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

Question 1 Evaluation from carliecokell

Evaluation - Question 3 - What Have You Learnt From Your Audience Feedback?

Target Audience

Genre: Alternative R&B was chosen due to the song we chose was 'Papi Pacify' by the British artist FKA Twigs.

Age/s: 18-30

Gender: Both genders are targeted, however, females may relate to the narrative more than males may relate.

Ethnicity: All ethnic groups because characters in my narrative are from a wide range of ehtnic backgrounds, making my music video more appealing to audiences.

Occupation: C2 - E1. This is because the music video involves normal, working class artist and characters with lower/working class areas for location. This will give the audience an appealing and relatable visual.

To create my own initial idea in the planning stages (before the final idea was created), I made a questionnaire for my own idea so I could gain audience feedback. This is my questionnaire I created:

The feedback I received helped me develop my idea and create the idea with the best features possible in the areas of lighting, mise en scene and cinematography. Here are four main key questions from my questionnaire:

1) How would you like a female artist to be dressed in an R&B trap remix music video?

Results: 

All Black = 11

Smart = 1

Casual = 1

Completely Covered = 4

Revealing Skin = 3

This was great feedback for me as it helped me create a star image for the artist, it was evident all black would suit the violent image the artist has.

2) Which of these themes would you expect to see in this songs music video?

Results:

Love = 4

Violence = 13

Death = 0

Wealth = 0

Sex = 1

Party/Social Life = 2

This feedback was beneficial to me because it showed me that themes of love and violence would appeal to my audience the most. This helps me massively on my narrative.

3) How would you adjust the lighting and colour in this music video?

Results:

Yes = 13

No = 7

This was beneficial as it helped me figure out how to set a particular atmosphere in the music video, also helping massively towards my appeal to the audience and narrative.

4) Should the fast beats of the song be represented through quick edits or slow edits?

Results:

Quick Edits = 20

Slow Edits = 0

This was beneficial as it helped me figure out my visuals in more depth and how I could potentially manage the footage within the music video.

How did this help us make decisions?

It is extremely important to receive audience feedback once our production has been made as this will help us understand the positives and negatives of my music video. This is so we can gain feedback to make final changes to my music video. For example, after finding out that the audience were more interested in seeing the artist being captured through close up's and long shots we made the camera person aware of this, so when it came to filming we filmed the artist bearing this in mind. The questionnaire was useful due to my group receiving information on our target audience, because we had little knowledge on what they likes/expected to see in an alternative R&B music video.

Importance of receiving feedback once the final product has been made?

Once a production is finalised, it is important to get your target audience to view your product and give feedback to help you make small changes helping to finalise the product, making it as successful and appealing as possible. Making small changes ensured that I was able to increase the level of success my video received as well as ensuring that it was suitable, meeting/ exceeding the audiences expectations. 

SoundCloud Feeback:

• Savannah - 18 years old:

• Jeyda - 17 years old: 

• Stella - 19 years old: 

Link to video:

Papi Pacify- MCF Productions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ0eTX-cWRM

Some of the comments we received on YouTube included:

Screenshot of video on Facebook and Instagram:

Why did you put your work on Facebook and Instagram?

I put my final product on social media websites such as Facebook and Instagram because I wanted to share my work publicly so my friends and family was able to see what I have created. Facebook was beneficial for sharing my music video because this social networking site is used a lot for educational purposes and other social purposes. This would allow people to like, share and comment on my music video. Instagram was also beneficial as it is very popular through our generation, which would also help me gain views, likes and comments.

It was important for me to share my music video on various social networking sites as it encouraged my video to be viewed by a global audience, making my video globally identified and successful.

Why did you put your work on youtube?

I decided to put my music video on YouTube as it is the biggest global platform for video sharing and also the main source for music video releasing. This platform helped me gain views, likes and comments from the public which gave me great feedback for me and my group to receive and learn from.

Comments left on Youtube regarding my video:

• Positives: 

"Video with a great concept and creative content well done!"

