Evaluation Question One

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

Within this question I shall be analysing my own music video to see

whether I have developed or challenged forms and conventions of music videos, further in the analysis I shall be comparing my music video to the existing easy love music video by

Sigala.

Conventions of a music videoConventions of a music video include;• Camera shots (Music videos tend to include many long shots, close ups

and mid shots, this is to create emphasis on the artist, location and emotions. Also close ups are not only to show emotions, but to reflect the words of the song with the movement of the lips of the artist)

• Camera Movement (The movement of the camera is used to follow the artists, camera movements include pans, tilts and crane shots)

• Mise-en-scene (Mise en scene refers to arrangement of performers and props in the scene of the production of a music video or any other media text. Mise en scene puts importance on the representation of something) For example; ‘Mad’ by Neyo, in the video he is walking down the road alone; this reflects him as being isolated from his lover, also the lighting is dark which connotes a depressed and angry mood. This is just one example of how mise-en-scene is used.

• Costume (The costume goes with the scenes of the song and can reflect the genre, the costume is important as it can have a slight influence on how the viewers will dress as the artists can be seen as role models/fashion icons.

• Colour (Colours tend to set the mood of the song through creating an atmosphere, for example; usually nu-disco genre have bright colours to represent a good atmosphere as usually the songs are all up beat)

Reminder of the conventions of the Nu-Disco genre.

Within the Nu-disco genre, they tend not to have many codes and conventions because it allows more freedom when creating an idea for a music video. They tend to feature the videos about love, sexuality and other things that a young audience can relate to. The video tends to feature clubbing scenes and women with minimal clothing dancing around. The atmosphere is usually wild and crazy. The performance of the video is usually dancing, this plays an important role in the nu-disco genre, this is due to the fact that these songs are usually played in clubs and people are meant to dance to this. Overall the Nu disco genre is up beat, the narrative doesn’t have to follow the lyrics, bright colours and women in little clothing.

Form of a music videoForm of a music video generally stays

the same, they have a plot and performance, and they also include

editing, mise en scene, cinematography and sound.

Camera shots – establishing shots

Throughout my music video, I have used numerous establishing shots when filming to establish the scenes of the music video, for example, I have done establishing shots of the skate park so it is clear to

the audience where the boys are skating, as if I did it in the street, I feel it would of made a negative stereotype of the boys as usually boys with skateboards or bmx’s in groups are stereotyped threatening,

lower class youths, but I did not want this stereotype within my music video as usually nu-disco music videos are positive and happy. However I did film Connor and April in an outdoor skate park as I wanted it to be like an alternative world when Connor puts the glasses on, where when the lads are all skating, this

is because they are all talented and happy, and also Connor can get the girl that he has a crush on. Therefore conformed to real media conventions as I have used establishing shots to create emphasis on

the locations, therefore the audience can see the alternative world that is in the music video.

Throughout the ‘easy love’ music video, I have used numerous close up shots throughout to establish certain objects or moments of importance. For example near the beginning of the video, I had a close up shot of the glasses, this is because I wanted to emphasise the glasses importance as when my actor puts on the glasses at the beginning of the video, it puts him into an alternative reality and when he takes them off at the end, it brings him out of the alternative reality. I also have a close up of Matthew and Reece hugging mitch after his

flip, this is to emphasise the importance that not all groups of boys are the typical stereotype of being arrogant and rude as in my alternative reality, the group of boys are talented, and I wanted to emphasise in my video that not all groups of boys are not adhering to the negative stereotype and show that they do have love for

their hobbies; they are not all ‘heartless’. For the performance part of the video, I have close up on April’s lips as it emphasises the words in the music track and also I am still following conventions of the Nu-disco genre as

music videos do not tend to have much of a performance aspect of the artist as the artist does not tend to feature on the video.

Throughout the easy love music video, I have medium shots, I mostly have medium shots to emphasise Connors character and emotions. I have a medium

shot of when he is putting of the glasses to then put him in the alternative world, in this shot he doesn’t look very happy, and is just a normal teenager. I have a

medium shot in the alternative world when his crush comes and talks to him and also at the end I have him winking as he feels better knowing that in this

alternative world, it has shown him that not all groups of lads have a negative stereotype and they are talented. It gives the character a more positive light about

the society we live in.

