Evaluation

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

For the start of our coursework we used a variety of new media techniques in order to aid our research into our chosen genre, Indie Pop, however a main technology that helped massively was the internet. I used the website Blogger in order to post all of my research and planning in a simple and easily available way, it has also allowed me to follow other member of my groups blogs meaning that I can view their blog whenever I want to in case one of them needed help with posting some of their individual research.

To begin research into previous music artists my group used the internet to discover which well-known artists fitted into the Indie Pop genre, the internet led us to the website Wikipedia. The website allowed my group to see a list of artists/bands and what record label they belonged to, from this we short-listed the potential artists/bands which we felt portrayed the genre effectively. After choosing what artists/bands to research we used Youtube in order to find and evaluate previous real music videos and embed these videos onto our blogs, which meant that other members of my group could view how I had evaluated the videos. Another website which aided my group’s research greatly was Google, it was through this website that we were able to find the necessary posters and digipaks of the artists/bands that we had chosen in order for us to evaluate alongside the music videos.

After deciding upon what genre we are going to create our products in and doing our research into the codes and conventions of the genre, we decided to look on the website http://www.unsigned.com/. The website allows unsigned musicians to share their music online allowing anyone to access their songs. We searched for musicians within the Indie Pop genre which led us to the solo female artist Bunny Lee. As we group we listened to all of her songs and decided upon the track known ‘Jamie Please Come Home’ as we felt that it had the most likely chance to be effective for us when we were to create our music video since it fitted into the codes and conventions of the genre due to its upbeat tempo. 

We used the website Polyvore in order to create a mood board of clothing and jewellery in order for my group to develop a better understanding of how we wanted our artist to look within the poster, digipak and video as well as how the artist comes across. By doing this we were able to present our artist in a quirky and typically Indie way by the use of the playsuits and unusually jewellery such as the bicycle necklace. After developing an understanding of how the artist will look we decided to research different font types in order to decide upon how we wanted the text to appear on the magazine advertisement and digipak.  We looked on the website www.dafont.com and by doing this allowed my group to use an interesting yet professional looking font in a style that we noticed from researching the codes and conventions, therefore a style that our target audience will expect. The fonts that we chose were called KG Sweet N Sassy and Abeat by Kai.

Once we had gathered our research into the Indie Pop genre we created a documentary that summarized our finding of the genre as a whole. To upload certain music videos that were relevant within our documentary we used Zamzar as it allowed us to download the videos and import them quickly and efficiently into iMovie to edit. A website that was helpful for us when organising our research and creating the documentary was Facebook as it allowed us to communicate with each other outside of our lesson time.

We used a digital camera to take a frame by frame shot of how we wanted our music video to look, using this camera was useful as it was very easy to handle and light to carry around. We took these images in order for us to create a storyboard on Celtx. This software allowed us to upload the images with a space underneath for us to write which type of shot the image was meant to be portraying and how long we wanted the shot to be part of the music video for. To film the music video itself we used a digital recording camera as it allowed us to create interesting camera movements such as a pan and tilt, the camera was also very easy to handle and carry around.

As we have included elements of stop-motion within our music video due to it being used in real media product such as Kate Nash - Foundations music video, we wanted to allow our video to have the same unusualness in order to appeal to our target audience. To take the images that were to be used in the stop-motion sequences we used a digital SLR camera as it allowed us to take better, sharper quality images. Another member of my group shot the images that are within the stop-motion sequences as she has had previous experience with this particular area however everyone was present within my group when the images were taken. To create the stop-motion the camera has to be set to continuous shoot meaning that a multiple amount of images can be taken within a small space of time allowing every movement that was happening within the frame to be captured. To make the images into a video the software Windows Movie Maker was used as it allowed my other group member to have control over the amount of time each image was going to be seen on screen meaning that it would make the separate images appear to flow together to form one clip. We then imported these videos into iMovie which meant that we were able to incorporate them into the video however we wanted to however the stop-motion clips contain a black border.

We used a digital SLR camera again in order to capture the images used for the digipak and poster as it meant that we could create images which were of high quality due to the camera being of a professional standard.

