Planned script for evaluation question 3

Evaluation question 3: What have you learned from your audience feedback

SHORT FILM + AUDIENCE FEEDBACK CLIPS

SCRIPT

Receiving good audience feedback was imperative during the process of developing our music video as well as ancillary tasks. By receiving audience feedback helped myself and my partner better develop our projects, as well as skills by receiving advice and perspectives beyond our own. The first stage in which we required the use of audience feedback was for our music video pitch. By receiving audience feedback helped us better analyse what we were trying to achieve for our video furthermore changing it in order to set more realistic expectations. As originally we planned our video to be much more storyline based with a more challenging choice of locations and sets, (EXPLAIN INITIAL IDEA FOR MUSIC VIDEO) however after the feedback we received, we understood by not having a storyline would also be appropriate for our chosen genre and would also be much more approachable for the tools and equipment in which we had available. After planning a new concept for our music video, we likewise presented this idea to the class as  second pitch, discussing our plans for themes and imagery which would be included, from the overwhelming support was received and extremely positively feedback we decided to go with our second idea.

However both ideas contained themes of love and happiness in order to represent symbolism for youth, we intended for our first version initially to have some montage clips placed in between the narrative to create contrast and furthermore give it more of an EDM genre feel to it, however for our second version we decided to be brave and go forth to have all of our video as a montage.

Throughout the process of storyboarding and planning we also organised questionnaires for other people to fill in, asking their opinion towards which locations and settings they would most likely want to see in a music video, in which we mostly received the result of central london e.g. for locations piccadilly circus, oxford street, and for settings a mixture of party/ arcade scenery. We learnt from this audience feedback that audiences most enjoy seeing popular and recognisable destinations opposed to locations which may be unfamiliar and distant. As well, throughout the process of editing our product we ensured to ask for our other classmates opinions and ideas for anything they think could be improved, and whether they understood our intentions for having an all montage video.

When we finally completed our music video, we presented it to our class for a showcase in order to receive audience feedback. Afterwards we asked for a more individual based interview with some fellow classmates in order to gather up further feedback and analyse which parts of our video required improvements - THE VIDEO OF CLASSMATES FEEDBACK

From the audience feedback which we received, we conclusively decided to alter our last chorus of the video, and by audience recommendation fade the video as well as the music out in order for a more cleaner, less sudden ending. For my ancillary tasks I also required audience feedback in order to better evaluate my projects and decide upon which designs I constructed we’re more belonging and fitting for my chosen genre. As well having other people’s opinions pointed out mistakes and errors which I had yet to notice. As our target audience were young people are main focus was for them to understand and relate towards our video, which was ideal considering most of our class was within the ages of our chosen target group.

EXPLAIN AUDIENCE THEORY

A theory we took under consideration whilst producing all of our products was Audience Theory - David morley. We wanted to correctly interpret our encoding message (to represent happiness and spread love upon youth) however the decoding process was completely up to the audience. However we mostly received dominant (understood) feedback therefore meaning our music video reached all its purposes and goals.

Planned script for evaluation question 2

Evaluation question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

For our advanced portfolio we had to complete a number of projects in order to finalize our main product. These tasks included, creating a magazine cover, Digipak, as well in addition to our music video. By creating a number of different products in relation to our music video, helped us to create synergy in terms of good promoting and create an overall better understanding of cross-media convergence. For each individual project required a lot of planning and research in order to give the most realistic approach to my chosen genre (EDM) codes and conventions.  

