Media question 1

In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products?

Question 1:

Looking back at the research I did at the beginning of A2, there are various conventions I found to be common amongst pop music videos. These consisted of –

- Fast paced

- Features an artist/band with a lively and bubbly persona

- Bright colours

- Complex and diverse editing techniques

- Repetitive nature

- Mainly performance based

How did my product conform to

these characteristics?

My products abide by several forms possessed by existing music videos, posters and digipaks, by sticking to the pre-existing conventions of my chosen genre (pop), such as using similar colours, large aspect of performance rather than narrative, and a slightly generic, repetitive quality that I found to be present in many existing videos. I have also included many similar technical features when it came to the editing of my portfolio.

For my music video, I chose a song that had a relatively fast face and up-tempo beat. I did this so that I could also incorporate this as a factor within my footage, as this was one thing I found to be a common feature within existing pop music videos. Whilst using Quark Xpress to edit my video footage, I ensured that each clip fit perfectly with the song, with each scene either beginning or ending on a significant beat. I took inspiration from the fast pace of the song, and made my product fast paced to give a lively and exciting impression.

The Pace of my Music Video

In pop videos, it is usually the case that the entire product focuses on the artist or band whilst they’re performing. As the star seemed to be the main focus in each existing video I looked at in my research, I felt it was vital to create a band that –

- Appealed to my target audience

- Suited the liveliness and light-hearted nature of the song.

- Could be looked up to and idolised

- Were able to adapt well to the brief of the product.

All of these were factors I found to be common amongst stars in existing and popular music videos.

Creating a Band and Persona.

From this I created ‘Sugar Rush’. I chose to create a girl band, and use many factors which would make them more appealing to girls aged 10-16. They wear bright coloured clothes of the latest trend to appeal more to a younger female audience, they all show themselves as having a close friendship, and this could be relatable to a lot of girls out there, and they have a lively personality, in order to relate well to the song. I feel the band look current and similar to those who are often featured in pop videos today.

Creating a Band and Persona.

A significant feature I found to be common amongst current pop videos was a performance based nature, rather than displaying a narrative or story. Many pop videos I looked at just showed the artist to be performing in various scenes and settings throughout.

Band is Shown Performing.

My music video conforms to this idea, because there is no sign of narrative within my video, because my intention was for my product to be entirely performance based, and only show the band members performing in various locations.

Band is Shown Performing.

A significant feature I found to be extremely common within many pop music videos today, is the use of a plain backdrop as a setting rather than an active environment, as this allows greater emphasis to be drawn to the performance. These backdrops tend to be modern and plain, however sometimes are patterned to show complexity. The videos of the band I modelled my own band after are a great example of this.

Setting

This is a significant example of how my video conforms to common features of those existing ones, as throughout my video I have only used backdrops. The type of backdrop varies, and some are more complex to keep the video interesting.

Setting

Pop music videos have connotations of being bright coloured, well lit and bubbly. Therefore, it was also essential that I chose an appropriate colour scheme and house style to use across my portfolio. Many existing pop videos heavily include the colour pink, as it targets a female audience well.

Colour Scheme

Therefore, my chosen colour scheme was pink, white and blue, and this remained the same throughout my entire portfolio in the mise-en-scene. I ensure that this was the case for clothing, props and setting.

Colour Scheme

Looking back at my research and planning stage, there was a factor I found to be a common characteristic, which almost enabled a music video to be defined by its pop genre, and this feature was the use of specific editing techniques.

I found several techniques to have been used in music videos of the same genre –

- Split screening

- Brightness and contrast

- Altering speed

Editing Techniques

Split Screening –

This was a technique I found to be commonly used within the pop genre. I feel it gives music videos a quirky, fun and vibrant quality, one I felt the need to use within my own video.

Existing videos - My video -

Editing Techniques

Brightness and Contrast –

Something that I discovered from my research is that a feature found within most pop videos is high key lighting. During my editing process I was able to edit the brightness and contrast of my footage in order to ensure that my video conforms to usual conventions in this way.

Editing Techniques

Another thing I found to be common in pop videos is a slightly repetitive quality. By this I mean that due to the lack of narrative within the video, there are various scenes in various settings which show the artist to be performing, and these scenes just repeat and reoccur throughout the duration of the video. This is something I decided to do with my own video, as I feel it defines a performance based video.

