Evaluation Question 1

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

Conventions I learnt about over this project included age demographics, gender roles, mise-en-scene, camera shots and the impact these have on meaning and influence. I took all of these into account when planning my music video, choosing whether to include these stereotypes or try to go against them. 

Age.

I have used my character’s age as a tool in this music video, using the negative connotations of school and boredom to appeal to viewers of a similar age and use freedom and exploration as a opposing emotion in an attempt to create contrast and enjoyment throughout the video, returning back to the school environment at the end for humorous purposes. 

Gender.

I have not used any connotations with male gender in this music video as I didn’t feel as the gender of the character should make a difference to the emotions or audience, and because the 

gender did not effect the story being told.

Mise-en-scene.

I have used an array of clothes in my music video, sticking mainly to baggy t-shirts and shorts as they give a feeling of comfort and freedom, contrasting nicely with the tight, formal, bland clothing used in the classroom, which look uncomfortable, tight and desensitising.

I’ve used sunglasses and a backpack throughout, as they are heavily connected to exotic and adventurous conventions, and the use of sunglasses in the final classroom shot connects everything together, making the dreamy escapes of Rio look like it could be a reality.

Shots.

I’ve used lots of wide angle, establishing shots within my music video to try and create the illusion of endless exploration and places to be discovered. 

I made sure to always keep the shot moving, whether that meant a pan, tilt or a zoom, because it gave the video more movement and the idea of moving from one location to another.

I used close ups, particularly in one fast paced montage, that create the contrast from the huge mountains and landmarks, conveying the message to focus on the small things as well as big things, which works with the lyrics “From the view of an atom the human body is a universe”.

I matched the shots with the lyrics as much as possible, which is commonly used in music videos to easily apply a message to a song. Another example of this in my music video is "Some days I put my hands up like this shit right here is hopeless, some days I throw my hands up like this shit right here's the dopest":

There are many different conventions used in different genres, something I’ve had to focus on to make sure my video matches the music. I started out by looking at different pop and rap songs, finding patterns and trends. 

The main convention I found was the use of objectification. This is when a man or woman are viewed as an object, and something to be put on display. I have made sure not to use objectification in this music video, as it is targeted at younger viewers, who need to be taught body confidence. 

I’ve used Andrew Goodwin’s theory of Thought Beats from beginning to end in my music video, cutting and editing at a drum beat or at a solo piano note. This makes the video vert smooth to watch, as the viewer doesn’t even notice that edit has been made, as the edits are almost camouflaged by the music.

The video is concept based with elements of narrative. The video is about a student that is daydreaming in school about getting away from the classroom, and from that opening sequence the narrative doesn’t develop much further, other than to explore this dream. I finished the video by returning to the classroom, but wearing the sunglasses, as it showed that it would be possible for the character to achieve his dreams.

One convention of a digipak is to make sure the design reflects the artist and album, using typography, colours and images. I looked at a digital from Dizzie Rascal and I found that the album title was in big, pink bubble writing, a reflection of his bubbly personality. The colours used were black, pink and blue, with no gradient or confusion within the image. 

Any text should be easy to read and visible from a distance, and should feature the typography associated with the artist. I used the artist name “Leon Beckett” in the same font and colour throughout my project, including the video, digipak and advert. I made sure that my digipak linked together throughout, with the same colours of Blue, Orange and white on all of the pages and disk. These colours are also used in the advert to compliment the pack, showing all in all the illusion of sunsets, that I have associated with the ending of a dream.

Almost every advert has the same formula, with the artist name and the single/ album title in large font, the largest being the most important; if an artist is very well known, then their name will be in the largest font, but if the song is better known than the artist, then the song name will be in the bigger writing.