Note to Moderator

Dear Moderator, 

The brief for my A2 Media coursework was to create a Music Video and two ancillary pieces of my choice. The pieces that I produced were the music video, as well as a Digipak and Website, with each product linking together to form one promotional package. 

I chose for my track and artist to be of the Indie genre due to this being one of my favourite genres to listen to but also its increasing popularity within the music industry and the growing demand for media products of this genre.

The target audience of my products was made up of males and females aged 15-28. I have been able to work well to create my music video, digipak and website to target this audience, whilst also receiving great feedback on my work from my peers to better my progress. 

I have used labels on all of my Blogger posts to make it easy to navigate specific parts of my coursework; from research and planning to the construction and evaluation of my finished products. 

Yours Sincerely,

Lucy Olivia De Cort,

Edgbarrow School

Candidate Number: 0097

Centre Number: 51111

Evaluation Question 4

For the Question 4 of my evaluation I chose to present my answer on the presentation software Popplet. It allowed me to insert images to support my use of different media technologies throughout my research and planning, construction and evaluation stages. Below is the embedded presentation.

Evaluation Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

For my first Vox Pop style interview, I decided to interview a male who fit the target audience for my artist; being within the age range at 17 years old as well as listening to Indie music. They are however part of the growing niche market of audience who are into purchasing vinyl records that have come back into style. I think that by questioning someone that is a part of my target audience I can properly assess how successful my product would have been with my audience.


My First Audience VoxPop
Below is the link to the audio from my first interview that I have shared on the track publishing site SoundCloud.

First VoxPop

One of the key things that I learnt from this interview was that my final music video was successful in attracting my target audience. The use of black and white filters halfway through the video proved a success with this member of my target audience as they viewed it as something different that they had not yet seen. Their enjoyment of the symbolic shots throughout the video and the relationship between the visuals and lyrics that was created also proves my creative decisions to be successful. However their feedback on the need for the inclusion of more performance shots is key in my evaluation. From negative feedback I can learn and see room for improvements within my media work and skills. For the digipak and website the interviewee felt that the products successfully continued the representation of the artist that had been seen in the music video and that their layouts were professional and easy to navigate and understand. Overall the feedback from my first VoxPop shows the success of my 3 media products that I created in attracting my artists target audience and generating interest for my products within the industry. As well as this the constructive criticism proved very helpful in evaluating my work and seeing where I couldn't have improved. This is key in the final stage of my coursework as I can evaluate my progress form the very beginning of the course and how I both managed to improve in some areas as we'll as still struggle in others when constructing my products.


My Second Audience VoxPop
Below is the link to the audio from my second interview that I have shared on the track publishing site SoundCloud.

Second VoxPop

From my second VoxPop I learned that my target audience overall enjoyed my music video but still saw room for improvement. One of the elements that was mentioned again as being enjoyed by the audience member was the use of colour transition from natural colouring to a monochromatic scheme. This proved to be one of my most popular creative decisions for my music video as well a song the use of two actors to create an intimate narrative. One of the other criticisms of the video that was made was the lack of performance shots and direct shots of the artist lip-syncing to camera throughout the video. I agree with this feedback as itcould have elevated my video to more success within the industry. I am however very happy with the image or 'brand' that I have been able to create for my artist through the 3 separate products that I have created. My use of linking colour schemes and the presentation of my artist as current and genuine through then products means that my overall promotional product proved successful amongst my target audience. Overall from the second set of audience feedback that I received I have learned that although mistakes were made in relation to the inclusion of varied shot types throughout the music video, my finished promotional package was a success and created a good image of my artist and their music within the growing Indie genre.

Evaluation Question 2

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

My main product and ancillary texts
My task for my Media A2 coursework was to create a music video and two ancillary texts for an artist of my choosing. My chosen two ancillary texts were a Digipak and Website for my artist Dermot Kennedy. The final 3 products would be presented as a collective promotional package for my artist, showing synergy across my 3 products.