Also, there is a succinct relationship between the music and visuals of my product. The song is based on boys with a ‘too cool for school’ attitude when they’re on the dance floor, and the girl band just want to move. It is common and not unusual in music videos to see what is happening by the performer and what they’re doing, and seeing that the actions are related to the lyrics.

Repetitive Sequence

How did my product challenge

these characteristics?

My music video challenges existing conventions by granting each member of the band with a greater sense of individual identity, rather than many existing videos that have many of their scenes featuring all band members. This is only done for a proportion of my video, and the other single shots allow the band members a greater sense of individuality. Although this is done through the use of various types of shots (long shot, mid shot, close up etc), which can in fact be commonly found in music videos, it is not often you see this done for each individual band member alone.

Also, it is common to find a choreographed dance routine in a pop video, such as ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ by Britney Spears. However, my product challenges this idea, as it features a more spontaneous method of movement throughout, to relate to the lyrics about being wild and fun.

How did my ancillary tasks

conform to these characteristics?

Digipak

Digipak

I have compared my front cover with that of an existing digipak in order to compare the qualities in which they share.

Digipak

Firstly, both covers show all of the band members, and a pink and blue colour scheme also happens to be present in both, representing a fun and girly target audience. Both, like my music video, show a plain backdrop as the setting, to draw attention to the artists and album name. The band name on both is centralised and capitalised, immediately drawing the eye to this. The album name is located just under, not to distract from the band name, and just to be used as a method of identifying the album.

Digipak

My disk page differs from many of those out there on the shelves, such as this one by Christina Aguilera. As you can see, the design for the disk is separate to that of the actual digipak. However, it is clear that my disk has the same image printed on it as is printed behind, and my digipak challenges usual conventions of existing products in this way.

However, they also show various similarities. They both feature a similar colour scheme, which they should because both artists target the same audience. Both disks show the artist name as well as the names of the record labels.

Digipak

Here you can see how I have created my own record labels in order for my product to conform to the common characteristics of a digipak, and it therefore makes my product appear more professional. Also, another common feature can be seen underneath the record labels. Here, I have included some fineprint, regarding codes and legality of the record labels.

DigipakThis is my inside page, and I have conformed by usual forms and conventions here by including a quote from the band, directed at heir fans to say thank you. I found I came across this feature various time whilst exploring existing digipaks in my research and planning stage. The colour scheme is once again consistent, and it also conforms to common conventions of digipaks as the font and graphics relate to the mise-en-scene of the photograph.

Digipak

This is the back cover of my digipak, in comparison with one of Katy Perry. Both product clearly state the track names, as this is the purpose of a back cover, and all song titles have feminine connotations, or relate to romance or being young and free. Once again, record labels and fine print is present, as this is a feature to be common with any back cover, as is the inclusion of a bar code.

Digipak

In this specific case, the products differ as mine features a photograph of a band member with a prop, whereas the existing back cover uses no images. However, there are plenty of other examples where images have been used on the back covers of digipaks. Therefore, it is not possible to say I have challenged forms and conventions in this way, due to the fact there is a large variety in the way back covers of albums are set out.

Poster

Poster

As you can see, this is my poster in comparison with an existing promotional pop music video. By comparing the two, I hope to discover in what ways my poster has both abided by and challenged the usual forms and conventions of promotional album posters.

PosterI’ll start by mentioning the colour scheme, and how both products display a bright and vibrant palette, as well as images of the artists looking attractive, in trendy clothing and being model-esque about their posing. The artist and album name are made clear on both pieces, with the artist name being written using the band/artist logo. The relevance of the product is made clear on each poster (‘The Debut Album’ and ‘The New Album’). Both posters also show web addresses where further information can be found.

However, these poster still differ in various ways. For example, my poster does not show a release date, due to the intention to keep the audience intrigued. My poster shows various collaged images, rather than just one central

image. I have kept the location for my photoshoot simple, with a plain white backdrop so that I could add graphics, such as the pink hearts, afterwards. However, this is clearly not the case for the Katy Perry poster.