Natalie Barker

Friday, 30 April 2010

Evaluation question 3

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I created a Facebook group to collect my audience feedback.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=114180581949420&v=photos#!/group.php?gid=114180581949420

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MTPocvjMuU

I felt this was an effective way to do this due to our target audience being primarily a member of Facebook. I created an account and invited approximately 15 people, ranging from the ages of 15 to-40. about 12/15 were between the ages of 17 and 19, which is where our target audience mainly lies. I uploaded links and photos of our final products to this page, and asked in a message for the participants to leave feedback and a mark out of ten.

This proved effective, though the results were slightly ambiguous and a little confusing to file. Overall there was positive feedback, ranging from comments such as 'very well executed' 'interesting and fits the music' 'matches the conventions of the genre' 'varied camera shots' and 'very well put together'. These comments were purely for the video. On the negative side, some participants also added 'too many jump cuts' 'confusing' and 'no real story'. I took these into consideration, and without making excuses I came to realise we did not execute our video entirely well. If our audience do not understand the video then there may be no point in publishing it; they would, in real circumstances, be disappointed and not bother to watch it.

Participants also rated the digi pak and poster. Below here are the comments that were recieved for the advertisement poster. Overall these were quite positive, though still again there was some negative feedback. Participants seemed to think that the digital manipulation on the images was the most effective aspect; comments such as 'good editing' etc were said to enforce this. The poster, aswell as the music video, recieved all positive marks out of ten. 6/10 was the lowest, which clearly isn't great so some improvements could be made. Participants suggested that the rabbit mask had nothing to do with a UFO, and that an alien or UFO picture may have been more substantial. On the other hand, without any explanation, or seeing the poster before the video, could complicate things. From looking back now a rabbit mask does look a little strange against the titling UFO. On the other hand I do feel that the general idea and theme works well, especially witht he music video. I think the image is effective, but going by what my audience say I have to conform to their standards.

Last but not least, the digi pak. Again there was all positive feedback from the viewers; most marks were 8/10 which suggests a good product but not perfect. I can understand that perfect takes a lot, as that would correspond with being professional. The audience seemed to appreciate the repetition of the grass theme, which in my opinion is great because that is exactly what I was hoping for when having a grassed theme to the whole pak. Again though there was some negative feedback; participants seemed to think again that the rabbit has nothing to do with a UFO. In all reality, the rabbit mask has little to do with a UFO. If you go a little deeper, you can begin to understand the surreal, mad, unexpected ideas that we as a group felt would work well for this video. From watching the original version by Poppy and the Jezebels, you can see that aspects of a (fake) UFO are taking place in the video. We as a group took inspiration from Florence and the Machine's Dog Days Are Over music video, which, when you read the lyrics against the surreal and circus like music video, do not match. For example when the lyrics hit ' run fast for your mother, run fast for your father', the main actress begins to run away from costumed characters. These small references are how we hoped our video to be like, running away from an unknown world.

Here below is a screen grab of the image products that we have, along with the title of the group to demonstrate how it looked to the audience. I think it looks professional, and almost engaging with the personal question of 'HOW DO YOU RATE IT?'.

Overall from my audience feedback I feel that our products did not fully engage the audience, but from politeness or sheer appreciation, there were some brilliant feedback results that show our products are effective and well thought into.

After conducting this research into audience feedback via Facebook, and recieving not so good results, I felt i could try get more formalised feedback with the use of a questionnaire. They are not as confusing, and data can be recorded a lot more easily. The facebook page was mainly friends, who gave good critisism but not good enough feedback for myself to understand the problems that have occured, maybe due to politeness. I have conducted a questionnaire to file these results more effeciently, and have asked more people I am not familiar with. This questionnaire was taken place at my college, as the target audience ages are based around there. I aimed for approx 10 boys and 10 girls to make the feedback more fair.

The questionnaire is below:

I brought my laptop with me to college, found a wifi area and asked a few friends and also they're friends to watch the video on Youtube, along with students walking past, and to take a look at the posters on my Facebook group page, then fill in the questionnaire accordingly. I created tallys of my results so I can easily put my results into tables.
I have scanned the results in so they are visible on my blog.

