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

Due to the power point being such a large size, I have had to break the presentation into three seperate power points.

Here is Part One

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

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Here is Part Two

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages ? - Part 2

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Here is Part Three

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages ? - Part 3

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Evaluation Question 3) What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

The audience feedback allows me to judge the success of my Music Video. I created another survey using Survey Monkey. I asked 20 applicants, 10 males and 10 females of various ages, to provide a fair representation of the audience, and to receive a equal amount of responses for both genders.

The first question i asked was 'Did you enjoy watching the Music Video?'. All 20 applicants said YES, therefore we can confidently say the video was ENJOYABLE. This was one of the main objectives of our music video, to make it enjoyable to watch, to reflect the artists humorous side.

The second question asked was 'Who do you think the video is aimed at?' 95% said it was aimed at teenagers. As an overwhelming majority selected this answer, we can argue that the Music Video was successfully created to appeal to OUR TARGET AUDIENCE, which we discovered from our research and planning survey, TEENAGERS.

The third question asked was 'How was the lip syncing in the Music Video?' The question led on to asked was the lip syncing 'behind the sound', 'perfectly in-sync', or 'infront of the sound'. 100% said that the lip syncing was PERFECTLY IN-SYNC. The responses for this question allow us to say that we successfully achieved one of the main characteristics of Music Video, accurate lip syncing.

The fourth question question asked 'How would you rate the level of editing?'. 55% said it was EXCELLENT, 40% said it was of a PROFESSIONAL STANDARD, while the other 5% said it was good. As no one said it was poor and 95% said it was excellent or better, we can strongly suggest that the editing of the Music Video was of a high standard.

The fifth question asks 'Did you believe the performance of the actors?' 100% said YES. This therefore allows us to come to the conclusion the performance was BELIEVABLE and that the casting was a success.

The sixth question asks 'Was the video entertaining?'. Again, 100% said YES it was ENTERTAINING. This allows us to further suggest the Music Video was successful.

The last question asked was 'Was the video engaging? Did it keep you interested ?' Yet again all the applicants responded YES , it was ENGAGING. This allows us to strongly put forward the case that the Music Video was successful.

Overall from the survey it is clear that the Music Video was a success. According to the survey the video

• met our target audience,
• was enjoyable,
• the lip syncing was perfect,
• the level of editing was to a high standard
• the acting was believable
• the video was entertaining
• the video was engaging

However, it came to my attention after the survey i didn't ask the applicants whether or not there was any improvements they thought we could have done to make the Music Video better. To answer this question me and my group decided to hold a focus group to get the answers to the questions we didn't have using the survey.

Focus Group



We asked three people to take part, and we asked them the following questions;

1. What were your initial thoughts on our music video?
2. What do you think about the standard of acting ?
3. How do you feel the video links with the song?
4. What improvements could be made to the video?
5. Would you watch another video made by the same people?
6. Would you recommend the video to your friends and why?

What were your initial thoughts on our music video?
The responses from this question were mainly suggesting it was FUNNY, QUICK WITTED.

What do you think about the standard of acting ?
The responses from the group support the responses of the survey regarding the performance of the actors. All three said the standard of acting was GOOD.

How do you feel the video links with the song?
The group that that the video links with the song in a PARALLEL way, and that they are VERY SIMILAR. This would suggest that the visual representation of the lyrics was done correctly.

What improvements could be made to the video?
The dominant answer given was that a drum kit should have been used instead of the xylophone. We used the xylophone because we thought it would be another way of representing the fun side of the band. This clearly didn't work with the audience.

Would you watch another video made by the same people?
The whole group said YES they would want to watch another video made by us.

Would you recommend the video to your friends and why?
The majority of the focus group said YES they would recommend it because it was FUNNY. One person however said they wouldn't. Although this is only because this type of music was not his or his friends preferred choice of music.

Overall from the Focus Group I have learnt that my Music Video was

• Funny and quick-witted
• Linked with the song (visually)
• had a good standard of acting
• would be recommended to friends

To 'some-up' the results of my audience feedback and what i have learnt from it, i have created a wordle to illustrate the main answers.
Wordle generates a cloud of words from words you enter. It almost creates a brainstorm for different words you want.
In addition to the responses for this survey, i have also included the responses for the survey used in the second evaluation question.

Evaluation Question 2) How effective is the Combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

To be able to come to a justified answer, i have created a survey using Survey Monkey to gather audience feedback in regards to the use of the Ancillary texts (Digipak and Magazine Advert).

As the site only allows you to ask a maximum of 10 questions per survey, i didn't ask the generic questions 'are you male or female' or 'how old are you'. To save questions i gave the survey to 10 males and 10 females, which will provide a variety of responses. In addition to this i gave the survey to people under our target audience (under 15), in our target audience range (15-18) and above it (19+), within the 10 male and 10 female applicants.

