Final Evaluation

In conclusion I am very happy with my media product and ancillary texts, they all combine in together to build up the star persona and reach what the target audience wanted, meaning it is a success. We aimed to follow in the style of Beyonce's previous texts, this made our work appeal more to the audience as they were fans of Beyonce and liked her work. The elements I would change would be locations within the school grounds we were very lucky to have the modern dance studio and period buildings which fitted in well with our plan, I would of liked a different setting for the car scene instead of the car park and for other areas where she danced. However we had issues with going off school grounds due to transport and Renie being a boarder, so there was time limitations. 

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

The media product we have created follows but also changes or ignores certain conventions, this increases the unique element of our production but as we chose to follow in the style of Beyonce it closely links in with her previous videos and packaging so that it is recognizable.

Video for the video research that we conducted as mentioned earlier on in the blog showed that a key feature is the promotion of the artist alongside the song, rather than just the music becoming the main focus. we acted upon this by making the video mainly about performance rather than narrative but did have a small focus on storyline where she moves from reality to the world she aims to be in and where she meets with her lover and what elements change. This follows in the style of Beyonce as she focuses on performance within her productions. Research showed the artist needed to have costume changes and different locations for performance and narrative. With Renie we changed her costume enough times so that the audience was not bored and as shown in the evaluation questionnaire our target audience believed we had included enough locations and outfit changes that the video needed. Research showed that many music videos have a link between lyrics and narrative, we decided to challenge this convention by focusing on performance rather than narrative, this was a risky option but however it seemed to work well as our target audience enjoyed it and it also fitted alongside Beyonce's previous videos. Here is the video of Single Ladies, this was a very big hit for Beyonce with the video becoming very popular even though it goes against many conventions as there are no outfit or location changes. We decided to accommodate a medium where we worked between two of her videos of including some outfit and location changes as she seems to do this in her videos. The link to this next video shows Beyonce singing Sweet Dreams, this video incorporated many outfit and location changes. It also concentrated on performance rather than narrative like ours did and also had her performing on her own. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zf1Rhp-fZs 

Digi Pack in our research we learnt that most of the covers strongly feature the stars face/body signifying strong attitude along with the bold title of the song with the artists name. Single covers usually portray what the song will be like, such as covers that are full of attitude the song will reflect this. In our digi pack cover we featured the star with the writing in the bottom right corner, therefore emphasising the stars persona without the writing overpowering this aspect. The stars name is usually twice the size of the song name to dramatise who produced it. All of the stars are dressed up with heavy make up and costume to reflect their beauty and how powerful they are in the industry. We followed these conventions as they seemed to draw the audience in well to purchasing the product. The only element we did change was on the disc we decided to use the iconic image of the dark glasses along with the star's name, we believed this worked better than having another image of the star, she is already featured four times on the pack. We also believed that when the disc was out of the case it is a recognizable aspect and does draw in the attention of the audience to wonder what is on the disc. The other idea we worked with was most covers use bright colours whereas we chose black as it made the pink writing stand out and also contrasted against the tone of her skin colour. The pink lipstick we used provided a link with the writing and drew out the colour in her face. Here is Lady Gaga's album cover when similarly to ours she has been placed on a black background to draw focus to her face. Text has also been kept limited like ours to keep the focus on her. Like ours she has been put in dark glasses which provides no emotional give away and is challenging the audience as she looks out. We used pink lipstick to draw in attention to Beyonce's lips, Lady Gaga has been featured the same but with a gleam on her lips to provide a sensual challenge for the audience.  

Magazine Advert research showed that most adverts included an image of some sort, the star's name, the album's name, a website address, date of release, where it can be purchased. There sometimes is a review and a picture of the album cover. We accepted these conventions as the best ideas to follow but made some slight changes to increase the quality of our work. We did not include any mention of the album or a picture of the album cover as it is a video single the album has not been released yet so there was no need to make reference. Again we chose to use a black background as it referenced to our digi pack and also provided a link to our other works so that the audience could recognize the package easily. Here is an example of Beyonce's advertisement for her tour, in a similar way to ours it uses bold writing and has an image of her that draws the attention of the audience in. In an opposite way to ours they have selected a white background with red writing that provides as much contrast as our black background with pink writing. 

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

As found out in our audience research the main product and the ancillary texts compliment and work well together to promote Beyonce and the video single. The video is supported via the magazine advert and the digi pack to portray the star persona and provide a full package to attract in the audience. 

Using all of our products we managed to create an iconic image, to portray the star persona. This was emphasized especially by the choice of using dark sunglasses to hide her eyes away from the audience, we chose to do this so that her star persona was mysterious and kept a hidden element of her Diva attitude. 

Video In the video we chose to project the song via the medium of performance, the dark glasses featured largely as this kept her identity slightly from the audience, we wanted her to give off a Diva persona. This helped her increase the attitude she admitted and strongly gave the impression that she only cared about herself. Very self orientated where she is dancing whilst looking at herself in the mirror and where she is walking round the car before coming to a stop in front of her lover where she looks down on him giving the element of control.We used dance moves combined with close ups to draw attention to the star rather than the background, she is the main persona and requires as a Diva everybody's full attention.

