Evaluation 1: ‘In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products.’

The Evaluation

When setting about the consideration of first creating our music video, our group had to ensure that we gave the most realistic and professional feel available for a low budget production to create. We had to ensure that the video fitted with the general tone and style of the song as well as create shots and scenes that complimented and challenged the genre norms. This was a difficult task but crucially essential in gaining a professional and electro dance music style of video and we consistently explored genre rules to ensure that the video was original and reflected the tone of the song and our production company, but also fitted music video rules. This is essential for all modern music artist as the style of the video and the artist’s image to the listener is key in bringing in fans that are going to attend concerts or buy music from the artist.

Lyric and Music visuals

When looking at EDM (electro dance music) norms, we noticed that the majority of the time, the artist took a secondary role within the video as the songs are dance based and therefore usually hold a stronger narrative as the artist is simply accompanying the music as opposed to building their brand name.

However, when looking at up to date modern examples, within the last year, it can be said that popular established artists are taking on the EDM genre and featuring themselves in their own video’s more. For example, the video that we have taken a clip from is Justin Biebers ‘What Do You Mean.’ some larger artists such as Justin are taking on the genre as they are aware that the advances in technology allow for new catchy beats and music to be formed that brings in the largest audiences. Our stereotypical audience would be teenagers as this modern style is the most popular with this age group, but our secondary audience would be a female audience between the ages of 20-30 as they are more likely to listen to EDM music is clubs and therefore this shows that EDM music brings in the biggest audience for modern artists

Lyric and Music Visuals

Lyrics and Music visuals The first picture from the slide is a scene from our music video, it shows the protagonist (Rosie)

lip synching to the lyrics of the song during the middle of the video. She is dressed in a outfit that compliments both the modern norms of music artists (as it consists of jeans and a sports type top) and she is moving whilst singing along to the song. This makes it clear for the audience that she is having fun and enjoying herself, this fits the genre norms of dance music as often the artists are reflected as positive and happy as the music is light hearted and meant to be enjoyed. It also reinforces artist status as she's seen as the central character whilst reinforcing our domestic abuse storyline as these happy shots contrast the devastation later in the video.

The second picture is a screen grab from the Justin Bieber Music video. He also decided to heavily use himself within his music video as it also reinforced his celebrity status as all the people watching will be reminded of him and his previous music and therefore he is more likely to bring in new fans and maintain old listeners from his previous albums. The close up shots of him lip synching also fit the tone and storyline of the video as the lyrics are from his personal perspective and therefore the fact that he is included within the video is essential in reinforcing and intensifying the lyrics which insure as better connection with the artist and listeners. The dark colouring of this shot also reinforce this dark tone and ensure that he is the centre of the music video as his white t shirt contrasts the background.

The Artists Image

The Artist Image Its essential for all music companies to remain popular amongst fans as a means of bringing in a

large amount or artists for the company and therefore more money. This can be said that the importance of artist image and career has only become increasingly more important as a result of record companies no longer physically or digitally selling enough records as now over 95% of all music is illegally downloaded. This means that now music created must appeal to such as large audience as a means of bringing in some money through a primary and secondary audience or even through the uprising of DJ’s who use already established music and remix it for a new song. This is supported by the Jeromie remix cover of ‘what do you mean’ that has reached over 1 million views and therefore the rights to the original songs must be brought. Also the artists must bring in fans that are willing to see them in concert as the importance of concert revenue are essential and therefore the artists image dictates the amount of fans that they have. If a artist is seen as having a bad attitude or is unlikeable, they would struggle bringing in an audience. Also if the artist is appealing to their audience through their physical appearance, they are more likely to bring in a larger audience. This is obvious when you explore the popular artists that are within the charts currently and you can notice the majority of them are young and attractive as they are most likely to bring in a younger audience who regally buy concert tickets.

