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

Q1: IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS? from laralawal

Final Product: Music Video

Evaluation: Question 3) What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Target audience

• Genre: Hip-hop
• Gender: My music video is targeted at both females and males, but my artist in the video is a male and the music genre relates to males. 
• Age: My music video is targeted at individuals aged 16-30 years old.
• Ethnicity: My video is targeted at all ethnic groups.
• Occupation: E1-D1. My audience is mainly teenagers that are studying or that have low paid jobs. 

Questionnaire and graphs

A Questionnaire was created in the initial stages of our planning. This is a form of primary research which enabled us to gain audience feedback. Audience feedback is important because success is fueled by consumerism. Therefore, products have to suit the standards of what the public would like to see. All in all, production has a significant amount of objectivity. Here is the questionnaire created, consisting a variety of closed, open and multiple choice questions to provoke the ideas of the participants. 20 people in total were asked to participate. 

1.    Name: ____________________________________

2.    Age:  10-15 [  ]   16-21 [  ]   22-27 [  ]

3.    Ethnicity: 

White [  ]   Black [  ]   Oriental [  ]   Pacific Islander [  ]   Other [  ]

4.    How often do you listen to Hip-Hop? 

Never [  ]   Sometimes [  ]   Always [  ] 

5.    How often do you watch music videos?

Never [  ]   Sometimes [  ]   Always [  ]

6.    What do you expect a Hip-Hop video to generally look like?

Urban [  ]   Futuristic [  ]   Formal [  ]   Innocent [  ]   Sexual [  ]  

7.    What do you expect a Hip-Hop artist to sing about?

Love [  ]   Politics [  ]   Youth [  ]   Recreation [  ]   Loneliness [  ]

8.    Do you like it when the artist of the song is the main focus in a music video?

Yes [  ]   No [  ]

9.    Should Hip-Hop artists be sexualised in music videos?

Yes [  ]   No [  ]

10.  Should music videos link to the lyrics of the song?

Yes [  ]   No [  ]

11.  How do you expect a Hip-Hop artist to dress?

Formal [  ]   Casual [  ]   Gangster [  ]   Goth [  ]   ‘Camp’ [  ]   Hipster [  ]

12.  What time should a Hip-Hop music video be shot?

Morning [  ]   Afternoon [  ]   Evening [  ]   Night [  ]  

13.  Which location appeals the most to you?

Restaurant [  ]   Club [  ]   Park [  ]   Home [  ]   Work [  ]   Streets [  ]

14.  How should Hip-Hop artists interact with other people in music videos?

Aggressively [  ]   Sexually [  ]   Distant [  ]   shouldn’t be other characters [  ]

15.  What personality traits do you expect a Hip-Hop artist to have?

Passion [  ]   Confidence [  ]   Depression [  ]   Alter-ego [  ]   Realism [  ]  

16.  Do you think you have a connection with any Hip-Hop artists?

Yes [  ]   No [  ]

17.  If yes, who? _____________________________________________________________

18. What is your idea of a satisfying Hip-Hop music video?

Some of the results I got contributed to the formation or expansion of ideas. This was with more confidence as I now knew details of our target audience's preferences, which go deeper than just liking the genre of music.  

6.    What do you expect a Hip-Hop video to generally look like?

Urban [  ]   Futuristic [  ]   Formal [  ]   Innocent [  ]   Sexual [  ]  

 9/20 people expect a Hip-Hop music video to be urban, 6/20 people expect futuristic elements, 3/20 people chose formal, 2/20 agree that it’s likely to be sexual and 0/20 people think that it would be innocent. Therefore, this audience generally prefer our location choice, which is urban.  We implemented this solid preference into the video - some shots show the artist performing his song in a slightly run-down car park which adheres to urban stereotypes, and Hip-Hop genre conventions.

8.    Do you like it when the artist of the song is the main focus in a music video?

Yes [  ]   No [  ]

 15/ 20 agreed that the artist should be the main focus in a music video. Therefore, there was heavy star image in our final video product - almost every shot was on the artist himself. We also portrayed his arrogance and ego by filming a scene in which he ignores one of his co-workers. Her focus on him reinforces the audience to prioritize his performance.

What time should a Hip-Hop music video be shot?

Morning [  ]   Afternoon [  ]   Evening [  ]   Night [  ]  

From the results this shows that people are more interested to see a video at a time when it is dark. This is an expectation because typical Hip-Hop videos are shot in low-key lighting or at night time, making it naturally consumed. Lower lighting is therefore a common genre convention, evidently appreciated by its' audience. We have listened to the opinions and shot car scenes in the dark to add to the artists' alluring image.

This feedback helped me to have a basic idea of what the Hip-hop audience expects from the artist - so when it came to the production I was sure the artist has meet the audiences expectations. If we didn't gather this feedback then we might have created a music video that doesn't interest the audience..