Magazine Music Video Advert With this advert we decided to draw attention just to Beyonce as she is the star and if notice is took of her it will be remembered. Dark glasses were used again to provide a link to the video and a focus point of interest as the audience will want to know why she is hiding away therefore will be drawn to consuming the video. This makes the star image mysterious with a unobtainable element to reaching her, but subsequently provides a link to the video and the digi pack as it is a recognizable image. A representation of performance was used by placing spot lights within her glasses, the indication is given that she is 'starstruck' with lights in her eyes.

Digi Pack The digi pack draws the main pieces together, its links with the advert via using the same cover image to provide recognition. We chose to light up her face with the image of a spot light, this encourages a link to performance, via the lighting in the dance studio. As with the performance Beyonce is the star so we kept all over images and text small so that she could shine out from the cover and draw in the audience's attention. For the disc we chose to select the iconic image of the dark glasses to provide a link to the perfomance as it is a memorable image.

All of the three texts link together in representation of Beyonce's star persona, the audience is drawn in via the strong Diva like presentation of the star and the performance she puts on.  

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

In the process of completion of this project, new media technologies featured largely in all aspects. The main feature was the Internet, especially for blogging which is a new media technology rather than the old method of hand written coursework.

Research and planning in research the iMac's featured largely, access to the Internet was needed to research Beyonce, her music, previous videos and videos of artists that link and use similar techniques.Youtube featured largely as it provides access to all music videos made so research was brought up easier and we could cross reference to find links. Lyrics are made readily available so that we did not have to listen thoroughly to the song to find out what she was singing so that we could make references in the video, for example her wearing stilettos. The Internet was helpful for images and photos, we could easily find previous digi packs and magazine adverts to obtain the idea of what genre is used and what conventions tend to be followed, for example using the star on the front cover. Web 2.0 is user generated content, we used this to research past student music video work. This helped with seeing how previous students had overcome using limited resources to create a good piece of work, for example the video below which uses simple camera shots and is based in a home location and surrounding areas rather than fancy locations.   

Construction for construction new media was very important. Firstly we selected a Panasonic GS500 mini DV digital camera, we selected the aspect ratio in wide-screen to ensure we could include the most image in our production in a more modern format rather than the traditional small screen. For sound recording we selected 16bit to ensure the best quality used and rather than placing the track in with the performance, we placed it in last on top so that no sound quality was compromised. On the iMac we used the program Premiere Pro to upload our video to complete the editing process. Premiere Pro allowed us to focus separately on sound and the video work and we could include different effects such as using black and white and introducing fades to switch from reality to her dream world. For images we edited and created we chose to stay within the Adobe package and use PhotoShop as it increased the picture quality and ensured the images were neat. After effects used three screen editing so that we could increase the editing process to ensure that all lighting levels were equal and that the cuts were correct, this increased the professionalism of the video to give a more realistic appeal. To print our magazine advert and digi pack we used a laser print on high quality paper to ensure the best colour quality and finish.

Evaluation for the evaluation process we used http://www.blogger.com/, this ensured we could write a fully accurate report for our evaluation but also gave us the added extra of being able to include work in progress in our write up, for example videos and images. This is a large improvement in technology of our coursework because using images in the write up make aspects easier to explain but also illustrated the points that were made. If I had just written up the process I would not have been able to illustrate with examples or be able to keep along a work in progress because as we edited or changed something in the project I was able to change my blog at the same time to show what had occurred. 

What have you learned from your audience feedback?-Analysis of Questionnaire

The audience feedback has helped us learn what our video has achieved, their view on it and whether we have reached the task of creating a music video with ancillary texts. Overall I have learnt that our video is seen as very good, it would be watched in the audience's own time and that the shots, location and costumes were acceptable and in tune with the song. The downside was the issue of dancers, our audience would have preferred if there were backing dancers as well as Beyonce, we agreed on this issue, however it was very hard to find committed dancers and this issue continued unresolved until Renie agreed to star. With only one committed dancer we had to continue with her, but in a few of Beyonce's videos she is just on her own and this does seem to work well in the Diva video due to her being just one star persona.Here is an example of Beyonce performing on her own but her lover is filmed too, this is similar to our video and works just as well.   Below is the analysis of our questionnaire and audience feedback. We also conducted audience research about the link between the video and the ancillary texts, our audience thought that the cover and magazine advert worked well in aiding Beyonce's star persona, with the dark glasses her identity was hidden and this gave a mysterious element that drew in the audience and they wanted to know more. This then led to them watched the video, providing a strong link in that the ancillary texts gain the audience's attention so that they want to view the rest of the package. From the feedback I have learnt that the video would have been more effective if there was more dancers and if the opening and ending shots were shortened in sequence length, if I had the chance to complete this project again I would have ensured I found more dancers and that we had the chance to include more locations away from the school scene.

Here are the responses from the questionnaire we handed out alongside the preview of our video.

1-- This is a very good response showing that everyone that viewed our video liked it, there were no ten out of ten's, however as this is not a professional music video we were not expecting these. We were very happy that nobody rated it less than a six, showing that our product is above average. 

2-- We learnt here that many believe the performance in the video was appropriate for the song, however some quotes from the audience said there could have been more emphasis on the Diva aspect and she could of portrayed more attitude. Renie put on a good performance as Beyonce, putting emphasis on her Diva attitude within the acting and dancing, however she could not achieve what Beyonce does best which is portray sexual elements within her videos, including dancing in her underwear very provocatively. As we are in a school environment we could not expect Renie to do this and it would not be appropriate in the location.

