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

Personally I feel that both my main product and ancillary texts are soul conventional and effective, appropriately appealing to fans through use of genre conventions such as mes-en-scene elements of colours and cinematography as well as out of balance of relatable yet desirable characteristics of the artist to create a motif around 'Sophie Mae'. However in support and combination of each other they are very effective as they both display the same visual imagery and theme throughout making a polished and professional artist image which is reinforced through several forms of media. This is as the scenes and locations of the artist with the video are also images from on the digipak and advert. However as they are interpreted in different ways they form a subtle interlink to viewing alternative perspectives and make each media form fresh and new ensuring they are engaging to the audience throughout.

My research into the soul genre developed through my research into existing ancillary texts such as magazine adverts and digipaks. I analysed a wide range and to identify the use of conventional aspects and what contributed towards the individual success of each product. Through analysing Lana Del Ray's digipak I found the conventional use of the theme of love. This was indicated by the use of iconography of a rose which connotes to the audience ideas of romance and love however through the roses thorns it too subtly indicates the negative aspects of love suggesting although it may seem beautiful you can get hurt sending a message to her target audience. This was too enhanced by the conventional use of the colour red which is directly correlated with passion, love and romance ensuring the audience that the musical content is based upon the theme of love and relationships. This therefore inspired me too to utilise the use of roses by incorporating them into my CD image which too matches the coral colour and theme used through out as my choice of colour does not directly insinuate ideas of relationships the use of the roses supports the subtle theme throughout my own digipak. As the concept of relationships is relatable to both digipak wider audiences, as soul artists tend to have a more diverse target audience, I decided to therefore use colloquial language of "Smash Hit" which is less intimidating to the audience as it can be read at ease by all ages and educations. This too helps with making the artist seem more approachable which helps build a relationship with the audience and artist as she appears ordinary which enhances her relatable attributes which too links to the relatable narrative and lyrics. This is therefore conventional to the soul genre as a soul artist tends to be more open and honest with their audiences displaying them as a person and not just an artist within their products as their music tends to link closely to them and their lives. This follows Dyer's Star Theory which states an artist should be both ordinary and extraordinary which is portrayed by her personal stories yet the extraordinary element is included through the video and stars lifestyle. 

After analysing digpaks I then went on to research the market for soul magazine adverts to find artist representations and conventional aspects that were included within the advert.  For instance, I looked at Paloma Faiths recent magazine advert to gain an understanding of what currently appeals to the market. I found too that she was presented as relateable as well as quirky both conventional to the soul genre which tends to be more expressive and open to interpretation which is what makes is relatable to most audiences. For instance within the centre of the advert is multiple images of Paloma Faith displaying many ulter egos which sees her presented through many different personalities and emotions which shows her as happy, distressed, timid and ect making both her and her music appeal to all characters and audiences suggesting that there is an element for everyone. This too makes the audience feel ok that they may be different from other people as it suggests individuality which intern inspired my own digipak. As my artists target audience is of 15-40 year olds it was necessary to be relateable yet current which inspired my mise-en-scene element of hair, make-up and costume and to subvert the classic and simple 60's flare often adopted and opt for current in style clothing such as the statement pink coat and hat encouraging audiences to be different and express themselves as people are often reserved with their clothing choices. As well as this through showing her in high street affordable clothes makes the artist seem more down to earth and makes her look more attainable creating a relationship between the artist and audience through mutual tastes and shopping habits as well as being comforting to the audience as the star appears normal which is necessary as the narrative within the video too aims to be relateable. I too enhaunced this through the use of cinematography where the artist is shown through a long shot, which enables the audience to see her clothes, yet also shows her at a distance which makes her appear closed off and distance. Through not making eye contact with the audience she comes across shy and mysterious which is appealing to an audience as it seems both the artist and song are not promotionally forced they are real and display true emotions. This would act as a comfort to the audience as they can see that despite their lavish lifestyle the artist too has these feelings making the artist less intimidating and relatable which again is conventional to the soul genre as it aims to connect the audience and artist. 

