Question 1- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

A music video is a short film integrating the combined elements of visuals, lyrics and music and is generally concept, narrative or performance based or in some cases an assortment of all three. It adds a visual element to a song which helps reinforce themes and ideas within a song and allows the artist to be creative and appeal to their intended audiences. Through researching into the indented purpose of a music video I discovered that the use of a music video varies but the main intention is to help promote an artist or a song. The production brief for my advanced media production was to create a 3-5 music video for the song of my choice and the supporting music genre. Once our basic music video research was collected my group could begin to planning and creating our music video. I decided on the Paloma Faith song "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" and chose Sophie to portray the artist which we name 'Sophie Mae'. The reason for the song choice was as it was categorised under the soul genre which we felt would be easiest to portray as it allowed us more creative freedom in terms of narrative and conventions. 

Before creating my music video I watch and analysed existing media products to identify the generic codes and conventions of my chosen music genre; soul. Through watching the video for Adele's 'Rolling in the Deep' I identified the conventional use of the cinematography element of a close up when Adele is singing in the chair. This inspired me to therefore use a closeup of the artists face within my own video towards the end of the video when the artist is too shown hunched over in a chair crying. Therefore the use of the close-up in connection with the smudged mascara intensifies and expresses the emotions her deep upset to the audience. This represents my artist as upset and vulnerable as she seems weak and in an emotional state and so the audience would feel empathy towards due to her broken relationship and want to be her friend in order to comfort her. As the soul genre tends to be more relatable to the audience, the cinematography use is conventional as it can help the audience relate to their own experiences when experiencing similar emotions. Another conventional use of cinematography is the use of shots such as over the shoulder when the artist is getting ready in the mirror. This is conventional to the soul genre as it shows the audience a view from the perspective of the artist which helps the audience build a relationship with the artist as they have a better understanding of the artist making them feel closer. This is opposed to other genres which main purpose is to promote the artist to allow the audience to buy into the artists lifestyle where the more personal angel connects more to the personal lyrics of the song. 

Another convention found within Adele's video of the soul genre is the simple and classic use of the miss-en-scene element of hair, make-up and costume. This is evident when Adele is shown in a black dress with a simple undo and make-up however within my video I decided to represent my artist as more current and quirky. This is unconventional as the simple look keeps the concentration on the artist and her emotions. To therefore subvert this I therefore dressed the artist is confident in trend clothes such as a pink coat and large floppy hat. This updates the artist image and helps her appeal to her younger generation of her target audience. The use of the long shot to show the clothes and through dressing the artist in high street clothes makes her look seem attainable as well as making the artist seem more approachable and as though the girl next door. This is conventional to the soul genre as artists often seem more ordinary and approachable an element of Dyers theory which states the artist should be both ordinary and extraordinary. 

My research further developed into the soul genre through analysing Amy Winehouse 'Rehab' and identifying how the artist was represented through the narrative and micro elements. Through analysing the video the artist came across as relatable due to her personal exposure of her life and drug struggles and experiences. The audience were therefore able to build a relationship with the artist as she came across as honest which makes them feel trusted. I therefore too chose to use the relatable setting of a house as the audience feel they have insight into the artists personal life. As they are too able to see the artist within the house with limited makeup and without her signature style of the red lipstick made the audience feel they could see the real artist which is conventional as the lyrics too tend to be in personal connection to the artist. Through another conventional use of low key lighting within the house I was too able to heighten the emotions of the artist within the narrative. For instance within the dressing room at the beginning of the song Sophie is shown getting ready where foreshadowed by the music is upbeat and shows her happy and willing to get out of the house and make the most of her day. This is then contrasted later with the end of the song where she is shown within a different location on the floor hunched over and crying. Shown to be inverted within her self she seems parallel to her earlier representation which makes the audience feel empathy for the artist as they can relate to days when they were deeply upset or felt alone and therefore didn't want to face the world. This therefore follows the convention of soul music being more personal as the artist is willing to portray themselves within negative and upsetting scenarios allowing the audience a better insight into themselves and their life. As well as this the use of the house is conventional as it adds a personal element to the video. 

The soul genre too although conventionally portrays a relatable narrative they popularly show the portrayal of a love and relationship and the narratives base. For instance my video is showcases a heartbreak which can be felt at any age which suits the large target audience of the artist Sophie of 16-40 year olds enabling them to build a relationship through mutual scenarios. More specifically my video shows the breakdown of a relationship between the artist and her boyfriend. The layout and narrative idea of the video is that the video works as a flashback looking at previous happier times where they are in town spending time with each other and the romance between them indicated by him buying Sophie flowers. The end of the video however the artist is alone so the audience build a relationship with the artist through understanding her upset and by directly being able to see her change in state. This narrative style is conventional to the soul genre as it gives the audience a storyline and perspective to compare the emotions to. This is as it is important to portray and conform to the musical style of a video through the use of emotions and locations as when in support of each other they can project an emotion or feeling as intended onto the audience to provoke certain reactions whilst creating the audience a connection to the song. The audience as result therefore feels that the artist is sharing apart of them allowing them to build their relationship through a better understanding of the artist as well as being in similar or relatable situations. 

 My research into the soul genre allowed me identify the use of slow paced editing in particular in the analysis of Adele's 'Chasing Pavements' when she is rolling down the pavement at a half normal speed. This effect made her seem as though life was passing her by and she was no longer in the moment suggesting that she as a person is now disconnected and has lost her purpose and urgency. I therefore decided to use a slow motion effect within my own video with the use of photoshop and the retime effect. I slowed the shot down by 25% when the artist is ripping up a photo of her and her ex. This is as it is a dramatic symbol to the audience that the relationship is definitely over and she has decided to move on with her life as it is irreversible. The slow effect connotes her slight reluctance and her thought process as to whether the chapter of her life is closed. This would appeal to the audience as they too would understand and refer to a point within their lives when they were that upset and inverted that they were disconnected to the world helping them create a mutual bond and relationship. This is conventional to the soul genre as the songs are often slow paced as the lyrics and the message of the song are more serious and thought provoking. 

My final music video therefore adhere to the forms and conventions of real media products. This is due to our extensive research of codes and conventions which has allowed us to create products that mimic existing work to appeal correctly to our target audience.