In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
R&B originates from traditional rhythm and blues in music today. The term R&B is often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in the 1980's
Soul music is a music genre origination in the United States combining elements of Gospel music, Rhythm and blues. The song that I chose to recreate a music video for, was the song Stranger by an American singer Jhene Aiko. I gathered from her lyrical content three main characteristics in life: Love, lust and lack of respect from men. As there was no official music video for her song I was able to be as creative as possible coming up with a fresh concept for the song. I was aware that as I was using somebody else’s song there may have been issues in terms of the copyright law, so I wrote a letter through email (Hotmail)to the record company asking for their permission and acknowledgement of my use of their music.
This was to help me identify the diversity of typical conventions of different genres, and therefore follow the conventions of the genre which I chose, so that the audience I assume would be able to recognise my product for what it is and therefore also identify what aspects of my artist and her music follow and challenge these conventions.
Looking at my narrative I can apply it to Todorovs circular narrative theory as my video has an important beginning followed by an eventful middle and an important ending so it follows the equilibrium, disequilibrium and new equilibrium. As at the beginning Bemi meets Lewis, then the narrative presents the flashback of their ups and downs of their relationship, and then ends with Bemi and Lewis meeting up again, (however it turned out not to be Lewis) completing the narrative circle
Rihanna was shown as weak, and a victim in her music video, as she was presented as an emotional wreck. This is why I chose that the narrative should involve Bemi going through belittlement, and to be seen as weak and inferior compared to the male Lewis. This was shown in a scene where Lewis rejected Bemi’s affection, by physically pushing her away, and therefore leaving Bemi disheartened.
Therefore by doing this, this allowed me to establish the niche market of young females, as they could relate to the narrative in my music video
Lastly I showed a neutral balance between Bemi and Lewis in my music video, which conformed to the conventions of real products like Rihanna's music video we found love. I have achieved this by imitating the proximity of the two couples, as they are both of close proximity, the mise en scene I have used is similar with the use of a sofa in my music video, and a bath tub in Rihanna's video, it is similar because they both require them to sit within the prop.
Andrew Godwins theory states that music videos are often constructed by the link between the lyrics, visuals and the music. Relationships are built between these in the video, and the close ups of the artists give them the representation and publicity they require. Voyeurism is used to increase the videos attractiveness, particularly to males
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| EVIDENT IN MY RESEARCH SECTION |
Godwin suggests that music videos should 'coherent repeatability which I have achieved in my music video, where I repetitively included shots of Bemi lip syncing in her the white garment. Moreover Godwin suggested that the artists 'acting as both narrators and participant helps to increase authenticity'My music video featured the artist Bemi narrating the narrative (through lip syncing) and was the participant (through her acting scenes with Lewis)
Looking at my narrative I can apply it to Todorovs circular narrative theory as my video has an important beginning followed by an eventful middle and an important ending so it follows the equilibrium, disequilibrium and new equilibrium. As at the beginning Bemi meets Lewis, then the narrative presents the flashback of their ups and downs of their relationship, and then ends with Bemi and Lewis meeting up again, (however it turned out not to be Lewis) completing the narrative circle
I heavily conformed to the narration of real media products such as Rihanna we found love.
Rihanna implemented a mixture of real performance and narration in her music video. Rihanna and her boyfriend present contrasting moods and relations with each other, in addition experience mounting difficulties in their relationship, which involved love, sex, and anger. I reproduced this into my interpretation of the lyrics of my chosen song Jhene Aiko – Stranger, where I presented the yo-yoing occurrence of a young relationship between Bemi and Lewis, this involved love, anger and distress.
I realised that in Rihannas music video where the moods changed so did the appearance of Rihanna. This is why I carefully post planned the outfits, and the make up of how I intended Bemi to be presented in each scene. For example when Bemi was in her fringed top, her moods were always sorrowful.
