Evaluation

Fireworks

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

• My music video uses develops and challenges forms and conventions of real media products through editing, camerawork, lighting, narrative, costume, setting, actors and representation. I have produced a word document with screenshots which identify how I have done this on my blog on the links above this presentation.

• Before producing all my media products I studied the conventions of the real media products which I was producing. My analysis of various videos are all on the blog and some key videos I have embedded in my blog. These I used as inspiration for designing my products.

This comment on my website

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55051783@N03/sets/72157625093787707/

My website I analysed existing websites as you can see on Flickr and incorporated what I learnt into my own ideas which I developed. This is the specific section for this analysis - http://www.flickr.com/photos/55051783@N03/sets/72157626176078902/

“I love that bright pink it is really girly! It fits in with her songs which are all quite girly about love and being happy”

The font for “Katy Perry” needed to reflect her as an artist and so her songs and themes etc so you can instantly associate and connect with her. I specifically wanted a colourful font which reflected the colour and happiness of her attitude and so the bright pink does this whilst also reflecting the theme of love along with the hearts and so happiness. I was very influenced by Pixie Lott’s neon pink however I wanted a font that appeared more like handwriting and a kind of script font which seems a bit more special and magical which is the idea of a song about you being a “firework”. It think bickham script pro it captures this effect from being more magical looking from the script style handwriting which flows together and is elongated in parts fitting in with the fluidity of a firework. Taylor swift’s album has this kind of enchanted style font shown above

Social networking sites are increasingly part of today’s world and were featured on every artists site for e.g. Leona Lewis’ website so I decided to reflect them on mine with links to the various social networking sites

I tried to entice people to visit the site through competitions etc as you can see Rihanna also does this.

I gave fans information about news on her and events etc which is very conventional. Every website I studied done this.

I realistically reflected synergy through products such as the Iphone and Mac makeup as advertising was increasingly part of web pages as other sites so e.g. Rihanna and Nivea

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb4KiVSlxpk

It was conventional to have the artists album feature on the website because this is the aim of the artists – to sell their music and so featuring the album cover and a link to buy it helps inform people of the album and increase sales

I reflected fireworks and colour on my website as well as hearts because these are the themes and messages of the song that people are interested in – love and colour stands for the brightness/happiness of life. E.g. Florence has buttons and flowers etc providing a focus on her nature themes

All websites repeated links found at the top of the webpage so people can easily access them quickly. It reinforces the links and gives some further information about copyright and the music company the artist is with thus I done the same on mine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb4KiVSlxpk

Links to all other pages – all the different types of media

Album coverhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/55051783@N03/sets/72157626215037080/

Pink – is bright and girly, it fits in with Katy Perry and her quirky attitude. Her songs are about love and happiness and so the brightness of the pink reflects this.

The title of the song is normally in a different colour to the artists name so it stands out rather than has them blend together. The purple is bright and is often used in comparison with pink because they are similar and so it creates continuity of a colour scheme

Emphasise that this is a new album without being too overt

Many album covers have this so people instantly recognise that this is the new album and the album title etc is reinforced clearly when people go into shops etc to buy or online

The hearts and the kisses reinforce the themes of the song which are focused on love and happiness

Hearts – symbols of love

Kisses – being associated with affection and so are positive and supporting which is what Fireworks is about. Katy Perry gives a clear message of support to people, to love who you are and shows affection for people

This is a conventional mid shot. You feel connected with the artist in this shot because you can see them clearly and so can relate to them. They are close enough for you to feel connected with them and are on a level that you can relate to. If you were speaking to someone you would probably be this close to them and would see them from a close up or mid shot

It also allows the brightness of the font to stand out because black juxtaposed with the brightness emphasises the bright colours because black is so dark

The album cover is plain and I deliberately done this because it allows you to just focus on the artist so I used the lasso tool etc on Photo shop to cut the artist out from pictures we took whilst filming the music video. Removing the background ensures our focus is on her and this is conventional as many album covers have a plain background with a cut-out photo of the artist.

Katy Perry is portrayed through soft lighting which I edited on photo shop so this emphasises her energy and warmth against the black background

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55051783@N03/sets/72157626176078902/

A serif style font is often used because it is considered professional

The curves and flicks also have a perky, energetic style which characterises Katy Perry’s attitude in the song and this is conventional because you can see connections between the font helps define an artist and so should be one that can be associated with them

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When you open the album cover you will see this – on one panel will be the actual album disc – and it will be placed on the right side and on the left you will see the beginning of the photographs from the video as you read form left to right so this is conventional

Both panels work together as a pair when you open them

Key messages and words from the song

Photos from the narrative of the music video

“Katy Perry”Themes of the song hearts and kisses etcSame font design

My inside cover panels are conventional because they reflect a continuation of my themes from the music track when you open the album. For example Rihanna has pictures and flowers etc which come from her video. I have reflected the “Fireworks” album theme through the photos of Katy Perry in clothing from the video, and facial expressions etc which indicate her being content and happy with herself which is our main focus of the video; to persuade people to be confident and happy with themselves. I have also used key words form the track which reinforce messages

