Evaluation - Question Two

Question Two: What have you learned from your audience feedback? 

(By Mackenzie Dickey)

When thinking about the different ways in which we could audience feedback about our initial ideas on our music video, and who our target market would essentially be, we decided that we would make a survey on Survey Monkey, in order to get a fair amount of responses, in order to help us through the construction of our production process. By adding a questionnaire for our target audience to respond to, it has enabled us to constantly improve the way in which we construct our practical work by taking on board constructive criticism. Approaching this different technological method has been a great success, and we will most certainly use it again in some way, shape or form in order to collect information for our media products. The main aim of the survey that we produced was to see who our main target audience was, and what their likes and dislikes are in order to make sure that they are captured by the music video that we have produced. Questions asked in the survey consisted of 'What is your favourite band', 'How old are you' and 'What is your preferred genre of music'. These questions therefore helped us to pave a clear and descriptive overview on our target audience. When analysing the results that we had collected from the survey, it was obvious to us that the main gender and age range of people that would watch our music video are; Females from the age range of 11 years old to 20 years old. This is because of our music video being within the pop genre, and the fact that the song is about love. Since the age range came out to be between the ages mentioned above, it meant that we were able to connote the meaning of love in different ways, in order to emphasise the meaning of the song a little bit more. In order to receive the amount of responses that we got, we were able to share the online survey from Survey Monkey onto social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, since it is free to do so; meaning that a lot of people are able to see it. This is therefore representing how it is a development from the other types of research that we have done, since it is secondary research.  
After a lot of construction and progress had started to get underway, we decided that we were ready to show our rough cut music video to the class, which would help us get detailed feedback from other knowledgable media students who are also in the same boat as we are. One of the points addressed to us in this feedback was that towards the ending of our music video, the narrative seems to slip away a little bit and it seems to just be performance shots of our actress dancing. Another comment was made on the fact that when our actress was dancing in the pit, some of the floor space can be seen, which makes that particular shot look a little bit out of place; masking was suggested in order to overcome this. However, as previously explained, masking that shot proved to be very hard since there is a lot of movement happening in the shot. Overall, everyone seemed to like the way in which we have filmed and edited our video, and most of the audience seem to really like the silhouette shots that we have included of the couple and of the performer. 

Evaluation - Question One

Question One: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge conventions of real life media products? 

(By Mackenzie Dickey and Lola Gray)

Here it is evident how our music video uses, develops and challenges conventions of real life media products: 

Performance Shots 

In a typical music video of the pop genre that uses a lot of performance shots, the focus is on the main star of the music video which helps to make the star image profile. In our music video to the song 'Crazy In Love' we thought by having most of it made up by performance shots would help to connote the lyrics to how the star is emphasising her emotions through her lyrical ballad movement. When looking into different types of performance shots that we could do, the ones that stood out the most to us were the simplistic ones that just had one solid lighting colour and a plain black backdrop; which helped to highlight the actress that was delivering pure emotion and commitment to the song, by letting her lyrical mind slip away into the music. In my opinion, these performance shots that we have done contrast nicely with the rest of the music video. This is because the rest of the video has been filmed with natural lighting, which makes the shots more varied and a lot more clarity has been put into it. By also creating a few silhouette shots of the dance in the dance studio, it has allowed us to portray the star in a desirable way and create a strong image in order for the target audience to feel and relate with what she is feeling. 

Cutting to the beat

Every high quality music video that is produced has cutting to the beat, whether the music is fast, slow or has a varied amount of crescendo's; it is done in order to fit with the emotion and theme of the song, in order for the continuity to make sense. In our music video, we used cutting in order to build a suspense especially as the chorus crescendo's and the music builds up and is very dramatic before the actress sings 'Got me looking so crazy right now'. We didn't do this every time this appeared in the song, since we wanted to show a variety of performance shots that fit well with the narrative shots that we are also trying to portray throughout the song. Even though the narrative shots seem longer than the performance shots that are shown, when editing, we tried to make sure that each shot was an even duration of four seconds long. However, some of the narrative shots are a second or two out of that range that we had set. 

