Evaluation Adam White- Johnson

Adam White- Johnson

Media evaluation

Also view my evaluation on Wix.com http://www.wix.com/ad4m77/adam

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

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The media products my group made were a music video, album artwork and a magazine cover. The soundtrack to the music video was ‘Next Hype’ by a grime artist called Tempa T. The music video conforms to the codes and conventions of the grime genre in which the soundtrack is based. Setting and mise en scene crafted carefully to achieve an authentic Grime music video. Usually grime videos would include some sort of dark grimy setting to correspond with the violent lyrics that are usually present. Costumes would usually contain some sort of intimidating attire such as hoodies and weapons. A baseball bat and two different types of hooded jackets were used in our music video and some of the performance part was performed in an alley which conforms to the conventions of a Grime music video. The music video is mainly performance driven, with little concept of a narrative. Some scenes in the video follow the expectations of a Grime music video, whereas other scenes deviate from these expectations. This deviation occurs because the soundtrack is a combination of the Grime and Funky House genre.

However our music video challenges conventions of a Grime music video as there is a dance sequence combined with jump cuts which corresponds to the funky house instrumental backing the grime lyrics of Tempa T. The combination of the two genres inspired our group to make an unorthodox grime music video. Just like real music video’s we used a variety of camera shots and locations to ensure the authenticity of the video, and maintain viewer’s interest. The use of coloured lighting conforms with conventions of a funky house music video. We used colour correction to un -saturate the colour in certain scenes in the video to make the setting seem more dark and grimy. We also shot the grimy scenes of the video on a rainy day. This technique is called pathetic fallacy intertwining weather with the mood of the video. Other performance scenes were filmed in a drama studio, with coloured chairs piled on top of each other. The use of mise en scene was important to follow the expectations of a funky house/ Grime music video as coloured lighting and weapons were used to combine the two genres. 

The continuity of the baseball bat and hooded jacket ensures the authenticity of the video and conforms to the Grime genre as shown in other Grime music videos where violent weapons are brandished. This low angle camera shot gives the impression that the artist is in a position of power. The stance in which the artist is standing combined with the camera shot correlates to the intimidating tone of the lyrics.

Prior to the development of our music video, extensive research and planning took place to ensure the authenticity of our final product. I researched established music directors such as Colin Tilley, Spike Jonze, and Hype Williams. I analyzed music video's that they had produced and used certain techniques, such as fast paced straight cuts of the artist in different locations in our final product.

There is a similarity between our music video and that of an established Grime artist named Wiley. His music video ‘numbers in action’ displayed him performing his song in one still shot whilst other shots of him carrying out certain acts in the background were superimposed. Although we didn’t use this exact technique, the jump shots depict the same sort of comical element to the video that brightens up the dark tone of the lyrics and the video. We used a JVC HD video camera fixed in one position on a tripod and filmed the artist in various positions dancing to the Next Hype soundtrack. This section of the music video conforms to Dyer's star theory which states that the artist will be the focal point of the music video as they are what is being marketed and the star is what people spend money to see. The artist maintains eye contact with the camera throughout the music video which creates a connection between the artist and our demographic audience. This eye contact puts across the feelings of anger that are reflected via the lyrics.

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

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Prior to creating our CD cover and magazine advert, various advertisements and CD covers were reviewed and analyzed in order for our group to create an aesthetically pleasing product. We took inspiration from UK grime artists such as Dizzee Rascal and Ghetts and incorporated themes and ideas that were used in some of their album covers into ours.

The back of the CD cover conforms to the conventions of the grime genre as it depicts a picture of the artist holding a baseball bat against a brick wall. However the image has been edited so it looks like the artist has been spray painted onto the wall. This is similar to Tinchy Stryder’s album artwork for Third Strike.

This depicts that the album artwork my group has created conforms to the genre of real media products. The front of the CD cover depicts the artist in the motion of swinging a baseball bat which correlates to the violent lyrics present Grime music.  The artist is at the centre of the cover which conforms to t Goodwin’s six point star theory that states that the star will be the focal point of the media product presented. The music video also conforms to this theory as the ‘star’ is in every shot and is in the centre of the screen ensuring that the star gets the viewer’s full attention. Close up shots are used to ensure the audience get a clear view of the star.

