Evaluation Q1 - In What Ways Does Your Media Products Use, Develop or Challenge forms and Conventions of Real Media Products?

Music Video Conventions 

From watching and analysing Group 23's Music Video a number of times, I would say that we have followed the conventions of Music Videos. Carol Vernalis stated that the editing found in music videos is much more obvious when compared with the editing found in films. She also stated that music videos contain disjuncture in a rhythmic basis. 

Her overall conclusions were:

•  Obvious Edits – Jump Cuts, Transitions (Wipes and Special Effects) and Fades.

•  Rules of Continuity editing are broken

•  Base tracks are used to add structure

An example of Group 23 following the convention of Obvious edits is the rapid jump cuts we have used in our music video when the beat begins to drop. We took this idea from Beyonce - Baby Boy and I used Camtasia to present it. 
 

The flickering in our Music video helped to add structure because it featured twice so in a way we followed Andrew Goodwin's suggestion that music videos have no sense of closure or ending. Instead it build up to a climax and then fades away and then repeats the process. This is what we done.

Since we have used so many Jump cuts through out our music video, it suggests that we have broken the rules of continuity editing which means we have followed another convention of music videos, because the rules of continuity editing are often broken in music videos. Below is an example take from our music video of Jump Cuts used:

Another convetntion of music videos Group 23 followed was the idea of Base Track Editing. As mentioned earlier, Carol Vernalis stated that music videos often contain base tracks to add some sort of structure to the music video. We have done this in are video, by using three main base tracks.

We also followed many of the music video conventions Andrew Goodwin suggested in his theory of Music videos. His stated that music videos had no sign of closure or ending. Instead they will build up to the climax of the song and then fade away. This process would be repeated throughout the music video. From watching Group 23's Music video, I can definately say that we followed this convention. Our song started of very slowy and so did our music video. As the pace of the song increased are edits became more frequent and faster. Then as soon as the beat dropped the song began to slow down once again, and so did our editing pace. This was the pattern which we followed throughout are music video.


Also our Artist Karma made sure she looked and sung directly into the camera when filming are music video. This was another convention suggested by Andrew Goodwin. Which is why we decided to follow it. Also by doing this, we did gain a lot of positive feedback because member of are target audience said that Karma's eyes drew their attention inwards.


Finally we also followed the idea of Amplification in our Music Video. This is when music videos introduce new meanings that do not contradict with the lyrics but add layers of meaning. We done this through our shot types and Karma's performance. For example the lyrics of the song are quite saddening which is why when Karma was performing she had to show that emotion.

 

Ancillary Work Conventions followed

The codes and conventions of Ancillary products can also be described as the expectations the fans have for that music genre. This means sometimes depending the music genre the conventions can vary. Because our aritst was an urban pop artist, we would have to follow the conventions of a pop stars ancillary work. Furthermore are target audience would have generally been young adults and teenagers.

The main conventions of a Pop Stars Ancillary work are:

• Layout
• Colour Scheme
• Use of Image filters
• Fonts
• Similarites between Digipack and Advert

Rita Ora's Digipack did inspire the colour scheme of my Digipack because I used red, grey, white and black as my main four colours as you can see below:

However when it comes to layout, my Digipack has followed all the conventions unlike the Rita Ora's one. I have positioned my tracklist in the middle of the back cover, barcode in the bottom left, record lable in the bottom right and copy right in the middle at the bottom of the cover.  I did end up tweaking the pictures I used in my final digipack by adjusting sharpness, colours, brightness and the contrast of the image. So I guess I can say that I did use an filter on my image but I created it myself rather than using one of the presets.

Another convention that my Ancillary work followed was the similarities between my advert and the inside and outside of my Digipack. Throughout all the peices of my work, I have used the same fonts and colour schemes so straight away you can see that all three peices are for the same artist. This is important because not only do the peices of work have to be related to one another, but they also have to fufil the expectations of the fans. So if one peice of work appealed to the fans and another didnt this means I would have contradicted one of the main conventions of ancillary work.

Overall I would say I followed all the main conventions of Music Videos and Ancillary work and used them in a relatively good way because the Music Video Group 23 managed to produce looks authentic and so does my ancillary work which I am pleased about.