Media evaluation

1. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR
MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP,
OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA
PRODUCTS?
REBECCA POLLEN

2. In answering this particular question I had to know the original theories and
conventions to existing music videos similar to my own; as well as website
advertising the artists and the promotional digipak. Only then could I evaluate
whether or not my products were consistent with those conventions.

3. GENERAL THEORY
The first theory I looked at was the GENERAL THEORY on music videos. This is
where the lyrics establish a general feeling and sense of subject rather than a
meaning. The tempo of the music often drives the editing. The GENRE might
be reflected in types of mise-en-scene, themes, performance, camera and
editing styles. CAMERAWORK, has a major impact on meaning, the movement,
angle and shot distance all play a part in the representation of the artist/band
(for example the use of close-ups will show inferiority and importance).
EDITING, is the most common form is fast-cut montage, rendering many
images impossible to grasp on first viewing, so ensuring multiple viewing.
Often enhancing the editing are digital effects, which play with the original
images to offer a different type of pleasure t the audience. INTERTEXUALITY,
not all viewers will recognise a reference which would not detract them from
theory pleasure in the text itself, but if the viewer was to realise the reference
it should increase the audiences engagement regarding the product. Lastly
EXHIBITIONSIM, this is where the powerful independent female artists portray a
image where the women is being sexually provocative and apparently in
control of, and inviting a sexual gaze.

4. When looking at the GENERAL
THEORY and comparing my
conventions to the lyrics, I believe
that my music video does follow the
General Theory.
LYRICS: ‘Wine to the left, sway to the right, drop it down low, and take it
back high. No I don’t need introduction, follow my simple instruction.’
These lyrics already create a sense of ownership, independence and have
sexual connotations – representing exhibitionism. The audience can already
get a sense of what type of music video it will be because of the lyrics and
general, tempo of the song.
MUSIC: When watching the video it is obvious that the music tempo resulted
in the way in which I edited the product. As the music was fast and the
beats where dominant within scene changes, and ranges between shots.

5. GENRE: From reading the lyrics and
listening to the song to the audience
it is apparent that the mise-en-
scene has to also fit in with what the
song and lyrics already represent. In
order to do this I made sure that
after looking at conventions that it
fitted in with other examples of the
same style music production.
However this was proven difficult
due to the time of year we were
shooting. Because filming took place
in winter time it was difficult to use
revealing and stereotypical ‘girls’
summer clothes. Nevertheless within
current fashion trends the
costuming of my band was
appropriate. The plain joggers with a
stripe down the side are very ‘in’
with the fashion hemisphere so
therefore helped bring a sense of
‘strong, independent and sexy’
women to my video.
CAMERAWORK: I had to create a sense
of power and independence within the
way I used the camera, varying
between long, mid and close-up shots
which made the video unpredictable
and changing throughout so that it
wasn’t deemed ‘boring.’ Unfortunately
due to the camera being extremely
heavy and having a very large lense on
the end it was difficult to get a range
of close-up and moving shots without
the footage being of a worse quality
which would make the overall product
look less professional.
I wanted to use a range of tilting as
well as moving shots of me going
around the girls dancing capturing
them one by one, using slow-motion
and fastening effects was also
something that I was keen on using
within my production in order to make
it look more powerful.

6. EDITING: Because the music is fast paced and the beast are dominant, I made sure that the shots
went with the beats, and changed on time. At the end of each phrase, whether it being an entire
section or short phrase I was keen to make the scene change on the beat to make the production
look even more professional. This made editing very tight, but had to be precise in order to make
the final piece look good.
INTERTEXTUALITY: I didn’t really base my video on any specific references of
previous media, however I believe that the engagement of the audience was
increased as the music video was constantly moving, and attention wasn’t lost
trying to follow a storyline, as there wasn’t a specific narrative.

7. EXHIBITIONISM: Out of all of the conventions I
believe that this was the most apparent one when
watching my music video. This is because the
direct eye contact made from the artists when
mouthing the lyrics directly to the camera do seem
to be controlling of the audience. Not only does
this grab the attention of the viewers, it helps them
create a relationship with the audience and get
them to really understand the meaning of the song.
I personally think that it is these scenes that
increases the audiences curiosity and make them
want to see more.

8. ANDREW GOODWIN’S THEORY
This theory explains that the conventions of a music video are:
VISUALS which either illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics
and music. GENRES often have their own music
style/iconography. CLOSE-UPS should always be included. The
ARTIST/BAND might want to develop their own star iconography,
which becomes their star image. VOYEURISM is a common theme
within music videos. INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCE are also popular.
Goodwin argues that the female performer is frequently
objectified principally for display purposes, often through a
combination of camerawork and editing with fragmented body
shots emphasising a sexualised treatment of the star.