 "I really enjoyed watching this, love the way the narrative unfolds in such a tense and unique way!"

• Negatives: 

 " At certain points of the video some of the lip syncing was not in time with the music."

"Some shots she is in are too dark, not allowing the audience to see her facial expressions clearly."

What did you learn from this audience feedback in terms of whether you created a conventional and successful music video? 

The audience feedback helped me understand the pro's and con's of my music video and that it was effective and conventional with only small changes. We changed the lighting of the artist to make her more visible for the audience. This helped with her star motif and importance in the music video. We also changed the pace of the footage so the lip syncing was more accurate.
What did you learn from this audience feedback in terms of whether you created a conventional and successful music video? 

I learnt that the majority of my audience liked my music video due to receiving a lot of positive feedback. My music video wouldn't be very popular if we aimed the video at niche audiences or specific subcultures identified by Hebdige. The criticism I received from my audience due to the character representation and cinematography was useful as it helped me make small amendments. 

Conclusion

Overall, I promoted my music video on various media platforms which included Instagram, Facebook and YouTube as they are easily accessed globally and are extremely popular across the world. This ensured that I received audience feedback from different audiences on various social network platforms encouraging my video to go global, gaining popularity. The feedback overall was very positive, but naturally we did get a couple of criticism from audiences, however we over come this by improving the areas of criticism. This included comments on lip syncing, which was corrected. As the editor of the music video, I thought it was important to make sure I was dedicated and committed to the editing and attending after school sessions as well as all editing lessons to ensure I had lots of time to edit in a detailed and professional fashion. I had to ensure that every criticism we received was touched upon in the improving sessions in order to get more marks.

Final Product - Music Video (Papi Pacify)

Final product - Digipak

Final Product - Magazine Advert

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

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

Research and Planning - Digipak - Creative Brief

Creative brief for digipak 

Oasis Academy Hadley 

5 South Street

EN3 4PX

Fatma.Mustafa@oasishadley.org

Date: 11/12/2015  
Album Title/artist: ‘Reaction’ by NYX
Project Manager: Fatma Mustafa, Marlyn Ukah and Carlie Cokell-Smith
Release Date: 30th January 2016

Me and my group discussed a brief together for the overall product and artist. We discussed the product overview, the album concept, comparable products, what reaction we want from the audience, launch dates and how we will know it worked.

Product Overview:

NYX is a British songwriter and singer who began her career signing and performing three nights s week in Central London’s most prestigious and popular clubs and bars including GAY bar, ROADHOUSE and SCALA. As she become more recognized and her reputation grew, there was a higher demand from customers attending these venues for NYX to perform more frequently, therefore, she began performing six nights a week until one day her unique talent was identified by the studio director for Warner Bro’s Records, who decided to sign NYX to their record label. As a result, NYX started to perform in more well-known locations in London and outside London including the O2 Indigo arena, Barclaycard arena and Sheffield arena, as well as performing in other countries, including New Zealand, Switzerland and Spain. This increased NYX’S popularity immediately and within 2 years, she become globally identified by a mass audience, ages 18-28 from different ethnic and social background and developed a strong, international fan base. Due to this fame, there has been an increasing demand for her new album release.

The Album concept:

What is it?

We want to create an album cover that best represents NYX’s star image in order to pull in a variety of different audiences, from ages 18-28, from different ethnic groups and social backgrounds, particularly those from working class and skilled working class backgrounds, who will be more likely to relate to particular ideas and the Alternative R&B genre. We want our album to look unique reinforcing NXY’s ideologies and beliefs, therefore, it will reflect the Alternative genre, appealing more to subcultures and a niche audience, who have different expectations that differ from the norm. However, we will also ensure we make our cover appealing to a larger, mass audience, by including our artist on it making the album conventional. We are creating the album to increase NYX’s popularity within the music industry making her more internationally and globally well known like other successful artists and boosting her star image. Moreover, this album will increase her chances of reaching top 10 in the music charts.