3--From this we can see that many would of preferred the video if it included more dancers which Beyonce usually does in her videos apart from Videophone. We could not meet this requirement as we had trouble finding dancers as explained earlier on. If there was more time to complete the project we would have tried harder to search further for dancers but with the time restrictions we had to manage with Renie, I believe this did work well and with the positive response from the audience this is shown. 

4-- Our audience mainly agreed with us that focusing more on Beyonce performing rather than including a storyline was the best option. Our audience said that it worked well as they saw more of her and that the song does not have a story within the lyrics. With the Diva song there is no storyline within the lyrics as with most conventional music, this is where Beyonce stands out and the audience's response reflected that we made the best decision concentrating on her star persona instead. 

5-- This overall had a good response with only one person thinking it was too long, we had this issue however it does look effective with the lead up to the start and finish. 

6-- It was agreed there are enough costume changes in the video, it may of looked better with some more. However we could not change her outfit in the dance studio as it would give the illusion that she left which she did not.

7-- Everyone agreed there were enough close up shots of Beyonce singing, especially with the green screen used which just focuses on her head and shoulders in the shot.

8-- Many thought that the locations were suitable within, if possible we would of liked to include more but there was no option as we could not leave the school site due to Renie being a boarder.

9-- There are enough different shots to satisfy the audience and from the feedback we can tell they did not get bored as it was a continual, quick flowing video.

10-- Many said they would watch the video in their own personal time which is a positive response as it shows we have completed the task to create a music video. The aim of the video is to draw the audience in and ours has achieved this.

Near Completion

As our video is now complete along with most of the written context too, we need to set a date to show the video to a selection of our target audience to receive feedback before we can make our final conclusions and write up the evaluation. The date we have chosen is the 10th February 2010.

After Effects

This week we have edited the final version of our video by using After Effects and Particle Illusion 3.0, we have included and changed various aspects of the video to create a more realistic and professional look

• We have changed all of the lighting aspects in the dance studio so that you cannot see the different light changes from where the sun has altered position. We chose a more golden glow and used a focused light point with blurred edges so that the audience's attention is drawn just to Beyonce, letting the background take a less important role
• We made sure there were no jumps in the cuts and that the video flowed smoothly, there was one error we noticed where she altered position too quickly, so that we had to insert a different dance shot in there
• We made the decision to cut some of the ending from the song, as our video had reached nearly 5 minutes it was starting to get repetitive and with a cut of 40seconds it is now a quicker and more fluent sequence.

Completing the video in these programmes has helped give a more professional edge and made us take more notice of our video from a respective angle, therefore we could make significant changes such as the light issue which we had not noticed before.

Questionnaire

Overall Review of Music Video


1. How do you rate our music video? (Please circle)

Poor 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Excellent

2. Do you think that the performance in the video is appropriate for the song and why?

Yes No
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3. Do you think that it would have looked better with 2 more dancers or just the one dancer?

Yes No

4. In the video we have focused more on performance than a storyline, do you think that is work well with the song and why?

Yes No
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

5. How would you describe the opening and ending scenes before the music starts and why? (only circle one)

Too long Too short Not appropriate Very good Excellent Average

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

6. Do you think that there are enough costume changes throughout the video?

Yes No

7. Do you think there are enough close up shots of Beyonce singing?

Yes No

8. Do you think the locations are suitable for the music video and the song?

Yes No

9. Are there enough different shots throughout the music video?

Yes No

10. Would you watch the film in your own social time?

Yes No
Thank you for completing the questionnaire

Here is the questionnaire that we are going to hand out when we show the final production of our music video, which is now complete. This will allow us to take in our target markets opinion of what we have created and whether we have succeeded. We chose to ask ten simple questions which fitted onto one single sheet of A4, this makes the situation easier for the audience as they do not have to write long responses due to many questions being circle answers and only requiring a select few simple responses. We hoped this would give a more accurate response as the audience would not get bored of writing out long answers.

Videophone

This is Beyonce's new video which is similar to ours as she enters in full attitude in black and white, then switches to colour for her dance sequence. The video is all to do with her dancing and singing, therefore similar to ours. This is the style Beyonce generally tends to use, there is never a clear storyline, this makes her very unique as many conventional videos have a clear storyline. In a similar way to ours, there is a 52 second introduction before she sings the first line of the song, proving this is a popular method to use to build up to the song.
The only concept and struggle we had was that Beyonce portrays and advrtises by using sex, we could not use this as we are in a school so had to modify our video to make it viewable for any audience. Beyonce wears provocative clothing such as her underwear and we could not incorporate this into our video, therefore not being as effective. However we are very happy with the final result.

