This document provides an evaluation of a media project involving a music video and accompanying materials. It discusses how the project used conventions of real music videos, such as including dancing, while also challenging some conventions by portraying the artist in a modest way without overly emphasizing sexuality. Audience feedback was gathered and new media technologies like Final Cut Pro were used. The evaluation reflects on what was learned and discusses comparisons between the project's music video and conventions found in other dancehall genre videos.

1. A2 Media Evaluation… Layla El-Alami

2. Questions... In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? To achieve this, we analysed different female dancehall, bashment and R&B music videos before creating our own and decided on what forms and conventions we were to use in our video. Our intentions were to use conventions so that our audience would recognise our product. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?I will discuss how our synergetic final product was effective and useful they were.

3. What have you learnt from your audience feedback?Audience feedback is a crucial stage in making a successful product as it gives an insight as to what the target audience want and would like to see from the final product. In order to achieve this, we 50 different people (half male, half female) who represented or target audience, then got them to tell us what they thought about the video (and the CD cover + Advert) and got them to ask a series of questions in relation to our final products. We concluded their answers and came to a decision as to which final product was best.How did you use new media technologies in construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?Here, I will discuss how we used different technological equipment and why. We used programs such as Final Cut Pro to edit our video, InDesign and Photoshop to edit our adverts and CD covers. I will also discuss the technical difficulties we had an how we overcame them.

4. Music Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6czgA0R3Tc

5. Magazine Advert

6. CD Cover

7. Introduction This is my evaluation for my A2 Media music video and digipak. Overall I’ve enjoyed this project, maybe a little less than I thought. Making a music video itself is more challenging than I thought die to the preparation of the shoot, the shoot it’s self and lastly the editing. My skills in Final Cut Pro has undoubtedly stemmed from not knowing anything about using the program to using it confidently and efficiently. My group and I have similar taste in music which made it a lot easier in choosing a song which resulted in a positive product. I would say I’ve preferred hosting our work online via our blogs as oppose to printing out our final products last year. This made it easier to work together and help each other in the process.

8. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?Having done in depth research into the media sector of music videos, I understand and have learnt that different genres of music hold their own codes and conventions which are used to represent or convey an image of the artist or band to appeal to their audience. Looking at different music video genres, their conventions become clear and obvious. However, some directors choose to challenge these codes and conventions by creating unique videos which allows the target audience’s perceptions and ideas of the artist/band to be challenged which could also draw in a different crowd all round. Dancehall videos usually expose and enhance women sexuality by having them dance seductively in minimal clothing and the uses of bright colours represent the cultural background of Afro Caribbean's.

9. Challenging conventions Our artist’s imageHair extensions to give extra volume – very conventional in terms of how famous women are portrayed in media (bigger, more volume hair)Minimal clothingNot a lot of revealing skin/cleavageReal hair with no added extensions for reinforce the ‘real’ side to our artistDarker clothes so that the chain stands out- Almost like a trade mark of the song Bright clothing /shoes

10. Dancehall music videos don’t usually have strong narratives, but a lot of dancing and sexual relevance whether it would be the artist by herself or with dancers (i.e. Spice “A nuh me”). Videos have the ability to give the song a completely different feel hence it is important to rein act the basics of the song whether it is through dance, narrative or mise-en-scene. We chose the song ‘Ni Time Fi Dem’ by Princess Landa as we felt it gave us a challenge and a genre that was different from other. However, the main reason as to why we chose that particular song was that dancehall/reggae music is becoming more popular in the western world and a lot of young people tend to listen to it.

11. Goodwin’s TheoryGoodwin suggests that lyrics will make constant reference to what’s being visually seen on screen. These visuals reinforce what lyrics say. An example of this the use of mise-en-scene in our video is from 0:30-0:35 where the male dancer is flashing his jewellery and there are straight cuts to our artist who portrays the correct facial expression and gestures (with hand) of ‘not caring’ ‘Me take nuttin’ from the boy so the boy couldn’t call m’own”. Translated: I take nothing from a guy so he can’t claim me his.

12. As a group, we wanted to reflect the lyrics of not having time for no one/female independence as it was appropriate for the song. Rather than have our final product (music video) challenge real forms and conventions in professional media products, I feel that on the whole we have used and developed them, for example the use of dancing and body dissections. However to an extent we decided against challenging against dancehall convention as we didn’t want to risk alienating the main audience.

13. Continued...I mainly emphasised the artist, dancers and the quick straight cuts. This was achieved by zooming in and out of the dancers and using a shake when excessive movement was used much like the video ‘Watch Dem Roll’ by Sean Paul and ‘Soldier’ by Destiny’s Child. Having done research on dancehall music videos, our final product seems to challenge conventions of portraying women in a sexual way by having the dancers fairly covered (compare to dancehall videos) and less sexual gestures and dance moves. By having the video all shot in a studio enhanced the fact that our artist was new and modern in terms of song and fashion. I developed this idea as in some parts of the video I decided to (minimal) flashing camera flashes to show popularity. Also, I’ve used the music video conventions of syncing the words to the movements of the singer’s lips. Maybe there’ve been some points in the video where the syncing wasn’t quite on point. In addition, the song is up tempo, so I decided to have straight cuts in sync with the beat making the video more energy and visually interesting. However I also challenged this idea by suddenly cutting to another shot in the middle of a work, showing the subjects (in this case the artist) from a side angle.