Couple Shots 

The couple shots shown are not your stereotypical love song couple shots. This is because we wanted to make this video a different pop love song, and more unique to ourselves. We didn't want the shots to be stereotypically what a couple would do such as; hold hands, hug or kiss because we both thought that it would just make our target audience cringe, as well as ourselves. By adding in our own interpretations of how the couple scenes needed to be shot, it shows how we were challenging ourselves against the normal stereotypes in order for this video to be unique and stand out. The love story wasn't the most important aspect either throughout our music video, which is also what makes it  different within the pop genre. This is because normally, the audience would expect the love narrative to continue and have a meaning, whereas in ours, the shots are varied showing that they are different, and the majority of the main focus is on the performer that is lip syncing and dancing with free lyrical movement. All in all, it fits perfectly within the style of how the song is sung, and how we put our own interpretations on how the narrative was going to be done. 

Ancillary Products 

The digipak that we produced fits in well with the music video that we have created, and has most definitely helped us to develop our final idea on how 'Crazy In Love' has been produced in the final edited version that is shown above. In order to make sure that the digipak included continuity and was consistent and made sense to our target demographic group, we included images that we took whilst we were filming at our different locations, in order to create a difference between our media products. The CD case enabled us to use six different images, which on one of them we included the lyrics to 'Crazy In Love', another had the track list of the album on the back of it, and the other four were just plain photographs that relate to the music video itself. We also made a poster which included a completely different image of the main actress / performer in our music video. The photograph taken for this was done in the dance studio with a very low lit backdrop in order to create a hazy atmosphere since most of the shots within the dance studio come across as a little bit hazy which is effective. The actress is looking down which shows her daintiness and how she is thinking about how 'Crazy In Love' she is. This fit our theme the best out of the two ancillary products that we made. The poster includes when the debut album is being released, the title of the album and the title of the song that we have made the music video for. This is very common and is used on many different posters that artists have made for them in order to promote their new single, tour or album. Not only is it informative, it ensures the target audience what to look out for so that it is recognisable and that they are desirable for the launch of this product.

Promotion of the Album 

Alongside the making of the digipak and poster, we wanted to make sure that is was comparable to the music video that we have created. In order to do this, we made sure that when making the poster advertisement we included in the bottom right hand corner the front cover of the CD 'The Lights'. This is to promote the CD and raise awareness for the products that we have created. This is very common with most artists within the pop genre that have these made for them. This is because it is potentially the best way to sell two products at once for a cheaper outcome. 

Titles

 As you can see, the type of font for the titles that we have used is 'American Typewriter'. I really like this font because I feel that it is very simplistic, yet it looks good and stands out against any background. This type of font in my opinion also fits in with the type of genre our music video is categorised into. The four screenshots that are shown to the left, is where Lola and I have decided to place the titles in the duration of the music video. The 'Crazy In Love' 

 title is shown for six seconds at the beginning. This is to allow our target audience to know the name of the song fully, so that they can get a full understanding of the video throughout. At the end of the video, with only four seconds to go, the titles 'Produced by Lola and Kenz' appears letter by letter to give lyrical effect. 

Colour Correction

Here is a snapshot of the colour correction that Lola and I have added onto this shot, which is shown towards the end of our music video. The original colour of the footage didn't really fit in well with the colour theme that we have throughout the video. The majority of the other shots that we have incorporated into our music video have all been colour corrected. This is because we both wanted to make sure that all of the shots throughout our music video co-ordinate and flow in the correct manner. 

