Evaluation Question 1

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

2. Pop Genre Background
As a genre, pop music is very diverse due to the borrowing of elements
from other styles including urban, dance, rock, latin and country
therefore the conventions despite having set themes are varied.
• an aim of appealing to a general audience, rather than to a particular
sub-culture or ideology therefore the messages in the music videos are
mo generic and relatable to appeal to a wider base.
• an emphasis on craftsmanship rather than formal "artistic" qualities
therefore the videos are more polished and professional.
• an emphasis on recording, production, and technology, over live
performance therefore the inclusion of live performance in a video is
not a convention in the pop genre.
• a tendency to reflect existing trends rather than progressive
developments therefore the conventions are a well known formula.
• much pop music is intended to encourage dancing, or it uses dance-
oriented beats or rhythms therefore the videos are often upbeat with
narratives or montage footage used to reflect the beat of the music.

3. Andrew Goodwin’s Theory
Andrew Goodwin is a popular theorist who has analysed the
production of music videos and produced a theory which is a basis for
a stereotypical music video specifically from the pop genre.
The main points in his theory are:
• music videos demonstrate genre characteristics
• there is a relationship between the visuals, lyrics and music
• close up shots of the artist feature
• there is usually a reference to being watched or followed
• they feature voyeuristic treatment of the female body
• there is often inter textual reference to films or TV programme
By becoming familiar with his work I was able to gain a clear
understanding on how to construct an accurate music video to
represent the pop genre, something which due to Sam Smith’s
alternative elements we actually partially challenged. However
without knowing the stereotypes I would not know how to develop or
challenge them.

4. Pop Music Video Conventions
• CAMERA SHOTS- emphasis of the artist and the location are important therefore
long shots, mid shots and close ups are common.
• EDITING- generally fits the pace of the song therefore stereotypically quicker in
pop music videos, jump cuts are also common to mirror the upbeat tempo.
• MISE EN SCENE- the props etc are used to highlight a certain theme in the song
or to add visual pleasure for the viewer. The costume is used to again either to
reflect the songs themes especially in pop videos which are usually narrative.
However in the Pop genre where the artists image is as important as their music,
their costume is used to create aspirations for the viewers to copy the artists and
the colour scheme is commonly bright to reflect the upbeat atmosphere from
the song.
• THE MALE GAZE- Used primarily in female artists video's as they tend to be
performance based, close ups and shot/reverse shots are used to convey the
women as a sexual desire for male viewers to attract attention for the artist and
emphasise the expected aspiration of the female audience again portraying the
importance of image in the pop genre.

5. Research – Music Videos
To ensure we had a clear understanding of the pop genre, of
which our song and artist align towards, we carried out research
into the stereotypical conventions associated with pop music
videos and the music. To gain a varied outcome I analysed three
different popular artists video’s which helped highlight the
recurring themes, techniques and stereotypes. From this I learnt
that although all artists follow conventions the ones that they
apply rely on their style, something we bared in mind when
choosing conventions for our music video to suit Sam Smith.
After doing this I then focused my research towards Sam Smith
,our chosen artist, and found he is more on the alternative pop
spectrum therefore the common conventions of pop may need
to be developed or challenged to accurately represent his image
and previous work as we felt it was important when creating our
music video to keep it authentic to the artist.

6. Sam Smith’s Music Video
Conventions
STAY WITH ME
• Performance element features with the inclusion of a choir.
• Lip syncing throughout
• Dark clothing to reflect his emotions
• Features Sam Smith throughout
• No narrative structure
I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE
• Narrative based on message of the song
• Contrasting lighting (high key and low key) to highlight the protagonist (female, high
key) and antagonist (male, low key)
• Performance element breaks up narrative with Sam Smith singing
• Voyeuristic treatment of the female and male body
There is a big contrast between the two music videos which has enabled Sam Smith to
include a variety of conventions from the pop genre shows making him a diverse artist. I
think our music video is more similar to ‘I’m Not The Only One’ than ‘Stay With Me’
because it has a strong narrative.

