Q1 Evaluation A2 media

1. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR
CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
I believe that my music video follows the codes and conventions of the electronic genre very
closely. Music videos in the EDM genre are very broad, but most commonly have a mixture of at
least 2 types of music video types. We decided to incorporate this into our work by including all
three; a narrative with conceptual ideas and a lot of performance of the artist. This makes he music
video very personal and engages the audience throughout.
Typical Codes & Conventions of
Electronic Dance Music Genre:
• Slow motion shots
• Self perceivable narrative
• Cuts match pacing of music
• Low-level lighting
• Close up of artist
• Heavy use of editing
Singing to camera:
To create a more personal feel to the music video, many close ups of
the artist are used. We followed this convention by using a variety of
shot types where the artist is making direct eye contact with the
audience.
Low level lighting:
EDM music videos are mostly lowly lit and is a
convention from eve the earlier days of the
genre. My music video is also lowly lit as it
matches the narrative and themes present.
Themes Present:
The common themes across EDM music videos
revolve around love and relationships. We
commonly see a strong bond between the
characters in the music videos of the genre. We
conformed to this convention by having a loving
relationship in our music video. However, we
challenged this convention by having a
relationship between two best friends rather
than a romantic couple. We presented the bond
through our lighting of the shots. The low level
lighting for the time the main character is alone
contrasts directly to the higher key lighting of
when they are together, to show the love he has
for his late best friend.
Slow motion shots:
It is a convention for music videos in the
electronic dance music genre to use slow
motion shots. This is mainly due to long
bass sounds which are used in the genre.
This allows for the visuals to fit in with the
music. I used this in my music video
throughout, but most notably in the first
third of it to generate the slow opening.
Pacing was very important in the music
video.
Narrative, Concept, performance:
Music videos in the electronic dance music genre vary as all
three types (narrative, concept, performance based) are used.
I challenged this by incorporated all three into my music
video my generating one music video which includes a
performance/narrative base with concept elements. I followed
the convention of creating enigmas. I did this by having the
audience ask questions throughout, and then slowly revealing
the answers during the music video. For example, the flash
back during the start of the music video get the audience
thinking about what it could represent, but is not answered
until half way through.
Zoom shots:
Zoom shots are very effective in music videos as they generate the tone, setting
and purpose of the scenes. We used a variety of shot types throughout the music
video, ranging from extreme long shots, to close ups. We pulled this off using a
camera ‘slider’ as it gave us the professional look that EDM music videos
commonly have.

2. Challenge:
In music videos of the electronic dance music genre,
voyeurism is not conventional. The music videos often
revolve around the visuals and the link to the music
rather than having longer shits for either the male or
female gaze. Therefore we didn’t add this into ours.
Intertextual references aren’t very conventional either
as most music videos don’t tend to add them in. EDM
a newer genre so they aren't able to use such varied
backlog that pop is able to use.
Goodwin’s Theory
The Theory:
• Relationship between music and
visuals
• Relationship between lyrics and
visuals
• Genre characteristics
• Performance
• Voyeurism
• Intertextual references
Relationship between Music and Visuals:
There is a very strong connection between the visuals and music. We achieved this
through three main ways: editing, camera movements and performance.
Editing:
Editing was extremely important as it allowed for us to
pace our music video effectively. Pacing is such a key
part of music videos in the electronic dance music genre
as there is commonly a sharp contrast of the pacing of
the music during the drop and out of the drop.
Therefore, it was important we stuck to the pacing of the
music video with our cuts as it lifts the audiences senses,
allowing for them to become fully engrossed in it. The
way we achieved this was by matching the cuts to the
beat, meaning the start of the music video had shots of
a longer duration compared to the shots in the final arc
of the video.
The main example I could find is the build up to the first
drop. This was important as it was the first time the
audience were going to hear the drop (which is
important for the electronic dance music genre) and so
they needed their senses to be heightened. The
beginning shots before the singer started consisted of 3
shots in the space of 14 seconds. This contrasts to the
build up where we were able to get 8 shots in the space
of 2 seconds.
16seconds2seconds
Camera movements:
Similarly to the editing, it is conventional that the camera movements follow the
pace of the music. As the editing was slower at the start of the music video, the
camera movements are also the same, with a very fluid and soft motion. This
contrasts to all three of the drops where the movements are very hectic and
hand to give a hand held look to them. This plays very well with the music.
Performance:
We directed the actors in a way to coincide with the
music. For example, the slower the music is, the
slower the characters move. This is seen with the
uncomfortable stills of the character as he sits on
the ground or table. This contrasts to the very lively
scenes of remembrance in the first drop, the killing
in the second drop and boxing in the final drop.

