Q1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real
media products?
A: My product, which is a pop music video uses a narrative style, since it is established as a story, and therefore tries to highlight the meaning of the song, in a more broadly-defined manner. Being a promo, however, it was deemed necessary by me to keep the band members, as the characters of this story in order to ensure that the audience managed to effectively identify them as the ones responsible for making the composition, should they find it enjoyable, and hence wish to become their fan/follower in which case knowing about the band to a quite an extent would be necessary.
So, as far as promotional music videos are concerned, I did not violate the convention of using the band members as part of the video to signify the point that the song was composed by them, and make their name known to the target audience, which would be significant for both increasing awareness of the band, as well as building a base for fans, and help them progress with this.
For example; Chris Daughtry-the main vocalist for the band Daughtry used his last name for it so that the audience, which was already aware of his vocal talent, owing to the fact that he had risen to fame in a popular singing contest American Idol in 2005, would recognize him, and having taken a certain liking to his type of music would therefore be interested in following him as he uses his talent as a singer, as well as an excellent rhythm-guitar player for making music which they would love listening to. Daughtry's first hit single, 'It's Not Over' featured both the band members as well as him in the video, like a conventional promo. In the video, both the narrative as well as the performance style was used, since there was a story, and the band was featured as well. Here is the video:
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| Google Images- All Copyrights Reserved |
The same case is with my video, which although is limited, tries to promote the band by starring them as the main characters, and like Daughtry the main vocalist of my band remains a constant throughout the video, and is united for a brief scene with his lead guitarist so as to further stress on the fact that these two belong to the band, which is responsible for making the song, and make it easier for them to follow the band, should they wish to do so. Here is one of those scenes in which Faraz-the main vocalist as well as the rhythm guitarist acts as the main protagonist of the story:
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| Faraz-the main protagonist |
And here is the scene in which he is joined with his bandmate Saad:
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| Faraz and Saad |
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A similar scene from Aadat
Google Images-All Rights Reserved |
With that, it can be hence concluded that as far as the conventions of a promo are concerned, with the main one being the need to feature the band to be promoted to some extent has been followed by me. Moving towards the conventions of pop songs, it should be observed that many of the significant elements needed for a pop song are there. I shall deal with these conventions in a categorical manner, with a comparative analysis of a famous pop song similar to my media product:
1-Sound: It is essential for the vocals in a pop song to sound more prominent when compared to that of other instrumentals being played. For example, lets take 'Aadat', a famous pop song by a Pakistani Band called Jal. In Aadat, the vocals sound very dominant, and the power of these vocals helps in expressing the strong emotions, which are necessary to signify the mood, and in turn represent the genre of the song effectively. This is also the case with my music video, in which it is ensured that the vocals dominate over the entire song. and sound clear and loud enough to create that much-needed visual impact for the target audience.
2-Mise-en-Scene: The establishment, in which my video has been shot helps in representing the conflict between the feelings of the protagonist, and those surrounding him, and show the effect of these situational variables on the protagonist's behaviour as exhibited in the video to further signify the entire mood, as well as the message of the song, which deals with loss, and how that loss is highlighted by memories shared in a particular place, which serves as an 'obvious' sign for the audience that the person feels the absence of his friend, when looking around the place, with the most memories as shared by them. Same is the case in Aadat, in which the person sits in a place which reminds him of the troubled past he has gone through, and how it haunts him, and triggers the strong pangs of sorrow and despair within.
3-Camera Angles: In my video, there are a lot of close-ups, extreme close-ups, mid-shots, and the usual distant shots. The varying nature of these shots, is done to fully show the character, and place great emphasis on his mood and the behaviour as followed in order to help the audience identify with its mood, and in turn the genre. The same can be observed in Aadat, in which these camera angles vary with each scene to effectively establish the meaning of the song by showing both the characters as well as the surrounding as much as possible, and helping the audience comprehend it in a more proper manner.
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| Close-Up |
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| Distant Shot |
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| Close-up+Side Shot |
4-Editing: In music videos, a lot of jump cuts, and in pop songs like mine effects like 'Fade' are used so as to manipulate time, since music videos given their short duration, as well as the gravity of their message need to be edited in a manner, which helps the audience move on, and come in visual, as well as an audio contact with the entire song by going through only the scenes, which are relevant and in-sync with the song. Also, the shots have been edited in a slow-paced manner to bring in a gloomy depressing effect, which is needed for explaining the theme of the song properly. So, like many such music videos, I used the slow-motion effect to my advantage. Again, the same can be observed in Aadat, in which the shots are slow-paced and time has been manipulated by using the same effects I did for my product.
That being said, it is clear that I didn't challenge the conventions of real media products, and did so because I wanted to make it easier for my target audience to identify the genre, and hence understand the song through the music video.
