The document discusses how the media product of a music video uses conventions of real music videos. It follows conventions such as linking the lyrics and visuals, varying the pace of cuts with the music, and including scenes of the artist singing to the camera and a narrative that flows with the song. However, it also challenges conventions by not having a clear narrative. The document also discusses how the magazine advert and digipak for the music video follow conventions such as including ratings, social media links, photos from the video, and production details, but challenge conventions through unique design elements.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of
real media products? (1933 words)
Music Video
My music video follows the conventions or real media products in the sense of the use of
theories such as Andrew Goodwin and his ideas that there is a clear link between the lyrics
and visuals. The song is about colour and light; also being called Spectrum. The lyrics in
particular “every colour illuminates” is used throughout the song and this can be represented
by the fairy lights, candles in jars and sparklers which are shown throughout the video.
Andrew Goodwin also established that there can be links between the music and visuals. This
is regarding pace and how often cuts are made and the speed of these cuts. The pace varies
throughout my video and on the slow parts and verses, longer cuts are shown to allow the
audience to take in what is being shown and connect with the singer. The chorus and faster
parts of the song tend to have faster cuts so that the visuals don’t contradict with the beat of
the song. At around 2:33 the song begins to slow down significantly and I use a clip of slow
motion as a transition between the fast and slow beats.
When I researched into existing pop music videos from various pop artists I discovered that
there is a clear pattern of what’s included. I therefore decided to adapt these conventions in
order to make my video fit into this category. The most common theme seen was the artist
singing to the camera, then cuts to a narrative that flows along with the song. This is seen in
my music video where the singer is singing the lyrics to the camera in many different locations
and then the narrative of her dancing and the male dancing cut in and out of the miming.
The narrative of music videos can often be very important to the meaning of the song and this
clear narrative is seen frequently in the pop genre of music videos. I decided to challenge this
convention as there is no definite, clear narrative in my video – I wanted to allow the audience
to try and devise their own storyline based on their interpretation of the entire video.
Camera, editing and mise-en-scene is vital when trying to connect to the audience and
necessary when trying to create a realistic, professional music video. Camera angles and shots
can make or break a video and in order to get the right ones, effective planning is the key. I
considered many different shots and even when filming I experimented different levels, angles
and distances. I discovered that close ups needed to be my most used shot as this allows the
audience to connect with the singer and see the emotion clearly. When editing my footage
and deciding where to cut I placed markers in time with the beat and then cut the footage
around them so that the video flowed with the visuals. There are a mixture of fast cuts and
slow ones. Also slow motion is used at times, this gives the audience a chance to take in the
video and focus solely on the artist’s movement. Mise-en-scene is essential when hoping to
connect with the audience and give it a realistic look. In my music video, mise-en-scene is seen
throughout, regarding hair, make-up, costume, props and backgrounds. The singer has
makeup on for the entire video which makes her more attractive to the male and female eye.
Mollies hair is very iconic and big. This formulates a unique look and could be more attractive
to the audience. Props used in my video include sparklers, candles in jars and fairy lights.
These are all sources of light which, again, links to the lyrics. Mollies costumes throughout the
video change 4 times. When she is singing to the camera she is either in the garden with a

2. bush and fence behind her whilst wearing a green dress, or she is outside in front of fairy
lights hanging up, wearing a black sequin floor length dress with a grey knitted coat over the
top. The other two outfits are her in a glamorous ball gown, purple skirt with gems over the
top half. The final costume is her dressed as a male with dark makeup and hair scraped off her
face so that she looks significantly different. She is wearing black smart trousers with a white
shirt, braces and a bow tie. The use of costume and makeup clearly differentiate between the
female and male version of the singer and the audience will easily be able to distinguish this.
A vital element to creating a successful music video is by having a performer. I have learnt this
by watching music videos from artists like Rihanna, Katy Perry and those similar. You need to
have an artist who can perform and is confident in doing so. This played a big part when
deciding on whom to use for my music video as I needed someone who looked the part and
could also perform with passion and confidence. Mollie is a dancer so I thought she would be
perfect for the part of the singer as I wanted dance scenes to cut to throughout the song. In
this element, I have definitely used conventions of real music videos.
