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

Music Video


Before we started our filming process, we watched and made notes on different music videos of artists with a similar genre to our own. We found many shots that we wanted to use in our own music video as we thought these were effective in many different ways. From the mise en scene to the types of shots used, I feel our music video strongly meets the forms and conventions of a real media text.

Lighting
When researching, I noticed that the lighting in a music video is a very important aspect. It not only helps to define the narrative, but also to tell the audience how the characters in the narrative are feeling.
A shot that inspired the use of different types of lighting for our own video was various shots from Taylor Swift's 'White Horse', which tells the audience the mood of the artist. We thought this would be a good way to tell help the audience understand the narrative, and therefore used this in our music video. We also used lighting to show how the girl in the music video went from being the 'damsel in distress' to the 'hero'.

By the lighting used here, the audience knows that the artist is happy because the sun is shining on her and the room is bright.

This contrasts to the previous image. When she was with her boyfriend, the artist was happy. Now she is on her own, the lighting used is dark and dim, showing she is in an unhappy place.

Our shots used also show the artists mood. Here the light is dim, suggesting she is unhappy and doesn't want to be with her new boyfriend.

The artist here is 'walking into her future' and is finally happy, shown by the sunlight. This also shows the artist has gone from being a 'damsel in distress', shown by symbolism of loneliness, to the 'hero' of her own life, shown by the long shot which suggests she is looking ahead to brighter and better things.


Gaze theory
Gaze theory is used in many products, most often shown by the mise en scene, but for our genre shown also by slow shots.

Gaze theory is used in all of the videos I researched but presented in different ways. 'White Horse' and Cheryl Coles 'The Flood' use the technique of extreme close ups to create gaze theory for the audience.

In Pixie Lott's 'Broken Arrow' however, this is created by the mise en scene used such as her short dresses and in another shot where she is just wearing a oversized t-shirt. This attracts the target audience because they want to be like her and look like this and think that by watching the video they will learn how to be attractive and pick up tips.

In our own video, we used mise en scene and slow shots to create gaze theory, following the codes and conventions of current products. There is a shot in 'White Horse' when the artist hair is tied back and strands of hair fall around her face, making the audience inspire to be like her because she is able to be beautiful without trying. We used this in our video, as the artist is wearing very natural make up and has wavy hair, making her look attractive without trying too hard, as if she doesn't know that she is attractive. We used this because the target audience, teenage girls, also want to be attractive without having to try and will watch our video because they inspire to be like her. Another convention we followed to create Gaze Theory was also the types of shots we used. For example, slow zooms and pans so the audience are slowly focusing on the artists face, creating a romantic effect. If we were to have used quick cuts as our leitmotif, this effect would have not been created.


Mise en scene 
The style we wanted to create for our music video was soft and delicate. Therefore, we looked at other music videos with a similar genre to see how they had achieved this, then incorporated these conventions into our own music video.

In Taylor Swift's 'white horse' and Cheryl Coles 'The Flood', the mise en scene used creates a delicate style. In both videos, the artists hair is wavy and falling on her face, creating a soft feel. Her make up is also very soft and natural, if the artist were to have bright red lips and dramatic eye liner, the delicate style would not be created. The artists costumes also create this style, shown by the soft look created by the artist wearing a baggy jumper which softly falls of her shoulder. If she was wearing a tight top, a more 'sexy' feel would be created.

To create the same style and follow this styles conventions, we used mise en scene in our own music video to created the delicate style throughout. Our artist also has wavy hair and light make-up, creating a consistent style throughout the video. The delicate style is also created by the props used, such as the pen and paper. This created a gentle and vintage style and the white paper reflects the other light colours in the shot. If the artist were to be writing this letter on a laptop, this style would be ruined. Props are also used in the video to give the audience subtle messages about the artists life once the video has ended. In the bedroom shots, there is a black piece of clothing in the background which does not follow the style of the rest of the setting, as everything else is light. However, this is a message to the audience that when the artist is ready she will loose the 'damsel in distress' role and become a 'hero', by wearing black and becoming a stronger woman. We chose to use this subtle message because one similar has been used in Taylor Swift's 'white horse', when she is the 'damsel in distress' she is wearing light clothing and surrounded by soft and pastel colours. However, when she confronts her fears and goes to her boyfriend, becoming the 'hero', she is wearing black.

Here is another shot that inspired an idea for our music video to show the innocence of the artist. The prop of the teddy bear used in Pixie Lott's 'Can't make this over' shows this, giving the impression to the audience that although she is an adult, the artist is still vulnerable and child like and still needs love. The teddy bear shows that she is the 'goodie' because she still needs something to cuddle when she is feeling down. This also is the impression given in our video shown by the teddy and an 'innocent' representation is given. Also, this shot could show that the artist is still thinking about her old boyfriend or feeling guilty for not wanting to be with her new lover, as one of them could have given her the teddy bear. In is a convention of music videos to use mise en scene to show the personality of the characters in the narrative, a convention which I think my group and I have achieved.

Narrative Theory
Propp's character function is a technique used in many music video to make the narrative clearer to to define clear character roles. We used character functions in our music video, following the forms and conventions of current music videos. The mise en scene in our music video and the delicate style show that the girl in our music video is the 'damsel in distress' which reflects the sad and lonely song.

We decided to use this because it is used in many music videos we researched.

In Taylor Swift's music video for 'White Horse' colour symbolism helps define the character roles. The boy is wearing dark colours, showing the audience that he is the 'villian' and the girl is in light colours showing she is the 'damsel in distress'. Later in the video, the girl is in dark colours, showing she has now become the 'hero'. We know she is not a 'villain' because of her soft blonde hair.

