Evaluation

1. EVALUATION
QUESTION 1
IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA
PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR
CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA
PRODUCTS?
BY NATALIE EVANS

2. PRODUCTION
• Here both the performers are shown with a two-shot at eye level, this
connects them and put them on the same level of the audience. I
subvert from the typical associations with the Hip-Hop genre (less
frequently with the R&B genre) of making the star image appear more
powerful and dominant with the audience. Instead I aim to place
them at the same level, in order to create this sense of personal
connection and make them simply relatable to the audience. By
beginning with this shot I aimed to make the performers noticeable
throughout the rest of the video, as well as this it is as if they are
omniscient throughout the video and connected to the whole
narrative despite not being connected until the end to create the
balance between narrative and performance.

3. PRODUCTION
• To subvert further from the stereotypes of both genres, in planning
we believed it important to connote more about our artists image
thus we planned to perform in an outside area. This develops the star
image as it connects us more personally to nature which can help
develop the star image of us appearing like ‘moral messengers’,
often by being linked to nature there is a sense of purity and
honesty. The fencing behind us could suggest the internal/external
struggles implied throughout the narrative, this also promotes the
honesty associated with our star image, although the contrast to
being in the open by forms of nature (trees/bushes) it could imply
that there is a way to be more carefree/break from the sense of
emotional trap. This ties in with ideas of the R&B genre where depth
and background is given to the artists, the outside locations are
effective to show our connection to natural elements and honesty in
the narrative.

5. PRODUCTION
• The use of the medium close-up for the female makes a more noticeable image of
her to the audience, it brings the star closer to the audience for a sense of
connection. Also this follows the ideas of Deborah Holdstein, the idea of the
performers being placed before the narrative makes them appear omniscient thus
we create the idea of a ‘social mediator’ involved in her theory – to connect us to the
societal issues of abuse and cheating, we encourage the audience to move on.
Although we will not follow her part of the theory where the star image is created to
be overwhelmingly powerful (mythical connotations) and instead focus on the
realistic issues as these moral mediators.
• Louis as the performer is also viewed in similar shots as the female, at mid-shots
and medium close-ups to connect him to the audience also. As well as this, it can
create balance between the gender’s rather than typical objectification of women in
the R&B/Hip-Hop genre where males are viewed as dominant and in control. Instead
we place our performers on an equal basis to connect to this idea of the social
corruption and our image as mediators.

7. PRODUCTION
• In the research we chose not to involve ideas of the ‘male gaze’ by
Laura Mulvey, we believed this would be depthless and take the
meaning away from our video. Therefore the female performer (myself)
will be dressed up in less revealing clothing which is typically
associated with the R&B and Hip-Hop genre. I looked at Michael
Shore’s criticism of modern music videos playing on the idea of male
fantasies, wealth and speed; to avoid this typical content in Hip-Hop
and R&B videos I put focus on the star images emotion by dressing the
female and male performers in simply bold colours to expose the raw
emotion to the audience associated with the narrative.

8. PRODUCTION
• At the end of the video, the performers take the same position as the
actors which suggest their connection to the narrative and emotion
expressed throughout the video. We use the typical love stories associated
with the R&B genre by connecting the male and female protagonist as well
as the artists during this scene.
• I cut to the beat during my editing to emphasise the lyrics, an example of
this is the particular scene where an extreme long shot of Karan walking
away from his now ex-girlfriend after their final fight effectively placed at
the end of “I’ve loved and I’ve lost” in the lyrics to symbolise the break-
up. This is also in use of Andrew Goodwin’s theory of amplification of the
lyrics; where the visuals demonstrate the words within the lyrics at that
time in the music video. This develops our character as he appears

10. PRODUCTION
• We wanted to develop this same sense of identity for the female
protagonist, a typical image associated with both genres in their
music video is the use of a medium close-up mirror image. Which
promotes the idea of reflexivity, challenging their own identity and
reviewing any changes they can make. This connotes the idea the
female will also find this strength to move on.
• Furthermore, to follow the conventions of the love stories
represented in the R&B genre, the couple were placed in a natural
setting connoting the purity of their emotional connection and the
freedom in their new relationship together emphasised by the use of
the water imagery.

11. DIGIPAK
My digipak can be located on the website – https://halonalo.wordpress.com/
In my digipak, I aimed to create this same natural image of the performers putting
emphasis on their background in order to entice the audience to watch the video to
explore their image further. The image used on the cover followed the idea of putting
the artists in focus and the locations, the use of the swings connote this childlike and
innocent feel of emotion. It could suggest we are vulnerable to the world but also
playful/willing to explore which relates to the boldness and caring nature expressed
in the music video. I followed the conventions of R&B and Hip-Hop where often a
background to the artists is given, their interests and personality. I explored this by
putting the artists in colour and the swing frame to connect us to this playful objects
so we may be relatable to the target audience who are also still young and vulnerable
to emotional experiences. However, I subverted from the convention of making the
artists appear more powerful than the audience and promoting wealth or a voyeuristic
view of women or men – these are typical associations with R&B and Hip-Hop albums.
I wanted to make our artists on the level of the audience to create the sense of

13. DIGIPAK
• The back panel and central images also use this connection to nature and
self-reflexivity, exploring the same connotations of the star image and
subverting from typical views of the R&B/Hip-Hop genre. The link to nature
across the images suggests a purity in emotion and the honesty of the
artists. I did not use close-ups of the artists here in order to put emphasis
on the background and interests of the stars; also this is reflexive of our
video where narrative is dominant over performance (a preference of the
audience found during audience research). The middle image of Louis using
the mid-shot suggests a questioning in his image and personal emotion as
he looks in the mirror. This is self-reflexive of the artist and the audience
may be encouraged to view the album further if they see the exposure of
emotion.
• To follow the R&B/Hip-Hop typical bold and capitalised font use, I used the
same writing across all images in order to connect them all and connote the
boldness of the artists further. I followed typical digipak conventions by
including the typical artist names, album name and song list. I did not
however focus as much on the production company name (Halo Nalo) as this
is often ignored by audience members and they rather focus on the artists in

15. POSTER
• To further impose the importance of nature to the artists I included
this in my poster with the artists effectively looking up towards the
sun; connoting happiness and a sense of hope. This is to advertise a
tour in which the name and artists names are in bold to create
awareness for the audience. This is done in the same iconic font as
the digipak which makes it more recognisable and iconic across all
content. I used social media icons in order to show their connectivity
and the idea the audience can involve themselves. Real-media text
posters for these genres also use these conventions of bold text and
social media icons to create more awareness for the audience.