A2 Media Studies | Evaluation Question 1

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

2. What media platforms have you used to
present your video and ancillary texts?
To edit and present our video we used the editing software; Final Cut
Express as we had used it in year 12 and we was fairly confident that
we knew what we were doing. By using it again, it also allowed us to
look into more creative effects and transitions, such as split screen or
reverse, compared to last year when we just used the basics. In the
video, we used a lot of fast cuts as well as effects such as split screen,
reverse, colour replacement, to fit with the fast timing of the song.
Because of the fast shots, we were able to use a wider range of angles
and locations to show our filming skills and to keep the video
intriguing to the audience, as they don’t know what to expect. A lot of
the shots we used were close ups, but all in different locations e.g.
woods, powder paint or black and white. The close ups of the balloons
popping creates a big impact showing the powder paint escaping the
balloon – when we slowed this down it looks even more effective. The
shots also of the models lip-syncing shows the girls timing was perfect
and also it makes the video look more professional if it is all in sync.

3. What media platforms have you used to
present your video and ancillary texts?
When it came to creating and editing the ancillary texts, we
used Photoshop CS3, as from using it in A-level Photography, I
have had a lot of experience in using it and I was confident I
could create the digipak with the ideas we had in mind. Again
with the use of Photoshop we were able to make sure our
digipak worked well with the genre of song we had chosen
(pop) and that it linked well with the artists that we have
created, a teenage girl band. We decided to go against the
conventional album cover of using a image of the artist for the
cd and poster. We did this because we felt the powder paint
splatted on the ground created an appealing background and it
also fits in with the music video. Rather than keeping just the
powder paint as the background I changed the hue and
saturation to create a galaxy theme, which looks quite feminine.
The colours on the front cover included; blue, purple, pink and
green which are all quite feminine and we felt it presented our
artist positively.

4. Comparisons to Real Videos
Little Mix - Wings Our Video (Louder by Neon Jungle)
Within the music video, Wings by Little Mix there is a wide variety of shots, however the
most common is a close up shot of a group member. We in turn, decided to follow with the
trend and used several of these in our video. The close up shot shows the drama within the
video and also in our video it shows how close the lip syncing is. Both of the songs above are
quite fast in tempo and are both quite light-hearted with the storyline; whereas a intense
song may use close up shots to show tension and intensity.
Within the pop music video industry, close up shots are one of the many conventions;
especially if the song is quite slow; hence we decided to use several of these in our video.

5. Comparisons to Real Videos
Little Mix – How Ya Doin?’ Our Video (Louder by Neon Jungle)
Again, we have used a similar shot which features in one of Little Mix’s music video for ‘How
Ya Doin?’. From watching several girl group music video they tend to use a lot of group
shots, to show their harmonies together and this is commonly shown in the chorus of the
song, when all the group members are singing. Both Little Mix’s and our music video are in
colour, however they do use black and white shots as well. Within our video, we kept the
majority of the footage in colour, especially in the powder paint scene to create more of an
impact on the viewer.

6. Comparisons to Real Videos
Little Mix – Change Your Life Our Video (Louder by Neon Jungle)
Looking at another Little Mix music video, I noticed in their Change Your Life video there
are several shots of the girls relaxing and laughing with each other, which we also featured
in our video. As well as both of the videos being performance based, as the girls video is a
behind the scenes video of their tour, not showing any particular storyline.
Throughout both videos we also see flashbacks and behind the scenes clips of what the
singers/actresses are like off camera, which features at the beginning of our video.

7. Comparisons to Real Videos
In relation to costumes we decided to challenge the conventions of pop music as female
singers usually wear tight revealing clothing, which features in Neon Jungle’s Louder video,
which allows Laura Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ theory to be connoted. This theory suggests that
males will see the women as sexual objects, and women will also think they ‘want to look
like them’ to fit in with the celebrities. We decided to challenge this stereotype as our
actresses wore casual clothing in every scene, but making it trendy at the same time. When
we thought about clothing we decided it would be good for the girls to wear black/dark
clothing, just like Neon Jungle’s video, but for the outside scene they could wear warm
winter coats, as we wanted the scene to look cosy.
Neon Jungle - Louder Our Video (Louder by Neon Jungle)

8. Ancillary Texts - Comparison
When it came to designing the album we had a clear image of what we wanted to do, which involved
challenging the stereotypes of pop music artist albums. Firstly we chose not to use an image of the
artist on the cover, as from using the powder paint in the video, we thought it would be good to link the
two together. However we did use feminine colours on the image to portray our artist’s femininity. In
the images above, the font used for the back is quite similar as they are both in caps lock and use quite
simple and white fonts so the tracks stand out against the background and appeal to the audience.
For the album title and artist name; we followed the conventions as for all of our digipak products we
made sure we used the same fonts for the artist name and album title almost like our band’s ‘logo’,
which quite a lot of other pop artists have (e.g. Little Mix) which makes their products recognisable to
their target audience. The font we chose for the artist name is quite bold, similar to Neon Jungle’s.
We then added in the essential information on the back for example; barcode, record label logo and
copyright message; just like a real album, as we want to make it as realistic as possible.