CODES & CONVENTIONS ESSAY.

Looking at the brief music promo package I need to research into the codes and conventions of my chosen genre.

Genre is a category which many media texts fall under. For example there is the rock, pop, country, rap, RnB and many more genres. Codes and conventions are what define each genre. For example, in rock music videos you nearly always see an instrument being played. When this gets repeated and used in rock videos this code then becomes a convention, as it’s conventional to use guitars etc. in music videos. Conventions include looking at techniques such as; Mise – En- Scene, editing, sound and cinematography. Using the right type of convention for each of these fits the music video to the right genre. For example looking at Mise- En- Scene… You wouldn’t see pink girly dresses in a rock music video, as stereotypically and conventionally, rock music videos consist of jeans and t shirts (unless of course, the dress is a dark colour). Also the conventions also look at whether the music video is narrative, performance, abstract or animated based.

The genre I have chosen to study and use in my music video is Rock. This includes bands such as Kasabian, You Me At Six, Green Day etc. I researched into some conventions of a music video and found that rock videos mainly use performance and narrative. I have already researched into conventions and spoke about some under Mise-En-Scene, Editing, Cinematography and Sound here... http://rubyrogersa2media.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/conventions.html However I want to elaborate and talk more in depth about the conventions. 

Looking at Mise-En-Scene, Editing, Sound and Cinematography I looked at many different rock videos and analysed how they use these conventions and how it effects and fits with the genre. Also I looked at how it represents the audience.

MISE-EN-SCENE.
At the very start of the music video we can see the setting is very dark, the walls are a greeny/grey grainy colour and matches the colour of the artists clothes whilst he is walking down the hallway in the police station. However, at 00:15 we see the artists performing; the colour is then enhanced and the room is red. Stereotypically the audience could see this as representing blood and anger, however looking deeper into this we could say the red represents passion and shows that contrasting to the singer being led down a hallway looking sad, to this current scene when everything is red, we could say it shows his mood has been uplifted and shows he is passionate for the music and feels happier being with the band. I believe using denotations and connotations in rock videos adds more emotion to the video itself. I think using contrasting colours such as grainy greens and greys with reds shows two different sides to the song. Dark colours become a convention as rock bands are very emotive and write songs close to each of their personal lives, and blacks are seen as emotive colours as it represents being mysterious and anger. We also see many close ups of the instruments which shows they are important. Using instruments in the genre become a convention as 'performance' is very popular in rock songs and we see this being used over and over.

CINEMATOGRAPHY.
At the start of the video we can see the camera is being hand held. This creates the ideology of Josh being followed and everything being unbalanced in the scene. This code becomes a convention as rock music is very loud and the audience expect the music videos to be shakey and fast paced. At 00:30 we see an extreme close up of Josh's face. This helps us notice his facial expression and see his anger and concentration. Using extreme close ups become conventional in videos as it creates the idea that the singer is interacting with the audience.

EDITING.
At 01:03 we quickly see the camera blur for a second. This can cause confusion and show that the band are focusing on one certain thing. Using this over and over in parts of the video becomes a convention create the idea of the music video being action based, confusion or focusing on one thing. Throught the video we can see a lot of cuts and jump cuts. This helps us establish the fact there is alot going on in the video and it's happening fast. From 2:12 on for a few seconds, we see the shots go into slow motion. I think this allows the audience to stop and actually focus on what's going on (as the rest of the video is so fast). It also is effective if something important/dramatic is going on. Using slow motion becomes a convention in rock videos as at 02:34, it's very quick, but focus pull has been used to match the beat of the music. I think this relates to conventions as rock songs are very quick and can have a lot of drum beats, we see a lot of the time that the music videos fit with the beat of the music.

SOUND.
From the start of the video until 0:14 the music is non diegetic and A synchronous as the actors aren't supposed to hear it and it's not part of the scene.For most of the rest of the video the music is diegetic and synchronous as the band are singing along to it and it's part of the scene. Using syn/diegetic sound in rock videos creates a more performance based, realistic affect to the video.


