Evaluation

For our evaluation of our finished products, my group members split the roles of answering questions.

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

I answered this question, by uploading screenshots of our music video, and uploading them via www.dipity.com. With each screesnshot I added a brief description, and explained how it conformed to typical pop conventions. As well as still images of our video, I also included links of videos of other pop artists. I did this to make links of similarities between our music video, and other pop videos. Overall i found that our pop video, mainly successfuly conformed to typical conventions of the pop genre. I have also included the link:

http://www.dipity.com/Ishpreet/In-what-ways-does-or-media-product-use-develop-or-challenge-forms-and-conventions-of-real-media-products/

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

Although our music video has conformed to conventions of pop; there are areas which we could improve to appear more conventional. For example it would have been more typical for our dancers, to perform a set routine. They instead took to mainly carrying out different moves from one another. We subverted the typical convention of the lead having a prominent love interest throughout the video. Instead we subtly indicate that Kala (lead) was involved with a love interest; as in the bedroom scene she wakes up in a oversized shirt which could belong to a male, whith whom she.

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

Rumena Ahmed answered this question, by using a prezi presentation:



Question 3: What have you learned from your audience feedback?

For this part of the evaluation, Chloe Connell and I decided to create a news report. Before answering our question, Chloe typed our answer into www.cueprompter.com, so that i could read out the question with ease. Below is a screenshot of the cue prompter, taken by Chloe:

We then edited the question, and Chloe Connell then uploaded it via YouTube:

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

Chloe answered this question, by using www.timetoast.com. She acknowledged  the different types of media technologies, that we used within our research, planning and evaluation.

Final video, digipak and digipak magazine advertisement

This post is dedicated to our final products. Below is the video for our finalised music video for 'Crazy Kids'. Chloe Connell and myself directed the video. Chloe Connell, Rumena Ahmed and I all filmed for different parts of the video, however Chloe Connell took the lead role of filming. Once having uploaded all of our footage onto Final Cut Pro, Chloe Connell and I edited the video together. Chloe Connell then uploaded the video via Youtube.

Rumena Ahmed took to creating the digipak and digipak magazine advertisement. She embedded them onto imgur as seen below:

Typical conventions have been followed for the digipak, which are typical of both our artist and digipaks for pop artists in general. For example the typography used for Kesha's name here, is associated with Kesha. This is as the 's' in her name, is presented as a dollar sign: '$'. This represents Kesha's star image motif, as she uses the dollar sign within her name. Bright colours have been used and enhanced through PhotoShop, this is a typical convention as it captures the attention of the audience. It also connotes a theme of fun. The use of balloons and images of our lead (Kala) as well as others also connotes a theme of partying and fun, which can be associated with Kesha. This is as Kesha is known as being a 'wild child'. A tracklist, label and the logo of Kesha's distributing group have also been included, which is typically seen on digipaks. The promotional single 'Crazy Kids' in included on the red cup, which is placed near Kala's lips. The name placement is typical, as it enables the audience to know that the digipak is a CD for that particular sinlge. Red cups are used in popular culture, as it holds connotations of 'partying', this links to the theme of 'Crazy Kids'. 

Rumena Ahmed then used typical conventions of digipak promotional adverts, to create the magazine design. The magazine advert includes the typical convention of having an image of the artist (Kala). The dominant colour of the advert is dark pink. Dark pink can hold connotations of being 'passionate' and being 'energetic'. This can link to Kesha's sexualised image, which she presents in her music videos. The typography is similar to the one used in our digipak, but it is a lighter colour so it is noticeable against the pink. Once again the use of the dollar sign ('$'), is associated with Kesha's star image motif. The advert holds typical conventions such as the distribution logo of the artist, as well as the name of the hit single 'Crazy Kids'.

Finalised digipak magazine advert:

Using the original magazine advert design made by Rumena Ahmed, Chloe Connell and I decided to develop it further, by creating a similar advert with changed features. We decided to use this advert for the digipak as our finalised design, as it holds more conventional features.

