Media Evaluation

music video conventions

Andrew Goodwin identified a number of features which distinguish the music video form:

• a relationship between music and visuals

• demands of record label mean many close ups of artist

[this is one convention we have avoided slightly, having had no way of filming the actual band or a similar one, we filmed a totally different style band for our performance shots, focusing mainly on the instruments and action there rather than close ups of faces and singing.]

• intertextual references to other music videos and films

[we've used the element of voyeurism during the cafe scene of our music video, with the girl watching the couple from another table, we used point-of-view shots to show this]

• genres are complex in terms of music video style and iconography

conventions of digipacks/magazine adverts.

• Album cover used on magazine adverts as well as website, quotes/comments/date of release.

[I used the album cover on my magazine advert to promote the release of it, however I also used the tour dates as an extra page as this is conventional of rock artists and bands. I also used comments from magazines and radio stations as is conventional]

• Artist name as focus on album cover, usually picture of artist and instruments, particularly in the indie-rock and pop genre.

• Indie-pop/alternative bands focus mainly on artwork for CD cover and magazine advert.

forms and conventions of Real media products

thriller conventions

• unglamorous settings

• every thriller is based on a crime of some sort - murder, theft, kidnap etc. for example, Kiss The Girls, Along Came a Spider, The Client.

• claustrophobic spaces

• handheld camera shots to create sense of reality and engage viewer

• film noir- dark, chiascuro lighting and shadows, usually shot in black and white, as seen in 'Third Man'.

• non-diegetic music to create certain atmosphere, silence, sonic exaggeration to build up tension.

music video

This video has a similar narrative structure and also interweaves the performance and narrative element towards the end.

We liked the style of the close ups of instruments at the beginning of this video, as we have used similar kinds of shots at the start of our music video.

American drama 'My So-Called Life' shows a similar school-room setting to that which we have used.

thriller

Popular UK TV drama 'Skins' influenced the decision to have an urban, youth thriller. Our target audience can identify more witrh the characters and settings.

Thriller 'Essex Boys' is an urban thriller with similar themes and locations.

influences

digipack

Inside In Inside Out is an example on album with the band on, however here they are also playing their instruments, showing a stronger focus on sound than image. I decided to use a picture of the band playing too.

I wanted to imitate the same British, nostalgic feel that Mumford and Sons album gives off, as Blighters are also a British indie band from London.

Bloc Party's album gives uses a similar, city, grimy setting.

narrative

like Jack Penate's video for Have I Been a Fool?

Our music video uses a convergent narrative, conventional of music videos

through: enigma,

some flashbacks

and..

climax/crescendo

as does Just Jack's music video - Day I Died

Our thriller uses a straight forward linear narrative, to avoid confusion. We also used enigma, to keep the audiences attention.

representation

like Essex Boys and Skins

Our thriller represents young people as naive and irresponsible (taking drugs) which reinforces the negative stereotype. The location supports the rough, urban convention.

as thriller, Lucky Number Slevin uses

Our music video represents the male 'player' stereotype, also conventional of narrative music videos.

(Kate Nash- Foundations)

(Jack Penate - Have I Been a Fool?)

Digipack represents band as accessible, having lyrics and picture of band inside. Not hidden away celebrities

techniques/codes

Music Video

fast cuts, in sync with beat, like Vampire Weekend's - A Punk

focus pulls, like Rocket Summer's video

thriller

close ups and panning shots like in Third Man

digipack

an urban, grunge setting on cover and magazine advert

links to music video

my productions

genre conventions

THRILLER

bad man drives run down car

urban location of car park

bad man comes along to kidnap innocent girl, deceives them

police on their way (siren), like in The Bill.

MUSIC VIDEO

narrative of girl likes boy; boy likes girl but boy is a player type

city locations of the the 'date'

like going for coffee in a little cafe

band playing in performance shots

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

[Rather than use an image of the artist of the front cover of my digipack, I decided instead to use an image of the two main characters and use an image of the band inside the album in an insert. i think this creates more of a focus on the artwork and the music than on the fame of the band, which is helpful as they are unsigned and not very well known. Following conventions, I used a guitar on the background to reinforce the indie-rock genre]

[My digipack uses a cardboard which allows plenty of room for artwork as this is the approach I was going for, the artwork plays great important, with an insert of edited images and even a single image as artwork on the inside of the cover.]

[in our music video, we attempted to sync the beat of the music with the visuals. for example, with the sudden building pace before one of the choruses, we used fast cuts between the faces of the three main characters, sat in the cafe.]

[We decided to produce an urban thriller, set in the grimy setting of an empty car park in a rough area of the city. This is conventional of urban thrillers, it adds risk, danger and fear that the audience may be able to identity with.]

[we have used this convention in our music video by basing the setting and narrative around the lyrics of the song, the song's lyrics talk of the exam situation 'hello, sit down in your seat. don't look, don't speak, don't cheat' and also of the relationship point of view 'don't cheat on me. don't go, this is just the beginning'. we used these lyrics to write a narrative of a male lead 'playing' two girls and to create a school exam setting, in a high school classroom with a class sitting a test. we have therefore conformed to the convention of linking lyrics and visuals in our music video.]

• a relationship between lyrics and visuals

[Our thriller narrative is based on the kidnapping of a young girl, part of this involved her being shut inside a car boot - a very claustrophobic space and reinforcement of this particular thriller convention.]

e.g. screens within screens, mirrors, cameras...

• voyeurism is present in many music videos, in treatment of females and in terms of looking

..in the same scene, the camera is held inside the boot, as if from the girl's point of view inside. This gives the audience the feeling that they are there too

• tracking and panning shots, following victim or protagonist.

• jump cuts/increasing cutting rate to show erratic behaviour or panic building.

We decided to use the genre of a contemporary, urban thriller and therefore avoided the film noir style as this is quite dated. We shot in colour rather than black and white to keep it modern and grungey.

• enigma, to keep audience on the edge of their seats, holding their attention.

A soundtrack played throughout the opening of our thriller, we eventually found an uncopyrighted track which fitted well with the urban genre and the pace of the action. It also helped to make the action flow and create tension where necessary. At the end of the sequence, a non-diegetic sound effect of a police siren sounds to suggest that the kidnappers are being chased.