Feedback

Anita, a few things need sorting on your blog. Your final cut of the video hasn't uploaded properly - the size / framing on the blog is also a problem. Your evaluation Q3 seems cut short. Finally, I couldn't access Q4 of your evaluation so am unable to grade your evaluation at present.

Production Update

Today was the last day to finish all the tasks and change anything that was said from the audience feedback. We had made the last changes to the music video which was suggested to us during the audience feedback about replacing the club scenes. I am happy that we made all the deadlines during the production and the changes that we made to the music video.

Final Cut of the Music Video

Evaluation

Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge conventions of real media products?

Uses Conventions- (Hip Hop/ R'n'B Genre)

- Black and white footage was used in our music video. This is typically seen in real Hip Hop/ R'n'B music videos for instance in Trey Songz- Love faces music video. We used this not only because it is aesthetically pleasing but also because it signifies the past and we used it during an interlude in our music video as a flashback showcasing what has happened in the past between the female and male performer.

(top to bottom: Our music video and Trey Songz- Love faces. It is evident that we both used black and white footage in our music video however the difference being that he used it throughout the music video for it to connote a certain time period- the 1920’s- however we used it to connote the past)

-The Mise- en-Scene within our music video adheres to codes and conventions of the Hip Hop/ R'n'B genre. The costume of our male performer conforms to the codes of Hip Hop/ R'n'B as he is wearing a 'doo-rag', baggy jeans, trainers and a hoodie. Also our female performer uses the conventions associated with this genre and in real music videos. We decided to choose an attractive female performer of dual-heritage to act as the male performer's love interest. The use of light-skinned black females or those of dual-heritage are conventional seen in Hip Hop/ R'n'B music videos.

-We included sexual qualities in our video which is typically utilized in Hip Hop/ R'n'B and stereotypically objectifies women. Voyeurism is evident in our music video (erotic pleasures gained from looking at a sexual object that is not aware of being watched) in order to please males within our target audience. When Sarai (female performer) is getting dressed we included an extreme close up of her zipping the back of her dress and a Medium close up of her skirt going up her leg but she acts unaware of people watching as she is getting dressed in her bedroom. The close-up of these parts of the body are commonly seen as sexual therefore makes it easier for us to convey this message. Although we included voyeurism, we still subverted the fact that women are objects of sexual pleasure by including the post-feminist approach which states that women are not objectified but are in control of their sexuality. We promote this by Sarai getting dressed by herself and wearing what she wants which highlights that she is in control of her attractiveness but also as she leaves her apartment to get to the club by herself which signifies independence.

-Within the ancillary tasks I included typical information found on real media products. For instance on the CD package I have included elements such as the track listing and bar code; alongside the record label logo and copy at the bottom of the CD (on the back cover) and the name of the album and artist (on the front cover). On the magazine advertisement we included information such as the release date and comments from other institutions such as XXL magazine commenting on the album which are aides to persuades the consumer to purchase the album and are typically found on real media products.

- Performance shots were included using Green Screen which are constantly shown in Hip Hop/ R'n'B music videos. This helps gratify audiences as it meets their expectations.

Develop Conventions

- We developed conventions by including a narrative into a genre that is predominately performance based.

-The type of shots we used helps develop the genre. We used the Justin Timberlake's music video of 'My Love' as inspiration in terms of the type of shots we used. We used tilt motion shots which are very subversive of R'n'B music videos as it is not commonly seen and it helps develop the genre and introduce something new to our target audience and helps retain their interest.

-Including a movie element into our music video allows us to entice the audiences' and retain their interest. We did this by including an interlude which develops the narrative and makes it more like a movie, making the music video widescreen and having a movie style opening whereby there is dialogue between the male and female performer and typography introducing the music video appearing. This was done to set off the narrative and conform to the post-modernism approach. The main aspect of the post-modernism approach that is highlighted in our music video is the breakdown of barriers between genres and styles. By combining the typical movie style and the Hip Hop/ R'n'B genre breaks down the divide between these two aspects.

(Here is the opening scene from Bow Wow and Omarion- let me hold you music video. As we saw they had a movie style opening through including text in the beginning of the video inspired us to include this in our's.)

- The choice of location helps develop the Hip Hop/ R'n'B genre. We included iconic areas such as the Tower Bridge and other areas in Westminster which helps give a different perspective of this genre as typically deprived areas are showcased to show where they come from, however we decided to show where they are after wealth or aspire to.

Challenge Conventions

- The couple staying together

- The use of Special Effects dancing scenes. The use of these dance scenes is not normally seen in the Hip Hop/ R'n'B genre, however we decided to include it as it creates an element of interest as it is not commonly associated with this genre and will provide audiences with something different.