MISE-EN-SCENE
Once again, at the very start of the video we can see grainy dull colours. This pulls the mood down, creating a sad, lonely atmosphere. We can also see that the band have made sure their name is involved in the music video right at the start so people know who is performing. This code usually appears on the bands drum kit showing their name, it shows that the band are performing and becomes a convention in music videos to make sure everyone knows their name. At 00:07 we can see in the background there is alot of posters on the wall. This is an oldschool method of creating a stereotype atmosphere. Stereotypically if you was to imagine a teenager who liked rock music, you would think about them having posters all around the room. A Day To Remember have shown this in their video by creating a room with a guy sat by himself. They could also be trying to represent how the audience are to try connect more with their viewers.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

At 00:08, we see a mid-shot of the artist sat by himself in the centre of the screen, this allows us to see his posture and what he’s doing, as he’s in the centre this shows importance. At 00:13 we see that the singer is one again in the centre of the screen, and the other band artists are stood behind him, this shows that he is being focused on more and is the centre of attention. This has become a convention over time and in a lot of rock music videos we see the singer stood at the front. In a lot of parts where the music is fast and pacey, we see that the camera is being hand held. This creates a raw effect and makes us feel like we are part of the scene as all the artists are jumping around.

EDITING

Most of the editing techniques I have already talked about in the music video above as they both use the same sort of conventions. A lot of fast cuts and jump cuts occur to show that the band are moving around quickly but can also break continuity with the amount of cuts shown.

 
MISE-EN-SCENE
The start of this video is different to the others I have looked at, as it's very LIVE performance based. This involves the audience more making them feel like they are involved in creating the music video. The artists are wearing very laid back clothing which I think shows they care about their image, but see the music as being more important. I think this is important in a video as in RnB music videos they are all about the bling and creating the ideology of being rich and important- whereas in rock videos I feel they show more importance to the actual music as they are more focused on performance. Tattoos are a very large convention for rock videos, not implying every single rock artist has to have tattoos. However, rock artists like to be seen as rebellious and individual and having tattoos creates the ideology of this.

Most of the same cinematography/editing/sound and mise en scene conventions are used in all three videos so I mainly focused on studying the first one so I didn’t repeat myself. Looking at the conventions and techniques used in each of these videos has helped me to see what codes and conventions is used in the rock genre over all so I can research more into these before creating my own music video. I noticed that in all of the music videos I have looked at, in cinematography, there is a lot of tight close up shots of the singer, and shows of the band altogether. Looking at editing, there is many cuts and blurs, and sometimes even a black and white edit to fit with the mood. Looking at mise-en-scene I noticed the artists have very laid back clothing, this could show that the artists think more of their performance and singing, rather than thinking getting dressed up is more important. It also allows us to see what the artists dress like and let their personality show in the music videos.

BACKDROPS FOR 'RIHANNA - WE FOUND LOVE'

Backdrops for 'We Found Love' music video! on Prezi

30 SECOND STORYBOARD FOR 'RIHANNA-WE FOUND LOVE'

ANALYSING THE MISE EN SCENE

FEMALE: blue top, black skirt, tights, dark black shoes

MALE: Grey hoodie/shirt, reddy brown jeans, brown boots

FEMALE: Cross earring, silver bracelet, silver ring on first and middle finger.

FEMALE: Denim jacket, cross necklace, ring on first finger, silver necklace 

MALE: Blue denim jacket, black beanie hatFEMALE: Cross earring, oval ring on middle finger, ring on ring/little finger, greeny jacket. 

FEMALE: Denim blue skirt, black tights, black shoes

MALE: Denim blue jeans, black boots with white socks.

White shirt.

30 SECOND PRODUCTION PLAN DIARY

As a small task to get us used to the editing suit and creating a music video, we had to deconstruct and reconstruct 30 seconds of a music video. We created a diary to record what we did and when we did it.
Group...myself, Chelsie Reed, Rachel Milner & Amy Fenwick. 

ORIGINAL VIDEO:
24.9.12 - In our groups we looked each each of our storyboards and decided which would be suitable to reconstruct. We based our decision on mise - en - scene, props, cast and the locations we could use, and focused on a music video that would encourage our editing skills. We decided on 'Rihanna - We Found Love'. We picked out 30 seconds in which we thought we would be able to reproduce at a high standard of work.

