Evaluation Question #4

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

Blogger is a free online publishing platform which I used to document my coursework digitally, allowing me to keep track of my research, planning and production into the products. I found it extremely useful as it is very accessible (available to download on my phone) and it was one clear, clean platform to place all my work into, with the ability for teachers/students/my target audience to leave feedback on any one of my posts which allows me to constantly improve my work to its highest standard. The platform has a very structured layout which aided in keeping my work professional and didn't consume too much of my time in making several separate pages.

YouTube is an online video-based sharing website with which I used to conduct a vast amount of my research, planning and production on as it linked in heavily to the target audience I was aiming to please and owned footage I needed to review to create my main product. YouTube was the place I had initially found my chosen artist - an unsigned singer uploading videos of covers - and it was clearly a significant place to start in relation to that. I have watched her platform grow since finding her and have found that live performances with unique and constructed narratives were a significant part of her style and edge. Additionally, I looked upon the artist's idols and female Soul singers through the ages to gain a better idea of how to structure my music video and gain inspiration for the digipak and magazine ad. Once production and editing had been complete, I used YouTube's platform to upload my work as it has a trustworthy and efficient work base.

Adobe Premiere Elements is a video editing app which I used to compile and edit the video clips I filmed for my music video and the trailer promoting it. I hadn't used this programme prior to this year but forward it fairly straight forward to use and I am content with the end result. Using this professional programme allowed me to achieve professional results and gives the impression of being of a legitimate quality similar to a real media product that I would not have been able to achieve without this editing app i.e. I was able to use the B&W to colour effect that was an important effect for the song's lyrics and meaning.



Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program that I used to edit my photographs and create my digipak and magazine ad, in order to make sure that the presentation and quality of the products were much more professional in appearance. I downloaded a template for my digipak from Discwizards online which I used to envision the digipak's creative design and the placement of the CD(s), the photographs, the symbols, etc. I depended on this most when editing the photographs as I wanted to alter the look of the artist to both appeal to the target audience and illustrate the artist's personality and album's style in the correct way that I am satisfied with.



Nikon 1 was mostly used to capture the photographs used in the digipak and magazine ad. I used this camera in particular because it had excellent quality and allowed me to spend less time on Photoshop editing them which saved me time. Additionally, because it was made fairly recently, it has more choices to change the outcome of the photograph i.e. change to black and white, brighten the room's lighting, shots only used for close-ups, etc. I made sure to use a tripod when photographing the star as it steadied the camera long enough for me to take an immaculate image.

Artificial lighting was used during the filming of my music video as a spotlight to enhance the venue and make out the artist to be this strong individual as she mimics the lyrics. This is evident in the clip and, through the editing process, I was able to enhance that so that the quality of the footage was of a much better standard and created the illusion that the music video was professionally made. Additionally, the footage was of a live performance shots of the narrative so a spotlight really helped highlight that and allowed me to focus upon the convention of the genre's focus on the vocals.

In conclusion, I used the listed technology individually through a process in order to complete the making of the music video and ancillary texts whilst the site Blogger benefited me in portraying that so it was clear how the technology aimed my construction of the products. Overall, I was pleased to know that I was able to enhance the process of production through the use of technology.

Evaluation Question #3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Above is the visual presentation I gave to my class mates explaining the creative decisions I made regarding my products and how they shaped the final pieces. I followed this up with a questionnaire that gave me feedback for how successful my final pieces were:

Q1. This video's main target was to create a music video fit for both older and younger audiences. Do you believe that I have achieved this? Why?

Q2. What specifically did you like and/or dislike about the video?

Q3. Are there any theories you could apply to my video?

Q4. Did the sudden change in colour at the end have the desired effect for the turnout of the song's tone? Why?

Q5. The significance of this video was to encourage a younger audience to listen to Soul music, a genre overlooked by the present day music industry. Has this been accomplished? Why?

Q6. Do you have any advice about what I could do to sharpen up my product?

Question 1

Overall, I received very positive feedback from my audience regarding the representation of the video to my target audience. Most felt that I had obtained the right level between reaching older and younger audiences; that my artist was young enough to strike intrigue in youthful viewers and the tone of the video alongside the vocals was sophisticated enough to appeal to elderly viewers. I was very pleased to hear this and it has assured me that my method of working towards a target audience is an effective one.

Question 2

The majority of the group admitted to liking the change from black and white to colour as it 'allowed for illustrating growth within the artist and actor' and 'helped form a better idea of how the artist feels throughout the song'. However, one thing they felt I could have done better was a few of the props in the actor's scene as the representation of the love within the song isn't truly represented in the visuals. This was very productive feedback and I completely agreed with the criticism, as I now realise there were different things I could have used to effectively portray these emotions strongly such as use a locket with a photograph inside of the actor's family/loved one rather than use old notes written to her.