Within the planning stage of my ancillary texts I decided on which element and sections of the video I felt connoted the right themes and attitudes I wanted as a running theme within the digipak and magazine advert. This included images which seemed distance and shut off as even though the video demonstrates the artist as both happy and sad the overall theme of the song is heartbreak so it is essential to portray this theme appropriately to the audience so they have an accurate idea of the song. For the magazine advert as this included one image I selected an image which was general and didn't give much away and therefore I chose the image of the artist leaning against a brick wall. To enhance this, I used the photoshop programme and in particular the crop tool to cut the artist out of the image and turning the wall and back ground black and white using the filters. I then reimported the artist keeping her in colour to promote her and bring the attention on her whilst the drained of colour background connotes her upset emotions felt within the song. I then used the blur tool to merge the images together and give the advert a professional well rounded look to foreshadow the professionalism of the album itself. With the digipak however in order to continue the theme I reimported Sophie onto a brick wall however this time using a slightly different image where she is staring off. By making her seem disconnected and lost in thought intrigues the audience as they want to know her thoughts which would encourage them to buy the song and album to find out and understand more about the artist and why she is portrayed this way which inevitably allows the audience and artist to build a relationship. 

The digipak is beneficial to the music video as it incorporates different elements of the song and video as different images so helps to promote the final product of the video. As well as this through the numerous shots used it promotes the artist in a more effective way and allows the artist the opportunity to connect to the audience through the message to fans which allows a brief, intimate moment where they can build a relationship as the audience feels the message is directly to them putting the artist on a more personal level. However, the magazine advert is beneficial to the music video as it directly aims to persuade people to buy the song and therefore watch the video. Its general aspect appeals to the masses whilst the digipak only appeals to the target audience and existing fans who would appreciate the in depth look at the artist. Considering this I would therefore state that the magazine advert is most beneficial to my music video as it is accessible by all and so can promote the artist, the song and video further as the digipak is only a bonus when purchasing the CD.  

The main connection for the ancillary texts and the video are the use of images from within the music which makes the advert and digipak direct promotional tools for the video. For instance one example of this on the magazine advert cover is the featured image of  artist Sophie leaning on a wall alone which is also used on the digipak as the message to fans. However this location is used within the video as a flashback and shows her happy, content and in love a parallel to the advert connotations where she is shown as alone and seems cold and closed off with her body language shut off and her head facing the other way not showing facial expressions. This helps the audience build a relationship with the audience with the artist as they can understand how the memories of her happy times have made her feel more depressed and as heartbreak and relationships can occur at any age it is an appropriate theme and portrayl for the artists diverse target audience of 15-40 year olds. The theme of relationships is therefore conventional as it is relateable which is the purpose of most soul music as well as this the use of the image on the brick wall is conventional as it shows the artist as relateable as she is shown just within the town whilst many adverts have grand use of locations and settings. The emotions displayed too make it conventional as soul music utilises sad emotions and life scenarios and expresses them through the song and lyrics however the use of the photoshop and the black and white filter whilst the artist is in colour helps draw extra attention and focus onto the artist whilst the dull background connotes her sad and emotional state as she is not over shadowed by we expect she is overwhelmed by emotions.  

This is also through the use of the image within the final digipak where Sophie is featured within the video with her love interest and he has just brought her flowers. Using an image from here where her face is distracted and un-content within the video has a direct parrallel and suggests that the relationship wasnt as perfect as she interpreted which makes the audience feel empathy for her and have a better understanding of her life and emotions. This would therefore help build a relationship with the target audience of 15-40 years olds who would of have felt at some point heartbreak as well as being comforting that the stars life isnt perfect making her more relateable.

Question 3- What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Audience feedback is crucial with the final developing stages of creating a media product as it allowed me to gain vital insight as to the effectiveness of my video from a different, fresh perspective. This is as when having heavy creative, personal involvement with a product certain mistakes such as layout flaws within the narrative can be easily overlooked as through understanding the ideas and influenced from the video I understand the video in greater detail so this stage is helpful in ensuring the same message came across to the audience. 

Through finding out errors within our work such as this we can take on board the opinions of the target audience in order to make changes and improve our work catering to their tastes further. This will help us to therefore make a more conventional music video which abides to the tastes of current soul music lovers. 

We therefore screened a rough copy of the video to our target audience through youtube. This allowed the viewers to withstand a normal viewing scenario as youtube is one of the main global media sites in which music videos are watched. This meant the class received an accurate impact and viewing scenario close to that of our fans. My target audience consisted of music lovers rather than specifically soul music enthusiasts which we found helpful as it allowed us the opinions to make the video more generically conventional and appealing making the video a greater success through attracting a wider audience scope. As well as this through uploading to youtube made it easier to monitor and determine the success and popularity of the video through the hits, likes and comments section offered within the site. As well as this as youtube does not have strict boundaries as too what is censored unlike the television as our video demonstrated creative influences such as the 'bath scenes', youtube would allow the video to be accessed and watched at ease.

