FINAL MUSIC VIDEO - We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off

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

Question 3 - What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Audience feedback has been vital throughout the process of making our music video. Getting consistent audience feedback and reviews has been so important because we were able to communicate with our potential target audience. The feedback from them has informed us on whether or not the narritive and the concept of the video has worked or not. At the end of the day our aim is to please them the target audience because it is them who are going to be viewing and judging the music video.

As a group, we wanted to make our music video the best it could possibly be so by gaining ideas from our target audience really helped that aim possible. The focus group featured in the video  above watched our final edit of the music video and then we asked them questions, that we came up with, in order to receive final bits of feedback. This feedback has been one of the most important parts for us because it was the moment of truth for whether our video has worked or not.

Overall, the feedback was really positive in terms of the audience understanding the genre, the binary oppositions concept, the storyline, the narrative etc. The focus group were really honest and told us a few suggestions of what they think could have been added to the video but these things were only minor, nothing major was missing. We were really happy that the audience thoroughly enjoyed our video as it meant that all of our hard work paid off!

We made sure that we were getting feedback from our audience consistently throughout the project. The first bit of audience feedback we got was when we created a focus group to discuss our questionnaire questions. At this point we were still coming up with ideas of what to do for music video. The feedback that we got was really useful as it was a start to our project and it pointed us in a certain direction. From this feedback we got some ideas of what kind of locations our audience would like to see in the video so this meant that we could start planning where we were going to film etc. The feedback we got from them also helped us to decide on a name for our artist which was really helpful. Deciding on a name for our artist meant that we could then start to develop our artists image etc. They also let us know what kind of things they wouldn't like to see in the video so we knew what kind of things to stay away from. It was useful to get this kind of information so early on because it made sure that we wouldn't make any major mistakes.

The next part of feedback we got was from our first draft. This was useful because this person explained what it was that she liked about the video but also mentioned some things about the music video that she didn't like. She said that she thought the shot with the squirrel in was irrelevant. Even though my group liked this shot, because we thought it looked cute, we decided to take it out because our aim is to please the audience. This made me realise that even if we might like something in the video, the audience might not. I think the best thing to do is to listen to the audience because they are the ones who will be judging the video once its finished. Our Facebook page also came in useful once we posted our first draft. The feedback was similar as someone said that they really enjoyed the video but they thought we needed to add more colour etc. We were going to do this anyway so it was kind of reassuring that we were on the same page as our audience.

I wanted to make sure that I got some audience feedback on our ancillary texts because they are just as important as our video. Once our group had created all of our advert drafts I thought it would be a good idea to show all of them to a member of our audience so they could give us some feedback and pick their favourite. I showed all of the drafts to a girl from our audience and asked her which was her favourite. I found it interesting to hear what she had to say about all of them. She picked her favourite advert and this was the final advert that we chose to use. We chose this advert because it matched the rest of our media products, not just because our audience chose it.

Even though audience feedback is really important, it is just as important to make decisions as a group as we needed to make sure that all of our products created synergy. For example. if a member of our audience had a favourite advert that didn't match with our digipak or music video then we shouldn't pick that advert just because that one person likes it. We found that the audience feedback was really useful because it helped us to make certain decisions. In the end the overall feedback was positive which proves that getting consistent audience feedback was worth it in the end. 

Question 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

We made sure that our main product and ancillary texts; the music video, digipak, advert and tour poster, all had intertextual references to each other. These intertextual references are things like using similar or the same props, images, colours, fonts, logos, etc. Creating this kind of synergy between the products would be beneficial for making sure that our audience will remember who our artist is and what her kind of image is even when they can see these products individually and not along side each other.

The ancillary texts we created are the digipak and advert however we thought we would take it even further by creating a tour poster, a range of merchandise and a facebook page. The purpose of doing was so we could develop our skills on a range of software. Doing these kind of things are a good way of advertising your artist too.

We made sure that all of our products were linked to each other in some way through colours but not all of our products show the exact same colours. The colour scheme that we used for our digipak and advert were actually dark colours theme which goes against typical codes and conventions for dance genre. Even though the colours are dark,they are not shown in a gothy way but instead a trendy way. The back ground colours are dark whereas our artist is seen in a brighter/white light which helps to show her innocence and angelic character.  Some of the images used have a 3D effect on them so the main colour is black and then some red and blue can be seen around the image. Although the colour scheme is different to our music video, there are still clear links between them. The main links are our artist as we have represented her in the same way throughout all of our products.The colours may change,but the artists image remains the same. The digipak has a gold, white and black theme which gives our artist a sense of royalty and classiness. The 3D image of our artist is used both on the digipak and tour poster so this creates synergy just like the colour scheme does. Some of the effects used in our music video show bright colours which does, in fact, fit with the codes and conventions of dance genre. Even though our video includes bright colours and our ancillary texts include dark colours, the two products are still linked. In our music video there are some shots of our artist and her friend having a pillow fight. It is clear that this shot has a link to the images used on the digipak and tour poster.


 We created a set of merchandise items and one of the items is a pillow. Reasons for this is because a pillow is seen in the image and shot of our artist having a pillow fight with her friend. I created a phone case and some wristbands because these are typical products that would be found in a merchandise range. The phone case has the same image on it, again, and this is so the audience would be able to recognise our artists on a range of products. The wristbands are black with white writing on them. The font is similar to the font used on our other products such as the tour poster, advert and digipak which means the font is another link.




