Evaluation Question 1:

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 


CONVENTIONS

Laura Mulvey

Andrew Goodwin: Genre theory

CONVENTIONS USED IN MUSIC VIDEO

Camera:

Long shots:

We included long shots in our music video particularly in order to establish the locations. This was used particularly in the field scenes including shots of us walking etc. 
Close up shots:
Another convention we used was close up shots, this was done for many reasons, firstly to show the emotions of the characters particularly the first girl as we wanted to ensure it was clear she was unhappy in her relationship. For example an extreme close up we used was in the studio when we zoomed in on the gold tear drop as we felt this was a key element of our video and the narrative. 
Extreme close ups:
We also used extreme close ups when we were filming the lip syncing as we wanted the lips to be the focus. Finally we used close ups in an arty way for the second girls in order to show the gold around her face and body. 
Mid shots:
Mid shots were used occasionally throughout, particularly in the studio scenes as we wanted the props to be the main focus and mid shots meant all the confetti as able to be seen in the shot. 
Breaking the 4th wall:
Breaking the 4th wall was a feature that we used a lot throughout as we felt it was engaging and allowed the audience to feel more involved in the storyline and the lyrics. However this was only used in the first part of the song as the girl in the first part is the ‘singer’ therefore it would have made it confusing if the second girl broke the 4th wall in order to sing however she did make eye contact with the audience on multiple occasions.

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Editing:

Speed:

We ensured our editing went with the music by adapting the speed throughout. So for the parts of the songs that had a faster tempo we decided to increase the speed whereas for the slower paced parts we slowed down the shots. 
Reverse:
We added some reverse shots which isn't as conventional however the reason we did this was to make the video seem surreal and quite arty and creative and that is quite conventional of electro pop songs in particular. 
Lip syncing:
We included shots of lip syncing throughout the video, therefore editing these clips well was an essential part of the video. We had to carefully make sure all of the footage of the lip syncing lined up perfectly with the lyrics on the track, we wanted to include lip syncing throughout the video as we felt it helped the video link well and also lip syncing was in almost every real music video we watched on youtube which told us it was a vital part of a music video and we felt we should keep that convention. 

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Mis-en-scene:

Locations:

The first convention that we used from our research was using a location that fit the song, we used three main locations in the video and we carefully thought about each one and why we were using it so the locations made sense for the audience. The first location was in a bed and we chose this as it links to the romantic side of the song, although the song doesn't talk about a relationship in a positive way it makes references to being in a relationship for example “i missed you in the basement” and “but your brother was a good substitute for you”. We wanted a location that reflected this part of the song and showed the ‘sexy’ side of the song and the artist so we felt a plain white bed was perfect as it was simple, the bed was big therefore made the girls look more alone and vulnerable but the shots we used like the birds eye view shot and the fact that the two girls were in their underwear gave it the sexual elements that we were looking for. The second location we used was the field and the original reason we chose this location was because we wanted a golden wheat field which linked well with the theme of gold that ran throughout the video, however it didn't quite work out like this due to the filming being done in the wrong season. However we were happy with the slightly dead look of the grass in the location as we felt it reflected the relationship that had died. We were also happy that the shots of the first girl in the field came out slightly darker than the second girl as this showed a contrast between the emotions of the two girls. The last location we used was the studio, this included a plain background which we knew we wanted as it was a strong convention of music videos. The studio shots were also when we used a lot of our props as the plain background meant the audience could focus more on the performers and the props used. 
Lighting:
We researched into what kind of lighting is used in music videos and discovered that it really depended on the song itself. Therefore we felt it would explain the narrative well if we had lower key lighting for the first girl, which we particularly achieved in the field and higher key lighting for the second girl. For the bed scenes we used natural lighting for both the girls as we felt this worked best for the location, whereas in the studio we used lights to achieve a more polished look against the background. 
Outfits:
We wanted the outfits to be slightly more casual than they may have been in a more professional music video. We didn't feel it would work well if the girls were dressed in an extravagant outfit such as a gold dress because the narrative of the piece was kept quite natural throughout and we wanted the girls to look stylish as we felt the target audience would have an interest in fashion and would also be quite mainstream.

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Laura Mulvey Theory:

Our music video conformed to Laura Mulvey's gender theory that states that women in music videos are 'objects' and appear in a way that would be sexual for the audience. The first way we conformed to this theory was through the choice of camera angles, during the bed scenes we used high angles which allowed the audience to feel more involved in the scene itself, we also used close up shots in these scenes which at times made the girls look naked and therefore come across as quite a sexualised character. The choice of costumes also conform to this as in the bed scenes the girls were just in their underwear making them look naked at times, and in the rest of the video the outfits were quite short and tight. Therefore this could be appealing for a male audience which Laura Mulvey suggests is the only reason females appear in music videos and that the video is always aimed at heterosexual men.

