The document discusses the conventions of music videos and how the creator's music video both develops and challenges some of these conventions. It summarizes that the music video develops conventions through the use of close-ups, tracking shots, costumes, locations, and sound parallel editing to match the rhythm of the song. However, it also challenges conventions by not including a full performance and having a fragmented narrative structure to represent the artist's mental state. The document also discusses conventions of other related genres and formats like the Indie-pop genre, digipack covers, and magazine advertisements.

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

2. • After choosing the song I was using to make a music video to, first of all I
researched the conventions of music videos despite their genres. From this I
developed and challenged these conventions as discussed on the next slides.

3. CONVENTIONS OF MUSIC VIDEOS
Develop: My music video uses both
technical elements and symbolic
elements. For example, I have used
many close ups of my artists to signify
her emotions which are reinforced by
the lyrics in the song. I have also used
symbolic elements such as the use of
fire and water (reoccurring motif)
throughout the video and props such
as the warning tape represents her
danger towards herself and others.

4. CONVENTIONS OF MUSIC VIDEOS
• Develop: My music video uses many
conventions of this form which helps the
audience to understand and follow the
narrative more easily. The close ups I use
throughout help to establish my main
artist and I use many tracking shots
throughout to help with continuity and
make it easier for the audience to follow
the narrative.
• As for the symbolic aspect, the costumes
vary in my music video between two.
However, I decided to open and end my
music video with a shot of my artist in
the bath, appearing naked as this
highlighted the overall message of her
vulnerability.

6. CONVENTIONS OF MUSIC VIDEOS
• Challenge: My music video does
not include a performance as I
wanted the audience to focus on
the lyrics of my song and the
meaning behind the words rather
than a performance. I also wanted
my music video to reinforce and
link to the lyrics to make the
message of the song even clearer.

7. CONVENTIONS OF MUSIC VIDEOS
• Develop: My music video has a
fragmented narrative. There is no
clear structure to the narrative and
is difficult to follow. It does not
follow most narrative theories such
as Todorov (1977) who states there
is 3 elements to a narrative;
Equilibrium, disequilibrium and new
equilibrium. My music video has no
structure however this was to
represent my artists mental state
and link to the lyrics of the song.

8. CONVENTIONS OF MUSIC VIDEOS
• Develop: My music video uses a
mixture of narrative and some
performance. I used some
performance in my video to
show my artist singing the lyrics
(lip syncing). This helps to
reinforce that the song is a
message from my artist as the
song is about her. This also
helps keep the audience
engaged as my artist breaks the
4th wall during these
performance scenes.

9. CONVENTIONS OF MUSIC VIDEOS
• All music videos share
the same conventions
however, different genres
have different
conventions. The
audience have existing
expectations of what
they believe will be
included in a music video
just by knowing the
genre of the song. For
example a rap/R&B song
will have expensive props
such as gold chains and
money and typically
included woman in a
provocative way.

10. CONVENTIONS OF MUSIC VIDEOS
• Develop: I used various camera
shots throughout my music video
for different purposes. Some shots
were influenced by existing music
videos already as shown in the next
slide.
• Using a variety of shots helps keep
my audience engaged and
interested in my video.

11. CLOSE - UPS
Develop: The use of close
ups help convey my artists
emotions well. The close up
specifically in the bath
scenes are influence by the
music video ‘Stay’ by
Rihanna as shown on the left.
Lots of close ups are used on
body parts which have sexual
connotations e.g. the lips.
However I have used them in
a way that portrays my
characters emotions more by
using close ups of the eyes
for example.

12. MEDIUM SHOT
My video: Influences:
Develop: Medium shots are one of
the most commonly used shots. It
allows the artists facial expressions
to still be apparent and also
establishes the location/mise-en-
scene more.
Framing usually centre or in the left
or right third of the screen. I used
many medium shots as I believed
it portrayed my artists body
language well as well as the
location. It was possible to make
my artist look vulnerable by the
framing of my artists (having a lot
of negative space within the
framing as shown in the second left
hand side photo).

13. LONG SHOT
I didn't use many long shots in my
music video as I wanted my artist to
appear isolated and trapped within
the framing throughout the video to
represent her suffocation from her
bipolar disorder. The long shots I did
use such as the one on the left here
show that she is lonely as she
appears very small within the
framing and the mise-en-scene is
very dull.

14. ANGLES
Using different angles
makes my product more
visually effective and
exciting. The low angles
helped convey my artists
vulnerability whereas the
higher angles when my
artist is ‘happy’ shows her
confidence in comparison
to the previous
shots/emotions.

