Evaluation Q4

4. How did you use new media in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?
New media technologies have been very important throughout my production process. I used social media in order to gain vital audience feedback from my target audience, so that I knew throughout I was on the right track. I also used new media to share my products and to research existing media to gain inspiration and learn from existing products. 

Research: Once I’d decided that I was going to produce a music video I set about researching the codes and conventions as well as music videos on YouTube to get an idea of how to make one myself. I was drawn towards Jamie xx’s remix of Rolling in the Deep and felt that it would be an interesting challenge to make a video for a dance remix of a popular song. I then looked at the differences between mainstream videos and dance music videos and found that dance videos were mostly more creative as they were often funded by independent labels and so the artists had more freedom.
I used Yahoo to gain feedback from a wider audience on what they expect from a music video and kept this in mind during the process.
I also used slideshare to upload keynote displays that deconstructed existing products and showed the conventions, such as in my ancillary research.


Planning: Once I’d done my research I set about storyboarding ideas and putting together a filming schedule and shot lists. I found making shot lists very helpful as it was a great prompt to remember all the angles and scenes that I wanted to complete each day. In terms of how I used new media to plan my music video, I utilised YouTube a great deal and channels such as Vevo which display almost every music video ever made which was a great source of inspiration. Also I uploaded test shots I’d done and got feedback from them to help me work out exactly which shots I wanted to use in the video - which worked and which didn’t. 


Construction: During the construction I used facebook quite a lot to give feedback on each of my rough cuts. To begin with I edited the different locations and then eventually put them all together and, for instance in the case of the interlude, my peers were really helpful in deciding whether to use text and to have that section in black and white or in colour.
I used iMovie on my macbook to create all my videos and used Photoshop to create my ancillaries. Since my preliminary task last year I have improved enormously and have gained many more skills in terms of knowing how to use Photoshop, being able to identify codes and conventions and apply them to my own work. 

AS Pre-Lim, AS Final Magazine Cover, A2 Final Advert

Here is a picture of my preliminary magazine cover. Compared to today I knew very little about photoshop or the conventions of a magazine, hence the basic layout and evident dead space.
If I compare this with my advert I can see that I now have more knowledge on composition and colour schemes as well as photoshop skills in order to create an effective cover which can then be implemented into the advert, which would fit the genre of music and brand of the artist.
My video editing skills have improved since beginning the course as I now have more awareness of how existing videos are put together and so have more attention to detail and focus on the beat and the many interpretations that the audience can take away from watching the video as each individual has a different reading.


Evaluation: In evaluating my work I looked back through my slideshare and Youtube pages to see how I’ve progressed. I went on sites such as Pixton to create an animation to explain how I made my music video in question 1.
Here is a video looking at most of the new media I’ve used in making my production... 

Therefore, as you can see, New Media Technologies have been imperative in my creation of my coursework. In the 21st century, thanks to the rise of the internet, anyone can produce texts and therefore the line between consumer and producer has become almost non-existent. The advances in technology mean that an 18 year old student such as myself is able to make products such as a music video by using software such as iMovie, share it to the world through YouTube and make a cover and advert by using Photoshop. The process has become very quick meaning I can have direct access to the audience at the click of a button and gain vital feedback from them instantly and apply that feedback to my texts. I can also talk to people all over the world on sites such as Yahoo.

Evaluation: Q3

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
I gained a huge amount from constantly getting feedback from various audience members. Audience feedback is incredibly important when putting together a product as, in this web 2.0 landscape, the audience shapes the media more than ever. Throughout production I posted rough cuts on facebook and my advert was decided purely on the huge positive response one of the two options got (which you can see in this video for Q4).

In order for my products to be successful I also had to look at who I was aiming my video at. My target audience was 16-24 year olds who like to watch music videos, specifically dance music or remixes of pop songs as that is the song I chose. 