In this finalised advert we changed the image of our lead. This image is more conventional, as Kala (lead) looks directly at the camera. This shows 'Kesha' to be confident, which is a trait Kesha is known for having. She seems to have a happy expression as well as wearing a dress, which links back to the theme of partying in the song 'Crazy Kids'. Similarly we have also used the same colour pink, as well as the typography for the name 'Kesha' for the same reasons as mentioned above. However we changed the colour of typography for 'Kesha' to white; as it stands out amongst the darkened pink background. We have changed the typography and font colour for 'Crazy Kids'. We made the 'C' larger than the rest of the letters, to make it grab the attention of the audience, as well as seem playful. The colour of it is the same blue, as the blue used on the 'Crazy Kids' on the red cup which is seen on the digipak cover.

The drop shadow of 'Crazy Kids' is black, which makes it stand out as well as resembling features of graffiti. This links to a them of 'partying', 'fun' and 'recklessness', which can all be associated with Kesha's star motif.

We have conventionally used an image of the digipak for the advert, which enables the audience to know exactly what the digipak will look like. We also incorporated the idea of the website found on the advert, as well as the iTunes label and 'RCA' logo from the original advert design created by Rumena.

Digipak and promotional advert design sketches

Rumena Ahmed created rough sketches, for the designs of the digipak and promotional advert.

 This enabled her to get an idea of what she wanted her final piece to look like. It also gave her an opportunity to think of what conventional aspects, to include into the design. She then uploaded the sketches of the design onto SlideShare.

Whilst creating the digipak, Rumena Ahmed created a video, which displays the steps she took to creating. This is helpful as it shows the decisions and choices she made, and at what time in the process she made them. By downloading quicktime, Rumena was able to display her editing process. She then uploaded the video via YouTube. Below is the video:

Digipak promotional advert research

Digipak promotional adverts are important, as they advertise upcoming albums or songs of artists. I researched into two promotional adverts, and compared conventional features. This will be helpful in creating our own, as we draw inspiration from it. Below I have analysed the promotional advertisement for popular pop artist Britney Spears's album 'Circus'

Here are the main things that we as an audience are presented with:

• The name of the artists ('Britney Spears'), in large capitalised font. It is shown in through a bright and vibrant colour, which indicates that they are the main focus of the advertisement.
• The release date and name of the album
• A hit single which the audience may be familiar with
• A large proportion of the page is dedicated to an image of the artist
• The image is quite sexualised: Britney appears to be showing a lot of skin, as well as directly looking into the camera which connotes her confidence
• The font and theme of the advertisement is similar to the digipak
• The theme of album name 'Circus' is expressed through the colour choice, and layout of the font

My team member Chloe Connell then went on to analyse Rihanna's promotional advert for 'Loud':

• The digipack consists of vibrant colours in order to attract attention
• The album title is called 'Loud', this is juxtaposed by the use of visual images as she appears to have her fingers over her lips signifying to 'shh'
• An image of her album cover so that the audience know which album she is referring to and advertising
• The use of typography to connote 'OUT NOW' so that the audience know when they can access the digipack
• Close up of her face is used similarly on the album cover connoting her in a sexual desire reinforcing Laura Mulvey's male gaze
• Similar use of vibrant colour of red is dennoted through he magazine advertisement and album cover

Digipak research

Digipaks are usually limited edition, and are a type of packaging which accompany CD's. They can have a minimum of six panels, and may include features such as images of the artist/s, track listing, lyrics and so on. Depending on the genre of the of the artist/s, digipaks are presented in a certain way which are typical of certain conventions. As a lead up to creating our own digipak, in class we looked at various digipaks, and the way in which they were represented.

