2. Question 1 In what ways does your
music video USE, DEVELOP or
CHALLENGE forms and conventions of
REAL media products?
3. The first question in my evaluation asks me how I had used, developed and challenged forms and
conventions of real media products within my music video and two assisting task which consisted of a
promotional poster and a DVD cover. Initially during the planning stages of creating my music video I
had briefly decided that I wanted to create a music video based around the R&B genre, after deciding
this I thought it would be sensible of me to maybe look at some existing R&B music videos and
undertake a brief analysis of both successful yet effective video’s within the music industry to gain
a better understanding and insight into the set requirements that are expected from a stereotypical
music video of this specific genre.
In order to complete this vital research and analyses sufficiently I decided what it would be more
beneficial for me to research further on the internet and especially worldwide video sharing website
YouTube to view some existing music videos and build upon my current brief understanding and knowledge
of the typical styles and schemes of an R&B music video for example. After viewing several videos I
had come to realise that there were several trends and similarities amongst the all the videos I was
fortunate enough to gain access to.
However one of the most predominant trends than ran amongst all the videos was that most were
narrative based, this meant that the videos had both a basic storyline running throughout the video
whether that be in the form of an anecdote, memory, recollection etc that relates in some form or
another to the lyrics within the song, along with the artist singing directly towards the camera and
addressing the audience in certain sections of the song alongside the narrative whether the artist
features in the narrative or not.
As a result of this revelation I decided it would be logical if I to followed this convention in order
for my product to both appeal to my target audience as well as conform to the basic stereotypes of a
typical video belonging the R&B genre and fitting in within the current music industry.
Another factor that had added to creating a narrative based music video was the music video
questionnaire results I had received previously during the developing stages of planning my music
video, in which I had discovered that the large minority of participants “40%” preferred to view a
narrative based music video belonging to the R&B genre. After completing further research, I had
learnt that when a music video incorporated both a narrative and performance, it engaged the larger
target audience in the sense that the artist visually engages with the audience making consumers feel
more at ease when viewing the video, and connecting with the artist on a more personal level along
with connecting with the artist’s raw emotion and feelings when making visual contact towards the
camera along with sympathising with the individuals within the narrative. After learning this I found
that this would be beneficial and an effective convention for me to instil within my video in the
sense that it will bode well with my chosen song which was also based around raw emotion and therefore
would work idealistically.
4. Furthermore, I had also used basic forms of what is called “notion of looking”, this effective
technique within the R&B genre is typically used to demonstrate a form of mild sex appeal towards the
larger target audience, most commonly the male minority of audiences. Nevertheless I had decided to
challenge this convention and decided that I did not want to conform to this semiology and decided to
use this technique however through a different approach. Instead of using it for mild sexual
preference I used this technique to portray the empathetic emotions of my artist who was also part of
the narrative and conveys these emotions through facial features and most importantly her eyes which
are thought as “windows to the soul”, through the use of close ups and a variety of panning shots to
establish the bare feelings woven amongst the lyrics of the song to create this sort of empathetic
atmosphere amongst the audience whom view the video.
For example, throughout the video the artist tends not to make direct eye contact towards the camera
and instead sings looking in an alternate direction, this emphasises the fact that she has not
forgotten all the good times that she has shared with her partner and has instead cherished these
memories and recalls them during the progression of the video, this suggests that she may have already
reconciled with her partner and is reflecting on the trials and tribulations she was faced with when
first falling in love with her partner or now husband however this fact is not clearly established
within the video however as an audience it may become an assumption. This may be assumed due to the
fact that in certain scenes within the video the audience see a child which elaborates upon the fact
that she may have overcome these stereotypical obstacles faced by every couple which also adds upon
the fact that audiences are able to relate to the narrative on a personal level making the video all
the more appealing.
Audiences finally understand the full concept of the video as near the end we see a short footage of
both partners walking along a path which symbolises the fact that they have successfully overcome
these trials and are finally living “happily ever after” which creates this sense of hope and promise
amongst the audiences, in a sense promising and creating a mild form of anticipation amongst consumers
that some stories do have a happy ending and that not all relationships have to end on a bad note.
This in itself challenges the typical storyline of a R&B narrative where usually the couple within the
video have broken up and the girl has moved on and found a new companion however I have altered this
and made it slightly more realistic and home orientated in the sense that all relationships can be
worked on and improved as I had mentioned earlier, and do not necessarily have to end on a bad note
which brings about the moral of the narrative which shows that relationships come and go however the
precious ones are those that give you this “tingling” feeling should be worked on regardless of how
hard and difficult this journey may be as in the end it is all worth it as you have this solid
foundation that has been destroyed and then rebuilt into this invincible structure.
5. Within my video I have tried to instil the use of Mise-en-scene as best as possible, I have
tried to achieve this through several costume changes, all of which I would describe as
comfortable winter wear for example woolly cardigans and chino style trousers and jeans. I
wanted the artist to wear these particular clothes to portray this realistic approach to the
narrative as this style of clothing is typically classed as everyday clothing which adds to
the realism of the narrative, along with the fact that the storyline is based around love and
reflection which is usually a home orientated occurrence therefore I found that it would bode
well with the particular setting.
