My Music Video

My Music Video

Final Product: My Digipak

Final Product: My Digipak

My Website

My Website

A website is important for an artiste to promote their products and is often at the heart of their modern career as a musician. This is a place where their fans can find all the necessary information about the artiste including merchandise, tour tickets and news information. A well designed website can help the artiste to achieve more visits, which i turn should help to promote and market their brand; leading to success. Below is the website that I have designed for my music video.

https://ebmhoward.wixsite.com/try-everything

My Digipak Analysis

My Digipak Analysis

I have decided to design a six-panel digipak, not only because I like the artistic versatility of the multiple panels (with the fold-out design), but also because I feel that the finished six panels add a uniqueness to the product which would be attractive to its target market as a piece of collectible merchandise. From the template view, the colour scheme can be seen most clearly: a green palette for the inside and a contrasting pink-purple palette for the outside of the digipak. The use of these two distinct elements of the digipak correlates with the two distinct narratives within my music video. The inside of the digipak, which features the cyclist in the music video, is simply made up of one image which spans across the length of the design (its inspiration came as a result of the development of my moodboard). I think this element is creative and artistic. 

Front

The front of the digipak features the image which is used throughout the branding of my product, thus making the digipak and brand more recognisable and relevant across the board. The image of the runner after their achievement features as a key part within the narrative of my music video, and summarises one of the key messages within the music video: achievement, and to 'Try Everything'. The silhouette makes the front cover simple in terms of colour; it is not overwhelming. 

The font is white so that it is clear against the background. Again, all of the fonts used on the digipak are white to ensure they are readable and to maintain consistency, thus resulting in a more professional-looking design. The white font on the front also contrasts with the black of the silhouette, which is aesthetically pleasing. Two font styles are used throughout the design too, maintaining simplicity and professionalism again. 'Everything' is written in a bolder font in attempt to enhance its importance and draw the consumer to the whole product's main message; encouraging them to try everything (the boldness makes a statement). The other font used is italic and girly which would appeal to the digipak's main demographic - younger females. The font looks delicate and soft to the eye. 

One of the only disadvantages of the use of a pink-purple colour palette for the front of the digipak is that stereotypically, this colour palette would appeal more to a younger female audience. While this is suitable considering that the demographic is in fact mainly younger females, it could prevent a potential wider audience from exploring the product. 

Back

The back of the digipak matches the colour scheme of the front of the digipak so that the outside of the product is consistent. The same italic font on the front of the album is used for the track titles, with the main song 'Try Everything' displayed as the first song on the album. The image used for the back of the digipak are leaves, which helps to capture the natural theme of the product and matches the silhouette theme which can be seen on the front of the digipak. The leaves do not take up more than half of the space on the page - this empty space was left for the song names to ensure that they could be easily read. Upon analysing other digipaks, I found that the designs which appealed to me the most and looked the most professional were the designs which used space effectively and creatively (thus avoiding overcrowding). 

I incorporated a barcode into the design to ensure that my digipak looked authentic, and I added copyright logos and small-print information at the bottom for the same reason too. I added the record label (the same one for the original song) to give the product a realistic finish. 

Spine

The spine of the digipak matches the same pink colour as can be seen on the front and back of the design. This ensures a natural, soft transition from front to back. The specific type of pink, which could be defined as 'millennial pink', is a colour which is a contemporary trend for the specific target demographic of the product (which could improve sales). The modern colour would also stand out against other duller colours on shelves since it draws the eye.

The same font for the album name is used to ensure consistency again. The album name on the spine is accompanied by two green arrows, symbolic of achievement and optimism, which point upwards when the digipak is held the correct way up. These arrows also feature as the main logo for the website, so they can be recognised throughout the brand as a symbol which represents the product as well. The record label, conventionally, is placed at the far end of the spine.

Inside folded panel

This panel of the digipak would be seen after the initial front panel is folded back, and serves mainly as an artistic, novelty element of the digipak for the collectors. The background used here matches the background which sits behind the disc panel (which would be directly underneath this particular panel at the time of use). In this way, the wide image used on the inside of the digipak is continual at all times. 

The consistent font colour and style is used as before. The text features a section of the chorus from the song 'Try Everything', reminding the consumer of the key message of the product as a whole. It is inspirational - something which captures the essence of the music video's purpose. It is also worth mentioning that this message can be bought on a sports t-shirt, as featured in the merchandise section of the blog. 