The music video that we had created was edited using the software iMovie which allowed us to cut clips and position them in a way that we wanted and preferred which gave the video a pace that matched the upbeat tempo of the song. The fast edits that we chose to use allowed the viewer to understand the basic storyline we were trying to portray, specifically the breakdown between the artist and her lover Jamie. They also allowed us to introduce the artist in an interesting and unusual way as the audience are introduced to the artist slowly through the use of close ups on certain parts of the artists body. We wanted to portray our artist as unusual and quirky therefore we decided to slow down certain clips allowing them to appear more significant against the rest of the shots, by doing this we achieved our way of portraying the artists as slowing down certain clips was not part of the common codes and conventions associated with the genre. iMovie also made it possible for my group to reverse shots, which meant  that we could emphasise the unusualness of the artist. This style of edit also helped to keep the pace of the song, as the audience are watching the same thing being repeated but in reverse in order to keep with the tempo of the song. In the video below is an example of where we have reversed a shot in order to keep with the pace of the song.

iMovie also aided my group in changing the tone of the stop-motion clips as they appeared sharper than the other shots surrounding it, meaning that it broke the continuity and flow within our music video. To rise above this we changed the brightness and contrast of the clips to a level that was a close as possible to the rest of the shots within the video, however there is still a noticeable difference so we decided to place transitions on either side of the stop-motion in order to highlight the quirkiness of the sequences as well as it meaning that the continuity and verisimilitude was not as broken. In the clip below is an example of where we have changed the brightness and contrast of stop-motion sequence.

When editing the images that we had taken for the digipak and poster we used the software Photoshop. This particular software was very useful as we decided, as a group, to have the background of the images to be white which we were able to do by shooting them on a white background and by using the levels adjustment tool. This allowed my group to make the background completely white so that the main focus was the artist or the other props such as the leaves and bear.

To record our chosen song by Bunny Lee we downloaded a programme known as SoundRecorderMacOSX which allowed us to record the song and add it onto iMovie to position it over our clips. We used the clip trimmer tool to start and end the song at the specific points that we wanted, which meant that we didn’t have to have a long black shot at the start of our music video allowing us to introduce the fast past of the video right at the start.

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

From our research into the Indie Pop genre, my group discovered that the most frequently used camera shots and movements were frequent close-ups and point of view shots (POV) as they allowed the audience to have a connection with the artist while she is singing into the camera, it also allows the artists to clearly be the main focus of the video therefore creating an identity with the audience. An example from our research of real music videos within the Indie Pop genre can be found within the Marina and the Diamonds video for Hollywood, in the clip below I have identified where these conventions can be found within the real media product and where it can be found within my group’s media produce of a music video.

Although we have chosen to use close-ups within our media product as demonstrated above we decided to challenge the convention of there being frequent close-ups within our work as we felt that our video would flow better with frequent mid-shots as we wanted the audience to see where the artist is as she is seen in a variety of setting such as her bedroom, a park and outside of her house.

As a group we also discovered that most music videos within the Indie Pop genre use straight cuts and fast edits as well as having the artist be in the centre of the frame. The use of straight cuts and fast edits creates continuity and verisimilitude as well as linking to the upbeat tempo style of this genre and the use of having the artist in the centre of the frame frequently allows the audience to clearly see they are the focus of the video therefore highlighting them to be important. We decided to conform to this convention as we wanted our artist to come across as the main focus of our music video.

The majority of music videos that fit into the genre of Indie Pop usually use unusual props and quirky but fashionable style of costume regarding the time period. When doing our research we noticed that in Kate Nash’s video for ‘Foundations’ all of these elements can be seen. Props such as toothbrushes, socks and watches have all been used successfully to link with the lyrics of the song as well as creating an unusual tone to the artists and music video. The artist’s costume within the music video is an old-fashioned vintage dress which is considerable fashionable at the moment but the style of costume itself is dated and creates a quirky feel to the artist.

