Final Ancillary Products

These are the completed ancillary products from our group:

Altogether we made a bus/ bus stop advert, a calendar, a website, a poster, a digipak, a magazine cover, a DVD cover and a magazine advert.

I personally created a magazine advert and a DVD cover:

Looking back at the project I am extremely happy with all the products that have been created. As a group we have been able to work well together which has been a huge advantage because it means that we could get honest feedback from the group. We often had meetings to discuss the progress of the group, however I think that we should have met more because the major flaws would have been outlined earlier.

Louisa

Main Evaluation

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

When creating our music video, we wanted to follow conventions of a current music video of the same genre as closely as possible. During the research period we watched several current music videos to try and determine what the codes and conventions were. We found that most of these videos had a narrative which we decided should be a main feature of our video. We also noticed that continuously throughout the video the band were frequently featured playing the song which is a main part of our video. We thought this was important because if this video were to be released, one of its main aims would be to sell the song and to promote the band.

            In terms of the ancillary products, I think that my advert follows conventions because I looked closely at how similar advert have been constructed in magazines and newspapers and based my advert on these. The research was hugely helpful as initially I didn’t know how to construct my advert, and after research of current adverts I made a few sketches of what mine should look like.

            On the other hand, I think that my DVD challenges some conventions of current DVD covers because during my research I found it hard to find a cover that suited the genre of the band. This caused some complications during the planning of the DVD cover and it meant that I had to try and assume what the conventions would be, and I based the final product on different genres.

How effective is the combination of your main ancillary texts?

I tried to reflect aspects of the video into the ancillary products, for example I knew that both ancillary tasks needed to have dark colours, and the text needed to fit the genre. As a group we had agreed on a dark grey/blue colour and on all our ancillary products we used the font 'Skin and Bones' and all our products had the same house style. This worked really well because our products matched which would allow the audience to be able to recognise our band, for example they would see my advert and could identify the album and calendar.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

From the audience feedback I have learnt that the music video looked professional and that the transitions and effects between each shot were good because it allowed the video to flow well. The locations were frequently mentioned during feedback, as some thought that it added verisimilitude and people could relate to the location. However, some feedback showed that parts of the video were hard to follow and left audiences confused. This problem was identified as being caused by certain parts of the storyline being too complicated, and this problem could have been resolved if audience feedback was conducted during editing. 

            Feedback associated to my ancillary tasks was mostly positive, however bad aspects were identified on the DVD cover. Some thought that the cover had some dead space which made the cover look at times unprofessional, but they thought that some parts, such as the copyright information and legal rights, were very good. Similarly to the music video, I think this problem could have been resolved if I had conducted audience feedback during production, even perhaps pre production, as this would have allowed me more time to plan the DVD cover.

            On the other hand, audiences thought that my newspaper advert was very professional, and the fact that it included minimal information meant that it was easy to read and was more likely to attract an audience to look at it. I found this very positive as I was reluctant to leave the advert minimalistic because I thought that it may have look too empty. However, feedback from my group told me that this made the advert look more appealing.

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

New media technologies were used during the research stage because I used several search engines to try and find out the conventions of a music video, DVD cover and album advert. I wanted to know what was expected on my ancillary tasks, and from the internet I found out the legal requirements and what copyright issues I needed to address on the DVD cover.

            During planning, illustrator was used to find out the house style of all the ancillary products, this included the colour scheme and the house font. This needed to be identified during the planning stages because they all had to work well together and if there was a problem it would be easier to resolve during the planning stages.

            During construction, the music video was created on Adobe Premier Pro which was the best software to use because it allowed us to edit the video by importing videos and cutting them in the correct places and inserting fades between each shot. Furthermore, whilst making the DVD cover and advert I mainly used Adobe Illustrator because the software is easy to use and the tool bar allowed me to construct both products with ease. Alongside this, I used Adobe Photoshop to cut out the backgrounds of the photos I wanted to use and place them into illustrator.

            I filmed some of the key parts of the evaluation stage which a video camera, for example some audience feedback was filmed so that I could include all what the individual had to say because I saw questionnaires as being limited. I found videoing helpful because it meant that the person could say all they liked, which worked well because some of the main flaws of my production were highlighted this way.

