EVALUATION - Final blogging task

Blogging has finally come to an end although my journey on blogger still continues with my private blog. 

Overall I really enjoyed using blogger as a way of recording the progress of this coursework because it really shows how far technology has come... no written essays for media coursework woop!

Mariama has officially closed off her blog, bye :)

Evaluation - Question 4 What have you learned from your audience feedback?

AUDIENCE REACTION AND FEEDBACK !

In terms of Goodwin's theory we wanted to illustrate the song and we done this through a narrative, whilst sticking to the conventions of a music video by adding performance into it. However, by using a narrative based on running away and leaving we clearly illustrated the song which is about running away and leaving. I was mainly concerned with the audience understanding our storyline because, if I reflect back to my AS thriller opening some did not quite understand what was going on and some found it slightly cliche. Although my feedback for my music video differed. We avoided the cliche 'look' this time by surprising the audience i.e. when Shazray held the photo of me and him some may have expected him to come back to me (my character Ann) like most music videos although we did not. Although the audience understood the narrative clearly Charlene suggested we could have used black and white next time. Having listened to her advice I looked over my video and found some scenes where we could have used black and white. Such as when Shazray is reflecting on the argument we which is shown in colour and could have been shown in black and white. Furthermore this would have illustrated further use of editing as well as emphasises the argument scene and shows its importance.  

I also learned the importance of discontinuity editing, jump cuts and transitions in a music video and from Charlene's comment it is clear that people actually notice these things and how it makes it flow. Furthermore the idea we (the producers) had in our head for the opening transition introducing Denzel seemed to also be understood by the audience.
For my ancillary products my favourite part was only using half of Denzel's face and others also noticed and liked this idea as it was very different but it clearly worked and without the visual links in the music video and advert I personally don't think the audience would have understood the concept of the digipak cover.


Take a look at Adam's (AdzOutlaw) tweet he sent me :) By the way 'ill' and 'mad' is the slang term for very good :D

Evaluation - Question 3 How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

RESEARCH

 The most important form of media technology I used throughout this coursework was Blogger. This is because blogger is the website we use to blog and record the progression of our coursework which included the the research, planning, production and evaluation stages. Blogger is a very useful form way of recording our coursework stages down because, you can access ir anywhere (at home, in college on your mobile) which means I can always blog. It has features which allows you to add images, videos, links etc and you can label your own work. I used most of the features during my coursework especially when it came to adding images and videos from YouTube (during the planning stage) very quickly.

YouTube was used a lot throughout this coursework, particularly the planning stage as we needed to research, watch and analyse many music videos in relation to ours. in order to gain inspiration and to actually look for the song we were going to make a music video for. 

In order to create my artist I had to ensure that he either challenged or conformed to the stereotypical grime artist persona. Although I listen to some UK rap and grime music, i wanted to understand their personality further therefore, I had to get up close and personal and snoop around their twitter. The reason why i used Twitter or their website is because celebrities tend to interact with their fans much more on Twitter. Furthermore it is an application that can be used on smart phones whilst artists are on the go. Unlike FaceBook and YouTube Twitter does not need to be regulated by an artists 'assistant' etc, many tweets come from the artists themselves. Occasionally we see artists fight over twitter, they tell fans when new albums are going to be released etc. Therefore using Twitter in order to see how grime artists personalities are worked well. Two things I can say about them is that they are funny and supportive of other artists which i showed throughout my music video and advertisement through the feature of other artists.


When delivering presentations such as the pitch, Prezi became very useful. it is a programme that allows you to create very unique presentations, edit them and also add features such as different themes, images and videos. The programme is web based and you do not need to download it therefore, it is a programme you can use in a public or private computer. 

In order to access the above applications/programs I needed access to the internet. I use google chrome just because it is quick and efficient for me. However using the internet was also needed for research purposes, particularly for research purposes on the theories we learned and more information on the conventions of music videos, information on grime artists and locations.

PRODUCTION

Much of the filming equipment used were brand new state of the art camera's which ensured a good quality music video. We also had enough memory cards for filming and taking pictures during the filming and also for our ancillary products. The equipment used for filming were expensive yet simple to use so we never really had problems setting them up. We also used a flip cam for recording behind the scenes of our music video. However we had to be sure of the safety procedures beforehand.

The form of technology used the most throughout this coursework was definitely the MAC OS X computers. Many of the programs we used for editing and creating our ancillary products were provided through using the mac's. 

Final Cut Pro was the software we used to edit our music video. My group decided not to use effects such as the green screen because our music video consisted of a narrative and we wanted it to be as realistic as possible. For my evaluation I also used Final Cut Pro to create a short clip.




QuickTime and MPEG Stream clip were used especially when converting our music video and any other clips we created, in a format suitable to be uploaded onto Blogger.

