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

Evaluation Q2) - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

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Evaluation Q3) - What have you learned from your audience feedback?

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

Production - My Music Video (Final Edit)

Music Video from Sophie Rudd on Vimeo.

Production - Digipak (Final Versions)

Front Cover

My final front cover has been changed very slightly compared to my first draft is just that I have changed the position of the title. Instead of having it written down the side of my front cover and blocking out more of my main image, I have moved it to the bottom. I have made the font smaller and increased the size of the drop shadow, whilst still keeping the horror-effect of my font that I feel suits very well to my chosen genre of rock 'n' roll/punk rock. I have also separated the two phrases of "Hell Bent" and "Heaven Sent" - allowing each to stand on there own. I think this is more striking and emphasises my meaning behind the statement - that they are separate polar opposites.

Back Cover

My back cover hasn't changed since my first draft. I am very happy with the chosen image that creates a reflection against the front cover; my eye is open on the front, a consumer turns the digipak over and my eye is closed on the back - it is simple yet empowering.
My font differs slightly to the front cover. I have used a drop shadow effect to create a darker, more powerful shade of red that I feel suits my genre, once again, very well.
I have included artist information and websites of both my artist and their label ('Fueled By Ramen').

Left/Right Inside - Bleed 

This image of the seafront taken from the pier will make up the left and right inside pages of my digipak. The image will bleed across the two pages, providing a very simplistic yet powerful feel to the digipak.
One thing I have done with each of my front cover, back cover and inside pages for my digipak is create this dark, mysterious and slightly vintage feel to my images which I done by using iPhoto.

To create this look I used several filters on my photos, they were; antique, vignette and boost. I also sharpened the images, provided more saturation and increased the level of definition. I felt this created a deeper feel to my digipak as a whole - making it fit with the desired message of my product and, overall, making my product something more diverse compared to most real life media products. 

Production - Magazine Advert (Final Edition)

Here is the final edition of my music advert for my digipak "Hell Bent, Heaven Sent" by my artist 'Decadence'. 

The main things I changed were minor details;
- I decided to try and neaten up my main image by using the clone and brush tools on Photoshop to remove fly-away hairs and give the image a more professional feel. However, I didn't do this too much as I wanted my main image to still have a very rustic, rock 'n' roll feel.
- Additionally, I made my main image larger. I did this as the main focus for my main image/front cover of my digipak is the artist - not the background. The bright background evidently helps in contradicting light and dark - as I'm wearing virtually all black with dark makeup and the background contains bright yellow. Yet this then also fits with the stereotypical colour palette of most rock albums of black, white and red - with the addition of yellow in some places.
- Hence why my masthead of the aritst's name, the coverlines of my album's title and the strip of "out now" adopt this colour scheme.

Production - Digipak (Back Cover Draft 1)

Evaluation - Post-Production Audience Feedback

 

Above, are screenshots of a new questionnaire I have created to gain post-production audience feedback. The questions are;

1) After watching my music video, what genre do you think my artist belongs to?
- Rock
- Punk
- Pop
- Punk-Pop
- Punk-Rock
- Other

2) Do you think my video conforms to or contradicts Andrew Goodwin's theory?

- Conforms
- Contradicts

- Both

3) Which of these conventions can you identify in my music video?

- Direct Mode of Address

- Lip-synching

- Narrative

- Relationship between the lyrics and the visuals

- Intertextuality (it'll help if your a fan of the original artist - "Panic! At The Disco")

- Cuts that match the beat of the music

- Genre conventions (my genre is rock) i.e; dark clothing, contradicting light and dark etc.

- All of the above
 

4) Can you identify each of these shots in my music video

- close up
- extreme close up

- long shot

- pan

- crab shot

- long take

- mid-shot

- all of the above

5) Overall, what is your opinion of my video and is there anything you would've done differently?


6) From looking at the front and back cover, and bleed image of my digipak, what genre of rock do you believe my artist is?
- Punk rock
- Classic Rock
- Heavy Rock
- Rock 'n' Roll
- Psychedelic Rock
- Other


7) What meaning do you think I am trying to portray by having my hand cover one side of my face?


8) Do you think my digipak/magazine advertisement conforms to or contradicts the expected codes and conventions of rock music?
- Conforms
- Contradicts
- Both


9) On my back cover, I include links to my artist's record label. As a consumer, do you like to have the option to research into the label to find music similar to an artist you like?
- Yes
- No


10) Overall, what do you think of my digipak and magazine advertisement? Is there anything you would have done differently?

