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Welcome to the Sparkles Entertainment blog. 

Dear Moderator, we have created a music video for a Pop music artist as well as 2 ancillary tasks each based on or pop music video.Hope you like it.

Final Music Video - Eyes Shut

Farzin's Final Ancillary Tasks

Henali's Final Ancillary Tasks

Click here to see the website

Daniel's Final Ancillary Tasks

Daniel's Individual Production Log

Daniel's Production Log

Week 1 September
We begin with a task to improve our Photoshop skills, recreating an existing poster to make a completely different poster

Week 2 September
This week sees the tasks of completing analysis on music videos of the pop genre, and analysing how the poster was created.

Week 3 October
As a new group, we then make a survey to ask our intended audience, using demographics and psychographics in order to choose who we would ask. We receive the results and we also analyse the results and we take into consideration what we will put into our music video

Week 4 October
We collaborated as a group to make an album cover draft, complete with the layout, and descriptions of colour schemes needed and how the text will be laid out.

Week 5 October
We begin on analysing digipaks of pop music artists in order to get an idea of the codes and conventions that typical pop CD covers have. We used the star image of the pop singer for the audience to get an idea of who he is, with a simple text showcasing his name and the name of the album. I also complete my creative influences video in which I show similar pop music videos which have influenced me and my decisions for choosing certain costume, and the stock plot for our video.

Week 6 November
I draw out a plan for my website, with detailed descriptions and drawings of where the buttons would go.

Week 7 November
Farzin and I are in charge of pitching our music video to our target audience (consisting of young adults, 16-20, of both genders) and we detail our video using MECS (Mise en scene, editing, camera, sound) for the audience to get an idea of how our video will go. 

Week 8 November
The final shot list including the type of shots (performance or narrative), and the shot type and how the actors will act.

Week 9 November
Another shot list which includes the actors needed, and further performance notes is made.

Week 10 November
Research into theories are made in order to see how we can conform or subvert from common conventions.

Week 11 December
A production schedule for the music video is made, detailing which crew will be ready for the shooting, and which actors will be required. A photography plan is also made as to how the pictures will be used, and how the main actors will pose for my digipak and my magazine advert, The final storyboard is also made to help guide us visually as to how the actors will be like. I write down a risk assessment and how we can avoid these risks

Week 12 December
I'm in charge of the potential performers task and I 'interview' a few students who could fit into our character's persona. However, these were potential performers and therefore would not be a good choice as they have shown in the video.

Week 13 December
I draw out a plan for my digipak, including measurements and what would go where, giving me an outline as to how the final digipak would look.

Week 14 January
I get more inspiration from other artists and how their digipaks look, so I planned to take out a few conventions such as the low-key lighting, and the close-up of the singer's face.

Week 15 January
As cameraman, we start our first weekend of shooting, using local places such as the park as our primary location. I film the narrative shots of our music video.

Week 16 January
I start editing the music video, placing the current shots in place.

Week 17 January / 18 February
I edit the music video, with occasional help from Farzin and Henali

Week 19 February
I upload the rough cut for our music video

Week 20 February
I complete my ancillary tasks and they are uploaded

I continue editing while Farzin and Henali film.

Week 21 February
Editing comes to an end and I finish to the deadline, and I then start on the technical run of the lyric sheet, analyzing the lyrics and how they will be 'visually' shown in the music video.

Week 22 February
I upload the final cut of the music video onto our blog

Week 23 Feb / 24 March
Evaluation questions are completed

Evaluation Question 4 (How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?)

Farzin's Production Logs

Production Logs

Evaluation Question 4

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

Evaluation Question No.3 (What Have You Learned from Audience Feedback)

Evaluation 3: What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Evaluation Question 2 (How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?)

I believe the effectiveness of my group’s main product and my individual ancillary products is very strong, since the video showcases typical pop conventions that is very common, so the audience will feel comfortable watching it, especially since there is a narrative and performance, so people who like narrative and people who like performance can enjoy watching this product, making it cater to everyone. My individual products use a low-key lighting and this is to signify emptiness or fear. Since the audience doesn't know what happens to the actor after it ends, the audience will begin to question what has happened, such as ‘what did he do next?’ and ‘did he go back with her?’. These questions make the audience a bit scared of the unknown, so the website has dark colours, typically white on black to show contrast, as well as fear. Typical pop websites have tour dates, and news, so I included them in my individual website to make it look authentic. My digipak shows James, the heartbroken boy, walking away from camera, and looking at the camera, half his face in shadows, showing that he is becoming empty, and losing himself. The serif text for the track-list and the main head easily show that this is a pop CD cover, due to the colours, text, composition and lighting.

Question 1 of Evaluation (In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?)

Evaluation 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Evaluation Question 3

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

My media product used, developed and challenged forms and conventions of real media products in many different ways. I learnt a lot about conventions of music videos and did a lot of research into this.

Conventions of music videos. I learnt a lot about conventions of music videos and did a lot of research into this. I have presented my findings in my blog post named “conventions of music videos”. This a basic summary of what I found about conventions of music videos; There are very basic common features that can be seen within all the music videos. These include close ups of artists and the shots when they do change, change to the beat to make the music video flow and look effective. Also there is the artist actually singing through the music video whilst other things are happening in the music video.

