1. In what ways do your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? - Joshua Manley 9645

2. How effective is the combination of your main task and ancillary texts? - Joshua Manley 9645

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback? - Joshua Manley 9645

http://joshuamanley16.wix.com/evaluationq3

4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? - Joshua Manley 9645

Final Product - Joshua Manley 9645 and Kieran Panchal 9652

Poll on Ancillary Tasks - Joshua Manley 9645

http://freeonlinesurveys.com/s/Ud8gcWt3

NME Magazine Advert Dimensions/Specification - Joshua Manley 9645

 The link and image below illustrate the dimensions of the NME music magazine. This allows me to gain an understanding of the layout and dimensions needed to be able to publish my product and therefore I will conform the these measurements to make the adverts practical and realistic. 

http://specle.net/uk/ipc-media/nme

Digipack - Joshua Manley 9645

Digipak Booklet Pages - Kieran Panchal 9652 Joshua Manley 9645

Other booklet page background Ideas:

Posters - Joshua Manley 9645

Progression from rough cut to final cut - Kieran Panchal 9652

From scrutinising the rough cut that we produced, we found that there were many post-production based improvements that could be made in order to improve the music video's aesthetic and narrative. Whilst some of these improvements were instigated by comments from participants of our focus group, there were many that we decided upon as a partnership after re-watching our rough cut as well as additional cuts after this and finding areas for improvement. Below the main changes and the reasons for these changes are explained.

Firstly, we decided to artificially adjust the aspect ratio of our video in order to create the impression that the footage was filmed in widescreen (at approximately 1.85:1). We decided that this would be necessary in order to create a more cinematic feel to our music video, which we felt would aid in creating an immersive atmosphere, which was one of our main initial goals. We created this widescreen impression by implementing two black bars above and below the central image, as would be seen if watching a film shot with a cinema aspect ratio on a home video system for example.

Next, after considering feedback provided from our focus group, we considered it imperative that we carry out a colour grading and correction process. We did this in order to give the video a seamless feel, improving the flow, and making it fit together in its entirety, aiding to create the impression of a product as a whole rather than a series of individual shots or scenes. Furthermore, this gave us the opportunity to use colour to create mood and tone. For example, we desaturated much of the footage in order to give many shots a bleak and moody feel, this aided us in creating a desolate atmosphere increasing the sympathy that is felt for the character. We did this by using a variety of the colour correction tools within Premiere Pro, such as the Three-Way Colour Wheel, the Colour Balance Tool, the Shadows/Highlights tool and the Brightness and Contrast Effect.

Following this, we noticed that some of our footage was not particularly steady or stable, which not only was a distraction for those watching our product, but it also appeared to reduce the professionalism and credibility of the video. In addition, it reduced the smooth and sombre aesthetic that we were looking to create. We found that one way to reduce this was by using the Warp Stabiliser Effect. However, we had to utilise this cautiously, as it had the tendency to warp some footage disproportionately. In order to counter this, we had to choose clips that were not overly unsteady, and shots that showed a clear subject and background, so that any warping was not obvious.

Another area for improvement mentioned in the focus group was the use of static shots following handheld shots, particularly in the performance-based final scene. After reviewing this criticism, we found this to be true, and fixed shots appeared to be hindering the flow and energy of some sequences, which is what we wanted to capture, as the movement in this scene expressed the character's release and sense of relief. Rather than removing these shots from the edit as suggested, we decided that we would incorporate movement into the mentioned shots, making them fit in within the scene better. We used timescaled, progressive movements such as zooms and pans using the motion effects also found within the software.

After this, we attempted to create a smooth transition/distinction between the narrative and performance scenes, as we found that in our rough cut, the drum performance did not create the impact and surprise that we initially attempted to create. We considered the best way to do this was to simply cut to black, leaving a black screen for a few seconds as the music stops. We then cut straight back into the scene, at the same time as the music in order to create impact. Also to create impact and a feeling of a build in tension, we edited the pacing of the sequence prior to the emergence of the smoke. We did this by using a greater number of clips in the sequence each for shorter durations. We feel like this has improved the cut significantly, and increases the dramatic effect and suspense a great deal.

Focus Group - Rough Cut Audience Feedback - Joshua Manley 9645 and Kieran Panchal 9652

After producing a rough cut for our video, we decided to conduct a focus group. We figured that this would be a good opportunity to not only gain some feedback from our target audience, but also observe the reactions of an audience watching our product for the first time. We ensured to choose four participants who fit into the bracket of our target audience (we deduced this from observing the initial research questionnaires that we preliminarily carried out upon deciding upon the initial idea). Furthermore, we decided to show the audience our rough cut rather than waiting until the final product was complete, as this allowed us time to consider the feedback that we were given and then incorporate it it in our final cut if we felt necessary and appropriate. This proved to be a particularly worthwhile task as the feedback given was useful and the advice was almost entirely transferrable into our music video project. From carrying out this focus group the main points in terms of improving the piece are as follows:

• Additional stabilisation is needed
• A colour grade is needed
• The pace of editing should be adjusted in order to fit the song's tempo
• The drums should be more accurately synchronised to the soundtrack
• More careful consideration of diegetic sounds needed (helicopter)
• Improve shot decisions in order to ensure continuity throughout
• Further consideration of the transition between the narrative and performance scenes needed
• Consideration of the use of static shots next to shots that incorporate movement

We will try to amend each of these issues when improving our edit. In addition, we felt it was important to gauge some opinions regarding some positive aspects of our music video. This allowed us to consider whether we were on track to achieve what we desired, in particular, an immersive experience for the viewer. Our audience feedback so far suggests that we have achieved this.

Rough Cut - Joshua Manley 9645 and Kieran Panchal 9652

Visual Storyboard - Joshua Manley 9645

I created this story board in order to gain a clearly view and perspective of the progression of the storyline. Also by editing this in Photoshop I was able to create a gritty cold colour scheme that we could potentially employ in our music video.

Edited images from shoot - Joshua Manley 9645

Poster/Advert Production - Joshua Manley 9645 and Kieran Panchal

Edit Decision List - Joshua Manley 9645 and Kieran Panchal 9652