Focus Group
It was important that I received critical feedback once the production was filmed. Conducting a focus group offered a chance to receive feedback on the final products. AS film and media students were invited to the focus group, as well as general fans of the Hip-Hop genre.  

The results of the feedback gave us improvements to make certain shots look more professional, We did engage in some fine-tuning edits such as; removing the corridor scene which, by the background, was obviously shot in school. We replaced these shots with a car scene of the artist performing the song in the car. This looks more conventional to a Hip-hop music videos as most of the artists from this genre, show their expensive cars in their videos. This adds to star image and shares ideologies of wealth, which are two of our main intended effects.


Viewing the ancillary promotional products:




Viewing the final video:



Soundcloud feedback:

https://soundcloud.com/fatma_mustafa-2/tuesday-08-37-am

https://soundcloud.com/fatma_mustafa-2/positive

https://soundcloud.com/fatma_mustafa-2/positive-1

https://soundcloud.com/fatma_mustafa-2/positive-2

Youtube

I decided to post my music video on Youtube because Youtube is huge social networking platforms where videos quickly go viral with views, likes and shares.  I received viewings and comments, as well ass some constructive feedback. 

Positive feedback:

Facebook & Instagram

I posted my music video on Instagram because it is big social media platform home to a large Hip-Hop audience. The video was posted publicly, enabling followers to like and comment their opinions. 

Facebook

I also posted my music on Facebook as I wanted to share it to my friends and family as I believe that they will make more realistic comments on the video. 

Some comments I received on Facebook and Instagram:

Positive

• 'Great use of editing techniques.'
• 'I like the way the ratio is pictured on a magazine cover at the end of the video.' 

Negative

• 'The lip sync was off during some scenes.' 
• 'The narrative was not clear.'  

What did you learn from this audience feedback in terms of whether you created a conventional and successful music video?

From the feedback that we received I learnt that a majority of my audience liked my music video as I received positive feedback. I learnt that my music video was conventional as made sure that I use my audiences feedback as a guide to create a conventional music video. 

Conclusion

Overall, I think that my music video was successfully promoted on various media platforms; Facebook, Instagram and Youtube as they are all publicly accessible and globally popular. The feedback that I received from media platforms allowed me to make further professional changes to the video; such as re-importing to get the lip syncing more accurate. 

I think that the focus group was the most effective form of feedback as, being in person, we could determine opinions by facial expressions and ask for further details on what they mean by their comments, for an in-depth idea on what to do next.

Final product: Digipak

FINAL DIGIPAK

Each aspect of the digipak aims to create star image expectations of the music video. For example, a lack of consistent star image in fact exaggerates his status; much like Kanye, he is too big to bother with small reassurances of his presence in the music industry. The colour scheme, ranging from golds to deep blues, represent royalty. This is a dramatic hyperbole of his star image.

These intentions are reflected in the music video narrative, which is essentially the artist living a day in his life as a star. This is made obvious by key locations such as recording studio, dance studio, meeting room.  Therefore the digipak ensures the audience that the video will have a 'flavour', so to speak, of stardom. 

Final product: Magazine advert

FINAL ADVERT

Each aspect of the advert aims to create star image expectations of the music video. For example, a lack of consistent star image in fact exaggerates his status; much like Kanye, he is too big to bother with small reassurances of his presence in the music industry. The colour scheme, ranging from golds to deep blues, represent royalty. This is a dramatic hyperbole of his star image.

The image of stars themselves in the city skyline background are an explicit symbol of how famous our artist is.

These intentions are reflected in the music video narrative, which is essentially the artist living a day in his life as a star. This is made obvious by key locations such as recording studio, dance studio, meeting room.  Therefore the advert ensures the audience that the video will have a 'flavour', so to speak, of stardom. 

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

Q2: HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF YOUR MAIN PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY TEXTS?

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

Q4: HOW DID YOU USE NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH, PLANNING AND EVALUATION STAGES?

Research and planning – Digipak: Drafts of digipak

DRAFTS OF DIGIPAK

DRAFT 1 FEEDBACK

POSITIVES:
- good colour scheme
-sketch of skeleton is creative

NEGATIVES:
- inconsistent typography
- inside does not correlate with other sections

- too basic; consider more backgrounds/images

 DRAFT 2 FEEDBACK

Positives:

- consistent with the advert style

- better typography

Negatives:

- CD image needs to be selected better

- provide some star image

- key conventions missing from the back

 DRAFT 3 FEEDBACK

Positives:

- betetr consistency with front and back

- colour scheme adjusted to a better genre convention

Negatives:

- still needs star image

- change typography for the production info

- make barcode stand out more

- edit coin to suit the campaign

From the drafting process we have received critical opinions from a person experienced in media which fine-tuned our connotations to genre characteristics, mise en scene and theory.

