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

Media Evaluation

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

Well lit and accurate mise-en-scene
for the pop genre

In every music video conventions are used, developed and challenged but this does depend on the genre of the music video. The main conventions of music videos are fast cutting- fast-cutting shots which should rarely last more than three seconds, the shots should be well lit- this depends on the genre, accurate mise-en-scene which fits the genre and lastly a wide variety of shots- a wide variety of shots – but particularly close ups and extreme close ups.

The theorist Andrew Goodwin identified a number of conventions that music videos should follow. These conventions include-

-          There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.

Artist Lady Gaga which is in the pop
genre

-          There is a relationship between the music and the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music.

-          Genres are complex and diverse in terms of music, video style and iconography.

-          Voyeurism is present in many music videos, especially in the treatment of females, but also in terms of systems of looking.

-          Inter textual references

Many of these features are present in music videos depending on the genre of the song and the aim of the record company and/or artist.

The genre of our music video is pop. From my research which I completed earlier in the year there were many conventions which I established for the pop genre. Music videos which are in the pop genre usually are very good at appealing to the audience.

Different shots from my music video-
shows a mid, close up and an
extreme close up

-          There is usually a simple narrative or story which intercuts between the singing and performance.

-          Through pop videos the artist engages the audience by using a select of different camera angles and shots, for example, close up shots of the artist’s lips or eyes.

-          Pop music videos are also used to illustrate the meaning of lyrics and visualise the music, there is usually a direct link to the narrative and the song.

-          When editing pop music videos they’re usually edited to the beat or rhythm of the song, for example, if the song is upbeat there will be quick cuts to illustrate this.

Shows a screenshot of my music
video

In the industry the music video is a fundamental tool in selling the artist, so it is important that the artist’s image is well represented throughout the music video. Therefore this means that the mise-en-scene is an important part in selling the artist. All of these conventions listed above are important in selling the artist’s videos.

Showing my two ancillary texts- shows font/style,
colours, positions of objects and special
effects- black and white

Artists which I researched and chose to follow the
conventions

Visuals are an important part to the production. Visuals include images of the artist, the font/style, colours and positions of objects and special effects used- black and white. We chose to follow these conventions as they work successfully for well-known artists in the industry, such as Adele and Katy Perry. In both of our ancillary texts we used the special effects which were black and white images. We conformed to this convention as we used black and white throughout our music video, as we believed this added more to the video and looked better in black and white than in colour. We followed this theme throughout as this will allow the audience to relate to the artist. The colour black and white also shows the mood of the artist and the song choice.Black and white was used in both the ancillary texts and the music video. We also used the same font throughout the ancillary texts as this shows a strong link between one another and therefore when the audience sees the magazine advert this can be related to the digipak. We used the colour white for the text as this relates to the black and white theme which is running through all of our texts. Even though the images are black and white I think the colour white stands out on the images. Also, the colour white shows no emotion as it is very plain which relates to our sad song choice.

Text on the magazine advert, from our ancillary text

According to Andrew Goodwin’s theory there should be a strong link between the visuals and the track. As the song which we used had quite sad and emotional lyrics we tried to show this in the three texts by using strong images. I think throughout all three texts have successfully done this and this is recognised to the audience.

Camerawork

Image showing our digipak- Can see the different
angles and shots used, therefore being able to
see the emotion shown in the face. In our digipak
we adhered to conventions of pop genre. 

When completing the three texts our main aim was to advertise and promote the artist. We used a variety of shots and angles in order to frame the artist. On the magazine advert we angled the artist looking away from the camera so that the audience will be able to see the emotion on her face which therefore relates to the song. In the digipak we used a selection of different shots and angles. We shot the images in mid shots, long shots and close ups. This gives the digipak a dynamic edge and shows a variety of emotions from the images. After researching into conventions of pop music videos, we recognised that shots should rarely last more than 3 seconds, knowing this we used fast cutting throughout out music video and mainly throughout we tried to ensure that we adhered to this convention and had quick, sharp cuts throughout. Also, throughout our music video we tried to use a wide variety of shots as this is also a convention of pop music videos. Throughout all three texts we have tried to incorporate a wide variety of shots to adhere to this convention. In all three texts we used similar if not the same images in order to get the artist in the public eye and hopefully this will help with the advertising.

Setting and location

Shows one of our locations which we used- Highfields

From our initial audience research we found that our audience like music videos which are set in a variety of locations. To make this continuous, within our digipak, magazine advert and music video we used different locations and took images in these locations to use in our ancillary texts. The locations which we used were an outside location in a back garden, Highfields- for the stepping stones instrumental, inside a bedroom and in a studio. In our initial planning we only planned to use one location but after filming we realised that we would not have enough footage from this location to form our complete music videoand interesting and also this retains the audience’s attention throughout. In my opinion setting the music video in different locations helps it stay realistic and believable.

Shows our outside location- Tom's
grandmas garden

Costumes and props

When choosing the costumes and props to use we had to think about our genre, we dressed the actress in colourful dresses, this represents the pop genre as pop artists are usually dressed in bright clothing. In both our ancillary texts especially our digipak we have incorporated this. On one of the panels of the digipak we incorporated this, we had the artist standing in different locations wearing two different outfits, which represents the pop genre star image (Shown in the image)I think we have successfully portrayed our actress as a pop artist and have allowed the audience to recognise this.

Shows some of the mise-en-scene
which we use on our digipak

In conclusion, I think we have adhered to alot of the pop genre conventions in all three texts and therefore not challenged or gone against any conventions. We did this as successful pop artist do this and they are very successful. By following these conventions I think we have produced three successful texts.