In What ways does your Media Product use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products?

A convention, simply defined as ‘a way in which something is usually done’ is a significant part of the production and planning stage when creating a product medium, or at least they must be considered and analytically analyzed first. The reason being for this is, is that audiences feel extremely confident and appreciate conventions throughout all kinds of media platforms, although each media

platform may differ, for example music genre conventions will be different to film and video game conventions. This is due to different target audiences; each media platform will attract different types of audiences, for example the film industry will not be looking at the same conventions as the music industry, because audiences want different things from each platform. Otherwise there would be no point of having different types of media

platforms, as they would all blur into one.

A list of typical music genres that I looked at:

• Alternative Music• Blues• Classical Music• Country Music• Dance Music• Easy Listening• Electronic Music• European Music (Folk / Pop)• Hip Hop / Rap• Indie Pop• Inspirational (incl. Gospel)• Asian Pop (J-Pop, K-pop)• Jazz• Latin Music• New Age• Opera• Pop (Popular music)• R&B / Soul• Reggae• Rock• Singer / Songwriter (Inc.; Folk)• World Music / Beats

After researching a variety of music videos and songs I narrowed down my choice of genre to; indie, singer-songwriter, pop and

dance. I chose these both because they represent my own taste and preference in music, but also because after researching YouTube videos for each genre these were the four that I felt had strong conventions, and clearly defined. I then chose to look further in to indie and singer-songwriter. Although I love indie conventions, and the unique, almost ‘trippy’ editing, I felt that realistically to achieve a successful music video with similar conventions wouldn’t advertise my skills as well as another genre might. Therefore I chose to study and research singer-songwriters like Ed Sheeran, Ben Howard, George Ezra and Sam Smith. Having researched multiple music videos I focused on the main conventions of these artists, for example the frequent occurrence of the guitar, casual clothes, natural lighting, alongside natural environments and settings. The narrative is also extremely similar throughout the videos, and if not then they still evoke melancholy and cause the audience to feel empathetic to the artist. George Ezra is a more current artist and appropriate for ‘contemporary media’. His most current and well-known song is “Budapest”, however I wanted to take advantage using an album track that hasn’t been released as a single. This gave me the opportunity to be put my own take on it, without comparison of an original George Ezra music video. In my music video I used generic conventions to engage the audience’s by creating a sense of familiarity. Misé en scene and representation is extremely important to think about and develop when executing a music video; therefore I used it to my advantage by making it a focus point throughout. The clothes that are worn, evoking indie, singer-songwriter connections, to the natural lighting and settings used, for example no strobe lights, or busy places. The locations are sparse, allowing the video to become all about ‘his own’ feelings, no one else is relevant, but just George and his melancholy. The props that were used also very

conventional, for example the guitar, and the photo album. Nearly all singer-songwriter’s, if not all of them use or at some stage have performed with a guitar, proving that this familiar link will be aesthetic for audiences; connecting them to the music video. Genre plays a role in the relationship between audience and the producer so it is extremely important to approach the conventions thoroughly.

For my digi-pack and poster I also used a variety shots to evaluate body language and facial expressions, for example whether George is looking away or at the camera. Having looked at multiple posters and digi-packs from both George Ezra and other artists use multiple techniques and shots, therefore I incorporated this into both my secondary products, using a variety of shots. This is also stimulating for audiences as although a sense of familiarity is

important, audiences also crave originality. However in this digital age, the genre of singer-songwriter’s has transformed closer to the genre of ‘POP’, meaning ‘popular’. For example Ed Sheeran’s new album is less

conventional of singer-songwriter, and closer to the conventions of pop. For example in his new video,

“thinking out loud” there are scenes of dancing, the setting is high profile and important, making him seem part of a dance routine rather than the focus point, disconnecting him as the artist from the audience. The song itself

and video is less personal, leading towards the genre of dance and pop. The lack of conventional props and clothes also enforce this idea of a hybrid genre emerging, the two genres working hand in hand to create a different effect on audiences. The choice of clothes is more formal, again making the aesthetics of the video the focus point, not the narrative, gradually taking away the familiarity of singer-songwriter techniques. This also opens up a bigger range of markets for Ed Sheeran to work with, as he can attract and connect with both target audiences. Although Ed Sheeran and other artists closely

linked to him chose to adjust and reform closely to the genre of POP, due to high success rates, I wanted to form more closely to another genre.

Due to audience feedback, I wanted my music video to share some connotations of indie representations, for example in my video I used an indie, almost hipster blanket for George to lie on. I also used clothing that could represent both genres, however leading more towards the more average clothing, which is generic of singer-songwriter. The story line could also be read as indie, as it is very typical ‘love-story’ for this genre. However I didn’t adjust too much to the genre, as I wanted the main genre to be typically dinger-songwriter.