I believe that when you first watch my music video it could be interpreted as a little bit strange, even a little bit more obscure than the typical codes and conventions of the abstract genre. Admittedly some parts of the video do break the barriers of a conventional music video, for example the wacky mise-en-scene and the costumes too, but that is what I wanted to produce, to step away from the ‘norm’ and create a new style, therefore it could be suggested that my video challenges existing abstract music videos, personally I believe this is because it is such an amateur production in comparison to existing music videos.
Although I have applied essential conventions
within my video. In terms of cinematography and editing I have applied lip
synching, mid shots, close ups, zooming, panning, slow motion, reversing and
rhythmic editing-all of these conventions are what any viewer expects to see
when watching any music video from any genre. When analysing in terms of the abstract genre I have used codes
and signifiers from my initial research to produce my video, for example: the
‘wacky’ mise-en-scene is probably the biggest example of the genre but also the
fact there is no narrative to the video, again this is what I wanted to produce
rather than a generic pop music video in which ‘love’ is the theme running
throughout. And considering my initial target audience research that is what
they wanted to see and what they expect from a video that is promoting an
artist who is renowned for her ‘alternative style’.
Now, looking at my ancillary texts and firstly the
codes and conventions within my website. Again after researching existing
websites it appeared to me that the homepages fitted seemingly alongside the artist’s
music, and therefore I concluded I would also do this too. I initially set
about wanting to replicate Paloma Faith’s website in which I wanted to scan in
traced images of angels and wings etc, but I decided it would look to grainy
and unprofessional against my already amateur video production, so I used the
clip art images on the website creator instead, they proved extremely useful
and consequently fit with the genre and style of my music video. The cartoon
angel clip art that I have used for the ‘link tabs’, the angels wing clip art
and also the stars are again, just like the mise-en-scene signifiers within my
video, they fit in with the conventions of the genre and also signal specific
codes in which the audience expect to see from any genre, whether it be the
angels on my website, the ‘sketched’ pictures on Paulo Nutini’s website or the
symmetrical window panels featured upon Florence and The Machine’s website,
they’re all what the audience expect to see.
Q2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
Furthermore my magazine advert promotes the video by sourcing the Web 2.0 hyperlink to the video and actually tells the audience, upon the tag line to ‘watch it!’ The advert also contains a screen shot of the website which lets the audience gage their own impression of the website before actually exploring it themselves, this, I believe, is what any media business wants their target audience to do and they will therefore gain audience feedback into what works well within their product as well as what doesn’t, enabling them to fulfill their audiences needs when producing further products; which leads into my own audience feedback data for my promotional package.
(Link for Prezi titled: 'Ancillary Texts analysis' as the 'embed' link would not work): http://prezi.com/lgljtkdr5nug/untitled-prezi/
Q2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
The combination of
my main product and ancillary texts does work well, as I have a consistent
housestyle, font and collection of imagery running throughout both my ancillary
texts which is also fitting with the mise-en-scene in my video, too. The
audience know that the 3 pieces are connected, as a promotional package because
of the familiarity of the angel characters; they are featured within all three
texts and continue to reiterate the abstract image. Also the props used in my
video, such as the angel wings are featured as a ‘clip art’ on my website,
merging the two proved positive, it acts as a signifier and therefore the
audience will hopefully make the connection and explore both the video and
website further.
The application of
cross form synergy has been used, whereby the website lets you stream the MP3
version of any song when the HTML is ‘open’, in turn this element is enabling
the promotion of the artist’s repertoire of songs without the user being aware
that they are doing this, which is the beauty of cross form synergy as it is promoting
another product without anyone, but the producers of each being aware. Another point to note is the ‘future’ application of a live update
of how many digipaks/hard copies have been sold so far, the interactive device
will let the audience feel more actively involved with the artist’s wider
community and will promote the declining idea of hard copy version of the
song-a CD! Thus keeping individual conglomerates, such as ‘HMV’ and ‘independent’
record shops in business.
Furthermore my magazine advert promotes the video by sourcing the Web 2.0 hyperlink to the video and actually tells the audience, upon the tag line to ‘watch it!’ The advert also contains a screen shot of the website which lets the audience gage their own impression of the website before actually exploring it themselves, this, I believe, is what any media business wants their target audience to do and they will therefore gain audience feedback into what works well within their product as well as what doesn’t, enabling them to fulfill their audiences needs when producing further products; which leads into my own audience feedback data for my promotional package.