Therefore by doing this, this allowed me to establish the niche market of young females, as they could relate to the narrative in my music video
Lastly I showed a neutral balance between Bemi and Lewis in my music video, which conformed to the conventions of real products like Rihanna's music video we found love. I have achieved this by imitating the proximity of the two couples, as they are both of close proximity, the mise en scene I have used is similar with the use of a sofa in my music video, and a bath tub in Rihanna's video, it is similar because they both require them to sit within the prop.Andrew Godwins theory states that music videos are often constructed by the link between the lyrics, visuals and the music. Relationships are built between these in the video, and the close ups of the artists give them the representation and publicity they require. Voyeurism is used to increase the videos attractiveness, particularly to males
In my video a relationship between the lyrics and visuals are formed when the artist was lip syncing to lyrics ‘are you sure we haven’t met before?’ with a confused facial expression, which was then followed by the flashback.
This follows forms and conventions of real media products as an association between the two are developed, enabling the audience to believe that the artist, is actually confused about whether she has actually met this boy before.
This follows forms and conventions of real media products as an association between the two are developed, enabling the audience to believe that the artist, is actually confused about whether she has actually met this boy before.
In addition a relationship between the visuals lyrics was formed when I , decided the costumes which I intended my artist and actors to wear during each scene. I chose for my artist (Bemi) to wear a turquoise colour top because this colour connotes an emotional imbalance This heavily related to the narrative of my music video.
I have challenged the stereotypical codes and conventions of an R&B music video, in terms of the female expectations. I did exposed Bemi, for as Laura Mulvey suggested that this is purely for a Male Gaze. I avoided this convention of presenting Bemi as a sexual object for the male gaze, however I dressed my female artist' quite sexy in a tight pencil skirt, and a pet plum style top, just to have her right to dress up and be sexually attractive, which supports the Post Feminism female gaze approach.
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| Planning |
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| Music Video |
I chose for Bemi to wear Red lipstick, for it represented love, anger, danger, these heavily relate to the narrative in my music video (she is in love, and gets heartbroken), and the mood of the music..
Moreover I chose that Bemi should have her hair tied back into a ponytail, to enhance her facial features, and bring out the red lipstick more. I did find out from my secondary research of usual codes and conventions of an R&B music video, involved various different hairstyles in one music video, such as in Beyonce Halo
I conformed to the stereotypes of females in a music video, for I am presenting the artist (Bemi) as quite a sexual object according to Laura Mulvey with the use of her red lipstick, however you can argue that I tried to present Bemi, as a strong female, dominating my music video with her passion for love, (relates to the narrative). In addition the use of the red lipstick can also be explained by Andrew Godwin's theory which can be seen as the development of the star Bemi over time which can be supported by the Post feminist perspective of the positive changing views of women being represented in music videos.
My target audience is aimed at females aged 15-25 and so I aimed not to play on these conventions (semi-nudity) in my video as I felt they were unsuitable for the younger age of my target audience. My video does not include over-sexual females or as Laura Mulvey in The Male Gaze stated ‘Women that are objectified in two ways, Voyeuristic and Fetishist. I believe that I represented Bemi as a role model that the audience might relate to as they may then act modestly dressed and known their self-worth. Which is what R&B female singers often don'r portray therefore I challenged the forms and conventions of real media.
I used various shots such as close ups, medium shots and long shots, This conformed to usual conventions of real media products, however within my genre of R&B/Soul it often consists of majority close ups, however I challenged this by implementing a variety to capture the moods of my song
My target audience is aimed at females aged 15-25 and so I aimed not to play on these conventions (semi-nudity) in my video as I felt they were unsuitable for the younger age of my target audience. My video does not include over-sexual females or as Laura Mulvey in The Male Gaze stated ‘Women that are objectified in two ways, Voyeuristic and Fetishist. I believe that I represented Bemi as a role model that the audience might relate to as they may then act modestly dressed and known their self-worth. Which is what R&B female singers often don'r portray therefore I challenged the forms and conventions of real media.
