Advanced Portfolio

There are different conventions for different forms of media texts, and for a music video, depending on it’s genre and form, it has a number of conventions. The different forms of music videos; according to Sven Calisson in 1999, are performance, which features the artist performing, narrative, which would present a story through out the video, mixture, that uses both performance and a narrative, and cameo, where the artist is part of the narrative but does not perform. My video uses a mixture of performance and narrative. The artist performs to the camera, and is also part of the narrative. The narrative I have used presents the attitude of the ‘boyfriend’ in the video, acting clueless and innocent, and as though nothing has happened, along with the artist acting as the ‘girlfriend’ character, being angry towards him. She knows he has cheated and is being resentful towards him. With this, I have my artist performing to the camera, and showing these similar emotions here too, through the use of facial expression and gestures. Because of the narrative of the song, there are a mixture of narrative theories that I have followed. My video follows a Romeo and Juliet narrative structure along with a Tristan and Iseult narrative structure. This is because it is shows both a love triangle between the protagonist, antagonist and other female that is featured in the song, as well as portraying a love story. There is a variety of camera shots that should be involved in a music video. Close ups and extreme close ups are extremely important as it allows the audience to see the artist up close. This helps to sell and promote the artist, which is the overall purpose of the music video and so without these shots, it will not do a very good job. I have followed this convention by using close ups and extreme close ups throughout, focussing mainly on shots that feature the artist in order to promote her image of being rebellious well and allow the audience to view her up close. Camera movements are also important when it comes to selling the artist as one of the main movements used is a pan, used both for effect and to follow the artist’s every move. Tracking is also used for this purpose. These movements can be quick or slow paced depending on the effect wanted, and tempo of the music. I have used these in my video, along with a zoom which is used quite frequently in my video. This makes it look much more interesting and allows the audience to view the artist even closer. In a music video, the editing is crucial. A convention of a pop genre music video is that the editing cuts in time with the music, and cuts to another scene or shot with the beat. Jump cut is also used, making the video non-continuous, cutting from one location to another. My editing is also done in time with the beat of the music; cutting from one location to the next. This challenges the conventions because it shows non-continuity within the video. The mise-en-scene in a video usually uses artificial lighting, for example if an artist was made to look mysterious or scary, a light would be placed behind them; shadowing their face and making them look dark. I have followed this convention. The dance sequence within my video was performed in a theatre space that uses various lighting effects. I dimmed all the lights in the room apart from in the dance space, to emphasise the lighting that the dancers were performing under. I used lighting from either side of the set space, as well as lighting from the top box to ensure it was light enough to make the dancers stand out. This was also essential as the rest of my video is very light and vibrant and so I needed to keep this stylistic theme all the way through. The use of props is another convention. Instruments are often used, more often than not in a performance video, or a mixture of performance and narrative. This helps to create the illusion that the band or artist are playing. I used props throughout my video. I also developed these conventions as I didn’t use the props traditionally used such as an instrument. Instead, I used a plastic cup that was attached to a piece of string, and a snowball. This ensured my video kept its originality. The costume worn by the artist is also important. This is what makes the artist an individual and depending on who the audience is, helps to attract attention. It also contributes to the representation of the artist, for example putting them in bright colours would make them seem fun, but this depends on the genre of the song. The costume was very important for my video as I felt it was the main contribution to the representation of my artist.

1. This costume helped to make her look rebellious and also made her stand out against the brightly coloured background. The dark eye makeup contributes to this look, along with backcombed hair and dark lipstick.

2. This was another aspect of the rebellious look that I wanted my artist to have. The colours again stand out against the background, enhancing her bold characteristics and personality.

3. The necklace here was useful when it came to expressing character as she could hold it and makes gestures to help express emotions. Usually, a pop genre music video wouldn’t use gestures such as this, where as a hip hop video would. Yet again, the black dress is highlighted by the brightly coloured background and we can see a huge contrast in the use of colours.

4. The mood in the video changes here and it becomes quite light hearted. Because she is in the snow she needed to wear something brighter than black and so these colours did this. I wanted to continue in making sure my artist stood out in front of the background and I feel this was achieved here.

5. I wanted each dancer to wear something different as I feel it gave this section of the video an edge. Because my video doesn’t use the idea of being neat, but presents the idea of individuality I felt this was more appropriate.

Music videos always use a colour scheme, again this depends on the genre. For example a pop song would use bright colours, an indie song would often use black and white. I used this convention as I used both yellow and red backgrounds for the same type of shot. When the artist was performing to the camera, through the use of a mid shot of close up, a yellow or red background was used. A convention that applies to all genres is the use of non-diegetic sound. The music of the video is non-diegetic, and some videos that use dialogue to break up the narrative for example, uses non-diegetic sound too. I have followed this convention too by using non-diegetic sound in my video. I have used the sound of the camera click in the beginning, as well as the song being non-diegetic.

