TASK 1 - IN WHAT WAYS DO YOUR MEDIA PRODUCTS USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

The first step taken in the production of our music video, was to research and analyse the major conventions of a pop video. We looked at a number of pop videos including Michael Jackson's Thriller, various Imelda May videos and Mumford and Sons' Sigh no More. From this we could see that pop videos use three major elements - the perfromance, a narrative or images that may or may not relate to the song. More specifically, popular music theorist, Keith Negus identified 13 major conventions of a pop video, 11 of which are listed;
• The explicit and unashamed promotion of the artist’s “image” (aesthetic/generic/ideological) as a specific product with a brand identity, ready for mass consumption

• The featuring of the artist (almost without exception)

• A wide and extensive use of shot types, camera angles and movement

• Repetition of reoccuring thematic elements and generically specific iconography (one key element often being dominant and providing the skeletal structure for the promo)

• A possible narrative structure

• A possible performance element

• The flexibility to disregard Realism!

• Shots cut tightly to the beat of the track

• Use of special effects (lighting, animation, CGIs, in-camera effects)

• A carefully constructed Mise en Scene appropriate to the content and tone of the track

• High impact instantly! (Don’t forget that competition for airplay on the main music channel outlets is intense)

Whilst developing our music video we looked to either IMITATE or SUBVERT these conventions, which as film theorist Barthes states gives the audience ‘pleasure’ in two different ways. The first of which, plaisir, describes the act of imitating conventions to give the audience pleasure through the expected. In contrast to this, jouissance, is how Barthes describes the act of subverting a convention in order to give pleasure through something ‘new or unexpected’.

The message of the song ‘This Little Kitty’, is portrayed through both the lyrics and also the apt music, the message is one that depicts; a ‘crazy’ girl, who’s only concerned with having fun, and cannot be tied down by anyone, and particularly any man. It is pro-women, and portrays woman in a strong, passionate and dominant manner. In regards to the band, the image or ‘brand’ that we tried to convey was; they are committed to music, they are strongly influenced by American country music but are British, they are quirky, eccentric and something slightly ‘different’ to the current typical music taste in England.

Through the use of constant 360 degree panning when filming, combined with the use of edge wipe transitions in the post-production stage, it was possible to imitate the Negus convention of a pop video 'the flexibility to disregard realism' and give the appearance of the same girl appearing with in the frame twice. This helps to portray the bands 'quirky' image. This similar technique was used in an existing media product, the music video for Charlotte Church's 'Back to Scratch', which to features a woman multiple times within the same frame at once.

This shot, featuring the two females performing directly to the camera is an example of how the convention identified by Negus, that there is ' the explicit and unashamed promotion of the artist's "image"' is IMITATED. We are using the image of the females, to 'sell the product' and the direct gaze to camera suggests a sense of intimacy between audience and the band. This shot also upholds the 'Rule of Thirds' convention, as the singers faces are positioned on the hotspots in the top left and right corners, respectively.

We chose to SUBVERT the convention of there usually being a 'NARRATIVE' element within the music video as we chose to shoot ours with purely a performance aspect (upholding the existing convention of there being a performance element). We chose to do this because we felt the image of the band, could be best portrayed through the band playing the song, with out the distractions of an inter-cut narrative element.

This close up shot of the bass player conforms to the rule of thirds, and imitates professional shots used in existing media products. We imitated Negus' convention of High ratio filming, as we took many shots, over 100, and used much less in the final cut, this is common in existing videos, as directors will take many shots in a day of shooting because shoot days are not cheap to organise, often record companies are spending tens of thousands of pounds to fund a shoot, so it is important that sufficient shots are taken as it will not be possible to get a shot after.

The digipack, or album sleves and inserts, is too of paramount importance when it comes to how the band is portrayed, and also IMITATES and SUBVERTS conventions of real media products. Our digipack features an Image of 'The Toy Hearts', accompanied by the bands name, with selected 'mise en scène' appropriate to the image of the band. This is a common theme across the thousands of album covers and digipacks in existence.

The magazine advert is of prime importance in a musicians marketing campaign as it can increase awareness of the band and reach a broader target audience. The magazine advert is made with synergy between the digipack which is imitating existing products as this is a common trait