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

I believe with this question it has many different ways to answer it, so I am going to split the question into three.
In what ways does your media product use, forms and conventions of real media products?
Lip Syncing
When researching different music videos and specifically looking closely at Ellie Golding's videos , I noticed that it is extremely conventional that artists use lip syncing in their video. I believe Lip Syncing is an advantage to a music video, it makes the video seem more natural and real, and that the narrative of the song is actually coming from that artist. When researching other music videos I did find Ed Sheeran - Small Bump video to not have any lip syncing, just the use of close ups expressed the emotion on his face. Ed Sheeran was another artist that I was following, as his genre of music is similar to my artist. I chose to go with the use of Lip Syncing as the narrative of the song is strong, it was important for me to convey the meaning as strong as possible. There are parts of the video, where it is just film and lip syncing is not involved, this was noticed on our audience feedback, and we were advised for the future to include more lip syncing throughout. So, all together the video has a mixture of lip syncing and just film, which also suggests that the artist is telling the story from her viewpoint, but also involved in the action too.

In what ways does your media product develop, forms and conventions of real media products?
Location of the video
When researching different music videos of the artists that are similar to the artist I chose, I noticed that their videos involve fairly simple locations, what I mean is that there is no drastic 'performance' going on, the locations are simple that their targeted audience are familiar with. For example, in the Ellie Goulding video - Your Song, there are many shots that are outside and the artist actually being herself. I developed this convention and started the video with the artist inside playing the piano, and then included shots of the artist outside. It was also important for me to maintain simplicity throughout the video, as the narrative is strong, I had to maintain a down to earth 'feel' throughout the video, so the audience can relate to it. The location is being shot at my school, in the future if I was to complete this task again, I would use a different location that was outside of school, in a field/park, maintaining the simple location. Also, the use of the piano is conventional in many music videos, in the Labrinth video featuring Emeli Sande, the video begins with the artist on the piano, however the background is in a dark room creating an eerie atmosphere. Unfortunately the background to our piano shot was in our school hall, we closed all the curtains and avoided getting most of the hall in the shot. Again, if doing this task again, it would be important to create the shots out of school, so it is not obvious to our audience that it was a school project, and to make it look more professional.

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

Home Video
I believe the part of challenging the forms and conventions of my music video is the fact I have created a 'home video' effect. My reason for doing this was to reflect the artists child hood and to emphasise the relationship between the two sisters. Music videos generally do not involve 'home videos' they like to create a 'big performance', which goes against an unusual home video. A big performance video does attract attention from a wide demographic and would get talked about often. As the song I chose was an unconventional song that would appear in the charts, I had to follow the narrative of the song and made a risk of using a home video effect. However, when looking at other music videos, I did notice that in the latest One Direction song - Little Things, their music video is a shot of the band recording their song, this looks similar to a 'home video'. I believe this was used as One Direction are known for their music videos to be quite 'busy', a lot is going on, including partying and having fun. However, the song 'Little Things' is contrasted to their normal songs and is subtle, therefore the shots of them just recording the song, and representing their down to earth side suggests the different side to the band, which is nice for different audiences to see. As the song in my video is slow and subtle, the home video I believe does fit in, it suggests the reality of the video.

What have I encoded in terms of technical and symbolic codes and conventions?

Codes and Conventions are used together in any study of genre.
-Technical Codes are all the ways in which equipment is used to tell the story in a media text?
-Symbolic Codes are the signs contained in the narrative that we encode as being significant  and having meaning.

A symbolic code that I have used is the use of the piano. The mise en scene represents the artist as a musician and suggests the artists personality - that she is passionate about music. An instrument is also known as a way that musicians express their feelings and emotions, therefore as the song has a strong narrative, the symbolic meaning of the piano is important. 
A technical code that I have used is the use of camerawork when the artist is playing the piano. I used a closeup of the artist whilst playing the piano at the beginning of the song, I wanted to use this shot as I believe it introduces the artist as a musician and the technical code suggests that the artist is in deep thought, and begins to tell her story. The contrasted long shot is used when the two sisters are 'playing' outside, I wanted to use a long shot as it shows to the audience the relationship between the two sisters, it also creates a sense that because it is a long shot, the sisters are in a different 'place'.
Media Producers encode meanings
Media Producers decode meanings