For designing my magazine cover, I decided to produce it through microsoft publisher, this way designing the cover was fairly easy and allowed me the use of adequate tools such as fonts and headings, which were required for continuity purposes. I pulled a lot of my inspiration from other magazine adverts such as Calvin Harris ‘I created disco’ album promotion as well, The Chainsmokers ‘do not open’ tour advert. Both included intriguing imagery and a wide range colour palette which I aspired from. I decided reasonably early on that I wanted my magazine advert to have a vintage theme to it, and contain a wide range of colours to represent continuity between both the music video and the advert. I used similar font to which I presented in the beginning of my music video, as the font I used in the magazine advert in order to show that both products are heavily associated to each other, therefore being bolder and clearer to the audience. I also promoted a wide range of logos where the product would be available from such as spotify, itunes and HMV. I done this in order to promote synergy and allow my product to have a future number of platforms with the convergence of both traditional and new media methods. Traditionally music used to be bought as a CD from a local store, however with the recent new age of technological advancements, there is a wider range of digitalisation for media content nowadays. Therefore can be more easily/ simply available through a person’s mobile phone or laptop rather than having to approach a store. This recent theory is known as Henry Jenkins ‘Convergence Culture’. I also promoted the link to the new music video which additionally adds to my use of synergy by promoting the music video also through my advert as well as the artists website and new albums release date.

My Digipak product, was another important addition in terms of cross-media convergence for my overall project. It was essential for my digipak to have a common relation with both my music video and magazine advert. Through research for my digipak, I found the products I most aspired to were the artists Sigma ‘life’ album cover, as well as David Guetta’s ‘Nothing but the beat’ cover album. Both covers included bright imagery and asstounding symbolism in relation to the album itself, therefore essentially wanting my own digipak to contain a key connection between all its synergy. I completed this by ensuring I had a wide range colour palette and similar fonts and formats as used in my previous products. For my Digipak I chose it to have a mostly pink colour palette as I thought It stood out broadly as an happy, fun colour relating to the EDM genre, as well is the same colour used as the background in the magazine advert I produced. For the front cover of the Digipak I included imagery of both the main artists from the music video in order for audiences to easily recognise and become familiar with quickly. Both images of the artists are close up shots, which I also edited via ‘paint’ to include cartoon drawing and colouration. This additionally adds towards the playfulness intended for the music video, as well a representation of youth and childlikeness behaviour as both characters are shown to be having an enjoyable adventure. Therefore allowing audiences to feel a sense of freedom, and a reminder of innocence and youngness which is upon them.  As well to contain fluidity using the same fonts and styles used in my magazine advert. I also included a ‘lightning’ shape object in certain areas of my Digipak, in relation to my album being called ‘Electric Disco’. I thought by producing a similarity between the name and the imagery would create a better distinct product for my chosen genre.

In conclusion both my ancillary products were highly influenced by my music video, and stood out broadly in relation to the EDM genre. Following a list of key conventions including bright colouration and symbolism within the imagery included. I believe that conclusively my music video mise-en-scene and theme of my chosen genre overall fits suitably well with all my additional tasks, having all three projects supporting greatly towards one another.

Planned script for evaluation question 1

What is our media product?

For my advanced portfolio, I created a music video in the EDM (Electronic Dance Music) genre. The genre we chose is most commonly known for being popular music which is danced to in night clubs and party surroundings. The music typically has a repetitive beat and an electrical backing track. Finally me and my partner, chose our main track to be 'Make me feel' by Galantis, which turned out to be the perfect match for our chosen genre.

How does our media product use forms and conventions of real life media products?

We specifically analysed the types of forms and conventions our music genre followed before we began any planning for filming the product. We done this in order to represent similarities and follow the norms of previous music videos within the same genre. Through our research we found the most commonly placed forms and conventions were applicable to the camera shots, locations/ environment and finally the editing.

