In what ways does your media product, use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
conventions of real rap media products:
Our music video contains our title at the start of it, which is similar to this rap video of 'Chris brown' 'Faithful'. They had put their name of the song on the front with a font which matches the genre of the video e.g. Chris browns video on the right shows a more futuristic edge to the video due to the titles font being sharp and white which contrasts the background of black. in comparison to our titles where we have an effect of graffiti on it and its consisting the bright colours in the background and we convey an effect of being laid back and a skater atmosphere with the background.
we have challenged conventions of rap genre because I've researched many rap videos and none give more than one credit to the creators, they mention the rappers such as 'Nikki Minaj' and song titles however thats the most visuals rap videos include which is why we included more credits to make the establishing shots more interesting rather than audiences viewing plain screen of graffiti.
based on rap music videos i have noticed that we conform to the rap genre this is because we included production logos which will make us noticeable on who had created it, this image is a synergistic logo which would have been presented in our digipak, poster and music video. This logo is similar to other rap logos such as 'Lil uzi vert' on the right which has his production logo of LiluziverT which is his production company.
Our production company is shown right after the logo is presented. This is to create a synergistic link between the visual image and the meaning to it. We used this to show our production company and who is made by. This is similarly presented in 'Migos' song where he has directed by shown which gives gratitude to the producer and editor crew.
we conformed to the conventions of rap videos using and including text which shows who its directed by however we challenge it by placing it in the end of our video this is because our songs build up is short and if audiences would read the text they wouldn't focus on the words which are rapped about.
music videos similar to ours based on style, narrative and genre:
comparing these clips from our video to the real rapper video, i think we included the same eye contact which our rappers are showing to the camera this engages the audience as it seems as if the rapper is talking to us. dance moves and dancing is present as well which creates a focus on the rapper.
Throughout the creation of our media products we have included audience feedback consistently in many aspects which shaped our final product. Audience feedback was key in our creation of poster, digipak and music video and without these constructive criticisms we wouldn't have made our music video turn out the way it did.
Song choice and genre?
We had created a survey on a digital platform 'survey monkey' which allowed us to ask audiences which are varying in age group what genres audiences listen to, what style of music, their age and what is a convention of rap genre to them which shaped our decision making. the survey can be found on our blog.
Here we have one of our questions and the responses we had gotten from it, The responses were mostly hip-hop and rap which prompted us to focus on such genre due to this peer questionnaire. the genres showed the demand and what audiences listen to this created a guideline on what we should base our genre on.
This was another question we had asked and 32 people have responded to this questionnaire and 30 said they would listen to rap songs and with this knowledge we were able to narrow down our target audience as we knew there was a demand for rap music.
Another question we asked was what do they associate with the rap genre and their responses were here, most said money,cars and girls which is something we thought we would implement. without this question being asked we wouldn't be able to cater to our target audience as they are who we want to make this music video appealing to which means that without this research we might have ignored what the consumer demands which would have impacted their interest into the music video.
Lastly with the audience feedback we were able to narrow down who we would aim our music video to which from this information it is important as we were able to have and narrow down a age range which we will aim the music video at and interest them.
importance of audience feedback in early stages of creating a product?
without the questionnaire we wouldn't be able to pick a suitable target market for rap genre as this gave an insight on what demographics are interested in rap genre which made us go into a conclusion of 16-24yr olds.
Additionally it allowed us to find out what conventions are associated with the rap genre which for the end product it allowed us to create a persuasive music video.
Audience is key as it guided us into a direction of rap genre and it gave us insight on what the connotations with rap are which meant that we were able to use this information to create a plan and storyboard for our music video.
we were able to have ideas on what kind of songs we could choose and it prompted us to start our research into location, clothing which would match the audience feedback.
Feedback on our song choice:
we had audience feedback on our choice of song, we selected people who do and don't listen to the genre to give us feedback on what the song makes them feel and visualise.
below is the audience feedback we got on the song choice.
