1. Q1
How did you use, develop or challenge codes and
conventions of real media products?

2. Codes and conventions
Location Shot Types
Star For the genre of the music The two common shot types are
The star of the video is vitally videos I’ve looked at, the rural close-ups and long shots, with
important, they’re the person location fits perfectly with the close-ups used to show the
the viewer of the video had genre. Rural locations go well expression and emotion of the star
come to see and hear. They with narratives I’ve looked at performing the song and long
should be the centre of the which all feature themes of shots to add the strengths of the
narrative and the performance. individuality and finding what mise en scene and the camerawork.
make the artists happy.
Framing
Editing juxtaposed with sound The framing is important when it
This technique is useful as it C&C
come to the shots where the
keeps the viewer enticed, it’s artist is performing, the facial
important to edit the footage of features need to be focused on
the singer performing with start Lip-syncing
Lip-syncing is very important. and in frame.
of the verse etc. to add a level of
professionalism and to follow It’s a crucial convention which
conventions. It’s vitally adds realism and Narrative and Structure
important for the first and last professionalism, to the video. The narratives of the videos I’ve looked
lines of the verse. It helps draw the realism of at are usually split into thirds, with a
the song out of the narrative beginning, middle and an end. They
and helps get across the can either be solely made up of a
themes of the video. narrative or can run parallel with a
performance of the song which comes
from the narrative.

3. Framing
Use – For the framing of the star it was important that I frequently used close-ups and medium close-ups
when she was singing to add a depth of realism and to successfully convey the emotion of song and how the
star was expressing this emotion.
Develop - I developed this particular shot by following the rule of thirds more extensively to draw as much
attention as possible to the star. I then did this further by making sure that the lighting was as good as it could
get which makes the star more visible and brings attention to her features.
Challenge – For this shot the depth of field is much larger then any of the close-ups in the other music videos.
But it does work well, as it makes the shot more interesting, letting the viewer know the location is rural and
it also makes the shot brighter, the lighting was good on the day and this is seen in the large space which is
shown.

4. Star
Use – For this music video I based the shots and the narrative around the star. The music videos I
looked at had a star, some had the star singing along to the song and edited a narrative alongside it,
whereas Lucy Rose just had a narrative. I wanted to make the most of the talent that the artist has
so wanted her performing the song alongside the narrative.
Develop - I developed the use of the star by having her playing the guitar as well as singing. The
music videos I looked at just had the artists singing along to the lyrics. The guitar also plays a part
of the narrative as she carries out through the video.
Challenge – By having an actor in the video this took a bit of the attention away from the star, but it
isn’t a negative point. By taking a bit of the attention away from the star it adds more of a meaning
to the narrative and also makes the narrative stronger.

5. Narrative and Structure
Use – For the video I went with the convention of having the performance of the star running parallel to
the narrative. The narrative starts off fairly slow and picks up the pace as the video progresses. The shot
types don’t change that much in length but the use of more shots without the tripod and the emotions
from the actor help show that the narrative is building with the song.
Develop – I didn’t just have the star through the video. The use of a actor helped to create a stronger
narrative and keep the viewer interested. Cate Le Bon’s video featured a child actor as well as herself, I tried
to incorporate this with a more straightforward storyline.
Challenge – The narrative isn’t linear like the three research videos. Instead I used a circular narrative and
had the end of the story at the beginning, this allowed me to fuse the two locations together and made it
different.

6. Editing and sound
Use – The pacing of the song is roughly the same and doesn't vary all that much. So I made sure to cut to the
artist at the start of a verse/line or at the end. I made sure to cut to a close-up of her during the more
emotional moments of the song. I did use medium and long shots to keep the video varied.
Develop – Because I had an actor I was able to cut away from the star at times which added an extra
dimension to the video. This meant that I cut back to the star when the most important part of the verse was
coming up. I could then switch back to the actor to help the progression of the narrative and to help promote
the theme of the video.
Challenge – During the song there is a guitar solo which I didn’t show whatsoever. I felt that it wasn’t visually
interesting enough so discarded it and decided to use more shots to do with the narrative, these were more
visually appealing and crucial to the video.

7. Location
Use – For the location we ensured that a rural location would be used. Alderley Edge proved an interesting
location offering, hill faces, tree coverage, hills, paths which kept the mise en scene varied throughout the
video. We also used a field at local secondary school which proved us with better lighting for the star to
perform with, which follows conventions and keeps with the rural feel of the video.
Develop – We developed the location by using two different locations to film the music video in. In the Cate
Le Bon and Listener videos, the performance and narrative are filmed in the same location. We developed
this by filming in two different location to get the best out of the lighting, I was also able to link these two up
with a circular narrative.
Challenge – I didn't need to challenge this convention because it worked very well with what I wanted to
achieve.

8. Shot Types
Use – When watching the Listener music video this particular shot stood out. I followed the conventions
by placing the camera on a tripod and having the star walk across the shot. I made sure that the shot type
followed conventions and no panning took place.
Develop – We developed the shot through the use of the location. The location offers a larger depth of
field, as it doesn’t stop at the fence. The shot is also developed through the use of colour, Sophie is black
and sticks out among all the green, becoming the focal point. In the Listener video the star nearly blends
in with the mise en scene and isn’t a strong enough focal point.
Challenge – The challenges the conventions when it comes to the framing. The star is walking along the
middle of the frame whereas in the Listener video the star is walking along the bottom third. This does
play to out advantage though, as the location has plenty of grass which in terms of colour helps to
highlight our star. The Listener video couldn’t do this as the shot type is positioned closer compared to
ours , if they were to move back the road would take up more of the frame, which would drain the colour.

9. Use – For this shot type a long shot is used which is a common shot type in the other music videos, especially
when used alongside the environment. I felt it worked well for our shot because the point where the actor stops
isn’t the end of the frame, the mise en scene is so large is shows how lonely and lost he is, which is a theme of
the narrative and the song.
Develop – The shot type is a visibly low angle shot. Unlike being pointed straight on like the other music videos
I feel that through using this shot type we can really make the most out of the location and at the same time
improving the flow of the narrative by representing it through this shot.
Challenge – For the shot type I wanted to use a pan, this was because of a combination of factors. I felt that we
had started to use too many shots where the actor or the star simply walked into the frame. We tried keeping
the camera stationary and then tried a shot with a pan and preferred it. It also highlighted everything we
wanted to get across in the video, the location, the theme behind the narrative and the loneliness of the actor.

10. Lighting
Use – I wanted to capitalise on the use of a sunny day by being able to make the most of the natural lighting
and include lens flare in out shots. I noticed it was used in the other music videos and it’s really effective. In
out music video it really highlights the rural feel and location of the video and at the same time make the
star a stark focal point.
Develop – We developed the shot through the star and the mise en scene by framing it so the star and the
bench are in the centre of the shot and making the shot symmetrical. This makes the star the focal point
and again, highlights the location by giving it a large depth of field. The natural lighting consecutively
makes the star and the environment jump out, which are both very important.
Challenge – The star is facing away from the camera which is breaking a very important convention, but, I
feel it works because it lets the structure of the video flow nicely, the shots where she is facing in the
direction of the camera are either when the lyrics are being sung or the narrative is progressing, making this
shot special one. It also accentuates the idea that she is the focal point of the shot.