This is my evaluation for my A2 media coursework

1. By Tevin Campbell Advanced Portfolio Evalutation

3. The handheld camera also allows the audience to feel more involved as they are watching the video with movements similar to if they were actually watching the gig.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

6. Shots to show the audience and close up of the band members to show their concentration and enjoyment of the gig. This will lead to audience repeatability as they would watch the video again because they find it fun themselves and they can see the commitment of the band. This idea was taken from all the music video’s that were analysed as they present the band as enjoying themselves. This also links with the way that you present the band members to the audience. A method that is subtly used in various music videos, such as 30 Seconds To Mars video, ‘Closer to the Edge’, is to allow certain band members to ‘appeal’ to the audience which would make them want to watch it again. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Close up of band member to show his facial expressions. Mid shot of the audience to show their enjoyment towards the video. Close up can also allow Josh to be ‘appealing’ to a female audience

7. Unlike a conventional music video, of any genre, the soundtrack of my music video is also live. Conventional music videos have a mastered version of the track used within the video, while my music video has a soundtrack that hasn’t been edited. This gives the music more authenticity an realism which allows the audience to relate more with the video and the music. This sound clip is an example of what I mean; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPfJwBqKEMo In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

9. The use of one main image at the cover and then the same house style for the rest of the digipak was an idea I decided for the digipak but wasn’t certain if it would suit the conventions until looking at this digipak. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Main image for front cover Reddish and black house style used throughout digipak

12. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? During the production of my album cover I decided to place images of the band members on the front cover. This is different from other rock/indie genre album covers as they never have images of the band on the front cover itself. I did this because I thought presenting the band to the audience was an important factor when It came to advertising both the music video as a product along with the album. However I decided to keep with a creative approach to make the album unique as the being ‘unique’ is a key factor of anything created along the lines of rock genre, whether it be music or any other design style. Actual band members are not present within any of these albums Use of band members within the album cover.

14. Use images and colour schemes that relate to what is being advertised.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? The colour scheme of the album cover is the same as the adverts house style

15. This ‘Green Day’ advert which is advertising the bands tour is using a colour scheme and house style that relates with the album that they are promoting and performing for at this gig. Mine on the other hand is both promoting the bands new gig while the brand new album at the same time along with ensuring that the house style of both products are similar. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

16. The ancillary task presents the genre of rock music in a symbolic way which forces the audience to recognise the genre of the music. The main product presents explicitly to the audience exactly what the genre of the music is and allows them to enjoy it more. Therefore the ancillary task introduces to he audience what the genre is and gets them hooked both visually and mentally, while the main products, which now has their interest presents, gives the audience what they wanted. How effective is your Combination of Main Product and Ancillary texts? Creative colours hint at indie genre Costume reflects stereotypes of the genre Text reflects connotations of indie/rock

17. How effective is your Combination of Main Product and Ancillary texts? Use of shots of the band with instruments to explicitly show the genre. There costume show them to be dressed how they usually dress, highlights its a live performance and shows them as just average people. Shots to show both the band and the audience. Number of people show that its a band. Shot shows that its live as well due to stage and audience.

18. Audience feedback was important in establishing whether the decisions that I made throughout my coursework were the right decisions to make, especially when relating to conventions and how the audience reads the connotations that I am creating in order to portray and establish the music genre. What have you learned from your Audience Feedback? Questionnaire Thought it needed a bit ‘more’. Audience thought something was ‘missing’ genre music properly. Complex with a lot going on, represents genre more.

20. What have you learned from your Audience Feedback? Questionnaire done by someone who isn’t familiar with rock Shows lack on understanding of the genre. This basically means how a person who is familiar with all types of rock genre music can easily identify the conventions of rock/indie music, whether these conventions are portrayed through images, colour or text. Therefore people who are familiar with rock music could not only easily identify the genre of the album covers but also make a specific and accurate judgement of what type of rock genre the album is. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hoXcAaECeuQ/TX9CET-U00I/AAAAAAAAAgg/-DXsj2pI16Q/s1600/Untitled-16.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3Tk3L2w_qcw/TX9CEQ1ikeI/AAAAAAAAAgY/23cAeka8lxs/s1600/Untitled-15.jpg

22. Throughout the production of my advance portfolio many media technologies were used for various sections of the work. These technologies are the internet, stills cameras, video cameras, Photoshop Elements and Final Cut Express. When it came to doing research for all sections of the advance portfolio the internet was the main media technology used. When it came to the internet I searched for and on specific websites that I knew would allow me to extract the information that I needed. For example when researching what institutions would distribute my media products I went straight away to ‘Hassle Records’ website as I knew that this was the type of music they specialised in. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? Goes more in-depth of the music genre they specialise in. (Hassle Records website) Examples of bands and the type of music they associate with

23. The internet was also used to obtain majority of the images and videos needed for researching, such as the album covers and music videos that were analysed. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? Shows the images of the covers that were found and used from the internet for research into similar media texts. This also shows an example of a video that was found on YouTube in order to do the rescearch needed.

24. For the ancillary task I used a stills camera in order to obtain the photos needed. I took various shots from various angles to give myself more choice to choose from when it came to the production of the ancillary tasks. A feature of the camera that I used was the zoom, this allowed me to take the photographs of the crows without any hassle. I also experimented with the flash on the camera to see what effects I would create when I was taking photos for the background of the album cover/magazine advertisement. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? Example of the different effects that can be created through the use of the flash Without Flash With Flash

25. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? While using Photoshop in the ancillary task I used many features to make the album digipak and magazine advertisement as creative as possible. The most creative method used was adding the filter effects. These filter effects allowed the charismatic and vibrant look of both the background and the band members themselves. Two different filters were placed on the front cover, one on the background and another on the band members. First go to filter gallery and choose distort and then the glass effect Original Photograph Then to change the colour of the leaves I went to enhance and then colour variations where I adjusted the colour tints Finished product

26. Another, more simple features that were used on Photoshop was the magic wand tool. This allowed me to remove the background of the pictures, mainly the pictured of the band members, that I didn’t need in order to merge and present the photos exactly the way that I wanted. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? Magic wand tool Deleted white space, picture now ready for use. Automatically selected area by magic wand ready to be cut.

27. The Video Camera was another media technology that was used in the production of the final piece. A simple aspect of the video camera that made the final piece better was the fact that it was an HD, digital camera. Firstly the HD allowed the viewing experience of both the audience and the people who watch the footage to enjoy it more, this links back to the idea of repeatability as the audience would watch the video again due to their good experience that they gain from it. The fact that the video camera is digital also allows the technology used to edit the footage to be at a higher standard. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

29. The use of a button list within the software also enabled the editing of the film to become much easier as you can press a single key on the keyboard and the tool needed will appear. This allowed the using of a software that we never used before to again become much easier to use. Due to the ease of using the button list and the timeline I was able to edit the footage to match the soundtrack at exactly the right second every time. This allowed the music video to flow much better and professional as the footage and soundtrack was never out of sync. It also allowed me to placed footage that initially wouldn’t work together to flow perfectly as the frame timing for cutting and editing was perfect and easily manipulated. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? Example of tool short cuts in button list.

30. Another feature of ‘Final Cut Express’ that was used within the video is the ‘crossdissolve’ effect. This allowed the video to fade from one shot to another. The length of this effect can easily be changed while on the timeline, selecting how long you want the fade to last and from which part of the clip to start. The cross fade effect, along with all other effects on the software, they can easily be removed by simply deleting them. On many other software once an effect is place and you move on, it will become impossible to change that effect. Clip to show cross dissolve: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTQ0UENtf6o How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?