This document discusses the student's original music video project and how it utilized conventions of real music videos. The student analyzed King Krule's music videos for inspiration on shot types and emotions. Their video used a mix of performance and narrative styles with close-ups to convey feelings of anxiety and loss of self-worth. They also created a magazine ad and digipack for the project, applying conventions like layout, photography style, and continuity across products to develop recognizable pieces. The student believes their work successfully adapted real-life media forms and conventions.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
As part of my A2 coursework, I made an original music video to King Krule’s ‘Easy
Easy’ which would be categorised in the indie genre. Due to the fact that the song I
chose was part of such a mainstream culture, I found it quite straight-forward to
follow and adapt to the typical forms and conventions of real life media products,
especially as there were a lot of examples that I could take inspiration from
specifically, I found inspiration in many of King Krule’s videos as his portrays the
emotions that I wanted to get across to my target audience very well within the shots
used, so I therefore chose to look further into more of his songs and similar products.
After watching various real music videos, I gathered that most of the videos that used
the theme I was trying to aim for used lots of shots where the actor rarely looked
into the camera, but when they did you could easily get a feel for what the emotions
that were being represented. Before I had looked at other music videos, I wasn’t sure
if I wanted the protagonists to look directly into camera as I sensed it looked quite
forced and harsh but after watching a lot of videos I found that it could emphasise
the emotion meant to be felt and help to create a deeper connection with the
audience. Typically, there are three different styles of music video, these being;
performance, narrative and conceptual, but a lot of successful videos seem to include
a mix of at least two of these styles. My music video uses a equal mix throughout but
could mainly be performance as there is a story and meaning behind it, as when the
actor is looking into the camera the audience can get the feel of the story behind it. I
decided to go with this kind of approach because I myself find performance the most
interesting when watching other music videos but I thought that making sure the
video told a certain story was important in order for the audience to feel something
for the actor and actually understand the narrative that they’re involved in. The
narrative which I chose to portray my actor in such a way to express the feelings of
anxiety and loss of self-worth, however, whilst this was my anticipated narrative and
the one I hoped my audience would comprehend, it is open to interpretation,
depending on how the audience view the music video. I think that this is also very
important, as every person watching the music video will have the own
preconceptions regarding he emotions shown throughout, as some people may see it
as an edgy indie video, whereas other may interpret a much deeper understanding
into the meaning behind the shots. With regards to camera, I think that the specific
shots and the camera movement are incredibly important in terms of reflecting the
emotion and meaning of the song. Depending on the line itself and the timing of it, I
knew I needed precise shots and different movements in order to represent each

2. performer in an exact way. In order for this to happen, I carefully planned out the
type of movements that I wanted and how I would need to use camera in order to
show these movements. When filming, I mainly filmed my actor from behind as the
deeper meaning could then be presented through the camera as it shows him trying
escape the overpowering emotions of anxiety and fear stemming from situation
which are a part of his everyday life. I researched into how professional music videos
were shot as I thought this was going to be something that I would struggle with. I
found that close ups seemed to be a very powerful and common way to show those
featured in the video, due to this, I made sure that I had a lot of footage and takes of
the song shot purely from the shoulders upward. It was very important for me to get
lots of close ups and main focuses on my actors face as this way I could easily show
the emotions that link to the song, instead of the audience wondering what exactly
they are meant to feel when watching, although the look of the video is fairly
simplistic and I believe that this aids the message of being picked apart by life
troubles. The way that I chose to film the video meant I excluded the need for
extensive imaginative ideas, as I thought that the lyrics gave the audience a storyline
to interpret. In terms of mise-en-scene, whilst all music videos differ in what is exactly
involved, as Easy Easy is a blunt but meaningful song as the lyrics really tell a
descriptive story of a young boy from a working-class background, the general idea
that I had for mise-en-scene was quite simplistic and laid bare. Therefore, in order to
adhere with the expected conventions of a music video of this genre I ensured that
my actor was dressed in clothes that weren’t particularly a norm to society, with the
leather jacket with studs all over and the leather boots, to ensure that he was viewed
as an outcast, which therefore can present his emotions of feeling like an outcast
following his anxiety. All the dark colours and harsh materials that he is wearing are
connotations of the deep emotions that he is feeling throughout the video in order
for the right message to reach my target audience. Overall I believe that I adhered to
and developed to the expected forms and conventions of real music videos in my
own original music video. Some reasoning behind this is that as I have one main
actor and he acts in a way that tells a story whilst camera follows them throughout
the entire video. Additionally to this, I think that the way I have manipulated speed in
various places of the music video has been really effective and managed to clearly
display the sheer emotion of each character involved. Specifically I have slowed down
parts such as close ups of the actors hands, and trains passing by as I felt this gave
the audience time to take in the little details. I have also manipulated speed so that
the footage is faster where the song is faster, and then the same footage is suddenly
slowed dramatically when the song gets slower. Generally, I strongly believe that my