9. GOODWIN AND FEMALE THEORY
One of Goodwin’s theories stated that the use of camera angles
and editing techniques can objectify female performers with
fragmented body shots emphasizing as well
as sexualising certain aspects of the individual.
I believe that within my music video production as well as my
digipak I conformed to this element of Goodwin’s theory.
The main individual as well as the back up dancers and singers
are objectified in this way. In my digipak this image of one of the
girls is very provocative insinuating flexible talent which in a
sense objectifies her as a female performer.
As well as this in the music video within the second verse on the
lyrics ’Step1, 2, 3, 4’ the specific more used in also quite
provocative and sexualized.
Many dance moves throughout also carry sexual connotations.
One particular way in which camerawork is used to objectify my
main female performer is a couple of scenes where the camera
pans from her breasts to her mouth, putting all attention onto
these parts of her body. Another example of this is on the lyrics
‘all my ladies’ where all the individuals backsides are facing the
camera.

10. When comparing my video against this theory it is difficult to establish the
similarities. Just like before I have stated that the lyrics in the song help to
illustrate the characteristics which I have tried to replicate from other pieces of
similar media. It does consist of an iconography of some sort as each person
who watched the video interpreted it in their own personal ways. We did
include close-ups however due to a weakness in time management skills and
timing we did not have enough time to shoot more close-ups which was
planned from the start. However I do not think a star image was created.
Voyeurism was no portrayed and it is very hard to make an intertextual
reference when watching this video because many people interrupt it in
different ways.

11. HERE IS MY DIGIPAK

12. The front cover for my digipak was created using Photoshop; the front
cover is a mixture of all the common images and layouts I have used
throughout my website and my digipak. I used the common conventions
of my digipak as a whole to make sure that continuity ran throughout. I
used the contrast of the black and white background against the city
and text in colour to keep the continuity of the colour scheme running
through my production.
In comparison to the previous digipaks that I had researched the front
cover was pretty unique as the changing colour of the background was a
particular feature which I haven’t come across in other R&B digipak
designs. So here I have challenged the codes and conventions of similar
media products.
This helped to create a strong link between all three products and
emphasise the ‘brand identity.’ The image is very dark however fitted in
well with the rest of the tone of my digipak as well as the costuming of
my music video.
In Photoshop I dropped the image of the city in and played around with
the colouring of it to make it keep continuity with the rest of the colours
in my house colours: pinks, white, grey and black. I was able to edit it in
order to get my black background with the ‘X’ involved within my
productions.
Mise-en-scene is also extremely effective creating a sense of ‘brand
identity’ using the colours which I had used throughout the rest of my
production.

13. WITHIN THE CODES
& CONVENTIONS OF
COMMON DIGIPAKS
I believe that my digipak does follow most
of the codes and conventions that I
researched within my type of music
production. In most of the digipaks I
observed bright colours were used with
natural lighted images; as well as this the
CD designs were normally simple, with
not too much going on, but enough to
make the brand recognisable. However
my inside two pages are unique in
comparison to ones that I evaluated
within my research and planning. Here are
some of the inside images I evaluated in
comparison to my final inside image
production.

14. UNIQUENESS OF MY INSIDE
IMAGES
I wanted to make my inside images unique because although the blurb and front cover format of
my digipak followed the common conventions of similar digipaks the colour scheme was a lot
darker which is why I really wanted to make my inside images stand out against other products of
similar conventions to mine; this would enable me to make the most sales in the real media
industry. I also wanted to feature some images of the band in my digipak production because
they hadn’t featured on the front or back page. I also wanted to use some naturalistic images of
the band to make sure that they followed the general theory of media production; I also wanted
to do this to create an intimate relationship between band and audience.

15. HERE IS MY WEBSITE
https://rebeccapollen24.wixsite.com/m
isfits-uk

16. DOES MY WEBSITE OBEY ITS CODES&CONVENTIONS?
I believe that the characteristics of my
website do reflect some of those which I
had researched within my research and
planning.
Most of them used bright colours,
attention grabbing photographs and
unique layouts. I believe that the layout
of my front page is eye grabbing as it
features many different singular and
group photographs; this would attract
the target audience because they are
interested in the band from previously
seeing them elsewhere which would
have led them to the website.
The bright pinks used also obey ‘girly’
stereotypes; as well as this the eye
grabbing colours which obey similar
conventions of bright colours used on
websites such as The Vamps, Fifth
Harmony and Little mix.
The way in which my website is easily
navigatable also conveys the same
features as those that I had researched.
As well as this the writing and
information involved is minimal and
simplistic, this makes the website more
exciting and not boring.
The different hyperlinked pages are also
commonly seen throughout the other
websites that I researched.
The style and iconography used also
helps to promote my music video as
there is continuity within my different
products. This obeys Andrew Goodwin's
theory of genres displaying the
conformative norms of current media
within the R&B industry.

17. After researching band websites such as fifth harmony, the
vamps and Little Mix, I realised that they all have their own set of
unique conventions. In the production process, I knew I had to
create a website which looked realistic and professional,
following and including conventions such as:
• Band name,
• Band bio,
• Image gallery,
• New album release
information,
• News,
• Social media connections,
• Tour information,
• Latest music video and
• Information about the band.

18. OVERALL OPINION OF
DIGIPAK&WEBSITE
I think that, in my opinion the final production of my website, digipak and
music video cover all of the particular conventions I had previously researched
prior to production. Making the website look incredibly professional. Like any
other home music page, and other hyperlinked pages; I personally feel that
the strongest element of my production is the continuity within my products,
the combinations of the background, colour schemes and text fonts make
sure that the ‘brand’ of my band is recognisable.