Starting off with the camera shots, From research it was clearly visible that most shots from "EDM" music videos were fast paced/ cut in order to fit the beat and enhance the dance feel being conveyed. When filming our own video we took this under consideration especially. A lot of the shots we included were fast paced and involved quick panning over scenery/ locations being used, as well as zooming inwards and outwards to deliberately emphasise the filming was being completed hand-held. We included a fair amount of 'hand held' filming in order to represent an realistic POV perspective from both centered characters. We highly wanted to depict the contrast between the verses being slower and the choruses being faster. Therefore we ensured the characters remain calmer and the shots being would stay within an slower pace during the verses. However when the chorus began again and the beat would speed up and the shots would commence being faster cut, with an additional shakiness effect which was added to represent the characters excitement and add a sense of realism of what it is like within a real dance/ party atmosphere. We also included a number of high angled establishing shots as well as mid-shots, to give the audience a sense of where they are and familiarise themselves with the current setting. As well, we included a number of close-up angles upon the two main characters to highlight their importance and help them to stay recognisable to the audience whilst they are watching.

Common forms and conventions of EDM music videos also include the location/ set being used. Usually this takes place within an lively/ stimulating atmosphere such as clubs, parties and places with large surroundings of people. As well as locations with powerful lighting and vibrant colours which additionally adds towards the liveliness and feel good atmosphere of the setting. For our own video we included a combination of footage filmed in central London, as well as clubbing/ concert scenes. We included a balance of both to establish the excitement between the verse and the chorus. We also enhanced the saturation of the footage and played around with different colors to enrich for each particular scene, in order to give the video a more vintage appearance. We also included a mixture of bright colouration and strobe lighting to emphasise the happiness and make the scenes pop out greater to the audience. We knew that it was essential for our music video to match our chosen song which is why we greatly incorporated a connection between the lyrics and the video itself. For example we accompanied the lyrics ‘6 o’clock again’ with daytime footage to symbolise the time of day and contrast between night.

Most commonly placed techniques used to as conventions of typical EDM music videos include fast cut shots, in order to allow as much footage and angles to be included as possible. We made sure essentially within the chorus our cuts would never be longer than 2-3 seconds, as well as to make sure the footage being used fits the beat and works well as soon as the bass drops. We used such editing techniques, as 'stabilising' which we done in order to make the video appear as though it has been filmed on an older camera, adding towards the vintage theme we intended. We also sped up some of the footage for certain scenes to contrast the difference between the slower paced shots and the faster ones, as well as to the help the footage remain up to the beat of the song. This use of editing we included, hoped would amplify and draw audiences into the video further, as well as allowing them a sense of exhilaration and freedom the video is portraying. We wanted to incorporate the idea of escapism, as most EDM music videos feature somewhat desired atmospheres and fantasies audiences aspire to escape to, which is why we wanted to edit our video in the best timely manner as possible.

We developed our music video in a number of ways throughout the process of the project. We wanted our video to stand out and further improve from existing EDM music videos. We done this by including a combination of scenery, not only just featuring dance/ clubs scenes. We wanted to emphasise happiness upon the outside world by including a variety of popular locations within london, and scenarios such as the arcade and carousel scenes which can be seen to be as playful fun. We also developed our video by incorporating a wide range colour palette, by changing the use of saturation and colours used based upon the colours already featured in the imagery. We also made sure to include a strong contrast between night and day imagery, to reflect upon the songs lyrics as well as its meaning, implying happiness lies within both times of day.

For our music video our main focus was to shine light towards happiness and the reflection of life, which viewers could relate to. In doing so we also challenged some of the previous forms and conventions of the EDM genre in order to make our video different. We did this first of all by incorporating our main characters as females rather than males. It is found that in most EDM music video's females are only used for sexulised purposes, which we wanted to challenge in order to represent female power and domination taking over the genre. We also challenged regular filming shots/ angles, for example most of our shots were hand held to highlight we were trying to approach the video as being an vlog from the POV the two main characters in order feel more personal rather than just an establishing perspective for the audience to watch over. We also challenged some sound techniques during editing, such as including the sound from the video itself within some scenes of the video for example before the second verse began as well as just before the video ends. Both scenes were within a party/ club setting, which meant that lots of cheering could be heard in the background which we felt added a nice touch towards the atmospheric party scene. Conclusively deciding to overlap the audio we already had in the footage as well as still keeping the original audio playing at the same time.