We decided to conform to this convention of using quirky props as we have used a teddy bear to link with our interpretation of the song lyrics as well as giving an unusual and childlike feel to the artist. We also chose to use props such as a can of lynx spray that disappears off the edge of the table using stop-motion connoting that our artists love interest has done the same. In the clip below it displays where quirky props can be found within Kate Nash’s video for Foundations and my groups own music video.

From doing our research my group discovered that the majority of artists/bands within the Indie Pop genre usually represent youth through the use of on-trend costumes, quirky props and the fact that the artist/band is generally young themselves. We have conformed to this conventional representation of youth as we have made our artist wear an on-trend costume, chosen a person who is young themselves and we have also included quirky props such as magnets. By using these elements our artist clearly represents youth and this means that we can appeal to young people easily, which is the aim of our target audience.

Women are also represented as being strong and independent, especially through the use of low-angle shots and an unrevealing costume that emphasises this representation as well as the fact that the woman is a female solo artist. As a group we decided to represent our artist as independent however we chose not to do it in the conventional way. Instead we chose to portray our artist on her own frequently and showed her dancing around her room which connotes that she is happy and doesn’t need a man in her life to be like that. However, as our artist gets a new love interest at the end of the music video it could be interpreted by the audience that our artist is dependent on men as she goes from one love interest to another in what appears to be a short amount of time.

As a group we found that Indie Pop music videos don’t tend to have a clear linear narrative, they also do not follow either Todorov or Propp’s theory. We have conformed to this convention in our music product as there are sections within the video that contain a narrative such as the pan camera movements of the photographs in the picture frames which clearly displays to the audience the breakdown between the relationship. On the other hand the video as a whole does not have a clear linear narrative and is dominated by performance which implies that the music is more important than the story behind the song.

Throughout an Indie Pop music video the lighting style creates a bizarre feeling and atmosphere to the artist/band, usually through the use of back lighting. This use of lighting can be seen in the music video ‘The Writer’ by Ellie Goulding. The use of back lighting, adds to the impression that the artist is important and unusual. We have challenged this convention in our own media work as we felt that we wanted to create verisimilitude through the use of natural lighting. We felt that if we included quirky lighting it would take away from the unusual feel of the artists that we have created through the use of props and costume.

As a group our research informed us that the images used on the front cover of a CD digipak belonging to an artist/band in the Indie Pop genre tended to be of the artist/band themselves, an unusual image or a patterned background. The style is generally simple when the artist/band can be seen on the front cover of the CD which allows the artist/band to be the main focus and become identifiable to the audience therefore creating a connection with the viewer. We have conformed to the convention of having the artist on the front cover of the CD digipak as it displays the artist as the main as the main focus and allows the audience to identify with her.

The inlay of a CD digipak usually contains a recurring theme that can see throughout the CD, generally through the theme is of a colour This style can be identified in The Kooks album ‘Inside In Inside Out’ as the colour red is used throughout the CD. We also discovered from our research that one side of the inlay tends to include an image of the artist/band which reinforces the idea that the artist/band is the main focus of the album.

We have conformed to this convention as we chose to use the colour white for the background of all the images within our CD digipak. We have also included a second image of the artist in the inlay which highlights that our artist is the main focus of the album and that the audience can connect with her easily as they are repeatedly seeing her.

The back cover of a CD digipak generally displays the lists of the tracks that are to be featured on the album and often consists of an image which links to the album name, for example the back cover of Florence and Machine’s album ‘Lungs’ contains an image of an illustration of lungs which clearly links to the album title. As a group we decided that we wanted to conform to this convention by using an image of an autumnal leaf to clearly demonstrate a connection between the album name and image.

My group also discovered that the album name of an Indie Pop CD digipak is usually short and simple such as Ellie Goulding’s album ‘Lights’, which allows the name to be easily remembered by the audience. We chose to conform to this convention by naming our album ‘Autumn’ as it is short and simple as well as it being seen to represent a changing time in our artist’s life, going from youth to adulthood.

