Evaluation Questions: 4. How did you use new technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?

Technology was used throughout our project from planning to research to the creation of the video and even the evaluations. Media technology has benefited us very much making many tasks much easier to do and made many of our tasks completed to the highest professional standard.

During the research stage the Internet was very beneficial, especially ‘YouTube’ when researching different music videos, which gave us ideas of what to include in our video. We found out that different music videos used different styles and context when targeting specific audiences.   

We also used ‘Google Maps’ to look potential locations for our music video. This was very useful because we could see and discuss the locations sat in class instead of going to the various locations which saved us time and money.

First of all the software PowerPoint on the computer was ideal to make notes of ideas for our music video, which could be sent  by e-mail home so that we could make full use of our time even at home. This was useful because if we were not able to finish a task at home, we could easily send the work home so that we could complete the work there.

The Internet came in very handy again during the planning stage, when we had to get the lyrics of our chosen song. The lyrics were very east to get hold of, this meant we were easier able to make notes on them, e.g. where this part was going to be filmed and when. Then we were able to make copies using a scanner which were then distributed through our group so everyone had a copy.

During the actual filming process, we used mobile phones and social networks (Facebook) to communicate with each other. This was again very useful because it made communication among the group so much easier and we could plan our filming days and tell each other new idea’s without meeting and wasting precious time.   

When making our ‘Digi-Pack’s’ the internet once again came in very handy, we used it to look at other professionals work, which we could analyse and get ideas from to use in our own. We didn’t only just look at the positives to see what we could include, we also looked at the negatives to know what wasn’t ideal to include in our ‘Digi-Packs’.

To make the actual ‘Digi-Packs’ I used Adobe Illustrator CS3 and Adobe Photoshop CS3. This made editing pictures, constructing albums and posters to a professional standard.

Constructing the actual video required using a video camera to shoot the footage. The camera had a USB attached to it which connected to the computer which made uploading footage extremely easy. We edited the footage on a programme called “Premium Pro”. Editing took up most our time because of the huge amount of footage we had to cipher through, which added up to about 3 hours just for a 4 minute video. We wanted every bit of footage to decide what would be useful and what wouldn’t be. After that was completed there was still a huge amount of footage left which we as a group had to go through and edit then put into a timeline for the song.

We remembered that a “digi-pack” still needed to be constructed, so when filming we made sure to take various pictures needed for our magazine posters, CD’s and CD booklets. The video camera came in very useful not only for filming but also for the fact that it doubled up as a stills camera, which meant we could take up to 1000 shots without having to set up a completely different camera for photos.

During the evaluation stage questionnaires were given out to year 8 and 9’s to fill out about the music video which was all produced on Microsoft Word. These were very useful because it made it easier to get feedback and were easy to make.

Making sure blogging work was completed regularly about what we did and tasks that were completed, this was done mostly on the computer. I also used Microsoft word again to first write my blog posts to make sure there weren’t any spelling mistakes or grammar errors.  The tasks that weren’t completed on the computer but paper were easily scanned on to the blog.

Finally in conclusion, media technology has helped us greatly during our project. Without some of the technology used such as “Premium Pro” and “Photoshop” this project wouldn’t be anywhere near what it is today. Media technology has helped us a lot and gave us a deeper understanding of media.

Evaluation Questions: 3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

The audience feedback showed we had some mixed reviews, some people had likes about our video and some had dislikes.

The reviews ranged from people saying they liked how the video managed to tell the story behind the music. The song by Bruno Mars has romance elements telling a story of love and the ups and downs of getting married, which some people thought we portrayed through our use of different shots and locations.

There were other positive reviews that stated the editing was in time with the music and they could understand when a scene ended and began.

However there were also some negative reviews, people expressed how they didn’t think the lip syncing was up to scratch and could do with improvements. Also the qualities of some shots were quite poor and could do with re-shooting or improving.

People also said they would have liked to have seen some more different camera shots and angles during the video. There were suggestions of more jibs shot and tracking shots.

Overall there were some mixed reviews from people. However this is seen as a positive thing because it allows us to see the things we did well and what we would need to improve on if we were to be given a project like this in the future. 