Here shows how we used character functions in our own video, shown by the light colours the artist is wearing and her blonde hair and blue eyes, showing that she is the 'damsel in distress'.

Representation and Symbolism
Because of our target audiences age, we wanted our artist to be a good role model so that the parents of the target audience under 18 would be more willing to allow their child to buy the artists album and watch their music videos. To show that the artist is a good person, we have used colour symbolism in our music video and represented our artist as innocent person, shown by the stereotype used. We used this because after researching many videos of similar artists, we found that this was a common convention.

Here are screen shots from various music videos that use colour symbolism. The white background of the location gives the audience an insight into the artists personality and suggests innocence and purity. If the location was set in a prison cell, for example, the 'innocent' representation would not be put across.

We used the technique of colour symbolism in our own music video to represent the artist in a good light. For example, the artist has blonde hair and blue eyes which suggests she is a 'good' character, the audience can see this before the track starts. The delicate style used throughout also suggests this, if the style of our video was dark and rock n roll the audience may think that the artist is not the 'goodie' in the narrative. We also used our locations to show this, such as the white bedroom, following the forms and conventions from current media products. We also used very subtle symbolism to show the artists innocence and kindness, such as the pearl ring she is wearing throughout which symbolises these features.


When researching, I found the use of stereotyping is a good way to make the narrative clearer for the audience. Our artist is the perfect stereotype for a 'lonely girl' because of the mise en scene used and the way she looks. Colour symbolism comes into this- the artists blue eyes and blonde hair suggests she is fragile, whereas dark hair would suggest she is a strong woman. Her hair throughout the video is loose and wavy, showing delicacy. If the artist had her hair scraped back it would suggest she is a 'coper' and again a strong woman, shown by characters in media texts such as Lara Croft. The soft and pastel colours represent the artist as somewhat pathetic and weak whereas if she was wearing black leather she would appear dangerous and strong.

We decided to use stereotyping in our music video because when we researched similar sad songs, this is how many of the characters in the music videos are represented, following the codes and conventions and creating a sense of verisimilitude for the audience because they have seen this technique used in music videos before.


Motif
The black and white motif of our music video is a common convention of music videos, the majority of the use of this motif is to show the difference in the past and the present in a flashback form. This motif creates a clearer understanding of the narrative for the target audience, allowing them to define the passage of time straight away.

In Hilary Duff's music video 'Fly' black and white is used to show the leading up to an event, contrasting to the footage of the event which is shown in colour. This gives the music video structure, and is a common convention used in music videos to create a smoother narrative.

In our own music video the leitmotif of black and white is used to add structure and to make the narrative clearer to the audience. The black and white allows the audience to recognise that these are memories of the past, contrasting to the coloured shots which show the present day. The motif also shows the difference in the artists happiness, with the black and white shots showing her when she was happy and the coloured shots of her unhappy. This gives a clear narrative to the audience, showing that she is still in love with her old boyfriend.

Another motif that we used in our own video that is a convention of music videos is the use of fades and dip to white/black. These transitions are a common convention of our own genre and style as they add to the delicate feel and create 'soft' movement when there is a change in location. When researching into our genre and the style we wanted we saw that many videos with the style we wanted to create used these transitions and therefore decided to use them in our music video to follow the forms and conventions. Dip to black is used in Taylor Swift's 'White Horse' which is used to keep the 'smooth' and 'gentle' style of the video consistent when there is a dramatic change in location.

Here is a screen shot of how our media product has followed this convention, also to create a smooth transition and to keep the style consistent.

Verisimilitude 

The locations and shots used in our music video are ones that the audience can relate to and would have perhaps experienced themselves, making the video more personal to them. For example, the video uses very normal locations such as the bedroom, street, park, window and car. The target audience may have also experienced looking out of the widow when they are looking back on memories or may have good memories of laughing in the car with their old boyfriend. By using these shots, the audience can relate to the music video because they have experienced it themselves, creating a sense of verisimilitude for the audience.

Verisimilitude is a common convention of music videos and helps the audience relate to the media text:

By using a kitchen as a location, the audience can relate to the video as it is a location they are in every day. If the location was in a record studio, they would not be able to relate to the product as much because they have not experienced feeling what they lyrics are mentioning in this location.

By using the park, the audience can relate to the video because they may have also been to a park with their boyfriend/girlfriend or been alone in a park thinking about love. The audience would then want to watch this video more because they can relate to it or because they are in a similar situation to the artist and think that watching this video will help them cope and know that they are not alone. This 'personal identity' is part of Uses and gratifications theory and is a common convention used to make the media product relate to the audiences emotions and experiences.

We also wanted to use mise en scene that the audience could relate to and looked to Taylor Swift for inspiration...

The audience can relate to the artist because of her 'natural' look. Because of the way the artists hair is tied up, her natural make up and everyday clothing, the audience feel like they aren't that different from the artist and have something in common with them, meaning they also feel like they share the same feelings and thoughts. Due to some artists extreme clothing and make up, such as lady gaga, the audience feel like they cannot relate to artists such as this fully because they appear so different from their target audience, as if they share nothing in common.

Types of shots
A convention of music videos is for the type of shots used to match what the song is about and what emotions it gives. We followed this convention in our music video by using shots such as a slow rotation to create a delicate and soft movement and dip to white to show loneliness. These transitions have been used is music videos such as 'White Horse' and 'The Flood' because they give the audience a similar message to our own.


Perfume advert
- TWO-STEP FLOW.
My perfume advert uses this technique because of its review from a popular fashion magazine. If they audience see someones opinion on the product that they value and respect, they will believe it. This is a common convention used to attract the target audience and therefore I decided to use it in my product.

Please refer to my post 'Evaluation: Video dairy on gaze theory'. This post shows how my perfume advert follows the conventions of a real media product.