Final Filming

Yesterday we managed to film all of our final scenes, this included Beyonce being placed in different locations dancing. We were also able to film the car scene where she meets her lover. These shots mean that the video is well on the way to being complete, with just some editing alterations to complete. The shots we filmed were;

• The car scene has been split into three sections. Beyonce walks around the car to meet her lover who is sat inside. The she stands in a full attitude pose and talks to him. He is looking up at her in admiration whereas she is looking down on him in a diva like pose
• We then filmed her and Tom walking away, as she says I want to see you, we made Tom look at her when this was sung so it is in reference to the music. We decided to put this shot in black and white to fit with the realism at the start of the song before she goes into the unrealism of the dance studio
  
• The next shot was in the school corridor, she dances with attitude down the steps looking straight at the camera. We had her dress in stilettos and a smart dress so she looked really posh and in full diva mode
• The next shot was her feet because there is reference in the song to dancing in stilettos so we filmed her feet moving to imitate this lyric
• We then shot her dancing against a white wall to create contrast between her persona and the light colouring of the background. We purposefully tilted the camera up to look at her, to give the impression of her being a star and above the audience
• The next shot was on the outside staircase which we wanted to use before but could not green screen onto. We had her hold the handles and dance provocatively towards the audience
• The next location was of her laid on a bench chatting on her phone, giving away the impression of having no care in the world, this shot was inserted where she is being called a diva to illustrate this notion.

These shots have added the final touches to our video and now we need to adjust some clips before we can put the video through post production.

PG Classification Research

For the digi pack we realised that it would need a classification to see what they will be watching. I therefore researched on the BBFC website which classifies films and video footage.

"The British Board of Film Classification is an independent, non-governmental body, which has classified cinema films since it was set up in 1912, and videos since the passing of the Video Recordings Act in 1984."

http://bbfc.co.uk/

"we give the public information that empowers them to make appropriate viewing decisions for themselves and those in their care. We help to protect vulnerable viewers and society from the effects of viewing potentially harmful or unsuitable content while respecting adult freedom of choice."

"we provide media industries with the security and confidence of cost-effective, publicly trusted regulation and help to protect providers of moving image content from inadvertent breaches of UK law."

Above are the two images of the BBFC classification guidelines for PG, this is what we chose to classify our video as this due to there only being mild bad language only, there is only the word shit said once, this is only mild language and is not highly referenced, so is acceptable. Our video could have been classified as U however we chose to select PG because the video is very sexy, therefore not a film designed for children. This means that with a PG classification parents are aware that the film has a slight warning before letting children watch and makes note that it is not aimed at children personally, it is more for a mature audience.

The BBFC has a set range of classifications;

• U
• PG
• 12A
• 12
• 15
• 18
• R18

These classifications ensure that the right audience get to see the right film/video. The audience are able to tell what sort of film they will be watching judging by the classification, for example a U will be an easy watch, with no bad language, horror etc, whereas a R18 will have strong sexual acts and possibly pain infliction.

Quicker shots

Today to speed the video up and make it flow at a better pace I have added in more cuts, this increases transition and provides larger visual aspects to draw the audience in, due to different camera positions. The increased pace aids to the fact that it is a fast song so it matches along with the music.

Printing the Digi Pack

Today we have printed the digi pack. The front has come out really well with the lettering and the image standing out to portray her Diva mystique. The spotlight provides a focus and moves her into the starlight. The logos are very bold and look better printed out than on screen, along with the text because it is all more visible and easily read. The only poor aspect is that be back and side images of Beyonce are not as easily visible as on screen, this is due to the Mac's being back lit, however the pack still looks very professional and with her being slightly 'hidden' adds to the mystique of her Divaness. The inside of the pack looks very well with the bold CD standing out due to the white on black, the dark writing on top adds more contrast along with the glasses lifting off and providing a visual aspect. The image of her on the left side, gives an aspect of her glowing with the sphered edge. We had a slight issue with the inside of the digi pack because the coloured CD background did not fit in the circled edge so we have had to alter the shape then reprint the pack.

Printing the Magazine Advert

Today we have printed off the magazine advert. The image has come out darker on the copy than on Photoshop on the Mac, this is due to screens being back lit. However the poster looks very professional and realistic in being a magazine advert, in that it would be perfect in a music magazine. With the darkness and Beyonce blending in to the background, this makes the bright lips and spotlighted glasses stand out from her face. The light glisten on her lips gives emphasis to her Diva like glow and draws the audience's attention in so that they look at the advert. Her glasses provide a barrier, as they do not let the audience see her eyes which gives away a person's identity. This shows the audience her Diva status as she is protecting her identity but giving off a vibe of attitude.

Digi Pack Update

We have recently received a delivery of discs ready for printing and uploading our video onto disc but also adding the illustration. Along with the dics came the digi pack cases where we can put our covers into. Two types of discs were delivered, Titanium Full Face White Printables and Datawrite Full Face Silver Printables. We have decided to experiment with which disc we print our disc cover onto, however we would prefer the silver disc as it tends to look more professional when printed with black ink.

Filming Outside

Next week we are hoping to film the final shots outside, we have researched the weather so that we know which days will look best outside. This eliminates bad weather shots such as rain and overcast skies.The best day is thursday so hopefully if all goes to plan, we shall complete the last of our filming that afternoon.

Green Screen

Yesterday we set up the green screen and filmed two sequences of Beyonce singing Diva. We did a close up of head and shoulders that can be used to provide a upclose view of her on screen. We also chose to film her with most of her body in the shot, this is going to be used in further away shots where she is on the background. We had difficulty with the green screen due to it not reaching the floor, therefore we could not incorporate her feet. This was overcome by shooting above her knees and therefore altering the aspects of the background to follow.
This is where we have synced both the green screen in with the song, this will enable us to cut aspects out and put them onto the backgrounds with her lips being in sync with the music. We had to match the beat with the song in the same sync point as the other filmed clips.





