Question 1A Revision Creativity

Question 1A Revision

Creativity

How creative do you think you were in the decisions you made when creating your c/w?

AS

A2

As we were told that we only really had to be creative for the evaluation, my research, planning and production pages weren’t presented as creatively as my evaluation because of this, thus impacting the overall creativity of the coursework. However, I did try to present these aspects as creatively as I could. For example, I used bright, eye catching boxes when I analysed the music magazines, instead of a long essay that wouldn’t have been as appealing. I also stumbled upon a widget that displays photos in a create way, so I thought that I would create a main research page with three of these widgets on them where pictures of the magazines would revolve and thus look more visually appealing than simply text and images on a page, which I thought was really creative. I also felt like I had presented my media theory well as I chose to present it creatively as a page from a notebook rather than just text on a page. Some aspects, were of course not as creative, but I did try to follow my chosen website colour scheme of blue and yellow and I tried to make it as appealing as possible. My planning wasn’t as creative as, due to the content, it did involve a lot of text and only some images, such as my choice of location and location recce. My production pages again were not creatively displayed, but they did have my finished product on them so their purpose was to only display this. The way in which I presented my evaluation was the most creative as I had to really think about how I was going to answer the questions to a high standard as well as presenting them creatively. I decided to use Prezi for questions 4 and 7 as there was a lot to write for them and they both needed supporting images and by deciding to use Prezi meant that I could do this creatively as I could also chose the colours, paths, text, the size of certain aspects etc. I could have also used Prezi for question 1, but as I had already used it twice and we could only be creative with the evaluation, I didn’t want to use it again, so I decided to make a video which involved recording me writing out my answer to question 1 and at the end I had included images of the pieces of paper, along with supporting images of my product. I was quite proud of the idea as I felt like it was creative, however I also think that in hindsight, the footage of mw writing the answer out wasn’t needed – especially as you couldn’t see what I had written when recording/ watching it back. The creative decisions I made for creating my actual product were reliant on magazine conventions as if I didn’t follow these then my product wouldn’t look professional. I also had to make sure that every creative decision that I made was appealing for my target audience as if they didn’t like it then in a professional context it wouldn’t sell. However, I think I was still creative taking this into context as I chose a bright and eye-catching colour scheme that was suitable for a mainstream audience and both boys and girls. In terms of the pictures that were used I made sure that I alluded towards magazine conventions like the male gaze as I used a female model but I also wanted a personality to come through. I could also chose what images I wanted to use in the final product, thus allowing me to be more creative in some sense, but restricted as well as I really wanted it to look professional. I think that my least creative page was my contents page as it primarily involved text and due to its nature did have to look a certain way. However, I think that I could have been more creative as it is fairly basic and it isn’t as unique as NME’s or Q’s contents pages. I felt that I was really creative for my double page spread – especially my second page where I had two images on one page as I felt that it looked authentic, but again I did have to ensure that I followed media conventions, thus restricting my creativity again.

I think the decisions we as a team made when presenting our research, planning, production and evaluation pages were a lot more creative as we were told to make every aspect of our coursework as creative as possible. For our research we used a mixture of Prezi and Glogster and videos as we could easily incorporate text and images. We also used more and different technologies like online timelines and iMovie to cater for our audience research and our research into the history of R’n’B, which was more creative than the decisions I had to make for AS due to the fact that we weren’t creative at all. We used Prezi and Glogster a lot throughout our coursework as it was a creative way for doing and presenting most of our tasks, so in a sense, we were more creative for our entire coursework, but also less creative as we primarily used these two to present our work. However, we did use more videos – especially for our planning, such as our costume videos and storyboard of our music video. In terms of our product we were extremely creative as we decided to record our own version of the song and then use it for the video. We also chose the props, costumes, locations and shots used in our video, thus giving us creative control as if we wanted to convey the boy and girl being more in love we would include more two-shots into the video. As for the software we used to edit the video, due to the amount of effects on there we could brighten or darken the lighting of the shots to convey a different mood – bright lights for happiness and dark lights for sadness. We also increased the speed and reversed some shots, however, the speed tended to increase when the tempo of the track did too, thus following conventions rather than our own creative decisions. Again, most of the video did rely on R’n’B music video conventions as we wanted it to look authentic so the creative decisions that we made were heavily reliant on this fact and we constantly made sure that it was too. For example, in the dance scene we used gym clothes that were easy to move around in, which Cheryl did in her video. The male protagonist also wore snap backs and nike trainers which is popular R’n’B fashion. Magazine advert ·         Again heavily reliant on conventions ·         Male gaze ·         Girly and bright colour scheme – pop R’n’B ·         Model had to be main focus ·         Text = same as digipack ·         Conventions – date, name of artist, website ·         Could chose the text – BUT final text depended on what our audience said Bus advert ·         Same text as digipack and magazine advert – artist awareness ·         Same images as digipack and magazine advert “””” Digipack ·         Heavily reliant on conventions ·         Some creativity ·         Felt like we weren’t as creative – just images of our artist in similar poses, no lyrics ·         HOWEVER we did do it in a pop art style with a purple section – some creativity ·         AND we had a tiled section ·         Conventions –name of artist, album name, song list, legal info ·         Could chose the text – BUT final text depended on what our audience said Merchandise ·         Pictures of the artist – original purpose ·         Use of same text of digipack and advert ·         Follow conventions to

