Tuesday, 4 April 2017
Monday, 3 April 2017
Evaluation Question 4
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning, and evaluation stages?
I used a range of media technologies in my research, planning and evaluation stages to help me further my knowledge of the media industry and develop my skills as a media producer. This included researching new ways of presenting work and showing how I developed my ideas and understandings of existing media text.
Blogger was the main form of presentation I knew how to use to show my work. This was a simple way of presenting my work however as it was just one page of white It was quite limiting on the visual aspect. Because of this I decided to branch out and look for new ways of presenting my work. This is when I found Prezzie and Info-graphic which are design websites that allow the user to create visual power points and posters. This allowed me to show my work in different mediums and also develop skills in a new area of media technology.
To research I used youtube to view video's on how to improve my filming and editing skills, this was very helpful as it allowed me to clearly see a step by step tutorial of what I needed to do when I came across a problem. For example when the shots I had filmed were too dark a youtube video showed me how to change the hue and saturation to brighten them up and show more colour. This allowed me to improve the quality of my video as well as improve my own skills. I also used YouTube to research exisiting media texts for ideas and influences for my own work. These examples are what gave me shot ideas as well as give me ideas for how to pace and time my video.
This project was also an opportunity for me to use Final Cut Express and edit a video for the first time. This media technology is quite advanced and allows people to create videos for various reasons. The program was alien to me at the beggining as I had no idea how to use it however after research and peer assistance I developed my skills to learn how to operate this new program and used it to edit my entire video. This is a new skill I was happy to develop as now I also know how to use the program to a proffesional standard without throwing the screen out a window when rendering for over 40 minutes. I also learned that saving your work throughout was an important part of the completion of my media production.
The equipment I used to film my video was possibly the most important part of my project as I needed to know how to shoot clear and intresting shots that were appropriote for the type of video I was trying to create but also met the criteria for my project. The camera I used was a DSLR Nikon Camera with two different lenses I used to shoot various types of shots. These lenses allowed me to film shots where everything was in focus and also to film shots where the background was blurred and the foreground was in focus, and visa versa.
I used a range of media technologies in my research, planning and evaluation stages to help me further my knowledge of the media industry and develop my skills as a media producer. This included researching new ways of presenting work and showing how I developed my ideas and understandings of existing media text.
Blogger was the main form of presentation I knew how to use to show my work. This was a simple way of presenting my work however as it was just one page of white It was quite limiting on the visual aspect. Because of this I decided to branch out and look for new ways of presenting my work. This is when I found Prezzie and Info-graphic which are design websites that allow the user to create visual power points and posters. This allowed me to show my work in different mediums and also develop skills in a new area of media technology.
To research I used youtube to view video's on how to improve my filming and editing skills, this was very helpful as it allowed me to clearly see a step by step tutorial of what I needed to do when I came across a problem. For example when the shots I had filmed were too dark a youtube video showed me how to change the hue and saturation to brighten them up and show more colour. This allowed me to improve the quality of my video as well as improve my own skills. I also used YouTube to research exisiting media texts for ideas and influences for my own work. These examples are what gave me shot ideas as well as give me ideas for how to pace and time my video.
This project was also an opportunity for me to use Final Cut Express and edit a video for the first time. This media technology is quite advanced and allows people to create videos for various reasons. The program was alien to me at the beggining as I had no idea how to use it however after research and peer assistance I developed my skills to learn how to operate this new program and used it to edit my entire video. This is a new skill I was happy to develop as now I also know how to use the program to a proffesional standard without throwing the screen out a window when rendering for over 40 minutes. I also learned that saving your work throughout was an important part of the completion of my media production.
The equipment I used to film my video was possibly the most important part of my project as I needed to know how to shoot clear and intresting shots that were appropriote for the type of video I was trying to create but also met the criteria for my project. The camera I used was a DSLR Nikon Camera with two different lenses I used to shoot various types of shots. These lenses allowed me to film shots where everything was in focus and also to film shots where the background was blurred and the foreground was in focus, and visa versa.
Evaluation Question 3
What have you learned from your audiunce feedback?
My audiunce feedback was a very important part of my media production because I wanted to make sure I created products that people connected well with and found visually interesting. I also wanted to appeal to a specific demographic so that I could focus on making every specific part cater to their needs.
I looked at White's gatekeeper theory who who theorised that as a media producer we all have a responsibility when creating a media product as we can decide what we present to the audience and in what way, we are the gatekeepers. For example if I had represented a young person as a criminal, I would've been reinforcing a negative sterotype, and would be using my platform as a gatekeeper in an offensive way. However this theory applies more to large scale producers, such as Warner Bros. Because I do not have the power or influence to change how anyone would view a certain group. Despite this I still found it nessasary to keep making sure my audiunce had a say in what I was producing so not to create a product people were offended or did not respond well too. From my audiunce feedback I learned/changed various things about my product.