(Link for Prezi titled: 'Ancillary Texts analysis' as the 'embed' link would not work): http://prezi.com/lgljtkdr5nug/untitled-prezi/
Q3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
What I originally set out to achieve:
What I originally set out to achieve:
To target:
The kind of people who would willingly watch my music video
are: outgoing individuals who are creative and full of life. They feel need to
express their feelings in a way that grabs other people’s attention, it could
be via their experimental and unconventional way with fashion or their wide
range of music genre taste. Their positive and fulfilling attitude to life
makes them the perfect viewer for my alternative music video.
What's
happened now, and what's changed:
I'd say that the primary points for my target audience
haven't really changed but in a way may have extended because of the ‘new’
abstract image I have created through my video and how things unintentionally
changed throughout the production process. They are still classed as
'alternative' & 'experimental' people in terms of the demographic target
audience but will also be interested in an 'alternative' world and reality, too
when researching deeper into them as a person, consequently and unknowingly I
believe I have created a very narrow niche audience for my products, the video
especially.
To gain audience feedback I have used a number of digital
techniques to gather information. For example, from the start of the project I
set up a poll on my blog, in which people could fill it in whenever they viewed
it, throughout the project this enabled me to see what a range of people liked
from a product and equally what they didn’t, too. Admittedly at the start I
took the usefulness of the poll for granted and believe I could have used it
more when it came to filming the shots for my video, but then as I collected
more responses it became apparent to me that I should have used it more to
understand what the audience actually wanted from the text. At the start of my
research I also asked people what they thought of an existing music video form
the same genre and that genuinely provoked more ideas of what I could produce
for my video, for example the idea of an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ proved very
popular, but when it came to actually producing the video it proved too much to
produce and I had to forgot the idea entirely, perhaps that is one of the
reasons why I am not fully satisfied with my video, because not all of my
initial ideas went ahead, and could also suggest why the target audience for my
piece unfortunately shrank and developed into a more niche audience.
After I completed my promotional package I set about in
creating a new survey on the website http://www.surveymonkey.com/home/
I had heard of it before and knew that it would be a great technological way of
reaching out to the audience. I set about first of all asking my family and friends
to watch my video then complete the survey by simply giving them the address of
the survey, but then I concluded into posting both the video and survey onto my
‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter’ pages, in which I believed I would get a diverse range
of answers, and most importantly honest unbiased ones, too. But unfortunately I
didn’t receive as much data as I intended to. But, looking at the data I did
receive there is a variety of answers, ranging from positive to negative!
I’ve also asked/interviewed people from around the college to answer these following questions, after I showed them my video.
1. Do you like my video?
2. Is there anything you’d change? State:
3. Is it too abstract? Y/N
4. Age.
First of all the average age of the people that responded
are 18. This is important to note because they fit into the demographic
audience category in which I wanted to target. Only 1 out of the 4 responses
shows that this person didn’t really like my video. Getting an honest answer
and to see what they would change about my video makes me realise that they are
right and that there are probably too many ‘short’ shots running throughout my
video, longer shots would probably sustain the viewer’s interest further and
wouldn’t have led to my video looking rushed. Honestly, the reason why the
other responses don’t really suggest what I could change is because I asked my
close friends to answers these questions, so therefore this shows a bias
response. So therefore the online ‘Survey monkey’ questionnaire is most definitely
the most useful resource in terms of audience feedback.
I did initially want to gather data in the form of audience
feedback videos, just like I did at the start of the project, but unfortunately
I ran out of time to do this. So, I feel that although I have missed on a great
opportunity to gather verbal data and honest answers from the audience, using a
new online device (Survey Monkey) for an anonymous questionnaire has still
helped me understand a range of people’s impressions of my video and ancillary
texts.
The ‘Survey Monkey’ feedback shows a variety of answers, in
which I’m going to analyse. The first question shows how 70% of the people who
responded ‘liked’ my video, meaning 30% didn’t, this is honestly quite a
startling amount of people who didn’t, which makes me realise that perhaps if I
had more time I would most definitely change it, not all of it, but most definitely
some of it. The second question gives them a chance to answer 1 of 5 questions.
I comparison to the first questions this shows that even though people claimed
to not ‘like’ the video, they didn’t claim that there was anything genuinely wrong
with it, it just wasn’t to their taste, but that is because of the niche audience in which my
video, now reaches out to. The third questions collects qualitative data in
which they got to state what they would change using their own words, thus
giving an honest opinion. The first response states: “I think I would change
what they are wearing and also you should have more shots instead of using the
same ones” so this shows that the costumes where again perhaps amateur, just
like the video as well. Perhaps it wasn’t the costumes, but the mise-en-scene
instead. The costumes would look more effective and therefore the video would,
too. If I’d of had more time then I would most definitely of have re-shot the
indoor shots, with better lighting to make it look more natural and less ‘staged’.
I also gathered feedback on the audience’s thoughts on my ancillary texts, too.
