2. 1 In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms
and conventions of real media products?
• My music video uses develops and challenges forms and conventions of real media products
through editing, camerawork, lighting, narrative, costume, setting, actors and
representation. I have produced a word document with screenshots which identify how I
have done this on my blog on the links above this presentation.
• Before producing all my media products I studied the conventions of the real media
products which I was producing. My analysis of various videos are all on the blog and some
key videos I have embedded in my blog. These I used as inspiration for designing my
products.
This comment on my website
4. My websiteI analysed existing websites as you can see on
Flickr and incorporated what I learnt into my own
ideas which I developed. This is the specific
section for this analysis -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55051783@N03/sets/72157626176078902/
“I love that bright pink it is
really girly! It fits in with
her songs which are all
quite girly about love and
being happy”
The font for “Katy Perry” needed to reflect her as an artist and so her songs and themes etc so you can
instantly associate and connect with her. I specifically wanted a colourful font which reflected the colour
and happiness of her attitude and so the bright pink does this whilst also reflecting the theme of love
along with the hearts and so happiness. I was very influenced by Pixie Lott’s neon pink however I
wanted a font that appeared more like handwriting and a kind of script font which seems a bit more
special and magical which is the idea of a song about you being a “firework”. It think bickham script pro
it captures this effect from being more magical looking from the script style handwriting which flows
together and is elongated in parts fitting in with the fluidity of a firework. Taylor swift’s album has this
kind of enchanted style font shown above
Social networking sites are increasingly part of today’s world and were featured on every artists site for
e.g. Leona Lewis’ website so I decided to reflect them on mine with links to the various social networking
sites
5. I tried to entice people to visit the site through
competitions etc as you can see Rihanna also
does this.
I gave fans information about news on her and
events etc which is very conventional. Every
website I studied done this.
I realistically reflected synergy through products
such as the Iphone and Mac makeup as
advertising was increasingly part of web pages as
other sites so e.g. Rihanna and Nivea
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb4KiVSlxpk
6. It was conventional to have the artists
album feature on the website because
this is the aim of the artists – to sell their
music and so featuring the album cover
and a link to buy it helps inform people of
the album and increase sales
I reflected fireworks and colour on my website as well as hearts
because these are the themes and messages of the song that
people are interested in – love and colour stands for the
brightness/happiness of life. E.g. Florence has buttons and flowers
etc providing a focus on her nature themes
All websites repeated links found at the top of the webpage so people
can easily access them quickly. It reinforces the links and gives
some further information about copyright and the music company the
artist is with thus I done the same on mine
8. Album cover
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55051783@N03/sets/72157626215037080/
Pink – is bright and girly, it fits in with
Katy Perry and her quirky attitude. Her
songs are about love and happiness and
so the brightness of the pink reflects this.
The title of the song is normally in
a different colour to the artists
name so it stands out rather than
has them blend together. The
purple is bright and is often used
in comparison with pink because
they are similar and so it creates
continuity of a colour scheme
Emphasise that this is a new
album without being too overt
Many album covers have this so
people instantly recognise that
this is the new album and the
album title etc is reinforced
clearly when people go into
shops etc to buy or online
The hearts and the kisses
reinforce the themes of
the song which are
focused on love and
happiness
Hearts – symbols of love
Kisses – being associated
with affection and so are
positive and supporting
which is what Fireworks is
about. Katy Perry gives a
clear message of support
to people, to love who you
are and shows affection
for people
9. This is a conventional mid shot. You feel connected
with the artist in this shot because you can see them
clearly and so can relate to them. They are close
enough for you to feel connected with them and are on
a level that you can relate to. If you were speaking to
someone you would probably be this close to them and
would see them from a close up or mid shot
It also allows the brightness of
the font to stand out because
black juxtaposed with the
brightness emphasises the bright
colours because black is so dark
The album cover is plain and I deliberately done this because it
allows you to just focus on the artist so I used the lasso tool etc
on Photo shop to cut the artist out from pictures we took whilst
filming the music video. Removing the background ensures our
focus is on her and this is conventional as many album covers
have a plain background with a cut-out photo of the artist.
Katy Perry is portrayed through
soft lighting which I edited on
photo shop so this emphasises
her energy and warmth against
the black background
10. http://www.flickr.com/photos/55051783@N03/sets/72157626176078902/
A serif style font is often
used because it is
considered professional
The curves and flicks also have a perky, energetic style
which characterises Katy Perry’s attitude in the song and
this is conventional because you can see connections
between the font helps define an artist and so should be
one that can be associated with them
11. r
r
When you open the album cover you will see
this – on one panel will be the actual album disc
– and it will be placed on the right side and on
the left you will see the beginning of the
photographs from the video as you read form
left to right so this is conventional
Both panels work together as a pair when you open them
Key messages and words
from the song
Photos from the narrative of the music video
“Katy Perry”
Themes of the song hearts and
kisses etcSame font design
12. My inside cover panels are conventional because they reflect a continuation of my themes from the
music track when you open the album. For example Rihanna has pictures and flowers etc which come
from her video. I have reflected the “Fireworks” album theme through the photos of Katy Perry in
clothing from the video, and facial expressions etc which indicate her being content and happy with
herself which is our main focus of the video; to persuade people to be confident and happy with
themselves. I have also used key words form the track which reinforce messages
.