7. Our Conventions
Used Developed Challenged
Narrative Male gaze Intertextual references to
TV/Film
Binary opposites Gender roles/ Character
stereotypes
Dance
Cinematography Classic narrative structure:
equilibrium + disequilibrium
Performance element
Lyric + visual match Colouring Lip syncing
Mise en scene Upbeat+ energetic
Editing Voyeuristic treatment of the
female body.

8. Why we used them?
Convention Why
Narrative We chose to have a narrative story because our audience research
suggested it was the most popular option and the after analysing the
lyrics a clear narrative was apparent. Narratives are popular in the
music industry because they allow the artists to convey the message
of the song and connect to their audience and these reasons also
suited our song choice and artist so we have a romantic narrative.
Lyric+ visual
match
Having a clear narrative in our video meant it was important to have
a match between the lyrics and visuals to create a meaningful
message. We also ensured we had the match in all of our ancillary
products because it clearly conveys to a consumer what the artist
message is and their image. Due to the importance of image in the
pop genre this is a common convention.
Editing We matched our editing to the pace to the video because it helped
to create the poignant and reflective message of our narrative.
Mise en scene-
props
Props are used to highlight a certain theme in the song or to add
visual pleasure for the viewer. We conveyed this through the use of
the lipstick as it suggests our female character is vain and masking
her feelings. The car was used to show the audience our male
protagonists desire to escape.

9. Why we developed them?
Convention Why
Male Gaze Male Gaze is popular in the pop genre as it emphasises the importance of image
however due to Sam Smiths alternative pop music we wanted to alter the
common convention. Throughout the video Jeff's sole attention is focused on
Zoe; this is clearly evident when he is seen to be gazing at her out of the
bedroom window unbeknown to her. However we develop this convention as
our use of the gaze is subjective when you apply it to the audiences perspective
as the central character in our video is Jeff therefore the viewer focuses their
attention on Jeff more than Zoe. This is further emphasised by our deliberate
choice to make the male character attractive which again appeals to our
audience.
Gender
roles
Stereotypically the female is the emotionally vulnerable character and the male
is more guarded and seemingly unaffected. However due to song being sung and
written from a males perspective we wanted to alter the gender roles so our
male character is isolated and vulnerable whilst our female is seemingly
unaffected by the breakup.
Voyeuristic
treatment
of the
female body
Despite our subjective featuring of the male gaze, our female character is never
explicitly shown. We avoided including the voyeuristic treatment of the female
as our narrative is more focused on the males desire for the females love and
attention and not her body. However we did feature our male character topless
therefore it could be argued that again we reversed the stereotypical gender
roles by subtly sexualising our male however this was more unintentional than
deliberate.

10. Why we challenged them?
Convention Why
Lip Syncing Often featuring in pop music videos we decided to not include this in
our music video because we felt it is a medium that has been overdone
and if included in our narrative may distract from our emotive narrative.
Dance/
Performanc
e element
The pace of song would not be appropriate for the inclusion of our song.
It would also look very out of place in our narrative and is not authentic
to the style of Sam Smith as he has never featured dance in any of his
videos. Although he has included a choir in his music video for our
chosen song ‘Stay With Me’ we wanted to solely have a fictional video.
Voyeuristic
treatment
of the
female
body.
Despite our subjective featuring of the male gaze, our female character
is never explicitly shown. We avoided including the voyeuristic
treatment of the female as our narrative is more focused on the males
desire for the females love and attention and not her body and we feel
it is quite a sexist convention of the pop genre the we all don’t agree
with.
Colouring We kept it quite dull to suit with the sadness of the song however we
challenged the colouring within the flashback shots by adding more
colourful as they highlight the happy times in their relationship.

