Question 3- What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Here is our final focus group. Feedback told us that we have created a really effective music video and digipak that effectively sells Sam as an artist. We were hugely complimented about our choice of actors, locations and camera shots, however we were told that our video and digipak didn't really fit well together. Our music video was really quite cheeky and funny, but the digipak came across slightly more serious.

When showing our music video digipak and advert to our piers whilst conducting a focus group, they commented both positively and negatively about them. A screenshot of the focus group is shown to the right. They started off by saying how the narrative was clear throughout the video. They really enjoyed the storyline, not just because they found the actual story entertaining, but because of the actors. They really emphasised just how good they felt our casting was, especially with Sam. They believed that Sam fitted the role of a laddish, cheeky, drunk, really well. Even if the audience didn’t know who Sam was, they commented saying that they would find it very easy to warm to the character as he seems really lovable. Whilst conducting the focus group, the participants also really praised our use of both camera angles and locations. They said that as we had a wide variety of camera shots, they really felt engaged with the music video all the way through and didn’t get bored. One of the participant said that her favourite shot was in Kingston, where the camera is looking down to Sam. This is shown in the screenshot to the right. The locations also gained a really positive reaction. They liked our wide variety of locations, especially the shots in and around Brighton and also next to the river in Kingston. This is because the locations looked both pretty, and iconic. One of our piers commented on how well he thought we edited the music video together, and also added both obvious effects and also subtle ones. He enjoyed the fast paced editing to match with the song, and liked how we slowed down the pace of the video when need be. The effect we used to show that Sam was drunk was also praised. They believed it was used just the right amount, and portrayed being drunk really well. Subtle effects like colour correcting the image were also noticed and enjoyed. They thought that just adding subtle things like that, really added to the music video as for example, it really changed the mood of some parts of the video if the day was made to look sunnier, etc. They all believed that we met the typical conventions of our genre of music video well, and whilst doing so, appeal to our target audience. Interestingly, they said that because Sam was just so cheeky and lovable, the music video would appeal to a much wider audience than first thought. One of our piers commented saying that he believed his grandparents would like the video as they might have a joke saying how they were like Sam and Lucy when they were younger. Our piers said that they believed that our music video and digipak both look like they belong together as the same colours and tones are used throughout both. Finally, they all commented saying just how professional our music video looked due to all of the aspects I have just discussed.

Whilst all of the last points were positive aspects, they also commented on some negative things. Whilst talking about locations, one of our piers told us that he believed we should have included more shots from Brighton as he felt they were really strong and it could have benefited us to use more. Talking about the same topic, they also said that we should have used a few more iconic locations. This is because for starters we could have picked out and used a few really obvious and nice genre signifiers, and also it would help the audience relate to the video if they knew where the characters were. One of the biggest negative comments that we gained, was that out photos we used for the digipak and advert didn’t have much of a relationship with the mood and pace of the music video. Even though some of the pictures were directly cut out of the video, they didn’t believe that they clearly put across the pace, mood and style of the songs genre and music video. They felt the colours and tones were nice, and clearly indicated that the music video and digipak were a like pieces of media, however the actual content let us down. They suggested that we included some close up, cheeky shots of Sam, as that is mainly what they believed was the selling point of our music video.

Taking into account these comments, I definitely think that whilst creating a piece, or pieces of media, I should keep in mind what the selling point is. I have noticed that a lot of the negative comments were based around our music video and digipak looking like they were selling two separate products. If we kept in mind as a group, just what image we are trying to put across, and what we are trying to sell, we would consequently be fluent throughout the production process of both the music video and digipak, causing them both to look like they belong together.

Looking at the negative comments again in terms of the production side of creating the music video, it has taught me that you can never have enough footage. When comments were made like, “I wish you included more footage from Brighton”, we simply wouldn’t be able to change that at this stage as we have no footage to include. This could be resolved however, if we recorded the whole song in each of our locations. This would mean that whenever someone suggests a better way of presenting a certain part of our video, we would always have a clip to try out and experiment with from every location. Creating the music video has also taught me that you should never be afraid to experiment with ideas. For example, when filming the shot of Sam in Brighton where the camera is moving all over the place, at first we were unsure whether it would work or not as we haven’t seen it done before, however once we tried it, it turned out to be one of my favourite shots. This is not just my opinion though. Response from the focus group also thought that the camera work used was really good and added something new and exciting to the video. It really kept the audience engaged. An example of this shot is shown in the screenshot to the right.

Question 2- How effective is the combination of your main project and ancillary texts?