I then created tables of my results to file them more professionally. I used Microsoft Excel to create these tables.

I found that from my results, I gained more positive feedback and also a lot more feedback than with the Facebook group.
Results show that:
. Males appreciated the digi pak slightly more than females, but all over results were incredibly good, most positive feedback between the marks of 8-10 on a scale.
. Both genders found that the poster was very engaging and found that it looked professional; a few females though that some dates and prices could have been added though
. Females preferred the music video more than males - i have come to the conclusion this may be because there is no rock n roll, violence or typical male indie genre aspects
. On the other hand every person interviewed said that the video falls under the indie pop genre, so I take the results above down to personal preferences
. Overall from these results, the digi pak was a success, as was the poster, and the music video was good but not favoured over the printed products

I also made tables on the ages of the interviewees, most of which all fell under the 15-18 or 19-22 age range. This was essential as the target audience is who these products should be tested with.
Within each questionnaire the first question was how the viewer rated each product. I have created a table from my tally of results to demonstrate how my feedback went. Overall the feedback was positive; not one viewer placed under the half way mark of 5, and only a few rated 6 on some products. Overall between the genders, the feedback is well balanced, so it feels me with great confidence that these products would do well with both genders of the target audience ages. This is vital to know so when publishing colour schemes, advertisement and marketing techniques would be uni sex orientated.

From doing this audience feedback I feel more confident about my final products, though I understand some improvements could be made. Currently I believe the video could have some ammendments, the digi pak/poster could hold more information, and the style of the song could be more independant rather than mainstream.

Evaluation question 2

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

The combination of my main product and ancillary product contributes to the notion of cross media advertising.

http://nataliebarker3.blogspot.com/2010/02/cross-media-advertising.html

Here is a link to a post on my blog discussing my views on cross media advertising.

I then searched on Google a small and simple definition of cross media advertising so that I fully understood the term.

http://www.media-dictionary.com/definition/cross-media-advertising.html

In my own understanding, cross media advertising is advertising through different medias, such as publication, television, radio, internet, post and mail.
There are pros and cons when using cross media advertising:
The band would be featured in more than one media, for example a poster and a video. The song could also be played on the radio which is also advertisement.
On the other hand, advertisement is expensive, whether that is publishing an advert in a magazine or paying to print multiple posters.
In our products we used print and television, even radio could be used to play the audio of the song.

Purpose of each product:
The purpose of a music video is to display a personality to a musician and advertise a song.
The purpose of a digi pak is to visually advertise a band and hold their music as a CD.
Advertisement posters are for advertising a digi pak/band/song/event that can be displayed in many public areas. They often get stuck on tabloids, billboards, walls, internet and junk mail. This is an effective way of advertising as the message can be subliminal such as a internet pop up, which catches your eye from the side of the screen.

I have selected some screen grabs from my music video to demonstrate where different components from my other media products take place and how they combine. This was an effective technique as I can clearly see what components link to eachother.

This midshot here is dark, which corresponds with the dark colouring of the ancillary products. The shot is desaturated, as is the image on the ancillary products. From this we can see that the location is dark and shadowed, through both the video and ancillary products. You can see that the location is a natural spot with grass and trees, so this links in perfectly with the ancillary products. You can imagine that the mask lying on the grass in the ancillary products has been left at the scene, which brings all three medias together well.

This long shot here is to demonstrate the deep shadows that take place in the location, which links back to the dark shadowing on the poster and digi pak, clearly demonstrating the same ideas.

This low angle mid shot shows perfectly the rabbit in full motion; this mask is the main link between all three products and I think this works very effectively. This knowledge of the rabbit mask shows a clear link, which demonstrates a use of cross media advertising. More than one media has been used to demonstrate this idea of a rabbit and it works very effectively.

This low angle panning shot demonstrates the greenery of the location, and the dark shadows that come from it. The digi pak and poster contain grass and lots of shadows, and this part of the video combines well.

