Section A Question 1b

This part of the exam will ask you to discuss

ONE production piece in relation to
GRANITE
Its better to stay with your music videos
The essay
You will be asked to reflect and discuss either GENRE,
REPRESENTATION, AUDIENCE, NARRATIVE or MEDIA
LANGUAGE

The above are all linked, genre is identified by the
target audience, the way characters and places are
represented, the narrative structure and the way the
media language creates meaning.
Representation is linked to the genre, target audience
and media language
Etc.....
Example of Response for Section A 1B
Genre



You should be able to identify the codes and conventions which make up a GENRE. For example, RnB will have;


Flash cars
Gold chains
Lots of dancing
Aspirational lifestyles
Glamorous women,
Lavish settings,
Masculine men,
Trendy clothes
Sunglasses
Well groomed
Mainly black ethnicities

The codes and conventions we used within our music video attempted to make the genre immediately identifiable to the target audience as
RnB. This was done initially by working hard on developing a mise-en-scene which lends itself well to the stereotypical setting. For example
The bedspread used was fake fur animal print. I noticed that fur tends to be a well used prop to connote wealth and luxury. Etc.




Representation
You should be able to talk about the construction of representation of your characters. Why you have
represented the characters in a certain way. For example The representation of the characters within our
music video was very important in regards to the Uses and Gratifications Theory. We wanted our target
audience to be able to identify with the characters in order to engage with the video . So, the representation
Of the our characters were constructed to reflect the target audience, a social Demographic C1 E 16-25 year
olds were our main.

From researching existing products, I was aware that the music is of paramount importance, and so unlike
many other genres such as RnB and Pop, our aim was to represent them as serious musicians. Therefore, we
did not adhere to the stereotypical star system within Goodwins theory, but created a narrative whereby the
characters represented mirrored the target audience. For example, the girls were average, wearing jeans,
natural, not heavily made up. The setting was an average house, in an average road, urban and realistic with muted
lighting so as not to glamourise the mise-en-scene . During our studio shoot, there was more make up used on one of
the girls but that was justified because she was part of the performance and so needed to be well groomed. However,
We were aware of representing her in the same was as her male counterpart by not allowing the camera to
objectify her. According to Mulvey, the camera plays a huge part in the representation of women within media,
and we were conscious not to reflect this.
Audience
You should be able to link your production with your target audience. For example, what sort of target
audience does Beyonce have ? Is it mainly women aged between 16-25, or are men included in the target
audience. What sort of social demographic would Beyonce attract ? C1 E maybe ?

You should be able to discuss the U&G theory in relation to potential target audience, also perhaps the
hypodermic needle theory.

Regarding the concept of audience within our music video I was conscious of the fact that because of the
representation of the singer being highly sexualised, I was focusing our video for a potential target audience of
both male and female 16-25 with a social demographic of C1-E. The female audience would have a personal
identification with the character as she was singing about stereotypically issues such as love, romance and
break ups. Considering the Uses and Gratification theory, the personal identification element would attract
many of the female audience. Because of the sexualised representation of Bethany, the male potential
audience would be actively seeking the product for an entertainment factor. As producers, we were very aware
of the camera angles and framing in order to attract and maintain the male audience. Goodwins theory
regarding the notions of looking was adhered to in this instance as there were many instances where the
camera encouraged the male gaze, for example the slow motion of Bethany flicking her hair back whilst
wearing a white leotard. This invites the audience to objectify her for their own entertainment, it allows for
engagement with the product
Narrative
You need to be ready to discuss your music video
in regards to narrative structure linear, episodic,
circular. Make sure you link this with the codes
and conventions of your genre.
Think about Todorov and Propp if you can use
them.
Barthes Enigma/Action Codes is there anything
you can think of in your music video that creates
and enigma, or makes the audience want to keep
watching.
Media Language
This is all the technical parts which create
meaning, think about the micro elements
Mise-En-Scene
Camera
Sound
Editing
Reflect on all of these aspects and link them to
examples from your work and how it links to your
music video