Final Music Video

Overall, I am very pleased with my final music video, as the timings and the varied effects that I have used show a good range of my abilities. For example, the lip sync in my video is accurate with the song timings, along with the different types of shots used, displays a good understanding of the genre and the lyrics of this popular song. The variety of costume changes added professionalism to the production and enhanced the effect of the Mise en Scene. The smoke/lighting/special effects used in my music video emphasised the atmosphere that I wanted to create around the artist, this was extremely important as my video was shot at night.  The different lighting techniques that I used added atmosphere which is required during night filming. The lighting effects used during the on stage filming added a massive impact to the way the artist was been portrayed as her success period. This type of lighting shows professionalism as the beamed lighting was directed at the artist from different angles, which enhanced her costume, make-up and clarity of the shot.

Final Ancillary Texts

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

I chose to produce a music promo package for a song that was already well established. The song I chose was "Ella Henderson- Glow".The reason I chose this was that I believe there are many different meanings that could apply to this song which gave me a lot of scope to play with in my filming process. I undertook planning and research stages to create my production and once I finished the final version of my video I uploaded it to YouTube. From the lyrics, I decided to produce a performance and abstract video. During my video, I decided to show my audience the artist/actress 'glow' throughout her career and how she has grown , for example towards the end of the music video, the artist is performing on stage and looks like she is enjoying herself. I then chose to create a six panel digipak for my fictional artist, and a magazine advertisement, to then help promote the products. Below I will evaluate my media texts on the effectiveness of use of conventions, how the products integrate and the use of digital media during all stages of production,  I will contrast this with audience feedback.

Within my music video, I used a wide range of conventions to make my work look as professional as possible. As I have stated in my genre conventions post earlier in the year, there is always a connection and a link between the lyrics of the song and the visuals. This also creates a link between the artist and the song selling not only the product to the audience but the artists too. Having the artist perform in the video is essential to sell the artist as an individual, the cinematography and editing used is usually related to the video and cut or shot in time with the beat. This allows the audience to connect with the personality of the video.

Below is the Official video for the song that I chose, this gave me a good understanding how the shots need to be in time with the beat of the song, and especially the lip sync has to be in time; otherwise the video would look unrealistic and very unprofessional. 

Below are some shots that I thought looked professional and appealing in existing music videos (left) which inspired me to use similar shot types in my music video (right). My Research for existing music videos have really helped me to use the correct conventions to enable my product look professional they are as follows:

• Different costumes (mise en scene)
• Different angles of shot types (cinematography)
• Lip sync (editing)
• Different shots, for example, close up, long shot and medium shot (cinematography)
• Abstract, narrative and performance. I decided to chose Abstract as it allows me to focus on the artist and include lip syncing throughout my music video
• Lighting
• Different locations (mise en scene)
• Editing on the beat, for example the beat of the song matches the shot changes

Shots that inspired me

Ella Henderson- Glow

These shots are from the original music video which really stood out and inspired me to have a similar effect. For example the filter on the on the shot to change colour. However I have changed my shot slightly by zooming into the actresses face which potentially makes the shot look more professional. These shots inspire me as the close up shot allows the audience to interact and feel the emotions of the artist.

Ella Henderson- Ghost

This music video inspired me as the filming  is very effective, with the use of different camera angles and lighting the shot looks very professional. My shots are slightly different again, as I used tracking around my actress. To enable me to create this shot, I borrowed a dolly from college, which allowed me to have a smooth movement shot. 

Cheryl Cole- Call My Name

This shot enabled me to use a different variety of editing, showing my understanding of working the equipment In my music video I have used the slow motion, fast forward and rewind tools to create this idea. "Call my name" music video inspired me, as I thought it looked very professional and unique as it was unusual using the music beat to maximise impact,this makes the video memorable.

In terms of my ancillary text, I made sure that both my poster and my digipak linked with my final music video; as it is very important that I show continuity throughout my coursework to allow the audience to recognise and relate to the products.



