Evaluation and Feedback of the Video

Evaluation

I am very pleased with the final piece as it conveys the message of role reversal and objectification of women really clearly and effectively.

The use of costume really helped with the representation and I think appeal to the target audience. As well as the Hip Hop gestures used throughout. I think the simple camera shots and editing techniques make it flow well and easy to watch. This would appeal to the target audience as it puts the emphasise on the performer and their lifestyle.

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

Our idea challenged the conventions of hip hop music videos where women are objectified as sex objects and men are in the state of power, our video turns that around and puts women in power. This whole idea contrasts normal Wu Tang Clan videos where women are seen in bikinis and are just in the background dancing for the men. In our video the women are the ones actually singing. This is juxtaposed with the fact the track over the top is clearly a mans voice. This shows the irony. Most of our shots within our music video are using forms and conventions of real media products. Putting the camera at eye level and having the actors perform into the camera is a convention of hip hop and rap videos. We did this to make it look as much like a real rap video as we could with the only difference being the role reversal in gender. This shifts all the focus on to that and makes it more noticeable and means the message is stronger. As well as shots that we used that were handheld. We only used around 24 shots in our music video which is really little, this challenges the conventions of rap and hip hop music videos as most have 2-3 hundred+ shots per video. We did this again, to put more emphasise on to the driving message in role reversal. We followed conventions of the hip hop genre with the gestures and costume we used in filming our music video. Again we did this to make it look at authentic as we could to shift focus on to our main message of objectification of women in hip hop videos. We developed conventions by not using lavish sets or urban settings we just used one setting, with one backdrop and one set of lighting. This means that the footage we captured was more reliable and more consistent in terms of lighting and conditions like weather. This worked in our favour because we didn't have to organise big outing plus I think it looks more polished this way.

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

I think it is very effective. They all have the same performers with the same/similar costume and facial expression. The advert and digipack use the same colour scheme and layout as well as fonts and images. In one instance the exact image is used on both. This creates continuity and builds a brand image for all my products. This means they are easily identifiable and therefore should be more well known/successful. I think all 3 complement each other in the use of different techniques. For both my analysis of adverts and digipacks I used the same/similar artists in an attempt to create a coherent promo pack. I feel it looks professional and is consistent through the 3 different forms.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

From the interview I did as well as the questionnaires I got people to fill out I think it was a success. However this only reflects 4 people's views and means that it could not be accurate data. I could have used Facebook or a larger focus group to calate more information and get more accurate feedback. However with the feedback I did get I've learned that it is very important to keep everything on screen very consistent. The lighting was a problem with us as we filmed at such different times (3/4 weeks apart) so I've learned to record everything you are doing to make sure everything stays the same. In light of this I would made sure lighting was the same on both shoots so that the continuity stayed the same. Also learned that the lip syncing was off in places, this is obvious to see but after working so closely with it and for so long you get so involved you loose sight of some of these things. In this way, I would go back and make sure each shot had a perfect take with lip syncing. I think this was partly due to the actors not learning their words enough so I would have had a day where we all got together and learned the lines so I knew it was done. The thing I would definitely go back and change the most after getting audience feedback would be the fact there are only 24 shots. I would put more in, more varied shots as well. I think this would make it look a lot more interesting and a lot more fun to watch.

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages of all your products?

Throughout the process I used a lot of software and equipment. The filming equipment such as Cameras, tripods, lighting rigs, green screen. As well as the Final Cut editing software. I think I've learned most about the cameras and tripods simply because I didn't know anything about them before. After being shown, I can take down and put up a tripod, using the bubble level to make sure everything is straight. Also using exposure and white balance on the cameras really makes the filming look a lot nicer when you know what you're doing. This really helped when trying to achieve a professional finish to our video. Being able to have the cameras lower at times on the tripod so performers could sing down at the camera really made some nice shots happen. I've used Final Cut Pro a lot recently and learned a lot too. Being able to sync video with audio was hard to start but after you get some practice it definitely becomes easier. Even simple things like cutting it down in to each shot was hard at the beginning and now it is very straight forward. It allowed us to get a final piece that looks and feels the way we wanted and representing the underlying theme through the whole thing of gender reversal. It also helped bring all our ideas together and put them all in to a 3 minute video. The internet has also been a huge help in developing and helping plan our ideas and process. By looking at examples of music videos we got the majority of our ideas. This meant that we could browse clips from the web and make sure we did it properly so that it looked just as good.