After they successfully answered the questions i collected the results using the Survey Monkey site

These are the results;

The first question asks 'Who do you think the Digipak and Magazine Advert would appeal to most?'. I asked this question to see whether or not the ancillary products were accurately made to appeal to our preferred target audience , which is teenagers . 95% of the applicants said that the Digipak and magazine advert would appeal most to Teenagers. This clearly demonstrates how the Ancillary texts are a effective combination in terms of reaching our target audience. By reaching our target audience, it increases our chances of being able to increase the awareness and sales of the artist as the band would be most 'liked' and influential over the preferred target audience.

This question asks 'How effective is the Magazine Advert ?'. 55% of the applicants said that it was very effective, meaning they would definitely go and by the Album (digipak) after seeing the magazine advert. The other 45% said the Magazine advert was fairly effective, meaning they would be tempted to buy the album. As the majority said it was very effective, we can confidently say the Magazine advert was effective in influencing sales.

The third question was 'What were your first thoughts when you saw the 

Magazine Advert?'. This question was asked to see whether or not the Dominant Reading of the magazine advert was decoded correctly. The intention of the Magazine advert was to influence them into wanting to find out more information about the artist, and/or to get the impress the band was FUN. 14/20 applicants said they found the Magazine Advert FUN, CHEEKY, or they wanted to find out more about the band. As a majority of the applicants decoded the dominant reading of the Magazine advert, I can confidently claim it is part of a effective combination. 

 The fourth question we asked was 'What would you rate the magazine advert? ( 5 being excellent, 1 being poor)'. This question would allow us to get an audience's direct rating of the magazine advert. The lowest rating was 3, representing only 5% of the applicants. 60% gave the magazine advert a rating of 5, clearly demonstrating that they liked the Magazine advert, finding it engaging and interesting.

The fifth question i asked was whether there were 'Any improvements you would make to the magazine advert? 25% of the applicants said that there were no improvements they would make. This would incline us to believe the Magazine Advert was very successful. Although The main response given was that the advert seemed too CONGESTED.

This question asked ''What were your initial thoughts when you saw the Digipak?'. This was asked for the same reasons as question 3, although the question is referring to the Digipak. The main responses were that the Digipak was FUN and COLOURFUL. Many also said that it was similar to the Magazine advert. This would allow us to suggest the Digipak and Magazine Advert is an effective combination, as one instantly remind you of the other, or the Music Video.

The seventh question asked was 'If you saw the digipak in HMV, would it catch your eye?'. All 20 applicants said it did. This means that the design of the digipak was done correctly to draw attention to it, therefore making it part of an effective combination.

The eigth question asked was 'What would you rate the Digipak? ( 5 being excellent, 1 being poor). Again, the lowest rating was 3, only 1 person gave this rating. 52.6% ( 10 responses ) gave it a rating of 5. Again, this would strongly suggest the majority of applicants felt the digipak was effective.

The ninth question asked was 'Would you think of the Magazine Advert when you saw the Digipak and vice versa?' 100% said YES. This would mean that the products work well together as they have a link, hence why if you saw one, the applicants said they would also think of the other. Thus allowing us to believe the two Ancillary products work well together.

The last question asked if there are 'Any improvements you would make to the Digipak ?' The main response , approx 35% of the responses, were that the audience felt that the digipak lacked information about the individual band members, the majority,  suggested having the NAME OF THE MEMBERS would help improve it. 15% said that they felt an image of a musical instrument, to possibly reflect their musical talent, would improve the digipak.

From the research, It can be confidently say that the Ancillary texts form part of an effective combination. As the audience decoded the message that we was trying to get across, we can confidently say that the Ancillary texts were effective, in linking back to the Music Video, and to also increase the awareness of the artist.

To demonstrate how it is effective in terms of combining with my main product, I created a power point using Microsoft Office Power Point. On this presentation i have given examples of links between the video (main product) and the ancillary texts (digipak and Magazine advert)

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

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Evaluation Question 1) In What Ways Does Your Meda Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions Of Real Media Products?

To Best Answer this evaluation question i have chosen to create a Presentation using a new online software called Prezi.

Here is the presentation.

Using, Developing and Challenging Conventions of Real Media Products on Prezi

Music Video: Booty Call by The Midnight Beast

I have re posted the Music Video to make it easier for people to locate on my blog. I have also re posted the Music Video to try and increase the amount of views the video has on Youtube. 

Digipak & Magazine Advert: New Ancillary Texts

This is the final version of the Digipak i will use in relation to the Music Video.

After creating a new Digipak, it was necessary for me to create a new magazine advert so that the two ancillary texts would be similar and recognisable. This is the new Magazine Advert.

Post Production Feedback: Music Video: Audience Feedback Survey

Today I created a survey using Survey Monkey to gain some feedback on my Music Video.
I have conducted this survey to gain a response to the Video and to access its success. Also i can use the survey to form part of my answer to the third evaluation question.