3. Relationship between Lyrics and Visuals:
Goodwin’s Theory Continued…(2)
The first instance the lyrics have been amplified is on the lyric “why
we keep coming back for more” we interpreted this with the shot of
the main character walking up to the door to the gym in slow
motion. This then cuts to the shot of the best friend, in brighter
colour grading, walking up to the same door, telling the main
character (the camera is the POV) to come in. This shows the link
that they used to come to the gym together, however the main
character is still holding onto his past by coming back to the same
gym.
Another time we see a link between lyrics and the visuals
is on the line “forgot how it feels”. This is a very small
detail however it is important to show as it is intended to
foreshadow the death of the best friend. The lyric refers
to forgetting how the relationship feels, however we
contradicted this by showing the main character hasn’t
forgotten how it feels, hence why he is in this situation of
distress. That’s why it was important to show the artist
touch the leaves in the location of the death.
Another amplification of the lyrics is presented here. The lyric “is the
only reason you’re holding me tonight” was amplified by the main
character holding the chain of the best friend, who threw it just
before his death. This is key as it is showing the contrast of how the
main character doesn’t have anyone to ‘hold’ him metaphorically as
his best friend is gone. This heightens the emotion of the shot.
The lyrics “even though we know its wrong” have a great
meaning in relation to the narrative. The shot shown is a
shot of the main character looking at his wrist where he
has a tattoo o a triangle. This links back to the death of
his best friend earlier where the gang members are
killing him, with a triangle tattoo on their necks. This
shows that the character now knows what he was doing
with the gang was wrong and it cost him his best friend.
During the final drop, the lyrics “scared to be lonely are shouted many
times. On the first occurrence, the artist is visually showing pain and
emotion when singing these lines, this is important as she is
metaphorically showing the main character’s pain.
In the same final sequence, the main character is also looking very
distraught which many shots of him not boxing and having a breakdown
so suggest he IS scared to be lonely, without his best friend.
Genre Characteristics:
From my research, I found out that music videos in the genre are
often 2 of the 3 types out of; narrative, concept or performance
based. EDM music videos often use slow motion, as well as match
the visuals and editing to the pacing and tone of the music. We
incorporated this into our music video to the best of our abilities –
ending is a professional looking product.

4. Structure of the music video:
For the structure of our music video, we had to dissect each part of the
narrative and plan every stage carefully. We were heavily influenced by
Carol Vernalis’ theory, where the narrative is disjointed. This means the
narrative is not in chronological order, instead appearing in fragments
time. Our music video is following two different time periods – the past
the present, cutting in and out of artist performance too.. The past was a
tool used to break up the present as well as give the relevant back story
needed to give reasoning for the main character’s actions. This is not all
revealed in one chunk however as it gives the audience time to question,
fully engage with and interpret the music video as they wish, before
relieving them of their enigmas with the flash backs. There was a heavy
need to show the contrast between the two times as it is showing the
progression of the character over time – especially from the beginning of
the music video to the final arc.
Flashbacks:
Flashbacks were a tool used to carry the story forward whilst still keeping the
audience engaged throughout. This was done by having the linear storyline
begin after the big events of the music video, where we see how the main
character is coping. This creates an enigma for the audience as they don’t know
why or how he is in this state of mind. This slowly begins answering itself as the
story goes on with the non linear flashbacks. The flash backs appear from the
very beginning of the music video up until the end of the second third of it. We
wanted to show a progression of the character during this music video through
his emotions. Initially they are happy, up beat flash backs of the two best friends
having fun, however this contrasts to the second drop where the flash back is
now of the death of the best friend where he is reliving the moment. This is key
as after the final drop begins, there are no more flash backs as we show the
character is no longer grieving over his best friend, but rather using it as fuel for
his rage and anger – which has finally taken over.
Narrative:
For the narrative, Levi Strauss can be applied to show the binary
opposition. We presented this as a development of the character.
Colour grading was a huge tool used for this. Initially in the music
video, it is colour graded to a very cool tone with a high contrast
and blues heightened. This shows the cold and uneasy nature of
the main character as he is in grief over the death of his best
friend. As we see more and more flash backs of the main
character remembering his old friend, we are shown a
development in character as he is getting more and more upset,
making the grading go darker and darker – however still
remaining blue. After the death scene of his best friend, the
colour grading is sharply faded from the high contrast dark blue,
to a high contrast dark red. This shows that the new sadness
gathered by the main character through the memories resulted in
the rage and malicious nature come out and take over the
character. This challenges the binary opposition as the initial ‘hero’
has slowly transformed into the ‘villain’ of the music video.
Overall, I believe I have created a product which
is of a professional quality and high standard.
This is simply due to the fact that I did intensive
research into the genre which allowed for me to
gather the codes and conventions which make a
good electronic dance music, music video – and
which conventions I needed to carry over to
produce a product of my highest capability.
PresentPast