Louisa

Feedback from Non-Target Audience

I conducted audience feedback from non-target audience representatives.





This video is feeback from a non-target audience individual, and I was particularly interested in what people who the video was not aimed at thought of the video. From this audience feedback, I found that the storyline was good because it showed the girl's journey to London and it featured many of the landmarks. However, as this videos shows, some viewers found that the text messages appeared too quickly and did not give the viewer enough time to read them and realise how they affected the storyline.



From this video, the person thinks that the shots were very good, in particular on the train station where the train pulls away and the girl is sitting on the bench. From this video I found out just how important each shot type was in creating versimilitude and professionalism.

Both of these videos showed me how a non-target audience would view the video and I realised that this audience prefer to watch a video which contains a storyline and perhaps not a focus on the band.

Louisa

Evaluation from target audience

This video shows the opinion of a previous media studies student and their opinion of the music video. I showed her the music video to try and evaluate what the target audience thought of the video. From this video I found out a lot of positive aspects of the video, such as the many transitions between each shot, however there were some negative points. One of which has become apparent from the majority of the feedback that I have received which was the fact that the video can be hard to follow. I think this problem occurred because as a group we knew the concept of the video from the beginning, and we ourselves were perhaps blinded by this fact because we were concentrating on trying to make the video look professional. With the advantage of hindsight I think that we should have received feedback from audiences during the making of the video which would have highlighted this problem earlier so that we had time to deal with it.

This video shows the opinion of a girl who represents a view from the target audience of our video. She has never studied Media Studies before, therefore I see her as a good example of what our general audience would think. This video shows that she thought that the video looked like a current music video, which was because of the transitions between each shot, however once again she picked up on the unclear narrative.

Louisa

Comparing Video to Current Videos

Our video is aimed at a particular audience, and after looking at similar video that are circulating today, I think ours does follow the codes and convention of these music videos. Most videos in today's market contain a storyline based around an individual and gives the viewer an insight into their life. Our video features an ordinary girl who is lonely and is abandoned by her friends in London.

I found this website (http://www.slideshare.net/jamsjamsjams/conventions-of-music-videos-2935597) useful because it gave me an idea of what is expected from a music video and how the narrative could be constructed. Also, I learnt the vital mise-en scene that should be shown in the video.

useful
Louisa

Development of ancillary tasks

These are before and after print screens of my two ancillary tasks:



Newspaper Advert-

Before



After



 
DVD cover-

Before

After

Louisa

Final video and ancillary tasks

I have now finished the music video and ancillary tasks as the deadline was Friday, 25th March. I finished the DVD cover by cutting out the white edges and putting it into a DVD cover, and the advert was finalised by adding a print screen of the album cover to add verisimilitude as a potential buyer would want to know what to look for when trying to purchase the album.

The video was finished by adding a screen at the beginning with all the group members names and their candidate number. We are now in the process of evaluating our music video by asking media and non media students what they think of it. We are then going to make a video and a written evaluation of what we found.

Finally, me and Kate H are making a behind the scenes video to show what equipment we used and how we tried to constuct the video and narrative. This will accompany the outtakes video that is in the process of being made by Kate B.
Louisa

Editing of DVD Cover

I receieved feedback from teachers that the images on the DVD cover were blurred and had rough edges. I edited the photos on photoshop to make sure that the edges were smoothe and so the DVD cover looked better.



This is a print screen of the original DVD cover



This is a print screen of the edited version

After the editing, the DVD cover looks much more neat and professional.

Today I also added extra information on the back cover concerning the copy rights and I reduced the font of the track listing which made the back cover look more realistic.
Louisa

Continuation of editing

Today we completed more editing for the music video. We have created a loose structure of the music video and now as a group we are deciding what sequence should go where. We have made a lot of progress and the video is beginning to take shape, this is largely due to the fact that the beginning is mostly complete and we have finished all principal photography and are concentrating with perfecting the video.

Louisa

Mugs Designs

For my third ancillary task, I have begin to design two mugs for the band. The first design is simply an edited photo of the band.

