Evaluation

As part of my of my coursework I chose to produce a promotional video and for e-media I chose to create a Twitter account and a blog.

The audio that me and the group chose to create the music video to was diegetic sound , it was James Arthur's 'Recovery' song, We chose this particular song because we felt that we could create an effective narrative music video due to the lyrics we also believed we could create awareness around the issues of depression and bullying, a prevalent problem in relation to the demographic of teenagers.

We used a variety of locations both interior and exterior to shoot the footage, these included the main character's home, the school atrium and entrance, the school diner as well as the path which leads to the school entrance to create an effective video that includes a sense of verisimilitude. As well as using a variety of locations we used a small selection of visual effects, however as a group we decided not to use too many so as not to take some of the realism away.

To film the footage we used an SLR camera and a tri-pod to ensure the footage was to a professional standard.  For the characters we used casual clothing as this gave a sense of an average person would potentially appeal to a wider audience. In addition we used a n iPhone 5s as a prop to show the messages the character received, pen and notebook and table and chairs for one particular scene where the character (Charlotte) was being bullied. The use of the right props/costume was essential in creating the representation of the characters within the video.

The lighting used at the start of the video was high-key, whereas towards the middle we chose to use low-key lighting as we wanted to portray the change in mood. To achieve this effect we used a grey filter over the footage. We used many types of camera angles such as: point of view shots when the main character was writing and when she received a message from the other character ,the bully . We also used close ups and extreme close ups when we needed to show detail for example when the main character was holding pills in her hand and also at the beginning and end when the character is seen laying on the floor with pills in her hand. Furthermore we included reaction shots which were very effective as they showed the emotions of the characters which was significant for the type of mood we wanted to create in the music video. 

 We used written codes such as the white text on the footage at the beginning and end of the music video. The text we put on was 'Recovery' and 'By Tyler Cole'. This was edited at both ends to emphasise the narrative structure of the music video.

In addition to the promotional video I worked with e-media to create a Twitter page and a blog. The Twitter page includes photographs of the artist . As per the theorist Richard Dyer mentioned how close ups of the star are crucial as they help promote their music and develop further star status. Twitter also includes updates of when the new song 'Recovery' is released and dates of upcoming tours. This provides the audience with a chance of interactivity and it gives them the ability to know the artist more as they can 'Like' the artists posts and comment. The Twitter page includes a link to the blog and the blog has a Twitter link so audiences can easily access the different sites. For the Twitter profile I have used the same colour scheme as the colours used on the blog. This provides synergy and an overall brand experience of the artist, essential in helping them as a commodity.This was done to create synergy and to emphasis this a little more I used the same images on both the Twitter account and the blog.

Whilst doing this coursework I was able to establish some strengths and some weaknesses. My strengths being that I was able to work well in a team and could confidently use the camera as a result.  In addition to this I was able to film many shots to a good standard. The areas I needed to improve on whilst filming was being able to zoom in/out of the shot at the right speed. For the editing process i was able to make some suggestions and had many ideas to input for the post-production process of the video. 

When carrying out pre-production work I found it hard to find some of the research that was required for example 'How do bands promote their band/artist . For most of my research I found it difficult to locate the right information that was needed. However the strengths of the pre-production work was that I was able to relate my research effectively to the work I was doing.

If i were to design my own print newsletter I would ensure the product used similar fonts, layouts, tone of voice and colours to the promo and e-media accounts. This will create synergy and a sense of brand between the three products. The print work would have a question and answer section with my artist so the audience can relate to them.
The newsletter would be handed out after concerts for bands of a similar genre and therefore have four dates and special offers to win tickets to gigs. There would be all social media addresses added so the audience can enjoy backstage information on the band by going to these links. 

In the post-production process I found it easy to suggest ideas to the group about material to select,however at the beginning I did struggle with trying to import the soundtrack into the Final Cut Pro software. This would be an area i would like to improve on for next time. The final outcome of our video was good in my opinion because we got to film everything and edit everything that we needed. The quality of the our music video was engaging . The audio could be heard clearly and was in time with the imagery.  As a group we achieved what we intended to which was to create a promotional video with a narrative structure.

How existing record companies promote acts