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

YouTube: Katie

Initially we used YouTube to research our chosen artist and their existing music videos. We analysed the existing music videos to decipher their conventions and see what kind of things we could include in our video. We watched music videos from different genres in order to identify conventions and see if we could incorporate those conventions in our EDM genre. By researching different conventions we would be able to create a more diverse music video ourselves. Of course our genre was EDM therefore we focused on specific artists who produced EDM music and videos.

Google: Grace

During planning we researched Andrew Goodwin's key points which were;

• Technical aspect of a music video
• Star image, lots of camera shots making him/her the main focus and centre of attention
• Narrative and performance of the song
• Thought through beat (seeing what the lyrics mean in your head)
• Relationship between the song and visuals

We specifically used the narrative and performance by focusing on Phoebe all throughout the video. we also created links between the visuals and song by linking shots such as the 'rearview mirror'. We used blogger to track our progress and also used social media in order to contact the band. Social media was also used to contact our focus group during every aspect of the process.

Pre-filming: Bonnie

During the pre-filming we used DSLR cameras to go to our locations and take shots of where we were filming. We also took reeky shots in order to prepare for our actual filming day. It was important to take practice shots so that we knew what we were working with and we were able to see if our ideas would work.

Filming: Katie

We filmed in different locations which therefore meant we had to use different set ups. This meant we had to play around with the camera and adapt the lenses when necessary.  It was important to adapt the shots in order to create more dynamic when filming. By manipulating the lens we added more depth to the shot. We filmed a lot of extra footage so that we would have leeway during editing and wouldn't run out of footage. We filmed things which weren't on our storyboard however those shots worked out really well and we wanted to include them in our video.

Editing: Grace

We used Adobe Premier Pro which is a software we haven't used before which meant we had to learn from scratched how it worked. To do this we watched tutorials on YouTube and Google to find out about different techniques. A new technique we tried to use was colour grading however we didn't like the effect it had on the video and decided the original colour didn't need changing in the music video, our digipak nor our poster. Adobe was quick and relatively easy to use once we had gotten the hang of it. We were thankful that Adobe allowed us to make a relatively high quality piece that each of us was happy with. 

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

Target audience = female demographics (15-24 year olds)

In order to receive audience feedback that was not from our focus group but from other members of our target audience I decided to ask people on different social media platforms, e.g. text, Twitter and WhatsApp. In doing so I received relative, different points of view. I contacted some people from other schools who also study media, which meant that they understood the importance in gaining feedback, they had a good idea of what the task was that we had to complete and also just general knowledge of what makes a good media product. We were very thankful to them as they took the time to comment on our work. I was particularly pleased with the fact two of people I asked said that they thought the reverse footage was effective as we were worried people would not understand our reasoning behind it or find it pointless.

In having received this feedback it seems that the transitions and the reverse motion seem to be popular with members of our target audience. This shows that our transitions were good choice and who chose ones that fitted well with the theme of our music video and song choice. Lots of people commented on the use of the reverse motion and how they believed it was effective. We were very pleased about this because we spent a lot of time during post-production deciding how best to use the remaining footage and it took us a while to make sure this sequence was perfect and presentable.

Male demographic (15-24 year olds)

I also asked one of my friends who studies media at Henley College for some feedback as he would have a decent amount of knowledge on media products and what makes them effective as he is studying the same course but with a few different aspects. It was also handy to ask for feedback from someone who studies media as they would be more inclined to pick up and notice factors about the camera quality or give suggestions on what equipment we could use to improve our music video. I also thought it would benefit us if we had a male perspective (even though our target audience was predominantly female) as it would give us a wider variety of feedback points from different types of people, which we could utilise when creating our next media product.  It is important to gain this type of feedback, especially if you want to pursue media as a career as the more you learn now the easier you will find it in the future. 

 In having received this feedback it seems that Joe really liked our music video and due to the amount of time and effort we invested we are very much pleased! He commented on how he liked the consistency of having one main character, which helps create a connection between the audience and the actor. And again the reverse shot was a noticeable favourite with this member of our target audience. One thing in which he commented on that we could improve would be to add some more lip-syncing as it gives more perspective on the meaning behind the song and its lyrics. We struggled  when it came to editing this part as we just could not seem to be able to link the visuals to the audio, consequently it led to there only being a short snippet of lip-syncing throughout the whole video.

