Finished Product

Final Website

Today my group and I finished our website for our artist Effy. Click on Effy Website to view.

Here is the homepage.

Album cover

Task 4: How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Research into our product started at looking at other artists on Youtube and establishing what type of star image we wanted to bring forth into our music video for example, artists such as Charlie XCX, Azalea Banks and Eliza Doolittle which led us to go with a pop/dance genre thus choosing ‘Let Me Think About It’ as our song. As we researched more, we came across various ideas and concepts that we could incorporate within our video. Grimes music video ‘Go’ was a key inspiration especially within the neon and UV scenes as we expanded on ideas revolving with makeup and lighting. Once we had constructed our storyboard, we used a Sony NX5 camera to shoot the individual shots and then cut it on Final Cut Pro which led us to extract more knowledge to what our video would look like and help us to identify whether it would be not receptive and interesting. Using sound forge during the process allowed us to put together our animatic storyboard which helped us to have a more successful product. In order to get an accurate picture of what our cast would be like in front of the camera, we screen-tested them using our laptops to play the music and our phones to record our artist by lip-syncing. This was a useful exercise as it helped to get the artist prepared for the shoot day and helped us to recognise any problems that may occur. Following on with the theme of pop/dance we knew we had to use rhythmic editing as this would enhance our song and fast cutting would be more appealing to our audience. When researching our target audience, we found that our artist would most appeal to predominately females aged between 15-24 as our video is centred around female dominancy and power, however in order to appeal to men we also included attractive female dancers.

For the filming, we used a Sony FS100 in order to shoot our video which gave us lots of flexibility and helped us to achieve a more professional looking product. In order to achieve various amount of shot sizes we used multiple lenses in order to get the best possible quality and to create lots of cinematic atmosphere. This meant that we had improved footage and an overall better looking shots. We used a digital clapper in order to help us with lip-syncing and playback which aided us and our cast and helped when it came to editing as it meant we could change anything that we felt didn’t work there and then rather than finding out when editing. Within the UV scenes, we wanted to create a fish-eye lens look and we did this successfully by using prime lenses. Other equipment we used included a dolly, tracks and a jib. During the video, we used a GoPro in order to capture a larger location and make footage of the ‘making off’ which we can use as extra media for our blogs. For the outdoor scenes, we used a drone to capture a larger scale of our location which we thought would add extra atmosphere to our video. However, when editing we choose not to use the footage as we felt it took away some of our video.

When it came to editing, we uploaded the footage using Prelude in order to copy and reduce any chances of corruption. Premier was the software we used to edit our footage and once uploaded, we divided our rushes into bins and named them depending on the camera and lens used. We marked specific points on the timeline using marker and blade which meant it was easier to establish key points. In order to keep our video interesting, we used various transitions as a technique to keep the audience interested and the video cinematic. The editing was very rhythmic and less about continuity as we had to cut to the beat and keep the images changing all the time. There were many layers that proceeded on our timeline and it was essential that our video was in sync with the song. It was notable that before our video was to be published we had to give it some final detail which included balancing the colour of our video with the use of colouring, saturation and luminosity in order to pull it all together and highlights it’s continuity of palette. For the UV/neon shots within the video it was apparent that in reality they looked quite dull and the UV was not show enough. This led us to heighten the saturation right up as this made the effect very vibrant and luminous which meant our video looked more professional and bright. We also used AfterEffects in post production as we had to hide some white gaffe tape that had been visible when looking at the footage which we used masking to do so. To give it a professional feel, we letterboxes our video which made it more compact which looked more high-quality and to compress quality. The media encoder we used was H264 which meant our video has a high export compression quality which makes it look more professional.

Task 3: What did you learn from your audience feedback?

In order to get the best possible campaign for Effy we had to conduct some audience research in order to see how our audience feels towards our product. We used two different style of forms which were a questionnaire session and focus group. Below is my analysis of it.

The prezi gave us a deeper insight towards their feelings about our product and what they thought worked well and what didn't.This focus group gave us varied opinions which is exactly what we wanted as it highlights what we have done well or in some cases what we could have done differently. In doing a focus group, we received direct feedback that was rich and is impossible to manipulate as it is from a direct source, whereas with questionnaires there is a risk of miscommunication.

Task 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

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

Richard’s Dyer theory of ‘star image’ can be applied to our product as we knew elements of our artist would be sold using her image. In order to create a recognisable ‘star’ we had to make a successful campaign using various streams of media. For example we created a video, digipak cover and website in order to get our artist noticed and popular within her target audience. The star image we created for EFFY was that she is a young, urban, attractive woman who appeals to mostly females aged between 17-25 which we thought would sell to that audience as many young women look up to other women in similar situations who have a ‘star quality’ about them.  

Within our video, we used various forms and conventions, traditionally used in many music videos in order to create a successful and interesting product. Using the VALS system we decided that we would target ‘experiencers’ as we felt they would buy into the image of rebellion and sexualisation which is  presented within our video. Throughout there are elements of female dominance along with attractive dancers and an appealing male lead. This helps to sell our video to our target audience and would hopefully commit to Effy and remain loyal fans of hers. As the song is very upbeat we would aim to promote our video heading towards the summer months as this would be the best time to advertise our artist due to the song having elements of pop and dance. Effy is very much a  festival type of singer thus would perform at festivals and this is linked with the videos points of bright colour and neon elements. Linking to start image, we had a running theme of neon across all areas and highlighted the importance of our star. This was demonstrated various ways within our video by using many closeups and highlighting the backup dancers and extras who were keen followers of the queen which was Effy.

In order to make EFFY noticeable and unique, we purposely incorporated neon colours throughout the website and digipak. The neon colours were inspired through one of our scenes of the music video, which we felt was one of the most successful concepts. From audience feedback, we found that the neon/UV scenes stood out the  most and was a main interest of our video. This made us go down the direction of using bright greens, pinks and purples throughout our campaign as they were popular and stand out. The website design is very simplistic and hip as we used black as a base colour and then used neon colours to brighten it up. We feel this is effective as it highlights characteristics of our artist with her bright personality and  music video. Like the album cover, the font on our website is thin and spaced out, and all in capitals, this was influenced by similar artists that use this as a technique to become more recognisable like Rihanna and Charlie XCX which we think works as it gives more substance to our artist. In order to make our artist more desirable and liked, we purposely created social media websites in which fans can get involved and keep up to date with her. This links with Dyer’s ‘the star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer.’ To keep the target audience engaged with her, we feel that her website is a great tool for them to become more active and is easy to follow meaning she is more accessible making it easier for her to become successful. This is shown in the page ‘Photos’ as its like a personalised photo blog which links to her social media which helps keep fans interested and increase her star image.

To a large extent, the digipak was very much about Effy alone as we felt this would be a more successful technique in selling her image. Due to her beauty and youthfulness, we liked the idea of selling her, rather than having a theme, contrasting to most artists. As Effy is a new artist, we felt the most importance aspect should be directed at her and that her looks would be the key selling point. This is shown clearly on our album as we have used various images of her to show her versatility and attractiveness. We also wanted to follow the structure of the neon colours, similar to the website and music video. We feel this gives her a brand image, which is essential in any marketing tool as it gives her a unique selling point. However, many artists contract the theory that looks is a key part to selling a product, for example artists such as DeadMouse and The Gorillaz never show their faces, highlighting their music importance rather than themselves. This is a path we choose not to follow as we felt, with our artist, looks were essential to target our audience. The album is available for download on iTunes and Spotify whilst is can also be accessed online on websites such as Youtube. This gives a greater scope for it to reach as many people as possible. 

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