The Magazine cover pictures the artist standing in front of a dumpster in an alleyway. His attire and the background is shadowed and eyes are coloured red which connotes the theme of darkness and Grime. To ensure continuity in our media product a baseball bat was prevalent in the music video, the magazine cover and the album artwork. This was done to create a recognized brand of the artist. Whenever the baseball bat is seen it is related back to the artist. Quotes from newspapers at the bottom of the cover, barcodes and store names make the magazine cover more authentic and ensures it looks like a real media product.

We created two possible magazine advertisements, however we decided the one pictured above was more effective as the setting and mise en scene was more fitting to the Grime genre. The image of artist is the same in both versions however they have been placed in different locations. The Graffiti on the wall of the chosen magazine advert conforms to the expectations of the Grime genre. The media portray Grime music in a bad light and associate it with anti social behavior such as vandalism. 

Branding has played a major role in the production of our media products. A baseball bat has been used throughout the music video, CD cover, and magazine cover to create image viewers will instantly recognize. The production company is presented at the start of the video and is present in the CD cover and magazine cover. The gritty distorted font that the album title is written in connotes the same themes linked to the Grime genre. 

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

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The target demographic for our product was young adults aged from 15-25. There is no specific ethnicity aimed at, however the people more likely to be interested in our product would live in inner city areas and will more likely to be males. However we created a fictional character which our products would appeal directly to.

Name: Jamal Williams
Age: 22
Ethnicity: Black Caribbean
Area lived in: Brixton
Occupation: Entrepreneur
Favorite radio station: Choice FM
Favorite music artist: 50 Cent
Preferred genre of music: Grime/ Hip Hop

To appeal to this audience violence was incorporated into the video. The focal characters attire was that of ‘thug’ which would appeal to the target audience. The events that occur in the video depict the artist as being violent towards another person. These actions correlate with the attire he is dressed in. The hood over his head combined with a baseball bat suggests he is going to do something sinister. These sort of themes attract the interest of young males in inner city areas as it reflects the lives many of them live day in day out. The audience has been positioned in the perspective of the violent focal character that breaks into a man’s home, attacks him with a baseball bat and then drags a man out of his car before stealing it.

However the audience does not see the events from the perspective of the victims which may glamourize these acts, on the other hand; they are entertaining and attract the attention of the targeted social groups. The final products of the music video, the magazine advert and the CD cover were aesthetically pleasing to the viewers whom gave very positive feedback even though they were the complete opposite of our targeted audience.

The first point of contact for our music video was our peers. Each person was given a questionnaire to fill out. One art of the questionnaire  asked viewers to rate the video, CD cover and magazine advert out of ten. Another part of the questionnaire was blank as we asked viewers to write down what they thought of it. Quotes from the comments are bellow.

'I liked all the fast cuts'
'Liked the CD cover, and fast cuts'
'I liked the locations'
'The editing was really precise and i liked the concept of the still camera shots. It looked really different and it was very effective.'
'The adverts looked very professional'
'Lip syncing was very convincing'
'The locations fit with the genre'

Research into which real life points of media would advertise the release of our music video. After extensive deliberation it was decided that 'Choice Fm' would advertise it on the radio, the video would be aired on an independent UK music video channel 'Channel AKA' and the magazine article about it would be found on ukgrime.com which is an online magazine dedicated to Grime music.

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

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During the research and planning of our product, we practiced our editing skills using a variety of techniques including the correct use of markers to edit various images and cut them so that they were in time to the Pink Panther soundtrack.

The new techniques that were learnt helped when creating the storyboard for our music video. Pictures of different scenes were drawn onto small pieces of paper. They were then photographed individually and laid out in chronological order on Final cut. The images were then cut to match the beat of the soundtrack by the use of markers. Key framing was used to represent movement in the final video on the storyboard drawings.

Also, before filming our final product, I individually filmed and edited two music video's starring myself. They were songs that I had written and decided to create music video's for them. The editing skills progressed from the first video I made to our final product. The two music video's I created gave me the practice I needed to make our final product as professional as possible. 

To create these products a wide variety of media technologies were used. A JVC High definition video camera was used to film the video. The footage was then edited on the widely used editing software called Final cut. To create the jump cuts depicted in the music video, the artist was filmed in several locations in a drama room filled with various colourful props with the camera in a fixed position. The artist then performed six times in six different locations around the room. Although the camera was in a fixed position, a variety of camera shots were incorporated including a close up shot, a medium shot, and a long shot, to ensure the fluidity and entertainment value of the video. The performance started and ended at the exact same time to make sure the movements and lip syncing was on time with the music. The footage was then layered one on top of the other in the editing software Final cut. Markers were then laid down to match the tempo and beat of the music. Then sections of each performance part were cut away to create jump cuts that corresponded with the timing of the music. We was then going to superimpose some of the footage to create the illusion of the artist multiplying but after consideration we decided that jump cuts were more effective.

