Evaluation Question 1

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

Before I created my music video, it was important for me to research the standard formats and conventions of such products, so that I would be able to do the job properly. I found that the following things are what music videos typically include;

• Establishing shots
• Diegetic intros/outros 
• Enigma codes
• Fade transitions 
• Shot types & variation
• Continuity editing (e.g. following the 180 degree rule)
• Focus on a main character/(s)
• Mise-en-scene & Verisimilitude
• Possible mix of sound/music (diegetic & non-diegetic)
• Editing (e.g. to the beat)
• Narrative 

From this, I made my music video to include the majority of these aspects. For example, my video follows a narrative that focuses on a main character; I connote this with my use of establishing shots in the diegetic intro that sets up the video. The opening sequence uses enigma codes as the protagonist's face is obscured by a mask, a motif that creates continuity throughout the video as the girl in the mask is maintained as the focus through my use of varying shot-types (e.g. close-ups); she is present in both the story/'memories', and the contemplative projection scenes, making her the link to it all as the focus us on her. 

My intro and outro are diegetic as they feature the sound of the river in the scene. I even use the common convention of the fade transition to bridge between the intro, the music video, and the outro. 

All in all, my music video follows all the most common conventions and the format of typical music videos, making it appropriate and understandable to my audience. 

Transcript

For both my main and ancillary products, I have conformed to the codes and conventions of the ‘Dark Pop’ Alternative and Indie genres. From my research into these genres I was able to use my findings to influence the style in which I created my music video.

For example, the typical amalgamation of conventions that this hybrid of genres includes are as follows:

-Abandoned places, devoid of other people – empty buildings, forests, deserts etc.

-Unfocused style of filming

-Mix of performance and ‘story acting’

-Manipulation of light

-Colour themes – e.g. red to connote love, blood, pain etc.

-Unusual clothing, make-up – makes a statement

-Symbolic object – again, designed to make a statement

-Storylines involving love, fights, rebellion, ‘contemplative’ scenes, death, surreal scenes

I incorporated these conventions into my work through my choices regarding subject matter, locations, props and costume, and my post-production editing decisions.

·      Nature based settings

·      Symbolic Object (makes a statement) - Capricorn mask, the boat

·      Clothing styles

·      Shot types – Perspective, moving/stationary, close-ups, long shots

·      Unfocused style of filming

·      Projections – Manipulation of light

·      ‘Story acting’

·      Story line – love, contemplative & surreal scenes, friendship

·      ‘Old Home Movie’ style – ‘Projector’, ‘Romantic’

·      Editing to the beat

One of my most prominent decisions – to manipulate light and use projections – was inspired by the music video for Wild Belle’s song “Backslider”. This video features the band’s vocalist standing, singing and dancing in front of a screen onto which various artistic images (such as abandoned places, obscure objects etc.) are being projected.

The footage is further stylized by the ‘old film’ quality it has; this is an effect that seems to crop up fairly regularly within the alternative genre – specifically with female singers – for example, Lana Del Rey uses it frequently (it’s featured in her videos for ‘National Anthem’, ‘Young and Beautiful’ and ‘Summertime Sadness’.)

The reason that I chose to use this particular convention was because of the storyline and meanings of my video; I wanted to characterize the intimacy behind exploring one’s memories, and I felt that giving my video a ‘home video’/old footage look – through my choice of perspective and non-static shots, and my use of the FinalCut Pro effects ‘Projector’ (which makes the footage look projected) and ‘Romantic’ (which brightens the footage and makes it blurred around the edges) – conveys the footage as being the subject’s memories. The use of ‘old home video’ style footage is a common technique in film and television, often being used as a way to reveal the touching, personal memories of a character to the audience. Because of this, I knew that my audience would understand the significance of the footage from my choice to stylize it in this way.

The subject matter of the video – the story of a teenager, reminiscing in her memories of times with her friends, and the concert she went to with her partner – is very specific to this genre. The themes of love, youth and change are staples of the genre, and my video undeniably conforms to them. I also used the common practice of creating a link between the visuals and the narrative; for example, my opening of the subject standing at a river, and my continual use of water visuals, link to the song’s title “River” and the line “run me like a river.”

However, due to the rather abstract nature of the song itself, for the most part my visuals were unrelated. One convention that I developed in a non-typical way was the use of ‘looking’ (where the performer connects with the audience through looking into the camera.) While my subject does look into the camera, thus acknowledging the audience, she only does so in the ‘mind sequence’, where she is with the projections. This connotes to the audience that this is where we are seeing her considering her memories as she is ‘outside’ them, whereas the rest of the time we are seeing her view of the memories (hence the p.o.v. shots.)

