MEDIA EVALUATION

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

My video media production follows the traditional codes and conventions in the following aspects; my music video is a narrative video, there are three types of music video which are narrative, abstract and performance. The narrative video (even though there's a little bit of performance as the girl is miming the words.) works well with the song as its about a girl that cannot get over her past relationship with her ex boyfriend even though he has moved on.

I made sure that the Name of the artist, Title of the song and Name of the album were in the left hand corner, and visible on the music video. I also happened to use a number of effects; such as 'cross fades' and 'luminance map' that are available via Final Cut Pro, which is a software that is used for a lot of today’s music video's within their editing section. The effects used are similar to the videos that are seen on music channels such as MTV.

The album cover also follows the codes and conventions by using a photograph of the artist which is featured in the video that I created. I also put the name of the artist bigger than the title of the album, which is necessary so the title is not mistaken for the artist name. However the name of the artist breaks the codes and conventions as it is on the left hand side of the album cover and it is vertically positioned, as this helps the audience to see the name of the artist a lot clearer. The back of the album cover includes the list of tracks that are included on the album, which also follows the conventions of a regular album cover. I have also included the parental guidance label as the album has a few songs with expose the listener to explicit language. The album's record label logo is at the back positioned above a copyright. Every existing album cover to date has the record label and copyright policy at the back of the album.

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

My main production alongside the ancillary texts are very effective, as the poster is a build up to the main production, and the album covers are almost a conclusion to the video, as its the 'official' album. The poster however is a contrast to the video, as the poster is quite bright and the video is very dull and melanchol the album cover also follows the same theme as the production. However the poster was used as a promotion to help engage the auidence to the products, which was the album.

3. What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

During a media session our productions and ancillary texts were shown. The audience/class members that reviewed the print artefact's were given a slip which had the following questions on there; “How has the student used pre existing codes and conventions in making their particular artefact's?” “Has the student developed (added to) traditional codes and conventions of real media products or challenged (broke conventions) of established codes and conventions of their print products?” “What are the strengths of the students print artefact's (what have they done well)?” and lastly “What are the weaknesses of the print artefact's (what could they improve)?” These questions were answered and then they were given back to the owner of the ancillary texts which were critiqued. Feedback that I had received from my feedback sheets were to make the writing on my back cover of the album a different colour so it is easier to read, to use the same fonts and different colours. I was also advised to use the magic marker tool to show the ‘HMV’ logo better on my poster.
There was then a second feedback session which was for the productions in this session the audience analysed the video productions and gave me feedback on what they thought needed to be improved in order for me to gain a higher mark. There was also a feedback sheet for this session which included the following questions ‘How would you rate the success of the production in terms of following codes and conventions of a music video?’ ‘From the evidence you have seen on the blog, how well planned was the production?’ ‘What would you say the productions showed evidence of?’ ect.
My audience feedback was overall very positive. The points that were made on the sheets were taken into consideration and acted upon. The feedback included filling in the gaps that were in my music video, alongside adding more performance to the video. Once I amended these errors, I started to notice that those little tweaks actually made a very big difference to the projects and gave them a very positive outcome. From my audience feedback I learnt that no matter how great I think that my project may be, a second, third or fourth opinion can always make my work that little bit better. And earn a couple of extra marks that could be the difference from a C to a B.

