evaluation final for steve

Evaluation

Point Blank – Real Strife

By Nadine Cowan

In this evaluation I am going to answer 4 main questions. Using these

questions I am also going to cover all the work that has been done by myself

and my group in order to complete our group music video and individual

digipacks.

The 4 main questions are;

•In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and

conventions of real media products?

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

•What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

•How did you use new media technologies in construction, research, planningand evaluation stages?

Aims...

A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

One of the first things that we did when we started this project was to research on

artist similar and different to the artist that we found.

By researching similar artist we got a incite into a typical conventions of music video

similar to the genre our artist was in.

And looking at artist from different genre gave us the opportunity to find out what was

popular in other genres and possible incorporate into our video which could lead to a

wider target audience.

We also did research on distribution and promotion similar to the product we were

hoping to create .

Doing this initial research allowed us to gain knowledge which would help us to

create a music video which shows typical conventions of videos in this genre, but

also a few unconventional things to makes it stand out.

Marketing Aims


In what ways

does your

media

product...


...Develop forms and conventions of real media products?

Casting

•The casting was of our artist friends that live in the same

estate as him. This made it look more realistic and easier to

film. Low budge video such as our often required friends of

the artist to appear in the video for little or no payment.


Location•Many of these videos that have a low budget are often

filmed in the artist local area were they have grown up and

our video was no different.

•I also believe that location is important when listening to

the song as it allows you to visualise what our artist is

talking about.


Ethical IssuesWhen watching the video many people may believe that it promotes gangs as the video containsa number of shots with a group of young black boys throwing up ‘Gun fingers’.Often when you watch the news young black boys living in inner cites such as London areshown negatively and often associated in things such as gun and knife crime in the city. Sadlythis is a dominant ideology that was a challenge when creating the music video as it wasessential to keep the music video as realistic as possible without sending out the ‘Wrongmessage’.Us playing up to these issues could be seen as quiet controversial as it would be seen as uspromoting this negative behaviour.

Although it could be seen a negative we believedthat it was important to keep it real in the video.Many videos in this genre are filmed in locationssimilar to ours. Also our song has a positivemessage.

We could have sugar coated our artist with Blingand expensive cars, but that would be unrealisticand wouldn't fit the song.

The location and casting shows where he is comingfrom and the song tells us were he wants to be inthe future A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

...Challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

The

So

ng

The

Vid

eo

•Although the song is some what similar to music in the genre I

believe that it also challenges it as it isn't recited in as aggressive

way which is often the case.

•Also although it is talking about the struggle of growing up he

continues to talking about the hope that he has for himself and

friends that are in the same situation.

‘‘Noting but love for my brother, pull each other outthe struggle’’

•Making the whole video black and white challenges typical

conventions of videos in this genre. If Black and white is used it

is usually only parts of the video and not the whole thing.

•By making our whole video black and white it makes it stand

out slightly to typical videos.


•Our Artist and extras don’t have a

particular costume. They were told to

come in what ever they felt comfortable it.

We did this mainly due to the fact that the

video was going to be in black and white

so it would really matter.

•Although grime videos don’t typically

have costumes the artist and extra many

have a dress code such as ‘All black’ or

the same style top.

•As you can see in the two pictures on the

left, in the top picture they are all in similar

coloured outfits and in the bottom picture

they are all in the same top promoting the

crew ‘Boy Better Know’

Costume


Ethical IssuesWith the costumes a dominant ideology of young

males (often black) in Hoodies and sagging jeans

are that they are thugs up to no good.

The sagging of jeans came about in American

prisons as they often wore jeans that were two big

and as they weren't aloud belts the jeans began to

sag.

Nowadays it has become a fashion statement

which is present world wide. Hoodies are worn by

everyone black white Asian and of all social class.

But for some reason boy from a working class

background get a negative response when

wearing them.

As i said previously, when talking to our artist and

extra about costumes we wanted them to feel as

comfortable as possible in order to make the video

as realistic as possible therefore they wore what

they chose which included Hoodies and sagging

jeans.A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

Techniques used to create meaning...


At one point in the video our artist says ‘eyes going blurry’ and

we made our video go in and out of focus this is a denotation

connecting the song with the video. This line could also have a

deeper meaning that people on the outside don’t always see

what’s going on in the less privileged parts of the city, also it

could imply the tears that he has cried for the people that he has

lost growing up.

He then says ‘take a walk in my shoes ’ and the video switches

to a pathway in his estate, this reinforces that our artist is in his

area. Also by him saying take a walk in my shoes it could mean

that he doesn't want to be judged by people until they have been

in his situation.

