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

1. Media Studies
Question 1 of 4
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real media products?
Before we even began to start the production plan of our main task,
we had to do an extensive amount of research. A music video is
essentially a short film, used as a marketing device to promote an artist,
becoming more and more prominent since the 1980’s. By looking at
luminary examples of music videos in all genres, we were able to
gather what specific forms and conventions belonged to certain
genres, and why they were successful. However, we also found that
Madonna- Erotica
going against
typical
expectations could
also lead to
success, much like
Madonna, who is
Our Production now a star in the
industry, but is also
CAPTION: Here, we have used a major convention of an the artist most
extremely successful artist, an extreme close up, to
unveil specific persona ideals. associated with
music video
censorship. In our group, we then decided to work with ‘pop’ as our
chosen genre of music, and find out where the social demographic
interest came from, plus whether to challenge or conform to traditional
conventions of the genre.
In addition to research on the Internet and in books, I also analysed
case studies, focusing in detail on the ideas that interested me, and
what we could recreate as part of our coursework production. Through
the in depth breakdown of each video, I learned the features included
which made it recognisable to the audience as a ‘pop’ video. I also
studied
the
camera
angles,
shot
types Livvi Frank- Now
I’m That Chick Our Production
and the
mise-en-
scene, in CAPTION: The mise-en-scene in this video really stood out to me, as its
order to simplicity looked professional and allowed the artist’s persona to be the
see how focus of the clip, without being too busy or taking any visual quality
away from the frame.
the
director created a relevant ‘star persona’, and how the techniques are
used in order to make it a success. At first, my group struggled with
creating a realistic idea for our production, as we started out being a
bit too ambitious, considering that we had practically no budget.
Nerissa Edwards

2. Media Studies
Question 1 of 4
Despite this, we knew that we wanted to be very creative and
innovative in terms of the way in which we would shoot the footage, in
order to
Cheryl Cole- 3 Words
avoid the
cliché
‘candyfloss
pop’ feel.
We also had
to make the
star persona
Our Production of our
actress
really stand
CAPTION: As well as looking at American productions, I also
analysed promotional techniques used for British artists. With
out,
much smaller budgets, I took particular interest in some of Cheryl however,
Cole’s videos, with simple sets, putting all the viewer’s attention not so much
onto her image and performance. Above, an attempt of this so that the
idea was also used in our production. target
audience could no longer relate to her. We also used a piece of her
costume, the chain, as a recurring theme to help create a sense of
familiarity between the audience and our artist.
Throughout the research process, we discovered that pop videos do
not normally have a narrative, instead, focus more on the image of the
artist. So that we could ensure a professional finish to our production,
we decided to conform to this feature, especially since the lyrics of our
1 2 3
CAPTION: Here are examples of Bjornberg’s theory, and how we
4
went around the idea of a narrative:
1. With the inclusion of dancers and props, a performance
element was added, and there was no direct need for a
storyline
2. Creative, abstract camera angles were used so that the viewer
is always kept intrigued and interested in how the video would
continue
3. Bold make-up made the artist’s persona clear to the viewer,
chosen song did meaning the absence of a narrative did not affect the video
not have a 4. Quick cutaways were used on specific beats in the song to help
particular meaning, the visuals flow with the audio and help to link the two
for example ‘drop
your socks and grab your mini-boom-box…’. Kaplan, a music video
theorist, felt that some music videos ‘reproduced the classic narrative
Nerissa Edwards

