Closing....

Well...the project is now over.  We're really happy with how it's gone. Hope you like our blog.

BLOG CLOSED!

Mel & Tanya

xxx

You win some, you lose some....

Evaluation Question One

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

References:
The Streets - Never Went To Church


Jason Derulo - Watcha Say


Tinchy Stryder Ft Taio Cruz 'Take Me Back':


Inspiration taken from Keri Hilson - Knock You Down:


Inspiration taken from James Morrison Ft Nelly Furtado - Broken strings:


N-Dubz ‘Uncle B’ Album Cover:



Maxwell ‘BLACK Summer’s Night’ Album cover:


Chris Brown MySpace Banner:


N-Dubz Twitter Widget as well as a link to their official Facebook page:


Calvin Harris MySpace – Background links to album artwork:
http://www.myspace.com/calvinharristv


Jay Sean MySpace - Style/Colours are conventions:
http://www.myspace.com/jaysean


These are the notes that we used as preparation for Question 1 of the Evaluation:

Evaluation Question Two

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

References:
Sleek urban feel and darker colours is a genre characteristic:


The album image taken in the same place as video is shot:


Video posted on MySpace:


Banner compared to Jay Sean's:


Here are the notes we made in preparation for Question Two:

Evaluation Question Three

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Here are the notes that we used as prepartion for Question 3:





One thing we didn't mention in the evaluation, as we only found out later, was that many of the audience members (around 7/8) had the song stuck in their heads and were singing it a few day later, whether or not they liked the song. This would work really well as word-of-mouth advertising as well as the fact that if the song is stuck in their head they will want to go out and buy it.

Evaluation Question Four

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

Equipment we used:


Editing:


Filming:




Here are the notes we made in preparation for Question Four:

Evaluation

Today we filmed our responses to the evaluation questions. We think it was quite good as we believe that we answered all the questions well. Although at first it felt a bit strange being filmed, we got used to it quite quickly. Even though there were a few small problems, like the technical difficulties we had at the start, we both had an active role in the discussion and managed to answer the questions fully between us.
- Group -

Audience Feedback

This is a summary of the feedback that we got when we screened our music video.

Age:
15 - (2)
16 - (5)
17 - (6)
18 - (9)

Real music video?
Yes - (18) “clear cut and lip-synching perfect. Their background is great.”
“shiny white background, good quality picture.”
“like the bits in the studio and on the roof”

No – (1)

Professional?
Yes – (19) “studio and flashbacks”
“close-ups and black and white shots”
“Lip-synch and the edit”
“the background – the white studio”
“The black and white”
“the actors”
“the camerawork”
“cuts to the music”
“the performance and style”
“good lighting”

No – (0)

Entertaining?
Yes – (18) “good to watch, good effects, and actors”
“conflicting element between 2 singers”
“good watching relationship between 2 artists”
“really good performance”
“at first you try to figure out what’s going on”
“liked the black and white”
“liked the setting”
“liked two sides to the story”
“loved his anguish”

No – (4) “a bit boring and samey all the way through”
“repetitive”

Does it appeal to you? – target audience
Yes – (12) “love the city shots. Think it could be more choppy to the beat.”
“the black and white”
“the flashback and the storyline.”
“I like the song and I think the performance makes it more appealing – you feel for the main character.”
“I like the different characters and where it switches between them”
“interesting narrative”

Kind of – (3) “don’t like the shots of just singer. Bit boring”
“the first part of the video is really interesting, but then nothing really happens.”

No – (4) “a bit boring”
“a little bland. Not enough action and movement.”
“don’t like the song very much.”

Comparison to real videos:
“Grime videos”
“The Streets”
“Neyo, Kanye West, Keri Hilson.”
“Big Ego – Kanye West”
“any other R&B video”
“Keri Hilson – Knock You Down”
“boys will be boys video”

What can you tell us about the group?
“rivalry between the two artists”
“singer and a rapper”
“male artists, two guys”
“they’re a duet”
“singer and rapper collaborating”
“singer and rapper. RnB/Hip Hop/Electro"
“2 different elements – pop and rap. Unique differences.”
“looks like one artist featuring another.”

Story behind the video?
“they used to be friends. The rapper guy stole the first guy’s girlfriend.”
“boy loses girl, lamenting his loss, love rivals.”
“the two boys want the same girl.”
“fighting over a girl.”
“the girl picked one guy over the other.”
“they’re in competition for a girl.”
“she deserted him for the other guy.”
“used to be mates. Fell out over a girl.”
“guy thinking about girl.”
“they were friends and one stole the other ones girlfriend.”
“they’re enemies – dated the same girl.”
“they used to be friends but are fighting over the same girl.”
“rivals.”
“relationship issues. The girl left 1 of the artists for the other”
“boys girlfriend leaves him for the other guy”
“friends, one of them betrays the other by going out with his girlfriend”
“Dan used to be friends with the other boy and they fell out over the girl.”