How effective is

the combination

of your main

product and

ancillary texts?A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

Making the videoWhile filming we came across a number of problems;

One of the biggest was with one of the cameras that we used during our first

session of filming. The setting had been changed resulting in all the camera

setting appearing on our raw material when opened up on editing software this

set us back as we had to reshoot those scenes again.

Another problem that we came across while editing was that we didn't have

enough footage e.g. cut aways, so special effects had to be used to give the

effect of more footage.

Although we did have a number of set backs and complications i can say that

making the video was a fun process . We gained knowledge on how to film a

video using a digital camcord and then using editing software to put it all

together.


Throughout the video there are number of shaky

shots and shots that are in and out of focus. We did

this intentionally as we believe that it gave our video

a more realistic feel instead of something that was

staged. Also the shaky shots relate to the outside

location that we choose.


•Scorcher video to his song ‘gangsta’ has many of

the qualities that our video has, and I think that its a

great video.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23z15VntlZc)


When watching this video the quick cutting

and changing of shots at the beginning and

ending of the song immediately caught my

eye. I think it fits in with the beat of the song

and happened at the right part of the song

(When the beat drops). It also makes very

simple shoots look more exciting. Another

thing that caught my eye when watching the

video is the rawness in which it is filmed in,

the framing was purposefully not perfect and

the shaky shots suits the ‘realness’ of themusic and the videos in this genre.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23z15VntlZc

•REM video to ‘what's the frequency Kenneth

’ also has the shaky shot similar to ours video.

Although it is from a different genre of music I

think it fits both of them.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIOXQp-

YGpQ )A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

When doing video research we also thoughtit was important to look at videos in differentgenres to the one that we were doing. Thisvideo by ‘REM’ was another great example ofthe ‘distressed’ look that we were going for.Again this gives the video a ‘realness’ thatmany videos these days do not have.Although the songs are from different genresI think that this effect gives off the samemeaning of keeping in real and in both thisvideo and Scorchers ‘Gangsta’ video I thinkthat was a big aim. This was also a importantaspect that we wanted to be apparent in ourvideo as well.

In the studio

While filming in the studio

one of the main things that

we had to think about was

lighting. There was no

natural lighting so the lights

positioned on the top of the

camera was the main

source of light that we used.

When it came to editing and

changing the footage into

black and white the lighting

that we used during filming

gave the footage great

shadows.


On Location; Rayners Lane estate

While on location we had to be cautions of the time, As it was

winter when we filmed it became dark very early, so sticking to a

time schedule was important. Additionally we had to watch out for

the public incase they got into one of the shots and take the

weather into consideration as it was a cloudy day and could rain

at any time.


Digipack

While filming we decided to do a photo shoot of

our artist. The images in the photo shoot could

then be used for our adverts and CD front, back

and insides.

These are some of the images that we took

while filming...


Advert

These two album covers by ‘Dizzee Rascal’ were two big inspirations

when creating my advert. I like the use of big bold colours and the fact

that it is very simple and easy on the eye. I thought that this was key

when creating the advert as it had to be eye catching and easy to

remember. Also the same font is use on both album covers which many

people can then relate back to Dizzee rascal even if his picture isn't

present. A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

Initially this was the advert

cover that I started

designing. I changed it as

this image is used on the

front cover of the CD and I

didn't think it was a good

idea to use it twice. Also

we took so much images

in the photo shoot i

thought it would be a

waste to use the same

image several times.


EditingI added in the 5

stars and quote.

Erased the

background.

Changed the

background to

yellow.



Advert

I choose the yellow as it is a very eye catching

colour and can be seen from a distance.

Also the colour yellow and black together has a

connotation of being quiet ‘warning’ colours

when together.

Insects such as Bees are black and yellow and

when stung by them they give off a poisonous

chemical

Also black and yellow tape is used by people

such as police when cornering off a area to

warn people.

By using these colours it catches people eyes

but also a has a subliminal message that he is

a new artist that wants to be taken seriously.

CDWhen making my CD pack I wanted it to fit in with the ‘grime/ UK

rap’ genre but at the same time stand out from current singles out

at this time, something slightly unconventional to this genre of

music as he is a up and coming artist.


Skepta

Chipmunk

Wretch 32

All up and coming artist from the same Music Genre as ‘’Point Blank

Chart Toppers

This shows that when the song

was first released it reached the

top of the charts and nearly a year

later it is still in the charts top 100.

This shows us that in his (Chipmunk)

first week of releasing his newest

track champion he had sold 90,000

copies and beaten Jessie J in

seconds to take second place.

I believe that it was important to do thisresearch as it shows the success of artist in thesame genre and background.