From this post

As the research I found was that the a big proportion of people watching a video with a female artist was male I also began to think about female representation, which I looked at here. I looked at representation quite a lot as I thought it was an important message to get across and a great way of subverting the conventions of a dance music video. I wanted to present a strong female protagonist that the modern women could identify with. Through this aim I came up with the idea of using flashbacks as I wanted the narrative that she has been in a relationship but actually now prefers to be single to come through. Therefore portraying the relationship through rose tinted eyes (emphasised by using a 'romantic' filter on iMovie) can help contrast with her now in 'reality'.

Quite early on I researched the type of audience member who would watch my video and found that almost half of teenagers watch music videos online rather than on TV. This made me think about how I could grab the audience and keep them watching as well as highlighting how social media has grown in modern society.
I learnt a lot from the feedback I got and made changes to my production based on their comments. For instance, when putting together my first part of the video - the interlude section - I posted two different versions on facebook (one with lyrics and one without) in order to see what they thought. There were a few conflicting answers and so I compromised by reducing the amount of lyrics as well as taking on board the advice of having the footage in black and white - something which I found worked and made its way into my final cut. 
It was clear from the beginning that this was an incredibly useful resource and so I posted frequently, another time being when I couldn't decide whether to have the ending with my female lead looking out to sea or walking back towards the camera. After posting one facebook I decided to cut it short which I talked about in my Rough Cut #1 Director's Commentary. 

After finishing my third rough cut, I was more confident about it nearing completion and so I decided to show it to a focus group class of year 9 students to see what they all thought. I got lots of positive and helpful feedback from this which led me to my final cut. I learnt from this that the narrative was much stronger now I'd included the flashback sequences and that this class of 13-14 year olds, while a little younger than my target audience, picked up on a lot of the subtext of the video which I was extremely pleased about as it showed that it was clear: I was worried initially that it might have been hard to follow.
Throughout production I was anxious that my preferred reading was coming across to the audience...


Audience Theory: Readings of my text
Stuart Hall’s theory relating to Reception Theory was that of encoding/decoding. He put forward the idea that the text’s encoded by the producer which is in turn decoded by the reader. However there can be a big difference between the producer’s and audience’s readings. So, in order to try and bridge that gap, the producer can try and use recognised codes and conventions which can position the audience into reading it how he/she wants them to.
This can be termed the ‘preferred reading’ which is something Morley also looked at.
Morley’s theory looks at how texts have different readings due to the individuals reading them all being from different backgrounds. Therefore the audience has four responses to a text; dominant, oppositional, aberrant and negotiated. The dominant or preferred reading for my text would be the recognition of female empowerment, where the audience takes away a feeling positivity surrounding the end of a relationship rather than the typical weepy ballad. Yet some members of the audience, particularly males, may instead have a negotiated reading where they see the message I’m trying to make but don’t agree with it and would rather see women being objectified. Other viewers may have an oppositional reading as they may think that the end of a relationship is sad and that actually she may still be sad now she is on her own. An aberrant reading is where someone has missed the point entirely and so may see my video as enjoyable to watch and may not interpret any of the narrative. All these different readings can be had by different genders, class, ethnicity or age. As I, the producer, have my own background and cultural experiences then not everyone will agree with me - however as part of my target audience’s age range I hope that will help me.

example facebook comment

example youtube comment

example yahoo comment

I gained audience feedback by talking to my peers as well as posting rough cuts and ancillary drafts on sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Yahoo as a way to gain ideas and constructive criticisms. Modern audiences are much more aware of how a text is put together due to Web 2.0, meaning that much of the audience are producers themselves. Therefore modern day audiences are more aware of the conventions of a text so appreciate when the conventions are subverted, which is something I have tried to do. 
The genre of my music video is dance and so there are many conventions that come with that genre such as quick editing to the beat, dancing being featured as well as it being creatively filmed. As Hall said, I tried to include these conventions so that the audience watching will recognise the genre as well as it being more likely they will have a preferred reading. As the song is about love I used a rose as a visual signifier of this as it connotes passion. Therefore the audience’s interpretation of the protagonist destroying the rose will hopefully help to cement the narrative that she is over the relationship. The flashback sequence at the beginning of the video is a way to make the audience aware of the relationship and how serious it could have been which correlates with the lyrics “we could have had it all” which is repeated throughout the video with the images of the lips singing it to highlight the importance of that line. Therefore the audience can hopefully read the significance of the relationship to the protagonist and thus identify or empathise with her.

