EVALUATION

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

http://www.slideshare.net/TIMTIMLAND/in-what-ways-does-your-media-product-use-develop-or-challenge-forms-and-conventions-of-real-media-products-61058853

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

In order to advertise the music video I had created, I needed to work on an ancillary task, which consists of a poster and a digipack. This music video is based on the movie more than the music video, this is due to the official music video being separate and not having much of a story running through but more showing the artists as pop stars.

This I thought would be quite standard and conventional whereas, focusing more on the movie story would be much more entertaining and interesting for both the audience as well as the individuals participating and enrolling the act. Therefore, in order to have a nice link with the poster and CD cover, I kept the images and theme in sync with the rest of the ideas.

Although the music video consists of activities taking within each scene and quite spontaneous, I made the ancillary work slightly simpler by the use of colours and pose. I kept the idea of two best friends and doing activities such as looking at photos, playing with jewellery and other props.

As a result links in well with the music video as the two characters are always doing something also due to their age; they tend to always be playing around and not sat in one place. However, keeping the poster and digipack much more sophisticated such as the pastel colours and effortless poses, enforces the natural look.

The theme throughout is of the two young girls’ friendship, and so it was vital to keep the video as well as the ancillary work looking fun and innocent. Therefore, I thought having the pastel colours on the poster and digipack kept the elegance and princess-like look. I also added a slight vintage look to the ancillary work by having the shabby chic props and using a variety of tools to create an effect of textures on the background.

One the other hand, the music video had a variety of colours being used and also trends such as in some scenes having the summer floral look but for other sections the winter woolly clothing. This helped me to represent different fashion trends as well as interesting the audience especially to the ones who can relate to the girls in the video.

Keeping the idea of subverting to gender stereotypes or conforming to them, the video consists of the two different personalities being shown through outfits worn and so I kept this going through to the ancillary work. Having the feminine character wear the skirt with a plain t-shirt whereas the other wearing leggings and a vest, further empowered this.

However, the character subverting to the stereotype is shown as wearing a floral hair piece, this shows how even though there is freedom of individuality, the idea of girls needing to be well-dressed and stylish, still exists. This links to a scene within the video of when the tomboy character tries to dress up with the skirt and hair piece, yet dislikes it prominently. And vice versa with the girly character of opening the hoodie zip and showing a t-shirt that has written “princess of style”.

The effectiveness of both my work pieces is very high, due to the statement being shown various times of how the differences in personalities between two girls does not stop them from being best friends, who enjoy doing activities together and sharing moments together. Their bond is shown as very strong, even though one may not like a certain game, she will still try in order to support her friend. As a result, the combination of both the video and ancillary work really empowers this idea.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

1. Do you think the music video is suitable for the target audience?

Yes the video will suit the target audience because it is being created by young children, therefore will interest majority of that age range as well as be appropriate.

2. Does the theme of the video work well with the movie story?

The movie shows two friends with two different personalities, which is shown many times in the video such as one being in dresses majority of the time and the other in trousers or trainers.

I think the use of pink and blue for some scenes, really emphasises the characters being shown, which is very similar to the movie.

In the movie, it is more about one being a princess and the other attempting to become like her, however no parts of the video shows this princess side.

Scenes of the two artists helping one another such as the shoe lace or helping to climb in the park, really shows their bond which brings out the story from the movie.

3. Does the look of the characters such as; costume, hair and make-up match the theme of the song?

I think the clothing of the characters should be kept more girly especially for the character who is portrayed as a very feminine personality, or even bring out a princess-like look such as tiaras or big dresses.

The clothing of both the characters are very cute and you can see the difference in their personality by having one in dresses and the other in trousers and t-shirts.

The hairstyles are very nice, especially the use of flowers also the face painting was very interesting, having it identical really brings out their bond.

Outfits of the character who is the tom-boy, should have been more considered, although the different clothing works well such as the hoodies and jeans, I think majority of the time, the hairstyle made her still look quite girly.

