evaluation advanced portfolio

Media Evaluation

Priyanka Chawla

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


I started off by researching various types of adverts, and one of the most apparent patterns was that the same protagonist was used, in order for the brand image to become familiar to consumers. The use of sound was very significant also because it was usually a specific type of jingle that was used, each brand had their signature sound that made the brand recognisable and catchy to the consumers.

At this point now that I had gained general research regarding adverts, I began to do more specific research on adverts based on perfumes, because they are slightly different. The main thing that perfume adverts are aiming towards are more towards selling a type of feeling rather than the actual product. They are selling what one wants to gain from a product. Most of the time what women look for in a perfume is to feel pretty, sensual, attractive and fresh, a boost of confidence. Therefore the way in which an advert is created has to be crafted in a way to represent a specific ideology and focus on creating that feeling for consumers.

Mise- En- SceneAdvert one and two lightingThe lighting of perfume adverts are quite dependant on the type of emotion that perfume

is intending to give. My perfume is supposed to make a woman feel confident, strong, beautiful and sensual. This type of a perfume advert, generally had low key lighting, but I filmed it with natural lighting, so I was able to adjust the lighting specifically to how I wanted it to be during the editing process. As a result I decided to put a black and white filter over my frames.

Costume When it came to looking at the costume, for the protagonist to look poise and well put

together many adverts go for a dress, but not a short dress, because that wouldn’t represent a classy image, therefore my actress, wore a royal green, below the knee dress, that was high neck in order to emphasise class. I didn’t want to challenge this costume ‘regulations’ because in my opinion I thought this type of approach was best fitting for my advert and the type of image I wanted to portray. However in my second advert I challenged the conventions slightly I did this by giving the protagonist a slightly more edgy look, by her wearing high waisted trousers and a slightly embellished cami. I felt by doing this my perfume became more accessible and relatable to various types of consumer age range, and different personalities.


TV advert SoundThe general idea I had gained from the sound in adverts that it was meant to be catchy, yet enticing at the same

time, one of the main purposes was to attract the audience and ensure that the tune would stick in their minds, therefore continually reminding them of the product. For my advert the non- diagetic sound I had used was quite fitting for the tone of the advert, as it enhanced the enticing mood and engages the audience. The style of music has a smooth jazz approach, slow with elements of a strong beat, giving the consumer a boost of confidence. In order to keep the synergy between my adverts, I kept the sound the same throughout each and every one of the adverts.

CameraI believe that my camera style followed the conventions of a perfume advert quite closely, as I felt this type of style

was most suitable and actually helped with the narrative and flow of the advert. This type of approach is what I would call the ‘in the footsteps of the character’ approach. So as you can tell by the name, it pretty much follows closely every move of the character. This type of camera style was nicely represented

J’adore Dior fragrance, very similar in the way that they are both low angle shot of the lower leg, deemed the elegant part to be on show. The idea of watching their footsteps, increasing the suspense of what the next part of the narrative will be. The only convention I challenged in comparison to this advert was to make this black and white because it is what I believed matched my use of sound.

My advert was quite inspired by this Dior advert, because I felt it was the advert that was attempting to convey the same message as I intended, strength, beauty simplicity, confidence. Therefore the camera angles and shots were quite similar. This is another example of a shot I used. This mid front facing shot emphasises dominance and confidence, the sense of ‘looking into the eye’ not being afraid.


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

If there is one thing I had noticed between radio adverts (ancillary text) and the main text, is that there is always a synergy, between them. the reason there is a synergy is so that ultimately there is a form of connection between the two. By having some sort of connection, consumers can see the links and will soon become more and more familiar with the product. There is continuity within the brand increasing brand recognition, giving viewers more of a push to try the product out.

I began the synergy with the use of sound, for the main text and ancillary text I used the same non diagetic sound, so that when consumers heard the advert on the radio, after watching it on TV, they will be more likely to recognise the advert and will be more inclined to listen to the advert. As a result the continuity has caused recognition of the brand increased the awareness.

Another form of synergy within my two pieces is that the advert is explicitly advertising what my brand is about. The opening line of the advert starts as ‘independence, beauty, simplicity’ this emphasises, what I want the perfume to do. Make the consumer feel, beautiful and strong. The lyrics emphasise what people see on screen.

The synergy continued between my sponsorship advert and my main texts. LightingFor both adverts and the sponsorship advert, I had filmed them in natural

lighting then added a black and white filter, this continuity would almost become a signature look for the brand. By having this signature look, it will make it a familiar to everyone. The black and white filter adds a simplistic touch to my adverts, the simplistic touch was followed through with the rest of the advert, because I didn’t use many props, because I felt like if there was too much going on it would take from the real message of the advert. Therefore by having a minimal amount of props I was able to connote that you do not need many accessories in order to feel good about yourself. You just need one accessory the fragrance ‘La Belle’.

The final aspect is regarding the camera, my camera use and style was very much similar with both of my adverts and the sponsorship advert. All three media texts, adopted a ‘following the footsteps’ of the the protagonist. Giving you a sense of walking in their shoes, making you believe that you as a consumer is also able to feel that way.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?