Chloe Connell took to researching the digipak, for album 'Teenage Dream' by pop artist Katy Perry:

My first Digipak I have chosen to research is the Katy Perry 'teenage dream' album, it follows the typical conventions of a Digipak such as having six panels in order to connote pictures of the artist using different shots such as a close up and extreme long shot. The use of bright pink colours help relate to Katy Perry's personality and is one of her artist conventions to use a lot of girly colours which also helps appeal to her target audience of being majorly females. The digipack also consists of a track list which usually appears on most digipacks to inform the distributers and audience what is featured on the CD so they know what they are buying. The CD also features Katy laying on clouds which represents one of her well known songs 'Teenage Dream' which most of her audience would be aware of. The digipack also denotes a parental advisory label as her audience may be quite young it informs those that the CD has no use of profanities and is suitable for a younger audience. Katy also appears to be laying in a sexual way, this shows that it would fit Laura Mulvey's male gaze which would also suit her male target audience.

I then went on to researching the conventions of 2pac's digipak, which is an album of his best hits:

I then went on to researching the conventions of 2pac's digipak, which is an album of his best hits. The first conventional feature on the cover, is the image of what appears to be the top half of 2pac from the back. From this image we can see that he is topless, but is wearing things such as a gold chain and watch. This links in with the hip-hop genre, as this connotes success and masculinity.
The font used to present 2pac's name, appears to look rough and battered. This may make 2pac seem raw and tough; which also links in with many other artists in the hip-hop genre. In terms of editing, the image of 2pac on the front cover, seems to have a sepia edit. This creates a dim light which emphasises his muscular body, which once again emphasises 2pac's macho persona. The front cover includes a 'parental advisory' label; this enables the audience to know that what they are about to buy may include explicit content.

By researching digipaks of different artists, I was able to see what particular conventions were used to meet a certain genre. The Katy Perry digipak differs greatly from the 2pac digipak. By looking into the 'Teenage Dream' digipak, it will help when creating our own as they both cater for a pop genre. For an example the 'Teenage Dream' digipak used vivid imagery through the use of bright colours. We may also opt to use bright colours for our digipak, in order to make it conventional of a pop genre.

Additional research- comparisons

For our music video, we attempted to have our lead (Kala) mimic Kesha's style.

 

Within various music videos of Kesha's, she can always be seen as having heavy eye make. This can differ from having glitter, or as the screen shot below shows, studs on her eyebrows. The screenshot is taken from 'We R Who We Are'. This adds to Kesha's image and star motif, as eye make up (glitter in particular), is something that is nearly always incorporated in her videos.

Whilst filming a particular scene, we decided to reflect this certain aspect of Kesha's onto our lead. We achieved this through using face crayons. Rumena Ahmed took to drawing different coloured swirls and patterns on and around Kala's eyelid. The screenshot below shows the patterns that Rumena drew. The use of bright colours can also be associated with Kesha, as well as link to the 'Crazy Kids' theme.

Behind-the-scene images

Whilst filming for our music video, I took various pictures of Rumena and Chloe setting up behind the scenes. This included images of them setting up things such as the tripods, as well as lighting and filming. Rumena had control over the lighting, whilst Chloe Connell and I filmed. Chloe Connell then took an image of me setting up the camera. Chloe Connell then added the pictures onto Fotor Photo Collage, which shows exactly how we took to preparing for filming. Among the photos, i took a still image of our lead positioning herself for the camera. 

Each picture demonstrates different steps we had to take, in order to achieve a certain image. For an example the bottom right picture shows how we used props such as pink balloons and streamers. This is conventional in pop videos, such as the video for 'TGIF' by Katy Perry as it connotes a theme of fun. In this case it links to theme of 'crazy kids' and 'partying', which have been dominant within our video, and are similar to the star motif of Kesha who is seen as a 'wild child'. 
Below is a print screen from Kesha's music video for 'C'Mon', which also uses streamers:

The bottom middle picture shows Rumena adjusting the hair of the lead, and this shows how paying attention to small detail is essential. 

