Does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

( I used Adobe photoshop to display my images in 9 panes).

Question 1 Part 1 (paragraphs on own videos

1. A shot that shows a link between lyrics and/or music visuals.

As the lyrics say Hang onto your hopes my friend as hes holding a card with his companions name on it, hoping he can get back to her. This shows a clear link between the lyrics and the music visuals as his actions prove that hes hanging on to the hope of returning to his loved one after all of this time, how she is the only thing that kept him going and possibly escaped for.

2. shot typifies the way a record company would want their artist to be represented.

An example of a shot which shows this is the one of the character walking alone in a simple location, to focus on him which is very common in folk music. He is portrayed as emotional, lonely and focuses on his music. His emotions are expressed
through his lyrics rather than a hectic scenery.

3. A shot that illustrates how your video uses music genre.

Research in to the Folk genre provided me with the knowledge that most artists are seen performing outside, alone, without a stage, crowd, or props. Its kept simple and plain with natural lighting and casual costumes. Seeing as this takes place throughout majority of the video as its the only performance shown, this emphasises the link back to the folk genre and how we have incorporated it strongly into the music video. The long shot, pan within this shot introduces the character at the start of the video.

4. A shot that shows an intertextual reference.

This long shot uses the police car and flashing lights as an object/prop which holds an intertexual reference. This idea connotes danger along with a foreshadowing
ending of the music video as you wonder if the character will be caught. This engages the audience as police make arrests and catch criminals. The red and blue flashing lights in this shaky, fast paced shot creates a blur and a sense of intensity of the polices role who are identified through their lights.

5. A shot that demonstrates a use of camera

The close up shot of the actors hands grabbing the glass ornaments is fast paced, and zooms in so it gives the audience an insight to being in the scene and watching the thief take these objects. The moving element used by the camera intensifies the shot making it appear fast and hectic as the characters trying to be as quick as possible.

6. A shot that demonstrates your use of lighting

I have chosen to evaluate this mid shot of the character walking on the side of the road to demonstrate our use of lighting. This shot is appropriate as throughout this tracking, we used natural lighting to making the scene seem as realistic and un-staged as possible, we took advantage of streetlamps, passing cars and mainly used one of our cars for lighting in the background as this was on a country, dark road. The character wore a white shirt as its bright so he would stand out more to the camera, and we contrasted this with bright red roses to draw the attention to them. Therefore the lighting was kept subtle and natural. 7. A shot that demonstrates your mise-en-scene.

This pan is of the individual Escaping from prison, this is signified through his costume which is shown in this long shot, as its a bright orange prison jumpsuit. It is dirty and scruffy as this shows evidence of his escape and running through muddy fields. His clothing is plain and similar to all cell mates, to show him as part of a group of convicts, so his identity can be established through the video as an individual. There are fences and bars behind him, this connotes escaping, being trapped and mainly a prison. This long shot Foreshadows bad events and implements a circular narrative with the police, law and concept of escape. Along with this the location of the cold, frosted grass connotes the idea of harshness and loneliness which he encounters throughout the music video, shown through more mise-en-scene.

8. A shot that you feel demonstrates something which shows you have watched other music videos.

In this mid shot I took inspiration from the music video Dont Go By Wretch 32. He has a similar look to our actor with shots dark hair and tall, in the Dont Go music video he is performing outside which also links in with stereotypical folk genre music videos. The shot was a mid-shot from a low angle, the location and mise en scene was the same as ours as it was outside with light daytime skies and the actor contrasted this with black clothing which was also very simple, but also warm. I liked the simplicity of the shot, how it reveals the characters facial expressions throughout the song, also how the colours of the costume to the location contrast to make him stand out

9. A shot that you feel demonstrates something which shows you have watched other music videos.

F The convict image arose from inspiration taken from an older video 18 and life by Skidrow. This gave us the idea of a reasonably young character in trouble and mainly the concept of prison and danger. In the opening mid shot of 18 and life prison bars and cells are shown, this enforced the idea of being trapped and wanting to escape. For this reason our character is wearing a prison jumpsuit which is shown in this long shot to reveal the mise en scene of the costume as well as the location/props. Behind him is a metal fence to reinforce the same idea in 18 and life of prison and escape.

