Music Video Evaluation

  What is the importance of research and planning?

The importance lies in the preparation that is carried out to complete your task. Firstly, key features of the video must be sorted before you start, such as cast. The right cast is needed in order to make a video look professional and of a high quality. Other factors such as creating a storyboard is also important, so that you have a good plan to make an efficient and competent start, and to make each production process easier.

2.       What Technologies did you use?

For Filming we used a Sony HDV camera, without the use of any tripods or stands. In hindsight, using one of these would’ve provided a better quality image. For editing we used the Final Cut Pro on the Mac, but we did encounter problem. The software was slow and uploading our film to the system took longer than anticipated. We also failed to upload the second half of our video. However this may have been down to the length of shots we took. The system was complicated and unpractical.

3.       What difficulties did you encounter?

(See question 2) We also found difficulty in using the camera, specifically allowing enough recording time for the camera so that it could upload the footage. We also struggled with losing tapes as well as struggling with time constraints. Overall our piece is a lot different than anticipated.

4.       How successful was your music video?

The video was mixed, we got some shots and some scenes into a video but not as much as we could have. We did the best in the circumstances we had. Some of the scenes were close to the real video, however, the video isn’t long enough nor was some of the footage uploaded to show the shots. We didn’t get a chance to use much lip syncing, nor were we able to use a wide range of shot skills or techniques. Overall the video doesn’t present the skills of the group.

5.       What have you learned?

Overall, as a group we have learned many things. Firstly about how difficult it is to make a video itself, and how important planning and preparation is to create a quality video. Perhaps if we had done more planning and prep, then we would’ve been able to present a video that is not only complete but reflects the skills of the group. We also learned about how to use the different technologies, like how we need to press record on the camera a few seconds before we start, so that we have footage to work with should we need to edit and to ensure that the footage can be uploaded on Final Cut Pro. 

Final Product

Note to Moderator

Dear Moderator,

My brief for my AS Media was to create a Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread for a new music magazine. I chose to do my music magazine in an indie based genre, as i believe this is the most accessible market for my magazine to target, due to its size and variances in age, ethnicity and gender. I wanted to give my preferred audience of 15-30 year old's a new, stylish magazine that can attracted my target audience and one that they can find relatable. I have used labels on my blog to make it easier to navigate throughout, in order to find the different stages of my magazine construction and development.

Yours sincerely,

Ryan Proctor, Edgbarrow School.
Candidate Number: 0210
Centre Number: 51111

Evaluation question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? 

Construction: Using serif, i think the work from the prelim task has allowed me to develop my skills using the software. The prelim task allowed me to see what ideas i liked and whether i would be able to translate them onto my magazine using serif, it also allowed me to experiment as to weather my ideas would work for the target market of the audience i was aiming for in the future. Throughout the construction phase, the difference between my actual magazine and the prelim task is clear. My prelim task didn't use any specialist IT skills in its construction and this showed in the lack of continuity throughout. However, i think that my prelim task overall gave me a good idea as to the style of magazine i wanted, and allowed me to develop ideas using the technology available. I think what i learned from the task is evident in my final draft, how i was able to create more interesting features of a magazine. 

Design Skills: The development in my design skills has mostly been about ensuring that every detail is relevant to my target audience, whether it be pictures, layout, texts or structure. Ensuring the magazine was relatable to my target audience was vital as this is one of the key factors in the criteria. One example of simple design skill would be the colour of the magazine, i had to ensure that the continuity of the magazine flowed throughout, and this was achieved by using the colour bar, and selecting the yellow colour for the sections i wanted it to. I learned this skill from the prelim task, and using the prelim helped me to be comfortable with the simple skills that i needed to create a magazine. One skill which was more challenging was editing pictures. This was something that i did not do in my prelim task, and so ensuring that my pictures were edited in the correct way to suit my ideas for them was something i learnt after the prelim task.

Student: As a media student, i believe that i have learnt about a wide ranges of things from the work on my magazine, and i have improved on others as well. The magazine construction has helped me learn more about the codes and conventions of a magazine, and how they are consistent throughout all styles of magazines and the effect they actually have, such as direct address. I feel like as a student, the coursework has also helped me to learn about different technologies available to use, and just how many are needed in order to create an effective product. The coursework has also made me be more responsible with my timekeeping, due to the use of deadlines. Overall,i feel like the magazine has challenged me to work at the best of my ability, and has demonstrated how much i have learned about the industry and media itself. 

