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

In creating, researching, planning and evaluating my promo package, I used many new but also existing technologies. To create my piece to a professional standard, I had to use professional software and hardware. The programs and tools I used to create a promo package (that would be seen in the industry), were that which are used in the industry. To film my music video I used a ‘Sony Handy-Cam’

 and tripod 

then edited on an Apple Mac book. 

These two pieces of hardware were the main components in creating and uploading my footage. To edit the footage, I used ‘prosumer’ (professional consumer) technology. The software I used was iMovie, 

allowing me to edit the footage into reasonable and useful clips. To match the genre and representation of junk star kids, I used similar editing techniques that are used in professional videos within the same genre. The black and white effect was inspired from a ‘Scorcher’ video - 

which also made our video look more professional as it created a grey over lay as it was added to a white room looking shot, created by our green screen.

To research what conventions I had to include in my own promo package, I used a number of websites. For videos to deconstruct I used youtube allowing me to search every video I wanted to find.

my second tool for research was Blogspot .

 This allowed me to upload deconstructions and general research for feedback and future reference.
When planning my music video, I could go of gone two ways, either old school pen and paper story boarding, or just take a camera and film some shots I had in my mind from deconstructions of other videos. I chose the second and took preliminary shots to see what we could achieve. We then took the footage and viewed/discarded what we had and created a ruff storyboard of what would work best. We then went out and re-filmed final footage. To film this we used two cameras, one for the outdoor footage (Sony handycam) and the second was for the green screen (Sony HD handycam). The reason we used these to different cameras was firstly because of the number of standard cameras the 15 students needed which meant the one HD camera had to be kept in school. We were able to then use the HD camera because we filmed with the green screen behind us.

 Although we only used the video cameras for filming, my separate products in my promo package had photographs of my artist; these were taken from my music video as screen shots.

. To create these stills I had to screen grab a suitable still from my video and then take it into Photoshop for editing. This is where I used tools such as threshold, desaturation and brightness/contrast. I then was able to use these images on both my magazine and digi-pack, which kept a sense of continuity in itself. After adding the pictures to the background of the digi-pack. I continued to use Photoshop to add text about the date of realise and information on track/track listing.

 I followed the same principle when creating my magazine advert, using Photoshop to add the date of realise and track name. 

To edit my footage to a finished standard, I used iMovie. This was because it allowed me to upload my footage from the cameras onto the Mac and then cut the clips to place them into a suitable order. Once I had the structure of my clips, and when they were ‘in sync’ with my music I could add effects such as ‘black and white’ and also ‘negative’.

Not only did we use new media techniques for creation, we also used them when evaluating our promo package. To realise the success of our video in terms of how it matched the genre and conventions of similar videos, we uploaded our videos onto Youtube. The reason we used Youtube and also Facebook is because they are two user based sites that belong to web 2.0 and are examples of the ‘global village’ theory, which is the principle of everyone being able to contact one another just as in a village. Youtube has the capability to allow other Youtube users to leave comments on uploaded videos; it also allowed me to find out what countries had viewed my final piece. Facebook was similar for usefulness in terms of feedback as it allowed my ‘friends’ to leave comments and constructive criticism.
Due to the development in technology in the past 5 years, this whole project, creating a promo package including a music video, DVD cover and a magazine advert was made easier and more enjoyable than it would have been 5 years ago. This was because the amount of professional equipment we had to use was incredible, both software and hardware, ranging from Apple Mac, Sony HD video recorder, Tripod, professional editing software and the utilization of the internet.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

The target audience for my music video are those who watch channels such as MTV, MTV Base, Kiss, Smash Hits and others within the same genre, this is because the songs on these channels are within the same genre. To identify if my media product was successful in appealing to my target audience, I used certain research methods to collect audience feedback. ‘Web 2:0’ was the primary source of gaining feedback, with sites such as Youtube and Facebook being available for uploading my video and artwork, I was able to leave the products uploaded with accessibility for other users to comment their opinions. 

Youtube was the first site I used to gain feedback. It allows you to both receive comments but also view where in the world your video has been viewed with reference to where your video has been first located.