I also took behind the scene images for when we used the green screen, which I added together through the use of InstacCollage. Below shows Chloe and Rumena setting up:

Music video equipment list

For our music video, we all as a group came together, to think of what possible items would be needed. This will enable us to keep track of things that will need to be present whilst filming. It will help us to know what to bring, in order for our video to successfully resemble the qualities of the pop genre, as well as Kesha's style. I created the equipment list for my group:

-Camera
-Tripod

 -Polaroid camera
-Party poppers
-Disco Ball
-Torch
-Balloons
-Streamers
-Cups
-Glitter
-Punch bowl
-Drinks
-Lab coats
-Ladles
-Beakers
-Tubes
-Make-up
-Mirror
-Spotlights

Costume list

I conducted a costume list by uploading images on to the app 'InstaCollage'. This includes particular clothing that our main lead (Kala Hill) will wear for our music video:

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We have carefully considered what type of clothing would be most suitable for Kala to wear, as she will be mimicking Kesha's style. For example we have chosen gold glitter shorts, as Kesha is known for incorporating glitter into her outfits as well as make up. Kesha tends to opt for bright clothing, which will be reflected in the bright aztec dress/crop top that we have chosen.

Kesha caters for the male gaze in her videos, by wearing 'sexy' and provocative clothing. We will achieve this look through the use of shorts, as well as crop tops and heels. This is conventional for the pop genre, for an example Katy Perry is denoted as wearing bikinis for video 'California Girls'.

Near the end of the song 'Crazy Kids', there is a slower more part, in which Kesha expresses her emotions through singing soulfully. For this part of the song we will have our lead in the fluffy white jumper with red hearts. This will connote a sense of softness, and will contrast the crazy and bright outfits, which accompany the rest of upbeat song.

Health and safety risk assesment

Rumena Ahmed conducted a health and safety risk assessment, and then uploaded it onto SlideShare.

By doing this we became more conscious of any risks or dangers that may occur, whilst filming. This allows us to remain prepared in case of any emergencies, which may possibly arise in certain situations. This makes sure that the safety of those involved in making the music video, is considered through out.

Filming schedule

Rumena Ahmed conducted a filming schedule on behalf of the group.

 

This enabled us to know what shot we were filming, in our differing locations. This was essential as we have many locations, which we intend to incorporate in our video. This will enable us to plan what needs to shot on what day, hence improving our organisation skills. This ensures that filming runs as smoothly as possible, as we will be able to have things ready beforehand.

 

 

 

 

 

Shotlist

On behalf of my group, I completed a shortlist of our video, and the uploaded it via SlideShare. This will enable us to know exactly what to film, at what location, and what point in the song. This will help us keep track of filming, and will improve our organisation skills.

Storyboard

Chloe Connell took the role of drawing out the storyboard, and then decided to upload it onto SlideShare, due to the large amount of pages. We may find that we don't stick to the storyboard completely, as changes may be made. Despite this the storyboard enables us to know exactly what to film, in what location. As Chloe included shot types and lyrics, we know exactly what to film at particular parts of the song.

Artist biogrpahy

As a part of research, Chloe Connell gathered information on Kesha. This will help us to gain deeper knowledge of our artist:

While Ishpreet was creating the Laura Mulvey male gaze I decided to research into Kesha. Kesha who is also known as Kesha Rose Sebert was born in Los Angeles, California in 1987, she is formally a singer, songwriter and rapper. She had her major breakthrough while appearing in Flo Rida's hit single ''Right Round'', this was then her first major few steps to becoming more famous and getting publicly known worldwide. Kesha attended Brentwood High school and studied songwriting classes and often learned how to sing many of her mothers Pebe songs and on many occasions started songwriting together, this is how Kesha gathered her passion for music.

http://www.biography.com/people/kesha-562676#awesm=~oB1slULt3tXUMd

Kesha also has featured her own documentary which premiered on MTV which followed her going on her tour and her day to day life. This enabled her fans to gain an insight to her life and see her working in the studios below is the first episode of her documentary which I interpreted for additional research as it allows viewers to see Kesha for what she is like rather than what they read or see about her.

Research- Male gaze theory

I individually researched into Laura Mulvey's theory of the male gaze, as well as applying it to Kesha's videos and our own:

Laura Mulvey is British feminist as well as film theorist, who introduces the concept of the 'male gaze'. The male gaze refers to the way in which cameras, predominately focus on women as being shown sexual object of desire. By doing this the audience view the female, through the eyes of a heterosexual male. Women can be seen as a sexualised objects in many differing platforms of media, from magazine covers, films, music videos, and so on. This can be done through things such as provocative actions, clothing or even the way men respond or react to women.