original cover idea

In terms of my ancillaries, I started off using a photograph of my female protagonist and editing it artistically as were the conventions of dance/remix covers. I gained audience feedback and found they wanted something more simplistic, which eventually led me to the idea to move towards the jamie xx brand of the 'X' and the convention of using a still from a music video, which I think looks a lot more professional and sophisticated thus fulfilling the conventions and meeting audience expectations. 

final cover

Evaluation: Q2

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

In order for my three products to work together I had to create a house style so it would be clear to the audience that they were all linked and advertising the same products. 

House style throughout the three texts

Images: The image of water was significant throughout my three products and was one way in which I tried to create a theme between them: it was a reoccurring motif which corresponds with the themes of the song itself. As the title of the song is ‘Rolling in the Deep’, this connoted to me water and the chaos that comes with it - reflecting the feelings of the protagonist. I’ve done this by taking a still from the video to use as my cover (which is an industry convention) that shows a pebble going into the water, part of a memorable section of the video, thus tying the two together. This splash can also symbolise the turmoil of feelings that the female protagonist is going through which is why I believe it to be a strong image in which to sell the song. 


Fonts: The fonts I used in the video itself connoted to be both youth and a more unique feeling which has impact as it can connect with the audience easier than simply using an Arial or Times New Roman font. I wanted a font that would catch the audiences eye which, corresponding with the quick editing, meant that it had a strong effect on the audience so they can anticipate the exciting video they’re about to see. 

Font I used in the video

In my ancillary I wanted to create a feeling of the artist being established as he is a relatively unknown artist but wanted the audience to trust him. I used relatively formal language and a simple layout to create a confident feel in the advert. Having no words at all on the cover was a risk but, as it is in keeping with the Jamie xx brand that he has already built up, it was the best way as his audience would then recognise that it is Jamie xx’s single and thus would already have a knowledge of his genre and quality of music.


Colours: The blue of the water is the dominating colour in my ancillaries which is complemented by the black and white base colours which connotes chic and sophistication. Black, white and red are the most common colours used in the music industry and so I used red to highlight the ‘Out Now’ feature of the advert which draws the audience’s attention to the fact that it is available to purchase.
I also used black and white in the interlude section of the video to contrast with the colours in the rest of the video. The black and white symbolised the serious emotional side to what she was saying and feeling in that section and so audience feedback told me that black and white would work here.

audience feedback which prompted me to try it in black and white

As a music video is created in order to promote a single (something I have already discussed) I had this in mind throughout the production process of both the video and the ancillaries. I included the jamie xx website in my advert as the 21st century is all about multi-platform media and so the audience (particuarly the target audience of 16-24 year olds) will definitely expect an internet presence which they can interact with and find out more, hopefully leading to buying the single. I shied away from featuring jamie xx’s facebook page or itunes as jamie is known for being a cool and elusive guy and thus simplicity in that case is key, leaving an air of mystery. 

Here is a video featuring many audience members being asked about my three texts...

Final Cut

I posted the fourth rough cut on facebook and got some good feedback and so have decided that it shall be my final cut.

Here is some of the comments I got...

Also I got this comment on the YouTube page...

Audience Feedback: Facebook

I decided to put my third rough cut up on facebook to see what a few of my peers thought about it to see if there was anything that stood out that needed changing.
Here are my responses...

I'm glad the narrative is now clearer to the audience and that people like it. It's interesting that a couple of people mentioned the ending and so I might look at including the walk again at the end.

Rough Cut #3.b: Experimenting

I wanted to experiment with the flashback sequence to see if it would work elsewhere within the song. I put together this rough cut to see, however whilst editing I found no obvious place in the music to place it and so the music doesn't match very well at all. 

