Wednesday, 7 January 2015
EVALUATION: Question 3 (Niyat Tesfamariam)
What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
OUR TARGET AUDIENCE
As Tyler Noel's song, If You Wanna Leave, is an R&B song, I initially looked at the target audience of this genre. Common audiences are often between the ages of 13 - 25 due to the explicit language and mature subject matter that R&B music sometimes has, such as Boyz II Men's I'll Make Love to You and Beyonce's Rocket.
I then took to Twitter to look directly at Tyler Noel's existing audience by finding out what kind of social groups are present in her list of followers. I found many young, black men and women as well as a few mature, white men. As the latter group of audience members are anomalous, I decided that the target audience for our music video would be 13 - 25 year old black women. This idea was also backed up by the subject matter of the song which promotes the empowerment of women. I also took into consideration similar artists to Tyler Noel such as Mary J Blige as this would give me an idea as to who would be interested in her music.
I also looked at Mary J Blige's Twitter page in order to find out what kind of people are interested in her music as this could strengthen my idea of what Tyler Noel's audience could be. I found that her audience is very similar to that of Noel as I found many young, black women in her list of followers as well as some older women and some girls of other nationalities. However, the audience that I felt would be our target demographic was the most significant social group within this list.
THE BEST WAY TO PROMOTE THE SINGLE
A common way in which R&B musicians promote their music is through the use of the music sharing/streaming website, Soundcloud. Artists such as Usher post short clips of upcoming singles in order to give their target audiences a taste of what is to come and create excitement towards their future releases.
Therefore, I felt that through the use of Tyler Noel's Soundcloud page, we could promote her single by posting a clip of it in order to tease the whole song and what the music video might be like. After posting a clip onto Soundcloud, the link to the song could then be posted onto her Twitter page (@mstylernoel) to alert her followers that new music is on its way.
On the release date for the full song and the music video, Tyler Noel could then alert her Twitter followers by posting the YouTube link to the video. This is because her followers would be keeping an eye out for any more information about her music on her Twitter page due to the promotion of the Soundcloud teaser through the same social networking site.
HOW DID OUR AUDIENCE FEEDBACK EFFECT US?
When we first found the song that we wanted to create a music video for, we asked people who often listen to music if this was a song that could be successful. These people said that they could see it featured on the charts, often linking it to songs such as Irreplaceable by Beyonce and Ex Factor by Lauryn Hill. This made us confident that we had chosen a good song to release to the public and try to promote on a large scale.
I then created a storyboard and animatics to accompany this storyboard in order to get a better idea of what our final music video would look like. After creating this video, I showed it to some potential audience members in order to find out their opinion. They all felt that the storyline linked to the song's lyrics well and that the plot seemed clear and easy to understand.
We then created an initial draft of our music video which we showed to some potential audience members. This first draft contained an ending which showed Tyler Noel and her love interest/antagonist walked away, hand in hand - this was intended as an open ending because the song offers an ultimatum but not a decision. However, our audience did not view it this way. They felt that it was confusing as it "makes me think that she stayed with her boyfriend even though he makes her unhappy". We then changed this by showing quick flashback scenes of both happy and sad memories with performance shots of her singing "I'm way too grown", suggesting that she feels to grown up to be playing silly games with her volatile partner.
This first draft also included a scene at the end in which the performer dances in front of the mirror to the instrumental as there are no vocals in this section of the song. Members of our target audience felt that this was inappropriate as it "distracts from the seriousness of the song" and the difficult position that Tyler Noel is in.
Once we had finished making these changes amongst others, we posted the final video onto video sharing site, YouTube, and shared the link on social networking site, Twitter, in order to find out people's final opinions.
These are two examples of our audience's feedback of our final product. They both felt that the final video's storyline was clear and followed the story that Tyler Noel is telling in her song. The main issues that these two expressed were the quality of the lighting and the amount of camera shots that were used. As these issues are relatively minor - the video is still visible despite the lighting issues and complex camera angles are not needed - I feel that the music video was successful and we were able to do what we aimed to do: tell a story about a strong yet heartbroken woman who has taken control.
