Evaluation Question 1 for our media work

1. A2 Media – Advanced Production
Evaluation
Question 1 – In what ways does your
media product use, develop or
challenge forms and convention of real
media products?

2. Which type of music video did we decide to
produce?
We first researched what music videos are and
what types of videos that people produce. For our
own work we decided to produce a mix of a
performance and narrative based video. This is
because we wanted a message behind the video
but also performance by the artist to promote her
as a new singer.
•Include screenshots of part of the station and the high street
•Include screenshots of her in the woods
•Include screenshots of her performing

3. Music Videos over the standard time of 3
minutes long
At the start of the project we researched into what music videos
are and what conventions they often include. We were then able
to have an idea of what conventions we were going to follow
and challenge in our own work.
We looked at two music videos which were both over the
normal time of around 3 minutes. These were Michael Jackson’s
Thriller and Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. Michael’s video was
released as a short film in the 80’s which had a storyline and plot
to the video. This sometimes showed the meaning behind the
song. Queen’s video for Bohemian Rhapsody was also over 3
minutes long and introduced a long period of performance time
for videos. This is because, like Michael’s, videos over 3 minutes
usually had a narrative to them.
We also looked at Taylor Swift’s video for her song Bad Blood.
This was also over 3 minutes long with a narrative behind it. We
learnt that music videos are used to promote artists and their
music. To interest her fans and older target audiences she
released a series of advertisements in the style of film posters to
show off the different characters who are featured in her video.

4. In our own music video we came up with a narrative in which we had dialogue at the start.
It narrates the video as it explains how her friendship ended. We have taken the idea of
the short films and have added this dialogue which gives it a similar feel and makes the
video longer. We also had performance shots in our video, although it doesn’t include
musical instruments, as seen in Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. Taylor Swift has changed the
style of her music and has changed her image over the years. As she has grown up her
music and videos have become a lot more mature and has attracted older audiences.
Although we thought that Taylor Swift’s approach was clever and an interesting way to
attract audiences, we thought that as a new singer, our artist would benefit more from a
simpler and shorter video. Our artist is younger therefore would attract younger audiences
therefore if we took inspiration from Taylor Swift’s matured approach, it may not be as
effective.
Did any of these ideas impact on our work
and did we use any of them? What didn’t
we use?
•Insert screenshot of the time of our music video
•Insert screenshots of the start of our music video where there is
dialogue
•Insert screenshots of performance shots from the video

5. Rock Conventions - Videos
For part of our research I looked into the history of rock music videos and the conventions that are
used. I found out that a typical rock video consists of the artist performing with high key lighting as
they would be doing on stage. This way you can see the artist clearly. In our own video we used
high key lighting when we were filming the performance shots as you needed to see the artist
clearly. This is because our artist is new therefore the audience need to see her properly to know
who she is and identify her. In a rock video it would mainly focus on the band performing and
sometimes has a narrative. The genre we chose was country-pop therefore we didn’t choose to
focus on the band behind the music and we focused on the narrative. I found out that in rock videos
the artists normally wear what they would be wearing on stage. As our genre is not rock we didn’t
have the artist wearing what she would on stage as there is a narrative to the video. In rock videos
the props are mainly the instruments they play. Our artist isn’t in a band and doesn’t play an
instrument so we couldn’t include that in it. Settings in rock videos are usually dark and mysterious
because of the mood and sound of their songs. However our song is quite happy and upbeat
therefore we wanted to reflect that through bright lighting.
• Include screenshots from our own video

6. Rock Conventions - Digipaks
Part of our project is to create a digipak to go with
the music video. Therefore we had to look at
different conventions of digipaks.
For rock music we found that album covers rarely
have an image of the artist on them. It is, in fact,
more likely for alternative rock to have an image of
the artist on instead. Rock artists tend to have
artwork which represents them or a song that it on
the album. This is because the music and the
messages they are putting across may be more
important than star image for rock artists.
We decided our genre would be pop so we didn’t
want artwork as our album cover and theme. This is
also because our artist is new so she would want
her face on the cover for people to get to know her
and identify her.

7. Pop Conventions - Videos
We also researched pop music to help us compare and indentify common features of different music video
conventions. It also helped us to pick a genre of our own based on what conventions and ideas we liked and were
inspired by. The typical features of pop videos are pretty obvious. We found that in pop music the artist is mainly
singing to the camera with a lot of close ups. There may be dance routines and sometimes they include a happy or
fun storyline. Our own song has a mixed feel to it as it is about letting go and moving on from something the artist
has found hard to deal with. In terms of conventions our music video does include a storyline and the video itself
gets brighter and happier near the end. We found that the majority of pop genre is dominated by female solo artists.
They mainly wear dressy outfits such as dresses and skirts although they do wear trousers depending on who the
artist is and what they prefer. For example more tomboy-like artists are more likely to wear trousers in a music video.
The clothes that the artists wear are normally bold and colourful, is normally what is in fashion at the time, and/or
what is suited to the theme of the video. Sometimes they will wear clothing that will show off their body such as
tight-fitting tops and dresses. This all adds to star image and how the artist wants to be seen by their audience. In
our own video we wanted to link it to the pop style and we did this by having our artist dressed in pretty skirts and
dresses in the performances and in shots in the woods. The settings of a pop music videos are pretty bright and are
based more in a studio or a fun place such as a club. We took this idea and used it in our own video by having our
artist sing and dance in a studio to give it more of a pop feel.