The Artist Image The first picture is a screen grab from our video of our protagonist artist Rosie standing in front of a

graffiti wall. This shot was purposely chosen by the production team, Sunrise productions, as it fit our modern image and alternative style of music that we are producing. Stereotypically, a graffiti wall would have connotations of youth, rebellion and adventure. Theses are all things that both the company and artist want to be associated with as these ideas fit the EDM genre and also suggest to the audience that the artist is modern and unpredictable, therefore bringing them in a young fan base. We also decided that this shot would be approved by the record company as it centres in on the artist and shows her in a positive light, therefore reinforcing her star image. This fits a theory created by Carol Vernallis as she explored the positive effected on maintain star image through regally using the artist in a video as it reminds the audience of the artist and keep the association of the music with the artist.

The second screen grab is again from Biebers video. It shows him jumping in the air as he and his female character, that he just saved, escape the masked antagonist characters. This storyline that runs throughout the video of him saving the stereotypical ‘damsel in distress’ character fits the image that the record company would want for Justin as it puts him in a ‘hero’ role and therefore suggests that he is powerful. This means that the fans see him as typically masculine and it bring him in more female attention.

The EDM Genre

The EDM Genre All artists that create music videos that are within the modern electro dance music genre or

any other genre, must follow some genre structures that are created within the genre. Stereotypically, there are certain rules with music video that producers use as a means of influencing the viewers as well as fitting music video norms. For example, the use of a narrative would be expected from a EDM song or a slow pop track but for different reasons. EDM music lyrics usually play a small role within the songs and therefore the video can be shaped by a storyline that helps provoke emotions or empathy from the viewer. Pop songs however may use narratives to match the lyrics of the song, for example, Ed Sheeran used a narrative in his song ‘everything has changed’ as a means reflecting the tone and lyrics of the video, therefore also provoking emotions from the audience as the song runs parallel with the lyrics. The importance of genre norms when considering the videos for certain songs in very important as they can completely change the tone or impression of the artist or the song. For example, a rap artist will use fast paced rapid editing and dark settings as a means of intensifying their ‘rap’ image. If they used an upbeat light-hearted storyline, it would draw away from the content of the song and not fit the artists star image.

The EDM Genre; Our Video Mise En Scene; Stereotypically, EDM music videos do have a narrative to accompany the lyrics as often the producers of

the music are not the same as the artist and therefore using the singer within the video would give an unfair representation of the artist. Some of the narrative within the video does fit the genre stereotypes as typically love stories are used and therefore this fits the beginning of the song. Also the use of the bright and upbeat setting whilst our artist is lip-synching would be expected as typically the narrative reflects the tone of the songs that arte usually positive. However, the abuse storyline goes against genre norms and therefore gives the artists a unique style of video. The genre norms of the mise en scene within the video are typical as the London location is fast paced and original and therefore does fit as typically the settings are popular and recognisable locations.

Editing; This is also reinforced by the use of the editing styles that are rapid and fast paced within our video, as well as being non-continuous, therefore creating a quick contrast between the storylines. The editing is however motivated by the artist as the full attention of the video is on them and therefore goes against genre norms that usually depict multiple characters to be in the centre of the frame. This therefore means that we have a unique chance to fully label our artist and bring them to the forefront of the video.

Cinematography; Another element within our video that fit genre norms was the use of the cinematography. The wide angle shots allowed us to explore location that fit the tone of the song in particular parts of the song. Also the close ups reinforce artist image as well as drawing in the importance of the lyrics to fit the narrative. Finally, the use of the high angle shots ensure that our protagonist character is seen as the most central and powerful characters, therefore ensuring this creates a stark contrast from her later in the performance when she is seen as weak in comparison to her abuser.

The EDM Genre; ‘How Deep is Your Love’ Calvin Harris

The second shot is taken from the beginning of the video where we are introduced to the female protagonist character.

