For my main product I created a music video to the 2014 song Break Free by Arianna Grande. My three media products confirm and challenge forms and conventions of real life media products, the theorist Andrew Goodwin can confirm that my music video conforms to these using his theory which states music videos will somewhat contain dance routines, a frequent notion of looking, a relationship between the lyrics and visuals and finally intertextual references.I have dance routines incorporated into my music video which conform to this theory likewise I have a frequent notion of looking at the camera, for example when my artist sings she looks directly at the camera to make it look as though she is looking at us. Secondly my music video conforms to Andrew Goodwin's theory as there is a link between lyric and visuals for example when a line in the song goes 'I only want to die alive never by the hands of a broken heart' a ceramic heart is dropped onto a patio and smashes into pieces to symobolise a broken heart. Intertextuality is used as well in my music video as parts of my music video are reconstructions from old music videos for example in my own video there is a close up of my artists face and she goes onto close her eyes with sadness from the situation she is signing about. I found this in P!nks Music video There you go where by she closes her eyes in a close up shot to show her disbelieve in whats happening to her in the situation she is supposed to be in for her music video. John Stuarts was the theorist that came up with the theory behind reconstructing pieces of old music videos through intertextuality.
My artist Izzy Bella is acted by an 18 year old but represented as a 24 year old. Being this age I believe makes for more successful song lyrics as she will have more life experiences she can sing about and what the target audience can relate too. Being a similar age to the target audience will also have an impact on how the audience connects with the artist as they will most probably have similar interests and morals which they will be able to see not only through clothing and material things but in the way they speak in interviews about certain topics etc. Having a pretty girl wearing nice fashionable clothing will create an idol in which the target audience will look up to and aspire to be. This would mostly be relevant to the female half of the target audience as the male audience would most likely be interested in the other parts of the artist such as the looks and the way her body looks and is shown in the video. This is called the male gaze and was created by theorist Laura Mulvey and states that the way a female is dressed and shown through the use of close ups and revealing camera angles is all part of a male gaze as it is showing the best bits of the female artist to reel the male in and watch the video/buy the album. In my video this was done through low angled shots for example where the camera pans up my artist body to show it off this is to create a male gaze.
The theme for my music video is a break up, the music video is a performance clip as it contains dancing routines and various scenes where by my artist is singing into the camera, this means my music video conforms to another form and convention of real life texts such as California Girls by Katy Perry and Irreplaceable by Beyonce. The performance clip is a type of music video which typically contains a great emphasis on the artist through dancing clips and singing clips. Andrew Goodwin is the theorist in which came up with this name for this certain type of music video.
As my theme for the music video is a break up I decided to tell the story of the break up through lyrics and visuals which meant I was making my artist into a televised bard as she was the one in the music video telling the story to the target audience through her unfulfilled wishes and her own greatness which was shown through her strong power to break free from her now ex boyfriend.
I used a varied amount of camera angles in my music video to create effects which work well to make the music video look professional and realistic. I used low angle shots and close ups to create a male gaze which is in the majority or music videos which contain females. The male gaze can even be applied to male artists videos if they have an emphasis on a girl which is just dancing in the video the camera will be working on them rather than the male artist. Candy Shop by 50cent is an example of where this is done. I also used high angled shots to create power, when using a high angled shot over the male it made him look inferior to the female artist creating the look I wanted. This again conforms to real life media texts such as P!nks music videos show her always having one over on the man. To emphasise my performance clip I also incorporated long shots to show my artist dancing in a part where the chorus was playing.
Direct address is used whereby my artist Izzy Bella looks directly into the camera and sings 'lie tonight' this conveys a stronger message to the target audience through the powerful use of eye contact. This is a common feature in pop videos as it creates a relationship between the artist and target audience.
Ancillary Texts -
For my ancillary texts I created a digipak and magazine advert to advertise the album itself. For this I used photos which I knew would attract my target audience. For this I went against and challenge the idea of voyeurism as the pictures I used for my digital and magazine advert were not revealing in any way and the artist herself is well covered up but still showing skin by wearing skinny jeans and a vest top. It is nowadays the norm to have females artist in minimal clothing in music videos and on digipak covers etc but I wanted to challenge the norm and make my artist appear different not only because I thought it would suit my artist better to do so but I also thought it was more appropriate to do so for my target audiences sake.