This is a roll deep album cover.

Although I do think that this I a

excellent album cover for an artist I

think that all the animation may be

too much.

As he is a up and coming artist it is

important that consumers can

recognize him and his product and

with a lot of animation that may be

hard for them. This kind of stuff

would be perfect for future single or

album covers.

This mix tape by Bashy was

inspiring when it came to me making

my own CD pack. I like the mix of

reality and futuristic techniques, not

to much of either makes for a good

combination. It allows to show his

personal style but still be

recognizable to consumers.


Front coverThis is my final front cover for my

CD. I think that its a good mix of

reality and futuristic styles.

The background is a artists aspect of

a cityscape. I used Photoshop to

change the colour to fit in with the

theme

The ‘P’ in Point Blank is a font called

‘God of war’ and I used it as I think it

stand out slightly to usual font, also I

reflects the ‘P’ on our artist hat.

‘Impact’ font is used for the rest of the

font.

I flipped the image.


Insides

When doing the inside of the CD pack I didn’t want to do much editing as there was a lot of

that on the front and back. I simply use two images and cropped them so they were closer

up. I use a image of a microphone because when I was doing my research I found that often

the inside of a CD case were images of what the artist like. E.g. in the inside of 50 cent

album there is a close up of just his arms with money laying on top and ‘Bling’. I Also added a

quote that our artist say during the track ‘RL Real Life…’, I think this makes it more personal

to him and the song.


Back coverThis is the back cover for

my CD pack. I wanted to

keep it very simple and to

the point.

Use of the ‘God of war’

and ‘Impact’ font again

authenticates the

product.

I added the ‘Parent

advisory’ censorship

logo as I think it

again authenticates

the product as

something genuine.


Overall I do think that our music video and digipacks have a lot of synergy.

All the images that I have used include our artist with headphones on this reinforces that he is a

musician and is passionate about music.

Again the city background reinforces that our artist is from a city. Although the background may not

look like the estate that he lives on, in the song he talking about himself getting out of that area to a

better place and the use of modern buildings shows were is he aiming to get.

On the insides of the Digipack there is one image of a microphone and another of our artist and his

friends. These two images again reinforce that our artist is passionate about music. The insides of a

CD pack is often very simple.

The advert that I created represents and promotes our artist very well. It is straight to the point yet has

all the details needed for people interested in his music. Also the bright yellow background is

something that is eye catching from a long distance away and also something easy to remember. Also

sends out a warning that he is a serious artist.

Using the same font for both parts of the digipack makes it more recognizable to consumers and

something they will hopefully connect to our artist in the future , meaning that they wouldn't have to

see a picture of him to know that it was his work.

Overall I believe that the combination of our main product the music video and ancillary text the

digipacks has created a synergetic product which all compliment each other.

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


What have you

learned from

your audience

feedback?A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

Final cut raw

When we completed our video to a final

stage we got a group of people to watch

over it and give their honest opinions. By

doing this we had the change to say

what we would improve in the future, but

also do slight improvements if possible.


This is the feedback that we got

‘HARD’

although

more extras

would make

it better.Its good, I

couldn't do

better so I'm not

going to

criticise.

It was an ok attempt. I like

the Varity of shots and

changing in colour of the

jacket although there is a

lack of footage.



Hearing the audience feedback let us know what was good about our video and also the things that we

needed to changed.

Overall the video was a success and everyone enjoyed it.

The one thing that kept on popping up was the ‘lack of footage’ that we had used and this meant that

some shots were too long and become boring.

Thanks to the audience feedback we gain the chance improve those aspects of our video

Has the addition

of footage made

our video better?

1

Yes

No

Do you think our music

video would be suitable on

music channels such as

MTV base and AKA?

2

Yes

No

Maybe

Questions


All the people that we asked agreed that

more footages benefited the video as it

didn’t become boring and reparative like it

was previously.

Majority of people agreed but a smallamount believed that it suited a differentmusic channel.

Would you watch

our video again?

3

Yes

No

After seeing our video and Digipack

how much would you pay for our CD

pack?

4

£1 - £3

£4 -£6

£7 -£9

£10 -£12


100% yes !!

Most people said that they would paybetween £4 and £6 . The rest ofpeople said £7 to £9 .

Do you think our product is representative

of the ‘Grime’ Genre?

13 people agreed that

our music video did fit in

with the ‘Grime’ genre

due to things such as the

locations, casting and

message in the song.

7 people didn't agree

that our music video

didn't fit the ‘Grime’

genre as it didn't follow

some of the

conventions such as

the black and white

theme throughout.

5

Yes

No


6

yes

No

Do you think that our music video and digipack is

technologically advanced?