To create the branding images that appear at the start of the music video, software called Live Type was used. Our group name and the song title were typed into the software and it generated different animations that can be imported into Final cut.

The sound effects that play alongside the brand simulation were created by software called Garage Band. Different samples were copied into the sequence, combined and cut to the specific length of time that the animation lasted for. The volume of the sounds were set higher at certain points where the animation is bolder. These sounds were then exported out of garage band and then imported into Final cut alongside the animations.

This idea of sound and image branding stemmed from an internet music video channel hosted on YouTube called 'SBTV' which plays a short animation and theme music at the start of every video which is a key identifier of the brand. People recognize who the video was filmed by without seeing or hearing the music video.

Photo shop was used to transform pictures taken on a digital SLR camera into the magazine advert and CD cover. The pictures of the artist were taken in front of a brick wall whilst he was holding a baseball bat dressed in a 'thug-like' attire.

These images were then imported into Photoshop and we began creating draft CD covers. Two were created and after long deliberation the one below was chosen.

The Magazine advert started off as a photo of a wall with industrial bins in front of it. We then imported a picture of the artist to make it out he is standing in front of the wall. Text, branding and logo's were then incorporated into the magazine cover, and the artist's eyes were coloured red and face shadowed to add to the dark sinister tone of our product.

Conventions of real magazine adverts and CD covers were incorporated into our products by the use of branding images such as ‘explicit content’. Theories such as Goodwin’s star theory inspired the creation of the CD covers as the main artist is at the focal point of the covers. A combination of video capturing and photographic capturing were incorporated into the final music video. Stop motion was used in the video by taking over 100 images on an SLR digital camera and then imported into Final cut. The images were then placed in chronological order and then the frames per second in which final cut plays video was altered to increase the speed at which it was played which made the images look like a video.

To make the artist move backwards the shots were put into reverse. The reversed stop motion sequence was combined with the regular stop motion sequence to create the effect of the artist moving back and forth in time with the soundtrack. The desired effect was for the artist surf along grass on a mattress and move without moving his body. This made the video surreal and comical which correlates to the funky house genre which is present within the music.

Overall the products made were successfully done and were aesthetically pleasing. The products conform to the conventions of the Grime genre and to those that are used in mainstream media.   Although many aspects conform to the expectations of the Grime genre certain aspects challenge these conventions and push the boundaries to what classes a music video to be Grime.

Evaluation Question 1 - Samuel Baksh

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

Our music video is for the song Next Hype by Tempa T therefore it is within the modern day Grime genre.

The genre is essentially a development of UK garage, dancehall, and hip-hop. Grime is illustrated by complex 2-step, 4X4, and breakbeats, generally around 140 BPM and constructed from different Synth and String sounds.

Some of the characteristics of a grime music video would be to expect to see is Jewellery, Urban Clothing such as hoodies, caps etc. Grime videos usually tend to have forms of aggression shown often between the characters or sometimes towards the audience due to the aggression in most lyrics and/or music within Grime music.

Therefore in our music video that we have created as A.S.A. Productions we have followed the typical genre characteristics by using the conventional mise-en-scene, which was done by using urban style clothing such as tracksuits and baggy clothing, which is what we have used for our main character in the music video. We have also chosen locations, which suit the grime genre in our video as they are in urban locations such as streets and alleyways, which are commonly used in grime music videos.

As the song is of a Grime genre it typically is a fast pace song and has a high BPM rate therefore we have used fast pace cuts in the editing to match the pace of the music. This improves the appearance of the video as it becomes more eye catching and each scene becomes shorter therefore the audience are less likely to become bored whilst watching the music video as of the fast, constant cuts. The fast pace editing was inspired by the music video 99 problems by Jay-Z as it has many cut edits throughout the video. The theme of the narrative in our music video was inspired by the original music video for the song Next Hype by Tempa T as there is some violent nature in the content of the video.