Issues whilst editing

Whilst we were editing our music video, we had a sudden thought that the narrative parts of the video was starting to fall a part, which was then leading to our video not having a meaning and not enough lyrics and visuals were being linked in order to keep our target audience captured in every single moment that happens throughout this music video. This issue was that we felt that we didn't have enough footage of Alice and Jack to add in more towards the end of the video since we had already added in our favourite parts at the beginning. From the class watching the first draft of the video, we had received feedback on this, so we knew that something had to be done to this, in order to meet our audience needs and expectations. Without furtherado, Lola and I had managed to find some extra footage of Alice and Jack on one of the old memory cards that we had used on the day of filming with them.  Without hesitation, we added them into places where we both thought that the performance shots were looking too consistent, which therefore broke it up a bit, and brought the meaning of the video back to life. Another issue that we picked up on especially when we showed the first draft on the big screen, is that one of the shots when Lauren is dancing in the pit really is effective at all. This is because of the vast lyrical movement that she is making, the wooden floor in the pit is able to be seen which makes this particular part of the footage look completely out of place since it's not just Lauren and the black background being shown. In order to fix this, Lola and I tried our hardest to mask this piece of footage in the editing software, final cut pro 10. Unfortunately, this didn't go to plan due to the footage not being still so it was harder to mask, because a lot of movement is being made, and the masking just looked ridiculous. We tried our best, but it was impossible to correct. 

Shot types

Below, are a series of different shots which I have taken out from Lola and I's music video to the song 'Crazy in Love' by Sofia Karlburg. The shots shown are a few of my favourite ones that I find add depth, clarity and simplicity to our video. The first shot of Lauren in the dance studio gives off a lyrical feel since the dancer is rehearsing and letting out her emotion as she practises. With co-ordination to this shot, Lola and I used another shot from the pit that fits really well with this shot. This is because the two shots are very different since this shot is taken from a low angle, and the second is a medium close up shot of her legs. 

The second shot shown is one of my favourites. This is because I love the way in which the lighting contrasts the dancer and really brings out her red lipstick and emotions through her facial expressions. This medium shot is of her dancing, which Lola and I were very proud to get since it was very hard to film shots of Lauren dancing since there is lots of movement going on throughout, and we want to sustain that high quality level for our footage. The third shot shown of Alice and Jack portrays the meaning of 'Love' throughout this song. This is because by adding in a few snapshots of the couple doing 'couple' things without making it look very cringeworthy, I think that we have managed to maintain that very well, since the length of these shots are also quite short and sweet. The fourth and fifth screenshots shown of the couple again, highlight the silhouette shots that Lola and I managed to film. I really like these shots because I feel that the natural lighting has managed to give us some of the best shots of the video. It's what makes our video different and unique. Lastly, the shot of Alice on her own looking above and beyond the camera lens is one of my ultimate favourite shots that I managed to film. This is because Golden hour has just started to appear, which makes her stand out since the sun is highlighting her hair. 

Final - Digpack Inserts

At the beginning of planning the inserts for this ancillary product, Lola and I had originally planned to do four inserts instead of six. However, after further research and and more thought and consideration was put into this part, we both decided that doing six would enable us to add a little bit more depth to the product that we are trying to create. When adding the extra two, the both of us didn't want them to be plain like the others that we have produced. Therefore, we decided that we would add the lyrics to 'Crazy in Love' on one of them in order to make the awareness of this product well-known towards our target audience. I think the haze affect that we have put on the top for all of the inserts make the photographs look unique. 

Final Digipack

Below are the final digipack inserts that Lola and I have put together. In my opinion, I think that these really represent the look and style that we were going for since it also fits in with the genre of the song. It also represents our video and it includes some of the main features that are in the video. 

Front Cover 

Insert that sits behind the CD inside the case

Insert on the left as the CD case is opened 

The two below are behind the left hand insert in the case.

Back Insert - showing the other songs that are included on the album produced by the star

Final Lighting Decisions

Above are the different types of lighting that is featured in Lola and I's music video. The first and middle picture shown were taken in the pit, and the last picture at the bottom was taken with natural outside lighting. In my opinion, I think that the best lighting has come from the shots that we have taken in the pit. This is because we have managed to confidently get the contrast between light and shade on Lauren's face, and it makes it look very effective and professional. On the other hand, I do think that the silhouettes that Lola and I managed to capture in the footage from the outside shots are good since we have managed to get that from natural lighting, as well as the way in which we use the camera. From the first two shots shown, I think that it is good that we have used two different types of lighting on Lauren. This is because I think that the different tones of lighting; red and white, help to accentuate Lauren's emotions and features, as well as the red connoting with the meaning of 'love' in the song, as well as the colour used on the ancillary products. Lastly, in the final picture shown of Alice and Jack, we have been able to contrast the difference between dark colours and light colours. 

