Evaluation Question -

In what ways does your media product use to

develop or challenge forms and conventions of

real media products?

By Katrina Lee-Smith

Real Media Conventions Throughout the second year of A levels I have studied

about many media theorists such as Laura Mulvey, Andrew Goodwin and other theorists. These theorists produced conventions that the audience would expect to see in a music video. The theory that applied to our music video the most was Andrew Goodwins. There were some things that were easy to develop and others were subverted as it was difficult to include in our video

Firstly we developed the conventions of a music video as there were many close ups of the protagonists and the singers of the song which is usually seen in music videos as the music industry have to promote the artists in order to make profit from the album. This is seen in my music video as the main protagonists are introduced to the audience so that they are familiar with the relationship of the characters. By establishing a relationship with the audience it was easier to relate to them by representing youth and culture in everyday lives whilst providing them the message of the song.

An example of this is when they are at the party and there are many young people dancing, having fun expressing themselves with many other people from different places and cultures.

In my media production it develops the conventions of the R’n’B and Hip Hop genre that has an upbeat Dance Hall and Pop theme to it as well. The conventions of a R’n’B music video is having upbeat and lively music the main concepts of it is bright colours, flashing lights, quick edits, happy and energetic characters and fashionable clothing I used these concepts improve my music video.

There are a range of examples that establish the relationship with the music and visuals such as the scene at the party with the flashing lights are sped up to match the beat of the music. Another example is at the beginning of the music video the girl walking is in slow motion to match the slow beat of the song to establish the location and the people around the protagonists.

Our music video has two different concepts one of them being performance and the other is narrative. The two main protagonists feature and represent this. The first one at the beginning is lip syncing which has a narrative performance to it whereas, the other protagonist is representing the relationship between visuals and the lyrics. For example when the lyrics ‘live your life’ are being sung there quick edits of the actor smiling, shopping having fun and living her life as a young teenager would do. Another example of this is when the singer sings ‘don’t let them bring you down’ the female protagonist is taking pictures, shopping and partying having fun and not allowing anyone to stop her from enjoying her life. Our music video conveys the representation of performance and narrative as we captured many members of the audience using a range of camera angles at the raves and concert, which enabled us to film artists on stage and the audience below.

Subverting the Conventions A theorist we did not follow the conventions of was

Laura Mulvey’s theory of ‘The Male Gaze’ as we didn’t

use voyeuristic techniques of capturing the female

protagonist’s body or particular features that didn’t

show any sexual references towards the audience. As

an alternative we had male and female actors working

alongside each other having fun which highlighted the

equality of genders and youth. Therefore this

challenges Mulvey’s theory of ‘The Male Gaze’.

Real Digipak & Magazine

Conventions

Real Digipak Conventions As well as the music video being bright and colourful

the same message is being presented in our digipak as

there are a group of people that are united and happy

together. By using pixilated imagery of a group of

people that are different races and genders it promoted

the ideology of being together as a whole. The poster

itself is colourful that created a bright and lively

background. By using a range of vibrant colours for the

letters and the pixilated diagrams we were able to

create a pop themed digipak.

How does this appeal to my

audience By using these conventions within my music video,

digipak and magazine cover it will appeal to my audience as it sends a message to my listeners and readers. The bold texts, fonts and pictures all help form the promotion of the music video. It also illustrates my creativity and imagination skills which is beneficial towards the music video casting out the message of unity and equality as what we do as people is beautiful by the way people can express themselves both socially and creatively that is presented throughout the music video. Also by using vibrant colours, flashing lights and quick edits through the transitions were able to keep my audience engaged whilst watching the music video.