We achieved this feedback through allowing the groups viewing the video to fill out an anonymous feedback sheet so that groups felt liable to give a more honest opinion. The sheets prompted them to give exampled of the strengths and weaknesses with some of the positive comments being in reference to good location and good narrative as they liked the conventional choice of a house and the breakdown of a love story supported through the flashbacks of happy memories. On the other hand the constructive criticism received suggested more camera angles needed to be used and that there was too many repetitive camera shots as although mid shots are conventional as they show both the body language and the face of the artist a lot of the feedback requested more close ups. 

As a producer I was not surprised by some of the comments put forth. Reviewing them I knew that I needed to refilm some new shots but as the foundation of the video such as the narrative was well received the purpose of the video was branded successful and the concept pulled off meaning no drastic changed had to be made. Therefore with the refilling of scenes I knew as a producer my research and conventional choice of  locations suited the general tastes that the audiences want to see. The video therefore needed to be enhanced which with the new suggestions gave me a new creative vibe as what to now include within the video to make it even more effective. Upon reflection of my video and through viewing other groups productions I realised that our narrative was dulled down by the use of long intervals of footage which made it boring and dated. 

Upon receiving these comments we went back and reviewed the video and unused footage to try and determine an appropriate course of action to resolve the issues bought to light. For instance to solve the repetitive footage we decided to shoot new scenes and so went back to the creative ideas that we previously dismissed in order to portray a new scenario or emotional response of the artist as the repetitive nature made the video boring and monotonous. We then made the conscious decision to re-film some of the scenes and footage within the original video at different angles to make shots and perspectives. This was achieved through the use of the two camera positioned at different heights which allowed the audience to view the artist in many different ways helping them feel they understand and have a better understanding of the artist helping to build a relationship between the artist and audience. For instance the use of a high angle could interpret ideas of being defeated and low yet a close up could be used to show crying or frown lines conveying feelings of deep sadness and hurt. Finally we updated our video through re-editing the lip syncing within the video as slight time delays resulted in the unprofessional quality of work and makes the words seem less connected to the artist and therefore the audience detracting from the emotional connection which is relied upon and conventional to the soul genre.

The music industry is constantly changing and adapting with new tastes and genres being explored and favoured. Therefore the information revived would be very beneficial for me if working in the industry as it would keep me current and make sure I release something that will be well received by adhering to the conventional tastes of my target audience of soul music audiences. However through viewing my rough copy to a wider audience allows my artist more creative freedom so they can adapt to changing tastes and styles as their music is synoptic to stay as current to the industry as possible. As well as this the feedback and changes has enhanced my video and narrative clarifying it for the audience. This overall if effective should benefit our music video making it more interesting and have a more professional, densely packed video. 

Question 1- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

A music video is a short film integrating the combined elements of visuals, lyrics and music and is generally concept, narrative or performance based or in some cases an assortment of all three. It adds a visual element to a song which helps reinforce themes and ideas within a song and allows the artist to be creative and appeal to their intended audiences. Through researching into the indented purpose of a music video I discovered that the use of a music video varies but the main intention is to help promote an artist or a song. The production brief for my advanced media production was to create a 3-5 music video for the song of my choice and the supporting music genre. Once our basic music video research was collected my group could begin to planning and creating our music video. I decided on the Paloma Faith song "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" and chose Sophie to portray the artist which we name 'Sophie Mae'. The reason for the song choice was as it was categorised under the soul genre which we felt would be easiest to portray as it allowed us more creative freedom in terms of narrative and conventions. 

Before creating my music video I watch and analysed existing media products to identify the generic codes and conventions of my chosen music genre; soul. Through watching the video for Adele's 'Rolling in the Deep' I identified the conventional use of the cinematography element of a close up when Adele is singing in the chair. This inspired me to therefore use a closeup of the artists face within my own video towards the end of the video when the artist is too shown hunched over in a chair crying. Therefore the use of the close-up in connection with the smudged mascara intensifies and expresses the emotions her deep upset to the audience. This represents my artist as upset and vulnerable as she seems weak and in an emotional state and so the audience would feel empathy towards due to her broken relationship and want to be her friend in order to comfort her. As the soul genre tends to be more relatable to the audience, the cinematography use is conventional as it can help the audience relate to their own experiences when experiencing similar emotions. Another conventional use of cinematography is the use of shots such as over the shoulder when the artist is getting ready in the mirror. This is conventional to the soul genre as it shows the audience a view from the perspective of the artist which helps the audience build a relationship with the artist as they have a better understanding of the artist making them feel closer. This is opposed to other genres which main purpose is to promote the artist to allow the audience to buy into the artists lifestyle where the more personal angel connects more to the personal lyrics of the song. 

