Sign Off

A sign off to my A2 blogging experience.

Here's a little song for our goodbye :')

Signing off the Blog.

I have enjoyed blogging my progress and I can see it being the future of all media coursework. It is a very modern part of the course that goes well with all the technological aspects. I hope you have enjoyed looking at my ideas, as much as I enjoyed doing it.

Evaluation4: Audience feedback2.

Myself and Ryan showed Mary the music video on vimeo and asked for her feedback.
Mary is a current media teacher, who has an eye for editing and conventions of a music video. Heres her feed back:

Evaluation4: Audience feedback.

Here is Shani's feedback to our Heaven music video, Shani is a fellow media student who can comment on the conventions and the technicality of the music video.

Evaluation: Question4 Section one.

Audience Feedback

Audience feedback is the reception the products receive once distributed, yet also during the production stage to make improvements, feedback allows us/me to make improvements and evaluate my work without a bias approach. In the real world of media, once the music video is distributed the audience reaction and feedback is one of the most important things, after all whilst planning we had to consider a target audience and how we will attract them.

In order to receive feedback, we needed a distribution platform, for the product to be viewed upon. 

Ways audience viewed our product:

    Cinema- The cinema viewing is a traditional way of distributing footage, regarding feedback, the cinema viewing allowed us to recognise peoples natural reaction.


Vimeo- Is a site which allows you to share and view videos, this allowed us to upload a clear high quality footage, whilst asking for audience feedback this was used for the viewing as the quality was good and so the audience can feedback on the work at its best

YouTube- Youtube, is a population networking site, popularly used for viewing videos for free and sharing videos, most music artist are using this as a platform to distribute music videos, youtube allows you to comment and rate videos, therefore the interaction of the audience, creates a wide social buzz, a fan base and lets people listen to music freely.

Blogger- A blogging site, where we posted our final product whilst receiving audience feedback blogger allowed me to easily direct people to our post so they can view and comment.

After creating the music video we were given the opportunity to receive audience feedback from the showing at the local cinema 'Screen on the green'. After watching my music video being screened, I paid close attention to the audience feedback after the showing, the initial reaction was upbeat, the whole audience clapped and throughout the footage being screen, there were a few 'woo's'. Therefore from the overall reception of the audience, I felt the music video was a success, I heard no boo's the room sounded quite lively which suggested they were impressed. 

To get a greater knowledge on what people thought of the music video I asked a few people questions on what they thought, I recorded brief quotes from different peoples reactions. I recorded some of the comments:


'I liked how use an effect which made it more vibrant, that made it unique compared to the others'


'Rosetta really got into character, it looked like she took her role seriously and it showed on camera'


'I thought the different locations you's used were really nice'


'The music suited the mis en scene, I noticed the bracelet you used was had a cross, so it was religious like the song, shows you thought it through'

Having other media students give feedback, was good because they were able to identify the technical aspects and the conventions of music video and give a more insightful feedback which allows us to make improvements on our technicality and planning. Although their feedback was highly appreciated I also felt, it would be interesting to see what people who don't study media think, to get a more general reaction, therefore I asked a friend to comment on the music video, I directed them to blogger through BB (a smart phone) once viewing it they gave me their feedback.

I done the following process for the ancillary work, although in lesson I was constantly getting feedback from fellow class mates and teachers, which helped me create my final ancillary work. Once creating my final product I asked what people what there opinion was, this helped me see my work with the insight of others.

Ancillary Feedback:

Tahmids feedback was appreciated, he also studies media therefore he is aware of the conventions of a digipak. I was pleased with this feedback and considered how I could have used a different colour text. 

Jermaine doesn't study media yet being a member of the public he is used to seeing different advertisement, the fact he thought it looked real made me feel like I achieved my aim.

Overall Compliments and Critiques.

Compliments: Whilst receiving  most of the good comments complimented our artist, performance, the mis en scene/ change of costumes, the location range, the use of effects on the footage.

Criticism: To learn what to improve on we had to take the teachers/students criticism, most of the criticisms included, having more variety of close ups, shortening some of the shots, not using random edits once. 