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

At first we had to create a blogging page on www.blogspot.com. We had to make sure that the blog was attractive and interesting to look at, by using patterned and designed backgrounds to make it look more appealing, and also by using a variety of colours and fonts. I analysed a number of music videos, a short film and a documentary and uploaded them onto my blog as proof to show that I had researched into existing products, and understood how and why they were created in the ways that they are. To support some of the analysis that I had made, I embedded the trailer to the Tyson documentary that I had analysed, I also embedded a few of the music videos from Youtube which I had also analysed. I also print screened shots of the video to capture the specific shot that I mentioned and positioned the images close to the section they were mentioned.
In constructing my production I used a Mini DV Camera and Mini DV tapes to film. Once filming was finished I had to upload the footage onto the computers via a Mini DV tape deck, which allowed me to add the footage for my production to Final Cut Pro and enabled me to ‘Log and Capture’ the exact clips that I wanted so I was able to construct them in a sufficient manner and allow me to construct a sequence which eventually ends up becoming a music video. Once our productions were expanded we were able to add Effects; like ‘Stop Motion Blur’ which blends frames in the clip. by adjusting the time, steps, opacity, and type of blend, Transitions; such as ‘Cross Dissolve’ and ‘Cross Fading’ which helps the clips to skip to one another without the sharp cut which takes your directly into another clip and Filters such as ‘Colour Correction’ which enables you to make the clip black and white or give the clip a sepia tint.
I had taken the images that were used for my Album case on my digital camera. I had to take the images of the camera’s SD card and upload them onto my memory stick in order to use Adobe Photoshop to manipulate the images. I used a variety of tools such as the ‘dodge tool’ and ‘sharpening edges’ and also ‘posterising edges’ to change the images and make them look more appealing and extra ordinary. I also used a graffiti font which I had discovered on www.1001fonts.com. Once I had finished my print artifacts, I then had to convert and saved the images as JPEG files in order for me to upload them into a new post on my blog.
For my evaluation I had typed up what I wanted to post onto my blog on Microsoft word, as I can read through the work easier and it’s also easier to make any corrections that need to be made. I then pasted the contents of Word into a new post on my blog. I incorporated a number of screen shots to illustrate some of the points that I have made in my evaluation, as it helps the reader to actually view what I am trying expressing through the images.

FINAL PRINT ARTIFACTS

The front cover of the album
For the front cover of my album cover, I took the image used on my own camera. I then decided to manipulate the image, by using effects such as 'Fresco' and 'finding the edges' which makes the picture look sharper. However the Fresco effect adds a slight cartoon look to the image,I used a graffiti font as it reflects the style of the artist, which is quite jazzy and funky. I incorporated the parental advisory label as, a few songs on the album do include swears.























The Back Cover to the album
For my back cover i also used an image of my own. I used the 'Cutout' effect, which added a sort of sepia solarize effect, to the image. I also added a bar code to the back of the cover for when the shops are scanning the item. There is also the universal label logo as that is who the artist was signed to at that time of their career. Copyright is also written at the bottom of the back cover of the album.




















Hmv album advertisement.
I had taken the original image from Google, i then opened it in Photoshop and was able to manipulate the image enough to use it for my own work. I used the dodge tool to add a white glow around Amy Winehouse, I then found the poster edges effect whixh added the cartoonish look to it, i also found shargened the edges to make the picture look sharp with all the effects that had been added to the image. I added a military looking font as it gave the picture a feirce sort of look, which goes well with the image i have chosen to use.

Filming Schedule

I will be using a number of locations to film this music video.1 being outside the front of college, 2 being in my bedroom, 3 being on the road and 4 being in my living room. I am also going to make the video in black and white, tp try and give it a kind of 50's effect.

Using Photoshop

I created this image using Adobe Photo shop. I was able to transform the image into a cartoon and add effects such as a glow, to the actual image in order to create a new one. The end result is something that i would use to advertise the single or album.
I will be using this programme to create my advert and album cover. I also made this image on photoshop, which is an Amy Winehouse logo.

Amy Winehouse Back to Black Music Video

Amy Winehouse- Back to Black Lyrics

Lyrics to Back To Black :
He left no time to regret
Kept his dick wet
With his same old safe bet
Me and my head high
And my tears dry
Get on without my guy
You went back to what you knew
So far removed from all that we went through
And I tread a troubled track
My odds are stacked
I'll go back to black

We only said good-bye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to.....

I go back to us

I love you much
It's not enough
You love blow and I love puff
And life is like a pipe
And I'm a tiny penny rolling up the walls inside

We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to

Black, black, black, black, black, black, black,
I go back to
I go back to

We only said good-bye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to

We only said good-bye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to black

Final Proposal

Working Title: Amy Winehouse
Back To Black


Channel for Broadcast ; The channel I have chosen my music video to be broadcasted on is MTV BASE. I have chosen this channel as MTV BASE specialises in urban and underground music. This track is a very jazzy type of song, the actual video to this song has been broadcasted on MTV base also. Therefore i find this Channel most suitable to use.