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Both of my panels work together as a pair to reinforce the narrative and are of the same designs and colour schemes. I have done this because the album cover will open up with both of them and so you can get a larger picture and a fluid effect. Real album covers often do this for the same reason

I developed conventions by having lots of shots in the style of photographs and feel that I was right to do this because our music video has a focus on narrative, and these pictures reinforce that narrative, so you can remember the themes and the messages of the song. I also believe that having a variety of shots can create interest, and as my front cover was quite conventionally simple in design with a mid shot I felt this would create interest and make the album more diverse. I did get an idea from the album inside of another album which I have annotated on my Flicker account in research and planning

The challenging of conventions Katy Perry’s appearance challenges conventions. Normally it is quite stereotypical for a person who looks very glamorous etc to succeed in music videos etc. You often get these artists styled to perfection so people want to be like them – they become like unrealistic idols almost. E.g. if you watch pop videos it is quite often very glamorously dressed up people etc, going out partying etc. However we styled Katy Perry in ordinary and everyday outdoor clothing, with some makeup on. She looks very natural and realistic. This fits in with the song – ignite the light – that there is a spark in you – something special which every one of us has inside us no matter where you come from, how you look etc. You are special as a human being.

Some artists do have a focus on normality in pop videos however I would say it is often more conventional to have it not so. Adele for example is a pop artist who tackles real life serious issues of love, self confidence etc and she always looks very normal and so you can relate to her. I think it makes the situation a far more realistic portrayal of real life people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBmwdlBFs1s (Adele – her representation in Chasing Pavements)

The photograph idea – my story was driven by narrative and that was essential to our understanding and so I used this on my inside album cover to reinforce the narrative of the music video. This is not particularly conventional but I would say it develops conventions as it reinforce the central narrative of my video in a different way and the music industry is about trying to do different things etc e.g. Lady Gaga’s songs are very unique.

Fickr account link http://www.flickr.com/photos/55051783@N03/

2 How effective is the combination of your main product (music video) and ancillary texts (the website & digipak)?

I tried to reinforce themes through colour imagery, visual imagery e.g. fireworks and heartswhich link in to themes, facial expressions and stances, representation of the artist – the same Clothing and hairstyle etc to reinforce key messages, lighting, narrative, the setting etc.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55051783@N03/sets/72157626215032956/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs4xyFX7cAk

My response

I think overall the combination has been effective judging from my comments :

However some people would have liked to have seen the combination stressed more and perhaps this is fair though I feel it has been stressed a lot. I do think it would have been good to have had perhaps some idea of fireworks in the music video as it is on my other designs rather than just the figurative idea Katy Perry embodies, so I am happy to take into account people’s comments

Similar ideas of brightness and darkness

3 What have you learned from your audience feedback?

• My target audience understand how I have reflected synergy across all three of the media products I have produced and can clearly recognise the key messages which I was trying to get across through symbols such as hearts meaning love and affection, the colours used on the fireworks designs, the fonts I have chosen etc. Thus I have learnt that I have followed conventions well and have a good understanding of them.

• I have recognised the importance of social networking in getting audience feedback. For example through on Facebook I have posted links to videos on you tube and have uploaded pictures etc. People can quickly go on there using mobile phones etc and so have been able to easily access all the links to the various different types of media. This enabled me to get audience feedback very quickly.

• I have, however, learnt even more just how important that idea of synergy and continuity is in media. My audience like the idea and would have liked to have seen it used even more. As you can see from the comment below the boom, boom, boom font on my music video some people would have liked in similar fonts I have used on my album covers of fireworks etc .

•Different audiences also respond differently to certain designs. For example people understood why we filmed Katy Perry in the daytime and had the daytime light in the music video however some people though they liked it, felt it would have been better without. Some people would have liked it to have all been filmed in the night and chosen another way to reflect Katy Perry’s brightness and confidence. Perhaps I would do this differently next time. Though obviously music videos are about trying new things and no music video will ever get the same response from everyone, because people react differently, and some people loved the contrast of the day and the night. When working as a group you have to take into account other peoples opinions as well as your own and my other members of my group particularly liked this idea. It is a convention that is sometimes used in music videos as has been previously used in one of Katy Perry’s on my blog for another video.

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

• During my coursework I used a range of media technologies including Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Final Cut Pro, Illustrator and the DV camera’s. I also used various social networking sites such as Facebook as well as one major media technology of the internet which helped me across all stages of production. The internet enabled me to do research and planning of forms and conventions, access tutorials on how to use Photoshop etc during my construction change as well as gain feedback through Facebook etc and post videos on to sites like you tube during my evaluation.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55051783@N03/sets/72157626120666411/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B7rN7d7Ysg

Technologies used during research and planning and evaluation stages

Technologies!• During the construction stage I used a digital video recorder and DV editing programmes

such as final cut pro • It specifically helped me develop my main product of the music video through being able to

have a clear image and so it allowed everything to be fluid and dynamic. You can look at where the light source is in relation to the camera etc

Hardware which we stored video footage on

The timeline and canvas on final cut pro

Sound track and video footage

Screen for larger viewing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SikCNtJh-ls

Technologies used during construction stage

Photoshop Illustrator

Dreamweaver

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhcKsTQApmw