2. I N W H A T W A Y S D O E S Y O U R M E D I A P R O D U C T U S E ,
D E V E L O P O R C H A L L E N G E F O R M S A N D
C O N V E N T I O N S O F R E A L M E D I A P R O D U C T S ?
My media product uses many conventions of real music videos / posters and CD digipaks. I used ideas from music videos I have
analysed, such as only having certain lyrics lip synced which is something I liked within 'The Neighbourhood's' music video 'Sweater
Weather' which I wrote an essay on. Within that video - Jesse the lead singer - only lip syncs to the most sexual lyrics which therefore leaves
much more of an impact. With this in mind I decided to only use short shots of the lip syncing on the main chorus emphasising the
emotion felt from the singer. My audience are used to the conventions of indie/ alt rock music videos, but with Royal Blood being slightly
more gritty I think my video may be controversial as to what is typically expected due to the fact I have used more of an Indie feel - using
the blue projection over the singer mixed with a narrative of the girl who has cheated on a partner as well as the selected lip sync shots
without any drastic movement - rather than a performance based video which Royal Blood incorporate into their own videos.
Although, I feel my music video uses the short, fast paced shots well as this is what you expect to see within a rock video as the
frames tend to keep in time with the beat. Therefore I have used and developed a convention and I think my audience will notice this.
Another convention I have used and developed would be from my Digipak. I researched many rock / indie / alt CD covers and posters -
particularly from Royal Blood themselves. From this I learned that my theme would need to be unique and definitely incorporate the darker
side of the music. I chose to photograph the girl within the narrative and her partner whom she has cheated on to use for my digipak. I
asked them specifically to have the stereotypical 'moody rock' look for the photo to truly bring out this convention.
Therefore I feel that my music video uses stereotypical conventions of this genre, but then also explores more controversial aspects.
3. H O W E F F E C T I V E I S T H E C O M B I N A T I O N O F Y O U R
M A I N P R O D U C T A N D A N C I L L A R Y T E X T S ?
I think my use of combining my products together was successful. I used the same female
character from within my video on the front cover and poster and carried out the theme of
nature through all products. The roses and the nature cut in shots fit together really well and the
Indie/Alternative theme from the video is continued onto my digipak as the images are distorted
and have the look of 'melting'. I love the contrast of the supposedly 'romantic' pink rose with the
rather depressed looking characters in black and white on the digipak products as this really falls
into the genre I was intending.
I'd like to think that Royal Blood themselves would also create a similar digipak and video to
this as they have previously used the nature theme mixed with a subtle darker undertone. They
also have previously mixed narrative with performance and I think my use of narrative and fast
paced quick shots is very much their style.
4. W H A T H AV E YO U L E A R N E D F RO M YO U R
AU D I E N C E F E E D B A C K ?
From my audience feedback I learned that it is a very key part of video making. From
this I gained knowledge on who my target audience would be and what they would want
from that genre of music. I already had a rough idea of this as I guessed it would be the
same as Royal Blood themselves, but the feedback just added some clarity to the matter
and allowed my video to reach those targets the best I could.
The feedback from my finished video allowed me to see that I did reach the targets
set for a successful music video in the genre I chose. Although if I was to improve I
would of added the more shots of the female character to really emphasise the storyline
and I would of included the male character on my digipak into the video.
5. H O W D I D Y O U U S E N E W M E D I A T E C H N O L O G I E S I N
T H E C O N S T R U C T I O N A N D R E S E A R C H , P L A N N I N G
A N D E V A L UA T I O N S TA G E S ?
I used new media technologies in all stages of my coursework. In the construction I used the video editing software
'Adobe Premier Pro CC' to compile and edit my video. Having previously used a software on the Mac's which is very similar
to this in my AS Media studies I was confident with the basics of using it. I also used a Canon DSLR camera and tripod to
actually film the footage for my music video which was easy for me as I have used these many times before. For the
construction I also used a projector to create the blue lighting over the singing character of my video.
I used 'Adobe Photoshop' to produce the CD cover and poster. I am very familiar with this software as I have used it
rather a lot in GCSE Media and within my A level Art course.
I also used sites such as 'Prezi' and 'SurveyMonkey' to create some digipak analysis and my questionnaire. I had
previously used SurveyMonkey, but it was my first time using Prezi and it was a very easy, yet enjoyable process. It added an
element of fun to my presentation.
I then used Microsoft office essentials and the internet to create the rest of my research/planning and this evaluation.
Obviously I was very familiar with these.
Finally I used blogger to present my work electronically as a blog. This shows that I am capable of using a variety of
different new media technologies.
6. CONCLUSION...
In conclusion, I feel my products have achieved their purpose. The video demonstrated appropriate
conventions within my selected Indie/Alt/Rock genre and also pushed some contemporary ideas into light. Also I
feel I have demonstrated successful aspects of mise-en-scene, accurately framing a shot and using sound with
images correctly.
My CD Digipak shows conventions of real media products, using photography/ themes and juxtaposition
within the elements of what the roses metaphorically stand for against the moody young adults - a theme
throughout all my products.
My poster also incorporates this with the font and image selection. Also the Photoshop edit of the two
images (roses and characters) merging together through melting is unique and serves correctly to the style of this
genre.
My feedback concludes that my conventions and stereotypes have been met and my video can be seen as
successful to its genre. I am personally pleased with the outcome of my products and feel I have approached each
task set with accuracy.
