Evaluation Question 3

The feedback we recieved from our rough cut of our music video consisted of both positives comments and contructives criticisms. They liked the shots and angles used, especially the high angle shot used at the end of the video. The use of the high angle shot was to show her being depressed, down and weak as it reflects on the way she felt inside. Even though our main character plucks up the courage to leave which shows her strength, her emotions over powers this and her weakness overshowders her strength and so by using the high angle shot at the end we wanted to portray this. However, though they liked the shots and angles they also mentioned that there weren't many as the majority were medium shots.

But the reason to use a majority of medium shots (epecially in the middle of our music video) was also to reflect on how our main character feels inside. Mostly, when people break up from a relationship, at first they do not want to be seen and they choose to isolate themselves from the rest of the world (hence the establishing shot of the forest in the begginging which shows distance and also the loneliness she felt in their relationship) and once they are ready to open up to people they allow them to come up close and personal but still want them to respect their personal space (hence there being a lot of medium shots during the drama). Even though from our audience we learnt that they liked music videos that were more faster and did not consist of one shot which went on for a long amount of time, it is something that happens in our music video genre where a story is told. An example of this is: Avril Lavigne - I'm With You. Therefore, adding in more medium shots was something we acknowledged but did not take on board as it was done intentionally. The shot types were used to reflect on how our character feels at that specific time.

Another constructive criticism was that our shots were too long (shot 37 and 41) and reason for this was because in the shot we will have her running towards the camera whilst singing the lyrics. Even though our audience thought tthe shots were too long once they saw our music video they understood how it fitted in. It was used to show that she's been trying to get away from the relationship, hence why she is running for a while.

Furthermore, the feedback we received was mostly positive, but we did receive one negative comment which was the 'lip syncing was a bit off at times'. However, the positive feedback we received were: "had a good use of location at the start; scene where the park is deserted with tress works well with the music at the beginning. The piano is used to show how she is feeling and she turns to music to drown her sorrows. The leaves, the whole for setting shows isolation. What you normally see in relationships that are complicated and needs to improvement. The fact that she walks out, packs her bags shows she's is fed up as well as heartbroken. And towards the end she is quite strong and leaves. Plus it does not follow the stereotypes of woman, instead shows the woman being independent.' From this feedback we are able to see that our music video sends the correct message across to our audience.

One the other hand, the feedback we received from our magazine advert was also consisted of both constructed criticisms and positive comments. The positive comments were that the explanation behind it was a good one and reflect on our music video. However, the criticisms we received were that if 'the picture can not explain it for itself then it's not a very good one' and that it was 'simple'. Firstly, the reason for it to be simple is because it made the meaning behind it more simple. Secondly, even though the image itself may not make the meaning clear to our audience straight away, it is something that will stop and make our audience wonder why we have chosen it and what we mean by this.

This will then make then go and search it up even more. Having too much on a magazine advert could complex people and may make then turn over the page, but having a simple picture will make them wonder why they can't understand what the meaning is if the picture is so simple. Making them actually bothered to find out why it is so simple and what is meant by it. Also, having done research in our genre, it normally consists of a magazine advert which is simple and do not have a lot on it and so we decided to follow that.

Furthermore, the feedback we received from our digipak also were both positive comments and negative criticisms. The positive comments we received were that the 'back of the digipak made sense and looked  very interesting'. It was something they 'could see themselves looking at in a store'. They said the 'idea of the cracks in the heart made it come to life and made it more real'. It 'pointed out the feelings of our main actress in the music video'. Even though the background was black, they felt it 'went well with the explanation and the images in them made up for the background being black'.

The negative criticisms were that they thought the 'front cover needed more of a better explanation' and 'different colours needed to be used'. Once the front cover was explained to them again it was understood and then said to be 'a good idea' as it 'reflected on the message we were trying to put out and the music video'. However, the reason our digipak mainly consisted of black was to reflect on how our main actress felt in the music video. We did not leave it black as it was an easy thing to do but was done intentionally. However we did end up changing the front cover of the digipak and added a background.

My Representation

This represents me because my name Stephanie means 'Crown'.

Music Video Evaluation Q4

I used Google to find information on our chosen genre, Soft Rock. Through Google, i found several useful sites such as, Wikipedia and Yahoo Answers. From both these sites i was given a definition of what Soft Rock is and artists who are within that genre. I also found Google Images helpful as i was to find pictures of the artists i was not familiar with. 

I then went on to use Youtube to get a better understanding of Soft Rock music and to find out the conventions of Soft Rock. I watched several artists including Pink, Avril Lavigne, Good Charlotte and Maroon 5. From these i was able to come to the understanding that the conventions of Soft Rock vary and there isn't a certain theme followed. Finding this helped us to then decide on ideas for our music video. 

