media forms and conventions

1. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE,
DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
Sophie Blank

2. What are forms and conventions
What is a media form: A form is the overall shape of a media product for example a music video. Any media
form will determine the medium used, the length (time or space) of the product and the content.
For a music video:
◦ Medium that is used- a music video is made in video or film format
◦ Length- 3-5 minutes
◦ Content- either a performance, narrative, lip sync, stylistic elements
What is a media convention:
Conventions are the established features and style of a media form e.g the conventions of a pop video- high
key lighting, bright colors, lots of close ups of artist. There are two types of conventions: symbolic and technical
◦ Symbolic: relate to Mise en scene, costume, props, location/setting, color, make up
◦ Technical: styles of camera, editing, lighting, sound

3. TECHNICAL
CONVENTIONS

4. 4 real media products
◦ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8yix8PZKlw - FKA Twigs
◦ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndBeURa_P4o - Brika
◦ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WewK7ubydKQ - Flo Morrisey
◦ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvSXQo8040c - Robyn Sherwell

5. Expressive camera work
We wanted to achieve soft, slow and smooth camera work in our
music video so that it supported the movement of the chiffon and
represented the gentle and slow track.
• Close-ups: This convention was used effectively in FKA Twigs
music video ‘Pendulum’. These were very extreme compared to
ours and we thought that it build recognition of the artist and
emphasizes on her star image so we used similar shots in ours.
• The close-ups in our music video also put emphasis on the lip
synching of the song as it matches the track and as a result the
audience will believe that she is really singing to them and creates
an intimate relation between the audience and artist.
• The use of 85mm lense enables us to see the details such as the
golden makeup (lips and eyes) that are a colour theme
represented through out the music video.
The different equipment we used:
• Camera dolly track
• Crane
• Tripod
• Camera with 85mm lens and
narrow depth of field

6. Expressive camera work
• The use of 85mm lense enables us to see the details such as the golden makeup (lips and eyes) that
are a colour theme represented through out the music video. 85 mm and lighting work together-
lips and eye makeup, shows details on her face, soft texture, supports the star image. We were
inspired by FKA Twigs and Brika’s music video- both have very defined makeup and that is because
they used the 85 mm or something similar to get that detail in the shot.
• Dolly shots: We used some shots done on the camera dolly to make it our music video visually more
interesting as most shots were still. These were also used to introduce the artist. The movement of
the image reflected on the movement of the fabric and together mirrored the pace of the track.
• The dolly shots were also effective as they gave depth to our minimalistic set and made it seem
bigger than it actually was.
◦ All the videos that were an inspiration and that were the same genre show a slow and smooth camera
movement and use of slow motion to support the pace and rhythm of the song.

7. Editing
Here are some of the editing tools we have used:
◦ slow motion
◦ slow editing pace
◦ discontinuity
◦ slow motion
◦ smooth camera movement
◦ natural colors/lighting
◦ artistic shots
◦ low saturation used and then color grading to bring out the gold (dress, fabric, makeup on face)
◦ contrast between high/low saturation
◦ shows inspiration of beautiful things such as water

8. Editing
The editing matched the pace of the sing to emphasize the tempo and emotion of the music.
Offline editing:
◦ We saw that a lot of discontinuity editing was used in electronic/songwriter videos because it shows a
strong relation between the star image of the artist and the track. This also made the visual and aural
elements work well together and made the images match the sound.
◦ Rhythmic editing: We used cross fading in between each cut so that it would support the rhythm of
the track. Although the song is slow paced there is still a strong beat that you can hear in the
background and we made sure that the editing and rhythm corresponded.
◦ Incorporating a closeup of the artist after a sequence of shots was intentional because we wanted to
encourage the star image that we were trying to convey and also put emphasis on the artist and
audience relationship as she is directly singing to the camera. long duration close-up in the middle of
our video to show the details and to promote her star image.
◦ Slow motion: supports the chiffon flow and the slow track.

9. Editing
Online editing:
◦ Cross dissolves, fades, colour grading, opacity layering.
◦ Although the chiffon covered our singer for a lot of the sequences we shot (this was because we used wind
machines), we decided use it as a transition whenever it covered her face and it was quite effective in the end. The
chiffon made it blurry we used that effect and added a cross fade to make it as natural as possible.
◦ Cross dissolves were important in our video because they made it look original and highlight that originality in her
star image.
◦ Low saturation and color grading- to bring out the gold because we wanted to see the details on the dress, fabric,
makeup on face. We thought it was very important for the close up shots to be visually clear and aesthetically
pleasing for the audience because the purpose of the video is to show the fluidity of the image through out the
song. (closely synched with the song)
◦ Increased the red tones: changed the colour to copper creating a metallic and luxurious colour theme.
◦ Heightening the details was very important because as a final product we wanted to promote an aesthetic video
with unique and original features. These included lines, folds, facial details. With a slow paced video, as audience
you focus on the details and it wouldn’t look professional without enhancing those details.
Colour grading
before and after

10. ◦ Cross fading/dissolve:
Rihanna’s video ‘What Now’ was a
good example for us to use for cross
fading it also made a visual
connection between both different
shots. It’s also original and not many
artist use it. We decided to use this
technique to enhance the relationship
between the dancer and singer and
connect them visually. The use of
chiffon is also really effective as it
melts in between the shots. We really
liked the different effects used in
Rihanna’s video as they were unique.

