Evaluation: Q4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Throughout G324 I have used many forms of hardware and software so that I am able to complete all of the stages which were part of the production of my video. These stages are:

Research and planning

Construction

Evaluation

These are the pieces of software and hardware which I have used.

Computer:

This was the most important piece of technology which I used, without it I would have been unable to complete any of my work. The computer had all of the features and software which I needed to use to create my product. The main pieces of software which I needed to use were Adobe Photoshop CS6 and Adobe Premiere Elements 12.  I was able to use different computers as all of my work was stored online on blogger and online hard drives such as DropBox.

Blogger:

This is where all of my work is show off and shows the progress I have made throughout the course. I was able to keep all of my ideas on my blog so I would not forget, this made it easier for me to expand on what I had thought of which was on my blog which would help me more in the production of my products. Also, it allowed me to look at other people blogs, which give me the chance to get inspiration for my own blog for if I was stuck on what I wanted to post.

Various Online Presentation Software:

For G324, I used a few different online presentation software’s. One of these was Prezi, an online presentation site which allowed the audience to interact more with the presentation. This gave my blog a different look as it was not just all blog posts. I had some troubles with the posts disappearing but I was able to fix this as all I had to do was repost the presentation. I also used an online service called Poplet. I used this to create my timeline schedule for the project.

 

Microsoft Word:

Microsoft Word was very helpful due to the auto correct features it has, correcting things such as grammar and spelling mistakes which I would have missed out if I had typed it directly into blogger. Also, it was a lot easier to write a lot as I could save it as a document and then copy it across to my blog.

 

Photoshop CS6:

Throughout the course I was able to use Photoshop to create my advert and also my digipak which was needed for the project. As I am also a Photography student, I was able to use things which I had already learned through that. Using this I was able to make simple yet effective products which would end up on my blog.

In the image above, we can see some of the tools which I have used on Photoshop CS6. I have used text to experiment ways in which my digipak would look, I decided against using text on the front cover as I wanted to keep it simple and follow conventions of Kanye’s legitimate album. I have also used text to make the logo in the middle of the digipak. I have used the letter ‘Y’ and added various shapes to it to make it look like it is also a cross. I have done this as the ‘Y’ represents the album name and also the nickname of Kanye, ‘Yeezus’, and also the cross represents the cross which Jesus Christ was put upon. I have put these together as Kanye is a Christian and it shows how the album links with Christianity.

The picture above shows the tools which I have used to make my poster. Once again I have used the text tool; this is obviously so that I could put the album name and other conventions on the poster so it would look more professional. I have also used the same symbol which I created for my digipak; I have done this to keep the continuity of the brand which I am using. The main image used in the centre of the poster is an image which I took which I have edited by using black boxes so that I could darken the image and also merge it with an image of nebula by using the overlay setting. 

Adobe Premiere Elements 12:

I used this piece of software in the construction of my music video. At first I was not quite sure what I was doing, but over time I learned what everything did and was able to add whatever I needed to my music video and also get all of the editing done correctly. As I used it more and more I became more confident, making changes to my music video with the slightest tweaks to try and get the best out of my footage. Using this, I was able to make 2 rough cuts of the video and also a final copy of the video. 

On Adobe Premiere Elements 12 I was able to use a range of tools to create my music video. First of all, the effects. Throughout my video, I have used the black and white effect on all of the footage, with a mirror effect on some of the pieces of footage. I have done this so that the video will have a similar feel to the official New Slaves music video; it gives the video a more professional look.

Another Tool that I used was the cut tool. This was used to break up pieces of my footage so I could place them in different places. I have used this tool a lot in my music video so that I could add different pieces of footage in at the right time, as I used the cut tool wherever there was a beat and when I wanted to change the footage being shown.

One more tool that I used was the text tool. I have used this tool to add some kinetic typography to my video. I have been able to do this by adding pieces of text for the same length of time in which the lyric was being said. This makes the video more interactive as the audience will be able to read what the text is saying

YouTube:

I have used YouTube to inspire my work by using it for research purposes. I have been able to look for videos that will inspire me on what to do for the production of my music video. This gave me the opportunity to look at some of Kanye West's official music videos to see how they were made. I have been able to incorporate some of the conventions in Kanye's videos into my own work to make a successful music video. 