Camera movement

tilt

track

Within the easy love music video, I have camera movement, this is to give different perspective angles of the lads doing tricks as it would be simply boring if it was all one movement and all one shot. In the images above I have screen shotted some of the tilt shots, I felt like having a low tilt would give more emphasis on the trick as it makes the trick and the lad’s look more dominant, to

show that they have control of what they are doing and it also makes the jumps look bigger. I also had a few track movements within the video, instead of standing and filming them go by, I wanted to track them, using the track equipment was hard because it was all a straight line so I

couldn’t always see reece’s tricks and he was simply faster than me, to overcome this, one of my friends helped me by skateboarding behind him whilst filming, this gave a much more realistic

approach in the music video.

Mise-en-scene

Within the mise-en-scene I have established parts of the skate park whilst recording my characters doing tricks, I have purposely done this because I wanted my music video to look verisimilitude. In the image above on the left, I have purposely done a establishing shot of Reece doing his scooter trick as the background of the skate park it has a urban look as it is all landscapes but it is all made with spray paint which gives it more of a skater look. I wanted this in my video for the mise-en-scene as most of the skate park is grey therefore I wanted to put more colour in it by having certain shots facing the ‘graffiti’ wall as they call it because it makes the music video look more colourful and interesting. Also within the mise-en-scene on the second image is the bowl, I specifically wanted this in the mise-en-scene as you can only have one person in the bowl at a time therefore everyone else is waiting and watching, I wanted this within the mise-en-scene as it shows the interest that all the lads have – therefore showing that the stereotype of groups of boys is not negative as they are all interested as they love their hobby, in the 3rd image within the mise-en-scene, it is more urban, I wanted to film with my mise-en-scene like this because usually lads skate outside, however during the process of my video I couldn’t film outside because it was winter when I was filming, therefore I filmed here to give the kind of urban outdoor skate park look as it is graffiti and has shutters. Therefore my target audience can relate to the video as it is the type of area where skaters usually skate.

Mise-en-scene

For the performance aspect, within the mise-en-scene I have filmed the lips, I specifically wanted pink lips because the colour

connotates love, caring and compassion, this relates to my music video as the title is ‘easy love’. Also I used purple lips because it is

bright and therefore stands out and also the colour purple connotates loyalty, ambition and creativity. This again relates to my music video easy love as the lads have ambition and creativity to

have the talent they have and also within the video they have loyalty to each other when they hug after a trick, this shows loyalty

as they are supporting each other – therefore showing that there negative stereotype of being in a group has been flouted.

Atmosphere/mood

Within my music video, I wanted to create a positive atmosphere. However at the start I didn’t want to create this atmosphere as positive as I wanted it to build up to a good atmosphere/ mood. To do this at the start I made my character Connor have a mutual expression (top left image) because when he put the glasses on, the mood

automatically changed into as positive one as when the music starts, the tricks cause a positive attitude as it brings in the element of surprise and all my characters

are talented. At the end the positive vibe and atmosphere of the music video is highlighted, as at the skate park, the the character falls off, he laughs afterwards (top right image) this shows not all boys in groups are intimidating or aggressive.

The two lads on the bottom right are smiling and talking – this again shows that not all groups of lads are not the stereotyped as they are labelled (threatening or

arrogant) instead they are happy, content and talented. And the bottom left image shows that this alternative world has had an impact on how this character sees

society as not all stereotypes are true.

Costume

For the costume of my character Connor, I couldn’t have him looking like a skater as it would make the video look confusing, therefore I asked him to dress like a stereotypical teenage boy, this is because he is the character in the ordinary world and he goes into the alternative world when he puts on his glasses. Also teen boys watching the music

video can relate to Connor as they have a similar clothing style to him.

Costume

For the female costume; I asked April to dress as a stereotypical teenage girl which consists of a leather jacket, skinny jeans and healed boots. I asked her to dress like this as it is what usual

teen girls look like, therefore when my audience (teens) watch the music video, they can relate to April as her style is the teen girl look. Also April has a skinny figure therefore she looks good,

it sounds horrible but I wanted my character to be like female characters in existing music videos (which is skinny) as I wanted my music video more verisimilitude to reality. Usually in

music videos you see skinny or slightly curvy girls in, therefore I am adhering to conventions of music videos. Laura Mulveys theory the ‘male gaze’ could be adhered to my female character as the shoes make her legs look longer, therefore other women could be admiring Aprils long legs

and want to take that part of her identity and apply it to themselves and also males may look at Aprils legs and see her more of an object as they see long legs and slim figures as attractive.

