Evaluation Question1:

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

Music Video

Mise en SceneThese images from my music video show the locations that I used. One location I used was a graveyard. I used a graveyard because it adds tension and edginess to the video, which also goes with the song. The music and lyrics are quite sad so that was another reason why I used the graveyard as a location. A graveyard is also quite dark in the colour and in the feeling. This matches the narrative in the video and the genre of the music.

The third image shows the character in his home town. I used the home town as the location because it adds realism to the video which again matches the song. The influence I had for using a realistic everyday location was ‘Pompeii – Bastille’. This was because in that video, the character also walks around his home city.

Costume

I ensured that the costume the characters wore were quite dark clothes. Dark clothing matches the genre of rock music so to match the song and music in my video, darkish clothing were wore. I ensured that dark clothing was wore as when I researched other videos of the same genre, dark clothing was always worn. This is a convention of rock videos so ensured it would be in my video.

PropsThese images show the props that have been used in my music video. The mobile phone has been used so that the characters ring each other to meet up. The second image shows the gravestone that’s used in the video. The character in the video visits this gravestone which shows that he has lost a loved one. Unlike other videos of the same genre, I have decided not to use musical instruments. This is because I felt that a band featuring in the video would take away the narrative from the video.

LightingI didn’t use any extra lighting in my video, and instead, it was just ambient lighting that was used. This is because ambient lighting goes well with my video to make it realistic and natural. As shown on the images on the left, because it was dull in the middle of the day, I used colour correction on the video while in the editing process. I used colour correction because I wanted to create a dark look which would match the mood of the video and the song. This is similar to ‘Pompeii – Bastille’ as although the mood of the song is different, the video was made a lot darker.

Cinematography/Camera TechniquesThis is one shot that I like in the video. It is a nice panning shot which shows the main location in the video, which is a graveyard. The camera is also steady in the shot.

This is another shot that I like in the video. It is an over the shoulder shot of the main character looking at a gravestone. I have framed it at the right so the character and grave can both clearly be seen. I ensured that I used a range of shots in the video which is a convention of music videos.

To ensure that I used a range of camera shots in my video, I used a few tracking shots and wide shots as shown by the images below. Having a wide range of camera techniques is a convention of music videos so I made sure I used a range in order for my video to be the best it could be. I also started by framing the characters in the centre of the frames before they ended up at either the top, bottom or side of the screen. Being framed in the centre of the frame implies that they are the main importance.

EditingThe editing techniques that I used in the video were mainly straightforward cuts, fades in and out of black, and transitions in between shots. I used straightforward cuts to show passages of time. This is the simplest way to show passages of time so that the video’s editing stays smooth. Fades in and out of black are used at the start and end of the video which are used in most music videos. These both signify the start and end of videos. I used fade transitions in between some shots, again to show passages of time. The editing pace of my video depended on the pace of the song. The song was quite slow so I decided to make the editing pace quite slow. If the song was quicker, I would have quickened up the editing pace to match the pace of the song.

NarrativeMy narrative was about a male character losing someone he loved. (a partner or a family member) As the video and story progresses, we see that he has met someone else. The story makes up the whole of my music video.

Other videos usually either involve just a bad and their instruments or the band alongside a story. I have decided to just include a narrative, instead of the band in it which I had previously planned.

Target AudienceI found that the target audience for my video is people aged from about 16 – 40. From my audience research, I found that this age group mainly listened to rock music, and the gender that mainly like this genre is Males.

I didn't find any images of the band's gigs on google images but I did manage to find a video of a concert on youtube. I  got a few glimpses of the audience. There was a range of ages from both genders in the audience, but I think it was mainly between 18-40.

This screenshot above shows who the people are that are listening to The Calling now at this moment.  The screenshot shows how old the people are, where in the world they are listening and what gender they are. From this, I can tell that there are more males listening at the moment who are at the ages of 21, 28 and 22. There is also 1 female listening and she is aged 25. Each of the people are from a mix of countries such as France, USA, The Netherlands, Russia and Lithuania which shows how wide The Calling's audience is From this I can tell that The Calling have a wide audience in their 20s.

Digipak

My final digipak design was influenced by these images of digipaks below. From looking at these, I wanted to include photos from my music video on my digipak. The image at the bottom right includes the band name and album name at the top and bottom of the digipak. I decided that I wanted to use this technique on my digipak. The image at the bottom left shows a photo from the music video as well as the track listing. Again, this is what I wanted to include on my digipak design. For the inside pane, I wanted to include some information about the band, so, decided to include the band members with what instruments they play. This is inspired by this image on the left.

Final Digipak Design

I ensured that I used many digipak conventions on my digipak. I used photos from my music video which are the main feature on each of my digipak panes. These take up the whole of each of the 4 panes.

Outside Panels

On the front of the digipak, it’s a simple design where I have just included a photo from the music video along with text of the band name and album name. I made sure that the text stood out on the front cover.

On the back cover, I used several conventions. I used a photo from my music video as the main image, the track listing, song timings, record label logo, barcode, the band’s website, their facebook page and my name. I’ve added effects to the text so that it isn’t too simple and so that the text stands out and can be seen clearer.

Inside Panels

On the inside panels, I have used 2 main images again from the music video. On the inside left panel, I made the CD design colour grey with text of the band and album name. I put effects on this text to make it stand out. I have also included the record label logo on the CD design. On the inside right panel, I added text of the band members and what they play. Again, I put effects on this text to make it stand out so it can be seen clearer.

Website

Home Page

On my website home page, I have used many website conventions. The navigation bar at the very top shows each of the pages I have included, which are Home, Music, Tour, News and Biography. I have included latest news on the home page, along with some Tour locations. I have also advertised the new album on their. At the very bottom of the website, I have included a couple of the band’s songs. I have put these on the website through Soundcloud so the user can listen to the songs. For the colour of the website, it’s dark, which matches the genre of the music.

Music Page

On my website music page, I have used many website conventions. The navigation bar at the very top shows each of the pages I have included, which are Home, Music, Tour, News and Biography. I have described the new album with more detail, as I have put the track listing and song timings. I have also included my music video on this page for the user to view, and at the top right, an iTunes button so the user can buy the song if they wish. At the very bottom of the website, I have included a couple of the band’s songs. I have put these on the website through Soundcloud so the user can listen to the songs. For the colour of the website, it’s dark, which matches the genre of the music.

Tour Page

On my website tour page, I have again used many website conventions. The navigation bar at the very top shows each of the pages I have included, which are Home, Music, Tour, News and Biography. The title of the website is consistent on every page, which is the name of the band. I have included the 6 tour locations that I have made up, with an image of the arena showing the user where the tour is. I have also included the tour dates underneath the arena images. For the colour of the website, it’s dark, which matches the genre of the music.

News Page

On my website news page, I have again used many website conventions. The navigation bar at the very top shows each of the pages I have included, which are Home, Music, Tour, News and Biography. The title of the website is consistent on every page, which is the name of the band. I have included 2 news stories which I discovered. I have made the title of the news story bold so it can be clearly seen, and then I have discussed the news story in more detail underneath. For the colour of the website, it’s dark, which matches the genre of the music.

Biography Page

On my website biography page, I have again used many website conventions. The navigation bar at the very top shows each of the pages I have included, which are Home, Music, Tour, News and Biography. The title of the website is consistent on every page, which is the name of the band. For the biography, I have written a description about the band which includes who they are, and when they formed. Underneath the description, I listed current members and past members. For the colour of the website, it’s dark, which matches the genre of the music.