15. CONVENTIONS OF MUSIC VIDEOS
• Develop: A lot of music videos
have fast cut editing if the song is
upbeat. However, is the song is
slow or emotional, slow pace
editing is used to help convey this
further. My music video uses a
mixture of fast pace editing and
slower paced. The fast pace
editing is evident during the
chorus as this is the most upbeat
part of the song therefore the
editing must have matched the
rhythm of this.
Verse: Chorus:

16. EDITING TECHNIQUES
• Many music videos put effects over
the footage to make is more visually
appealing. ‘New Americana’ by
Halsey uses an effect which makes
the footage look old. This is a
techniques I used on my own by
adding an effect on Final Cut called
‘Projector’.

17. EDITING TECHNIQUES
• Other clips I reversed
(retime - revserse) to make
is visually effective and
represent the continuous
cycle my artist is in with her
bipolar. I also sped up the
same clip as well by using
retime – custom, and
changed the % of speed to
150%.
• I made some shots black
and white to fit with the
theme as everything is
contrasting in my video.
(Fire/water, happy/sad). This
also links to my ancillary
texts colour scheme,
keeping continuity.

18. EDITING TECHNIQUES
• Furthermore, to make the clips look
more professional and fit with the
atmosphere is my song more I
colour graded it. I desaturated it to
make it appear duller and also
changed the exposure so there was
less light. This gave it more of a
cinematic effect and also conveyed
the mood of my artist better and
more effectively.
Exposure
Saturation

19. CONVENTIONS OF MUSIC VIDEO
• Develop: Sound parallel sound is used in
my music video as I wanted the editing to
match the rhythm of the song.

20. CONVENTIONS OF MUSIC VIDEOS
• Develop: Music videos tend to use more than one
location to shoot in to keep the audience
engaged. I used 4 in my music video; beach, bath,
bedroom and street.
• Also props are used to entertain and interest the
audience. Therefore I also used a couple of props
which linked to the lyrics of the song or
represented an aspect of my artists personality
such as a lighter (she is dangerous and can
potentially cause serious harm to herself or
others).
• The costumes I have used are also conventional
as the costume used for the ‘happy’ aspects of
the artist she is wearing provocative clothing. This
is due to the media sexualizing woman and
presenting them as sex symbols therefore my
artist is conforming to this expectation of women
in society through the media. My artists is aware
that she will be viewed in this way, which
supports the theorists Jib Fowles 1996 - "In
advertising, males gaze and females are gazed
at". And Paul Messaris 1997 - "Female models
addresses to woman, appear to simply a male
point of view".

21. CONVENTIONS OF INDIE-POP GENRE
• I researched into the codes and conventions of that genre (indie-pop). This allowed
me to understand what attracts my target audience, what they expect to see within
my products and gave me ideas of what I could do and how I could possibly
challenge this.

22. CONVENTIONS OF DIGIPACK

23. CONVENTIONS OF DIGIPACK
Conventions: I
included the
name of the
album and artist
on front cover. As
well as using her
as the main
image to clearly
indicate who she
is.
Barcode
Name of album
Spine with name of album and artist. As well as record label logo
Track list
Image of artist
Record label and
copyright
information

25. CONVENTION OF MAGAZINE
ADVERT

26. CONVENTIONS OF
MAGAZINE ADVERT
Release date
Name of album
Name of artist
Main image of artist
Website it is
accessible on

27. CONVENTIONS OF CHOSEN GENRE– INDIE-POP

28. LOCATION
• Develop:
Music Video: I learnt from my
research into the Indie-pop genre
that the music videos are low-
budget and main settings are one
which most people have access to
such as parks, woods, cities etc. This
is a benefit to me as I do not have a
budget for my film therefore
should use public, free locations,
however this fits with the style of
my genre. For example, I have used
my artist walking on the road, and
in a bathroom/bedroom.

29. MISE-EN-SCENE
• Develop:
Music Video: usually simple props are used in
indie-pop music videos such as Ed Sheeran, A
team, uses drugs which relates back to the lyrics
of the song. I have used a couple of simple props
in my music video. For example, I used warning
tape, champagne bottle to symbolise aspects of
her personality. As for costumes, I have followed
the forms of indie-pop as this genre focuses
more on current day issues, therefore using
modern costumes reflects this. I used dull dark
clothing, which had rips in to represent her
depressive symptoms, I juxtaposed this to bright,
more provocative clothes to represent her
happier, confident state. It also conforms to the
expectations of women in society today. The
narrative of my video is fragmented and difficult
to follow. It includes performance as well which
is conventional of indie pop genre.