Did the technology enhance your creativity or not?

(see notes on digital technology)

AS

A2

·         Blog/ website o   Could make new pages/ my own website o   Could chose the colours used o   Font o   wide range of templates o   links o   organise and present work in a really creative way that was appealing to look at. o   could easily change the font – its size and colour o   professional ·         BUT o   complicated - create pages + link these pages together o   crashed Slideshare ·         Not creative – used so Flickr Facebook questionnaires Film and upload to YouTube (audience questionnaires and feedback) Vlogs Xtranormal Prezi Glogster Flickr Post it not animation Facebook questionnaires Film and upload to YouTube (audience questionnaires and feedback) Vlogs Xtranormal Prezi Glogster

Slideshare ·         Not creative – used so Flickr Facebook questionnaires Film and upload to YouTube (audience questionnaires and feedback) Vlogs Xtranormal Prezi Glogster Flickr Post it not animation Facebook questionnaires Film and upload to YouTube (audience questionnaires and feedback) Vlogs Xtranormal Prezi Glogster Photoshop InDesign Windows Movie Maker Windows Gallery Editor

What ideas did you communicate and what stylistic techniques did you use? How did it relate to your interests/vision of identity?

AS

A2

·         Mainstream magazine o   Bright colours – attract attention – unisex colour scheme – won’t single out one particular gender – also quite youthful – meets may target audience o   Male gaze – constantly looking at the camera. High angle shot – inferior to some extent o   Pull quote – direct from the artists – can tell that the main article is on her + name tells the audience who she is o   Use of popular musicians – The Vaccines, Emile Sande, Coldplay etc – dated to this time last year as well – mainstream – keeps up with popular music o   Bold text – capitals – draw in attention – popular atm – follows mainstream theme - everything was BEBAS, neou thin or Arial – not to be confusing + realistic ·         Front cover o   Slanted text – like NME – another mainstream magazine o   Flash – interest the reader in other aspects of the magazine – one time parts o   Lists of popular musicians at the bottom – interest the reader – make them read more – fills up space – differentiation in colour makes it more eye-catching and follows colour scheme without being ott o   Artist names on the side with the teasers alternating between black and white – eye-catching and thus more appealing to their audience.. blue and red = people featured in the magazine = doesn't confuse the reader and thus makes the magazine seem good because it has so many celeb's in it – differentiation could be confusing o   Model in the middle with surrounding text – main focus of attention – magazine is clearly about her ·         Contents page o   Simpler colour scheme – not as complicated as front cover – not its purpose – still bright for continuity + target audience o   Had page number – article title then underneath teaser o   Headings – make it more organised – white font on blue box o   Two columns – easy to read ·         Double page spread 1 o   Simple – introduction page o   Only had article title and then plug – draw the reader in o   Close-up shot of the artists on the floor – male gaze o   Artist looking directly at the camera – directly addressing them – audience can feel more involved o   Guitar prop – suitable for a music magazine – tells us about the artist – plays acoustic guitar ·         Double Page Spread 2 o   Use of different images in different positions – different personality? – image on the left conveys a wild side similar to the first double page spread – continuity o   Tells us something about the audience as well – wild, young and rebellious o   Pull quote – shows the audience that she’s modest – more likeable o   Text follows outline of the image – media convention o   Black banner at the bottom of the page with her name and page number – media convention ·         Double Page Spread 3 o   Smiling – fun person – reflects audience/ readers as well – they want to have fun etc o   #your questions – youthful identity – use modern technology – constantly wanting to stay up to date etc