14. Comparisons of videos Mid close up to buttocks areaWhite screen – defines subject’s figure + moves Here is a comparison of the well known video by Sean Paul ‘Watch dem roll’. As we can see, we’ve reinforced mainstream conventions of thereggae/dancehall genre by highlighting specific areas of the female body, in this case the ‘buttocks’ . My group and I haven’t gone as far as portraying our artist in a very seductive way through her clothing. Although we have stuck with this convention, the narrative of the video is that the artist in promotingwomen independence so if we did have her in revealing/seductive clothing, the convention may seem to attract a male audience (viewing her in a sexual manner).

15. Comparisons continued..Chest area is revealed through minimal clothingChest area is fairly modest by less revealing clothing – dance moves however brings a sexual element Here is another comparison between our video and Sean Pauls which again highlights a specific area of the female’s body; the chest. Die to the fact that Sean Paul is a male artist, body dissections are to an extent more acceptable and necessary for his videos (as his lyrics usually are about women sexuality). However, I decided to go against this form and convention of real media products and dress our artist in a fairly modest way, for example her chest area is not enhanced with fillers/push up bras, lighting, water/oil etc. We achieved this by leaving our artist almost ‘natural’ (nothing to emphasise her assets), nevertheless she still maintain elements of seductions for example her dance moves.

16. Location By having the video all shot in a studio enhanced the fact that our artist was new and modern in terms of song and fashion. I developed this idea as in some parts of the video I decided to (minimal) flashing camera flashes to show popularity (beginning of the video). Also, I’ve used the music video conventions of syncing the words to the movements of the singer’s lips. Maybe there’ve been some points in the video where the syncing wasn’t quite on point. In addition, the song is up tempo, so I decided to have straight cuts in sync with the beat making the video more energy and visually interesting. However I also challenged this idea by suddenly cutting to another shot in the middle of a work, showing the subjects (in this case the artist) from a side angle.

17. Most of reggae/dancehall CD covers have colour schemes, mainly of the Jamaican flag. This is a convention I’ve decided to challenge in terms of making my CD front cover. Reason so being is that our target audience may be secluded meaning that our target audience would mainly be those of Jamaican origin. Having done in depth research on dancehall/reggae CD covers, it’s obvious that using women with revealing/minimal clothing is another aspect of representation within most reggae/dancehall CD covers. For my CD cover, I’ve ensured that some body parts that tend to be revealed in most of dancehall/reggae covers are revealed but through modest clothing – relating to the video.

18. Analysing/challenging CD Covers’ conventionsRed lipstick/smoky eyes to portray seductionChest area is revealed and enhanced with bras and high key lighting Composition – sexual references, for example legs openOil to enhance sexual references Bight colour clothing/coatColourful bikini

19. Similarities in Dancehall CD coversArtist’s name is big and boldBig heading of artist’s nameBlack backgroundEffects done on Photoshop/InDesignColour theme – Green, yellow and white Colour theme – Black, white and pinkPosing with attitude/ conventional

20. Reinforcing advert conventionsBig bold nameParticular colour scheme Bold blocks to make writing stand outSponsored companies, stores and websites

21. Here is my magazine advert I’ve created as a promotional tool for my music video. Like most independent females dancehall/reggae artists, I used a different image from the CD cover from the photo shoot I did. The reason why I chose this image to be in the advert was that the mid close up reveals a lot more detail of the artist’s face (and accessories). I told her to lean forward and point at herself to reinforce her ego and confidence. Another reason as why I chose this image was so that I can stick to the colour themes (of the CD cover & music video) of black and white but with colour edits. In her glasses I faded the Jamaican flag in them which reinforces the reggae/dancehall genre of cultural background. The edited pink lips reveals to the audience a touch of seduction in a more modest and less obvious way. The colour scheme is made of; black, white, pink, green and yellow. The black , white and pink refer back to the unique selling point of the CD cover colour scheme . However, I’ve also used the Jamaican flag colours; yellow and green (as well as black) which is a commonly used convention in the dancehall/reggae genre (referring back to ethnic roots). Looking at the date on when it will be out, I’ve challenged the convention of making it stand out from the advert. Instead, I’ve kept it in coordination with the colour scheme of black, green and yellow to represent the Jamaican flag (Jamaican culture). A number of mainstream advertisements consist of a larger image of the artist on the advert. I used this convention as I believe it allows the audience to recognise the artist’s image as done for my CD front cover.

22. Overall Overall I believe that my video fits in very well with real media products and uses the forms and conventions that a majority of the Dancehall genre usually uses. My video was heavily influenced by other artist’s videos, however my video also challenges the convention of female sexuality. Our video also reinforces aspects of Goodwin’s theory allowing our video to be productively and theoretically successful. However I did challenge this theory as not every word has a physical demonstrated – as our video reinforces dancehall conventions of ‘dance’. Using Goodwin’s theory gave myself and my group a better knowledge and understanding about the values that music video’s hold. It has allowed me to put more thought into my final product (music video) for example the importance of inter-textuality. Looking at dancehall music videos we decided to use Goodwin’s theory in some aspects of our video as using it fully could jeopardise and alienate our target audience.