Aside from the sound issues I also think this confuses the narrative even further and takes away from the ending where she has gradually moved on from the relationship by taking the audience back there again. Perhaps the issue is the use of a different song at the beginning, even though I have had many comments that they liked the contrasting music, so I shall try some other sound effects to see if that helps. 

Audience Feedback: Focus Group

Last week I showed my third rough cut to a class of year 9's. Before the screening I found out that what they wanted most from a music video was seeing people having fun. Also when discussing modern music videos they described Lady Gaga as "weird", "sexual" and "terrifying", which was interesting to hear!

In terms of what they liked about my video they said they liked the use of scenery as a way to reflect the emotions in the video. They saw that she was happier in the brighter locations such as the beach and then a little more sadder in the darker locations such as the forest. 
They also liked the editing, including the varied images being on the beat. 
Another thing that stood out for them was the circular narrative, as they liked how it began and ended on the beach, neatly tying everything up.
The majority of the class managed to understand the narrative being about a break up and they liked that it portrayed a strong female on their own.
Lastly many of the class commented on how much they liked the interlude section as it showed her in a plain room and they said that was very effective.

They also mentioned a couple of things that I could work on, including making sure the audio/visual were in sync. An issue that I wanted to know was if the flashback sequence at the beginning with the different song was confusing or made it more interesting to watch. The class took a vote and the latter view won, but I shall try experimenting with new ways to make sure that it definitiely makes sense to the audience in the future. 

Ancillary: Audience Feedback

I have shown these two versions of my covers to my class to work out which way to go...

Colour

Black and white

2 people liked the first cover with the coloured lips and eyes whereas 4 people preferred the black and white artist. I was tending to agree and so now I would like to proceed with that version as I think it symbolises the mind of the female protagonist better as she is distanced further with the rest of the world and it's more clear cut, seeing things in black and white after her break up. She is also easier to emphasis with as her eyes can be seen easier and aren't as "alien" like which is what one member of my audience said.
I am also going to assess the fonts used and get some feedback on those before finishing my cover. 
Here is a new draft...

Interlude Feedback

Over the weekend I managed to get some feedback on my Interlude: Rough Cut. I posted on Facebook, asking for feedback:

Here are the replies...

As you can see there are a few conflicting answers, including some helpful advice which I will look at trying. I'm thinking of having it without lyrics except for maybe one or two to make a better impact (e.g. the 'tears' one). I will also try it in black and white to see if that works or not. 

Audience Feedback

I showed a rough cut of the opening sequence for my music video to a member of my target audience to get their thoughts on how I should proceed. 

This is what she thought...
- She likes the mixture of shots, and wants even more Close Ups
- She likes that the waves crashing brings in the music at the beginning
- She thinks maybe to have a close up of the artists hands more while singing to add depth to the shots


This has made me think more objectively about the video as I go about filming more (on Sunday) and editing my first cut of from the beach shoot.

Audience Research: Target Audience

I decided to survey a selection of the target audience of 16-25 year olds on their music video watching habits and what music videos they think are successful...

Lorna, Saffie, John, Tash, Daniel

Natasha
Age: 17
Subjects studying: Media Studies, English Literature, ICT
Favourite genre of music: Country Rock
In what medium do you watch music videos: YouTube
How many music videos do you watch in a week: 0
Favourite music video you've seen recently: Raise Your Glass by Pink

John

Age: 17

Subjects studying: Media Studies, Business Studies, Photography

Favourite genre of music: Indie

In what medium do you watch music videos: YouTube

How many music videos do you watch in a week: 20

Favourite music video you've seen recently: Time To Pretend by MGMT

Lorna

Age: 17

Subjects studying: Media Studies, Art, ICT

Favourite genre of music: Country/Pop

In what medium do you watch music videos: YouTube

How many music videos do you watch in a week: 15

Favourite music video you've seen recently: I Won't Let You Go by James Morrison

Saffie
Age: 17

Subjects studying: Art, Textiles, English Literature

Favourite genre of music: Folk

In what medium do you watch music videos: Online if at all

How many music videos do you watch in a week: 0

Favourite music video you've seen recently: There aren't usually videos for the songs I like.