Another convention found within Adele's video of the soul genre is the simple and classic use of the miss-en-scene element of hair, make-up and costume. This is evident when Adele is shown in a black dress with a simple undo and make-up however within my video I decided to represent my artist as more current and quirky. This is unconventional as the simple look keeps the concentration on the artist and her emotions. To therefore subvert this I therefore dressed the artist is confident in trend clothes such as a pink coat and large floppy hat. This updates the artist image and helps her appeal to her younger generation of her target audience. The use of the long shot to show the clothes and through dressing the artist in high street clothes makes her look seem attainable as well as making the artist seem more approachable and as though the girl next door. This is conventional to the soul genre as artists often seem more ordinary and approachable an element of Dyers theory which states the artist should be both ordinary and extraordinary. 

My research further developed into the soul genre through analysing Amy Winehouse 'Rehab' and identifying how the artist was represented through the narrative and micro elements. Through analysing the video the artist came across as relatable due to her personal exposure of her life and drug struggles and experiences. The audience were therefore able to build a relationship with the artist as she came across as honest which makes them feel trusted. I therefore too chose to use the relatable setting of a house as the audience feel they have insight into the artists personal life. As they are too able to see the artist within the house with limited makeup and without her signature style of the red lipstick made the audience feel they could see the real artist which is conventional as the lyrics too tend to be in personal connection to the artist. Through another conventional use of low key lighting within the house I was too able to heighten the emotions of the artist within the narrative. For instance within the dressing room at the beginning of the song Sophie is shown getting ready where foreshadowed by the music is upbeat and shows her happy and willing to get out of the house and make the most of her day. This is then contrasted later with the end of the song where she is shown within a different location on the floor hunched over and crying. Shown to be inverted within her self she seems parallel to her earlier representation which makes the audience feel empathy for the artist as they can relate to days when they were deeply upset or felt alone and therefore didn't want to face the world. This therefore follows the convention of soul music being more personal as the artist is willing to portray themselves within negative and upsetting scenarios allowing the audience a better insight into themselves and their life. As well as this the use of the house is conventional as it adds a personal element to the video. 

The soul genre too although conventionally portrays a relatable narrative they popularly show the portrayal of a love and relationship and the narratives base. For instance my video is showcases a heartbreak which can be felt at any age which suits the large target audience of the artist Sophie of 16-40 year olds enabling them to build a relationship through mutual scenarios. More specifically my video shows the breakdown of a relationship between the artist and her boyfriend. The layout and narrative idea of the video is that the video works as a flashback looking at previous happier times where they are in town spending time with each other and the romance between them indicated by him buying Sophie flowers. The end of the video however the artist is alone so the audience build a relationship with the artist through understanding her upset and by directly being able to see her change in state. This narrative style is conventional to the soul genre as it gives the audience a storyline and perspective to compare the emotions to. This is as it is important to portray and conform to the musical style of a video through the use of emotions and locations as when in support of each other they can project an emotion or feeling as intended onto the audience to provoke certain reactions whilst creating the audience a connection to the song. The audience as result therefore feels that the artist is sharing apart of them allowing them to build their relationship through a better understanding of the artist as well as being in similar or relatable situations. 

 My research into the soul genre allowed me identify the use of slow paced editing in particular in the analysis of Adele's 'Chasing Pavements' when she is rolling down the pavement at a half normal speed. This effect made her seem as though life was passing her by and she was no longer in the moment suggesting that she as a person is now disconnected and has lost her purpose and urgency. I therefore decided to use a slow motion effect within my own video with the use of photoshop and the retime effect. I slowed the shot down by 25% when the artist is ripping up a photo of her and her ex. This is as it is a dramatic symbol to the audience that the relationship is definitely over and she has decided to move on with her life as it is irreversible. The slow effect connotes her slight reluctance and her thought process as to whether the chapter of her life is closed. This would appeal to the audience as they too would understand and refer to a point within their lives when they were that upset and inverted that they were disconnected to the world helping them create a mutual bond and relationship. This is conventional to the soul genre as the songs are often slow paced as the lyrics and the message of the song are more serious and thought provoking. 