This is where we used the chroma key along with the eyedropper to select the colour green and remove all of the green from the video, just leaving Beyonce in shot. This then enables us to place her onto backgrounds and into other clips with just her body on show.





This screen shows that we have put both videos in and now can start to select certain pieces and mix them with the backgrounds. This allows the audience to see Beyonce close up in performance shots of singing, not just dancing.


The reason we selected to film her on green screen was due to weather conditions because putting her infront of the walls would make her skin a different colour than when filmed in studio due to the overcast sky. There is also the issue of costume in that we wanted her to wear the same outfit and if we filmed her in front of each location it would take longer than just filming her on green screen twice then cutting her onto the locations.

Locations

Today we have filmed short clips of locations, ready for transferring Beyonce from the green screen of her singing on to the clips. We selected many locations, including trees and wooded areas, steps and a white wall. We have decided to use different effects such as having Beyonce in black and white with the background in colour and vice versa. There are other aspects we shall include such as green screening her onto coloured background such as black to match the digi pack and also pink to represent her lips.



This is the first clip we chose to shoot, we selected to capture two minutes of footage for each clip. This gives us plenty of space to alter putting Beyonce into the clip, instead of replaying the selected clip many times. We chose this shot due to the leaves on the ground making up a wintry image and the bare trees playing a large part in the shot. Therefore when Beyonce is placed into the clip, she will look large next to the background, this is portraying her large star persona and diva image.


This next shot is the same scene but from a different angle so using different trees. We selected it for the same reasons but thought it would be best to have two options to pick from, therefore creating more available locations.








This next image is of the staircase up close, so that we could place Beyonce dancing on the stairs. The style is very rustic which fits in with the theme of the derelict building we used for the opening and closing shots.The style of the staircase will be used as an opposite to the neatness and fresh look of Beyonce.






This is the same shot but further back so could be used for a close up of her feet dancing, like in the video to compare with the floor of the dance floor to the contrasting rustic steps. We liked the look of the old fashioned brick work behind with the ivy, to make the image look old, not modern.





This is a shot of a white wall, which we thought would be good to contrast the dark colouring of Beyonce in comparison to the bright brick work. We may have her in colour or in shadow so that her star persona is bold when against the background.








This is the staircase from far back which is a useful shot so that we can have her full image into the shot but also in incorporates more of the background to give the audience more of a feel for the location.







Finally we chose this rustic brick wall, we filmed from 4 metres back so that there is the option of including her full body or just head and shoulders shot. This is the image where we shall have her in black and white so that she is contrasting largely with the wall.

Magazine Advert

Firstly we set up the page to be A4 size as in our research we noticed that the bigger artists such as Pearl Jam and The Beatles had full magazine adverts whereas the smaller artists used quarter or half page sized. Obviously this is in reference to cost, the larger the advert the more popular the artist, also it will stand out more and be recognised more easily. The idea also came about that we would publish our advert on the back cover of the magazine as it is so startling it would be easily recognised. This would be an increased cost but the advertising powers woul be stronger so would be worth it for such a huge star as Beyonce. To start we coloured the background black, this is in reference to the digi pack which was all black and helped the lettering and pictures stand out. We then had to consider which images and what text to include as many of the adverts we researched were very simplistic but still contained large amounts of information to give to the audience about when the DVD is released, where it can be purchased, who it is by and what is included. Usually there is also a positive review or star rating to help the promotion of the music/digi pack.


Next we created a second layer and selected the picture of Renie/Beyonce that we used for the digi pack cover. We chose to use the same image so that the audience could reference the picture on the advert to the digi pack cover. Therefore when they go to purchase the DVD they will easily recognise it. We started to blend around the image of Beyonce so that it was all black instead of the white colour, this is shown in the image as a work in progress. We used the eraser tool to create this effect and altered the brush size and the harshness as we got closer towards the image. We did not like the necklace she was wearing as it drew the audiences attention away from the glasses and her overall image. Therefore we decided to blend it out.







This is a close up of using the eraser tool, to show how we went around the edges with a finer brush detail.
















This is the final image of Beyonce onto the background, we now had to decide what else to include onto the advertisement.
















Here we have added the text of Beyonce and the title of the DVD/song name. We chose to keep the same text as on the digi pack so there is reference for the audience when they go to purchase it. However we did decide to change the colouring of the Beyonce title to the pink of her lips and this makes the lips stand out and provide a point of observation. We then selected a bold white text for writing Diva, this makes it stand out from the dark background and even though it is larger lettering than Beyonce it does not over power her name.


Here we have added a by line that says the new single DVD is out now, however later on we made the decision to add a date of 7th December. This is so that it is released on a Monday, therefore the radio stations will be reviewing it over the weekend and then customers are more likely to go out and purchase it on the Monday if it has a good review. We also selected a quote from a newspaper Media Times, so that the audience can recognise and are given information about how good it is, providing more incentive to complete the purchase. We chose standard Times New Roman text to make the information look plain instead of fancy. The choice of white writing was due to it being written over Beyonce's chest and we had to select a colour that would stand out but not take too much of the significance away from the main image of her.