11. Lighting
◦ artificial lighting on the sides of the set
◦ diva light (triangle), soft lighting
◦ the light catches the details of the set to fit
the track
◦ You can see the similarity in our music video
and FKA twigs’s music video, the artificial
lighting is used effectively to make it natural
as possible although it is shot in a studio. We
are able to see natural shots where the
lighting really helps the audience determine
what kind of music video genre we are trying
to portray.
◦ On the other hand, if you compare our music
video to Flo Morrisey’s video which is shot in
the nature and there is no artificial lighting.
◦ We wanted the studio to be quite dark but
gently lit to connote the softness of the song
and also for the light to catch the details on
Simy’s face (make up) and dress.
◦ Although, some of them are shot at a location
and others in a studio all of them show very
soft lighting.
◦ You could argue that all the videos have an
element of natural light and a natural setting
surrounding them.

12. Symbolic use of color
◦ We specifically chose to use dark colors (black and gold)
because we thought it was quite a truthful song and
had a strong meaning and therefore this juxtaposes
most pop songs as they use a lot of bright colors and
there isn’t a lot of meaning behind the music video. Our
music video is moody and elegantly dramatic and the
color that we used for the chiffon (gold and black) and
for the dress (gold) really fit in with the song and
movement.
◦ In our music video and the other music videos we
analyzed, the colors used are very simple and natural or
even black and white. Because we only chose to shoot
our music video in a studio, the color scheme doesn’t
vary compared to Brika’s video for example. We
originally had different sets so the colors scheme would
have been different through out the video because we
wanted to use a ink drops in water as background and
edit Simy lip synching on top of the ink.
◦ Brika’s video- different elements (different color themes)


13. SYMBOLIC
CONVENTIONS

14. Stylised set
◦ The song we chose is from a singer-songwriter and electronic music artist but it
has a natural touch and elegant feel and therefore we wanted to incorporate that
idea into the set.
◦ The use of gold and black connote the themes of elegance and luxury. We didn’t
want to have any extravagant colours because we thought that would be more of
a pop music video.
◦ We wanted to set our music video in a studio because we believed that if we used
a black backdrop with some fabric hanged across the set would focus more on the
artist instead of using actual locations like the two music videos that we saw above.
We thought shooting in the nature like Flo Morrisey’s video would look
aesthetically beautiful and would support our theme but then the audience could
temporarily focus on the background and not the artist. We analyzed: 2 naturalistic
videos set outside, 2 shot in a studio to decide which one would be mos suitable
for our genre. fake location, stylized- luxurious and elegant
◦ Flo Morrisey’s ‘pages of gold: we really like the integration of black and gold as it
gave an expensive and elegant look. The repetition of the black and gold created a
motif that was constant through out the video and we thought was effective as it
reminded the audience of the artist’s star image.
◦ We wanted our music video to look elegant and of high quality. This is why we
used the transparent light chiffon is aesthetically beautiful to watch. We made
some research of magazine shots and fashion shoots that inspired us to magazine
photo-shoots, linked to fashion images
◦ We used fabric because it gives a surrealistic aspect and dreamlike quality. It also
supports that idea that it looks like a magazine photo-shoot as fabric is not a
common material and it stylistic and fashionable.

15. Costumes
We decided to use this gold
chiffon pieces along with a flowy
dresss made out of the same
material to suggest elegance and
supports the electronic genre
that we were trying to convey. If
we compare it to Brika’s video,
although she has 3 different
elements in her music video, we
were inspired by the fabric
moving swiftly and how it really
supports the pace of the song
that we chose.

16. DIGIPACK

17. Lana del Rey was an artist who inspired us for the digipak as
you can see the image used for the front cover is quite striking
and this is what we tried to aim for. However, the pictures shot
outside in a garden do not fit with our style because we want
the audience to focus on her image and not be distracted by
the background.
We really liked FKA twigs Digi pack because it was really simple and that
was our aim in the video to make it simple and beautiful to watch. You ca
see the similarities of her digipack and our where we didn’t want to use a
font that was too different. The only thing that was very different from th
image used for the front cover was very different from the one we used
and we decided to change the image completely as we thought FKA Twig
was a it too abstract and edgy and it would not support our idea.
We really liked Ellie Goulding's digipack especially the font and
layout of the product. The image then again is very striking and
would be the kind of image we wanted to use.

18. WEBSITE

19. • I was inspired by the Yuna website
because I thought the simplicity of it
was what we were aiming for for our
video and our website. The Pastel
colors are a bit too colorful but calm.
• I liked the fact that when you open the
website the first thing that comes up is
the most recent music video and we
wanted to do that for our website as
well. The gallery is quite varied but still
portrays the same style of artist
through out.
• I also liked the FKA Twigs website.
Although they changed the layout
recently, we used their old layout at
first where you have a button for the
menu bar in each corner of the page
and then a striking image of the artist
in the middle.