Evaluation 1

My brief within Media Studies was to create a music video on an artist of my choice, alongside two ancillary products. To be successful my group would have to follow the genre conventions and entertain the target audience. The digipak and magazine advert came under the ancillary post which intern would promote the artist boosting their success. The success of creating a continual flow was down to three very vital ancillary products, which would connect to each other. After long discussion, my group felt that we would both follow and break genre convention. This would have many contrasting effects. For example by following all genre convention my group would risk our music video being boring and have many similarities to other videos in the charts. Contrastingly by breaking all conventions you would have a music video which does not appeal to the target audience. This highlighted that for my group to be successful we would have to subvert the genre to avoid being similar to similar music videos in the same deep house genre. This will make my group’s music video diverse and entertaing as it different from others. However not to break all convention so the music video will still appeal to the target audience. This will create a successful music video as it meet the needs and want of the target advice by meeting the conventions however is more entertaining as it is something different and contrast to other music video of the genre they may have seen.

To truly understand what the target audience wanted from a music video my group carried out both primary and secondary research. This would give my group a greater understanding of what convention to conform to and which to break. Through the use of interview and questionnaires of our target audience 15-25. In addition, my group asked the general public music genre related question to give my group a greater understanding. My group then transformed the data into useful information. The information enables us to materialise them in to easy understandable: pie charts, bar charts, and vox pox videos. The vox pops illustrated our target audience opinion on our chosen (deep house) genre. By me and member of the group interviewing individuals allowed my group to gather relevant primary information. Which intern would give my group a greater understanding of the genre which would allow us to evoke our greater understanding to our target audience making a successful music video? Collaborating all the new information, the group and I came to realisation of roughly who our target audience was, meaning that we were able to plan all our ancillary products around what they wanted and had requested. This was all taken into consideration to make our music video as successful as we possibly could.

My group consists of 4 members; myself Luke Thompson, Will Stacey, Max Heath and Rhiannon Andrews-west. This formed a very creative group which included many opinions and ideas. We felt by forming a group we could push each other to the best of our abilities. As well as putting the groups many creative ideas to create a very successful music video. In my opinion each member of the group had an aspect which the excelled at. Therefore combined as a group we could excel as each group member brought something they was good at and other member could not do. , we all pushed each other to better the outcome by sharing opinions and inputting at all stages of development. In the production of the music video each member had something which they excelled at which made it easy to allocate roles. As member’s skill was clearly seen each member agreed to the roles. The roles included camera man which max happily agreed as he had previously taken this role in his thriller production. As a group we felt this role was correct as he had previously used it. Also max would know what worked well and what didn’t. For example zooming when filming had a negative effect. This would prevent us from re-filming saving my group time. Will would be our artist this is as he felt performing was his natural role and something he felt he would excel at. Rhiannon would also in our performed in the narrative production this was again as she felt confident in front of the camera. This was as she filmed in her previous media production. This helped our group as she would know how to react around the camera. My role in the group was directing and input in to filming. I felt this was the correct role for me as I had previously done it in my past production and I felt I would be creative enough to come up with idea for shots and positioning when shots did not look right. As a group we collectively added input in to editing on final cut pro and Photoshop as we felt collectively as a group we could be more creative in coming up with final pieces.  

From my experience from last year’s AS media group task; creating as opening thriller sequence. Each member excelled at their role making the group enjoyable to work with. In addition I felt I worked well to changes that I said I would make last year with improved our final piece. My role in the production has taught me how to focus on specific areas, and look more into the micro elements, which as an outcome created a more successful music video. Contrasting to last year my group had such good time management we were able to test new shots and experiment in many ways.  This improved our final piece. It was clear to see that my group formed a will organised production. This was seen through the use of planning, which had many ideas which were all given thought and consideration which avoided arguments and brought the group closer illustrating the success. The skills that I had already gained at AS level. I had previously learned how to use basic tools such as importing the camera footage and using the blade tool to cut different sections to produce a timeline. It also made me more experienced at using the skills that I had previously acquired making me able to work more efficiently and focus on more advanced tools. My A2 experience has allowed me to take this further by teaching myself how to use different effects and transitions as well as slow and quicken different scenes

In my opinion, I feel that as a group we have created a successful music video on the song 'The Sun Don’t Shine' by Klangkrussel alongside strong ancillary increased the success. Due to the lacking time my group was given it was hard to make everything perfect. The lacking time highlighted elements of the final production which I would like to improve on However as a hole I felt my group’s music video was a success.

There is no better way of promoting an artist than through a music video. This is why the success of a music video is vital. Music videos consist of a short narrative/representation of an artist depending on the genre in which they feature in order for an artist to attract a specific target audience, which are often carried out purely for artistic and promotional purposes. For an audience, it allows them to buy into their lifestyle and make connections in forms of for example emotions, clothing, and style. The video creates a greater understanding for an audience on what the song is about and the underlying emotions and meanings the song holds. A music video can be categorised in 3 ways being performance, narrative and concept.

Each genre has their respective conventions, however to be rebel against the mainstream and come across different to the target audience they subvert the codes and conventions. This will intern allow them to stand out from similar artists in the same genre. Music videos date back much further than the present day they came into prominence in the 1980’s when MTV based their format around them. Some music videos may be without a set concept e.g. only being a filmed version of the songs live performance. As there are many new genres in the present day filming a live concert and breaking all conventions of the genre would be unappealing to the audience, this is why it was vital to research my chosen deep house genre.