Textual Analysis



Lyrically, this song represents unity, it’s about bringing people together and has no narrative in the original music video. However, in my music video I have added a slight narrative, but it is not main focus. Personally I feel the lyrics represent how the artist has grown and developed throughout her career. For example 'Like a chest of hidden gold, shimmers in the depths below' and 'we will glow' portray how the artist started her career as an unknown and suggests that every one can become successful if they try hard and continue to pursue their dreams, for example 'we will glow'. The song was written by Steve Mac and Camille Purcell and was released on 5th October 2014.

Within the first couple of seconds, at the start of the music video, I have used a close up, medium shot and long shot. I used a close up shot to allow the audience to interact with the artist, and to connect with the feelings and emotions of the song. I have used a black fade out and dissolve, to allow the shots to run smoothly, and in time with the song/beat.The mise en scene in my music video, has allowed me to create a hidden meaning in my video, this describes how the artist has progressed over time, and displays shots of how the artist becomes professional, for example at the start of the video the artist is seen to be singing in the woods, and towards the end of a video, the artist is performing on stage with full professional lighting. The start of the video I have used a shot which shows the artist before she became successful in the woods, which is why I decided to use a hand held shot, to portray verisimilitude. The image below shows the progression that the artist made. For example, I decided to add a glimmer of what the artist was inspired to be in the middle of my video. The lighting used allows the silhouette of the artist to be shown. I feel this shot is very powerful and eye catching, as it shows futuristic progression of the artist. I have used a tilt shot, which again adds impact on the audience, as the smoke could suggest the artist looking into the future, or the artist dream, as it emphasises the artist`s body language. I have used different angles/ levels when shooting my music video to allow the audience to be more interested and for the shot to be more striking and fascinating as it adds a different variety to the video.

The image above shows a screen shot of the video, with the lyrics of; 'Soldiers of the Light'. I decided to link the images with the lyrics as it shows professionalism and allows the audience to connect with the song

The image above, again shows how I linked the shots to the lyrics. 'We will glow', this could potentially portray that this is when the artist starting to become successful and becoming recognised.

I have used close up shots to allow the audience to connect and emphasise the actresses emotional state and feelings. For example the shot below is a close-up shot and exaggerates the actresses facial expression which conveys emotion. The viewer is drawn into the subject's personal space and shares their feelings. In the shot below I used the zoom button on my camera into the actresses face, which becomes an extreme close up 

I also used a medium pan shot which shows part of the actress in more detail, whilst still showing enough for the audience to feel as if they were looking at the whole subject. For example the image below. I have used a panning shot which involves the shot to move horizontally from the left to the right. Panning shots are used often as it allows the music video to look professional, as it is a smooth and soft movement.

I have also used a zoom in, long shot, on the smokey blue stage to add dramatic tension; as long shots allow the audience to focus on the artist, however, the audience can still focus on plenty of the background detail.

Throughout my whole music video, I have used a variety of different angles and different camera techniques.Changing the angles of the shots, allows the video to look very professional and the audience will stay interested as there are a variety of different techniques used. Below is an example of a low angle shot in my music video.

Above are some of the screen shots that portray the hidden meaning of the music video. When I was producing my music video I didn't want to produce a narrative as I thought having a story line takes the audience away from the music and the artist.

My costumes were very important in my music video as it adds variety to keep the audience attracted. I developed my colour scheme from my costume ideas, as I feel the blue jumpsuit stands out and looks very professional. Therefore, I decided to used black, white and blue for my colour scheme on my ancillary texts. When I was filming at the theatre I asked the lighting technician to have a blue filter in the lighting, which allows the audience to link the whole video to the ancillary texts.

Towards the end of the song, the beat is very slow and the music goes quite quiet. Slow motion is used to add tension and to match the beat of the song. The editing also slows down to the beat of the song to allow the audience to connect with the video. In terms of editing the most common technique used in music videos is jump cutting from location to location, this makes the change in location, this makes the change in location stand out more to the audience. Similarly another key technique used in music videos is to adjust the speed of the shot, for example speeding the shot up or slowing the shot down, this is done so the editing fits with the beat of the song. For example in my music video, the close up shot of the artists shoes when the shot rewinds the shot speeds up to match the beat of the song

Applying theory to my music video

Bulmer and Kat'z -Uses and Gratifications Theory

Bulmer and Kat'z 'uses and gratifications theory' state products need to fulfill the audience's needs and expectations, including 'personal identity', which I have portrayed throughout my music video. I have created this through the age of my artist, gender and her individual style. For example, the blue costume/outfit contrasts and allows the artist to stand out.