Question 4 shows this. None of the responses say that the ancillary texts don’t
fit in with the genre or video, which is good, although 50% only state that
they only ‘sort of’ fit into the genre, which makes me realise that the
consistency of the products are again, not brilliant and admittedly I even
believe that they look rushed and of a low quality. But, 50% of the people who did
respond do like my ancillary texts and feel there is a consistency running
throughout all of texts. Most importantly, I have got to take into account the
fact that the genre of music the people who responded to my survey enjoy the
most is ‘Pop’ (75%), the style of pop music is entirely dissimilar to ‘abstract’ and therefore what they
enjoy listening to has a great influence on their decision when filling in the questionnaire,
this had made me realise that everyone has a range of opinions about music in
general and that people can be influenced greatly by their social groups to
determine what their favourite genre of music actually is. The second most
important response to note is that of the audience’s most enjoyable format of
music video, whereby it appears that 100% of people enjoy performance based
videos, thus clearly fitting with, again the genre of pop and the fact that the
majority of ‘Pop’ videos do actually have a narrative, unlike mine.
Overall, I feel that all of the audience feedback data I have
collected does give a useful insight into the good and bad points of my promotional
package. I feel that the responses make it evident to me that I should most definitely
taken more time and care when filming and editing, this would have enabled me
to produce a stronger and more professional outcome. In terms of the ancillary
texts, I feel that I spent too much time drafting the website and not enough
time on the magazine advert; this is shown in the feedback data I collected and
makes me realise that perhaps I should have researched even further into what
target audience wanted from a promotional package.
Q4. How did
you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and
evaluation stages?
I have used a range of digitalised media technologies
throughout my project. I have most certainly found some easier to use than
others.
I started with just using the internet to research my artist
and the genre of their music; this was simple enough and enabled me to settle
into my project well. I also used my phone camera to collect my friend’s
thoughts on a particular Florence and the Machine music video. I simply
uploaded the footage onto my YouTube account (which was already set up through
the creation of my blog) and then embedded the link into a new post on blogger (print
screen of how to do this). Throughout the making of my project I
used the online software ‘Prezi’, it enables you to produce a stylish and
interactive presentation and once I’d picked up the basics I enjoyed using it
to present my thoughts, ideas and general work, too. I also used another online
presentation tool called ‘SlideRocket’, I found it through a search on ‘Google’
because you cannot upload PowerPoint Presentations to Blogger, the software was
easy to follow, but I feel it doesn’t look as effective as a Prezi
presentation.
When I began to plan my video and everyone else did too it
became apparent to me that the demand for video camera was going to be
extremely high, so I set about asking family and friends if they had a suitable
video camera for me to borrow, I eventually found one that stored the footage
internally(which meant it required me USB wire when uploading onto the editing
suite), as I stated on my blog (with weekly updates) this took such a long time
to do, weeks in fact because every time I wanted to upload my footage it either
wouldn’t work or there was someone on my allocated editing suite. Eventually I
got my footage uploaded onto the editing software ‘Adobe Premier Pro’. I
already had experience with using Premier Pro when working in our small group
to produce the reconstruction of the ‘We Found Love’ Rihanna music video, but
because we were in a group we shared our roles and took turns when editing
which meant I didn’t have the same confidence when editing by myself as I did
when editing in the group. I may also not have felt as confident because I was
producing such a long piece, and never produced anything at such lengths
before. I felt okay with the editing/cutting side of the production as this was
fairly simple to do, it was, for example using the tracker, getting the timing
right for the lip synching and also adding special effects-that I didn’t feel
at all confident with, but looking back I do feel I coped quite well with this.
I initially began filming in November (2012), I knew these where only going to be test shots as I was still getting used to the camera and its features as well as organising the cast by following my storyboard & animatic which I had made on Windows Movie Maker (which I felt was much easier device to use than Adobe Premier Pro). After showing my media teacher my first draft he suggested that I changed the mise-en-scene as well as the camera shots too, I did. On 20th January 2013 I began filming at my local church hall, at the time it felt like a fitting location to filming, as it had a stage, appropriate props to use and a great ‘fairy-tale like’ garden, too. This meant that I could no longer follow my original storyboard because just about all of my ideas had changed, so therefore the shots had to as well. At first I didn’t feel as though I was using a range of shots, but after many re-shoots I came up with what I felt was a sufficient range. I used: medium close ups, panning, zooming, close ups, tracking shots and long shots, too. When looking at them on a small screen upon the camera they looked great! But when I eventually uploaded them just before Easter (21st March) I felt as though they didn’t look good on a larger screen, by then it was just too late to re-shoot as I would lose the effect of the mise-en-scene (snow etc.) and I would also have to re-book the church hall too, this proved too costly with time So unfortunately I to stick with what I had! Looking back now I feel that is why my video doesn’t look anywhere near as effective as I wanted it too. Throughout the time I was filming I also took a bit of time out to get some photographs of the ‘angels’ for my ancillary texts, for this I used a still digital camera. I only got a few images as I knew that if I got too many that I would lose focus with just editing the images and not focus on the rest of the products features, e.g. the text, house style and tag lines, too.
