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Final Magazine Advert

The main, small adjustment made to the magazine advert is the font of 'Teenage Fantasy'. To show a clear correlation between the album as a whole and the single we made the music video for, the font is similar to the opening credits. Also, the title was made all capital letters to match the album. 

Final Digipak

• As with my magazine advert, I used a font (with serif) that gives the impression of mixing the traditional with more contemporary aspects.
• Promotes the mixing of the two genres - R&B and soul. 
• White background - quite simplistic with inspiration taken from real media products (see blog post) 
• Clean straight lines in the cover - replicate the idea of division in my music video. 
• For the strips of the images of Julia on the cover, I added an effect called "film camera" to relate to my idea on longing for fantasy in contrast to the clear images of Sam and I. 
• The images used on the interior of the digipak focus on urban environment - further appealing to a more youthful audience as well as identifying with the individuals on the cover.
• Also, I took inspiration from the disposable camera/Polaroid effect from an article of the original  artist (see blog post) for the images on the interior by added a slight effect to them on my iPhone. 
• Inclusion of conventional information like record label, website, bar code, artist name, album title, copyright information, reviews and track list. 

Evaluation Question Four

Evaluation Question Three

Evaluation Question Two

Evaluation Question One

Making Evaluation Question Four

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




For my fourth evaluation question, I decided to use Microsoft PowerPoint and then convert it into .mp4 format and edit in voice over. This was a clear way of demonstrating the specific hardware and software I used throughout making my video, digipak, magazine advert and evaluations. The video above is the original .mp4 format of the video before recording and layering voice over in iMovie. 

Making Evaluation Question Three

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I decided that for my third evaluation, I wanted it to be more vlog style, using images and voice over (edited together in iMovie). To have more variety in my use of technology, I added footage of Katie's individual feedback. 

Making Evaluation Question Two

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

For the second question, I decided upon a vlog style video with cutaways to my digipak and magazine advert to demonstrate the links between them and my music video. 

Making Evaluation Question One

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

I decided that the clearest way to demonstrate my use, challenging and developing of convention was to play my video and add voice over. On finishing my voice over I realised that there were moments of silence when some key examples were being demonstrated. Instead, I decided to add the song 'Teenage Fantasy' at a lower volume (around 70% and have it fade in and out to the voice over section). Above is a screenshot from iMovie editing before I changed these features. 

Varying Audience Feedback

After finishing my digipak, I asked a number of closed questions about the effectiveness of it in relation to my magazine advert and whether it looked like real media products. An simple way of collecting this data was with a tally chart. Rather than propose an entirely different version of my digipak and magazine, I gave a couple of people the products open in editing software to change anything they thought necessary. The few changes made were largely to do with slight alterations to positioning and sizes of words rather than the style as a whole.

However, in collecting data I realised that my research was often heavily focused on my young audience. Though this did prove most useful, I wanted some variation in responses. Therefore, I asked for feedback from my parents who usefully commented on the relationship between the urban environments and youth. 

My Magazine Advert Analysis

Katie Feedback

Final Digipak (Seperate)

Conventional Genre Style

Our chosen song 'Teenage Fantasy' falls into a number of genre categories, notably soul and R&B. Therefore our choices in mise en scene, style, narrative and camera work took inspiration from contemporary examples of the genre. 

Stylistically we took inspiration from the director Yoni Lappin who worked on a number of music videos for Mura Masa who frequently collaborate with R&B artists. Key features include:

• Highly saturated colour palette
• Hand held camera work 
• Urban environments/settings
• Simple, personal narratives as opposed to complex, unrealistic ones. 

A number of these ideas are shown in the video below:

The most notably subversion of soul genre convention use of lips syncing or perforamce. 
We merged the popular use of performance in traditional soul music videos with aspects of narrative in more modern R&B texts. In breaking the fourth wall the audience becomes a part of the narrative essentially, concluding our music video on the line including "we" affirmed this. The male character's unawareness of this furthers the relationship between audience and character. 

