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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5giWd_dRiW8&feature=youtu.be

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

http://prezi.com/jehd9gxjapkc/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Evaluation Question 3: What have you learned from your audience feedback?

The feedback I received from the audience was generally based around the following points:

• The black and white effect was clever, it helped to drive the narrative and is a unique idea
• The actors made the narrative clear
• The only criticism was that the shots of the band members were too dark.

The feedback was extremely helpful as the black and white effect was something that I hoped would really help the video stand out and would help the narrative. I was also not aware of the low lighting on the band members, which I fixed later in post-production.

The feedback from the magazine advert were based around the following points:

• Good composition and layout
• Logo is well designed. 
• The font could do with more work, look somewhat out-of-place, consistency could be better by matching the text with the text in the logo. 
• Clear link to the main product, keeping with the theme of the girl being in black and white.

I'm especially pleased with the praise given in regards to the logo, as I had made many versions of the logo (and the banner for the website) and I'm pleased that I chose a design that is appealing to the audience.

The feedback from the band's website were based around the following points:

• Layout makes it easy to follow
• Video is central to the page
• Links to other media is a good touch
• Text is well-written, fits the purpose
• Products are well linked together and there is clear consistency in themes
• Layout has some familiarity with it being loosely based on other websites
• Banner is well designed
• Interactive and intriguing for the target audience

I'm pleased that the audience picked up on the consistency of the products as this was something that I had spent a lot of time thinking about. I was concerned that the text may be a bit too dense for the audience, however there were not criticisms regarding it. I'm also pleased with the audience noticing that the video is central to the page, as I thought this was a vital feature, especially since most websites for bands are used for promotional purposes.

Overall, I'm pleased that the audience picked up on critical features of each of the products that I thought would really help my products stand out and be generally appealing. While there were some criticisms that I had not thought about, I'm glad that there were some that I had previously known about, and that the audience had also noticed, which meant that it is something that I should work on to improve.

Evaluation Question 4: How did you use media technologies in construction, research, planning and evaluation strategies?

http://prezi.com/t7j-snafrmdk/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Ancillary Task: Magazine Advertisement

Ancillary Task: Band Website

http://alexmcstea94.wix.com/themontagues

Reflection on last year's work

I think the work I have produced this year is certainly an improvement on last years, as I've been able to apply the knowledge I gained in the first year and apply it to this year's work. This year I have also been able to be cautious when it comes to getting camera shots/ images, as last year only a few we're taken, and I didn't anticipate how the exposure levels in the photo would look in the final piece, and even with editing, it still could have looked a lot better.

I also think that it could have been better regarding its appeal to the target audience, as the colour scheme and general tone of the article didn't quite work with the genre. I felt that the mood and tone and the connotations that the magazine in general carried wouldn't have quite made the right connection with the audience.
This year I have been able to consider the forms and conventions of the music genre and build the tasks around it.

Progress- Music Video

Since filming the video i've been able add the effects such as fades and colour changes with the use of Adobe After Effects. I was also able to stabilise some shots that appeared to shake too much and too make it easier to apply the black and white colour mask effect.

For the park scene, I decided to add a fade effect so that it was clear that she wasn't real

I was told from the feedback received from my classmates that the shots of the band are too dark, which I plan to adjust in the near future. This was not something that I considered to be an issue, so the feedback certainly helped with this. 

Potential Problems

One obvious potential problem when filming anything with actors is the actors being unavailable temporarily or permanently, This is something that will be hard to prevent and fix, as only the same 2 actors are in the film. The only solution to this could be to re-film whatever has already been done but with a different actor(s).
Another problem is if there is something wrong with the shots like if it is too shaky or the exposure is too high, filming the scene again would be the only option. A precaution for this would be to film the same shot multiple times, even if I get a good shot the first time. This would also help in case the video files become corrupt or lost.

Colour Palette

For my magazine advertisement and the website, I used a basic combination of white, shades of grey and black. These colours convey negative emotions such as sadness and have very moody tones attached to them, which helps to link these products with the emotions conveyed in the music video.

Progress-Website

The biggest changes that have been made to my products was the website, specifically, the bands banner at the top of the page, the general layout stayed practically the same

This was the first design I came up with for the website. Initially, the images were lined next to each other without any fade in between. A fade was added to make it look a bit more professional.

  

This was the second design where there was more focus on the bands logo that I made. I was unsure whether to have the logo above or below the images of the band, but decided against the design altogether as the images and the logo wouldn't fit together and the logo would be too big if i were resized to fit the image.

This was an experimental design in which I considered merging the images and the logo. This wasn't used due to the obstruction of the band name, as too much of the name is blocked and it may be difficult for some to read.

This is the final design of the website banner. With this design I was able to merge together the images and the logo where both are clearly seen. For this design I had to redesign the logo so that there was more room on the top edge of the banner to make room for the images. The wings were also shortened to also make room for the images.

Music use permission from band member and manager

Band biography draft

The Montagues are an alternative rock band originating from Sunderland, Tyne and Wear and consists of Liam Dickman on lead guitar and vocals, Connor McCallum on guitar, Andrew Armour on bass guitar and vocals and Matty Rawding on drums. 
The band have created a stir in the local area, especially after releasing their debut EP Silver Linings. They have also been praised by major artists such as Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics for their songs driven by emotion and their unique passion when playing live. they draw influence from artists right across the spectrum such as This Town Needs Guns and some punk influence from The Subways. This combination leads to a fresh new sound, combining dirty rhythmic guitars and intricate riffs. After over two years of being together the band have gained vast knowlege wen it comes to performing live and to a high standard. Along with their EP release in February, the band have also a music video lined up for their passionately driven song "Don't Go". The boys highly anticipate the rest of 2014 and they all hope to achieve much more than what they already have.