In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The music video 'Incredible' uses many conventions of current existing music videos but also challenges them in a few ways too. It is similar to most current music videos in the basic way that it is shot widescreen in HD. Many different shot types are used and there is a clear beginning, middle and end, which most music videos have in order to create a satisfying finish for the viewer and some kind of climax to continue engaging their attention throughout. I looked at various different existing music videos as inspiration for my own creation, and took many aspects from them when filming and editing 'Incredible'. One music video in particular that helped shaped the way I expressed the meaning of the lyrics in the song I used, was Ed Sheeran's video for 'You Need Me, I Don't Need You'. In this production, the lyrics are expressed through sign language and not the artist singing himself, this adds an alternative and creative twist which I liked very much, and I also found it gave a deeper meaning to the lyrics and allowed the viewer to appreciate the song in a new/different way. The concept for my video is quite simple in comparison to many existing music videos, which itself is slightly challenging forms and conventions. Unlike most contemporary music videos at the moment, the style of 'Incredible' follows more of an artistic narrative rather than a live performance or classic narrative approach. Despite this style challenging conventions of quite a few media products from my genre, I in fact took inspiration from a current music video by Lorde for 'Tennis Court', whose unique creation inspired me to develop a simple yet striking piece of work, that told a story through expression and movement. Some would say my finished music video challenges forms and conventions in other ways too. For example, it has quite a unique colour scheme, not many current videos from my genre use UV light or neon paint, but I wanted to make that a unique quality of my video which would make it stand out and also allow it to be a recognisable aspect for the viewer which would then transfer to the magazine advert and digipak. Modern/ballet dance is the main focus of my music video and this is not a common type of dance used in pop videos, the representation of the female lead is also different because she is presented is a much less provocative manner in comparison to many of the pop videos I viewed when looking for inspiration. Another convention challenged by my video is the use of a female lead for a male sung song, along with the fact that the male singer does not feature at all. I have not seen this much in current music videos, other than the fact that Ed Sheeran only features for a few seconds at the end of his video for 'You Need Me, I Don't Need You'. This is an aspect that was not originally planned, but came about when I realised I had no access to a male dancer. It is now something which I feel helps keep my video original, and allows the viewer to focus on the lyrics from the female point of view rather than get muddled between the man's viewpoint as well. It also further establishes the abstract, artistic style I was aiming for with my finished product.
The magazine advert and digipak follow forms and conventions of existing products a lot more than my music video. I felt this was important because they are both key advertising products in making the single and video successful and therefore breaking too many conventions could hinder their effectiveness. The layout and size of both the magazine advert and digipak designs follow most conventions of the existing examples I analysed. In terms of size, the magazine advert is in portrait A4, like most existing products, so it takes up one single page of a magazine, and the digipak is the size of a normal CD. The layout uses conventions such as the components of the advert and digipak being spaced out from each other so that it is easy on the eye, as little text as possible is used (only what is really necessary such as the album title) meaning there is less information to process, images are on the magazine advert and all three parts of the digipak to add visual appeal, small print is hidden from the main point of focus and important text such as the track names and album title are centred to help the layout look attractive to the reader. The colour of the magazine advert and digipak follows conventions in that it is the same across both media products, and also follows the colour scheme of the music video, thus being a recognisable feature of the products as a whole. The colour scheme itself being UV/neon is slightly unusual for the genre, but I feel it adds a unique appeal to all three products. There is not any text used across the two products that does not use forms of existing products - on both you see the album title and artist, record label logo and website. On the magazine advert you also see the line 'the new album' which I found on various existing examples. The digipak also includes track names and small print about copyright information which you will find across all CD back covers. The type of images used (eg. close up portraits) and their positioning uses conventions of existing products, however, the subject of the main images does not, due to the fact a female is used to present a CD sung and produced by a male. Still, she is the female subject from the music video, and therefore associated with the track. I think overall, although the music video itself is more of an abstract creative vision and therefore challenges many conventions of current pop videos, the complimentary magazine advert and digipak closely follow forms and conventions of exsisting examples and therefore should help with the success of the slightly more unusual video.