The conventions of each genre of music the video are different. Because my song is a pop song it means I needed to follow some set conventions, and use features that are iconographic of the pop genre. My video needed to be colourful. I have done this. I have used brightly coloured backgrounds with the colours yellow and red to help signify the genre, and made sure some of the costumes were colourful too. This convention has also been challenged by my video as it starts in black and white and turns to colour as the video progresses. This idea was influenced by other videos I watched such as Kesha’s video ‘Tik Tok’, which also uses bright yellow throughout the video only in a different way. The mise-en-scene in that video however shows a yellow wall, rather than being filmed in front of a green screen and the colour being chromo-keyed into the picture. My video has that fun element needed for a pop music video as I have used the idea of throwing snowballs, paper flick books and animation. The colours also make it seem fun, along with the quick tempo of the song. Another convention of a pop music video is a dance routine, which I have included but found difficult to do. The video by Alexandra Burke to ‘Broken Heels’, influenced my idea for this. This is because a dance routine is performed on the football field, and the positioning of the dancers helped me to stand my dancers in a certain place. I thought the dance routine in this pop music video looked effective and so by doing mine quite similar would make mine effective too. I had to film this section several times until I was happy with the footage. On my first attempt, I hired out a village hall and planned to film it with four dancers (including the artist). This didn’t work as the dancers kept moving out of the frame, and found it difficult to be in time with each other. Also as I moved the camera, I managed to get plugs and curtains in the shot which then meant the footage was unusable. I filmed the dance routine again with a different group of dancers, in front of the green screen at college. This also failed because the dancers didn’t have the music to dance too and were therefore out of time again. I finally decided to film the dance routine in a much more practical space; the theatre, and use a larger group to make it look more effective. I finally got the footage I needed. I have also challenged the convention of using a narrative, as my music video has one but it is broken up through out the video. There are performance sections in between the narrative which breaks it up into small sections in the video. Also I have followed and developed the conventions of a digipack. The front of a digipak usually consists of the artist’s name, in a big, bold font that is usually positioned in one of the top corners. They are presented in bright colours and I have followed this convention. I placed the artist’s name in the top right hand corner in black, to make it stand out against the brightly coloured background. I outlined the letter ‘E’ in red to make it look more interesting. The font I used was to create a graffiti looking effect giving the album cover a bit of street style appeal rather then just being plain. The title of the album, if I had followed the conventions, would be placed in the bottom half of the album, but because I have challenged this convention, I have placed it at the top, under the artist’s name. I have used the convention of having a main image dominating the cover. I have used an extreme close up of the artist’s face and edited it to make it look much more bold and attractive, to help sell the artist. The back of the album should consist of a numbered track list, which I challenged as I didn’t number by tracks. I just listed them in order of what they will play on the CD, in a vertical list. I have included the institution details at the bottom of the digipak too which is another convention of which I have followed. It is position in the bottom left corner in a tiny black font, but still big enough to be able to understand. I have also used a mid shot if the artist and placed it on the back next to the list of tracks. I have done this with a bold, red outline to make it look like a cut out of the artist. The spine should have the name of the artist on, along with the institutional logo. I have used and challenged this as I have not included the institutional logo, but used the title of the album instead. I have kept the spines simple, using black and white to do this. This is because I feel the digipak will become too overpowering and colourful, and by making these tiny details simple it makes it much easier on the eye.

