Media Evaluation task 1 - PP
- 1. EVALUATION TASK 1 In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? By Xenia Petley
- 3. Album Front Cover We have made the Artist name large and bold off centre. This is usually a conventional feature with the artists name. We chose this font because it stands out and is clear to the audience. However, as we are going for a calm look the font isn’t too harsh. We made the title of our Album the same font as the artists name. This is to keep it bold and stand out. This is following the usual conventions of an album cover. We have kept the background simple yet effective. This is so the album cover links to our chilled out, smooth, innocent character that we are going for. We looked at many other artists in the same genre and they also had a very simple background to make the viewers get drawn in straight to the subject (being the artist) and feel the emotion coming off the page. We were going for the singer/songwriter genre. This is why we just have our artist’s face in the cover. This is so when the audience see our cover they will know what this album involves. Having our album cover in black and white portrays the emotions and calm atmosphere in which we want to create for our artist. Many singer/songwriters have their albums in black and white such as : Jason Mraz, Jake Bugg and Laura Mvula. Therefore showing we are using the forms and conventions of an album cover for our suited genre. Having just the artists face on the cover is very much so following the forms and conventions of a singer/songwriter genre.
- 4. Album Comparison As with our Album cover, James Blunt has used the same font for his Artist name and for the Album Title. Both titles are Large and bold which stand out to the viewers and grab their attention. The background is kept simple and clean. James blunt is a singer/songwriter. Having a simple background shows off the fact that he’s calm and collected and there is nothing to distract the viewers away from his face and emotion. When we looked at this album cover we thought just having the face was effective and really expressed how James is a singer/songwriter. It shows off the fact that he has a calm, innocent atmosphere which is what we wanted to follow. This is us following the forms and conventions for a singer/songwriter.
- 5. Album Back Cover We have used a standard number of tracks which most CDs use. This is also showing how we are being conventional. If we were challenging conventions we would only have a few tracks. However, we have used a different font for the tracks as the font on the front page for the titles of the Album cover and the Artist name. This is challenging conventions especially as singer/songwriters like to keep their covers simple and clean without different fonts. I chose this font because I thought it was simple yet not too bold. I didn’t want it to be too bold as I thought it could be slightly too overpowering being the same font as the front cover. By keeping the panels all the same by keeping everything black and white is following conventions. This gives us the look we are aiming for. Simple, clean, organised yet effective. Keeping a constant theme makes the album cover link to the rest of our work by having a down to earth artist. By having a piano on the back cover suggests to the viewers that this artist is a singer/songwriter. It also proves that the artist is organic and is in the business because they have a huge passion for music. This is following typical conventions for this genre. A barcode is found on all album covers for sale. Following conventions. This is a typical licensing agreement which is standard for all CD cases. This is us using forms and conventions with our products.
- 6. Album Comparison We looked very closely to Seal as he is a very similar artist to ours. This album back cover is very simple only having a photograph of Seal’s face. This attracts the viewers attention because it’s him by himself portraying the image that he is a solo artist. This Album Cover is following the forms and conventions of an organic singer/songwriter. Following conventions as barcodes are on all albums for sale. Seals album also has quite a few tracks showing what a conventional album back cover looks like. Most albums have up to 20 songs on the back. Seal also has the same font used for these tracks as well as the font on his front cover. This is keeping a constant theme with his panels for his album. Licensing agreements have to be on the back of any album cover. We saw the way Seal laid his out and we thought it looked very tidy and neat. Looking at other artists as well we chose to follow the forms and conventions of a typical singer/songwriter genre
- 7. Our Website By researching similar artist’s websites we came to a conclusion that most singer/songwriters have their title off centre so that their other sub genres have more space. We followed this making sure that we were following the forms and conventions to a typical website for an artist. We decided to have our website in black and white so that it would fit with the digipak and keep a constant theme within our products. However, we challenged conventions but breaking that theme in having our video in colour. It is conventional in a website to have tour dates, News, Photographs and twitter feeds. You can also have ‘Join The Mailing List’ which many websites for nearly every genre of music has. With most singer/songwriter websites you see photographs to show you how calm and genuine this artist is. Most singer/Songwriters have two columns on their websites. This is so you can see the image on the background. This is us following the conventions in doing a similar thing so that the fans for this genre will also like our website.
