Evaluation Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Music Video:

DigiPak and Advert:

(Click to Enlarge Image)

For some reason, the image viewer on Blogger has changed so that you cannot click and zoom in on the image to read it. I have enlarged the actual image and text but if you still cannot read it, there is a Prezi (below) where you can zoom in onto the image to make it easier to read:

Evaluation Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

For this question, I have created a website/presentation for the ‘Branding’ of Joe Newman. I used Wix to complete this because I could embed my music video into the page, along with my DigiPak and Advert close ups to show comparison between the three products. This is what the page looks like but if you cannot see it very well then here is the link to the page. (In order to view it full-screen to get an overview of the page, just press F11 when the webpage has opened and loaded):

http://www.wix.com/matt__08/evaluation-question-2

Evaluation Question 3: What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Feedback has been vital throughout the pre-production, production, post-production and evaluation stages. It has enabled me to make sure that my target audience is satisfied with the products and to ensure that the purpose of the Music Video, DigiPak and Advert are suited to the audience and genre. Feedback has not only been useful from the audience, but my teachers and Joe himself. The following tag clouds are created using Wordle by me and I have decided to use the colour scheme of Heat because the red/brown colours and greys suit my DigiPak and Advert:

First Draft of Ancillary Products (DigiPak and Advert):

Audience Feedback (Positive):-

Audience Feedback (Negative):-

The first set of feedback that I received was for my ancillary products. It was mostly negative for the first draft because they were only hand-drawn designs and so audience members could only visualise themselves on what they think they might look like. This feedback made me realise that I needed to organise my time more effectively in order to produce several ‘real’ designs to show them – so I could gain some relevant feedback that would be more constructive. After this feedback, I planned my time better for the rest of the production.

Teacher Feedback (Positive):-

Teacher Feedback (Negative):-

My teacher's feedback for my ancillary products’ first draft was similar to my target audience feedback – it was difficult to change aspects of the DigiPak when there was no original to look at in the first place. One of the key points that stood out though was that the Union Jack and that I needed to research more into its usage elsewhere. After researching, I realised that only certain bands (such as The Sex Pistols) were able to get away with using it and I also researched into just the texture effects of the wall; which received further feedback that that was effective without the Union Jack. This feedback has made me learn that constructive criticism can be very useful when thinking of ideas because sometimes ideas can seem really effective when thinking to ourselves but might not be aiming in the right direction in terms of what appeals to the target audience.

First Draft of Music Video:

Audience Feedback (Positive):-

Audience Feedback (Negative):-

A lot of the feedback from the audience relating to the first draft of the music video brought to my attention that the shots were too long and that there were too many shots of just Joe walking alone. Because of this, the feedback also concluded that the audience were becoming disinterested in the music video and was making the whole purpose of the music video void. I therefore took all of the feedback from the relevant target audience members and began to rethink my ideas as to narrative and faster paced editing. The positive feedback that I did receive showed that Joe was convincing as the artist and this made me feel more optimistic and more enthusiastic towards thinking of an effective narrative.

Teacher Feedback (Positive):-

Teacher Feedback (Negative):-

Apart from the shots being too long, my teacher’s feedback was very important towards getting the editing and technical aspects right (such as the mise en scene for the female narrative sequences of shots). Both of my teachers gave feedback that was very useful because none of the feedback was contradicting and enabled me to feel more confident when filming Amy’s sections of the video.

Final Cut of Music Video:

Audience Feedback (Positive):-

Audience Feedback (Negative):-

A lot of the feedback that I received was constructive (nearly all) and has helped me to re-think ideas that maybe would be too cloudy in the music video (especially the narrative). It was important to gain as many different opinions and views as possible so that I could pick out the useful comments from my target audience and the ones that would not actually appeal to the target audience.

The final set of positive comments that came from the target audience showed that I have followed the right advice and feedback throughout the editing stages by changing the cutting-pace of the shots in order to make it more interesting and the narrative aspect also seemed to be understood by many audience members. What I have learnt throughout the process through feedback is to accept the negative feedback and use to develop my products and turn it to constructive usage instead of taking offense. Overall, I am happy with the feedback that I received from my target audience and teachers because they allowed me to refocus my products to make them more effective as a combination and as individual products.

Evaluation Question 4: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Final Music Video

Black and White Idea with Amy's Sections - Music Video

In order to gain audience and teacher feedback about the black and white idea for Amy’s sections of the music video, I have constructed a comparison video including both of the sections in colour and sections in black and white (side by side). This is only the video in progress and so is not complete/finalised yet anyway:

The feedback that I received from both my teacher and my target audience is that the black and white looks good on Amy’s shots but does not justify its usage when in the narrative of the music video. This is because the relationship between Joe and Amy is simultaneous throughout the music video (the relationship being that they are both looking back/regretting them both breaking up). Because both of them seem to be looking at the photos at the same time (created by the editing), it would not make sense if Amy is portrayed as being in the past by the black and white. I therefore am going to keep it in colour but continue to edit it further – as there is still work to be done!

Filming Overview - Wednesday 16th November 2011

Last night I completed the filming for the sections where Amy will be in the music video. Tomorrow, my teacher said that she will go through the footage to see if it is appropriate for the idea of them once having a relationship. I am confident that it will work and am now thinking about whether Amy's sections should be in black and white and not in colour. By incorporating a female in the music video, I can now be more creative in terms of editing effects (such as fading to white to show flashbacks/what is in the past). There are no current transitions in the music video so that is what I am going to experiment now.