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

Before creating my music video, I researched real music videos in order to gain inspiration for my own work. I did this via youtube and watching music channels on the TV. I watched a range of variety of music videos from pop type videos with a narrative and rock videos with a band playing. Even though, it seemed impossible to create a music video at a 'real' music video level, I did my best and gained ideas from how shots were used etc. An example of this, was when I watched Ed Sheeran's A team music video, this video was quite simple and showed various shots of a homeless girl, I thought this video was really good on an emotional level and tried to re create something simliar in my own video. Researching music videos helped me to develop my own ideas further for my product.

The use of varying shots throughout my video helped to make my music video look like a real one. This can be seen in my video when I zoomed into the actor's eyes when she is holding the baby, which looked effective. I also used close up shots when she was in the kitchen and also with the baby scans. I then used long shots when filming outside and the traffic scene.

I also used a narrative in my music video instead of a band playing. Narrative is used in many real music videos within the industry and I think it is the most effective type of video as it allows the audience to feel engaged. I also chose a narrative storyline which would fit in well with the lyrics, this is seen in many music videos such as Pink's song 'perfect'. However in a way this does challenge forms and conventions of real media products as in the modern music industry the videos tend to not be linked as much with the lyrics.

Another way in which I challenged the forms and conventions of real media products, was by using a teenage girl who is pregnant. Some viewers may be outraged by the idea of a teenage girl being pregnant, with no father around and living off benefits. However, I think it is good that I challenged the boundaries of a normal music video storyline and portrayed a more sympathetic view to young 'mums' who have to deal with everyday life. I also think that challenging the conventions of media products is more interesting and doesn't just stick to the boundaries and use typical videos such as those filmed at house parties. I also dressed the actor in more normal clothes such as an old black coat at the start and end scenes then normal dressing throughtout the 'dream'. This also challenges the forms and conventions of real media products as many actors in music videos are represnted in a more of a glamorous style.

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

I used many media technologies in the contruction, research and planning of my products. The internet was one of the main sources I used for research for my music video and ancillary tasks. I was able to via google research to look up different digipaks and music advertisements. I also went on youtube and watched other music videos in order to gain inspiration for my own.


Throughout my media work, I have used http://www.blogger.com/ to save all my posts, pictures and videos. Using the blog online is a much easier way to record my work, rather than writing on paper and saving my videos elsewhere. Using the blog is also good in that you can look at your peers blogs in order to comment on their work and give constructive critisicm.

For my digipak and album advertisement, I used the programme photoshop a lot. I was able to upload my saved images on there and then change the effects. This was good in that, I could make the photo lighter or darker to suit the 'song'. I then could add text to the photo such as on the advertisement I wrote the release date and title etc.
When filiming my music video, I used an HD video camera. This was the main source for constructing my music video. The fact that it was HD made the quality of the video look much better. I was able to take pictures on the camera as well, which helped me to create my digipak and advertisement. I could also change the brightness etc on the camera to suit what I wanted.

Another media technology I used in the creation of my music video was imovie. This enabled me to change the effects on my music video enormously. I was able to cut down the video clips to the right time lengths in order to fit with the song lyrics. I then changed some of the clips to black and white which represented the actor's 'bad life' and add dream effects to when the song shows when she is in a dream. Using imovie I could also slow down a clip or speed it up and use transition effects such as 'cross blur', using this definatley made my video look more effective.

For a couple of clips in my music video, I used the programme after effects. After effects let me change the dimensions of my music video and rotate the clip so that it fitted the screen propelly.

Without using these different media technologies, I would never have made my video look that effective. The programmes have helped me to create my video into the way I wanted it to look.

How effective is the combination of your main product and the ancillary tasks?

In the real music industry, I think that the combination of your main product with the ancillary tasks is vital in making your product look effective. It allows the audience to get a grasp on what the album is all about, and the key themes expressed throughout the video. It also makes the poster, digipak and video more poignant and makes the viewer want to buy the product. This is much better than having no combination of your tasks and the  product and ancillary tasks being completely random. It is also important that all the tasks look visualy similar, such as the use of black and white effects then the natural images.

