QUESTION 1: IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

Conventions of Music Videos During my research and planning and

throughout the A2 media course I have learnt about certain conventions that music videos and particular genres include. For example, I have learnt that a video can be narrative, performance based or both, with performance being more heavily based in the pop genre and narrative being more common in the rock/indie genre. I have also learnt that music videos follow certain theories.

Andrew Goodwin’s Music Video Genre Analysis One key music video theory is Andrew

Goodwin’s Music Video Genre Analysis, where he suggests that all music videos contain:

a relationship between the lyrics and visuals a relationship between the music and visuals e.g.

the pace of the video a key narrative/story to follow the notion of looking e.g. screens within screens,

mirrors etc. In the next few slides I am going to show how my

music video has followed these conventions that are specific to music videos.

Relationship Between Lyrics & VisualsThere is a definite relationship between the lyrics and visuals in my music video e.g. the lyrics “riding on waves, walking on sand” as the shot comes down onto the beach. Also “I’ll see you soon” is sung as the girl and boy are saying good bye to each other at the door.

(click on the videos to play)

Relationship Between Music & VisualsI also made sure that the pace of the song matched the visuals on screen, for example the softer, slower pace of the song at the start matches the slower more laid back movements of the male character getting out of bed in the morning. As the music became faster and more upbeat this is where shorter and brighter shots were used as the boy left his house and walked by the canal.

The NarrativeThe video follows a structured narrative of a teenage girl and boy getting ready and spending the day together. Their relationship is never fully explained until the end, and even then it is never made explicit whether they are just friends or in a relationship, so keeps the audience engaged to see where the video, and the relationship, goes.

Point of View Shots

Included everyday scenes where a phone alarm is shown (screen within screen) and the characters look at themselves in the mirror in order to allow the audience to engage with the characters as if they are in their shoes. These are also everyday situations that most people are familiar with (looking in the mirror before going out.)

This is an example of how I have followed the conventions of a media theory, however now I will show how I have followed the conventions of particular real media products within the indie genre.

Due to deciding on creating a music video relating to the indie genre, I obviously did more research into this genre, and as I continued to research I found particular conventions that I wanted my music video to follow.

The following slides will explain what conventions I believe I have followed in my music video and where these conventions have come from.

Location/SettingIndie music videos tend to have the video taking place in one key location for the majority of the video e.g. a beach in Scouting For Girls ‘Millionaire’, a theme park in The Vaccines ‘Bad Mood’ and a bowling alley in another of Scouting For Girls videos, ‘She’s So Lovely’. I believe this is because the setting itself is not where the focus of the audience needs to be, but on the characters within the setting. Therefore this genre doesn’t need to complicate the narrative with too many location changes. I therefore decided on the use of a beach as my main location as I wanted somewhere outdoors and also felt that it was in-keeping with the lyrics of the song.

Characters Within NarrativeI used Kodaline’s music videos as my main inspiration due to my video using a Kodaline song, however also due to the simple yet cute and thought-provoking narratives that their videos tend to follow. I found that many of their videos including High Hopes and All I Want featured two main characters and the narrative showed the development of these character’s relationships. I therefore followed this type of narrative in my own music video, featuring two main characters who progress through different stages of a relationship as the video goes on.

(Also notice how this music video features a beach as a main location.)

ClothingIn all the video previously spoken about the clothing worn is always very casual and is nothing out of the ordinary. I therefore followed this by having the girl and boy dress in very casual clothing, with the girl in skinny jeans and a jumper and the boy in jeans, shirt and jacket. When the boy woke up he was also in very simple clothing, which gives you an idea of what social class and lives these characters lead. This may only seem like a small convention but it all adds to the genre as a whole.

Camera ShotsI noticed that a range of different camera shots are used to convey different things within the indie genre, and unlike other genres, all shots are used equally rather than genres such as pop and rap which is primarily close ups and extreme close ups. The indie genre is very varied with its use of shots e.g. establishing shots used to show a location, close ups of people’s faces allowing emotions to be displayed and long shots allow a full view of the character and setting. I therefore made sure to include a variety of different shots within my music video and to use them at the most appropriate time.

Establishing and panning shots

Aerial shots

Mid-shots Long shots

Close-ups

Challenging Conventions

As well as following conventions, I have also challenged conventions within my music video. I am going to explain how my video has gone against certain aspects of real media products in the next few slides.