Mise En Scene; The protagonists costume would be seen as fitting music genre norms as her white dress depicts her as being innocent and weak and therefore fitting sexist norms within the music industry, however, EDM regally goes against these gender norms and paints women in just as powerful roles through narrative. This fits Archers theory of music videos as he believes that they are more effective when the women has power and uses sexuality to pass the tone of the video to her audience. Also the use of the dark location creates a contrast from her character

Editing; this video also fits genre norms as it also has a large amount of rapid editing that fits in time with the pace of the song. However, it can be said that the jump cuts allow the audience to easily transport from one scene or time to another and therefore this genre norms is useful when creating music video as the producers only have a short amount of time to consider a whole video.

Cinematography; the use of the point of view shots within this video also fit genre norms as often the producers try to include the audience into the video as a means of reflecting the adventure and pace of the song as well as creating the illusion for the audience that they are in the place and therefore that they are included in the video and this intensifies the song and the video.

Intertextual References

Intertextual References In order for a music video to be successful, it must appeal to a modern audience that will be

wanting to listen to it immediately and therefore there has to be contemporary and relevant intertextuality within the song and the music video for the audience to listen to the song or became a fan of the artist. This therefore means that certain references are used within music video that would have already been established by the audience and therefore create a good ‘star image’ for the artist. For example, the rise in feminism within the 21st century is clear within a large number of videos and artists around in popular music and originally, the artist ‘Britney Spears’ used the ‘hero’ style theme in her music video ‘Toxic.’ This idea was them adopted in 2015 by another popular female artist ‘Taylor Swift’ as she used the ‘Superhero’ idea in her music video for her single ‘bad blood’ and therefore she made a reference to another independent female artist.

This therefore explains how intertextuality can help build an image for an artist. Also interxextuality can add a new dimension to a music video as the artist can mimic an already popular and established idea as a means of relating their music to that of another artist and therefore they can use other peoples ideas as a means of communicating or influencing a tone or style to their video.

Intertextual References The shot of our protagonist, Rosie, being followed by the camera as she's walking down the street

could be a reference to the already popular and established music video ‘Down Town’ by Macklemore as he also uses s a number of shots in his video where the camera tracks him walking as if it was a person following him down the street. This is effective within his video as it gives the audience the impression that they are joining in with the video and therefore this matches the positive style of the video. However, intertextually we use the same shot but to give a more sinister feeling to the video and almost to give the impression that Rosie is looking back on her relationship before the abuse. This intertextuality may not be obvious but is a nod to modern music videos and will be easily recognisable for his audience who are likely to be similar age and gender to our target audience.

The second shot is a still from Biebers ‘What do you mean.’ It explores interextuality as it play on the idea of ‘superhero's and therefore again is a reference to the Spearse ‘Toxic’ video. This fits Goodwins theory as he believes that its necessary to have a music and lyric corrolation within the video and therefore the artist explorers intertextuality and his swap from the frustrated male character literally waiting for a decision to the male character that becomes the ‘super hero.’ therefore fitting the change in lyrics and song pace towards the end of the song.

Camera Work and Cinematography

Camera Word and Cinematography The way that a camera is used in the filming of a video can make such a dramatic difference

to the perception of a music video and its style or tone. As technology progresses, its become a lot easier for artists to take full advantage of technology to maximise the professionalism and clear videos that they can cerate on an extremely low budget. This can be seen clearly within Ellie Gouldings music video for her hit cover song ‘How long will I love you,’ this whole video is filmed on the Nokia Lumia 1020 phone but still has a clear camera with a powerful narrative and good use of diverse cinematography. This therefore proves how the way the camera is used as opposed to what camera it is has an abundant effect. Some artists chose to purposely create messy and unclear looking videos that reflect the style of the song or artist. For example, the popular indie band ‘Supergrass’ created their music video for ‘Alright’ with the deliberately shaky hand held camera. This was intentional is it fit the lyrics of the song as they sing ‘we are young’ and therefore it has a unprofessional finish that you would expect from young people filming and therefore fitted the band and their image well.

