The document discusses the use and challenges of media conventions in creating a pop house music video, emphasizing techniques like direct address, close-ups, tracking shots, and rhythmic editing to enhance audience engagement and recognition of the artist. It details the symbolic elements of costume, lighting, and website design that align with industry norms while also showcasing innovative choices made in the product. Overall, the analysis highlights how these conventions are employed to meet audience expectations and contribute to a successful media presentation.

1. EVALUATION TASK 1
IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE,
DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
Jonty Harrison

2. FORMS & CONVENTIONS
• The expected style, structure and elements typically included within
products of a certain genre.
• An established way of doing something.
• There are two types:
• Technical (typically filmed, lit and edited) and
• Symbolic (typical sets, costume, lighting, camera-work, plot and
editing included in deep house videos.
• We incorporate conventions to satisfy audiences’ expectations and
because producers are aware of the higher chance of success if they do.
• I’m going to discuss the conventions of real Pop House media products
and how we used/challenged them in our own media products.

3. DIRECT ADDRESS / CLOSE UP
• Artists are often shot in close up while performing a direct address (at the camera) of their lip-sync. This:
• breaks the 4th wall
• emphasises the vocal talent
• gets audience’s attention via the connection
• adds feeling of intimacy with artist
• emphasises the lyrics being sung (key line of song)
• builds recognition of star image of artist
• These results cause the viewer to remember the key line of the song, and the beauty and the vocal talent of the artist.
• A direct address places the lead singer in front of all other aspects of the shot (backdrop/lighting/etc) in order to
present them as the most important.
We have also used this technique in our video to create the same
effect of flattering the artist and and emphasising the key line “I
hear the night call!” This technique can also be used to sexualise
the artist and lure female (or male) viewers as they fantasise about
being up close and personal with the artist. His looks are a part of
his image and the camera is showcasing that.

4. TRACKING SHOTS
• A dolly or a steady-cam has been used to shoot while tracking around
the subject to:
• add depth (3rd dimension)
• add movement (visually stimulating & presents artist as
energetic)
• present group of people as a unit/crew
We featured this circular tracking shot in our video
to have the same effect. It was most effective at
presenting the group of performers as a crew and
giving depth to the otherwise shallow subject.

5. RHYTHMIC EDITING
• The cutting of a music video is often synced to the beat of the music in order to emphasise the feel of the
beat.
• The audience naturally enjoys these cuts and moves with them, while they are also incentivised to tune into
the different layers of the music allowing them to enjoy a different sonic perspective.
• Editors of real media forms also match the video with the pace and therefore emotion of the music.
• This technique creates a more cohesive final product - it is a convention of all music videos, not just ones of
our genre.
We used this technique throughout our
media product to have the same effect.

6. DISCONTINUITY EDITING [GRAPHIC MATCHING]
• In real media products like the above, discontinuity editing often features in order to add
variety and interest.
• This can be in the form of jump cuts, slow motion, overlaid shots, and frames within
frames.
• In essence, these are all cuts that the audience notice, and are used to express meaning.
In our media product, we used the technique
called “graphic matching”. This is a visually
stimulating technique that we used to present
the artist as energetic and the dancers as a
unit or a crew as it emphasises the
synchronicity of the two dancers.

7. MODERN COSTUME
• The types of costume included in real media products are often colourful, modern and
elaborate to present the artists as extra-ordinary and of a fantasy-like world.
• They are also very sexualised to lure viewers further.
• If there are groups involved in the videos, they often wear a uniform or similarly styled clothing.
• Their style indicates their membership to a group of people - whether it be a dance crew or a
larger culture.
In our video, everyone wore a pair of dungarees to symbolise
their membership of a modern crew. The performers wore
white, including the lead singer (artist). This presents our artist
as an equal to his band members to show that he has more
passion towards his music than his star image. The dancers all
wore red or blue to symbolise their membership of a colourful
dance crew. Dungarees are a simple and old piece of clothing
related to labour, but we wanted to set a trend by wearing
these in a modern and fashionable context.

8. NEON / COLOURED LIGHTING
• This type of colourful lighting is used to flatter the subject (artist) in a
night time setting.
• It evokes ideas of partying, clubbing, night time, having fun, and being
sexually active.
• It creates a special atmosphere to the video.
We use this lighting in
our video to create the
same effect. It adds a
soft and flattering look
to our artists face.

9. ARTIST STILLS / LAYOUT- WEBSITE
• Conventions of a pop house website include stills of the artist, often performing live
or in the studio.
• As well as this, there is a title (name) and a menu (for navigation of site) at the top of
the website pages.
• The stills can present the artist as fun and energetic live or hard working on his music.
We featured shots of our artist performing live
and on set of our music video shoot to
showcase him behind the scenes and the
amount of production work that goes into his
content. We also inserted a large banner-like
name at the top of our page along with a clear
website menu on every page.

10. COLOURFUL GRAPHICS - DIGIPAK
• A convention of EDM digipaks is colourful graphic designs.
• These include artistic computer generated designs in
shapes which convey ideas about electronic music.
• They often present the artist as colourful modern and fun.
We used the idea of using red, blue
and white ink drops that created a
vibrant and arty design, cut in a
square onto a plain white
background to have the same effect
as above.