Costume

For the skaters, I wanted them to look verisimilitude so that other skaters watching the music video can relate to them (as they wear similar clothes as to what the boys wear) therefore I just told them to wear what they would usually skate in. When recording I could see similarities in their costume, which was that they all had skinny jeans, vans or gripped trainers, a baggy top and some had a hat as an accessory. I asked my friend Matty why he wore what he was and he told me that he wore baggy tops because they were comfy and allowed him to stretch, his vans were a popular skateboard shoe, he said his skinny jeans were comfortable and they were still

stretchy enough for him to be able to move round in, he wore a hat with a skateboarding logo to complete the look.

Costume

I wanted to use the colour purple on Aprils lips as it is bright yet a different uniche lipstick to wear, I felt pink lipstick was too feminine when miming the lips, however purple is a mix of blue and red and purple connotates loyalty, ambition and creativity. This makes the video more uni-sex than more feminine as I didn’t want to give the idea that this video was targeted at mainly women.

Colour

I wanted to give a positive atmosphere within the music video, therefore I wanted it to be colourful, as the skate park is dull, I tried to get more establishing shots of the

tricks to show the coloured and graffiti walls in the skate park, I had a close up of Aprils bright purple lips, I did medium shots of the bikes and scooters – which were

different colours. This is because I wanted to reflect the nu-disco genre as it is mostly played in clubs where there is a lot of colour due to the flashing lights.

ColourOne of the problems was weather, I wanted to film on a sunny day to re-enforce positivity but only the people who I wanted to film could film on Wednesday last period when we was all free

as they all had other college commitments. Therefore I have broken conventions of the nu-disco genre because it looks dull, therefore not

creating the positive atmosphere that I imagined. I had to overcome this by filming

when it was cloudy as I needed the footage for editing and my cast members couldn’t film any

other day. If I had to do this project again, I would perhaps try more to find people with

more available time to film as I would of liked to of filmed when it was sunny.

Editing

From watching other nu-disco genre music videos, I saw that the editing was fast pace to match the beat of the music track. In my editing I did fast pace editing as my music video is beaty and is rather fast, for example; above is

screen shots of different shots in a extract of the music video of the trick section, the shot pattern goes like this; 3,3,3,4,3,2. This is showing that my shots are short as they are lasting 4 seconds at the most. I wanted to make the pace of my video faster but I found that when I was making them 2/3 seconds each, they were getting too fast for the music, therefore I had to

range them from 2-4 seconds long.

Here is the existing products, I shall be analysing this existing product of ‘easy love’ by Sigala and I shall be comparing it to my music video to see whether I am following

conventions of real media products. Sigala’s ‘easy love’ is a good video to compare to because it is the same genre as mine as it is the same track but a different music video.

When I was watching Sigala easy love, I liked the beginning of the boy on the bench as when I saw it, it looked dull, therefore when the music

started, I didn’t expect it to come out colourful or positive as I thought it was going to be like a indie genre music video. I wanted to create this element of surprise in my music video because I wanted to keep my

audience entertained. Like the easy love by sigala video, I used the idea of a bench with tree’s behind him and a dull background. However in my mise-en-scene I had my character sat on the bench of a skate park as it gave a urban look, I didn’t have Connor sat on a bench like the easy love music video because when I tried shooting him on a bench, I couldn’t see the dull background to reflect his mood as the bushes were in the way, therefore It did not look very professional and but in the out door skate

park the audience can clearly see the dull background to reflect Connors face emotions – which is blank. This is showing that I have not challenged forms of media as I have used existing idea’s in music video and used it

as a pastiche in my music video.