Cinematography can also be used to shape the listeners opinions of a character or situation and therefore can also shape the narrative and tone of the video.

Camera Work and Cinematography To film our music video we solely used a I Phone five and a I pad. These products had to be used as our

budget was extremely low for the production of this video and therefore we had to use multipurpose products that we already owned. All though this equipment would not have been the first choice for Sunrise productions, the video was clear enough to have a good impact on the audience and still be effective for the viewers.

Cinematography, our video; within the screen grab you can see a tracking shot of our protagonist Rosie as she is walking down the street in London. We decided that this would be an effective shot as it almost suggests that she is looking at the camera as if it was the antagonist character within the video and therefore the audience see the situation from her perspective and spark more empathy for her character later in the video. This is reinforced through the use of the close ups allowing us to see distorted parts of lip synching and the protagonists face, therefore fitting the general tone of the song as well as the lyrics ‘blind heart’ as it suggests that the protagonist is living a twisted version of her life.

Cinematography, Harris; In the ‘how deep is your love video,’ certain shots and angles are used as a means of maximising the sexual shots of the female character. For example, there is a close up long tacking shot of her body that reflects the general sexual tone of the video. This fits normal EDM genre norms for music videos as they often use sexual images of women as a means of interesting a male audience and just fitting normal music video norms.

Lighting

Lighting The lighting can play a massive role in changing the tone and narrative of a music video.

Stereotypically, its know that dark colouring within a video usually provoke and connotes sadness or anger whilst brighter pastel colours usually connote happiness or freedom. This may not however also be the case, especially within modern music videos as now often artist that are working within the dance or house music genre will use low lighting as a means of creating a party style tone or creating intrigue from the audience. For example, within the ‘I cant feel my face’ music video created by the artist ‘The weekend,’ the shots are consistently dark and the surrounding setting is also dark and uses deep colours such as red and green. This was used as a means of drawing attention away from the artist at the beginning of the video as the lyrics are talking directly about a different person and therefore to diffuse the audiences attention from the artist to the lyrics of the song, the producers will use low lighting to maximise the effect and nature of the lyrics. This therefore shows the effect that lighting can have in altering the attitude and audiences opinion of the characters or story line within the videos and therefore shows how natural lighting can both help or hinder a music video depending on the narrative or producers intention of the perception of the video and how its perceived by the audience.

Lighting In our music video, we tried to vary the lighting used as a means of maintaining a varied video that

created an obvious contrast between dark and light tones within the video. The particular shot that we are looking at now is of our protagonist within the first few seconds of the video as she is lip synching after her domestic abuse attack. We decided to film the beginning of this shot slightly out of focus as this reflected the narrative and helped to add to the idea that she had only just woken after being knocked out. In this shot we decided to use natural lighting to give the video a realistic effect and to look generally scary. We did however choose a woodland area as it meant that the area was dark and gave a sinister effected that reflected the narrative of the song. This was reinforced by a dark filter that we also added to the shots just to intensify their effect as well as create a stark contrast between reality and her romantic memories.

In the ‘how deep is your love’ video. The producers effectively used lighting as a means of also creating the idea that the protagonist female character had just woken from a unknown life. This therefore supports the evaluation question as it suggests that our music video and this video fit the norms expected of modern music videos as producers often use lighting as a way of reflecting the characters emotional or physical state. Within the Harris video, the lighting progressively becomes brighter as the video develops, this skill would have been used as a means of the producers being able to quickly show the emotional progression of the character as bright lights connote happiness and strength.

