Evaluation

In What Ways Does Your Promotion Package For Your Album Use, Develop and Challenge Forms And Conventions Of Real Marketing Packages?

In this answer I will be looking at the three uses of promotion I used to promote the album. I will be looking at the music video, the digipak and also the magazine advert. These three promotional items are key to the success of how well an album will be. If a person promotes these items well the album will sell easily and will be a great success.


Music Video
In our music video we have followed the codes and conventions of the typical genre (Rock Music) music video. By this I mean that in the average Rock music video, there is a lot of high tempo scenes and stereotypically have a positive and negative theme to the video and in our music video it tends to do the same, having some positive scenes and then some negative ones to balance it out. The music video does on the other handartist we have used for our own music video.

During the whole process of making the music video and the many stages of development we have encountered we have faced problems throughout. We made a number of mistakes including not using enough close ups and incorrect angles in the process of filming. Also there were some days in which we could even go out to film as the weather was too bad and didn't match the weather from our previous shots. This caused us a minor blip in our time management but we worked extra fast to maintain our normal time scale. In our music video there is a small theme similarity between the one we have created and the original music video for the same song but our music video tends to tell more of a story compared to the original. The similarity is the isolation theme which occurs in both the videos. Our target audience for the music video is teens and young adults. This is because the rock music genre will appeal to them the most. I feel that we have reached out to this audience in our music video because the main character is a teenager in the video.


Digipak
When designing the digipak I decided to keep away to the regular forms and conventions of a digipak for the dance music genre.  I decided to use neutral colours and trees and traffic which did not go with the forms and conventions. The typical forms and conventions include dull, dark colours and is more of a cold theme. Whilst designing my digipak I did not encounter any problems as I had an original idea in my head and decided to stick to it and carry it out. I decided to challenge the conventions because I wanted to promote the theme all the way through. I decided to do this because the audience will be able to make a clear link between each of my promotion packages. There is a small similarity between the digipak I have produced and the one used by Calvin Harris ’18 Months’. The similarities are that there is a character in front of a wall in each of the digipaks. I used this kind of design as an example to base my digipak on because Calvin Harris is an artist in the dance music genre. I also personally liked the design and I felt it was very effective. As in the music video the target audience is teens and young adults due to the nature of the song choice genre. I feel that we have connected with the target audience because they are able to associate with the person in the digipak covers because he is a school student.


Magazine Advert

In the designing of the magazine I went against my normal approach and on this occasion followed the forms and conventions of dance music magazine adverts. I decided to follow these because I felt that in a magazine advert the design needs to be eye-catching and stand out. I therefore decided to use bright colours but also along with the samcolours which were to link with my previous designs. I then as stated had a change of mind and decidede theme as the digipak. My magazine advert is similar to those that already exist in the genre of dance music. I decided to go against my colour schemes of my previous ideas as i did not want the audience to feel that I was trying to promote a negative vibe. During the designing process of my magazine advert, I made some mistakes with the product. These mistakes included using wrong images and also poor choice of colours. The original image I used did not suit the theme I was trying to promote or did not follow the story I was trying to portray. The colours I used were originally dark/sad  to go with eye-catching colours. I think the magazine advert will follow the nature of a contemporary magazine advert and it matches all the criteria needed to promote such an item in the genre. As in the digipak there is a link with Calvin Harris ’18 Months’ and the design he used on his album. The target audience of teens and young adults will be enticed by my magazine advert and they will be attracted to it with the bright colours and effects used in its design.    also follow certain forms and conventions of music videos. This is because there is a narrative behind the video. This does occur in some rock music videos such as Deaf Havana - Smiles all round. This is also the same

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Question 2

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What Have You Learned From Your Audience Feedback?

I showed two people our music video and interviewed them straight after to ensure that the video was fresh in their minds. We asked them three questions concerning our music video and how their feelings towards it were. The three questions we asked were:

1. What did you think of our music video?
3. What could be done to improve?

 

Music Video
Through the interviewing process of our audience we had a number of different responses to each question. Overall from the feedback we got I felt that our music video was quite a success. The theme of isolation we tried to get across in our music video was successful as each of the people we interviewed questioning what themes they felt the film portrayed, all mentioned the theme of isolation was apparent. Other factors such as the character being new to his surroundings also came up in the interviews which is exactly how we tried to portray the character in the film. The fact that all these themes were all mentioned during the interviews, suggests to me that the filming process has been a success in terms of trying to portray certain themes and how the character was represented.
With our second question, we had a similar overall response but also more specific answers which were helpful. The overall answer was that our film did not portray the typical codes and conventions of a dance music video is the response that I wanted to hear. I say this because in the film I wanted to challenge the typical codes and conventions as it would make the music video different to the others which would make it stand out more. A popular response we got from this question being asked in the interviews was that there were only some aspects of a dance music video where the character was dancing in time to the music. One of the interviewees also pointed out the fact that it does have similarities to another dance music video in the fact that it follows a main character.
Our third and final question is where we can learn the most on how our audience has reacted to our music video. This is because the question is open and any answer can be given on how our music video can be improved. A popular answer which came up in the interviews was to make the video a bit longer. If we were to carry out the process again I feel that extending the length of the film is something I would certainly do. One of the audience members that we interviewed also referred to the editing techniques and the use of transitions. Again if we were to repeat the process we would definitely look at possibly adding in more transitions.