Jason Mittell (2001)
Jason Mittell argues that genres are cultural categories that surpass the boundaries of media text and operate within industry, audience and cultural practices as well. Media producers use familiar codes and conventions that very often make cultural references to their audience knowledge of society. Genre also allows audiences to make choices about what products they want to consume through acceptance in order to fulfill a particular pleasure. Through the link in genre between my ancillary text, the audience will be able to look at my ancillary text and decide whether they will be interested/ like my album and the music video I produced. The theory also states that generic characteristics across all text share similar elements of the below depending on the medium for example, mise en scene, cinematography, editing and lighting

Evaluation Question 2- How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

My aim throughout the process of constructing my music video and ancillary text was to keep all three of the text connected to each other, in their purpose but also through their design, target audience and the closeness of the text to realistic media products. When creating my music video and ancillary text I tried to link all 3 products together as much as possible by using the same colours, costume, lighting and font styles. By doing this it shows a high level of continuity as it makes my products look like an actual brand, which will therefore make them effective, help the audiences with identification and to provide a sense of continuity over each of the text . I feel that my main product is the strongest part of my A2 media package as it clearly shows my actress progressing through her career, appearing to search, imagine and dream that she will one day succeed and GLOW as an artist. As the video develops her dreams are shown to be clearly developing and eventually seen as reality,eg she is seen wandering through gardens, fields, and woods all filmed in the dark. Showing the actress succeeding with her dreams is displayed on a fully floodlit professional stage. I feel that my video was effective and represented the genre. My actress was displayed well using effective body language, moving from displaying slightly coy and understated behavior in the beginning to being very professional on the fully flood lit stage in the latter part of the video. I believe that because of this the actress helped the theme flow throughout, using her feelings, wardrobe and settings to great effect which created mise en scene continuity.

 However, my ancillary texts should also be the best part of my promotional package as I have used all the equipement in the previous year before to complete my music magazine, for example photoshop. I feel a lot of effort went into researching, designing and producing my music video, to allow it to look professional. For example, the lightinging, costumes, locations, weather, actress and equipment availabilty.

The main elements I had to consider throughout my 3 products were;

Colour theme

My idea throughout producing my promotional package

Artist name and song title

Music label

My actress

Styling

Mise en Scene

For example my promotional package. Continuity and coherence is shown through the use of costume. The ancillary costumes my actress was in one of the same outfits seen in the video. I did this so that the audience can recognise Anastasia in the ancillary texts from the video as the video would be released before the ancillary texts.

Linking back to my survey and my focus groups, (question 3) my feedback from the audience`s said that the ‘colours worked really well together’ and ‘a strong theme runs throughout’. 

I have created a music video promo, a digipak, and a magazine advert in support of the video release. I attempted to create an effective combination between all three products, by giving them shared elements, for example the font. I used 1001fonts.com and dafont.com which gave me ideas about which font would look the best for my products. I then developed the fonts further, by manipulating them in Photoshop CS6, where I changed the colours to get the best outcomes, for both my digipak and magazine advertisement. As my album name is ‘Glow’, I thought about adding a shadow behind the word ‘glow’, so the audience would think that the word was literally glowing, but I felt this made the front cover of the digipak too over developed, and I felt it didn’t look professional or in keeping. I decided to have the font for the artist name like handwriting as I feel this is the most effective. The font for the album`s name is again hand written as I feel this gives the most emphasis and has the best effect visually. I decided it was very important that the font and colour of the font I chose for the digipak had to be the same for all products. For example:

My location`s I believe, are what piece my three products together the most. For example my filming started in the various outdoor locations at night, which can be very challenging, and then I went on to produce the stage setting, and the lighting at a theatre, with the costumes, made the shot`s more extravagant/ professional to the eye. The costumes that I used especially helped to link all the products, for example, the blue flowing jump suit that the actress wore added impact, as it was that Royal blue that I used throughout the three products, and the flowing nature of the trousers added impact during the breezy filming night. This costume also transferred well to the digipak, as it looked good as a photo, it was bold and showed movement in the picture. The lighting colour on the stage is also seen on the digipak, and magazine advertisement, so matches my colour scheme. All this mise en scene highlights the different parts of my music video, as it allows the audience to witness how the artist progressed throughout her career. I feel that I have successfully made the package as a whole, effective, with the use of conventions, colour scheme, and mise en scene.