The style of text which can be found on an Indie Pop CD digipak is generally in a handwritten, feminine style or a block, simple style. On Florence and the Machine’s album ‘Lungs’ the artists name is in an elegant feminine style whilst the album name is in a simple block font, this contrast of font styles creates an unusual feel to the artist as there is normally one font style used throughout a CD digipak. We have conformed to this convention in our own CD digipak as the artist’s name is a handwritten style which is obviously feminine and we have also used a simple font for the album name as it allows the artist to appear quirky due to the contrast font styles that have been used. 

From researching into our chosen genre, my group discovered that the image used on the magazine advertisement is usually the same image of the artist/band which is used on the front cover of the CD digipak or it’s of an unusual image that links to the album title but does not feature the artist/band. An example of where an unusual image can be found is on the poster for The Drums album ‘The Drums’. This style of magazine advertisement helps create intrigue around the album as the artist/band cannot be fully seen.

We have conformed to this convention as my group felt that by using an image which did not involve the artist, it would create an enigma around the album and make it appear interesting and stand out to audience members.

My group found that the font styles and colours used on the magazine advertisement are usually the same as the style and colours that have been used on the CD digipak as it allows for a recurring theme throughout the whole package which makes it easy for the audience to recognise the album in a shop. We chose to conform to this convention as we felt that it would make the artist appear in the same way throughout all of the products and make it easy for audiences to connect with our artist. To allow the audience to identify the album in shops we included a small image of the front cover of the album, which meant that audiences can see the artist and recognise the album easily.

The use of star ratings from trusted critics on some of the Indie Pop posters  that my group analysed such as Ellie’s Goulding’s poster for ‘Lights’, makes the artist/band appear respected in the music world by well-known reviewers and this will help persuade audience members to buy the album. We further discovered that the magazine advertisement often includes popular songs which also help to persuade audience to buy the album. As a group, we have decided to conform to the convention of using these elements to persuade people to buy the album when seeing the poster advertising the album in a magazine.

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

After my group had created a questionnaire it made it clear to us of what our target audience (women aged between 16-22) expected to see in an Indie Pop music video, CD digipak and magazine advertisement.

The questionnaire’s results told us that audience members preferred to see the artist/band in an Indie Pop music video. The audience also answered that they relate most to the artist/band in an Indie Pop music video through the use of eye-contact with the camera, we decided to meet this expectation and target our audience by including many of these particular shots throughout our video. 

Another instance where the questionnaire has informed us is that audience members prefer to see a narrative within an Indie Pop music video however as a group we decided that this wouldn't allow our music video to stand out and we preferred not to take our chosen song lyrics as literal. Although this means that we have not met our audience’s expectations in terms of using the questionnaire in order to create our products, there are many successful Indie Pop music video’s which follow the idea that my group decided upon which indicates that there is a market out there for our type of music video within our target audience.

It also became clear to my group that the target audience expected to see dark, simple colours such as black, green and red on the CD digipak of an Indie Pop artist/band. My group have not met this expectation as we decided that a white coloured background would fit better with how we have represented our artist in our music video, if we had chosen to use dark colours on the CD digipak wit would have meant that our whole promotional package would not appear to link. The questionnaire also revealed to my group that our target audience expect an Indie Pop album name to be simple or unusual and we have met this expectation by using one word for the album title ‘Autumn’.

The audience members that we asked also said that they expect the image that will be used on the poster to be the same image that would be on the front cover of the CD digipak, We decided it would be better if we used the leaf image that we had created and that features on the back cover on the CD digipak for the poster image as it linked best to the album, whilst creating an enigma which makes the artist appear more interesting as the audience cannot see the artist in full. The questionnaire also made it clear to my group that audience members prefer to see the same font style which is used on the CD digipak to be used on the poster, which in turn creates a theme throughout our whole package. We decided to meet these two expectations as felt that it was important to create a theme that links all three of our products clearly. It was also made clear to us that audience members expected to see star ratings, tour/release dates, the artists’ website and comments from well-known magazines and as a group we decided to use these expectations gathered from the audience questionnaire as all of these meant that audience members can see how successful our artist is, which in turn makes them by the CD in order to find out what the fuss is about.