The typography and style of my product was massively influenced by my target audience. I handed out many surveys for a group of 8-10 people would sign and the most popular would be the design used. I tried to not let my own bias be too much of a factor on the decisions as in a real media production it would be a comitee listening to the needs of an audience and not a single person choosing the designs. This worked out well for me as everyone seemed to have a similar idea of what they thought best for my style, the chosen font for my house style was "Chalkduster" as they believed in matched the homemade and lighthearted genre I was aiming for. They also chose which style was best out of a range of prototypes for my digipak pages, the styles they picked were the ones I did end up using for my project and I was happy with the outcome.
Another thing I learned while receiving my audience feedback was how important it was to listen to critisism. After I had competed a version of my digipak, video and advertisement I showed them to my target audiunce and asked for feedback on what I could do to improve my work, much to my dissapointment, no one said it was perfect and I did have to change alot of the design and style. For example I realised through this that I had a large range of fonts that did not meet any particular house style, and so after revising I made sure the entire project had one very clear theme throughout. I also learned new ways of creating my digipak through a peer who showed me new methods of editing through photoshop. This, I believe, was very important In the development of my media product as not only did it help me develop my work to meet my target jaundices expectations but also because I learned new methods and skills through listening to feedback.
There was multiple types of feedback I wanted throughout my project so I could gather a wide variety of support and critisims from different groups. I believed if I could have feedback from multiple peer groups they would be able to view my work from better angles and I'd have a more thorough idea of what I was doing right/wrong. For example, I asked my teacher for help throughout my project as my teacher is expirenced in the field of Media and would be able to give me critical analysis of my work and point out why certain aspects work or don't work in terms of creating a proffesional production. She made me re-consider certain ideas and shot types I was using and made sure I kept on track with meeting the criteria set by the exam board. Feedback from my target audience was important for obvious reasons as they were who I was trying to cater too. However I also got the feedback from some people who don't know my project so I could get unbiased opinion on my work. From this I found out that I needed to change the hue and brightness as my video was looking very dark which wasn't my intention.
My audiunce feedback was a very important part of my media production because I wanted to make sure I created products that people connected well with and found visually interesting. I also wanted to appeal to a specific demographic so that I could focus on making every specific part cater to their needs.
I looked at White's gatekeeper theory who who theorised that as a media producer we all have a responsibility when creating a media product as we can decide what we present to the audience and in what way, we are the gatekeepers. For example if I had represented a young person as a criminal, I would've been reinforcing a negative sterotype, and would be using my platform as a gatekeeper in an offensive way. However this theory applies more to large scale producers, such as Warner Bros. Because I do not have the power or influence to change how anyone would view a certain group. Despite this I still found it nessasary to keep making sure my audiunce had a say in what I was producing so not to create a product people were offended or did not respond well too. From my audiunce feedback I learned/changed various things about my product.
The typography and style of my product was massively influenced by my target audience. I handed out many surveys for a group of 8-10 people would sign and the most popular would be the design used. I tried to not let my own bias be too much of a factor on the decisions as in a real media production it would be a comitee listening to the needs of an audience and not a single person choosing the designs. This worked out well for me as everyone seemed to have a similar idea of what they thought best for my style, the chosen font for my house style was "Chalkduster" as they believed in matched the homemade and lighthearted genre I was aiming for. They also chose which style was best out of a range of prototypes for my digipak pages, the styles they picked were the ones I did end up using for my project and I was happy with the outcome.
Another thing I learned while receiving my audience feedback was how important it was to listen to critisism. After I had competed a version of my digipak, video and advertisement I showed them to my target audiunce and asked for feedback on what I could do to improve my work, much to my dissapointment, no one said it was perfect and I did have to change alot of the design and style. For example I realised through this that I had a large range of fonts that did not meet any particular house style, and so after revising I made sure the entire project had one very clear theme throughout. I also learned new ways of creating my digipak through a peer who showed me new methods of editing through photoshop. This, I believe, was very important In the development of my media product as not only did it help me develop my work to meet my target jaundices expectations but also because I learned new methods and skills through listening to feedback.
There was multiple types of feedback I wanted throughout my project so I could gather a wide variety of support and critisims from different groups. I believed if I could have feedback from multiple peer groups they would be able to view my work from better angles and I'd have a more thorough idea of what I was doing right/wrong. For example, I asked my teacher for help throughout my project as my teacher is expirenced in the field of Media and would be able to give me critical analysis of my work and point out why certain aspects work or don't work in terms of creating a proffesional production. She made me re-consider certain ideas and shot types I was using and made sure I kept on track with meeting the criteria set by the exam board. Feedback from my target audience was important for obvious reasons as they were who I was trying to cater too. However I also got the feedback from some people who don't know my project so I could get unbiased opinion on my work. From this I found out that I needed to change the hue and brightness as my video was looking very dark which wasn't my intention.
