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

Within our production process we made use of many new media technologies which all helped contribute to designing, producing and accessing audience feedback.

* The main programme we used to create our video was Final Cut Express, teaching ourselves fairly complex techniques such as stop motion and split screen in order to achieve the style of music video we planned – that being one following no particular narrative, but being ‘random’, nonsensical and simply visually entertaining.

(whilst speaking, video playing of us creating stop motion section on final cut, and maybe split screen bits)

* An important feature of our video is the overlaying animation – we achieved this effect through using Adobe Photoshop.

It was a lengthy, time consuming process but we are really impressed with the level of animation we managed to produce, seeing as we had never done it before and had to work out how to achieve the effect ourselves, teaching each other the technique as we went. (playing video of animation being made).

To create the animation we had to convert the video clip into Photoshop, where the programme splits the video file into 100’s of frames, that we then filtered through to find the appropriate sections of lyrics for example, then began drawing on the chosen image on every layer (100+) moving its position slightly each time, so when all the frames are played alongside one another, the pictures become a moving sequence.

* Social networking – In relation to audience feedback, we relied a lot on social networking media such as Youtube, facebook, myspace and Last.fm – we used each platform in varying ways to gain the specific feedback we needed.

- We used Facebook and myspace to upload sections of the edit as we went along, to ensure we were meeting the expectations of our target audience, and were keeping every section of the video on track to the best of our ability, to avoid any sections lacking full attention.

- We used last.fm when researching our band to gain information on the genre, their existing work, the demographic of their target audience and their overall style.

- we also used myspace to further this research, gaining knowledge on their audiences in relation to age, gender and social group.

- We used youtube to gain wider feedback other than just from our peers on facebook and myspace – by uploading early edits onto youtube we were able to see feedback from existing fans of the band who would’ve potentially been searching for videos of the Shout Out Louds songs, and would’ve come across ours in their searching – therefore we have a direct response from real fans of this genre and band that we don’t know, giving us real, honest opinions on the work so far.

*  Another fairly new media technology we made use of during out production was SD cameras – in previous years filming for A2 media would’ve been done on DV tape cameras, but we were able to use SD cards which provided us with a much simpler, quicker process when uploading and selecting successful clips.

- When filming straight onto SD the clips cannot go directly into Final Cut, but have to be converted into a different format beforehand. To achieve this we made use of a SHAREWARE programme called ‘MPEG Streamclip’ where you drag and drop a file into the window, select export to Quicktime, then chose the format ‘Apple DV Pal’ – this process is very quick and as soon as it’s done the files are ready for final cut. 

Evaluation Question Two

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

(top right) this is the image of the vinyl that we used to create our ancillary tasks. It was taken on a standard digital camera, although the quality is good i feel it could have been improved to make the overall macro effect a lot better. we removed the white background so that we could add images behind it. This took no time at all and we were able to use it for a variety of different aspects of our ancillary task.

When we were creating our music video the opening sequence of our filmed contained a shot of vinyl spinning round. On this vinyl was a paper cut out which i designed to cover the original design of the vinyl, which we had bought very cheaply from a charity shop. To continue this theme throughout our media product we used a still image of the record player which we then uploaded onto photoshop so we could edit around the vinyl to make it appear white.This made the appearance of this look more appropriate for an album cover and was suitable to fit our target audience and genre. I have included an image of what our album cover looks like when it is opened out. The top two squares are the front and back cover and is taken from the idea of the Kaiser Chiefs album cover. It is also heavily related to themes with in our media product and a line in the song 'you've seen things Ive only read in books' we felt that it was the best option to relate to this to make the connection between our music video and ancillary task noticeable. Another aspect of our album cover that relates heavily to our product are the images behind the vinyl. We used a variation of screen shots from memorable points in our music video. we then saved them all individually and made them look as if they were Polaroid pictures. we arranged them onto photoshop as if they had been scattered around. We also carried on this theme onto the lyrics page, which we decided to add after receiving audience feedback on our questionnaire. I feel that the continuity of the theme is excellent and the links between our ancillary ask and product are excellent.

