Task: What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

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

We used technology a lot throughout the process. I recognized and recorded the uses of technology I found most significant.

iMessage

As the group all owned iPhones, we decided to create an iMessage group, through which we communicated and discussed ideas. This helped keep the group organized and avoided errors of communication, especially over the holiday, where we didn't see each other.

Additionally, it allowed us to share images with each other. For example, potential costumes for the video or digipak designs.

iPhone Camera

 We used the 8-megapixel iSight in-built camera of the iPhone 5 to record all rehearsals. The iPhone's camera may not be the exact same as the cameras we used for the final video, but the quality is very good for a phone camera and allowed us to get a basic idea of what things would look like. We used it when recording the background girls and when recording Hannah roller skating.

We also used the iphone camera to record the footage which makes up the animatic as well as take photos of the potential locations for filming.

the runway photo

Camera

For the purpose of filming, we decided to use a Sony NX5 digital camera. We set it up on a tripod for most of filming, to keep the camera straight but we later took it off the tripod and use it as a handheld. This camera is very high quality and capable of shooting slow-motion, which we used for various shots, including the glitter shot at the end.

We used extreme close-ups to capture the attitude of the performer's face.

We also used wide-shots so that we could get the performer's clothes inside the shot. This is important as we wanted to stress the theme of fashion. We hooked the camera up to a screen so we could see what the footage would look like.

Wix

I found the free online Wix website editor at wix.com to be a hugely significant part of the process. Wix is a free online website editor. Without Wix, we wouldn't be able to easily make a professional website. We included a landing page with a strong image which immediately showed the viewer exactly what our performer was about.

Wix has many features which make it easy to use, including page templates, which allowed us to create a new page for a new purpose whilst keeping the same style throughout. Our priority was to keep the design as simple as possible. We put the Maria logo at the top of the page at all times, above a menu of options and a reminder that the new video is currently on YouTube.

For our photo gallery, we decided on a simple three column layout so that we could fit many photos on the same page but keep it simple at the same time.

We included a social page dedicated to fake Facebook and Instagram accounts for Maria. Social media is a huge part of a performer's communication with their fans

Adobe Premier

We used Adobe Premier to edit the video. This involved cutting the clips so that clip changes occurred on the beat as well as syncing the lyrics with the actresses mouth.

Lighting

We used various lights including a spotlight and movers (remote control lights). This added a sense of professionalism to the video and made everything look a lot nicer. We wanted to recreate the smooth background effect of the Irish Missguided advert with a faded spotlight effect.

As seen here, lighting can make a huge difference to the mood and look of a video,

The Missguided video, which we took inspiration from.

Our video. Using lighting, we tried to replicate the effect.

Website redraft

We decided that our Maria website still needed further changes and would not fulfill the criteria as it currently stood. I made several changes throughout the redraft.

1. Cutting down pages

I thought that the current site had too many pages and this made navigating it needlessly complicated. Most pop music websites (such as Kesha's) utilize a more minimalistic theme and do not have multiple pages. Additionally, the number of pages resulted in a 'more' button with only two options which was strange and awkward.

Before:

weird and awkward

After:

much better

2. Making text clearer

 Some of the text was not clear enough due to the colour, I fixed this by adding semi-transparent black boxes around it. This also made it look more interesting and stylish.

Before:

Note how difficult it is to read some of the text

After:

Now the text is all perfectly visible

3. Changing fonts

There were too many different fonts on the website, whereas we had been advised to never have more than two. I changed almost all of the fonts to 'open sans' to keep a more formulaic look to the website.

The majority of text is now in either Open Sans 19px or DIN Next Light

I also made various other minor changes including tidying up a few parts of the website that didn't look right, adding hyperlinks to the news page and making the pages more symmetrical. We discussed the possibility of changing the background image as we have received feedback that it is an unflattering image and that an out of focus shot would not be a good idea. I hope to address this in the future.

Survey Monkey Feedback

What other artists do you think this act is similar to?

1. nicki minai
2. Jessie J Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj in Bang Bang
3. grande,
4. take previous comment back - this girl is 100% the best looking
5. 07713237372 - My number for you and the actresses
6. taylor swift candy (a stripper)
7. Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, Demi Lovato
8. Tori Black
9. nelly Fertado
10. j lo
11. not sure - I'm not the target audience maybe Nicky Minaj
12. Mia Pia Looks similar to M.I.A

Who do you think this act would appeal to?

1. Teenage boys
2. Teenage boys
3. late teenage to early adult men
4. ME!!!!
5. GUYS
6. boys
7. young girls and guys
8. Teenage males
9. ages 15+
10. teenagers
11. Teenage boys
12. Teenage Girls and Boys

What does this video tell you about this act?

1. male gaze
2. They are sold on sex appeal
3. sexy, attracting male audience
4. She'll top the charts instantly
5. attractive girls
6. very "free"
7. she is a pop singer
8. It doesnt tell me much about the band
9. She is very fun, and exciting! This video gives the impression that she would be great in concert or live as her song is upbeat, and fun!
10. quite provocative
11. Dance/pop orientated, aiming at a mainstream audience
12. That the artist is young and sold on their sex appeal

Do you think this is a single artist or a girl band?

1. singl artist
2. Single artist
3. single artist
4. She may not be a single artist, but hopefully she's a single woman: From two lovely AVAILABLE lads: 07950551357 - I'm the challah challah boy x
5. single
6. single
7. single artist
8. Single artist as she was the only one singing
9. This is confusing, as I originally thought this was a solo artist as the majority of her website is dominated around her, however the first image on her website is of her and a group of girls. It is not clear whether it is a girl or boy.
10. I was confused by this as her digipack was just her yet the website has the 5 girls on it
11. solo
12. The digipak suggests that it is a single artist However the first page of the website and the video makes it seem that it could be a girl band 

What do you like most about any of the products?

1. website
2. I like the choice of actors, and the photoshoots being well done and look really nice.
3. very appealing to a large target audience
4. Star image PERFECTION!!
5. website
6. the actress
7. the colour scheme and its very chic - the front of the home page needs to change the picture of the girls could be better
8. Dont know
9. I love the digi pack! The colour scheme, the font, the anamation of the eye which fits perfectly with the album title 'eye on you'. I like that she has made a limited edition in gold.
10. the digipack is very classy and current
11. Digipak is great, not sure about website as it appears to be a girl band but the digipak suggests otherwise.
12. The digipak looks very proffesional, and the video is good because of the fast paced editing