‘Easy Love’ Music Video by Sigala My Music Video Version of ‘Easy Love’

Like the official ‘easy love’ music video, I have used the low tilt shot. This is because in the easy love music video by sigala, it made the music video look more interesting as not all the same shot was being used throughout as it was varied and also the low tilt made the boy in the glasses look dominant. I wanted to use this in my

music video as I wanted my alternative world to look dominant as I wanted to emphasise that the stereotype that boys have in groups

is not true as in my music video the boys are all talented and caring. I also wanted to show dominance of the trick as the low tilt

makes the trick look bigger. This shows that my music video is using forms and conventions of real media products as this comparison of screen shots of the existing official easy love music video and my music video are using different camera shots and movements to

create different effects such as dominance and emphasis to make the music video look more interesting and appealing to the target

audience.

Within the mise-en-scene I have created abit of a urban look through the use of the old skate park and in the skateboard section of my music video. When I saw the

official easy love music video, I liked the use of the spray paint as it made the music video look more real as abandoned areas are usually graphited by teens, it could also

re-enforce poor areas as usually teens in poor areas are negatively stereotyped because they are not in control of the media most of the time and as Tessa Perkins

says ‘there is always some truth to a stereotype or there wouldn’t be one’. Therefore I wanted to re-enforce these ‘poor’ and ‘urban’ areas as I wanted to show that just because a teen is poor, it doesn’t mean that they do not have potential as they are

usually shadowed with a negative stereotype which they do sometimes adhere to (in social media there was the London riots and the Brighton beach incident with the

Mods V Rockers, teens were heavily blamed by the media), instead I wanted to show a positive side of urban areas, that not all teens are the ‘negative stereotype’,

instead they are positive as they are talented and caring, this is re-enforced in my music video as I have urban area’s in my music video but all the lads are talented as they can do some big tricks and they are all supportive of each other which can be

shown in the mise-en-scene when other lads are watching Jake in the bowl and after Mitch’s back flip, Matty and Reece hug him. This is an example of how I am challenging forms and conventions of media products as I am challenging

stereotyped but also I am using forms and conventions of real media products within the mise-en-scene because I am using the importance of the representation of teens,

as I want to show that they are not always negative stereotype that society labels them.

Within the ‘easy love’ music video by sigala, I saw more establishing shots within cinematography, especially when the characters were dancing as you could clearly see their talent. I wanted to implement this within my

easy love music video as I wanted establishing shots to define the mise-en-scene (the skate park) and I wanted to emphasise the characters when

they were skating. This is an example of how I am using forms and conventions of real media products because I am using the establishing shot within my music video to create emphasis on my location and the

artist.

When watching the ‘easy love’ music video, I noticed the shot of the close up where he had a mutual expression but the mise-en-scene had a dark atmosphere to reflect his mood as lonely and sad (reflected in the bench as he is sat on his own). But when the music started after he put on the glasses, the mood was happy and this came as

a surprise to me in the music video as I thought the video was going to be a sad story. I wanted to use the dark atmosphere in my music video, therefore I filmed on a cloudy day, however instead of using a close up, I used a medium shot as I wanted

to emphasise my characters emotions but I also wanted them to show them the dark day to reflect the mood on my characters face within the mise-en-scene. This is an example of how I am using forms and conventions of real media products as I am

using medium shots to define the characters facial emotions – which is mutual but I am also using the mise-en-scene to highlight the importance of the cloudy sky,

which thurther emphasises my characters emotions as it is showing him as lonely and confused.

Within the mise-en-scene throughout my music video, I wanted to represent the importance of talent and the character's, which are boys as I wanted to show that the representation of youths is not always true as they are stereotyped ‘violent’, ‘trouble’

and ‘intimidating’ but I wanted to show that they are not, because although Tessa Perkins has said ‘there is always some truth behind stereotypes’ it can also be argued

that not all teens adhere to the stereotype. I got the idea of representing them positively from the official ‘easy love’ music video by sigala as all the youths display talent and its colourful to reflect the mood as positive. Therefore I have used forms

and conventions of existing products as I have the characters in my music video displaying talent in the skate park and I have used bright colours such as the purple lips in the performance extract, I have used colour throughout by using shots of the

skate park with the graffiti background and I have used the bright lighting of the skate park as all these elements have made the music video look more positive as it is

bright and it shows talent through the tricks that the characters perform. I have also used costume, I got the idea from the existing easy love music video by sigala as the dancers are all wearing trainers, shorts and tops that they can stretch in, I am again using conventions of real media products as my character's reflect the skate board look as they are all wearing similar things such as sporty or skater brands, skinny

jeans, trainers and a hat which is used as an accessory. Therefore skaters watching this will be able to relate to my character's as they wear similar clothes and perhaps will be watching the tricks and relating to them as they also may be able to perform

some of the tricks that are shown in the music video.

