Evaluation Question 1 (Final) // Nathan Beard

Evaluation Question 1

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

Video
When we where in the research stage,  watching established music video we discovered a few trends (conventions), that generally are followed by most videos. The most common of these conventions is the disjuncture, amplification, performance and narrative styles of video. This convention is very rarely broken.
We have carried this convention into our final video as we have used the narrative style of video. This is due to the fact that the original video for our song heavily features instruments and is a performance based video, this combined with the fact that throughout our extensive research we found that narrative based 'cinematic' style videos are some of the most successful.

Our video also followed conventions based on the clothing and framing we used throughout our video, the mise en scene fitted with the image pre-associated with the genre of music (indie) we also used framing that is consistent with that used in real media products, these include close up shots and mid shots of the main singer, this is used in order to create a bond between fans and the lead singer.

The primary area that our video breaks conventions is in that most videos for songs of our genre (indie) are performance based. Another aspect of convention that our video breaks is that typically real media products used advanced camera equipment, by contrast, for our video we used the camera on the iPhone 6s Plus, this records in 4K resolution and features OIS so along with a professional camera application (in this case FiLMiC Pro) in order to allow manual control over aspects such as focus and exposure, it can produce results equal to a mid to high end DSLR.

Overall our video both embraces certain conventions of established music videos and rejects other conventions that are perhaps now outdated.

Ancillary 

Digipak
For my digipak, as with the video I heavily researched existing texts such as the xx, AM by Arctic Monkeys, Blue Monday by New Order and The Dark side of the Moon by Pink Floyd (pictured below) and analysed their features and what made them successful (or not). This gave me a real sense of the elements of digipaks that are carried throughout most examples, these conventions where plentiful, an example of a convention in digipaks is that typically they feature artwork in the center and then text above and below, typically the band name above and the album name below. I followed this convention in my digipak (and my advert) as I felt it carried an air of sophistication. Another convention that I embraced is the order of items on the spine (Band,Title,Catalog Number).
During my research I found that the very best digipkas where minimalist in their design language, this is a form of convention that is used more and more frequently now.

Advert
For my magazine advert, like with the digipak and video I researched various existing products and analysed their features and their success as a result of these aspects. looking at these examples gave me an idea of the conventions that are used throughout most magazine adverts of this type, I found there to be many conventions, an example of a convention in adverts is that they typically have the artwork in the center of the magazine advert and then title text above and below, typically the information about the album below. I followed this convention closely in my advert as the convention creates a sense of simplicity. Another convention that I used is the use of a record label logo towards the bottom of the advert. This allows viewers to quickly realize who is behind the album.
The real products I looked at for ideas and to evaluate the conventions used in the adverts where mostly the magazine adverts for the digipaks above, as they fitted best with the style I wanted to follow. However There were a few more that I liked and took inspiration from, like the Kasabian poster.
Another convention I followed for my magazine advert is the idea of a link between the digipak and to an extent the video, this is widely used in the industry and creates an identity that links the elements to each other.

Overall our media products both follow an challenged various different forms of conventions, following the best aspects and differing in the worst.

Evaluation Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Very early on into the process of creating both the video and the ancillary tasks, we established the importance of relevant feedback, from our target audience as they were the ones that would have to like it. We used this throughout the creative and development processes in order to make our products the best we could do. 

The pitch

This was the first point at which we received feedback, as this was our idea and what would ultimately influence our final products. Responses to the pitch we found where crucial to the success of bot the video and the ancillary tasks. The feedback was largely positive for the pitch and people really warmed to the name of the band and the creative ideas behind the video, the feedback we received expressed positive reactions towards the style of video we planned to create and how it matched the genre of the song well, a further positive comment was the monochrome/colour contrast as it was said that this would create an interesting visual effect for the viewer. Concerns that where raised included, where it was going to be set, this was the most prolific concern, along with wether it was going to be performance or narrative based.

The result of the feedback was that we really narrowed down the choices for locations and looked into different options and what they offered. We learned that it is hugely important to know the location as without that not much can be planned as it becomes location dependant, this lesson came form the feedback we received, highlighting its importance in our creative process. We also researched the meaning of our song and came to a decision on the narrative of the video.

Separate from the group the feedback highlighted, the successfulness of the brand image we had priced together, given that the most common positive comment was based around it, this gave me the idea to make that a key consideration in the design of my digipak and magazine advert, as I felt that if the audience liked it in the pitch that same success could be represented in those print elements.

Digipak

Given that we had now learned the value in obtaining feedback throughout the process, it was a primary concern form me in that I knew I needed feedback every step of the way form the people that matter (my target audience), this was an idea that helped me create a successful digipak and advert. Early comments on the very first drafts I made were that I needed to de clutter the front panel of my digipak down even further, something that I had not thought of given that I was already conforming to a minimalistic look and feel for the product. The second stage at which I obtained feedback, and the first formal feedback collection was on my first published draft. Feedback on this was very positive and gave me confidence in my idea. People liked the brand consistency throughout the panels on the digipak. Another area that people praised was the cover design, people commented that it represented the band successfully and matched with the design brief we presented in the pitch of 'simple but memorable'. Some areas for improvement were the addition of a record label logo, a catalog number and some other small tweaks. The feedback I received at this stage was invaluable in making my final version as good as it could be. 

Comments on that final version were nearly all completely positive with many people commenting on the professionalism of the design and how all the aspects fit together in a linked manner.

Advert

For this part of the task, which I started after the digipak feedback for the early drafts had been received. I used a similar philosophy in that I took on board the criticise that had been given to me by my target audience and implemented a range of changes that I had carried out on my digipak, this meant that the feedback for the first published draft of my advert was largely positive with similar comments being made as those for the digipak. a new issue did however arise, due to the fact that the advert is bigger than the digipak the level of text separation and font size was commented on in much of the feedback I received. I then resolved this, meaning that the feedback on my final version was largely good.

Video

As with the other aspects, we relied on feedback from the beginning of the process. This feedback was largely collected via face to face conversations with our target audience, finding out what they liked and disliked about our video every step of the way, the feedback we were receiving was based around the fact that they liked the framing and miss en scene as well as the shot styles, they also commented on the fact that some shots were to long. We worked to resolve this and gradually moved closer to what the audience were wanting from our product, by the time that the 1st draft was ready to be shown, we had already built up an idea of what people were likely to say. Some of the predictions proved true, and were subsequently worked on others weren't expected and gave us new ideas on how to go about improving the video. 

Overall, I have learned a lot form the feedback I have received, it has enabled me to make the best products I can and gave us an insight into what people want for our video. However, perhaps the biggest thing you learn from feedback is that when it is positive it gives confidence in you product and has allowed me to carry that forward onto the next one, meaning that I started each product from a position where I had an idea what worked and what didn't 

Filming Dates

We have decided that we are going to film on the 26th and 27th of November, this will be at the location we plan to shoot in Leicester City Centre. The shots will be taken in places similar to those in the location mood bards of the urban environments, the lighting for our video is a mixture between sundown type lighting and darker more night like lighting. For this reason we are going to film from about 5PM until we finish with the shots we need on each day.
One of our band members is unavailable on one of the days so all of the shots relating to him will be done on the 27th.

The test shots taken on 20/11/15 were not of satisfactory quality and will only be used to demonstrate a vague representation of the ideas we have.

Song Meaning (Undercover Martyn)

The meaning for the song Undercover Martyn, is that the lead singer is trying to convince his reclusive friend to stop being alone in his house (basement) and to come out into the outside world and discover new things.

This will help us plan our story line for the video, with a parallel video (the band and the friend)