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

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

Evaluation Question 3- What have you learned from your audience feedback?

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Evaluation Question 2- How effective is the combination of your main product and the ancillary tasks?

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 1- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge form and conventions of real media products?

Evaluation Questions

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

Software used to create my digipak

Software I used to create my digipak

I used two different types of software to create my digipak as they both offered different effects and and tools. 

They were 

• Picasa
• Microsoft Word

Picasa is an digital photo editing software. It is quick and easy to use as it has a file importing section where you can insert the memory card and it will import all of the photos from the memory card in seconds. I felt that the basic features such as cropping and adding colour enhancements was very simple but effective as it produced high quality images. 

It also let you organise all of your photos together in a folder so when you came to edit a photo it was much more easy to find.

Because we could't download 'Photoshop' editing our digipak meant that we had to use two or more different forms of software as Picasa didn't allow you to change the images around if you needed to. Microsoft Word helped us to move the images around freely and they had tools such as borders so we could mark out the how I want my digipak to look. 

iMovie- Software used to create my music video

iMovie- Software I used to create my music video

The software I used to create and edit my music video was iMovie. I found that this software was easy to use and it had everything I needed such as transitions and the option to add text. Having a Mac at home aloud me to use iMovie before which make me feel confident using the software, moreover in AS media we used iMove to create out thriller openings. There were a range of techniques to use on iMovie, some of them being, cutting, cropping, transitions, photo's, adding sound, video adjustments, audio adjustments, cropping and rotation, changing things like brightness, exposure, contrast and saturation, video effect and there are lots more. Below I will talk through the technique's I have used. 

Creating a project

This is the project gallery, where the different projects are kept, so here I've kept my first, second and final draft and this was easier and it helped me not get mixed up with my other drafts. To create a new project you select 'File' and 'new project'. 

There is then an event library where you import all of your clips in you may use for the music video. 

To import a clip there is a tool on the side of the screen which looks like a cam recorder to indicate this is where you get the footage from. 

Adding music

Adding music on iMovie was very simple. All you had to do was to selected the music option on the side of the screen then drag it into the project you wanted to fill the music with. The the music will play with the clips.


Selecting a clip & Editing tools. 

To select a clip for my music video i had a folder with all of my footage in so that it doesn't get lost or mixed up with everyone else. To put the clip into the project I had to drag it into the project folder. The to edit the clip a little settings tool is on the side of the clip. Different options come up such as video adjustments, clip adjustments and audio adjustments. 

The video adjustment lets you edit the presentation of the picture, so the brightness, exposure, contracts, satureation, and also the white point allows you to adjust the white point on part of a picture. The Audio adjustments lets you control the volume of the clip of even take all the volume off. The option of ducking, lets the volume to reduce of the other tracks been played. The fade in and fade out, makes the start and the end of the music, and again it allows a manual which lets you choose it by yourself, or automatically. 

Trimming the clip

This is the most useful tool when it comes to lip syncing. The trimming tool allows you to trim the part away that you don't want of the clip. It is located on the 'Windows' tool bar. Then a little window appears where the selected clip appears with a yellow boarder. This is easy to see clearly which part you will be editing. After you select the part you want you press done and it trims the clip for you.

Final magazine advert

Final magazine advert

This is my final magazine advert that I have created for my album 'Blonde Louis'. I am very happy with the overall advertisement as it conforms to real media products. I wanted to keep the same image from the front cover of the album to the poster, which is a method lots of artists use. This is to increase the brand identity of my band as the repetitive image makes people recognise the band and their album. 

I wanted the text to be the same throughout the poster as this links in with the brand identity it also it gives uniformity to the image. Moreover I wanted to add ratings onto the poster from critics to show the professionalism of the band. It is also advisory for the audience hopefully persuading them to buy the album. 

The use of interactivity was a key element when creating my advertisement. Convergence is very important for both consumer and produces so I wanted to add a QRCode so the target audience or person interested in buying the album can can it on their iPhone and it makes buying the album instant. 

Ideas for magazine advert

Ideas for my magazine advert. 

I wanted my magazine advert to be similar, if not the same as my album cover as this will be 'Blonde Louis' debut album. It is conventional of new bands to use the same or similar image in all of their advertisements as it increases their brand identity as a band. Therefore it would be clearer to their target audience. 

I want my advertisement to feature in music magazines such as Q and NME as people who buy these magazines are into music and new upcoming artists. It is also a great platform to promote the band as they are very popular brands using synergy to create websites and music channels. This means that I will be advertising to a wider audience. 

Below are some examples of magazine adverts and the inspiration they have gave me. I wanted the magazine advert to be quite simple. I have been inspired by the 'Wheres Wally' books for my digipak something which I want to incorporate in my magazine advert. I thought that it would be a good idea to take lots of different photos of the band from the shoulder upwards and merge them together so it create some image. I also think that it is extremely important to have the band on the advertisement so the audience can familiarise them with Blonde Louis.

Research into magazine adverts

Research into magazine adverts

After researching popular album advertisements I discovered that the artist usually uses their album front cover as the advertisement image. As you can see here this album advertisiment is the same picture taken from there album cover so people can recognize it, if it was a different picture the audience my be un sure of what album they are trying to promote. 

Another convention of magazine adverts is that  there is not a lot of text on the image. The use of buzz words is a very popular factor as it persuades the audience to buy the album. Phrases such as 'Out Now' which is capitalized puts emphasis on the fact that the album is out and easily accessible. 

Moreover there is usually some sort of rating on the advertisement. This is given by the magazine company themselves. Usually people buying the magazine value their opinion so it is a benefit to the band/artist as if the ratings are good them people should buy the album.  

The artist/band also adds additional information of the advertisement which may not be on the album. For example they usually put the website on and places where they can download the music instead of buying it form a store. This opens up the artist to 'branch out' or synergies into different media platforms increasing the audience and giving them different ways to access the the album. 

Feedback from final digipak

Feedback from my final digipak

I was really pleased with the overall product and thought that it was important to get feedback to show how I have improved from my initial ideas. 

Firstly the main point of focus was on the use of font. My peers explained that the use of the same font throughouty digipak  created continuity and added a quirky style to the product. Furthermore they thought that it was a effective idea as the font has become part of the bands brand identity. This is used by artists such as 'Blur' and I wanted to incorporate it in to my digipak. 

Secondly, the front cover of the digipak reflects the indie genre due to the lighthearted nature. One of my other ideas was to have the band posing in the garden. However I decided not to do this as it wouldn't reflect the personalitys of the band. This is why my peers commented on the use of the nada repeated images pulling different faces to highlight their youth.

The only criticism of my album cover was that there are not props of instruments, however when I showed them the insert which is the instruments then they agreed that it was a better idea to put the instruments elsewhere as it doesn't take the attention away from the band.

The most commented on element was of the use of the blonde wig. They thought that it was a comical twist on the name 'Blonde Louis' and makes the album stand out because of the irony.