Evaluation Question Four

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

Evaluation Question Three

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

A2 evaluation- Question three on Prezi

Evaluation Question Two

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

A2 media evaluation- Question two

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Evaluation Question One

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


It was really important that each student was given an anonymous track in order to challenge our abilities of producing an authentic music video of a certain genre. We were not informed of the Song name or the original artist which prevented us from researching any previous media featuring them (e.g. music videos and album covers.) 
Therefore I was compelled to do a lot of research and planning in order to produce a music video, digipak and magazine advert as authentic to the R&B genre as possible, and I have used, developed and challenged the forms and conventions of other media products to do so.


I chose "Track seventeen" as after listening to it, I immediately established that it was of an R&B genre, and this is the genre that I am most familiar with. 
Audience feedback directed me to specific music videos for inspiration, I knew that I needed to follow the rules of the genre in order to convey the correct elements of an R&B style music video. 


A major detail that I wanted to address was 
Objectification, as this is very common for female R&B artists. I have taken inspiration from many music videos in order to present this throughout my final product:
I did a lot of research when it came to costume, as it was vital that my actress was dressed like and R&B artist. This would contribute to the overall authenticity, and also allow me to objectify the artist.

      One of the most apparent costume inspirations present in my music video is from Brittany Spears’ music video “Baby one more time.” Brittany is objectified throughout the video wearing a tight crop top which emphasises her midriff area. I took inspiration from this and used similar costume in order to present objectification. The dance routine featured in my final music video was also inspired by this particular media product. I picked up on the fact that there were a lot of shots focused on Brittany's midriff area whilst she was dancing, therefore I varied my shots from different angles and zoom lengths and this enabled me to capture the objectification which is present in R&B music videos performed by female artists.

        
I also included Goodwin's theory throughout my video; as one of the features which I noticed whilst researching the R&B genre, was a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. When I first started researching the genre, I thought that it was crucial to include some sort of narrative throughout the video. However, the majority of  the music videos that I took inspiration from were studio based, and were almost more of a performance rather than a story. Nevertheless, I did find that the songs which shared a similar theme of "heartbreak" to my track, showed a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals throughout the video. 

       As I started to focus on what the lyrics from my track meant, I realised that the artist had a "diva attitude" towards an ex-lover. The rehtorical questions such as "Who do you think you are now?" alowed me to present the artist as strong minded and dominant.

       Whilst researching other media products, I noticed a trend of this dominance in female R&B artists and the inspiration that I took from them is clear throughout my final product. 

Jennifer Hudson- Spotlight

       I found this music video to Jennifer Hudson's song "Spotlight" particularly relevant to my own track. You can really sense her Diva attitude as she draws her lover in, and then pushes him away. There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals here as she sings "Oh, you ought to be ashamed of yourself" "what the hell do you think your doing". I used a really similar choreography throughout my final product as the artist/actress pushes the male away from her on the lyrics "your qualities are less than pleasing." 

  

       I also took inspiration from R&B artist Rhianna's music video "Take a Bow" as she also includes a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals as she points at the camera on the words "you" etc. 

       I showed this relationship between the lyrics and the visuals continually throughout my final product, both during the choreographed dance and the lip syncing shots in the studio.  

       Every minor detail of my final music video was inspired by real media products. I also developed my inspirations when it came to editing. Whilst researching and planning I became really interested in the use of split screens in R&B music videos, I found them to be really effective, and as I wasn't going to include very many locations, I felt that this would help to maintain an interest in my music video. R&B artist Alexis Jordan's music video "Good girl" particularly inspired me, watching this also gave me the idea of including close up shots of the mouth lip syncing. 

My interpretations

 Lip syncing interpretation 

       In addition to maintaining an interest throughout my music video, I developed some ideas from The Pussycat Doll's music video "I don't need a man". I was keen to include a similar effect of cropping clips in order to make the final product more jumpy, to fit the fast beat of the track. This helped me to avoid producing a stationary finish, and present an accurate fast cut result, which is noticeable in R&B music videos.   

My interpretation 

       I also took inspiration from Madonna's music video "Give it to me" as I like the movement between each shot. This song has a similar fast beat to my track, and Madonna dances throughout, I particularly liked how there were shots of her feet acting as a transition between each clip, and took inspiration from this.

My interpretation 

       I also used real media products in order to make my ancillary tasks as accurate and authentic as possible. I researched far into female R&B artists names, song names, album names, album covers etc. so that my own design of digipak and magazine advertisement would fit the genre well. 

       

       I used other album covers to model my digipak, in order to make it as acurate to the R&B genre as possible. It was from this that I decided to use a close up image of the artist, and also self title the album.

My interpretation of an R&B artists album cover

        From looking at other digipaks and traditional jewel CD cases, I knew that I needed to show a record label which would be suitable to sign the artist of my track. I did a lot of research in order to find the most appropriate company, and I developed my ideas from various artists websites, record companies websites and album covers.     

        As well as presenting my chosen record company's logo on my digipak, I also added the appropriate small print, and used the information off of other CD cases that I own. This allowed me to make up my own small print to complement my chosen record company and artist name etc. 