The video is a performance video as the character lip-syncs, miming the lyrics but also it has narrative as there are scenes in which the main character in the video breaks into someone home and begins to attack them which also shows use of Goodwin’s theory as the lyrics to the song Next Hype reflect on the video. Also the sound of the music has an aggressive nature to it and this is also shown in the video by the violent scenes in the video, which is again using Andrew Goodwin’s theory where the music matches the music video. In our video the artist who is the main character is shown right throughout the video which is asked for by the record label to show the artist performing the song, which is also part of the branding as the audience put his face to the song and can recognise the artist.


Please see my Evaluation presented on my Wix website, see link below:
http://www.wix.com/asaproduction3/asaproductions#!question-1 

Evaluation Question 2 - Samuel Baksh

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

Branding is a key element when creating products such as a video, digipak and magazine advert. The reasons for this is that it creates recognition throughout each piece of work revolved around the album and video therefore the audience can clearly see that all material links and hopefully will recognise the artist and album by the branding given.
In our music video for the song Next Hype we have used similar elements such as editing pace and styles throughout the video, therefore the video flows and fits in with the rhythm of the song as most of the cuts are made to the beats of the music. We have also used black and white effects in some of our shots which darken the appearance of the video which is relevant to the song Next Hype as of its dark and aggressive nature. The locations used are quite urban areas such as streets and alleyways as this is a conventional element with Grime music videos. Also the mise-en-scene such as the costume is of an urban style therefore it pieces the appearance of the video together as every element of the video matches and is a convention of the genre.

Within the digipak as a group we have used the same branding elements throughout the style and the images of the digipak content. This has been done by mainly using black and white photos in the digipak besides the front cover as this is the main picture the audience see on a CD Cover so we wanted it to stand out as opposed to a black and white cover. The reasons we had chosen to use black and white images is we believed it suits the genre of the album very well as it is of a Grime genre which I believe can be represented as dark and dirty which was reflected in the black and white images in the digipak. Also in the images we have used photos of our music artist in urban locations such as standing in a street against a brick wall. The reasons for this are because the Grime genre is almost a street type of music as it derived from the streets, typically in London.

Also the artist is shown in many of the images in the digipak as we believed he is the main focus here, as he is the artist so the constant use of his face will show the audience who the artist is for him to be recognised.

In the digipak the text font that has been used has tried to stay the same throughout as we believed it could look unprofessional if the font were to change and vary too much in the digipak. Also I believe if the font stays the same it can be recognised easier and therefore it can be used in other places such as advertising.
To gain knowledge of what a digipak should look like i what it should contain I researched and analysed digipaks of professional artists such as Tinie Tempah and Wiley. The reasons i chose these artists were because their music is of a Grime genre therefore may carry similar Grime aspects in their album digipaks in which they did.

When creating the magazine advert we adopted a similar theme from the digipak and used the same font text and darkened images which are again in an urban location. The reason for using the similar features for the magazine advert from the digipak is so potential customers may see the advert and recognise the actual CD in a shop as of taking in the features of the advert and recognising them on the CD case.

Therefore in all areas around and including the music video we have used a lot of black and white images and video to be relative to each other as we wanted a theme for everything for and to do with the music video. 


Please see my Evaluation presented on my Wix website, see link below:
http://www.wix.com/asaproduction3/asaproductions#!question-1

Evaluation Question 3 - Samuel Baksh

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

The target audience for our music video are young adults, mostly those of around 15-25 years of age, mostly attracting a male audience as the aggressive nature of the song and video which the male audience which the male audience commonly take to well. This genre of music video is usually popular within urban areas such as British cities such as London, which is where the genre in particularly derived from. Our target audience was mainly based upon the typical Grime audience within music.

For the music video to appeal to the target audience we used key elements within a Grime genre music video which was miser-en-scene such as the urban style clothes for examples tracksuits, hoodies, hats etc. The use of the baseball bat has also helped link with the song and the genre, as the both song and genre have an aggressive nature. Another element used to help to attract the target audience was the use of the fast pace editing and use of locations in the video as they attract the eye and fit well with the Grime genre.

To gain an idea on what a general audience as well as some potential target audience thought of our video we handed out questionnaires about our music video and other products such as digipak where they were asked to state their feedback.

This is what our audience said about our products:

There are a good use of fast cuts.

Album covers fit the genre well.

Good variety of locations 

Use black font over red.

Precise editing.

Good concept of still camera - different and effective.

Magazine adverts looked professional.