Production - Digipak (Front cover - Draft 1)

Research - Choosing A Label For My Artist

Fueled by ramen from Sophie Rudd

Production - My Magazine Advert (Draft 1)

Here is the first draft for my magazine advert for my digipak that will be titled "Hell Bent, Heaven Sent" by my artist called 'Decadence'. 

I have used a font appropriate to my genre of music - which is rock 'n' roll.
As the artist I am using direct mode of address by looking straight into the camera and breaking the fourth wall. 
I am conforming to the typical codes and conventions of rock music by wearing dark clothing i.e; a black leather jacket and I am wearing dark red lipstick. 

I decided to cover one side of my face to create an air of mystery to my front cover and to my artist.
Hell and Heaven are clearly polar opposites; bad and good; dark and light. And what I came to realise when creating the brand identity for my artist is that is what rock music is about most commonly. Most of the rock music videos I analysed contradicted light and dark in some way. In my video, I change from colour to black and white. My emotions change rapidly through the video to match the pace of the music and the context of my footage.

More importantly, religion is often a strong concept within rock music - thus the title of my digipak is "Hell Bent, Heaven Sent' - it highlights this idea of polar opposites as well as religion. In relation to my video and the song I chose to perform of "Golden Days" by Panic! At The Disco, the concept within my video was a video diary. A young girl looking back on her life with a friend - those times were good and happy and as she looks back on them there are clearly moments of sadness and regret.

It emphasises the idea that everything ends, but it is not about this. It is about living in the moment, and when you do look back on your life, remember the good times and carry them through to the future - don't hold on to things. To me, the phrase "Hell Bent, Heaven Sent" conveys much of that meaning; it shows that life is full of polar opposites - the good and the bad, the happy and the sad. All of have a face that we portray to the world, yet all of us have a side of which we may choose to mask. We all have demons, and this is what the hand covering one side of my face represents - and it is a message I wanted to stress through this digipak cover/magazine advertisement.

Planning - Changing one of my Ancillary Products

Over the period of time I have been completing my practical coursework for A2 of a music video, digpak and website, I have decided to change one of my ancillary products.

My Analysis of Panic! At The Disco's website 

My Analysis of the Kaiser Chief's Website

I personally feel that a website doesn't truly highlight the brand identity of my digipak and the message I'm trying to represent through my artist.
My artist contradicts the stereotypical representations of women in the music industry and I feel the images I have taken for my digipak could also be used within a magazine to represent this.

These are just 2 of my images that I have taken and edited in iPhoto to use for my digipak (front and back cover) and magazine advertisement. 

Magazine advertisements are also something I look at a lot more then websites and I feel they are a stronger marketing technique than that of a website; not many people use websites and this was something I found when completing audience research - many of my peers did not go on them. 

Magazine advertisements are eye-catching yet simplistic: conveying enough information about an artist for an audience to feel intrigued. They can often result in audiences purchasing an album, and this may help in formulating a fanbase for an artist, and so, consumer loyalty. 

Gerard Way - "Hesitant Alien" 

 All of the magazine advertisements for digipaks that I have looked at or analysed are all attractive and eye-catching in their own way. All of them create brand identity for the artist, provide the relevant information and - for me as a consumer of all of these artists - ignite excitement and passion about the upcoming records.

This is why I want to create my own magazine advertisement - I want to invoke that same excitement for my own product.

My Chemical Romance
"The Black Parade" 

My Chemical Romance
"Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous
Killjoys"
(Gerard Way) 

My Chemical Romance
"Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous
Killjoys"
(Frank Iero) 

My Chemical Romance
"Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous
Killjoys"
(Ray Toro)

My Chemical Romance
"Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous
Killjoys"
(Mikey Way) 

Research - Brand Identity

Brand Identity from Sophie Rudd on Vimeo.

Here, I analyse one artist's products as a brand.
I analyse My Chemical Romance's music video for "Helena", their digipak for "Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge" and their magazine advertisement for "The Black Parade" - as well as the lead singer, Gerard Way's magazine advertisement for his solo record, "Hesitant Alien" to discover what formulated their particular brand identity.

Planning - Flatplans for Ancillary products

Magazine Advert

 Masthead = "Decadence" - white, bold, shadowed.
 Half of face shown. Rest covered by hand.
 Title = "Hell Bent, Heaven Sent" - 'Hell' written in a different font and red.
 Clothes = all black, including a leather jacket.
 Makeup = heavy eye makeup and red lip.

Left/Right Inside - Bleed

 Picture of the seafront bled across two pages.

Front Cover 

Back Cover

Production - Ancillary photos

 Here are my images I have taken for my ancillary products of a digpak and magazine advertisement;
To take the photos, I used an SLR Camera and Tripod.