Evaluation: Challenging Codes & Conventions

Evaluation

Evaluation: Media Technologies

"How did you use new media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages of your project?"

A range of programs and websites that we used to create our media texts
(Facebook, Scribd, YouTube, Photoshop CS5, Cyberlink YouCam, Blogger & Adobe Premiere Pro)

New media technologies had a huge effect for us in terms of editing, For our AS year, despite working in separate groups- both me and Dora used iMovie and we both found it more suited to edit videos of family ski holidays rather that A-level Media Studies coursework. Therefore we made the decision to swap to Adobe Premiere Pro, a program that I used at GCSE- this would have allowed us to edit the film accurately, cutting clips by each millisecond as well as providing a wealth of features to touch up the lighting and vibrancy of our footage. To create visually impressive artwork for our ancillary tasks- we both needed to learn to use Adobe Photoshop CS5-this proved very tricky and we were very slow getting started on our ancillary tasks as a result of this! However, once we had dedicated a few lessons to improving our skills- we came on really quickly and edited some beautiful photos to use in our ancillary task. Also, shooting our photos in RAW format allowed any colour corrections to be made with ease and gave us a very high quality photograph overall.

Before Photoshop CS5:

After Photoshop CS5:
The Internet also had a huge effect on our media products. Here we could promote Parisienne Records, find out for information about our target audience, display our video and house all of our research in a very efficient and professional blog. We used Blogger, a (would you believe it...) blogging site to create a media hub where we could display all of our research, drafts, pictures, filming logs in one place that was accessible to everyone and very easily edited. This was very useful when it came to presenting questionnaire results as graphs. All of these aspects of blogging were very useful and a complete godsend to two Drama students like Dora and I who have spent approximately half of our lives faffing around with ring binders and plastic wallets to display our coursework. As a result, we were more organised and efficient workers with a clear concept of time management, as everything was laid out in front of us and easy to reach. Also, Dore and I also ventured into vlogging territory through the use of recording programs like Cyberlink YouCam (here is an example vlog). This modern way of documenting progress gave our blog a multimedia feel and was also much more fun to do than type out paragraphs of text!

As we were surrounded by our target audience, we didn't use the Internet so much for interacting with our target audience as we found a 'DIY' approach of going up and talking to people more effective. However, the Internet was was very important in finding out more about our target audience. For example, we could use 'facebook stalking' to great effect by checking out the profiles of people who had 'liked' Kate Nash's facebook page and see what other types of music they were into we could also do a similar thing with the 'suggestions' bar on YouTube where we were given a list of similar videos from similar artists- this allowed us to also get a better understanding of the female solo artist genre so we could find out the conventions, and follow and challenge them where we saw fit.

Evaluation: Audience feedback

"What have you learnt from your audience feedback?"

From creating this media text, this project has taught me the importance of knowing you target audience. Without knowing your target audience and what they like and dislike, it is somewhat impossible to create a successful media product.

Me and Dora were very lucky in the sense that we were members of Kate Nash's target audience, females aged between 16-24 so we already had a good idea to what would and wouldn't work in our music video and ancillary texts. Also, we were fortunate enough to be in a sixth form where half of the population were members of our target audience- so we were able to get an unbiased opinion on options like mis-en-scene, specific costumes, camera movement and sound from a wide variety of people.

Although the other groups in our class found Web 2.0 especially useful for grasping opinions for their target audience, via the mediums of Facebook and Twitter- despite all of our efforts...our social networking pages remained horribly bare except for sweet, yet unhelpful comments such as 'love your hair extensions!' or 'nice video babe!' as a result- me and Dora found it much more effective to take it out to the people with questionaires and Q&A sessions with our target audiences (click here for the questionaire results & click here for a Q&A with a member of our target audience) as this allowed us to achieve direct comments and results that would help us understand how to go about creating a good music video and set of side projects, as well as evaluating whether or not we had been successful in doing so.

In the production stages, the questionaire that we took around sixth form was vital to the mis-en-scene of our video, which is arguably the most important aspect, as music television is 100% visual and we would need to use mis-en-scene the most to both challenge and follow coventions. However, in hindsight- we should have started this process much earlier than we did. From the start we had an idea of making the video very cute and kitsch, with quirky mis-en-scene and a humourous storyline...so we seemed to base all of our research and storyboarding on those aspects. Parisienne Records was very lucky that our target audience believed that was the correct way to go about making this music video. If the results of our questionaire showed that our audience wanted a black and white, understated, serious video- then we would have been in a lot of troubleas our research just wasn't broad enough. If I was to make this project again I would have made target audience feedback and input a huge priority right from the start.