Target Audience ; I am aiming to attract an audience of people from the age 10+,even though i have heard my three year old niece singing this song. Both male and female audiences even though the song itself would be more appealing to females, as it is talking about herself when she is left by her boyfriend or "male acquaintance" whilst he goes back to his old partner. I want to attract these age groups because they are the generation that are most likely to download the music, buy the albums sing it amongst their peers and even to broadcast it on a public social networking site such as Faceebook.
However for those maturer people who like it they are most likely to sing it it on Karaoke, and the type of song that would make them want to buy the album for their car if they do drive.
Genre ; I am going to make my music video a Narrative/ Storyline. It will be based on a young teenage girl who has just broken up with her boyfriend after she has just caught him cheating on her, with her ex. She finds out that he never stopped going out with his ex girlfriend and she was the problem. I am going to shoot this video in black and white and do some of the shots in black and white and show some colour e.g all the blue's in that shot.

Questionnaire& Results

Please Circle Where Appropriate

1) Are You

Male Female Don't Wish to Disclose

2) Whats your favourite types of music video

Hip Hop R'N'B Pop Indie Rap Other (please specify)____________

3)Which Artists have impressed you with their Video's

______________________________________

4)Do You Think That Performance is Important in a Video

Yes No

5)Where Do You Prefer to watch Music Video's

Television Internet Phone MP4 Other (please specify)_________________

6)What Do You Look For In A Music Video
___________________________________

7)Which Music Channel Do You Watch The Most

__________________________

8)How Long Do You Expect A Music Video To Be

___ Minutes

9)Do You Know Any Music Video Directors

Yes No

10) If Yes please state them

_______________________________







RESULTS
For Question 1 - 5 were Male
4 were Female
1 did not diclose

For question 2 - Hip Hop - 2
R'n'B - 2
Pop - 2
Indie -5
Rap - 0
Other - 2 (Dubstep & Grime)

For Question 3 - responses were: Lady Gaga (3)
Rihanna (1)
Beyonce (1)
Artic Monkeys (1)
Katy B (1)
Micheal Jackson (2)
The Streets (1)


For Question 4 - YES- 9
NO - 1





For Question 5 - TELEVISION - 8
INTERNET - 4
PHONE - 0
MP4 - 0
OTHER - 0




For Question 6 - EFFECTS - 2
STORYLINE/ NARRATIVE - 4
BACK GROUND PEOPLE - 1
FASHION - 2
CONFIDENCE - 1


For Question 7 - MTV - 2
MTV 2 - 2
MTV BASE - 6
4 MUSIC - 1
CHANNEL AKA - 1


For Question 8 - 3 MINUTES- 3
4 MINUTES - 5
5 MINUTES - 2



For Question 9 - YES - 5
NO - 5



For Question 10 (RELATING TO NUMBER 9 WHO SELECTED YES - LITTLE X
BENNY BOOM
HYPE WILLIAMS

Johnny Cash- Hurt Video

Tyson; The Movie Trailer

Here is the trailer to the Mike Tyson Documentary that we watched in class.

Researching existing products

TYSON MOVIE
(Opening 5 Minutes)