75% of the people that we asked agree

that it was technologically advances, most

people quoting ‘considering it was your

first attempt the editing is at a decent

standard and the use of black and white

must have been something quiet

challenging to do ’.

25% didn't agree mainly

saying that some of the

editing between shots wasn't

sharp. That is also personal

opinion, what one person

might like another may not .


Do you think it relates more towards males

than female?

Majority of people said that both males and females can relate to the video and song as girls

as well as boys could have been brought up in this kind environment. On the other hand a few

people said that it appeals more to males as they are more likely to listen to this kind of music.

This kind of music could be seen as kind of masculine with the lyrics, that could be another

reason that people believe it is targeted toward males more than females.

7

No

Yes

Comparing our Digipacks...We had to choose the best digipack. When it came to comparing we only

had myself and Shakira to do so. We took them around asking people

which one was most eye catching and which one they like the most.


Shakira front and back was more popular. Maybe people said although my one was technically good Shakira one caught there eye at first and that is what is most important when promoting a medium as you don't have to like the look of something to buy it, as long as it is eye catching .


My insides won out of the two. As people said they looked like they connected with the same background unlike shakira who had different colour backgrounds.


My advert got more votes. People said it was more eye catching and easier to remember.

Instiue

This was my attempt at putting my product into situation.

I asked 10 people if they could see any changed in this print screen and none of them could.

I think that it was important to put my product into a real life situation as then I would know if it fitted into its

target market, or if changes needed to me made. Luckily for me it fit it and no changes needed to be madeA2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

What music/ radio channels will your

product be air on?

First I think that channel

aka would be a good

place to start airing our

video as it is a channel

that focuses mainly on

British urban music so

our target audience is

already in place and

bound to watch it.

hopefully creating a fan

base for our artist making

him well known.

Flava is a music channel

that focus mainly on hip-

hop and RnB music but

often play songs that

have become popular

from music channels

such as AKA. And with a

wider audience that AKA

it would hopefully give

our artist more publicity.

MTV base is the most

popular and commercial

music channel out of the 3

and is also very popular

world wide. If we were able

to get our artist one this

channel we have open a

new door into possible in a

Varity on counties.


At 1xtra Tim Westwood presents a

show between 4pm-7pm on

weekdays and 9pm-11pm. He has

had a lot of artist from that same

genre as our artist pass through his

show including chipmunk, Wiley and

Tinie Tempah who all now have

successful music videos playing on

all the TV channels that I spoke

about.

Choice fm is also one of London's

most popular radio stations for hip

hop and RnB and similarly to 1xtra a

lot of artist from the grime genre

have passed through the station and

had a number of there tracks played

on a regular basis, including Tinchy

Stryder and N-Dubz.


Underground to mainstream

Bef

ore

Afte

r

Chipmunks is a Musician from north London. At thebeginning of his music career his was very much aunderground artist and that was visible through isappearance, Song lyrics and his Videos.After a number or underground song he becamemore well known and started making commercialsongs and videos. Recently he mad a track withChris Brown who is a Huge American Artist.Although becoming mainstream has been hugesuccess for him many fan don’t like the newcommercial music that he and many people in thesame situation have made and consider him a ‘Sell-out’ to what in a way got him to the position he isin now.

One of his first songs… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDwI7KQAlD8

His most recent song featuring Chris Brown… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlnMVb2XVVk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDwI7KQAlD8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlnMVb2XVVk

UK USA

Many British artist have been taken under the wing of American artist in the hope ofmaking it big in America including artist such as Estelle and Mr Hudson. RecentlyGrime/UK artist have made this transit including Chipmunk and Skepta who havemade hit with huge American stars including Diddy and Chris Brown. I think that thistransition has happened as the USA is known as the land of dreams and for manymusicians if they have made it in American then they have made it worldwide.Powerful companies such as new corporation owned by an American man is bothhorizontally and vertically integrated which means for music companies owned bythe production, broadcasting, distribution and exhibition would be huge.


At the moment our artist would be seen as a underground artist. A low budgevideo, casting, Location, song lyrics all add to underground image.

In order to make our artist more mainstream we would have to make a few changes …

Lucky we have what could be seen as a ‘mainstream’ chorus to our song, it is positive andalso very catching which is important when appealing to a mainstream audience.

During the verses of the song in order to make it more mainstream I would advise him tomake the lyrics more general where a number of people in different locations fromdifferent upbringings could relate to. At the moment it is very personal to himself andpeople that he grew up with. On the underground this is ok as most people could relatebut on the mainstream it may not be the same case.