For the front of my digipak I used a picture of my artist sitting down on a patch of grass I chose to have a picture of her on the front as it made sense to as the video is a performance clip therefore is in every single scene i though i would follow this through onto the other texts. I used the idea to use the same picture on the front of the digipak on the poster to show a synergy between the 2 texts. This conforms to real life texts and is used often on artists such as Katy Perry with her album teenage dream which features outfits from her music video on her digipak and poster which is sold at the tour.
Another thing I did to add synergy between the 3 texts was use an image of the sky in both the digipak and the magazine advert. I did the same for a picture of a woodland which I took at a local forest, I added these as I thought they both brought connotations of freedom which links into the idea of breaking free which ties in with the music video 'break free'.
I challenge the female stereotype in my 2 ancillaries as I didn't use any so called "girly colours" on either texts. I did this as I wanted to go against the stereotype and create something which would appeal to a unisex audience rather than just a female audience as my target audience is both male and female. I used blue, white and black typography to create this unisex look and I believe it works really well as all the colours compliment each other nicely, the main thing is that the texts link together through the typography and images again to create a synergy throughout the texts.
The final thing I did to create a synergy between my three texts was the use of the record company name which is shown in the music video and printed on both the digipak and magazine article MILTON RECORDS is the name I chose for the record company and will be something which reminds my target audience of Izzy Bella and her music whenever they see it. I also added the title of my music video onto the advert so the target audience can again spot connections between the texts.
Adding a barcode, release date and terms of use to the digipak and magazine advert just add a realistic feel to the texts.
Overall my three media texts use and conform to forms and conventions of real life media texts. If I had challenged them too much I believe it may have not appealed to my target audience of 13-25 year old as much as I would be taking away the conventions that they already know work and love. These conventions are what I would expect to see and what I know my target audience like to see. I know this through research into similar themed music videos and also the fact that I have positive target audience feedback to back up what I have created meets their standards and they are pleased with it.
2) How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
3) What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
I have used Survey Monkey a lot throughout the process of creating my three texts. As well as using this online survey site I have sourced advice and opinions of those in a media focus group at my sixth form. When doing this I would show them a few designs of my texts and they would give me advice on what I should change or opinions on what they would do to make it look more effective. The focus group would only give me small things to change on my texts such as swapping some pictures around on my digipak to make it look better, I did this for the inside cover and the front cover images on my digipak which is evident in my digipak drafts on this blog. This was done due to the influence of members of the focus group. They would also give advice such as making sure you stick to 2 or 3 colours when it comes to typography on a text to ensure it doesn't look too busy and over the top. From this I have learnt using minimal colours especially on magazine articles will work in my favour as it will look more subtle and less busy which may put the target audience off looking at it.
The focus group would also give me positive feedback such as telling me yes them colours compliment each other well I think you have cracked that final design you will not need to do anymore to it as it looks very effective and realistic already. Those in the focus group all came under the age of my target audience so I knew any advice or opinions they gave me would be relevant and taken into consideration to create an even better product which would totally appeal to my target audience.
I believe I have aimed my music video to the right audience to the right target audience 13-25yo as I have received the most positive comments from this age group when a survey was sent out to review my music video. This has taught me that theorists influences when used can create a good successful music video. The audience feedback such as asking my respondents what type of music video they like best in a survey I conducted at the very start of this project has helped me also to create this realistic music video as the participants voted performance clip as their favourtie type of music video therefore this is why I went on to make one. This is why I think it is vital in conducting target audience research in the planning stage to ensure you create and produce a text which your desired target audience will love.
The success on my music video and both ancillaries has resulted in me receiving some very positive comments through the use of audience feedback telling me what they liked about my finished product and how it worked effectively. However I did receive some comments on this which I could have done differently such as taking more care when editing to ensure the lip syncing fits properly with the timing on the song and having more emphasis on my artist throughout the video. This constructive advice has helped me to pick out and reflect on what I could have done differently and what I could do next time if I am to make another music video.
4) How did you use media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?
https://prezi.com/frhrcdngdoqv/edit/#4_24309637
