of fades between every different location, which gives no real variation to the flow of the video. However I believe that each change in position and location compensates for this as the audience will see the immediate flow of clip but with the colour changes and performance aspects, these cuts/dissolves only compensate for the movement of clip.
Another form and convention that my music video challenges, is the amount of singing and performance based clips. In typical music videos either the entire song, chorus, or verse is sung by the performer. And performance clips are usually present in the other, or the instrumental sections. Whereas in my music video, there is no distinct link between chorus and verse within the miming and performance clips. They are just presented in a seemingly varied order presenting both performance and miming throughout them with no complete structure or timing between them.

As well as completing my main product I also produced two ancillary texts. These were a poster for the release of the album, and a digipak.

I started off this production feature by completing the digipak first. I decided to use print screen images from within my music video to be featured within the digipak. I believed that this would be an effective production decision as they would link not only with the video itself, but with the genre of the music. This would give the audience an immediate distinction of what the video is about and the performer themselves. From a number of research into existing media products I found this to be a typical convention of a digipak/cd cover. For the back of my digipak I decided to use a half image of the artist and place the textual features around the side of the face. This provides a distinct separation of the music presented on the album, and the image of the artist. On the inner pages of my digipak I decided to use pattern designs. For one inner layer I used a print screen image of the artist within the performance clips, repeating this image 4 times and overlapping it to provide an ghost like effect. For the other inner layer I used a wallpaper style floral print, repeated for times, fitted together to make it look even and clear. The colour scheme throughout my digipak was linked directly with the video. Using both sepia tones, and greyscale. This provides a simple yet effective feature on the product as it not only incorporates the colour scheme of the video, but the simplicity of the digipak itself.

Through research into existing products of both digipaks and poster advertisements I found a number of conventions that seem to be strictly followed within these products. Release posters are typical of including the front album cover, but extended to include textual features. As this seemed to be typical within these types of products I decided to extend my original digipak cover image and then add the textual features on top of it. This allows me to promote the album and help the audience to recognise both the artist and the specific album being promoted.

Through the production of both my main product and my ancillary texts I contemplated features that would be simple to present through both. The colour schemes I used have been simple sepia and grey scale tones which can be incorporated through the use of effects through editing. To provide the audience with a simple understanding of the link between my music video and the promotional tools I have used some print screen images of the film. The images I chose show the genre of the music as well as promoting the artist themselves. The specific print screen images that I chose represented the performance pieces within the video. I chose these particular images as they incorporated both creativity and personality. The performance pieces show the location in which the music video is set, and also the technical aspects of the video itself. Two of the print screen images are medium close ups, as they show the features of the performer and half the body. As well as establishing the locations. The other photograph I used for my digipak, was an extreme close up, establishing just one half of the face and s direct insight into the eyes of the artist. This interacts well with the audience as they are drawn into the personality of the artist/performer.

For my audience research I decided to attach a number of poll questions to my blog asking the audience a set of four questions relating to my products. The questions I asked were closed, which allowed me to gain specific quantative data. Most of my questions consisted of ‘yes’ and ‘no’ answers which were straight to the point and allowed my audience to direct their specific view.
In the final question I provided four options in relation to the genre of the product. This feedback could be seen as random and not biased as I am unaware of who voted on my product. However these results could be invalid, as questions were not asked to a specific target group. The majority of those who voted believed my product fitted specifically with my target audience and showed codes and conventions from other media products.
However, I believe that if a larger sample of people had voted on my blog, I would have been able to provide a much more representative piece of information.

Through the production of both my main product and my ancillary text I used a range of media technologies. Throughout the research stages of my production I used a number of internet facilities that allowed me to research existing products. Examples of theses were Google, Wikipedia, and YouTube. Throughout the use of these particular sites, I was able to access videos by existing artists and place these on my blog to analyse.
I was also able to find information about the history of music videos and specific genres presented.
Producing questionnaires through Microsoft Word to provide me audience research to help me produce my target audience. Another media technology I used was the use of polls on my blog. This feature gave me quick audience feedback, although it isn’t a very reliable piece of technology. Throughout all the research and production stage, I used blogger.com to hold the information and productions so the audience can view them easily and efficiently. These also show my time management as each post is dated. And each post is able to hold a number of different media texts, for example pictures, videos and text itself.