Our digipak was also met with positive comments as audience members felt that the images gave a strong idea of what the album would be about: relationships and heartbreak. The song titles also help establish an idea of what feelings and topics would be explored in Tyler Noel's music. They felt that "the link between the music video and the album's images show that the project was well thought about" and makes the whole project "stronger as a whole." This also made audiences "have an idea of what future music videos would look like. They'd probably have a similar setting and tone to the music video and digipak." A critique that we took on board in the early stages of creating our digipak was that our images had originally included song titles: "the pictures have too much writing on them, it distracts from the pictures and makes them seem to busy." Upon hearing this, I decided to strip back the images and keep them minimal, allowing the images to speak for themselves.
OVERALL REACTION
I feel that the overall reaction of our three products was positive and that we have appeased our target audience of young women - black or otherwise - as well as some young men. This assures me that, if these products were to be released to the general public, they would be somewhat successful. However, I do feel that with a larger budget, professional equipment (such as cameras and lighting) and professional actors, this project could have looked much more professional and could have decreased the amount of criticisms. In terms of the storyline in relation to the song, it was felt to be clear and had a strong link to the lyrics. The main issues that I found were technical so, with professional software, this could have been avoided. With these factors taken into consideration, I feel that this project was successful and this feeling has been backed up by the reactions of members of our target demographic and others.
EVALUATION: Question 1 (Niyat Tesfamariam)
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Monday, 5 January 2015
Evaluation Question 4 (Daniel)
HOW DID YOU USE NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH, PLANNING AND EVALUATION STAGES?
CONSTRUCTION
1.For the production of our music video we used DSLR Canon EOS 650D for the filming. Utilising the use of white balance and over exposure, it was quite easy to use as the functions needed to produce our music video was limited.This was mainly due to the fact that most of the raw footage would be edited in post production. We also used the DSLR cameras to obtain stills and images to
use for our magazine advert and digipak cover. This was usually done before filming
on a new day or location in order to get the right amount of sunlight due to
the unpredictable weather of London. 
2.When it came to post production of our raw footage, to turn it into an R&B music video we used the program Final Cut Pro on the schools iMac Computers. Being an upgrade from iMovie it was easy to use whilst offering more variety in terms of technical features in order to make our music videos look more professional. An example of these new features is more precise clean cut tools, an essential key needed in the production of music videos. As well as access to Multi-cam support which allowed us to sync multiple shots simultaneously from different cameras, a feature that came in handy given that we were using not one but two DSLR camera in order to get different shots at the same time in order to add to the image of a real music video whilst also allowing us to cut down time.
3.Once connected to the computer all we simply had to do is
import it into Final Cut Pro and we were off as we edited whilst it imported
files in the background.Being a music video, the first thing we utilised was the
programmes overlaying and cutting tools in order to get our work to look
remotely like a music video. After that was done, we used filters to increase
the brightness of colours in scenes that we wanted to be highly exposed in
order to keep a distribution between the past and present of the narrative. 
4.Whilst editing, we also had to make sure the footage was
edited to match both the lyrics and music to the visuals on screen. We had to
make sure this was precise if we wanted our product to look professional.
Luckily Final Cut Pro made it a bit easier by allowing us to precisely place
markers at the points we wanted to cut. Once the use of magnification was used on the clips timings, we were able to place markers at key points to get precise cuts that blended and fit with the beat helping us create the product we invisioned both in our minds and storyboard. 
5.When it came to creating our digipak, we used Photoshop
provided to us on the Mac computers. Given a variety of features and tools to
use we manipulated our stills and images through the use of contrast and
saturation and added text until we felt happy with the end product. One of the main effects that we incorporated was the use of over exposed grain in order to gain the reflective aspect portrayed through out the scenes of flashbacks that the still image was extracted from. This was to give the digipak a more calm yet bold image that would cause it to stand out from a distance and be seen by audiences as they walk past if showcased in an actual store.