Having a house style or brand identity is so important, and not just when creating multiple media products. Having your adverts and products shown to the public repetitively, they will begin to associate iconic things you have included in your house style, with things that they will see on a day to day basis. For example, an iconic example of this is the Morrison’s advert. They have the song “Shine” by “Take That” playing in the background of almost all of their recent television adverts, so now, whenever I heard the song “Shine”, I immediately think of Morrison’s. Another positive of having a brand identity, is that the public tend to warm to things that they know about, think is good, or feel safe with. An obvious example of this is the brand “Heinz”. Even though in terms of quality there is hardly any difference between the majorities of other like products, people will still buy “Heinz”, the more expensive choice, as they believe that it is better, and they feel comfortable buying it. In terms of how having a house style or brand identity will benefit our multiple media products, is that people will begin to recognise the artist/ brand much quicker. If I had a music video, digipak and advert that were all about the same product, however they looked nothing alike, people may see them as separate items. It would take a period of time for people to begin to group the three together. If I had the same scenario, however the three products had the same house style, people will begin to immediately recognise the three as to be selling the same product. This enables people to feel comfortable, warm and safe much quicker with the product, just like I explained with “Heinz”.

The main technique we have used when attempting to create a successful brand identity is using similar images and locations through all three pieces of media. As the music video itself is the main and biggest product we have, we decided to base our brand identity around a location that we felt was really significant. This location was the river in Kingston. We felt these shots really stood out to us as to being really effective. Because of this, we have use a still image of Sam leaning against a lamp post in front of the river for the front cover of our digipak. We have tried to make this a really iconic image throughout our brand, so we made the image on the advert the same as the front cover of the digipak. The other images that we used in the digipak were also from the same location, even though it may not be as clear. The same colours and tones are still there however. The text style and colour we have used with both the digipak and advert are both the same too. We used quite a plain font style for both, and used the same colour, white. We believe this puts across quite a modern, slick, stylish effect, which is the image we are trying to portray to our target audience. You can see both our digipak and advert above and to the left.

I believe that our digipak will be successful in selling our album to our target audience, as it has close ups of the type of people who they will be able to relate to. These people are the younger generation, who are socially orientated. If the audience finds themselves attracted to any of the people on the digipak, they will feel more obliged to buy the album, especially if there are close up images of the people they are attracted to. The target audience are also the type of people who enjoy alcohol, and regularly drink it. Because of this, we have created the third side of the digipak quite distorted with the quote “I reckon you’re about an 8 or a 9… maybe even 9 and a half in four beers time…” This indicates to the target audience that the content of the CD will have a relationship with alcohol, and a strong one at that, otherwise it wouldn’t be on the digipak. Finally, the other tracks that are listed on the back of the digipak have a close relationship and appeal with the target audience. Titles such as “Tales of a Kebab House” are not only funny, but the target audience can relate to the name. Same thing applies with names such as “At Her Place”.

Our advert sells our product to our target audience well as right at the top it says, “Including the music video for the NME award-winning single “How to make a grand””. This does two things. It firstly lets the audience know that the artist is good and successful as they have won an award from an established music company, and also gives clues as to what the rest of the album is like, as the title of the song featuring in the quote is “How to make a grand”. This indicated the genre of music to the audience, and shows that the content of the album has relationships and connotations with the target audience. The font of the main title looks quite like graffiti, and this again shows what genre of music the advert is advertising, which will appeal to the target audience. The way the artist is standing in the photo also has connotations with the target audience. It is a typical way for young “lads” to stand, and that is exactly who the audience is. They therefore may either relate to this, or find it amusing. Either way, they have noticed it and have become attracted to it.

The elements of my advert and digipak that communicates the genre of the music video and the style of the band are as follows. For starters, the close up shots of both characters within the pictures that are on my advert and digipak indicate that the music is aimed at the younger generation. The style of their dress indicates that the music genre is quite urban because of the jeans, jacket and branded shoes. The quote on the digipak obviously shows that the album includes references to alcohol. One of the main genres of music that have correlations with alcohol is urban music. Something I haven’t talked about yet, but is a huge genre signifier, is the actual name of the band, “Class A Heroes”. Whilst “class A” could be a reference to intelligent people, within the context of urban music, it is clear that it is a reference to Class A drugs. Whilst not always the case obviously, urban music is well known to talk about drugs in the lyrics. Finally, the choice of fonts for both the digipak and advert when writing, “Class A Heroes”, both look like graffiti. This is probably one of the biggest genre signifiers, as you will have trouble finding something that has a bigger relationship with urban music that graffiti.

Question 1- In what way does my media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