26.9.12 - Next we needed to watch the clip through and look at the mise en scene, location and cast of the video. We also looked on Youtube to find some clips of flowers growing, corn blowing and clouds moving. *I have shown these on this post - http://rubyrogersa2media.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/backdrops-for-we-found-love-music-video.html *
CAST- 1 male, 1 female, background actors.

MISE - EN - SCENE..
MALE- Grey hoodie, blue chino trousers, brown boots, light blue jeans, grey beanie hat, blue denim jacket, white t shirt.
FEMALE- Denimn jacket, earrings, blur shirt, black skirt, tights, dolly shoes, black leather jacket, bracelett, white top.
PROPS - Fairy lights, skateboard, fan, light, deodorant bottles, jackets, black background (shoebox), tic tacs, medicine bottle, backgrounds from Youtube to project onto the board.

27.9.12 - We chose our actors and next decided to decide on locations and times for when we was all available. We decided we would film the skateboarding and takeaway scene on Monday 1st October after college. We then decided in our free periods during that week we would meet up in Oak 33 to film the projector scenes.

28.8.12 - We booked a camera and tripod to make sure we would have everything ready for Monday!

1.10.12 - We traveled to Beverley to film the scenes which took around 2-3 hours altogether.

2.10.12 - We started filming the projector scenes for our video. This was much harder than we thought and needed to finish this off during the week. We had troubles with the lighting as when we turned the lights off, Chelsies face was too dark on the camera, and when we tried opening the blinds we found it was hard to see the image on the projector. However we tried different ways to get light and realised we could also edit the contrast and lighting on the editing suite so shot it lots of times and chose the best one. The camera angles was hard to get right as the board wasn't that big so we couldn't zoom out too much without getting the edges of the board in the shot which looked unrealistic. We was going to use the green room but we noticed that on the actual video, they use a projector as you see it showing over Rihanna.

3.10.12 - As we had the main part of our video filmed, we decided to start editing it straight away at lunch. Ray showed us how to use Adobe Premier and talked us through how to cut, crop, and render our video. We found it challenging to get the video and singing in sync however once we did so it was exciting to watch together and we also played the original video at the same time to see if they was in sync with each other.

4.10.12 - We filmed some more projector scenes and then stayed in to edit this over lunch. After editing our video together we needed to add a colour effect on the top as when we saw the original the camera has a greeny/blue tint to it. After doing so, we filmed the last few scenes which was the tablet scene, this was pretty quick to do, however we found it hard to get the tablets falling as accurate as the original video.

5.10.12 - We used more of our free periods and lunch to edit the rest of the video together. We imported a clip off YouTube of an eye dilating for our video.

AUDIENCE DEMOGRAPHIC & PSYCHOGRAPHIC INTERVIEWS

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT ESSAY

For my foundation portfolio I had to complete a main task, this included creating a front page, contents page, and double page spread of a new music magazine. All the images and text had to be original and we needed a minimum of 4 images. I had to research different magazines and the conventions of them. I also looked at the genres specific stereotypes and had to decide whether to stick with these or be un conventional – I went both ways to mix it up and create an original magazine whilst still allowing the audience to notice what genre my magazine was. I needed to make sure the colour scheme and conventions fit with my audience. This meant looking into Demo and Physiographics. To do all this we used CS5 Photoshop and Publisher.  Before creating our main task and preliminary task we create a perfume advert. Looking back I can see how much I have improved as the quality of my advert is poor and the conventions aren't in the right place. Before starting our task I knew how to use Adobe Photoshop CS5, but only briefly. I used my knowledge of Photoshop in my advert by cropping the original image on a white wall, and edited the wall to black and white to allow everything to stand out.