Narrative

Todorov’s theory of narrative suggests that all narratives consists of 5 stages:

equilibrium disruption recognition of disruption attempt to repair disruption re-equilibrium This type of narrative structure is followed in most of the indie

videos I have researched, however I did not feel the need to include all these 5 stages in my video, especially the disruption. This was because I felt that the chosen song did not require any type of dramatic event to take place, and if I did so it would have just looked out of place. I therefore kept the video engaging by the use of the developing relationship, the interesting shots and the pleasant settings rather than a dramatic event.

No. Of Characters

Another convention I challenged within my video was the amount of characters used. Usually, even if a video is centred around two people, there are other characters involved to add to the storyline. I however felt that I wanted all the focus of the video to be on just these two characters, so decided against the use of any other characters in my video as I felt that this would just complicate the narrative.

Lack of Performance

The majority of the videos that I researched featured an element of performance as well as narrative, with the band or lead singer performing every so often alongside the narrative.

I however decided to just stick to a narrative video. I did contemplate having the male character lip-syncing to some of the lyrics in order to add some performance to the video however I felt that he looked two young to suit singing the lyrics and that it would unnecessarily break up the narrative. I therefore just kept to a narrative based video.

Overall I believe that I both followed and challenged the conventions of indie music videos the right amount. I think it is important to follow certain conventions so that it is clear which genre the video belongs to and also so audiences can relate to it.

I do however think it is also important to challenge these conventions slightly so that the video is unique and differs from already existing ones so that audiences get variety and do not become bored.

Digipak Conventions

As well as researching and following conventions within my music video, I also did the same for my ancillary tasks, the first of which being my digipak.

Just like the music video, I researched existing digipaks in order to become familiar with what must be included within a digipak in order for it to be successful.

Digipak ConventionsI obviously had to ensure that I followed certain structural conventions of a digipak so that it made sense and represented the look of a realistic album. I did this by the use of the band name and album title close together on the front cover, with the band name having a bold house style. I included some more abstract looking images on the inside covers which is a common feature within the indie genre in particular. I also included a centralised song list consisting of 10 tracks (the amount found on a standard album) with a barcode and album credits on the back panel.

Digipak Conventions

I took some inspiration for my digipak from Train’s “California 37” album cover. I liked the bright look of the colours on the front and the simple image used. I also thought adding an effect over the top of the image made it stand out and I loved the use of the sky blue and faded yellowy/brown colours, so decided to go with this kind of look.

Magazine Advert Conventions The other product that I needed to consider the

conventions of was my magazine advert. This was especially important due to the advert being a way of promoting the album, so if the advert was not successful in doing this then the album would not be marketed appropriately.

I found real magazine adverts for albums within magazines and on the Internet, some of which will be shown in the following slides and will prove how I have understood and used the conventions of these real media products within my own work.

Magazine Advert ConventionsThis the advert for The Killers ‘Day & Age’ album which I used to give me an idea of how to structure my advert. I noticed that most adverts use the front cover image that is used on their album cover, so I decided to follow this convention. This gives the album and the advert a definite link. I also followed the idea of clearly stating what the advert is promoting by putting “THE DEBUT ALBUM” in large letters towards the middle of the page, just like The Killers have put “THE BRAND NEW ALBUM” on their advert. My advert also lets the reader know that this is a fairly new band by mentioning that it is their debut album. I have also used the popular convention of naming a single from the album, just like The Killers have also done. This is another way of marketing the album further.

Magazine Advert ConventionsMost magazine adverts tend to be fairly minimalistic however the indie genre tend to do this even more. For example, I have taken the idea of making the release date stand out and look short and snappy just like The Vaccines have done. I have also included star ratings/reviews which is also often found on these types of magazine advert. The image used is also fairly plain and doesn’t distract too much from the text.

Magazine Advert ConventionsHere are two more adverts that prove the conventions of magazine adverts. Again, both use the image that is used on their album cover. I also noticed that most contain the band’s/artist’s website in small text at the bottom of the advert, so I decided to do the same. This is so that if someone is interested in find out more about this band then they know where to go. The final convention that I believe I have followed is the placement of the band’s name. The name of the band is usually found in the biggest font at the top of the page, as this must be where a readers eye automatically goes. I therefore took this into account and placed my band’s name in their large house style at the very top of the page with the album name underneath (just like on the front cover of the digipak.)