Cameras
For my video, I decided to use my phone for recording as it shoots at 1080p and 30 frames per second (fps). This was better than the video cameras that I had at home as the best they could record at was 720p. Using my phone was very successful as I was able to capture high quality footage so that my music video would not be blurry.

For my poster I decided to use my Nikon D3000 DSLR camera. As I am also a photography student, my camera was easy to access as I had purchased it. This is a 10.2 million pixel camera so I was able to get high quality images from the photoshoot which I did so that I could produce my poster. I was not able to use this camera for my recording as it does not have a recording feature.

Evaluation: Q3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I am very pleased with both the positive and negative feedback that I have received from the audience throughout the production of my product.

The positive feedback I got was from many of my peers, complementing the range of simple creativity and complex effects which I had used to create the digipak, poster and music video. One of my peers, Oliver Marks, gave me feedback on my video saying, "I liked how the cuts were in time with the beat of the song and not just randomly placed." And "I like how the poster and digipak are so simple yet effective, it makes me want to listen to the album and maybe purchase it." Oliver also left a comment on my final video to say what he liked. (The video doesn't show up as the school network does not allow YouTube.)

Although I had much praise, there was also a fair share of constructive criticism and negative feedback during the production of my product. Such as when I had finished the 1st rough cut of the video, I asked the audience how I could improve and they said that more work would need to be done to it to make it seem like a real life product. Also, I had feedback on my poster, mainly because there was such little content, maybe too simple to look professional, so I went back to the drawing board   and added more content in so that my poster would look authentic and like something the music industry would release. There was the same outcome with my digipak, constructive criticism telling me that more needed to be done. as I went over my work, I decided that, to improve, I would have to take the simple idea and add some more complex things into it, using more of the conventions of rap albums and not just Kanye's albums.

The positive and negative feedback helped me improve my product, but it also will help me prepare for a different approach if I was to make another music video.

Evaluation: Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The music video which I have created uses, challenges and develops forms and conventions of real media products. The video to the song which I chose, ‘New Slaves’ by Kanye West, is very different to typical rap videos. I was able to take this change in convention and play with it, being able to challenge conventions and in cases go completely against typical rap music video conventions. For the advert which I created I decided I wanted to stick with the same theme which Kanye had used, being very simple yet effective, with this in mind I was able to create a poster, taking inspiration from existing posters, which would fit with the style of the music video and also linked in with the album which the song is on. At first it was hard to get the poster just right, as I needed the correct balance of simplicity and effectiveness, but as I developed my work, taking inspiration from the legitimate poster which advertised the album ‘YEEZUS’, I was able to make a simple and effective poster which would catch the eye of anyone who were to look at it.

Below is an image of the poster which I created.

I created the poster like this as I wanted to follow the conventions of real media pieces, such as posters made for Kanye's new album. Below is an image which II took inspiration from.

I have also created a digipak for the album. This took its time as I wanted it to be similar to the actual album, but I also wanted to have my own spin on it. As I had used a symbol which I created for the poster, I was able to utilize this once more to create my digipak. I had decided to use one main image to use on every page of the digipak, which I was able to do as the created symbol was an easy fit onto the front/back cover, the spine and also the inside of the digipak. I decided that I wanted to keep the digipak simple, and the simple design of the created symbol was key to the design stage of the digipak. Creating such a simple digipak would both challenge and use conventions of rap digipaks. To challenge the conventions, I was able to use such a simple design which meant it would look nothing like most rap albums, but it would be using the same conventions as Kanye’s masterpiece as it was that simple. 
Below is an image of the digipak which I created, I tried to follow conventions of Kanye's past albums but also I decided that I wanted to add my own spin on it.

Below are two images of the various 'Yeezus' digipaks. I used both of the albums to inspire me towards making my own digipak. I was able to use the idea of simplicity to my own product from the original versions, but I also used my own ideas towards making the digipak. 

