Final Product: Cecilia Kay - On a Mission

Final Product: Cecilia Kay Website - Ancillary Product

http://larissabrown96.wix.com/takenrecordspresents

click link to see website or copy and paste address

Final Product: Digipak

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Background Photo

My background image of my blog is a photo of myself taken by my partner whilst shooting the music video in Brixton

Evaluation Question 1:

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

Examples of Use:

During the photoshoot for the digipak we chose a similar location as this CD cover (Yasmin - Light Up The World). The visual effect and font attracted my attention because it emphasises the urban culture. The photo is taken in an urban setting at a mid-shot which frames the artist with architectural buildings and vehicles. The use of the black and white visual effect adds to the urban feel but can subvert in terms of our young audience. Black and white stresses old fashion vintage style; this effect was used in early 20th century but still has an appeal to young audiences who listen to urban genres.
The font is slightly similar to vandalism font which attracts younger audience and rejects an older audience because they consider themselves mature by not involving in petty crimes.

Examples of Challenges:

I haven't got many examples of where we've challenged conventions of this genre. In this genre the if the artist is female they are not hyper-sexualised they are most likely to be hidden and framed with icons that create a narrative for the audience to comprehend. From audience feedback I conducted that when an artist is hyper-sexualised it distracts them from actually listening to the music. On our website we used images where the artist is positioned with her hand on her hips to exaggerate her stomach which is complimented with white clothing. Comparing with the Rinse fm website the artists are not stressed for their appearance but the music an their interest is shown on this website. There isn't a gallery which shows how the artist presents themselves because they express themselves through music.

Evaluation Question 2:

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? How do they link?
http://prezi.com/jmk8wa2cvr6v/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Evaluation Question 3:

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

Media technology with Planning:

Media technology with Research:

Using this application allowed me to get a view of how music videos are shot. As YouTube is a free application it was very useful in researching conventions of pop videos. Being aged 18 I am exposed to what our target audience expects in a music video. 

The internet itself, is a media technology that has become beneficial and helpful in terms of research. Search engines enabled me to get information of why directors choose to shoot videos with a specific narrative or concept. 

The internet being so easily accessible I can retrieve information from artists known all around the world. I chose to research how artists function on social networking sites just to get an idea of how an artist is seen by the public. As I am already associated with twitter and instagram I found that mainstream artists tend to use social networking as a promotion technique and to show off their products. Niche artists choose to interact with fans more and use the site as a 'normal' person would. 

Web 2.0 has been an effective source for research due to the fact that its worldwide. I have understood theories of music videos and related them to modern media texts. Today it is very likely that every company has a website therefore I can get information from all sources that are useful for my product. 

My research is constructed on my blog using other platforms to post the information I got (such as prezi, mixbook, slideshare, glogster etc). Using the internet has allowed me to get information and post it relating to my product. For instance I would watch a video on YouTube then analyse it and compare it to my product via blogger. It's very useful because I can hear and view things on the net which is beneficial for research specifically.

Media technologies with Production:

Photoshop and final cut were the main applications used for production. Final cut is an efficient way to edit footage in an effective way. This technology is obviously effective because this wasn't available in the past. 

Photoshop allows to construct an image in a way that can be more appealing to an audience. The use of black and white filter effects stresses the rough personality of the star. This allows to deceive the audience of what the star actually looks like. This application has taught me that any image can be edited to appeal to certain eyes and be represented as attractive because of the techniques used. I used air brush tools, magic tools, filter effects, sketching effects and liquify. This enabled to exaggerate the the sexuality and femininity of the artist. 

Final cut was an efficient way to construct the video. This technology is an example of modern technology development that has been a great assistance for creating the video. Its obviously effect because I have imprinted my footage onto the application and edited in a way to convey certain meaning. The transitions have become effective because keeps the audience watching and fascinated.

Evaluation Question 4:

What have you learned from audience feedback?

The majority of responses given after our target audience have seen the final product of the digipak and the music video have been positive. Many appealed to the black and white theme of the digipak. A few respondents said they felt thrilled after seeing locations they are used to seeing regularly on a daily basis. For example some of the audience live in Brixton and Croydon and found it exciting to see places they are familiar with. From here I learnt that an audience grip more onto a text when they view something that represents them.

The criticism received were mainly towards the lip-syncing in the video and due to it being of low budget it didn't satisfy everyone's viewing. Also because its a video used to promote an upcoming artist, audiences are not always easily attracted to products that are low budget and new. I've learnt that non-established artists have a harder job in creating a fan base. I also realised that this video would not have been mainstream because it really differs from music videos that are already played on music channels. This video would not have been a successful viewing on KISS or MTV  music channels for instance.Overall I think made a succesful video in terms of satisfying our target audience.

Here are some examples of audience feedback from the social media application SnapChat, I posted the video and the digipak as a story on the application for all of my contacts to view.




 

 

 

Digipak Photos

Behind the scenes (Part two)

Behind the scenes 'Cecilia - On a Mission'

Change of Artist (due to complications)

Due to complications with accessibility of our previous artist we've had to choose one of ourselves to perform the song the in 'On a Mission'. Our previous artist had a tight schedule that could not fit filming for a music video. The new artist is very similar to the previous artist in terms of appearance. Please see character profile for more information.

Audience Feedback

Why use this effect for digipak?

As seen before the black and white filter was inspired by Yasmin's album cover for 'Light Up The World'. I used a handwritten font that doesn't resemble graffiti too much so it doesnt completely alienate older audiences. Using graffiti could suggest vandalism and crime which contributes to the stereotype of young people being involved in crime. By using the same font for all parts of the digipak it makes it blend and look like an actual photoshoot and creates a symbol.



To make it seem more realistic I copied and pasted a barcode to put on the back cover of the album. Most albums have the tracklist on the back cover but I decided to use a front mid-shot of the artist for the front cover and a back mid-shot for the back cover. So when the consumer first  sees the front cover of the album they may predict what the back looks like and either be shocked or their prediction was true.

Inspiring Photos

(Photoshoot)