Question 1 - Media

By Kemal Kargin

In what ways does your media product use, develop

or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

My media A2 coursework will consist of me creating a conventional music video which is to be targeted towards an audience of a particular genre. In order for this to be successful we had to carry out tasks that would enable us to accomplish our end product. Examples of these are to look at existing music video’s that are already successful, and compare the factors that make them successful by merging them with our ideas. From this it allows us to view different ideologies, genres and styles and also gave us ideas to use within our own music video. We used these ideas for our advert, digipak and the final production (both editing and filming).

When a song is produced and distributed a visualisation of the views and ideologies behind the song is often supported and shown to the audience. A music video is essentially a video accompanied by music that an artist has put together and promoted. A music video can be used to promote the artists views, fashion sense or maybe to even promote a reinvention of the artist. Mainly it is to show the audience what kind of lifestyle the artist lives or what life situations they go through. It is a reflection of the artists problems and achievements. No matter what the artists is trying to portray the music video will either be; Narrative, Performance or concept based music video. These are the key ways to create an impact on the audience

Does my product develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The conventions of real media products inspire my product in many ways. My video follows the performance and narrative based idea. From my research I found out that these are the most enjoyable and effective types of music video. This is why I have decided to use both. I have come to the conclusion that it would be best to stay with what the audience prefer and what they would expect to ensure that I extract as much emotion from the audience as possible, so that the impact on the audience is high. Also this allows the audience to relate to the music video through its structure and ideologies. Here are some examples of conventional music elements which I also illustrated in my work.

• Low key lighting will be used so the audience can understand the tension between characters., as well as creating a change in atmosphere through out the video

• Conventional cinematography such as close-ups will be used to ensure that the audience will focus on what iconography or expressions we want them to focus on

• Editing will match the pace of the song, this allows the audience to follow what is happening smoothly

• The costume will create a star image for the artist and make the audience want to buy into the artists lifestyle. Also costume reflects the views of the artist, this in turn can allow the audience to build a better relationship with the artist.

Music videos are created for entertainment purposes, music videos are targeted towards audiences in order for artists to create a relationship with them. Artists uses micro elements in various ways in order to do so.

Music video’s have many other purposes and motives. This is also based on the artists views and ideologies, and how they portray this in there music video. However, a music video’s most traditional use is to make sure that the song is understood better. This will also offer the audience a visual concept to an artists music and lyrics. This in turn is more likely to appeal to large to a large audience, as those who listen to a song are more likely to watch the video, especially if they like it. The research that I carried out enabled me to understand the micro elements used in music videos and ancillary texts.

Cinematography.

Cinematography is one of the elements that are within a visual product. This element determines what the audience see , this in turn means that effective cinematography can determine the success of a product. A specific portrayal of the artist is made with cinematography and thus increasing a relationship with the audience. Cinematography is a way for the audience to engage with the audience. Cinematography consists of different camera angles and different camera movements.

The research I carried out showed me that cinematography styles such as close-ups are conventional in making a deeper relationship with the artist.

These are examples of cinematography:

My music video consisted of conventional cinematography, this in turn meant that I followed the theories of Andrew Goodwin and Richard Dyer. This helped me to appeal to my target audience. Goodwin had already stated that a successful use of micro elements must be used in order to create a conventional video. These long shots were used to create a better understanding of the artists lifestyle this in turn that more of the artists costume could be seen as well as the body language and facial expressions. Mid shots were also used to ensure the main focus was what was on screen. An example of this is when there are 2 artists on screen and on of them is in the distance. This shows that the mid shot is the main focus. Also the intertwines with Richard Dyers star theory as they represent the artists talent. Also this will mean that the audience will want to buy into the artists lifestyle as they can visualise more of there lifestyle.

Cinematography: camera movementsDifferent camera movements are used within a music video in order to create a relationship with the audience. Camera movements can be used to create different effects. A combination of different camera movements can depict and represent different scenes within a music video. Camera movements have to ensure that the artists and characters are followed and shown correctly to the audience. Effective camera movements will ensure that the video runs smoothly. Movements such as panning shots have been used to show the characters and the setting. A panning shot ensures more of the location or scene is shown to the audience. Another camera movement that has been used is zoom as this shows the audience what is either matching the lyrics on screen or something that has been zoomed into for the audience to focus on to build a better relationship from.