3. Media Studies
Question 1 of 4
forms found in films, whilst others emphasised performance and the
montage of imagery’. Similarly, another theorist Alf Bjornberg states
that ‘narrative structure’ is ‘much less common’ in pop videos,
replacing it rather with a ‘linear narrative’. Therefore, instead of trying
to interpret the lyrics and creating a visual parallel to the words in a
process of synaesthesia, we decided to concentrate on the beat of
song, and make the video a bit more abstract. Firth concluded that
conceptual videos do not tell a story, but the metaphorical sequence
creates a mood or a feeling to be evoked by the viewer.
Consequently, we centred our attention on inventive shot types, props,
makeup, and costumes in order to create a believable image, as
abstract videos are all about emphasising colour and movement whilst
showcasing the star, then during the post-production stage we could
show our creativity by utilising the software.
When it came around to filming, my group stuck to the story board
quite well, however spontaneous decisions were frequently made, as
1 2 3 4
5
CAPTION: Here are some examples of how we used and developed
conventions of typical pop music videos:
1. The split screen techniques has been used in conjunction with Goodwin’s
theory of fast paced cutting to the rhythm of the song
2. Developments made to average dance sequences by incorporating the
idea of mirror reflections
3. A normal clip was transformed with an inventive twist by speeding up the
we time frame
developed 4. This frame depicts our ideology of the glamorous star trapped with urban
environments by obstructing the view with metal bars
ideas, or
5. Innovative shot types with various camera positions enabled us to
changed demonstrate our creative flair
them if they
did not work.
Our primary concern was to be original, and not just copy ideas of
videos that we had seen. Our group had so many problems which
meant that most things were decisions made on impulse. Screenwriter
William Goldman stated that directors were able to ‘transform the
ordinary into their vision just by where they put the camera’. We went
about this by trying out novel camera angles, or putting our own twist
on shot types we had seen during research. For example, an ordinary
mid shot was distorted during the editing process by speeding it up,
developing traditional music video techniques. This gave an erratic yet
quirky effect to the frame, conforming with the fact that we wanted to
Nerissa Edwards

4. Media Studies
Question 1 of 4
keep to a theory by Goodwin on pop videos. He explains that whilst
songs such as ballads would include a narrative, pop videos include,
‘fast pace of the cutting, much of it happening on the beat,
representing the pulse or rhythm of the soundtrack’.
Additionally, instead of shooting a normal long shot of the artist doing a
routine with the background dancers, which is a feature present in
most pop videos, we challenged the convention by transforming it into
extreme close ups and cutaways of their movements. We did this in
order to achieve an abstract feel, develop her star persona, and link to
1 3
2 CAPTION: Costume ideas conforming to
the ideals of most pop artists. Circled
above are the some references to sexual
innuendos in terms of the outfits,
connecting to voyeuristic themes.
However, each costume is designed to
draw the viewers’ attention to specific
objects:
1. Focus on the chain- her trademark
2. The short dress brings out the angles in
her body shape- relating to the
abstract ideals of our video
the demands of record labels 3. Simple leotard allows her face and the
including the need for lots of extravagant makeup to take centre
close ups. Likewise, we tried to stage
have a wide variety of locations and costume changes, so the actress
would seem as realistic as possible. Professional productions normally
portray a sense of glamour, charisma, and ‘sex appeal’, especially in
women, with frequent reference to the notion of voyeuristic treatment
of the female body. We tried to incorporate the same design, with
‘scantily clad’ costume ideas, however without doing it so much so
that the target audience would be limited.
Music videos show the viewer mechanisms with which a character
fulfils a social role, therefore possessing many features that engage the
audience. For example, the representation of character ‘reveals the
body bit by bit’, an idea which we tried to recreate in our production,
allowing the viewer to feel involved in the video, rather than just being
passive. Furthermore, for the same reason, the use of partial views, a
Nerissa Edwards

5. Media Studies
Question 1 of 4
wandering
camera,
abrupt
editing and
post
production
techniques,
brings out
particular
aspects of the song, and extends the iconography of the popstar.
CAPTION: These two snapshots show some of the cutaways and Overall, I feel
that my
partial views included in our production. This, along with the use
group have
of discontinuous editing at certain points, facilitated the artistic
nature of our video, whilst adding to the abstract theme tried to
throughout.
integrate
many key
forms and conventions of pop music videos into our own production
and demonstrated genre characteristics, as well as giving our own
personal touch to develop some of the usual ideals. By studying real
media products we were able to take advantage of some of the
techniques that we analysed, and I feel that we have applied our
‘style in vision’ to our work, creating an original and innovative video
which reflects the artist.
Nerissa Edwards