In post production- we learned a lot from our feedback, mostly that we had been successful in creating a fun music video that appealed to our target audience. Despite not relying on Web 2.0 and social networking websites, the 'kind, but unhelpful comments' that I mentioned earlier are still proof that people liked what they saw when they watched our music video on DailyMotion- when we both shared it on our private Facebook accounts- it garnered a lot of likes and positive comments...mostly from people of our target audience. In class screenings, people responded well. However, when it came to a more specific Q&A with a member of our target audience we saw that the gender role reversal was only 'slight' and that we could have afforded to take the storyline a bit further in regards to the girl being a 'player' and to maybe add some shots of the protaganist chatting to her friends about her 'dilemma' but that was their only qualms with it. We were complimented on it being fun, quirky and very fitting of the genre- which was exactly what we were going for. Our ancillary tasks were also deemed very professional and that they drew a lot of paralells with other famous female solo artists like Rihanna and Katy Perry- which shows that our research was not wasted.

If I was to make this project again, I think I would have utilised the Q&A function very early on, as this direct and specific advice coming straight from the mouths of the target audience would have been very effective in making a strong media text. Even though we have recieved positives reviews from our peers, teachers and target audience, there is always room for improvement.

Evaluation: The effectiveness of our main product and ancillary texts

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

As a group, we have endeavoured to make our main product (music video) and ancillary tasks (campaign poster and digipack) as professional as possible by examining what real solo artists do, and attempting to emulate them in our media texts. Firstly, we looked at the themes shared between the all three products. We noticed that they all had the same 'feel' to them in terms of colours and mood of the footage, but the themes of the music video and the ancillary tasks should be very much separate- the video is based around the song and the song is part of the album which is it's own theme in itself. However, to ensure that we had a certain degree of continuity, one of the outfits that was used in the music video was also used for the album cover and inserts, we also made sure that we captured the cheeky, playful mood of the music video by using a sugar pink and scarlet colour pallet. Also, the video as quite a 'narcissistic' feel to it, as it is full of close-ups and tends to feature the protaganist more than any other character, so we tried to use the same kind of shot for our album cover and insert, which is also a convention of the "How effective is the combination of your main product and the ancillary texts?"female solo artist genre.

We have done this very effectively and all audience feedback that we have recieved has commented on how well the three media products seem to link together, without being overly matching.

Q&A with Alice, a member of our target audience.

Alice is 17 years old. She is a student and a part-time barista at Starbucks.

Deanna:
So, Alice- firstly I'd like to take the time to thank you for agreeing to take part in this Q&A session with Parisienne Records!

Alice:
That Is Okay, I'm More Than Happy To Participate!

Deanna:
Firstly, what did you think of the video in general?

Alice:
It Seems Quite Fun, Light Hearted, Which Matches The Song Really Well.

Deanna:
Do you think that the light-hearted mode of address would appeal to the target audience of females aged 16-24?

Alice:
Definitely, It's Funny, It's Quirky, And Tailored To Someone Who Just Wants A Little Fun.

Deanna:
Would you say that Parisienne Records have followed the conventions of a female solo artist?

Alice:
I Believe So, The Song Is A Catchy Poppy Tune That Most Can Bop Along To With An Amusing Video To Match

Deanna:
Have they broken any stereotypes associated with the genre? Something that other people have commented on is that the storyline involves the girl being the 'player' whereas a lot of songs focus on a girl being dumped, or being too shy to show her feelings...
What do you think of this opinion?

Alice:
Most Female Solo Artists Often Sing About 'Sisters Doing It For Themselves', Which I Believe Is Shown Throughout. There Is A Slight Role Reversal, Yes, But Not Necessarily A Large One.

Deanna:
Do you think that this would have made females aged 16-24 more likely to watch it?

Alice:
Quite Possibly, That Target Audience Would Certainly Enjoy It More Than Others.

Deanna:
Is there anything else that could have been done to make it appeal to our target audience even more?

Alice:
If I Was To Add Anything, It Would A Couple Of Shots Of The Female Discussing Her 'Dilemma' With Her Friends.

Deanna:

Ok. So what did you think of the ancillary tasks? (The poster and digipack)

Alice:

I Thought They Were Excellent, Very Up To Date And Fitting With Similar Artists Today, Like Katy Perry and Rihanna. I liked the use of the colour red with the fonts because it symbolised passion and confidence, which is what I would associate with the video.

Deanna:

Did you notice the branding? Can you guess what it was?

Alice:I think it was the belgian bun- it was used quite heavily in the ancillary tasks and I thought this was very effective as it gave it a retro feel.

Deanna:
Correct! Okay Alice, thank you so much for your time!

Alice:
Glad I Could Help!

Ancillary Tasks: research :)

Ancillary Tasks: digipacks
Uploaded by parisiennerecords. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

Location Shoots

As I learned from working with the University of Bristol students, it is really important to plan exactly where you are going to be filming so you can ensure perfect continuity when you are actually in the production stage.

location shoots