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

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

My 1000000x attempt! Excuse the starting face!

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

When starting my product i intentded to use audience feedback to shape my ideas and help me finish my three products, i used questionaires, direct interviews and youtube to gather this information. I wanted advice on my products whilst also wanting feedback on my final products.
One of the first things i did was a interview with people of all various ages to see what they believe a pop video should include and also the pros and cons about them so i could  try and make a video that would be liked by many different types of audiences. They gave me alot of valuable answers:

• they wanted dance routines
• they wanted a story line instead of it being focuse on the artist
• they wanted a meaning to the video, not just about a random subject
• they wanted symbols, not just dressed and makeup.

I tried to incorperate everybodys ideas so started to plan my ideas. I did no more audience research unforantely which if i could do this project again i would have as i believe it would have helped me gather much more ideas and maybe some more at a better quality.


Another problem i have had which i have stated in an earlier post is that my video on you tube has no sound, this has ment that i have not got any audience feedback from ICT software. I am very disapointed with this as i know i will loose marks for this however it was unaviodable so i had to think of other ways to get audience feedback.....
I used my peers from my class, there is 21 of us in total so 20 without my input. I asked them all to watch my pop video and give me feedback which i could use if i was able to do my project again or even improve it. Some of the feedback included things such as

• "The camera shots are extremly well filmed, with no continiuity problems"
• "In the second dance routine the lighting appears to be much darker"
• "The storyline is well thought of and the props are used greatly to portray the storyline to the audience"
• "The locations such as the dance video is a great asset, it mirrors a real media product"
• "The costume choices looked amatuer"
• 18/20 people thought that there are no things i would need change in my video if i was to do this again.
• 10/20 people thought it wouldn't be sucsessful if it was distrubted in the media.

After looking through this i agreed greatly with most of the comments in which were made and made me think of things i would do again if i could have the oppertunity to repeat the project.

• I would have planned my video more extensively, planned everyshot as it was pointed out to me that there were some errors with the shots for example you can see the tri pod in one of them.
• I also would have used more equipment for example on my poster and digi pack i would have liked to used a varitey of programs like photo shop to make it a greater quality.
• I would have gathered more 'proffesional' props for example a more contemporay dance studio rather than the one at my school.
• I also would have done alot more research into final cut pro as i had alot of difficultys with the softwear due to me not understanding.
• Finally i would have included a more glamourous choice of clothing for the artist, however it was my sister and she lives in London so when i got the opportunity to film her it was quite rushed.

I also found alot of good points which i wouldn't have changed

• The dance routine was proffesional and looked like something out of a real media peice
• The shots all matched well with no continuity errors
• The symbolism which was a key part to my video was portrayed effectively.

I also asked the same 20 people to review my ancillary products- The advert and the digi pack. Again i found alot of interesting feedback which have hindered my views and if i could re do it, it has given me alot of ideas

• "the digi pack doesn't look like normal ones" i do agree with this comment however i had intended to challenge to ideas of a normal digi pack and make it more simplistic and artistic focusing on the symbolism.
• "the advert looks very professional with the texts reinforcing this" i do agree with this, i am extremly happy with my advert however comments contrasting with this read " It looks rushed and more software could have been used" which i also agree with. I would have liked to use photo shop however i do not understand how to use it and did not have the time to research into it.

If i could do my ancillary peiecesagain i would use more software such as photoschop as most of the feedback was that it didn't look professional.

Overall I have learnt a lot from audience feedback, it has helped me to gain a better understanding about the conventions of such media products, has helped me to identify my target market as well as ultimately shaping how all of my texts have turned out. The feedback has also shown me how I could improve my products.

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

When starting this product i did a significant amount of research into the conventions and forms to allow my products to be as real and successful as the other products.

My main product which is the pop video i believe uses and challenges all of the conventions of a 'pop' video. I choose to do a 'teleivsed bard' video which as Goodwin stated provides a storyline within the video however i also made scenes which enable the audience to identify that it is a pop video.

At the start of my video you see the character in a dance studio with mirrors, the mirrors symbolise a pop video as it is one of the conventions which enable it to be classed as pop. It shows the character reaching in the air and slowly going down, whilist doing this the lyrics read ' gravity, gravity, gravity, gravity'. This allows the lyrics and visuals to match as her becoming lower represents 'gravity' as it pulls people back to the ground. This potrays a deeper meaning to the video whereas the dance studio, mirrors and dance sequences are potraying the genre similar to 'pixie lotts' 'girls and boy'.
The next shot which is a key theme in my video is close up on the characters face and you see her sing the lyrics. This is another convention which i used as it enables the audience to focus on the lyrics which are being sung whilist also letting the audience identify with her facial expression to portray the tone of the video.