Lip syncing was convincing 

 I think our final products being the music video, digipak and magazine advert are all of a high quality and all have had plenty of time put into them to make them perfect and exactly how we wanted them to be. Therefore I believe the final products are to a good quality as the camera work, editing, miser-en-scene etc. used in the video are all the perfect ingredients to a typical Grime music video. The images used on our digipak and in our magazine advert are well shot photos having chosen the clearest, best-angled shots for our products to create a professional appearance. As all of our products have a professional, well-branded appearance, I believe an audience would want to watch the video again after seeing it for the first time as well as wanting to purchase the album along with the digipak.

If the album were to be promoted by a record label I think it would be promoted by a smaller independent label as of the genre being a UK based genre therefore would be unlikely to sell albums worldwide therefore targeting a niche markets in particular our target audience which is mainly across young men around urban cities.

I believe our products USP is the album name, which is ‘The Decline’ in which on the album has a good logo and I think is a good album name. Therefore this could become a label and brand for merchandise for further products such as T-shirts which could be sold along with the album.
























Please see my Evaluation presented on my Wix website, see link below:
http://www.wix.com/asaproduction3/asaproductions#!question-1

Evaluation Question 4 - Samuel Baksh

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

Many types of new technologies have been used in the research, designing, creating and development our music video, digipak, magazine cover etc.

As a group we decided on the artist and song, which we were going to create our music video for, when we had chosen the song we individually researched the artist and genre to gain an improved knowledge on what we was working with. Therefore I used Google to find websites to research about the song, genre and the artist, this allowed me to find and use sites such as Wikipedia, which gave me plenty of information, which I needed.

YouTube was another website which helped us as a group to create and develop ideas and research for our music video. The use of YouTube allowed us to get ideas on styles of music video from the Grime genre to give us an idea of how we wanted our video to look and whether it would be a Narrative/Conceptual/Performance music video. Also we watched music videos to give us inspiration on Mise-En-Scene, Camera Shots, Locations etc. when I found inspiring music videos I posted them on our group blog by copying and pasting the embedding code into a post on the blog, which was then followed by a short description of the video and why it has been an inspiration to us.

Blogger has helped us share our work with each other by being able to post images, videos and essays onto the blog. Therefore we can all view our work as a group and share ideas and inspirational material, which we have found.
In the process of research we gathered together ideas of elements of the video such as mise-en-scene, and a list of shot types and angles and we drew up a timeline of a rough idea of our music. The presentation was then presented to an audience to give them our idea and a feel of what our proposed music video was going to be like.

To present my evaluation of our group music video and digipak I have used Wix.com which is a website that has enabled to create my own website based around our music video and the artist, on my website I was able to present my evaluation by posting on the site with each question on its own individual page. Other than the evaluation I have put images of the artist on the website with some information about on the artist. I was able to upload music, images and essays onto my website through the editing applications on the Wix website, which I found very simple to use and had an easy to use layout.

To create the music video we have used a Digital HD Camcorder which enhanced the appearance of the music video overall as it is of a high quality being recorded in High Definition. Another camera we used was my Nikon D1 Digital SLR camera to get locations shots, which we have used for some of the images on our Digipak and magazine advert. Using this Digital SLR camera had given us high quality images, which also improved the appearance of the Digipak and magazine advert as of the high quality. When shooting most of the shots in the video and taking photos we used a tripod for both cameras as it gave us steady and well positioned shots to give a professional look to the video and images.

To edit the video footage we used Apple’s Final Cut Express as it enabled us to make many different edits and effects to our music video. Before editing our music video footage we practiced video editing by filming a short performance music video and then edited it making many different cuts and using a variety of shots from close ups to long shots. This practice preliminary sequence helped us by giving us an idea on how to edit music videos and how to match the video to the music and lyrics.

Editing the photos used for our digipak and magazine advert we used Adobe Photoshop, which I found fairly simple to use as the layout of the software mainframe was clear and organised. There were some difficulties in editing such as cutting parts of an image and copying it to another but this was resolved with some advice and help. We used a range of effects on our images to create an improved and professional appearance to our Digipak and Magazine Advert whilst holding the same theme throughout.

To make a final decision on our digipak and magazine advert we had to edit many photos using Photoshop to get ideas and to experiment with different styles to then gain further knowledge in using Photoshop as well as finding key elements which we wish to use in our digipak and magazine advert.

As our editing skills progressed our edited images had become to look more professional therefore after so many edits of all different images we together chose our favourite images and edit versions to use in our digipak.

Please see my Evaluation presented on my Wix website, see link below:
http://www.wix.com/asaproduction3/asaproductions#!question-1