Evaluation...

Evaluation

Evaluation

By Anna-May Carey

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

In A2 we have had to create a music video which I was thoroughly excited for, I decided to explore Eminems Stan as in the original music video we only see what Stan is going through and not his girlfriend therefore I wanted to explore her story and the development of their relationship. This song is quite a dark song with a lot of depth therefore I felt like the narrative had to be the same thats why I wanted my message to be about how people dont always appreciate the people in their life and always want better but if they just stopped to appreciate the person in their life they would be pleasantly surprised. In my music video Stans girlfriend is getting abused and she has so many occasions to walk away but doesnt until it gets too much to the point where she takes her life, this is different to the music video because I didnt want to give Stan the power of taking away her life as he has already broken her physically and mentally.

For my music video I felt it was important to put it on a media platform that allowed my target audience to have access to it. Therefore the media platforms that I used to show case my music video were Blogger and Vimeo as well as showing my fellow peers at school, this allowed my target audience to get their own perspective on the music video as well as giving me feedback on it. However with my ancillary text I only used Blogger as I had created a Magazine Advert and a CD Cover with which I created to have a complimentary purpose on my music video and therefore create mystery and intrigue people to watch it.

The genre of my music video is Hip-Hop and Rap which are considered controversial genres as they talk about being rebellious and going against societys expectations by getting high or drunk or in some cases using woman as objects for sex. I feel like I havent fully conformed to this but in other ways I have, for example in the car scene I have Stan drinking a bottle of vodka and as well throughout my music video he has control of his girlfriend. However I dont always conform as I havent included suburban areas or having my main character wear a lot of gold and this song doesnt have a fast tempo or a loud bass effect so therefore it is considered quite slow for the genre it comes under. As well I included a post-modern effect known as stop motion which Hip Hop music videos dont usually include and I have yet to find one that uses it at all. Therefore I would say that my music video does conform in aspects but from my research into the Hip-Hop genre my music video is more subversive.

My music video overall is quite subversive to society I think because it includes elements that society try to hide and cover up by making out our society is perfect. One of the shots in my music video is symbolisation of self-harm which I felt is important to acknowledge because a lot of teenagers face problems in their life and use this as a scape goat. I wanted to communicate that self-harm isnt okay and you can only do it so many times and survive it before you cut yourself too deep or in the wrong place, however I have realised our society doesnt touch much on this topic I feel this is because they dont want to acknowledge that there are problems out there that we need to face together, to help prevent this happening. As well technically I included the stop motion element which most music videos dont include which is considered very subversive considering the genre of the music video as well you would not expect that post-modern element to be used. Also I created a six minute video which some people could classify as subversive as the majority of music videos apply the MTVs three minute rule as well it allows them to create a short narrative and nothing too complicated as it only lasts for three minutes, whereas I could be ambitious and explore elements that a three minute video couldnt. I feel like I did not conform to the forms and conventions as I was quite subversive with my music video and explored aspects not many other students have.

With my music video I dont feel like it was a conscious decision of mine to be subversive and not conform to the forms and conventions I just found this music video interesting and wanted to add my own take on it. As well we were studying elements in class that we may want to include in our music video and I felt intrigued by some of the ideas one of them being stop motion. Although other members of my class did not include an obvious post-modern element like stop motion they did include post-modernism, for example Eva, Ellen and Aimees group included symbolisation of the crow explaining that it was their main character as well as making the music sounding like it was actually underground in their train scene. Overall I feel like it was a decision that wasnt conscious because I felt like I would enjoy exploring it and also felt it would suit my music video exceptionally well, similarly to my fellow peers.

I feel my conventions in my music video have proven successful because it communicates my narrative in a way that doesnt just walk you through whats happened and going to happen. It has created mystery with my target audience because it is never shown that Stans girlfriend ends her life and therefore it makes my audience ask more questions and want to know more which is the effect I wanted it to have. As well when first creating my music video I felt having these conventions in place allowed me to make improvements or changes shall I say. Take this for example, I was going to have the car crashing over a bridge in stop motion this was then changed to the abusive relationship as I felt it would be more achievable to do stop-motion on abusive relationship than on a car. This shows that I was constantly changing my ideas and my music video plans at the beginning are totally different to now because I felt I may have been too ambitious with what I wanted to create.

In my music video I feel I contributed a lot, for example I done a lot of filming and editing. I filmed the car scene with my actor playing Stan, as well as the bed room scene with my two actors, I also filmed Eminems rap at the end as well as the stop motion and the drama room scene with Stan writing letters and the funeral car scene. When filming these shots I knew exactly what I was doing and I felt that was demonstrated by my use of different shots and symbolisation within certain shots. As well when it came to editing I edited the beginning of the music video as well as the car scene and the end rap, and the stop motion making it monochrome which means black and white as well as adding the odd transition where necessary. I have always been a fan of Eminem and I feel he is an amazing role model this inspired me to do a fan music video because all of his songs having meaning and I wanted to create a music video with the same powerful message that he has in all of his songs.