Daniel

Age: 17

Subjects studying: Chemistry, RE, Biology

Favourite genre of music: Pop

In what medium do you watch music videos: YouTube

How many music videos do you watch in a week: 10

Favourite music video you've seen recently: Summer Nights by Grease

What this means...
As I thought, the majority of young people keep up to date with their music through YouTube, which I looked at here.

Also, as Saffie highlighted her favourite genre is folk and the reason she doesn't watch many videos is because there aren't many made for her genre. My remix/dance genre is also niche so there aren't many made, something I've also looked at. Therefore I have a little more freedom, but there are less conventions for my genre, so I have to look a bit wider in the music industry to gain inspiration and ideas.

Representation: Sexuality in Modern Music Videos

Female representation in the music industry
As I am filming using a female protagonist, I need to consider how females are shown to audiences. I made a conscious decision to go against the stereotype and clear conventions of representing females as sexual objects. While the successful female artists of today are seen as powerful and in control they are still often shown wearing very little clothing and using suggesting poses and dance moves.
Instead, I decided that as a dance remix, I have more freedom to be more artistic that following the pop route of sexualisation.
Here is some evidence of the sexualisation of females...
Of the Top 25 Album Selling Artists of 2010, only 7 were sung by single female artists.

Here I've included are the single covers of their biggest selling singles to show how they are represented...

Rihanna

Here the artist appears to be completely naked, and the title (which is provocative in itself) covers her up, she also seem to have a cigarette in her mouth a connotation of rebellion and self-destruction.

Lady Gaga

Here the artist is in a suggestive pose wearing leather which also has connotations of rebellion and 'rough' as it is traditionally seen on Bikers. She is also wearing a mask, which can be seen as seductive.

Alicia Keys

Here the artist is wearing a very low cut top showing her cleavage, otherwise her overall pose isn't necessarily sexual, which could mean she isn't signified by this.  

Susan Boyle

As Susan Boyle is much older she is already against the convention of a young female artist, so is more innocent, cupping her face, reflecting her genre of music.

Florence & The Machine

Florence & The Machine is a very indie genre and therefore her single cover very much represents this. She is shown as being ethereal and hippy like, while still having done up hair, make-up and glamorous red shoes.

Cheryl Cole

Here, the artist is going for a more simple single cover and has direct eye contact with the audience, reflecting the more intimate lyrics of the song. She is wearing a hat over one of her eyes, so is more mysterious. The background is also of lace which has connotations of underwear and innocence.

Katy Perry

Here the artist is in a very sexual pose and is wearing very little clothing. The patterned bra she is wearing highlights her body and her open mouth is suggestive. It is reminiscent of old style, retro pin ups.

One of the biggest selling artists of 2011 so far, is Adele, who is the female artist in my remix. 

She is one of the few exceptions to the rule of using her body to sell records and instead allows her incredible voice to shine instead. This is another reason why I decided to not sexualise my female protagonist. 


Why women still feel the need to represent themselves sexually in order to sell their music is an interesting question. While there is an air of change about gender equality, if you look at the entertainment business it is actually clear that very little has changed and that women either still feel that is how they must do it (pushed by the patriarchal leaders of the industry), or that they want to as a new kind of feminism. It is still a difficult issue and one that may take time to change.
There is, however, some evidence of change.
For instance Birdy, as a 15 year old, is represented very innocently, and rightly so, being so young. 

However so were females such as Miley Cyrus, but once she hit around 17/18 she suddenly started dressing much more provocatively in order to shake off this 'good girl' image, and, it would seem, sell more records. 

At 14 

At 17

Is this the fate awaiting young girls such as Birdy? Not necessarily, but they won't, typically, be very successful. Unfortunately in our present society the female sexualisation still seems to be how females are represented and the only (perceived) way to make a profit, but thankfully exceptions such as Adele, are slowly making progress, so that one day women won't feel the need to represent themselves in such a demeaning and oppressive way.