I challenged the standard convention of having the singer perform in the music video, by omitting it altogether, as a performance by ‘Briggs’ (portrayed by my actress) would’ve detracted from the video as being an abstract story. While there is performance featured – a concert by the band Billy Talent – it is not presented as a performance for the audience; rather, it is simply part of a memory (specifically, the one with her partner.) 

My choice to use the distinctive costume piece – the Capricorn (goat) mask – was done to create a sense of narrative enigma about my character. The concept of dehumanizing the performers is one of the less common conventions of the genre, but when it is done, its purpose is generally to create audience intrigue by presenting the performers in this unusual way. I also used the Capricorn mask to act the iconography with which I defined Briggs; I went on to use the idea of the mask, presented in the form of a drawn Capricorn symbol, to create product synergy when I featured the design on both the DigiPak and the Magazine Advert.

DIGIPAK

Before I created my DigiPak, I researched the codes and conventions of DigiPaks and analysed pre-existing products in the genre, just as I had done for my music video, and like I went on to do for my Magazine Advert.

The codes and conventions of a standard DigiPak are as follows:

Front

-Main band/artist image

-Name of band/artist

-Title of album

-Logo

Back

-Track list

-Special features

-Another image (usually placed under the text)

Spine

-Name of artist

-Title of album

-Record label

-Reference number

Insert

-Institutional information

-Song lyrics

-Photographs of artist

-‘Thank You’s’

-Post cards

-Promotional/merchandise information

-Website information

Additional Institutional Information

-Price

-Barcode

-Record label

-Year of publishing

-Copyright

-Composers/Producers, credit, etc. …

(This information is usually located in small print on the back cover, or else as part of the inner sleeves or inserts.)

For my DigiPak I conformed to the majority of the typical conventions, such as using the artist’s iconography (the Capricorn symbol) on the front cover, having the name of the artist on the spine so that listeners would be able to identify the artist, track listings and legal jargon on the back, etc.   

To create synergy across my products, I used a water-colour edit of a photograph taken of the river featured in the opening and end scenes of my music video. I chose to use the water-colour effect as this links to the indie/alternative genre, especially as it features an isolated and natural located.

I did however challenge the convention of featuring the artist’s name and/or album title on the front cover; a decision I made as I intended for the lack of title to be intriguing to the audience, thus causing their natural curiosity to investigate the album further.

The complete lack of a title also means that the audience’s eye will be drawn towards the bold symbol – the Capricorn logo – which I created to be specifically simple, as the most memorable designs are always the most simple. Overall, by rejecting the convention of placing the artists’ name and album title on the front cover, I am establishing my artist in a different, more eye-catching way.

MAGAZINE ADVERT

As I mentioned earlier, before creating my magazine advert, I made sure to research and analyze pre-existing magazine adverts, so as to enhance my understanding of their codes and conventions.

My findings were as follows:

Images & Graphics

-Will relate to the album and artist/band

-Images, Graphics, or a mix – will be appropriate to the genre of the music and artist/band

-A photograph of the artist/band is usually included (sometimes with artistic editing)

-Will be appropriate to the colour theme

Typography

-Artist/Band name

-Album title

-Release date

-Reviews/Critical Acclaims

-Artist’s/Band’s website address

-Specific track names

-May include the names of the other artists featured on the album

Additional Features

-Record label logo

-Album rating

For my magazine advert I decided to conform to the majority of these conventions, because while a minimalist style is often indicative of the indie/alternative genre, I didn’t want my magazine advert to be minimalistic to the point where it is actually unclear in what it’s advertising. For this reason, it was important that I include features such as the artists name (which in this case doubled as the album’s title, as I’d chosen for it to be a self-titled album); a review, so that the people seeing the advert will be able to infer that it is for a musician (as the review that I chose mentions Briggs’ “vocal prowess”); and the iconography of the Capricorn symbol placed over the water-coloured background, which creates product synergy through its links to the DigiPak.

While for the most part I stuck with the conventions, I did challenge one with my decision to omit any photograph of my artist, a decision I made so as to be in keeping with the ancillary product of the DigiPak and to link back to how the artists’ face is never shown within the video.

Overall, I wanted to keep the style of the magazine advert to be as minimalistic as possible to match the style of the DigiPak, but not overly minimalistic as to be missing key information (which would likely confuse or frustrate the audience.)

In conclusion, I strongly feel that my media products conform, develop and challenge the conventions of real media products, in a way that makes them unique to my artist as defined through my research.