Possible Distribution

• Conventional CD release in physical copies.
• Available on sites like iTunes for audiences to buy and download directly.
• Music video and possible lyric videos for other tracks available on sites like YouTube and Vimeo. Promotion and sharing on social media sites, namely Twitter and Instagram. 
• Vinyl has become increasingly popular, with artists releasing new albums in record format. This kind of distribution would be in keeping with the artist's merging of traditional and contemporary styles. Appear to be as accessible as CDs, available in shops like HMV, Urban Outfitters and supermarkets. 

Main Record Label Options

Maverick Sabre - Mercury Records
Ella Mai - Interscope Records 

Finding appropriate record labels that suit the artist has been quite challenging. Record labels seem to represent an array of artists from different genres, sometimes divided into smaller companies. Therefore, rather than research genres in their entirety, I looked for similar artists in terms of style or genre then looked into the record company that represented them. The two names above are the two I thought seemed most applicable. As well as this, some aritists that appear less renowned in fact share record labels with much bigger artists. It's difficult to distinguish what record labels suit the artist on solely genre as, Sony Music for example produces songs for artists like Oasis in complete contrast to A$AP Rocky. 

Original Artist in the Media: Jorja Smith

"rich melting pot of jazz and classical influences" as the linked Clash article describes. 
The idea of mixing more traditional or classical styles is evident in both music and within covers as shown above.
Correlation between style and music genre - her 'image' goes beyond the music genre she's assigned to.

Bright bold colours, links to presentation of youth and individuality. 
Being on the cover of a fashion publication has the immediate association of being current, in keeping with trends. 
This is relevant to both the ASOS and Phoenix covers - immediate connotations of style and individuality. 

Again, the idea of making the classic or traditional current is a pattern in coverage surrounding Jorja Smith. An article, linked below, from Vice includes these Polaroid style photos - visually inkeeping with her "star image" as defined by Dyer. 

Hand held camera

Throughout our filming our music, we were insistent on using hand held camera work rather than more structured look achieved using a tripod. The main reason for wanting to have a hand held camera was to involve the audience in the narrative and create a more personal feel. This in combination with some POV shots immerse the audience within the story rather than just being a passive viewer. Hand held camera suited the two narratives well and our intention to allow the audience to adapt the message/narrative to themselves. In getting class feedback we asked specifically about our use of hand held camera work and we received really useful, positive feedback. 

In doing a bit more research into hand held camera work, I found this useful, concise website about the main reasons for the use of hand held camera work. The second point made is most applicable to our media product: Narrative Function of Hand Held Camera Work

Audience Theory

In beginning to evaluate my music video more deeply and analytically, I've paid close attention to a number of audience theories. 

Stuart Hall 
Hall's Reception Theory focuses on how an audience receives and interprets the intended message. The fundamental message of our video was to have two narratives side by side, a girl longing to be out of a relationship and one longing to be in a relationship. This was centrally focused on playing with the idea of 'Fantasy' as referenced in the songs title. Although we had a clear message, the way it was communicated allowed for the audience to interpret their own message. Therefore, it falls into Hall's notion of accepting the dominant reading OR the negotiated reading. 

Young and Rubican

Their psychographics places audiences into groups with labels that suggest their position in society. The audience of our music video falls largely into the category of  reformers, defined as "seeking enlightenment". 

• Freedom of restrictions and personal growth 
• Social awareness and independent judgement 

Jump cuts

"A jump cut is a transition between two shots which appears to jump due to the way the shots are framed in relation to each other. Jump cuts are usually caused by framing which is quite similar"

Within our music video, we decided to explore using jump cuts. Initially, we found that the sequences were too long and untidy so we shortened the length of the sequences. The main reason for us choosing to include jump cuts was to highlight the tediousness of the relationship for the female character. I think this is most obvious in a quick sequence of jump cuts of the couple sitting on a train. In doing so, the repetitive nature of some shot composition is emphasised, demonstrating explicitly our creative intention. Using jump cuts firmly positions the target audience of teens and young adults in the point of view of the female protagonist. 

