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

For this evaluation question I broke it up into micro questions so that I was able to answer the big question.  Here are the answers:

Website conventions by Isaac on GoAnimate

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Alicia Keys - Digipak

Alicia Keys is a R&B artist.

Here are quotes from Alicia showing her values and beliefs:

Alicia Keys a very spiritual person, though any connection with a traditional, mainstream religion is absent. When asked in a interview she answered:

'I would call it spirituality because I think religion gets very sticky. I think it’s beautiful to have a belief in something and that’s where religion comes in… But for me it’s definitely spirituality in the sense of having integrity and certain morals I stand by.^' 

Many of her political objectives and activity focus around women’s issues. She’s a big supporter of the Democratic Party, and therefore, a big supporter of Barak Obama. And who would blame her?

As a result, Keys campaigned for Obama in both 2008 and 2012 catering her message to women. She said:

'I think as women we have specific issues that we care about more because we are the nurtures and caretakers of our families. I believe healthcare, education and equal pay are all important issues for women.^'

(Click here to read more)

 Alicia Keys theme of lyrics are mostly personal as she talks about issues in her life. One example is 'speechless' in which she writes about her son

  [Verse 1: Alicia Keys]

When I wake up in the morning babe
Can't believe my eyes
Sweetest little part of destiny
Oh yeah
Cause you are now in my life
There ain't no man or prize
Oh noo
Can compare to you
Ain't no words to describe the way that I'm feeling
When I look at you

[Chorus: Alicia Keys]
I'm just speechless baby
Don't know what to say
I'm just speechless baby
The poet in me has gone away
I'm speechless baby
Don't know what to say
I'm just speechless baby
The poet in me has gone away

Now I want to talk about her platinum collection album.

The Platinum Collection contains 3 CD albums...
Disc 1: Songs in A Minor
Disc 2: The Diary of Alicia Keys
Disc 3: As I am

The front cover is silver with her name and title also showing 3 small photos of her previous albums which are in this album. there is also a photo of Alicia wearing a silver hat and lace top standing by a white background. The front cover conveys the smooth soulful sounds as of in the 70's style of R&B which is in her music in this album, her photo shows she is being seductive bringing in the edgier street sound of todays R&B.

The image and design conveys sonic texture in a relaxing and feel good mood. mostly showing as seducing men to buy her album by showing Alicia seductivly looking out at the audience.

The album cover is eye catching as it is minimal but showing Alicia as the main focus as the photo of her is big. The silver background matches her hat and stands out from the white background Alicia is standing in front of.

The back cover is also silver with her name and titles of the albums and songs on this album put into sections of the discs. The CD opens firstly showing a piano which will then open into 4 sections to show the  previous 3 albums and the CD's are inserted into each section. The last section is of a photo of Alicia and inserted behind is a booklet showing photos of Alicia and song titles, written and produced - credits.

The CD's are in different designs for example one of the CD's from the section 'The diary of Alicia Keys' has keys on the front of it which symbolises her name. In my opinion is that this could also be another way of saying 'unlocking the music' as keys open locks.

By analysing this Digipak it will help with my own as it is a very effective Digipak. For mine I will have to make sure that it looks interesting at first sight to attract target audience. Also, have to make sure that I have the same affect throughout my whole Digipak.

Innovative Music Videos + Sven E Carlsson Music Theory

Innovative Music Videos is the opportunity to experiment with technology visuals, narrative and audience - artist image (i.e. videos which deliberately break with conventions). This means:

• Audiences are open to risk as they don't need to pay for it.
• It targets the 'underground audience'.
• The videos are usually short so it is easier to take risks.

Top three intelligent Music Video conventions (if for some reason the arrows in the presentation don't look right click here)

Top three intelligent music video conventions on Prezi

Here are examples for each:       
 

Commercial Exhibitionist

Nicki Minaj - Starships is an example of a Commercial Exhibitionist as she is selling herself by wearing swimwear throughout the video. (Sorry for big space but I can't seem to fix it).
   

Televised Bard

  

Green Day - Wake Me Up When September Ends is an great example of a Televised Bard as during this video we have the artist telling a love story during the video.

Electronic Shaman  

 

Katy Perry - California Gurls ft. Snoop Dogg is an Electronic Shaman because the worls is seen as magical.

All of these examples relate to Sven E Carlsson Music Theory. In his theory he also believed that binary opposites drive the narration of the video forward, for example a black and white theme. Music videos, fall into two main groups this is what Carlsson believed. The two main groups are:

• Performance Clips - This is when the music video mainly shows either the artist (or artists) either singing or/and dancing. The performance can be of three types - Song performance, Dance performance and Instrumental performance. An example of this is Rihanna - Rude Boy this is because the audience can see her dancing and singing in the music video.
• Conceptual Clips - This is when the music video shows something else during it's duration it is usually with artistic ambitions. Kids - MGMT is an example of this as there is monsters created and a lot of artistic ambitions when the child in the video watches the TV screen.

This then follows onto the three pure forms of visual tradition in music videos. These are the top three intelligent music video conventions seen at the beginning of this post.