Why are we doing it?

NYX’s debut album will need to bring success to an international and possibly a global audience, and the creation of the digipak will support her in doing so. Therefore, the design of the digipak is crucial in determining its success. We must ensure the pictures, colours and typography used will be visually appealing to our audience and will establish NYX’s values and ideologies as well as promoting the themes and mood evident in her music to the consumers. The themes within the album will include, love, relationships and fulfilling your desires, with the mood reflecting this. Therefore, the consumers will be able to understand the Alternative R&B genre through the album, encouraging them to listen to her music.

Comparable products

 

We believe Lady Gaga’s, Rihanna’s and Owl Eyes’s album covers are unique and evoke interest through their darkness and simplicity which is what we want from our album. Therefore, we will use these albums to guide us when creating ours, as it is important that we make our album as professional and engaging as possible. 

What is the reaction we want?

We expect the audience and consumers to feel they have a clearer understanding about the artist what she is about, enjoying her music and being able to relate to the certain themes and ideologies she portrays throughout. In a way we want our audience to listen to NYX as a method of escapism, allowing them to escape from their problems. We are also hoping the target audience can build a different relationship with NYX, one that differs from other mainstream artists, as NYX is original and should be recognised for maintaining this quality.

How will we know it worked?

The number of sales, and the sale figures the album receives will determine the success of the album, allowing us to decide if the album is popular and appealing to a mass audience. We will also host a focus group allowing a group of consumers that reflect our target audience (aged 18-28, different ethnic groups, working class/ skilled working class) to look at our first drafts of our album designs and provide us with feedback, which will allow us to make the required changes and develop on the criticisms, making the final draft appealing and suitable to our target audience meeting their expectations and interests. Making the album appealing to the target audience is crucial, as this factor determines the ultimate success of the album, therefore, we will ensure we are fully aware of the information revolving around our audience, including similar products they like and what they like about it, their average earnings, their hobbies/ interests etc. Understanding these factors will help us to make an album that the audience will like and will be able to afford.

Launch dates

NYX’s campaign dates:

Press campaign: 6th January 2016
TV Launch: 10th January 2016
Album Release: 30^th January 2016

Research and Planning - Digipak - Generic conventions and analysing digipaks

Generic conventions and analysing digipaks

My group came together and discussed the generic convention and the analysis of our digipak. We also discussed examples and discussed the image, overall layout, typography, artist, album title, star motifs, sub images, colour, hebdige's subculture, information and lighting.

Purpose 

• Marketing tool that sells/promotes the album
• Displays indirect information such as the ideologies of the artist
• Creates, adapts or feeds into the representation of the 'star image'
• A product to keep hold of, can be a collectors item
• Attract a particular target audience
• Buy into artist lifestyle and ideas
• An everlasting product that will symbolise the artist and the album. 
• Form of synergy- advertising and promotion
• Creates a relationship between the artist and audience

What are the generic conventions? 

The generic conventions of a digipak includes: 

• Artist image
• Tracklist 
• Parental advisory label
• Record label
• Barcode 
• Album title 
• Company details
• Critical sticker

Analyse two examples that are similar to your genre/artist

How has this research given your group ideas on what to include in your digipak? 

This research has been extremely beneficial to our planning process as we now have a clearer understanding regarding digipaks as we are able to identify their purpose which is that they are a marketing tool used to sell and promote the album to the audience and are what determines the successful of the album as the audience use this as an indication when deciding whether to purchase the album or not. We have also dissevered what the generic conventions of digipaks are. As a result, we will be following the generic conventions in order to secure the success of our digipak, ensuring that it looks professional and can be portrayed in this way by the audience, encouraging them to buy the product. After analysing the existing products from similar artists to ours, we have identified that these digipaks consistently use dark colours and simple yet important information that the audience should be aware of. It is also important to ensure that the four images used are similar, to maintain consistence throughout. Similarly, when creating our digipak we will also use dark colours to promote the dark mood and unique persona of the artist, and only include relevant information to prevent boring the audience. By following generic conventions and being influenced by digipaks from similar artists/genres we are hoping the digipak we create is relevant and successful drawing the audience in to buy the album. 