Research and planning – advert: Drafts of adverts

PLANNING: DRAFTS OF ADVERT

DRAFT 1 FEEDBACK

POSITIVES:

- image of the diamonds is good
- colours compliment each other well

NEGATIVES:

- album/artist name?

key information missing

artist image?

does not compliment the digipak

DRAFT 2 FEEDBACK

POSITIVES:

- typography more consistent and relevant to artist/genre

- colour scheme works & compliments digipak

key information present

NEGATIVES:

- not enough gold in typography

- song outlines are too faint

- all space has not been used

From the drafting process we have received critical opinions from a person experienced in media which fine-tuned our connotations to genre characteristics, mise en scene and theory.

Research and planning – advert: Advert information

Advert information

It is extremely important that we plan the information that we will be including on our magazine advert, this enables the buyer to be aware of the information that would be on the advert. It also makes us appear very professional as we are organised with the information that we want to put on our advert. 

Artist name: Frankie Felone

Costume: suited & booted / all black

Hair and make-up: slicked back hair; neat and tidy

Album name:  "Felone Season"

Key Singles: 

-Felone Season

- Oh Well

Album release date: 

- Friday 15th September 2016

OUR TARGET AUDIENCE:

• Age: 16-21

Hip-Hop is an upbeat genre full of themes such as youth, passion and recreation. This reflects the youth, so we expect them to relate to the genre.

• Gender: both males and females

There are a vast amount of male and female audiences, so already within the genre exists a balance of consumption between the two genders.

• Race: black, white

Our primary research showed us that consumers of Hip-Hop include people of both black and white ethnicity, therefore we are targeting those groups as it seems likely for them to continue to buy Hip-Hop related media products.

• Audience category: E-C2

Themes such as 'the struggle', 'rags to riches' and youth are consistently explored in the genre of Hip-Hop. When applied to real life, these themes are mostly associated with social classes E-C2 due to the circumstances that many working-class people experience.

Themes:
- majority of advert will be hand-drawn (such as the typography); an idea taken from existing Hip-Hop products.

Lighting & Colour:
- colour scheme of black, red and cold. This is a typical characteristic of Hip-Hop. Red is known to represent danger, and some Hip-Hop has very violent connotations. Gold represents royalty, and our artist is an egotistical, wealthy businessman. Black is simple and could perhaps portray the urban elements to Hip-Hop as many people face problems living in urban areas. 

Cinematography:
- long shot of the artist possibly standing in an urban street
- neutral angle; the artist is neither superior nor inferior 

Other info:

- parental advisory sign

Available for download:

-Spotify

-iTunes

Research and planning – advert: Identifying conventions and analysing existing adverts

GENERIC CONVENTIONS & ANALYSING ADVERTS

It is important to identify the codes and conventions of example adverts to make direct links with our own ideas. The examples act as secondary modules of what we hope to recreate in certain aspects and elements. The purpose of an advert is for key information, such as tour dates, where the album or single can be purchased (e.g. Spotify), and to show off the artists creativity. Adverts can be on billboards and at bus stops but also digitally such as on the TV. This synergy created a stronger tool of promotion. All adverts needs to include star image, a title, the artists' name, download apps, the release date and any key singles. 

KANYE WEST - YEEZUS

• The obvious information "new album from Kanye West" on the actual poster makes it clear that there is a new album. This is star image, as it puts extra focus on HIS album. 
• The typography is a slightly faded font which looks like the 'war' fonts in computer programmes. This could be insinuating the angry tone to this album.
• Colour spectrum on the CD encourages that life is fulfilled with music. Also, the transparent CD cover draws attention to the product immediately. 
• Language on it such as "no pre order" is very professional like an instruction manual, indicating that the artist knows exactly what he is doing. Whereas "please" is very direct and builds a connection with the artist and the audience. 
• The biggest word besides the date is "YEEZUS" in capitals, Kanye West's stage name. This is reinforcing his pseudonym to be used by his fans. It's repeated on the red sticker, but this time hand-written, showing he has taken the time to create his image for the fans. The name itself is a play on Jesus, which reflects Kanye's well-known ego.
• More star image is shown through reverse psychology. Instead of a picture of the artist himself, it shows physical proof of the music - by completely skipping the act of showing the star, it shows him in a symbolic sense, with authenticity of his work.
• The main image is the CD, as previously mentioned. This is a technique in graphic design, inspired by the Japanese flag. Posters have a central, circle image which is manipulated into any object, face, etc. This makes it harder for the eye to pull itself away from what is being shown.
• The poster doesn't have mise en scene, setting, popular culture or sub-images. This is out of arrogance; 'Yeezus' knows he is a star, therefore only half the conventions are necessary to be successful. 

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