Here is the link to my survey
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VB2PPJQ

Post Production Feedback: Digipak and Magazine Advert: Audience Feedback Survey

In addition to the survey for my Music Video, I have created one for my Digipak and Magazine Advert.
I have conducted this survey for the same reasons for which I created one for the Music Video.

Here is the link for my Digipak Surveyhttp://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VHB6VQ3

Digipak: Possible Photo's for The Digipak

Today was a successful day for the digipak idea as we caputes lots of possible images we may use. Here are some examples.

This image is possibly going to be used for the front cover

These are possible images we may use for the solo panels 

Digipak: Changes To Digipak & Magazine Advert - New Idea

After weeks of torment it has become very clear that our digipak will not work. We have failed to capture the correct images, and in truth, it is just awful.

A Moment of Inspiration

Instead we have a new idea. We shall attempt use a app i have on my iPhone called CAMWOW. This app allows us to take images and add effects to it


The Plan

Our front cover will have an image of the band members side by side.

The inside panels will have a image of one of the members alone.

We are unsure about what will go on the back panel and the middle panel.

Once we take the photo's we are going to put a colour filter over the top of the image, ideally the same colour of the boxes we used in our music video, to create a link between the digipak and the Music Video


We will now begin taking photo's for this digipak idea.

To create a link between the digipak and magazine advert, the magazine advert i created previously will not be used as it does not have the same style.

Digipak: One down, Five to go!

In todays session me and my group completed one of the six sides of the digipak. This is the back of the digipak. On this side it contains the track-list of songs which would be on the disc. We have included a track-list as we discovered during our digipak research, it is a vital ingredient which must be included on all digipaks. The font used is a fun and informal font. This is because the style of the band is to have fun, parody etc and a formal font wouldn't be right for the band. The track "daddy" is a reference to one of the band members, as his father walked out on him at a young age.

Here is a screen shot of the side.

Digipak planning : idea and Digipak mock up

Today as part of the planning process of our Digipak , we are designing a mock Digipak. We we doing this to see how our idea's will look in photoshop, the software we use to create our Digipak.

Our idea


Our idea is to have a kind of 'mix up' of a different body parts on the front cover of our Digipak. It wil have our band members head , then other people's/creatures torso and legs. We are doing this as it relates to the band name , The Midnight Beasts.
On the inside, we were going to use some still images however we have changed our minds because we do not think it will look good. Instead we are going to take an image from our idea and stretch it across the three inside panels.

Here is our sample front cover.

At this stage it doesn't look exactly how we want it as the ban members are standing together, whereas we intend to have each person deprecate . Making it easier to 'mix up' the body parts.

Now we have an idea of how we are going to do our proper digipak.

Digipak: Research Into Our idea

Today we are beginning to create our Digipak.
We are surfing the internet to find images for our idea's , being a mix up of images.

No results

Unfortunately there were no images which represented our idea. So we will attempt to make a mock up of the digipak to give us a basic idea of how it will look.

Magazine Advert: Finished Booty Call Magazine Advert

Here is the magazine advert I have created for The Midnight Beast - Booty Call

Magazine Advert: Changes to Magazine Advert

Today, i am making some changes to the magazine. After examining the photo of the band, the image contains some of the back drop of the drama department. This, in my opinion, makes the magazine advert appear amateurish.

Instead i am going to open up that image four times, and use the magnetic tool to crop around the image i want to make it more crisp and to irradiate the back drop.

After doing the first section, it does appear to be a lot more professional and accurate.

Magazine Advert: Creating our Magazine advert

Today I began creating our magazine advert. To make the group more productive, i decided that i shall work on the advert to make sure we finish our project in time. I used the same font that we used in the digipak. I have done this so a link can be made instantly between the digipak and the magazine advert, as the advert is promoting the album 'booty call' , which is why we are creating a digipak.

I will be using adobe photoshop to create the magazine advert. On the advert I will intend to include the following ;

• photo of the band
• album name
• album release date
• magazine reviews
• band information, i.e website, gig dates
• production label

I will include these specific things because from my previous research into magazine adverts, these are the essential pieces of information that were present on every magazine side i studied and looked at.

In todays period I got to upload the image of the band

In addition to this i also inserted the artists name and the name of the album.

Magazine Advert: Reaching My Target Audience

This morning I added several pieces of information which is a essential part of a magazine advert.
I have added two reviews , by Time Out and The Guardian.

In The Guardian, it will be covered by The Guide, a saturday supplement. The Guide is an entertainment guide which cover's gigs, new album releases, films and other forms of media texts. By having the review in The Guide, it will aid us in our objective to increase our target audience as The Guardian is manly read by more 'young professional'. The typical age range is 25-40, which on average have a higher disposable income level. This means that this audience will be MORE likely to purchase the album because they will be able to afford it.