Evaluation Questions: 2. How effective is the combination of your main and ancillary texts?

The music video, magazine poster and CD pack all combine together in ways that make them all similar; they all fall into the hip-hop, romance genre. I also tried to make links between the artists (Bruno Mars) work and mine.

Bruno Mars appeals to the teenage audience, this is because most of his songs are hip-hop and party themed based music and even the type of clothing he wears relates to that age group. As we were targeting the same audience we used the same types of designs and styles for most tasks we did, Poster, CD case, Booklet and video.

We looked at other Bruno Mars videos to get an understanding of what his style was, e.g. what he wears? The conclusion was made that he dresses quite smart, usually suit trousers and smart/casually jacket, with a coloured shirt. We tried to replicate that in our videos by trying to get our “Bruno Mars” to dress quite smart.

In conclusion the belief is that our main product and ancillary tasks both represent themselves in similar ways. We decided to use a romantic theme like most of Bruno Mars’s videos and also combine that theme with the ancillary tasks.   

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

Our music video is about romance, love and the ups and downs of getting married. We didn’t want to follow a conventional Bruno Mars video, where it usually involves him and no other performers. During out initial planning meeting we had lots of creative ideas that we wanted to do in the video. This pushed us to making a completely different music video from the original but we did use several videos as guidance. 

We looked in depth into shots used and locations from Bruno Mars’s videos and tried to replicate some of them in our video. For example a couple of Bruno Mars’s videos contained locations of sunny, open areas. We again tried to replicate that by basing some of locations in open, sunny areas. We used a families front room to give the feeling of a wedding was being planned. Also by watching some Bruno Mars videos we used similar actions that he did such as body movement and arm movements for example Bruno Mars usually sits and sings to the camera through most of his videos.

We also used many of our ideas for our music video. For example we used the stress of shopping for a wedding dress because we thought it would possibly relate to people watching our video. In our video we had a story behind the music video this is because most of Bruno Mars’s videos had a storyline so we followed this.

I think with the time given to produce this video we did well to produce a music video, as it shows many conventions of a real media product. We shot in various locations and had a lot of lip syncing. We also edited the just as any other video to give it a professional look. We didn’t want the audience to be distracted by several different transactions so we used only two. 

 In the end even though our music video uses the same principals and techniques as Bruno Mars other videos, we as a group however used our own ideas and creative sense to make a video combining both. 

Re-Filming

Following the creative arts evening, we decided that a re-shot was in order. Taking in the comments we understood when re-filming we needed to use different equipment to vary the shots. We felt from the comments the jib and tracking system should be used.

I feel this filming re-shot went extremely well than any of the other ones. I felt we concentrated more on what was wrong and knew what needed to be filmed instead of trying to get random shots and hoping they would fit. 

Creative Arts Evening! Feedback!

Last night our school hosted a creative arts evening and presented all the sixth formers work which include my groups music video and the ancillary tasks. During the evening we collected feedback of our work, in conclusion there were mixed reviews. The negative side of the feedback for the video was that the lip syncing wasn’t up to the standards of what it should be. Also some shots were very pixelated which meant they were hard to watch and people became uninterested in our video. 

There were comments on the shots usage as well; saying that they were too simplistic and boring. Suggestions of new shots were tracking and jib.

However with the negative comments there were positive, mostly about how clear the narrative was. The audience understood that when the couple were together they happy and everything was right with the world. But when apart, without each other it wasn’t. This is what we were aiming for, which meant receiving comments like that made up very happy. The audience also liked the fact that the couple had obvious chemistry. 

When it came to my ancillary tasks, there were a lot of positive comments on the style. I had tried to mix a modern style with an old fashioned one. Using old style wooden frames and then using photoshop, editing and placing pictures in them. The audience seemed to like this but also gave me some tweaks to make e.g. changing some of the photos to more concentrate on Bruno Mars.

In conclusion the creative arts evening although not every comment was positive we now understand our weaknesses as a group and also our strengths. We will now go away and amend the problems highlighted to us.  

Feedback

Below is feedback from our video. During the video positive and negative points were raised. The negative ones were taken into consideration and as a group tried to fix them any way possible.