Question 1
- 1. EVALUATION QUESTION 1 IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS? BY NATALIE EVANS
- 2. PRODUCTION • Here both the performers are shown with a two-shot at eye level, this connects them and put them on the same level of the audience. I subvert from the typical associations with the Hip-Hop genre (less frequently with the R&B genre) of making the star image appear more powerful and dominant with the audience. Instead I aim to place them at the same level, in order to create this sense of personal connection and make them simply relatable to the audience. By beginning with this shot I aimed to make the performers noticeable throughout the rest of the video, as well as this it is as if they are omniscient throughout the video and connected to the whole narrative despite not being connected until the end to create the balance between narrative and performance.
- 3. PRODUCTION • To subvert further from the stereotypes of both genres, in planning we believed it important to connote more about our artists image thus we planned to perform in an outside area. This develops the star image as it connects us more personally to nature which can help develop the star image of us appearing like ‘moral messengers’, often by being linked to nature there is a sense of purity and honesty. The fencing behind us could suggest the internal/external struggles implied throughout the narrative, this also promotes the honesty associated with our star image, although the contrast to being in the open by forms of nature (trees/bushes) it could imply that there is a way to be more carefree/break from the sense of emotional trap. This ties in with ideas of the R&B genre where depth and background is given to the artists, the outside locations are effective to show our connection to natural elements and honesty in the narrative.
- 4. PRODUCTION • The use of the medium close-up for the female makes a more noticeable image of her to the audience, it brings the star closer to the audience for a sense of connection. Also this follows the ideas of Deborah Holdstein, the idea of the performers being placed before the narrative makes them appear omniscient thus we create the idea of a ‘social mediator’ involved in her theory – to connect us to the societal issues of abuse and cheating, we encourage the audience to move on. Although we will not follow her part of the theory where the star image is created to be overwhelmingly powerful (mythical connotations) and instead focus on the realistic issues as these moral mediators. • Louis as the performer is also viewed in similar shots as the female, at mid-shots and medium close-ups to connect him to the audience also. As well as this, it can create balance between the gender’s rather than typical objectification of women in the R&B/Hip-Hop genre where males are viewed as dominant and in control. Instead we place our performers on an equal basis to connect to this idea of the social corruption and our image as mediators.
- 5. PRODUCTION • In the research we chose not to involve ideas of the ‘male gaze’ by Laura Mulvey, we believed this would be depthless and take the meaning away from our video. Therefore the female performer (myself) will be dressed up in less revealing clothing which is typically associated with the R&B and Hip-Hop genre. I looked at Michael Shore’s criticism of modern music videos playing on the idea of male fantasies, wealth and speed; to avoid this typical content in Hip-Hop and R&B videos I put focus on the star images emotion by dressing the female and male performers in simply bold colours to expose the raw emotion to the audience associated with the narrative.
- 6. PRODUCTION • At the end of the video, the performers take the same position as the actors which suggest their connection to the narrative and emotion expressed throughout the video. We use the typical love stories associated with the R&B genre by connecting the male and female protagonist as well as the artists during this scene. • I cut to the beat during my editing to emphasise the lyrics, an example of this is the particular scene where an extreme long shot of Karan walking away from his now ex-girlfriend after their final fight effectively placed at the end of “I’ve loved and I’ve lost” in the lyrics to symbolise the break- up. This is also in use of Andrew Goodwin’s theory of amplification of the lyrics; where the visuals demonstrate the words within the lyrics at that time in the music video. This develops our character as he appears
- 7. PRODUCTION • We wanted to develop this same sense of identity for the female protagonist, a typical image associated with both genres in their music video is the use of a medium close-up mirror image. Which promotes the idea of reflexivity, challenging their own identity and reviewing any changes they can make. This connotes the idea the female will also find this strength to move on. • Furthermore, to follow the conventions of the love stories represented in the R&B genre, the couple were placed in a natural setting connoting the purity of their emotional connection and the freedom in their new relationship together emphasised by the use of the water imagery.
- 8. DIGIPAK My digipak can be located on the website – https://halonalo.wordpress.com/ In my digipak, I aimed to create this same natural image of the performers putting emphasis on their background in order to entice the audience to watch the video to explore their image further. The image used on the cover followed the idea of putting the artists in focus and the locations, the use of the swings connote this childlike and innocent feel of emotion. It could suggest we are vulnerable to the world but also playful/willing to explore which relates to the boldness and caring nature expressed in the music video. I followed the conventions of R&B and Hip-Hop where often a background to the artists is given, their interests and personality. I explored this by putting the artists in colour and the swing frame to connect us to this playful objects so we may be relatable to the target audience who are also still young and vulnerable to emotional experiences. However, I subverted from the convention of making the artists appear more powerful than the audience and promoting wealth or a voyeuristic view of women or men – these are typical associations with R&B and Hip-Hop albums. I wanted to make our artists on the level of the audience to create the sense of
- 9. DIGIPAK • The back panel and central images also use this connection to nature and self-reflexivity, exploring the same connotations of the star image and subverting from typical views of the R&B/Hip-Hop genre. The link to nature across the images suggests a purity in emotion and the honesty of the artists. I did not use close-ups of the artists here in order to put emphasis on the background and interests of the stars; also this is reflexive of our video where narrative is dominant over performance (a preference of the audience found during audience research). The middle image of Louis using the mid-shot suggests a questioning in his image and personal emotion as he looks in the mirror. This is self-reflexive of the artist and the audience may be encouraged to view the album further if they see the exposure of emotion. • To follow the R&B/Hip-Hop typical bold and capitalised font use, I used the same writing across all images in order to connect them all and connote the boldness of the artists further. I followed typical digipak conventions by including the typical artist names, album name and song list. I did not however focus as much on the production company name (Halo Nalo) as this is often ignored by audience members and they rather focus on the artists in
- 10. POSTER • To further impose the importance of nature to the artists I included this in my poster with the artists effectively looking up towards the sun; connoting happiness and a sense of hope. This is to advertise a tour in which the name and artists names are in bold to create awareness for the audience. This is done in the same iconic font as the digipak which makes it more recognisable and iconic across all content. I used social media icons in order to show their connectivity and the idea the audience can involve themselves. Real-media text posters for these genres also use these conventions of bold text and social media icons to create more awareness for the audience.