Advanced Portfolio Evaluation

“City Life”

Typical Conventions of Music Videos

• The conventions of a music video vary depending on genre of music.

• The artist is shown performing• The lyrics of the song influence what is shown in the video• The pace of editing fits the pace of the music• Codes of dress reflect the mood of the song.

Typical Conventions of CD Covers

• A simplistic colour scheme• Simplistic Design• Few or No Characters• Use of a different colour for the band name compared to the

rest of the CD• Hidden Meanings• A title explaining what the album will be about• Bold Simple fonts for the band name• Similar or Entirely different font for the album title.

Typical Conventions of a Magazine Advert

• An Image which connects the advert to the CD cover and/or the music video

• Information about the release of the CD often written in bold• A continual font with exception of the Band Name

Typical Conventions of Music Videos Similar to ours – Acoustic Indie

• Acoustic Instruments played by the artist are often used to show the genre.

• Examples of these are: Jason Mraz – “Im Yours” and James Morrison – “You Give Me Something.”

Typical Conventions - Continued

• Artist is main focus with other characters as part of the artist journey/lyrics - usually set throughout a city – natural lighting

• Editing is usually slow and soft cuts between each shots are used

• Cinematography is usually steady cam with close ups, long shots, high/low angles and panning shots.

Typical Conventions of CD Covers Similar to ours – Acoustic Indie

• Soft Lighting• Main Focus is artist• Often use anime• Title represents the theme throughout the album

Typical Conventions of Magazine Adverts – Acoustic Indie.

• Soft Lighting• Artist is main focus• Metaphors often used to show the artist(s)

How the conventions are challenged/kept to in our music video

• Acoustic Indie genre is crossed with the sport of Parkour which has been used in fast pace dance music videos

• The artist isn’t playing an acoustic instrument during the video

• The video follows a journey and a story of a subliminal relationship between the artist and one of the Parkour artists.

Editing

• Transitions between each scene is soft by using a cross fade which links each scene into each other and takes away the harshness of straight cuts

• All the Parkour scenes are slowed down to between 30-60% to create more of an arty appearance

Mise En Scene

• The setting is through the city centre of Birmingham where the Parkour artists perform

• The setting where the artist is not part of the city but they are the main focus of their scenes

• The costume of the artist is modern and fashionable link in with the genre of the song.

• Costume of the Parkour artists is relaxed casual • Lighting is natural to tie in with the lyrics of the song and also

to show the journey throughout the video.

Cinematography

• The camera work is a mix of all types of angles, movements and is all done by a camera on a tripod to keep the camera steady throughout to keep the camera movements more steady

• Handheld cameras where used to do some low angle shots to be able to capture a more effective movement of the Parkour artist.