Intertextuality

Rather than refer to other media texts within our music video, we explored intertextuality through using novels as key props. Focusing on the idea of "Fantasy", we included brief references to popular love stories (most obviously 'One Day'). 

Final Video and Credits

After finishing editing all of our footage on iMovie, we added credits to the opening. In keeping with the clean cut, simplistic design seen in a lot of similar products we chose thin black writing against a white background. Editing on iMovie meant the options for font and positioning of the writing was somewhat limited but we were happy with the end product. We wanted a quick, simple introduction to the video but didn't want it to overlay into the footage itself. Having the credits straight cut to the video make a clear separation between the two. 

Class Feedback

Before uploading our final edited music video, we showed the class and asked a number of pre set questions. We were mostly concerned with whether the narrative was constructed clearly and that the cross cutting did not confuse the videos message. Equally, whether the style of filming and editing complimented the personal narrative. Two key, positive comments were from Rachel and Katie saying that the hand held camera did suit the story in mirroring "Natural, every day life" and that the audience "Wouldn't want it to be too polished". 

Possible Audience Feedback Questions

• What age range is the music video applicable to?
• What do you think about the use of portrait shots?
• Do the different settings and scenarios suit the lyrics of the song?
• What do you understand from the video's narrative?
• Do you like the inclusion of two narratives alongside one another?
• Does hand held camera work suit the video and it's narrative?

Use of Storyboarding

Throughout making our music video, one of the biggest challenges and differences to AS was the use of storyboarding. In making our prelim, storyboarding was useful to precisely replicating the exact shot compositions of the video. As the video was predominantly narrative, we had to pay close attention to shot reverse shots and match on action. In beginning to make our final music video, storyboarding wouldn't be used in the same way. Relying on circumstance, filming on public transport, we couldn't storyboard in such detail. Instead, we made detailed shot lists to use on location rather than drawings. In editing, the use of jump cuts and quick straight cuts meant the need for match on action was limited. We had a couple of sequences of shot reverse shots that required more detailed planning and filming multiple takes.

Saturation

Our music video has consistently quite high saturation, helped by our choice of camera, however we had a bit of a problem with filming portraits on iPhones. To try and correct this we altered the saturation on iMovie but we chose to replace the portrait shot above as changing the saturation reduced the quality.

Re editing (accidental eye line match)

In the final stages of editing out video it was pointed out to us that a section on the train looks like an eye line match when they should be entirely different locations/times. The eye line match occurred when Sam looks to the side and the shot cuts to Julia sitting on the train. To correct this we added an entirely different establishing wide shot in a different location.

Still shots for Digipak interior

As well as taking portrait shots from the video to use as the cover, I want to use some establishing/landscape shots for the interior. I want to focus on the journey aspect of the video to match the idea of youth.

Cover shots for Digipak

To show a clear correlation between the digipak and music video itself, I will use still shots taken directly from the video. I am planning to edit two of the images together, one two shot and one single portrait shot.

Music Video Initial Feedback

Katie
"I really like the whole overall look of the video, it's feels a very current teenage style especially with the coats and shots of the shoes and just the general look of the characters really suits the message/ feel of the song about youth etc. Also I thought it was clear that your character wasn't completely happy but it wasn't overly obviously like the way you mixed in her looking bored with her actually smiling was good, it wasn't like always looking bored. I think it would be too obviously done if she was sad the whole time"

