Album Cover Research

I have created a Tumblr on which I will collect images of album artwork as part of my research:

http://alicehoara2mediaresearch.tumblr.com/

Preliminary Activity Evaluation: Question 1

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

The media product we produced during the preliminary activity used many conventional forms such as the 180 degree rule, shot/reverse shot conversations and matches on action.
Our 'The Kills' Music Video group preliminary product also followed conventions, one way in which it did this was in the pre-production stage. During the pre-production process we followed conventional strategy; storyboarding the separate shots from the original video. We numbered each shot and drew out the framing and positioning of both props and people within the shots. We also wrote down the lyrics for shots containing singing and recorded the duration of the shot as well as the start and end times from within the original music video.
After this, we created a shot list, using the numbers allocated to each shot to group together similar shots for ease during filming, this allowed us to quickly see what could be filmed and decide where and when we would film the certain sections without moving back and forth to different types of shots and props. All this use of conventional planning helped to ensure an easier production stage.
We did however also have unconventional areas within the product, for example: lack of range in setting/location as many music videos do typically contain multiple sets. The structure of the video is also unconventional as it does not have a clear structure or specific order  within the shots, this is due to having no storyline/narrative and consequent lack of a typical beginning, middle and end structure.

Preliminary Activity Evaluation: Question 2

1. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

The combination of our main product and ancillary texts was effective because it showed clearly what improvements/changes we would make within the main product in comparison to the ancillary product.
After the completion of my main product I felt I had significantly improved in several areas.
One of the main improvements was in pre-production; within my main product I planned a lot more thoroughly to ensure several specific shots, props and angles were used. In my ancillary product I did not do this as well, which meant the continuity of the final product was poor and was more spontaneous and improvisational. We also improved our organisation as a group by creating a props list and allocating responsibility of sourcing props, and specific roles such as director, camera and sound as well as the singer and guitarist within the video.
Having the shot list, which enabled us to film in sections, also helped us to organise props by allocating certain filming sessions to shots with certain props in.

Preliminary Activity Evaluation: Question 3

1. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Our audience feedback taught us that using a better range of locations may have improved the overall look of the video and its authenticity; for example, the outdoor shots could have been done in a different setting to improve variation within the final product.

Preliminary Activity Evaluation: Question 4

1. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

During construction, research, planning and evaluation we used many media technologies.
Within the production process, we filmed using digital cameras to record seperate shots on to a memory card which we then transferred in order to edit the footage on the computer. We then used Adobe Premier Elements film editor to cut the shots and put them together in the final cut.