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

Before creating my music video, I researched real music videos in order to gain inspiration for my own work. I did this via youtube and watching music channels on the TV. I watched a range of variety of music videos from pop type videos with a narrative and rock videos with a band playing. Even though, it seemed impossible to create a music video at a 'real' music video level, I did my best and gained ideas from how shots were used etc. An example of this, was when I watched Ed Sheeran's A team music video, this video was quite simple and showed various shots of a homeless girl, I thought this video was really good on an emotional level and tried to re create something simliar in my own video. Researching music videos helped me to develop my own ideas further for my product.

The use of varying shots throughout my video helped to make my music video look like a real one. This can be seen in my video when I zoomed into the actor's eyes when she is holding the baby, which looked effective. I also used close up shots when she was in the kitchen and also with the baby scans. I then used long shots when filming outside and the traffic scene.

I also used a narrative in my music video instead of a band playing. Narrative is used in many real music videos within the industry and I think it is the most effective type of video as it allows the audience to feel engaged. I also chose a narrative storyline which would fit in well with the lyrics, this is seen in many music videos such as Pink's song 'perfect'. However in a way this does challenge forms and conventions of real media products as in the modern music industry the videos tend to not be linked as much with the lyrics.

Another way in which I challenged the forms and conventions of real media products, was by using a teenage girl who is pregnant. Some viewers may be outraged by the idea of a teenage girl being pregnant, with no father around and living off benefits. However, I think it is good that I challenged the boundaries of a normal music video storyline and portrayed a more sympathetic view to young 'mums' who have to deal with everyday life. I also think that challenging the conventions of media products is more interesting and doesn't just stick to the boundaries and use typical videos such as those filmed at house parties. I also dressed the actor in more normal clothes such as an old black coat at the start and end scenes then normal dressing throughtout the 'dream'. This also challenges the forms and conventions of real media products as many actors in music videos are represnted in a more of a glamorous style.

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

I used many media technologies in the contruction, research and planning of my products. The internet was one of the main sources I used for research for my music video and ancillary tasks. I was able to via google research to look up different digipaks and music advertisements. I also went on youtube and watched other music videos in order to gain inspiration for my own.


Throughout my media work, I have used http://www.blogger.com/ to save all my posts, pictures and videos. Using the blog online is a much easier way to record my work, rather than writing on paper and saving my videos elsewhere. Using the blog is also good in that you can look at your peers blogs in order to comment on their work and give constructive critisicm.

For my digipak and album advertisement, I used the programme photoshop a lot. I was able to upload my saved images on there and then change the effects. This was good in that, I could make the photo lighter or darker to suit the 'song'. I then could add text to the photo such as on the advertisement I wrote the release date and title etc.
When filiming my music video, I used an HD video camera. This was the main source for constructing my music video. The fact that it was HD made the quality of the video look much better. I was able to take pictures on the camera as well, which helped me to create my digipak and advertisement. I could also change the brightness etc on the camera to suit what I wanted.

Another media technology I used in the creation of my music video was imovie. This enabled me to change the effects on my music video enormously. I was able to cut down the video clips to the right time lengths in order to fit with the song lyrics. I then changed some of the clips to black and white which represented the actor's 'bad life' and add dream effects to when the song shows when she is in a dream. Using imovie I could also slow down a clip or speed it up and use transition effects such as 'cross blur', using this definatley made my video look more effective.

For a couple of clips in my music video, I used the programme after effects. After effects let me change the dimensions of my music video and rotate the clip so that it fitted the screen propelly.

Without using these different media technologies, I would never have made my video look that effective. The programmes have helped me to create my video into the way I wanted it to look.