Evaluation

Here is the link to the evaluation, that we have recorded:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDenhKnpr5s


In this video, although we talk about information that was relevant to the music video, we weren't able to say everything but here is the evaluation in written format which includes all the relevant pieces of information and information that we didn't talk about within the recording of the evaluation.


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

• The ways in which my media product challenges forms and conventions of real media products is that my product contains a quote from Scarface, which is not present in music videos at all, from this I would say that my music video takes on the role of a philosophical outlook to the world which would only be seen in mediums such as films.
• I would also say that my music video challenges the conventions of real media products that are related to the music genres of rock or new wave music as in those video their is usually a band that is in the music video compared to mine where their is only the singer walking through the woods singing.
• Another way I guess this challenges real media products is that even those music videos use black and white colouring in the videos, i have found that those videos don't use film noir whereas my video does as I represent the theme of the femme fetale within my video.
• My video also use conventions of real music products as in my video, the character is seen wearing casual clothing which is used in other new wave music videos.
• My video also uses conventions such as it contains narrative based and performance elements within the video which is typically seen in new wave music videos.   
• Also my music video, includes intertexual references but these are not shown in the conventional sense of including intertexual references which is usually done through costumes, props, plot etc. 

2.How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

• The combination of my main product and ancillary tasks are effective as the through looking at the task of the Andrew Goodwin theory I was able to learn about the types of conventions, props, costumes, cinematography and editing etc that were typically used in the videos that i analysed.
• From looking at these videos i was able to gain an insight into what types of transitions, effects and cinematography I need to use when it came to the construction of the music video we created.
• From looking at and analysing these videos, I was able to learn what types of symbolism were used and these helped me to as it allowed me to think of what types of symbolism I could put into my video and from looking at the video of Mr Brightside by the Killers, helped me as it taught me about the symbolism through the apple, which was symbolic of the Genesis story of Adam and Eve.
• From analysing this video I was able to learn about the intertextual references that were made through the video of Mr Brightside which was made through the video, which included a reference to Moulin Rouge. This helped me as it allowed me to think of the intertexual references that I could make in my video and this interested me as it allowed me to create intertexual references to the films of Verigo by Alfred Hitchcock and 2001:A Space Odyssey by  Stanley Kubrick and Scarface. In the video I also made references to greek mythology and christianity and I was able to portray my say on capitalism and relate the title of the video to Sigmund Freud.I also got a sense of how to use symbolism from the film, Blade Runner.
•  From the Andrew Goodwin theory I was able to learn about the relationship between the music and visuals and learned how I could put this into my video to portray this relationship in the construction of the music video.
• From the Mr Brightside video I was able to learn about how the director was trying to communicate themes across to the audience through props etc. I was also able to learn about how the director used cinematography to portray voyeuristic treatment in the video. Even those I didn't portray, voyeurism in the way that the director of Mr Brightside did  but it gave me a sense of how I could used cinematography and the actors to portray voyeurism. When analysing what themes were used I was able to get a sense of what themes were characteristically attached to the genre of new wave music and I was able to learn what are the typical themes that should be portrayed within the video.
• I was also able to learn about the visual style that the director of Mr Brightside imprinted on the video and how she was trying to portray her visual style. This helped me as it allowed me to gain a sense of how I could portray or imprint my visual style whether it was through themes, cinematography etc.
• From analysing the video I was able to learn about the genre charactreistics through analysing the video and from this I was able to learn what genre characteristics that I needed to portray in the music video and how I could do this. 

3.What have you learned from your audience feedback?

• What I have learned from my audience feedback is that, people like how I used the cinematography in the film to create a questionable and claustrophobic mood that was illustrated within the music video.
• I have also learned that from showing the video to my classmates, that I need to make the narrative within the video more clearer to the audience.A way that I have thought of improving the narrative and making it more clearer to the audience is by providing more hints within the music video so people can perceive what sort of narrative that I am aiming to construct.
• From looking at the feedback that I have received from one of my classmates, is that I should provide a more clearer and more effective way of illustrating the reversal of time. A way that one of my classmates told me to illustrate the reversal of time through the clocks and memories was that I should use saturated colours within the music video to illustrate the reversal of time and the memories as they would be able to relate more to an focus on time and this would relate more to the title of the music video.
• I have also learned that I need to connect the scenes of the person singing with the actual band that was  singing so that they would be more synchronized, as from before it just look like I just put the scenes anyway without actually relating the performance element of the music video to the song attached to the video. 
• From looking at my editing of the music video, I have also realised that I should of just used one watch to illustrate the reversal of time within the music video, not two as this confused people through the illustration of time through the watch handles as both these watches were going different ways. This confused people as they wasn't sure if I was trying to represent the fast forwarding or reversal of time. 
• I have also learned that even those I have edited the music video together, I feel as if I could of made a better effort to relate the scenes to the lyrics and visual style as even those I used film noir to illustrate the narrative I was portraying I should of used more lighting to display the visual style that I was trying to portray through the portrayal of the film.
• I have also learned that people weren't able to recognise my inter-textual references to films such as Vertigo or 2001;A Space Odyssey.
• They also weren't able to recognise the religious symbolism that I conveyed through the film such as the scene were the female character is lying on the ground in the forest, which relates to Christianity and Greek mythology etc..
•  I have also learned that when it came to applying the 2001;Space Odyssey scene, that I tended to use too much of the scene in the music video and I should cut it down.
• I am also debating with my partner if I should use the quote from Scarface to illustrate my point of the Marxists opinion on capitalism as I am not sure, whether I use it that it would seem too much like a movie then a music video.  
• An opinion that I received on my music video, was that my music video was very ambiguous. I felt this point was good as it made people want to watch the video again and question what I was trying to portray through symbolism and imagery.

