evaluation.

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

The genre of music that I used is Indie/Electro/Pop so by having a diverse genre it meant that I didn't need to conform to other music video styles. I wanted to create a uniqueness to the video but still resemble the original artist Lily Allen as she represents her audience more so than other female singers. In my most pop videos the setting and location is very over the top, however, looking at both Lily Allen music videos and less conventional artists I found that the location was in more humble surroundings. I challenged media conventions by not having the video completely focused on the narrative, which is about a younger sister apologising to her older half-sister. I only used 2 stills in which this came across, but I wanted the main focus to be on the artist apologising, rather than making the music video look like a short film. In regards to costume I didn't want the artist to look in anyway provocative or promiscuous, which is how a lot of artists portray themselves these days. I wanted my target audience to be able to relate to my artist so had them in normal clothes that my demographic would wear.

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

For my ancillary texts I made a promotional poster, a digipak and a website. I feel that I was able to link all of these in with my music video by using similar clothing and shooting the digital work in similar surroundings. I made sure that all three ancillaries were cohesive by using the same colour scheme and font throughout. I feel that this helped highlight the way in which I wanted my music video and artist to be represented. I didn't want the ancillary texts to contrast to what my music video was about and I felt in order for there to be cohesion I needed all my final products to have a simplistic resemblance. Similarly to my need to have the music video just to be about the artist apologising I felt that the ancillary tasks should be the same which is why i kept them as they were, without too much going on, and I'm very pleased with how this has worked out.

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

My audience feedback enabled me to understand what my demographic liked in terms of music and in terms of products. It was quite clear that most of my target audience felt there was no need to over do products and let the artist and the music video sell themselves. I felt I've done this by having such a simple, yet effective music video. When I had done my finished product the comments that I got back were very positive & the feedback made me aware that I had created a video and products that would interest my target audience. As I had already had critique between my first and second cuts, it meant that the final product was what my focus group and target audience wanted. I was able to use their criticism to enhance what I had already done, and improve on it also. Due to this feedback I ended up adding an extra shot location which ended up being 2 extra stills in the music video which i thought gave the narrative more authenticity, and I was very pleased with the result.

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

Most of my use of media technology was done throughout the filming process via use of cameras, video recorders and tripods for both of these. However, after the filming stages I had to create my ancillary texts. To edit my filming I had to use iMovie which was at times a challenge, however, I'm pleased with the outcome of my music video so this shows how effectively I was able to use it. I also used photoshop to create my digipak, advertisement and website which I was already acquainted with due to my foundation portfolio. I finally had to use iDVD to create the dvd for my digipak. As I wasn't aware of how to use it, it was a struggle at times but I feel that I ended up with a great finished product due to the authenticity that the dvd gave the digipak. In regards to the different technologies I used, I feel that because I was doing quite simplistic tasks I didn't really need to change a lot of things after I'd filmed or photographed them. It was more important to me to have a cohesive set of finished of products than to over compensate and have an outcome that I wasn't proud of. I am really pleased with my final products.

music video - final cut.

music video - alternative ending.

There's no music on this alternative ending as I was unable to have just the ending of the song.

music video - out takes.

digipak insert.

digipak sleeve.

advertisement.

For the promotional advertisement I wanted to keep it very simplistic, as this was my main goal for all of my products - including the music video. I used the same colour scheme and fonts as previously used for my website. This was in order to make all of my work cohesive and so that the audience would be able to recognise the artist simply by the font used, not just because of the photograph.

The photograph that I used was very simple, and i love having the brick wall behind. I feel that it's not too plain, but not busy and it reflects the video and costume. I didn't want to have a contrived photograph, so it was very simple and I wasn't posing. I think that this helped create the image that I wanted to achieve. I didn't want it to look like I was trying to be something I wasn't like many 'tween disney' singers. I wanted to be relatable to my target audience, and I feel I've achieved this. For my digipak I wanted to have a different outfit to the music video as it is very rare that an artist would wear the same clothing. However, I wanted all the media - the website, advertisement, digipak, digipak insert - to be cohesive and recognisable so decided to wear the same outfit for all of them.

I also used a 'quote' from NME, as this is what is seen on most promotional advertisements. I also put the date in which the digipak was due for release as that is a vital aspect of advertising.

website.

I'm really pleased with the final outcome of my website as I feel it looks very authentic. I used a black & white photograph as I wanted the main focus to be on the content of the website. I was able to tie in the single & digipak on the website with use of photographs that were taken for the digipak and also the promotional banner at the top. I also included a photo on the gallery section titled 'Back To The Start photo shoot' which gave the website more authenticity.

I wanted to incorporate different aspects of what would be on a singers website by adding tour dates, blog updates, music & videos, news updates and also ways in which the target audience would be able to contact the artist. I also had an opportunity for subscribers to win a prize for joining the mailing list, as many artists tend to give away prizes via their websites.

I used a grey/mint colour for the background of all the boxes and the main writing was in purple, which i wanted to have as a colour scheme throughout the rest of my digipak and advertisement. So that each individual section of the website stood out, I used bright coloured boxes to contrast against the pastel background.

music video - second cut.