By using the majority of these particular elements which the audience told us they expect to see in an Indie Pop music video, CD digipak and poster, we have been able to meet their expectations in most circumstances. Our main product, which is our music video, portrays the artist to represent youth through the use of our artists fashionable yet quirky costume and the youth associated love problems our artist is currently having.  

This representation of youth can be identified in the CD digipak, as well as the music video, as the artist’s costume is again youthful and on-trend with the age range we have chosen for our target audience: 16-22. Our audience questionnaire revealed to my group that audience members preferred the artist’s costume to be unusual/old-fashioned which was useful for my group as that was the answer we were hoping for in order to keep up with the representation of youth.The bear prop, which can be seen in the music video, has been emphasised more in the CD digipak as we wanted it to imply that the artist is leaving her childhood behind as she is becoming older, this idea also links to the album name of ‘Autumn’. The white background on all of the images throughout the images connotes innocence therefore emphasising that the artist is representing youth.

The poster itself reflects the theme of youth that has been repeated and portrayed throughout the CD digipak through the use of a white background. By using the same background colour, font for the artist’s name and font for the album name title as on the CD digipak allowed my group to clearly link the two products and clearly displayed the connection between how we have represented the artist.

4. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

The final audience feedback that we received was for the magazine advertisement, which on the whole was quite good. The majority of people that we asked stated that the advertisement created an enigma as the artist cannot be seen except for the small album cover image towards the side, the mystery that has been created is reflective of the genre. An audience member said that "the simplistic theme makes the leaf eye catching, which works well with the chosen genre of Indie Pop" alternatively a different audience member stated that the "advertisement would perhaps be better if there was an image displaying the artist so the audience gain a sense of how the artist is supposed to be portrayed". We took the piece of feedback into consideration however we decided not to change our poster image as we found from our research that a quirky image was a common convention of the Indie Pop genre.

As before the feedback for our digipak was on the whole pleasant. A few audience members said that the simple font choice was effective and that the images all consisted with the typical iconography that is associated with the album name Autumn - i.e. the leaves and brown colours of the artists outfit. One audience member said that "the artist is portrayed as quirky and youthful which is reflective of the genre and this can be seen through the costume and props, such as the friendship bracelets and bear. However a different audience member said that "the inlay image is less effective as you can see where the image has had to be extended as there is a clear line within the frame". As a group we considered this and tried to amend it however it proved unsuccessful therefore we have had to leave it as it was since it is the only flaw that came up throughout the audience feedback regarding the digipak.

The feedback for our music video was on the whole pleasant. Many audience members said that our use of costume and props linked well to our genre as the representation of the artist being independent comes across clearly, which links well with our target audience. One audience member said that "there was a clear narrative throughout the video which allows me to easily engage with the artist, on the other hand a negative comment that we received was that "the white sheet before the letters appear in the stop-motion sequence was on the screen for too long and that the resolutions on the stop-motion scenes were different to that of the previous shot". We picked up on these issues as a group, however the use of having a white sheet on screen for that specific amount of time was to allow the stop-motion to be in keeping with the tempo of the song.

Overall my group’s artist has been sold in a youthful and quirky way due to the costume, props and colours used throughout the products. We have also shown a clear theme throughout our promotional package, by using props that were seen in the video on the CD digipak, as well as using colours and fonts that feature in the CD digipak on the poster.

Digi pak Audience Feedback

Responses to the digi pak were all very positive, with many audience members identifying that the artist is portrayed as quirky through her costume, the use of friendship bracelets and the bear prop. This was the effect that we were trying to achieve as it linked to the representation of the artist in our music video and we wanted this link to be clear to our target audience.

One audience member said that "it is clear the artist is representing youth by the props and costume style used" which is another representation that we encoded the artist to portray in the music video, so this positive comment showed my group that this was also clear in the digi pak meaning that we have sold the artist through the representation of youth throughout the promotional package.

