Evaluation

1)     I think our media product is a typical music video, as we have used a lot of the usual conventions throughout such as using lip synching, different locations and also a few different characters to hep portray the story. Our video is a typical RnB video, as it involved a girl somewhere along the line, which I why whenever you see the artist alone, he looks depressed. However, our video does challenge some of the conventions because in most  RnB videos there are a lot of individual shots of the artist whereas in our video there are not many because of the fact he is with the girl.

We tried to make sure that we covered as many of Goodwin’s theories as possible to try to meet as many conventions as possible. For example, we tried hard to link the visual to the lyrics of the song because otherwise the video would make no sense and nothing would link together. We tried to look at some other videos from the past to try to gain an understanding of what made their product so good and how we as a group could aspire to do better. Of course, we focused mainly on videos that were similar to our song which helped us gain ideas of what would work well and how we would achieve their ideas.

2)     In my view the work we did on our ancillary texts was good in some stages but a bit average in others. However, I think that our main product links well with the ancillary texts because we made sure that on the main product and ancillary texts the artist was the main focus so everyone knew who the artist was and what he looked like. On the magazine advert we got a nice photo of the artist, made it the background so that we could work everything else around that. For example, for all three products we tried to make sure that we had a recurring theme which was that the artist was wearing a hat. I think we achieved this well, as having a theme can help to link all the products you have worked on nicely. Saying that, some areas were much stronger than others. Our digipak was really good because not only did we make it look good with different effects and nice fonts, we made sure that the key information was on there and was clear to see.  Although we had good information on the magazine advert, it looked a little boring, as there was not a great deal of variation, which was disappointing because that would have helped to link all the products even better.

  

3)     Audience feedback from classmates and teachers was brilliant because it helped us identify where our weaknesses were in all products but also the strengths. For example, after the rough cut we had a lot of feedback from teachers about how to improve the video. This was great, as it meant we could go away as a group and always be busy improving instead of making no changes and having a shabby final piece. The good thing was that the strengths of the video were expressed – this gave our group a confidence boost and meant that if we worked on making improvements on the stronger bits, the video would look 10 times better.

Without audience feedback as a group it is a bit of a guessing game to see where improvements need to be made, which is why it is always a massive help to have other people’s views and possibly gain more marks, something we all want. Without feedback we would not have known that the video would look better in black and white, as it would help link nicely with the lyrics and pace of the song.

4)     Throughout the whole project we as a group have used a range of different technologies to help produce all three of the products. For example, for the ancillary texts we used up a lot of time on Photoshop, as it helped us gain an idea of what would look good in regards to a variety of themes, fonts and also the layout of the pictures and writing alongside each other. As well as this, without a final cut we would not have been able to produce the video because we could not have added all the great effects. Without effects the video would have been boring and lacked any real punch. Without a final cut issues such as turning our video into black and white or adding fades would not have been possible and that is why it was so important for the whole task.  

Also things such as the cameras we used were crucial because if the pictures were of a poor   quality it would have looked very amateurish and not have portrayed a really professional look.  The HD cameras were brilliant not only for still shots but also handheld also because the image was still so clear. Another key matter was Blogger because that helped us see what we had achieved but also what was still left to do. The great thing was you could also gain ideas from looking at blogs from groups in the past, which was a massive help. Without the use of any of this technology none of the products would have been possible, which shows why modern technology is so important in media.

Will Conlon