In addition the clothing is very demure and maybe slightly masculine which represents this
idea of her being slightly dominant and authoritarian within the relationship destroying all
ideology of the relationship being patriarchal and male dominated. By wearing masculine
clothing and avoiding any feminine costumes such as dresses and skirts it reinforces this
equilibrium between both partners creating an equal status and importance between both.
Moreover I had used several minor props within my video some of which included a rose and
lighted candles. The rose represents the existing love within the relationship and the
flourishing of the relationship which blossoms beautifully everyday and the candles
representing this ongoing burning love within the relationship emphasising the desire and
lust for her partner along with also representing the fact that she is still holding a candle
for her partner metaphorically elaborating on the fact that she still holds this everlasting
love and affection for her partner.
These basic features and aspects clearly demonstrate how significant Mise-en-scene is as it
allows the larger target audience to identify the basic concept that the artist provides for
them via the finished music video. All in all I have felt I have manipulated the use of Mise-
en-scene well within my music video. Another significant element of Mise-en-scene includes
lighting which is a crucial element within any form of video. Within my video most of the
footage is “desaturated” nevertheless is high key to represent the fact that she has overcome
the dark times in her relationship along with also representing the fact that she is
reflecting emphasising the purity and light within the relationship.
6. Furthermore the use of editing within my video mainly consists of large cross fades, there
were two main reasons in why I had used this particular edit one of the most signficant
being the fact that this edit is typically seen in the majority of effective R&B videos
within the music industry and the other reason being that I found this edit gave the video
a continuous flow and all the scenes interlinked effectively giving it an almost “dream
like” feel. I also incorporated a very amateurish “Sin City Effect” on the words “I Love
You” with the red colour growing as the pan moves representing the growing power of love
and affection of the artist’s feelings for her partner.
Another significant element that required closer analysis was shot lengths, from previous
research about music video’s I had come to learn that it was a basic convention to have a
scene no longer than a duration of a mere 3 seconds. After taking this into account I tried
to instil this in most of my scenes to ensure that the video maintained its full
functionality. During the developing stages I wanted to create an extended version of my
music video like many other exiting videos within the music industry, in order to create
this I decided that I would use a 20 second Diegetic sound extract of radio static sound
saved from YouTube to attach onto the end of my video which related to the lyrics which
continuously mentioned a radio. After much evaluation I had decided that it would be an
effective approach to use this extract right at the end instead of the beginning to create
this positive atmosphere amongst the audience.
7. Question 2 How effective is
the combination of your main
product and its ancillary texts?
8. The second question of my evaluation asks how effective the combination of my main product and
ancillary texts are, personally in my opinion I believe that the combination works very
effectively however, this may be a slightly biased opinion seeing as though I am the person behind
the creation of all three products. Nevertheless after viewing my audience feedback you will have
noticed that majority of the feedback I had received was very positive which was a bonus however
aside this basic factor it also justified my opinion about the combination of the products being
effective.
In addition it also symbolises the fact that all the effort and hard work I had injected into my
research, planning and developing ideas was worthwhile in the sense that after closely analysing
the work of existing R&B artists and their work I was able to identify common trends and
semiology’s amongst their work that would work as an advantage for me as I was fortunate enough to
actually instil and incorporate these effective features and techniques within all three of my
products. For example within my promotional poster I had used the colour red on the artists lips
which not only represent love, lust, desire and passion but also showed the connection between
both the DVD cover and the promotional poster as in both the artist’s bright red lips are the most
predominant, showing the link between both products along with the music video in which the artist
also wears red lipstick interlinking all three products.
In addition after researching existing DVD covers and promotional posters I looked at key features
within the products that distinguished them from similar products on the market however of another
genre for example a DVD cover for a film and how the features differ in comparison to a DVD cover
for a music CD, after identifying the features I tried my best to engulf as many as I could within
my products in order to create not only conventional products but create realistic looking
products that looked as professional as possible.
Moreover I tried not to challenge to many of the typical conventions as wanted all three of my
products to fit in with the current music industry and its market thus if I had chose to create
something different and unique I think it would have damaged the appeal of my products to its
larger target audience along with maybe being unsuccessful if it was to ever get published as an
established product.
9. Question 3 What have you
LEARNT from your audience
feedback?
10. The penultimate question of my evaluation asks about the things I have learnt after
viewing my audience feedback. After viewing my audience feedback you will have already
noticed that fortunately for me I had received a lot of positive feedback for both my
main task and ancillary tasks which consisted of a music video, DVD cover and a
promotional poster. This clearly emphasises upon the fact that I had completed the given
tasks successfully despite a couple of minor “CONSTRUCTIVE CRISICISMS” some of which
included problems with the camera quality which is understandable seeing as though I
could only use what I was provided with, in which I was grateful for.