Editing Techniques used

Different techniques used throughout the post production, in order to help create our final product and Ancillary Texts: 

In the production process of Lola and I's music video to 'Crazy in Love' we have used different techniques throughout the editing in order to make the video footage look as professional as possible, so that it stands out to our target demographic. Using different speeds such as slow motion in places where our actress, Lauren is dancing makes a very good impact on the effect that the music video brings forward. This is because it is adding clarity and variety to the shots that we are using. Throughout the scenes that have been shot in the dance studio, we have used colour correction in our editing software; final cut pro 10, in order to get the right contrast between the rest of the lighting in video in order for it to look even. When moving onwards to the ancillary texts that we have produced; Digipak and Poster Advert, we have used Photoshop in order to help us address the right message through these two products. . In my opinion, I feel that the poster advert that Lola and I created helps to connote and symbolize the meaning of ‘love’ throughout the song. This is because of the red font that we have used on top of the black and white background that we were able to do through the Adobe Photoshop software. 

 

Digital Storyboard

On this page is the digital storyboard that I have put together. The sequence of shots show how our music video flows and what the different shot types are that Lola and I filmed. This is a little different to the original storyboard that we had produced. This is because whilst filming, we had encountered different issues which we had to address appropriately in order for our video to make sense, and fit within its genre. The first lot of shots that you can see in the first screenshot, set the scene for the majority of the locations that we have used throughout the music video. Each shot throughout the music video, is 4 seconds long. Lola and I have made sure that we don't exceed this duration of the shots since it will make them too long, and it will not be interesting for our target audience to watch. In all of these screenshots of the digital storyboard shown, it is evident that in comparison to the other storyboard that Lola and I have produced, the cinematography varies since we have thought about each shot in a lot of detail, since we have had the first story board alongside us throughout the whole production process. Initially, Lola and I had thought that we wouldn't have enough 'couple' shots in order to express the relevance of the song. However, we have managed to include if not one, two couple shots in each part of footage which is evident in the storyboard that is above. In the final performance shots, we decided that we would range the shots however, we both thought that close up shots of Lauren was going to be more effective since she is quite a dramatic person, and a lot of emotion can be shown through face close up. At first, we didn't decide to have any shots that were like silhouettes however, whilst out filming we had managed to get a few with the sun going down, and Lola and I thought that it would look very effective in our music video and give it a little bit of contrast and make it look more dynamic. The shots that are shown in the storyboard above of Lauren in the dance studio, they are what our original ideas were on the original storyboard. I think that it is good how Lola and stuck to the original storyboard for this sequence of shots because otherwise we would have confused ourselves by changing the way in which we film these shots since we had changed other scenes that are displayed in the Pit and the Recording Studio. 

Final Music Video - Crazy In Love

Above is Lola and I's final version of our music video to Crazy in Love. We have both worked extremely hard on this video, by making sure that we have included all of the right elements in order for this video to fit within its genre, and appeal to the target audience. In my opinion, I think that we have both achieved this by splitting up our roles throughout this whole project. When comparing this final version to our rough cut version, there is a bit of a difference since we have taken our audience feedback on board in order to improve this music video so that we have stretched it to its full potential. 

Rough Cut - Audience Feedback

From Showing our rough cut video to our Media Studies class, we have managed to gain a lot of useful feedback both positive and negative from the people who have watched it for the first time. 
The first point that was addressed to us was the fact that towards the end of the music video, the narrative starts to fall a little bit and it's only just clips of Lauren dancing. We will therefore be able to overcome this by going out to a different location and film some extra couple shots of Alice and Jack. 
Secondly, it was brought to Lola and I's attention that some the shots of Lauren dancing the performance shots in the pit, really look like it is being filmed in the pit. This is because when trying to film with her movement we have managed to get the floor in the shot, which makes it look a little bit out of place. In order for us to overcome this piece of feedback, we are going to mask out the bits that look like we are filming in the pit. This will take a little bit of time however, it will be worth the outcome. Some more feedback that we were given was that the editing could be edited to the beat a little bit more than it was. In mine and Lola's defence, we have tried our absolute best to get the editing of this rough cut to the best that it can possibly be at this stage. The editing will therefore be changed for the beginning chorus since that is where we are falling with the way in which the editing is done at the beginning of the music video. We both think that the chorus needs to be much faster than it is at the moment, so we will therefore change it in order to make it look its best and as professional as possible. 