4.How did you use technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

•  The ways that I used technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages was at first I used a camcorder and tripod to record mine and Patsy's audience research. These pieces of technology were used to record our audience research that we later uploaded onto the blog through uploading the video through the use of a Sony Vaio. Through the use of the camcorder, me and Patsy were able to ask a couple of people questionnaires that we came up with that we asked people. The questionnaire was used to ask people about the sort of music they listened to and why etc. Through the use of this questionnaire, we were able to get a sense of the types of music that people related to and what conventions etc they liked within music videos and why.Through the use of the laptop I was able to cut scenes into portions that I wanted or didn't want and add transitions to the scenes we recorded.After using the editing software to edit the music video I was able to upload it to YouTube and blogger where I was able to get a wide variety of views from the sites. From the user generated material that I uploaded, I will able to get feedback on how I should improve the audience research.    
• The technologies that I used in the construction of the evaluation stages is that I used my Sony Vaio laptop were I was able to write and post my evaluation to blogger. After this I will be able to record my evaluation, through the use of my Sony camcorder and Hama tripod, where I will be able to upload the video of our evaluation which will allow people to view the video interactively. 
• Other pieces of technology I used in the construction of my research is that I used my phone and the college's computer to analyse videos that were relevant to the music style of new wave music.From this I was able to gather a sense of what are the conventions, props, costumes, editing, cinematography that was used in those videos and try to use those videos as examples that would influence me in the construction of the music video that me and Patsy were aiming to construct.
• I also used other technologies in helping me in the construction of my music video such the computers were we were able to gain access to the song, we were requiring through the use of facebook.We also used other pieces of technology such as a camera, where we took images that we would later upload and use photoshop to create our magazine adverts and digipaks. From us taking pictures, we were able to upload these to adobe photoshop were we were able to put the images that we wanted in the magazine adverts or digipaks we were constructing. Through the use of photoshop we were able to construct our magazine adverts and digipaks in the style we wanted and make them look believable and realistic when compared to other magazine adverts or digipaks as we were able to use effects, filters etc, which gave us the type of styles we were looking for to reflect our music genre and upload them straight to our blogs, where people were able to get an idea of the music genre we were representing.
•  As the director for the narrative part of the music video I was able to find that from using my samsung mp3 player, I was able to listen to the song by the Shiny Toy Guns, "You are the one" repreatively and get a sense in how I would construct the video through our ideas, script, plots and storyboards.

Conclusion: What I have found out about my audience is that, when it came to applying religious symbolism or mythology, that this was not notice it. There also wasn't no feedback on the intertextual references i made within the film such as the reference to 2001:A Space Odyssey or Vertigo, or the famous quote that I gathered from the 1932 film of Scarface, as I used this as a way to reflect my own opinion on the political system of capitalism and through this quote I was able to criticise capitalism. I have also learnt that the narrative of music video isn't told in the conventional narrative structure way, as it is told in non linear format. I have also learnt that while I connected the title of the film to Sigmund Freud's theory on psychoanalysis and the repressed memory, that people didn't notice how I was trying to make the music video as a psychoanalytical analysis of the protagonist and what lead  to the demise of his character and his traits that bring him to the end of his subconsciousness. I also influenced by many music video's in the construction of their videos such  as "The hands that built America" etc I was also inspired and influenced by Maya Derens film Meshes of the Afternoon and the famous gladiatorial painting "Turned Thumb" by Jean Leon Gerome. While editing the music video I do admit I had a few problems when it actually came to editing such as when i finished the first draft on my old computer, all my files were deleted. List lead to me having to transfer all my footage on to another computer where I was able to make the media product more diverse and analytical approach as I was able to construct, edit etc the video so that it would establish the narrative, synchronize the songs to the music being played and establish the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals.I also used alot of Christian symbolism and Greek mythology, as I found it to be suitable to the context and text of the narrative.