For the video I had decided that I wanted to use the same idea as Kanye West in his video but also add my own parts in during the editing stage of the video. As the music video goes I could argue that it follows the conventions but also goes against the conventions of rap music videos. For the argument of challenging the video, I would say that it is not like rap videos by Eminem or JayZ, as it was nothing like they had ever done. This proves that my video challenges the conventions of typical rap music videos. However, I would say that it follows conventions of music videos. I would argue that I have followed and took inspiration from Kanye’s legitimate music video, using few angles and not many shots to make the political message seem a lot more serious. I like the idea of not many shots or angles of the artist in the music video, this is because for the song Kanye is being serious, talking about how slavery is still about and how racism is everywhere. I used the idea of few shots as it gave my video a more serious tone to it. This idea enabled me to make a simple yet effective music video which followed the rest of my production stage which included the poster and also the digipak. 

Below is my music video. I have tried to use conventions that Kanye uses so that I could make a professional looking music video. I believe that I have made a professional looking music video as I have used a variety of editing techniques so that the footage would fit with the music.

Below is the actual music video made by Kanye. I have used this as an inspiration as I have taken some ideas from the legitimate music video and put them into my music video. It is easy to tell where I have taken this inspiration from if you look at both of the videos.


(This is a projection of the legitimate music video as the real version is not allowed to be posted online due to it allegedly being racially-charged with the lyrics being the issue.)

Kanye West "New Slaves" Projections from Vasili Gavre on Vimeo.

Production: The Final Music Video Cut

A2 Media Coursework from James Stephenson on Vimeo.

Production: Editing Process

This is what my editing process looks like. I have used multiple pieces of footage so that I could create a more professional music video, rather than just having a still shot of the actor lip syncing. I have been able to edit my video through Adobe Premiere Elements 12, which I was new to at the start of the course, but it was easy to pick up on how to get the best out of my video.

Production: Music Video Mark 3

Production: Music Video Mark 2

Production: Music Video Mark 1

Production: Intro to Music Video

Intro to music video from James Stephenson on Vimeo.

Production: Digipak and Poster

Digipak

Poster

Production: Poster Final

Production: Further Poster Mockup

I have decided to use this found image as it follows Kanye Wests beliefs of Christianity and how Christians believe in being raptured. However, I have edited this image in Photoshop so that it is different to the original image, I changed the hue/saturation to a red so it matched with the logo and text.  Also, this links to the story in the Bible when Jesus rises into heaven, looking like he has been raptured, with Jesus also being an inspiration to Kanye Wests Album name, 'Yeezus'. I have followed conventions of many posters by having a quote about the album and how you can listen to it via the internet. This is how I will set out my final poster but i will use my own image.

Production: Poster Mock Ups

These are the mockups which I have made for the poster which will advertise the album. I have come up with 2 ideas for the poster, one being very simple with 'Yeezus' and the 'Y' symbol, and one with both of them elements and also an image of someone looking like they are about to get raptured. I have used this image as it links in with Christianity as they believe in being raptured, and also how Jesus seemed to be raptured on Easter Sunday.

Production: Digipak Put Together

This is what my digipak would look like if it was fully put together. It shows the outside of the digipak with the songs on the album on the back, the spine, and the front with the 'Y' symbol which I have created on Photoshop CS6. On the inside I have decided to develop the 'Y' symbol by duplicating it and putting 'YEEZUS' around it. I have also created the inside part which the CD would cover, the CD being represented by the white circle, when the CD is removed, it will reveal the 'Y' symbol and also 'Yeezus' with a mirrored effect.

Production: Digipak Products all Together

These are the parts of the digipak from my mockups which I have decided to use. They are simple, yet follow conventions of Kanye West's album, which consists of a simple design. I have taken inspiration from the simple design of the legitimate 'Yeezus' album and used the 'Y' symbol, which I have created myself.

Front Cover

Spine

Back Cover

Inside Covers

Production: Inside Digipak Behind CD Final

This is the inside of the digipak, which you would see if you took the CD out of the case. I have kept with the same theme as all of the digipak in using the 'Y' logo, and also the mirrored 'YEEZUS' text.

Production: Inside Digipak Behind CD Mock Ups

Production: Final Draft of Inside Cover Digipak

This is my final draft for the inside cover of the albums digipak.

Production: Further Inside Cover Digipak Mock Ups

There are some further drafts for the inside cover of the album digipak.

Production: Initial Inside Cover Digipak Mock Ups

These are my initial mock ups for the inside cover of the album digipak.