Although it is called Tyson the Movie it is actually a documentary about his life staring Tyson himself. The documentary starts with a black screen in which the titles fade in and out. The font happens to be coloured and very plain which breaks the conventions of the kind of font you would expect to see in a documentary. However you could argue that as Tyson himself has not lead a "normal life" the documentary would break the conventions as a link between the opening and what the audience are about to learn about the boxer. We then hear the non digectics sounds of a crowd and a bell ringing along with the soundtrack from rocky. The Documentary so far is unconventional s it starts off looking like its a film.
We then see a high long shot of Tyson in the ring, with his opponent. this tells us that the documentary is going to be based on his boxing career.
There is use of archive footage from Tyson's old fights, we can tell that this footage is old because of the quality of the clip i.e its grainy texture. The footage used was edited to imply that the knockout had happened within the first minute of the fight. There is quite alot of freeze frames used throughout the documentary as there is archive footage being played which will then turn into a freeze frame and another frame would continue playing the clip of archive footage although it seemed as if Tyson was punching his component 2 or 3 times. There is also a use of the effect of swiping and fading the screen to black.
There is a frame that's frozen and zoomed in this reminds us of the Rocky film as it not only has the theme song that is played in rocky is also uses the same effects. We then hear the iconic quote "He can reign for a long long time" which was what the commentator said after Tyson won the fight, the sound of the bell the signifies that the introduction is over and the actual documentary is about to begin.
We then see the Tyson title appear o9n the black screen, which has Tyson written in very masculine bold writing the 'T' almost looks as if it is a male stance. The fire within the words represents Tyson's fiery personality and the anger within him from things that have previously happened in his life, and like the fire you cannot control him. The font is also very sharp and looks like if you were to touch the edges it would be like touching the point of a knife.
The screens overlap when Tyson was talking about himself, which makes it seem like he has multiple personalities. With the screens we can also see how he has physically changed since he started boxing.
Tyson starts talking bout his personal life in his own home, he looks very relaxed but it cuts from him being comfortable in his very posh apartment to where he grew up in Brooklyn, archive footage was also used to give people an idea of what the town was like in the 70's, this technique is called Anchorage as Mike Tyson is talking about Brooklyn and then the video that was shown was of Brooklyn.





JOHNNY CASH 'HURT' Music Video
Performance and Narrative Video
The establishing shot is a medium long shot of Johnny Cash performing in his house with his guitar, it then cuts to a close up shot of him.in this shot we can see how much Johnny cash has aged since he first began performing. Johnny Cash was also known as the man in black, and we can see in this shot that he still wears the same sort of clothing that we wore when he was doing performances.
There is a close up of the American flag because he lived the American dream.He came from nothing, a poor background and became a rich and famous American icon who happened to have his own museum called 'House Of Cash' . there is a shot of Cash going to sit down at his Piano, he opens the piano as if its his last chance of performing, and like this last performance is giving him the will to live. The piano performance also represents the end of his career/life as Johnny Cash the musician and becoming John R Cash. The video shows us archive footage of Cash on a steam train
and some home video's of him, his wife and his son. The slight sepia tint adds to the effect of the video, as the song itself is a reflective song that means something to him, so all the archive footage and sepia tinted shot make us feel like he is reflecting on everything that has every happened in his life, the footage that was actually shot for the video even looks as if its old footage that is being used as a sort of flash back shot.
There is a shot of all the things that were in the museum, but as the museum is closed to the public it seems as if everything has been moved into a room in Johnny Cash's own house. This also shows us that as the museum is now out closed to the public Johnny Cash's time of reigning is over, people have moved on with the music icons and left him behind almost as if the public lost intrest in him. We also see a close up shot of his mothher during the chourus in which he says "What have i become, my dearest friend everyone i know goes away in the end" we can assume that he is talking to his mother during this chorus as he feels like he has let her down and became a drug addicted washed away icon and maybe even to say that if she were still alive she wouldnt be able to recognise her own son as he doesnt even know what he has become himself.
There is a close-up shot of a golden record thats broken and just resting on the floor in a corner stood up against the wall, and in the days that Cash was a Musician it was alot harder to get golden records than it is today, and for the record to be broken on the floor makes it seem as if the record is worth nothing anymore like its just an ordinary cd that has no meaning or worth. We see a shot of Cash sitting at a table with close ups of wealthy foods, such as caviar and lobster. However he is sitting at the table on his self, this signifies that his fame and fortune is worth nothing if he has no one to share it with. Its also has the religious connotations of 'The Last Supper' except his alone. He is also pouring wine out on the table, which also has religious connotations as Jesus gave the disciples wine and told them to drink it for its was his blood that was shed for them. This is followed by a long shot of Cash sitting down in his home infront of a staircase with his wife standing on the stairs behind him positioned slightly higher than him and on the other side of his mothers photo. This emphasises the quote "Behind every great man theres a great woman" We then see home video footage of Johnny Cash and his wife with their son, which shows the audience how he and his wife have grown old together. There is then a fast montage of Johnny cash's life both happy and sad, which includes some footage of "christ" from an old movie being crucified, which then cuts to a close up shot of Johnny Cash crying in hos old age. We then see some archive footage of one of the first performances which he did. We then get the closing, close up shot of johnny cash closing the piano lid we can see the difference in his hands from the footage that we have seen as he had parkinsons disease and old wrinkled hands. He then gently strokes the lid to signify that its the end of his career and as he died shortly... after the end of his life.









