Evaluation Question 1

Transcript:

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

There are several forms and conventions for music videos, digipaks and magazine adverts that I have researched in detail, even exploring relevant theorists such as Andrew Goodwin. During this project I have made various decisions to either conform or subvert these forms and conventions, and I have several reasons for these decisions.

In terms of music videos, initially, music videos were created to promote an artists’ song and to expose their music to their fans and broader audiences. This is still the case today, but music videos are now also made to provide audiences with a visual representation of the song. The main purpose of my music video was to enhance the song I chose by creating an interesting visual to accompany the music. Unlike some of my peers who chose their visual aspect before they chose their song, I found the song ‘Yellow Light’ by Of Monsters and Men and was inspired by the lyrics and this led to me developing my narrative.

I decided very early on in the process of planning my product that I would use a song from the genre of Indie/rock, as this genre has been becoming more popular in the music industry in the last five years. After researching the genre extensively I discovered various key conventions of the genre, such as the type of costume bands or artists of this genre tend to include in their music video. Actors featured in Indie/rock music videos have a very casual and laid-back style, many of them wearing skinny jeans, jackets and converse trainers. I decided to use this convention in my music video (my main actress is shown wearing converse trainers) and I found this helped audiences recognize which genre the music video was. Another convention in this genre I conformed to was the illustration of social issues in the music video. In relevance to my music video, the social issue of class and discrimination could be applied to the end of my music video, when a ‘thug’ in a hooded jumper runs up to the main actress and pops her last balloon. Audiences will be left wondering why this particular stereotype was used, and my reason for this was to subtly highlight the stereotypes constantly present in today’s society.

Also, while researching the Indie/rock genre I discovered that many of the music videos in this genre do not include the use of a green screen, or any special effects. Instead, they use real world settings and interesting locations for their music videos. Once again, I decided to follow this convention, and decided to shoot my music video entirely in a park, as I felt the use of nature would emphasize the delicate and positive mood the actress portrays in the narrative. I also felt that shooting entirely outside would increase the audiences’ level of entertainment, as they are following the actress in a mysterious location, and the narrative is quite ambiguous therefore the audience feel like they are being taken on a journey.

Furthermore, I discovered after much research into similar music videos from this genre that many Indie/rock bands do not even feature in their own music videos, and I followed to this convention. I focused primarily on the narrative, as Goodwin suggests that the audience make up their own idea of the message behind the song through the understanding of what happens in the music video and I wanted to highlight this by giving the audience a strong narrative. I chose to make the narrative stem from something metaphorical, as I felt that different interpretations of what the yellow balloons represented would allow my audience to develop their own understanding of the song.

Goodwin’s theory of visual relations can clearly be applied to my music video, as it highlights how the use of sound and editing is used to enhance a music video. Goodwin suggested that the cuts tend to coincide with a new beat in the song, or a change when a verse or chorus ends. He also suggests that visuals can be used to illustrate a key lyric, and I combined these two elements; I used cuts when the beat changed, and also cut to specific shots which would relate to the lyric being sung at that time. For example, when the male singer sings the lyric ‘close my eyes’, I cut to a shot of my actress closing her eyes. This was done to maximize the audiences’ entertainment, and interest, and then to maintain this attention for the whole video.

Differently, a convention from the Indie/rock genre that I challenged was the presence of a musical instrument. I decided against having my actress playing a guitar, as I felt that the use of a performance aspect would not work well with the narrative. The narrative is very focused on the characters, especially the main female character; therefore I felt a separate element with a musician playing an instrument would take away from the story being told.

Furthermore, in terms of camera angles and shots, I included several long shots, establishing shots and mid-shots in order to allow the audience to fully absorb the location and props and how they were being used. However, after gaining feedback and exploring Goodwin’s music video theory in even more depth, I decided that I needed more close-up shots, as these are a key aspect of a music video as they keep the viewer interested and engrossed throughout. Therefore, I completed a second shoot where I shot several close-ups, and this ultimately improved my music video, and gave the video more variety in terms of camera shots.

Similarly, when creating my magazine advert and digipak, I decided to look into conventions I have explored as a consumer. I also decided to include things specifically targeted at my audience, as these are the people who would be consuming the products. I included several social media links such as Twitter and Facebook pages of the band on the magazine advert in order to appeal to my target audience and consumers in general. Bands and artists use social media sites and new media technologies to gain success globally, therefore this it is key to incorporate this in my magazine advert and digipak. In addition, I have found that there is a high level of consistency between the digipak and magazine advert. This therefore influenced my decision to include a consistent colour and font scheme in both pieces of work, as well as very similar main images used for my magazine advert and digipak front cover. I also imitated this convention by using the key prop of the yellow balloons throughout both print works as it gives the audience consistency and also makes the band’s style recognizable, as well as it becoming a key piece of iconography. I really wanted audiences to associate this yellow balloon with the band and their song, as it is a symbol for hope and happiness, and I think I have achieved this by incorporating these balloons throughout the digipak and magazine advert.

Furthermore, I demonstrated consistency repeatedly by using images of the same actress, in the same costume that she wore for the video shoot. I chose to do this in order to make the audience instantly recognize the actress, and furthermore the song by the band.