4. Are the props appropriate for the music video?

I think more props could have been used as there were a lot of activities but not enough equipment.

The hoop and skipping rope was very good as it is very popular, also I liked the slime scene, this really showed the personality of one of the girls, liking the toys that are for boys but the other one was using loom bands.

In the scene of the flour fight, was very entertaining, this was appropriate for the music video as it added to the humour however, younger children watching this may make them wanting to do so, which would result in a lot of mess.

5. Are there certain parts of the video that should be kept longer?

Yes, the section where the both girls are doing the "whip" move with the song changing to "watch me", should have been kept a bit longer as it goes by very quick, this makes the audience needing to rewind and re-watch that scene again.

If some sections are kept longer, this would make the activities needing to be changed for each scene, whereas how it already is, fits with the lyrics and matches.

The pillow fight section, could have been a bit longer or should be shown more of in another line of the song, although the amount that is shown and for that specific line does work well.

I think the each scene have a good amount of it showing the different activities, as making it longer may seem boring but with the fast pace of changes for each line works.

6. Are there certain parts that may need to be removed?

No I think the video throughout was very entertaining, removing any sections would not make the video as enjoyable.

I think the part where the repeats of some activities straight after it had already been shown, such as the trust fall, having it repeated was not necessary.

7. Are there any elements of the video that you do not understand?

All sections were understandable as it symbolises throughout their relationship and hobbies they do together.

8. Is there anything that could make the video more engaging for younger audience?

I think having some sections where the two girls are looking at the camera, would make them instantly connect to the audience.

Maybe having their voice in some sections and not just the song being played throughout, such as the giggles or during the flour fight, because the song is only of the singers, making it seem very different compared to the girls as obviously they will sound completely different.

9. Does there need to be more variation of camera angles?

For the sections in the park, the camera could have been experimented quite wide, however was not and so kept those scenes looking quite standard.

The use of angles was good, but a tripod could have been used for some sections as it was very shaky, making the scenes unclear.

For the part where they are going up and down the slide, the use of high angle and low angle could have worked.

Because there is a lot of changes for each section, with different locations and activities, having a wide range of angles would make it seem too complex and messy.

10. Are there any improvements that can be made in the music video?

I think the quality of the video could have been improved, as quite a lot of the scenes were unclear and very pixelated.

No, if you do change anything within the video, it will not be as interesting as the activities fit in really well with the lyrics, but only the quality can be improved.

The different transitions were very nice but in the chorus sections, there were too many, however it works with the fast pace beat of the song.

No, I think the video is very entertaining and something different especially the little girls did an amazing job.

The lighting could have been improved, but majority have been done in daylight therefore brightness could have been added.

11. Rate this video from 1 being least and 10 being most and give reasons why you have given that rate.

9/10 because the music video was very good, I really enjoyed it and the girls did very well.

7/10 the quality really could have been improved, which would make the video much better, although it was very interesting.

8/10 the video was interesting, I really liked the use of pink and blue for each character, which further emphasises the different personalities.

10/10 the girls were adorable, I really liked the flour fight scene, especially their reactions, it was very natural and seemed like they enjoyed themselves.

9/10 the outfits were very cute, especially the flowers in the hair also the face painting scenes was funny and nice.

8/10 I really liked the concept of friendship, especially the parts where they help each other like the shoe lace and helping one of them in the park.

Seeing the feedback I got for the music video, really assisted me into making some final changes, majority of the feedback was regarding the quality. Although I could not have re-filmed the scenes, I tried to improve the look by editing the brightness and contrast for each clip. This improved many scenes greatly also clearness improved. However, majority of them enjoyed the concept and the work of the girls as their reactions and "acting" was very natural, I did not have to tell them exactly what to do but allowed them to be themselves.

