Evaluation- Riaj

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

I used avariety of diffrent media technologies during the planning and research of my video. one of the main technologiies was the internet. Before i started any of the practical work, i recorded everything on my blog which in other ways was similar to a diary where i summarised all my research and planning. www.blogger.com
This was an advantage as i could refer back to my project via the blog if needed. My main research method was using the internet on sites such as www.google.com to research into similar genres etc.There i downloaded various pictures of album covers later which was recorded and annotated on my blog.
similarly on www.blogger.com , i could view other peoples projects on forums and interact with them.
I also used the Apple Mac computers to edit rough cuts of our video which we shooted as a preliminary exercise which you can view at http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=
This enabled me to get used to the cameras and computers before i start my actual project. I also used my moble phone MP3 player as an essential equipment when shooting difficult parts of the video as it could play music really loud thus making lip syncing easier. again examples were recorded on the blog.
For the construction of my project, i used video cameras and still cameras to create a more precise piece of media. I also used lighting whilst performing during the night to make the scene more visible and suitable.
Another essential technology was the photoshop i used to create our magazine advert and digipak. Using Photoshop was a bit complex to use at first as i was new to it, but eventually got used to it. Photoshop was useful to use as it has a large variety of tools to use compared to any other. After i finished ediing, i showed and shared the clip with diffrent audinces  in order to get feedback and analysis. This helped improve my project overall.

What have yo leaned from your audience feedback?

After completing the first draft of our music video, in order to attract and appeal more to our target audience, i shared and exposed the video to a small number of the intended target audience. The aim was to gather their views about it and what they liked and disliked etc.This will enable me to make alterations and changes in order to make the video even better.  We performed this by showing them the video and then recording their opinions and comments on video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=&feature=player_embedded
From the feedback we got, one of the main feedback we got was regarding the the lighting. one pointed out that the lighting was extremely poor in several shots that made the audience anxious as visibility was poor. As a result, i was forced  to go back and re shoot two particular scenes but this time lighting being present. similarly another made a comment about clothing as it made it tedious to see the same clothing in a series of shots. Again i had to take action but this time included a different scene which had a new costume design. That meant i had to update the storyboard in order to shoot again as the setting had to be altered as well
Also the audience suggested to include more cutaways as they believe the target audience in this case young teens would feel more comfortable as they get bored easily looking at long takes. \i then took their advice into account and made changes by editing and adding more variety of cuts. On a positive approach, overall the audience said the narrative of my video was clear to understand and would be even better if i made the changes they wanted.

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

Before i chose the genre and conventions of my media text, i did a lot of research into similar media texts. this gave a basic idea on how to reach  and appeal to my target audience and what they expect from a RnB/pop song. My aim from the research was to take into account the narrative, locations etc and try and come up with something interesting  thus making my resarch essential as challenging these conventions was kind of complex in my situation as it was very typical. From my research into similar media products, i had to consider  the various connotations they all shared such as the riverside and park reflecting a romantic setting as they are vital for my audience , in a sense that it will make them understand the narrative etc.
Similar costumes from media products was also another similarity compared to my music video as it tells a great deal about the character. For example, a Chris Brown video shows him wearing "funky" and "cool" clothing along with NeYo and Drake which made me use the costumes in my video.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvemchK2HY3vgW0JgCQgHSEd8X3Efot5tQxBaw8_Jv12w8e0WIoJKpoIeav7zfNhgTxcZwr00KTtH1mx8c0iCmheKkc2dK6yh35_ttHZ9Ob3gKcK9B8jl0hstwmIjSxJJVBrD963jev8AS/s1600/cd+cover.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2wh5n0ECg-j8qr165pQEA2z_t8VhOc3Mlwvhqy3MKQCm2noPN-GOe-nDMafObFc852UE5lYwIG808WLCNuTQIio8p6wox9NX6tHLANKYKzzs7w8YGYtMQlbt8E_9BChMOagDOPvWr5bxh/s1600/cb.jpg

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

For my ancillary texts, i have used star construction as i want the audience to be familiar and know straight away that the person on the cover is the singer himself thus making it more attractive. i have also used branded names such as "Kiss" as they are well known and can be associated with my music video. Throughout both my ancillary texts. i have kept it simple yet effective as my singer is a very serious person and i want the audience to take him seriously and put the music videos message across to them.

Magazine advert and Digipak

Today we have finally finished our cd cover for our music video along with the magazine cover. Before starting on it, we did a lot of research on the internet into similar products which gave us an idea on how to constuct our own.

filming

we are going to finish of the filming this week

monday- we will film the 'drinking scene' near the same place we had filmed the first scene, we will also try and reshoot some shots from the ladbrokes scene if not we will do it the following day.
tuesday- we will go canary wharf and film the interview scenes and the park scene.
wednesday- we will finish off anything that we have missed

Shooting day 10th december

Both me and my partner went out that day to continue shooting our video. We decided to do the beginning of the scene which was supposed to take place at southend seaside as it was not possible to go there due to not having sufficient time as we both have weekend jobs and it becoming dark if we leave after college.  To overcome this problem, we thought it would be best if we did the same seaside scene but near the river after playing about with the storyboard. Overall our shoot went moderately well and we think that we done sufficient shooting as we done everything according to our plan.
However whilst shooting, we did come across some problems. The first problem we realised was that the time was around 4pm, and we no that it would be completely dark in the next half hour or so, therefore we needed to come up with a solution. We then decided to first complete the river scene then as it gets dark, move to another scene which was scheduled to be filmed in a situation regardless of it being night or day.
Another problem was that we did not have the correct lighting with us in order to film in the dark, therefore we had to shoot one scene more closer to a street light in order to have our desired effect.

Riaj

basic plot

lonely guy he has broken up with his girlfriend, because he was unreliable, unemployed, etc. He is lonely and depressed at the start of the video, then he gets a good job, quits smoking, drinking and gambling and becomes a "better man".

lonely shots:
walking along riverside
sitting at the park and staring at couples (couples consent would be needed if we record them)

music video snippet - draft

This is a one of our music video snippet. This is a just a small clip of our music video how ever we are not sure if we  will use that particular clip. After this attempt of this scene, we have learnt that we need to keep the camera more still as it will make it look better and easier to understand. We have learnt that the whole of the feet should be included for a longer period of time inside the framing of the shot to create more simplicity. Just by looking and analysing this snippet, we will bare in mind the alterations we need to make when we come to shoott it again but this time with the ajdusments made.     

Practice footage (preliminary exercise)

This is our prelminary work that we did for our music we have used a variety of different shots to our advantage such as extreme close ups and point of view shots. we had also used a variety of diffrent angles of shots on the scene to add more vision and to make it more exciting and attractive