The black and white scene filters through from the video to my digipak. This represents her 'bad life' and allows the audience get an insight into what the video is going to show. I think the image of her on the kitchen floor is effective and will stay in people's minds.

On the advertisement poster the image of her at night looking at the houses is then reflected in the video. This works well as it shows her in the 'dream' state in both the video and advertisement.

The front cover of the digipak, is the main character holding her baby. This image is very striking as it 'plays with the heart strings'. It is also taken in a natural environment which is in her living room. The same clip is then shown in the video where they lyrics are 'and you've got the sweetest eyes I've ever seen'. This again is quite emotive and draws the audience in.

On the digipak I also used similar images which combined well with the video. The back cover of the digipak is an image of a walking path outside. This is quite a natural image and resonates well with the natural ideology of having a baby. The image outside is also quite idealistic, and works well with the video as her 'dream' is also quite idealistic. There are also many other natural clips used throughout my video, such as the clips of the sky and sun.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

(medium shot- interviewer)

Sway Calloway: 'Welcome back guys, today we have Sophie Coxon the director of your song music video'.

'Are you happy with the outcome of the video?'

(medium shot- director)

Sophie: 'Yes, I'm very happy with the video and glad that I decided to take a different approach to the storyline rather than having a typical party type video'.

(medium shot- interviewer)

Sway: 'Yeah, many of the viewers have phoned in and commented on the fact that the storyline works well with the video, after hearing some feedback is there anything you would change in the video?'

(medium shot- director)

Sophie: 'From hearing the feedback, I would change some things to the video, yeah. Many have said that the clips went on for too long, if I had a chance I would have added in some different clips to make it more interesting. I have also heard that a few people didn't quite understand the storyline. If I had known this before, I would have added more clips in with the woman and the baby, to make the storyline more clear.'

(medium shot- interviewer)

Sway: 'We now have Anna on the phone from Cornwall who wants to ask you a couple of questions..'

(phone)

Anna: 'I really like your video, and as a young mum myself, it was good to see that you took a sympathetic view. The black and white works well so you are able to tell when she is in the dream. After hearing feedback, do you think your next videos will follow a similar type storyline or something different?'

(medium shot- director)

Sophie: 'I think I will carry on with the emotional storylines as they seem to work well. Perhaps I might have some clips of Ellie Goulding herself sinigng in my next video.'

(phone)

Anna: 'Yeah I prefer emotional videos. Was nice talking to you, bye guys'.

(medium shot- interviewer)

Sway: 'Well this sounds promising, do you reckon we will see one of your videos soon then sophie?'

(medium shot- director)

Sophie: 'Yes, definately, Ellie has a single coming out soon and has already given me some ideas for the video.'

(medium shot- interviewer)

Sway: 'Good! Thanks for your time Sophie. Now back to MTV news'.

Ancillary task 2

I think my magazine advertisement is effective and would stand out. I took the photo of the girl standing looking at her house when it was dark outside, however, I used photoshop to make the girl stand out and also the lighting on the house. This works well as it can be interpretated in anyway and can give a hidden message to let the audience decode the meaning themselves. I also matched the writing with the colours on the girl. I kept the writing simple so that the advertisement would not look too busy.

Ancillary task 2

Ancillary task 1

I think that the most effective part of the digipak is the frontcover. It 'sums' up the whole album and especially 'your song' as it displays a young woman holding a baby. I also had her placed in front in of a floral wallpaper in order for some kind of decoration. I then changed the effects so it looked a bit more different. Th backcover also works well as I took a photo of a nice scenery outside, and thought it would look nice for a backcover. The inside cover is very different from the rest. It is an image I took of her in the kitchen before she was in her 'dream'. This gives the buyers of the album an insight into what type of song it will be. I then out a line of the lyrics underneath to empahsis this. The fact that they all use similar colour themes works well.