       The other ancillary task I chose was to produce a magazine advertisement promoting the artists album. I found it difficult to come across R&B advertisements in magazines, therefore I stuck close to the design of my digipak to ensure brand recognition. 

       I did, however, find a useful image on R&B artist Rihanna's website, which i took inspiration from and added a similar release date and provider for the album.

        

      My final products have been formed by using, developing and challenging the forms and conventions of real media products, which enabled me to produce them as accurately and authentic to the R&B genre as possible.

Facebook audience feedback

Now that I have completely finished editing my music video, it has been put onto YouTube. I decided to post the link onto my Facebook page in order to receive some feedback, which would help me during my evaluation stages.
These are the comments which I received:

My friends and family sent me some really positive feedback and also constructive criticism which should be very useful to me whilst evaluating! 

What now?

Now that I have completed my ancillary tasks, I am focusing on finishing my final filming stages. I will then be knuckling down to edit my footage to eventually produce an R&B style music video to go with my track! 
Here is some photographic evidence of my most recent filming!

The making of my digipak!

After completing my magazine advert, I knew that I had to include images of Lauren in the lace dress on my digipak in order to obtain continuity. I already knew that I wanted to use the same image that I had used for my magazine advert inside my digipak. After researching digipak's see here I decided that I wanted to re-create a design similar to Rhianna's for her album 'Loud'. It was a 6 panel digipak for 2 CD's, as my own design would be constructed for just 1 CD, I wanted to place the CD in the centre panel.

I found a template online which I thought would be suitable for my design. I opened the template into Photoshop and began editing! I started with the album cover. 

When researching album covers see here I found that the majority of female R&B artists had a close up, head shot image of themselves with the artist/album name clearly and boldly stated. I wanted to create something similar and chose an image which I thought successfully showed authenticity, and made sure that Lauren was wearing the same outfit as she was in the magazine advert as planned. I used the 'spotlight tool' in order to create a more interesting effect, rather than simply having the image plodded on the front cover and I had found that a lot of the album covers I had come across whilst researching were quite dark and contrasted. I then added the Self Titled album name, using the same font as the magazine advert for continuity, but used the 'Gradient tool' on the text to make it more visible in lighter/darker areas of the picture as well as for a more interesting effect. 

I then Started to add the image that I had used for my magazine advertisement onto the three inside panels. This was a really tricky step, as I found it really difficult to line up the images in each box, as my template had separate boxes for each panel I thought it would be quite effective to separate the image rather than linking the panels together! Eventually I managed to fit the image into the three boxes, I particularly liked the effect of the heels against the wall, which meant there wasn't much room for the artists head to be in frame, but I feel that this is actually quite effective!

I then reduced the opacity of the image in the centre layer, and began to erase in appropriate areas, this meant that the template for the CD disk could be visible! 

I then started to edit the back cover, I chose  to use a long, full shot of Lauren (again in the lace dress) and placed it to the right hand side of the panel, leaving space for the track numbers. I made the panel a neutral colour, similar to the rest of the panels to keep up the continuity of the overall design. 

I then made up some track names which were similar to other R&B artists songs following the diva attitude, and heartbreak theme of the track that I am using for my music video. I chose to list 14 plus a bonus track in total, as I found this to be popular for female R&B artists, such a Rhianna with her album 'Loud.'  I used the font 'Calibri' which is very simple, avoiding business, as the back cover will need to hold a lot of text!
I also took the bar code image from this particular album cover and added it to the back cover panel of my digipak. 

I then Made up some small print text to add to my digipak. Album covers include text displaying who the album is produced, distributed and manufactured by etc. I researched and copied from my own CDs adding information which was relevant to the record label I had chosen previously see here I added this detail to make my digipak as accurate as I could. 

My small print text: 

www.laurenmillsofficial.co.uk       srpmusicgroup.com

℗2011 *Produced by Carl Sturken and Evan Rodgers ∙ *Marketed by SRP music group ∙ * The copyright in this sound recording is owned by SRP music group ∙ *This label copy information is the subject of copyright protection ∙ * All rights reserved ∙ ©2011 SRP music group ∙ * Published by SRP music group ∙ * Printed in the EU ∙ 7243 5 40504 2 8 ∙ UK ∙ 540 5042 ∙ F:PM 520 ∙ * Place of manufacture EU ∙ * Marketed and Distributed by SRP music group ∙

I also added the logo for my chosen record label to make my digipak as authentic as possible. 

My final step was to edit the left cover. The left cover Of Rhianna's digipak which I have been following for inspiration displays a close up image of the artist wearing the same costume, hair and make up style as she is on the front cover. I decided to look through the images that I had taken of Lauren during the photo shoot of her wearing the lace dress, and see if there was an appropriate image for this particular panel. I wanted to include either a close-up image or mid-shot in order to obtain the accuracy of the overall design! 

I found an image of Lauren sat on the stool which is featured in the image of her lying down, This is a full shot of Lauren, But this seemed to be the most effective design, rather than another close up. I increased the contrast levels, and decreased the saturation levels in order to make the image blend in with the rest of the design. 

I am really pleased with the overall design of my digipak and feel that it is very authentic to the R&B genre and accurately shows the appropriate style of a digipak, including all of the relevant information. It also links well with my magazine advert which helps to promote brand recognition!