Same here with this shot; you can see grass perfectly, along with shadows and a desaturated colour, which links in perfectly with the ancillary products. This part of the video is when Jo disappears after the rabbit, and the ancillary products contain just a rabbit mask which links in because nobody knows where they've gone. The mask, for all we as an audience know, could have been left behind or is the hidden identity of someone who is with Jo in a far away place.

This was a slow zoom shot that demonstrated the bridge, which had connotations to representing a hidden hole, such as a rabbit hole. This powerful use of shadow links back to the deep circular shadows that surround the edges of the poster and the digi pak pages, combining the medias together very well.

The digi pak and poster themselves combine very well. They have a similar (but not identical) image of the rabbit, with the same green background and shadowed edges. This works really effectively as it is clear that the products link, but they hold different sources of information. The colour schemes fit well together, and they both link to the desaturated, dark, yet bright colours of the music video.

Overall the combination of my main product and my ancillary products is very effective. They are combined through many different components, such as the colours, props or layout. This is all worth doing when in advertisement as different types of media can send a message across as a wider variety. A poster can advertise anywhere anyhow, a digi pak can sell the image of the band, and a music video can demonstrate a personality and style to the band. I am very pleased with how well my three products have come together as a whole; they link in well with subliminal messages and also through solid visual messages.

Evaluation question 1

1. In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. music video).

Voice over commentary
Breakdown of video:

Overall I feel that our music video does follow forms and conventions of real media products, but there could be some definate improvements, such as a more varied and professional selection of camera shots.

Breakdown of ancillary products:

Overall I think that our advertisement does follow the forms and conventions of real media products.

Overall I feel that our digi pak follows forms and conventions of real media products, though there could be some slight improvements.

Overall:

Video

Digi pak

Poster

Overall throughout this entire project I have acquired skills in both filming and editing. Learning how to use iMovie and a professional recording camera is very helpful and beneficial for in the future as I am focussing on a media career after college.
I have very much enjoyed this project, though there are some things that I would most definately improve on. For instance, I would improve on my time management as that ruined a lot of my project; some things were rushed and I felt that I did not complete some tasks to the best of my ability. I also feel that the filming of our music video did not maintain enough priority in our group and therefore that is why it is not as good as it should be. My favourite part about the project was designing the final digi pak and poster; I really enjoy creative art and putting things together so that they are visually attractive.
Overall I do not think that our music video was a success, as I feel that our initial idea of following a band on a day to day life sequence would have been more effective and a lot less hassle and stress. Poor communication in our group is the reason for this. I also feel that we as a group jumped into too many ideas too quickly; no in depth research or decisions were made because the final decision kept being re-arranged. I would most definately change this group communication if I were to do this project again.
Each product in my opinion is good, though as said before the music video could be altered, maybe even re-filmed. It does, on the other hand, apply to our chosen genre and also links to our target audience. Through research and testing we finally came to these products, which follow real media conventions and are all over effective as individual products. Audience feedback showed that each product was more than above average, which is positive feedback and very reassuring to know at the end of our project.

Tuesday, 27 April 2010

The day of filming

Emily took some photos of our actors to demonstrate their costumes on the day of filming. Due to some problems some actors places were changed around, and a member of our group (I) had to play a part.

Myself - the clown

Jordan - the rabbit

Sarah

Jo - main character

Emma

Monday, 26 April 2010

FINAL PRODUCTS

Music video (compressed version for upload purposes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MTPocvjMuU

Digi pak (all to correct measurements)

Poster

This is the final advertisement poster for the anxillary product. I think it is a good poster and I am proud of it. I took some more photos of the rabbit mask for better composition throughout the image. I took a centre image so the poster could be more visually balanced. I edited the photo on Photoshop, using the burn/dodge tool for the dark and light effect from the outskirts inwards. I also altered the levels on the image, along with the curves to brighten the image. I added text through Photoshop also. I thought white text worked the best because it corresponded with the white rabbit mask, but also kept a fresh look to the poster. The simple white text also stood out the best against the darker background. I used the same font throughout, Perpetua Titling MT was the font used. I used Arial for the small print to make it as clear as possible. I underlined some of the text to seperate the statements; this was easier and more effective than the use of a full stop.