Evaluation Question 1 Lauren Kavanagh

1. Evaluation Question1.
In ways does your mediaproduct use,developor challenge formsand conventionsof real media
products?
Before creatinganyof mymediaproductsIcarriedoutextensiveresearchintothe industrytoobserve
what codes and conventions there was in a pop genre and how I should go about executing them.I
alsostudiedtheoristssuchasAndrewGoodwin,StuartHall,RichardDyer, andLaura Mulveysto geta
better understand of the conventions and representation.
There are two main types of music videos these are performance and conceptual. A performance
based music video s where the artist is performing for the camera or and audience, performance
videosare verycommon inthe rock genre such as GreenDay – AmericanIdiot.A performance video
is used as it appeals to the target audience of the rock genre.
A conceptual videohasanarrative,itcaneitherbe illustrative,amplificationordisjuncture.Illustrative
is where the narrative followsthe follows the lyrics in the song.Amplification iswhere the narrative
expands on one or two lyrics and the visuals represent the chosen lyrics. Disjuncture is where the
narrative doesn’tfolloworrepresentthe lyricsatall makingthe narrative completelydisjointedfrom
the song. A conceptual videoisverycommonamongstthe popgenre thuswe decidedtoincorporate
a narrative howeverwe choose todoadisjuncture one andmake upourown themes,theseare seen
inthe musicvideoasyouthculture,friendshipandhappinesswhichall conformtothe conventionsof
a popmusicvideo.Duringmyresearch,Ialsofoundthatanotherconventioncommoninthepopgenre
is that alongside the narrative there is also elements of performance this can be in the form of the
artistperformingontheirownor performingduringthe narrative,thisstyle isseenin The Weekend –
The Hills asthe artist iswalkingtowardsthe camerasingingwhilethe narrative continuesinthe mise-
en-scene.
In our musicvideo,we conformto these codesand conventionsbyusinga performance musicvideo
with a disjuncture narrative. This is a style that has proven popular among the pop target audience
and therefor to appeal to their interests we have conformed. Music video narrative can also have a
narrative fuzz, this is where the video is telling a story but it is unclear and unfinished, this is very
common and is used as a marketing technique, if you feel like you don’t understand the video you
might watch it again or purchase the album in the hope that the other tracks will make it clearer. I
believe out music video also conforms to this convention especially as it is disjuncture, all the way
throughourvideoyougetclipsof whatthe artistslife mightbe howeverthe songtitle‘Ain’tgotfarto
go’ possess many questions to the audience and by purposely not answering what it means in the
music video the audience are more likely going to buy the album.
A conventionof popmusicvideosIfoundwhilstcarryingoutresearchwasthattheyoftenincludelots
of colour and are set in bright places, where the mise-en-scene is interesting,well-lit and colourful.
This convention plays a major role in defining genres and therefore it was important to ensure that
our music video met it as it is the style the target audience like. When planning our media product,
we made sure to choose locationsthatwere interestingandthatwouldbe well lit.Fromthiswe used
locations such as the graffiti wall in the tunnels in the Bear Pit these are brightly coloured and
interesting,there alsorepresentthe moodand youthculture as well asconformingto the stylesand
conventions. Another location we used was the top floor of Cabot circus car park, this is a well-lit
locationthatlooksoutoverBristolwhichcreateslevelsmakingthe shotmore appealing.Severalshots
also included the mise-en-scene of the Cabot circus shopping area this is well lit, busy and brightly
coloured representing the artist as an energetic busy person as well as conforming to pop genre

2. conventions.The weatheralsoconformed tothe conventionsaswe decidedtoshot on bright sunny
daystorepresentthe artist’smoodashappy,adifferentmoodwouldhave beencreatedifwe decided
to shotof overcast, rainydays.The coloursusedinpopgenre musicvideoare commonlyvibrantand
bold making them stand out to represent the artist’s personality, to conform to this convention we
adjustedthe colourbalanceandbrightnesstomake thecolourspop-outandlookmore vibranttogive
a more aesthetically pleasing look.
Pop musicvideos are seentobe trendyand fashionableandtherefore the mise-en-scene andoutfits
the artistsare wearingneedto be fashionable toup to date, thisis a common characteristicfor pop
musicvideos;the artist will be dressedincurrenttrends so that the audience aspire to be like them.
For our musicvideo,itwas importantthat we conformedtothis conventionaswe want to appeal to
ouryoungtargetaudience,todothisweneededtoappearlikeone ofthemandwearwhattheywould
see asfashionable.Todo thisweresearchedcurrenttrendsandusedoutfitsfromourownwardrobes,
thiswaywe were certainwhatourartistwas wearingissomethingthatthe targetaudience wouldto.