Another audience member said it was "effective how the artist and album title are different fonts, as it is clear to differentiate the two", this was an aspect that my group wanted to achieve as we felt it would make the digi pak appear clear and effective to the audience and this was a convention of the Indie Pop genre. On the other hand a negative comment we received was about the inlay image of the bear. One viewer said that the "inlay image is less effective as you can see where the image has had to be extended as there is a clear line in the frame", this was something that we noticed as a group and we felt that although it was an issue, it didn’t have an effect on the overall image as it was still effective when used with the rest of the digi pak.

Poster Audience Feedback

The audience feedback for the poster was generally positive with one audience member saying that the leaf image as the main focus “draws interest immediately because it is unusual and clearly links to the album name of autumn”. We wanted to create a link between the image used on the poster and the name of the album, as it was a common convention from our research, and it emphasises the connection between autumn and the artist going through the change of childhood to adulthood.

Another audience member commented saying that “the poster is minimalist and creates an enigma as the viewer cannot see the artist expect for the small front cover image” and again, we decided to use this style as we felt it would create more interest around the artist as well as the album.

Overall viewers said that the poster was “simplistic and conforms to the conventions of an Indie Pop poster as it clearly gives a quirky feel”. Due to my group wanting to continue with the idea of representing the artist as being quirky and unusual, in line with keeping the poster simple, this idea was achieved. However a negative, critical comment that we received was that the poster “might have been more effective if the writing and the images were lower on the poster as the album name is close to the image”. This was a point that I had thought of myself, however I came to the conclusion that if the information had been any lower it would have created an unusual and unnecessary space on the poster.

Final Poster Design

Poster Rough Drafts

On our three rough designs we chose to use text that is persuasive and portrays the album in a positive light as we have used the star rating system, from a well-known music magazine. We have also included the artists website on our posters as this will allow potential audiences to find out more about our artist and possible upcoming tours. By including a well-known song that has reached No.1 this will make our artists easily recognisable to fans of that particular song.

Throughout our three rough designs the font that we have chosen to use for the artists name on our poster is going to be the same as the font that we have used for our CD digipak. This also applies to the font we have chosen for the albums title of ‘autumn’, this allows us to create a recurring theme throughout our products. We have chosen to have our text in a black coloured font, as we wanted the text to be clear, simple and stand out to the audience.

We decided to include the CD cover, Island Records Logo and Apple Downloads Logo as this allowed the CD to be recognisable in the shop easily. By including the Island Records Logo it has allowed us to appeal to potential fans that enjoy the music that has been created by other artists that are signed to this label.  The Apple Downloads Logo has been included as the majority of audiences now download through iTunes and this will make it clear that the album is available through this.

The image shows the artist to be relaxed as the pose is quite simple and creates a calm aura surrounding the artist. The pose itself can be seen as a youthful pose, which is important as it can be seen as relatable to our target audience of young adult females.

By centreing the text and image it allows the poster to be read easily by potential audiences and made it possible for us to make certain parts of the text to stand out clearly so it can be read easily. By having the detailed information between the album name and its release date it allows the information to be grouped together in a way that is easy for the audience to read.

By using the image from the back cover of our CD digipak, which consists of a single leaf, creates an enigma around the artist and album as the artist cannot be seen apart from on the small promotional image of the CD cover. The use of an autumnal leaf links very clearly to the album title and theme.

By centreing the text and image it allows the poster to be read easily by potential audiences and made it possible for us to make certain parts of the text to stand out clearly so it can be read easily. The use of having the release date underneath the title means that audiences can clearly link to the two together. Having the detailed information at the bottom of the poster on its own allows the information to be read and understood clearly for the audience.

The use of including the image of the artist, which is the same as the front cover as the CD digipak, allows the CD to be easily recognisable within stores as well as allowing the artist to be easily relatable to audiences as they can see her full body.

By having the detailed information around the artist creates a quirky feel to the artist herself and gives the album a more relaxed feel, which can be relatable to our target audience. However this makes the detailed information less easy to understand, as there is no structure, which could be seen as a problem.

Final Digipak Design

CD Digipak Rough Designs