All of our ancillary texts have the same font 'Cinzel Decorative Bold'. We thought that having the same font within them all was really important because it, again, creates synergy and intertextuality between them all. Also, the font is curly so it looks classy and elegant, which matches our artists image. The 'SASHA' and 'XO' are in different colours because it looks more interesting to use a range of colours and both of these colours stick to the theme. Some of the merchandise products, such as the phone case and wristbands, were made on a different software so the font isn't exactly the same however I managed to find a font that is very similar. The different is not that noticeable and it shouldn't create a problem.

It was important to us to make sure that the actors shown were consistent throughout all of our products. The two characters shown represent our genre well as we can see them having fun to together and messing around. If we used different actors for our products then it may confuse the audience because there would be a constant change.




Overall, all of our products are really effective when they are combined. This is because...

Question 1 - In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Final Production Diary

Over the past week I have been finalising, tweaking, rendering and uploading all of our finished tasks! We have a complete and finished version of our digipak and advert aswell as extra products such as a tour poster, logos and merchandise. We created these extra attributes in order to look more professional and also to advance our editing skills. The final version of our video has been completed and will be uploaded soon!

2nd draft audience feedback

2nd draft reflection

Since our first draft we filmed more lip sincing shots of our artist. We filmed our artist in front of two different backgrounds. One of the backgrounds was a green screen and one was a projector screen. In this draft we decided not to use any green screen shots of our artist. This is because when we edited them into the video, a green glow appeared around our artist which looked really strange. It made the video look unprofessional which is not the look we are going for so we decided to take them shots out. We continued to use the shots of our artist in front of the projector screen. The projector screen showed bright colours and shapes so we thought this would look good as bright colours are a key code and convention in dance genre music videos. However, after watching the whole video back we think that the shots look like they have been put there purely just to show our artist singing and that there isn't much purpose of them. We think that these shots look a bit irrelevant so we think that we will take them out. We still needs shots of our artist lip sincing but we are going to do it in a different setting.

After reviewing this draft we have decided to re-film our artist lip sincing in a different location. We are going to create a set which will look like a recording studio. When we film our artist she will be wearing a headset and singing into a microphone to create the illusion that she is singing in a recording studio. We think that this will look much better as it will make part of the video performance based.

We ended up using a lot of typography as it is a key convention for dance genre music videos. The text appears quickly so it matches the pace of the song and doesn't become too much of a distraction to what is going on in the background.

 Our audience feedback had a major impact of what to put into our videos such as the colours for example. Our target audience said they would like to see more effects and more colours so that is what we did. Not only have we kept our audience happy but we have also stuck to key codes and conventions of dance genre.

2nd draft

Final Advert

This is our final advert! This is very similar to our 6th draft however we made some finishing touches. We changed the font for 'THE DEBUT ALBUM OUT NOW' to the same font as 'SASHA - XO' because we think it looks much better now that it all matches. The text underneath our artists name and the name of the album has been altered slightly. We made it thinner as we thought it took away too much attention from our artist. I really like this image of our artist as you can clearly see her smiling which makes you think that she is sweet. I think that the black, white and gold colour theme works really well as it creates a sense of sophistication and classiness. 

Audience feedback - advert drafts

Merchandise

I've had a look at more artist's merchandise to get some ideas for the actual items rather than the theme. I came across Justin Bieber's wristbands some of which have his name written on them and some say 'Never Say never' which is the name of his album. I decided to make a few of my own for our artist in a black and white theme so they stick to the same theme as all of the other merchandise. As I made these on a different software to the digipak and advert I couldn't use the same font however I found one which is similar so the audience should, hopefully, recognise the similarities between the two products. The use of the wing logo is to show that our artist is innocent and angelic. 

I also decided to make a phone case as our target audience are from the generation of using smart phones. Phone cases are very current and popular therefore it might be something useful and fashionable to someone from our target audience. 

Merchandise

We decided to create a variety of different merchandise to go along side our digipak and advert. I think that this is a really important part of selling an artist because it is a type of promotion and marketing. I also think it is important that the merchandise sticks to the same theme as the digipak and advert as it will create synergy between them all. Creating synergy between them means there is more chance of the audience remembering who the artist is. 

We had a look at Ella Eyre's range of merchandise to get some inspiration and see what is already out there. She has decided to use a black and white theme for t-shirts, bags and a onesie. Some of theme feature her name, the album name or her logo. Using a onesie is a good idea because it is a current trend so it is something that her target audience will be interested in buying. As the colour theme of our digipak and advert is dark we have decided that we will also use a black and white theme.

We have decided to make two pillows; one has the picture that we have used on our digipak on it and advert and the other one shows our artist's logo which has been used on our digipak aswell. The pillows have a direct link to our music video as some of the shots, in our music video, feature our artist having a pillow fight with her friend. By using the same image as our advert and digipak creates synergy which means that there is more chance of our artist being remembered by an audience. The colour theme is also consistent in these pillows, and all of our merchandise, which is important because we want to create synergy between all of our products. The logo that is shown on the pillow has also been used on our digipak so that is another direct link. 

We made a t-shirt because this is one of the most popular kind of merchandise item to buy. We chose to use an image of our artist, that is also on our digipak, with a 3D filter effect added to it. We also chose to write 'Sasha' down the side of the top so people would know who she is. This kind of 3D effect is futuristic and this has a link to the production company, future productions.