Younger female demographic (12-15 years old)

I also thought it would be beneficial to receive feedback from people just younger than our target audience as we knew they would probably be interested in this type of genre/theme and it also gave us a wider variety of responses in which we could follow up from.We asked them for some strengths and weaknesses. 

 Strengths:

• "I really like the colours and the sunset towards the end."
• "The different shots used are very entertaining."
• I like the mirror balls shot in the alley way."
• "I like the driving scenes and the light was very good."

Weaknesses:

• "Some shaky parts."
• "Some parts of the song did not make sense to me."
• "I do not understand the concept of the music video and what the group are trying to portray."

It is always better to have more strengths than weaknesses and in this case we were lucky to have that so as a group we were pleased. I was very pleased to hear that the younger female demographic liked the sunset and colour scheme throughout our video as we believe this is one of our strongest aspects. It was also pleasant to hear that they enjoyed watching some of the sequences, such as the mirror balls and driving scenes and thought they were effective as we did too. We were very pleased that they picked up on these features and effects just like our focus group and target audience did.

However, we did indeed receive some weaknesses and comments on how we could improve. We took these comments into consideration for our future media pieces. Some of the girls did not understand the concept of the music video or the journey in which the character is experiencing. We weren't sure if this was because they were younger than our target audience and may not have experienced this themselves or even seen this first hand but it was surprising to us nonetheless because we thought we had made it clear through the use of the laptop screen showing that Phoebe's recent ex-boyfriend had moved on so soon after their intimate relationship. Therefore we used this feedback in order to find ways in which we could improve and we came up with the idea that we would enlarge the image even further to perhaps show Phoebe's reaction to the screen to make it clearer to the audience the idea we were trying to portray. The younger demographic also stated that the camera was unsteady/shaky at times. We would have loved to have been able to go back and re-film those shaky shots but due to time management issues followed by deadlines and no access to top-quality, professional equipment it was an impossible task. 

Finally, some quotes from our focus group:

Strengths:

First edit:

Phoebe: "Looks really cool."

James: "Sequencing is cool and works well. The lighting works well and I like the fact they've gone off path from their plans - shows they can adapt well under pressure."

Scarlett: "Audio goes well with the visuals."

Ben: "Phoebe looks awesome as the actress in the music video, strong product and I really like the transitions."

Second edit

Alex: "Completely different to the storyboard but works."

Scarlett: "Glad the jumpy cuts have been fixed."

Ben: "Love the emotions Phoebe is portraying."

Weaknesses:

First edit:

 Phoebe: "The shots are all quite jumpy."

Alex: "A lot of refining to be done."

Scarlett: "Hopefully the jump cuts will be fixed."

Second edit:
Alex: "I think it is almost at completion but will look even better with refinement."

Ben: "The whole concept works really well and I really look forward to seeing how the final product turns out."

The main thing we needed to work on to improve our music video was, according to our focus group, was fixing the jumpy/shaky transitions. Thankfully because this was feedback from the second edit of our music video we were able to continue to refine the music video/final product and so the transitions were a lot smoother in our final edit. To improve even further we would need to go back to the filming process and re-film these sections in order to ensure the filming was not shaky and perhaps use a stabilisers (this was not possible as our school does not obtain one unfortunately and we were creating a music video on a low budget).

Overall, from all the feedback we obtained not only from our focus group but also the younger female demography and the male demographic we were able to consider and take on board their criticisms and work upon them to improve future pieces of work and also build up our knowledge of what makes a good piece of media - in this case a music video. It was important to receive feedback from a younger demographic and a different genre demographic from our focus group/target audience as it allowed us to consider their points of view as we thought it was important to consider their perspectives and recognise what they thought of the music video. At the end of the day the more feedback you receive from anyone the better your understanding will be on how to improve next time around.