This gave us an insight on how audiences respond to our song choice, one response was that the language is too vulgar which can upset some audiences and it will prevent our reach to other audiences outside of our target audience of 16-24yr olds.
based on such audience response we chose to edit the version that has the swear words and added bleeps into it which still gave the idea of the word however it did not mention it which means that it was more suitable to our target market. this audience feedback was essential as it allowed us to focus on what the audiences might not like which was the swear words.
They visualised a bright coloured theme to base the song around which is why it lead us in later stages to choose a graffiti tunnel which included bright colours whilst still keeping in the genre of rap.
the song is catchy which meant that with this audience feedback they said to include dancing rather than a narrative as it can ruin the purpose and beat of the song which is what we took into consideration when creating our final product.
based on the audience feedback on song choice we tried to implement as much in our music video and these factors were key as it guided us into a direction of not having a narrative and telling a story like other rap videos do such as 'Chris brown' where they show how they have all the money go to rich places. without audience feedback on the song we might have chosen a less effective song which might not have matched the genre of rap as it could have mentioned lots about drugs and sex which is an aspect we tried to minimise in our music video. Audience feedback in this stage gave an insight on future planning of music video which is why we learnt that its essential in every stage which regards audience such as song choice as if audiences didn't like the song then we would have to choose a new one.
Audience feedback on our pitch:
this stage had given audience feedback a big role. feedback was essential in this stage as we presented our ideas and we wanted to see if the audience would be interested in such music video which included locations, costumes, props which we mentioned in our pitch.
1.we had feedback which mentioned to include signs, brands, logos and jewellery which would aid the realism of our music video which is why we included this shot of the barber shop showing their logo, his earring is also shown which looks like a diamond one to show wealth in the music video.
2.Another aspect we didn't consider which our audience feedback brought up was filming time. because we chose to film in the tunnel audience asked us when and where is the tunnel so that we had a short journey to it and so that we would film when there is little people around. This allowed us to create a timeline on when we are going to film and where. this was an aspect which without the audience feedback we would have overlooked.
3. our idea was to add colour to our music video, so we thought of adding a smoke bomb to create an effect of colour which would work well against the graffiti. however audience have responded that yes it will look good and bright however its unrealistic due to the fact that the smoke bomb cant be used in a public place as it might obstruct people so if we were to use it in the tunnel we wouldn't be able which is why we scrapped that idea.
4. we were suggested to use more than one location as one location can make the music video boring which rap videos are not , conventions of rap are many locations showing off wealth which is why we used a car park to show how hes so high up and higher than other people as he has money, graffiti tunnel to portray the rap genre, party scene to show him and his lifestyle of living well and roads.
5. we had a comment which was is the rapper going to be the only one featured, we initially had only him featured however to portray the conventions of Rap genre we needed to add more people into it which is why we had girls and guys featured.
importance of audience feedback on pitch:
it gave us bigger insight on audiences view on what aspects they like e.g. the clothes, locations, and props which we included. we had presented this to audiences varying from 17-40 year olds to see what views and ideas can they help us with to improve the music video. To conclude without audience feedback we wouldn't have experimented with the cameras before hand, we wouldn't have taken in consideration time and when to film in the Waterloo tunnel and we wouldn't have included more than one rapper and location if these were not brought up in audience feedback. so in my opinion they played a key role in the creation of our music video as they shaped and guided us to create a convention of rap genre video.
Location audience feedback:
location was an aspect we got audience feedback on as we wanted to see if the moldboard we created matches the genre of rap and it allowed us to have a deeper view on what audiences are thinking when they see these pictures.Based on this audience feedback we can see that these locations will portray our genre of rap/hip hop. Additionally the atmosphere we want to create is evident in the audience response as they see that its about having fun, chilling with friends and partying which the song is about. we asked these questions relating to the moodboard->
Costume and audience feedback:
to convey the conventions of rap genre we had questions made for our audience and their reposes were written down. we had asked them questions relation to the moldboard. The moldboard it important as it was aspects which we wanted to include in our video.
based on these results audiences say they would wear such clothes which means that
we are targeting our market of 16-24 year olds additionally rap genre is portrayed through the clothes presented which means that if we include
such concepts of clothing in our video we will match conventions of rap which
is to have branded clothes. With the brands presented audiences will recognise them which means it increases convention of rap genre being about
brand deals and showing off clothes. We also see that the audience do think
rappers wear such clothes which means that our person lip syncing the rap scene
will look realistic as the clothes and the character would suit the role of the
rapper.