Music Genre conventions. I learnt a lot about conventions of music genres and have done research into this. I have presented my findings in my blog post named “conventions of music videos”. The genre of music that our music video belongs to is Pop/Rock. The genre that our music video falls into has the following conventions as well as the conventions of a generic music video as mentioned in the previous slide. These music videos tend to have lot of shots of the artists and also there always seems to be a video that goes alongside the lyrics that are being sung. Also the artist is singing the song whilst performing in the actual music video.

Conventions that we have used. After looking at the conventions of music videos and genre conventions we as a group decided to use a lot of these conventions as we believe that by using these conventions it will help create an effective music video. We did not use all of the conventions however as we did not feel as if though it was appropriate for our music video. Also we did not just have the main singer singing in one place. In this slide and the next I am going to use screenshots with captions underneath the pictures to show what conventions we have used. Clear difference between performance and narration.

Audience Feedback on Final Digipak

As you can see from the above audience feedback based on my final digipak. The audience liked that I had a consistent background for all my pictures which helped all the pictures to blend with one another and prevent it from looking odd or unusual. In addition to this, the target audience also liked the idea of having quotes in the digipak as this can influence other individualas as well as prevent the audience from being bored just by looking at the pictures. The use of colour was a major factor that impressed and satisfied the audience. When taking these pictures, I ensured that I could somehow edit or manipulate these images for them to go with one another.

On the other hand, I did ask for improvements as if in the future I had to create something like this, I will be aware of what to avoid and what other things I could add to my production for me to go a bit higher. Some of the improvements I received was to add bright colours which could stand out, However, I personally felt that this would not go well with my music video and website as our production didn't really have a lot of brightness in there. In addition to this, I was told to use a variety of images to promote the artist and video by maybe adding pictures of other artists as my digipak was only focused on one character who was the main lead in the music video. My audience also told me to make the text bigger so that it was clearly seen and visible for the audience to rescognise.

Overall, the audience felt that the digipak was quite appealing and attractive.

Audience Feedback on Final Website

By looking at the analysed surveys in the video, you can clearly see that all the participants that took the survey had loved the website. The reason for this was that they felt it was user-friendly, easy to use, good use of colours as well as the navigation which was easy to understand. Everyone liked the layout of the website as it wasn't complex to understand as it was clear and straightforward.

However, there were a few improvements I was told to make for future reference. This included having images or trying to involve the audience on the "About Page" as it looks really dull with one picture and writing about the artist. The audience also felt that the size of the writing should be bigger which could show emphasis on something particular on the website. In addition to this, they felt that the colour of the website should be changed as I had used dark colours such as Black,  White, Grey and Brown. I felt that this was a major change I could do in the future as this could not only prevent the audience from being bored, but it can also make the website livelier.

Overall, the audience found the website excellent and rated it between good to very good which can show that I did meet most of the needs of the audience.

Evaluation Question 2

Audience Feedback on Final Music Video

From above, you are able to witness the different questions asked to my target audience in regards to our music video. You can clearly see that majority of individuals enjoyed the music video due to the song choice as well as the the way portrayed different perspectives of the characters by using point of view shot. I was quite pleased that my target audience were happy that they would expect something like this in a pop music video, In addition to this, our audience were clearly able to understand the narrative of the music video which was a positive note as this can engage and entice them to watch them again and again. Most importantly, the audience loved the lcoation and lighting used in the music video as in the beginning we had a bright day time lighting, however as the music video was getting to the end and the problems arised and the male character's heart broke, the lighting went dark. This protrayed that he was thinking about her all day and the whole day passed and he is still in his same position, thinking about her.

With things that we did well, there was also things that the audience felt we could have improved on in the future. One of this was the shots that we had used, the reason for this is that the audience got confused a bit when they saw certain shots e.g. blur of the female character which made them think about what that meant as this wasn't clearly portrayed. In addition to this, the audience felt that the costume worn by the character was a bit too simple and casual for a music video. Moreover, they felt that we could have used a bit more prop to maybe show a meaning behind something or use it which can make the music video a bit more interesting.

As an overview, the music video went really well as we captured many different shots which helped us throughout the production of the video.

Evaluation Question 1

Ancillary Task 2 Mockup - Website

Digipak and Magazine Advert Audience Feedback

Below are images of the feedback I had received after completing the music video as well as my two ancillary tasks; the Digipak and Magazine Advert. Here are the responses I had received. 

Music Video Audience Feedback

Below are images of the feedback I had received after completing the music video as well as my two ancillary tasks; the Digipak and Magazine Advert. Here are the responses I had received. 