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

I believe to create a successful piece I had to maintain consistency between the music video and the ancillary tasks. The house style of both products needed to be linked, to make people aware that they are together as a product. The video is mainly promotional, it isn't designed to make money. It is to present the artist and to make a mass audience aware of the single. It is however, the digipak and the magazine advertisement, advertising the single, gaining popularity for the album/single to get people to purchase the album, is going to make the money. If the audience recognise the artist in the actual video or the advertisement, the audience are then recognising the artists face and becoming more familiar with the image/song, will then shift more units. This is why it is important to closely link the two products together, so the audience know for the certain, its the same face on the advertisement as the face on the music video. I have maintained a link between both products, so that the video is successful.

The back page of my digipak

A shot from my music video

Above is the print screened shot of the music video. I have used this shot when creating the back of my digipak. The shot is of the artist both on the same step, I really liked this image when I was creating my digipak, so when we started filming I wanted to create this as an actual shot. The shot creates the artist in deep thought, I think it connotes the genre of the album, and represents the brand of the artist as a singer/songwriter. There isn’t much going on in the background of the shot, the simplicity of the natural background again emphasises the artists calm personality. The only difference of the two shots is that in the digipak I have enhanced the colours and editited the picture, this is conventional of an advertisment, that enhancing colours can make the advertisement stand out.

Shot of the artist playing the piano in the video

Inside page of the Digipak

The shot of the artist on the piano was vital for the digipak. The prop of the piano represents the artist as a musician. It reinforces her genre, that she is passionate about music, and composes her own music. For the digipak, I used the image of the artist on the piano for the inside page. When researching other artists digipak; Ellie Goulding's, I noticed that in the inside page of her digipck is an image of her playing her guitar, this emphasises her brand as an artist, that she composes her own music and is passionate about it. I thought it would be a good idea to display a part of the lyrics on the piano. I thought this was a clever idea, as with many albums it is conventional to give the audience a copy of the lyrics of the album, however as I chose a simple digipak design, I displayed a few lines of the single on top of the piano. The image links in well with the video, as many of the shots are of the artist playing the piano, I believe it was important to display the image of the artist and the piano in with the digipak.

Magazine Advertisement

Front page of Digipak












The magazine advertisement has a different background to any shot that is used in the actual music video, no shot in the video is filmed against the brick wall. However, looking closely at the magazine advertisement and the front page of the digipak, it is the same image, but more of a close up. The image is noticeably in black and white, this is different from any image in the ancillary tasks, this makes the image stand out, as the front page of the digipak and the the magazine advertisement is the most important shot as both images is what the audience sees first. Also in the actual music video the black and white effect is used, this is conventional of music videos as it adds a different light. This then links part of the video in with the ancillary task. It was important for me to maintain the same image for the advertisement and the front page of the digipak as the audience will know that they are both linked and will recognise the face of the advertisement when purchasing the digipak.

I looked at Ellie Goulding's magazine advertisement and the front cover of her digipak. The image is exactly the same, however  the digipak is more of a close up (a convention I used in my own product). This image is very well known, and after looking at the advertisement, you would instantly link both the products together, as the image stands out. The house style of both products are the same, therefore the audience can relate both products together. I believe the image that I edited stands out from all the other images that I produced, the hair blowing in the wind looks effective, and the artists face looks flawless.

Looking at a contrasting artist like Rihanna and the cover of her album, although it is a subtle picture, her bright red lips and her matching vibrant hair, creates her as an outgoing artist, her look is 'bold'. The images that I took for the cover of my album are simple, which is the character in which I wanted to create. It is conventional that the fonts used on successful digipak's and simple, so that the audience focuses mainly on the artist's face. Also Rihanna and Ellie Goulding's front covers are using a closeup image, this convention I followed, it gives an insight to what the artist represents and no background is used to distract the audience from anything but the artist.

A digipak that inspired me for my design was Adele's album 21. I really warmed to her simple design, the fact that the image is so striking, however gives little away about her powerful voice and her personality. The font again is simple, and I followed the convention of putting my artists name in the bottom right side. I preferred this design against putting the title central, it goes better with the image. The reason for me also picking out Adele's digipak and highlighting the simplicity of it, is that I believe it suggests that it doesn't matter how simple the design of the product is, it can still prove to be an extremely successful product.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Why are audiences important?

