Evaluation

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

In our research and planning stage of producing our music video we studied the different forms and conventions used in real media products, in particular, products of our genre acoustic-indie. We attempted to base our video around the conventions we found, whether it would be using them directly, developing them or challenging them completely. We didn’t feel that it was necessary to always use the same conventions as the ones that we found in real media products, as in some cases we felt it was necessary to develop them to create a slightly different affect to what real artists have chosen, or to challenge them to show that certain aspects of our artist are unique.

From looking at the results of our market research we discovered that the audience wanted to see a music video that showed both a narrative and a performance from an artist in the acoustic-indie genre. This is a convention that we decided to use and is evidence of our music video staying with conventions from real media products as it’s used in Frank Turner’s Photosynthesis music video. This genre displays three choices of music video that the audience could have chosen to be their favourite for our song. These were: 100% narrative, narrative with performance or 100% performance. Our research told us that they wanted to see a music video that showed both narrative and performance. It’s used in Frank Turner’s video to emphasise his character and this is what we wanted to emulate. We wanted to create the star image of our artist as being a nice likeable guy, that the males in our target audience could see themselves being friends with, or actually being, and that the females in our target audience could imagine themselves being in a relationship with. This was important, as the narrative showed him walking around and being in love with the girl, and the performance shows him actually performing the song- something that in particular the males in our target audience wanted to see, so that he had the image of being a ‘real’ acoustic-indie performer.

Dyer’s Star Theory is a theory that we attempted to sick to throughout the making of our music video. This is the theory that all stars are constructed, artificial images that are made to attract as many fans as possible. The star image that we were going for was to make the audience like the artist and to see him as a true performer. That’s why we included an acoustic guitar throughout the performance and had shots of the artist actually performing the song. The likability factor came in when we used the nice, peaceful setting that the target audience would be able to relate with- more of that later.



Another convention that we chose to use that stays in convention with our genre is our use of lip syncing. This is a convention used in all genres, but is particularly important in the acoustic-indie genre because the audience love to see the artist performing. It’s a convention used in Frank Turner’s Photosynthesis video and we found that close-up shots of the artist lip syncing were ways of the artist showing a realness that the audience would want to see. It also creates a different angle of the artist. Instead of the narrative where he’s not performing at all to the song, we have shots of the artist showing passion for the music and close-ups of lip syncing are good ways to show his facial expression- the best way for the artist to show his passion for the song. This also links to Dyer’s star image. The target audience for this acoustic-indie genre love to see the artist showing passion for his music- therefore this shows exactly that.

Another way showing that we stayed with conventions from real media products is our use of low-key lighting when showing the artist performing. This was inspired by Frank Turner’s Photosynthesis music video, where the shots of him performing are in a darkened room. We decided to emulate this because we like the effect that it produced, as it’s a contrast to the rest of the video which is mainly high-key lighting, giving the audience another angle of the artist’s personality. With Richard Dyer’s star theory we always wanted to give the audience more so that they’ll stay interested to the artist. That’s why we decided to change the lighting key, to help portray the artist’s depressed mood when he’s not with the girl. It also emphasises the high-key lighting used throughout the rest of the video- which gives the audience a positive attitude towards the star- a convention of Dyer’s star theory.


Before commencing creating of the video, we studied Goodwin’s theory. His theory explained that there were three different ways of the music video representing the lyrics. It can be with ‘illustration’, ‘amplification’ or ‘disjunction’. Our video uses ‘amplification’, which is an example of us sticking to conventions used in real media products such as Ed Sheeran’s Lego House, where the lyrics aren’t being exactly demonstrated, but the actions of the main actor in the video imply the love that is being said in the lyrics, although it doesn’t directly show it word for word. In our video it’s evidently used when we don’t actually have the artist ‘holding’ the girl, although his actions throughout imply that that’s what he wants to do.

Moving on now to how we’ve developed conventions from real media products, we were inspired by the fast-forward technique used in Ed Sheeran’s A Team video to use this technique ourselves. In Ed Sheeran’s video it’s used to show that the girl is an outsider to the world, and that her life is passing in a monotony of boredom. We used it in a slightly different way in our video, preferring the artist and his love interest to be the attention and showing that the two are both just wasting time before meeting each other. This technique’s good to show this because it’s different to the rest of the slower paced video, which makes this section stand out more. Also, with the people passing by the artist, it shows that the artist isn’t integrated with the rest of the world- being a unique person in a world that’s passing by in a rush. This helps construct the star image of the artist being unique- a topic that’s already been mentioned when answering this question- something that our target audience really like to see in this genre.

Another technique that we developed from Ed Sheeran’s A Team video is the black and white effect. In the A Team video it’s used to help portray the dull mood and emphasises the low-key lighting shown throughout the whole video. This makes the girl in the video seem depressed and lonely, whereas in our video we use it for the opposite reason. The way in which we use the black and white effect to portray the flashback scene helps to portray the positive image that we were trying to make of our artist. This works as the rest of the video is high-key lighting which makes the audience have a positive opinion of the artist, and the black and white scene towards the end stands out as the artist’s memories as normally it’s a high-key lighting environment.
 

A convention that shows we challenged conventions from real media texts is the setting that we decided to choose. The majority of music videos in this genre show the artist in a rougher setting than the one that we decided to choose in our video. For example, in Ed Sheeran’s Lego House video we see the actor in a grotty room. In our video our artist is in a more peaceful, rural setting- one in which we thought that the audience would want to see as it gives a freshness to the genre which is an important convention because the genre needs to develop so that the audience stay interested. The setting is also something that the majority of our audience can relate to and it helps portray the artist in the star image that we wanted. It give the audience a positive attitude towards the artist and makes him likable for the male audience as they can relate to the area that he lives in and the female members of the audience will develop an attraction for the artist as they will feel a connection with him.


