A2 Media Studies Evaluation Question 1

1. +
A2 Media Studies
Evaluation
Developing & Challenging Forms & Conventions

2. +
Introduction
 For this project I had to create three different forms and
conventions of Music Promotion:
 Music Video
 Digipak
 Magazine Advertisement
 When creating the three products I had to ensure that they all
linked and related to one another in some way to create
synergy between all of them. The way I did this was ensuring I
kept a continuous meaning and message between them
coinciding with a recurring house style between them all.

3. +
Music Video – Main Task

4. +
Theorists
 When looking into what to include in the video and how to produce it, I looked into several
different music video theorists and their ideas on music videos before deciding to conform or
subvert these ideas in my final products.
 The first theorist I looked into was Sven E Carlsson and his ideas that a music video is either
PERFORMANCE orientated or CONCEPTUAL in the idea of a narrative for a storyline, they can
feature both but only feature these two ideas. I liked his theory and ideas and when initially
thinking about how I wanted to create my product I wanted it to be conceptual only, but as
production went on and more blanks appeared in my video, I decided that it would be best to start
adding some more performance clips into the video, whilst still trying to stick to the authenticity I
desired in my products. In doing this I ended up conforming to both of his ideas for music videos
rather than subverting one, and I am happy that I did as it helped very much with the production
of the video.
 Andrew Goodwin had several different theorists on music videos, many of which I subverted due
to complexity which would clash with the rawness that I wanted to have in my video. However, his
theories are very interesting, including ideas of Voyeurism making male and female characters
more seductive to draw an audience in; relating music videos to existing media products in
Intertextuality and making music videos have some meaning to the lyrics (illustrative) or have no
meaning at all (disjuncture). The final one I went with I did conform to, making my narrative
illustrative.
 Michael Shore was the last theorist I looked at, he had a theory suggesting music videos were
aimed at adolescent males and had recurring themes of female nudity, money and fast cars.
Adolescent males were not my target audience, so all of these theories he suggested music
videos could have I completely subverted by clothing my females and having no focus on money
or car themes.

5. +
Conventions
 As well as looking at theorists about music videos I also had to look at typical conventions in
music videos and ensured I used them and their ideas in the production of my pieces. First thing I
had to make sure I included was a variety of different shots of the same scenes to get close ups
or wide shots of the same action in addition to different angle shots; I also included movement by
manually moving the camera in my hand in a few of my scenes, some scenes more than others.
 When it came to looking at editing the music video I tried to have a play around with pace,
slowing it down at the beginning, making it even slower during the middle and then having a huge
emphasis on the fast paced action during the last minute. I got a couple of cuts in my video to the
beat of the music but I did not pay too much attention to those details as perfectionism was not
essential for the video I wanted to create.
 I had a huge focus on mise-en-scené as a convention, making everything have an overall theme
of ‘1950’s Summer Vacation’ by wanting all outdoor scenes looking very idyllic and all indoor
scenes shot in high key lighting to still connote to the outdoors. The costume that I focused on
was denim jackets, flannel shirts and aviator sunglasses to go with both the 1950’s theme and
indie rock common trends. I used a visual effects filter on my footage, mainly a warm orange tint
to emphasise the summer feeling, but also in some cuts I used a deep blue for flashback scenes
and a grey scale to show inner emotions for the character.
 I think that the music video I have created is similar in approach to other music videos in the
Alternative genre, with a huge focus on being different to other videos and manipulating stories to
make them your own (with my storyline being an independent twist on a mainstream story). The
video developed on several theories and conventions but also subverted some theories with
obvious intention.

6. +
Digipak & Magazine Advert
– Ancillary Tasks

7. +
Digipak
I also had conventions that I had to conform to in the creation of my digipak.
I started with looking at the Album Name and Artist Name, which I put in the
same font on the front cover, in fact, this recurring typography followed on
the back page for the track list in addition to partially being on the inner
page, but a different font was used for the lyrics which was easier to read.
The colour scheme on this product is the same as that on my music video,
which is a warm orange filter being placed on top of the images to connote
with the idea of summer and warmth and a sense of adventure. The images
that I use in the digipak are all took in different angles and shot types and
still link with the mise-en-scene by having all all images outside in high-key
lighting connoting to summer again, in addition to the characters in denim
jackets to link with the 1950’s theme. There are no props used in the images
and the main focus is on the costume rather than the characters. I would say
my digipak is again similar in style to other digipaks in the Alternative genre
as it conforms to all of the conventions in the ways I wanted it to.

8. +
Magazine Advert
Finally, I had to conform to conventions on my advert when finishing off my
products. I used the same font for the Album Name as I did on mu video and
digipak, but changed the font for the Artist Name this time. A reappearance
of the lyric font from my digipak came in for the release date and social
media information on the advert. The album availability was also featured but
I kept the logos in their original colours rather than overlaying them as I
thought it would make them more recognisable. The main image went with
the mise-en-scene warm themes and 1950’s themes but also had an idea of
separation in wealth with my one character being in more expensive clothing
from a 50’s inspired wardrobe. I also blurred the front image to make an
emphasis on this other image. Colour scheme is also recurred from the
digipak but the orange comes off with a slightly pinkish glow which I relate to
a sunset theme as though the journey of this project is almost over. In
comparison to other adverts in the Alternative genre this is slightly different
but Steve Neale’s theory suggests there has to be a difference in the
similarities so although my advert conforms to all the ideas and is similar in
that sense, the final product looks very different to other products out there.