In conclusion, i believe that our digipak will be influenced massively on our research as we will use quirky characteristics to match the star image of our artist. Also, our digpak will follow all generic conventions and will have a specific style which it will follow through with.

Research and Planning - Digipak - Drafts of Digipaks

During these few lessons, as a group we have been designing drafts for a potential final digipak. We done this to ensure that we gained positive and negative feedback from our teacher to eventually create a successful final digipak.

Draft 1:

Analyse your use of conventions using PEER

• I have included an image of the main artist on each cover who is looking away from the camera, she is wearing all black which is captured through a medium close up shots and medium shots. This is conventional as it makes the artist look mysterious and unknown to the audience. 

• The title of the album is 'Reaction' which highlights the differing nature of the album and artist which will evoke a reaction from the audience.

• Low key lighting and dark colours including reds, purples  and blacks have been used on the each cover to reflect the dark and mysterious atmosphere and mood. This is conventional as it encourages the audience to want to find our more, making them want to buy the album. 

• The mysterious nature is further reinforced through the typography which differs and contrasts with the dark colours as it is white promoting the artists innocence and vulnerability. This is also conventional as it is expected for the typography to reflect the mood and the artists persona through the colours and shapes. 

• The overall layout is neat and consistent as the information is spaced out revolving the main image. This is conventional as it draws in the audience to the digipak. The layout is also simple as it only includes simple information. 

• The information I have included on the digipak includes the title of the album on each cover expect the inside cover which is simply of the artist, in order to reinforce the name allowing the audience to memorise it. On the back cover however, there is a list of singles that will be on the album, a barcode and a parental advisory lyrics label. 
• The language I have used is simple and lacks formality as I want the audience to be  able to relate to the album and artist and be able to understand that it is aimed at them which is conventional as the information should reflect the audience and their social class. 

• The sub images I have included on the covers also promote the artists unique nature as she is looking away from the camera and is intrigued in her activity. 

• Adorno and popular culture- The digipak goes against hegemony as it goes against conventions appealing more to a niche audience. The images of the artist also resits conventions as the female artist is dressed as a character and does not look relatable to the target audience or like a role model. According to Adorno's popular culture theory, the digipak is targeted at 'The masses' as the genres within the album include alternative R&B, hip hop and electronic which is not appealing to the 'bourgeoise', also, the digpak reflects this through its modern and urban look. 

• Through this digipak, NYX is promoting her differing ideologies and values as she is dressed against conventions which is supported by her body language. 

• Hebdige's subcultres : The digipak goes against hegemony suggesting that it may not appeal to a mainstream audience due to the dark mood created through the dark colours. 

Audience Feedback: Katie- 19

What do you like about it?

• Front cover

- The title is clear 
- Looks consistent to the rest of the campaign 
- Artist image is relatively clear 

• Back cover

- The image is complementary of the front cover 

- Most of the conventions are evident 

• Inside cover

- Edited well, enhancing the star image. Consider using the same editing technique on all the covers

• CD insert

- Good image, all images work well with eachother

What did you not like about it?

• Front cover

- The artist looks lost within the image
- The lighting is to dark 

• Back cover

- The artist looks lost in the image and therefore the star image needs to be enhanced

• CD insert

- The artist looks upset in the image, so consider changing the image.
- The editing technique looks different to the one used on the inside cover and the one used on the inside cover should be the one you go with. 

How can it be improved?