Music video ·         Fast forward and backward – fast paced like the song ·         Slo- mo – couple running + artist running down the leafy alley at the beginning – slower tempo – happy + dreamlike – we found love in a hopeless place ·         Jump cuts – follow the upbeat tempo of the song ·         Black and white dance scene – contrast between the lightness of the other scene in the video – she’s away from him – connotes sadness ·         Close-up shots of the artists singing – emphasis that she is the star ·         Close up shots of the couple – show that they are in love ·         End shot – close-up on the couple about to kiss and then the camera goes up – light – happy – follows song lyrics ·         Fastforwards and backwards in the limo – them getting in and out + champagne glass ·         Fast cuts between this and the lights – fast tempo – fun – reflects target audience – go out and have fun Digipack ·         Pop art style – similar to the song ·         Confetti coming out of her mouth – outspoken ·         Bright colour scheme – pink, purple, red – love + artists favourite colour ·         All pictures of her – gives her a big presence like Beyonce ·         List of songs, legal info and producers – makes it look authentic Magazine  Advert 1 ·         Black + white and sepia – emphasise her mouth – outspoken ·         Grid like style similar to tiles on digipack ·         Outspoken is white like on the digipack – continuity – also most dominant – people can easily recognise it ·         Not too cluttered – one image and some text – simple + eye-catching Magazine  Advert 2 ·         Same image used on digipack but in pink instead ·         Pink album title – follow theme + looked better than white – font itself is very R’n’B – wanted to convey this – makes the artists look like she has attitude as well Merchandise ·         Tops have album/ magazine advert images on them – promotes the album o   Also have one with pink background and white writing saying outspoken – weares can chose to wear this if they also feel like they are outspoken ·         Badges “I am outspoken” – fans can relate by labelling themselves as outspoken

Was your product influenced by your social environment?

AS

A2

The artists and some of the headlines/ stories used were ·         Summer o   Festivals – Reading - Foo o   Olympics ·         Contemporary artists o   Gotye o   Emeli Sande o   The Vaccines I also mentioned some of the artists I liked ·         Biffy Clyro ·         Foo Fighters “free music download – I personally like getting/ trying free music – makes me interested in a new artist/ band – encourages me to buy their album

Song = popular Like the genre of music As a group not all of it was my personal interest though What youths like – snap backs – crop tops – leggings – Hollister – shorts and tights

Was this original or did you add something extra to an original media text?

AS

A2

Original – but based on conventions ·         Erratic colour scheme ·         I was heavily influenced by NME as I wanted it to have a bold impact but still come across as girly. Blender was girly + a bit boring o   Tilted article title o   Similar blue o   Not as many flashes o   More red than white ·         Contents o   Doesn’t look specifically like any of the contents pages I’ve used but I was influenced – Q’s headings o   Arranged into columns like Spin and Vibe ·         Double page spread o   1st page – image covers both pages like the unnamed one o   But having two images on one page was my idea o   3rd page – her on the right like NME

Original - but based on conventions ·         Video o   bright lights – limo and fairground – happiness + youth – also in pop videos o   Couple in love o   Dance scene – in R’nB videos ·         Magazine Adverts o   Bright colours – pop o   Male gaze o   Close-up shot – emphasises her as an artist o   Font – graffiti – used in R’n’B ·         Digipack o   Bright colours o   Own idea to have leaves spilling from her mouth

Would you take any creative skills into future projects or have you been influenced to engage these skills in any other projects?

AS	A2
Would use InDesign more and Photoshop if I could, but I only use it in Media so I can’t	Again I only use the software in media, however I do take art and am interested in art in general so I do use creative skills. However, i have found myself using photoshop more – especially editing photos.