Question 1 Part 2 (paragraphs on other videos)

If your status aint hood.. you better be street if your lookin at me this longshot in the Destinys Child Soldier video shows the girls in hood and boyish clothing, such as baggy trousers and bandannas in their hair. They are accompanies by hood/street males around them which is shown through their clothing such as the baggy, open clothes accompanies by hats and toothpicks in their mouths. This links with the lyrics as they want attention (linking to the lyrics you better be street if your lookin at me) from males like this (hood) so have surrounded themselves by them in the music video, this long shot from a low angle presents the mise en scene of the characters as well as showing their importance and power through this low angle in comparison to other males.

2. shot typifies the way a record company would want their artist to be represented.

Snoop Dogg is portrayed as a Pimp In his drop it like its hot video. Throughout the video he shows off his wealth through cars and watches as props as well as through his lyrics. In this particular shot It typifies the way a record company would want their artist to be represented as he comes across as mysterious through the colours and his hood up to suggest hes secretive and dangerous. Snoop is covered in expensive fur and has a woman standing in front of him with little clothing on. This represents him as wealthy and a pimp through using women for their sexuality, portraying him as very powerful as he can clearly have what he wants. This low angle emphasises this power he holds and this mid shot uses him as the main focus due to the woman not being revealed so shes treated as a number/object instead of a person. 3. A shot that illustrates how your video uses music genre.

This mid shot in Bob Marley & The Wailers song Roots, Rock, Reggae relates to the music genre
through mise en scene, props and costume. Bob Marley is the main focus of this video as he is singing and playing the guitar, each individual in this music video is playing an instrument which isnt seen much in other genres like hip hop and pop. The lighting is soft along with the background colours, this introduces a mellow atmosphere which fits well with Marleys image and the music genre. The clothing is unique but still simple, hes not dressed up the music is the main focus which shows that the video uses the music genre of Reggae.

4. A shot that shows an intertextual reference.

O This close up shot has been taken from 50 cents music video Candy shop. its a close up shot due to emphasising the product placement within this video. Its slowly edited so that the viewer has time to look at the product. The name of the brand is clearly displayed, and this brand new clean shoe is used as advertisement by a popular artist, therefore it s an intertexual reference. The shoe stands out due to the contrast with the background colours (a bright clean white trainer against the dark dull coloured background.)

5. A shot that demonstrates your use of camera

This is a pan of a mid-shot underwater, all the same surrounding colours except for the smaller dark camera which contrasts to the rest of the setting. This demonstrates use of camera through it being unusually underwater for a video, and filming what is happening on another separate camera in the music video. A pan is used to found it, and is from a point of view of someone swimming and looking around. This is a unique way of demonstrating camera use.

6. A shot that demonstrates your use of lighting

Funs song is called we are young the setting is in a dark bar, the lighting is used effectively through its low spotlights. This longshot of the whole band performing on stage with dimmed lights, presents us with the mise en scene colour scheme of reds, whites and blacks to maintain simplicity. This is expressed through the lights which draw attention to the whole band as its the main source of lighting that reveals the artists. The red brings a mellow tone to the location as it connotes romance and even danger, this is mixed with the bright white lights to display more of the setting and this stands out against the dark bar location used. You are able to see their lighting which is unusual for current songs as theyre not filmed as performances. 7. A shot which demonstrates your use of mise en scene

Nicki Minajs music video to VaVa Voom is a modern version of all of the classic fairy tales combined. The mise en scene of this music video is very important. As it uses fairy tale props and settings such as the stereotypical mysterious woods with the glass box protecting the woman and her being asleep. The white dress signifies purity and calmness which contrasts to the red bed she is laying on which has connotations of danger, romance and sexuality. These colours inside the box stands out from the setting, making her the man focus of this very long shot. The lighting is dark but there is a spotlight on her to reemphasize her importance.

8. A shot which you feel demonstrates something which shows you have watched other music videos

Wretch 32 Dont go. This is what I took inspiration from this music video, as this appears in my 8th image in the images taken from my own music video. This mid shot shows the artist, through this we noticed that he has a similar look to our actor with shots dark hair and tall, in the Dont Go music video he is performing outside which also links in with stereotypical folk genre music videos. The shot was a mid-shot from a low angle, the location and mise en scene was the same as ours as it was outside with light daytime skies and the actor contrasted this with black clothing which was also very simple, but also warm. I liked the simplicity of the shot, how it reveals the characters facial expressions throughout the song, also how the colours of the costume to the location contrast to make him stand out.

