For our A2 Media Coursework we were told to create a music video complete with a Digipak and Advert, all recorded through a blog.

Our group decided on Florence + The Machine = Dog Days Are Over

Evaluation By Lauren SelbyQuestion 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

As a group we decided that from discussion groups and watching Florence + The Machine videos that we would create a video that did not relate to the typical conventions you would normally see. One main theme that we realised throughout all of Florence’s videos and from related artists was that to suit the genre of Indie, it used a normal setting but then the content of the video had to be usual and something that would grab the target audience’s attention.

We got most of our ideas from Florence + The Machines 2008 version of ‘Dog Days Are Over’ as we thought this video looked more aesthetically pleasing than the 2010 version. We thought that by taking the initial idea presented in this product and creating our own storyline would relate to the conventions of a typical Florence music video but still show our own ideas and creativity.

FLORENCE‘S

VERSION

The Music Video: Florence + The Machine – Dog Days Are Over 2008

In the 2008 version of ‘Dog Days Are Over’ you are shown clowns in a forest but there is no particular storyline. We liked this idea so then developed our own ideas and incorporated them into anarrative structure).

We decided that our main theme would be based around a circus. However, it wouldn’t relate to a typical circus setting where people have fun and enjoy the vibe of being at a circus. Instead we decided to base it on a Gothic circus. By using the dark, eerie elements of Gothic relates to styles that Florence herself uses in her products and relates to the song (the lyrics that are used with the overall sound). To match what you see in Florence + The Machine’s products in order to attract our target audience, we decided to go against the usual conventions of a circus and instead put our own ideas into what we believed would be most effective.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

OUR VERSION

The Music Video: Florence + The Machine – Dog Days Are Over A2 Media

While we were talking about our theme, the ideas for the characters that would be in the music video also were decided. We used the clown character that features prominently in Florence’s video but then developed more characters around what you would typically see if you were to go to a circus. By having a range of characters enabled the actors to play different parts and therefore make the storyline more engaging (we believed that the lack of different characters in the original video was one point that made the product look weak). Our main characters were a clown, a ringleader and two gymnasts

Mise-en-Scene

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?Characters: Clown

The clown character was portrayed by a male actor.

The costume was simple, wearing black trousers and a white shirt with black tie but the make-up was the most shocking of all of the characters. We did this in order to create an impression on our audience and we did not think it was something you would see in a music video and therefore wanted to create a character that was different from stereotypical ideas.

The main influence for this design was the Joker from Batman (The Dark Knight) played by Heath Ledger. It was an successful character in terms of film products so we wanted to use this in our music video to create a bigger impact on our audience.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?Characters: RingleaderThe ringleader was portrayed by a male actor.We thought this was important as stereotypically men are perceived as the dominant gender who has more control over women. We used this stereotype as he is the character who is in charge despite not always having a central role in the storyline.

The conventions of a ringleader when talking about costumes is a red tailcoat with a black top hat. We were able to acquire this costume from *add website address*. By buying this costume made the costumes look more professional especially as this is the character that needs to be taken seriously.

This was again another character you don’t always see in music videos and therefore added individuality to our product, similar to what Florence does in her music videos.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?Characters: GymnastsWe decided that the two females would be the same character. This reduces the power the females have by not having their own identity and relates back to Florence’s video where she has characters the same.

At first we thought of having pixie/fairy characters to fit to the conventions of the Gothic theme, however, we then decided that it would look more effective if the girl’s were gymnasts (a character you would see at a circus) but who dressed in dark colours like the Gothic style. Although the two girl characters were both in black we used two different styles that Florence would usually be seen in. An example of this is big, long sleeves on dresses.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

When it came to thinking about our locations for the music video, we immediately thought of natural settings such as forests, run down roads and old barns. We thought these locations would contrast against the bright, stand out make-up and costumes creating the effect that we do not belong in the place we are in.

The main naturalistic locations that links to Florence + The Machine’s video is the forest. We liked this setting but thought our product would look more interesting if we included different locations. We also liked that in Florence’s video, it wasn’t a plain forest, it was decorated with bunting (bright decorations) that related to our concept of a circus. This was a small detail we used in our video that made the overall product look a lot more appealing.

Locations

Before the audio track started we added a clip which featured a little girl asleep. This created the effect of a dream but to link it to the clowns we played the circus theme over the top. When it starts it seems upbeat and happy but towards the end, it slows down (we changed the tempo using Goldwave). By having this effect on the music creates an eerie feel to the narrative and contrasts against the bright colours of the costumes.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

By using this idea we challenged what is featured in Florence’s music video’s (it is not something you would see) however, we thought it would make the rest of our video more believable if it was based on a dream.

Sound

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products? Camerawork

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The start of the video with the child also uses different camerawork to the rest of the footage. This uses shakycam as we wanted to create the effect of someone walking into her room, another effect that goes against the conventions of Florence’s videos.

However, what is similar to the camerawork in Florence’s videos is the close up shots between the characters, primarily in the forest. It highlights the actors reaction to what is happening around them especially when the tension is building up and helps the audience to understand their emotions.

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Editing

Like Florence + The Machine, we used fast paced shots when the tempo of the song increased. This helped to build up to the climax of our narrative and to make our video look more interesting by changing the tempo of our shots (sometimes they were slow, sometimes they were fast).

Within the editing we added a special effect of changing the opacity of some clips. By doing this it created the effect of either a dream or to make the clips look more interesting i.e. if there was just a shot of a location. This was a change we added as we thought it would be better to watch when compared to sections of Florence’s video where is was sometimes too plain.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

Digipak

When analysing Florence’s front cover of her digipak we noticed her background was flowers. By focusing on this point we decided to have our theme of nature as the main focal point of our digipak.

We used the idea of a black border around the front cover and carried this design on throughout all of the digipak. By doing this, it made the main image stand out, similar to what has been done on Florence’s front cover for ‘Lungs’.

Most of our photos have natural surroundings/background and in one sleeve of the digipak, it is made up of a collage of trees, branches, fields and leaves.

We also included posed photograph similar to what appears in Florence’s booklet accompanied with her album covers.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

We took our front cover and placed in on a black background but instead of including the XX, we mentioned her collaboration with Dizzee Rascal. We also advertised her re-release of her album, instead of promoting a tour. Despite not being what is on the original advert, I think it is still effective as it makes the product more current and appealing to the target audience.

For the advert for Florence + The Machine, the front cover of her album has been taken and placed on a black background. This continues the design of the digipak so this is what we did for our advert.