Finally I think that a slight change in image, casting and location would be essential if ourartist was keen to make it in the mainstream. For a first video the realness is ok as hewants people to know who he is and where he is coming from but for future work thiskind of look doesn’t appeal to a wide audience who usually associate this look withhoodlum and thugs.


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


Research...

•Search engines such a Google are a huge help when

reaching.

•Internet social networks such as MySpace and face

book allowed us to search from up and coming talent.

•Only magazine such RWD kept us up to date with new

artist and popular trends.

When doing research the main source

of new media technology that I used

was the internet.

Blogging

Blog spot was something new to me and most of my

media class. Usually our work would be done on the

computer and the printer into hard copies. But using

blog spot allowed us to upload our work online. I think

doing it this was beneficial as it lessened the changed

of losing our work which often happens if it is saved on

a USB or Paper copy.


Making the Video...When filming we used relevantly good digital cam cords that allowed us to have sharp footage, we

gained basic training before filming but also learned as we went along. Also when in the studio we use

a number of Hot light to create light and dark areas, we had to be extremely careful when used them

as they did get very hot (as in the name). Props such are microphones and microphone stands were

used to make it more realistic and when we were on location in Rayners lane estate a portable

wireless stereo was essentially so that our artist was in sync with track. As this was our first ever time

making a music videos while making the video we were actually learning at the same time. This could

be seen as negative aspect as we had to leave from our mistakes as we went along and with a certain

time scale we couldn’t really afford to make mistakes. One of the biggest set back that we came

across was with the settings on one our video camera, someone had changed the setting on the

camera that we weren't aware of so we continued filming and only when it came to log and capturing

the footage did we realise that a setting had been turned on to show all the footage details on the

footage itself. This meant that all that footage couldn’t be use. Also with such a short time scale the

second time round the filming quality wasn’t as good as before as our artist wasn’t as willing to take as

much time out to film like we did the previous time.


When editing our footage we used a

editing soft ware called Final cut pro. At

first we hardly knew how to use the

software but as the weeks progressed we

all got better. The first thing we did was to

long and capture our footage to get all the

useable footage in once place, we put

them in different folders e.g. two shot and

establishing which made it easier when

dropping it on to the timeline. Once

everything had been sorted into different

files be began to drop the clips down onto

the time line, at first syncing the footage

with the track but practice makes perfect

and after a while it became easier. When

everything was on the time line we started

to add little effect such as in and out of

focus (which went with the lyrics at one

point) , we also used a lot of fades when

changing between shots. This type of

editing is a typical convention of our

music video.A2 Media / Real Strife/ Nadine Cowan

Making the advert / CD pack...

Photoshop was the main program that I used

when editing images for my digipack. Overall I

didn't find this aspect that difficult as I use this

program at home sometimes and in photography

weekly.


YoutubeYoutube was one of the biggest helps when making our music video. When

doing research it allow us to look at video of a similar genre and the type of

things that were included in the video. Also it allowed us to see comments

from that public about the video and the things they did and didn't like. It also

allows world wide coverage of the video, artist such as Soljah boy became

famous after continuously posting music videos of himself now he is

internationally known.


After just 3 days on youtube we have had some really

good feedback and a good amount of views. This is

promising for the future of the video and artist.


71 views in 3 days

Comment ‘ARD’

This print screen was taken after the video being

posted on Facebook for one day. As you can see all

the feedback that we got was positive . This

encourages us to believe that our artist is going to do

well.

Conclusion


Overall I believe that making this video had been a great experience. From the

planning, to filming and finally the evaluation.

I have learnt the importance of doing the boring things such as planning and how

it helps you to get a great final product.

When starting the projects we had to get deep into our target markets minds

which I thought was pointless at the start but when we started planning our video it

made complete sense.

Also we had to deal with a number of different set back such as losing a team

member and having to find a new artist, this was beneficial as things like this

happen everyday and is bound to happen to us in the future. So learning how to

deal and overcome these problems have become life long lessons which will help

us in the future.

As a team i think we worked suffiently together. We got the work done in the time

given. Although we did have little problems with team member.

Using new software such as final cut was a challenge at first but with most things

practice makes perfect and over time we became better, also our main editor wasn't

always around so me and my other team mate had to step in to do a large amount of

the editing .

Our final product was a success and many people said that it looked like it was

something of semi professional standard and believed it was a excellent bit of work for

our first attempt at making a music video and digipack.

In conclusion I have learnt that a lot more work going into making a media product and

promoting a artist that what we see on TV or in adverts. Also i have learnt how to makea marketable media product.

evaluation final for steve

Documents

artist similar

similar artist

group music video

artist friends

media product use

low budge video

new media technologies

artist local area