Audience feedback on rough cut:
we had presented our music video to our older range in our target market of 16-24yr olds and we had presented it to our peers who are same age as us so 17-18 year olds. We did this as we wanted to have two sets of feedback on our music video.
1.we had audience feedback on mise en scene on the hand gestures they found it effective in creating realism that our lip syncer is the rapper singing the verse. the editing was spot on as it matched with every beat it had transitions which made the scene changes effective such as the dance transition. location was important as it was vibrant and made it seem like it was a conventional rap music video.
2.lighting is a problem they pointed out how it was different from one location to another which did change the atmosphere of the music video we got suggested to maybe change it on the editing software to change the grey into white or a different colour.barber shop scene needs the lighting to be fixed with colour correction as in one shot it was brighter and in another it was darker.
3.2nd verse needs close ups on rapper to make it seem real theres too many long shots and mid shots and not enough close ups on his lips or his face which impacts realism.
4. the swearing issue is solved with the clean version as it doesn't include what the word is meant to be there so its clearly done to avoid the word which is effective as it can be now played as a radio edit.
why audience feedback was important in this stage?
From the audience feedback we got given on this we realised aspects which we have overlooked e.g. the lip sync at one stage of the music video which didn't work well, we were so focused on other aspects that we overlooked minor details. which is why audience feedback is important as it enabled us to learn form our mistakes as for our finished product we focused on these aspects throughout our video so we watched it once and looked at lighting problems, then watched it twice to look at lip sync problems.
Final cut audience feedback:
we had shown our final version of our music video to a group of peers and had gotten their response on if the music video portrayed the convention of rap genre.
1.Audience response we had gotten back was that they liked the transitions especially the dance move where it switches to different location that editing was effective in changing the scenes.
2.use of location made the setting seem real as it was all settings which rap music videos would use e.g. their house, graffiti and roads. they liked the way we edited the locations to swerve in a order of graffiti ,party , rooftop which made the scenes seem smooth.
3.hair dresser scene made the music video flow as it seemed like he went in and out like the transitions and shots of him getting a hair cut were well collected and implemented e.g. when person walks past and then the hair cut is done.the dance transition was done professionally, dance made video have real authenticity as the dancers were not self conscious they just danced and had fun which gave an effect of fun in the video.
4.the colours look good as they seem enhanced which refers back to the conventions of the genre as it seemed like a rap video with bright colours shown. the use of the graffiti (woman) was important as it shows how it links with the song which tied the location, lip sync and lyrics well together as it made it seem as if he was singing about her there and then.
Overall what we learnt form audience feedback:
we learnt that audience feedback can shape and guide us to creating a professional music video, they have aided us in decision making on storyboard, location,clothing which made our music video turn out the way it did. I've learnt that audience feedback is key and should be done more often on decisions which can impact the end result of music video i've learnt that without the constant referral to the audience we might derail form the end effect which is to cater to our target market which is why their say in our construction is important as they are who we want to watch our music video.
Audience feedback on digipak: Audience feedback on poster:
Before we got to create research and planning on our thriller opening, one minute film and preliminary video we had to create a platform to post research on conventions, camera angles, and themes presented in films. we chose our group members which each would have contributed in research. so in our group one person found conventions of different genres in film, we had genres of mystery, crime, romantic comedy which each member was able to access due to this platform called BLOGGER which enabled us to input more information and research into another persons post allowing us to have an insight on all the aspects of a film. this platform allowed us to have all our information presented in date order which gave us an easier view on our journey of construction.