I used various shots such as close ups, medium shots and long shots, This conformed to usual conventions of real media products, however within my genre of R&B/Soul it often consists of majority close ups, however I challenged this by implementing a variety to capture the moods of my song
The music I have chosen is slow paced therefore I decided to reflect this in my style of editing by using fade cuts, cross fade cuts, and fade in whites and blacks. to emphasise the slow motion of the visuals and music within the video.
I have conformed to real life media products such as Beyonce's Halo music video, (evident in my secondary research) where constantly used fade in white cuts.
Where Rihanna's we found love used Fade to black cuts in her We found love music video
I heavily conformed to real magazine advertisements in many ways
Similarly to Rihanna's and Jessie j's magazine advertisement they both involve positioning the original album cover onto the magazine advertisement allowing the audience to associate the album and the advertisement together. Similarly, in my magazine advertisement, I also decided to include the original album cover.
Similarly to Chris browns magazine advertisement, he revealed to the audience where they could purchase his album cover 'hmv', similarly in my magazine advertisement I also included the 'iTunes' logo to allow the audience can easily access the album.
Bullet points of the conventions I have followed
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
It has become increasingly important for female solo artists to market themselves as independent, which their target audience (especially females) can 'buy into' in order to become a part of a specific 'tribe' conforming to what David Gauntlett has said about contemporary society that female roles are more complex and the media reflects this. He suggests that females in the media today are often glamorous as well as successful in a way that previously they were not. He states that much of this is due to the rise of ‘girl power’ and ‘women independence’ in the media, through identities constructed by music artists. I therefore knew how important it was to promote a sense of domination and independence in all my products, in order to do so I have used certain themes and representations through out my music videos and ancillary texts (digipak and advertisement)
In my music video, I have presented many close up shots of my artist this was to allow her to be presented as independent as she can be seen as a dominant figure in her music video, which therefore
Similarly in my digipak I felt that there was no stronger way to market my artist other than by implementing a Portrait based style album cover, which where it promoted Bemi as the solo artist that she was, this was successful because she was the viewers focal point and therefore they were forced to deem her as an important figure in the products. The combination of these two therefore reinforced the recurring motif of 'independence' This conforms to the genre conventions (as spoken about in my research section) especially the Soul aspects, where Female solo artists in this genre aim to promote a sense of independence.
The use of narrative codes (referenced by Roland Barthes) create continuity through my main product and the ancillary texts. The audience unravel the meaning of my music video through changes in Scenes/Location/Mise en scene
These two locations were very significant. As each location revealed to the audience straight facts about the narrative. Clearly in the first image, the meaning in that scene only consisted of the meeting of 'Lewis' and Bemi. Moreover in the second image, this scene continuously presented to the audience the 'heart break' that Bemi was experiencing. With these two combined it allowed the audience to unravel the meaning gradually in my music video.
Facial expressions was an important aspect in my music video, as I conformed to Straus' theory of binary opposites as the 'sad' scenes obviously involving sad and angry facial expressions presented by my Bemi and Lewis highly contrasting with the 'happy' scenes that involved smiles, laughter etcetera presented by both Bemi and Lewis. This can be further identified in the CD panels below where in panel one and panel three in particular mirror the narrative in my music video; Panel one features the artist revealing a positive side towards the audience, emphasised with her smile, Panel three then reflects more into my narrative where she has a saddened facial expression, suggesting the changing moods. Thus further allows the audience to understand my narrative in depth.
The notion of 'stranger' was established throughout my music video particularly near the end, where I presented the changing faces of Lewis and Joshua, appearing to be a hallucinating effect in the point of view of Bemi, as she believed that she was actually seeing her ex boyfriend Lewis however it was just a random 'stranger' (Joshua).
My print production also emphasises this, particularly in Panels one, two, three, my spine, and my magazine advert, where I have used the 'overlay' where it created an effect on the text, as if it was there however could be identified as non-existent, as it was fading into the background. This can be applied to Andrew Godwins theory that texts have a notion of looking as the viewer sees things through the artists eyes as though the artist is on the outside looking and creating her art.