Inside

This is how the inside of the digipak will look when all panels are completely folded out. The continuous image is seen spanning the length of the design. This particular image was used because it features the other character of the narrative - the cyclist. The digipak therefore coincides with the 'two-part' theme which is distinct in the music video. The image also displays the theme of nature which is prominent throughout the branding. 

On the centre panel there is an image to show where the disc would go. This plastic would be transparent to ensure that the background image still flows. On the left panel, there is a shape which demonstrates where the pocket for the bonus booklet will be. A bonus booklet would give the fans and collectors a more informative product without taking away the artistic element of the overall digipak design. It is clear to see that the maintenance of the background image is focused on for the inside of this product. 


All in all, the design of my digipak incorporates the key themes and messages which are celebrated throughout the branding of the entire product. The design is presented as both informative, artistic and professional and is designed to appeal directly to its target demographic. The fonts are easy to read, consistent and creative, thus making this product effective and practical. 

My Website Analysis

My Website Analysis

I wanted the first thing that the site's visitors see to be the name of the product, so they know that they are visiting the right site. I also thought that the main branding for the product should be displayed as the first thing seen on the webpage. In this case, it is the scene from the music video in which the running actress stands in front of the sunset. Since this has been used throughout the branding of my music video, I believe that it will be effective at emphasizing the authenticity of the product and make it recognizable.  
To make the homepage more interesting, the 'Try Everything' title is in the style of a gif. This is more aesthetically pleasing and enhances interactivity. The dynamic aspect of the homepage is common among the website's of popular artistes of my chosen genre too. 

The website's navigation bar is at the top of the page. Rather than the side of the page, I decided to place it at the top so that it could remain there even when scrolling up and down through the website. Having the navigation bar in discreet but constant sight allows the site's visitors to have constant access to the rest of the website at all times, ensuring quick and efficient use. Having everything at the top of the page (somewhere that people naturally draw themselves to for information) is an aspect which I found useful on Ed Sheeran's website - it also reminds the visitors what is available for them to view next.

The arrow logo is a simple design which matches the colour scheme of the overall webpage, making it look simplistic and professional. Green is also the most common colour associated with nature (the key theme of the whole branded product). Traditionally, an arrow is symbolic of a positive transition in life; a message that both the song and the music video for 'Try Everything' strives to incorporate. Having a simple arrow still keeps the symbolic meaning of the logo ambiguous, which helps to raise rhetorical questions and excitement for the website user. 

The text used for the tabs on the navigation bar matches one of the two fonts used on the website overall. This consistency is key for achieving a professional, tidy look for the website design and possibly helps with the navigation as well. The capital letters have been used for the same reasons too. The colour used for the navigation bar is a neutral beige colour, chosen to accompany the vivid natural colours used throughout the rest of the website. This ensures that the colour scheme does not appear jarring and uncomfortable to the eye. 

I decided to add this strip on the homepage of my website to provide the visitors with the essential information regarding the product that I am currently trying to sell: the music video. Being the first piece of information visible on the homepage, the visitor is inclined to read about it before doing anything else. It is also likely that the visitor is using the site to find out more information about the music video, therefore making the website efficient for the visitors. The use of the picture gives the visitors a taster for the theme and appearance of the music video as a whole.

Below the information strip explained above, my website features a direct link to the track 'Try Everything' on Soundcloud. Since Soundcloud is not the preferred method of audience consumption, only a shortened 'taster' version of the song is available on the homepage of the website. This should encourage the site's visitor to further explore the song by visiting the Soundcloud site (or other online streaming sites such as Youtube). I decided to attach the Soundcloud link to the website rather than the Official Youtube link because the official music video, in my opinion, should not be directly associated with my own video - this should result in my own music video looking more authentic and original. 

Just below the Soundcloud link is the link to my own music video, advertised as the 'original' music video. Again, I took a still from the video itself in order to keep the theme and colour scheme of the website consistent and to create a page which is not overwhelming to look at. The use of space within the image (more specifically, the green space of the grass) ensures that the text is fully readable and hints subtly at the narrative of the video, thus inspiring a sense of curiosity for the viewer. On either side of this image, the main background for the whole website can be seen. After viewing and analysing pop artiste's websites, especially those of Coldplay and Dua Lipa, I discovered that the dynamic visual aspect of a website is common; creating a contemporary and interactive effect for the page. This makes the site more interesting and relevant for the visitors and should therefore encourage their return. 

