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

After researching Marina and the Diamonds house style and looking into other music video styles I knew from early on I wanted a set house style with clear linking factors between the music video and ancillary tasks.

House Style
Colour was a very important factor in my music video and ancillary tasks, my music video was edited into a 1960s effect this left me with trying to edit my images into the same style. I however didn't find this as successful as I had wanted and found colouring the images background in black and white and the figure edited in 60s effect was much more visually appealing and looked much more of a professional quality. Changing the colour scheme wasn't something I had expected to do and I wanted to have a clear link between the ancillary tasks and main product. I went back to my music video and added a broken TV effect that creates a home video feel I felt this was important to I tried to create a TV effect with my ancillary tasks. The talent breaking away from a 1950s background and becoming their own person I feel this added effect in my final music video links all three tasks well despite the colour variation. I previously talked about using Marina and the Diamonds logo on my work because I really liked the style and shape of the lettering, I chose to go ahead with this decision and really like the outcome. On album covers and advertisements the artists logo is probably the most key aspect thats why I felt it was so important to get it right. I also used the mac to cut out the lettering from her single album cover for I Am Not A Robot to link the inside of the digipak to the cover and magazine article. My music video does not contain the artists logo at all, the idea behind using the logo on everything but the video was to create my own artist recognition. I used a very distinctive style and editing  The style of my music video itself is quite unique and bold I hoped there would be a noticeable link between the music video and ancillary tasks through mise en scene and the use of images, and i think this has worked successfully.

Colouring of the text was something I took into consideration, I planned originally to use the logo in black or grey however I reconsidered this when looking back into research about typical pop conventions. White was a much more suited colour as its clean and modern looking and this is what pop based around current trends. I felt there had to be a modern aspect somewhere in my work to link it back to the genre itself.


Images
My aim was to create very distinctive images for the use of my ancillary task to create a clear link between them. Distinctive images are beneficial as they are memorable and draw interest. I did this by editing and spacing. My magazine poster is very distinctive it has a very minimalistic approach I wanted to use blank white space to capture attention. If you were flicking through a magazine full of colour and text and came to a page thats half blank with a centre image it would hopefully capture the audiences attention immediately the style and text is also very memorable. I filmed and took the images on the same day while my talent was performing this gave my images a more natural look, I preferred this as posed photos look very cliche. I also wanted to have my own style of images this is why I chose to avoid copying Marinas style. Full length images are something you dont usually see on album advertisements close ups are usually used to draw immediate attention to the artist. When taking these images I had a very clear idea of the outcome I wanted, I needed the images to be strong and powerful to convey the message of the song I feel this worked well and there is a very clear visual link between the digipak, magazine cover and music video because of these images.

Location
The images on both ancillary tasks are taken in the same location that my music video was filmed. This was because I wanted to set up the camera on the tripod and take images simultaneously so get actions shots of my talent. Using the same location really helped when it came to the combination of the music video and tasks because they could immediately be linked with similar backgrounds. It created a sense of unity between all three piece of work.

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

While researching into music videos and theories behind music videos, I wanted to consciously challenge the male gaze theory. To start with I didn't realise just how many conventions to the 'pop' genre there was it wasn't until I compared my finished music video just how many conventions I had challenged.

In the majority of pop videos props are used throughout to help narrate or to engage the audience in the video, however in my music video I used direct mode of address with the camera, I chose to go against this convention because I feel eye contact is a much more personal aspect, use of props would have also been quite challenging as my location was very simple there was nothing to link to any sort of props it was just my talent. Using a broken camera effect in my music video almost gave the idea of it being filmed on a camcorder, I wanted to use this to make the song relatable and personal to the audience and because of this I feel use of props would have obstructed this effect.

Fast Paced cuts were a convention I challenged while making my music video. Many Pop music videos are very upbeat and fast paced cuts are used simultaneously with the beat of the music to be visually appealing. This example is Miley Cyrus's music video '7 things'.

 Like many pop videos fast paced cuts are used from the first chorus and throughout the song. My song choice however was much slower and varied in speed throughout the duration. There was quite a lot of repetition in lyrics towards the end, I tested fast paced cuts while editing between these lyrics but it didn't suit the style of my music video, I felt it looked too blunt and for the pace of my song it definitely wasn't well suited.

