Evaluation Question 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
1,2,3- Scared to be Lonely- Dua Lipa and Martin Garrix
4- Logic - 1-800-273-8255 ft. Alessia Cara, Khalid
5,6- Wolves- Selena Gomez, Marshmello
7- Bodak Yellow- Cardi B
8. When you're gone- Avril Lavigne
9. In the Name Of Love- Bebe Rexha, Martin Garrix
1. Presentation of Characters
In my music video I decided to not show the full faces of my characters, only body parts such as the eyes, torso, neck etc. I felt this made the music video more personal allowing the audience to connect themselves to my narrative easier- they didn't have to focus on what my characters looked like except the story being told. This stylistic approach challenges conventions of character presentation in mainstream music videos, in most cases you will always have a camera shot exposing the whole character's physical appearance (MS, CU etc) however I did not follow this. In Dua Lipa's 'Scared to be lonely' video you can see many of these shot types are used to reveal the character's appearance to the audience allowing them to tell the story. However in my music video only shots like ECU, CU, MCU's are used to expose my characters identity as seen above. This convention of character presentation is something I decided to challenge.
2. Camera work
In my music video I decided to use camera work similar to that of Dua Lipa's 'Scared to be Lonely' video. Dua's video uses lots of camera work that really translates the problems with the relationship. There are lots of Close ups, medium close ups etc and camera work which can be symbolic of certain things. For example, at the start there are shots of piles of rocks- symbolic of a 'rocky' relationship. In my music video i decided to use shots of the train station and moving train to be symbolic of suicide/death- there wasn't a way I could actually film someone jumping on a train track due to practical and ethical reasons. I feel that I developed the conventions of camera work in Dua's video and adapted to my own product. Furthermore, I decided to go against Dua's use of medium shots and swap them for lots of Extreme close ups as i didn't want to show my whole character's full appearance as stated as above.
3. Locations
In most music videos that have a narrative, locations are used to aid the storytelling. For the genre of my music which is Electronic pop, most music videos have extremely short length shots to keep up pace, so locations are specifically chosen to not lose the audience in the story telling. This was a convention that was imperative to the construction of my product. Dua Lipa's video 'Scared to be lonely' displays this convention, her music construction is very similar to the number 'Wolves' so i analysed her music video. I discovered that most of her locations were somewhat 'memories' of the two lovers in her music video. I really liked this idea so decided to use it in my product. In my case, I specifically chose locations that would be most efficient in story telling. For example, I used the location of the woods to tell the story of the two lovers trying to find each other, it's extremely easy to lose yourself in a woods where you don't know your bearings, I wanted to convey this message as if the woods was the lovers' relationship. It also fitted really well with the song ' I've been running through the jungle'. Furthermore, I used the location of a graveyard to highlight the concept of death, most people,if not everyone, relate a graveyard to a death. I think I successfully implemented this convention into my product.
4. Homosexual Relationship
In many mainstream music videos in the past the exhibition of homosexual relationships in characters was very minimal and somewhat non-existent. However, nowadays, the representation of homosexuality is becoming more present in the media, recently the rapper Logic released a music video for his song 1-800-273-8255. In the music video, a homosexual male is seen coming to term with his sexuality and finding love. Logic decided to go against the conventions of what is deemed 'normal' by pop culture with a heterosexual couple. Him challenging the conventions of the 'norm' is what inspired me to use a homosexual relationship in my music video. I feel that I challenged conventions of the 'norm' heterosexual couple yet still used and followed conventions of more modern music videos as homosexual representation is becoming more present.
5.Layering.
The use of layering in music videos is quite common, it allows for two shots to be placed over one another by changing the opacity of one shot, giving a merge effect of the two shots. In my music video, the video effect was very useful in making my shots more visually appealing for my audience. I was given the inspiration to use this effect from the original music video for 'Wolves' in which Selena layers her face with a shot of water, this little effect just made the video that extra something which is why I decided to use this convention of the original music video. I used this video effect on many of my shots, for example the shots of the moon and sun together, when two pan shots of the lover are placed over one another and many more. Overall, I think this made my video look much more visually appealing as received in my audience feedback.
6. Slow motion
The convention of slowing down camera shots is widely used throughout music videos, it gives the video a more cinematic feel to them. It also adds intensity, drama and tension. These 3 factors are why I chose to develop this into my own product. In the original video for the song 'Wolves', slow motion is used on the shot of Selena walking down a hallway, this is where I first gained inspiration to use this convention, I enjoyed how it made me focus on her character and the way she was walking, with aggression. This is when I realised that when shots are in slow motion it allows you to focus and look deeper into every detail being shown. In my music video it is very clear where I used slow motion, the majority if shots were slowed down as it also helped transitions- they did not seem as sharp. The main shots that were slowed down were the shower scene as seen in the screenshot above, I liked the effect of the water slowed down. I felt that if they remained at normal speed the water would have distracted the audience from the character's actions. Again, another reason as to why I developed this convention for my own product.