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

In my music video I feel the most important element was the stop motion because it communicated Stan and his girlfriends relationship in a few seconds so therefore when it came to deciding what I would include in my ancillary tasks I knew I would incorporate them. Therefore I used screenshots of the stop motion and added them into Photoshop where I went on to develop my ancillary tasks. For my font I decided to use the site 1001 Fonts as I felt there would be more of an option of what font I could use. It then went on to develop into the images to the right which I am extremely proud of as this was my first time using Photoshop and I feel I developed something to be happy with. As well due to the stop motion being black and white (monochrome) I decided it would be perfect if my ancillary tasks tied in with the colour scheme of it.

I think my ancillary tasks are very successful as they communicate the message of my music video whilst creating mystery and making my target audience intrigued, therefore wanting to watch it. I feel very happy with it because although I could have made them more complex and maybe more detailed I feel my music video has complex concepts throughout and this needs to be simple because sometimes people appreciate the simplest things over the most complicated. As well it may make them consider what the music video could be about and therefore they could make up some ideas on the music video and consequently when they watch it they could be surprised or disappointed, but the overall reaction was impressed when I showed people. I am very happy when it comes to my ancillary tasks as I feel they meet the expectations that I wanted as well it was my first time creating an ancillary task and I felt it suited my music video and thats the main purpose of it so that it creates synergy with the main product.

3)What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I designed my own questionnaire to get peoples opinions written down on paper so they could be as honest as they wanted to be. I will present below my questionnaire along with the responses I got from my fellow peers.

What were the strengths and weaknesses of this music video?

Sharon: Strength - Effective song and acting, lyrics to visualisation applied. Weakness - The variety of scenes were limited i.e. zooming in on eyes, mouth and writing as well the lip syncing.

Sarah: Strength - Fast editing. Weakness - Lip syncing

Renique: Strength: Editing. Weakness: Lip Syncing

Moya: Strength - Very good use of images that convinced the tone of the music. Weakness - Difficult to concentrate as the editing was very fast.

2.Did you find it subversive?

Sharon: Yes included intertextuality and stop motion which was very effective.

Sarah: I feel the stop motion was subversive as I have never seen it in a rap music video before.

Renique: I found the stop motion subversive.

Moya: Yes because stop motion isnt used in the rap genre.

3.What part of the music video was your favourite?

Sharon: Where the guy expressed his anger and stress in solo performance.

Sarah: The rapping.

Renique: The stop motion scene.

Moya: The symbolisation of the woman cutting herself.

4.Were there any parts of the music video we could have improved?

Sharon: Show what happened to Stans girlfriend.

Sarah: Lip Syncing.

Renique: The end, we need to discover what happened.

Moya: Lip Syncing.

5.Did you notice any post-modern elements within our music video?

Sharon: Yes the storyline I think.

Sarah: The stop motion.

Renique: Stop motion and lyrics on screen.

Moya: Stop motion I think.

6.What genre do you think our music video was?

Sharon: Rap

Sarah: Rap

Renique: Hip-Hop

Moya: Rap

7.What age group do you think our music video was aimed at?

Sharon: 17 + year olds

Sarah: 18 year olds

Renique: 17-18 year olds

Moya: 16-18 year olds

8.Did you find our main characters suitable for this music video?

Sharon: I dont think they were.

Sarah: Yes they played the characters excitingly.

Renique: Yes very good actors.

Moya: Yes.

I feel that this feedback has been effective because it has allowed both positive and negative feedback as well as giving me an insight into my target audiences opinion. Although I felt disappointed with the fact that the lip syncing wasnt perfect I knew I had tried my hardest and so had the actor it is very hard to get it perfect especially as it is a rap, as well certain words were blanked out due to them not being suitable language. However Im very pleased that people were aware of the post-modern elements and found the stop motion very effective, this made me delighted as I knew that all the hard work I had put in was worth it.

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

In AS we had to create an opening for a film with this I learnt the basic construction which was being able to cut the clips, add some transitions and make it black and white as well as creating our own sound track. I feel this is because last year I did not know as much, as well I didnt ask my peers or teacher for help because I felt I could work independently. Whereas this year I asked for help when necessary and I felt this has developed my technical skill as well as the construction of my music video. This year compared to last I have used Photoshop, a Sony Bloggie MHS TS20 8GB Touch Mobile HD Snap Camera as well as a Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-WX350W Superzoom Compact Camera. As well I also developed my Adobe Premier Pro skills because I was able to construct clips in a way that they blend and flow one after another, this is shown in my main product compared to last year. Overall this year I was more prepared and fully planned my whole music video. I feel overall this had a massive impact on the developed of my product and I feel a lot more pleased this year compared to last as I feel I was more prepared. Overall this year has been a lot better as I have developed new media skills and improved old ones and Im thoroughly proud of my music video and ancillary tasks.

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