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Conventions of genre I used:
The genre of our music video was electro-pop, therefore prior to filming the video we looked into the conventions of other videos from this genre. We decided to include the convention of bright lighting first of all. Our video as a whole product was lit quite nicely, there aren't any points in the video that look dull or that have shadows and thats because we either used bright natural lighting or a light box to achieve a bright look. The shots of the first girl were purposely not as bright as the second girl however these shots were still light enough to connect with the rest of the video. Fast pace editing was another convention we decided to include as electro pop songs are usually very up beat and therefore fast pace music meant the visuals and the audio related nicely. We did this by changing the speed of the clips in the editing process and also including a lot of short clips in a short amount of time keeping the pace very upbeat. The people that would listen to this genre of music are likely to be quite mainstream therefore we chose outfits that they may like or similar to how they dress so we kept it simple with dresses that are from mainstream shops. Another key convention is having a link between the video and the lyrics, whether this is a narrative or a concept. We had a link between our video and the lyrics by firstly having the argument scene which showed two of the characters that were previously in a relationship arguing and breaking up reflecting the lyrics as she's singing about once meaning something to someone which isn't there anymore. Another way we did this was by continuing the theme of gold throughout, this was our concept as the song was called gold and we felt this created a strong link. In most of the music videos from this genre there was some kind of filter, therefore we wanted a warm orangey filter and achieved this by putting a sainsbury's bag over the lighting box. We realised when we began to edit that we could have done this on Final Cut Express however the sainsburys bag worked well enough for us. Another common convention was a performance from the artist or some kind of dance routine, we didn't want to include this and kept it simple by only having the lip syncing as we wanted the gold to be the main element of the video and felt a dance routine wouldn't have linked well with the narrative and the rest of the video.

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Andrew Goodwin Genre Theory:
Features of our music video conform to Andrew Goodwin's genre theory as the locations, costumes and colours etc of our video help identify which genre the song is which conforms to what Andrew Goodwin states.
There is also a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals in our piece as the song is called gold and makes references to gold so we included many gold features, including makeup, confetti, stars, the warm locations and the filter used. Additionally, the narrative of the video is based on the storyline of the lyrics as its about an unhappy relationship that traps the values of the unhappy woman.
Additionally, there is a relationship between the music and the visuals within our video. When the song sped up we sped up the footage in the video and then when the song slowed down we slowed the footage down and reversed the footage when the lyrics were repeated or where we felt it went well with the music. We also linked the colours with the mood of the song as the beginning is representative of the girls mood being upset so the colours are more dull than the second part of the song whereby brighter lightings used and orange filters.
Brand image is created with the close ups of the two girls and the close ups of the lip syncing. At times the close up shots portray the girls in a sexual way and voyeurism is included in the video through birds eye view angles used in the bed scenes.

CONVENTIONS USED IN DIGIPAK

The front of my digipak was very conventional, i included the name of the artist and also the name of the album in bold letters at the top. I feel this is the most important feature on a digipak as without it it isn't clear who's music it is or what the product is called. The image i chose expressed the theme of the album, which was gold, by the gold highlight on the models face being very intense and eye catching. The front also hinted at the kind of songs that are on the album as i feel the girl looks quite indie and sassy which is the kind of artist that Kiiara is. Similarly the back of the album featured conventional elements such as the names of the tracks, copyright details and the barcode. The image again included elements of gold that is the main theme of the album. In the inside i wanted to include some information about the artist's social media links as i felt this related well with the target audience of the video, young people. This is also quite conventional of this genre as it keeps it all very simple and ensures the audience focuses on the artist and the music. I decided not to include any lyrics in the inside or too much text about the artist or the record company as i feel like the target audience would be more likely to follow the artist on social media to find out more about her rather than reading inside the album cover. One way my digipak was unconventional was by not having images of the artist herself. In our video the first girl that is shown is 'Kiiara' as she's the one that does the lip-syncing throughout the video. However the digipak only includes images of the second girl in the video. The main reason i did this was because the second girl is the 'brand identity' of the artist as in the video she's the one with all the values (represented with the gold) and she would be the performer in all the other music videos that Kiiara would produce.
For the advert i wanted to keep it quite simple so it was easy to see what was being advertised and so that all the information was clear. I included the important conventions including the name of the artist and the album, i included an image of the front cover of the album so if the audience were to go and purchase it they would know exactly what it looked like. I also included a release date and the logos of the platforms where the album was available to buy or listen to. I only included the logo and not the link as i feel the target audience would be keen users of these platforms and therefore would easily be able to recognise them and use them. I included a review from Clash Magazine as this was a common feature of an advert in order to persuade the audience and sell the item. It also makes the music more appealing and trustworthy if a company that famously know what they're talking about would recommend it. The image chose reflects the theme of the album by including a bold gold element of the balloons and also by having the picture with a warm filter.