To further prepare ourselves for the main task we produced a preliminary task of creating a college magazine. I found it quite difficult at first as I kept confusing conventions which each other such as the mast head and the splash. I had to take my own images for the magazine and mock up a contents page and the image on the front cover had to be medium close up (head to waist). Looking back however, I noticed I used a high angle shot – which I now know means the student would look vulnerable. If I had realised this earlier I would have mentioned, that as the student is new she will be scared and feel vulnerable, however plug this in a positive way. We researched into other college magazines and looked at the colour schemes used. We looked at bright colours which lifts the mood and creates a positive atmosphere, encouraging the students to want to attend Wyke. We also did the same research but for our music magazine. We looked at conventions and colour schemes used, whilst also looking at the camera shots and mise en scene of the artists and how we could relate our magazines to this. I looked at magazines such as Rock Sound and NME and looked at the layouts they used on the front cover and contents page to have as inspiration.

I took many different images and tried each out on my magazine to see which looked best. To find out what people thought I showed them my magazine and asked there opinion on which they liked best/which gave the best effect. I also created questionnaires so I could see my audiences' feed back and change my magazine accordingly.

Before creating our music magazine we had a tutorial from a Media teacher on how to use Photoshop and how to manipulate images. He taught us how to use many different tools in which I have used in my music magazine. Here I have explained how I used some of the tools in Photoshop...

http://prezi.com/th9ij94n5ty4/photshop-before-and-after-evaluation/

I think I have improved my skills in Photoshop as I didn’t know how to use all the different tools and if I was to do it again I would find it much easier and straight forward.

In my magazine I used the lasso tool to cut the background off my image, I found this easier than a few other tools (magnetic tool) as I could click on each part individually. I then used the rubber and smudge tool to clean up the edges to create a smoother look on parts of my model - this was so my magazine had a professional touch to it and didn't look scruffy.

I also used the spot remover tool to create a flawless finish to my model and create the idea of 'perfect skin'. I did this as I had researched into previous magazines and the editors Photoshop out impurities to make the model look neat and more presentable to the audience, which is the look I wanted to create in my magazine.

I researched into a lot of different fonts using various websites and imported these into Photoshop so I could test them out on my magazine. I tried to use a bold large font for the front of my magazine as I think this represents something standing out to the audience and is seen as being quite ‘loud’ as rock music is.

I used quite a lot of editing on Photoshop on my contents page as I wanted to have each page number with a white background to allow it to stand out. This meant creating square and rectangle shapes and then cropping the red page number text into it. I overlapped all of this onto my image of a vinyl record as I thought this looked original and unconventional, however the vinyl record would attract a niche and Audiophiles as a niche audience is only a small amount who like certain things (such as vinyl music) whilst audiophiles also collect music components and they could feel like involving vinyl records into the magazine makes it look edgy and open to an old audience. This could also influence the audience to want to start looking at vinyl records again.

For my double page spread I took a picture of a blank brick wall and used the Gradient Tool to create a fade on this image. It took quite a while as sometimes the white was too far to the left/right. I then used to lasso tool once again to edict my model onto the wall.

I wanted to use a variety of fonts on my double page spread but not too overpowering to the actual article. As the article was about an actress becoming a rockstar, I wanted to use a delicate text for the word ‘Actress’ and a more powerful and loud font for the word ‘ROCKSTAR’ I also used a black rectangular shape behind the text to allow it to stand out. Through my front and contents page, and double page spread I have used a variety of shapes and fronts but kept my black, white and red colour scheme throughout so the magazine looks like it runs smoothly and all fits together.  I also used the layering tool on Photoshop so I could let everything stand out and feel more in your face and 3D to the audience. 

SOCIAL CLASS'

A- Upper class (Doctors, managers)
B- Middle class (administrative/ professional)
C1- Lower middle class (Junior managerial/professional)
C2- Skilled working class - (Manual workers)
D- Semi-skilled and unskilled manual (builders, factory workers, store employees)
E- Casual labourers, state pensioners, unemployed & students

KEY AUDIENCE TERMS

Qualitative Data: Personal questions that can be asked in interviews and the feelings of the audience.
Quantitative Data: Collecting frequencies through surveys and questionnaires.
Psychographic Data: Looking at personality, values, attitudes, interests, and lifestyles of the audience.
Demographic Data: Characteristics of a human population as used in government, marketing or opinion research, or the demographic profiles used in such research.