Evaluation Question 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product? 

Evaluation question 4 and 5

Who would be the audience for your product?

Question 4 and 5

Evaluation Question 3

What Kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? 

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Question 2

Evaluation Question 1

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

Question 1

Second Draft

Reflection on first draft

After feedback on the first draft of my magazine, i now know the area's for improvement; i need to focus on the conventions of a double page spread in order to make the magazine look more professional, and to make sure my pictures and choice of artist relates to the layout and interior features of my magazine.

RP

Dolby

A really promising first draft here- I think you need to go back to codes and conventions for the double page spread as you have not followed many of these. Consider how much info you should include on the contents- variety of features/page amounts etc. The pic of 'Young runners' on the contents is a little pixelated and they seem to dominate the mag rather than your main artist which should be the main feature of your DPS.

Cover Page

Contents Page

Double Page Spread

Magazine Inspiration

Example Magazine/Early design ideas

How research will inform planning

The research I have carried out will be useful in my planning stage. The analysis of existing music magazines will be helpful in understanding the concepts of a magazine, and any ideas that will influence my design.

For example, with this type of magazine, I like how the cover photo is normally a singular close up shot of the featured artist, with pugs and stories around it. I like how simplistic the cover is, so it’s not in your face, giving a classy and tasteful impression. Whilst the colours are bright and noticeable they are not too distracting. These examples of music magazines therefore help me to generate ideas of what style my magazine will be.

The analysis of my target market has shown me the most popular market among magazines, and those who are most likely to interact with and purchase magazines. The age range will also be suitable for the locations that the magazine is sold in and the stories and artists featured on it. Extensively, my analysis of existing publishers showed me the massive scale on which magazines can be published and interacted with, 50% of all US Males interact with a Time magazine each month. This shows that my magazine needs to have an attractive design and interesting stories, as well as the availability to be accessed or read online, as with the ever increasing use of Web 2.0. This not only shows the massive audience my magazine may be able to reach, but the risk of the market being so large that the magazine fails to be a success.

Links to Product Placement and Magazine Plan

http://prezi.com/hilhh8yyvzwx/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy-Product Placement

http://prezi.com/l4vsq2qraqob/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy-Magazine Plan

Prelim task evaluation questions

Did you plan your magazine? If not, what have you learnt about the importance of research and planning?

No, I did not plan my magazine as it was the first magazine I have ever created, and so had no idea what I wanted it to look like or what it should look like. The importance of research and planning is massive, without research into what other magazines include my magazine would look totally different. Looking at market research of other magazines is a useful way of comparing your magazine to competitors and creating the best image possible for your magazine.

What technology did you use to complete the task and how did you use it?

 I used Serif PagePlusX6 to create the magazine as it give me the key tools needed. I was able to use the cut-out studio to trim my photos, use different fonts of texts using the wide range of options available, create a border and a masthead using by creating shapes, and used the assets pack to add a background to my magazine. The software also allowed me to import images from either a file or using copy and paste.

Did you encounter any difficulties? If so, what were they and how did you overcome them?

Most of the difficulties came in actually designing the magazine itself, in the terms of how my design would look. I found difficulty in the selecting the colour scheme of the text and actually working out how to do it, as the system was complicated for a simple procedure. To overcome this I played around with certain buttons on the page until I found out the way to change the colour of the text.

How successful was your magazine? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?

I felt like my magazine reflected a first attempt at creating one and using new software. What worked well was my content page, I liked the close up shot as it seemed something that an actual magazine would include, however my front cover looked messy and didn’t include the features that a magazine should have on its front page. I would improve my front page by looking in detail at what a front page should include and work on creating a classier front cover.

What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?

I now feel comfortable in using Serif pageplus, which will be helpful in the construction of my magazine. I now know the tools and equipment I can use in creating my magazine, and know how to translate my ideas of what the magazine should look like into a real creation. 

Preliminary Task Contents Page

Preliminary Task Front Cover