9. A shot which you feel demonstrates something which shows you have watched other music videos

This is the close-up beginning shot of 18 and life by Skidrow. The convict image was

inspired by this video. This gave us the idea of a reasonably young character in trouble and mainly the concept of prison and danger. In the opening mid shot of 18 and life prison bars and cells are shown, this enforced the idea of being trapped and wanting to escape. For this reason our character is wearing a prison jumpsuit in our own music video which is shown in this long shot to reveal the mise en scene of the costume as well as the location/props. Behind him is a metal fence to reinforce the same idea in 18 and life of prison and escape.

Question 1 Part 3 (Evaluating my digipack and advert, and compare them with others)
EVALUATING MY DIGIPAK During the process of creating our digipak and roughly drawing it out we found it was important to incorporate as many folk conventions as possible to make our digipak as effective as possible. These conventions mainly include: Colours- folk Digipaks tend to use dull colours unlike other genres, these are often warm colours that tend to range from browns to oranges, this is due to its link back to an older, traditional feel. This made us do some further research into album covers with similar colours and textures, and what colours they place on top of it (the writing). After doing research we realized that we wanted to bring in a modern element to our digipak, therefore we decided to use colours on our panes. The autumn leaves and the dots for the tree still meet the concept of orange/brown colours as well as the white tree and the texture behind it. The green was used on the front cover to make it stand out and appear bolder. Focus on the music- Another thing that we picked up during research is that most folk albums dont contain an image of the artist, this is so that the music speaks for itself instead of trying to establish an identity for the artist. Music and lyrics are the main components that make up this album as its pure music with no hectic or bold distracting elements within it. Nature- Simplicity is the main idea of this digipak, we had the idea of trying to reveal a story through this digipak. A journey of seasons and events, it starts bright, time goes on and the leaves change colour, until at the end the tree is bare and alone. We have linked this strongly with our music video and the lyrics, as the song is called hazy shades of winter. Other Digipaks found in research revealed nature elements, such as leaves, flowers and trees, this reinforces the idea of a story and simplicity. We have tried to link our digipak with media products and make it look realistic as possible. Due to this we included: record label logo, barcodes, track lists, spine, decorated CDs and a consistent theme of nature with the colour schemes and fonts.

These letters, make us realise that we wanted our lettering to stand out. Its bold, dark and sharp. We used a similar font Tennessee, however ours is slightly smoother, especially the title. The leaves and the autumn tree colours took inspiration from this album as its dark but an interesting colour with a varied texture to it.

This album cover is a folk cover by Terry Callier, this helped us in choosing our colour scheme. The dark brown writing stands out against the dull, dusty orange background.

This album shows a large tree in the centre. This inspired us to use bolder colours for the tree, a mix between pale and dark to still fit in with our concept but add a twist of modernity to it.

EVALUATING MY ADVERT
The font it bold and able to be seen, its a darker colour of the background.

The link between the digipak and poster is strong, and resembles one another easily to an audience.

Tree in the centre, thin trunk emphasises the large leaves, its in the centre to maintain balance.

Advert conventions were listed, and we tried our best to meet these: I. Promotion and reviews II. Colour theme (kept the same as digipak) III. Fonts/Title (kept the same as digipak IV. Artist name V. Image/background (kept the same as digipak VI. Album name (we didnt have a name, it was a self-titled album) VII. Relation to Album (linked a lot to digipak) VIII. Costume (no images of artist so not needed) IX. Setting location ( didnt use one) X. Record label info.

Looking into various posters and conducting further research, I realized that the main element we wanted was to link the advert and the digipak strongly, therefore we kept the colours, tree, background and font the same. Another important feature was the reviews, a lot of posters have these and recommendations from magazines with quotes. This is more convincing to the audience to buy their album as its been approved and accepted by the music industry. I done research into who would give these reviews (see red boxes on advert) and what would it say, these are on the blog and I found the rolling stones and NME were good sources to use. Lastly to keep it linked with the artists identity some more, social networking information is on the advert as well as the record label logo and the album release information. We wanted to maintain the simplicity of the digipak and the advert through the colours, balance, fonts and positioning of all of these elements.