7.Adjustment Layer & Barn door effects
Adjustment layers are used throughout most, if not all, music videos, this layer gives the video a more cinematic feel to it adding 2 black bars at the top and bottom of the video. I used this convention in my music video, adding a layer over the original shots. It improved the quality of the video drastically, giving it a more enhanced, professional look. This can be seen in all of my music video . I also developed this further by adding a barn door effect for the opening which then transitioned into the adjustment layer. This other convention of barn doors and adjustment layer can also be seen in Cardi B's Bodak Yellow music video, where I gained my inspiration, this convention is used to introduce the audience to the world of the music video which is portrayed throughout the video . I felt that the barn door effect also invites the audience to the world of my music video- Adding more personal value to the beginning.
8. Narrative
Most music videos, if not all, contain a theme or narrative which can sometimes be linked to the song- however sometimes videos can be visuals which are a collection of shots representing the music in some way. For my music video I decided to go with a narrative, of a death within a relationship I first decided to focus on this narrative when watching Avril Lavigne's 'When you're gone' music video. In her video, she focuses on the death of an old man's lover. The way the video was composed around the story was done so effortlessly, the Narrative was apparent however did not over saturate the music video she still included shots of her lip syncing, it was subtle and beautifully executed. The characters in the video all come to a sense of peace at the end. I felt that I used Avril's conventions of narrative in my music video. My character comes to peace with his partner's death at the end of the video.
9. Symbolism
After researching ideas for my product in the pre-production stage I discovered that some music videos contain some sort of symbolism that represents something to do with the characters. The convention of symbolism is something that I carried into my product. For example, in Martin Garrix 'In the name of love', the aggressiveness of the nature around the two characters i.e. water, clouds, lightning, wind etc is symbolic of the relationship between the two, it was difficult, unstable and toxic. In my opinion, I think that I successfully portrayed symbolism in my product. For example, I used shots of the moon when it was in crescent, half and full formation to show the progression of my character's relationship throughout the music video. Furthermore, I also used a countdown of a train station clock as suspension before my audience saw the graveyard scenes as if it was counting down time before he passed away.
In my music video I decided to not show the full faces of my characters, only body parts such as the eyes, torso, neck etc. I felt this made the music video more personal allowing the audience to connect themselves to my narrative easier- they didn't have to focus on what my characters looked like except the story being told. This stylistic approach challenges conventions of character presentation in mainstream music videos, in most cases you will always have a camera shot exposing the whole character's physical appearance (MS, CU etc) however I did not follow this. In Dua Lipa's 'Scared to be lonely' video you can see many of these shot types are used to reveal the character's appearance to the audience allowing them to tell the story. However in my music video only shots like ECU, CU, MCU's are used to expose my characters identity as seen above. This convention of character presentation is something I decided to challenge.
2. Camera work
In my music video I decided to use camera work similar to that of Dua Lipa's 'Scared to be Lonely' video. Dua's video uses lots of camera work that really translates the problems with the relationship. There are lots of Close ups, medium close ups etc and camera work which can be symbolic of certain things. For example, at the start there are shots of piles of rocks- symbolic of a 'rocky' relationship. In my music video i decided to use shots of the train station and moving train to be symbolic of suicide/death- there wasn't a way I could actually film someone jumping on a train track due to practical and ethical reasons. I feel that I developed the conventions of camera work in Dua's video and adapted to my own product. Furthermore, I decided to go against Dua's use of medium shots and swap them for lots of Extreme close ups as i didn't want to show my whole character's full appearance as stated as above.
3. Locations
In most music videos that have a narrative, locations are used to aid the storytelling. For the genre of my music which is Electronic pop, most music videos have extremely short length shots to keep up pace, so locations are specifically chosen to not lose the audience in the story telling. This was a convention that was imperative to the construction of my product. Dua Lipa's video 'Scared to be lonely' displays this convention, her music construction is very similar to the number 'Wolves' so i analysed her music video. I discovered that most of her locations were somewhat 'memories' of the two lovers in her music video. I really liked this idea so decided to use it in my product. In my case, I specifically chose locations that would be most efficient in story telling. For example, I used the location of the woods to tell the story of the two lovers trying to find each other, it's extremely easy to lose yourself in a woods where you don't know your bearings, I wanted to convey this message as if the woods was the lovers' relationship. It also fitted really well with the song ' I've been running through the jungle'. Furthermore, I used the location of a graveyard to highlight the concept of death, most people,if not everyone, relate a graveyard to a death. I think I successfully implemented this convention into my product.