I used Survey Monkey to create a survey for my target audience about what they expected to see in a Soft Rock video. I used Facebook and Twitter to get my target audience to complete my survey. Finding out what they expected to see helped us to know what kept them interested in a Soft Rock video. However, we decided not to take everything they expected to see on board but to bring something new as it will make it more interesting if it is unexpected. 

I used Premier Pro to edit our music video by cutting out footage we didn't need or adding special effects or video transitions. An example of this is our black and white scene. I used Photoshop to make my digipak and magazine advertisement. This helped both our projects look skilled by the use of it's tools.

Music Video Evaluation Q2

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

There are different aspects of our music video we included in our digipak and magazine advertisement to make them all reflect on each other. having done our research on digipaks and magazine advertisements in the soft rock genre, we found that they all vary and there isn't a certain straight forward convention that if followed. However, at times what is on the front cover of the digipak is normally the same on the magazine advertisement.This then gave us a choice in how we wanted our digipak and magazine advertisement to be and what aspects we wanted to use for them all to reflect on each other.

 

Music Video Evaluation Q1

Through our research on the conventions of a soft rock music video we found out that instead of there being a simple straighforward convention of what should be in a soft rock video, there is more of a variety of conventions you would expect to see. For example, you could have aspects of rock conventions such as an isolated place and aspects of pop conventions such bright clothing and colours. A music video example of this is: Pink - Funhouse. However, we also found out that the conventions followed could be based on the meaning of the song or the beat of the song. For example, In Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend music video, her song is about wanting to be someone's girlfriend who already has a girlfriend and therefore would expect the video to be dull and dark, however, the beat of the song is fun, fast and uptempo and so her music video reflects on the beat. However, In her When You're Gone music video, since the song is a depressing one which reflects on someone leaving, the video reflects this as it is very dull, dark and sad. Thus, having gotten this information from our research we understood the conventions of a soft rock video in the music industry.

Futhermore, we then decided to do more research on the conventions of a soft rock video. We wanted to see what our target audience thought were the conventions of a soft rock music video and what they would expect to see. We did this by making a questionnaire on surveymonkey.com and sending it out to our audience to then complete. This helped us understand what our audience expected to see in our video and therefore, we had the choice of either following these conventions or going against it. We decided to go with the conventions as well as challenge these conventions.

Frame 1.
Frame 1 is an example of how we conformed but also challenged the conventions of a soft rock video. The information we found out from our research showed us that normally soft rock songs about depressing stories with slow beats are normally dark and dull with dark costumes. Also our audience said they expected our video to be located in an isolated place or abandoned streets and dark and wild costumes. However, even though we took this on board by having the location in an isolated place and having dark and wild costumes, we also challenged these conventions. We challenged these conventions by having a colourful background instead of making out background dark and dull. By doing this, we thought that our audience will be more interested as it challenges what they would normally expect to see and gives them something different to watch.

Frame 2.
Frame 2 is an example of how we conformed to the conventions of a soft rock video. Our research showed us that in a soft rock music video they normally have an instrument or instruments. We decided to follow this convention as we believe it was an important aspect in a soft rock video as it reflects on the rock side of our video whilst the colourful background reflects on the pop side. An example of this can be seen here: Avril Lavigne - Innocence

Frame 3.
Frame 3 is an example of how we used a technique of mirror reflection. This was used to capture our main character in a different way as it helped the audience feel as if they are in the shoes of our main character and is looking at the reflection in the mirror feeling what she is feeling. It makes it more up-close and personal. It does not conform or challenge the conventions of a soft rock, however, it's intentions behind it is what conforms to the conventions.

Frame 4.
Frame 4 is another example of a technique we used where the intentions behind it conforms to the conventions of a soft rock video. We used the technique of black and white for our audience to understand that it is a flash back. This makes our audience see the different emotions our main character was going through in the past compared to the present.

Frame 5. 
Frame 5 is an example of how we conformed. In this scene our main character kicks the seat back and in many soft rock video this occurs or either a guitar being smashed. An example of things being kicked or thrown about can be seen in Pink - Funhouse music video. The use of this may reflect on the 'cheesy' side of soft rock video but it can also reflects on emotions as when a person is angry things are normally kicked and thrown about.

Frame 6.
Frame 6 is also an idea we added in which it's intentions conform to our genre. The use of showing the letter was to help our audience understand and see how our main character came to leave the person she loved. This makes our audience feel involved in the music video as they get to see every little detail.

