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Note to the examiner

Dear examiner,

Thank you for taking the time to look at my A2 media coursework blog. I have enjoyed the creation of music video as well as being able to express my creativity throughout the course.

Thank you,

Alex

Evaluation Question 3 - Final

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Our feedback was constructive and allowed us to make a better music video from looking back at our first music video draft.  We had received feedback about the music video and we had acted upon it in order to improve the quality of our music video. Our first comment was to make a decision regarding who will be the singer within the music video as we had 2 different singers singing different bits in the song and it became confusing for the audience who were watching the video. Although, the feedback was to change it from 2 singers to just the one, we had decided to keep both artists as they were able to easily bounce off each other creating a good atmosphere but we made it seem more understandable who was singing what section as Fin was singing the choruses and Alfie was singing the verses. This had allowed the song to be more structured making it easier to understand for the audience which allowed the video to be more enjoyable to watch.

We were also advised to take out the car shots within our music video. This was because the car wasn't suited for the genre which we wanted to create, we needed either a really old car which was rusty and damaged or a new modern car which would be expensive. If we hadn't have take out the car shots in the final music video, we wouldn't have acted upon the feedback which we were given and our video wouldn't have been as good as it could've if we followed all the feedback given to us.

In addition, we had been given feedback in order to lose the vodka bottle which was unnecessary and didn't need to be featured in the music video. We had ensured that we had re-filmed this section of the song in the same location without the vodka bottle as recommended from the teacher. This had helped  the music video to appear as professional and doesn't encourage the audience to take inspiration from the star images in the music video.

We had to ensure that we had completed more filming in more locations as we didn't have enough outfit changes for the music video making it appear as boring and repetitive as the artists weren't in different locations. With us having a lot of areas where we need to improve, it allowed us to make the best possible music video as we know where to improve. Our group was also recommended to include title cards at the beginning of the song which we had implemented in to the video.

We were advised to continue to film with the city centre as it worked best for the video which we aimed to create. As the teachers had liked our idea, it had made it easy for us to continue with our idea and not having many improvements to make in order to make a better music video.

Final Evaluation Question 4

Evaluation Question 4 from Alex Hunt

Evaluation Question 4 - Draft

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

Me, Alfie and Will used several media technologies in order to construct our media product. For the construction and research stages, I had used the search engine, Google, in order to research existing media products to help us with the creation of our own media products. It was crucial for us to research existing media products as otherwise, the media products which we were creating may not have fit in with the genre of music we were aiming to merge in to.

Blogger helped with the construction and research stages of our media product as we were able to store all of our research on to our blogs in order to show the progressions which we have made. If we didn't use Blogger to store the research and information which we had found, then the research and construction stage would've been harder to complete as we may have struggled to find the information that we had found from the lesson before. I had already had experience using Blogger in order to store all of my existing work on there from AS Level Media Studies which allowed meet be more familiar with the technologies I was using. However, as I was using Blogger, it had meant that I had to link a google account to the Blogger in order to prevent losing my work and being able to log on to my Blogger account whenever I wanted to. Blogger allowed me to store my completed work on the website which can be viewed by anyone who visits my Blogger page. However, I was able to save unfinished work as a draft which allowed me to edit it without anyone being able to see my unfinished work.

In order to create the final media product, we had to use software which would allow us to do this. We were able to experiment with two different software’s to see which one suited us best. The first draft music video was iMovie which was created on my MacBook. This had allowed me to be able to edit the video whenever I wished to as I could use my laptop. However, the other draft music videos were attempted on software called Final Cut Pro X which was the same layout as iMovie, but we wouldn't be able to edit the video when we wished as it was on the school iMac's. I personally preferred using the iMovie software as I had gained experience using it after making several draft music videos on my ow laptop but my other two group members preferred Final Cut Pro X. Originally, we were all going to make our own music videos as we had different interpretations to how we wanted to video to look but instead, we all contributed for the final media product and had made separate drafts where we would be able to use our own creative minds in order to link the song with the actions of the band members. There were advantages being able to work off my MacBook which is why we had chosen to use the software, iMovie over Final Cut Pro X.

Another media technology which we had used was YouTube. In order for us to make a successful music video within the genre of music that we have collectively chosen, YouTube had allowed us to do this as we were able to research existing media products in order forms to get inspiration on the genre which we are making our media product on. We were able to watch the original music video for the song which we had chosen to make a new music video for which was Jamie T - Sticks 'n' Stones. If we didn't use YouTube in order to research the genre, we may have made a music video which didn't fit in with he genre that we wanted to create. This could've led to an audience not being satisfied with the product we had created. YouTube also allowed us to store the media products which we had made on to a safe area where they can be viewed by the public but also doesn't risk being deleted. 

iTunes was a media technology which we had used when purchasing the official Sticks ‘n’ Stones song in order for the song to be placed in the iMovie software for us to be able to make the lip synching fit in with the lyrics of the song. Purchasing the song had made it easier than using an MP3 converter which could’ve allowed us to put the song in to the iMovie software for free, we didn’t want to risk there being any problems with lyrics or any intro noise which may be included within the official music video. Purchasing the song helped with the post production editing as we are able to link the background noise of the song which helped us perform good lip synching when recording the artists singing in the filming locations which we had chosen.

