EVALUATION TASK 1BY ALEX G (G IS FOR GANGSTER)

WHAT ARE CONVENTION

• A convention is a way of recognising a way of doing something has to do with content, style and form. Conventions help the audience to relate to certain products especially within the music industry. In terms of music videos, conventions are often based around elements involving camera work, editing, casting and location. Therefore in the alternative rock genre, we searched into similar conventions to help the audience our group relate to the audience and to appeal to the audience.

CAMERAOne of the key element used in our music video was close ups as all rock bands within the alternative rock genre use close ups to helps establish the aggressive tone towards the music video. Imagine Dragons use close ups when the singer sings a key part of the lyrics this is because this forces the audience to concentrate purely on the music. In our music video we added a lot of close ups of our singer when he was belting out the key lyrics to the song therefore we followed the convention of using close ups.

Another typical conventions is that most rock bands add tracking shots to add movement and give a burst of energy to the music video. Therefore for “american idiot” by green day they add a tracking shot to give a burst of energy to the music video. This was similarly used with our music video as we wanted to make our music video seem more energetic and aggressive.

Editing is a crucial part to most music videos as it allows the music video to be visually impressive as it doesn't contain any dialogue and its within a small time frame

For our music video it was important to cut to the beat of the music video . This is conventional with any genre of music videos as it essentially helps make it more aesthetically pleasing to an audience. For our music video we started gradually building the pace of the cuts once the chorus hits, this helps show the pace and the energy of the shots as they chorus is meant to make it match the energy of the song.

We also used discontinuity editing, as it helps keep the shots up with the fast paced songs. Many rock bands like the Foo Fighters ramp up many shots in “The Pretender”. This makes their music video seem more action packed with energy which is commonly used to help the shot keep up with the song. We used similar techniques when we ramped up the tracking shot as it helps the shots keep up with the song. Ramping up shots is key as it helps maintain the energy of the music even after two minutes.

EDITING

V

Another technique we used to maintain the audiences attention is through the use of a time-lapse. This isn't a common convention in most alternative rock band as they tend to maintain to audiences attention through the use of a narrative. As Nirvana in “Smells like Teen Spirit” where its about teens destroying the assembly hall as the bands playing. Meaning our group went against the general convention of the music video as we wanted to make it solely performance based and maintained the audience attention through a second element of a time-lapse.

The Killers Oasis

Wild Wons

COSTUME

COLOURHAIR CLOTHING DETAIL

One main similarity is that most of the bands within the entire rock genre tend to all wear dark clothing to symbolise the rock genre. Therefore most bands like The killers always wears dark clothing to symbolise them as a group and to help illustrate them as a rock band. As we made the band first music video we had to follow similar conventions to help the audience relate the band to a rock genre. Our group also made one of the guitarist to wear an Guns and roses shirt to allow the audience to see bands within the similar genre as our band.

Another typical convention of alternative rock band is to have long hair as it connotes wild and freedom therefore when we were casting the group we need to ensure most of the band members had mostly long hair. We followed the convention as we looked at classic rock band like Oasis to give us inspiration of what a typical rock band look like.

SETS AND LOCATIONSHaving a Dark atmosphere helps to set the tone of the track. As the band Creed in “One Last Breath” used a dark atmosphere to allow the band to set a serious tone towards the song. We adhered to this convention as it allowed our group to set a more aggressive and violent tone towards our music video.

Having the location within the carpark helped our music video seem more violent through the connotations of concrete surroundings as being rough. Bands like Three Days Grace in “Never Too Late” use similar conventions as it helps make the band seem more serious and hard-hitting

PERFORMANCE

• Direct address - links to the audience feel connected

• Passionate -> like a taster for their concert and energetic

The performance element to a music video is key to many rock music videos, this is because it gives a glimpse of how passionate the band is. Therefore for Green Day for “American Idiot” it largely consist of performance element so illustrate the passion within the song as the guitarist jumps up in the air. For our music video we felt that we should carry on this typical convention as it gives the audience a taster to the amount of energy the band will have during a concert. Therefore as you can see our guitarist kicking up in the air to convey help the enegery.

We also added direct address in our as thats a typical convention of a music video. As you can see in Nickelback in “Someday” they use direct address to help connect the audience with the band, as direct address allows the audience get a close inside of the band. Therefore we used direct address to bring the audience closer towards the band

WEBSITECOLOUR

BAND LOGO

ADVERTISE NEW ALBUM ON HOMEPAGE

A common convention to websites for music videos is that they tend to use dark colours especially black,

which is shown in bands like The Killers. This is because it allows the fans to relate to the rock alternative genre.

Having a band logo isn't typical in new alternate rock bands however many old school rock bands add their

logo like AC/DC We did this to allow our fans remember our band of something rather then just the name.

Many alternative bands all market their album on the homepage. This is common as it allows fans to listen to

the music before they go to the bands concert. Therefore bands like Imagine Dragons and AC/DC have all use this

therefore we felt that is a convention that we had to follow.

DIGIPAK

• Animation -> alternative rock

• Colour dark/mysterious

As you can see a typical convention in many alternative rock album covers is that it consist of some kind of animation. Therefore Rolling Stones, Muse and Linkin Park all have animations on their album cover. Therefore we felt that our group should follow this convention as we wanted our album cover to match with similar band within the genre.Another similar aspect was that all the album covers have a very mysterious colour scheme towards them making them look very unique like muse and linking park. As our group was new we wanted to let the fans see what kind of band they were and how unique their music is, therefore we followed his convention

ANIMATION

COLOUR