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

 

What Is A Focus Group?

In order to get back some useful feedback from a variety of audiences it is helpful to hold a focus group. This means devising a good ammount of questions about our video which will cause debate controversity about our video.

There are two different types of questionaires; firstly there is the type of questionaire which only requires a 'yes' or 'no' answer, this is called a closed questionaire. It allows us as a group to easily create statistics.

Below is a spoof video of the 'very first focus group' for The Wizard of OZ. Now although this is only a joke for the expense of the Oscar Awards, the principle is the same; a collection of people to share thoughts and ideas.

Here is a screen grab.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh6mCImeylE

YouTube Statistics

We looked at the statistics of views generated from our music video via YouTube. We discovered that the majority of views were 13-17 year old females and that our video was not popular with the older generation and neither particularly men.


This statistic table proves the all round views of people who are signed up to a youtube account and can share personal details. This means that we are able to discover who a selection of people are that watch our video.

This proves that our concept proved effective as we were targetting largely a female based audience due to the sexualised nature of femininity projected through our video.

We also were able to look at where our video was most viewed around the world and found that up to 3/4 of the viewers were from the UK. A lot of the viewers were strangely enough Italian but it's proved through these statistics that our video is most popular in Europian countries due to its techno music style and British filming.

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

Image 1: Digipak



It is clear that from the two album covers presented here we were inspired by luminous lighting and a dance/alternative look. Our main idealistic artist for this is a pop group called 'The Land' which I have previously presented in my blog.
We wanted to keep the background dark to contrast the luminous colours such as pink, purple, orange and green. This also greatly flatters our artist as much as it does the girl on the covour of the 'The Land'.
The two girls are very differently lit. 'The Land' has chosen to light their model in a brighter, more exposing light. However we have chosen to show our artist more concealed and shadowed. She also blends in with the colours more as all she has for lighting is the inflatables.
Both digipaks example edgy and fun scenery. 'The Land' have chosen to use small houses to create a circle around their model which is intrigueing and unconventional. She is also dressed and surrounded by white which symbolises purity and innocence. Our girl is surrounded by dark colours through her hair and clothes giving her an element of mystery and seduction.


Image 2: Digipak Back Cover

The back cover of our digipak is simple, interesting and mirrors the artists image well through the inflatable on the side and the visually luminous colours. We looked at other artists who's back cover of their album similarly mirrored this; simplistic labelling of the song title and subtle art work.

 

 

Image 3: Still From Video

When comparing these two stills, one being Cleo Ida lip syncing from our music video, the other Rihanna from her video 'Diamonds', we recognise that both the artists have been highlighted as the main attraction due to the darkness surrounding them. The low key lighting adds tones of uncertainty, rebellion and mirrors their star image and the song.

This low key lighting exemplifies the convention of darkness that the artists wished to convey.

 

 

Image 4: Stil From Video

 Because our video is very unconventional due to the fact that it openly discusses the topic of lesbianism, we didn't want to outrageously flaunt the subject by making it raunchy and innaproprite. Instead we tried to make it as suggestive as possible by making the audience aware of the situation rather than taccily displaying homosexuality in a desireable and sexually based way.

This is well portrayed in Christina Aguilera's 'Beautiful' when we see a suggestive scene between to homosexual men.

 

 



Merchandise

We have drafted up some merchandise of which we think will look really good for our website but also will hopefully help to promote her but also personalise her with her fans more. Selling merchandise highlights her stardom and allows fans to have a piece of her and share her fame. We also have been experimenting with it by using range of colours and fonts to give the artist variety and versatility.

Website Update

We are still in the middle of editing our website. Today we focused on the 'tour' section and posted some of the places she would be touring next. We also added in a button with a link attached to it, so the 'BUY NOW' allows fans to go to ticket master to purchase tickets instantly.

Decision Making

Some of the crucial decisions made:

• To cut the song down in order to allow a narrative to be successfully told without drawing it out so much that it takes too long and becomes boring
• to show the opening story in one sequence of shots rather than splitting it up with studio shots
• We made important decisions about the order of events occurring.
• When to introduce the main characters. The second girl is introduced about a 3rd in to the video before we are shown the couple meeting with friends and the narrative starting to unfurl
• We tried our best to get camera time of certain characters more than others in order to portray they importance.
• A contrast between the heterosexual relationships and the homosexual relationships. The anger, violence and fear of the couple together juxtaposed with the happiness than ensues once the two girls hook up.
• Similarly while the girls are starting to become closer and closer through the video we've added heterosexual couples becoming involved and sexual with one another.