Here we have added in a HMV logo, we have researched and found it is the most popular music, DVD and game retailer. We thus decided that the audience are more likely to purchase from this shop, especially if they have confirmation by the logo that the DVD will definitely be there for sale.









In this shot we have added a pink frame around the advert. This is also where we added the release date as mentioned earlier. We purposely wanted the advert to be simplistic with the main image of Beyonce standing out and portraying her star persona out to the audience. This is the reason for the simplistic text and small HMV logo. However to add a slight edge of colour and in reference to her lips, the Beyonce text and the HMV logo we added the same colour pink frame which boosts the colour factor but also gives an edge to the advert.

Here is the final image of the advert, we are very pleased with how it has turned out as it portrays Beyonce's star persona and her diva image but is also simplistic in that the audience are not overpowered by the advert. In this image we have altered her hair as there were some white parts where we had not erased fully so these had to be altered.

Final Magazine Advert

Inside of the digi pack

This is the inside of the digi pack which is now finished. We decided to make it very simplistic to allow the front cover to give the most impact. We chose to continue with the black background to then allow the DVD to shine out in white. On the DVD we chose to use the Diva glasses that Beyonce wears in the video to give the audience something to reference when the DVD is out of the case. We felt that on the front cover of the digi pack, the most striking point of Beyonce's close up was her glasses. They hide her image away and give the audience something to focus on as they are so eye cathcing. Therefore we chose to exploit this image by putting the glasses on the DVD, as they draw the audience in but also stand out from the DVD making it easy to see when it is out of the case. Another strong point is that the audiencewill associate the song Diva with the glasses, meaning that if people pick up the DVD they will automatically know who it is. We chose to keep the same lettering on the DVD as on the digi pack, to help the purchaser associate the products, therefore keeping them together and not just leaving it as a blank DVD. On the other side we chose to include a picture of Beyonce showing her frontally and adding a mirror reflection. This indicates both sides of her personality are on show to her audience. She is looking away from the camera to give off an attitude as if she could not care less, promoting the Diva aspect. We decided to blur around the edges to fade the image into the background slightly, therefore not just having a block image on the cover. This is effective due to looking realistic instead of being stuck on.

Front of the digi pack

This is the final version of the front of the digi pack. Having conducted research it became clear to me that this cover needed to convey a positive representation of our Beyonce figure. We achieved this by using Photoshop to produce a high quality digi pack. A black background was chosen so that the white and pink writing stood out to the audience but the image of Beyonce would also. On the front cover Beyonce was chosen to be represented staring straight out into the audience, however she is wearing her glasses to give a mysterious diva like image. The glasses included the two camera flash circles, we chose to keep these in as they added star qualities of bright lights in her eyes. The cropped head and shoulders image gave impact as it is such a close up, revealing character, plus the serious expression allows the audience to realise she is not someone to mess with. A spotlight was chosen to aid the star persona that is portrayed by spotlighting her image. We included a parental advisory notification label as the audience needs to be warned about swearing and we realised in our research that all the digi packs included this where necessary. For the spine we chose to use bold lettering for her name and the title. This makes it easy to read and be noticed by the audience. For the image we decided to continue with the theme reflecting all sides of Beyonce with the sides of the digi pack, therefore having her facing side ways covering her face by holding her glasses which aids her mysterious persona and her diva image. For the back cover we selected two labels including a DVD video/audio picture to ensure it is realised that the digi pack contains a video along with the song. We also found a website that allowed us to create our own barcode, as shown earlier in the blog. Beyonce Diva was chosen as this meant the pack can easily be recognised. We used a back image of Beyonce to continue with the theme of reflecting all sides of her and linking with the use of a mirror in the DVD. Putting her hand on her hip shows off her attitude and also as if she has no care in the world as she is not looking out to the camera. We kept her in her dancing costume for the pack, therefore allowing the audience to recognise the pack and her image when they watch the video. Moving her image over to the right side allowed for text and the title listing to be added. For the track listing we used the same colour pink as her lips on the front cover, this provided recognition but also added a feminine element to break away from all of the black.

Produced by AA Productions on behalf of Beyonce music corporation. Unauthorised copying, reproduction, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting is strictly prohibited
2009 Productions.

www.AAproductions.com

This is the text that we included on the pack, we also added a copyright logo as this was included on every pack in our research so is a essential image. Choosing to make up our own logo AAproductions, standing for Alice and Amelia productions allowed us to have an independent aspect on the pack and that we are producing on behalf of Beyonce music corporation.

Editing

So far we have edited in the entry and exit into the dance studio, we then synced all of the clips of her dancing to ensure the music track was in sync with her singing and dancing. As we have not yet filmed the narrative, we decided to edit all of the dancing to make a complete video then when we have the next clips we shall cut aspects out and drop in the new clips. This is shown in a print screen below.We synced the track by using markers to mark the large beat near the beginning of the song, this was an easy point to recognise and then made it easy to relate on every video. Hopefully we shall be completing the narrative shots this week, then we can complete the video. In the mean time I shall be concentrating on the digi pack and the magazine advert.

