MEDIA ADVANCED PORTFOLIO

Representation

Initially an idea we wanted to involve was the traditional representation of our male character and our audience to idolise him. This is typical of the hip-hop genre, we achieved this by using a low angle shot and the large proportion our male is in shot. This was done consistently we used a costume in our digipak of a large coat and enlarged our performer to be physically larger than the female showing a power balance.

In the early stages of production we decided we wanted to include the idea that the line between good and bad is very thin and this something our performer has to deal with, this was achieved with different colour lighting red having connotations of evil and green of good. We position our performer in the same place in two shots with differing light then cut to the pace of the music. This was also achieved in my magazine advert as the artist is light in green being consistent with the themes of a binary opposite of good and evil.

With our female character we wanted a traditional representation we done this by sexualising her subtly; this was done through slowed speed duration of a close up of her mouth in black and white. However we did wanted to challenge convention by involving the idea that the female does pose a threat this was done in our digipak by the eye line of the female matching the males but the male choosing to face the other way.

The Weeknd often draws inspiration from his surroundings therefore we decided to draw inspiration from the place we filmed being Bristol. This idea of people being shaped by their surroundings was achieved by the locations being semi-iconic in Bristol being Cabot circus, the famous bear graffiti in our digipak. The idea of urban lifestyle was incorporated through a fast pace created by quick cuts to pace. The urban theme was continued in the poster through the involvement of blurred green lights.

Quite obviously the ancillary tasks are much different because they are more likely to reach an audience who haven’t previously consumed products from The Weeknd therefore we contained a lot more of the female character to appeal to the male target audience.

Convention

I produced a music video for The Weeknd’s ‘Often’; I adopted, used and developed convention when creating both the advert and the digipak. During my research I understood how a female performer could be used and how it was demanded by a male audience for female gaze. A convention I have used is a female influence in the digipak; I have used a female model similarly to convey the themes of lust and love. This was achieved sexualising her subtly; this was done through slowed speed duration of a close up of her mouth in black and white.

Another convention I have used is a central frame on the front of the digipak with a two shot this shows the relationship between both performers. Another convention I have used is black and white in the digipak this is because it was favoured by our audience in research.

A way I have developed convention is having more a female influence in the digipak, She is on three sides of the digipak instead of one also we have been less suggestive and provocative as we didn’t use a female performer for the female gaze as typically women would have more .

The Weeknd often draws inspiration from his surroundings therefore we decided to draw inspiration from the place we filmed being Bristol. This idea of people being shaped by their surroundings s was achieved by the locations being semi-iconic in Bristol being Cabot circus, the famous bear graffiti in our digipak. The idea of urban lifestyle was incorporated through a fast pace created by quick cuts to pace. The urban theme was continued in the poster through the involvement of blurred green lights.

One way I have developed convention is the interesting use of coloured light which already existed within The Weekend’s music video but also as a background in one ‘Vibe’ magazine advert.