Importance of synergy in my promotional package
Media synergy is the way in which different elements of a media conglomerate work together to promote linked products across different media. For my artists promotional package the use of synergy was key in making sure that all of my products recognisably linked together to represent my artist. The main ways in which I created synergy across all 3 of my media products was through the use of design, layout, colour scheming, use of images and font choice.

Creating synergy throughout my products

Music video
For my music video, the key way in which I created a recognisable design was my use of filters and mise-en-scene in the shots. At the beginning of the video, the shots are in natural lighting and coloured, whereas halfway through the video and the narrative that it is telling, the shots transition into black and white with darker lighting. This created an effect that helped show the changing mood within the narrative and song itself. Below you can see my use of colour and filters within the video.

Digipak
For my Digipak one of the key elements that I wanted to continue from my music video was the presence of my artist. This can be seen in my use of many artist images on both the front, inside and back cover. However, another element that I introduced in this ancillary text was the light purple and white colours scheme. My choice of calm colours links the products to my music video that creates a calm mood due to the use of camera movement and the tempo of the song.

Website
For my website there is a clear continuation of the colour scheme, this can be seen in the background of the site being the same light purple and the different elements, like the audio player, being white with purple detailing. Images of my artist are also continued through an image of the artist at the top of the site as well as the embedded Instagram account of the artist that also features many images of the artist.

Evaluation Question 1

For Question one of my evaluation for my A2 coursework I chose to use the online presentation software Prezi. Below you can view the embedded final presentation complete with images and my final video for reference throughout the evaluation of my use, as well as challenge of, media conventions.

Final promotional package overview

This is what my final promotional package looks like; the music video, digipak and embedded artist website. I am very happy with my final products and think that as a collective package they all link together nicely. I have chosen to present them both in this post as well as on YouTube and an online portfolio site called Crevado. 

My Final Music Video

For the presentation of my final music video I chose to continue use of the video sharing site YouTube as it allows me to easily and freely share my product.

My Final Digipak

For the final draft of my digipak and website I wanted to present my products on both my blog as well as on a Portfolio sharing site. By sharing the products on this site they are presented professionally and are easily accessible to a wider audience. The portfolio for my ancillary products can be found at this link.

My Final Artist Website

Unfortunately I cannot embed the website I have created due to the software that I have chosen. However you can view a live and interactive version of the site at the link below as well as images of the site at my online portfolio that is also linked below.

Live Website 

Online Portfolio

Evaluation Plan

A2 Media Coursework- Evaluation Plan from lucy de cort

Plumtree

Lucy,
Your ancillaries have a really good sense of continuity with each other and the video and you have used the images really well. Your evaluation gives a good indication of the programs you will use and the general content so as soon as your practical tasks are completed you can add all the relevant details and analysis.

Director's commentary

Version of your final music video that has an audio commentary track over the top where you comment on the reasons behind various creative choices made in the final video

Watch the video several times and as you go write a script as to what you want to stay 

Artist Website Final Draft

Final Website Draft

Hrllo

Link to live version of the website

Digipak Final Draft

Music Video Final Draft

Artist Website Second Draft

For the second draft of my artist website I wanted to show a development in the design and style that had already been seen in the music video and digipak. Mostly, I wanted to add colour and so I kept a similar layout but drastically changed the colours I had chosen.

I think that overall the use of colour was a good step towards a finished website but it needs to be drawn back so that it is less glaring for the audience and fits better with my genre and the artist that I have chosen.

Digipak Second Draft

For my second draft of my digipak, I wanted to use colour and images of my artist. The absence of these two elements in my first draft made it seem unrealistic and untrue to a real CD digipak.

I went out and took photos of my artist for the digipak, making sure that I got a good range of shots to choose from as well as considering the lighting and colouring of these shots.

Overall I included more of my artist on the digipak and the use of colour was liked more by my audience. I also continued this use of colour onto the second draft of my artist website.

Music Video Second Draft

For the second draft of my music video, I used my teacher's feedback and made some changes. I decided to experiment with the filters on the video, using them to tell the narrative better by having the video transition from colour to black and white.