4. Homosexual Relationship
In many mainstream music videos in the past the exhibition of homosexual relationships in characters was very minimal and somewhat non-existent. However, nowadays, the representation of homosexuality is becoming more present in the media, recently the rapper Logic released a music video for his song 1-800-273-8255. In the music video, a homosexual male is seen coming to term with his sexuality and finding love. Logic decided to go against the conventions of what is deemed 'normal' by pop culture with a heterosexual couple. Him challenging the conventions of the 'norm' is what inspired me to use a homosexual relationship in my music video. I feel that I challenged conventions of the 'norm' heterosexual couple yet still used and followed conventions of more modern music videos as homosexual representation is becoming more present.
5.Layering.
The use of layering in music videos is quite common, it allows for two shots to be placed over one another by changing the opacity of one shot, giving a merge effect of the two shots. In my music video, the video effect was very useful in making my shots more visually appealing for my audience. I was given the inspiration to use this effect from the original music video for 'Wolves' in which Selena layers her face with a shot of water, this little effect just made the video that extra something which is why I decided to use this convention of the original music video. I used this video effect on many of my shots, for example the shots of the moon and sun together, when two pan shots of the lover are placed over one another and many more. Overall, I think this made my video look much more visually appealing as received in my audience feedback.
6. Slow motion
The convention of slowing down camera shots is widely used throughout music videos, it gives the video a more cinematic feel to them. It also adds intensity, drama and tension. These 3 factors are why I chose to develop this into my own product. In the original video for the song 'Wolves', slow motion is used on the shot of Selena walking down a hallway, this is where I first gained inspiration to use this convention, I enjoyed how it made me focus on her character and the way she was walking, with aggression. This is when I realised that when shots are in slow motion it allows you to focus and look deeper into every detail being shown. In my music video it is very clear where I used slow motion, the majority if shots were slowed down as it also helped transitions- they did not seem as sharp. The main shots that were slowed down were the shower scene as seen in the screenshot above, I liked the effect of the water slowed down. I felt that if they remained at normal speed the water would have distracted the audience from the character's actions. Again, another reason as to why I developed this convention for my own product.
7.Adjustment Layer & Barn door effects
Adjustment layers are used throughout most, if not all, music videos, this layer gives the video a more cinematic feel to it adding 2 black bars at the top and bottom of the video. I used this convention in my music video, adding a layer over the original shots. It improved the quality of the video drastically, giving it a more enhanced, professional look. This can be seen in all of my music video . I also developed this further by adding a barn door effect for the opening which then transitioned into the adjustment layer. This other convention of barn doors and adjustment layer can also be seen in Cardi B's Bodak Yellow music video, where I gained my inspiration, this convention is used to introduce the audience to the world of the music video which is portrayed throughout the video . I felt that the barn door effect also invites the audience to the world of my music video- Adding more personal value to the beginning.
8. Narrative
Most music videos, if not all, contain a theme or narrative which can sometimes be linked to the song- however sometimes videos can be visuals which are a collection of shots representing the music in some way. For my music video I decided to go with a narrative, of a death within a relationship I first decided to focus on this narrative when watching Avril Lavigne's 'When you're gone' music video. In her video, she focuses on the death of an old man's lover. The way the video was composed around the story was done so effortlessly, the Narrative was apparent however did not over saturate the music video she still included shots of her lip syncing, it was subtle and beautifully executed. The characters in the video all come to a sense of peace at the end. I felt that I used Avril's conventions of narrative in my music video. My character comes to peace with his partner's death at the end of the video.
9. Symbolism
After researching ideas for my product in the pre-production stage I discovered that some music videos contain some sort of symbolism that represents something to do with the characters. The convention of symbolism is something that I carried into my product. For example, in Martin Garrix 'In the name of love', the aggressiveness of the nature around the two characters i.e. water, clouds, lightning, wind etc is symbolic of the relationship between the two, it was difficult, unstable and toxic. In my opinion, I think that I successfully portrayed symbolism in my product. For example, I used shots of the moon when it was in crescent, half and full formation to show the progression of my character's relationship throughout the music video. Furthermore, I also used a countdown of a train station clock as suspension before my audience saw the graveyard scenes as if it was counting down time before he passed away.
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