8. Pop Conventions - Digipaks
We also looked at the conventions of pop digipaks. We found
that for rock album covers they have artwork instead of an
image of the artist. However for pop artists there is usually an
image of the artist and the shot is usually
For rock music we found that album covers rarely have an
image of the artist on them. It is, in fact, more likely for
alternative rock to have an image of the artist on instead.
Rock artists tend to have artwork which represents them or a
song that it on the album. This is because the music and the
messages they are putting across may be more important
than star image for rock artists. However pop album covers
tend to have a close up or medium shot of the artist in the
centre. The image is usually colourful and bold in order to
attract the eye and to represent the artist or their videos. We
decided to go for a medium shot for our own front cover of
the album. This is because our artist is new so helps people to
identify her easily. It also fits with the genre we chose which
is country-pop. We found that titles are quite large on pop
album covers therefore we made sure that the album title
was one of the biggest piece of text on the front cover and
the disc.

9. Pop and Country-Pop Conventions - Posters
We also had to create a poster to advertise the album
and the music video. Therefore we looked at Taylor
Swift’s poster for her country-pop album ‘Red’ and Ed
Sheeran’s poster for his album ‘+’. We found out that
there is normally one main image that covers the whole
poster which links to the front cover of the album. This
makes it easier for the target audience to identify and
make links between them. We have decided to use this
convention for our own poster by including a similar
image to the album cover. We also noticed that the title
and the name of the artist is quite large and in the
centre of the poster therefore we made ours to go with
the genre and to attract the target audience. Like on the
digipak posters also contain the record label logo and
information therefore we added this to our own. In the
Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran posters it includes the
album cover. We included it in our first poster draft
however we received negative comments from our
feedback. Therefore we decided not to include it in the
final poster as the image is too similar. Posters also
include information about the album and when or how
it will be available.

10. Which theories did we look at and how did we use
the ideas in our own work?
For our research we looked at two music video theories. One theory was by
Andrew Goodwin. His theory included thought beats, narrative and performance,
star image, relation of visuals to the song and technical aspects of a music video.
Thought beats is to do with the structure of a song. A typical order should be
verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge and the last chorus. The song that we chose
followed this sequence so we made sure to include the whole song in our actual
video. Goodwin explained that narrative and performance are both equally as
important aspects of a music video because it makes sure that the audience
doesn’t lose interest. We took this into account when filming our own video as we
included both a narrative and a performance to introduce the artist and to get
across the meaning of the song.
Goodwin put across the fact that star image is a very important aspect in a music
video. The images that is put across should represent a singers image as a music
artist. This is put across using clothes, makeup, hair, and acting etc. The star
image also has to be suitable to the target audience. We made sure of this when
making our own video. We used clothes and makeup to represent our artists star
image and what she is like in real life and made sure that she would look suitable.
Visualisation is also an important part of Goodwin’s theory. This is when the song
puts certain images into our heads and what the visuals represent. It is also about
how the lyrics link to the visuals. We thought about this in our own music video
and made sure that the narrative linked to the lyrics of the song. Analysing the
lyrics of our song helped us with this as we knew what we could represent in the
music video. He also explained the technical aspects of a music video. This is
whether or not an artist plays instruments and uses technical props in the video.
However we didn’t use any instruments or other technical props in our music
video except for a mobile phone.

11. Which theories did we look at and how did
we use the ideas in our own work?
We also looked at Sven Carlsson’s music video theory.
His theory is based on the idea that the artist is
represented as a mythical creature or force. This
sometimes adds to the star image of an artist and
explains the meaning behind the song. There are
three ways in which an artist is shown as in a music
video. The first is a commercial exhibitionist, second
is a televised bard, and the third is an electronic
shaman. The idea behind the song we chose was
about getting through tough times and knowing that
there is hope for the future. We didn’t really feel like
having a mystical theme to our music video as it
would be our artists debut single. Therefore we
wanted to keep it simple and realistic because then
our target audience would be able to relate to the
whole idea of having the strength to let go of a
friendship.

12. Our target audience
The target audience we chose was teenagers aged 14-16 because that was the
most people who answered our survey on target audiences. Also 70.3% of
people who answered the survey were female therefore we would aim our
music videos towards girls more. However the meaning of the song that we
chose could be aimed at males because it is talking about broken friendships
and relationships.
The target audience we chose impacted on the type of music video we were
going to make because we needed to make it suitable and include aspects
which would be relatable for them. For example, we chose a storyline that most
people at the age of 14-16 would go through. Our first idea was to base it on a
relationship between a boy and a girl however most people at the age of 14-16
aren’t at the stage in their lives where they have been through a tough
relationship. Therefore we based it on friendships and the hardships of getting
over the pain and rising above it.
In terms of feedback, we sent out numerous surveys to
our target audience so we could get their honest
opinions on our work. We also got feedback in the
form of videos and written feedback. We got opinions
on our target audience, genre, ideas, digipak, inlay,
poster and our overall final music video. This helped us
identify the strengths and weaknesses of our work and
any improvements we could make. In the beginning we
sent out a survey asking our target audience what they
thought of when they listened to our chosen song.
This helped our process as we had ideas from other
people, especially our target audience.

13. Genre
Because we analysed a lot of pop videos we decided to choose pop as our genre.
However when searching for our song we couldn’t find any upbeat pop songs. We did
in fact find a song that we both liked and thought we could work with because we
were interested by the meaning of it. The song wasn’t pop but was leaning more
towards country-pop and was quite upbeat on the chorus. Therefore we decided to
look into and analyse music videos which were related to country and country pop
such as Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift has quite a wide audience but most of it is
teenagers. Therefore we chose a song that was similar to her style of music.
We sent out a survey asking our target audience which genre of music they listened
to most and the majority said that they listen to pop. As our song sounded like
country pop we presumed that they may enjoy it. In terms of conventions, we
couldn’t include examples from rock videos as this would confuse our target
audience and put them off. Therefore we looked into the conventions of pop and
country and mixed conventions we found from there to use in our own work.