My final music video therefore adhere to the forms and conventions of real media products. This is due to our extensive research of codes and conventions which has allowed us to create products that mimic existing work to appeal correctly to our target audience. 

Question 4- How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

In the research stage of my production I used a lot of familar media outlets and programmes such as google, youtube and blogger to find appropriate examples and basic information on the generic foundations of a music video. This is as I was analysing the existing soul genre and market including current artists and videos to determine what the foundations of a successful music video and noted my findings on blogger. To gain an immediate and current understanding of the music tastes of peope I then looked at iTunes and the top download list to highlight popular artists as well as the correlating music videos to understand cinematography and styles currently favoured. After this the final stage of my research was to chose an artist and song I wanted to create a video for and after deciding on the soul genre I picked 'Only Love Can Hurt Like This' a popular song on the artist homepage, as I felt the lyrics and beat allowed me greater creativity as it could be interpreted in many different ways. 

As the programmes used within the research stage were used throughout with blogger being a constant resource to display information gained through exploring the industry. Other than these, two of the main tools used within the planning stage were the two digital cameras and equipment for photo shoots. I used two cameras for the production as conventionally soul music tends to have a deeper connection to the artist. This is as the intended purpose of a soul music video is to connect to the audience through a relateable scenario or emotion making the artist seem approachable and ordinary yet their emotional expression through a music video makes her seem extraordinary. This compromising balance can therefore be expressed through two cameras as angles such as close ups; to show the artist through her emotions and expressions and long shots; to include locations and filming sets with the artist which shows her two sides to the audience so they feel they have a greater access to the artist as a person allowing them to create a relationship. On the other hand other tools used for the filming and photo shoot included the trip to hold the camera steady, a contrast to the emotions felt within the song. 

I therefore feel that the digital technology shows my development from consumer to producer as with a more creative flare I was often put in charge to come up with scenarios and filming ideas and locations. However at times, due to the filming schedule I often took charge of the camera and so now feel I can sufficiently match appropriate cinematography angles and scenes together to covey a particular emotion. I also managed to overcome difficulties such as the shaking camera due to my shivering, filming in the cold weather. As the artist walked the panning shot reflected this looking jerky. I therefore expanded my knowledge overcoming this through putting a hairband on the camera and pulling the camera so that it had limited body contact making it more consistent. 

In terms of the construction stage of my production one programme used was Final Cut Pro X. Using this, I was then able to merge and edit the clips to synchronize that of the music. Through my research into exisiting songs such as Adele' s Set Fire To The Rain I identified editing styles such as jump cuts from Adele on the chair to the dance which conventionally shows the hurt and betrayl within the song as instant and unexpected which helps the audience empathise with the urt and they understand the raw emotion felt by the artist. This inspired me to use transitions such as dissolve and fade to show how the break down of the relationship felt like a blur from happiness to distress determining her confused attitude. As well as this, I decided to use a filter over the memories images called 'Aged Film' to connote how happy times seem so long ago suggesting she hasn't been happy in a long time. 

On the other hand to develop and edit my ancillary texts I used the photoshop tool. Overall my chosen theme was black and white to connote the two contrasting emotions within the song and hints of romantic colours such as pink and red to show passion and romance. To do this I layered over the black and white filter on the backgrounds to make the artist stand out instead using filters such as Veranda and altering settings such as the saturation by 20% to draw attention to her for promotional aspects as well as making the colours more vibrant making the theme of love more obvious to people viewing the advert or digipak. 

This is therefore one programme I would say appropriately demonstrates my development as I used to rely heavily on assistance as I could only use basic filters and text types. However I now have the ability to work independently to adapt minor issues such as font shades and saturation and contrast, which I would previously overlook, making a well rounded high standard image. 

Overall I feel my understanding and ability within different media forms has progressed from basic to proficient as I now feel I can carry out tasks independently to a relatively high quality. Therefore I would say that I have benefitted through my productions as I have been taught how to use certain programmes I would not necessarily be exposed to which has broadened my overall knowledge of different media forms as a consequence. 

Final Music Video (Miss Georgiou)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfvSzNG67I4

Final Group Digipak (Miss Miller)

Final Magazine Advert (Miss Miller)