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

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

Andrew Goodwin's 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory'

When looking at Goodwin's work we discovered the importance of meeting the conventions of our music video. These being:

• Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics, e.g. stage performance in heavy metal music videos, dance routines for girl/boy bands and aspiration in hip-hop videos.
• Music videos can also link to film genres, this is known as intertextuality, e.g. many heavy rock songs are influenced by horror films).
• There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. The lyrics can be represented with images (either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting).
• There is a relationship between the music and the visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visuals reflect that of the music (either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting).
• The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artists and the artist may develop motifs, which recur across their work (visual style). 
• There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
• There are often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc). 

Forms of Music Videos:

A performance based music video will show the artist or band performing a specific song and can play throughout the entire video or perhaps just include snippets of the performance. This type of construction is often used when working with a lower budget as it is an easy way to promote the artist and their products.

Concept based music videos are based around an idea or perception of something. They tend to be fairly unique and utilise a particular editing or filming technique. One key element of a conceptual music video is that they are dramatic and try to convey a message by being metaphorical. This sets them aside from performance and narrative style videos because they both tend to be very stereotypical.  

A narrative based music video contains mostly footage that attempts to tell a story through a moving image. Music videos that are narrative usually have a story line that is linked to the lyrical content. Sometimes these types of music videos are popular with songs that have been featured in films, scenes from the film are often inserted into the music video.

Typical Conventions of the EDM genre:

• Target audience = mostly teenagers (16-24 year olds).
• Music videos for the genre of 'EDM' tend not to have many codes or conventions, thus allowing more freedom when creating an idea for a video.
• They tend to feature videos about love, sexuality and things a young audience could relate towards.
• The videos tend to feature clubbing scenes, women with minimal clothing, jumping/dancing around, pools, UV paint, drinking and the atmosphere is wild and crazy. Thus it could be argued that this type of content is not suitable for a younger audience due to the representation of experimenting with alcohol/drugs and people 'finding themselves' through impulsive and sometimes dangerous acts.
• Dancing plays an important role in the fact that dance music often plays in clubs (where dancing is the norm).
• The artist of the song rarely features in the music video as they normally have random narratives that tend not to link with the lyrics.

Does our music video conform to the forms and conventions of EDM?

Setting - Did not film in a club or festival due to age restrictions (every member of our group was still 17 as was our actor and so it would have been impossible to enter a club and film whilst drinking legally). Instead we filmed mainly outside in natural environments, therefore we did not conform to this convention and opted to route against the representation of the EDM genre within music videos.

Editing - Fast paced cutting is used to reinforce the beat of the music. Fast forward and reverse sequences are also representative of the EDM genre, therefore in our music video we decided to develop this convention and embed it into our music video, as it would be effective.

Mise en scène -  Saturated, neon lighting with very bright colours is very common in the EDM music genre. This type of music is predominately played in clubs, music festivals or any type of loud/rowdy event with a target audience of 16-24 year olds. These events usually take place during nigh-time hence the need for a lot of artificial light. We did not conform directly with this convention because we filmed a mixture between night and day shots.

Filming during the day

Filming during the evening

Even though we did not conform completely with the lighting conventions of the EDM music genre we did manage to capture some bright lights in some of the sequences, which we filmed at night. Therefore in this respect we did conform with conventions of EDM within music videos in terms of featuring neon lights in some of our shots.

Comparing a successful EDM music video (left) with our own production (right): Dillon Francis, Kygo - Coming Over ft. James Hersey:

• Night footage within a night club, featuring people drinking and dancing. This also shows a sense of youthfulness as it is a light-hearted video with lots of impulsive, care-free actions being performed - links to our target audience and the overall target audience of EDM as a genre of 16-24 year olds.

• Has a performer - this being the lead male. We also used a performer in our music video (Phoebe) which is very typical in EDM music videos and lots of other videos from a variety of genres.

 

• Love interest between himself and his ex-girlfriend, along with the females he has relations with to try and get over his former lover. The whole concept of our own music video was a love interest between Phoebe (our main performer and her ex-boyfriend). Romantic connotations conform to the EDM genre because it is something in which young people can relate to.

