QUESTION 1-

In what ways does your media product use, develop and challenge real media product firms and conventions

Mese-En-Scene

We used each element of mise-en-scene to our advantage when it came to developing our music video. To begin with, in our first cut; the shots were dull and difficult to see as there was low and poor quality lighting. However, when we next filmed, we ensured that we too all our shots in strong lighting to ensure that the shots were all as good as possible without the darkness dropping the quality of the cameras ability. As well as this, for our first cut we had a very poor and minimal use of location; this made the video extremely boring to watch as there was nothing interesting to look at. Although, after this we came to realise we needed to add a new location that would stand out a little. We then decided to go to toft tunnel and get some performance shots in there which we discovered was a lot more interesting as well as better suiting our songs’ indie genre. In terms of costume, we used casual clothes of a teenager just like our main character, this was to ensure the video didn’t look too weird or off putting.

Camerawork

In our first cut of the music video, we used a small variety of camera shots and angles. This is because we had rushed through it from the start we only used shots like close ups and mid shots; this made the video seem very basic. This was not a good idea for our promo as it looked unprofessional and rushed in comparison to others we’d seen. When it came to shooting the second time, we tried to ensure that our cinematography was a lot higher quality adding shots like long shots, tracking, panning, over the shoulder, two shots of Alex and Cameron and others we thought would suit the indie genre we’d chosen a lot better than the basic variety we previously used.

Sound

Throughout the video we had the use of diegetic sound at the end of the video, as the non-diegetic sound fades out; there are a few shots of Cameron and Alex messing around while recording the performance. This did not need to be in the video, but it makes it more entertaining and memorable to the audience. The use of non-diegetic sound is the song itself; this is an indie song that we have tried to make suit the video but at the same time we have tried to make it a little random to make it a little more interesting.

Editing

When editing this work, it allowed us to take the skills we had developed from our previous year and improve upon them. Last year we used IMovie and this year moved to adobe premiere elements to allow us to get a better edit with more precise cuts than IMovie. Using a new software was a big step for our group as we’d only just gotten used to IMovie and we’d then straight away moved to premiere elements which was even more complex to use and threw us back a little bit. Even so, we managed to get back on track eventually and fix a final edit that is a reasonably good quality. During this video, we tried to add in things like cutting to the beat as well as editing the lip syncing to the perfect standard so that it looks realistic.

Performance and narrative

In terms of performance, we decided to go down to the old toft tunnel to get shots in there as this location seemed to suit the genre of the song well with its exile area that seemed to be quite an indie atmosphere. Both Cameron and Alex took the roles of the performing artist; we had Alex on the guitar which we recorded in a variety of close ups and mid shots to emphasise conventions. Furthermore, we also shot Cameron lip syncing in this location to link in with Alex’s performance, so the pair could perform some shots together as a group.  On the other hand, our narrative was based upon a lonely and depressed individual that is wondering around different locations thinking about past situations as he falls further into his depressive mental state.

Promotional material

To help promote our chosen song, we have developed a Digipak which is the casing that the CD is to be stored in. The front of our Digipak has an image of the main actor falling through the sky; linking back to the lyric ‘falling back into my past life’ which could hopefully catch the eye of our audience and increase the appeal of the song. This direct link between the lyrics and the Digipak which helps denote the content of the song and its indie genre.