  When uploading a video to Youtube, ‘tags’ must be added for when a user searches in the search bar. When carefully tagging my video I used tags relating directly to my video e.g. junk, star, kids, media, product, yr, 13, however I also tagged with other artists names that are labelled within the same genre e.g. Tinchy, Stryder, Chipmunk. Youtube also allows your audience to ‘rate’ your video with a simple 1-5 star rating system. My video received 5 stars, which meant the video was successful in targeting the audience I aimed at. The reason I know this is because of the tags I used, ‘Tinchy Stryder’ and ‘Chipmunk’ are both artist within the same genre, which means they also target the same audience. The comment option on Youtube was not useful to me because I did not receive any. However the status and referral system was extremely useful in locating further sources of feedback. The system allows you to locate where, what time and what date, with the amount, the users found your video, e.g. on the 25th of February I received 105 views directly thorough Facebook and on February the 16th I received 12 views referred from junkstarkids.bandvista.com. These two pieces of information allowed me to visit directly the sites that were used as referrals and understand what made the users visit my video form these sites. The over all information also revealed that 0 of the 304 views were from referrals other artists within the same genre, meaning when I tag another music video I need to either remove these tags or look closer into what artists I tag.

Using the user location tool on Youtube allowed me to find what countries the viewers were situated, however when using Facebook, I could find out the exact location of my viewers. For text comments Facebook was more useful, this was because a higher amount of teenagers (my audience) have Facebook accounts than Youtube accounts (allowing them to comment). My typical audience were local within the same county, however users from London and Birmingham also had viewed the video when posted on Facebook. This is a result of the global village principal, where everyone connected to user based sites (Web 2.0) is connected to one another.

A screening of the music video took place to gain a direct set of responses from the intended audience age range, and a varied set of preferred music genres that they like to listen to. I gathered eighteen people to then view the full length of the video, while answering a questionnaire that I made to gain specific information from them.

1. How old are you?
2. What genre of music do you listen to?
3. What genre would you think this song fits to?
4. Did you like the video? explain your answer with reasons.
5. What music channels would you expect to find this video?

KISS MTV Viva 4music Other (please specify)

6. What artists do you think relate to the artist in this video?
7. What is your opinion on the green screen footage (white background), do you think it worked, or did you think it didn't fit with the contrast of the scenery shots used?
8. What part of the video did you like the most?
9. Do you think the locations suited the song and video?
10. What music videos do you think are similar to this?

The group for the screening were aged 16-18, which is right in the middle of the intended audience. The most common genres that they listened to were rock, indie and then pop, meaning that as my artist’s genre did not fit any of these, that the opinions would not be biased towards the music video.

Their favorite part of the music video was where the scenery was used instead of green screen footage, mainly with the shot that was aimed to mimic the shot taken in La Roux’s video ‘Bulletproof’, which made my attempt a success as the audience recognized where a similar effect has been used in a well-known music video.

They also liked the way that the music video was well-timed with what is going on with the footage, such as with the drum beat in the chorus, where the footage is cut quickly to fit the beat, and also where a shot of a foot stomping to the beat has been used also.

Not only did I receive feedback from my audience, the artist also had his own opinions and constructional feedback on the representation of himself. The artist commented with this: “the video was aimed at a specific audience, the mix between grime, electro and hip-hop. Being a white hip-hop artist from Devon, the representation could not be from the ‘ends’ gangster rapper, however due to the genre it also could not be ‘soft’. I think I am represented correctly within this video due to the mise en scene being local car parks, but also the shot types did not express mayhem e.g. calm still shots. Also the fact that I am singing and ‘speeching’ my opinions about a girl and how I felt for her in a minor way, the use of the green screen for the chorus and outdoor set for the verse created a smooth contrast that reflected the lyrics “when I get that feeling, then I know its real love inside” translated though using an inside set. I feel the audience for my track was targeted well as other videos that my viewers watch are extremely similar to the one created here, for example the use of the green screen, and the special effects such as black and white, which also contributed to the contrast. I will be putting this video on my blog.”
The overall feedback from both audience and artist has matched my own personal opinion, for example, with results as 306 views in a month, added to the 108 on Facebook meant my targeted audience were reached. Also the comments from the artist with how he was satisfied with the representation created through the technical aspects as well as the choice of mise en scene. The encouraging fact about ‘Kid’s’ reaction is that he will be uploading it onto his blog, meaning it is a success.