Throughout the filming process I used a form of hardware, MIniDV and my own personal video camera. I also used a tripod to do some of the filming, in order to keep the camera still and provide a specific accurate focus on the miming shots. Through editing I used the college editing suites, using the programme Adobe Premier Pro, adding Matrox editing tools to add and create effects. These features presented throughout the editing programme, were a new form of technology. And through the editing process I learnt a number of skills. These included transitions such as, cross dissolving, old movie effect, and razoring film footage. All these features allowed me to manipulate the filming I had done, allowing it to appeal more to my target audience and fit along well with the music.

Through producing my ancillary texts I used the programmes Photoshop CS3 and Microsoft Publisher. Photoshop allowed me to manipulate the images I had taken, changing both the contrast and in some cases the colouring of the images themselves. I also used this programmed to layer separate images over the top of each other to create a highlighted effect over one image. I also used a shadowing effect to over lap these images and then contrasted the shadow to make it brighter than the image itself.

My Music Video - "Howl" - "Florence"

My Magazine advert

Magazine advert ideas

Magazine advert analysis 3

This is a magazine advert used to represent the release of "The Stone Roses" debut album.

The background of the cover is an example of abstract expressionism by John Squire, who is the guitarist in the band. The painting has been produced with influence of the work by Jackson Pollock who is a modern artist established within the 1950s.

The group name "The Stone Roses"has been presented in gold, with the use of lemons to interpret the letter O within ROSES. This use of the lemons represent the stone roses themselves and their original style. On the left hand side of the advert their are three colours presented. Red, white and blue. This is there to represent the band as British by reflecting the colours of the flag. Within the top section of the advert there are a presentation of four badges. each badge includes a different reviews from a number of magazines. Giving details into their ratings and comments on the album itself.

The advert is a copy of the CD cover itself that had been extended to include information into release dates, websites and additional information. Each an important feature when releasing an album.

Magazine advert analysis 2

This is a magazine article produced to promote the Basement Jaxx new album "Rooty".

This advertisement includes the main image of a white gorilla. The specific image does not represent the particular artist but the space type theme used in the background promotes the dance genre they are hoping to introduce to the audience. The use of the bold font reveals the specific conventions of the artist and the genre they are presenting. The creator uses bold pink and green to show specific features included in the advertisement. And the flashes of colour presented through the artists name, show the eclectic theme and the dance music genre throughout. The use of these particular colours help the image to stand out and draws attention to both the image and the artists name themselves.

The image that is presented through the particular advertisement is also resented in a cropped form on the cover of the album itself. The creator has used the image presented on the album and merely extended the gorillas chest and the pink colouring. This has been done so extra text can be added underneath the album name, so the audience can gain extra detail into the release dates of the album itself and other information that could be perceived as valuable to the audience. Including features such as tour dates and websites.

Magazine advert analysis 1

This is a magazine article produced to promote the group "Santogold" and the release of their new single "Lights out".

This advertisement features the main image of two women facing inwards towards each other. They have both been backed onto white paper and cut at irregular angles around the contours of the face.

The background placed on the entire advertisement has a leaf effect. A section of this background effect has been placed over the top of both the eyes of the women. Seeming to be attaching them together, and producing a connection between them.

The artist name and the single title have been presented with a cut out theme, as though they have been produced through cutting a single piece of paper into what would be perceived as word, all linking together. The font used to describe the CD release date and the email address for the particular product are presented in a bold easy to read font, in upper case lettering. This information is presented to give the audience detail into the product after their attention has been directed to the advertisement.

On the particular album itself is closely similar to the magazine advertisement. The leaf effect situated underneath the image and cut outs of the artists name and single title has been extended to include the extra information presented to the audience. The colour scheme of green and white helps the sepia image to stand out and allows all the text to be defined and available to the audience.