A magazine advert has conventions too. I have also used and challenged these. A visual image is always used, to help promote and sell the artist. I have done this as a dominant feature, in order for it to fulfil its purpose as best it can. I have used the same image that is used on the back of the digipak to keep the uniform style. I figured this out from albums I have researched. The name of the artist is always presented in a large attractive font, another convention I have followed. This allows the audience to identify the artist. The date of release is a third convention. I have also followed this, as I have presented this information under the artist’s name in a thick black font to make it visible. The information of a company is usually presented on the advert too to inform the reader of where they can purchase the music from. I have used this, and presented the I-tunes symbol in the corner. I have done this to inform the audience that they can buy the album I am advertising from I-tunes. The three texts I have produced; a music video, a magazine advertisement and a digipak, all work together to promote the artist. I have kept the same stylistic theme constant throughout all three products by using a bright and eye catching colour scheme of red and yellow. In my video, it is used for a plain yet effective background colour, as well as being used on certain effects. I have also used it in my digipak, again as a background colour but also to outline images and brighten different aspects of the artist’s face like her lips for example. On the magazine advert I have used a bright red background and used yellow to outline the top and bottom of the page, as well as highlighting the main text showing the artist’s name. Maintaining this colour scheme throughout means that all three products look effective and are made obvious that they belong to the same promotion. After gaining audience feedback, I learnt that following a uniform style proved to be very effective. Various comments such as ‘it follows the conventions of a pop genre’, ‘it helps to show continuity’, ‘the colours used are bright and dynamic’, ‘the uniform style makes it look professional and consistent’ taught me this. This reassured me that my products were successful, but still had room for improvements, after someone stated ‘you could include another colour to make it more interesting’, and ‘you could use various shades of the same colour’. Over all feedback for all three products was positive and I feel they are as successful as intended. After handing out a questionnaire to students around the college who watched my video and viewed my ancillary texts, various comments were given. A majority of the audience feedback came from females which was purposely done as my video is mainly aimed towards females. 100% of those who were asked, thought that my music video was of a pop genre, which meant I had made this clear enough to the audience and followed the conventions correctly and accurately. 94% of those asked thought my video was effective, and because the 6% who didn’t find it effective were male, it meant I had connected to my audience well done the right thing to catch their eye. Their reasons for it being effective differed, here are some examples: ‘it works well with the song’, ‘the effects done are good and a theme is constant throughout’, ‘the artist’s personality is shown’, ‘it is fun and relates to teenage situations’, ‘the animations were effective’, ‘it is bright, fun and looks professional’, ‘the props worked well’, ‘it is edited very well’, ‘whoever played the artist fitted the part well’. These comments support that my video was successful and attracted the audience well. The purpose of my video was to be fun and enjoyable, and I gained various feedback of how it made the audience feel. Most said it made them feel happy, and put them in a good mood, which again informs me that my video was effective and fulfilled its purpose well. Others said it cheered them up, and was exciting to watch. My reason for asking the people I did was because of my target audience, who range from aged 12 to 24. This is because I do not feel an older generation would appreciate the context of the song. I have also aimed my video at females because of the contents of the video and topic of the song. Also the artist is female which creates an easier connection between her and a female audience. Over all I have gained very positive feedback from my audience, both from those I have asked, given a questionnaire to or simply those who have seen my video on you tube. Within three days, my video had gained 109 views and 2 likes, which is very positive. To date, my video has 590 views, 7 likes and a comment that says ‘Wow’. All of this feedback tells me that my video was successful. The video that was uploaded to you tube by this point was unfinished, which tells me my video (this version can be viewed by clicking on the hyperlink) is now even more successful in attracting its audience after the final adjustments have been made.

I used new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages through the use of the following: you tube (which I used to research existing videos and watch other music videos for inspiration), blogger (which I used to record all of my findings and research on. I also used this to present my development throughout the year and to show the different stages of my progression.) Photoshop was vital in the making of my ancillary texts. This is because I used it for both the digipak and the magazine advert. I used various skills and techniques on this programme to edit pictures and text to make an effective advert and digipak. I found this was an easy programme to use as it was a quick way of making things look effective. I used the lasso tool to cut round images, and drag them across onto different coloured backgrounds. Photoshop also allowed me to alter the contrast and brightness of different pictures, and make them look more effective and attractive. It is very important that I do this for the ancillary texts as their purpose is to help advertise and sell the artist and her album. Another use of new media technology is a digital edit suit. This allowed me to do non-linear editing, and allowed me to create various interesting effects on my video. It also allowed a quick and quite easy way of fitting various parts of my video to the beat of the music. It meant I could zoom in to the line that presented the beats of the music. Because I could do this it meant I could visually see where to place the jpeg images, and match it up with the beat.

To conclude, I feel I have created a successful promotional package for the release of an album for my artist. I made my products link well so that they support one another in the promotion of the product, I did this by following a range of conventions but also putting in my own, original ideas. My knowledge of the music video history, as well as how they are done today has grown, and I now know what it takes to make a successful promotional package. I have progressed from the start of my production to end, and have learnt a variety of things that have helped to improve my skills and knowledge. This has encouraged me to grow much more confident with the practical aspect of things, and the new technical skills I have picked up have done this too. Researching other texts also helped me to create a polysemic image, that I left my audience with at the end. After gaining feedback I have also realised my weaknesses as well as strengths, and noticed there is room for improvements. Knowing this has allowed me to know what to do to make my product better in the future, by planning well ahead for the more challenging scenes. For me, what needed improving the most was the dance sequence, although I had attempted it several times I am still not satisfied that it is to its best. After three attempts, I began focussing on other aspects of my video, when instead I could have shot the dance sequence more times in order to get it looking even better. Over all, I feel I have used my time sufficiently, and managed well with the strict deadlines. I have enjoyed the project as it allowed me to express myself and allowed me the freedom to do it exactly how I liked. Doing this project has inspired me further into wanting to do continue media production in the future.