How we used digital technology to research our products?
we used the internet to research areas and locations for our thriller opening such as parks, forests, local roads which required google maps and images for us to view it and see if its suitable for our thriller genre. YouTube has helped us in creating our product. we were able to learn camera angles, sound, editing and lighting and we were able to post our skills and tries of using the camera or lighting which allowed us to learn and show our process of learning by posting on YouTube. with our first uses of camera work or lighting being on YouTube we were able to see our strengths and weaknesses allowing us to view it and reflect on what we have done.
we were able to research music and soundtracks for our thriller opening, but no copyright songs, just songs which are free to use and those which match a thriller film, so sounds which make the situation tense.
Presentation methods: Prezi- we used Prezi as it gives a clear structure on how we present our research as it spaces our information which makes it easier to read and follow, additionally you can add photos to back up our research Podcast- when we presented our thriller ideas we had to show a voice recording on our narrative of our possible thriller idea. we used speech as with speech we are able to emphasise some actions which occur in our idea and are able to express our view and deeper meaning to why we chose such scene to occur and location. This gives a clearer understanding on why we chose a specific location and it can help to explain our thinking behind the narrative. PowerPoint- its a simple method to create and explain our research and how it can apply to ur thriller. we can spread information on many pages which makes it easier to read and pictures can be added to back up the idea. Pow toon- it helps with presentation as it has images and cartoons which are added which emphasise what you are writing about, it involves a music in the background which in our research was our thriller music which set the atmosphere as it made the audiences who watched the pow toon to read the words whilst feeling the atmosphere. these methods helped us with constructing our product as it allowed us to use various IT skills to create our research. we were able to present research in different ways which allowed us to broaden our skills on presentation. Production: we used camera DSLR which we shot and re shot scenes so that we have more than one take of a scene. we also used our phones (iPhone) to record constructions of our filming, so our set up ,our angles and different days of filming. we were able to construct our product due to our research in preproduction on : rule of thirds: with our research on rule of thirds we were able to construct our thriller with the rule implemented into it. We were able to focus on our main character when she is walking down the road by placing her in the middle of the field of view allowing the background to seem bigger as we ware able to see what is behind her which adds to the effect of an eerie situation. The audience is able to see more of the background which gives an effect of something being behind her. to research this we used YouTube to watch videos on how to get the setting on the camera and how to use rule of thirds. health and safety: we had to research in to the safety precautions which we had to Google to know what could occur when we film, which in our filming we had to take in consideration as we filmed on a pavement however It was filmed from a side profile so we needed to get some shots which required us to go on the road. 3 point lighting our film was set in the evening so we needed to research before hand how to use lights. We had to learn the key light fill light and back light. with this we were able to film the car boot scene
post production -research on texts, fonts and credits: we previously had researched fonts though a website and we then downloaded the font and inserted into out thriller for the thriller title, such font matched with the theme of a thriller as it had an edgy font and colour. logos created: this allowed us to create a logo which would be suitable for a thriller, so we created a logo which has a suitable name perspective entertainment. This logo was created via logomaker and powerpoint where we combined the pictures of a mountain and a ribbon. We added this into our thriller at a suitable time where there would be no interruptions. This meant that the atmosphere and pace of thriller wasn't distrupted.
editing of video:with final cut pro x we were able to add transitions which enchanced the realism in the thriller opening such as the zoom into the page which transistions out into a flashback. we were able to change colour correction of the thriller and make it darker which matched the thriller setting. Voice overs were added. we had shots where background noise was to loud so we had to record our voice overs, and then we added It in due to editing which allowed our thriller to seem realistic with the scenes not having any background sound affecting it. We arranged our scenes into order with Final cut pro x which a gave us an option to shorten the clips and make them flow with the addition of post production. we added sound which enhanced our thrillers atmoshepere as it made the thriller creepy, due to the sound increasing in intense scenes. the sound enabled the scenes to not have awkward pauses which would make the scenes.
Our music video contains our title at the start of it, which is similar to this rap video of 'Chris brown' 'Faithful'. They had put their name of the song on the front with a font which matches the genre of the video e.g. Chris browns video on the right shows a more futuristic edge to the video due to the titles font being sharp and white which contrasts the background of black. in comparison to our titles where we have an effect of graffiti on it and its consisting the bright colours in the background and we convey an effect of being laid back and a skater atmosphere with the background.
