Evalutation - Question 2 Planning

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Music Video/Digipak/Advert

(will be made into a video)

I believe that the music video, digipak and advertisement were all appropriate for our target audience of roughly 16-25 year olds as it portrayed a rebellious and what is stereotypically known as a 'young and wild' lifestyle. This includes scenes of a sexual nature e.g. by having the camera linger of female body parts and showing close ups of such and also because of what was being represented e.g. a young female getting drunk and smoking. I believe that an older audience would possibly have too many responsibilities to be living a lifestyle like this in order to relate to the songs whilst a younger audience would possibly be more impressionable and therefore make this music video unsuitable for them. 

It fulfills the purpose as it aims to entertain our target audience by using popular conventions of R&B music videos such as women, alcohol, drugs etc, however we tried not to be too explicit within our digipak and advertisement because more people would possibly be able to come across them and we didn't want to put them off by including imagery that is too crude. In addition to this, the mise-en-scene used e.g. the alcohol bottles and the change of outfits all make the sequence of events being shown throughout the music video more convincing and aesthetically pleasing. 

 In relation to the Digipak, we kept the black and white effect consistent and also made the advert black and white as we wanted to create a brand image that made the artist stand out since we aren't showing an artist - the advertisement uses one of the same images as the digipak which makes them relatable however I would maybe have used an image that stood out more such as a woman smoking whilst her eye is in focus (one of our initial ideas) as it makes the advertisement controversial and therefore stand out. 

 

I believe that our ancillary tasks have been created to suit the music video in regards to the mise-en-scene and effects used, however the ancillary tasks could have been improved by using more striking imagery. This would possibly have made it look more professional, however at a risk of making it look like the female in the photo is the artist. We didn't use close ups of the female in the music video on the ancillary tasks because we wanted her to be portrayed as just a pretty female being used for promotional purposes. In regards to this, I believe we did achieve this to the best of our ability given the equipment we had on hand and the editing skills we had acquired.

 

Evaluation - Question 1 Planning

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

• USE - same concept as real artist/album - not promoting the face of the artist but his voice instead - still focus on his name but mystery used to make it more unique and visually different to normal videos/digipaks where artist is always flaunted - but also CHALLENGE 'real media products' because we did not include the artists face which is a convention of music videos
• DEVELOP - we used the idea of having a girl in the video to play the narrative rather than the artist just singing/being part of the narrative - same as artist - however we decided to use marilyn monroe theme e.g. living the 'high life' and then going downhill behind closed doors - more of a down market/modern version
• USE - Laura Mulvey's male gaze - we are showing female body parts and kissing etc. which is a common convention of music videos - party scene - girls dancing in revealing/tight clothing
• CHALLENGE - no lip syncing used - purposely because no artist is being shown - want to make the song implicitely apply to the girls situation - not too obvious or 'cheesy' as artist is being portrayed as someone who is alternative and doesn't want to be judged on appearence
• MISE-EN-SCENE - clothing - when she's alone she wears comfortable jumpers and jeans etc. whereas when she is with friends/out she tends to wear more revealing clothing. 
• DEVELOP - we decided to create a black and white music video in order to make the music video more aesthetically pleasing in general and also to create a classy ambience.  Also, we used a border on the top and bottom of the music video for a more cinematic look which looks slightly like an old black and white movie.
• DEVELOP - whilst both the original music video and the one we have created are based around women and the media, the original one focuses more on a modern approach and use a lot of symbolism e.g. water representing alcohol. On the other hand, our music video, whilst including symbolism from time to time, is mainly an explicit sequence of events that lead up to the end result. The narrative in our music video visually shows people that the woman is drinking/smoking/partying etc. whilst the original video is set on a dessert and shows a group of women trying to survive in the harsh conditions taking the place of the media or the hollywood lifestyle.

Certification

Although music videos often do not have their certification identified when they are shown, we believe that the content of our music video would fit within videos rated '15'. We used official film certification guidelines to ensure that we were within boundaries, and they are shown below.

Discrimination

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.

Imitable behaviour

Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest  terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.

The Weeknd - Covers

These are several mixtape/single covers by The Weeknd. As you can see, there are no images of the actual artist included in the imagery and I believe that this is because the focus is on the music rather than the artist and the image he portrays. Instead, Abel took a more diverse approach and