Another way in which we challenged conventions from real media products is the effect that we used to start the video. In Frank Turner’s Photosynthesis there is a short shot of the band out of character and messing around whilst preparing for the performance. However, in our video we decided to use a blur effect to start it which we found effective because we thought that the artist messing around before the performance would ruin the overall mood of him being a serious artist. This is a contrast to how they wanted to portray Frank Turner, who comes across as a jolly artist that’s happy to mess around- that’s part of his star image, but not ours.

 



We also use different sight-lines from real media products that we looked at when planning our video. Whilst our artist is performing the key words he looks directly into the camera- straight at the audience. However, in both Frank Turner’s Photosynthesis and Ed Sheeran’s Lego House the artist is looking away from the camera. We decided to go against this convention because we felt that it would create a connection with the audience- as it’s a technique known as exhibitionism. This is a term that’s usually used with sexual purposes, however with our artist it’s used so that the female members of the audience would have a connection with the artist and he’d become a more fancyable man.




In conclusion, we’ve stayed, developed and challenged conventions in many situations throughout our video. The conventions in which we’ve stayed in convention with real media products were used so that the genre would be recognisable to the audience and so the artist can have links with artists like Ed Sheeran and Frank Turner. Where we’ve developed conventions we’ve used them for a different effect to what the audience are used to seeing- this shows development of the genre, something that the audience want to see. We challenged conventions to make our artist seem unique and interesting- sticking to the ‘indie’ of the acoustic-indie genre.

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

What we said in text format:

Here on the front cover you can see that our artist is sticking to the conventional dress code of the genre: acoustic indie. This is used in all three media texts that we have produced, in the inlays of the digipack the advert and the music video. We made sure that we kept to this convention in all of the media texts to make sure that the genre was maintained and recognisable.

The high-key lighting used on the front and back cover of the digipack is also used in the music video to help portray the artist in a positive light. It’s also a convention that’s used in two of the inlay pictures to maintain this star image of our artist. We used the high-key lighting in the pictures and shots in the video to create a more positive look to help create the star image that we wanted to portray of the artist being likable. This would help make him more marketable as the audience will develop a positive reaction towards him. This is also represented in his clothing style and the setting used on the digipack back cover and the music video, which show him in clothes that the target audience are likely to be able to see themselves wearing, and the setting is in a rural area, where most of the target audience live, creating a connection with the audience.

The sight lines of the artist used on the front and back cover of the digipack are directly looking into the camera. This is also a convention that we use in the music video when the artist is singing lyrics to the girl, which creates a connection with female members of the audience in particular, as they feel that this ‘fancyable’ guy is looking and singing about them, creating a connection with them.

In all of the inlay images we made sure that the artist’s sight lines were looking away from the camera and audience, for the opposite reason to why we used direct sight lines on the covers and in the video. We wanted to portray a feeling of innocence and vulnerability of the artist, this would attract more female members of our target audience into finding this artist attractive, and in turn would make the artist more marketable.

For two of the inlay images we wanted to show the audience a different angle of the artist. The two black and white images are both set in a more urban setting- the opposite to the rest of all of the media texts that we produced for this artist. We decided to use this convention because it sticks to the typical forms and conventions of the genre acoustic-indie, the poorer and rougher areas where the artists normally come from. We thought that it was necessary to use this convention because it’s what the audience have come to expect to see, but with our artist we wanted to be unique and different from other artists, so the majority of the things that the audience see of our artist is a rural, peaceful setting.

From our research we found that it was necessary for a guitar to be the main prop for the artist. That’s why we used it throughout the whole music video and on the front and back covers of the digipack. We discovered that this was the main prop used in the genre acoustic-indie, and if we didn’t use it very much then we wouldn’t be creating the correct star image for this genre. The guitar is iconic to this genre and we tried to make it iconic to our artist, so that the audience would immediately associate our artist with this genre.

On the advert we used the front cover of the digipack as the main subject of the poster. This would mean that the audience would immediately recognise the product, creating awareness of the artist and the conventions that they can expect to see in all media texts that he produces.

We decided to change the inlay pictures of our digipack after filming this clip. We did this because the images weren't staying with the star image of the artist that we were trying to portray. Originally, there were four different images; two showing him in a peaceful environment and two in an urban setting.

Here are the new inlays:

We decided to use these inlays instead of the older ones because they help create the star image of the artist being a likeable man. This would help attract female members of the audience as he comes across as attractive and fun, and male members will see him as a likeable person that they could see as a friend.

3.What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Comments

Very good
Really good
Good miming
Good song
Needs more connection
More emphasise on them being a couple needed
Didn't see a storyline
It doesn't flow

 Comments

Story good and clear
Very sweet
Good style
Clear song
Indie video
Lots of guitar
Tells a story
Concept and setting fits the genre
Guitar playing is bad
Good
Similar to others

Comments
Obvious mostly
A little
Some extent
Lyrics fit with what's shown
Good lyrics
Narrative works well
More close ups of 'Hold'






Are There Any Improvements We Could Make To Our Video?
No 3
Yes:
Improve performance (mainly improve lip syncing) 13
Make narrative slightly clearer 2
Improve last shot
Improve the bedroom shot of our girl actor
Less repetition
Vary shots
Less variety







We received positive feedback about our music video, but there are some clear problems that have been identified and now these parts have been improved. We were happy with the small amount of people that thought our visuals didn’t related to our lyrics and we’re also pleased that the majority that gave feedback thought that our video met the expectations of an indie/acoustic video. Most people wanted to see more lip syncing so we re-filmed as we received a lot of criticism for this. By re-filming and improving the lip syncing scenes this has improved our music video drastically.

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