Evaluation Question One: In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products?

 

Script:

Bailey and I decided to present our music video on YouTube, as it is the most popular video-sharing platform on the internet. I had used my YouTube channel to upload various pieces of work throughout my A Level Media Studies, so it made the most sense logistically for me to use this site as I am familiar with how it works. YouTube is also the most widely used site for artists of all genres to present their music videos to the world, so by using YouTube myself I have followed the conventions of real media products. We uploaded the video to Bailey's channel as she had the final copy of the video on her laptop, so it was easier this way. 

I presented my digipak and poster on my blogger page, as this is where I had been uploading all of my other A2 Media Studies research and work. In a way, this was me challenging the conventions of real media products as an artist would usually distribute their posters and digipaks through the real world as opposed to being solely online. Presenting my final products through my blogger page also allowed me to clearly display my planning, editing and ideas processes alongside them, showing how I created a finished digipak and poster that I was happy with.  

We chose a song within the Indie Pop genre for our music video. Bailey and I are both familiar with the genre and its characteristics, so we were well aware of the typical conventions of an Indie Pop video, such as the use of clips with a low saturation and a distinctive lack of bright colours. Music videos within this genre mostly use simple jump cuts to change between clips, so as not to distract attention from the video itself. In our music video, we used, developed and challenged the typical conventions of a video within the Indie Pop genre. Like many other videos within the genre, we used jump cuts to transition between clips to create a simplistic editing style, and decreased the saturation of clips to give them a cool tone. However, we decided to challenge the lack of bright colours included in a typical Indie Pop video by including bold projections and kaleidoscope effects in our own. Other Indie Pop artists who have challenged this convention similarly to us are Death Cab For Cutie and The 1975.

Throughout the Indie Pop genre, women tend not to be presented in an overly sexual manner. I have followed the conventions of this genre through both my main product and ancillary texts, as the 'artist' shown in these products is not presented sexually. It could be argued that I challenged the pop aspect of this genre through my work by choosing not to present the artist in this way. 

On my album cover and poster, the artist is central, highlighting that she is the point of focus on the products. I did this as my research showed me that this is a common feature for Indie Pop products to have. The artist is usually easily identifiable on the products, so as to emphasise synergy and iconography within a genre that is not overly popular among the mainstream market. I believe that I have developed this convention of the genre in my ancillary tests by using a photo that does not show the artist's face, while maintaining the same style of imagery throughout my products. Synergy is especially popular within the Indie Pop genre, with artists often developing unique aesthetics, making their brand recognisable. I believe that I have succeeded with this in my ancillary texts by using the same colour schemes, image style and fonts on each product, much like artists including Lorde and Marina and The Diamonds have done with their albums and advertisements recently.

Within our music video, we included lots of close-ups of the artist's face- something that is sometimes used in Indie Pop videos, and, according to Andrew Goodwin's theory, is extremely common within the pop genre. We developed this technical code by deciding to include close ups of the artist's face interspersed amongst other shots, similar to the style of Lorde's Royals music video. In this way, we followed a convention of the pop aspect of the Indie Pop genre, and developed it to make it more unique and true to the spirit of the genre of the song we had chosen. While often in music videos, the artist is filmed from a high or low angle to give the audience a particular impression of them, we decided to film our video on eye-level. This gave the video a more realistic and in-the-moment feel to it, and allowed the audience to feel more connected to the artist, as the camera shots looked as though they were filmed from somebody's point of view. I think that choosing to use this particular camera angle shows how we followed conventions of the Indie Pop genre, as it projects a modest and relatable presentation of the artist- something that is commonplace among this genre.