Time Out is very similar to The Guardian, however the Time Out is more of an international article. This will also help us broaden our target audience and increase our sales as by using the Time Out, the album can be read about in foreign countries. This will provide readers with an interest in the album, making them want to buy the product, increasing the overall sales of the product.

London Edition

New York Edition

In addition to this I have added where the Album will be available for purchase. This includes HMV,  and iTunes.

The album is available at these distributers because it will allow us to reach our target audience. All three firms have an online site, which the album be available for download. As our main target audience are teenagers, a vast amount of young people download music form these sites. By making our product available online on these popular sites, there is a greater chance that young people will purchase the album, via download, thus leading to an increase in sales. 

Critical Theory: Audience Theory: Suture & Feminist Film Theory

Recently the class discussed the theory of Suture. We have been learning Critical Theory to best understand how our music video connects and influences the audience.


This is theory that suggests that the Classical Hollywood Narrative, editing, sound and mise en scene 'sutures' (positions) the audience into certain ways making ONLY ONE PREFERRED READING, however conscious the audience is of that position.

The audience HAVE to react to how the film creators WANT them to react.

Feminist Film Theory

In 1975 Laura Mulvey wrote the essay VISUAL PLEASURE AND NARRATIVE CINEMA. This essay composed a logical argument... If cinema reflects society, it must therefore reflect a patriarchal society ( MALE DOMINATED)

How does a Patriarchal Society manifest itself into Cinema?

According the Mulvey, it is through the Gaze

The Gaze

The gaze of the camera is predominately shot from the males gaze. The male gaze is said to be ACTIVE while the female gaze is PASSIVE. Within narrative media texts, the male characters direct their gaze towards female characters.

The speculator is made to identify within the male gaze as the camera films only the male gaze, which is the  point of view from the male character. This demonstrates the Three levels of the cinematix gaze , the camera , the character and then the speculator. All three are made to OBJECTIFY the female character

A classic example of this is effect is in the James Bond film Dr. NO.

In this scene the camera uses the male gaze. It begins by looking at Bonds face. It then zooms in ever so slightly to his eyes and then it jumps to her, because HE is looking at her. The shot causes the following chain reaction of events;



Audience ------->

Camera--------->













Sean Connery-------->









 Ursula Andress



Bond then says "No im just looking" which suggests how he sees Ursula as the OBJECT OF DESIRE, HIS LIBIDO

Through this theory of the Male Gaze, the audience is constructed as through everyone was male and women are forced to look at the text as through they were a male member of the audience.

This is SUTURE at work

Mulvey continues in her essay with this theory of AGENCY

According to Mulvey, in classical Hollywood cinema the male protagonist has the AGENCY - HE IS ACTIVE AND POWERFUL, IN CONTROL OF THE PLOTS DESTINY.

Her is the agent around whom the Dramatic action unfolds. The female character is passive and powerless, she is the OBJECT OF DESIRE for the protagonist and audience.

The Role Of Women

Mulvey argue that women have two roles in films,

1. As an object of Erotic Desire for the Characters
2. As an object of Erotic Desire for the Audience

This is evident in another bond movie Die Another Day



In this scene Halle Berry is the Erotic desire of Bond and us, the audience. The way the frames were slowed down when Bond was looking at her through his binoculars, portrays Berry in a seductive and attractive way. Her role in the film is further strengthen when Bond says, "What a spectacular view" clearly referring to Berry's body.

Critical Theory: Audience Theory: Uses & Gratifications Model

As the Effects Model has its severe flaws, a new theory is necessary to attempt to explain the behaviour of audiences when consuming media texts. Today, we learnt about the Uses and Gratifications Model.

The Uses and Gratifications Model

This model is the OPPOSITE of the Effects Model. The model argues that the Audience is Active and that they USE the text, it ISN'T USED BY THE TEXT. The audience, it is argued, uses the text for its own GRATIFICATION i.e pleasure.

The POWER LIES WITH THE AUDIENCE, not the Institutions!!

The theory empathises what audiences DO with the texts, as in HOW and WHY they use them. Far from drugged by the media, the audiences are free to REJECT, USE or PLAY with media meanings as they see fit.

Audiences use media texts to gratify needs for the following;

• DIVERSION
• ESCAPISM
• INFORMATION
• PLEASURE
• COMPANY RELATIONSHIPS & LIFESTYLES
• SEXUAL STIMULATION

The theory insinuates that the audience is in control and consumption of the media helps people with issues.
These issues could be;

• LEARNING
• EMOTIONAL SATISFACTION
• RELAXATION
• HELP WITH ISSUES OF PERSONAL IDENTITY
• HELP WITH ISSUES OF SOCIAL IDENTITY
• HELP WITH ISSUES OF AGGRESSION & VIOLENCE