Evaluation: Question 4- How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

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Evaluation, Question 4 - PREZI

Evaluation: Question 3- What have you learned from audience feedback?

I asked 10 people from my target market the following questions based upon my music video and ancillary texts post viewing them. Below is a copy of the questionnaire I gave out and the responses given by those completed.

1. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being extremely clear, how clear is the storyline throughout my music video

I asked this question as I was concerned whether or not my narrative was clear throughout the video. It has helped me to gain information about how specific my storyline was and when asking those that answered my questionnaire, they said I could've improved it by having more loving gestures alongside the flowers. Yet they also congratulated how professional it looked considering the program I used and troubles I encountered. However after seeing these results with 6 people giving it 10/10, I am happy with the outcome. 

2. What is the genre of the artist?

Here it has been made obvious to me that the main genre people think my artist is, is indie and pop. As it is baroque pop, I am not too surprised that the target market are unaware of the genre baroque pop as it is not considered entirely popular. It is also often mistaken for indie genre therefore I do not believe it will affect the sales of the artist.

3. What is the genre of the song?

From these results it is clear that the same response has been given as the previous question whereby the majority believe it is indie genre. It is obvious that the song appears to be more indie and pop to the audience in comparison to the previous question.

4. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being very clear theme, do you see a consistent theme throughout my magazine advert and digipak?

Gladly, the audience I questioned believe that my theme is clear and consistent which is exactly what I was aiming for. The interviewed participants claimed that the 

5. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being very well, how well do my products compliment one another?

I am extremely pleased with the feedback I have received from my target market as you can see they believe there is a consistent theme throughout my products. This means that I have successfully created a star image and completed the necessary task. 

Below are the strengths and weaknesses left by those questioned.

One of the weaknesses stated to see more of the boy and girl together, however I disagree with this as my initial intention was to show the difference of their lives apart to appeal directly to the audience. By separating the two actors, it showed the different ways they wanted to impress one another, a bit like how teenagers in this day and age can relate to the stress of getting ready to meet their crush. Therefore, for this specific statement, I do not have any improvements which I could've made. 

The comments have displayed that from a retrospective response, the audience understood the narrative storyline conveying that they paid attention throughout. Relating directly to the comment left stating, "more shots of boy messing round", I did not want to display the character as too youthful as it would defeat the aspect of a role model whereby the audience look up to the artist. 

Furthermore, I agree with the participant who stated "maybe less busier backgrounds" as when taking the photos I did not consider how it would affect writing on top of the background in the editing process. This hence produced some troubles when editing however I believe I overcame them appropriately.

Below are the strengths and weaknesses of those questioned on the ancillary texts:



 Looking at the feedback of my ancillary texts, I can see clearly that the audience approve of the theme throughout the pieces which is something I am very pleased about. looking at the disadvantages, I am drawn to the comment left "you cannot read what is said on the lyrics page - needs to be made clearer." When looking back on this, I should've made the L in lyric booklet, more distinct as you cannot see the letter due to the background. Therefore the audience have to concentrate on it more than they would if they were just glancing at the digipak. Also, as said in my previous points, the text could've been more distinct on the page to hence make it easier to read as two participants have left comments about it being hard to read. I believe overall when reflecting on my texts, I should've used a less busier background for my ancillary texts however overall the main theme of metamorphosis is achieved at a successful, and professional standard.

How have others helped me with my audience feedback?