Question 3

The overwhelming response for this question was the binary opposites theory where the artist was seen to have been representing strength and love whilst the actor was representing weakness and sadness. This contrast was complimentary to my video especially as the song goes on, seeing as the artist is meant to be encouraging the actor to get up on her own two feet again. Interestingly enough, one person did mention that the enigma theory could be applied as the black and white effect gives an air of mystery to the artist and actor whom are not seen as themselves until the flash of colour brings out their happiness (the first shot of colour is of the artist, whose blue hair is striking against the black background). 

Question 4

The group as a whole agreed that the change between black and white to colour gave the desired effect I had been looking for, as they were able to go 'along with the narrative and performance with each the artist and actor and understand the strong emotion within the lyrics'. Additionally, one person particularly liked how this effect managed to link the pair to each other, as though they were the same person and helped lifted each other up. This proved to me that this effect was extremely useful and has encouraged me to confidently play with more visual effects more often in my future work as the outcome may be just as beneficial.

Question 5

I had a mixed response for this question; one half felt that I had been able to securely obtain their attention throughout the video and had peaked their interest of the genre itself through my introduction to the artist whilst the other half weren't too involved with the message behind the lyrics and didn't find the narrative and/or performance engaging enough for a group of their age. This drew me to the conclusion that, although I can encourage the target audience to listen to the genre, I cannot do any more than this. It helps me realise that every generation has a specific musical trend that is typically going to be followed fervently and that introducing a old-fashioned genre would be difficult when the trend is still reigning.

Question 6

A couple of people suggested that I should work on my camera work as there were a few shots (where I had not used a tripod due to flexibility) that were visibly shaky and would have distracted the audience from the overall importance of the clip. Also, some said that my artist had to work on her lip-syncing as there were times where she would fall out of tune and has to play it off. I found this feedback particularly important as it focused more on my skills as an editor, camerawoman and director aside from anything else and I have taken on board what I need to improve on in the future.

Evaluation Question #2

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


I uploaded a presentation onto slideshare.

Evaluation Question #1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

If the video does not work, the link to the answer is here.

Official Music Video Release!

I have released the official final product of my music video Christina Grimmie's With Love! I am very pleased with the overall finish and I am glad that I have managed to complete the media product to the best of my ability. Below is the video, enjoy!

Digipak (Final)

Here is the final draft of the digipak for With Love.

I had only changed the top left and right images around so that the product's aesthetics flows more fluently. Here are the final images separately.

I had decided upon following a theme within the music video, the switch from black and white to colour, in order to strongly illustrate the message of With Love and how the rest of the album flows alongside it. Additionally, I chose to include quotes taken from the bible, an idol and the song With Love in order for the audience to gain an insight of how the album was constructed and from whom the artist found her influence.

Digipak (First Draft)

This is the first finished product for half of the digipak - I am still undergoing the other half of the 6-sided design. I plan on updating this after gathering feedback and will apply any improvements necessary to create a stronger link between this, the magazine ad and the music video.

Front Cover

Back Cover (Tracklist)

Back Inside (CD placement)

Explanation of how I made decisions regarding the aesthetics is included in the final draft post.

Magazine Advert (Final)

This is the final draft for the magazine advertisement.

How CD sales have changed in the last 5 years

CD sales dropped dramatically in the last five years due to illegal downloading from the Internet and the widespread CD burning.

The use of the internet to buy cheaper (or sometimes free) music with easier access. Whether it's buying a song from iTunes or taking advantage of streaming from sites such as Spotify and SoundCloud; consumers are far more likely to use a computer to buy their music rather than go out and buy it from their local store.

Between the years 2008 and 2013, CD sales - both singles and albums - have had to deal with bad income due to illegal downloading and worldwide CD burning, and now gain most of their money from tours, concerts, festivals and merchandise instead. Physical copies are considerably less important than before since the take over of iTunes and downloading websites, even leading to musical stores such as HMV to shut down some high street stores. But the internet made up for that loss by providing a system such as iTunes to download music onto the consumers gadgets instead.

The recording industry experienced its first success of the century in 2012 when it revealed that they had a 0.3% increase in global sales; in which thanks is for the popularity growth of digital downloads and and streaming subscriptions. However, it is notable that that physical CD copies have become less of a mass-market item and more of a niche product that a select few still continue to follow.

2011 sales saw a slight increase however, according to Times Magazine, but it was only by 1..3% and that was due to the immense success of Adele's 21. Additionally, it has been noted that while the music industry's profits are falling, it is the artist's themselves making the most money now due to the growth of live shows.

Overall, having the ability to digitally download and/or listen to music rather than physically go buy it has far more direct benefits for the consumer and, living in such a technological age, this will always be far more appealing in the long run.