Photoshop Elements was used to create my ancillary products and I used it for both of my products. I was much more comfortable using Photoshop Elements as I have experience using it however, I have broadened my knowledge and my skills much more compared to how it was when I first started. I particularly liked the effects I could use on Photoshop and the fact that it was accessible for me to use at home. For example in order to adjust and create effects on the photo below used on my Digipak cover I had to do the following

Use the Magic Wand Tool to get rid of the white background, use the blur tool in order to make image look less 'sharp' and not simply stuck on the black background (even though it was) and lastly I adjusted the lighting using brightness/contrast.

EVALUATION

For some of my clips I created for my evaluation I used Windows Live Movie Maker which is an updated version of Windows Movie Maker and allows you to directly upload videos onto YouTube and save your movie with different formats including mobiles devices, HD, standard and variable sizes. This was also a very simple program to use however.. when I uploaded my clips onto blogger the texts came out fuzzy. No problem though, I used my blackberry to create a voice over.   

I also used Photoshop to annotate many of pictures and screen shots to compare.


A new software I came across on Windows during my coursework was using 'Snipping Tool' I personally LOVE it! For a while I was angered at the fact that I had to press Prt scr in order to screen shot an image then copy, paste, crop and resize it. Then I googled a program or software I could use that was similar to the screen grabber on MAC pc's which allow you to drag the cursor to the selected area you want and automatically saves. 


C:\Users\Mariama\Desktop\2012-01-25_2200.swf

**COPY AND PASTE THE URL ABOVE INTO THE URL BAR FOR A VIDEO TUTORIAL**

This tool allows you to create screen shots similar to the ones on MAC softwares

- Press START

-  Click All Programs

- Then Accessories

- Press Snipping tool

Once it opens the screen may look like it fades, just as shown in the video above drag the '+' cursor selecting whatever you want a screen shot of (the software I used to record this does not move in time with the mouse hence why you couldn't see me drag the cursor). Once you have selected what you want to screenshot VOILÀ! 

The tool allows you to annotate it using a pen however, I was terrible at this. It also allows you to save the snip with different formats therefore your snip can be used for a range of suitable devices i.e. mobile phones, in a clip, document etc

ANIMATIC/DIGITAL STORYBOARD

Evaluation - Question 2 How effective is the combination of your main product (video) and ancillary texts (digipak and advertisement) ?

Evaluation - Question 1 In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I was influenced by Drake's effect on his image for his album cover because, it does not follow the conventions of a normal rap album cover. This usually consists of lots of girls, cars, excessive jewellery, lots of artificial light etc. My main aim for my digipak was to challenge the conventions of the normal rap digipak/album cover. Despite this however, in order for the target audience to familiarise themselves with the genre I used a parental advisory logo which had a graffiti, spray design to it which represented grime.

I was also influenced by Wretch' 32's advert for his album because on his album cover he uses a similar effect to the one I had. Furthermore the logos for where his album could be purchased also influenced where my artists music could be purchased. As my artist is an UPCOMING mainstream artist I could not use all of the same stores Wretch used for his album because, he is no longer upcoming. Therefore because my artist is upcoming I could only use really obvious places that are more likely to promote his music. 

In Devlin's music video 'Runaway' it is mainly set outside (hence the title) although, the locations used are in urban areas and locations in the UK that people are more likely to go when running away. For example we see him sitting inside a train, and Shazray who is the performer running away also enters a train station. However because our video is set in London we use an underground because, it is used much more.

We were also inspired by Ludacris and Mary J Blige in 'Runaway Love' because their song is similar to the song we chose. Furthermore there is a female singer who stands next to the male artist which females tend to do in R&B, Hip hop and rap music videos. This is to make the music video appeal to both males and females, so we used some shots of Denzel (Professor D) standing next to Kudiwa, our female singer.  

Evaluation - Planning

I am currently undergoing the completion of my evaluation however, before I made a start on it I had to consider deep thought out ways of answering the questions and different types of technology I am going to use in order to present my answers.

Forms of technology I have considered using

- Screenshots

- Video clips

- Images of stills and anotating them using photoshop

- Recordings of myself answering the questions 

- YouTube links

- Voice overs

PRODUCTION: JPEG of completed Advertisement

PRODUCTON: JPEG of your final completed Digipak

Outside panel

Inside panel

PRODUCTION: Screenshot of your digipak and advertisement in production - illustrating how you either use photoshop or Quark

In terms of my inside panel, my original idea was to have brick walls and some form of graffiti message on it however I wasn't completely satisfied with the turn out so I wanted to try something new. I found some extra pictures of Denzel and the image below really intrigued me. The location is set in a home so the audience may feel a form of interaction with the artist. As the colour scheme of my digipak is black and white I decided to stick with that scheme for the inside panels, this was followed by be adjusting the brightness and contrast as well as creating a slight blur.  However in order for the audience to see the artists face slightly clearer I had to horizontally flip the image which meant his gesture 'overpowers' the most of the inside panels, thus connoting the artist being 'in your face' very urban and following the conventions of many grime artist which is having a signature gesture.

