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

Throughout the process of doing this coursework, I've used different types of software, new and old, software such as Adobe Photoshop and In-design, these bits of software are very simple to use but work really well when trying to edit photos and create digipaks.

New pieces of software that I've used I have learnt and adapted to them quickly, software such as Adobe Premier Elements 3.0, I encountered many different problems with the software, such as it freezing constantly due to the amount of clips and effects being used. Premier also wouldn't let me upload certain clips straight away due to the format so I had to work around it to get them onto the software, I had to use software such as SUPER converter, this takes files such as AVCHD and converts them to files that can be edited such as MPEG. This software can also changed the frame rates and the video quality to make it better, it also can enhance any audio you may have which makes it clearer, even thought the screenshot below makes the software look complex, it only took a bit of time to adapt and learn each function.

Something else that I did for the first time was uploading a video to YouTube, I was completely new to this process and it took a while to work out how to get the most out of it, putting the correct title, description and tags so that people would search for the video on YouTube.

Whilst using these different bits of software, I thought I used them effectively, I got the most out of the software such as Elements 3.0 with all the different effects such as Ghosting and all the different bits of editing, such as jump cuts. When using Photoshop and In-design I didn't encounter any major problems besides trying to figure out how to edit certain photos, it took me a while to learn how to completely cut everything but a person out of a photo and put them onto a blank canvas so that they could be edited.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Key: 

1. Male - Aged 18
2. Male - Aged 17
3. Female - Aged 17
4. Female - Aged 18

Do you think the ancillary texts show of conventions that you would associate with the indie/alternative genre? 

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Yes
4. Partly,  just missing the large outstanding/unique photo

What age and gender group do you think these ancillary texts and music video would appeal to?

1. 18-22 year old, males and females
2. Early 20's, females
3. Teenage males
4. 15-20 year old, females

Does the album cover encourage you to buy it in a shop?

1. No, the bright colours stand out but nothing that appeals to me 
2. Maybe, the bright colours and stand out writing would make me pick it up at least
3. Yes definitely, the front cover is interesting and has to be looked into
4. Yes, I think having a more detailed look after the first glance would make me buy it 

Do you think my video matches the song choice?

1. Slightly, the first bit of the video doesn't really match the song choice at all, but as the video progresses the song becomes a bit more in tune with the video
2. No, the idea of the song and the video itself have no real link
3. Not really, the video looks like it needs a more slow song not up beat
4. In part, the ending of the video is really upbeat and happy like the song, but the first part is more compared to a sad song due to the filter.

What have I learnt?
From the feedback that I have received, I've learnt that my video needs to mix and work better with the actual song and link, rather than to be obscure and 'indie'. The feedback was precise and helpful for what I can do to make the music video and the digipaks appeal to all people between a certain age group, maybe 13-19 and both boys and girls. I need to change the main style of the video according to my feedback, it shows that the video and the actual song don't link as well as I would of liked and the general view is that it needs to be slightly altered to suit the genre of the song.

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

Since the album covers bright colours come from screen shots from the actual music video itself the combination of the main product and the ancillary texts are very effective.

The main product (my music video) starts of with black and white filters but then has a bright strobe effect, my album cover and my magazine cover have a mix of both.

My album combines well with the music video because of the colours and the white screen you can just see in the album cover is also featured in the actual music video.





The back of the album cover features a very transparent version of the magazine photo, but flipped on a mirror like effect, this combines well with the actual magazine advert as well.

The colour scheme and the general style/outline of the magazine advert and album cover besides combining well also works well because it really shows of an indie/alternative style associated with music and advertising.

The magazines main photo has a transparent filter which fit well with the music video itself and the other ancillary texts because I've used the filter on most of my work.

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

Digipak: I would like to think that my front and back album cover match the normal conventions associated with an indie/alternative album, the bright colours on both sides are normal conventions and then along side the the transparent images on both sides could be seen as unique or 'indie'. 

The text that I have used for the main text for the album name is the same as on the back cover. But the album name 'Lemniscate' on the front cover is more bold and to stand out and to be eye catching to the audience.

I think the use of transparent photos challenges the normal conventions of a indie/alternative music album cover, normally albums of the indie/alternative genre have a stand out image which catches the eye but I've used stand out and mixed colours to try and attract the audience, the use of transparent photos on both sides is just to attract the audience on top of the bright colours, when someone picks up the case they would firstly see the colours and the stand out album name and band name, then afterwards would see the faint pictures of the band members. 

The back of the album cover is similar to most indie/alternative album backs, the album name and then the list of songs below. The use of a red outline makes the song names stand out and underneath the songs are the producers name and all the record labels and bar-codes, similar to most music albums of any genre.

Digipak 2: This is my magazine advert, I made it so that it looks mysterious and eerie, which is unique to the indie genre. It challenges the usual forms of a real indie magazine article, normally they are bright and colorful to grab the eye of the consumer to see what they are advertising. This advert has the dull colors but because of the foggy/misty effect on it, it will make people look twice because they are interested in what this odd looking thing is, sort of conforming with the usual conventions attached to a indie magazine article, with it being different. 

Final Product - Booklet - Inside and CD

Final Product - Album Cover - Front & Back

Final Product - Magazine Advert