- Using unconventional transitional effects. Normally in Hip Hop/ R'n'B straight cuts and fades are normally used however we included other effects like blurs, zooms and additive dissolves to make the music video more interesting and subvert the codes and conventions of this genre.

- By not over-sexualising the female performer helped us challenge the conventions seen in real media products. Normally in Hip Hop/ R'n'B the female character is seen wearing skimpy outfits such as a short skirt or a bikini however we decided to make our female performer were a dress to look more elegant but also to allow female audiences' identify with a more positive representation of women in Hip Hop/ R'n'B music videos compared to what it currently portrayed.

Videos Mentioned in the Evaluation and Sources for Inspiration

Justin Timberlake - My Love by gelele0205

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

I feel that all our products (main and ancillary texts) are very effective. Through the ancillary tasks we explored the theme of wealth and status in very different ways but nevertheless both together still correlate. Within the CD package we included iconic scenes for the background; for instance for the front of the CD cover we included a picture of Tower Bride which has connotations of wealth and status, something that 'Singnature' aspires towards. The use of gold within the copy on the front cover also help promote the idea of wealth as gold is normally associated with wealth and luxury. Within the magazine advertisement we included these themes in different ways but mainly through the pose that we put him in. The way he seated on the chair, showing a profile with an umbrella signifies status mostly as even when he is not facing the camera, the audience still know who he is. In our main product, the music video, we included some connotations of wealth through the locations chosen. We decided to do a bulk of our exterior shoots in Central London, in particular the scene where our main female performer leaves her apartment was filmed in Westminster. By making these connections it creates continuity in our media products which is particularly helpful for the audience as it would aid the artist staying in their mind.

This scene in particular contributes in promoting the theme of luxury and wealth as well through the glistening windows and the swivel door which are normally found in prestige locations.

Brand Identity was created and constant throughout all the media products that we created. The use of typography helped me create a brand identity for the artist ‘Singnature’. The use of bold gold typography is not only seen on the CD cover but is also used on the magazine advertisement as a title. This helps create brand identity as when audiences see this font and colour together they would instantly be reminded of Singnature. Furthermore, the fact that we included the logo for our record label on the back cover of the CD package and on the poster as well helps build the brand identity of that company as well as when seeing it consumers would recall Singnature.

The combination of all our products is effective in promoting the codes of Hip Hop/ R'n'B. The CD package promotes the Hip Hop genre through his costume. He is wearing a hooded jacket and a ‘doo-rag’ which is commonly associated with male artists in Hip Hop/ R’n’B. Furthermore, within the music video we reinforced this as he continues to wear a ‘doo-rag’ and hoodie jacket but we are also able to see him wearing baggy jeans and trainers which are elements commonly associated with that genre. We did this purposely, so that audiences that are familiar with this genre are satisfied as it matches their expectations. On the other hand, with the magazine poster we slightly subverted the codes of hip hop/r’n’b through his costume as he is wearing a white smart/casual jacket which is not typically associated with this genre. We did this purposely in order to provide audiences with a different perspective of R’n’B/Hip Hop artists as we show them as less ‘ghetto’ and not having a deprived upbringing. However we included elements that still correlate to that genre through him having his hair in an afro and him wearing baggy jeans and trainers.

The theme of love/ lust is something that we explored. Within the music video, we explored this through the relationship between the main male and female performer as they got together by the end of the video. We also purposely made our female performer wear a red dress as it has connotations of love. Within the CD cover, this theme was displayed much more subtly through the ponderous mood projected by the main image of the male artist. It can be said that he is thinking of relationships he’s had or lost which links back to the theme of love/lust.

The media products produced all look realistic and authentic. On the back cover of the CD Case we have included track listings, bar code, record label logo, copy at the bottom of the CD case we are elements typically seen on CD packages. On the front cover and magazine advertisement we had put a sign saying ‘parental advisory’ which is seen on most Hip Hop/ R’n’B CD's due to the content and on CD inlays we decided to have a dedication page and lyrics. All these elements combined helped us to create, authentic and effective media products.

Lastly, The combination of the ancillary tasks and the music video is effective in promoting the theme of movement. Within the music video we show this through tracking shots and within the ancillary tasks we promote this through the back cover whereby our artist is walking away. This links in with the theme of Time which correlates with the single ‘Rite on Time’ (Time is also subtly promoted in the music video whereby there is a clock ticking). Movement also connotes moving on in the world in terms of status and wealth which is connoted in the mise-en-scene of our front cover (iconic locations) and the locations we used within the music video for instance Westminster.

