In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
From our music video our group managed to develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media products within our own production. Our music promo is based on a narrative and performance based video. This shows scenes of the story of a couple in a park and the band playing in a studio. Narrative and performance based videos are commonly the most used type of promo with present day artists. By choosing to do this style we were able to use more camera shots/angles and fully cover mise-en-scene. This was particularly within props and lighting as we used a studio with bright lights that helped create the effect of us playing live. The props we used were musical instruments that were needed if we were going to look like we were playing the drums, guitar and singing into microphone. I think that by us mixing both performance and narrative promo's we were able to challenge the typical conventions by creating a more unique style of music video.
In our music video we used various camera shots/angles, which would be seen in real promos, this helped support the conventions of real media productions. To achieve this we analysed different music videos from narrative types and performance types. In the performance based videos we analysed, it was apparent that many close up shots were used to see the facial expressions of each character. This created a more quality feel to the video and showed the importance of the band members, especially the main singer. In order to perform the close-up shots we had to perfect the lip sync for it to look professional. We also performed close-ups of the instruments as we were performing.
The band members within our group took on a similar style to that of Coldplay. The pop rock genre is usually male groups, which meant our group or band members suit the conventions of real promos. This is not the case throughout all genres as women play a large roles in other genres such as pop where groups like Little Mix, Fifth Harmony or singular artists such as Britney Spears or Beyoncé are all high up in the music industry. The gender chosen for our promo is the most conventional choice. This is because it also appeals more to our audience, as they are familiar to the conventions of an all male band.
In our music video we partially took on the conventions of everyday music promos. This is because we used 2 different locations, which included a park and our drama studio. The outside scenes included shots of a canal, bridge and a woods. Due to the different locations throughout the video I feel as though we slightly challenged typical conventions of many music promo's. We used the drama studio for performance scenes as this allowed us to set up instruments and chose our desired lighting. The performance part of our music video stayed within normal conventions as we followed a similar format. Some of the shots such as the close up were inspired by this particular music promo.
For props the audience would see that we followed all the normal key conventions, which would be expected within a narrative/performance, based video. In fact the most common and conventional props used are the instruments that are seen within the shots of the drama studio. At first the normal conventions of our shots looked unprofessional, as none of us knew how to play an instrument. This made the shots of the performance look cheap and tacky. Were-filmed the bad shots within the sequence, this helped us follow key conventions. By using props it helped us identify the roles of every band member that is key to typical conventional roles. By doing this it helps reduce errors and develop key conventions.
Editing is key to making a video run smoothly and to be able to appeal to our audience. In real music promo's you will notice that the video cuts to the music. This is apparent in most music promo's, just a few promo's are edited out of beat to the music. For our video we chose to follow normal conventions and cut the song to the beat of the music. This would be a safer, easier option. This would also look a lot more appealing to our audience. As you will see in our song it only cuts to the beat at certain points. The rest of the song is edited to merge slowly which will fit the pace of the song. In my opinion this will keep our audience more engaged than a promo that is cut out of time with the music.
Music artists have had an increase in dressing up more and more casual. The pop rock artists such as Coldplay are beginning to dress in casual clothes as well as have there own themed clothes which they wear in promo's like their latest video 'Hymn For The Weekend'. Unfortunately we could not grab hold of Coldplay themed outfits but instead used casual clothes and shirts, which fit well with the theme and are being more commonly used within the promo industry. Choosing to dress in casual outfits as well as shirts helped us appeal to our audience of young and middle aged men/women.
Within our promo we have correlated Andrew Goodwins theory to help follow and develop forms and conventions. Our type of music video would come under amplification due to our performance/narrative-based style. Within our video we have stylised the genre to fit the song. This is visual in the iconography of the promo. The bright colours match the outdoor and studio shot scenes. This also suits the genre of pop rock. The use of black and white symbolizes a sad time period. This also provides the appearance of past tense. We ensured that emphasis would be on the main singer of the band. This would make it clear to our audience who the song is focused on. Another Goodwin theory we followed was editing cut to the beat which I apparent at the beginning of the song. However we did use slow merging cuts as this fit the pace of the music and helped with continuity editing.
For my digipak to be successful I had to ensure the use of key form and conventions. The 1st key convention I followed was including the track list on the back cover of the digipak. I used this as it is very common amongst digipaks and would hard to challenge as my audience would be unable to see what songs are included in the album. I included images of the band members including 3 of the main singer. This permits our audience to adhere the band but more so with the main member of the band. The band name and album title is situated on the front cover. This notifies the audience of the band and the name of their new album. The last convention which is key to follow was a bar code and QR code which gives the audience a way to interact with the band and there new releases direct from their website.
To help sell my album I have created a band poster. This has followed most of the key conventions that should be used to sell an album. I have included band name and album name, as this is essential for our audience to know. I have then included awards from NME of the albums success as well as page links to follow the bands movements. This shows our audience the album is worth buying and also keeps in touch with the audience to keep them following. I will include a QR code to allow the audience to access more pages with information of the band. This gives the audience a fun way to communicate with the band and there new releases.
I am confident in the fact that we have followed the majority of forms and conventions within our promo. This follows almost every Goodwin convention, as we didn’t really challenge any major forms, as this would make the video non-appealing to a larger audience.