- We produce it for the audience 
- Who we aim at
- To make a text successful

A media text in itself has no meaning until it is read or decoded by an audience.
Audiences generate revenue or discussions and recognition.

I produced a questionnaire so that I could get some feedback on the music video. With the feedback I can then see whether the video was successful and whether the audience understood what I wanted to create.

Question 1 - What do you think the main message of the video is?

 I was pleased with the answer of this question, as song is about treasuring time with your loved ones. The song is quite personal and describes the hurt caused by cancer. I wanted to maintain different emotions throughout the video, the time spent with your loved ones is when your most happy, this is reinforced when the two sisters are playing in the field, the expression on their faces show that they are happy and have a strong relationship. The emotions of when you are alone and effected most, is emphasised when the artist turns to her piano to let out all her emotions, and also the shot of the artist alone outside. 

Question 2 - How did you think the main character is feeling throughout most of the video?

The pie cart represents that the people understood that the artist felt sad throughout the video. However, one person ticked that she felt happy, this is true, that in parts of the video, especially the home video the artist feels happy. The video I wanted to create was not aimed to be all sad, I wanted to get the message across, that don't take life and your family for granted, simply Treasure the Time spent with them.

Question 3 - Did you enjoy the video?

This person enjoyed the video, and says it was emotional, which is what I wanted to create. Many music videos in today's society never face the actual fact of what is goes on in peoples life. I wanted to connect with the audience, as this story happens in many families, by touching the subject makes more people aware of what is going on, and helps people realise that not to take life for granted.

Again, this person has said it was an emotional video. This is the feedback that I wanted, I wanted to make it emotional, so that the audience really gets the subject that I am touching upon. I was observing people when they were watching the video, and I could tell that they were really getting into the video, many students when finishing watching the video, were left thinking about the video. I wanted to create a video that made people think about the actual video itself and its narrative. 

Question 4 - What would you change about the video?

This is my Media teachers response to Question 4 on the questionnaire. He suggested that I should not of carried on breaking up the lip sync, that on some of the shots when the artist is not syncing, she should to let the video flow. The reason why I didn't want the artist to lip sync the whole way through the video was because I wanted to create shots that suggested to the audience the artists thought process. 

After putting the video all together my media teacher noticed that the artist left her phone on the piano, as she left it there when lip syncing. We felt disappointed that we hadn't noticed this before, however as we left it too late, we didn't have time to change it. For the future, I need to make sure that the mise en scene is checked before and after filming.

Question 5 - Would the video encourage you to go out and buy the song/album?

I am glad that people would actually buy this album. The music is aimed at a niche audience, people passionate about music, this doesn't attract all youngsters. I believe the video would attract a range of an audience, as although the song/video is emotional and targets a touching area, people do like to watch this. It is an escapism, I believe the audience I am targeting at, they can relate to the video.

I believe this is a type of music video that will get talked about, that the word can spread about the strong narrative and the sadness, which will make the video popular.

The questionnaire has made me realise the audiences flow of emotion. 90% felt emotional when watching the video, I believe this is a good thing, they understood the narrative, which contributes to the flow of meaning. I believe they all connected with the video, it goes against a 'traditional' sad music video, where normally a love story is involved. This video touches a family relationship, which goes against many music video conventions. 

I decided to film Megan Linnell, the unknown artist. I thought it was vital to achieve her opinion on the video and to see if we did her song justice.

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Digital technology refers to hardware, software and online technology. So the camera's, computers, the packeages you used and the prograqms online you have worked with.

Panasonic HC-V500 Video Camera

In the construction of producing my music video, a professional camera was vital. The Panasonic camera that we had chosen had a 50x zoom, which meant we could really take advantage of the different types of camerawork and produce a successful piece of film. The lens was 32.4 mm wide, this meant we could get an accurate shot. When we filmed the 'home video' scene we deliberately used a different camera; Panasonic SDR-515. This camera had a 10x optical zoom, this meant that it could not zoom as far as the Panasonic HC camera. The camera has a 23mm width of lens, this again is a lower lens that the other camera we used, which lead us to get a smaller shot. We used a different camera that had different functions deliberately, as the home video was set a long time ago, the effect we wanted to create was an 'ancient feel'. When uploading the film onto Final Cut Pro, the group was extremely pleased with how the film looked.  We also used a tri-pod with the Panasonic camera, the tri-pod was extremely important as we had to make sure the filming was accurate and looked professional. With the tri-pod I could then vary the shots of film. For example, the shot overlooking the artist on the piano, I took the tri-pod down, so it was small, put the camera on top, then I could get a close overlooking shot of the girl on the piano.