Overall I feel that the audience feedback has been nothing but successful. This is because even with the critics received it can only mean that if I was to do the process again I would be able to complete a better product. I have learnt that in the music video we were able to portray themes and character feelings in exactly the way we wanted to at the start of the process. This ensures that the process has been very successful and that we have hit the right audience and we have also been able to portray what we wanted and how we wanted to. This is backed up by the audience responses we have received.

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How Did You Use New Media Technologies In The Construction And Research, Planning And Evaluation Stages?

During the whole process I have used a number of modern technologies. These have ranged from digital cameras to websites. I have had to use technology and programs I had never used before and had to start off with very little knowledge of them and had to produce significant amount of work from them in the end. Examples of new media technologies I have had to use include:

Digital Camera
The digital camera has been instrumental in the whole process including obviously the filming aspect. I have used a different camera to previous years this time which means I have had to adapt my camera knowledge to this camera. The camera was easy enough to use. I had to use the camera to record the audience responses for question 3 of my evaluation. I also had to use the camera to go and take pictures of our main character around the school. I had to do this for images to use on my digipak and magazine advert.

Apple Macs
The Apple Macs were another constant throughout the whole process. I had to use them to produce all my work and and computer research I carried out were all on these devices. We faced a number of problems with the Apple Macs as they kept crashing a lot and also froze on a number of occasions. This delayed some of the editing process of our music videos and also the constructing of our digipaks. The Apple Macs were used mainly for our blogger work but also were used for such things as researching websites, the use of photoshop and iMovie.




Facebook
Facebook has been used mainly for contacting eachother in our group. We have a group conversation in which we have used to decided on when to film and just to keep in constant contact about the whole
process. We have had to make many decisions through the process, which Facebook has come in handy to keep in contact when we are unable to meet up.

Blogger/Blogger App
Blogger similar to previous years of doing A Level Media Studies was a key element throughout the whole year. I have had to use blogger both directly on the website and I have also downloaded the Blogger App for my smartphone. Having the app on my phone has enabled me to create posts on the
go. This has enhanced my ability to blog much more easily. I have therefore been able to use this to complete my research and planning from my phone which means I was able to upload images taken directly from my phone which made the process much easier.

YouTube
YouTube has been an important part in my research and planning especially but also has come in handy with my evaluation. During my research I used YouTube plenty of times to look at previous music videos from my genre and also to look at previous A2 students' music videos. I was then able to see the codes and conventions of the 'dance music' videos and then decide if I was going to try and replicate it or challenge the codes and conventions. From YouTube I was also able to embed videos from the website to my personal blog to show evidence of my research.
YouTube was helpful in the planning also because I have previous said I was able to watch other music videos and decided how I was going to try and produce my very own. I also used YouTube to try and watch videos on how to use certain aspects of Photoshop. I used YouTube to upload the interviews I had recorded for my evaluation questions to.

Mobile Phones
Mobile phones were again key in the whole process to communicate with my fellow team mates and discuss topics about our planning process. I also used my phone for the Blogger App which I have already discussed its relevance and importance to my process.


Slideshare
Before this year I had never seen, heard or used Slideshare before. As a consequence I was completely new to it so I self taught myself on how to use it. Slideshare went on to be an important part in the process for myself. This is because during my research part of the process I was able to look at the site at other Slideshare users and what they had to say on certain matters. I was alos able to use the site for deeper insights into topics I didn't fully understand such as theorists. I was also able to use the website to upload PowerPoint's myself. I uploaded my answer to question 2 of the evaluation so the site was very helpful and easy to use in these aspects.


iMovie
iMovie was again massive influence throughout my whole process. This is mainly down to me using it to develop my music video throughout the whole year. I used the application very often to tweek certain things in our music video. I also used it to edit and put together the interviews I carried out for question 3 of my evaluation. I had to edit together the answers before I put the final edit onto




Photoshop
Photoshop was completely new to me at the start of the process and I had no idea on how to use it. I understood that I would have to use it frequently with the designing of my digipak and also my magazine advert so I had to understand how to use it. I firstly went on YouTube and try to find ways on how to use it. After I had understood the basics of the program, I went and tried to use it. I went on to use it for developing and completing my ancillary tasks which were to produce a digipak and a
magazine advert as part of a marketing product for our music single. I then used it frequently to produce my final products before uploading them to blogger as my official products.

To conclude I feel that new media technologies have benefited me massively during this whole process and I have gained new knowledge on these programs and also it is also a skill I have now developed which I could not do before.