Evaluation Question 1

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

Our music video which we have produced shows many conventions in which our product can be related to real music videos. The genre of the music we used was indie, therefore we researched the genre making sure that our music video looked to the best standard possible as a real music video. As we had found out that most indie bands show the artists performing their song, we realised that this relates to Andrew Goodwin’s theory of performance and narrative. We asked people on a survey which they preferred (narrative or performance) with the majority liking either performance or both. We therefore thought it would be best to show a narrative and performance in our music video. This would show the audience that we had acknowledged the survey as well as using Goodwin’s beliefs in what should be in a music video.

Andrew Goodwin also identified how thought beats, help the audience see the sound. We have attempted this in our music video as we felt that it would be challenging for us to create as the song we chose (‘apply some pressure’ by Maximo Park) had a fast tempo, however we understood that the effect would be rewarding as it would look more similar to a professional music video. We feel that the thought beats compliment the lyrics as throughout the pressure is built up as the thought beats become more stronger.

The star image that Andrew Goodwin believes that every music video should have, is shown through the singer’s performance. As the song is about pressure we decided to make the singer look like he is fidgeting. This happens in the original music video of ‘Apply Some Pressure’ by Maximo Park. Once we had looked into this we tried to make the fidgeting seem more out of control. We then found a mutual artist, Jake Morley, who used a technique that involved playing the music video in double speed. We then added this type of effect by speeding the video up in certain areas in which the artist was singing on his own. We feel that by doing this technique as well as fidgeting would give the impression of the artist under pressure and that he has reached the limit. Richard Dyer’s theory helps support our music video as we have constructed the lead singer to perform in a certain way. We also feel that as looking at White’s theory, we think that we are the gatekeepers within this production.

According to Goodwin’s research of the visuals of a music video. We feel that our music video seems to show signs of illustrated visuals as at the beginning the lyrics mention ‘inside my head, were things I’d never thought about’. This is then shown through the video as the singer points to his head and gives the impression that it is out of control.Theorist Carol Vernallis also thinks that the visuals within the video should illustrate the lyrics. Our music video also shows signs of disconjunctured visuals. As the artist performs with his band, the lyrics say, ‘you know that I, would like to see you undress’. Vernallis mentions that the music video may bring questions to the end of the video, however they may not be answered. Our music video supports this theory as our music videos triggers a lot of questions such as, ‘Why is the lead singer feeling under pressure?’ ‘Why are the pan and match related in this way?’.

We agree with Goodwin’s theory that the technical aspects hold the music video together and help the fluent course of the video. We have added jump cuts and have used different shots (ie.meat shot) during a short and fast period of time, giving our music video more tension and pressure towards the end.

Making of Final Digipak

Making of Final Advert

Futher Merchandise Ideas

Final Digipak Design

( click to enlarge )

Final Advert Design

Mock up Digipak and Advert

Final Music Video Analysis (unfinished)

Holding a shot steady, where appropriate:

Before filming our actual video, Sean and I decided to film all shots using a tripod rather than using free-hand shots. The tripod ensured that all shots will be steady and that no shaking will occur, unless later added using editing tools in Final Cut. I can therefore verify that all shots used are steady and fulfill this marking aspect.

Framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate:

Framing a shot is all about capturing the correct footage you need inside the lens, and excluding all the aspects that you don't need. Background factors which can spoil footage is the inclusion of dead space in the background or the lighting rig. We tried our hardest to make the center of the shot the main focus, however some shots vary which is all deliberate.

Using a variety of shot distances as appropriate:

Using the same shot distance throughout the whole video would make the video seem tedious and boring for the viewer to watch. With a little bit of creativity, Sean and I used a variety of shots to draw the audience closer and to capture the main focus points, for example a part of the video includes an extreme close-up of the males feet as he dances, and if we used a long shot to capture that dancing, we wouldn't be emphasizing his talent as much.

Shooting material appropriate to the task set:

Upon scheduling and planning our time for the music video, Sean and I performed background research in which we looked into genre conventions from other music videos of the same type, such as Jason Derulo and Ne-yo, as well as audience research into what fans of this genre expected from the music videos.

Selecting mise-en-scene including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting:

Looking at other artists such as Usher, Ne-yo and Chris Brown, we realized that a lot of these artists wear casual/formal attire consisting of blazers and trilbies. The digipak and advert was promoted in black and white, in order to give a feel of nostalgia, however the females lips are spilled with red, showing lust and love, hence showing that we thought about this factor. The females lips are also spilled red in the actual video at certain points. The setting of part of the video was in a nightclub called The Showroom which is situated in Hartlepool. We chose to film in a nightclub because of the popular culture that Usher falls into in the current day, and his music would be played in a club. The exposure of the female also gives the feeling of a "night out" as she is dressed to impress the male. The other film location, which was the studio, was used to capture intimate shots, as well as take advantage of the lighting rig provided, as well as the green screen behind and highly technological camera software.

Using varied shot transitions, captions and other effects selectively and appropriately:

Not all of our shots linked in with each other, due to filming and other disturbances, therefore in order for it to flow correctly in certain places, we inputted certain transitions such as fades, dissolves and blends accordingly. We selected the location of these transitions so that they made an impact, instead of making the video just look like it was badly organized.

Using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task:

We didn't use sound and still images combined much throughout our video, but we did use it for the completion of our animatic before we actually constructed the final video. Another instance where we used this combination was on most of the evaluation questions in which stills from other music videos, as well as our own, where included for evidence purposes, along with bits from the song and also a commentary from both Sean and I.

Final Music Video

Digipak Images

We have already got some images of the band as we did a photo shoot with them earlier in the year. We will use one of those images to be our front cover for our digipak.