Tuesday, 8 April 2014
EVALUATION QUESTION 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop of challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In what ways does your media product use, develop of challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Conventions of the genre are
conventions that appear in every music video which are of the same genre. Music
videos follow performance, narrative, abstract or a mixture. For example, a
typical convention of a pop song video is that it has a narrative which relates
to the lyrics of the song. The music uses the video as a support to help the
audience understand their lyrics. It also acts as another media platform to
allow the lyrics to be understood on another level.
Bordwell and Thompson stated that
the plot (syuzhet) in a music video is considered to be the order, manner and
techniques of their presentation in the narrative. However this can be in any
order. The story (fabula) is defined as the chronological series of events that
are represented or implied. In my music video there is a narrative which
in a music video is a start, process, and then end. The narrative establishes
the diegesis which is the fictional world established for the media text.
The mise-en-scene is one of the
main factors in establishing this diegesis as it helps to create verisimilitude
which is very similar to reality for the audience. My music video uses location
in the mise en scene to create realistic places that allows the audience to
relate to the video better.
My video is also post-modern as
it is self-reflexive due to the fact that it is aware of itself as a music
video. This is shown by the fact that it contains a music video within it as my
artist and main character watches herself in a music video as one narrative in
the text. In my music video I chose a narrative to follow the conventions which
I also found when I researched into other pop genres in other pop music videos
such as Demi Lovato’s ‘Made in the USA’ and Katy Perry’s ‘Teenage Dream.’ [Textual
analysis of both]
Stuart Hall’s Reception theory
mentions encoding, which is what the producers of a text want the message to
be, and decoding, which is the message that the audience reads from the text.
The theory states that this message can be the same but also can be different.
For this however we need to be an active audience which means that we can either
read a message the way it was intended or have our own ideology about it. This
choice is influenced by what type of audience we are and the 6 things that
affect it which are: age; gender; life experience; beliefs; mood at the time of
viewing; and culture.
This theory applies to my own
work by using conventions such as having a theme of love and showing this
through the linear narrative. [Photo/video clip].
Tessa Perkins Stereotypes theory
states 5 rules about stereotypes. They are: stereotypes aren’t always negative;
they aren’t always about the minority or less powerful; they can be held about one’s
own group; they aren’t rigid or unchanging; and they aren’t always false.
Stereotypes are also are included
in my texts to help encode a particular message for the audience which should
ultimately make them decode the same message and understand my text. This is
shown through the narrative of a boy and girl being in a relationship and
breaking up and getting back together again.
I also used characters of the
same age as the target audience and the audience that I have got my feedback
from. This is so that they can relate to my product more easily. Another way
that I made sure that the video would appeal to the target audience was through
the use of mise-en-scene, more specifically; costume. The costume that my
protagonist wears is what is in fashion at the time that the videos were shot.
[screenshots]
There are also typical conventions
in pop music videos, in terms of edits too such as slow motion. Slow motion
allows one particular moment to be appreciated for a longer time and allows the
viewer to see and dwell on the details that you wouldn't normally be able to if
the shot was played at normal speed. In terms of linking to the theme of the
song; love, it makes the viewer feel happy emotions and also links to the
people in the video who are appreciating their moment.
Formal conventions are
conventions of ALL music videos. Some of these include the editing matching the
beat of the music. Depending on the story/song the editing usually speeds up if
the song does or the events in the video become more intense or fast-paced. In
my music video, I used montage editing to create a few seconds of fast paced
editing which represents some of the memories that my artist is experiencing.
[clip] This follows formal conventions by using fast edits to show a more
intense and emotional part of the video.
I also followed conventions by
matching the edits to the beat of the music. As the genre is a pop music video,
these tend to be mid-paced meaning the shots only up to a couple of seconds
long. When I first created my storyboard, I planned my shots to last longer
which meant that once I had completed my first draft, the video appeared slow
and boring. Whilst I then changed my editing to make it faster, it was still to
the beat of the music which meant that it still followed formal conventions of
music videos. In terms of cinematography, close-ups are almost always used to
show emotion of the character. Mid shots and long shots are used to show
separation, if it is a love theme, between the two main characters, usually the
antagonist and protagonist. In my music video I used high angles on my artist
when she was sad to make her appear more vulnerable and make the audience
sympathise with her.
As the target audience for
my music video is teenage girls, I researched into music genres that
appealed to this demographic. Pop music is mostly listened to by a teenage
audience. This is partly due to the fact that the lyrics of most pop genre
songs are relatable to people of that age. Pop music focuses mainly
on love, relationships, and friendships as well as partying and in some cases,
being strong and independent. The lyrics to the song by Cher Lloyd - 'Want
U Back' are about her wanting an ex-boyfriend back as she still loves him.
Ke$ha's - 'Your Love Is My Drug' focuses on love that she has for someone being
associated with drugs which are seen as a representation of youth.
It is for this reason that i have
chosen a pop genre song for my music video as it is one of the widest ranges of
genres in music. It also means that as I am a consumer of pop music, I know
most about this genre. The main reason for this is because as I am a
teenager I have and insight into what they want to see in a video so I will be
able to have input into the ideas that I will use. Also, my artist/main talent
in my video is a 17 year old girl which means that the video would appeal most
to teens rather than older adults or a younger audience. The song itself also
is listened to by people my age (14-20) and so by using people like this in the
video it will make both texts appeal to them.
Teenagers are the main audience
for music videos which is why using them in my video will make it end up
selling more in the end. Pop music videos also appeal to their audience by
the use of costume through mise en scene because they contain up to date
fashion and current styles which teenagers can buy for themselves.
The artist usually stars in their
videos and if they are a band there is often a scene in the video of the band
playing. In my video, I challenged conventions by not following Laura Mulvey’s
theory of the male gaze which focuses on the camera shots in a music video
which concentrate more on women’s curves and views women as objects. It also is
about voyeurism which is when men get pleasure from seeing women in this way. I
broke conventions of female representation in music videos by having my main
character represented like a ‘normal’ teenage girl her age. This also means
that the audience can relate more easily to the artist and understand the
message better.
The mise en scene (including
props, costume, make-up, location and lighting) all represent the mood/message
that the song is trying to show the audience and is made understandable by the
music video to help to allow the audience the understand the lyrics. In my
music video, I used costume to both connote certain meanings in my text and
also appeal to my target audience. I used current clothes that were in fashion
at the time of filming which meant that the artist in the video became more
relatable with the audience and in turn helped the audience decode my
particular encoded message through the video. The colours of both my clothes,
location backgrounds and also effects all connote some sort of meaning. I used
pink in my characters wellies to show love and passion but also black in the
male’s outfit which foreshadows that something bad will happen as black is
related to bad and alone.
Monday, 7 April 2014
Wednesday, 2 April 2014
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