I have revealed links in my colour schemes used in my music video, and my print productions. Where I presented Bemi in red lipstick to connotes Love, Anger and Danger, which was heavily related to the narrative in my music video (for she is in love and then gets heart broken which provoked anger), this returned in my print production in Panel three where I applied a red colour scheme, where the text 'stranger' was written in red. This creates an association between the narrative featured in my music video, and my ancillary texts.
What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
To commence, I wanted to research the demographic of the R&B/Soul genre. This encouraged me to visit the internet, and gather relative information, however the information that I was presented with varied in all areas, to over come this I tallied the most frequent factual information. I found out that the target audience was 13-25 year olds. In terms of Jhene Aiko her fan base is mostly girls,as her songs are often about, love and boys therefore she appeals her songs to a niche market of girls/women. As a female aged 17, I was surrounded by peers within the target range, therefore I knew that my target sample was going to be representative, which made the planning and production of the video relate able and I could easily approve group ideas with my classmates and friends from school.
As I worked by my self, I assigned myself the role to gather as much audience feedback as possible to benefit my products as a whole, this involved me creating questionnaires, group chats with my friends, opinions written on paper (open ended). I do not believe that my music video, digipaks, and magazine advert would be as effective, without my audience feedback
From my audience feedback it presented to me that I had 'good actors' This indicates that when I planned and short listed potential actors/resses, I correctly selected the right actors who were Bemi and Lewis as they captured the narrative involving a love story.
The majority of my feedback revealed to me that I had an excellent choice of music, I am pleased with this, because my target audience enjoyed it, ignoring the fact that she is a mainstream artist, and not that well established. In my analysis, I did identify that I believed that using a song by a mainstream singer was more beneficial.
DIGIPAK
Evidently from my audience feedback it presented to me that the majority of my target audience felt that the close up image of the artist 'Lola Cruz' was very attractive, and moreover they felt that her eye contact attracted them to the album especially. I was happy with my results, due to the fact that my close up of the artist was effective, and drew them to the cover.
Some of my target audience revealed that the font I used went well with the genre, (R&B/Soul) I was happy with this because it shows that I had followed the conventions of an R&B/Soul album cover effectively, therefore allowing them to identify the genre quite easily.
One of my feedback was 'simple yet effective', I was pleased with this because I did not overcomplicate my album cover on purpose, because from my secondary research of album cover presented very simplistic album covers especially the portrait based covers. I was inspired by these covers, and therefore replicated the conventions used.Evidently from my audience feedback it presented to me that the majority of my target audience felt that the colour scheme of the red title 'stranger' and the red colour of Temi's hair was very effectual. I am pleased with the results, as I purposely included the colour red to connote love, which clearly relates to the lyrics of the song stranger, which is present on the cover.
However It was clear that from the feedback, my target audience suggested that I did not include the Logo of the record label which made it lack authenticity. I therefore did not hesitate to include the Logo. This allowed me to make final decisions about my digipak in order to produce one that would increasingly appeal to my target audience.
I also used my iPhone to also take photographs of some of my locations
I have conformed to real life media products such as Beyonce's Halo music video, (evident in my secondary research) where constantly used fade in white cuts.
Where Rihanna's we found love used Fade to black cuts in her We found love music video
ANCILLARY TASKS
Evidently from the revelation of my product, it conformed to the usual media products, this is because similarly to Beyonce's, Rihanna's, and Monica's album covers where they implemented portrait based covers, so did I. I felt that this aspect was crucial for female solo artists specifically, because in contemporary society, women's roles are more complex than what they used to be, in addition women are now aiming to assert their independence in society, (David Gauntlett), which is why I've also aimed to achieve this in my media product, evidently in panel one, where I have similarly used a close up image of my artist, which is similar in the real album covers in my research. Moreover I have also included minimal texts which only involved the name of the artist (Lola Cruz) and the album Title (Stranger). This was also achieved in these real media products.