The combination of my main product, ancillary text, digipak and promotional poster could lead to cross form synergy, or cross media convergence. This term describes different types of media, coming together to create similar merchandise, for example, all my products have the same colour scheme, costume, and actress, therefore, you can tell as a music package they all fit together and come from the same album "Glow".

I feel that all three of my products would work on the pop market, and also possibly the alternative market, as they are sophisticated, but still show the youth that I am portraying in the music video, that I have represented my target audience. The texts would sell well in my opinion, due to it having a very different approach on the genre, an approach that is uncommon for the pop industry to see.
 My target audience are in social group E, therefore I would price my Digipak at £11.99, which is an affordable price for teens aged 17-25. I as a teen in this age category and demographic, wouldn't probably buy an album for more than this price unless it was a special occasion, or I was in some form of employment because a lot of people in this category are students. Students have little money to live on after paying fees, therefore I feel this price would be appropriate enough for this selected demographic. I think it is crucial that I advertise my package on ITunes; I would put my video and soundtrack on sale for £2.99, again an affordable price for the single choice on what they would like to view. My poster would feature in magazines such as Billboard and Big pop magazines, as this would attract a wider audience, meaning larger artist recognition selling more merchandise products etc.

In Order for the combination of my main product and ancillary texts to be effective, I inevitably adhered to certain media theory. This means my products links to aspects of narrative, audience, representation and genre theory.

Tom O'Sullivan Theory

Tom O'Sullivan's theory is shown correct in my music video as it states that all media text tell some kind of a story. The story behind the song could give the audience courage to be strong and believe that everyone can become successful. As the meaning to the music video shows how the artist has progressed and become successful

Sven Carlsson Theory

This theory suggests that music videos in general, fall into two rough groups: 

• Performance clips- when a music video shows mostly the artist singing or dancing 
• Conceptual clips - when a clip shows something else in the duration, often with artistic ambitions.

Sven Carlsson's theory is shown throughout mt music video as a performance clip. The artist is singing and appears in the whole music video.

Bulmer and Kat'z -Uses and Gratifications Theory
Bulmer and Kat'z 'uses and gratifications theory' state products need to fulfill the audience's needs and expectations, including 'personal identity', which I have portrayed throughout my music video. I have created this through the age of my artist, gender and her individual style. 

Richard Dyer's- Star Theory

Richard Dyer's star theory can be applied in my music video as he believes that "A star is a constructed image represented across a range of media and mediums". This theory can be applied to my music video, as I created my own artist who has her own ideology. For example to be a 'star' and successful the artist must be attractive, have good fashion and a happy personality. Personally, I feel I have transferred this into my music video as I feel I have applied these elements.

Jason Mittell (2001)

Jason Mittell argues that genres are cultural categories that surpass the boundaries of media text and operate within industry, audience and cultural practices as well. Media producers use familiar codes and conventions that very often make cultural references to their audience knowledge of society. Genre also allows audiences to make choices about what products they want to consume through acceptance in order to fulfill a particular pleasure. Through the link in genre between my ancillary text, the audience will be able to look at my ancillary text and decide whether they will be interested/ like my album and the music video I produced. The theory also states that generic characteristics across all text share similar elements of the below depending on the medium for example, mise en scene, cinematography, editing and lighting

Evaluation Question 3 - What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Throughout my course work, I was constantly asking friends and family what I could change or how I could improve my products. I feel feedback is very important as it allows me to develop and make necessary changes to all 3 of my products. When I was creating my ancillary texts the feedback I received was positive but constructive on ways to improve. For example, my magazine advertisement:

BEFORE

                                 AFTER

After I received my feedback, I feel my magazine advertisement looks more appealing and professional, as the product looks softer and appears more creative in appearance. On Photoshop I added a gradient and  faded the image out to black, I did this by using the gradient tool, however as I had a blue square layer behind the image to create the blue eyes effect; the gradient wasn't fully black and effected the colour of the image. I then used the rubber tool to remove the blue that wasn't needed, which allowed the gradient to stay the correct colour.