We dressedourartistinbrightcolourful fashionableclothingthatwasoutthere butwasaesthetically
pleasing and looked good, by doing this we conformed to the convention of wearing fashionable
clothing and using bright colours.
The pace of the musicvideodependsonthe pace of the song;popsongsare oftenquickwithasteady
beatand the visualsfollow thatpace tomake the musicvideolookaestheticallypleasingandintime.
Oursongfollowsthe conventionsof apopsongbeingquick,energeticandlight-hearted.Torepresent
that inour visualswe have useddancingthatisin time withthe music;havingdancingina popmusic
video is also a common convention that we have conformed to. There are several parts in the song
where the pace slowsdowntogive ajoyous,lightheartedfeelingtorepresentthiswe haveusedslow
motionso that the visualscontinue tomove at the pace of the song. However,aconventionthatwe
have subverted is that there are no well pronounced parts of the song that cut to the beat, this is a
common characteristic in the pop genre although we felt that it didn’t fit with our style.
Music videoconventionsthatwere outlinedinAndrew Goodwin’stheorywere studiedveryearlyon
inthisprocess.The theorywas extremelyuseful tome whenitcame to analysingpopmusicvideos,
inensuringmymusicvideowouldconformtothe codesandconventionsof areal mediaproduct.
AndrewGoodwinoutlined6musicvideoconventions.
Musicvideogenresallhave differentconventionsthattheycanfollowanddependingwhichonesthey
chose will depends on the genre of the music video. I have alreadyidentified some clear pop genre
conventions that we have followed through the planning and construction of our music video. We
have followed pop genre conventions by using bright colours and urban scenery in our shots, the
clothing is also fashionable which will appeal to the target audience. The artist is seento be around
friendsorinbusyenvironmentstorepresentthe busylifestyleandherpersonality.We are alsousing
performance and a narrative style to fit in the genre. As well as using dancing scenes which is very
common in pop songs.
Andrew Goodwin identified a convention in music videos is that there links between the song and
visuals, thiscanbe donethroughperformance orconceptualmusicvideos.It referstothepace,cutting
on the beat and moving in time with the song. Our music video conforms to this convention as the
pace of the cuts andmovementonscreenisintime withthe music.Popgenresoftenhave shortclips
withlotsof cutstorepresentthehighenergyinthe songandthepace of the music,Ibelieveourmusic
videohasdone this bykeepingthe shotlengthshortand usinga varietyof cuts. We alsoincorporate
dancingin our musicvideoasit isconformingto anotherpopconvention.The dancingdemonstrates

3. a clear link between the song and visuals as the artist and her friend are dancing in time with the
music.
Goodwin also identifies the convention that there are links between the lyrics and visuals. This
conventioncan be seenmost noticeablyinillustrative andamplificationwhere the narrative follows
the lyrics. Although out music video is neither of those it still conforms to the conventionin several
ways. The performance element of our music video means that the artist is lip-syncing the song and
therefore the lyricsandvisualshavearelationshiponscreenaswellasthiswehave addedsome minor
dance moves that reflect the lyrics of the song so that the video isn’t completely disjointed. These
include movementssuchaspointingtoherfeetwhenthe lyricisfeetorwideningherarmswhenthe
lyrics is all or whole.
The record label often has several conventions that the music video must meet so that they can
benefit.One conventionthatwehaveconformedtofromtherecordlabel isthe needforclose.Record
labels want to see serval close-ups throughout the music video so that the audience know who the
artist is and can recognise her on any other media products;this is a technique used to boost sales.
Close-ups also help the record label to create a start image. This is a theory that Richard Dyer
identified, institutions will repeatedly use artists and brand identity for their own financial gain. By
conformingtousingclose-upsandcreatingabrandidentitythatcanbe usedacrossall media products
you are creating a star image.
Media institutions are known for objectifying women. Goodwin explains that music videos have
frequentreferencestothe notionof lookingandvoyeuristictreatmentof women.Manymusicvideos
in the popgenre objectifywomenandtheyare oftenseeninsmall amountsof clothing.There isalso
frequentnotiontolookingthisisshownin several popmusicvideosthroughlookingata tv, through
a window, on a phone or through a mirror. Our music video has conformed to the notion of looking
as the audience lookat the artistthrough a mirrorwhenshe is doingher makeuphowever,we used
thisto representthe artistspointof view ratherthan objectifyingwomen.LauraMulveystalksabout
thisin the ‘Male Gaze’ she arguesthat womenare seenin one of two waysa sexywhore or innocent
virgin.thisoccurswhenthe audienceisputintothe perspectiveof aheterosexualmanbydrawingthe
audience attentiontoapartof a women’sbody.However,the male gaze onlyworkswhendeliberate
conventions are used to highlight it such as slow motion, dimmed lightening or camera movement.