Sunday, 2 April 2017
Evaluation Question 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The aim of my media production for my A Level portfolio was to create a conventional music video with 2 ancillary products which all followed a similar theme and style and met the criteria for my project.
The song I chose for my video was "On top of the world" by Imagine Dragons. The reason I chose this song was that there is a wide range of indie rock/pop songs in the music industry which means I had my pick of style models which I could use as inspiration for my own video. The existing music video that influenced my work was the video for "Chevy Thunder" by Spector. The reason for this was because it was a fast paced music video and quite conventional in style but also because it had interesting shots that I felt could be re-created in my own project.
When looking into whether to challenge any media conventions in my project, I researched Torodov's narrative theory. This theory stated that every/most films start with a state of equilibrium, which then gets disrupted at some point in the movie and they must return to a state of equilibrium. He stated this was the most conventional structure for films. Though I am not creating a film, the theory can still apply to a music video however, as it can still have a conventional narrative structure. I considered applying this theory to my work, however, because of the upbeat tempo and theme of my song, I didn't think having a disruption would suit my video, because of this, I developed the theory and challenged the conventional narrative structure by having the whole video as an equilibrium so to speak.
The weather of the video was quite unconventional for such a happy song, in a typical video the weather would reflect the mood of the song, so the conventional style and weather of my song should be sunny and blue skies. My video however was shot with grey skies and clouds. The reason for this was because I did not have acsess to blue skies, as I live in England. However making a dark and cloudy video somehow happy and lighthearted was not only challenging conventions but also something to overcome, which I did so by changing the contrast and hue of the clips to make everything seem brighter.
Another way I challenged media conventions was my choice of actors/actresses. I knew that I wanted my video to be about love, so instead of having a conventional heterosexual relationship, I decided to have a lesbian couple play the couple. The reason for this was because I wanted to challenge the idea of standard couples in music videos, the topic of homosexuality is sensitive in the media, as there is a big debate on how offence stereotypes are. Because of this, I did not use any lesbian stereotypes, such as making them butch or manly in any form, I wanted to focus on representing them as a couple in love, and not an offence cliche. I considered including alcohol and cigarettes in my video, however I did not want to cause a moral panic or make the couple seem like folk devils, as described by Cohen. However this worry of how I represented a lesbian couple was not a major issue in my production, for the simple reason of, though I am the gatekeeper of my work, I do not have the power or status to influence how anyone views lesbians. This is more of an issue for large conglomerates such as Warner Bros as they have alot more power and influence.
The aim of my media production for my A Level portfolio was to create a conventional music video with 2 ancillary products which all followed a similar theme and style and met the criteria for my project.
The song I chose for my video was "On top of the world" by Imagine Dragons. The reason I chose this song was that there is a wide range of indie rock/pop songs in the music industry which means I had my pick of style models which I could use as inspiration for my own video. The existing music video that influenced my work was the video for "Chevy Thunder" by Spector. The reason for this was because it was a fast paced music video and quite conventional in style but also because it had interesting shots that I felt could be re-created in my own project.
When looking into whether to challenge any media conventions in my project, I researched Torodov's narrative theory. This theory stated that every/most films start with a state of equilibrium, which then gets disrupted at some point in the movie and they must return to a state of equilibrium. He stated this was the most conventional structure for films. Though I am not creating a film, the theory can still apply to a music video however, as it can still have a conventional narrative structure. I considered applying this theory to my work, however, because of the upbeat tempo and theme of my song, I didn't think having a disruption would suit my video, because of this, I developed the theory and challenged the conventional narrative structure by having the whole video as an equilibrium so to speak.
The weather of the video was quite unconventional for such a happy song, in a typical video the weather would reflect the mood of the song, so the conventional style and weather of my song should be sunny and blue skies. My video however was shot with grey skies and clouds. The reason for this was because I did not have acsess to blue skies, as I live in England. However making a dark and cloudy video somehow happy and lighthearted was not only challenging conventions but also something to overcome, which I did so by changing the contrast and hue of the clips to make everything seem brighter.
Another way I challenged media conventions was my choice of actors/actresses. I knew that I wanted my video to be about love, so instead of having a conventional heterosexual relationship, I decided to have a lesbian couple play the couple. The reason for this was because I wanted to challenge the idea of standard couples in music videos, the topic of homosexuality is sensitive in the media, as there is a big debate on how offence stereotypes are. Because of this, I did not use any lesbian stereotypes, such as making them butch or manly in any form, I wanted to focus on representing them as a couple in love, and not an offence cliche. I considered including alcohol and cigarettes in my video, however I did not want to cause a moral panic or make the couple seem like folk devils, as described by Cohen. However this worry of how I represented a lesbian couple was not a major issue in my production, for the simple reason of, though I am the gatekeeper of my work, I do not have the power or status to influence how anyone views lesbians. This is more of an issue for large conglomerates such as Warner Bros as they have alot more power and influence.
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