I asked some of my friends who are my target audience, to complete my survey to get the best feedback possible for my product as I know they will give me honest and reliable feedback, which will allow me to have the best outcome on my coursework. I decided to send them the link to my survey, music video and ancillary text to enable them to carry out my survey to the best ability.

I shared my blog address on twitter to allow my followers to see my improvements I have made on my products and to see the final products after there feedback. I have also placed a new survey on twitter, which will allow me to have a wider range of answers/feedback.

I created a final survey to enable me to gain feedback, I did this by using www.surveymonkey.com. I used this website as it allowed me to use a variety of different techniques to ask questions and it will enable me to see some of the the results in a table which allows me to compare and I have also got written feedback. The survey is shown below.

Create your own user feedback survey

During my feedback I decided to ask my target audience if they would buy my product on ITunes. My target audience are in social group E, therefore I would price my Digipak at £11.99, which is an affordable price for teens aged 17-25. I as a teen in this age category and demographic, wouldn't probably buy an album for more than this price unless it was a special occasion, or I was in some form of employment because a lot of people in this category are students. Students have little money to live on after paying fees, therefore I feel this price would be appropriate enough for this selected demographic. I think it is crucial that I advertise my package on ITunes; I would put my video and soundtrack on sale for £2.99, again an affordable price for the single choice on what they would like to view. My poster would feature in magazines such as Billboard and Big pop magazines, as this would attract a wider audience, meaning larger artist recognition selling more merchandise products etc

Evaluation Question 4 - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

YouTube
I used YouTube throughout my advanced portfolio, as at the beginning of the year, I researched existing music videos, and existing students music videos to give me some ideas of how I could make my music video better. I also used YouTube to watch tutorials of the editing process and to use the correct level of lighting. I benefited from watching the tutorials, as my music video was filmed at night so the lighting had to be correct to have the right effect and for my video to look professional.
When I started to edit my music video, I used YouTube again to upload my drafts, which then enabled me to put my progress onto my blog. This then gave me the opportunity to gain feedback from peers/ students in my classes, which I could then improve on. My final music video can be watched on any device, as YouTube is accessible on phones, computers, Ipads, Tablets etc.


I experienced problems with my camera on my first filming day, as the DV tape would not go into the video camera as the camera was damaged, which took a lot of time up from my filming However, eventually I managed to get it working. However, once I had set up my lighting outside and got my actress onto the scene, the video camera ran out of  battery. As my filming was all done outside, this meant I couldn't charge the battery whilst filming. I was lucky enough to have borrowed 2 different video cameras from college, so I decided to get most of the shots on the smaller camera.
As I produced my music video to be during the night, it was essential that I had access to cables/plugs for the lighting I used to allow me to have a professional effect. I was really lucky throughout the days I chose to film as the weather wasn't always warm but it never rained, however, if it had, I would have had to cancel the filming day, because the lighting would have been affected and could have potentially become dangerous. It would have been very difficult to reschedule as my actress was very busy as she worked most days.

Adobe Photoshop and Final cut pro were the most significant piece of media software I used throughout the whole process of my project. They enabled me to create everything I have to a high degree with the features they offer. Final cut pro enabled me to keep up to date and store my filming footage so I could begin the editing process and slowly piece my music video together. It allowed me to use a variety of different effects, such a cross dissolve and a black fade out. For example:

Black Fade Out Edit:

Cross Dissolve Edit:

Photoshop allowed me to produce my ancillary texts to a high standard and for them to look professional. Photoshop allowed me to edit my personal images that I have taken on the filming set. For example, for my magazine advertisement I changed the colour of the artist eyes to the same blue of the costume to show continuity and coherence throughout my products. the image below shows the construction of how i produced this effect.

Evaluation Questions

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

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

3) What have you learned from your audience feedback?

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