Evaluation [Part 1]

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

My music video was aimed at an age group of young teenagers to young adults.
I used a teenage girl to play the main part of my music video.  The song, VersaEmerge - Figure It Out is of an alternative, pop/punk/rock genre.
Because I aimed this at a teenage/young adult audience, I tried to create a sense of magic realism.
I started with the girl sleeping followed my 'sleepwalking' into another world.
Many music videos display a sense of magic realism and this is a way that I have conformed to the musical genre.  

I decided to have two main settings for my music video.  This was the forest, and the band performing the track.  Many punk/rock music videos have a band performing the track.  In my music video, I have a band performing the track.  Like in other music videos, I used various different shots including pans and low angle shots to create an interesting mixture of instrument, vocal and full band shots.  I have conformed to how other music videos in this genre have filed their music videos because having a artist/band perform the track keeps the viewer entertained.  In my opinion, it is a good way to see the artist/band as a whole.

Here is a shot from the forest near the beginning of the music video.  I decided to change the girls clothes for two reasons.  The first being that it added to the sense of fantasy; that she walked through her garden and came out the other side in a forest.  The other being that based on weather conditions, the safer option would be to have her wear normal clothes.  I think this effect has worked well.  In many music videos, the artists change clothes depending on where they are.
However, I have challenged this by using it in a way to give a sense of dreaming/fantasy in my video.

To the right, I have print screened a shot from my video where I sung in the forest for the video.  Like before, I changed the clothes I wore from the original band setup so that it adds to the magic realism feel.  Most of the shots of the vocals in the forest were of just myself.  I then thought it would be a good idea to include the actors in a shot with myself.  It develops the feel that the singer is actually there with the other characters, in a realistic sense.  I have conformed to some music videos as they sometimes have the singer acting as a 'narrator' along with the story being acted in the background.  I challenged this because originally, I had the character spread out.  This didn't work so I used effects to place them closer together.

The way I ordered my shots shows how the girl is being followed throughout the video.  It relates to the song lyrics, 'Why can't I even figure it out?'  The girl can't work out why she is being followed or who is following/chasing her.  I have challenged other music videos of this genre by keeping an ongoing throughout the whole music story line video, and then closing this story line up by having it end where she first started - at home asleep.

I kept the band shots moving by choosing different angles and actions for the other members of the bands.  I made sure that since I was singing, I was constantly moving around.  
Many rock band singers use actions such as 'head banging' in their music videos.  I decided to replicate this.  It helped me and the other actors get into the feel.  Having to move the camera in between shots to where I wanted was slightly time consuming - but I knew what I wanted.  I mixed some of the shots of the band with speed effects to create interesting dynamics.

I decided to introduce another character halfway through my music video.  This conforms to the genre of music video I made because usually the characters would be introduced, even for a second earlier on in the video.  I decided to just have him 'appear'.
This adds to the whole 'not being about to figure it out' theme from the song lyrics.  I had both males to wear black so that they matched.  The colour can also mean 'offering no hope'.  I also had each band member wearing an item of black clothing, and this singles out the girl in my music video as she does not wear black.  Conforming/challenging the clothing style can vary in this genre.  Some artists prefer to wear their own clothes, others prefer to arrange what each band member will be wearing.

I used the different sections of the song to replicate actions/storyline changes in my music video.  For example, the first chorus of my music video is where you really get to see who is following the girl. Also, the bridge section of the song acts like a tide turner in my video, things start looking up for the girl when the two figures disappear, and she starts making her way back.  I think this challenges some music videos of this genre because sometimes the storyline of the video may not really fit in with the song.  However, some music videos (Paramore - Misery Business) for example, does have a pattern to how the video has been edited.

 I decided to finish my video by having the girl exit the forest the same way she arrived.  I then allowed for a few seconds of her asleep, emphasising that it was a dream.  I have conformed to other music videos of this genre by using this idea.  For example, Evanescence - Bring Me To Life ends the same way.
I think this has worked very well to finish the video and sums it up.