When creating my music video, we had to take into account the conventions that are in a real music video. For starters, one of the main conventions is having lots of close ups of the artist. As described in Andrew Goodwin’s music video theory, this creates a star image. In our case, the main artist being Sam, had himself featuring in many close ups throughout the music video. We decided to take note and use this convention as using lots of close up shots with the artist, especially if it is their first single, makes a better impression to the audience. The audience gets to know the artists face more, and in a way, their personality. This is because you can see the slight facial expressions that the artist pulls from closer up. We wanted to show Sam as being really cheeky, and we think we portrayed this well with the use of close ups. The screenshot below is an example of a close up we have used. Another main convention is that the ly

rics have a relationship with the video. This doesn’t mean that the video literally shows word for word what is happening in the video, but it has a similar mood, and occasionally the lyrics can narrate the video. We have chosen to pay close attention to this convention, as the lyrics in our song are very specific. We haven’t followed the lyrics word for word throughout the song however as we felt this would look too cheesy, although in some scenes like the kebab shop for example, we have used the lyrics as strong guidelines. Throughout the rest of the song, we have paid very close attention to the mood of the song. So for example if the lyrics are happy and fast paced, we would use this feeling within the video, using fast paced shots etc. The last main convention we have embraced is the idea that the video cuts to another shot, to the pace of the music. This is so the music and the video actually look like they are meant to be together and not just two things that have similar relations. As our song has an extremely clear beat and rhythm to it, we felt that this convention would be extremely important to take notice of. As the quick paced rhythm of the song creates a fast and energetic mood, we wanted a video that mirrors this; therefore matching the cuts to the beat creates this perfectly.

In terms of the conventions of my specific music genre as being quite rappy and urban, as the lyrics are very direct and personal with this genre, it doesn’t make sense to have a singer and then an actor both starring in the music video. This is because the lyrics are about one person. We have definitely used this idea as we have cast Sam, both our singer and actor. The screenshot below shows this. We felt using this technique would have been a lot more succ

essful than if we had separate singers and actors as the lyrics are actually about the person singing them, not the actor or another person- it just wouldn’t make sense. We have also used very fast paced shots within the music video. Whilst I have spoken about this convention briefly previously, saying how music videos cut to the beat of the music, it is much more important with our genre of music as it has such a heavy and fast paced beat. This technique keeps the music and the video looking like they belong together. It is also a huge genre signifier, showing just how fast the music is.

A few of the obvious and essential conventions of a digipak are the name of the artist, album and the track listing on the front or back cover. We have included all three of these as you can see from the image of our digipak above. The artist name being “Class A Heroes”, album names being “Fit But You Know It”, and the track listing on the back. We have also chosen still images from our music video for the digipak, as we have named the digipak, “Fit But You Know It”, so it is appropriate. All three of these images are images of our main actors, two of them being our singer as well, and the other, Lucy. The majority of them are also close ups, creating the star images again. On the back cover, we have included logos of the record labels and information about them including copyright etc. This is because it is also another essential convention to include making it look as professional as possible. The final essential convention that is needed to be included, and that we have included, is the barcode, as without it, the CD would not be able to sell. Other conventions of a digipak are having a price on it, and having details as to where the album was recorded

etc. We have chosen not to include these conventions as we believe that the price of the CD changes in different shops, so it would not be essential to include this feature. Also, the details about where the album was created and written by etc, is normally featured inside a booklet within the digipak, so I have not included this convention on the digipak.

I have learnt that essential conventions for real adverts are that like the digipak, the artists name and album name are shown. Otherwise, the audience wouldn’t know what the advert is for! I have shown this in the image above, displaying our advert. We have obviously included these conventions. Adverts in general use celebrities to sell their product. We are trying to create Sam a celebrity, and keep using his face as a star image; therefore, as another main convention we are using, he is on our advert. As it is an advert trying to sell the CD, the audience has to know where to buy the product. Therefore, another main convention is having logos of one or more places to buy the CD. Because of this, we have included the HMV and Amazon logo on the advert. We have al

so included the artist’s website on the advert, as this would help in advertising the product further. This is quite a common convention used on many adverts. Finally, one of the most common conventions is having quotes, ratings and awards from related companies. This is so the audience know just how good the album is, and they aren’t just buying any old album. We have used quotes from Q Magazine and an award from NME magazine to achieve this.

The main convention that will attract our target audience within the music video is the fast paced editing that cuts to the beat of the music. This is because the audience who would be typically attracted to the song are the sort of people who would be quite active, friend orientated, like a night out at the pub/ club with load music. All of these things that the target audience like, would need to have fast paced music, or if not, fast paced music would go really well with that theme. As the fast paced cutting of the video would look good with the music, the target audience would therefore like, be attracted to and relate to the music video. The target audience would be attracted to the digipak as there are close up images of the two main characters. The use of the close up image of both characters is so the audience can get an up close look at both people, so they know what they look like, and also get to know them better. If the audience are attracted to either of them, they would be more likely to buy the digipak. Therefore, that convention would have been successful inattracting an audience. The use of using quotes on the advert, and also telling the audience about any awards the CD has gained, will immediately attract audiences. This is because, if the album has gained recognition from a well-known company, then they will assume the album is good. It’s almost like using a celebrity on the front cover of a magazine- the audience will know that celebrity or company in our case is backing the CD. This convention will almost certainly attract a wider audience.

Digipak Advert

Digipak Final assembled product

This is our finished digipak. Click the image to view it larger.

Better quality music video embedded from YouTube

This version of the video has been embed from YouTube, so you will need an internet connection to view it.

Low Quality Music Video

Here is our completed music video.