Catering for the male gaze is a typical convention of the pop genre. Many female artists such as Katy Perry and Beyoncé, are known for their 'sexiness' and raunchy videos. After viewing various videos of Kesha's (our artist), we could see that many of her music videos also caterers for the male gaze. Below are screen shots from youtube of  Kesha's music videos, which can apply to the male gaze:

The first screen shot is taken from the music video 'We R Who We R'. Kesha is denoted as wearing a provocative American print top, which has a large rip at the chest. This caters for the male gaze, as it enables the audience to catch a glimpse of Kesha's breasts.

 

 



The second screen shot is taken from the music video 'Die young'. Here Kesha is denoted as laying on a mattress in a provocative manner, wearing little clothing. This shot caters for the male gaze, as it emphasises Kesha's legs, breasts and stomach.

 This research has been helpful in creating our music video. This is as we have learned to incorporated scenes and shots which cater for the male gaze; as this is typical of the pop genre as well as Kesha's 'sexy' image. Below is a screen shot which shows a shot we filmed of the lead (Kala Hill) for our music video. Our lead is denotes as laying on a bed, which is similar to the screen shot above. The shot pays particular focus to Kala's legs, which can be conventional of a pop video. However my group and I were full aware of the possibility, that Kala's shirt may have been too revealing when she was laying down. In order to prevent this, we requested Kala to wear black shorts underneath the shirt.

 

 

Final treatment

Name of artist: Kesha

Title of track: Crazy Kids

 

Following our draft treatment and padlet response, as a group we decided on amendments according to what people suggested. Chloe Connell and I took to re-constructing the narrative, in order to fix or improve any areas. For an example a respondent suggested that we get various shots that link to a theme of 'crazy kids'. So for the beginning we will instead show our lead having woken up in the evening (from intense partying); which will connote her hectic and fun lifestyle.
 

Outline of ideas for music video (narrative, characterisation, concept etc…) Our music video will start of with the female lead, waking up in the evening from intense partying the days before. People  shown doing a unique dance routine; which later in the sequence people are shown doing aswell. Cuts to the lead singing against a starry background, and then cuts to school lab earlier that day of everyone making drinks in a lab (replace alcoholic products). We will ensure to have a close up on this, to make it clear that they are not alcoholic. Then the scene cuts to the female lead and her friends walking to the party and then shots of people in the party, not having a very good time. Thereafter, female lead and her friends put down a large bowl of a substance which then is given to the guests and the party livens up and more funky items are placed in the party to connote that the party was boring before. Female lead and her friend are shown taking shots of the substance.

Resources that will be needed? (actors, props, settings, technical resources) ·      Actors ·      Backdrops/green screen ·      Chemistry lab- lab coats ·      Glitter/make up for actors ·      Costume ·      Big space ·      Lights ·      Mirror ·      Glow in the dark paint/ glow sticks ·      Party decorations

Draft treatment response

Chloe Connell and I set up a pad let in class; in order to receive responses to our draft treatment. After having read our draft treatment, people offered critique on what they liked and what could be improved. This will be helpful when re-drafting our treatment, as it will enable us to make changes according to what our target audience want. An example of what was particularly liked about our narrative, was the 'crazy party' theme so this will be kept in our video. A suggestion made was to ensure that the use of no alcohol is emphasised.

Created with Padlet

Draft treatment

My group and i came together to discuss the potential narrative and ideas that we could include in our pop music video. We brainstormed various things and eventually came up with ideas we all agreed upon. We based our ideas upon the responses we received from our questionnaires. By doing this we intend for our target audience to enjoy the music video; as we included factors they said they would want to see e.g a party scene. This will be helpful when filming the video, as we will have a set narrative to follow.