Feedback This is an interview I conducted with someone just after they viewed my music video.

The interview threw up some points like an improvement would be more varied shots and a larger quantity of shots. This is a good point and would make the video more interesting however is might take away from the simplicity and straight forwardness of the video.

She liked the idea of the role reversal which is good and thought it looked professional which is a major part in the video.

These are also some questionnaires I typed up after I conducted them to find out more about people's opinions on it. I tried to ask a variety of people to see how opinions changed across different ages and sexes. This is the first one and was a 19 year old male. The overall opinion is that it was a good final piece that looked professional but could use a little fine tune, which I agree with. The point about alienating the target audience is a good one. However I feel like it wouldn't as it almost pokes fun at it, while still remaining professional and steering clear of the parody side. I think this allows people, men and women, to relate to this. This was a 58 year old woman. The good points highlighted the use of lighting in making it look interesting and professional. The only improvement would have been more interesting effects which I agree with, it was our intention to use fish eye lenses etc but we ran out of time and resources. Again the fundamental idea came up as a good point.

This one was done by a 32 year old female. A negative brought up in this one was the lighting, as we filmed over 2 different locations and times the lighting was different for half the shots, this shows up slightly in the video and it was noticed by this viewer. This is something that we should have done differently, we could have written down locations of lights and settings they were on. On the other hand, they liked the idea and said there was some good camera use.

Finished Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-n6bjNpgts&feature=channel_video_title - This is a link to the finished video on Youtube.

Creative Camera Use

These are some stills of shots that we deem creative use of the camera. 1. The first is a close up of the actor as she sings a verse. This close up is shown for about 2 seconds in the video and is used to see the detail on the actors face. This way we, the viewer, can see the actors mouth as she sings giving greater realism to the video. Also it allows us to see her expression which dipict that of a hip hop artist.

2. This is a profile shot used during one actors verse. This shows the viewer what the action looks like from another angle and breaks the tension that has been building from the actor staring directly into the camera. It also gives a sort of 'behind the scenes' feel to the video as its not completely emersing the viewer in the actors movements.

This shot goes from the feet up to the next photo of the actors face.

3. We used this tilt to introduce the first actor from foot to head. This way she is easily recognisable no matter what part we show. It also showcases her hip hop clothing and stance - wide spread - in charge.

4. This is the still before the zoom, and the photo after is a still after the zoom. This zoom happens as all the actors sing 'BOBBY!' and introduces the people standing in the back. Creating a unity between them. It also makes it more interesting, while keeping in the beat.

5 . This is a shot filmed handheld and at a lower angle than the rest. This allowed the actor to rap down to camera slightly and move around more while being included in the shot. This made it look more interesting and made the actor look bigger and more powerfull which is a common convention in hip hop music videos. I think this worked really well.

Rejected Footage

These are some stills of rejected footage from our music videos and the reasons why they were not used. 1. This is the first shot we rejected. It is 2 of the actors standing still while the camera pans from right to left. We didn't use this as we couldn't find a place to fit it in. It was a possible ending as the music fades out so would this shot but we went with another shot instead that represented the genre more. This looked a bit cheesy which didn't fit the mean, tough look we were going to fit the hip hop genre's conventions.

2. This is a shot of the actors standing still while the camera tilts up from their feet. In this shot the tilt stopped too early and cut off the actors heads.

3. This is another shot of the 2 actors standing still while the camera is static. This time we didn't use it because we caught the edge of the green screen in it. We thought this looked too amateur and we wanted to make our video look as professional as possible.

4. This shot was off one of the actors feet while she danced. We wanted to use this in the video but found when it was played back the lighting wasn't good and it looked amateur because of this. Also the floor and shoe choice didn't match the style we wanted. The shoes are a bit too messy looking for a flash hip hop group and the red carpet contrasts the green screen too much.

5. This shot wasn't used as the bottom of the green screen is visable making it look less professional as well as the actor turning her back on the camera too much. As well as this, throughout the shot the shadow casted on the back is too noticeable which took away from the action.

6. This was a 'to the camera' shot in which the actors danced to the camera (Which was handheld.) it came out looking a bit odd as the camera was very shakey which took away from the prefessionalism as well as the actors looking a bit uncomfortable.