6.We used this same type of process to create our magazine
advert, the only difference was the use of the add picture function in order to
place our completed digipak cover on the magazine cover next to the enlarged
image of the female protagonist. This use of layering came in handy as it gave us the ability to not only take the best pictures from stills, precisely cropped but to also place the image over a new background that emphasises on the image and causes it to stand out. The use of layering also allowed for the implementation of other images such as the the digipak as well as written text that not only stood out in front of the image but did so without creating any obstruction.RESEARCH
1.When it came to research the internet was my main tool and
weapon of choice. This was due to the access to Google which opened a bridge to
a world of websites with the info, I needed and required. By using a mixture of
Wikipedia and artist sites, I was able to come to understand the conventions
associated with the R&B genre. Using these websites, I was able to get a
better idea of how the R&B genre works and how to appeal to its target audience
through our music video, digipak and Magazine Advert. Once I learned the conventions of the genre, I went onto Soundcloud and looked for a song by an unsigned artist that challenges these conventions. This lead us to find the song 'If You Wanna Leave' by Tyler Noel an up and coming unsigned R&B artist.
2.When it came to presenting the information gathered, I mostly
used power point and only slight traces of Prezi. This was due to the fact that
not a lot of research required the use of youtube videos meaning the power
point option was a preferred choice as it allowed for easy layout planning and
creation. When research did require videos, such as research into music videos
themselves then prezis were used as I was able to embed them into blogger and
shape the size of the video thumbnail and link.
3.Whilst doing research having access to both twitter and Facebook,
we used these social media websites to see what Tyler Noel our unsigned artist fan
base was like and how we could use these social websites to promote our final
products and give Tyler some exposure whilst at it. 
4. All research gathered was then recorded and placed into our
blogs. Having used Blogger for two years it was easy to use and provide each
piece of work a neat and clear layout that made it easier for readers to go to
sections they wished to visit with no hassle. However, the downside to this use
of blogger is that when it comes to writing on the blogger website itself and
incorporating pictures, it becomes very difficult to create and make the layout
you were hoping for. Hence why most of the research gathered and recorded is
actually embedded from other websites like Prezi and Slidershare. PLANNING
1)In terms of planning, before anything was done we discussed what
we wanted in our music video and the aim of the narrative as a group. This was
then presented to the class in the form of a power point that was recorded using
a DSLR Camera for reference during filming. It simply stated the song’s lyrics
as well as analysis, our ideas of how the music video should play out,
location, character profile and props. 
2.Once that was done we created a story board denoting the
sequence we wanted our product to follow. This was then converted into animatic.
Through the use of importing images of our storyboard into Adobe Premier we
edited each shot in order to match how long we wanted it to last in our final
piece. In turn it gave us an idea of our final piece and a template to work off
during filming.
3.When it came to developing our digipak, we first looked at
examples of digipaks in the genre through the use of Google. We then chose a
net we felt would suit our digipak and edited it using Photoshop in order to incorporate
a still or image from our photo-shoot to fill each individual field of the net
as well as the disc.
Just like our digipaks we used Photoshop when it came to the planning
of our magazine cover including colour of the background, font and placement of
the digipak cover on the advert.
EVALUATION
When presenting my evaluation questions, I used a variety of media technologies and electronic formats:
1. Evaluation 1: I used a prezi format, this was due to the fact that I felt that I needed a layout that provided YouTube videos concisely whilst not distorting the presentation. This use of importation allowed me to show a clear link between the points that I aimed to convey.
2. Evaluation 2:For this I chose to simply record my voice going through the question showing visual cues as I felt that the structure of power point did it no just.
3. Evaluation 3: For this question, I used power-point for its simple layout which fit the more heavy written evaluation question.
4. Evaluation 4: For this I simply used the Bloggers format and included images. This is due to the fact that going through our presentation every thing can be see as we go through the journey from beginning to start. This means the use of images alone will help readers understand the links and decisions we have made
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