1. In what way does our media product use,
develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
By Sophie O’Dell
2. Still Images synced
to the beat...
In our music video we developed the convention of using the beat of the song to
enhance our music video. We achieved this by syncing up the beat of the song
with the images and cutting them so they flashed to a different still image on
each beat. This effect was inspired by Beyonce’s video ‘Countdown’ which uses
this same technique however we challenged it by creating different images rather
than just repeating the same one. This adds more interest for the viewer and
allows us to show clearly each singer in the band.
3. Looking...
Mirror image
We developed the Goodwin convention of looking by using a mirror effect in the editing process on
two clips within our music video. The first one was of Chloe and I mirrored so there was two images
of our faces side by side, and the second was a mirror image of all three of us in the studio. We were
also inspired by Beyonce’s video ‘Countdown’ to use this convention . Although we developed it by
wearing black clothing on a white background, to enhance the dominant female pose instead of
copying Beyonce’s idea of bright colours and stark backgrounds. Other videos which also inspired us
was Rihanna ‘ Where have you been’ where they use the mirroring convention at the beginning of
the video when she is in the water.
4. Sloow motion walk – Emphasising emotion
We used the pop video convention of slow motion shots of Chloe walking towards the
camera. We developed this convention by editing the lighting on this shot so the
audience cannot see her face, emphasising the feelings of depression which are felt
through the video by the artists and also the feeling which is highlighted through the
lyrics “Cant we just make love and not war”. We were inspired to use this convention
from looking at various pop videos which used slow motion actions to emphasise
moments and emotions of the song.
5. Pop
Genre
Girl
Band
In our music video we used the typical girl band convention and Goodwin’s Voyeuristic
convention of presenting close up shots of the girl band, to enhance emotions, attraction to
the band and highlight each band member. We challenged this convention by filming the shot
in front of a bight graffiti background which emphasised the urban theme. This shot also gave
the video continuity as we used this shot for every chorus section. Our idea for this shot was
inspired by Little Mix’s song ‘Wings’.
6. GRAFFITI
We have used the convention of a motif on our pop group album release advert to connect all three
elements of our music package together. This motif is an image of graffiti which is a common
theme throughout our music video, seen on the backgrounds behind us and the use of bright
colours. This motif also creates and highlights the urban theme of our pop group. We were inspired
by Rita Ora for our theme and so went onto relate all our elements of mise en scene to urban styles.
7. Split Screen with Wipe
In our music video we used a split screen convention to show the contrasts between
our two settings. This idea was inspired from the video Intersections – Diptych.
However, we developed this convention by adding a wipe transition effect, allowing
it to smoothly wipe from one setting to another. Showing our urban setting and our
plain white room setting.
8. Repeating it slooow
Movement sped up
and repeated.
When the lyrics “White Flag” repeated at the latter end of the song, we wanted to use an
shot which also repeated to add an element of continuity to this part of the song. We chose
to use a typical pop music video convention of using an abstract shot which had been edited
, cropped and slowed down to create the bold image we wanted. We were influenced to use
this sort of shot by videos of Rihanna such as Only girl in the world. However, we challenged
the idea by cropping out just one simple movement of me falling backwards and repeated
it, we also co-ordinated my clothing (white shirt) with lyrics in the song (White flag).
9. Posterise!
Posterise Effect
On our digipak we have used an editing convention to create a common background
theme which we have also used on our advert. This editing technique is called
posterise which gives the digipak and advert a distinctive style, and also adds a unique
effect to the images of ourselves, creating artistic imagery for the consumer to be
attracted to. It also highlights the our genre of band because its artistic like our urban
theme of graffiti but also quite fancy like a typical pop theme.
10. Close up – directed to camera
In our music video we have used the convention of a close up shot which is directly
addressed to the camera. This is a typical pop girl band convention , used to attract
the audience through elements such as voyeurism. Also the close up gains interest
and catches the eye of viewers. We were inspired in general by pop music videos for
this shot, especially Beyonce’s video ‘Countdown’. However, we developed this shot
by using hand gestures to create a different image from the others in the video but
used the idea of wearing contrasting colours to the background in order to make us
stand out.
11. Ghost!
Throughout our music video we have a continuous editing convention that we have
used to maintain the audiences attention throughout, and make every shot more
advanced from its raw foundations. We have used a ghosting affect over some of our
shots like the bean bag shot, the chorus shot (in front of graffiti) and the black and
white dancing shot. This convention has allowed us to blend two or more shots
together so they can both be seen at the same time. We found this convention
particularly effective when singing the chorus as two people can be seen singing the
same lyrics up against two different backgrounds. This was a unique idea of ours and
was not influenced by existing artists for this effect