- 8. WEBSITE COMPARISON This bar is standard for most artist websites. This is so the audience can see everything they are looking for and go into different sections of the website. On nearly every artists website we looked at the artist had news about what they are doing and what dates they are doing concerts or tours. This is so that the fans who follow these artists can look on the website, see when they are and then book tickets. Many fans love knowing what their artist is up to and doing I researched James Morrison when we were looking into our website. Here you can see that James also has his title off centre. In this case it’s so that we can see the photograph of his face. He also has the Facebook, Myspace, Youtube and Twitter icons on the top bar which is what we have. This shows we are using and following forms and conventions. As you can clearly see James Morrison follows the forms and conventions of a singer/songwriter. Most artists in this genre have their most recent video on their homepage.
- 9. Camera Extreme Close Up We used an Extreme Close Up of our artist face whilst he was singing because this was to help build recognition of our artists star image. As you can see this is a very calm laid back performance. He has emotion on his face linking the music with the lyrics and what they mean. Shows this is obviously not a pop video. This is us following conventions of this type of genre. Mid Shot Wide Shot We used a Mid Shot in our video to show the audience our artists body language and costume. You can see that he’s looking down at something which quite clearly represents a piano as of the music. You can also see he is a very organic artist by what he is wearing. This shows the audience he is in this industry for his love of music not for himself. You can also see that he is a very innocent character. This is a wide shot but is is also a tracking shot. This is to show we are following him and listening very carefully to his lyrics and what he is saying. We also used wide shots to show the audience where he is and what the location is like. This is to show the piano and all the props around him. This is all very conventional in a music video of our genre. However, we are being unconventional in the way that our video is upside down.
- 10. Camera Comparison - Seal Extreme Close Up Mid Shot Wide Shot For our comparison for camera one of the artists we looked at was Seal. It is standard for most music videos to use a variety of different shots. Most music videos use Extreme Close ups, Close ups, Mid shots and Wide shots. We wanted to use these shots to get the audience to connect with our artist and to follow whats happening in our video. In Seals video he has also used these shots to build up a recognition of his star image. Seal has also used these close up shots to emphasise the link with the music and the lyrics. He had used the mid shot like we have to so the body language and the costume in which he has on. This will show what kind of character he is and what emotions he is portraying. In his wide shots this is just to show his location so that the audience can relate to where he is. This shows who they are and what they are like. It shows the artist in their domaine. Seal is following the forms and conventions just like we are for the typical camera shots used in a music video.
- 11. Editing Lip Sync We had a lip sync of this backing singer who sings the girls part. This connected her with the audience. This is to mimic a live performance. As the camera is in a close up it also helps the audience to feel the lyrics and to connect with the song. Transition Editing - Scene Change We edited the shots in a fade transition from one scene to the other. This is to make the audience feel as though they are floating and in a dreamy scene just like our artist is in the video. This is so the audience can see the full wide shot of all the scenes. Cutting to the beat We cut from different scenes along with the beat as our video had many pronounced beats within the song. Therefore, we highlighted this and edited to different scenes on the beat to make the video more interesting. This is to keep the audience intrigued in our video. Most artists cut to the beat, it’s a very standard procedure in a music video. This is to give the audience a new feel.
- 12. Editing Comparison - Lemar Lip Sync Transition Editing - Scene Change Cutting to the beat Lemar was one of the artists we searched for editing. Having an extreme close up whilst the artist is lip syncing makes the audience feel connect to the artist and feel as though they are with the artist. Especially with the singer/songwriter genre it makes the audience feel and relate to the lyrics of the song. Having the transition scene where Lemar stands up out of his own body and then cuts to a different scene makes the audience know they are following him and his every move. This is also so that the audience can see the set of where he is. Cutting to the beat of the song emphasises the rhythm and whole atmosphere of the song. It makes a change and makes the video all the more exciting and not boring. This will keep the audience interested and stay focused in whats going on. This is all very conventional in a music video. As Lemar did this so well we thought we would look at his as we looked into his videos quite deeply when we were researching artists.
