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

2. We kept the title of the song for our
music video which was ‘You Make Me’ by
Avicii as the lyrics of this song
continuously refer to the title. The lyrics
tell a story about how the female
character makes the male character and
it’s written from the male’s point of view.
We do go against the conventions as our
character doesn’t interact with a female,
unlike the original video. It was because
this song title was chosen by the artist
and his production company Universal
and we didn’t want to change this as it is
songs such as You Make Me that made
Avicii the success he is today. ‘You Make
Me’ is also repeated throughout the
chorus of the song so our viewers
wouldn’t understand if the title was
different.
Title and lyrics

3. The genre of our music video is in
the dance/house genre. The opening
of our music video shows Dave
walking up a set of stairs located in
Southend, wearing a jacket, skinny
jeans and Nike trainers. This fits the
codes and conventions of a video in
the dance genre as what he’s
wearing is very trendy and
fashionable. Dance music is also seen
as very trendy and fashionable today,
therefore people involved in this
genre of music are seen wearing
similar clothing to Dave. It then
quickly skips to Dave in Camden,
London, wearing different yet
fashionable clothes. Camden is home
to a popular venue called ‘The
Roundhouse’ which hosts many
dance music gigs. People will see
these aspects of our music video and
instantly be able to know that it’s a
video for a song in the dance genre
without even listening to it.
Genre

4. There is a lot of camerawork and editing used in
our video to fit and go against the codes and
conventions of a dance genre music video.
Camerawork was one of the most important
factors, due to the fact that we had to use our
iPhone to record our video which is a low quality
camera. This instantly put us at a disadvantage
compared to groups with professional cameras.
We used a lot of different shots in our music
video that helped to portray Dave’s character and
personality, such as close ups, mid shots and long
shots. The close up of Dave with smoke leaving
his mouth suggests that he’s new to the scene
and willing to break the rules which agrees with
the codes and conventions of this genre. When
editing the music video we used the Pinnacle
software that was available to us in school. We
found that this software took a while to get used
to; however once you’re familiar with it it’s
simple. The only disadvantage we found with this
software is that we thought it was quite limited
and transitions were restricted, however this
didn’t cause any problems as our group are all
beginners when it comes to editing. The simpler
it was, the better it was for us.
Camerawork
and editing

5. The use of costumes of our music video can be
closely linked to the conventions of a real
media product as they are fashionable and
popular. In the genre of House music videos
characters are often seen wearing t-shirts,
jeans and trainers much like David in the
music video. Through brainstorms and
research we found that the clothing we wear
being aged around 17-18 fits the conventions
of the genre. As all members of the group
listen to this genre of music this did indicate to
use that there would be similarities of our
lifestyle and clothing that would fit to the
genres traits. Upon this, this proved to use
that it would be easy to produce various
realistic outfits that fit the norms of the genre
with ease, allowing more flexibility within
costumes and no need to buy outfits. This
flexibility shows that this was the right genre
for us to carry out as we as a group were able
to easily use clothes fitting for the genre. This
was rewarding for us as a group as it enabled
us not to worry about fitting to the convention
and spend more time thinking of locations and
camera angles
Costumes

6. Props, unlike costumes are much hard to relate to
within the circumstances. Due to a much smaller
budget it is difficult to compare to the props of real
conventional media products such as DJ decks. As no
one in the group owns a professional set it is very
difficult to relate to this which is one of the most
common ways to show the artist as a different singer
normally sings the lyrics. We decided not to involve
the actual artist as we feel it to make a mockery of the
artist and would not look as professional. The focus is
on one character which we feel is more effective.
Developing on the ideas of the conventions an
abstract focus seemed the best route to follow as it
enabled much more flexibility to the filming and
locations. As the theme is abstract the props used are
therefore going to be abstract and do not have any
major importance inside a narrative as they are
completely random. Things such as a Pele football
shirt and a boat have no reference within the genre
norms but the ideals within the genre follow. Overall
we didn’t use that many props in the locations and
spent most of our efforts finding the right locations
and shots to use. The random, exciting and fun feeling
is a major part of the house genre, as it is mainly
around the age group of 13-25 people of this age will
do impulsive and exciting things, if a music video
includes these things then it will be enjoyable for this
target market.
Props

7. How characters are introduced in our music video
follows the conventions of the genre. This is
because characters from real videos and our singer
focus on the same theme, through enjoyment and
youth. Relating so much to the genre enabled us
much like the use of costumes to understand how
the characters should act in this genre of music. It
can still show that the introduction of characters is
slightly different to that of other songs in the
genre as characters are often seen singing without
involvement of the story or abstract theme inside
the music video. This is because of a budget and
time to enable a detailed looking video. We chose
to focus the video on one character as inside the
video there were dependency issues. One single
character would be easier and more efficient to
use. This is because all the focus would be on this
one character, enabling us not having to perfect
more than one character and allowing us to
perfect just one. So, when watching the video it
may divert away from the norms of the genre
through the role of the character but the
presentation of the character does use the
conventions.
Character
introduction and
roles

8. The setting and locations much like the props
develop the ideas of the genre as they are closely
linked within the genre but may not be found in
similar music videos. As mentioned before with
the props it is hard to relate certain aspects of the
video to similar trends of the genre due to
time, money and resources. The focus and mise on
scene of the actual video and locations does fit
inside the norms of the genre. As the focus of our
video is on having fun the locations chosen fit the
purpose. London, as one of the locations is vibrant
and exciting; it is iconic land mark and was very
easy to get to where we live. It also has many good
looking shots and London is a very exciting place
so fits within the genre, especially as we went to a
shisha bar which is a very modern thing to do and
enabled us some very good shots and edits to use.
The other locations are also very random and are
enjoyable to watch as there is so much diversity
inside the music video. As we made sure to get
enough shots within each location we were able to
make quick edits between each location and keep
the audience excited and wanting to watch more.
With the furthest location only an hour away it
was easy for us to go and film.
Settings
and
locations

9. Story/tone
The story/tone of the music video uses
the norms of the conventions in real
media products as locations jump
from Southend straight to Camden
town, abstract videos inside genre
often jump between several different
locations and this is shown throughout
the music video. This was important to
understand. When filming, we made
sure to film much more footage than
the year 12 task as we needed more
footage when following the story of
the gene norms. Without as much
footage it would be much harder to
create a tone which remains quick
paced and exciting.

10. As a group we decided to stick
with the genres codes and
conventions when creating our
album cover. We used an unusual
font for the cover however we all
agreed on it because we thought
it gave off a sense of happiness
and joy which is very a very
important factor for the codes
and conventions of this genre.
We used a range of bright colours
for the lettering as when we
handed out questionnaires asking
what people expect from a dance
music album cover, they wanted
it to be simple yet bright and
vibrant.
Digipak