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

FINAL PRODUCTS

Poster:

Digipak:

Front:

Back:

CD:

Side:

MAIN TASK - Digipak development

MAIN TASK - Poster development

For my poster, I first decided to use this image, but after editing and experimenting, I decided not to use this as it did not allow me to alter it widely. Also not having any background or props, made the image look quite monotonous and dull, therefore would not appeal to the target audience.

I then chose this image for the poster, first starting off by using the "eraser" tool and got rid of the background, this is because there was many things that was not necessary and also allows me to alter the setting by making it a bit more colourful and abstract. I also tried using the "selective" tool in order to remove onyl sections I did not want, however many areas of the background blended with sections I needed as the tones were too similar, therefore this did not work out and I had to erase instead, which I felt was time consuming due to the patience and steady control.

To then erase sections near to the parts that were needed, I zoomed into the image, making the tool much smaller and also decreasing the "hardness" in order to create a softer look, slight blur in order to not have a harsh outline around the areas needed.

For some sections, I erased too much of it, therefore had to colour match the section and use the "paint brush" tool in order to fill in parts needed, by keeping the texture similar by altering the hardness as well as changing the brush to a spray-like tool.

On my poster, I wanted to have a design on the background, I downloaded a couple of swirly patterns and altered the colour on photoshop.

However, this specific image had a white background and so if I were to place this on my product in indesign, it would have a white background which I did not want.

And so, I found this image that had a transparent background, allowing me to place it wherever I want, again i changed the colour first to a green but then to a pink, matching the props and costume.

To create my record label, I used photoshop I first changed the page size to a horizontal rectangle in order for me to place the whole page onto indesign. I then used the text box and thought of just using my initials as the logo, and having a different font to the records in order to stand out, this font has been downloaded from "Dafont". I first had the colour in the teal green as I thought this colour already is in the image, however after placing it on the poster, it did not stand out as it was too blended with the whole look.

I then changed the colour to a lilac-blue for the background and a darker tone of this for the font, I also used the "brush" tool with a medium tone to create texture and also the "eraser" tool for any sections I wanted to go lighter, kept on doing this until I was satisfied.

To create logos I used the "shape" tools and created a circle, I first had this in lime green, but then changed it to a colour that would fit in with the ancillary work of having pastel pinks, beige and mint greens.

I also used the "eraser" tool to have a nice blend by having the center much brighter and blending out around the edges. This made the logo not look too bold but have a soft touch, working well with the rest of the look.

I first thought of having a logo that is quite "princess-like" such as the Disney logo and so looked at some castle silhouettes images, however trying to create this on photoshop was not working due to the lack of shapes.

To create the production logo, I got inspired by the Disney logo of the "Mickey Mouse" head and thought of having the same logo but creating it in my own style. I kept the shapes the same and also placed the name on top of the image.

To create the logo, I used the shape tool and selected the round shape, this allowed me to create circles to draw out the face and the ears. I also placed the circle symbolising the face, in the corner of the page, this helped me to know how much of the face was needed as I will be also placing the logo on the bottom left side of the poster.

I changed the colour to a "minty" green colour to help fit in with my ancillary work, this makes the logo not take full attention but to also blend nicely with the rest of the piece. I made the text white and used the same font as the poster and CD cover title as it keeps the limited use of fonts, making it look professional.

I then duplicated the layers in order to create an effect as I felt the logo looked quite bland and simple. Therefore, creating the same shape again but placing it at the back of the shapes but showing a thin bit of it, made a shadow-like effect. I changed the duplicate layers to a darker tone of the original colour, further enhancing the shadow-like effect.

However, I felt this made it look too bold and over powering, and  so I used the brush tool in a spray style in order to blend the original colour onto the darker tone.

I then rotated my text so that it is at an angle that the image is at, this further emphasised the "peeping from the corner" look.

I also tried using the rubber tool in the center of each circle to further emphasise the shades altering from a dark shade into a light and brighter tone. However, I felt that this did not work out as the text was in white and so it did not stand out but almost faded it completely.