iMac


The iMac was extremely important when researching other videos, the use of safari and especially keeping updated on my blogger. To produce a successful video, I had to analyse many different videos, to recognise their successful conventions. Also on the iMac it has Final Cut Pro, this was where our group completed all of the editing. With this editing site we could cut all the unwanted pieces of film and change the duration of the film to fit into the backing track.  In our video we have tried to convey a 'home video' of two younger girls, with the use of Final Cut Pro, we have added an older date at the bottom left of the screen, this suggests the past. Final Cut Pro also allows you to change the effects of the film, as a common convention of a music video the film isn't a natural light, in our film we have enhanced colour at the start and used black and white nearer the end of the film. 

Nikon Coolpix s3100

We had to use a camera when creating a recce. We used the Nikon Coolpix s3100, which is what the school offered us. This was great for us as the camera has a wide 5x Zoom, which meant when we were taking pictures for our recce's we could get a wide shot, so then we had an idea of the real shot for the video. The camera is also 14.0 Megapixels, this means the camera is at a high quality and allowed me to get high quality shots. The image of locations let the group see whether the location would be ideal for filming. The images that we took were very useful as we could clearly see the shot we wanted to create for film. We could also identify the background of the shot. As we wanted to film in the school hall, we could see from the images that we took that there were a lot of tables, and the actual canteen behind the shot. This meant we had to change the position of the piano to get a clear background, the shot of location was extremely useful. After the recce shots, we felt ready to proceed with filming.

Youtube
Youtube was a reliable source that our group used regularly. In order to create a successful video we had to analyse different music videos to identify their conventions. The track that we use for our music video, is also on Youtube, we had to use the backing track when designing the story board, we could choose the different shots and the narratives direction. This caused a slight problem when completing our video, as we had filmed to the 'Youtube version', we asked the artist to record the actual song so we could a better quality of sound. When we had put the recorded backing track and the film together, we realised that due to filming against the youtube version of the song, the recorded version had a completely different time, this meant we had to completely re film. As time was at the essence we thought about just using the youtube version for the real thing, however we thought we had put a lot of time into preparing the video, we wanted to make sure it looked its best.

Blogger 

Blogger was extremely important in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages. When I completed my research, I would always upload the work that I had done to Blogger. Also, Blogger was extremely reliable, I knew that the documents uploaded onto the site would be safe. When evaluating the work that I had done in my blog posts, I would then realise what was the next step for me, it helped me keep organise and on top of things.

Tri-pod
Although the tri-pod isn't actually classed as a media technology, it does contribute towards the camera in making sure the shots looked professional. It prevented me for having the 'shaky' effect, when filming the shots for the video. I could also put the camera at a different angle, to produce different shots, which adds more interest to the shots.

              iPhoto

iPhoto was the site where I edited the photos for my ancillary tasks. iPhoto helped me a lot to make sure the images look professional, and were ready to be advertised. Without the editing site, I would never of been able to change the colour of the images, put them at a different angle nor add text to the image. iPhoto really made me achieve the image I wanted for advertisement and the overall product.

Narrative

Narrative Theory
- The way in which a story is told in both fictional and non fictional ways.

Narrative explores the conventions:
- Genre
- Character
- Form
- Time

Linear Structure 

Beginning - - Middle - - End - -

Open Structure - The audience are left to wonder what happens next

Closed Structure - Definite Ending

Circular Structure - The narrative begins at the end events. The audience are taken on a journey arriving back where they started

Complex Narrative Structure - Today's narratives have become complex as producers know audience have a greater sense of media literacy.

Restricted Narrative - The information is withheld from the audience.

Unrestricted Narrative - What the audience are assumed to know.