(Shot of opening sequence)

This is the vinyl that we used throughout of video to include in our poster and album cover. We have used various shots throughout the video to ensure that we used intertextual reference though out.

(Poster design)

Here is an image of the poster that we designed for the ancillary task. We have continued the theme of vinyl throughout of products to ensure it shoes thought of continuity and theme. As a group we thought it would be better to include the Polaroid images behind the vinyl so that it links strongly with our album cover. As a poster i feel the over outcome is excellent because it is clear, informative and fits out target audience perfectly. Also creating it on photoshop allowed us to have more options when designing it. Another bonus was the fact that as a group we gained many skills adding animation to our video.

Here is the overall outcome of our album cover. Once the book has been put together it looks very realistic and links strongly with the representation on books with in our video. The vinyl throughout our ancillary task adds continuity and theme to the finish product. As an overall piece i am very happy with the outcome and i feel that it looks professional and meets the needs of our consumer. As a group i am happy with the amount of time and effort that we put into this as i feel the management of the time was dealt with very well to ensure that we met the deadline this time. It also helped that i was able to use scanners, printers and photoshop in other classrooms so that we could get it done quicker in the lessons we had.

Evaluation question 3: What did you learn from your audience feedback?

 

SCRIPT FOR VIDEO. 

Evie

In order to establish our target audience, after deciding which song to use we thoroughly researched the ‘Shout Out Louds’ as a band, through their MySpace site, their Last.fm profile and website. Through looking through the comments posted onto these sites, and also the comments posted on their videos on YouTube we were able to see that the majority of those commenting were both male and female in the age range 18-24 years.

Anna

This discovery was supported by our research into indie music as a genre in general, through which we discovered that it is mostly aimed at and attracts young people in the 18-24 age range due to it’s ‘alternative’ style and colourful and diverse content. We therefore came to the conclusion that our target audience was made up of males and females aged 18-24 years.

Ellie

We collected opinions from our target audience throughout the production and postproduction processes of our video, so as to ensure that we were creating a product that attracted and fulfilled our consumer’s needs and expectations.

Originally our concept involved dividing the narrative between a male and female character – following the idea that the female character was releasing new life and showing the male character “something new”.

Evie

When we had created our first rough edit we asked for opinions from our audience based on this concept and realised after analysing the feedback we received, the relationship between the two characters was unclear and therefore we recognised we needed to make changes in order to improve this as it was such a central part of our product.

Anna

Based on this constructive criticism we received we decided to replace the sections of the film that contained the female character with shots of the male protagonist so as to create an improved sense of continuity and a clearer narrative within the piece.

Ellie

The other main piece of criticism we received was that the shots of the male protagonist lip-syncing in front of the white wall were too plain, especially for the typically colourful indie genre to which the piece of music belongs.  In the feedback we received it was suggested that we could add an element of animation to some of the shots in order to introduce some colour and variation to the overall text.

After discussion we decided that this would be an appropriate element to include due to it being present in other similar texts and also suggested by a member of the target audience meaning that it was likely to attract our target audience in general.

Evie

We also carried out audience research when discussing ideas for our magazine advert and digipack designs. This was in the form of a questionnaire, in which we focused on asking members of our target audience which features they would be most attracted to within the digipack design; for example if they would prefer it in black and white, colour, or a mix of both, or if images from the music video itself should be include in order for the product to be wholly successful.

Anna

We also asked for audience opinions on the content of the promotional products, for example whether the bands website should be included, or if the lyrics of the song should be present within the digipack design.

Evie

We then analysed these results in the form of graphs and tables, and concluded that in order to attract our audience to buy the product, the magazine advert and digipack cover designs should incorporate a selection of colour and black and white elements, and images from the video should be present. The lyrics of the song and the bands website should also be included within the design.

Overall we feel our audience research was effective as it helped us shape a product that attracted the target audience, as well as the promotional texts to support this.  When questioned, 80% of our sample group concluded that they were more likely to purchase the music video on disk rather than download it, if the digipack and magazine advert attracted them. We took into account constructive criticism in order to achieve this, as well as forming promotional products based on suggestions from members of the target audience themselves, in order for us to ensure that the product would sell.