Name of artist: Kesha

Title of track: Crazy Kids

Outline of ideas for music video (narrative, characterisation, concept etc…) Our music video will start of with the female lead, preparing for a night out with her friends. The lead female looks into the mirror as she begins to get ready; her friends appear to glow in the dark paint to their faces. People  shown doing a unique dance routine; which later in the sequence people are shown doing aswell. Cuts to the lead singing against a starry background, and then cuts to school lab earlier that day of everyone making drinks in a lab (replace alcoholic products). Then the scene cuts to the female lead and her friends walking to the party and then shots of people in the party, not having a very good time. Thereafter, female lead and her friends put down a large bowl of a substance which then is given to the guests and the party livens up and more funky items are placed in the party to connote that the party was boring before. Female lead and her friend are shown taking shots of the substance.

Resources that will be needed? (actors, props, settings, technical resources) ·      Actors ·      Backdrops/green screen ·      Chemistry lab- lab coats ·      Glitter/make up for actors ·      Costume ·      Big space ·      Lights ·      Mirror ·      Glow in the dark paint/ glow sticks ·      Party decorations

Justification of ideas relating to artist, genre and audience questionnaire and focus group information: We are thinking of doing a party scene, as it was one of the most popular options from the questionnaire. Also this would be typical for Kesha as she is seen to be an outrageous and fun artist. Bright things such as glow in the dark paint and make up are typical of Kesha, as she is particularly associated and known for having incorporating these things in her style and her video. The shots will be fast paced, as this is typical of a pop video. After reviewing the Questionnaire and Focus group, we ensured that the narrative was audience specific and was similar to the pop genre.

Focus group

My group and i gathered a focus group of females, with age range of 17-19. We chose this particular group as it, reflected the majority of our target group, and respondents of our questionnaire. Looking back at our questionnaire, I chose and developed certain questions, which we would then have asked our focus group. We begun the focus group process by playing our chosen song for our music video, which is 'Crazy Kids' by Kesha. After having allowed them to listen to the song, we asked particularly important questions which we developed from our questionnaire. This enabled us to gain in depth knowledge as to what our target would want to see from our music video, as well as what we should avoid. Below is the video for our focus group, which was edited and uploaded by Rumena Ahmed. Chloe Connell filmed the focus group, while Rumena Ahmed and I took to reading out the questions.



Conducting this focus group was immensely helpful, as we learned what we could include in our narrative. For example from our questionnaire results analysis, we discovered that the two most popular themes for our video were 'partying' and 'humour'. Due to this we asked the group what they would consider to be humorous. From this we learned that our audience would find humour in a narrative which was unusual, as well as bright and unusual. In order to achieve this, my group I will attempt to use bright and colourful backgrounds, as well as make our narrative fun by including more people who accompany our star.

Another important question we asked our group, was ideas as to what we could substitute alcohol with. Due to the age restrictions regarding alcohol, we would be unable to include real alcoholic products within our video. Our group suggested we use bright coloured liquid, which would tie in with the 'crazy' and 'humorous' theme. Taking this into consideration, we will attempt to have our main star creating drinks in a science lab. This will connote craziness, hence linking to Kesha's image as her videos are known to be outrageous.

In order to find out what in particular our audience would not like to see in our video, we asked what they dislike about music videos. One member of the group mentioned how they dislike long paced shots, as they can become boring. In order to prevent this, we will try and film fast paced shots to keep our audience entertained. This is especially typical of the pop genre, including many of Kesha's videos such as 'We R Who We R'. Adding to this, we will also try to incorporate different settings and locations within the fast shots; which is also conventional of pop videos.

Pop convention frame analysis

In lesson we all did a frame analysis for typical pop conventions, when analysing 'Telephone' by Lady Gaga and Beyonce. A convention can be defined as something which is typical or usually expected from something; in this case the pop genre. After having analysed 'Telephone', we went on to choose individual pop music videos, and took to analysing typical pop conventions through screenshots. I chose the music video for 'Waking up in Vegas' by  pop artist Katy Perry; I chose 6 still frames and analysed the pop conventions used within them. This activity will be helpful when conducting our music video, as we will know what conventions to incorporate into it, in order to make it typical.

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