Creating an audience survey is a significant part of being able to effectively critisise my production piece and to know if my media text attracted and engaged the audience. therefore I created my survey on Google docs, by doing so I was able to electronically summarise my data, making it easier for me to analyse my work as a whole. Another positive aspect of creating my survey online, was that it was much easier to get a higher number of responses, this is because I would be able to post it on social media websites such as, Twitter and Facebook.

The questionnaire I had created was based entirely on my adverst, rather than adverts in general, the reason I had chosen to do this was so that I could get a specific understanding as to what the positive and negative aspects of my adverts were.


The first question I had asked was whether people enjoyed watching my advert. The majority of responses I had received was positive feedback. This was a positive and reassuring start to my advert because it demonstrates that, whatever I was trying to achieve from my adverts, had been successful. I wanted to engage with my audience and I wanted my adverts to appeal to the, and according to my audience survey that is exactly what I had achieved.


My main aim for my slogan and logo was to keep it simple and appealing to the audience, over 50% of the audience remebered my slogan and logo, however I had to ask my self why I wasn’t memorable to everyone. After looking back at my work and produce I had thought that perhaps my logo and slogan was too simplistic for the audience to remember, so I believe if I were to do this again, I would experiment further on how to make a memorable yet simplistic slogan and logo. I may also conduct an audience survey on various options of my logo choices in order to see what type appeals to my audience more.


My aim was for my advert to represent a high class brand, 50% of my audience did believe that I had a high class brand, because of advert one and the radio advert, however the rest of my audience didn’t think it was a high class brand. I looked back at my work to see why exactly it wouldn’t have represented a high class brand. My conclusion was that possible my back ground locations were not exactly extravagant that may have represented a high class brand. Therefore I had made not that if I were to do this again I would give my self more time in order to find those extravagant locations that would allow me to film a high class looking advert.


It was important for me to know which advert was most preferred, because I could then know which one worked best, then go back and look into what I had done differently with that specific advert, and then know for my future projects what I could do to improve and ensure all of my productions are consistent. From the information I had gathered I have noticed that the majority of my audience had preferred my first main advert or my radio advert, i looked back at why this may have been the case and I concluded that overall feel of the advert was just attractive and inviting.


One of the most important aspects was to ensure that all of my adverts linked and that there was some form on continuity, and I had received 100% positive feedback on my continuity which means that my logos and slogans though not being 100% memorable, made it easier to see the links between the adverts. However, despite the clear links, according to my survey it wasn’t 100% clear on the concept of my advert. Therefore if I were ever required to advertise a perfume again I would have to slightly more detailed research on how to advertise a perfume more effectively so the concepts are clearer to a consumer.


Finally the last question I had asked was what aspects was most appealing, and the results were that most people found the music most appealing. I believe this aspect is most important as it rounds off the advert and assists the narrative to move along, also the repetitive jingle would stick in the audiences mind, and make them more aware and familiar with the advert.

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


Throughout my media product I was required to use many different types of technology, in order to complete my planning, construction and evaluation stages.

The main technology that we used throughout the year was Blogger. This website was used, in order to keep track on every stage of our coursework. Making regular posts regarding research and planning. By using this particular website I was able to make positive and negative comments on my work, which then allowed me to stay on track, in order to know what improvements were needed. By staying on track and critiquing my work often, I was able to analyse my work and then as a result then, when it came to the point where I needed to write my evaluation, I could easily pick up bits of information regarding my coursework, that would be valuable to write about in the evaluation. Blogger was also extremely useful because it was like a personal journal for my coursework, this was helpful because if ever I was to forget a code or convention or a specific Idea I had, I was able to quickly and efficiently look back at blogger where all of my ideas were written down and all research regarding adverts was in various posts. As a result, blogger was a useful piece of media technology towards my coursework as it helped me stay on task.

Another type of media technology that was significant to my coursework over all, was Youtube. Youtube was useful within every aspect, research, planning and post production. During the reseach process, I relied a lot on youtube, because I was able to watch various perfume adverts and analyse the codes and conventions of it from there. This was efficient because I was given visual aid, and along with visual aid comes inspiration and ideas that I could have used for my own piece of work. It also gave me insight as to certain things not to include within my media text.

Along with analysing the videos off youtube, I was also able to embed the videos on to my blog post, so that when It came to reading the analysis I could clearly see what I had beem referring too.

Finally when it came to uploading my final pieces, I uploaded them to you tube and then embedded them onto my blog.



Google drive was also an extremely useful media technology as it allowed me to electronically construct my surveys and analyse them, which made the whole process a lot more efficient for me as I was not concerned about loosing bits of paper and valuable data for my final production piece.

Adobe premier was where I did all of my editing for my final pieces, initially I wasn’t familiar with this particular software, however because I had background knowledge on editing so far, I was able to find my feet very quickly with the software. I was also confident with it this year as I learnt how to effectively use it during my AS media coursework.

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation

stages?

• The final piece of software I am going to talk about is photoshop. This media technology was completely new to me this year, so it proved difficult to begin with but over time I learnt through the process of trial and error in order to learn how it functioned. I also had watched some youtube tutorials online which gave me a step by step guide as to how it work, this also demonstrates another aspect as to where youtube was helpful towards my whole production process.

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