1. The document discusses the ways in which a music video project challenges conventions of real media products. It analyzes the opening, setting/location, costumes/props, camera work/editing, style, storytelling, genre, artist portrayal, and special effects used in the video. 2. The opening immediately introduces the characters and bullying storyline to engage audiences. Locations contrast happiness and sadness, and costumes represent themes of innocence, peace, and being "at peace." Editing builds climax and camera work shows character vulnerability and strength. 3. The video uses both performance and narrative styles to give deeper insight into the character's emotions and story. The pop genre and cute couple appeal to wide audiences. Special effects

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

2. 1
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3. 1. THE OPENING OF MY VIDEO
Due to the style of my music video being narrative, I thought it was
important that the story was immediately presented to the audience. With
the first shot taking us straight into the dialogue I felt
it was effective since the core characters were
introduced and the audience got a brief glimpse of what
the bullying is like. I believe this stuck to the
conventions of other narrative videos, an example of
these are Lady Gaga’s videos to “Telephone” and “Paparazzi” which begin
with a long scene that introduces the audience to the story.
By having the scene short it was effective since it kept the
audience interested but also provided them with the
necessary background information they need for the video.
Also by the use of shots showing that the girl was cornered
by the bullies it sticks to the style of “high school” films
where the bullies “dominated” the
space in the scene. Films like Mean
Girls is a perfect example of this,
where the shots would be mainly
focused around the plastics.

4. 2. SETTING/ LOCATION
For my piece I wanted to make sure I had locations that could seem innocent
but that the scenes that occur in this setting are dark. I thought this was
effective since it contrasted the sadness of my piece to the happiness that my
main character sees in her flashbacks. In the music video for “If I Were A
Boy” and “Best Thing I Never Had” by Beyoncé it uses flashback to portray
the concept of the story, they even use the black and white effect in “If I
Were A Boy” to give it an old look as if she is looking back in time. For my
main singing location I needed to have somewhere that was very plain and
dull to mirror the emotions the character was singing, this is why I thought
in front of a wardrobe in a bedroom was good since it helped not only portray
the area she is in but the feelings that she is having through the video. If I
could have improved any of my locations I would of put the
bullying scenes in a darker location since the colour was too
bright and made the scene look happier than it should have
been.

5. 3. COSTUME/PROPS
I don’t think that my costumes and props really challenge any conventions of media.
Firstly looking at costumes I went for everyday high street fashion for the flashback
moments since its sticks to what is trending in music videos at the moment and could be
seen as what the teenagers of today would wear. In the final scenes I decided to have
my character wear a white dress to show her getting ready to meet her boyfriend, in the
m music video to “Cough Syrup” by Darren Criss we see a boy who
I is being bullied and is about to commit suicide dressing in a suit,
t this shows that I have stuck to the conventions of your typical in
t the pop genre as Glee is a very successful television program and
h has the same target audience and my music video does. Another
r reason why I used the white dress was to represent that she was
in heaven, this was effective as the boyfriend was also in white and the audience knew
he was dead from the start of the video, so they could assume the
girl was too. The colour of white also could be connoted as
peaceful, in the music video to “Take Me To The Clouds Above” by
LMC all the couple are dressed in white and some even wear
wings, implying they’re angels or at peace. For my props I decided
to stick to my concept of “everyday things” being used in a horrible
way for example; a flower being stomped on, or a photo being
drawn all over. I believe the idea of the “everyday” items sticks to
many of Bareilles’ videos as she shoots her videos in city/ urban
locations; sites where props like these would be found.

