Evaluation- Question 3

3. What have you learned from you audience feedback?

We decided to make a group on face book and add a range of people to allow them to comment on our video and digi pack. After editing our video with the shots we have taken from the filming, we did have some feedback from a teacher suggesting we maybe add some performance shots. We took this feedback into the consideration and at least tried it, to show that we were open to suggestions and it actually worked really well so we incorporated the shots into our video. This also helped us to gain more experience with the technology offered to us which was good. We also felt that gaining opinions from our friends in the face book group could be seen as quite biased so we felt another way to gain feed back would be to print off a questionnaire we have made and give it peers in our class that aren't close friends so the feedback would of been more honest, we maybe could of sent them our anonymously but this would of been a lot of hassle we didn't need so close to the deadline. Looking at these comments they aren't really very appropriate or help full at all but underneath there has been a positive comment made one of the actors. We have have positive feedback from our peers when we've shown them which probably could of been recorded but due to the looming deadline we didn't have enough time. As stated before we handed out 3/4 questionnaires on asking people to rate the video out of 10 and answer some short questions so it didn't bombard them.We have also added the video to Youtube so we could get a wider audience and maybe people from around the world could comment. 'MagnumOpusUK' has commented on our video and said that we 'Did the song justice' and there are some really 'Engaging Angles' which we all have agreed with, for instance this is a high angle shot focusing on an actor passed out the floor, and in the background there is someones hand holding a beer can. We also felt that shots such as the close up of the guitar at the end really make the video as they were filmed with high end cameras and make the video look a professional. This comment has made us see that we have some good shots and this means if any of us take media up as a career, or to university, we can take some of these skills with us. Looking at one feedback from they have also commented on the camera work and directing, they have also stated that they disliked some of the acting in the video as they didn't feel the actors suited some of the roles and they have also stated they think we could of improved our costume choice and the lip syncing of some of our actors. We feel the lip syncing could be improved some what also, this could be down to some the editing or the singers, but the editing was rated a 9 out of 10. We are very pleased that the feedbacker has said the video looks like it was made for the actual band which we are pleased with. It has a homemade look just the original, which we were aiming for.

Evaluation- Question 2

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

Throughout our CD case, magazine advert and video we've tried to make the audience feel involved in the process of making the video, and also aimed to make them feel the emotions of the video. Although the video was made and finished before we even thought about the album cover Ive tried to carry a homemade look throughout the project and this is supported by the whole idea of the CD case. Ive chosen to design the digi-pack on the basis of the 'audition stage with the Polaroids, this gives the feel of the aud
ience picking the cast as i have incorporated images that we have taken when filming, it also gives it a homemade and vintage feel as Polaroid's aren't used very much due to the advancing technology. We feel that the Polaroid's support the laid back, low budget feel of the video as it was filmed in several houses, we didn't have any expensive clothing etc just like The Vaccines video itself and this style is carried throughout the 3 types of media. Although i have stated in other posts that we wanted to put our own modern spin on our video, opposed to The Vaccines, i didn't want this for the digi-pack as indie CD cases seem to say independent and unusual no matter what there music videos are like and i felt changing this would be going against that giving the audience a false pretense because of the music on the album. Although saying that the pictures throughout the album appear quite modern due to the props, such as the bedding etc, decor of the house and fancy dress custumes of the cast.

When designing the magazine advert i wanted to carry the Polaroid look on, so the video and CD were all consistent but i didn't want it to be completely the identical to the CD case as it would become boring, which i is why i added the lyrics into the 2 pages of the digipack, so to solve this i placed the pictures on top of each other to give it a lazy feel just like the video itself. I have used the same dymo tape font throughout the advert, CD case and insert which links them all well, even though i haven't use polaroid photos on the insert. Designing the magazine advert proved to be quite hard for me as i didn't want to bombard the audience with lots of information as i felt that magazines can be quite overwhelming with pictures and paragraphs of writing so i decided to keep it simple. I also felt adding such things like comments or reviews on the advert might of sold it better, but due to the font it would of been to overwhelming and would of covered the pictures. The advert and to some extent the CD case could sell the product on their indie basis. For example marketing in such magazine such as NME, a top indie magazine would make it sell better as people reading the magazine like that kind of music, rather then putting the advert into a magazine such as OK or Hello where it could of teenage girls and elder women.

Evaluation- Question 1

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

For our production of The Vaccines Post-break up sex we wanted to produce a video with the main narrative focused around the morning after a party, we also wanted to include a performance piece as this seemed a key convention for artists in the indie genre. We wanted our video to be as close as possible to professional music video, so when recording our performance piece we used the college’s recording studio this enabled us to use the JVC. HO with studio kit attached. These high tech cameras were perfect for recording the band footage. Along with using four of these cameras we also used a smaller handheld camera on a crane; having all of these cameras we were able to get lots of different footage of the band which gave our video a more realistic look.