What I learned from feedback.

The audience feedback helped me acknowledge aspects that I dismissed as I'd became too familiar with my work, getting different peoples opinions guided me to evaluate my work and the changes I could have made to improve it, for example during the music video Annabel mentioned we could have included more close ups, therefore if I had to refilm the music video, I would have took this into consideration. The audience feedback from the cinema, I was pleased with I felt we had made a video that appeared pretty professional and people acknowledge the thought we put into planning. The ancillary work feedback during lesson time, helped alot for example initially I forgot to insert the coding on the spine, yet whilst asking for someones opinion they brought to my attention I missed a convention, feedback is apart of learning and improving, I took the suggestions well, and appreciated them.

Signing of blog!

ITS BEEN A LONG, CHALLENGING YET CREATIVE COUPLE OF MONTHS & NOW IS THE TIME TO SAY "I'M DONE & VERY MUCH READY TO START MY THEORY REVISION". I'VE ENJOYED THESE LAST COUPLE OF MONTHS PARTLY BECAUSE I HAVE CHALLENGED MYSELF WITH THE IDEAS THAT I HAVE COME UP WITH FOR ASPECTS IN MY PRODUCTS AND ALSO QUESTIONED MYSELF WITH WHY EXACTLY I CHOSE TO USE SPECIFIC THINGS ETC.
I HAVE MADE GREAT FRIENDS AND REALISED IN DEPTH JUST WHERE MY STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES LIE.

BYE BYE BLOG & MAYBE I'LL SEE YOU SOMETIME SOON

ROSETTA FOURLAGAWO X

Q3. How did you use media technologies in the construction & research, planning and evaluation stages?

Q.4 What have you learned from your audience feedback?

A big thing I have learnt though, is that there are a range of conventions and forms that are followed when producing both an ancillary products and a music video. For example one convention of a music video would be camera shots. These are important as they create emphasis on the artist, location and also emotion. In terms of emphasizing on the artist Emine Parker we used a good range of close ups to show the level of emotion that she was performing in the song and to also illustrate the way in which she lip synched the song with grace. In terms of editing, transitions were made easy to create a smooth running effect for the song by the use of jump cuts. From last years AS Media I've basically learnt that a music video production is totally different from a thriller production as there is a lot more editing required and also because there structures are totally different from one another. When creating ancillary products I learnt that the name of the artist should be the biggest font on both the digipak and advert as this allows easy identification of the product. In terms of creating both products there is a 'eye view' type layout that is important, as this allows the viewer to view the text on the product in an style that can be easily read. For example it would be simply impossible if the text was just layed out all over the place, starting from your right all the way to the top e.g. The text has to be ordered accordingly to a reading format. Another major thing that I have learnt as well is to respect the relative style that is used in music video production. For example before this task I used to watch music videos on TV, Youtube etc and think "This video is crap because it does not even connect with the song", not knowing that this is actually a technique called disjuncture that many artists actually purposefully adopt when making their videos. All in all this task has been extremely interesting.

Looking back

I believe I made a strong contribution to the group, with my creative input in all aspects. My main contributions were in directing, filming, editing and choosing locations. I would have enjoyed more creative freedom, if I had made the whole thing myself,  because I felt restricted by what I could achieve and change in a group. Although a lot of my thoughts and ideas where included I felt that other members of the group were unable to share the creative process.  I am amazed at how much  I learnt and I am really grateful to have been able to use all the state of the art resources in the college, as well as the fantastic support from all my teachers.  I am very proud of the end result in all 3 media products.

EVALUATION QUESTION FOUR

video of Mary ( a media teacher in my college) giving feedback on my group's music video.

video of Rosetta Fourlagwo aka Eminé Parker getting feedback from other media students post-cinema screening of my group's music video premiere. 

video explaining my view on the audience feedback received for my group's music video

Question3 Evaluation

Jvc- A professional camera, which allows you to record high quality footage.

Youtube- A social site, where you can distribute videos, watch videos, also a platform for advertisement.

