Evaluation - Question 1

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

During the research aspect of creating my media product, I learnt much about the conventions of existing music videos. I discovered that camera work was one of the most important aspects of a successful video. For example, close ups and midshots are of particular importance in a music video to introduce the artist and create a relationship between the artist and audience. I used this often throughout my own music video.

Stills from my music video:

Similar examples from existing music videos:

For the most part, I avoided using lip-syncing in my music video. For my song choice, I felt like this wouldn't have been appropriate for the indie genre. I felt like lip-syncing would take away from the anonymity of my artist, which is one of their key aspects. However, I included lip-syncing of the lyric 'facedown', the song's title. I think this is effective because it makes the title stand out and known to the audience, therefore making an impact. This is also particularly effective as 'Facedown' is the album name.

I used a lot of tracking shots in my music video. Shots of my male character walking were used, which are particularly effective as the movement adds energy to my music video. The shots were filmed with the camera person walking as well, which help to create this energy, as opposed to being stationary.

I challenged conventions in my music video by not having my two characters interact with each other. This aided me in showing the distance between my characters, which was of importance to the story within my video. By having the characters never appear on screen together, I was able to create a sense of not only physical distance, but also emotional distance.

In addition, I challenged the indie genre by not including instruments in my video. For example, music videos such as Arctic Monkeys 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor' is purely performance, with the band performing their song in a live studio setting. 

At no point in my music video do you see the artist playing their instruments or performing live. This is due to the nature of the song. The song, 'Facedown', is instrumental for the majority of it, and the nature of the song is very ethereal and the way the track is produced is very digital. It would therefore have seemed very out of place to suddenly have my artist playing instruments in the video.

The two characters in my music video were both young and attractive people. This appeals to the target audience as they are relatable. This is reinforced by the use of neutral locations. This means the target audience could place themselves into the video, relating it to similar locations they know and are familiar to them.

I also learnt a lot about digipak conventions. A digipak is designed to fold into a square CD case. They can have any number of panels but typically they have 3: a front cover, a back cover and an internal panel, as well as artwork to cover the actual CD. At least one panel of a digipak usually features an artist image.

The front cover is the most important aspect of the digipak as the images and artwork are what draw the audience in. It is important that this is appealing to the audience and eyecatching. The front cover also features the song/album title and the artist name.

Magazine adverts are usually just the front covers of the digipak in a poster with messages underneath it saying when the album is out for release and any other important details needed.


For the most part, my digipak and magazine advert follow the conventions of a digipak. The magazine advert is the same image and text as my digipak front cover. This effectively creates synergy across the different texts. The image used also links to the opening shot of my music video. 




I challenged conventions with the image of my artist I used for my digipak. I stuck with the theme of anonymity that it is important to my artist's image and used an image which enforces the artist's image while still keeping their face hidden. I feel this is particularly effective.

 

 

 

This is often used by artists such as The Beatles, Drake, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift on their album covers. The use of anonymity in the artist's image does not take away from the artist's identity, but in fact adds to it by making them iconic. They are still instantly recognisable, and the covers' immediately identified as their own.