3. music video successfully used the forms and conventions of real life media in such a
way which meant that I created a professional and effective music video.
During the process of creating my magazine advert, I was able to follow the typical
forms and conventions that I already knew of from being a consumer of real
magazine adverts. Due to the fact that I knew what makes a successful and effective
magazine, I then knew what was needed to be included in my own in order for mine
to also be successful. I found my prior understanding of real life magazine adverts
very valuable as I adapted several aspects and layouts to work with my own idea for
the advert. A specific aspect of real magazine adverts which I took inspiration from
was the use of close ups that they used. As I found that this was a common style of
photography used, I decided to apply it into my own advert. This is why my magazine
advert has a structure layout, featuring a close up of all three of my performers, one
below the other. On top of this, the background of each picture I used in the
magazine advert has a blackened background, as that’s the same location of the
video and I think that continuity is very important. Something else which I found very
useful was the fact that I myself fit into my target audience and so what I liked and
didn’t like, could potentially be what I could base all my ideas round as I represent
my target audience. One thing which I valued especially was the fronting of social
media. As my target audience is generally young women between the ages of 15-25,
this particular demographic is quite active on various platforms of social media so I
knew that I needed to include this in the advert. Due to this, I ensured that the artists
twitter username was featured at the bottom of the advert as well as the official
website for the artist. I think that providing these two links directly relates to my
target audience whilst using the expected forms and conventions of a real magazine
advert. However whilst this was an important aspect, I knew that the main focus
needed to be the images which I included. As the images I used are the main
attraction of the advert, this follows what a magazine advert is typically expected to
do. I made sure to include all three people featured in the music video, in the
magazine advert. The shots I used were close ups from the shoulder upwards of each
person in the video, each placed one below the other in a collage style. As well as
this, I have the text of reviews, the album, single and the artist’s name going over the
photos I’ve used. I think that overall, not only have I adhered to the conventions of a
real magazine advert but I have also developed various forms slightly in order get
across an objective and emotional message which relates directly to the song and
artists intention. At the very top of the advert, I have two five star reviews of the
album running along the top from Entertainment and Q Magazine to further
broadcast the popularity of the album, song and artist.

4. The creation of my digipack was the last aspect of my production which I made so I
wanted to ensure that it matched the theme of the music video and the magazine
advert. This was incredibly important because I needed all of the products to link well
and clearly be recognised as related products. Therefore, because of this I intended
all of the images I used across the products were very similar and of the same style. I
did this by ensuring that each photo of my actors had the same lighting and
continuity of clothing and mise-en-scene. This allowed for each of my products to be
instantly identifiable as the same overall package. Typically, digipacks tend to feature
eye catching pictures so that they grab consumer’s attention straight away. My
digipack was made up of four individual pages and one thing that I kept consistent
was my use of close ups. I think that this adheres to the style of images that is
expected to be on a digipack. This aspect was kept the same in my music video,
magazine advert and my digipack. I think that the closer I showed each person, the
more meaningful they looked and the more emotion got across to the audience.
Which is why all six pictures used in my digipack are close ups; one of each girl and
four of the boy featuring in the music video. Another piece of continuity kept similar
in both my magazine advert and digipack was the style of font that I used. I didn’t
want to overcomplicate either product and so whilst products clearly look different
and use different images, the main font is in the same style, this being Century
Gothic and Nixie One for the majority of text included. However, some parts were
styled differently; either in italics, bold or different sizing which makes some of the
text look like they’re in different fonts when they are actually just presented
differently.