Overall, I believe that I have used, developed and challenged all conventions of real music
videos as there is a strong performer, links between music and visuals, typical camera shots
and editing and also no clear narrative. There is only about 3 long shots throughout my video
which leaves the audience questioning the surroundings of the singer and it leaves them,
again, to create their own backgrounds using their imaginations. This destroys all boundaries
and allows them to make the video what they want it to be.
Magazine Advert
In the creation of my magazine advert I was able to make use of the conventions that have
become known to me as a consumer. I am the target audience age of my music video so I
know what will attract my audience to the advert. This can be website links and twitter
references. Also the ratings I placed on the advert are of magazines that I and other audience
members would be likely to read and subscribe to. When I researched and analysed real life
media products I was able to see the relationship between the video and the magazine advert.
There are usually elements of the magazine advert that have the same feel and theme to the
music video and artist. I decided to adapt this convention and create my magazine advert
using a photo of Mollie wearing the purple ball gown that she wears in the music video. This
takes the convention that one step further as it’s a clear link between the advert and the
video and the audience will be able to see this too. The photo I have used for my magazine
advert is of her on the floor with the dress spread out around her, with one hand stretched
out towards the camera. This may appeal to the audience’s eye as it’s as if she is pulling them
in to reading the magazine advert. The advert is very similar to those of female pop artists like
Taylor Swift and Katy Perry who are presented as independent and appeal to the majority of
ages and genders. The fonts and colours I used on the magazine advert match the ones used
on the digipak and this therefore creates a house style. I decided to create 2 different
magazine adverts as one contains a photo of Mollie and one is of a girl spinning, blurred out to
represent the album name “Lungs”. The advert with Mollie on is more suited to the video as it
is similar to the digipak and there is a clear link between them. The other advert shows more
skills in the creation of it. I took it in long grass and I was able to get the girl spinning across

3. the picture by using a low shutter speed so that it captured her spinning the whole way across
the shot. I then corrected any dodgy bits of the photo on Photoshop and put the text on top of
the image. I did a portrait and landscape version of both adverts so that they can be used in
different forms such as bus stops, billboards, half page advert and full page adverts. If I had to
choose the advert that I prefer, I would definitely go with the one with Mollie as it attracts the
audience to the artist and they are able to see who is singing and can relate back to it when
they see her in the music video. Overall, my magazine advert does follow and use conventions
of real adverts I have seen as there are ratings, album name and social network links for the
younger audience.
Digipak
My Digipak is very similar to my chosen magazine advert as it follows a simple house style and
can easily be matched to it. The fonts used are exactly the same along with the colours and
size of the text. I wanted the front cover to represent light and colour. I decided to do a lightstreak inspired photo and I went to my nearest bridge over a motorway and reduced the
shutter speed to around 3 seconds and this created the perfect light streak. I used this on the
front cover and then on the inside I included photos of Mollie which I took on location where
she is wearing the ball gown, as in the magazine advert. On the first inside page I have a side
on shot of Mollie on the left side, on the right there is a large passage of text which is saying
thanks to everyone involved in the creation of the album and to the fans. This can be seen in
the majority of pop artist’s Digipak’s as fans are very important to them and their success.
There is then one more page where the discs are inserted and there are photos of Mollie in
the ball gown behind the CD slot. The back page is a little different to the rest of the Digipak
and it has a track list written on it with a sunset and tree with the branches drooping into a
heart. This gives the audience the feel and theme of love and romance which is one of the
main themes in the album and especially the music video. There are copyright details on the
Digipak along with a barcode and the production company. This gives the Digipak an overall
realistic and professional look. The Digipak has a pop genre look to it and I think that my target
audience would be very likely to purchase this. Overall, my Digipak uses the majority of
conventions that are associated with real life Digipak’s such as the copyright details, barcode,
production company details, track list and a thank you message. The only part that challenges
conventions is the fact that the back page image has little relevance to the “light” theme that
runs through the video and Digipak. Despite that, I think it works as the theme of love and
romance is only seen in the music video and I wanted to emphasise that even more so putting
it on the back page is a subtle way of imposing that theme onto the audience and the album.