Shooting Deconstruction

When we started filming we had to ensure all the location and aspects were correct. For the location we used the outside of the 'Gifted and Talented' school area, this was a period building to represent a derelict area in which Beyonce's secret dance studio is hidden. However the area had plenty of unused furniture stacked near the door so we had to angle the shots to make the building seem less like a storage area. The building however provided extra shots we had not expected such as filming Beyonce walking past through the window, giving a hidden effect. In the dance studio when we first filmed we had the error of being able to see the reflection of our camera equipment and all of the school display boards. Therefore when we refilmed, we used different camera angles, filming a lot closer to Beyonce and also pulled the large curtain across half of the mirror, this gave us a smaller work space providing close up shots and also reducing the light levels to produce a clearer image. With Renie we had to make sure she had the correct outfit on, wearing leggings, a long vest and cardigan provided an edgy dark look which added mystery but was also a powerful image, letting her Diva qualities out. For the dance routine we added dark glasses to hide her identity and aid the Diva image. For her dance routines, we used a Beyonce inspired look with plenty of attitude and quick movements to keep the action upbeat. We decided to film the action using three cameras and got shots of her feet, her face in a close up and then a shot of her whole figure dancing and this included the mirror reflection. We wanted to use the mirror and found a real good example of how a professional video maker had made use of a mirror in Alesha Dixon's video Breathe Slow. We then refilmed all this with her facing the opposite way away from the mirror, this added different perspectives to the song. When filming we decided to capture everything twice, this allowed us to make room for any errors and be able to cut them out.

Progress

So far we have completed filming of the outside entry and exit scenes, plus all of the dance footage. When Renie has time we are hoping to complete the green screening of her singing and the shots of her outside with the male actor. On Premiere Pro we have put together the shots of the entry and exit with all the of the dance footage, we then plan to drop in the outside and singing shots that are still necessary. The digi pack is well on its way with the front, back, side and inside shots all completed, just text and a few editing aspects on the image need to be completed.On the digi pack we had to choose what writing and images needed to be displayed such as the copyright logo. We also found a useful website that allows you to create your own barcode, I have included a print screen of this below.










I am now going to include some shots of Renie in action and the shots we have used
for












the digi pack. These pictures are what we are using on the digi pack and the magazine advert as they are very powerful and effective shots, showing Renie is becoming a Diva. On the digi pack we used the idea of showing her front shot for the cover, side shot for the side bar and the back of her for the back cover, this is showing all sides of her personality.

Filming

We filmed the first part of the sequence in the dance studio on Thursday, however we are unhappy with the angle of the shots so are re filming today from half 3 until 5. The weather is wet and cloudy today so this will eliminate the sunlight that shines on the dance studio floor, making the screen too light.

MTV Awards

Beyonces video for Single Ladies was said this morning on Radio 1 to have won three MTV video awards. The three are Video Of The Year, Best Choreography and Best Editing. this then shows us that Beyonce's style of music video is proving very popular and is created in a very good style. This has given us confidence in our work that the style we have chosen to produce which is similar to Beyonce's other videos will be as popular.

Audience Theory

For our project we looked at audience theory to understand the relationship between the audience and the work and how the audience receives, reads and responds to a text.

The Hypodermic Syringe Model
This theory suggests that that audience just accepts media messages which are being given to them. In relation to my coursework the meanings of the images associated with my chosen song will be mediated by the audience, whereas the song itself as music will be received more passively. There is a process of mediation between the song and the image, the choice of the image impacts upon audiences in different ways.







Uses and Gratification Model
For this theory I noticed that audiences consume texts for different reasons as in 1948 Laswell said that media texts have different functions for individuals and society. These being surveillance, correlation, entertainment and cultural transmission, however for music videos I shall be concentrating on entertainment as this is the main factor why audiences consume them. In 1974 Blulmer and Katz researched and developed the theory deciding that people choose media texts and consume them for certain reasons the two which are appropriate for music videos are diversion and personal identity. Diversion clearly is the escape from everyday life while perhaps more interestingly personal identity is relating yourself to media texts and creating learning and behaviour factors from the text. This is particularly useful for my coursework as there is a strong relationship between young people and music as it helps them associate themselves within certain social groups, for example indie and r'n'b music are followed by distinctly different audiences and social sub groups. Beyonce's music is classed as mainstream pop, therefore we were easily able to target our audience and know what they like as we did research into many similar pop videos, which have been designed to appeal to that specific audience. We were then able to design our work to appeal to that specific audience more easily.

Finding dancers

Last week we had an issue with finding dancers, as we had Sybil and Sadie, however Sybil snapped the ligaments in her ankle. Therefore we had the issue of finding a new dancer. We have asked Renie who is a boarder at our school thus meaning she is readily available, we are hoping to film on Thursday 1st October in the dance studio if all goes to plan.

Magazine adverts research

Using Mojo magazine I started to research music adverts for singles and albums, noticing that many did not use images of the star, like the album covers usually do. I noticed that most adverts included an image of some sort, the star's name, the album's name, a website address, date of release, where it can be purchased. There sometimes is a review and a picture of the album cover.