- 13. Lighting We used artificial lighting because we wanted the room dark but particular items highlighted. This is because we wanted to give our artist a glow of perfection, innocence and a sense of smoothness around him. This is to show the unthreatening character that he is, we want to show that our artist is very genuine and has a huge passion for music. Many artists we searched had their videos in black and white. However, we found a few with artificial lighting which is why we chose to do this. This lighting also helps create the tones, shadows and atmosphere of the while video. Showing that it’s all very relaxing and safe.
- 14. Lighting Comparison - Lemar Lemar had used artificial lighting in one of his music videos and it was really well done. Therefore, we decided to take this into account for our own video. The artificial lighting gives Lemar a glow of perfection and makes him look innocent and passionate about music which is exactly what we wanted for our artist. The lighting also helps create tones and atmospheres for what the music video is about. These lights make the video look very safe and unthreatening. We wanted our video to be like this and make the viewers connect with the smoothness of the video and relate to the easy, genuine character that these artists are. This is why we searched Lemar. The lighting in this video is vert conventional for this image and look and that is exactly what we were trying to create. Therefore, we are following the use of forms and conventions with a singer/songwriter genre.
- 15. Props Metronome We used a metronome in the foreground of our music video because we wanted this to be the only prop moving. This was to symbolize what was going on around the room. Everything else in the room is floating as if a bomb has gone off yet this is the only prop still moving. This is us trying to get across the sad emotion that something bad has happened. Sink As props is our main thing in our music video we had to make the audience know what was going on and which set they were in. This is why we have a sink in the ‘Bathroom’ so that the audience knew where they are. Singer/songwriters always try and get certain things across in their videos and this is hat we were trying to do. this is what makes our video original how everything is floating. Piano We included a piano because our artist is a singer/ songwriter. Instruments are not only symbolic but they also link into a distinct category of the genre that we are aiming for. Not many videos have pianos in unless they are classical or singer/songwriter. This is to show who are artist is and what genre we are proving to the audience and how we are putting this across.
- 16. Props Comparison - Simon Webbe We searched Simon Webbe as one of our many artists for Props. In this video of Simon’s he has a microphone which symbolises the fact that he is a musician and an organic artist. The guitar symbolises that he is a real musician and has a great passion for music. This is all done to let the audience know this is all done by him and that the audience should follow him and feel connected with his lyrics. You can see that Simon is trying to get this across to the audience that he is a real musician and that he has a great amount of love for what he does. All of these are very symbolic and fit into distinct categories that link to the singer/songwriter genre. This is why we looked at Simon as he is very conventional and this is the look we were aiming for.
- 17. Sets and Locations Main Performance This is our main performance set. Our main artist just stays in this location. This is so the audience can relate to the music and lyrics and not have the distraction of following round different sets. Sets and locations in a music video establish the domain of the artist and where they belong. Bathroom This is our bathroom set. This is to show the different scenes within our video. The actress in this scene lip syncs to the woman’s part of the song. This give the audience a glimpse of what else is going on around the video and what the meaning is behind it. As you can see in the bathroom everything is floating in the air along with the sink. This relates to the lyrics and shows that something has gone wrong. As though a bomb has gone off. Sitting Room This our final scene of a sitting room. This actor doesn’t move or lip sync. These scenes allow the audience to connect with the artist and see what his life is like which is cherished by fans. Some of the fans will be able to connect to this if their house has been affected by a bomb or by anything that has gone wrong. All of our scenes are conventional in the way that we are connecting the artist with the audience.
- 18. Sets and Locations Comparison - John Legend John Legend was a very good artist to use for sets and locations. This is because he has three different sets just like we do in our video. He has the performance which shows the piano which portrays the fact that he is an organic genuine artist. The video always cross cuts back to the performance to show that we are following him and so that the audience can relate to the meaning and emotions in the lyrics. Many artists use different sets so that there is a different story line behind each set to keep the audience entertain and to keep the video interesting instead of being boring. Sets and locations establish the domain of the artist as to where they belong and who they are. These scenes will feature locations familiar to the target audience to enable the audience to relate to the artist. This is why we looked at John Legends because his videos are perfect for following the use of forms and conventions for this genre of music.