Gift's Media Blog: Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My three media products use, develop and challenge forms and conventions found in real media products in various ways. Although through different platforms, they all have the same focus of using predominantly the right genre conventions to effectively attract our chosen audience of British RnB/Pop/Street Music fans. This is because, many of the referenced real media product examples I will be analyzing have a strong use of genre conventions.

THE MUSIC VIDEO

Simon Frith's theory presents the idea that Music videos come in three types. Each type have their own features which are recognizable to audiences.

Ciara- "I bet"

Empire Cast- "Keep it moving"

Simon Frith's Theory

Fifth Harmony- "Boss"

By looking at examples of real media texts, such as 'I bet' by Ciara and 'Keep it movin' by the Empire Cast, in the same types of genres we wanted to make ours (RnB, Pop and Street) we found that music videos for them were predominantly ‘performance’ based, with sometimes a hybrid mix of narrative. Girl groups, like the Fifth harmony ‘Boss’ music video (on the right) are usually of the performance type. We decided the best way to utilize a girl group music video that would also be able to appeal to our TA, is to create a performance type with a subtle hint of narrative, using the generally overused ‘love’ story as the theme.

Our music video also follows the conventions of a performance video by including shots of the group dancing and in lip-sync. There are also dramatic changes of framing and heavy movement of camera to emphasize the dance convention of performance and we develop this convention more with fast-paced and discontinuous editing cut to the beat of the music.

Dancing and Lip-sync example

Discontinuous, fast-paced editing
example

Points 1-2, from Andrew Goodwin's theory below, are also key features of a performance music video, where the music and lyrics inform the performance. However it’s the performance that drives the video. We used this convention in our music video through the use of symbolic imagery of “heart”, “planet” and themes of ‘Red’ like it’s frequently used in the lyrics of Red Planet.

Example gifs on the right show the Red imagery we used: sometimes in the shape of circles to connote ‘planets’ & silhouettes in order to bring mystery to the subtle theme of space.

We were also able to conform to the voyeurism aspect of Goodwin's theory through the use of the individual narratives each girl member creates with her male partner.

For example in the screenshot on the left, we have many cuts to 'two shot' shots of them as a couple and shots of them individually it provides the audience with not just the chance to watch the girls (the artists) but also, with the gratification of entertainment, to watch the guys. Thus further developing Goodwin's theory when he only refers to the voyeurism "...in relation to females...".

We also conformed to the use of 'beauty shots' (multiple close-ups of the band members) mentioned in Goodwin's theory. However we developed this convention because we didn't just use them to give variety to the video, but to also add to the band identity. Creating the idea that all our members are on equal level of importance to each other and each have their own unique style and personality.

Example of 'Beauty shot'/Close up
convention in real media-
Little Mix "Move"

Use of individual close up example

Angela close up example-
in order to show her personality

We fully adhere to the genre conventions of Rnb/Street/Pop in terms of style, Band identity etc. Within the individual aspects of our music video, which make it unique, we still include conventions our audience expect to see from an RnB/Street/Pop music video.

Drake- "Headlines"

Tion Waynes- "Can't go broke"

For example, discontinuous editing with choppy cuts and visually striking colorful effects, as seen in the real media "Headlines" and "Can't go broke", are key conventions when it comes to the style/look of an RnB/Street music video, as you can see in the examples below.

Our use of discontinuous editing

Representation

Usually in Rnb/Pop/Street music videos, women are usually represented as sex objects and usually use their bodies to sell the music, as seen in the examples below:

Girl group example-
Fifth Harmony "Boss"

Although girl groups in this genre play it down, it’s still prevalent. We challenge this convention of the sexual portrayal of women/girls by reversing the gender roles and making the guys look like ‘objects’.