• A Market Tool to promote artist/song - A music video is primarily used to promote the sale of music recordings of the artist that has produced the song. They can also be used to promote other companies. An example of this is in ‘Beauty And The Beat’ by Justin Bieber where they promote the new gaming product ‘Just dance 4’ by showing the logo within the video.
• Short Narrative or representation of artist - Many music videos use a short narrative to tell a story within the clip. An example of this is in ‘Heart Attack’ by Trey Songs where his video shows Kelly Rowland (the love interest) and himself falling in love as well as showing their ups and downs. This attracts the audience, as they want to follow the storyline and is also often used to compliment the words of the song and make it easier for the audience to understand.
• Attract a particular type of audience - Videos are used to attract the target market that the song and genre is aimed at. An example of this is ‘The Promise’ by Girls Aloud where they use glamorous dresses and a choreographed routine that would attract teenage girl to watch the video and listen to the music. 
• Buy into the artists lifestyle - The artist’s lifestyle is often portrayed in a music video so that the audience can put themselves into the world of the artist and understand the life that they live. ‘Got 2 Luv u’ by Sean Paul is a good example of this as they show the artist in a club with alcohol and lots of girls. This gives the impression that this is a regular occasion for him and gives the audience an insight into his lifestyle
• Show the different generic conventions of a genre/music video - The generic conventions of a music video are shown throughout each individual video. This alters depending on the genre of the song as well as the artist and directors personal ideas.
• Audience to remember the video - An audience will often remember a song by the video that is played alongside it; especially as the most popular way to listen to music is on TV channels and YouTube where the videos are a main feature. An example of this is ‘Blurred Lines’ by Robin Thicke where the video created controversy and was therefore remembered by a large group of people.
• Audience to understand more about the song - A music video can tell the story behind the lyrics which allows the audience to see both the hidden and literal meaning. This allows them to understand the song in more depth as well as giving them an insight into any themes prominent within the song.
• Build a relationship with the artist - The audience is able to understand the artist through the choice of video and the persona that they create throughout it. This allows the audience to understand the personality of the artist through their choice of video and the different images that it shows of them.
  
  
  I was introduced to klangkurusel when there song reached the top ten in the charts, a pair that feature within the deep house genre. This can be seen from previous songs which also are part of the genre. It was clear to me and my group that we understood what the artist was trying to portray. This was eminently evident from their lyrics which imminently brought creative ideas of what we could create in the music video. A narrative based production would create emotion links between the images and lyrics which will heighten the connection between the music video and the audience therefore becoming more entertaining. After researching into both Ellie Golding “I need your love and arctic monkeys “R U Mine” used narrative music video very successfully. Using a range of feature which would be effective in my own music video. This would include slow paced editing to show tragic events seen in the arctic monkeys “R U Mine”. “I need your love” showed passionate moments throughout from the use of close up and a handheld camera my group would use this to create a passionate relationship and create realism for our target audience of 15 to 25.
  I feel that my music video, alongside the 2 other ancillary products being the digipak and magazine advert reflect my chosen music genre, in the way we have followed many of the typical deep house codes and conventions; a few examples being bright lighting, club scenes and fast paced editing. The narrative is very strong. My group and I felt this was important that the audience could relate with what they see. However we chose to subvert conventions to create an effect on the audience. By doing so, we hopefully attract a greater audience; we also hope that the intense narrative will engage the audience keeping them entertained watching. To create realism my group had to include relatable scene and stereotype what couples do. This included romantic walking, cake making and looking at spectacular views. This would make our production more realistic. My also found from artist representation that they steer from being the centre of attention they prefer for their music to be more noticed. This was seen from the artist David guetta. It was clear we could follow this convention by concentrating on the lyrics my group and I felt that this could be done through a narrative production.  The group and I only wanted small components to be diverse, in order to add originality to stand out against genre opponents, overall following as well as challenging indie conventions to produce a successful end product.

  
  

  Knowing the importance of following the codes and conventions of my chosen deep house genre to entertain our target audience of 15-25. This was evident as i followed these conventions of the deep house genre which stereotypes the need of strobe and bright lighting. This will create the feeling of dance and fun. I achieved following this conventions by having my artist dancing in a club. Portraying and dance and fun nature to the audience. I again followed conventions by not making my artist  the main focus in the production. This would allow them to concentrate on deeper meaning behind the song. This was evident from similar artist David Guetta "the club cant handle us right now". This showed the artist (David Guetta)  in the video however not the main focus being a character in the narrative production. This was suggested by the lack of bright clothing and iconography which allows the artist to stand out from the crowed; making them a star. This allowed the song to portray a deeper meaning of enjoying life. The artist achieved this by drawing focus away from him self so the audience could highlights the deeper connotation of the song. I followed these convention by having my artist in the music video however not the main focus. This would suggest the deeper meaning of love in relationships which i tried to promote through lyrics and visuals . By doing this it allowed us to include Goodwins theory of lyrics connecting with visual. By concentrating on highlighting hidden meaning in lyric through visuals would allow us to successful entertain our chosen target audience. I done this by having the lyrics "the sun don't shine without you" and low key lighting through lowering the percent of lighting  and my artist walking through a grave suggesting the sun know longer shines without his love.
  
  To entertain my target audience i understood the importance of being diverse from similar artist in the same deep house genre. To achieve this i new it was important to subvert codes and conventions of the genre. I done this by adding slow paced editing by lowering the speed percent of Final cut pro X software. This would allow the artist to suggest the feeling of pain and emotion which comes across when the artist is walking through the grave yard. This allows the audience to come to terms with the female characters death. I again broke conventions by not dark dull lighting to suggest death when the female character crashes her car. I done this by adding the black and white effect using final cut pro x. This would allow the audience to link the visual and lyric together to suggest the artist pain "the sun don't shine without you" this would create a larger impact when entertaining the audience.