Frame 7.
Frame 7 is an example of how we conformed to the conventions of our chosen genre through our main characters clothing. Soft rock music videos normally consist of the main character wearing clothing which reflects on the whole 'rock' scene and thus, the clothing our main character wears reflects on this. An example can be seen here: Rihanna - Rockstar 101

Frame 8.
Frame 8 is also another example of how the intentions behind it conforms to the conventions of a sock rock video, however, the technique itself is one that challenges it. The use of having half our main characters' face was to reflect on the lyrics being sang at the specific moment. These lyrics are; 'always incomplete' and thus, having half her face showed that she was in complete. This does not normally happen in many soft rock videos and so it brings something new to it.

Frame 9.
Frame 9 is an example of how we conformed to the conventions. The use of candles is an aspect you would expect to see in a soft rock video and thus, by having the colourful background which reflects on 'pop' we wanted to put in something that reflected on 'rock' hence the candles and by doing this helped our audience understand that it is a soft rock video. An example of this can be seen here: The Pretty Reckless - Just Tonight

Digipak Feedback

Today we were asked to show the draft of our digipak and we received both positive and negative comments. The positives were that; our front cover image subverted the meanings of colours as we had the dove in black and the artist in white. The reason for this is because doves are normally associated with freedom and we wanted to change the meaning and have the dove in black and our artist in white to show that freedom is actually in our own hands. Also her being in white signifies peace. The image on the inside of the digipack (heart shaped mirror with pictures behind it) was also liked and was said to be a great idea as it was different and well thought about.

The use of the rose was said to have fitted the conventions of our music video. But we also received constructive criticisms; the meaning behind the image of the rose was not understandable as it was not clear and we did not have a specific reason for it. However the reason for the image was that; the rose symbolizes love, the locket symbolizes them together and when you love someone you incorporate in their life and merged together which is why the pendent was wrapped around the rose. Also we needed to think about the colour scheme on our front cover as the majority was just black and would mean that the dove and the title wouldn’t be seen. Therefore, we have decided to make the back a dark grey colour which happens gradually. The back cover was also not clear as the colours were bright and did not relate to the rest of the covers and so that too will also be dark grey. And the title was said to be a bit small and so we will make it bigger for it to stand out more.

Planning For Digipack.

The purpose of a digipak is for the use of a permium package for CD singles, special editions of CD albums, DVDs and DVD sets. Digipaks consist of a 'bookstyle' paperboard with one or more platics trays which are capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside. A group known as IMPAC Group, Inc, were the original owners of the Digipak trademark.

This is an example of a four sided digipack

This is probably the most common, which includes a pocket with a booklet including lyrics, information and photographs.

This is an example of a six sided digipak

This consist of a front and back cover, a spine, photgraphs of the artist(s), artist(s) information, song lyrics and a disc pocket. The reason for a larger digipak is that it allows the comstumer to have an easier viewing of the contents.

Therefore, because of this we have decided to make a digipak which consists of 6 sides. This will allow our audience to get a better understanding of what our images are trying to portray. The images with have chosen to use are; three windows, one broken, the other half broken and finally one that's not broken. The will be on the inside of the digipak and the reason why we have chosen those images are because it reflects on our music video. Our music video is about our main actor looking back and remembering how it started and ended; how the cracks began and what is left of the relationship. The mirror plays a significant role in this as in the music video our main character sits by the mirror as she remembers the relationships and what she needs to do to get out of it.

For the outer part of our digipak we have decided to have our main character standing on a hill with her arms out open to a dove flying away. The reason for this is because a dove represents freedom and in our music video our main character leaves the life she has for freedom. We also have a rose with a chain around it. The colours we have decided to use are dark colours such as black; however, we have decided to leave the dove as white because we want our audience to understand that having freedom is a positive thing even if it means losing the one you love. Everyone has the right to freedom and shouldn't feel the need to depend on someone. The use of black not only signifies pain but also 'hidden' and 'naive' - meaning that in a relationship the most important feelings are normally hidden from one another and lies are told; naive because we chose to believe we are in the wrong when we know we aren't in relationships.

Here are examples of album covers from artists in our music video genre:

Avril Lavigne:

Good Charlotte:

 

Linkin Park:

From looking at these three covers we can see that when it comes to the album covers of the music genre soft rock there is a variety of where the artist goes (front or back) and whether the artist is shown or not. There is also the use of bright and dull colours which could be used to reflect on the fact that it is a soft rock album. There is also a variety in the type of fonts used on a soft rock album cover as we can see in the pictures above. Therefore, when making our album covers we will have a range of choices on what it should look like and how it can reflect on being a soft rock album.