Evaluation 1:In what ways does your

media product use, develop or challenge

forms and conventions of real media products?

Props

One convention of a music video is to have props. This is to help keep the video interesting as it can mean there is more to look at. They can also be used to further the style of the artist as they are usually used in a way which may suggest interests of the artist.

Another convention of music videos is to show the band playing the instruments. We made a decision to not show this as we thought it would be more effective to just show Bela as we wanted her to be the main focus. Therefore, as Bela was the main focus of the video, we gave her some props to enhance her performance as well as emphasising her traits (for example waving the fan whilst looking down in the camera with sass).

Props Rihanna is seen in a

bath in one of her music videos. This prop is

something everyone can recognise. We chose to have Bela in a bath tub

to show her in an intimate setting.

We opted for a bath scene because a bathroom is a private setting which means the audience get to see Bela in an intimate setting. Also, like Rihanna, we made sure Bela still looked glamorous in the bath as this emphasises her style as they still look made up and attractive in the bath. This develops the convention of real media products.

Like Beyonce, we shot Bela holding/ dancing

with a sceptre. A sceptre can be associated with people of a high status which portrays Bela’s dominating character.

Also aids her performance.

When researching for ideas for our music video it was apparent that a common thing was to show a prop in a scene then the prop would be gone in the next shot of the scene. This discontinuity is one way to play with the audiences interest as they may be tempted to watch it again. This is what we did with the sceptre.

Costume One common convention that is key within the genre of pop/ R&B music videos is lip syncing with a number of scene changes. To keep these scene changes interesting a variety of different outfits are often used; this is to help portray the artist’s style and an opportunity to show off their star meaning. Here we can see Iggy Azalea wearing a number of different costumes within her music video ‘Bounce:

Applying this convention to our music video we made a choice to show Bela wearing five different costumes to allow the audience to see her different styles. Each costume suggests different characteristics about her which I have explained in the next slide.

Costume

Similarly to Iggy Azalea we wanted to show Bela as dominating and powerful which is why we chose a suit.

White is usually associated with innocence whereas they subvert this convention as they’re similar characteristics

represent rebellion but in a classy manner. Her suit contrasts to the waiters which emphasises her feminine power. It acts as a symbol of authority. The white fabric

of the suit is very feminine.

One convention of this genre is that you expect different costumes to have different meanings. The black shiny sparkles costume shows power. The black sparkles shows wealth which portrays her as wealthy, successful, sophisticated and luxurious. Compared to Dizzee Rascal with gold chains her wealth is shown subtly and not too ‘showy-off’. It gives Bela more confidence and she’s not shouting ‘I got money’, just hinting. Feminine class sophistication.

When researching into target audience we discovered that the main target audience for our artist was girls aged between 16 and 25. Primary research showed us that this a conventional interest of this age group was fashion. Although every outfit was different all her costumes were either black, red or white (or a combination) as this formed a link to each scene. Costume was also important in our video because we added a clothing line within Bela’s website. Bela’s costumes show off her style and help to establish her identity as a star.

Her bath scene dress is sheer fabric; This shows she is confident in her sexual attractiveness/ sensual. It is revealing as it is see through yet sophisticated, keeping her looking classy. The delicate/ expensive fabric is very feminine. The one shoulder and slit on one side of her leg is quite suggestive and again shows her confidence.

Camera

A number of different camera angles are a convention of music videos of a similar pace to our chosen track. Due to the fact music videos can be considered as a ‘boring’ form of media this helps keep some interest. We therefore took a lot of shots at different angles which was a good idea because although we did have five scenes, having different camera angles allows viewers something new and exciting as well as helping to portray various features that we wanted to show off within the video such as close ups of Bela to show her lip sync. Types of shots we took include long shots, close ups, birds eye view, pan, extreme close up and more.

The main focus was to have as much camera time on Bela so that the audience can see her lip syncing as well as moving to the track. This is a key aspect as it helps the audience to memorise the track quicker.

Camera

Similar to Lady Gaga we took a few mid close up

shots as this gives a hint of the artist’s body language,

facial expression and reveals a slight view of

their costume and upper half of their body. It is also a

good angle to identify the lip syncing of the artist.

A birds eye view shot allows the audience to see the scene from a

whole new perspective and puts them in a dominant position

looking over her as she takes a bath. This lets the audience view her

as a sexual object.Close up shots are very common.

This has a number of purposes including a close view for the

audience to admire the artist’s looks and also to help underscore

the track as well as a way of connecting to the audience by looking into the camera. It also

shows confidence combined with her performance and makes her

look very dominant.

Performance & Lip Syncing Lip syncing is one of the most obvious forms seen in a music video, especially videos of a similar genre to 1991. A convention of music videos lip syncing is the artist performing lots of different lip syncs in different locations and one of the reasons this is used is to demonstrate the fashion of the style and help build star image.