Ancillary Task 2 - Website (Final)

Click here to see the website

Ancillary Task 1 - Digipak (Final)

Digipak (Draft2)

Improvement Feedback for Draft Ancillary Tasks

                                                     Digipak in Progress Feedback 

      

As you can see from above, I had received many different feedback in regards to my digipak. My audience felt that I had nice pictures taken of the artist as it stands out from the digipak as well as having the consistency of the background in all images. This was said as I took all my pictures in one location which I could then put together and show a flow of images instead of them being different which can affect the audience's interest. In addition to this, some of my target audience liked the use of black and white images however some felt that this looked a bit dark and dull which could distract the audience's interest and engagement in the digipak.

On the other hand, I also received feedback from which I could improve my digipak on and satisfy my audience. Some of the feedback I received was to change the colour of the writing as you couldn't really see it well enough which could prevent the audience from buying the digipak. In addition to this, they felt that the picture of the guitar (top left corner) didn't go well because of the way it had been taken. Therefore, I have been told to replace it with another picture which could have some identification of the background of the location.

                                                                   Website in Progress Feedback             

   

By looking at the above slideshow, you can clearly see that my audience feedback were happy with the way I had used the different shots of pictures to show the artist. As well as this, they liked the title as it stood out due to the font size. In addition to this, my audience liked the structure of my tour page as they are able to be updated with events that have taken place or are going to.

In regards to the improvements, my audience felt that the handwriting font is a bit unclear to see and the colour is a bit too dark. Due to this, they feel that I should have brighter colours and make the font size bigger or bold. In addition to this, they felt that there was a lack of music videos about the artist on the webpage. They also feel that I should make improvements to the contacts page as it isn't clear about contact who and for what e.g. Booking etc.

Eyes Shut - Josh Dylan (Final Cut)

Technical Run of Lyric Sheet - Daniel

Ancillary Task 2-Magazine Advert (Final Draft)

Ancillary Task 1-Digipak (Final Draft)

Screenshot of Ancillary Products in Progress

Ancillary Task 2 - Magazine Advert (Rough Draft 2)

Ancillary Task 1 - Digipak (Rough Draft 2)

Outline of Improvements

After getting a rough cut of our music video, we had received feedback from our target audience. As a group, we had taken the following comments into account and made changes to our music video based on the comments made.

1. The song and the lip sync did not match

2. There were some shaky shots

3. There were some blurry shots

During the editing process, we had begun to make the changes to our music video. We had started off by making sure the song had matched the lip sync of our lead singer, therefore it would look realistic when the lead singer is singing throughout the music video. 

When it came to the shaky shots, we had edited these particular shots by slowing them down in order to make them less shaky. However, what we had realised whilst editing was that there were not many shaky shots; therefore, it didn't take extremely long to edit the shaky shots and make them look suitable for the music video. 

As we weren't able to edit the blurry shots, we did go through other scenes which we had filmed repeatedly in order to identify a scene which would have not been too blurry to include in the music video in exchange of the blurry shot. Therefore, we were able to make the music video look clear progressively within the music video, which helps people to watch the music video without having any issues when watching it. 

Poster Advert (New Media)

Digipak (Print Media)

My digi-pak consists of dark colours to give a sense of abandonment and loneliness. Although this isn't typical of conventional pop CD covers such as Taylor Swift's Fearless or Miley Cyrus' Wrecking Ball. I subverted from these pop conventions and this makes it intriguing and interesting to the audience as they believe that this new artist is groundbreaking and influential. Because of this, I can target different demographics instead of my initial target audience of young teens to adults of both genders, coming from a working class to middle class background. The bottom three panels show a story, where he is shown being separated from a dark, shadowed figure, presumably his past. The bottom middle panel shows him with his hand on his head, possibly thinking about what happened. My digi-pak shows a story and the consumer would immediately know that this album is about heartbreak.

Audience Feedback

Magazine Advert (Rough Draft)

After completing a rough draft of my magazine advert, I decided to receive some feedback from my target audience. I wanted to identify what part of my magazine advert looked good, what improvements could be made as well as what could be added. Below are some of the responses I received. 

Digipak (Rough Draft)

After completing a rough draft of my digipak, I decided to receive some feedback from my target audience. I wanted to identify what part of my digipak looked good, what improvements could be made as well as what could be added. Below are some of the responses I received. 

Behind The Scenes/On Set of Filming

Our filming process had been rather successful. We had captured a variety of shots which were needed in our music video. As a group, we believed that James did a great job by portraying the lead singer Josh in our music video Eyes Shut. All the days of filming were extremely effective, excellent and we all enjoyed working together in order to make this music video. 

There are a variety of pictures shown below which were taken on set.

Eyes Shut - Josh Dylan (Rough Cut)

Overview of costume worn by actor for Ancillary Tasks

Photography Plan For Ancillary Tasks

These are the pictures I have planned to use for both my ancillary tasks. I felt that these were suitable for my ancillary tasks as after researching I found out that most digipak have close-up shots of the artist which allows them to be identified. In addition to this, there is usually a background of the location or a colour residing the whole theme colour. For mines, I felt that I wanted to use the location as this would have gone well with all my pictures that were taken in the park. I wanted to show the significance of the guitar in the artist’s life therefore I took a close-up shot of this to show the meaning behind it. Moreover, I wanted the artist to be in different poses in the location which can reflect and give a hint about the album that is coming out.