The camera which we used to record the music video was a Nikon D7000. This had allowed us to take better quality videos making our music video high quality. On top of that, the lens was a Nikkor 55200 which allowed us to focus in and out on certain features within the shots. This had allowed the audience to know what the focus was for that particular shot. We also tried using a tripod which was with the camera, but it made the shots too still making certain shots look boring and uninteresting compared to when we filmed without the tripod. Due to the camera being good quality, it had made it easier for us when coming to post production as we didn’t have to alter the lighting of the shots as the camera self-adjusted depending on factors which may have affected the outcome of certain shots.

I used Adobe Photoshop when creating the ancillary texts such as the digipak and the advert for when our digipak will be released. Photoshop allowed us to edit our media products as well using the templates from the internet in order to create our digipak. Photoshop was important to me as otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to create the media products which I needed to and therefore wouldn’t have been able to complete the coursework. In order to make the digipak, I used a website which gave me a template to use when designing the aesthetics of my digipak. As I had already researched all the information which I needed to know, I was able to create/attempt digipak drafts in order to then be able to receive feedback on how I am able to improve it to help it to fit in with the genre we had chosen to focus our media products on, Indie.

Evaluation Question 2 - Final

Evaluation Question 1 - Final

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

The research that me, Alfie and Will had carried out on our chosen genre, Indie, was beneficial to us as we were able to have a good understanding of what techniques we needed to use for our video. We had analysed music videos which already exist within our genre to have an understanding of how our video needs to be perceived in order for it to fit in with our chosen genre. We had aimed to make our music video look realistic and to be viewed as professional in order for it to fit in with existing media music videos to allow us to feel as if the audience will enjoy our music video with it being energetic and different which is how most indie music videos are.

Our music video used conventions as we have used a performance music video which involves the artists singing in front of the camera. In addition to this, we had originally used a tripod for our music shots but it had made the shot boring and basic as it was centred in the middle with no movement from the camera. To prevent this, we decided not to use the tripod in our shots making the whole music video with the 'free hand' camera technique. We had also made our video conventional as it included several outfit changes for the different locations which we had used in order to film the music video.

With our genre being Indie, we have analysed existing music videos such as Jamie T - Sticks 'n' Stones. As this is the song which we ha chosen, we had analysed the music video in order to have an understanding of the editing which the editors of the music video had used in order to fit with the pace of the song. As the song is fast paced, we needed to ensure that the artists were energetic in order for the performance of the song to be familiar with the audience. Other songs which we had taken inspiration from was Rat Boy - Sign On which is a performance video that involves the artist singing and doing hat they want to do in front of the camera. With the original song using a performance video, it helped us in order to know how to start filming our music video with the ideas which we had in mind.

We have used conventions within our music video. One of the conventions which we had used was to use star images in our music video for the audience to know who the music video is focused on and to show who the man singer or member of the band is to allow the audience know who the main focus is. This music video technique is commonly used within music videos as it allows the audience to feel as if the audience have a connection with the band members. Looking back at the preliminary task of recreating a music video, we had different singers singing different parts of the song as we were recreating Mens Needs by The Cribs and they had more than one singer which may have made it confusing for the audience if they didn't know who the band members were but as it is an established band, the audience will know who the lead singer is compared to the other singer.

When we had created our first music video, we didn't follow conventions as we had different singers singing random parts of the song making it hard to establish who was the main focus of the music video. However, when we were given feedback, we ensured that it was clear who was the lead singer as we divided them by the chorus and the verses of the song. The final music video followed conventions and because of this, it had made it easier to establish who was the main singer of the music video making it look more realistic fitting in with the indie genre as other music videos have done similar ideas.

Some music videos use attractive star images within a music video in order to grasp the audience's attention but we followed this idea as we used two characters who were consistently 'bouncing off' each other creating a satisfying, exciting music video for the audience to watch and would enjoy to watch it again. Star images fit in with the genre we have chosen to base our music video around as there are existing music videos which do this such as Ratboy. Ratboy is a band but is perceived as one member of the band as he is the star image of the band.

Originally, we wanted our music video to be based round a car which we had filmed for but although it was conventional, it didn't work as we found that the shots were too still not creating the vibe which we wanted and made the shots seem boring. In addition, we wanted to use a car such as the Ratboy - Revolution when the band use a standard car with a unique pattern on it in order for it to stand out. The car shots which we tried to create were supposed to be upbeat, happy and fun to watch.  However, when we filmed the car shots, due to us using a tripod, the shots looked boring and unexcitable.