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

To complete the promo package, I had to create a DVD cover for the video and a magazine advert, to advertise the release date of our video.
To create both of these, I used the Photoshop programme as it has all the appropriate tools, such as de-saturate, which makes the picture black and white) ,
the threshold tool, which alters the image to express the shadows to an extreme level (a stencil type effect).
. Photoshop also allows you to create multiple layers, which meant I could have a number of transparency differences, allowing more than one edited photo to appear over text and other graphics.
When designing my DVD cover, I already knew in my mind I would use a limited amount of different colours and that these colours would be greys and white, this is because of the genre of my artist’s track. The artist ‘Junk Star Kids’ (‘Kids’ for short) belongs to an upcoming hip-hop scene within the UK. The genre is commonly known as ‘grime’, with associated artists such as Dizzee Rascal,
Tinchy Stryder and chipmunk. This genre and the scene within it, has a particular representation and is based a lot on specific images and backgrounds. This meant I had to follow the conventions of existing products within the same genre . What I learnt from existing products within the same genre was that many of the designs were simple, in colour and in layout, meaning few colours were used and they were based around each other . This concept is used for the font selection also, as the text choices are important as it reflects an attitude, for example delicate fonts with detail may express a gentle artist, where as a big bold font choice will reveal the ‘in your face’ status. An example that I based my own piece on was the album artwork for Tinchy Stryder’s single ‘Stryderman’.
The layout here is simple, photo-text (of the song title) over the top of the photo of the artist. This is all professionally constructed, which is why I was able to include certain conventions into my own artwork, for example the text over the image of the artist, with the text being the song title.

The second ancillary text was my magazine advert. Just as the DVD cover was made, I had to also analyse professional pieces of the same type and base my own on the successful ones in the same genre. The magazine I chose was NME, at first this was questioned, however other artists represented in this magazine for example ‘Giggs’ and ‘Plan-B’, are classed in the same genre, which meant I could base my design around conventions within this magazine.
The genre of my piece is both hip-hop magazine, but also ‘indie’ as the artist ‘Kids’ is independent, this meant, I had to aim at both sides and mix the two together. The hip hop adverts I looked at from magazines such as mix mag

 

and big smoke

, had adverts such as and these two adverts have specific conventions. Within 21st century hip-hop, the main characteristic of the artists is their ego, which means the adverts are centred on themselves. This is achieved by having images of them (the artists) in the centre of the advert. However as my own advert is also combined with the ‘indie’ approach, the other adverts are subtler and less boastful. . The way I then approached creating my magazine advert was by taking the image from my DVD cover and enlarging it centred in my advert. This image was edited on Photoshop giving it a silhouette affect which both gives the artist all the attention of the audiences eye (hip hop convention), however by being a silhouette, there is a more subtle approach. When deciding the colours, I followed the house style from my DVD cover and music video, as they are very traditional hip-hop colours e.g. greys and white with one or two colours, in my case purple.
Both the DVD cover and the magazine advert link back to the music video, as they follow specific rules of continuity. The house style of the video, with the greys and whites match that in the two other pieces . The image of the artist used on both is an edited screen shot from the music video that keeps the representation throughout the same therefore it is continuous. The theme throughout is also unchanged due to the mise en scene. The music video has a white room, the magazine and DVD cover have the cropped image from the music video also giving the white room effect. The representation of the artist also is the same throughout the pieces because the conventions of the genre were followed closely throughout, with the text choice, the mise en scene and the colours.
The promo package as a whole can either be seen as completely hip-hop, just subtler, or a mix between hip-hop and the independent aspect. The reason the promo package is clearly marketed at a hip-hop loving audience is because that is the genre of the track, however as the artist is unsigned the expression of his independent status has to be reflected somewhere, and through out the package. This indie side was shown by not creating a giant ego, for example the Jay-Z DVD cover and magazine advert, as his name is used as a logo that is known worldwide, however my artist is not. The package is suitable for the genre of the track because is follows the many conventions of that in the same genre in industry. The record label these pieces were created for were the big four. Although my artist is not currently mainstream and has reflected independent characteristics, the piece was still created for a mainstream label, most likely Polydor records, as artists such as ‘Black eyed peas’, ‘Ellie Goulding’ ‘Eminem’ and ‘Wale’, (who are all in the same genre), have all been signed or are currently signed by them. This label is a ‘big’ label producing mainstream music, of the same style, electro-synth rap. The audience would expect to see a product exactly the same as my own as the audience would be those who follow ‘Tinchy Stryder’, who I have based my own on.

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

To create any professional media product, the content and the look must be the same as that in industry, in my case the ‘music industry’. Our promo package for the band/artist we had chosen was a music video, a DVD cover for this video and a magazine advert for a magazine of an appropriate style. To achieve this, I had to research what music videos (especially that of the same genre) use to create the look they have. My primary source of research was simply choosing music videos I enjoyed (if I enjoyed them, it meant they are ‘good’), that are of similar genres to my own, this was UK hip-hop. The main artist I researched was Tinchy Stryder, a successful British UK hip hop/ R n B rapper, who’s videos are shown regularly on channels such as MTV, Kiss, 4Music, box, Viva and other high profile music channels. Due to this fact, the way I set out to achieve the most professional look possible was to base my own music video on what made Tinchy Stryder’s so appealing but how they represented him.

