Evaluation Question 1

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

Throughout the research section of this project I decided to look into the different conventions that are used within music videos of my chosen genre which is pop. I did a lot of research on real media products to help inspire my ideas and et an insight of what is expected in a music video. Conducting this research is proven to be vital when it comes to planning a music video because it has given me guidance towards what it takes to create a music video and what works well and what doesn’t. An example of an idea that I developed from a real music video was for the motion tracking on the title of the song at the beginning. We used motion tracking for the title so it looked like it was in the frame of the shot as it moved which therefore makes the presenting of the title more interesting for the audience. The music video that inspired us with this idea was New Rules by Dua Lipa which is a pop song that uses motion tracking on the title at the beginning. 

In terms of narrative and performance, we used an equal amount of both as real music videos from the pop genre are hugely varied on how much of each they use. It is stereotypical for females to have more performance-based music videos in the pop genre which is didn’t follow as we had a male in our music video too. We challenged the conventions of performance as pop music videos contain a lot of dancing and singing to the camera where as we just used lip syncing and instruments. My target audience said they think my music video would be more intriguing and meet the standard of real media products more if I used this. One of the points in Goodwins theory talks about close ups and looking at the camera when performing which I will learn from. I used Goodwins theory of music videos as guidance on what to incorporate within my music video. So, I used a various amount of different points so that I was meeting the common conventions of real music videos.

Some of the important aspects I had to consider for my music video consisted of lighting, props, location, colour correcting, pace, etc. I learnt the importance of colour and lighting from Camila Cabello’s music video for her song Crying in the Club. The locations in the shots are very basic and don’t contain a lot of detail. However, the lighting and various colours used make the shots much more interesting and intriguing to watch. Learning from this I then considered how I would use lighting in my music video which I believed worked quite successfully. Near the end of my music video we filmed at sunset which was a perfect time for natural lighting as it really made the shots look magical and full of colour. Therefore, my shots were quite aesthetical and looked really high standard. Camila’s music video also inspired me to use black and white which I added to the flashback shots in post-production to make them clear to the audience. I believe including these conventions created a huge impact on how professional my music video turned out compared to real music videos.

In terms of conventions in my music video, my feedback from my target audience explains that aspects such as the narrative, lighting and locations meet the standard and professionalism of a real music video. A couple viewers mentioned that the lip-syncing matched the song really well which ment that the singing looked realistic. This is an example of use of hypodermic needle theory within my music video. However, the lack of some performance aspects such as singing to the camera and expression of emotion don’t meet the standard of a real music video as such. I believe the final outcome of my music video turned out professional as it meets a lot of the conventions of pop music videos, yet I agree with the pros and cons from my target audience. Challenging these conventions have allowed me to explore and understand what’s involved with making a music video so now that I have some experience, I now know what works well and what doesn’t for future projects.