(Time is explored in the music video and links in with the lyrics of being right 'on time'. This creates a visual link between the imagery and lyrics making the music video easier to understand and more visual interesting.)

All in all, I feel that all the media products created combined are very effective as they target the audience intended, look very authentic and realistic and are very interesting due to the combination of themes explored which are normally experienced by our target audience.

(Rough Cut Music Video)

Q3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Question 3

View more presentations from anitaboateng93

(feedback from a female whom is part of my target audience)

Feedback for the Ancillary Tasks

-After our ancillary task was seen by someone within my target audience, it was said that the theme seen on the front and back cover works well however the CD inlays are too artsy and it does not conform with the R'n'B stereotypes. As we are mainly conforming to those forms and conventions we decided to make some changes it order to make it more consistent and not too subversive.

NEW CD INLAYS

Here is the new CD inlays which consists of a dedication page (top) and the beginning of the lyrics page (bottom). I feel that these CD inlays would be more successful in terms of reaching audiences expectations as it conforms to R'n'B conventions. Normally CD inlays of this genre are simple in terms of layout and colour with additional imagery which we have included here but did not before therefore this package gratifying audiences.

4. How did the use of new media technologies in the construction, research and planning and evaluation stage?

Production Update

Today we worked on improving our music video from all the constructive criticism we received and most of it is done. We are aiming to be done with it by Wednesday to fully focus on the evaluation and re-drafting it.

We have changed the typography on the CD cover and on one of the inlays. We did this purposely so that there is continuity between our poster and the CD Package. By doing this audiences would become more familar with this typography and it creates brand identity for our artist.

this is the typography we decided to use.

The new CD Inlay

This was the first version of the CD cover with the new typography. I had put a red outer glow on the male performer to tie in with the colour scheme on the poster. I had realised that this doesn't look good therefore I decided to change it back to a white outer glow.

The final CD Cover

Series of photo shoot images for ancillary tasks

View more presentations from Kero00.

FINAL POSTER

We have minor changes to the poster. We added social networking websites that audiences can follow Singnature on. This makes our poster more current and correlates to our target audiences as they are the ones that endaveour in these activites. Also we have removed the parental advisory logo from the institutional poster as it is not typically seen on music album advertisements and we have added our company logo as well as the information alongside that. This just makes our poster look more authentic.

Poster

Here is the magazine advertisement for our artist 'Singnature'. We decided to use this profile shot of Singnature sitting on the chair as it has connotes of status and wealth which were themes explored with the CD package. We used the same font on the CD cover and the poster as it creates a brand image and therefore that typography will be associated with Singnature. This is benefical as anytime members of the audience see this typography and colour together they will recall Singnature. The gold was used for the same reasons as with the CD cover (because it connotes wealth). The block of red was used to make the poster more aesthically pleasing but also to be eye-catching and stand out when the consumer is looking through a magazine. We included a website on our poster which I saw was evident on established artist music poster for instance Gwen Stefani. We did this so that consumers will have a way to listen to additional tracks by Singnature as well as aquiring more information about him.We also added the music company's logo to make the poster more authentic. Lastly, we made use of additional imagery to show who Singnature is which is vital as the main image of him is a profile shot and we can not see his full face.

Production Update
Since I last update the blog many things have happened. We have now finished the rough cut for our music video which was showcased yesterday infront of a panel in order to get qualitative feedback. When showcasing it, our main points of improvement was to use less quick cuts as the song is not as fast and tweak the background on one of the green scene screen. Using this feedback is very valuable to us and well allow us to improve the music video and make it better.
We have also finished the ancillary tasks before the deadline which was an advantage as now we have more time to focus on the evaluation as well as finalizing the our music video.

Music Video Peer Assesment

For the peer assessment, we have had different groups to view our video in order to get some critical feedback

Good points of the music video
-Use of a variety of shots- sizes and distances
-Clear narrative
-Steady shots
-Variety of editing techniques used
-Male performer singing was well synchronised

Even better if:
- Making sure that all the green particles that formed around our male performer during the green scene performance section is eliminated.
-Adjust the opacity in some scenes where we put two images against each other.

