Media Evaluation Question 1

Question 1 Transcript

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

  Looking back at my A2 media coursework I believe I have successfully met the forms and conventions which are present with current music videos and digipack/magazine advert for the genre of pop music.

    My music video is the genre of pop, I chose this genre because I felt like I would be able to create a video which relates to the target audience, and by using my performer in situations/costumes and settings the audience are familiar with, I thought this would let them look up to the artist and she can be seen as a role model. I also chose the genre ‘pop’ because singers like Pixie Lott, Ellie Goulding and Jessie J inspired me to create a video like they have performed in the past.

   Throughout the planning and researching music videos I ensured I was aware of the forms and conventions of real media products, I researched into Andrew Goodwin’s theory and thought about ways in which I could incorporate this into my own music video. The theory states many factors that make up a music video, 3 of these which I felt related to my own work the most were:

-          A relationship between visuals either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting lyrics

-          Likeliness of Voyeurism

-          A demand of close up’s of main performer

These points can be shown through my music video as there is a relationship between the lyrics of the song and the visuals you see in the clips, the song tells a story and I think certain clips can be shown to illustrate this.

   Voyeurism is also typical in pop videos, my performer is dressed in clothes that are fashionable and could be seen to attract the opposite sex. The theory of the male gaze was by Laura Mulvey. Clips in my video often focus on the performers facial features like her mouth and her eyes; I think this is typical of the ‘male gaze’ theory as some shots could be seen as attractive to the opposite sex.

   I have used many close up shots of the performer to focus on her and grab the audience’s attention, I have also used mid shots to highlight her body movement and costume, and also used tracking to enable the audience watching to relate to the performer.  These shots can also be explained using Andrew Goodwin’s theory, as the close up’s show my performer is in focus and as she is the only person in the video, it’s obvious to the audience she is the most important figure.

   I also used a variety of different shots including long shots, mid shots which could show the performers body language, and extreme close ups.

   I chose my performer as I believe she fits into the ‘look’ of a pop artist and would represent this genre well; I did this by choosing clothing, makeup and styling which was stereotypical of the pop artist genre. She also performs the song well and I think the target audience would be able to identify with her.

  The mise-en-scene of music videos puts importance on the representation of something, every prop used in the video can be seen as symbolic, and it often creates a theme for the video, giving the song an extra meaning. My video consists of many different locations; all the shots are at night time, as the song is about a girl going out for one night and having fun without any stress, so the lights in the background create a relaxed and romantic feel. In the video, there is also a shot where the girl ignores her phone ringing whilst lying on her bed, this symbolises her moving on from the past, and it also enables the audience to watch her as a normal, teenage girl, many audiences can relate.

   I can also relate my music video to the theory by Levis Strauss, who came up with a ‘binary opposite’ theory and although we do not see the boyfriend in my music video, the audience can identify the performer as being the ‘hero’, and this is shown through her being the only one in the video, and he is associated as being the ‘villain’.

  Editing is also a typical convention when looking at music video. In my video, I have used many dissolving transitions from shot to shot, this created a flow and each clip fades into the next which makes it more interesting to watch. As the song tempo gets faster, I challenged my editing skills by speeding up the cuts of clips; this builds the tension in the song and video.  

    
When constructing my ancillary tasks, a digipack and magazine advert, I believe my digipack designs and magazine advert is typical of pop genre designs. I think that layout of my work is conventional of pop products; the colours are also quite feminine.

 I have used simple yet bold fonts on each design, which is typical of Pop genre to have pretty fonts like the one I chose. I have also used images of my performer as the main feature on both designs which I think is typical of pop style artwork; this can be related to Marjorie Ferguson theory, which has identified four main types of facial expressions for British women’s magazines. My pictures would fit into the ‘invitational’ type as I have created emphasis on the eyes, her mouth is shut yet slightly parted with a smile and her head is to one side. To create this I edited the images so that my performers facial features like her eyes and her mouth stood out, I think this makes the image look more invitational and this is important as it will encourage audiences to buy my products.

    On the magazine advert I feel I have used an effective amount of sell lines. I used real-life popular companies rating the CD 5 stars and with positive comments which can be seen as persuasive language to encourage my target audience to buy the CD. I also used a bold font to feature the CD ‘Out NOW’ and I also edited the image so the background was black whilst the artist stood out.