1. In what ways does your media
product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions
of real media products?
Brianna Lewis
2. Common conventions of a pop
music video
•Artists come across as happy and enjoying themselves.
•Lyrics are often based around love and/or relationships.
•Artists are considered fashionable and stylish.
•Bands sometimes express the friendship they have with
one another and as a group.
•There is often a theme such as a party.
•Colours are often bright and bold which have connotations
of a positive vibe.
•The pop soundtrack is usually between 3-4 minutes and
has a consistent beat.
3. In this screenshot, the
artists are portrayed as
happy as they’re smiling
and laughing.
Colour plays a huge part in pop music videos, there is
often a strong colour scheme such as bright, bold colours.
We have decided to go with a golden colour scheme as it
links both the pop genre and party theme together.
It is obvious that there is a strong party theme with our
music video as the girls are wearing dresses which is
considered as party wear.
4. In existing music videos, a variety of shot types have always been used. Instead
of having one simple medium shot of the girls performing to the camera, we took
two shots from either side of the girls. This helped to add variety to our
performance and make it visually interesting for our audience.
By including footage of the girls together rather than just footage of the girls
individually, it expresses the friendship that they have with one another. This is a
common convention found in music videos particularly of bands.
5. Mirrors are often a common theme in music videos. One example of the use of
mirrors in an existing pop/R&B music video is Justin Timberlakes video for his
single titled Mirrors.
The use of mirrors in this video is not to
show the comedic part of his narrative as
he hasn’t chosen to make his music video
humorous. The reason as to why he used
mirrors in his music video was to play with
the audiences perspective and emphasise
that he is reflecting on the love he has for
his wife.
Part of the lyrics are also ‘You reflect
in this heart of mine’ which links both
the lyrics and visuals together.
6. We have incorporated the mirror theme in our final music video but through using
the horizontal flip effect.
Although in our music video, the use of mirror effect isn’t to emphasise the artists
reflection on love. Instead it is to emphasise the humorous part of our music video
and that the chase between the boys and girls is never ending, like in a cartoon.
We also used the mirror effect in order to make our final music video more visually
interesting for our viewers.
7. Effects are used in many existing music videos, mainly in transitions between
shots. Occasionally in music videos effects are added to clips to make the
video visually interesting for viewers. We have incorporated the use of the split
screen effect for the same reason.
We also use the split-screen effect to continue with
the comedic part of our music video. We feel by
adding this effect it will help the audience think of a
cartoon where the chase between two characters is
never ending.
The split
screens
along with
the storyline
help to represent our
pop stars as care-free,
rebellious and desirable.
8. The party theme is further emphasised in this screenshot through the Mise en
Scene. The audience can see that the girls are dressed in party wear that are
brightly coloured.
Furthermore, the girls have done their hair and are gussying up in the mirror
which again, helps to highlight the pop genre.
9. There are some cases of objectification during our final music video which is shown
through the costumes of Siobhan and I. We are dressed in tight and/or revealing
clothing with heels and bright, bold make up which is stereotypically what woman
wear when going out.
We have chosen to dress them like this as we have been influenced through the
Mise en Scene of other existing pop music videos that have portrayed woman in
this way.
10. Close-up’s and extreme close up’s are two shots that are almost always included
in existing music videos. This is often to sell the artist to their target audience.
The lipstick is also from Kate Moss
collection which is a brand. There is
intertextuality between this shot and
the advertisement for this lipstick.
We were influenced by the advert to
apply the lipstick in our video as we
felt it would convey the pop genre.
In this extreme close up we see one of the
artists applying make-up. This emphasises
the party theme and links to the pop genre
as she is applying a bright red lipstick.
11. The narrative represents the two boys as clumsy shown through the numerous
shots of the boys tripping up and bumping into each other during the chase after
the girls.
They are also presented as desperate as they are the ones who are chasing after
the girls whereas nowadays it is stereotypical that the girls chase boys. The
desperate personality of the boys is shown through the many shots of them
chasing them such as the handheld shot on the right.
12. We chose to use the stills that we had taken on the day we filmed for our digipack and magazine advert. This meant that our artists were still dressed in
party wear and had their hair and make-up done which helped to continue with
the party theme.
The majority of the images we have chosen to use were
taken by the girls themselves. This helps to emphasise the
pop genre we wish to convey as they are portrayed as happy
because they’re smiling and laughing. They are also pulling
silly faces which shows that they can have a good time.
The golden colour scheme
is also continued
throughout or digi-pack to
continue linking with the
pop genre.
13. We chose this image for the front cover of our digi-pack
as not only does it have a feel of professionalism but
there is already an overall gold glow to the photo due to
the use of torch and golden reflector.
The golden theme runs
throughout the whole digipack helping it to link with
the music video and
magazine advert.
The font colour and design
link with the pop genre as
they are a golden. They
are also bold which helps
them to stand out.
The girls are smiling
in this picture which
shows that the girls
are happy and
content.
14. Conclusion
Overall, I feel we have used a great deal of
conventions that can be found in existing
media products throughout our music video,
digi-pack and magazine advert.
I also feel we further developed the common
conventions found in these media products
in order to link to the pop genre.