Back Cover
Monica's Back cover, was a big inspiration in my media product, as she is a famous R&B/Soul female solo artist established in the music industry for many years. This is why I believed that it would have been beneficial to focus on her product. (Focusing on panel 2). Evidently the image of Monica was placed on the left side of the cover, therefore is why I decided to position the image of my artist towards the left. In addition the song titles were placed on the right of the album cover, with the numbering '01, 02 etc...' having close proximity with the image, similarly I have achieved the same goal; where the numbering on my back cover included 01, 02 etc... Lastly Monica's Bar code Record label logo, and further details about the album were positioned below the song titles. I also achieved this style in my back cover, evidently in panel 2. Therefore my back cover, heavily conformed to the conventions of real media product. By doing this I believe that my back cover gained authenticity towards the audience.
Forgot to include this in my audio version...
I heavily conformed to real magazine advertisements in many ways
Similarly to Rihanna's and Jessie j's magazine advertisement they both involve positioning the original album cover onto the magazine advertisement allowing the audience to associate the album and the advertisement together. Similarly, in my magazine advertisement, I also decided to include the original album cover.
Similarly to Chris browns magazine advertisement, he revealed to the audience where they could purchase his album cover 'hmv', similarly in my magazine advertisement I also included the 'iTunes' logo to allow the audience can easily access the album.
Bullet points of the conventions I have followed
- Album name
- Album title
- Album release
- Artist Image
- A featuring song
- Album disrtibutor
- Artist website
- Critical ratings
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
In my music video, I have presented many close up shots of my artist this was to allow her to be presented as independent as she can be seen as a dominant figure in her music video, which therefore
The use of narrative codes (referenced by Roland Barthes) create continuity through my main product and the ancillary texts. The audience unravel the meaning of my music video through changes in Scenes/Location/Mise en scene
These two locations were very significant. As each location revealed to the audience straight facts about the narrative. Clearly in the first image, the meaning in that scene only consisted of the meeting of 'Lewis' and Bemi. Moreover in the second image, this scene continuously presented to the audience the 'heart break' that Bemi was experiencing. With these two combined it allowed the audience to unravel the meaning gradually in my music video.
Facial expressions was an important aspect in my music video, as I conformed to Straus' theory of binary opposites as the 'sad' scenes obviously involving sad and angry facial expressions presented by my Bemi and Lewis highly contrasting with the 'happy' scenes that involved smiles, laughter etcetera presented by both Bemi and Lewis. This can be further identified in the CD panels below where in panel one and panel three in particular mirror the narrative in my music video; Panel one features the artist revealing a positive side towards the audience, emphasised with her smile, Panel three then reflects more into my narrative where she has a saddened facial expression, suggesting the changing moods. Thus further allows the audience to understand my narrative in depth.
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| Positive facial expressions |
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| Negative Facial expressions |
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| Negative Facial expressions |
The notion of 'stranger' was established throughout my music video particularly near the end, where I presented the changing faces of Lewis and Joshua, appearing to be a hallucinating effect in the point of view of Bemi, as she believed that she was actually seeing her ex boyfriend Lewis however it was just a random 'stranger' (Joshua).
My print production also emphasises this, particularly in Panels one, two, three, my spine, and my magazine advert, where I have used the 'overlay' where it created an effect on the text, as if it was there however could be identified as non-existent, as it was fading into the background. This can be applied to Andrew Godwins theory that texts have a notion of looking as the viewer sees things through the artists eyes as though the artist is on the outside looking and creating her art.
I have revealed links in my colour schemes used in my music video, and my print productions. Where I presented Bemi in red lipstick to connotes Love, Anger and Danger, which was heavily related to the narrative in my music video (for she is in love and then gets heart broken which provoked anger), this returned in my print production in Panel three where I applied a red colour scheme, where the text 'stranger' was written in red. This creates an association between the narrative featured in my music video, and my ancillary texts.
