Evaluation Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge

 forms and conventions of real media products?

Magazine Advertisement and Digi pak.
I feel I have taken key aspects from both of the magazine advertisements that I analysed and featured in my blog.
These include:

• The use of bold white font for clarity.
  I felt it was important to adhere to this as it has a real impact on the successful publicising of the artist.
• A web address.
  Almost all pieces of advertisement contain a web address. I included it as it would allow the sonsumer to find more of the artists products.
• The clear indication of the release of the album, for example 'new album' and 'Out Now'.
  This is the main message to the consumer and therefore must be clear.
• A focus on the name of the artist through a different colour.
  This sets the artist apart from the rest of the information as important, as well as making it clear that it relates to the album. This is important as all of the advertisements must lead to the products as the main aim of the artist is to sell their music.
• An image of the artist.
  This helps the consumer to form a relationship wityh the artist and creates a form of brand loyalty increasing the likely hood of purchases.
• Review ratings in the form of stars.
  This allows new consumers to guage the type of music and is important in making a good first impression.

Video
In creating my music video I drew on information gathered from all of the videos I had watched throughout the project. I mainly used the earlier videos for examples of the theories of music videos; from the likes of Richard Dyer and Andrew Goodwin.
However, later videos which were closer to the genre of my track were used to learn more about the iconography and mise-en-scene of the genre.

In terms of theorists:

• I created an 'off-mainstream' star image with my video; which, according to Dyer, is part of the two paradoxes that must be understood when forming the star image.
  The second paradox being 'The star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer'
• Goodwin gives 6 criteria for setting music videos apart from other media which I will address in terms of my video.

1)Particular music genres may have their own music video style and iconography.A)From my research I saw that the music videos were focused upon a lifestyle different to that usually portrayed within music videos. Most music videos represent a lifestyle to which the audience should aspire to. This leads to the continued consumption of the media products sold by the artist(s).However, within this genre I saw a lifestyle represented as more realistic and troubling. For example, the disconnection and isolation from society seen within 'make a beast of myself'. This is far more likely to help the audience of the music video feel more connected with the artist, but does not create such an ambitious lifestyle. I feel, through keeping the artist alone in shots and by also making the artist the character, that I have managed to show a form of isolation to fit the frustration in the lyrics.

2)There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals.A)I did this by inserting references to the media; in the form of newspaper articles on polititians. In 'make a beast of myself' it is quite obvious that other characters are scared by and try to separate themselves from the singer. I would suggest that this is the connection to the beast in both the title and the theme of the song. 'Diamond days' is less literal however the excitement and happiness shown with the two characters is shown to be of high value to each of them and may be the link from their valuable love to the materialistic 'diamond' that others may treasure.
3)There is a relationship between music and visuals.A)This was one area that I would have liked to improve on as I feel that the use of instrumental performance would have increased this relationship. However, the change in the music is represented in video by the cuts to the narrative sections of the video.
4)The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs (or star iconography) which recur across their work (and over time becomes part of their star image).A)I used a large amount of shots in which the artist was clear to the audience in order to build up recognition. This is similar to both 'Diamond days' and 'Make a beast of myself'. However, 'Diamond days' follows the two characters paying particular interest to the way they look at each other in order to express their relationship.In 'Make a beast of myself' the camera follows one of the artists through the streets at mainly mid-shots.

5)There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.A)I used eye line-matches and footage from the point of view of the character in the narrative in order to add a form of voyeurism. Watching the chaos unfold in 'Make a beast of myself' and following the two characters in 'Diamond days', without their knowledge, could be classified as a form of voyeurism. However, neither featured specifically on the female body. This may be in order to avoid dilution of the realistic life that I discussed in question one.

6)There is often inter-textual reference.A) I only manged to achieve this with the use of the newspapers. However, had the lyrics had featured more references I would have been able to include those into my video as well.

Throughout my research I gained a list of conventions, which I went onto including in my own video.
These included:

• The use of fast cuts to show excitement and other strong emotions. However I also saw the use of very long shots in Twin Atlantics 'Make a beast of myself', which uses one shot with a slow-motion effect. This led me to using both longer shots of performance with the shorter shots used in the more frustrated and angry sections of the narrative portion.
• I also noted that it was useful in marketing the artist or artists as friends as apposed to heroes who should be looked up to. This is more important in this genre than it is with some R'n'B artists, for whom stardom and successful appearance separates them from the audience in an attempt to draw audiences into buying the products for aspirational reasons.Here it is more important to the audience that the artists are sincere and have an understanding for them and their lives.

• It was also clear that the videos were targeted quite specifically at a sub-culture of young adults due to the age of the characters in both 'Make a beast of myself' and 'Diamond days' by Kids in glass houses.
• I conformed to this by using a teenager in my own music video.

• The videos also used props to suggest the atmosphere such as the beer bottles in Diamond days and the many objects that are thrown to the ground to show the panic.
• In my music video, I showed frustration with the character throwing the newspapers to the floor, as well as slamming the mug of tea.
  The characters relaxed nature previous to the reading of the newspapers is shown when he lives the milk out on the side and in the way he moves slowly to the table.

• I incorporated the feeling of anger in order to focus upon the lyrics of the song.However, it is also a popular topic for many tracks in this genre.
• 'Diamond days' incorporated a feeling of problems being overcome with the characters collisions with other pedestrians.

• I did not feel the need to have more actors in the video as I thought this may have damaged the feeling of a smaller, non-corporate artist.
• For the same reason, I did not include any stage style performances. There were no instruments used as there did not seem to be a suitable instrument which fitted with the song.