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

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

2. Camera Work My Media product uses, challenges and develops the forms and conventions of real media product in many ways. Some of which have improved the original product. I was able to achieve this using a variety of different filming and media techniques. We used allot of long and extreme long shots in our video, as we wanted to make the artist seem vulnerable and sad. This was to fit in with the storyline of her breaking up with her boyfriend. We felt that if the shots were from further away then the background would be more visible, so nearly overpowering the shots, thus taking the centre of attention off the artist, creating a more helpless character. Quite allot of the time we kept the camera still, in one position and then had the artist come towards it. This goes against the typical conventions, as they usually use tracking shots. So the artist never gets closer to the camera, they are always in one position on the screen. We didn’t feel the need to follow this, because we felt it was used too often in VV Brown original videos and so we wanted to do our own style of her walking. We achieved this by keeping the camera still and allowing the artist to do the work. We also felt that doing it our way allow the audience to be drawn in more as it looks like the artist is coming out and towards you. Another technique we used was to zoom out as the artist came towards the camera. It creates an effect similar to tracking, however the artist is always focused on most. It also allow the artist to be drawn out from the background, thus focusing on her. This is our way of developing the typical convention of tracking, because we felt it was a much more effective way to shoot the artist. The occasional medium shots and close ups we did use we always shot from slight, although sometimes more obvious, angles to the side. We chose to do this so that the artist was never totally engaged with the audience, so as to emphasis her unhappiness. It also makes her seem withdrawn, which is exactly what we wanted to achieve.

3. Editing We used a sequence of cuts that merged together, consisting of the artist walking across the side of the fountain. It created a quirky effect, which connects to the genre. We also made all of our cuts no shots, no longer than a few seconds. This gave the best effect, whilst still allowing the storyline to be clear. This was a typical convention of music videos. We decided to follow the convention, as it made it easier to create an effective music video. We made the cuts in time with the beat of the music. This was quite hard to do and took more time than we expected, to achieve. However the outcome was good and we felt if we hadn’t done this, the cutting wouldn’t have looked or felt right. When editing the Photos we took, we made sure not to go too far, when touching the images up. We felt that this gave a more natural effect, and allows the audience to see the artist fully and in there skin, not some over edited skin coloured object. It also makes a statement, as we quite clearly aren’t following the typical conventions. This is one that not many people challenge as it has become a part of society to create the skinniest body, that has absolutely no blemishes. This isn’t real life and so we chose not to follow it. We also stuck to a very simple coloured background. We felt, this allows the audience to see the artist fully. Because they aren’t in front of an overpowering background. We also felt that simplicity was easier to achieve than complexity.

4. Mise-en-scene We chose to work with the Indie-pop genre. We used the forms and conventions of this genre in many ways. One of which was the Mise-en-scene. We dressed the artist in autumnal colours and made sure that the clothes were styled in a vintage fashion. This allowed the artist to have a clear connection with the typical indie conventions. thus allowing the audience to connect with the artist. We chose the autumnal colours as the season we were filming in was autumn to winter. This allowed the artist to fit into her surrounding and to the fashion of the season. This is a key part of music videos, especially Indie-pop. We had the hat to replace the big hair, which was a common characteristic of VV Browns videos. We also had the artist wear the same clothes for the majority of the music video. This makes the video more original, as they aren’t constantly changing clothes. It also allow the story line to feel more real as the audience isn’t confused by the change and is allowed to think of their own time span for it all. During the magic scene we made her change outfits. This was because the magic scene had nothing to do with the story line, so we didn’t want the audience to be confused and we wanted to make a clear cut between the two. We had her pull a shark out of a magic hat, to replace the “rabbit out the hat”. We thought that this would add some individuality as it challenged the typical conventions. The shark is blow up and is unlike anything seen before in music videos. This makes it original and quirky and should therefore appeal to our target audience. Once again we decided to follow the word so we had to do something with cards. We made the artist fan them flirtatiously and then throw them at the screen. The flirting created a sweet moment, that pulls the audience in, however it is soon broken when she throw the card at the screen. This shocks the audience, making them want to watch more, to see what will happen next. Another key feature to our video was the locations. All of our outdoor locations had to have some form of water in or around them. This was to tie them in with the lyrics of “Shark in The Water”. This tied it in with the original video as VV Brown did something similar. All of her outdoor scenes were by a canal. I feel that we developed ours more, as we changed locations allot and they all had a different form of water. One had a long fountain, the other a river and the final, an upright fountain. I feel that this gave an unusual effect and in doing so helped draw our audience in. On our Digipak and Advert, we followed the typical convention of making the front cover match the advert. We felt that this would be good to follow as it allows the audience to see what the cover will look like before it comes out, making them familiar with it and therefore make it easier for them to find it in the shops. I also feel that the advert needs to have a clear picture of the artist, as they need to be recognisable from afar, so as to draw the audience in. The artist also needs to be dressed in a similar fashion to the video. This makes it easier for the audience to identify the artist from the video.

