1. In what ways does your media
product use, challenge or develop
forms and conventions of real media
products?
Music videos
By
Bret Margieson

2. Ways music videos are
portrayed:
Performance: This is used in videos to show the band/artist playing
instruments and singing(miming) throughout the music video. This is
used throughout my video as my main focus was to present the artist
as the centre of attention.
Narrative: This is when the video shows video footage of a scene
where the meaning behind the lyrics is being acted out. I wanted to use
this throughout my video but I was unable to collect the shots I required
to do so and therefore opted not to use this.
Mixture: This is when the video uses both performance and narrative
throughout. Again as I was unable to collect narrative shots I could not
create this mixture.

3. Ways music videos are
portrayed.....
Cameo: This is when narrative is used but the artist is
featured in the video as a character and is not
performing. I did not use this because I did not want to
present my artist in a humours way, I wanted her seen as
a simple and relatable person.
Animation: This is when animated characters and
scenes are used throughout the video often as a
narrative feature. I toyed with the idea of using animation
throughout my video because I felt it created a unique
video that was appealing. But in the end I decided to use
minimal animation only on the lyrics on shots.

4. Camera shots:
Crane shots: These are often used in performance
based videos to show the character on stage or from
above. This is because the crane allows the camera to
hover above/around the stage/artist, this allows a variety
of different angled shots to take place. I did not use any
of these shots as they weren't required in my
performance video.
Pans/tilts: These are often used to move between
characters or members of the band. It is also used to
show the entirety of a location. Again these shots were
not required in my performance video however if I had
created a narrative video I would have opted to use these
shots.

5. Camera shots:
Close ups: These are shots that are used to focus on
one area of a person or location often a persons face or a
window. These often focus on the performer whilst they
are singing or showing emotion. In narrative they are
often used to show emotion and expression. I used a
number of these shots because they allow the audience
to relate to the artist and also make the artist the centre
of attention which is what I wanted.
Tracking shots: These shots are mainly used in
narrative elements. to follow a characters movements
across a location. Again because of no narrative in the
video these shots were not needed.

6. Camera shots:
High angle shots: When the camera is placed above
the artist looking down on the subject. This is often used
to create a feeling of weakness. I shot a number of these
shots to be used at the beginning of the video to make
the artist look weak but none of them made the cut
because of poor quality.
Low angle shot: When the camera is placed below the
artist looking up at them making a feeling of strength. I
used a couple of these shots to show the pattern on the
artists guitar as well as to make her look stronger and
independent to match the lyrics.

7. Editing
There is often a lot of editing within a music video
depending on the genre. Often this includes editing the
sound as well as the video. This is because lip synching
is needed and the shots need to be edited together.
Editing is often a lot more present in videos with more
narrative than performance.
Cut: one shot leads into another. I used a number of
these edits because they are so simple to use.
jump cuts: a cut is used between clips to show a change
in time. I did not use jump cuts because of the lack of
narrative.
split screens: two shots are shown at the same time next
to each other. I wanted to use split screens to show the
artist singing as well as her guitar but because I did not
have the required skill to do so I was unable to.

8. Editing
Footage is edited to match the timing of the
lyrics. This is lip synching. I correctly and
effectively lip synched all of my shots
throughout my video. This is because if this
was poor the video quality would also be low.
CGI- often music videos with narrative use
effects to show what is happening such as
flying. I did not have the skill and equipment to
achieve this so was unable to, this would also
have not been effective for the genre.

9. Sound
Some music videos include diegetic sound at the
beginning and the end of music videos. This is often in
videos with narrative to introduce the narrative or
character. It is often used in performance videos to show
someone introducing the artist to a stage. I did not do this
because I did not include narrative so this was not
needed.
The levels of sound are edited throughout the video to
show a lull or boom in the narrative or just to change the
feeling and atmosphere. There are a couple of points in
the video where I altered the sound level to create a
certain atmosphere however I could have done this more
and more effectively.

10. Mise-en-scene
Props- All music videos include props, this is because
performance videos will use microphones and/or instruments
throughout and narrative videos will use objects such as
cars. This is a necessity for music videos because without
props the shot will look empty. The only prop I used was a
guitar because I wanted to auidence to focus solely on the
artist and her guitar to make the performance pure and
traditional.
costume- This is also a necessity, because either the artist
or the characters that feature in the video will be dressed
specifically to show a feeling and allow the audience to
relate. The artists costume fits in with her target audience as
she is seen wearing clothing that her audience wears, this
was done to allow her to be easily relatable because she is
like the audience.

11. Mise-en-scene
Location- All music videos include a location.
This is generally used to set the scene and
create an atmosphere. The narrative will be
more reliant on this because the location must
match the feeling and style of the song. There
is only one location in my music video and this
is a white room, this was to create a pure and
neutral atmosphere with no distractions from
the artist. If I had used narrative a countryside
location would also have been used.