The final part of my website's homepage is arguably the most important, and is a feature that each pop artiste's website will have displayed too: the social media bar. Here I have used the well-known iconic social media logos as portals to my product's social media pages. The use of the logos instead of lettering avoids over-crowding and is simplistic. These logos are easy to recognise and are symbols which do not require translation. 
Upon conducting my website research and analyses it was evident that although many artistes liked to feature their social media portals using an icon near the navigation panel (such as Taylor Swift, Drake and Camilla Cabello), each artiste definitely had a section at the bottom of their homepage reserved for social media information (Coldplay, Justin Timberlake and Portugal The Man are examples of artistes who have their social media access solely at the bottom of their homepage). My preferred location for my social media access is at the bottom of the page because I feel that this is the most natural place that visitors would expect to find it. 

The News page of my website is a lot simpler than the homepage; with a plain, neutral background and the articles arranged in a straight, standard formation. I chose to organise the News page in this formation in order to make the news information easy to access and easy to read and understand. The excess space has been used in the design of the page to contrast and satisfy the heavily-informative and busy nature of the news articles. 

Space has been used with the same effect for the Tour Dates page of my website - since the tour date information is so important, it is best to avoid distractions with interactive movement in the background. The use of space helps to improve clarity in a similar way to Drake's website. 

The final page of my website is the Shop, where the visitor can expect to browse and buy merchandise for my product. There are several examples of merchandise featured on the page to create an authentic overall feel to the website. The strip featuring the cyclist can be seen at the top to reinforce the theme of the music video throughout the design of the website (similarly the strip features the runner on the top of the Tour Dates page), and the presence of this strip is also significant in regards to the branding of my product and its overall consistency. It is worth mentioning that the Shop page has a different background colour to the rest of the website: this was done purposely to replicate the style of most other pop artistes, who have their merchandise featured on what appears to be an extension to their main site (hence the slightly different colour schemes). This different colour is helpful at providing the visitor with a sense of location within the domain.

All in all I have built my website to be similar to those of other artistes in order to keep it efficient in a navigational sense. This could include my placement of the navigation bar, the social media portals and the consistency of the colour schemes. Likewise, I have broken some of the traditional 'conventions' of the pop website to create a unique and effective experience. This could include the use of the dynamic background and top image to add an interactive element to the webpage, or the use of high-quality, creative stills from the music video to add an artistic aspect to the site. The consistency of the fonts and colour schemes used throughout the design creates a professional and realistic appearance for my product's website. 

Evaluation marking

Level 4 16–20 marks
• There is excellent skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation.
• There is excellent understanding of the forms and conventions used in the productions.
• There is excellent understanding of the role and use of new media in various stages of the production.
• There is excellent understanding of the combination of main product and ancillary texts.
• There is excellent understanding of the significance of audience feedback.
• There is excellent skill in choice of form in which to present the evaluation.
• There is excellent ability to communicate.

Emily identifies the codes and conventions of the pop music video genre in her first evaluation and explores how her video matched these conventions with the use of screen shots. Emily's second evaluation clearly demonstrates a link between her three products and evaluates the efficacy of this. Emily's third evaluation is very thorough and clearly shows that audience feedback influenced all three of her products. Excellent prezi on media technology which was again very thorough.

18/20

Evaluation 4

Evaluation 4 

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

https://prezi.com/p/ex6bqwsdwmpq/

Evaluation 3

Evaluation 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

1. Feedback on the initial ideas

To ensure that the original concept of my music video would be a success, and to ensure that the viewers would enjoy my product, I conducted some research before filming with the use of survey monkey and the intended audience survey, and after some filming with feedback from my first rough cut.  

From my initial feedback, I learnt that the choice of song was ideal because it was catchy and had an optimistic mood (key elements mentioned in the intended audience survey), however some people believed that the song was perhaps too repetitive which could result in making the video boring. I decided to stick with my original song choice nevertheless and focus on keeping the music video exciting with the use of narrative and editing. 

One of the main concerns in the feedback appeared to be the editing, since to achieve a happy mood the editing would have to be fast and upbeat (like the song). It appeared to trouble people that with such a complex narrative concept, the editing would not be as high quality. Nonetheless, I decided to stick to my original challenging idea. The initial feedback ensured that I would have these thoughts at the back of my mind throughout the planning of my music video and the creation of the ancillary tasks as well. 