We wanted our video to be simple so we used basic camera shots and did not include any fancy camera angles. The whole idea of a simple video came from research into to The Vaccines, who were quoted in an interview saying that Post-break up sex was one of their simplest songs and that is why the original video was simple and why we wanted ours simple. We also wanted our video to be completely indifferent to music videos in the indie genre so before production we researched into the indie genre by analysing other videos from the indie genre. We looked at L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N by Noah and the Whale and The Cave by Munford and sons; from these videos we found three key conventions of the indie genre:
• Performance piece
• A relaxed video without a lot of lighting and editing
• A lack of camera angles and movement

We wanted to include all of these things in our video however some of our footage looked too lit up and did not have the relaxed look we wanted, but we knew that we could solve this in the editing process where we used the Bad TV effect to give our footage a more faded and relaxed look. However our video does challenge the indie genre as we included a lot of editing such as cross cuts and fades. We did this to give the video a more professional look as without these effects the footage did not flow well making our video look it was made by armatures.

Using Goodwin's theory of the six major conventions of a music video we've been able to assess our own video to see if it follows these conventions. One of Goodwin’s conventions was that the lyrics and the visuals link, this can be seen in many music videos for example Eminem’s Stan (http://youtu.be/gOMhN-hfMtY). We decided that we would try to match our lyrics and visuals at certain parts of our video but not the whole way through, for example at 00:00:58 the lyrics were “All our friends were unaware; most had just passed out downstairs.” And the image shown was of someone passed out on the floor. Also when the lyric was “Maybe I misunderstood” the image is of someone with ‘misunderstood’ on their forehead. We feel that even though they are only simple links they are effective in our video.

Another on Goodwin’s conventions refers to the genre conventions of a video, as I mentioned above we looked into our genre and found three key conventions that we tried to stick to. This brings us to the third of Goodwin’s conventions: the representation of the artist. However our genre is about not conforming to typical conventions of music videos and not being seen as a ‘sell out’ however we decided to include a few close ups of the band and our main protagonist Sam so people knew he was the main protagonist and not for publicity. We also knew that our video may give the artist a negative representation as it focused on issues such as teenage drinking, drug taking and teenage sexual intercourse. This is not how we wanted our artist to be represented at first but then we realised this representation may be a positive as some of our themes can be seen as taboo and by showing them in our video it would allow our video not to be forgotten. This is something every artist wants for their music.

Goodwin also suggested that music videos must include the 'notion of looking'. However there aren't really any notions of looking in our video as things such as telescopes and screens with screens are not used. Also there is no voyeuristic treatment of the female body in our video even though there is shots of females in there underwear this is not voyeuristic as they are simply included to demonstrate what had happened the night before. Although there are some intertextual references to in our video, looking at our video you could also say there is some references to the teenage TV series Skins that was aired on Channel 4, due to the outrageous costumes, Alcohol and drugs and the 'Out of Control' modern teenager. Skins was one of our main influences as it is targeted at teenagers (the same as our video) and it also deals with many of the same themes of our video.

Goodwin's last theory on music videos is that each one demonstrates genre characteristics. This is something we found throughout our research; we learnt that most videos in the indie genre contain a performance piece for example Noah and the Whale’s Waiting for my chance to come (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1FZtiC5BRk). I mentioned above we feel we stuck to all the conventions of the indie genre and that we have demonstrated them well in our video.

Change of Magazine Advert

After gaining some feedback from our audience it was suggested that we straight up the HMV logo at the bottom left corner of the screen to make the magazine advert look more professional. I tried this to show we were willing and decided to keep the new version and i also decided to add an itunes logo to show the album is available on itunes along with HMV. This supports the album as well as promotes it to show that The Vaccines have made it big in the music industry. It also appeals to wider audience and could make the album sell more copies as with todays new technology not many people by albums, they might just download them.

Change of Digi Pack

After a group dicussion we have decided to add d the lyrics to two songs on the album, 'Wreckin' Bar Ra Ra Ra' as its one of the shortest songs and we were quite stuck for space, and the other song we have chosen to make a video for, 'Post Break Up Sex'. The pictures around the lyrics are to draw the audience in and make it a more personal experience for them. These pictures were taken whilst filming and as we have stated before were added to give the audience a more personal feel. The pictures also show that the band and cast have put a lot of hard work into making of the album,and that its all their own work.

The pictures have been edited in all the same way, and the original idea was to have the same layout as the front and back covers of the album, but to me that seemed to constant and also looked quite hectic, and adding the lyrics cut that up a bit. As you can see on the 'Post break Up Sex' lyrics cover, i have added a picture of a wall in one of the bedrooms we have used, i did this to break up the pictures as Jake was in quite a lot of the shots.

Digi Pack Insert

After talking to some of our peers and having a production meeting we have decided to make an insert to put into of CD cover to break the design up. As the 3 rows of Polaroid's make the CD cover look busy and the same design is used on both the front, back, and both pages of the digi pack we felt adding a new, more simple page would break down the covers and might add a fresher design to the pack. I have kept the same dymo tape font to link them together as the design isn't similar in any way to the other pages. The TV is the made object in the picture and i have chosen to use a vintage television to keep the old feel throughout. The numbers on the insert indicate to which page the lyrics are on to make it easier for the audience.

Finished Magazine Advert