Question 1: In what ways does your media production use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
- 1. Klaudia Gil QUESTION 1: In what ways does your media production use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Our narrative potentiallysubvertsthe typical heterosexual relationshipbetweenamanand woman because itleavesanegotiated readingforthe audience.Macklemore andRyanLewis,Same Love presentahomosexual relationshipandshow thatis‘the norm’ and portraythe ideathat homophobianowadaysshouldn’tbe athing.We allow and leave the interpretationof ourcharacters to the audience makingitanopendecision forthem.Thisshowsthatwe are havinganinclusive audience andtherefore settingagreatertargetaudience ratherthankeepingitniche,soourmusic videocanbe exposedtoagreateramountof audience since the genre of popmusictargetsa mainstreamaudience. Popmusicvideoissomethingcommercialtopromote the artist;it'smeantto provide entertainment for our targetedaudience where the visualsandlyricscome togetherthroughthe givennarrative. We usedeffectslike,splitscreen,alsousedinBeyoncé'svideotoillustrateaconsecutive role of eventsthatare at the same time ina differentenvironment thentheywere sittingbacktowardsthe endof ourmusic video. We decidedtouse the male gaze inorderto capture the passive audiencewhoabsorbthe ideology that we wantto portray; portrayinga dominantaudience view where we presentthe idea/message we want ouraudience to take in. During the performance of the artistour settingismeantto represent"real life"encouragingapersonal relationshipwiththe charactersandbeingable torelate withtheiractions.Thisisa westernviewamongstwomenwhere theyare portrayedassexual beings exposingtheirsexuality. We have visuallystrikingeditingeffects likeslow motion toexpressthe ‘moment’the friendshave betweeneachotherbringinggreatattentiontothe non-verbal communicationtheyhave between each other.Thisisa scene where the friendsare positionedinalongshot witha blackand white filterplacedontopto not onlyrepresentthe pastbutshow the audience how theirrelationship usedto looklike before theyhadanargumentbetweeneachother. The reverse of filmismeantto capture the 'moment'. Black andwhite expressesthe pastandsomethingthatthe friendslost,the slow motion acknowledgesthe greatmomentsinlife andexpressesthe ideathatyoushouldenjoythe moment inlife while itlasts. Our videosubvertstothe 'correct' orderof ‘Todorov'stheory'because we don'thave equilibriumto openour scene butrathergo intothe disruptionwherethe friendsare showntobe arguingand thenthe musiccomesintothe video.The recognitioniswhenwe have acontrastbetweenthe flashbackandreality. We don’thave an attemptto repairthe 'problem'theyare dealingwith because it's'over'but the newequilibriumisthe twofriendsbeginning'new lives'withouteach other.There needstobe an orderof things'goingwrong'in orderto keepthe audience entertained for themto be eageras to howthe 'issue'will become fixed.Inthe same waythatinthe Ariana Grande Into You videowe cansee that she ishappybecause she hasgottenherself outof a relationshipthatshe wasn'thappyin.
- 2. Klaudia Gil Genderisa sociallyconstructedideaof whatisexpectedfromyou,thatdoesn'tmeanyouhave to complywiththe ‘label’,consideringthatthere are manywaysto portray yoursexuality,the idea comesfromwhat people "know"andportrayitto be what theythinkitis. It’snot like asex where there are obviousbiologicaldifferencesbetweenamale andfemale. InmusicvideoslikeAriana Grande'sInto You or TaylorSwiftsWildestDreams,theirgenderisportrayedthrough'obvious'mise- en-scene like heavymake-up,verylittle coveringclothingandonce againportrayingthemtobe sexual. We chose an effective trackthatis catchy andeasyto pick upto that wouldact as escapismforour targetedaudience.The lyricsare verysimpleandeasytopickup; we wantedto create a narrative that isof, of that inorder to showthe correlationbetweenthe two. Itmeantthatthe lyricshad to representthe visualswiththe same ideologyof how the musicvideoispresented. We included binaryoppositions toportraythe differencesinpersonalitiesof our characters.One character was seentobe more neutral inthe way that she approachedherfriendbynotshowing emotionsassuchand not showinghowtheir‘split’hasaffectedherasmuch.The other,whohas single scenesall throughoutthe video,isportrayedtobe more caringandseento be showing,that that has hadan effectonherina negative way.Portrayingcharacterswithtwodifferent personalitiesreflectsonthembeingtwodifferentpeople withtheirownattributersaswell asit beingmore entertainingforthe exclusiveaudience andalmostlike escapismforthemconsidering that there are no two people whoare the same. We hadmany different cutaways, likedissolves,betweenthe scenestoexpresssmoothtransitions, whichactedas continuityediting.Anexample couldbe the flowerswheretheyexpressedthe passingof time and the transitionswere close enoughthatyoucouldsee the differenceasinhow the flowershave managedtochange overtime.Our ‘motif’representedthe dyingof the friend’s friendshipverywell- inthe same waythat the flowersdiedovertime, itwassignificantof the use of symbolism.