Amy Winehouse - Back to Black

The Video for Amy winehouses song back to black is a very simple video, as the song is quite a mellow/ sad song. If the song had alot of effects the video wouldnt be as effective. There happens to be alot of close up shots in the video which help to show the intense emotion which is portrayed by the video and by the song.
Its also very apparent that the video is dark, as the song is a mellow sad song. There are close ups of her tattoo's, especially the two hearts that are on her shoulder.
As the song is talking about her ex boyfriend being in a relationship with 2 people its fair to assumpe that the funeral is her ex boyfriends funeral. However there is a blose up shot of the grave and it says 'the heart of Amy Winehouse.' Which impressed me as the general assumptuion would be that she killed him, but she held a funeral as a representation of the end of her love life and there relationship.
. However In the Video Amy Winehouse is very isolated by everybody else, as she is in a room filled with people and every body else is faded away into the background, which suggests that as she is so hurt she is pushing everyone away and blocking them out. This is also shown at the 'Funeral' when she is walking infront of the funeral car with a box in her hand, and everybody else is walking behind the car..







Rihanna- Russian Roulette

The Video starts with Rihanna stroking some spots of blood which are on the floor. It then pans and shows scrathes across the wall. When the camera zoom's out we can see that there are 2 people guarding rihanna in this padded room. We then start to see flash back shots of her and a man playing russian roulette, flash back clips of them passing the gun to each other. It the cuts to rihanna laying down on the floor in a dark room where the only light that is shining is on her as if its coming threw a tiny hole. Whilst she starts to sing we see more flash back shits happening, which implies that what ever has happened in her flashbacks has turned her into an unstable person, hence the reason she is being guarded by 2 people in a padded room.
It then continues to a scene where she is being interrogated about what happened in the room, she is sitting in a padded chair, and blood starts to trickle down her chest. as she is already in a padded cell the blood could be imaginary and a de ja vu of where the blood splattered in the past, when the man shot himself. As soon as she says "As My Life Flashes Before My Eyes" the scene starts to flash, it almost looks as if it is a lightening effect. however within these flashes we see continue to see flash backs.it also literallu shows the past events flashing in our eyes.just before the song ends we hear and bang and see rihanna's shocked face, which implies that he lost the game of russlian roulette abd ended uo shotting the bullet into his own head. A cloud of red smoke, which represents the bloody room appears in her padded cell. Rihanna then lies in the corner and the video fades to black.



THIS IS THE LIFE Short Film
The short film starts with opening titles which said 'this is the life' with a black background, the titles are plain white writing, alongside a soundtrack. The establishing shot is of the kitchen and the family getting ready in the kitchen. This shot seems like its a point of view shot as, it looks like you are actually sitting on the table, this is accomplished with used of a handheld camera. (This short film would be classed as 'Kitchen Sink Realism' which is a British film about white working class people.) There is a close up of the moms face to show her emtions while shes asking her children to do things and get ready. There is non diegetic sounds of slow mellow acoustic guitar. We also see a sound bridge with the music and the shots. ( a sound bridge is when music links two shots together.)
We can see that the brother and sister have a very close relationship, from the scenes we have gathered that there is no father around, so its as if his sister is another parentto him.
The mise en scene is well thought about as it looks like its a real life white working class estate,with the rubbish in the front garden.