Throughout the process of production for my three media texts, I have been extremely lucky to have had a media class acting as members of my target demographic as their age fits inside my category. During the initial brainstorming, I have had the assistance from my class to encourage me to develop the ideas I had at the start, for instance, when researching to create my star identity, I asked my media class and teacher for feedback and advice, and this development of research helped me greatly. They suggested ideas such as incorporating both smart attire and casual to make it more relatable to an audience, as teen boys do not regularly wear a full suit. Furthermore, I asked my peers and teacher, questions focused on my ancillary texts specifically, mostly based on the colour scheme and if the text was clear to read post me adding a translucent box to make it easier to read. I realised that by asking my peers and teacher, I was able to see my products from someone else's perspective, as myself, as the designer, may not have noticed the difficulties in text size or colour as I am aware of the information and content necessary. I can also look back and think of how myself and my peers have assisted one another in the production of our products, for example, as an experienced student when using photoshop, I was able to pass this knowledge onto my peers to help them with their designing. Alongside this, others who had more practice with lip syncing, told me how to do this on occasions where I had difficulty. Additionally, with them being members of my target demographic, I was persistently checking with them that the aura my video and ancillary texts were portraying were accurate to my initial desires and targets. In retrospect, having my peers and teacher at quick contact in terms of giving opinions on my products, it helped dramatically with improving my products to ensure they were depicting my initial ideas.

I found the target market feedback extremely reassuring considering the problems I had encountered during the process of production. It has boosted my confidence in terms of how professional my products turned out and how well the artist star image was addressed. However, I have learnt that I could've possibly broadened my target market in terms of it not only being specific to teens, as a few of the 10 I asked were out of this range and gave beneficial feedback.

Evaluation: Question 2- Explain how your three products work together in symphony in terms of brand image projected

For this question, I chose to do a directors commentary. This can be seen below along with the attachment of my script for my commentary.

Evaluation: Question 1- In what ways does your media product use/develop/challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The genre conventions of a baroque pop/indie digipak consist of the artist being identified on the front of the cover. This is whether the artist is looking directly into the camera or elsewhere, usually relating directly to the artists star image - for instance, an artist with a confident persona will most likely look directly into the camera to imitate this. Usually with indie digipaks the artist shows some sign of surrealism which is somewhat shown in my front cover with the artist 'transforming' by using 3 existing images appearing surreal as 3 of the same artist does not exist. Furthermore, an indie digipak will consist of a lyric booklet or pack providing the consumer with information based on the content or artist. I have done this to fit with my conventions using an unfocused image as if he is being 'caught randomly' - an unplanned photo being taken. The back of the digipak tends to have a tracklist displaying the order of the songs which often appear surreal and unusual due to the names of the songs. I have attempted to follow this type of tracklist whilst thinking of songs I believe my artist would sing about. Often the images used across an indie digipak are unplanned and unfocused, which I have used partly in my photography as I also wanted to pursue the artist as confident in order to address his star image.

Within indie magazine adverts, I have analysed some previously in order to inspire me for my magazine advert. Looking back at my conventions, I have managed to successfully address the star image of the artist as powerful and confident yet mentioned in the conventions was an image which was central of the advert and perhaps not using direct eye contact. I developed this idea as I believe the audience would not have connected with the artist to the full potential without having eye contact, therefore I used this idea in contradiction to the typical convention. The album cover is identified on the magazine advert in order for the audience to relate the two products directly to one another. Conventions state that the title of the album is displayed within the image of the artist. Hence here 'metamorphosis' being the title, this is conveyed in the way the text is written around the artist, whilst transforming into a different colour and growing in size - hence what happens to my artist throughout this album. The name of the artist is identified largely across the top of the advert, which is also stated within the conventions therefore I have used this convention successfully. I believe the idea of metamorphosis and the idea of my artist transforming is well executed throughout my ancillary texts and music video.

My Final Magazine Advert

Below is a copy of my completed, final magazine advert.

My Magazine Advert

For my magazine advert, I had to ensure there was a clear relationship between this product and my digipak. This would allow a theme to be visible throughout, helping to address my star image directly. 

Firstly, I chose my original image. Out of the three images I had planned on choosing, I went with an image which was initially taken as a long shot. However, as I used a high quality Nikon camera, I was able to zoom into the image successfully without pixellation occurring. I added the hue and saturation to the image, to boost the colours and help the audience be more attracted to a bolder image. This was something I also did in my digipak to make sure a pattern is being made throughout my products. 