• Front cover

- The artists name needs to be put onto the front cover
- The layout of the title and spacing needs to be reconsidered 
- Parental advisory logo should be put onto the front 

Back cover

- The title does not need to be repeated onto the back cover 
- Typography of the songs should be consistent with the tile 
- One more song should be added to the track list 
- Production details need to be added onto the back cover

CD insert

- The title does not need to be included on the CD cover


Draft 2:

Analyse your use of conventions using PEER

• I have included an image of the main artist on each cover wearing all black which is captured through a medium close up shots, medium shots and medium long shots. This is conventional as it makes the artist look 

• The title of the album is 'Reaction' which highlights the differing nature of the album and artist which will evoke a reaction from the audience.

• Dark colours including purples and blacks have been used on the each cover to reflect the dark and mysterious atmosphere and mood. This is conventional as it encourages the audience to want to find our more, making them want to buy the album. 

• The mysterious nature is further reinforced through the white, bold typography which differs and contrasts with the dark colours as it promotes the artists innocence and vulnerability. This is also conventional as it is expected for the typography to reflect the mood and the artists persona through the colours and shapes. 

• The overall layout is neat and consistent as the information is spaced out revolving the main image. This is conventional as it draws in the audience to the digipak. The layout is also simple as it only includes the vital information that is necessary. 

• The information I have included on the digipak includes the title of the album on each cover expect the inside cover which is simply of the artist, in order to reinforce the name allowing the audience to memorise it. On the back cover however, there is a list of singles that will be on the album, a barcode and a parental advisory lyrics label. 
• The language I have used is simple and lacks formality as I want the audience to be  able to relate to the album and artist and be able to understand that it is aimed at them which is conventional as the information should reflect the audience and their social class. 

• The sub images I have included on the covers also promote the artists unique nature as she is looking away from the camera and is intrigued in her activity. 

• Adorno and popular culture- The digipak goes against hegemony as it goes against conventions appealing more to a niche audience. The images of the artist also resits conventions as the female artist is dressed as a character and does not look relatable to the target audience or like a role model. According to Adorno's popular culture theory, the digipak is targeted at 'The masses' as the genres within the album include alternative R&B, hip hop and electronic which is not appealing to the 'bourgeoise', also, the digpak reflects this through its modern and urban look. 

• Through this digipak, NYX is promoting her differing ideologies and values as she is dressed against conventions which is supported by her body language. 

• Hebdige's subcultres : The digipak goes against hegemony suggesting that it may not appeal to a mainstream audience due to the dark mood created through the dark colours. 

Audience Feedback: Amy- 20

Strengths:

- Front cover: 

• They liked that the title is clear , looks consistent to the rest of the campaign and the artist image is relatively clear 

-Back cover: 

• The image is complementary of the front cover and most of the conventions are evident 

- Inside cover:  

• Edited well, enhancing the star image. Consider using the same editing technique on all the covers

- CD insert: 

• Good image, all images work well with each other.

Weaknesses: 

• Front cover

- The artist looks lost within the image and the lighting is to dark 

• Back cover

- The artist looks lost in the image and therefore the star image needs to be enhanced

• CD insert

- The artist looks upset in the image, so consider changing the image.

- The editing technique looks different to the one used on the inside cover and the one used on the inside cover should be the one you go with. 

Draft 3:

Audience feedback: Sam: 21

Strengths: 

- All panels are consistent and reflective of one another

- Good use of image manipulation

- The artist has been represented in a clever way as she poses differerently. 

- I like the way the inside image is portrayed in an effective way as the artist name is made up of a collage of images of the artist. 

Weaknesses: 

- Inside panel should outline name with more images of artist

- Consider removing name from the back cover and CD insert cover.

- The skeleton should be changed, with a different colour of effect placed on it. 

Conclusion:

The drafting process has allowed us to create our final digipak which has been due to us receiving numerous feedback on each draft, and applying the changes to each cover in order to make it as effective and conventional as possible. Some of the main changes we made included the images we took of the artist, as we realised that the images we took were too dark and did not enhance the star image to the standard that was necessary. We also changed the background of each panel to make it more mysterious and effective.  Without the drafting process, we may not have been able to make our product as effective due to not understanding or identifying small things that has an impact on the quality of the digipak.