Lyrical references are used in many music videos of this genre, for example Marina and the Diamonds 'Oh no' music video during certain lyrics a cartoon speech bubble is used with a visual reference to the song lyric.

I think lyrical references are used to entertain the audience and to make the songs meaning clear. I didn't think about this convention until after I had finished my final music video, because my song choice was slightly slower paced and more repetitive it may have been harder to use. I do feel however my music video has a great deal of emotion that are more effective than visual lyrical references. My talent put in a great deal of emotion when lip syncing and with some of the expressions portrayed it gives the audience a personal connection as they can reflect to a time where they have felt that way it also made my music video appear realistic and did successfully show the emotion behind the songs meaning.

The use of intertextuality was another convention I challenged firstly its hard to get it into a music video and secondly its very easily missed, while planning my music video I was very aware of timing limitations for the filming and I didn't want to spend a long time on a reference that may go unnoticed.

A massive part of pop culture is dance. Choreographed dance routines are a typical convention of a music video in this genre. Demi Lovatos 'Neon Lights' is a perfect example of this.

 I decided to challenge this convention mainly because I only wanted one individual in my music video, this convention would be better used in a music video with a group.

A recognisable symbol or band trait is often used in pop culture. An example of this is the hat Olly Murs wears in each of his videos its become a symbol of his music just like Michael Jackson and the White Glove. Using Marina and the Diamonds as an artist led me to the decision of whether or not to use her signature look, a black eyeliner heart drawn under her left eye.

I decided against using my artists signature as I didn't want to copy her, I didn't want to get carried away in her style and lose any original ideas I had so I left this open for my own interpretation.

The male gaze theory is the main convention I wanted to challenge in my music video, the reason behind wanting to challenge this in particular was because of how much its used and how it objectifies women. An example of this being 'Blurred Lines' By Robin thicke.

 I'm really not a fan of the current music industries view on women or the use of over sexualised music videos. The whole point of a music video in my opinion is too portray the emotion of the song, it should be all about the song no how the women look. Not using typical panning shots of the female body, exposing clothing or shots that make the individual look vulnerable were factors I went against to challenge the male gaze theory and this worked successfully.

Over all looking at conventions that have been challenged by my final music video the biggest challenge is probably the theme of the music video itself. 'Pop' culture is all about current trends. Pop music is an abbreviation of the word popular. Pop music is associated with being modern, music videos in this genre are almost always portrayed in a fashionable trendy way. A current example of this is 'Move' by Little mix both the males and females are dressed in the most popular current fashion trends, make-up and hair. The location also portrays this, a brightly lit modern looking room. With my music video based on the style of the 1960s and its vintage look its the complete opposite of the stereotypical pop style you would expect to see.

There are some conventions that I have kept one of these is lip syncing as with every pop music video I have looked at there is some form of lip syncing involved even if its a narrative story, I used the typical convention of direct mode of contact (performing to the camera) to create an audience and artist relationship as I feel its a good way to convey emotion.

Another convention I have kept is certain camera work. I used close up shots quite a few times in my final music video. Close up shots are a direct mode of address in music videos they're more personal.

The use of close ups in music videos such as Marina and the Diamonds 'starring role' put emphasis and attention onto the artist themselves, this is the effect I wanted; the artist being the centre of attention without using the male gaze theory. The use of close ups also emphasises the facial expression, my talent was very good at portraying certain expressions and this is something I wanted to highlight in my music video.

Location was a convention that I decided to follow, a lot of music videos in the pop genre are filmed outside or in wide open spaces, especially with solo female artists. Two good examples of this are Selena Gomez- 'Come and get it'. I followed this convention because I wanted to also portray femininity with the use of a scenic pretty background, the only problem was I was filming in the middle of december!

Filming in an out door location also allowed me to follow the lighting convention of typical pop videos. Pop songs are often upbeat and often a happy vibe to them because o this lighting is overexposed in places and quite bright. Filming outdoors meant I could use the natural light to create this effect this way when I layered the aged film effect onto the footage it wasn't dark at all and gave this light, warm hearted feel to it which I feel worked well.

Looking at typical conventions I have both challenged and used these to make a good quality music video.