What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
To commence, I wanted to research the demographic of the R&B/Soul genre. This encouraged me to visit the internet, and gather relative information, however the information that I was presented with varied in all areas, to over come this I tallied the most frequent factual information. I found out that the target audience was 13-25 year olds. In terms of Jhene Aiko her fan base is mostly girls,as her songs are often about, love and boys therefore she appeals her songs to a niche market of girls/women. As a female aged 17, I was surrounded by peers within the target range, therefore I knew that my target sample was going to be representative, which made the planning and production of the video relate able and I could easily approve group ideas with my classmates and friends from school.
As I worked by my self, I assigned myself the role to gather as much audience feedback as possible to benefit my products as a whole, this involved me creating questionnaires, group chats with my friends, opinions written on paper (open ended). I do not believe that my music video, digipaks, and magazine advert would be as effective, without my audience feedback
During the beginning of my coursework, I decided to ask my entire media class which is a class of about 15 females ranging from the age 17-18 years old (I knew this was beneficial as they are representative of my researched target audience) what the emotions, after listening to my chosen song - Jhene Aiko -Stranger.
I then I collected them when the song was finished. Above are the common responses I received.
Evidently my audience feedback had a large impact in my music video, as what the majority of them felt, is what I felt that I needed to involve in my own music video such as
- Lonely walks
- Depressed girl/ sitting at home depressed
- Girl in white
Flashback scenes
- Loads of fade effects
- A boy continues to disappear
- Night time/ Dark scenes
I have successfully used 'Lacan' theory as he suggests audiences engage with media products, which mirror aspects of themselves, this is beneficial in the case of my music video, as the audience can relate to the narrative in my music video.
MUSIC VIDEO
I gathered from my audience feedback that my target audience did not like the idea that Bemi was only included in half of the shot in 1:37, due to my feedback, this allowed me to change the shot, and replacing it with another. Thankfully this response is particularly relevant to my production as it allowed me to gain an insight whether the combination of my scenes were as effective as I thought it was.
Moreover the feedback I received that my audience did not like the idea that I included the 'black & white' effect, at the point 3:04 in my music video, forced me to remove this effect and return it normal. This was yet again relevant to my production as it challenged mainstream conventions of the R&B/Soul genre (where it said typical conventions in R&B/Soul music videos involve black and white effects) as it allowed me to judge whether the effect was engaging and effective. However it wasn't.
However what most interested me was the fact that the majority of my target audience felt that the best aspect of my music video was the narrative, this made me consider the uses and gratification theories in which audiences actively consume texts for certain purposes, as they related their personal feelings, life experiences and built a relationship with the characters in my music video. I noticed that one of my feedback included 'I can relate to the narrative' this therefore suggests that this person (a girl) has related her own personal experience with the artist (Bemi) who was heart broken in my music video.
One of my feedback was 'simple yet effective', I was pleased with this because I did not overcomplicate my album cover on purpose, because from my secondary research of album cover presented very simplistic album covers especially the portrait based covers. I was inspired by these covers, and therefore replicated the conventions used.
MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENT
It had been stated from my audience feedback that the artist name was smaller than album name. However I purposely did this because I was trying to promote the album, by increasing the size of the text, To make the audience aware, in addition I conformed to a portrait based album cover to promote the artist 'Lola Cruz'. With the combination of these two justifications,I overlooked that feedback, because it is part of my 'vision'.
Unfortunately the audience feedback was not very 'useful' in terms of that statement.
In contrast I have taken this point into consideration, and next time I will ensure that I cover this point.
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation?
Research
During the research stage of my blog, I used multiple technologies to help increase my knowledge based upon music videos their conventions, digipaks, and magazine advertisements. Without these modern technologies I would have most certainly struggled to establish any knowledge/ facts or even general ideas about what I intended to achieve in my coursework
Internet search engines played a vital part in my research, especially 'Google'. Google allowed me to access a variety of useful data such as revealing to me a range of music videos, a variety of album covers, spines, and magazine advertisements in addition general information which benefited my coursework). Without this I would not have been able to explore and analyse extracts in great depth, as I lacked valuable knowledge about my tasks. Google Images also allowed me access images, which were relevant to my tasks, which moreover assisted me in explaining my points.