The music video 'Incredible' uses many conventions of current existing music videos but also challenges them in a few ways too. It is similar to most current music videos in the basic way that it is shot widescreen in HD. Many different shot types are used and there is a clear beginning, middle and end, which most music videos have in order to create a satisfying finish for the viewer and some kind of climax to continue engaging their attention throughout. I looked at various different existing music videos as inspiration for my own creation, and took many aspects from them when filming and editing 'Incredible'. One music video in particular that helped shaped the way I expressed the meaning of the lyrics in the song I used, was Ed Sheeran's video for 'You Need Me, I Don't Need You'. In this production, the lyrics are expressed through sign language and not the artist singing himself, this adds an alternative and creative twist which I liked very much, and I also found it gave a deeper meaning to the lyrics and allowed the viewer to appreciate the song in a new/different way. The concept for my video is quite simple in comparison to many existing music videos, which itself is slightly challenging forms and conventions. Unlike most contemporary music videos at the moment, the style of 'Incredible' follows more of an artistic narrative rather than a live performance or classic narrative approach. Despite this style challenging conventions of quite a few media products from my genre, I in fact took inspiration from a current music video by Lorde for 'Tennis Court', whose unique creation inspired me to develop a simple yet striking piece of work, that told a story through expression and movement. Some would say my finished music video challenges forms and conventions in other ways too. For example, it has quite a unique colour scheme, not many current videos from my genre use UV light or neon paint, but I wanted to make that a unique quality of my video which would make it stand out and also allow it to be a recognisable aspect for the viewer which would then transfer to the magazine advert and digipak. Modern/ballet dance is the main focus of my music video and this is not a common type of dance used in pop videos, the representation of the female lead is also different because she is presented is a much less provocative manner in comparison to many of the pop videos I viewed when looking for inspiration. Another convention challenged by my video is the use of a female lead for a male sung song, along with the fact that the male singer does not feature at all. I have not seen this much in current music videos, other than the fact that Ed Sheeran only features for a few seconds at the end of his video for 'You Need Me, I Don't Need You'. This is an aspect that was not originally planned, but came about when I realised I had no access to a male dancer. It is now something which I feel helps keep my video original, and allows the viewer to focus on the lyrics from the female point of view rather than get muddled between the man's viewpoint as well. It also further establishes the abstract, artistic style I was aiming for with my finished product.
The magazine advert and digipak follow forms and conventions of existing products a lot more than my music video. I felt this was important because they are both key advertising products in making the single and video successful and therefore breaking too many conventions could hinder their effectiveness. The layout and size of both the magazine advert and digipak designs follow most conventions of the existing examples I analysed. In terms of size, the magazine advert is in portrait A4, like most existing products, so it takes up one single page of a magazine, and the digipak is the size of a normal CD. The layout uses conventions such as the components of the advert and digipak being spaced out from each other so that it is easy on the eye, as little text as possible is used (only what is really necessary such as the album title) meaning there is less information to process, images are on the magazine advert and all three parts of the digipak to add visual appeal, small print is hidden from the main point of focus and important text such as the track names and album title are centred to help the layout look attractive to the reader. The colour of the magazine advert and digipak follows conventions in that it is the same across both media products, and also follows the colour scheme of the music video, thus being a recognisable feature of the products as a whole. The colour scheme itself being UV/neon is slightly unusual for the genre, but I feel it adds a unique appeal to all three products. There is not any text used across the two products that does not use forms of existing products - on both you see the album title and artist, record label logo and website. On the magazine advert you also see the line 'the new album' which I found on various existing examples. The digipak also includes track names and small print about copyright information which you will find across all CD back covers. The type of images used (eg. close up portraits) and their positioning uses conventions of existing products, however, the subject of the main images does not, due to the fact a female is used to present a CD sung and produced by a male. Still, she is the female subject from the music video, and therefore associated with the track. I think overall, although the music video itself is more of an abstract creative vision and therefore challenges many conventions of current pop videos, the complimentary magazine advert and digipak closely follow forms and conventions of exsisting examples and therefore should help with the success of the slightly more unusual video.
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