11. Pop Genre Ancillary Conventions
Magazine Advertisements Digi Packs
Reviews- they are influential to an consumer
and make the album look more in demand.
Information- necessary information such as
background info, artists name, release date,
artists name etc..
Social Media- Facebook, Twitter, Instagram all
incredibly important in connecting the artist to
their fans and have played a major part in the
success of artists recently.
Images- often of the artists and visually
interesting to ensure the audience remembers
the advertisement and is familiar with the
artist.
Text- font size is subjective depending on the
information however needs to be readable
and clear by choosing an appropriate font, size
and colour. The choice of vocabulary is also
important as it has to be excite an audience
and make the product seem appealing.
Colour Scheme- reflects the mood of the
album and the artist
Images- main promoters of the product
therefore have be visually interesting and
accurately represent the artist, their
message and style. Often of the artist in the
pop genre as image is very important. Logos
of record labels and barcodes are also
included which are critical. QR Codes are
being increasingly prominent with the
development of digitalisations.
Information- track list, album&artist name,
acknowledgments and basic background
information.
Relevance to the genre- continuity of
genre style with both music and Digi pack so
the audience can easily identity the brand
identity

12. Research – Ancillary Products
I employed similar research techniques when looking into album art
from the pop genre to gain a broad picture on the stereotypical
features. Studying Sam Smiths own album art was crucial because it
extended my knowledge on the way he liked to portray himself and his
style of music which is necessary knowledge if we were to reflect him
accurately. His single art is very creative and expressive which the
theme of vibrant paint splashes, whilst his album front an back covers
are very simplistic featuring a sombre black and white picture of Sam
Smith. The two combined present him to be a creative and reflective
individual that focuses more on his music than his image, a trait which
is not conventional to the pop genre. However you could argue his
single covers are suited to the pop genre s the colour scheme is
upbeat. Along with Sam Smith I also researched a similar artist: Ed
Sheeran whose album art also has a simplistic yet vibrant theme with a
picture of Ed Sheeran and a bright orange background again portraying
the idea that his music is more important than his media image. I also
looked at Disclosure as I liked their ‘face’ album art.
As Sam Smith is a relatively new artist the amount of magazine articles
about him were limited however the ones I did find showed his to be
in reflective poses with a dull colour scheme again showing his sombre
emotions which featured consistently in his music.

13. Sam Smith’s Ancillary Product
Conventions

14. Our Conventions
Used Developed Challenged
Images – Still Shots Social Media Relevance to the
genre
Information: Release
Date, Artist Name,
Track list, Record Label
Colouring Reviews
Text
For both of our ancillary products we decided not to use either screen
shots from our music videos or photos of actors because we couldn’t
find suitable shots that we liked that would represent the style we
wanted to create. Therefore we used photos of Sam Smith which we
have manipulated to create the right mood for the album and advert
which has a created a professional finish.

15. Why we used them?
Convention Why
Images – Still Shots We chose to use images of the artist to be the central focus
of both the ancillary products because it promotes his image
to the consumer and image is very important in the pop
genre. However the simplistic photos are simplistic to avoid
them overpowering the music being promoted. The images
we chose to use are ones where he looks reflective and
isolated so the continuity o our narrative is evident which
emphasises Sam Smiths brand identity. We have manipulated
the photos by adding colour to make them more visually
interesting and also layered photos over each other to create
a creative yet simplistic finish something that Sam Smith is
known for being.
Text We have altered the font of the text depending on the
content and its importance so the audience is shown the
relevant information which is key for advertising a product
and done in the pop genre. By using contrasting text colours
and a sensible font the information is clear for the audience.
Information We have included all the suitable information on our products
as otherwise the promotion would not be successful.

16. Why we developed them?
Convention Why
Social Media We haven’t included a hashtag on our ancillary products
however we have added a QR code which when scanned
directly links to our music video on YouTube.
Colouring We have used a black and white colour scheme for both of our
ancillary products as it is authentic to Sam Smith however not
to the pop genre. In order to till meet the convention we have
added colour to our Digi pack taking inspiration from
Disclosures album art by outlining the face which allows the
product to not look too plain and presents him to not be 1
dimensional. The colour we have used is a dark yellow so it is
still quite subdued.
Relevance to
the genre
We have ensured there is a strong link between both of our
products to emphasise Sam Smiths brand identity however
due to him being more alternative than main stream pop
music is not solely representative of the stereotypical pop
genre.

17. Why we challenged them?
Convention Why
Reviews We have not included reviews on either of our
products are we didn’t feel like they were
necessary to the marketing of him as an artist.
Lyric Booklet We have not included a booklet in our Digi Pack as
it would increase the cost of the product and his
songs are not lyrically complex. However often pop
artists do include lyrical booklets.