'Wikipedia' also played a major part within my research as I could explore information from the 'free encyclopedia' in great depth. Wikipedia allowed me to explore definitions of certain key words that generalised key terms and meanings, which then further made clear sense and understanding. For example Wikipedia attended to my rescue in terms of identifying the meaning of a digipak.
Although Wikipedia had many answers to my questions, I was in doubt in stages because of its lack of reliability due to its information edited by its online community, so therefore I opted to cross reference information with Google or another additional search engine such as 'Bing' to double check if it was accurate.
'Youtube' was my final internet source that gave me the chance to watch certain music videos such as Wizkid Pakurumo, Beyonce - Halo, Rihanna we found love etc... Which were vital visual information I could take on board and use within my research.
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation?
Research
During the research stage of my blog, I used multiple technologies to help increase my knowledge based upon music videos their conventions, digipaks, and magazine advertisements. Without these modern technologies I would have most certainly struggled to establish any knowledge/ facts or even general ideas about what I intended to achieve in my coursework
Internet search engines played a vital part in my research, especially 'Google'. Google allowed me to access a variety of useful data such as revealing to me a range of music videos, a variety of album covers, spines, and magazine advertisements in addition general information which benefited my coursework). Without this I would not have been able to explore and analyse extracts in great depth, as I lacked valuable knowledge about my tasks. Google Images also allowed me access images, which were relevant to my tasks, which moreover assisted me in explaining my points.
'Wikipedia' also played a major part within my research as I could explore information from the 'free encyclopedia' in great depth. Wikipedia allowed me to explore definitions of certain key words that generalised key terms and meanings, which then further made clear sense and understanding. For example Wikipedia attended to my rescue in terms of identifying the meaning of a digipak.
Although Wikipedia had many answers to my questions, I was in doubt in stages because of its lack of reliability due to its information edited by its online community, so therefore I opted to cross reference information with Google or another additional search engine such as 'Bing' to double check if it was accurate.
'Youtube' was my final internet source that gave me the chance to watch certain music videos such as Wizkid Pakurumo, Beyonce - Halo, Rihanna we found love etc... Which were vital visual information I could take on board and use within my research.
Planning
In the planning stages I used various technologies to help me prepare and organise myself for when it finally came to the filming section, without these technologies I probably would have struggled.
'Google Maps' and Google Imaages' was used in some parts of my planning stages before filming. It allowed me to access satalite images of one of my chosen locations. The modern advancement of 'street satalite' images allowed me to capture the image of my location second hand. This made organisation that extra easier, I then print screened the image of my location, and copied and pasted it onto my blog, in addition via URL.
I used the social networking site 'Instagram' to access images of my potential actors during this section. I believe that this was useful, as it allowed me to visualise them, and allowed me to investigate whether they would have been suitable enough for my music video. Thankfully Instagram allowed me to effectively select actors Bemi and Lewis.
I used 'windows live movie maker' to make assumptions about how I intended my very first scene to look (evidently in my planning section) This was beneficial towards my final product, as the timing which was taken in movie maker, in addition to my storyboards was so accurate in comparison my final product.
I used the scanner to scan my storyboards onto my blog. I found this fairly easy to use as I own a scanner in my own house, and use it regularly. The scanner helped me in terms of bringing my written work, to visual terms on my blog.
I also used my iPhone to also take photographs of some of my locations 
Construction
During my construction stage I used a more wider selection of modern technologies and editing software. Without the use of these technologies and editing softwares I would have failed to produce a successful music video, an effective digipak and magazine advertisement.
During the filming stages I used my iPhone mostly and sometimes my Sony Camcorder. Despite the fact that I used my iPhone, the visual quality was a lot better than I expected, and 90/10% of the time it was more effective than my camcorder. I was able to upload my clips and footages onto my computer majority of the time without any hassles or difficulties. The modern advancement of the iPhone 4s allowed filming to be more defined and moreover easy to operate with a tap on the screen.