I initially began filming in November (2012), I knew these where only going to be test shots as I was still getting used to the camera and its features as well as organising the cast by following my storyboard & animatic which I had made on Windows Movie Maker (which I felt was much easier device to use than Adobe Premier Pro). After showing my media teacher my first draft he suggested that I changed the mise-en-scene as well as the camera shots too, I did. On 20th January 2013 I began filming at my local church hall, at the time it felt like a fitting location to filming, as it had a stage, appropriate props to use and a great ‘fairy-tale like’ garden, too. This meant that I could no longer follow my original storyboard because just about all of my ideas had changed, so therefore the shots had to as well. At first I didn’t feel as though I was using a range of shots, but after many re-shoots I came up with what I felt was a sufficient range. I used: medium close ups, panning, zooming, close ups, tracking shots and long shots, too. When looking at them on a small screen upon the camera they looked great! But when I eventually uploaded them just before Easter (21st March) I felt as though they didn’t look good on a larger screen, by then it was just too late to re-shoot as I would lose the effect of the mise-en-scene (snow etc.) and I would also have to re-book the church hall too, this proved too costly with time So unfortunately I to stick with what I had! Looking back now I feel that is why my video doesn’t look anywhere near as effective as I wanted it too. Throughout the time I was filming I also took a bit of time out to get some photographs of the ‘angels’ for my ancillary texts, for this I used a still digital camera. I only got a few images as I knew that if I got too many that I would lose focus with just editing the images and not focus on the rest of the products features, e.g. the text, house style and tag lines, too.
I started to produce the first of my ancillary texts, the
website, upon Photoshop, but then I found out about another online application
called ‘Wix’, it enabled me to produce a realistic website for my band using
simple techniques that where extremely easy to pick up. I produced many drafts
of my website as each time I published it I saw something different that I felt
I could adapt and/or change.
I thoroughly enjoyed using this application and
would say that it is much easier to use than Photoshop. Even though I used
Photoshop to produce my music magazine at AS level, I still found it extremely
challenging to use when producing my second ancillary text, the magazine advert.
Around half way through my project I was still hoping to produce a digipak for
the album release but, again it proved way too challenging for me to produce
even with the digipak outline, so that was when I resorted to producing the
magazine advert instead. At the start of my project I took time out to research
existing music magazine adverts from different genres to help me grasp what was
required when I produced mine. Unfortunately I still had to use Photoshop to
produce my advert but I did feel more confident because I didn’t have to use as
many ‘layers’ and tools to produce my final outcome. I didn’t spend as much
time as I’d hoped on the magazine advert so that is why I believe it doesn’t
look as professional as my website and this I sense is because I couldn’t come
to terms with complexity of Photoshop.
 |
| This shows the 6 different drafts of my website. |
For my audience feedback I found another new media
technology to enable me to gather data. ‘Survey Monkey’ proved most useful to
me because as previously stated I didn’t have enough time to collect digital
videos with verbal responses. I was aware of the survey generator through
completing questionnaires myself and seeing how simple it looked to set up. So
I did and it was. I got the opportunity to let the audience fill in the
questionnaire however they wished, by letting them ‘select multiple answers’
and leaving their ‘own comments’, too. I then decided that I should post my
promotional package alongside the questionnaire onto social networking sites
such as ‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter’ to get honest and non-bias feedback from a
wider audience, rather than just my close friends and family and although I
only got a minimal amount of answers it did prove to be a good decision.
Overall I feel the most useful new media technologies I used
where: ‘Prezi’, ‘Survey Monkey’ and ‘Wix’, merely because of their simplicity
and the fact they were so easy to use; consequently I felt the most confident
when producing these products with the above applications and I believe they
are the 3 outcomes that embed the most strength within my project. Unlike my
music video and magazine advert which don’t look as effective because of the complexity
of Adobe Premier Pro and Photoshop.
Throughout the production of this project I feel I have
learnt many new things, such as how to edit a video to the best of my own
ability and to not compare my production to other peoples, as mine is what I
wanted to produce and no-one else’s. I also feel I can take on board criticism
towards my work, throughout gaining feedback helped me develop my work and
understand the faults, as well as the strengths with my work too.
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