Feedback

Anita you have demonstrated sound evidence of your research and planning work - well done!
Targets: 1) Include a history of a music artist's career via their music videos
2) Add some screen shots of your music video with commentary as to the visual codes you have used

Analysing Print Music Album advertisements

Elements Present in this Advert
• There is the Main Image of the artist present
• The name of the artist and the album
• An Image of the album cover
• Release date and institutional information
• A website
•Featuring ‘Eve’ on the poster enhances sales of the album as it engages her loyal audience as well
•Colour scheme used connotes their target audience of possibly a young audience aged 14 and older

Elements of the Kanye West print advertisement

• Main Image present relates to the artist
• The Mascot relates to his album name as well as school
• Positive reviews from critics

After looking at these posters it s evident that the main things they have in common is that they both include the album and artist name as well as the main image depicting the artist or something relating to them. When creating the poster for our artist I will take this into consideration.

Music Video Commentary - Visual Codes


Here is one part of our music video whereby we have a female performer dancing. We made it a silhouttee and it acts as a synchronising motif whereby different silhouettes appear at different moments of the music video. This enables us to retain the interest of the audience as they are watching the video and create something different than what is typically expected of a R'n'B music video.





Here is one of the shots we used of Jamal (our male performer). Through him we have conformed to many of the stereotypes associated with R'n'B music videos through the mise-en-scene. He is wearing baggy jeans, a baseball jacket and a hoodie. This costume is typically seen worn on male perfomers from this genre; for instance Snoop Dogg and Bow Wow.

For our female performer we decided to subvert some elements associated with R'n'B music videos. The fact that she is a light skined black female conforms to the R'n'B genre as most female performers in this genre are of that skin tone or are of dual-heritage. We subverted R'n'B music video conventions through her costume as she is fully clothed. We constantly see females in R'n'B music video wearing 'skimpy'clothing (i.e. short skirts and tops). However, here we decided for her to wear a dress and a coat (outside) as it creates realism as female audiences her age would normally wear this when going and allowing them to identify with the character compared to the 'video girls' in other R'n'B music videos which can promote the wrong message about females. We decided for her to wear red as it connotes lust which is the main theme in our music video.

This is evidence of us linking the sound and the lyrics of the music video with the imagery. This creates excitment and makes the music video more visually interesting.

Production Update

Today we continued to edit our music video. We have editing all the main scenes from our music video however we still have the Tricaster scenes to edit which one of the memebers in my group and I are working on.

The CD and Inlays

We have changed the name of the album to 'appeal to reason' and changed the colour of the typography for many reasons. The gold colour typography connotes wealth and fame, something that he aspires towards and the gold itself stands out against the black and white iconic background.


FRONT COVER

Here is the front cover. We placed him outside the tower bridge due to how iconic it is and is something that the artist 'Singnature' aspires to progress to this level socially as the Tower Bridge can connote wealth and success especially if you live in that area. The mise-en-scene in this front cover is very significant. For his costume we decided to make him wear a hoodie and 'doo rag' as these are conventions of Hip Hop/R'n'B and we wanted to conform to some of the codes and conventions associated with this genre. Although he is position left of frame he still maintains his importance and attracts the audience at first view due to the fact that he is in the foreground
which is something that we were aiming to achieve. The use of the sign saying 'Parental Advisory' it makes the CD cover look more authentic. All in all, the mood in this CD cover is quite serious. This is portrayed through the use of a black and white background and the fact that the main image depicts our artist looking off into the distance contemplating.


BACK COVER
For the back cover we again have an iconic setting which is also in black and white. The fact that his back is to the cover links into the fact that it is the back cover. I have made the back cover realistic and authentic. One way is through the copy I have listed the tracks on it, and provided copy at the bottom of the CD which is common when seeing CD covers. We hve included our record label logo onto the backcover aswell which is typical of CD covers; alongside the barcode. The two parts on the corner either side of the CD is the pars that will fold and form as the sleeve of the CD case.


PAGE ONE OF CD INLAY
Here is the first page of the CD inlay. I have continued the theme of using iconic British settings. on this page I have produced a dedication page and 'thank you's' as well which I have typically seen on CD inlays.













SECOND PAGE OF THE CD INLAYS
This is the second page of the CD inlay. This is the lyrics for 'Rite On Time' which is the first track of the song. The inlay would be a booklet making this the first page of a series of lyrics that would appear in the booklet in order of the track listing of the back of the CD Case. Every track on the album will have it's own page where the lyrics are situated. This would enable consumers to sing along with his songs.

Constructing the CD PowerPoint

Creating the Typography for the CD Cover

Here is where I started to create the typography for the CD cover. This was the output from experimenting with the typography. I put many different effects on to it such as Bevel and Emboss, outerglow and inner glow. I did this in order to make the typography stand out against the background so that it is easy to read.

To create the name of the artist typography I used the same font as 'Rite on Time' and used the same effects however I made this font bigger than the name of the album as the artist is more important and will attract audiences first before the album name.