Genre?
Pop – (3)
Soft grime – (2)
Mainstream RnB – (5)
Indie/rap – (2)
RnB, Hip Hop, rap – (3)
RnB and pop (ish) – (2)
Hip hop/soft electro – (1)

Music Channel?
Mainstream eg. MTV Base, The Hits, 4Music, Smashits, Viva

Gig Venues/TV shows?
Festivals, gigs eg. Glastonbury
Camden – Roundhouse
The 02
Small venues – clubs, underground scene.
4Music/Brixton Academy then 02 eventually
Panjea (Hip Hop club in Stoke Newington)
Brixton Academy
Hollyoaks music show
BBC Switch

Appeal of artists:
“They are emotional – its good.”
“Young and ‘cool.’ Appeal to teenage guys.”
“Yes – good looking”
“good emotion – very convincing”
“The black guy is likeable – smug and cocky. The main guy is so cute, I feel sorry for him!”
“the physical difference between them”
“you feel sorry for the guy singing who’s lost his love.”

Watch the video again?
Yes – (14)
Maybe – (1)
No – (5) “gets a bit repetitive”

Download/Buy?
Yes – (11) “it’s enjoyable.”  “catchy”
No – (5) (don’t like this genre of music)

Favourite part of the video?
“the guy leaning against a brick wall and you can see all the buildings to the side.”
“where the second guy comes in”
“the end where it switches between the artists”
“the rap” - (2)
“where the rap comes in – good editing”
“the black and white shots. Editing with two artists side by side.”
“flashbacks” – (2)
“the scene outside in front of the brick building”
“rapper”
“the ending with the vocals being interrupted by the rapper”
“the opening was great”
“storytelling parts”

Criticisms?
“a little less black and white”
“I don’t like the song”
“shots up against the wall look a bit over the top/cheesey”
“on the flashbacks – the white circle around the edges did not look as professional as it could.”
“some parts where the original guy gets repeated too many times, there needs to be a bit more going on.”
“scenes with the girl and the two guys are a bit poor.”
“maybe more should happen”
“not enough shots of the girl”
“could be more choppy and more camera movement”
“some shots the lip synch is out slightly”
“could be a bit more varied and dramatic”

Album cover and MySpace:
Do you like it, does it tie in with the video – yes (22)
“they could be a bit more colourful and exciting”
“think the back cover looks a bit empty, and the front cover as well. Perhaps more colour for contrast.”
“black & white theme and the opposites,”
“black/white/grey theme & contrast between the 2 singers”
“I like the Myspace, not so much the cover”
“MySpace could be a bit more interesting”
“I like it but not as good. But the video was v. good!”
“cool effects and it looks stylish”
“running colour schemes”
“album looks good and MySpace has a nice layout”
“they follow the same theme and capture the mood of the video”

-Tanya, for the group-

Audience Feedback

Here are some examples of the feedback that we got on the questionnaires that we handed out at our screening:








-Tanya, for the group-

Audience Feedback

We held a screening for our video and then showed the audience our album cover and website. I made a facebook group for the screening and we also prepared a questionnaire.

Click here for the event page on facebook.

Here are the questions that are in our questionnaire:

- What genre of music do you listen to/Who are your favourite artists?
- Do you think it looks like a real music video?
- Do you think that it looks professional? If so, what do you think makes it look professional?
- Do you find the video entertaining? If so, what in particular do you like?
- Does the video appeal to you? What in particular does/doesn’t appeal to you?
- Can you compare the video to any real videos you know?
- What can you tell us about the group? Can you explain the story behind the video? What do you think is the relationship between the two artists?
- What genre do you think the song is?What music channel(s) would you expect to see the video on?
- What kind of venues would it be likely for the group to play? What TV shows would you expect to see them on?
- Do you find the artists appealing? If so, what about them is appealing?
- Would you want to watch the video more than once?
- Would you pay to/illegally download the song/video? Why?
- What’s your favourite part of the video? .
- Do you have any criticisms? (Be honest!)
- Do you like the album cover and MySpace?
- Do you think they tie in with/match the video?

We got a lot of useful feedback which we will discuss in our evaluation.



- Mel, for the group -