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

Beth answered this question on  her evaluation. Now that our music video is finished and edited, we must look back at the process of our work and look at where we could have improved and what we have done well.

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

The first typical pop music convention that we have used is product placemet. During research, we noticed that many leading pop starts make use of product placement. During research, we noticed that many leading pop stars make use of product placement during their videos, for example we noticed artists such a Jessie J, Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj all use product placement in their music videos. I believe this is a convention of pop music as pop artists have the power to be highly influential in their videos and give their fans an insight as to what brands and logos they support.

The next convention that the audience will see is a main one that appears during the whole video - performance. Pop music videos tend to be performance based, more so than a narrative, as the lyrics in our chosen song are quite repetitive, as a group we decided it would be more effective to base the video on performance, in order to give the audience something else to focus and enjoy. The inspiration for this came from the original 'Domino' music video, the entire video is performance based, and is therefore a pre-set success.

Soon after, we see the artist have an outfit change, as well as a change in location. This is a pop music convention, as it can also be identified in other pop songs including Domino, Hot n' Cold and Call me Maybe. This convention is used so the audience have something to keep them drawn to the video; also the settings are key in creating the illusion of the atmosphere of the music video.

The next main convention that appears is the use of an extremem close of a facial feature, such as eyes or mouth. In our video we have included a close up of the character's lips, to connote phallic imagery, to confrom with Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory. This is conventional because it can be seen in other pop music videos where the artist has been made to look seductive for the pleasure of a male audience.

 

 Typically in a pop song, the bridge has a slightly different tone to the rest of the song. To compliment this, the video must have a different image to accomodate for the difference in the tone, even when it is for a couple of stanzas. In our video we have changed the setting of the video to conform to this convention. The bridge can be seen as low key lighting, and a slightly more serious image than the rest of the song. The main image of the rest of the song resumes after the bridge.

 

Pop music videos are usually fast paced and upbeat, conforming to this convention, Domino is a fast paced song. Conventionally the cuts in the video must change with the beat. We have conformed to this in our music video in order to please our target audience. Especially towards the end of the song, as the pace of the song increases, the cuts rapidly increase, so that the video works well with the song.

Overall, our finished product conforms to pop music video conventions, as it would be expected to. We have sone this in order for our target audience to be pleased with our video, and see the conventions they would expect to see when watching a pop music video. It was with thanks to our peer feedback and audience feedback that we have determined the main conventions of a pop music video, and have applied them to be as effective as possible. Many of the conventions we have used, we have only been able to create through the use of technology. For example the use of close ups can only be achieved by zooming in with the camera, or the lighting used has been emphasised by filters available on Final Cut Pro.

Evaluation - How did you use media technologies in the construction, research planning and evaluation stages?

To answer this question Simran chose to answer it on a timeline website called TimeToast, She has created a timeline reflecting the different forms of technology our group have used. She chose to do this as it makes it easy to read and it was a more creative way of structuring the information.

Evaluation - What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Simran answered this question using a mind map, created on the website Bubbl. She chose to use this programme as she had never used it before, and it is easy to read.

Evaluation - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

This question is based on how linked the 3 products are; the digipak, the magazine promotional advert, and the music video. I have presented this through a Prezi, covering the similarities and differences between the three.

Final music video.

Below I have embeded the final music video for our group. We have done the song 'Domino' by Jessie J as she conforms to the conventions of a pop artist. Simran focused on the digipak and adverts, while Beth and myself focused on the directing, filming and editing of the video.

During our creation, we have tried to include as many conventional features of pop music videos as we could. For example, we have changed outfits and looks numerous times throughout the video. We have included evidence of the male gaze (Laura Mulvey) as it is alsways featured in female leaded pop music videos. Close ups of the face and parts of the face are also present such as the eyes and lips.

Digipak Promotional Magazine Advert.

Below is the image that Simran created for the digipak promotional magazine advert. She aimed to create the promotional advert with the same motif a the digipak, and used PhotoShop to help her do this. By doing this she has made the digipak and the advert related and associated with each other. She has used the image from the front panel of the digipak and the same typography font.

Like conventional digipak promotional adverts, she has made sure to include the main features that you expect to see. For example, the image takes up most of the advert, and she has included taglines. Also she has mentioned where the audience can buy the album.

Final digipak.

After getting feedback from our target audience, we decided to change the image on the front panel. This is because our audience suggested that the picture wasn't related in any way to the title of the album 'Uneducated', and it is conventional of the pop genre to have the two linked in some ways. Therefore we changed the picture to a different one, where the artist is looking more rebellious and mischievious, connecting to the title and theme a bit more.
Below is the final edited digipak. Simran also created a video with QuickTime showing how she edited and created the new cover for the digipak.