5. Sound We used the single “Shark in The Water” by VV Brown only. Most music videos follow this convention and we felt that to follow it would be the most sensible option. It gives the audience the music and doesn’t mock it in any way. It show that the artist is serious about the music. I think that when music videos incorporate other sounds, e.g.. Clapping. It can make the video seem like a joke and can also interfere with the audience, causing them to be put off. This made us more determined to follow the convention, so as to not unintentionally create a mockery of the video.

6. Performance elements Allot of our artists performance involved walking down or up various streets. This follows the typical conventions. We chose to keep to this convention as it allows the backgrounds to change but the artist to stay the same, making the story move forward in time in an easy and flowing way. To add some variation to the performance, at one point we have the artist sit on a horse statue. This gives a very quirky, yet peaceful feel to the video. This ties in with the genre. It also allows the walking to stop, but in an unobvious way. So it isn’t a shock for the audience and doesn’t seem out of place. We have the artist perform magic trick as they tie in with the words. When doing the card part we make her act slightly flirty with he camera. In doing this it draws the audience in. Because the shot is quite unusual, as it is inside we had to make it quite simple and quick, otherwise it would look out of place and confuse the audience. One inside shot in a video is quite common for our genre, so we chose to follow it because it creates variation, so the whole video isn’t monotonous. We have another shot, where the artist is in front of a black curtain with foil stars and a moon hung up behind her. Once again it ties in with the words and develops the typical convention of just one indoor shot. Once again giving more variation to the video.

8. Back Cover- The songs listed

9. CD Holder inside right- A plain image to go behind CD

10. CD Holder inside left- A plain image to go behind CD

11. Inside middle- The Declarations and Thank yous’

12. The back of the right CD Holder- Any imageThe layout is typical to a Digipak of our genre. We felt that sticking to the conventions of our genre would help people realise what the genre was and so help to reach our target audience. We used the same font from the advert and front cover to do the declarations. We felt that the declarations are personal and so we wanted the font to make them appear hand written, thus making them more personal. The Artist is in the same dress through out the images, this makes her more noticeable and recognisable from the advert, thus luring the audience in. We added the barcode and the island record label, along with the copyright information and the address for the records tower.. This makes it more professional and so attractive.

13. Images We used a Green Screen for our photo shoot. We put the artist in her floral dress from the video and bought a couple of simple props. Some were quirky in order to tie in with the genre and others were linked to the actual video in order to link and join the two events. We then allowed the artist to do what she liked with the props and we would take pictures when we felt the position she was holding look good. After roughly 50 photographs we felt we had enough. We chose the green screen as this enables us to change the background to almost anything. So allowing us to see what works best with the outfit and the artist before choosing it. The Pictures outlined in red are the ones we chose to consider. The ones in blue and red where our final choice and were used in the Advert and Digipak. We wanted the photographs to be fun yet still look professional. We chose them to look fun so that the audience saw she was having a fun time in the shoot. This will enable them to connect with her because they will know she isn’t being fake. The final pictures we chose fitted in with our requests and had unusual poses and props. This makes them more original. Making them more memorable to the audience. The Final pictures Followed the conventions of our genre, but we developed it by adding props. Usually they don't use props and there clothes are slightly more minimalistic. We wanted to develop the simplicity because we felt they would stand out more and the props were added mainly to tie the Advert and Digipak in with the Video.