2. Feedback on the rough cuts

After completing the rough cuts, I asked for feedback from peers and I summarised them as shown above; the green boxes display the positive feedback, while the orange boxes are elements which should be revised. Organising the information in this fashion means that the points are extremely easy to compare - it is evident from above that the possible improvements from Rough Cut 1 were acted upon and solved in Rough Cut 2. By the end of feedback in Rough Cut 2, I understood what was necessary for the final modifications for the final cut. 

I was most happy with the way Rough Cut 2 was received by the viewers, since they all seemed to understand and follow the narratives, and this was a challenge for me that I knew I wanted to get right. Clarity and communication was a strong point going forward to my final cut. I was pleased with the final feedback because it presented improvements that I knew could be made relatively easily, mainly through the use of advanced editing. 

This shot was the opening shot of Rough Cut 1, but offered no narrative context, so it got removed.

This shot appears in the introduction to the song in Rough Cut 1; way too soon. The narrative moved too quickly and character motives were not evident. The theme of nature is prominent in this shot, however.

This particular shot in Rough Cut 1 lasted a very long time. When shots are too long like this one, the whole music video seems slow and boring, unlike the nature of the song. 

Rough Cut 1: This shot is well framed, picturesque and creative. However, it appears at the end of the first chorus. Feedback suggested that this shot would best be used as the 'achievement' shot. 

3. Digipak Feedback 

In the designing of my digipak, I came up withv a few rough copies/design ideas. The feedback from these roughs helped me to create a final design for my digipak that I knew would be successful and appealing to its intended audience. 

The Journey of the Digipak - Blog Post

4. Feedback from final versions of everything

Music Video - Main Product

• "The music video is fun and has a happy mood throughout. The main message seems to be clear when considering the narrative in conjunction with the song and its lyrics; that you should 'Try Everything' and reach your goals." - Female, 16
• "The editing is fast-paced and fits well with the beat of the song, making it a very natural and professional music video. The lip-sync is timed very well too." - Female, 18
• "The shots are well framed and there is some good evidence of match-on-action (technical editing) in the narrative. The special effects towards the end of the music video lifts the whole thing and adds a valuable professionalism to the product". - Male, 44
• "The performance part of the music video was clearly approached with accuracy, but some of the shots featuring the artiste are a bit too long". - Male, 18
• "One or two of the shots appear to glitch, perhaps due to a technical issue? One or two of the shots have an overexposed foreground, however these faults are not easily recognised and have tried to be rectified with editing (a good attempt)" - Female, 47

Overall I am happy with this feedback. I think it shows proves that I have fixed some of the imperfections when looking back at the rough cuts of the music video. At the same time, there are a couple of points which suggest further improvements that could be made. I accept that my work cannot be completely perfect, and I find it interesting to know other people's thoughts about the product's issues nonetheless. 

Digipak - Ancillary Task 1

• "I really like how both sides of the narrative feature on the digipak because it gives a good taster of the genre and style of the main music video task and highlights the importance of both aspects of the narrative". - Male, 18
• "At first inspection, the two distinct colour palettes appear to clash, however as a finished product it is interesting and unique that the colour palettes have been separated by 'inside and outside', which works so well". - Female, 16
• "On the outside, pink appears to be the main colour of the product as a whole, suggesting that this product is aimed at females. I think that females would find this digpak especially eye-catching, especially on a shelf amongst others". - Male, 75
• "It looks so creative and artistic with the image on the inside stretching across the three inside panels. I especially like the pocket on the inside that can hold a bonus information booklet. It is something I would buy!" - Female, 12
• "The fonts are consistent throughout the design of the digipak and the small detail, barcodes, company logos etc makes the product appear to be so realistic. The colours are so satisfying as well". - Female, 47

I am very pleased with my digipak and the feedback which it has received. The main criticism would probably be the choice of colour palette used for the product and how this choice could pose the design as a female-orientated one. Although this may be true from a stereotypical perspective, it is worth noting that the music video's main demographic is in fact younger females (just like the pop genre's dominant demographic). This completely justifies the choice of colour palette. I am also pleased that the product appears to look professional to the people who gave feedback. It has made me realise that consistency and attention to detail is the key to creating a high quality product. 