Mise En Scene

Mise En Scene Mise En Scene is a key contributing factor to the creation of music videos. Costumes, locations,

colours, filters, setting and props can made a drastic difference to the way that some videos are acknowledged by their viewers. Within the modern music video industry, setting plays a role almost as big as narrative as it can be said that the location and lighting can change the viewers image of the artist or song immediately. Stereotypically, prior to 21st century music videos, the videos would have consisted only with one location usually with the artist dancing and lip-synching to their music. Music videos such as Michael Jacksons ‘Thriller’ changed the music video norms as he introduced pronounced characters, unusual costumes and original narrative to help the progression merging of music videos and film. This is supported by the popularity that his red leather jacket costume brought about as it was featured in a number of his videos and became a symbol not only for Jackson himself but the whole 80’s era. This therefore shows how small factors such as costume and performance can actually have an essential effect on the artist image and how they are seen within the music industry. Mise En Scene is always explored, even in the simplest of music videos as producers want to maximise the effect that music videos have on their audience and therefore they explore literal visual elements of the video to help fit the style and tone as well as the lyrics from within the song itself.

Mise En Scene The picture on the left is a screen shot from our music video that shows a small shot of our protagonist in a

close up lip synching shot. She is singing a repetitive section of the song and therefore the same shot is used over and over again however we changed a few elements within the shot as a means of keeping the video interesting and showing development. We decided to change the artists makeup as in each shot her lipstick colour changes from red to pink to purple. This is effective as it gives a sense of time passing and therefore reflects the rapid pace of the relationship that is focused on in the narrative. It also adds to her ‘star image’ as makeup can alter the effect of the video and adds a sense of modern professionalism. As the clip and lyrics are repeated 3 times, we also decided to add 3 different coloured filters to reinforce the sense of time progression as well as suggesting that the protagonist is young and the video is youth infused as modern technology allow for filters and therefore the video appeals more to a younger audience and fits EMD colourful and bright music video stereotypes.

The second screen grab is from Swedish house mafias music video for their song ‘Don't you worry child.’ They use a prop of an aeroplane to reinforce their star image as the low angle shot and prop gives them a sense of power and supremacy. This is essential for modern artists as they desire their life's to appear separate and different from their fans as a means of gaining popularity and an image that seems unattainable to the general viewer. This is stereotypical of a music video however goes against EDM genre norms as it does not add to the narrative of the song.

Genre Norms and EDM Discourse

Genre Norms and EDM Discourse

The two screen grabs that are featured in the slide above are both retrospectively taken from two different EDM genre music videos. Its essential for any artist or production company to sully explore their genre norms and stereotypes in order to create videos and songs that are best fitted to the audience. To find interesting ideas, often artists will use the influence of other artists videos within that genre to create new original ideas or for intertextuality. For example, when looking at other music EDM videos in order to find helpful content, we ensured that we looked at both current and old genre norms as well as videos from artists that explore a number of genres or music styles in order to maximise revenue and audience exposure. We noticed that extremely popular artists such as Taylor Swift, will create music that can be placed into a number of different genres; her older music is singer songwriter country style music, she then created pop music as well as dance music and instrumental. This maximises her audience as well as ensuring that she has a place to fall back into as her music career develops and she may find a signature music style.

We decided to ensure that our video fit the EDM genre norms as well as well as being enjoyable for a wider audience as a means of ensuring we have a large fanbase.

Genre Norms and EDM Discourse

To prove that our team has taken influence from other music videos, we ensured that we used shots and cinematography that runs parallel to other EDM music videos. Our first picture (in the top left of the discourse slide) is of a party that we decided to film at. We noticed that this was a popular setting for modern EDM music video as they are often associated with reckless behaviour as well as youth culture and therefore they fit genre norms. This was inspired by the shot used in the Swedish House Mafia’s music video as they used original clips from various world wide tours that they have performed at. This helped to further establish their relationship with their fans as well as reflect the tone of the song and the image of the band as they reach superstardom.

The second screen grab is from our music video and shows Rosie dancing in front our favourite location in London surrounded by unusual graffiti. This shot was clearly inspired by the mid shot of Justin in his ‘what do you mean’ music video as we can clearly see him also dancing in this unusual location. This clearly fits the genre norms as it creates a contrast from the darker sections of both Bieber video and our video and also again fits the genre norm of dance music as again its associated with adolescence and rebellion.