Final Poster Advert

This is the final version of the poster advert that Lola and I have created for our artist and for the promotion of the song that we have fit our music video to 'Crazy In Love'. When thinking about the different roles and responsibilities for this part of our coursework, Lola and I decided to split the work between us for these ancillarey products. We decided that I would do the poster advert and Lola would work on the digipack. However, we both agreed that we would each put in our individual thoughts about each product in order to make it the best it can be, and also look as professional as it can be. When thinking about the poster advert I had obviously done further research in order to see what kind of style and inspiration I wanted to go for. Originally, I had wanted to go for quite a bright background to really emphasise the actress that I have used in my music video, and quite a bold font so that the target audience can recognise who it is. However, I have therefore decided not to go for that idea and have pushed more towards an example that I analysed on my blog that was promoting a Madonna song. 
I really like the way in which the black and white filter for the background is able to emphasise the writing that features on the advert. I didn't necessarily take any inspiration from a real life example that I have looked at when it came down to the creative thought of adding in the red 'S' for Scarlett Simpson, for the date of the when the album is released as well as the name of the song 'Crazy In Love'. When I had decided that I wanted to use the red on top of the black and white, I thought that the colour was the best way to connote the meaning of love within our music video. Therefore, when discussing this with my partner, Lola, she too thought that this was a good idea. The layout of the advert is quite simple however, I feel that it comes across as more effective since the font is bold, bright and completely stands out to our target demographic group. I think that this image that I have taken of Lauren portrays a lot of emotion through her face and I have also edited it differently in comparison to the photograph that is taken from a different angle that has been used for the front cover of the digipack. I love the way in which I have been able to contrast the difference between the two making it look more memorable and different. 

Digi Pack font choices

Firstly, Lola was the one who had started to create the back cover of the digipack since this was her ancillary product role. However, I put in my own input when it came down to trying to find the right font to use for the song list that is on the top left hand side of the the back of the didipack. At first, I really like the first font that is shown since it is a 'girly' font as some may describe it as, as well as it fitting in with the type of genre the sing is and so the other songs on the album will follow. However, when thinking about it in depth, it's not always about it looking 'girly' or 'fitting in' with the genre is what I had thought to myself next. Then, Lola had found the serif font which started to look a lot better on top of the background photograph. I also personally think that this font looks so much better since it looks neater and much more mature, since we are going for a professional look at the end of the day. Even though I loved this font, there has been one more change since I last put in my input to this part of the digipack. Lola has managed to find a font that is in between the two fonts that I have shown above, meaning that this was the one that we have gone for. 

Digipack

                                                                                                                                                                             Here is an example of what the inside cover of our digipack is going to look like. Lola and I have chosen this picture to feature being the CD discs in the cover because we both felt that it was a little different in comparison to the other pictures which we have chosen to feature in the digipack. 

By using photoshop, we have managed to get this overlay filter which makes the picture look different and unique, just like our music video itself. In the picture, you can see that it feature two of the actors that are in the couple scenes throughout the video. Lola and I felt that we needed to include something to do with them in our digi pack, since it is promoting the song which we have made a music video to. 

Here, is the inside cover photo that Lola and I have chosen to feature in our final digipack. We have taken this snapshot from the actual music video itself. This footage is emphasised at the beginning of the video where we have an out of focus shot of cars driving along a busy motorway in the evening. As you can see, we have taken the photograph and put it in a black and white filter, and just like the other photograph above, we have put the hazy overlay over the top to create a nice effect in order to make it stand out and different from what is shown in the music video. Personally, I love the way in which the lights of the cars look in this photograph, since I feel that it is adding depth to our creative work. 

This is the back of the digipack that Lola and I have created. We thought that this photo would be best suited for the back of the digipack since it is simple, yet it relates to the front picture but it's just taken at a different angle. I really like this photo that we have chosen because of how simple it is yet effective.