Media Evaluation Question 1

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

My brief within Media Studies was to create a music video on an artist of my choice, alongside two ancillary products whilst following all genre conventions, to create a successful piece of work. The ancillary posts consisted of creating a digipak, as well as a magazine advert which as a result would promote my commodity, Georgia. All in all, my group and I needed to link all 3 ancillary products, so that they all connected one another, producing a continual flow. Whilst discussing the products with my group, we decided that we were to follow most typical and traditional genre conventions, however also including a little diversity in order to stand out against opponents. For myself and the group to have a greater understanding of the conventions that are typically used within our genre type, we carried out primary and secondary research. To gain our own personal primary research we carried out various interviews and questionnaires asking random members of West Hatch High School, as well as the general public genre and music video related questions. From gaining this information, it enabled us to collect all our results and materialise them into visually appealing pie charts, as well as creating vox pops videos. The vox pops portrayed members of our group interviewing individuals, gaining relevant primary information. Collaborating all the new information, the group and I came to realisation of roughly who our target audience was, meaning that we were able to plan all our ancillary products around what they wanted and had requested. This was all taken into consideration to make our music video as successful as we possibly could.

My group consists of 4 members; myself, Georgia Crandon, Rhianna Macleay and Drew Wyllie. Together we formed this group as we felt as individuals, we could push each other to the best of our abilities. I felt that each of us is stronger in contrasting areas, therefore together worked so well, however even so, we all pushed each other to better the outcome by sharing opinions and inputting at all stages of development. As a group we found it easy to allocate roles and everyone seemed to agree on them; we had Georgia that was incredible at performing and editing, Drew at editing on Adobe Photoshop and coming up with ideas, alongside myself, as well as featuring in the majority of the music video as the male in the relationship, whereas I was in charge of filming and directing, with input from Rhianna. I also assisted in small areas of editing our footage for the music video. Together we discovered individual strengths and weaknesses, however helping each other along wherever help was needed. From my experience from last year’s AS media group task, I have felt that my current group really came together and it had been so much more enjoyable to work with my new group members. Playing the role I have played has taught me how to focus on specific areas, trusting my other team members to focus on others individually and having success in doing so, therefore all in all having a better outcome With our group having such good time management we were able to test new shots and experiment in many ways, some in which that have made our music video 10x better. Yes we had allocated roles within the production, but when planning it all, there was no split in the group; we all came together and carried out tasks such as collecting primary research and putting the newly found information in charts as well as filming the vox pops and so on.

In my opinion, I feel that as a group we have created a successful music video on the song 'The Apple Tree' by Nina Nesbitt alongside strong ancillary texts to go with, however the music video being the best of the 3. Obviously there are elements in which I would like to improve on, however it is very time dependent, something that we didn't have endless amounts of.

A music video in a crucial element within the music industry; it is a marketing tool to promote a commodity and their song. They consist of a short narrative/representation of an artist depending on the genre in which they feature in in order for an artist to attract a specific target audience, which are often carried out purely for artistic and promotional purposes. For an audience, it allows them to buy into their lifestyle and make connections in forms of for example emotions, clothing, style and so on. The video creates a greater understanding for an audience on what the song is about and the underlying emotions and meanings the song holds. A music video can be categorised in 3 ways being performance, narrative and concept. All songs and music video have to follow genre specific codes and conventions, however a lot of artists choose to rebel against these in order to be diverse and stand out against opponents, especially is they feature within the same genre.

According to my research Indie is the genre that is defined as a short form of independence, as it has been used to describe artists on independent labels. Indie pop originated in mid 1980’s in the UK, with artists like Orange Juicy and the Smiths. Indie pop is melodic and less abrasive in comparison to indie rock. The artists within the genre now very often include an instrument, most likely being an acoustic guitar to highlight their musical talent even further. Other instruments are also used such as a keyboard, ukulele and so on, however I still feel the guitar is still most dominant which is today used by artists such as Ed Sheeran, Bastille and so on. The genre began to thrive as a label and generated a big club and gig circuit which continued to grow, especially in recent years with artists such as again Ed Sheeran, the Artic Monkeys, The Kooks, Lana Del Ray, Florence and the Machine and so on. The genre typically attracts a niche audience, an audience that enjoys the strong, emotional lyrics in which they can connect to. The audience likes to keep the genre niche and artists that aren't too mainstream, as typically the mainstream artists tend to lose their true selves to money and fame eg. Miley Cyrus. Whereas with indie artists they give off this sense of originality, something that is seen by a niche audience as golden and relatable, something that should not be lost, to therefore maintain that mass market appeal.

Nina Nesbitt was introduced to me by group members Georgia and Drew, an artist that features within the Indie genre. Originally, I personally had never heard of her before, however instantly understood why she features within the indie genre, purely through her emotional and meaningful lyrics that gave the impression they’d come straight from the heart, leaving me truly touched; an example being Nina's song 'The Hardest Part'. I felt that within the indie genre she would be particularly popular for these same reasons, and was ideal for the audience we aim to target. Within a music video within the indie genre, it would typically include: a narrative, an instrument; for example the acoustic guitar, location being either a live performance or in a rural area with little distraction in the surroundings, tartan, vintage or bright coloured clothing. Typical camera angles being close and long shots of the artist, their clothes and surroundings, with editing styles like colour tints to create the effect of the scene being in the past, as well as fast and slow cuts to reflect on the pace and so on. Nina's music videos typically include most of these conventions, for example in 'Thinkin' Bout You' and 'Selfies' particularly through clothing. 

I feel that my music video, alongside the 2 other ancillary products being the digipak and magazine advert reflect my chosen music genre, in the way we have followed many of the typical indie codes and conventions; a few examples being through tartan clothing and the narrative. My group and I promoted Georgia as a down to earth, talented musician that plays her guitar singing from the heart in the forest, portraying her true colours behind the scene of her relationship. The narrative is very strong and we have chosen to include diverse elements such as a rebellious teenage behaviour throughout like a mainstream artist would, such as Rihanna. By doing so, we hopefully attract a greater audience, as they are drawn in by the behaviour and want to continue watching to see the ending, however the majority still remaining niche as we follow most conventions. These elements of rebellion are shown in Drew’s behaviour, for example when smoking, and in both characters clothing with the large majority of it being black. Certain locations as well like in an Estate are unconventional, but again brings something new to the indie genre; that not all indie artists come from the best backgrounds but they are still able to express themselves and their true emotions about growing up. Even so, we made sure the outfits chosen still fell under the ‘indie’ style, with some clothing being denim or tartan. As a group we felt making it too diverse would become a risk of losing our commodity to a mainstream genre, something that would shatter what we’ve worked for. We gave Georgia an indie style (eg. Tartan clothing, blonde scruffy hair, red lipstick and bandanna) that would make her a relatable figure for an audience, a style icon that is affordable to follow; someone to look up to. I strongly believe that through cinematography (close ups and long shots) and editing (colour tints, rounded edges, fast and slow cuts) we followed most conventions, especially when it came to presenting the narrative with justice. The group and I only wanted small components to be diverse, in order to add originality to stand out against genre opponents, overall following as well as challenging indie conventions to produce a successful end product.