1. Evaluation Question 1
In what ways does your media product
use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products ?

2. Conventions of Musical Theatre Music
• A strong storyline to allow interpretive dance or acting.
• Emotive, through the drama and the lyrics.
• Literal lyrics.
• Not conventionally with a music video, the songs are
normally performed live, I have tried something different
here.
• Open to interpretation in accordance with the directors of
the shows and the live singers which would have to
perform them.
• Would normally utilise stage lighting to enhance tonal
shifts in the music (blue light for sadness etc) so we use
darkness in sadness, film some by torchlight, and daylight
presents happiness.

3. This is the opening frame of the video,
which features the protagonist throwing
stones serenely into the ocean. It creates an
Ambiguity to the story which builds tension,
as would have been done in live productions
of the song. We purposefully do not get a
close up of the character’s face just yet, as if
the memory is slowly unfolding before us.
The lyrics of the song feature “I can smile
at the old days” and in true musical
theatre fashion, we have taken the words
literally to influence the action of the
video. This would normally be done live
on stage to firmly establish story or
purpose behind the song, and here we
twist its purpose to begin the reflection
between “the old days” and the current
“midnight.”

4. I particularly like this shot for its use of
daylight, making the character’s image light
up and seem more beautiful and happy. The
long, flowing dress is conventional of the
class of this particular musical theatre song,
performed by the elegant Elaine Paige. The
casualness of the shot makes the happiness
seem effortless, and the profile view of her
face holds some power in it.
According to musical theatre, tonal shifts in the
song are emphasised by the dramatic changes
in the characters performance (as half of the
genre’s conventions are dependent on the
performance aspect.) I have used this here by
adjusting the body language of my protagonist.
Here, she seems deep in thought, relaxed and
composed, although now her face is completely
turned, blocking the audience from her
thoughts and therefore beginning the song’s
transition into depression. The slight change in
costume – a leather jacket over the long,
flowing dress and long, untamed hair – presents
the protagonist’s changing attitude, she is
subtly becoming tougher and more unruly.

5. The introduction of the lamppost which the
song continually references is another example
of taking the lyrics literally. According the
conventions of other musical theatre
presentations, this aids set changes and
creates ideas for choreography around these
new props. A sense of place is established here
as the character returns to this lamppost from
here onwards. Another convention of musical
theatre we used here was to change the
lighting to work with the mood of the song at
this moment. We have gone from using
daylight to relying on a torch and the light
pollution from behind the character, so that
the shot darkens with the tone of the song, and
the darkness which is protruding from the
character is materialised.
As musical theatre music is so reliant on acting and emotion, it was necessary to inject
frames whereby the actress shows nothing but emotion, and here I have done so
through the eyes. Going from a soft to harsh focus, the eyes penetrate the frame to tell
a story of there own, and the effect is almost haunting.

6. Probably the most well known convention of
musical theatre music is the ‘glamour’ of
showbusiness behind it all, which is shown
here in the long, flowing hair, the dark lipstick
and the up-market costume. The beauty of the
past never fully reveals itself, as the character
is too far into her depression, and so we only
see half a face. We are deprived of the emotive
eyes that we had a few frames before, as if this
beautiful memory is becoming numb and
superficial. In a live performance (as musical
theatre song’s conventionally are) the eyes are
the most important part of a characters
performance, and so deprivation of them can
have an almost uncomfortable, unnatural
effect, despite the warm smiles of the
character in this shot.
Set changes are another key part of a song like this,
and so here we have changed the set to a place
which is far from the beautiful lakes which we have
seen previously. Not only does this make ‘the girl in
the flowing, beautiful dress’ stand out more, but
it’s also a phisical representation of her falling from
higher places.

7. Wider frames were used to break up the intense,
up-close shots of the character, and here we also
gain a sense of place. The character is quite clearly
very isolated and lonely; the harshness of the black
fences and artificial lighting from behind are a far
cry from the sunlight and foliage that we saw
before. We are no longer following the lyrics
literally, but are exploring their openness to
interpretation. Most musical theatre song’s
experience this elucidation, as they were designed
to be performed in different ways, by different
people, in accordance to different directors.
Finally in this last frame we can see the image
of a my protagonist staring back at the
camera through the mirror, which here
presents inflective perspective on life. This is
used at the end of the video to enhance the
fact that she’s singing about her past
memories and conforms with the usual
musical theatre of a strong storyline. It is – as
in keeping with the genre - the characters
realisation.