30. MISE-EN-SCENE
• Challenge:
Music Video: The props I have used are not as simple and
common as usual indie-pop videos. For example, I have used
warning tape with double yellow lines behind my artist. This is
representative of her disorder; it is a continuous problem in her life
(double yellow lines – no stopping) and that she feels a danger to
other people (warning tape). These are not simple props; these
require the audience to be active and to interpret the meaning and
message behind it. The narrative of my music video challenged the
conventional of usual indie-pop videos as they normally tend to
use narrative alongside a performance. However, due to the
meaning behind the lyrics of my chosen song ‘Gasoline’ the
narrative of my music video is very fragmented as this reflects
upon the symptoms of bipolar. The protagonist in my video has no
structure or order to her life due to the disorder therefore, my
video does not have a story for the audience to follow, it simply
shows the different aspects of some of the symptoms which are a
result of Bipolar Disorder.

31. EDITING
• Develop:
Music Video: One convention of editing in
indie-pop videos is that it takes time for
the frame to fade into focus. I used this a
lot throughout my music video as I
believed it was effective and I put filters
over it to make it even more dramatic. I
used techniques such as graphic match
and match-on action which is conventional
to see in a music video. Other effects I
have used such as speeding up (changing
duration) a clip makes it more abstract and
unique, conforming to the style of indie-
pop.
• Many low budget, indie-pop music videos
use a black and white effect such as Ed
Sheerans video of ‘A Team’. I used this in
my music video also as it continued the
contrasting theme in my video.

32. SOUND
• Develop:
Music Video: My music video includes
non-diegetic sound throughout (sound
track) I have not used any dialogue or
diegetic sound. Some indie-pop music
video do containing dialogue before, half
way, or at the end of the music video to add
to the narrative however, I decided not to
use this as I believed it wouldn't fit with the
style of my song, and as I have shown my
artist as isolated and lonely, having her
speak would break this representation.

33. CINEMATOGRAPHY
• Develop: Music Video: I have used
many close ups in my video to
express my artists emotions more
clearly. I used a lot of hand held
camera work as it made it look more
natural and the unsteadiness added
to the atmosphere of the video.
• Challenge: I didn’t use many long
shots as I wanted my artist to appear
trapped and suffocated within the
framing, however the long shot I did
use shows her lonely and small within
the framing to represent his. It helps
establish the location as well.

34. NARRATIVE
• Develop:
Music video: There is some narrative and performance in my video. A lot of indie
pop music videos include this as it is an effective way to tell a story and show the
artist themselves singing the song however, my narrative does not follow the
conventional narrative structure, it is fragmented.

35. MAGAZINE ADVERT
FINAL DESIGN

36. MAGAZINE ADVERT
• Develop:
My main image is of my artist. This is conventional as it immediately makes the audience
aware of who’s album it is promoting. I have also conventionally used large font of the most
important information on the advert to draw in the audience’s attention and make the
message apparent. On some of my designs I used ‘Star Ratings’ as this was a convention
found in pop adverts. However, my final design did not have this as my genre is indie-pop
the music will be less well-known and produced by big label companies therefore I believed
this would not fit with the genre of my song. The dominant image is usually similar to the
album cover. I decided to use screens shots of my music video as a main image in some of
my designs to show a clear link between my products however, my final design used the
main image of my digipack cover as I believed that this provided a sufficient link between
the products and will make the audience recognise the album if they were to see it in the
shop from the advert.

37. MAGAZINE ADVERT
• Challenge:
Indie-pop artists tend to use more unique styles however, I used a simple typography that is
similar to existing adverts because I wanted the main focus to be on the main image of my
artist as it represents characteristics of her personality and the nature of her songs, by the
colour (black and white) and the fact they go across her face, almost hiding her image.

38. MISE-EN-SENE
• Ancillary texts: For my ancillary text
designs I decided to use less relatable
locations/backgrounds as I wanted it
to capture the audience’s attention
more. Indie style tends to be abstract
and something unique therefore,
using an abstract background (strips,
letters, etc.) conforms to some
aspects of the expectations of indie-
pop products.

39. PROPS
• Ancillary texts: I decided to not use any props in my mise-en-scene for my ancillary
texts as this would draw attention away from my artist. The song and who album is
about her own life and issues therefore I believe the audiences focus should be
simply on the artist itself, without any distractions. Having just simply the artist as
the main image implies to the audience that her music reflects on her own life.

40. DIGIPAK

41. DIGIPACK – FRONT COVER
• Develop:
The main image is usually visually effective to capture the audience’s attention. I have used
this convention especially as the genre of my artist’s songs are indie-pop it allows me to be
more creative with the image. The black and white stripes capture the audience’s attention
as it comes across as quite mysterious as my artist’s face, although visible slightly hidden by
the background going across her face as well. I have also used large text for the name of the
album and slightly smaller for the name of my artist. This is to make it obvious of the album
name and apparent the name of the artist who appears on the front cover.
• Challenge:
I have places the title of the album in the top left hand corner of the front cover as it didn’t
cover any of the main image, however the titles usually go either centre bottom or top. I
wanted the main image to be the focus of the front cover.