Website - Ancillary Task 2

• "The website is so easy to navigate and understand, even for an older person like me! I could find my way around easily, the menu was so clear". - Female, 74
• "It was so interactive and enjoyable to use. The images and theme was consistent throughout the site, even on the tour and shop pages." - Female, 12
• "The site is so accessible and easy to use. I love the interactive links to external sites such as the 'Try Everything' Soundcloud link embedded on the homepage, and the 'sold out' message which appears when you click to buy tour tickets. Such a detailed website!" - Male, 47
• "The dynamic images and gifs used on the homepage gives the website a fun and exciting mood, which is a mood reflected in the music video main task too. Consistent indeed." - Male, 18
• "Everything about this website is interesting. The movement of the images and the background, the accessibility with the tabs and the clarity of the information across the product. The only thing I don't like is how some of the social media sites have just been added for show - they do not link to anywhere useful". - Female, 47

In total, I am content with the response from my website. The interactivity of the product and the dynamic images used on the homepage prove to have been a successful, attractive feature. I designed the website with the intent to make it completely user-friendly. To my relief, two of the five responses mentioned the ease of access, suggesting that my website has met its specification to a high degree. 

Magazine Advert - Ancillary Task 3 

• "I love the pink colour! It matches the background of the image in the middle of the advert and it matches the digipak as well, which is useful if you were to see the magazine advert and then go to look for the digipak in a shop". - Female, 12
• "There is too much pink for me, I think it looks too much like a girly product. The font is especially girly as well. However, the design is very modern and would certainly catch the eye, even in a busy magazine." - Male, 18
• "It is clear thanks to the silhouette picture in the middle that it relates to the other ancillary products. The font is the same, the colours are the same, and the font is easy to read. The information that it is designed to provide is clear." - Male, 47
• "It almost appears so simple that it doesn't look like a real magazine advert. In comparison with the other ancillary products, it seems very basic and doesn't entirely reflect the same optimistic, happy mood" - Female, 18
• "The magazine advertisement is bold, which is what really counts when it is featured in a magazine full of other attractive adverts. The big bold lettering is easy to understand. It does its job". - Male, 75

Although I do not think that my magazine advert was the best of my ancillary products, I am happy with the feedback. It is evident that people believe my magazine advert to be practical with the use of big, bold lettering (that also happens to be consistent with the rest of the product as a whole). Similarly to the digipak, colour choice was mentioned again as appealing more to the female gender, however I do not consider this to be an improvement that should be made. I am glad that people would think my advert would stand out; arguably, this is the most important feature in order to successfully advertise my product. 

Evaluation 2

Evaluation 2

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

Evaluation 1 - Conventions of Pop Music Videos

Evaluation 1

Conventions of Pop Music Videos

Evaluation 1

Evaluation 1

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

Production Work- marking

Level 4 The candidate is expected to demonstrate excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:
• shooting material appropriate to the task set; including controlled use of the camera, attention to framing, variety of shot sizes and close attention to mise en scene
• editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer and making selective and appropriate use of shot transitions, captions and other effects
• recording and editing sound with images appropriately. Where a candidate has worked in a group, an excellent contribution to construction is evident.

Video 39/40
I thought the video was fantastic with a lovely narrative cleverly woven in with performance. Some lovely match on action editing and you really nailed the lip-synch. my only criticism is that some of the performance shots were held a fraction too long but I'm being picky.

Digipak 9/10
I really like the digipak. I think it's quite simple but it serves its purpose. I think the layout of the front cover is a little weird but again well done!

Website 10/10
I think the website is fantastic. It is stylish and the images/footage you have chosen work really well . I don't see what more you could have done.

Research and Planning- mark

Brilliant SWOT analysis. Good post on what is a music video but perhaps could have done some more on purpose. Really good Prezi on history but could have finished with the future? I like your theory work especially the final slide where you considered possible applications of the theory. I felt you could have done more on codes and conventions and wow you did in the next post! Lovely of Shauna to reply with a cheery 'get stuffed'- so Disney! Like the post on history- you've been very thorough. It's hard to read your lyric analysis. I like the write up of your audience survey and your focus group and write up. Good post on psychographics and demographics. Your analyses of both the A2 student's work and the Toxic video are really very good. Another outstanding prezi on intended institutions although again you didn't explore the impact of Youtube on channels like MTV. Superb posts on locations costume and risk assessment. I couldn't see the clips in your cutaways post! Another very thorough post on branding. Outstanding digipak preparatory work and I think your website analysis was also superb.

This is an incredibly thorough and insightful blog Emily. Well done!

Emily 20/20