Kate
"Narrative: I really liked the contrast between the two narratives, Julia the one who wanted the teenage fantasy and then you being the one who has it but doesn’t want it. Fitted with the song - really clear.
Song- my favourite part solidified your story especially when you spoke directly to the camera mouthing the words - my favourite camera shot.
Visuals- I liked the switching between the two girls and particularly liked briefly bringing in other teenagers in shot making it a more universal theme of ‘teenage fantasy ‘ more relatable.
Loved the close up shots of both you and the guy laughing as well as your emotionless expressions showing that you didn’t want to be in a relationship I thought the juxtaposing of this worked really well.
I like the quick shots between you and Julia (when she’s sat in front on red tiles)"

Gabriella
"Love the shots of you under his arm, very natural and the end lip syncing is done naturally and fits well with the narrative being more focused on you. Cleanly wraps things up. Really like the fast forward rewind shots of diff people - links well to the narrative being relatable and applicable to the audience listening. Could maybe have more shots of Julia explicitly looking at couples since if you didn't know the story line of books she was looking at it may not be so clear. But good parallels between both 'story lines' e.g. shots of both you and Sam on train and Julia on train. Makes narrative clearer."

Alev
"Knowing the focus of the music video as growing up, I think this was effectively achieved in many ways. The contrast between the couple and single individual was particularly evident with the fast paced shots between the two states of relationships - like at the train station. Also, I really enjoyed the cutaways to the surrounding environment, which was perhaps to show isolation felt by the single individual. The direct address to the camera at the beginning at end ultimately summarised the narrative of such contrast in wanting and rejecting a relationship. I think this tied up the video very well."

Digipak Ideas

My initial ideas for the digipak involve showing a clear contrast between the couple in our music video and the single character. I think I will try and keep the cover as simplistic as possible to stay in keeping with my researched genre digipaks.

A rough layout of the album cover could be the top half the portrait of the single character with the bottom half of the couple's portrait. Possibly having the couple's portrait without the faces could be linked to the idea of the "teenage fantasy" and longing for the idea of something rather than the reality.

Magazine Advert Analysis

Starting to look at the conventions of magazine advertisements, in the lesson we worked on analysing examples from various artists. This involved the more artistic choices in the images used as well as the conventional inclusion of artist and album names for example.

 



Genre Albums

In researching similar artists' album covers, there are multiple similarities in terms of colour, composition and relation to artists.

Daniel Caesar 
Rhythm and blues, Soul music, Neo soul

• More abstract photograph, less focus on the artist or "star image".
• High exposure and brightness
• No inclusion of artist name or album name - subverts convention aside from 'parental advisory'
• Inclusion of the parental advisory label

Ella Mai 
Contemporary R&B

• Portrait shot of the artist, conforming more to the theory of the "star image"
• Simplistic. The font creates the idea of being timeless, traditional. Also created by the choice of a black and white photograph. 

Sabrina Claudio
Contemporary R&B, Alternative R&B

• Artist and Album title not included - less conventional
• More heavily edited covers, colour tinted image (second album cover)

Star Image

Richard Dyer's star theory is made up of the following key ideas:

1) The star as a construction 
The star is a construction and not a real person. This is created through various forms of media be it music videos, magazines or advertising. 

2) The star as a commodity
The idea that stars are produced to create a profit. Record labels may create similar stars as they know the trends that will work to generate this profit.  

3) The star as an ideology 
Stars represent certain social groups and views will therefore create certain ideologies. Consequently, fans will often copy their style or even share their views. 

Paradox of the star 
The star must be both ordinary and extraordinary 
The star must be both present and absent

Digipak Introduction

• Show correlation with and compliment the music video or brand of the artist. To do so, possibly use a still shot from the music video as the main image.
• Consists of four panels and a spine
• 300gsm card matt or gloss
• 139.5mm x 6mm x 125.5m

Generic conventions: Track list, cover photo, album name, artist name, CD art or art behind CD, photos of the artists/behind the scenes, reviews, record label details, bar code, parental advisory, hologram.

Semiotics: Ferdinand de Saussure - signifier and the signified. Roland Barthes - denotation and connotation. Stuart Hall - Reception theory, encoding and decoding, dominant reading (negotiated, oppositional).