Media Evaluation: 1

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

Media concepts such as, genre, institutions, audience and representations can all relate to my media coursework. For my music video I used the single “Pump Up The Jam” by the RnB/Hip-Hop 90s band Technotronic which my digipak and magazine ad also links to. In order to incorporate the 90s era into my music video I chose to use the green screen which would therefore allow me to use Adobe After Effects to introduce the different backgrounds that I wanted to follow the genre of my music video.  As seen in my music video the actor wears multi-coloured, patterned high wasted leggings, a green crop top which shows off her waist, black patent Doctor Marten boots, a chunky necklace and orange sunglasses. Through combining all of these items, the overall result reveals the 90s fashion trend which has come back around today and links to the RnB/Hip-Hop music genre that I have chosen. When employing the edited backgrounds into my music video I included and variation of bright colours to reflect the mood of the song, along with different patterns which move in time with the song. I thought that using After Effects would be best for my music video because the actor is constantly dancing throughout the song, and therefore movements in the background would relate. The combination of a dancer and extreme edited background would work well together and reflect the genre as well as the rave scene which was founded in the late 80s early 90s and is also still around today.

Through looking into Andrew Goodwin’s theory prior to creating my music video, I knew that with the plans I already had, my music video would fall into the Disjuncture category. Although my music video could relate to performance due to the actor dancing and miming to the lyrics throughout, this is not the overall category because in my music video the actor is not part of the band, therefore the band is not performing. The actor is simply demonstrating what the band wants their audience to feel and do when they hear their single “Pump Up The Jam”. I feel that my music video best reflects Disjuncture due to my music video not having any narrative, and ignoring the meaning of the lyrics/overall song. However elements of Amplification are visible due to different effects being constantly employed through each shot. These effects are purposely drummed into the audience’s vision to reinforce the genre and era of the song. Furthermore my music video does not include Goodwin’s idea of Illustration because I have not employed a set of images to illustrate the meaning of the lyrics or the genre.

My music video links to Sven E Carlsson’s theory of performance videos, when the audience are able to see the band/artist singing and dancing throughout the video, however not live performances. An existing example of this theory would be “Rude Boy” by Rihanna which I have also looked into through researching and planning my own music video. As Sven E Carlsson says that the performer must sell their voice, face, lifestyle, etc. It is down to the performer to sell their body image. I took this theory into consideration when creating my music video because I am trying to sell a product and therefore I needed to make the audience aspire to be like the performer in the music video. I tried including this through carefully picking the correct clothing; make up, hair style, and camera shots which would flatter the performer further. Moreover I did not want to make my actor look sexual or to include the male gaze because this is not the purpose of the video. I wanted to incorporate the fact that females can dress casually and enjoy different genres of music just like males, rather than the stereotype that females only enjoy pop music.

It is clear to see that throughout my music video the actor has been including the audience. The use of direct eye contact has made the audience feel as if the music video is personal to them, and that the lyrics apply to them. The actor constantly encourages the audience to join in and dance as she is through the gestures she makes such as pointing directly into the camera and at the audience. During some extreme close up shots, the actor’s lips fill the screen and the audience focus is on her miming to the lyrics. This informs the audience that the actors is telling them something and purposely miming the lyrics towards them. For the audiences entertainment I included a range of camera shots which sustains their focus especially considering watching someone dance for a period of time could easily become boring. This also explains why I chose to use fast paced cuts from shot to shot, because it keeps the audience wanting to know what dance moves will be revealed next and how they will make the audience aspire to be able to dance like the actor.

The Magazine Advert:

My magazine advert reveals the conventions needed for a successful RnB/Hip-Hop magazine advert. From researching into magazine adverts beforehand it occurred to me that this product is mainly to sell the album and let the world know who the band/artist is. Considering this is not a new band and they were previously known back in the 90s, I decided to keep it professional and not personal to the band. I wanted to reveal that they have comeback with their hit single, however with a modern take on the RnB/Hip-Hop music genre. I included the image which is revealed on the digi-pak for continuity and so that both products link together.

Digi-Pak:

My Digi-pak continues the theme in both my music video and magazine advert, and therefore they have similar conventions. The two photographs combined emphasise how stereotypes are long gone, and are not applicable in this music video. The image is in black and white apart from the red lips, this relates to my music video as the extreme close up shots reveals the movement of the actor moving her lips to the lyrics. On the back I included the tracks on the album, however the background is faded out slightly and reveal graffiti, which reinforces the chilled and positive mood of the song, considering graffiti normally reflects negativity. On the inside of the digi-pak is an enlarged patterned image. It reflects the beats in the song, and links to how the band wants you to feel when you hear their single: crazy, movement, electric.