PhotoShopPro- A professional image editing software, allows you to manipulate pictures with a range of effects and editing tools, e.g. blemish remover.

Memory Card- A storing device, which allows you to transfer information on to a computer.

Apple Mac- Professional computer, with top range software, allows you to screen grab, and function quickly and efficiently.

Blogger- Online blogging sites, allows you to post a range of options from pictures, videos, links and text.

Quicktime- A software which transports footage into Mp4s like wise to hand break.

Evaluation Question2

Likewise to the music video, you can tell the artist put a lot of effort in to her style, the music video has a variety of costumes as does the photos from the ancillary photo shoot.

As you can see in the Digipak above the close up shot of her face is the exact shot used in the music video. 

The back of the Digipak uses a shot if her back, this is also done in the music video.

Example of the same location in the music video, and the unedited picture of the artist back for the ancillary.

Q2. How effective is the combination of your main product(video) & ancillary texts (digipak & advertisement)?

EVALUATION QUESTION THREE

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


In terms of media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages, I have been blessed to have been able to have exceptional media equipment that has allowed me to create a suitable and professional music video production and ancillary work.


Apple Hardware: 

All media suite's are equipped with near or less state of the art apple mac computers. These computers are equipped with professional software that has allowed me to create a brilliant music video.

We have been able to use JVC GY-HM100 video cameras. With these I have been able to record high resolution shots to produce my music video. I am already familiar with how to use these cameras due to using them in AS media. This meant that I was more confident in handling the camera and knew how to get shots that I wanted such as out of focused shots and zoomed out/in shots. The difference from last year is that I dint require the tripod to assist me while using the video camera. This is merely because I was creating  a music video and it is not a typical convention to have still straight shots thus no need for the tripod. 

In order for me to record and save my video shots for my music video production I need to have something to save it on. I was given two 16GB SD memory cards to insert in to the video camera when i was recording. In using these, i was able to then transport my recordings onto the apple mac computers.

Apple Software:

in addition to having the mac computers, we also had professional apple software that allowed me to produce my music video along with log my progress onto blogger.

To create my ancillary works I used Adobe Photoshop Elements. Photoshop is the best software to create and manipulate photos. With this I was able to create my CD panels and my Poster. With photoshop i was able to manipualte a photo from:
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Original Image

Inside CD Panel - Left side

Original Image

Artist Poster

Original Image

Front CD Panel

Blogger has been used via the internet to allow me to record my progress and show  how i've developed my media skills. Blogger is basically a online diary. I can post anything on blogger from pictures to videos to urls to embed links and hyperlinks. I can also share my blogs and allow readers to comment on them.

I used final cut to produce the music video by cutting and assembling recorded shots together and editing the images.

As appointing myself as the only editor for my group I was able to manipulate the contrast, brightness and sharpness of the video images to create an imitated old rendered effect influenced by the original music video by emeli sandé. Day by day I sat with my eyes glued to the screen assembling and rendering the images together to create the perfect image. I knew how I wanted the music video to look which is why I didn't allow anyone else to edit. 

This shows the settings of contrast, brightness and sharpness. After playing with the settings, I found a setting that I liked and wanted to use through out the shots. I had then simultaneously set this on each clip in the video. 

Some clips also have additional effects such as soft blur, and flicker. This shows the settings for the clips that involved flicker.

Youtube helped me with research on how I wanted my music video to look by watching real videos and noting their editing, mise en scene and camera usage.

With quicktime I have been able to format my finished video production and view it in completed form.

Mpeg Streamclip allowed me to then format the quicktime formatted video into a format suitble to be placed on to blogger.

However the media technologies I have used have not allowed me to present my music video at 100% satisfaction. using Mpeg streamclip meant that my music video was gonna be compressed and in doing that the blogger version of my music video is a terrible resolution. Mpeg streamclip also affected the format of the music video I premiered at the cinema on the 7th december 2011.  As mentioned in "EVALUATION QUESTION 1: part two", The problem that arisen was that the flicker effect I had put on certain parts of the music video didn't work.