The iPhone modern capabilities such as a multiple zoom of more than 20x, has been a major advancement compared to the multiple zoom in of 5 which was only a few years ago. Moreover the battery life has also increased, as chargers have become more powerful, meaning that I could film for longer periods of time. This demonstrates how in recent years media technologies have cross converged to make life a bit more easier and simplistic.
The editing software 'windows live movie maker' was a vital component which helped me make my music video. Although this wasn't a professional software it has been more use able widely amongst amateurs like me. Windows live movie maker gave me a chance to adapt, edit and cut certain shots and footages to a suitable length as I began to link pieces together. During the editing process I used a wide range of effects and filters such as 'fade in' 'fade out' 'adjustment of play back speed' 'brightness' etc to help capture the shots I was looking for. These features would have never been available on previous versions of movie maker, so the advancement in technology has benefited my project.
'Photoshop' and 'Pik monkey' gave me the chance to 'manipulate', 'merge' and 'filter' certain photographs to maximum effect. This was most beneficial during the digipak process, for example filtering Temis face to present that 'flawless' look. Without this It would have failed to present the modern interpretation of the independent woman, to represent a solo female artist in the R&B/Soul genre. Overall these technologies were vital during my construction stages.
Moreover I used 'youtube' to upload my final pieces, which I found very easy, and beneficial to other media students seeking ideas for their own media music videos.
The use of media technologies was finally used to help me gain audience feedback and analyse them which I then broadcast it onto my Blog. I used Microsoft excel and Word to analyse work from my questionnaires. I used Microsoft excel in which I created series of graphs in the process. I produced bar graphs and pie charts, which were labelled to some extent. I found it difficult to label both axis, however without using this modern technology I would have struggled as a lot of my time and effort would have been consumed if these figures and graphs were hand drawn and written.
From this I have learnt overall that most importantly media technologies have made my life a lot easier, and more simplistic as I can access valuable sources at my fingertips requiring little effort and little of my knowledge. Without these new and advanced media technologies my life would be time consumed and over complicated.
FORGOT TO INCLUDE THIS IS MY AUDIO
I USED SLIDE SHARE AND MICROSOFT POWER POINT - Slide share allowed me to upload my power point representations onto my blog, because I print screened my editing steps onto the power point instead of enduring the time consuming process of uploading it onto my blog. I found this the easiest software to use, as it was very simplistic.
I USED BLOGGER - This was to upload every single one of my posts
'Photoshop' and 'Pik monkey' gave me the chance to 'manipulate', 'merge' and 'filter' certain photographs to maximum effect. This was most beneficial during the digipak process, for example filtering Temis face to present that 'flawless' look. Without this It would have failed to present the modern interpretation of the independent woman, to represent a solo female artist in the R&B/Soul genre. Overall these technologies were vital during my construction stages.
Moreover I used 'youtube' to upload my final pieces, which I found very easy, and beneficial to other media students seeking ideas for their own media music videos.
The use of media technologies was finally used to help me gain audience feedback and analyse them which I then broadcast it onto my Blog. I used Microsoft excel and Word to analyse work from my questionnaires. I used Microsoft excel in which I created series of graphs in the process. I produced bar graphs and pie charts, which were labelled to some extent. I found it difficult to label both axis, however without using this modern technology I would have struggled as a lot of my time and effort would have been consumed if these figures and graphs were hand drawn and written.
From this I have learnt overall that most importantly media technologies have made my life a lot easier, and more simplistic as I can access valuable sources at my fingertips requiring little effort and little of my knowledge. Without these new and advanced media technologies my life would be time consumed and over complicated.
FORGOT TO INCLUDE THIS IS MY AUDIO
I USED SLIDE SHARE AND MICROSOFT POWER POINT - Slide share allowed me to upload my power point representations onto my blog, because I print screened my editing steps onto the power point instead of enduring the time consuming process of uploading it onto my blog. I found this the easiest software to use, as it was very simplistic.
I USED BLOGGER - This was to upload every single one of my posts
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