In my Music Video, I believe that there is a narrative throughout the whole video, however it goes against a linear structure, there is no beginning, middle and end. The video is left open, so the audience are left thinking about the video. As my video is about the relationship of two sisters, there is no male presented in the video. Therefore the video goes against Vladimir Propp’s idea of their being substantial characters in the video. Therefore I believe my video goes against a conventional music video, which adds more depth and to leave the audience again to think about the message I was trying to achieve. My video does follow Tzvetan Tordorov theory that most narratives begin with a state of equilibrium. The video starts off with the female character simply playing the piano. The state of equilbrium continues throughout the piece, and this is reinforced with the use of mise en scene and lighting. The fact that the mise en scene is very normal, nothing out of the ordinary, and the same with the lighting, the fact that it is ambient mainly throughout, except the use of black and white. The characters are in normal clothing, again reiterating the state of equilibrium. However, there is no conflict in my video, that then leads to a new equilibrium, the main message of the sisters close relationship is presented throughout. I achieved this purposefully as the song contains strong lyrics, that may effect some of my targeted audience, there was no need to add conflict to the upset of the video, the happiness contrasts with the sadness. Roland Barthes theory that suggests that the narrative works with five different codes does link in with my music video. Action Code, which suggests that the audience knows the narrative and doesn’t need explaining, does link in with my video to a degree. The fact the audience does know that the narrative is sad; which was suggested when I gave my audience a questionnaire of the video, they understood the sadness of it. As the song is about ‘Cancer’ and ‘Treasuring Time with your loved ones’, I wanted the narrative to be about loosing someone, however, many of my audiences didn’t actually get the fact that one of the characters had cancer, so I would say that this fits in with the Enigma Code, the fact that something is hidden from the audience, although this wasn’t done deliberately. I believe the narrative also works with a Semic Code, something that the audience recognises through connotations. I believe the use of the two sisters playing outside, and the affection they give towards each other, makes the audience realise that there is a connection between the two characters. I have also used a Symbolic Code, something that symbolises a more abstract concept. In the video when one of the characters is dancing, and the other character is simply watching. The dance actually symbolises the character letting out all her emotions, that it actually presents resentment. Whilst the other character is watching, it again suggests their bond, but also the collapse of it too.

Genre Theory

Daniel Chandler - Conventional definitions of genre constitute on particular conventions of content (such as themes or settings) and/or form (including structure and style) which are shared by the texts which are regarded as belonging to them. Every genre positions those who participate in a text of that kind.

 

I believe Daniel Chandler’s theory does work with my music video. Above is the shot from the video, where the character is playing the piano. This is an example of our video using other themes from other genres. When looking at other videos it was noticeable that the piano was used often in more subtle tracks by well known, branded artists. My video also does go against this theory. It explores the close relationship between the two sisters, I have yet to find a video that explores that bond, therefore in a way the video goes against Chandler’s theory.

 

David Buckingham argues that ‘genre’ is not simply ‘given’ by the culture; rather it is in a constant process of negotiation and change.

I do believe this theory works with my music video. Genre is constantly changing, the above shot from my video emphasises this. The use of a slow dance would never really fit into a music genre, however with the music industry always changing, I believe it fits into many genres. For example, in Pink’s - Try music video, a dance is included to express her emotion. Pink is a well known rock artist, however the dance goes against her genre, which proves the genres are always changing.

Deborah Knight notes that ‘satisfaction is guaranteed’ with genre: the deferral of the inevitable provides the additional pleasure of prolonged anticipation (1994).

I believe this theory works with my music video. Although the video explores the themes of sadness and loss, the theme of happiness is also presented (above a shot from the video suggesting happier times). I also believe each genre does have their specific target audience, therefore that specific target audience will always be interested in that particular genre, and so satisfaction will always be guaranteed. Also, the video is sad, however it makes the audience think about what they have seen, therefore satisfaction may be guaranteed with the thoughts at the end of the video.
Steve Neale argues that pleasure is derived from ‘reputation and difference’, there would be no pleasure without difference. (1980)

I agree with this theory, as I believe my video is ‘different’. Unlike conventional music videos, my video doesn’t have any male actors in it, it concentrates on the family relationship, which is unusual for a music video. I believe pleasure is achieved, with the difference of the video, the fact I have gone against conventions and touched a strong narrative will achieve pleasure for an audience.
Bordwell - Any theme may appear in any genre (Bordwell 1989)

I believe this theory works for my video. Many themes are presented throughout the video, for example the themes of love, happiness, sadness and loss. It shows that although the narrative in the video is rather sad, it also portrays happiness throughout, with the use of the sisters playing and showing their close relationship.