The second design is a photo of the band with the opacity increased and the name of the band written in grey and in several different fonts and sizes that are randomly postitioned around the mug.

I have made sure that I included copyright and the name of the band at the bottom so that it is obvious that it is genuine Kings of Leon merchandise.

Louisa

Feedback

We received feedback from our teachers commenting on our progess with our individual ancillary tasks and our music video. I was told to try and make my newspaper advert and DVD cover more colourful, as if to be more appealing to a potential buyer. At present, the background is grey, but I am going to add more colourful features.

Louisa

Conventions of a Music Video

I wanted to know what the conventions were for a music video so that our video followed them. This would mean that the video looked more realistic as it would be following what other videos are like.

I found this website useful:
http://www.slideshare.net/jamsjamsjams/conventions-of-music-videos-2935597

This website gives steps on how to keep to the conventions and I found this very useful when editing the video.

Louisa

Research for the DVD Cover

I have been researching current DVD covers for bands. I focused on DVD from their live performances because this is what I wanted for my cover. I found it difficult to find DVD cover from my genre and mostly found pop music DVD covers:

I then managed to find some DVD cover that were more aimed at my target audience. I have used several of these to help make my DVD cover, particularly the Paramore cover.

Louisa

Album Advert

After researching adverts for new albums online, I couldn't find anything that I wanted to base my advert on. I then found an advert in a magazine that was advertising a DVD that had all the conventions that I wanted to use on my advert. It included places where the album can be downloaded and where hard copies could be bought.
I have now loosely based my first ancillary task, a magazine/newspaper advert, on this example found in the magazine.

Louisa

DVD Cover

For my second ancillary task I am making a DVD cover for the band. It advertises exclusive interviews with the band and footage of their last tour. I have edited a photo of the band by colouring the background black which makes it look like they are performing onstage. I have also used the same colour that it being used on all the groups ancillary tasks to keep consistency. I have used typical conventions of a DVD cover, for example the age rating and the producers logo.

Louisa

Filming in London

We went to London last week to complete the last bit of filming for our music video. We went to London because we wanted to include key iconography that can be found in London. Furthermore, London is a perfect example of strangers passing each other by every day and it shows how people can still be lonely in a crowded city; which is the concept of our video.

I was responsible for some of the filming, particularly in Trafalgar Square, and I was looking after equipment such as the video camera and the tripod. I also helped with some safety aspects, such as making sure that filming was undertaken safely at busy train stations.

We had some problems along the way, such as a few train station attendants asking us not to film in the station because of security regulations. We overcame this by filming a few shots at a time in different train stations. We made sure that continuity was the same by not allowing the location to be shown in the shot.

Here are some of our photos:

Louisa

Adverts

Last November I began creating an advert which was based around cutting up photos of different faces and creating one face by using photoshop. However, this did not link to the album cover and because of this I needed to change the advert. I have created a new poster which consists of photos of the band. The font and background colour link to that of the album cover and the website.

I researched current Kings of Leon posters, and I based mine on this one:

Louisa

Creating a Newspaper Advert

Using the photos that were taken at the recording studio, I have begun editing photos to use on my newspaper advert. I used the magic wand tool on photoshop to cut out the background, making it transparent.

I am going to add these to the advert, and then use the same colour background that it going to be used on the album cover to keep the colour scheme consistent. The band name is going to be written in the same font as the album cover, website and the other ancillary products.

Editing Filming

On Friday 7th January, we edited the footage that we have taken so far. We began placing the different videos together and so we began to see what the video was going to look like. We also noted flaws in the filming, for example some shots became blurred once we zoomed in, which we have learnt from and we can apply these to future.

Louisa

Photos and Band Filming

In December we took photos of our band using the green screen. However, the photos did not come out as we want them to, therefore we could not use the photos.

We then went to a reocording studio where we took photos of our band and we completed filming of the band playing the song. We used a wide variety of shots during filming, including extreme close ups and mid shots. We tried to get footage of the instruments as well as the band members so that the genre of the band was evident from the video.

 This photo is going to be used on a bus advertisement.