Both of my panels work together as a pair to
reinforce the narrative and are of the same
designs and colour schemes. I have done this
because the album cover will open up with both
of them and so you can get a larger picture and
a fluid effect. Real album covers often do this
for the same reason
I developed conventions by having lots of shots in the style
of photographs and feel that I was right to do this because
our music video has a focus on narrative, and these
pictures reinforce that narrative, so you can remember the
themes and the messages of the song. I also believe that
having a variety of shots can create interest, and as my
front cover was quite conventionally simple in design with
a mid shot I felt this would create interest and make the
album more diverse. I did get an idea from the album
inside of another album which I have annotated on my
Flicker account in research and planning
13. The challenging of conventions
Katy Perry’s appearance challenges conventions. Normally it is quite stereotypical for a person
who looks very glamorous etc to succeed in music videos etc. You often get these artists styled
to perfection so people want to be like them – they become like unrealistic idols almost. E.g. if
you watch pop videos it is quite often very glamorously dressed up people etc, going out partying
etc. However we styled Katy Perry in ordinary and everyday outdoor clothing, with some makeup
on. She looks very natural and realistic. This fits in with the song – ignite the light – that there is
a spark in you – something special which every one of us has inside us no matter where you
come from, how you look etc. You are special as a human being.
Some artists do have a focus on normality in pop videos however I would say it is often more
conventional to have it not so. Adele for example is a pop artist who tackles real life serious
issues of love, self confidence etc and she always looks very normal and so you can relate to
her. I think it makes the situation a far more realistic portrayal of real life people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBmwdlBFs1s (Adele – her representation in Chasing
Pavements)
The photograph idea – my story was driven by narrative and that was essential to our
understanding and so I used this on my inside album cover to reinforce the narrative of the music
video. This is not particularly conventional but I would say it develops conventions as it reinforce
the central narrative of my video in a different way and the music industry is about trying to do
different things etc e.g. Lady Gaga’s songs are very unique.
Fickr account link http://www.flickr.com/photos/55051783@N03/
14. 2How effective is the combination of your main product
(music video) and ancillary texts (the website & digipak)?
I tried to reinforce themes through colour imagery, visual imagery e.g. fireworks and hearts
which link in to themes, facial expressions and stances, representation of the artist – the same
Clothing and hairstyle etc to reinforce key messages, lighting, narrative, the setting etc.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55051783@N03/sets/72157626215032956/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs4xyFX7cAk
My response
15. I think overall the combination has been effective judging from my
comments :
16. However some people would have liked to have seen the
combination stressed more and perhaps this is fair though I feel it
has been stressed a lot. I do think it would have been good to
have had perhaps some idea of fireworks in the music video as it is
on my other designs rather than just the figurative idea Katy Perry
embodies, so I am happy to take into account people’s comments
Similar ideas of brightness
and darkness
17. 3What have you learned from your audience feedback?
• My target audience understand how I have reflected synergy across all three of the media
products I have produced and can clearly recognise the key messages which I was trying to
get across through symbols such as hearts meaning love and affection, the colours used on
the fireworks designs, the fonts I have chosen etc. Thus I have learnt that I have followed
conventions well and have a good understanding of them.
• I have recognised the importance of social networking in getting audience feedback. For
example through on Facebook I have posted links to videos on you tube and have uploaded
pictures etc. People can quickly go on there using mobile phones etc and so have been able
to easily access all the links to the various different types of media. This enabled me to get
audience feedback very quickly.
18. • I have, however, learnt even more just how important that idea of synergy and continuity is in media.
My audience like the idea and would have liked to have seen it used even more. As you can see from
the comment below the boom, boom, boom font on my music video some people would have liked in
similar fonts I have used on my album covers of fireworks etc .
•Different audiences also respond differently to certain designs. For example people understood why
we filmed Katy Perry in the daytime and had the daytime light in the music video however some people
though they liked it, felt it would have been better without. Some people would have liked it to have all
been filmed in the night and chosen another way to reflect Katy Perry’s brightness and confidence.
Perhaps I would do this differently next time. Though obviously music videos are about trying new things
and no music video will ever get the same response from everyone, because people react differently,
and some people loved the contrast of the day and the night. When working as a group you have to
take into account other peoples opinions as well as your own and my other members of my group
particularly liked this idea. It is a convention that is sometimes used in music videos as has been
previously used in one of Katy Perry’s on my blog for another video.
19. 4 How did you use media technologies in the construction and research,
planning and evaluation stages?
• During my coursework I used a range of media technologies including Photoshop,
Dreamweaver, Final Cut Pro, Illustrator and the DV camera’s. I also used various social
networking sites such as Facebook as well as one major media technology of the internet
which helped me across all stages of production. The internet enabled me to do research
and planning of forms and conventions, access tutorials on how to use Photoshop etc during
my construction change as well as gain feedback through Facebook etc and post videos on to
sites like you tube during my evaluation.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55051783@N03/sets/72157626120666411/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B7rN7d7Ysg
Technologies used during research and planning
and evaluation stages
20.
21. Technologies!
• During the construction stage I used a digital video recorder and DV editing programmes
such as final cut pro
• It specifically helped me develop my main product of the music video through being able to
have a clear image and so it allowed everything to be fluid and dynamic. You can look at
where the light source is in relation to the camera etc
Hardware which we
stored video footage on
The timeline and
canvas on final cut
pro
Sound track and
video footage
Screen for
larger viewing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SikCNtJh-ls
Technologies used during construction stage