There are many other interesting facts about music videos such as:

Voyeurism - Is pleasure from looking at other people often in state of undress or sexual activity. An example of this would be Uniting Nations - Out Of Touch because there are girls who are in a state of undress. Also, they are playing strip poker with a guy.

Archetype - Is the original copy which is then copied.



Formal Conventions of a Music Video

Here are formal conventions of a music video:

Depends on the Genre
Many conventions of a music video vary depending on genre of music. However, the majority of music videos apply to general conventions. For example in a R&B music video the men would usually be topless as they usually want to target young teenage girls. However, in a Heavy Metal they are lots of quick camera movement to give the video lots of energy.

Artists Performance
Most music videos have an artist performing in them whether acting or on stage. One of the purposes of a music video is to raise awareness of the artist. It is beneficial and also helps the artist to provide the audience with real and believable performance.

Lip Syncing
This is very important as it links the images to the sound. If there is singing it is vital in these types of music videos.

Visualizing the Lyrics
What is shown in the video should relate to the lyrics. For example Pink - So What is about her ex-husband and how she is better off without him. The lyrics in this song are related to what is happening in the video.

Pace of Editing

Depending on the tempo, the editing will be seen to be either long or short. For example Italobrothers - Stamp on the Ground has a fast and upbeat tempo. This means that shots are short and there are quick cuts.

Italo Brothers - Stamp On The Ground on MUZU.TV.

 

Mise-en-scene

This is very important as it should match the mood of the song. For example, if a song was sad and depressing, the music video would not have lots of bright colours, bright lights, smiling faces and other joyful features.

 

A example of mise-en-scene used in a sad music video would be Bone Thugs N Harmony - Crossroads. This is because during the video they are in a funeral and also there is a death.



 

A example of mise-en-scene used in a upbeat music video would be Girls' Generation (SNSD) - Gee. This is the total opposite of the video before as in this video it has bright colour backgrounds, mixture of colour clothes and happy faces.

 

How will this affect the descions when planning the music video?
When I do the music video I would need to make sure that the formal conventions are followed. This would be making sure that the music video is properly made. Also by following these conventions it makes it easier as it can be seen as a guide to be followed.



Preliminary Project 2 - Music Genre

For our second Preliminary Project we had to produce first verse and chrous of a new music video for an existing song and artist following the stylistic convention of a different music genre. Our genre we were given was Gangsta Rap and we had to use this genre for the song Duran Duran - Girls on Film. So we researched different conventions of a Gangsta Rap. We identified them in different marketing products for a number of artists (more than three!).

(There is a link to each music video either embedded on this post or there will be a link on the music video name. Also, some of the videos may have some explicit language.)

Convention 1
Stylish Cars

Example 1
Artist: Dr. Dre
Song: Kush ft. Snoop Dogg, Akon
Where did you spot conventions: There is a nice looking car in the beginning as Snoop Dogg exits the car.

Example 2
Artist: Snoop Dogg
Song: Nuthin But A G Thang
Where did you spot conventions: During the video there are cars which are using hydraulics.

Example 3
Artist: T.I.
Song: What You Know
Where did you spot conventions: T.I. driving down the road in a Bentley.

Why do audiences like stylish cars in these videos?
Audiences like this as most of the cars are quite expensive by this it makes people more interested in the videos as it shows they have loads of money. This makes audiences get aspired by them.#

Convention 2
Dominating figures (police, teachers, government)

Example 1
Artist: C-Murder
Song: Down 4 my N's
Where did you spot conventions: Police cars are going after the music artists during parts of the video.

Example 2

Artist: Chamillionaire 

Song: Ridin Dirty

Where did you spot conventions: Throughout the video there are police officers who look like they are targetting the rappers.

Example 3
Artists: Kool G Rap & DJ Polo
Song: Road To The Riches
Where did you spot conventions: Rappers are in court with the police and a judge in a courtroom.

Why do audiences like to see dominating figures such as police, government or teachers in these music videos?
Audiences seem to like this because they maybe in the same situation as the rappers as they were growing up. Audiences could also have the same view as the rappers, for example, a rapper may feel that the police are corrupt and bad meaning the audience would feel the same way. This would link into the theorist Deborah Knight, she states that you get 'satisfaction of having expectations fulfilled'.

Convention 3
Scantily Clad Women

Example 1
Artist: Eminem
Song: Superman
Where did you spot conventions: In the video there is a woman who is flirting and taunting sexually with Eminem.

Example 2
Artist: Ludacris
Song: Area Codes
Where did you spot conventions: There are women throughout the video dancing wearing not much clothes.

Example 3

Artist: Snoop Dogg

Song: Boom ft. T-Pain

Where did you spot conventions: As Snoop Dogg is rapping there are girls in the club who are dancing near him. 

Why do audiences like to see scantily clad women in these music videos?

Audiences like to see this as it makes the music artist look cool and popular. Men especially watching them want to be like the artist. This resembles to their lifestyle therefore audience gets aspired by the artists.

Innovative Music Videos - The xx

The xx - Islands is an example of an Innovative Music Video.

Here are some conventions which are followed and are broken in this music video.