My music video addresses issues of grief and bereavement, showing how one can control their thoughts and outlook after trauma. It explores sisterhood and relationships. The video uses symbols, theories, and conventions from other media works but also challenges conventions. It has multiple interpretations from audiences. For example, some saw the disappearing girl as death while others saw it as a temporary departure. The video strives for realism in relationships and deviates from conventions like using natural lighting to distinguish scenes. It references other artists through costume, lighting and story elements. Overall, the video takes a hybrid approach, conforming to and challenging conventions of the genre.

1. A2 Media Studies Portfolio Evaluation
Question 1
1. In which ways does my media
product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real media
products?
Synaesthesia: images seen when listening
to music video. (Andrew Goodwin) used
sadness images and pictures of the past
as indexical signs of reminiscing death.
Audience
Symbols and theories
Narrative and performance
Representation
Digipak
Website
Research
Used star image (dyer)
Challenge
Interpretation and compare it to different
media texts
toderov1. A state of equilibrium (All is as it
should be.)

2. My music video is addresses issues such as
grief and bereavement and how you
have control over your own thoughts and
cognitive view and can therefore
determine and decide your outlook on
life, post a traumatic or sad event

3. As well as this it looks at the possible
interpretation of sisterhood and sorority.
Could challenge music videos as they do
not tell such poignant stories. Both mine
and these othervideos.
The audience are able to relate to the
other characters such as the older girl
who is getting over her personal loss of the
sister. Just like in when you’re gone by
AvrilLavigne, we empathise with the
pregnant expecting mother whose
husband goes to war. (Partner)

4. Preferred readings:
It can be said that my music video has
multiple interpretations. Audience that’s
watchedthis some said that from the very
beginning it was clear that the girl had
gone but some knew she was dead and
others believed this was a light hearted
story about the girl going away for a short
while and the singer feeling alone in a
new environment. I did this by using a
ghosting effect on the image where Amy
and the young girl can be seen on the
swings. As she sings ―you won’t be there
anymore‖ the girl disappears from the
swing and Amy is seen isolated.

5. People also interpreted the silhouette
element in different ways. Some said that I
was an expression of freedom; others
concluded that it was simply about the
ambiguity of the characters and how the
young girl is a faceless mouthpiece for a
projection of loss, whether it is a job or a
person.

6. Finally the ending was a multi-faceted
piece of the music video which
audiences had different ideas about
what it might mean. In the penultimate
shot, the young girl is seen fleeing from
Amy who is holding the mirror. Some
agreed that it was a symbol of Amy never
being able to let go of the past as she
watches it back. Others believe that it
was a sign that Amy was relieving herself
of the past by letting her run away and
she is in front of the mirror to connote that
she is past the point of reflecting on the
past and is ready to move forward.

7. Other media texts also carry multiple
interpretations. Fore exmple Rise Against
— "Make It Stop (September's
Children)"music video is a political stance
against one of the most potent and
crucial messages about bullying and
discrimination in secondary school. The
rope and guns towards the end are
indexical signs of suicide and yet people
can learn to rise above it and become
successful.

8. In stark contrast. Other songs such as I
knew you were trouble by Taylor Swift
hone in on an obvious and clearly
outlined message with an iconic
meaning. I used iconic symbols in my
music video when the singer is looking at
photos of her and the girl.

9. I also used indexical signs which allude to
the signifier and the signified for instance
when the girls are seen in the second shot
smiling in to the camera, this signifies
emotion and illicits a positive air.
The pathetic fallacy of the bright sunlight
outside in the singing shots compared to
the outside flashbacks to time spent with
the girl illuminate the change in mood
between the two times. Subtle
Symbols such as the photographs
hanging from the tree are inspired by
TaylorSwift's music video for mine. I used
close-ups of Amyviewing he shot like in
swifts music video so the audience get to
see the true emotion conveyed in the
artists expression.

10. Intertextualityreferencing in
my other related media
products digipak
Faceless, ambiguous, black
and white
Also seen in KatyPerry’s wide awake
music video.
Imagine dragons demons

11. Ciara speechless. Silhouette
really effective as consumers
could look at it and feel like the
image is faceless and therefore
could represent them. I particularly think
that the hoop earring which colour
remains is highly interesting as it adds
contrast and body to this image. For this
reason when crating my own digipak
cover I highlighted elements of the guitar
that were reflecting the light in another
colour to achieve a similar effect.