Performance is conventional within all genres of music videos. This is used as it shows off the skills and various talents of the artist. In our ‘1991’ music video we didn’t depend on props that much which was risky because Bela is a solo artist so all attention is on her. We can compare her to Ke$ha whose skill of dancing is commonly shown in her music videos. People are engaged to something that is done well and as Bela is a good dancer, like Ke$ha’s fans, Bela’s audience will want to view the video again as they had pleasure watching her perform. Her performance is a stylistic element of her as an artist which may appeal to her target audience as dancing is quite a popular hobby for many women in their late teens/ early twenties, so they have something to relate to.

It is conventional that within a music video of this genre a lot of dancing is featured. This is portrayed to show the attitude of the star. Another form is direct address- looking into camera which is to show off the artist’s confidence. Within our video Bela’s performance shows her attitude as confident and sassy as she is performing solo looking into the camera.

EditingMusic videos are very limited in their form dominated by lip sync, performances and close ups to build a stars image and recognisability. Editing is what brings all the shots together so there are a few factors we ensured we included in order to keep the video interesting.

A convention of editing a music video is to cut on the beat. This emphasises the rhythm of the track which makes the scene changes appear more naturally. We also followed the convention of matching the pace of the track to the edit. We did this by recognising that our chosen track is very upbeat so we decided to have fast pace editing as this highlights the genre/ purpose of the track.

Within a lot of music videos of a similar genre a number of different scenes are included to show off the artist’s various styles and to keep the video watch worthy. We included 5 strands within our music video but gradually introduced the different scenes and interweaved them, saving the balloon scene till later to keep it exciting. By introducing new material it helps avoid the video becoming repetitive.

Another focus point during editing was graphic matches. This is using elaborate camera work to bring in originality. The purpose of this in music videos is to add a layer of interest.

Editing:Graphic Matches

The transaction in this edit that makes it a graphic match is that Bela’s hand movements are the focus point and the movement is continued in the next scene.

In Britney Spear’s music video ‘Circus’ we see a graphic match of her doing a body roll from a side angle which is matched to the same movement in a different scene.

Here is another example of where we can identify a graphic match. This conventional editing process helps to add a layer of visual interest which keeps the audience engaged.

Website A form that artist’s have nowadays is a website for the fans to keep up to date with the artist and to admire their work. There are conventions that are applied to these websites which we have followed and adapted.

o Images on the website are a form to show off the artist and to allow the audience to admire their look. The large image of Bela on the front stands out showing she is the focus point and her body language suggests she is very confident. We broke this convention as websites usually have a collection of images but we wanted to show her in a picture where she stands out and takes the attention.

o The photo gallery is a form of allowing fans to admire her and her style. Galleries are commonly on another page, as seen on Ellie Goulding’s website but we had it on the front to emphasise her looks are a key feature to her fans.

o The font in Bela’s is unusual, modern, futuristic, stylish which has all been done on purpose to help portray her traits.

o The spike frame surrounding the main image and the sharp tip on the links suggests a slight edginess.

o Links, news feed, gallery and the name of artist on top are all things you would expect to find on an artist’s website. To help make it interesting and different to others we interpreted the conventional layout and certain features. For example we had a gallery on the front and the only links on the front page were for the navigation to other pages.

Digipak With an album cover the front cover usually consists of the name of the artist, the name of the album and an image of the artist/ band. The font of the text is usually significant as it sets the tone of the album. For example, the ‘B’ in Bela’s name is very individual as the middle line doesn’t meet the spine. This suggests she is different to other artists with her own style. The image of the artist shows what characteristics they have. Through their body language it is apparent that both Bela and Miley Cyrus are quite sassy and vein as they pose into the camera.

Digipak

A barcode can be found on every physical album cover, usually on the back

Images of the artist/ band are a convention of digipaks to help the audience recognise who it’s by

The costume is usually a give away of the artist’s style

The artist’s name followed by the name of the album is conventionally printed quite large on the front cover

The spine usually contains the name of the album so it is easy to find on the shelf

A list of the tracks within the album are usually listed on the back cover

A colour theme is often chosen as an indicator of the overall mood of the album

Rigistration and licensing information is commonly found on the back cover

Applying the conventions to our Album Cover

We chose to show off three cosutmes featured in the music video

A stylistic element we decided on was to have one image that wasn’t completely black and white. This image also emphasises her fashion which is a key USP.

We chose a vein image that was also slightly revealing to attract the target audience

The pillar adds to the glamourous lifestyle look

We went for a subtle yet unusual font for her name as it isn’t distracting attention away from the image of her but unusual enough to recognise

We decided to follow the convention of the track names in the middle but aligned them neatly

We tilted the bar code sideways to make it look slimmer

We kept the spine simple to contrast with

the busier covers

We kept the form of having only images of our artist