PRODUCTION: Screenshot of your digipak and advertisement in production - illustrating how you either use photoshop or Quark

At this point I was doing my track list, using the Text tool in order to create my text as well as adjust the format and the style of the text. In the end however I decided to place my track list on the upper right hand side of the digipak aligned to the right, for a different look which I have seen in a few digipaks before.

 As time was running out and I was feeling very stressed over my inside panels, I decided to create my advert because I already had an idea of what I wanted. Below I drew a rectangle and rotated them slightly for a nice, 'in your face' effect as I still wanted to follow the conventions of the grime genre. I placed the text over it which was Impact, a very hard and almost brick type font which is bold and very block so I thought it was very suitable for my advert.

In order to merge these logos together, which made it much easier for me to move around and adjust the size I highlighted all of the layers of the logo's, pressed CTRL and right clicked and then clicked merged layers. Simple! I Although I had to ensure that they all had a white background so they seemed similar

PRODUCTION: Screenshot of your digipak and advertisement in production - illustrating how you either use photoshop or Quark

NOTE: One of the biggest mistakes I made throughout creating my digipak was the artists name on the spine 'Professor GREEN'. This was done right up till I was about to finalise my Digipak and Advert and I realised what listening to so much Professor Green does to you....

As you can see the digipak is slowly coming along at this point. I applied the font which I am again very pleased with and ensured that I stuck to the conventions of the rule of third, and stuck to my black and white theme. I also like the fact that although it is simple it has a 'hard' feeling to it and although the layout has a simple house scheme it still has an urban feel to it. Which is represented through the effect on his image. It seems quite rough and can connote the idea that he still has the streets in him.

PRODUCTION: Screenshot of your digipak and advertisement in production - illustrating how you either use photoshop or Quark

EDITING THE PHOTO'S

My first step was to choose my favourite photo out of all of the photos we took, and I wanted to look for one that closely matched my initial idea. Which was a very neutral face taken with at a medium close up. 

Below is the  image I chose and how it looked once I cropped it in half and experimented with the lighting, which was adjusting the contrast and brightness to make him stand out. Before doing that however I used the magic wand tool. The magic wand tool is a tool that enables you to select an area of an image and cuts it out. In this case however, I cropped out the white background and in order to achieve this perfectly I had to ensure that Denzel was wearing clothing that contrasted the background so it was easier to cut out. Furthermore I used a blur tool in order to smooth out the edges which prevented the image from looking too sharp.

I placed the image onto a black background which was also my initial idea however, I did not like the way the it looked so I experimented further with the image, tried suitable effects that would allow the audience to recognise the artist and below is how it looks. I was very pleased with the outcome of this effect and stuck with it throughout the creation of my digipak

PLANNING: MOCK UP DIGIPAK COVER AND ADVERTISEMENT

This is my outer panel

In my final digipak I plan to space out his name much further in comparison to his face and use the font 'Baskerville'. It is very simple serif font with a nice finishing stroke at the end which does not make the album title look too dull. As a grime artist typically there may be elements of swearing as the genre is 'harsh' therefore it is important that I add a parental advisory logo. In order to ensure my image is levelled properly I will make sure the image fits in relation to the 'Rule of thirds'.

My original idea for my digipak was to have the inside panels stretched out as a brick wall. However I experienced some difficulty with this idea and it seemed very 'dull' so I plan to change my idea

 In order to create a precise image for my front cover I needed a portrait of a man and managed to get an image of the musician Usher. I simply traced over half of his face

- I plan to use the front cover of my digipak/album cover
- The record label will be placed at the bottom of the page because it is important for the record label to appear in the advertisement and any other product
- The website for my artist will also appear there because, much of the album information, release and tours tend to be on artists websites. 
- The use of including other artists promote the album further
- I plan to use the font Impact because it is big, bold and stands out therefore it will catch viewers eye. Furthermore as it is a billboard advertisement it is important that the font really stands out.

PLANNING: Shortlist of photos

I chose portrait shots because for my digipak front cover i am using half of his face and I want his facial expression to be straight. In terms of his appearance as he is a rap artist i wanted to follow the stereotypical conventions so he kept his earrings in to represent 'bling'. Furthermore throughout the music video he is seen in a Ralph Lauren shirt and although it is very plain it is a designer label which many rap artists tend to wear yet it is very simple and he is a walking advert for Ralph Lauren (just kidding but yeah)