I ensured that the title of the album was highlighted clearly on the advert following the same colour scheme and pattern to enable there to be a link in design. Also with the artist's name, I made sure that it was the largest part of the advert as this would mean that the viewers and readers will see this name first. To enhance the lettering, I added a stroke effect on Photoshop as this meant it stood out against the busy background. The light pink to dark pink colour scheme was also used in the features of the advert, such as the "includes bonus features and special effects" as this further accentuated the common colour theme throughout my products. 

I traced around the sole image of the artist with the lassoo tool and by duplicating this layer to hence produce another copy of the artist alone, I was able to reduce the opacity of the greenery around the artist, to make the image less busy and have the audience focus more on the bold image of the artist. 

I chose an image which was bold, confident and youthful. This creates a relationship between the teenage target market and the artist as with the direct eye contact from the artist, it immediately informs the audience of his confidence and youthful nature. 

I included an image of my digipak as the main aim of the magazine advert is to persuade an audience to purchase it. I added an outer glow to the digipak image as this would make it stand out against the busy background and persuade the audience to look at the image first. By including an image of the album, it not only fits with my research of the conventions of a magazine advert, but also informs the audience of the appearance of the digipak, enabling them ease if desiring to purchase in store or online. Additionally, following the conventions of a magazine advert, I had to make sure the date of when the album was going to be released was clearly identified. Therefore, as the artists name is written in white and is also an important feature of the advert, I chose to colour the date in white also to highlight its importance.

Underneath of the release date, I included a star rating from Capital FM as this station plays songs of the same genre as my artist and would therefore appeal to my target market as a radio station they listen to. By quoting from Capital FM, it encourages an audience to purchase the item as the rating and comments given by a trustworthy source, improves the professionalism and reliability of this comment to hence persuade the market to buy the digipak.

At the base of the advert, I have included the line "AVAILABLE IN STORES AND ONLINE". This comment opens the product to a wider range of the public as it enables people who shop online and who shop in store, to purchase either way. This should encourage those of the target market, who are regular daily users of the internet, to purchase the digipak online in the comfort of their own home as it saves them going to the store.

In either corner of the base of the advert, I have put the Kitsune logo and the iTunes available logo. Firstly, I have used the Kitsune logo as this is what company my artist is signed to, therefore it is necessary that my audience are aware of this partnership as they may be fans of the company or be familiar with mutual baroque pop artists belonging to this record company. 

I had some difficulty choosing a font which was not too unique that it was too complicated to read, or it being too simple. Therefore I settled for a font called Steelfish, found on the website dafont.com which was clear to read and fit with my current fonts and themes.

After looking at the advert, I realised the base of the advert with the important information, couldn't be seen clearly. After experimenting with ways I could solve this issue including adding outer glow effects and outlines to the text, I decided on adding a transparent box to cover this writing. Post deciding on a solution, I chose the pink which matched that of the colour scheme which had been used in all of my products to hence draw attention to the theme I was aiming to address. It worked perfectly as you can see below, due to the fact you can still see the beneath image, see the text written and also how it fits in with the theme whilst not looking out of place. 

Magazine Advert Sketches

After choosing the top 3 images which I would be happy to use for my magazine advert. I began to sketch my ideas onto a page whereby I addressed the importance of certain information being on the advert. After looking at previous adverts in past research, it allowed me to feel confident in choosing the correct image and plan.

I realised that a magazine advert would have to be colourful to ensure that the readers are immediately attracted to the page to somewhat persuade them to purchase the digipak. 
Firstly, after looking at the conventions of a magazine advert, I knew the specific features I needed to add onto the advert. Therefore it was just a case of where abouts I put the information.
I began planning by looking at my original images and identifying that an extreme close up or close up would work best for the advert. This would produce a relationship between the readers and artist. Eye contact will enable the audience to feel like they personally know the artist which will hence increase the likelihood of them purchasing the product. 

Perhaps an extreme close up would be too off putting for readers as it could be "too in their face". Furthermore, I looked began to see where the titles should go and how large they should be. 

The most important information, the title, date release and artist name, needs to be bold, large and clear for an audience to be able to know the most important information.