Within the mise-en-scene I originally wanted to shoot the characters doing tricks outdoor in the local skate park as it has just been re-vamped (2 images on the far

right). However due to the weather and the time I started the project, it was winter therefore it was cold and it was unfair to ask the boys to skate outside where it was

damp as it was a hazard as they could only properly perform stunts if it was dry as the dampness tends to cause accidents to happen, to solve this issue I had to film in a

indoor skate park (top middle image). I got the idea of filming outside from the easy love music video by sigala (image on the far left) as I liked the look of the urban look as normally skaters skate anywhere; especially abandoned urban sites with lots of

objects to do stunts on and also it is usually poor teens who live in urban areas therefore again I could be showing that poor teens in urban areas are not all the

negative stereotype that most people in society think they are. This is an example that I am using real media products forms and conventions as I am using the mise-en-

scene to show the importance of the representation of the character's but I am also challenging forms and conventions as usually in music videos, tricks on bikes are

filmed outside to give a sense of reality as skaters are more likely to skate outside as it is expensive to skate indoors, however I could not film outside due to the weather, I could only get little parts of the filming outside, which is when Connor puts on his

glasses as he was not skating, therefore there was no hazard for him.

Within the mise-en-scene I used the glasses as an alternative world. From watching easy love music video by sigala, I liked the idea of when the boy

put on the glasses, the world turned brighter and it was almost like a alternative world where everything was positive. I wanted to reflect this in

my music video. From the images above, I have used similar mise-en-scene and cinematography to create the effect of a alternative world. This is an

example of how I have used real media products conventions and forms as I have used similar cinematography and mise-en-scene to define the

importance of the glasses to show an alternative world.

Within the mise-en-scene I have used scooters, skateboards and bmx’s to perform the tricks on the music video. I got my idea from the existing easy love music video as at the beginning I saw the girl go by on the scooter, I didn’t want to pastiche the entire music video as I wanted to make it my own so instead of having the dance aspect – I changed it to a part where all sorts of tricks were displayed to showcase talent and I also added in a performance aspect (the lip sync). This is an example of how I have used

existing forms and conventions of real media products because I have used a talent such as skateboarding to reflect a positive attitude within the

music video as it shows the talent of the characters, this conforms to my nu-disco genre because usually the music videos have a positive attitude

as the music is usually played in clubs – where people are happy.

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

Overall from the analysis of my own music video and from the textual analysis that I have compared my own music video to the existing ‘easy love’ music video by Sigala, it shows that I

have mainly used forms and conventions of real media products. I have used forms and conventions of real media products because I wanted my product to look realistic, like a real

music video. I did this by using different camera movements and shots (low tilt, track, establishing shot etc.), using location (in door and out door skate park) and teen characters (group of skaters) within the mise-en-scene to show the importance of representation, using

bright colours (bright purple lips) to reflect a positive attitude and being specific in costume in order to reflect my character’s personality so the audience can relate to them (such as the

skaters in a typical skater outfit) . I have challenged some conventions of real media products such as stereotypes (Tessa Perkins) as I wanted to show in my music video that not all groups

in urban area’s are the negative stereotype that they are labelled in society, as the video reflects the group of boys in a positive way as they are all talented and supportive of each

other. Within my genre there are not a lot of codes and conventions as it allows more freedom when creating the music video, however I think I have conformed to my genre as my music

video features the element of love, but not just in the way that a couple may love each other (Guy in glasses, Connor speaks to his crush), I have reflected that people can have love for

other things such as the things they do (such as the boys love their skating). I have not used the clubbing element, therefore I may have challenged the conventions of the nu-disco genre

this way as I have replaced the dancing with skateboarding etc.. I did this because I didn’t want to fully copy off the existing ‘easy love’ music video and I wanted to relate to my target

audience as not all teenagers will be old enough to go clubbing.