Mise en Scene:• Lighting & Colour

• Costume, hair & make-up• Iconography and setting

• Positioning• Body language and facial expression

Mise en sceneMise en scene is one of the most important aspects to consider when creating a media

production. The Mise en scene is what makes every production unique , it is an important factor as this is what represents the artist and all of his ideas and views. Mise en scene should make elements easily identifiable and this should enable the audience to immediately know what genre it is. Richard dyer theory of star image can be brought into this as this can be related to the costume the artist is wearing. As star theory is a major element within music video‘s, this enables the audience to be like what they can see on screen, ensuring that the artist look attractive in the public eye is important. Fashion trends are a big thing in today’s society so ensuring that we are attracted to the clothes they are wearing means that a large market is open to the target audience. Goodwin’s theory is evident here as within my music video the artists are dressed attractively. This representation is similar to Usher within his own music video’s .

Body language and Facial expressionBody language and facial expression is important as it indicates to the audience how someone is feeling and gives a clear understanding of what is going on. Facial expression and body language was a key element to consider in my music video as they’re was no additional character sound.

Iconography

Iconography was used within my music video to convey certain narratives to my target audience. I used a photograph during the scene which portrays a female character loosing her grandparents and reminiscing about them. The character strokes the photograph in order to show the audience that she misses them. The photograph is a simple yet effective way of showing the audience why the character is upset. I also used a bracelet within this character situation as jewellery is considered to be personal and people tend to think of them as keepsakes of someone who dies. The bracelet is used to be dropped on to the photograph of the grandparents to symbolise their death.

Setting

The setting of my whole music video was based around a white background. This decision was made as I thought this would add to the simplicity of the music video and attract the audiences attention on the characters and artist on screen. Also this looked even more effective when a black and white effect was added to the video. This was conventional to the Pop/R’n’B genre as these videos tend to be simplistic. I wanted to portray the element of sadness and missing people, which I believe I did. I wanted to use and develop this in my product as I saw this effect and use of location be used in many other similar music videos which were trying to connect with the audience the way I was trying to do so.

Lighting and ColourThroughout my music video high key lighting is used. As a group we decided to keep the lighting bright and natural to convey the simplistic effect of the music video. The conventional use of high key lighting in the video allows the audience to understand the music video easily. Also this lighting provides a bright effect over the artist conveying an angelic interpretation from the audience.

A black and white effect was also placed over the whole music video in order to support the simplistic idea that was trying to be created and to further create emotions and responses from our audienceThere is a difference in colour when comparing the narrative and artist spotlights. This was so the audience could differentiate between the narrative and performance within the music video which I believe was done successfully

Costume hair and makeup

The artist costume within music video is important as this is what encourages the audience to buy into the artists lifestyle. Costume can be used as a promotional tool within music videos as the artist will wear a particular brand of clothing; as the audience look up to the artist as inspiration the audience then go and buy that brand also buying into the lifestyle. Dyers’s star theory also states that the consumer aspires to be like the artists therefore buying into their lifestyles.

As a group we decided that it was best to keep the costume, hair and make up of all our characters simple; we did this as we thought it would be simplistic and reflective of the aspects we were trying to convey. For the main artist we decided to keep the make up limited and tie the artists hair back. A stripped back effect should have been created by this as we wanted the audience to focus more on the meaning of the song. Again, here we challenged Mulvey’s idea of the male gaze when applied to costume, as this was not what I wanted to represent through my artist.

We made the artist as well as the other characters featuring in the video wear white. White suggests purity and innocence which connects to the artist and other characters of the video as well as not detracting the audiences attention by extravagant use of clothing. The artist wore a white vest top in order to support the idea of a simplistic video. I used Beyonce’s ‘If I Were A Boy’ video as a costume influence, she also wears a vest top creating a meaningful video unlike her other exaggerated videos.