6. 4. CAMERA WORK/ EDITING
For my video I wanted a feel of climax as soon as the main character kills herself, this
is why I decided to use the editing to portray this, when the piece starts most of the
shots are quite long and there is a lot of continuous editing. As the music begun to
climax in the piece the editing started to get more fast paced with quicker shots until
the music crescendos and the editing goes back to how it did in the start, I thought
this was effective since it helped the piece to flow and give the video a peak before the
happy ending. In the video to “Nessaja” by Scooter there is a lot of fast editing in the
party scenes to contrast the slower, quieter parts, an idea that helped inspire my
piece.
On the shots side of things I think my main idea was to portray the contrast
between her vulnerability in the main part of the video and the happiness in
the final scene. I used a lot of high angle shots to show she is weak in the
music video and that she has no where to turn to whereas in the last scene
my character tends to dominate the shot much more as if she is finally
happy now she is with her boyfriend.

7. 5. STYLE OF MY VIDEO
My video is a cross between both performance and narrative since I liked the
idea of a performer telling their story in a song. I have one main location to
differentiate the styles, the bedroom which is the place where my performer
sings the song and then the other locations which help to tell the story. I
thought using two styles was effective because I felt it gave a deeper look into
the character’s life since you get a look at her when she is being bullied and
then you see her when she is by herself and the sadness she feels. I believe
that I challenge real media products as in Bareilles’ video to
“Gravity” and “Love Song” they just use a performance style
with little storyline behind it. I didn’t like this because I felt
it made the song very repetitive and didn’t really dig deep
into the lyrics whereas I think in my video you can really
feel a sense of the emotion behind the words. A video that I
believe is very similar to my piece is “Concrete Angel” by
Martina McBride as it is both performance and narrative and
involves the artist singing the song whilst the story is told
throughout. It also uses a sort of “flashback” technique as if
the artist is looking back on the story and remembering the
memories.

8. 6. STORY AND HOW THIS WAS TOLD
My story is about a girl who is badly bullied at school and feels alone after
her boyfriend died. In the end she ends up committing suicide to be with
him. My story sticks to the normal convention of narrative videos and
follows the steps of Todorov’s theory.
Equilibrium- The girl lives happily with her boyfriend.
Disequilibrium- The boyfriend dies and she is alone.
Recognition- At the graveyard the girl realises that she has nowhere to
turn without being in danger
Reparation- She commits suicide.
New equilibrium- She appears in heaven where her boyfriend is waiting
for her.
I felt like the narrative of my piece was the most important
part of my music video and I believe I portrayed this idea
very well due since I good a lot of good comments from my
target audience, one girl even commented “she cried more
than she cried at war horse”.

9. 7.GENRE AND HOW THE VIDEO SUGGESTS IT
The genre for my video was Pop. I knew I had to appeal to a wide audience
since many songs that have a pop genre are the once that get into the charts.
I went along with the normal conventions of a cute couple that the audience
could fall in love with and want to be together. I also needed an actor that a
varied range of audience could connect with to feel the emotions she is
feeling. Looking at the video for “Need Your Love” by Calvin Harris we see
him and Ellie Goulding going on dates and having fun, this reflects the couple
in my music. Also I believe that people who have been in relationships can
connect with this music video which then reels in a larger audience, a
convention of Pop videos. I could also say that my video has aspects of the
Indie genre in it due to the fashion that some of my characters where such as
the bullies. In the music video to “1975” by Chocolate there is a dark tone to
the video which gives it a sad and depressing feel to it,
an idea I also portrayed in my video.

10. 8. HOW THE ARTIST IS PORTRAYED

11. 9. SPECIAL EFFECTS
Although I didn’t use many special effects in my video I do believe the ones I
used stuck to other music video’s conventions. The first effect I used was the
black and white effect to make the scenes look like they were back in time, as
I have already mentioned in the setting/ location slide. Another effect that
was used quite prominently in my video was speeding up and slowing clips
down, I thought these were effective since they helped to bring pace and
tension to the fast parts and also helped cause a climax to the piece when I
slowed things down. The last effect I used was a lens flare in the final scene,
this helped emphasise the visual idea as heaven since it was bright. I’m
happy that I didn’t use much special effects in my piece since my video was
very much about the story and I think if I have had added a lot of effects into
it, the story would have been overlooked.