42. DIGIPAK - BACK
• I have listed the tracks on the left-hand side which is conventionally where they are
found. I have also used another image which links to the image on the first page to
keep continuity.
The colour scheme is kept consistent throughout. I have
included the conventional barcode, price, copyright
information and record label logo.
I layered the image in photo shop to make it look more
effective.
The back also contains the albums name and my artists name.

43. DIGIPAK - INSIDE
For the inside, I used a still from my music
video to make the link between my products
more apparent. I made sure the still included
the colour red as I wanted the red on the back
of the album to continue inside the digipak.
This is an unusual photo, especially as you cant
see my artists face. However as this is an indie-
pop digipak this is conventional as they use
unusual and unique style photos.
The CDs also contain the name of the album as
I believed this looked effective. This style
design inside will attract an older audience
rather than a younger one therefore I will
consume the correct customers (target
audience).

44. DIGIPAK - SPINE
I included the conventional name
of artist and album on the spine.
I also included the logo of the
record company my artist is with.
This was to follow conventions
and make my digipak look
realistic.

45. NARRATIVE
• Challenge:
Music video: My video has no clear structure or narrative. This is to represent her mental state and her
emotions. Due to bipolar, her life has no structure and is unpredictable therefore, I simply showed
some symptoms of bipolar rather than include a story to portray it in a more effective way.
According to Pam Cook (1985) The standard Hollywood narrative structure should have:
- Linearity of cause and effect within an overall trajectory of enigma resolution.
- A high degree of narrative closure.
- A fictional world that contains verisimilitude especially governed by spacial and temporal coherence.
Tzvetan Todorov (1977):
Todorov believed that narrative consisted of 3 main elements: Equilibrium, disequilibrium,
new equilibrium.
However, I did not follow this narrative structure/theory which is evident in many music videos. I
constructed a fragmented narrative to represent my artists mental state of mine. Due to her bipolar
disorder, her life is unstructured and fragmented therefore this is reinforced through the narrative of
my music video. My video is very subjective.

46. • My music video only had one artists. Therefore challenged Vladimir Propp Broad
Character Types. However you could say that throughout my video my artist
becomes several of these characters;
• Villain – herself as she is a danger to herself and has bad thoughts due to her
disorder.
• Dispatcher – as she stops herself from becoming healthy again and finds it difficult
out cope.
• Blocker - during her happy symptoms this encourages her to try and get better as
she wants to stay in this mind set.

47. • My music video conforms to Claude Levi-Strauss binary opposition theory.
Throughout my video my artist contrast between happy and sad. This is reinforced
by juxtaposing the costumes/location/lighting etc. The contrast (opposition) of
elements makes the message of my music video clearer.

48. • Laura Mulvey states that media products make the audience view the product from
a heterosexual males point of view. However, my target audience is both male and
female orientated. Mulvey suggests that female roles in media products often have
little importance however, my video challenged this as my main artist is female and
she is the only role in the video. It focuses on her life and her emotions.
• On the other hand, I dressed my artist in a provocative way for some scenes which
conforms to Mulveys theory of the male gaze.

49. • Carlsson states there are 3 major types of music videos ; abstract, narrative and
performance. However, my video challenges this as it included elements of all three.
Narrative: Performance: Abstract – through
editing and costumes.

50. AUDIENCE
• Develop:
Active audience theory:
This is the idea that the audience have an active role to play in the understanding of, and creation of meaning within a media text.
Active audience theory argues that there is diversity in society (everyone is different) and therefore there is also choice (we can
choose what to believe). As my music video has no clear narrative it is very subjective and the message of the film can be
interpreted differently as many people have different ideologies due to various reasons (age, social class, gender etc.). Therefore, it
is up to the audience how much the accept and interpret the message of my music video. Despite the message I intended to be
interpreted from my music video, Roland Barthes states "The death of the author" doesn't matter what the director means, the
meaning of the text is what the audience thinks.
Challenge: One theory for audience is, The Frankfurt Schools Hypodermic Theory (1930s)
Passive audience theory:
The idea that the media 'injects' ideas and views directly into the brains of the audience like a hypodermic needle, therefore,
controlling the way that people think and behave.
My music video challenges this theory as it portrays a serious matter which is relevant in todays society and expresses the impact it
can have on ones life. It does not control the way in which people behave, it expresses issues which are frequently ignore by society
in the media. Makes the audience aware of real issues rather than fake reality (media).