She arguesthatthe womenhavenoreal importantandonlyexiststogivethe malehisstatus.Anartist
that is knownfor subvertingthisconventionisMeganTrainor,she focusesheavilyonsubvertingthis
theoryand empoweringwomenwithoutthe presence of a man, unlikelyotherpopsongs she wears
fashionable clothing that isn’t revealing. She was our inspiration when we decided we wanted to
subvert the voyeuristic treatment of women and the male gaze, to do this we dressed the artist in
fashionable clothing that didn’t allow the artist to be sexualised.The absence of a male character
represents the artist as independent.
The last convention that Goodwin identifiedwas the music videos sometimes include intertextual
references.Thisisoftenaconventionthatishardtofindwhenanalysingmusicvideosbecause itcould
be verysmall.Neverthe lesswe wantedtoconformtothisconventionandhonourawell-knownfilm
that we all enjoyedwhichisGrease.Todothiswe includeddancinginfrontof a car and doingsimilar
dance moves to the ones you see in Grease, this fits with the genre of including dancing while also
satisfying any fans of the film.
Whencreatingmy digipak,there wasseveral conventionsthatI had to abide byso that it lookedlike
a real media product. The first was to include an image of the artist on the front cover so that the
audience can recognise her easily and want to buy the album after watching the video. On almost

4. every pop genre album I researched they included a picture of the artist on the front, the only
expectations were artist that were extremely well known and in the chart, every week such as Ed
Sheeran,theycan subvertthistheoryas the audience don’tneedtosee theirface to know whothey
are, they will buy the product anyway. The next convention was to always include the name of the
albumon the frontcover, thisis one of the mostimportantas it informsthe audience whattheyare
purchasing, I thought this convention was extremely important and felt the needto conform, to do
this I positioned it in the centre of the cover. The next convention is to include the artist name
however,asIhave includedaclose-upof the artistonthe frontcoverthe audience will alreadyknow
who it is because of this I have chosento subvertthis conventionandinclude the artist’slogoin the
top left hand corner. It’s also conventional to have a consistent theme that runs throughout the
digipakthatalsorepresentthe musicvideo.TodothisI suedthe same fontsand same colourpalette
to link them altogether. I wanted to create a connection between the work and the artist to make
themmore memorable andidentifiable.Otherobviousconventionswere followedsuchas the track
list, record labels logo, barcode, small print.
Justlike adigipakthere are several conventionsyoumustfollow whencreatingamagazine advertfor
a popgenre.Inmostadvertsthe artistappearsonthe frontcoverandis the mostnoticeableimage of
notthe onlyone,theyare oftenlookingatthe cameratocatch the audience’sattention.Althoughmy
advertconformsto the conventionsof includingthe artistonthe advertshe islookingawayfromthe
camera movingthe audience’sattentiontothe informationalongthe right-handside.Thistechnique
iscommonlyused,usingtheartistseyeline todraw the audience’sattentiontosomethingelse.Again,
obviouslythe mostconventional aspectswerefollowedsuchasthe image,name of the artistandthe
title of the album.AlthoughwhencarryingoutmyresearchIdiscoveredsome otherconventionsthat
wouldmake the advertmore interestingandpleasingthese includedthe releasedate,reviewsanda
picture of the digipak, all of which are used as a marketing tool to help boost sales. To follow the
conventionsof continuitybetweenallmediaproductsIhave usedthe same colourscheme,fontsand
locations.
All the conventionsare usedtorepresentthe popgenre andtoappeal tothe targetaudiencessothat
the productwill be successful. Ourtargetaudience isgirlsages16-24,thisis a commontargetmarket
for pop genres.Ourmusic videowill appeal tothistargetaudience usingan artistthat appearsto be
a similarage to them,this is because theywill feel like theycanrelate to her and her experiencesas
well asthe music videogivingthe effectthatherfansare her friends.The use of fashionable clothing
that ispopularamong thisage will alsohelptoappeal astheywill aspire tobe like herand follow the
current trends this is a form of personal identity outlinesin Blumler and Katz uses and gratifications
theory. The locations that are being used are ones that would be frequentlyvisitedby the target
audience suchas a shoppingcentre where theymightgoshopping.Frommy research, Ihave already
found out that this target audience like bright colours and colourful interesting mise-en-scenes
because of thiswe usedmise-en-scenessuchasthe graffitiwallwhichwill alsorepresentyouthculture
whichwill appeal directlytothem. Finally,the themesof friendship,youthculture andhappinessand
bound to appeal to anyone and make anyone feel happy.