 Through researching multiple videos and artists within the same genre I picked up the type of shots and editing techniques that are used frequently (quickly edited close up/medium shots, sometimes on a cantered angle) the amount and choice of colours (colours that match the artist’s clothing and representation e.g. a green colour filter over a hoodie that previously had green text design). The costume design in videos for the grime/hip hop genre is very similar, using t-shirts and hoodies that have the hook of the song or the artist’s name/nickname e.g. star in the hood t-shirts for Tinchy Stryder’s videos. The common choice of set was the blank room idea, where a green screen would be used, with a background of the director’s choice. 

When constructing my own video I followed these conventions of the professional music videos I researched. Due to the genre, the narrative of the artist in my video was rapping/singing to the audience, which meant the shot types and actions of the artist had to follow this (close up and medium shots of the artist and direct address, rapping into the camera). 

As a result, I only used two media theories. I expressed Claude Levi Strauss’s ‘binary opposites’. The theory, in basic form, is concerning structuralism, for example up and down. In my own case it was how I created the verse and chorus, with the opposite setting and visual effects. For my chorus I filmed in a green screen with a black and white effect.

 

This is opposed in my verses as I filmed at an out door location with no colour effects, resulting in a significant difference between the two. The second media theory I included was the ‘semic code’. This is the accumulation of connotations, for example if a character is wearing a red dress, the connotations are that she is romantic or dangerous, this is because of our cultural representation towards the colour red. The same is done in my own video, where the artist is wearing casual clothes, hoodies and jumpers with “junk star kids” printed boldly on the front. Immediately this represents the hip-hop scene as it is copied through out other videos in the same scene.  

My artist also wore big headphones with a body warmer which again is connoted with the hip-hop scene creating a meaning though clothes/accessories, simply because of the image that is portrayed of artists in this scene through out the world, just as white make-up and black clothing is connoted with ‘emos’. This theory, when referring to certain groups now is expanded to the cultural code, referring symbols to a specific culture not just an attitude, for example hand actions and movement.  

The artist ‘Junk Star Kids’ (‘Kids’ for short) belongs to an upcoming hip-hop scene within the UK. The genre is commonly known as ‘grime’, with associated artists such as Dizzee Rascal, Tinchy Stryder and chipmunk. This genre and the scene within it, has a particular representation and is based a lot on specific images and backgrounds. The UK hip-hop scene is a gritty and urban but also real genre. With songs in the past describing the hard life on the streets of England, for example (Dizzee Rascals- “Jus’ a rascal”) the mainstream influence has not affected grime as much in he past, however, there has been a recent significant increase explosion in the use of ‘auto-tune’ and ‘vocoders’, a technique developed in the 90s to electrify an artists voice (first used by Cher). The effect has constantly been over used within the music industry applied on artists such as ‘Timberland’, ‘Jason Derulo’, ‘Kano’, and many more. Due to the fact that these are mainstream and successful artists, it has had an influence on the grime scene artists, including my own. This has lead to a particular image, an urban and gritty, but now well produced, style of artist. 

 Along with using similar styles within the track my artist used, the representation is also similar. The common perception with UK hip-hop is ruff or dangerous, with most music videos set in a council estate or a run down area. However due to the development in technology and also the increase in influence from the main stream videos, the use of green screens and blank white rooms are incorporated. With my video I mirrored the two styles, setting the verses in urban looking areas for example a run down car park and brick walls and then sampling the blank white background (using a green screen) for the chorus and drum fill. The shot types for the urban style verses were most frequently medium long shots as the mise en scene represented the grime within the artist, this meant I could use a variety of shots as in my chorus I used close ups. The reason I switched to using close ups and medium close ups in the chorus was to add emotion directly expressed from the artist, also the background was just white which has no emotion for itself. 

 As I based my video on the two types of grime/UK hip-hop videos, it both challenges and matches conventions of the industry. When constructing my video, I first created a version with outdoor scenery,

  but I then created a second version with a green screen 

. Finally when researching further which I select to move forward with, I decided to merge the two videos together. I selected the outdoor video to be my verse, this was due to the fact that it was rapping in the verse, which needed a more aggressive approach than the chorus, as the chorus is auto-tuned singing, which was the reason I chose the white back ground being more relaxed. This challenges common videos seen on music channels because there is not another video of the same genre that uses both ‘outdoor urban scenery’ footage and green screened white room footage. However other videos use either ‘outdoor urban scenery’ or green screened white room footage separately, this is supporting the conventions of UK hip-hop music videos. Finally the video does develop the conventions of UK hip-hop as it combines the two types of videos within the same genre, which has not yet been seen before. 

Final Magazine Advert

Final Digi pack

almost finished