media coursework

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

2. Media Forms
 Media forms our the shape of the media product. Eg. A
music video or newspaper.
 The media form will determine the medium that the
product is produced in, eg. Music videos are made in
film or video.
 There are also other things to think about like length of
the product, music videos are about 3-5 minutes but
blockbuster films can tend to be atlest 2 hours long.

3. Media Conventions:
 Conventions are the established features and style of a
media form.
 The conventions of a pop video would be high key lighting,
bright colours, lots of close ups of the artist.
 Convention are used to satisfy the audience to prevent
disappointment.
 Producers our using tried and tested formulas that is known
to be successful
 I will be looking at R and B rap videos and what conventions
they have used and how I have used them in my own music
video.

4. Video: camera
Using mid shots is a way of showing body language and costume. I have taken screen shots
from, Lil Wayne, Kanye West and Vic Mensa’s music videos where this shot is displayed and
used for the purpose of showing off the artist.
In out music video we used this shot
multiple times. In this shot we can see his
costume, and the way he’s using his body in
a slightly aggressive way, flinging his arms
out as he steps forward. The effect of using
this shot means the viewer gets a feel of the
rappers personality and is able to connect
with them better. By being able to show off
his expensive clothes it give the video that
high fashion, glossy look.

5. Video: editing
Elaborate editing is used in a lots of video of this genre, as it gives the video trippy and
different. Rappers are know for being involved with drugs and in these videos below,
Kanye West feat Jay-Z, Frank ocean and A$AP Rocky show a mixture of way they have
involved elaborate eediting into their videos.
For our music video we wanted a less trippy
and drug related effect, to make the artist
seem cleaner and more serious. We added
this contact sheet effect to give the idea of
high fashion, as if photos where being taken
of the model. The shots canon across the
screen, in a domino effect. By adding this
we break the repetitive nature of the video
and add something eye catching and
unexpected.

6. Video: lighting
Artificial lighting is extremely common in many music videos as it’s a way of giving the artist a glow of
perfection. In these videos below, Drake, Tyga and Big Sean have all used some sort of soft box to give
them a clear skin effect.
In our music video we created a
beauty light from three bar lights and
put them into a triangle to give light
from all areas. This helps to make the
artist look more attractive and the
music video more glossy and
expensive. We also used the stroke
light which has been used in videos
like Vic Mensa’s ‘U mad’ and Kanye
West’s ‘Wolves’. The strobe effect
gives the artist some mysteriousness
to them as we cant get a clear images
of them and with their body language
it can help their movements look for
aggressive.

7. Video: costume, hair and
makeup
In these videos the artists are dressed in smart clothes to give their videos an
expensive feel to it. It also makes the artist look and seem more high end.
In our video we wanted to
make our artist look glossy
and fashionable, but also
keep him looking and
feeling like a rapper. By
putting him in a black suit
jacket but topless
underneath it make him
seem more sexy and R
and B like.

8. Video: colour
This helps our artist to keep up his image
as being expensive and high fashion. We
could have enhanced the colors to make
them stronger but we didn’t want our
artist to come across too much like pop
but more serious and more high-end.
Lots of rap music videos use black and white to give a flattering effect to the artist or to create a feeling or mood. In The
Weeknd’s video its used in a more artist way playing with shadows and to create a contrast, but for Jay Z and Azealia
Banks’ music videos they are used to flatter and to create a more street like vibe.
We decided to put our music video into back and white
as its very flattering and it’s a way of making things look
glossy and expensive. When it was in colour the video
looked cheaper and less professional.

9. Video: performance
A way of displaying the artists performance is having them alone in a studios. The
artists normally dance or walk around showing their feeling and emotions by hand
gestures and body language, to bring meaning to the song.
We used the same method of
a dark studio with the artist
alone to make the viewer
concentrate on him and his
body language and how he is
bringing feeling to the words
in the song.

10. Digipak
Older albums would tend to use the artist on the cover but more current artist use
more abstract images and also distort images to make something different and new.
In our digipak we wanted to involve a god like persona to our artist by
using architectural statues and then distorting them to make them
more modern. The staues are of a roman holding a half naked woman
which reverts back to our video of our artist and all the models. It
makes our artist seem desirable helping to appeal to a female
audience. We used a rustic effect on the background to bring texture
to the digipak.

11. digipak
Most of this genre stick to about tow or three colours. Black and white is a popular choice, as
seen on the covers previously. But having a strong colour is a way of making an album stand out.
For our cover we stuck to black and white
colour scheme sticking with the music
video. We added to strokes of orange to
make the cover pop more. When choosing
what colour we thought about red but as in
our previous cover, in feed back session we
where told the black and white with red
looks too much like rock. We felt like
orange was still a strong and eye catching
colour.

12. websiteFor the websites they tend to stick with the same colour scheme as their album covers, along
with the text. By keeping the colours and same text the artist is able to create a brand and a logo
making it easer when selling merchandise as the artists logo and brand will be recognized.
For our website we used the
video as out homepage
background with an over lay to
give the effect its being shown
on a big screen. We also used
the same text that we used on
the digipak to promote his logo.