Evaluation Question 1

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

The schoolgirl image we have used as our narrative throughout supports the pop convention and adds voyeurism to the piece. We took inspiration from Britney Spears’ video for “Baby One More Time” and in order to enhance this image, we used two other girls to support the lead. The narrative overall supports and develops the conventions of the pop genre particularly it fulfils the expectations of females within the pop genre. Another part of the music video where we used voyeurism was in the bridge where the three girls are walking over a bridge in slow motion. By slowing down the footage we allow the video to conform to the pop genre and its voyeuristic features.

Our digipak mainly challenges conventions of the pop genre. The graffiti theme used throughout is not typical of the pop genre and fits more into the rap and R&B genres. The title of the album “Rebel Without Cause” got it’s title from the James Dean film “Rebel Without A Cause” we just felt that dropping the “A” has more of a ring to it and would make a better album title. This clear warping of a famous film title is not typical of the pop genre as many album titles in the pop genre come from lyrics in the songs on the album.

Our magazine advert both supports and challenges conventions of the pop genre. It uses the same graffiti background as the digipak in order to keep with the theme and for the audience to identify the advert and the CD cover. The artist is wearing clothes which show off her body in certain areas and is making direct eye contact with the audience conforming to the conventions and expectations of females within the pop genre. The “Oh Snap” t-shirt relates back to the music video and the debut track on the album, developing the conventions of the pop genre.

The shots of the artist in front of the graffiti backgrounds during the lipsyncs challenge the pop convention. The use of graphitti in the background is a continuous theme throughout the music video, digipak and the magazine advert. Also we used the leave colour effect on Premier Pro on every shot of Kate on the bridge and during the schoolgirl narrative in order to bring out the colour red. This tool is common in the pop industry and is used in videos such as ‘LDN’ by Lily Allen.

Another element of our music video which challenges stereotypes of the pop genre is the writing appearing on the black background. We found that having writing appear adds another layer to the music video that it otherwise would have been missing. Any form of writing is unusual within the pop genre as it is more of a convention of rap and R&B and is used in videos such as ‘Blurred Lines’ by Robin Thicke and ‘I Know You Want Me’ by Pitbull.

The idea of the schoolgirls walking to school is very conventional of the pop genre as it is relatable to the fans of these artists who tend to be between 13 and 18 years old. Music videos such as ‘Hollaback Girl’ by Gwen Stefani and ‘You Belong With Me’ by Taylor Swift follow the same schoolgirl convention of the pop genre. At the end of our music video the girls reach the school gates before discovering a sign stating that school is closed as the teachers are on strike. This ‘teacher strike’ idea is something that school kids now can relate to thus the artist appeals strongly to her fanbase.

The comedic use of the featuring artist on in this music video is uncommon with the pop genre and is more common with the R&B and Rap genres. We decided to use myself and Luke as an alternative focus throughout the music video to challenge the average stereotype of a pop video. The artist’s input into the song ‘London Bridge’ is a rap over in the intervals between Fergie singing and so we made out attitude more street whilst maintaining the school kid image, first established by the main artist. This made the video more edgy and unique, setting it apart from most other music videos in the pop genre.

The words “Oh Snap” are repeated a number of times throughout the song and so we needed to come up with an idea that will allow us to keep it interesting for the audience whilst loosely fitting with the genre. We managed to easily incorporate the featuring artist with this by putting them in the video when the words “Oh Snap” are said. Luke also made t-shirts for each of us with the words “Oh Snap” written on in bold print with a cartoon picture reflecting this. This sort of idea with themed t-shirts is more of the alternative and indie genres and is used by a number of artists such as Frank Turner.

What is not typical of the pop genre is the use of profanity; this is more common in the Rap, R&B and Hip-Hop genres. In order to keep our video appropriate for our target audience we chose to cover the artist’s mouth and still have the word with asterix’s in the middle. This challenges the pop genre hugely as it is uncommon for artists to show them saying profanity in the music video; however pop artist such as Lily Allen and Gwen Stefani all use a lot of profanity in their music.

Our use of both high angle and low angle shots is typical of the female empowerment of the pop genre. We decided that in order of our artist to fulfill her feisty image we needed to include plenty of high and low angle close up shots. This makes her look as though she is squaring up to the viewer making them feel slightly intimidated; making the artist look rebellious and ‘bad-ass’. This is something that is very new to the pop genre and that is used by artists such as Beyoncé