This advert for Pearl Jam's album Backspacer uses large bold writing to emphasise the band name and the album title, the same lettering is used for the release date, the website, the name of one of the singles and what it is released on, CD, LP and download. This technique means that you are drawn to read all of the writing as it is all so similar. The pictures are cartoon which adds an element of humour to the advert and the bright colours grab your attention, however the gory images show a serious side to the advert. The images are very supernatural which could provide an element of the music being 'out of this world'. Overall this advert is very appealing as it is eye catching and provides all the information needed for purchase. The HMV logo shows that the music is recognised in one of the top music stores and provides knowledge of where to purchase,


This advert is very unusual as there are no images present, except for a shadow reflection which just adds confusion. There are three colours used, pastel blue, white and purple, this sets a calm tone to the advert signifying the music is very gentle. The text is thin but large, all in capitals to grab the attention of the viewer. The unusual aspect of this advert is that it is crammed full of reviews of the music which provide information about how good it is which encourages people to buy it.





This advert is very conventional with the band shot but also is strange because the artist is not written on in bold as usual. Instead the title is Beatles for sale, implying that everyone will already know the band. The advert is in black and white with then all the album covers in colour and where you can buy in from HMV is colours too. This draws the viewers attention to the albums being sold and information is provided about the price and what date they are released.


This advert is very clever as it uses the same coloured writing as on the album covered which is also shown on the advert, this helps the audience associate the album with the advert therefore remembering it when they see it in the shops. This advert is very simple and straight to the point, informing the viewer of the band name, album title, picture of the cover, a website, the release date and what the music is released onto. Bold colours are used to grab attention such as red, white and black.



This advert uses the same colour patterns as above with the black background and the bold white and red writing. This is the most simplified advert I have so far seen with just the artists name, the album name and the release date. However two websites are given for extra information and it is said to be available to buy at amazon, therefore letting the audience know where to purchase.




From these adverts I have decided that in our advert we shall include the artists name, the single name, a website, where to purchase, a picture of the artist and possibly a review. The advert will be A4 size, which is the usual magazine size, the dimensions are 210 × 297mm.

Digi Pack

We have started to research existing digi packs with the dimensions the size of a DVD case, with Beyonce her single covers usually feature a strong image of herself, with powerful bold writing. Such as the examples shown below.

All of these covers strongly feature the stars face/body signifying strong attitude along with the bold title of the song with the artists name. Single covers usually portray what the song will be like, such as covers that are full of attitude the song will reflect this. In our digi pack cover we want to feature the star with the writing in the bottom right corner, therefore emphasising the stars persona without the writing overpowering this aspect. The stars name is usually twice the size of the song name to dramatise who produced it. All of the stars are dressed up with heavy make up and costume to reflect their beauty and how powerful they are in the industry, except for Beyonce's single Halo where she looks to have no make up just natural beauty to reflect the angelic aspect of the song name.






The case dimensions are as shown below, we then copied this image onto Photoshop and started to make our cover.














This is the start of our Digipack cover, we coloured it black, then used bold white and silver writing for emphasis. This makes the lettering stand out in impact but it is also in a feminine style of writing to show Beyonce is feminine but as well as a diva.This is why we wrote Diva in capital letters so that her attitude and personality stood out in comparison to the sweet style of her name. I have included also some pictures of possible design ideas we are considering.










This is the back of the digi pack design where Beyonce is ahead f her backing dancers showing she is presented in the limelight. The image of her walking away indicates her power and authority. We used flowing writing for her feminine name but diva is written in bold capitals to portray attitude.




We used the same lettering as before but the front of the digipack is Beyonce's face standing out from the background, showing off her beauty and attitude to the audience.






This is the single for Beyonce's song Diva, which is the song we are using for our music video. The background colour is very light, however it is a harsh light therefore portraying the image of power and authority. The lettering used is very bold and masculine, signifying strength of her Diva persona. Beyonce is dressed fully in leather with full dramatic make up and high hair. This gives her the look of sophistication but also a harsh image to prove she is a successful woman that has done well for herself. I think this is a very good single cover because it is very eye catching and also shows that the song will have a strong attitude due to how she is looking, not just the average girly song from Beyonce. From this image I have noticed a link to Laura Mulvey's theory of the male gaze. In the image Beyonce is wearing feminine heels which push her body forward in a sexual manner as her body has to curve in order for her to walk in the heels. I found this quote "She declares that in patriarchal society ‘pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female’ (Mulvey 1992)" http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/gaze/gaze09.htmlMen receive pleasure from looking at this image due to Beyonce having such a feminine body. "Voyeuristic looking involves a controlling gaze" Beyonce is looking very beautiful in this shot and the male gaze will automatically be drawn to her body being pushed forward and the attractiveness she is giving off.



This single cover is Kelly Clarkson's song Already Gone. It is a very clever use of the star's face instead of having her with a background because we get a close up of her natural beauty with emphasised eye make up. The red lips show a sign of femininity and the crystal teardrop show that she is unhappy and the single will reflect this, possible due to the song title of a lover leaving her. The lettering used is thin and curved, showing femininity and the contrast between the lightness of her name in white, with the sadness of someone already being gone in black.



This single cover is of Ashley Tisdale's song, Masquerade. The lettering used is very bold for her name, which is unusually slanted, making a stand. The song title, is in fancy lettering which could relate to her fact that masquerade is fancy dress. Ashley has very dark eye make up but the rest of her outfit and hair is very casual this could be to signify her hiding her identity behind ht mask. The background colour has patterns on it that take your focus so that she starts to blend in which the rest of the lettering and not become so obvious because her image is behind it.