Evaluation - Question 1

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


Music Video

Key conventions of a music video can vary depending on the genre and style of the music. However, there are a number of conventions that apply to most music videos.

There are three main types of music video; narrative based, performance based and concept based. A music video involving a narrative is based around a particular storyline often following a protagonist. A performance based video is almost completely based upon shots of the artist or band performing. This involves lip-syncing to make it seem as if the artist or band were performing live. The third time of video is concept based – this type of video is often unusual and based around a single idea. For my video, I chose to use two of the three types of music video, performance and narrative. I then decided to interweave the performance with the narrative. The protagonist in the narrative is on his way to see the band in the performance shots. I felt that this added more purpose to including performance shots in my music video.

The artist often appears in the majority of music videos, either performing or having a cameo role inside a narrative. I used this convention in my video by adding the band in the performance shots, as well as using my lead guitarist in a cameo role in the narrative. I believed that having the band in the narrative as well as performance shots provided more emphasis on them, which is the overall purpose of the music video, to promote the band and their song.

Editing is a vital convention of music videos. It is important that the pace of shot cuts relates to the song (e.g. if the song has a fast tempo, the speed in which shots are cut is faster in comparison to a slower song. Jump cuts are the most predominant editing technique used in music videos. Transitions such as fade and dissolve are also very common in music videos as they create a different effect to cuts. I used jump cuts throughout my music video as I felt that they suited the style and tempo of the music, whereas fade and dissolve transitions would suit a slower song.

Music videos include a number of different types of shots, such as long shots, mid shots and close ups.  This is done to create contrast as well as to add emphasis on the artist/protagonist’s emotions and facial expressions. I have a large variation of shot types in my music video. I use a number of long establishing shots, as location has huge significance in my video.  I also use mid and close up shots to emphasise facial expressions of the protagonist.

Mise-en-scene refers to the props used in a scene for the production of a music video. For the performance side of my music video, I used a number of different props that would be used during a live gig. Props such as musical instruments, amplifiers and microphones add a sense of realism to the video. In performance style videos, costume often reflects the genre of the song. I have used this convention in mine – After researching a number of Alternative and Rock bands, I imitated these bands and dressed my actors in the same style of clothing.

Another main convention would be lighting. Lighting can have a huge effect on the appearance of the video. The use of backlighting is prominent in my music video. This produces a glowing effect on the subject, which helps attract the audience’s attention to it.

Apart from the song itself, non diegetic sound can be added to a music video if it is part of a narrative. Costume often reflects on the genre. It is an important convention because it has a slight influence on how the viewers will dress because they use some of the celebrities as role models. Colours often set the mood of a song through creating an atmosphere. During the post-production stage, I added colour correction filters to the video. I added a blue tint to the footage to give the video a ‘cinematic’ feel.

I studied Andrew Goodwin’s Music Video theory and implemented a number of his key aspects into my video. Goodwin’s theory suggests that music videos frequently demonstrate genre characteristics. As half of my music video is performance based, I incorporate a number of stage performance shots with my band.

He also states that there is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. This occurs at several points in my video. For example, shots in the rain over the lyrics “You can’t fight the feeling, and all is the same, the pouring rain”. As the song is named “Everybody’s on the run” and the chorus mainly consists of the lyrics “Hang in there love, you gotta hold on”, the bulk of my narrative is about a protagonist running through several locations in order to reach a girl. I feel that these tie into the lyrics quite well.

There is also a relationship between music and visuals – with a performance based video, the band must mime for it to appear as if they were performing live. Build-ups in the music are also illustrated in the visuals, as the climax of the narrative is reached at the same time as the Middle 8, which is often the climax of the music.

In order for record labels to promote a band or artist, they require a number of shots of the band/artist itself. I have taken this into account in my video, by making around 50% of my video close-up shots of my band members. This would help record labels promote the band easily.

6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc).

Digipak

There are a number of key conventions for a Digipak. The main ones include; a barcode, track list, record label, name of band and album, design of the CD and a spine. I have used all of these conventions in my own Digipak.

I attempted to make my Digipak appear in the same style as the genre of music of the artist. This was achieved through both Mise-en-scene and Editing. Editing of the main image of the Digipak is often one of the most important aspects as the image takes up the entire Digipak. In the post-production stage of my Digipak, I used several filters on the image itself to give it a ‘cold’ and ‘90s’ feel. This was achieved by adding a ‘light blue tint’. Mise-en-scene is also important with an image – costume, props and location provide meaning to the image and the album cover.

Poster

Key conventions for a poster include; name of the band, name of the album and the main image (if applicable). These have all been incorporated into my poster.

In order to retain a level of consistency, I made the design of the poster similar to the style of my music video. Vignettes and contrast created a reference to the use of lighting in my video. I emphasised the importance of promoting the album itself by adding the release date of the video on the poster in a large font, covering almost a quarter of the poster.