• The artist does not feature in either Dillon Francis's music video or the one in which we created, therefore this is a connotation of the EDM genre.
• Shows a journey of the man's regret for losing his ex-girlfriend and going out with lots of other females whilst he still had feelings for his ex.
• Fast edits with a whole reverse section in the video of the man reflecting on the time he has been missing without his girlfriend. Our production also has a whole section in reverse of Phoebe reflecting on her day as she misses her ex-boyfriend.
• Action code - This is the sequence where phoebe is applying her make-up as the tempo of the music increases as the pace of the footage within the video. We created this in out music video through including a time lapse. This relates back to Goodwin's theory of "There is a relationship between the music and the visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visuals reflect that of the music (either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting)."

• Narrative based performance (like our production) instead of performance based. This is very typical of the music videos categorised as EDM. 

Other EDM music videos in which conform to the forms and conventions of this specific genre:

Avicii - Wake Me Up:

• Artist doesn't feature.
• Features festival scene with lots of dancing and UV paint, wild and crazy atmosphere.
• Features the love between two sisters and their desire for a place 'to belong'.
• Night footage.
• Narrative music video.
• Shows the journey of them not belonging in their current village so they move to the vibrant city.
• Fast paced editing.
• Sense of rebellion (the two of them escaping and running away).
• Bright lights/colours.
• Features people of all sexes, races etc... which is a very typical convention of music videos from within the EDM genre.

Calvin Harris - How Deep Is Your Love?

• Artist doesn't feature.
• Night footage.
• Features multiple night club scenes with lots of dancing, wild/crazy atmosphere and drinking and smoking.
• Fast paced editing.
• Sense of youthfulness and freedom in which a target audience of 16-24 year olds can relate to.
• Has random narratives that tend not to link with the lyrics.
• Bright lights/colours.
• Sense of rebellion (tattoo scene).
• Women with minimal clothing.
• Features people of all sexes, races etc... which is a very typical convention of music videos from within the EDM genre.

To conclude, our music video does in fact follow many forms and conventions of real media artefacts that are situated within the EDM genre. With the help of our research into real media artefacts that we conducted in the summer and our current research and knowledge of conventions of the EDM genre we were able to make a music video in which adapted some of these forms, therefore making it effective and successful.

Our chosen artist (The Chainsmokers) conform to many typical forms and conventions of EDM and so whilst we obviously wanted to conform along side this with the typical conventions of EDM we did not want to copy or remotely even look like a typical Chainsmokers video as it would not have been very imaginative or original.

However, there were some factors in which we did decide to include as we thought we could benefit from their presence:

• A performer or main character is almost always used. Therefore when it came to us as a group deciding how we would approach this task  (after we researched real media artefacts) we came to the decision of conforming to EDM genre music videos by also including a performer. By using a performer not only does it conform to the conventions and forms of the EDM genre within music videos but also allows us to include a sense of journey and purpose through a love interest - something which our youthful target audience can relate to.
• We also closely researched Goodwin's theory and we followed many of his conventions. One being "There is a relationship between the music and the visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visuals reflect that of the music (either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting)." Our examples included Phoebe looking into the rear-view mirror as the lyric "When I went away, saw your face in my rear-view" is sung and also through mise-en-scène depicting empty bear bottles as the lyric "To know how it feels to kill yourself with bad habits" is sung.
• Phoebe also looks at the camera directly (breaking the fourth wall). Prior to this she has not shown any communication with the audience and we thought that by showing this interaction it would benefit our music video as it is important  to represent her communication with the viewers and herself being the only actor.
• Lip-syncing: We challenged form/convention as it is in no way a typical convention with the EDM genre. We decided to get Phoebe to lip-sync the main lyric "New York City, please go easy on me tonight." because it would make our music video unique and considering we have conformed to the EDM genre in many other ways we did want to add our own spin on what would be our first musical production.
• Along all of this, fast paced editing, artist not being featured, showing a journey through a love interest and it being a narrative music video are ways in which our music video develops forms and conventions of real media products within the EDM genre.