I used a 'memories' box to allow the audience to understand the relationship between her and her dad as there isn't any talking in 'pop'videos so i had to use visual shots to convey the information to the audience that they needed to know. I used shots such as over the shoulder and close ups.m This is similar to videos such as 'Christina Agulari, beautiful' which i did analysis on in my research where she uses images and shots to convey what we need to know about the characters to understand the underlying message to the video.

Another symbol i use within my video is the 'necklace'. You see a close up shot of her putting it on before she goes to see her dad. Later on in the video you see her rip it off however i choose to slow it down so you can see that she really means it.

To conform with the conventions i choose to have each chorus in the dance studio with the character dancing infront of the mirrors. Goodwins theory states  "There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body" I choose to confrom with this is as i still want my character/ popstar to be idolised by her audience, which needs her to be portrayed as 'sexy and good looking'. This is like 'Girls Aloud' in all of the music videos they are seen to be very 'sexy and glamourous' however unlike my video there 'selling point' is that whereas i wanted my video to be about the deeper meaning in the lyrics and video, rather than what she looks like.

At the end of the dance sequence when she moves diagonly from one corner of the room to another there is a shift in the camera. I used this as a symbol again, it represents the shift in gravity when she dances, the release of emtion and anger she feels towards her dad when she dances. This would attract my audience as they would be able to relate to it for example if they dance, do sports or sing they would know that they can really express themselves when dancing and forget about everything. I think this devolps the forms and conventions of real videos as symbolism isn't the main focus of pop videos yet i have made it a key concept to mine whilist still using the main conventions featured in other videos.

In my video she chucks a glass of water over her dad, i used slow motion in this shot so the auidence could identify the meaning of it. It portrays the anger and hatrid she feels towards her and the water is all the things she wants to say being poured over him. This is a popular convention of pop videos with it being used, similarly, to convey emotions as when you see it slowed down you can focus the emotions between them.

At the end of the video you see her walking away, this is done in many videos. To portray the ending of the video whilist also shwoing the ending of the relationship between her and her dad. Overall i believe my video uses many of the conventions however it also develops them to allow it to become a 'televised bard' with a deeper meaning and an indepth storyline.

My first ancillary product which is the digi pack i belive challenges the conventions of a typical pop digi pack.Again before starting i did alot of research into what to include and what not to include in your digi pack and did find the conventions of what makes a digi pack. Many of the digi packs i analysied before making mine featured picture after picture of the artist, som ebeing close up shots, long shots, and even some stills from their videos. However i decided to challenge it as i believe in my video i didnt really chanllenge much conventions to the extent i could have so choose to do it in my ancillary product. On the front i did use a picture of the artist which does conform to conventions however i did this so that the auience could identify it was her album when looking in shops such as Zavi and HMV. However the other pictures i choose to insert are all the main symbols i talked about above which represent deeper meanings for example the ballet shoes and the necklace. I had choosen to keep the back cover of the digi pack like all others with the list of the songs and the bar code as with out these it wouldnt be a digi pack! I also included the name and title of the cd on the front of the cover to allow the audience to identify who it is, which is one og the basic components to a digi pack. Overall i believe my product challenges typical forms and conventions of digi packs as it takes a more 'simplistic' and 'abstract' look rather than just featuring pictures of the artist looking 'glamourous'.

My second ancillary product is a advert for the album. I choose the picture which features on the front of my album to be the background of my advert so the audience will identify them together which is a key conventions of adverts to link the pictures back to the original product. I also gave a breif description 'DEBUT ALBUM GRAVITY OUT NOW TO BUY AND DOWNLOAD. INCLUDES BRAND NEW HITS TURN IT UP AND SMILE PLUS MANY MORE. ALSO BONUS TRACKS AVAIABLE TO DOWNLOAD FROM I TUNES NOW' i put this in capitals so it would stand out to the reader however i kept the same font used in my digi pack which is a conventions so there is no continuity errors. I also choose to include 5 star- The Guardian which again is a key concept as it attracts the audience into purchasing the product which is what i found out in my audience research.

To conclude i believe my products all conform to the conventions in some ways otherwise it would not be recongnised as a 'pop' video for example or an advert. However i have tired to devolp the conventions to allow new ideas to be portrayed.

PROBLEM..

I am unable to upload my final video. It has been on my computer for about a month and when i went to upload it yesterday it to here it kept saying 'sorry there has been a problem unable to upload' so i went to change it to a you tube video and it said it was gonna take 375 minutes. I did it but there was an error when uploading and there is no sound and also when i go to upload from my you tube videos it can not be located. I was wondering if you have already seen it on the Macs at school that you will be able to mark it from there? I spoke to Mrs Watkin and she said that should be ok?

Final Magazine Advert

Final Digi Pack..