Task 1

Technical Conventions - Editing

We used editing to link the lip-sync and narrative together. This was through eye-line matches, the way that we did this was by putting shots of one of the girls looking up next to shots of the singer looking down (seeing their POV). This created the illusion that they were looking at each other or just in the direction of each other. This not only separates the two worlds as being one underwater and one above but works with out narrative as it shows the bringing together of the worlds. This convention of not using a master shot is used by Delilah in her video with Chase and Status Time as there are shots of the narrative (happening inside of a house) and lip-sync of her in the car looking out of her window (bottom photo). Although there isnt an master shot which shows that these two worlds are connected because of the editing as it creates the illusion that they are connected. Music videos shouldnt make perfect sense and creates a sense of the video being incomplete which encourages repeated views.

Technical Conventions - Editing

The editing pace matched the pace of our song so that the visual underscored the audio. Our song was quite slow so therefore we used long drawn out shots which emphasised this slow tempo. Looking at videos like Adele's Hometown Glory which is a ballad, the editing pace is very slow which is used to show the emotion of the song. Whereas in a R&B dance pop track like Rihanna's We Found Love there is very fast paced editing used to emphasise the very quick tempo of the song this creates a hectic video. We decided to use this convention so that the audience focuses on the song which is very important as the main aim of music videos is to sell the song.

Symbolic Conventions Mise-en-scene

This video from YouTube called Underwater Dance was a very big influence of ours. We decided to use some of the symbolic conventions used in this video. For example we used the same kind of costume a white floaty dress, this is so that the light material could be blown by the fans. We also used the same colouring blue so that this created the idea of the video being underwater. This symbolic convention adds to the mystical feel that we wanted in our video. In aftereffects we added particles similar to this video from YouTube this was to create an even more believable world of it being underwater but also to add to the abstract nature of our video.

Symbolic Conventions - Colour

Colour can be used in music videos to represent mood these kinds of expressive conventions wouldnt be used in film as films aim to create a believable world. We decided to use blue tinted lighting to create an underwater effect. In Christina Perry's A Thousand Years there are some shots which have been blue tinted. This is because the video involves a lot of shots of water therefore goes with one of the themes. Black and white is often used in ballads, sad songs or classical songs. For example Adele uses black and white. Here is a picture of Beyonc's Broken Hearted Girl in which black and white is used. This creates emotions and is also extremely flattering. Its used mostly for solo artists (and females, for these reasons). Most Hollywood films wouldnt use lighting in such an expressive way.

Performance Direct Address

The convention of direct address is probably one of the most important conventions used in music videos. This is when the performer looks straight into the camera which gives the viewer a sense that they are speaking/singing directly to them. This is enhanced by using close-ups with the camera. This gives the viewer a pleasure as it may contrast to the other more hectic parts of the song. This direct address is usually highlighted by editing in the fact that the singer is singing the hook line this is so that the hook line is a memorable visual hook which goes with the audio hook. The use of camera in the form of close ups and medium close ups also give this sense of intimacy. Here are print screens from Ellie Gouldings and The Fray videos where they are both using the convention of direct address.

Digipak Album Front

The use of black and white gives the artist a thoughtful feel. It also gives a sense as to what subgenre this artist fits into for example looking at the black and white you would know she doesnt fit into the dance pop subgenre. Also the composition of her looking down (looking at these album covers) is a common convention, mainly used in singer/songwriters as it shows that they are less commercial and less about their image and more about the deep meaningful songs.

Just like these other album covers we decided to use a colour scheme of only 3 colours for our Digipak which is a common convention used with album covers because the use of more than 3 colours may cause confusion about what this artist is about.

Similar to these album covers on the right we decided not only to use black and white but to add colour to our writing on the front the blue is used to create a more edgy feel to our artist rather than her being seen as a classical artist (similar to Adele, yet even Adele has used a bit of colour in her writing), which is something our focus group picked up on too.

For the album name we have kept with the same font and colour so that the immediate focus of the audience is the artists which is the most important part of the DigiPak as this is what fans will be looking for. It was also important to have the album name not too small that they cannot read it so that they can get a sense as to what songs are on the album. This is a convention used in all of these album covers on the right.

Digipak Album Back

We came up with 12 track names such as The Myth which suggests that although a lot of her songs are about love that there are others with more deeper, different meanings. We also decided that the Numb track we made a video for would be a remixed version of her original song Numb which is more slow and thoughtful. This is so that we decided our artist wouldnt be in the subgenre of trip-hop but would be a singer/song writer who created a trip-hop (dubstep remix) track.

The colour scheme of the Digipak back and front are not conflicting they both use the same font and colours so that this creates a clear idea as to who the artist is this creates consistency.

Weve added production information onto the back of our Digipak which is essential information added (website, production company, copyright).

We decided to put our track names central which is a convention used by Ellie Goulding and Jessie J (right), which are both female artist. By having the track list in the centre it creates a pleasing layout and the use of blue makes the track names pop out and clear to see which is important because audiences might recognise some familiar tracks that they want to buy or even tracks theyve never heard before yet want to.

Website
Here is a screenshot of our websites homepage below, on the right is Ellie Gouldings homepage and below right is Delilahs. Both of these artists are similar to ours. We decided to make the main theme of the homepage about Lolas latest news, from her Twitter. I took pictures of her and created tweets which I tweeted then added to the homepage. I also added the new album which is seen on Ellie Gouldings homepage too.

I decided to keep the colours other than the pictures black white and grey to create a sophisticated feel to the website which would link the website with the other two products nicely.

We decided to add the pictures so that fans could learn a lot about Lola straight away when going onto her website. I also made the buttons below the images have the opacity which allowed the images to be seen from underneath this same technique is used on both Delilah and Ellie Gouldings websites.

Through the tabs being at the top it is very neat and organised which is something I wanted the presentation to be to show she was a modern, mature artist who cares.