12. Conformed to conventions of website by
listing several different icons that are
common for example advertising their
events and the band members
individually like Ellie Goulding's site.
Challenged conventions by having a
performance background image/ shot
from music video as opposed to a photo-
shoot image (ref) I did this as I wanted to
stick to the generic term of indie which fits
with the gene of the song and I felt that a
photo-shoot image was adhering too
much like a pop artist website.

13. I challenged the convention of women
when representing in
above the line media
products. In most music
videos women are
presented wearing arguably excessive
quantities of makeup or at least a
sufficient amount to accent certain
features of their face as well as body. In
my music video I chose to present the
artist without any makeup to connote
how this is a strip-down natural and true
portrayal of herself which hones true to
the lyrics.

14. This is also used in demi Lovato’s music
video for give your heart a break. The
lyrics have a possible similar meaning to
with a smile and so I felt it would be
considered appropriate if not acceptable
to take this element where she is shown
with no makeup and make a direct
reference in my music video.

15. I deviated from
conventions of using
natural lighting in
my music video. This
is unpopular and uncommon in high
definition music videos as the creative
director of the shoot may not achieve his
desired effect as he or she cannot control
the lighting by using the sun as a light
source. In demi Lovato’s music video for
skyscraper, the footage has been edited
by increasing the contrast and brightness
of the image. I did this in my music video
to distinguish between the outside
memories clips from the singing shots.

16. I wanted the
relationship
between the
two girls to
appear
realistic on screen as this can often be the
down fall of filmed media products – a
lack of realism. I asked them both to
watchRamona and Beezus, a U rated film
which documents the sisterhood between
two sisters – both of which were
respective ages of my actors.

17. Dress
I asked my artist to wear a black dress for
the memory shots for two reasons. I
wanted her to appear out of the element
of where one would wear a smart dress.
She would appear smarter than any other
people who would normally be in a park.

18. I also wanted the dress to be black as the
colour connote bereavement and grief
and are often worn to funerals. As she is
mourning I thought it was appropriate not
to deviate from the norm when
addressing grave and severe subjects.

19. Finally I want to reference Carrie
Underwood’s music video for blown away
in which she wears a similar style dress. The
artist had a similar sound to her songs and
blown away deals with similar issues of
destruction and loss. As I am a fan of
underwood I really wanted to put her
stamp on my music video by emulating
her in this way.

20. Ferdinand de Saussure: Signifier is what
one sees and hears, for example,
Signified is idea director is trying to
convey.

21. E.A. Caplin pitches
how the singer’s face
acts as an anchoring
motif or visual hook.
Laura
Mulveyscopophiliaaudience have female
gaze when watching others in a video.
This is because they admire them and so
want to effectively break the fourth wall
and make eye contact with them.

22. This is also known as voyeurism which is a
key element of the 1950s film rear window.

25. One of the other reasons for a singer
looking into the camera has been said
because they are angry or with to
confront issues they are addressing in the
song.

26. Sergei Eisenstein theorises in his books film
form and film sense that montage shots
are vital for a music video.He believes
that the collision of shots can be used to
arouse emotion in the audience whilst
creating film metaphors my music video
does this as it consistently cuts back and
forth between the anchoring image I
applied by E.A. Caplin to the memory
shots.

27. I also don’t conform to Toderov'stheory for
this reason. I challenge this as my music
video starts with disruption in the singers
life and not beginning with equilibrium
Much like media products that are
conveying a message to the audience or

28. present a scenario that happens in real
life, known as simulacra, I use his as well
by presenting the idea of being and loss
of a person or tangible item.
By using some handheld shots I
conformed to new technologies
otherwise known as we media such as

29. presented in one directions music video
cover of one way or another filmed on
their tour for charity.
My film like most guerrilla filmmaking was
on a zero pound budget or we media
productions.This is like Ed Sheeran's music

30. video for a team which was filmed on
only £20 budget.
Most real media productions are filmed
on expensive locations with high quality
technology and a large crew and so

31. although costly, can normally represent
real life more accurately.
Whilst difficult to define, my music video
does stay true to the unique collective
and simultaneously disparate conventions
of indie pop.

32. In the wise words of Glenhill

33. Glenhill: 1985: in terms of genre there are
no rigid rules in terms of inclusionor
exclusion (1705)
I would call my music video overall ―A
Hybrid of identities‖.