Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation Question 1

• 1.
  In what waysdoes your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? – This task requires you to compare the outcomes of your research of similar media products with the outcome of your group’s finished production. Goodwin key music video Using Your Research Findings Your Production – Use, Develop or Challenge conventions – note/ bullet point typical generic conventions Genre characteristics Strong use of Stuck to the conventional use of performance videos because (e.g. stage performance performance videos in performance sells the artist and their talents directly and this type of in metal video, dance the British Hip Hop rap video is used for artists who have meaning and good lyrics to convey routine for boy/girl band)- genre. (USE) Usually performance Kind of used the concept video convention but a little bit less so than and concept the performance aspect (USE) Use of the idea of a Performance type videos help sell the artist and are more about the journey/ walking. music, which I found was an important trait in the British rap scene this is why I decided to use this particular convention (USE) Used the idea of a journey in the main idea for the video, because the song is about his journey up until this point and his life story so it only seemed appropriate that the video was laid out like a journey- with train stations and different locations within the city, and lots of walking. Wanted to use this because he seemed wholly appropriate for the song because of what its about, Relationship between lyrics Found a convention Followed conventions of no relationship between lyrics and visuals and visuals of no relationship because the lyrics are quite abstract and deep and I think having (either illustrative, amplifying, between the lyrics every other lyric being displayed on screen in a literal sense would contradicting and the visuals have made the video look cheesy and also would have detracted In videos where there from the music (USE) was relationship, it But also used lightly contradicting visuals on occasion for instance wasn‟t overly used there is a line in the song where he says “tryna paint a picture with the and 4 times out of 5 it whole view” and in this shot there is an extreme close up of the artist- was either lightly which is clearly not the “whole view” that he was talking about in the amplifying or song. This was an artistic use of the camera and was intended to illustrating. switch up the use of the camera and all the angles I was using (CHALLENGE) Sometimes used lightly amplifying visuals too I.E. at the point where he says “I‟ll put life on hold” he stops walking and the camera stops moving for the couple of seconds that he is saying that line. This is because I wanted the lyrics that both the artist- and I- thought were
• 2.
  the best tobe amplified in their meaning to help convey the proper meaning of the song (USE) Relationship between music Found that the video I used this convention because it was the easiest way to cut the video and visuals was usually on time and keep it at a regular cutting rhythm, however I used the artists (either illustrative, amplifying, with the drums. rapping to cut my video when the drums had stopped because this contradicting). But where the drums helped to amplify the meaning of the lyrics a bit more and I feel that weren‟t present it then the artist I made the video for is very much about his lyrics, their was cut on the bass or meaning, and intelligent wordplay. (USE & CONTRADICT) the melody- but probably 3 out of the 5 videos I looked at were cut on drums alone and the other two were bass and drums Demands of the record label Record labels I have (or tried) to include lots of close ups in my video because I will include the need for lots demand lots of close recognised that it has an important function within the music video, it of close ups of the artist and up of the artist in order helps to break up the video, adds variety to the video- because you the artist may develop motifs to help sell the artist. can film a close up from lots of different angles and every angle will which recur across their work. I found that in all the make it look like a different shot- this means that your video wont just (a visual style). videos I looked at, be one long take and would give your video watchability, which is there was strong use important for a music video to have. (USE) of close ups.
• 3.
  Notions of looking(screens Out of the videos I As with the rest of the conventions I have explored I stuck to this one within screens, telescopes, looked at, none of in pretty much the same way, I had no voyeuristic treatment of the etc) and particularly them had voyeuristic female body as I felt it would have undermined the seriousness and voyeuristic treatment of the treatment of the meaning of the song. (USE) female body. female body I also stuck to the notion of looking in on someone‟s life and their And there was a journey because the song is about his life story and his journey up until particularly strong use this point so I felt it was necessary to reflect that in the way I of the notion of constructed the narrative and how I filmed it, the whole video is like a looking in most of journey- he starts in one place, is walking for pretty much all of the them- whether it was video, goes to a train station, and at he end of the song he is in someone‟s life, their different place to where he started. journey, and their daily routine. Intertextual reference (to I found no overt Once again I decided to stick with the conventions that I came films, TV programmes, other intertextual references across during my research, because intertextual references would music videos etc.). in the videos I looked have clouded the seriousness of the song. (USE) at- although this doesn‟t mean to say there weren‟t loads that I didn‟t recognise because of my young age. Technical Directions Artist/bands / actor‟s Artist was always in Followed these conventions too, my artist was nearly always in the positioning, movements, the centre of the centre of the shot- this is due to the fact that there are no other artists gestures, pose and mode of screen or actors in the video, and so the artist doesn‟t need to be anywhere address etc. If they weren‟t in the other than in the centre of the shot. centre of the shot Occasionally the artist was in the rule of three, and this was purely to
• 4.
  then they werein the add variety and in a few cases it helped amplify/contradict/illustrate lines laid out by the the meaning of the lyrics. (DEVELOP) „rule of three‟ Position on the screen was an important factor in relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. Editing directions Found a strong use of I used a lot of jump cuts, more jump cuts than matched cuts- I feel the (Match cuts, jump cut, matched cuts and use of jump cuts had more artistic value than matched cuts- if you reverse shots – cutting rhythm jump cuts use matched cuts you run the risk of making your music video into a etc.) In 4 out of 5 videos, film. But with jump cuts you never stay on the same shot for more than matched cutting was a couple of seconds and this can be hard for the viewer because it used during the song has the potential to create confusion. and jump cutting was used to initiate a change in location or costume and was also used after a long stint with matched cuts- to provide variety of editing techniques. Selection of mise-en-scène Half of the videos I I decided to set the film at night because the city lights that are only including colour, figure, pops, watched were set on at nighttime help to create a really atmospheric light which was lighting, objects, costume, exclusively in the day, useful in helping to convey the meaning. location and setting and use or in very light The decision to set the video at night was something that I had made of crowds/dancers etc. conditions when I first heard the song and decided I wanted to do a music video Not very many were for it, it seems to lend itself to that kind of setting and im not too sure set at night what it is.(CHALLENGE) I had intended for the whole video to be in black and white when I was drafting the first treatment, but this became nearly impossible to do because the light was so unpredictable, and we ended up with some grainy shots which would have been impossible to watch in black and white Framing of Shot Heavy use of medium CU, MLS, ELS etc.) shots Also lots of close ups (as discussed in the “Demands of The Record Label” section.