2. 1. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE,
DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
In my music video I have used some conventions of real media products. Such as
Andrew Goodwins theory that music videos are a simple extension of the lyrics and
Tzvetan Toborov’s theory of narratives having an equilibrium – disruptive force –
disequilibrium – oppositional force – second equilibrium. For the narrative part in my
music video, it starts off peaceful and normal with nothing happening apart from my
main character waking up. This is the equilibrium, which leads to my disruptive force.
The disruptive force is the text message received from his girlfriend; this creates the
disequilibrium that is him dealing with this situation, showing the character drinking a
lot of alcohol, which he is using to help him get through it. The oppositional force is him
desperately trying to call back his girlfriend and make things right, this continues until
the end when he passes out from all of the alcohol and it cuts to the phone ringing and
shows two missed calls from her. This then suggests the possibility of a second
equilibrium with a cliff-hanger.
3. My music video also displays the use of ‘Binary Opposites’. A theory by Levi
Straus, which is frequently used in real media products. The main character
is depicted as the hero however he is represented as an unstable alcoholic,
overreacting about his girlfriend leaving without an explanation.
I have also challenged forms and conventions of real media products by
going against Vladimir Propp’s theory of basic character roles within
narratives. In my narrative I only used two characters, which were the Hero
and the Princess. The hero is the main character and the Princess, his
girlfriend. However the main character could also be portrayed as his own
villain due to the fact that he is deliberately destroying himself with alcohol
to deal with the situation (referring back to Levi Straus’s ‘Binary Opposites’
theory).
4. 2. HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION
OF YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT AND
ANCILLARY TASKS?
My music video relates well to my poster and CD, using the same style and theme of a
Blues music genre. The images chosen for my poster and CD contain the same subjects
that are shown in my music video, including the two people from my cast, the main
character in my narrative and the main singer/guitar player from Whoppa (the band who
originally play the song) I also included objects such as alcohol due to the constant use
of it in my music video, where my actor is shown drinking away his sorrows from his
girlfriend leaving, I used a tie due to the relation between my narrative and performance
where my actor and the band all wore shirts and formal wear. I did this due to the
influence of old blues players that would wear very formal outfits to create their image.
I also used a bass guitar, amplifier and microphone to help represent the music in the
video. These features help target my audience and are identifiable to my genre.
5. 3. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT FROM
AUDIENCE FEEDBACK?
From one of my audience feedbacks, I learned that the audio and visuals were good
quality for my limited budget and that I captured the band very well. The only thing that
might need improving would be different colour lights for the performance side of my
music video, and more camera angles.
From my other audience feedback, I also learned that the visuals were good and the
cutting of the scenes, one to the other, were good. I have some good enounces within
my video. For example, when the lyrics talk about prescriptions and the visual shows a
bottle of whiskey. Another feature was when the visuals showed a broken bottle next to
the actors feet, wearing nothing but socks. In this scene my feedback said that you
feared for the actors feet. Lastly he said that it was a very good story, well put together
and the narrative was very strong.
I agree with this feedback and if I could re-do my music
video I would use more and different camera angles
within the performance side, using a blue light as well
to give it a more blues atmosphere.
6. 4. HOW DID YOU USE MEDIA
TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION
AND RESEARCH, PLANNING AND
EVALUATION STAGES?
I used media technologies in my research to help find a suitable track to use that I could
envision a music video for. After listening to many different songs and genres on
different media platforms such as YouTube, Sound cloud, ITunes and Spotify, I found a
track that I liked. I did this on an IMac, PC and mobile phone. I asked for the bands
permission to use their song on one of their social media sites (facebook) and they
responded with conformation that I could use it. They also agreed to star in the
performance side of my music video.
I also used media technologies to research theorists such as Andrew Goodwin and for
my audience research. For this I used Survey Monkey to ask candidates questions such
as “what is your favourite Genre of music?” I used Survey Monkey because I find it a
very quick and easy site to use. After collecting this research I created a word
document showing the theme and style, which I was aiming to create.
7. In the construction of my music video I used Premier Pro CS5 to edit my
clips and put them together with my selected track. I used Premier Pro
because I am more used to using it and know where most of the features
are. I also used Photoshop to edit my print media for my album artwork,
adding the title of my song, lyrics and production information. I used
Photoshop because it gave me plenty of options to experiment with my
photographs, to get the best outcome for my album.
I used Blogger a lot in my project to write about my work as I went along. It
helped me to keep track of my progress, from my introduction to the
evaluation of my project.