However this could not be helped due to lack of advanced equipment being provided by the
school, nevertheless I had tried my best to make good use of the equipment and use my own
initiative to try and improve the “sticky situation” by attaching a light bulb to the
tripod, nonetheless this approach proved mildly successful as it was still noticeable
when completed.
However this received criticism was valuable as I had carefully taken each and every one
into account once identifying them and if I had the opportunity to complete the task once
more I would surely rectify these errors. Correspondingly, all in all I have come to
learn that when creating a product it is impossible to create the “IDEAL” product despite
having a clear idea of what appeals to the larger target audience, as it is incredibly
hard to please every individual’s palette due to the massive variations in taste. Despite
this downside I still found that the vast minority of audiences that I had asked did in
actual fact enjoy viewing my video thus I feel I have created a suitable product and all
the hard work has paid off.
11. Question 4 How did you use NEW media
technologies in the CONSTRUCTION,
RESEARCH, PLANNING and EVALUATION
stages?
12. The final question in my evaluation asks about how I had used new media technologies within my
construction, research, planning and evaluation stages of creating and producing all three of my
given products.
When starting the production steps of creating my music video, I was faced with several new pieces of
equipments and programmes I had absolutely no previous experience in using whatsoever which halted
the process all in all as it was very time consuming when learning the basics of functioning the
technologies. However despite this setback, luckily for me I had the world wide web to scour when
stuck, for guidance from YouTube tutorials to student forums all of which were of a massive help and
effective when overcoming these setbacks.
However, the most difficult piece of media equipment of all that I was privileged enough to use was
the Apple Mac laptop, which was the most vital of all when it came to actually creating my music
video and placing it together to create one final product. This was where I was offered the choice of
two professional programmes, “Final Cut Express” or “IMovie” however after undertaking research into
both programmes I had discovered that Final Cut Express was mainly used by professional individuals
within the media industry thus I felt that this product would not only provide me with the
applications to fund my creative ideas but also hopefully help me create a professional looking
product.
This would be the main focal point where I would actually create my video and edit the several
footages that would eventually come together to piece my music video. Due to absolute no past
experience in using the product I thought it would be best for me personally to view some YouTube
tutorials which I felt would be most beneficial for me before even attempting to start editing my
video, this approach proved successful as it provided me with a better insight and understanding in
how to function the programme not only successfully but efficiently. After briefly learning the
different operations that the programme offered me when it came editing, I was drawn to using four
main video filters and transitions, the “Soft Focus” video filter, the “Desaturate” video filter, the
“Soft Edges” video filter and finally the “Cross Dissolve” video transition.
I decided that I did not want to use too many “tricks” as I did not want the effects to deter the
true meaning and ideology I wanted to send to my audience as I felt it would overpower the meaning
and symbolism of the video along with also taking away the underlining “seriousness” and maturity I
wanted to incorporate within the video in a sense. Despite not wanted to overuse the different types
of provided effects, I had in actual fact used the four following effects in the majority of my clips
as I felt it created this sense of continuation and flow amongst the clips once placed together
showing the progression of the narrative and the artist singing. I felt this edit worked effectively
in portraying this underlining message along with luring the larger target audience and keeping the
audiences engaged throughout.
13. When filming the actual footage for my music video I was fortunate enough to have access to a Sony
Handycam DCR-SR68 through the school who were kind enough to provide us with the piece of
equipment. Initially I had great difficulty using the camcorder however after a couple hours of
experimenting I felt it was quite simple to use and very effective at that, despite the camera
quality not being the best. However this was a mere obstacle I would simply have to try and
overcome which I partially did. Moreover I also used the Nikon D3000 which was a fantastic camera
as the pictures I was able to take for my assisting tasks were just exemplary and of the highest
quality, when using this piece of equipment I felt at ease as I had previous experience using it
last year when completing my AS coursework.
In addition, when creating my assisting tasks I also had to use Adobe Photoshop and InDesign when
editing both products which I also had experience in when completing AS coursework as well as GCSE
coursework which was also effective in the sense it was less time consuming as I knew my way round
thus completing the product quicker. Nevertheless I had learnt a few new things such as how to
airbrush an image better and of a higher standard and quality maintaining the professionalism of
the product along with how to manipulate layers to create a distorted or overlapped image through
making an image opaque for example.
To conclude, I would personally experiment further with these programmes if I was faced with
recreating the products once more, not only to gain better knowledge and understanding but maybe
achieve the criticisms I had received in my audience feedback but also improve the professionalism
of the products even though in my eyes I felt I had done the best I could with the best of my
ability. I feel I have created and maintained my expectation of creating a professional product.
However this journey and experience I have been through I will cherish forever, not only has it
been beneficial and most importantly educational but it has also helped me value the importance and
power of modern media and how it can be accessed, used and manipulated to create such wonders with
age being just a number in the equation. The experience has been not only enjoyable but nourishing
and I would not change it as it is something to be treasured and valued. I have enjoyed it
thoroughly. Thank you for viewing my evaluation as well as my blog, I hope you have enjoyed it just
as equally as I have enjoyed creating it.
