Evaluation Question #1

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

Conventions are significant in media products as they set an expectation for what audiences should expect from a product. By adhering to conventions, production companies and designers can create recognisable elements for audiences in terms of genre. However, challenging these conventions creates less restriction for filmmakers to create products.

For my Indie/alternative music video, I researched into a variety of conventions of both the genre and real media form. Upon beginning this project, I set myself the task of deciding what type of media I wanted to create. I did this by watching short films, trailers and music videos on Youtube that had been created by A-level students themselves. From this, I was able to work out what most A level students decide to create, and how successful they were in doing so. It appeared to be that music videos were the most commonly created at A2 level as it allowed the students to expand on their skillset in filming and editing from AS, where music videos could be more creatively produced. Given these as evidence, I decided to go ahead with creating a music video as one of my final products upon the basis that it would allow me to reach a higher grade by developing my skills and using new skills to create a media 

Main Product - Music Video

I started by researching the different types of music videos within different genres. Whilst doing this, I came across the three main types of music videos; narrative, concept and performance. These different types are all used within the various genres of music but are portrayed differently.  I investigated these three types of videos in more depth, completing genre and non-genre specific analysis’s whilst looking at examples of music videos that fit into the three categories.  From this, I decided to produce a narrative based music video. The research that I conducted showed that these types of video can be applied to all genres of music and would allow me to develop my skillset beyond AS level. Then, after some audience feedback and further research, I decided that I would create a narrative-based music video to accompany an indie/alternative song by Jamie T.

As part of my research, I looked into two music videos that were non-genre specific and three that were genre specific. Doing so allowed me to configure some idea of how narrative is built up through visual cues alone. I took a lot of inspiration from the music video for ‘Dear You’ by Lucy Spraggan. The narrative in this was emphasised by so many visual cues including: lighting, editing and camera angles – something which I wanted to replicate in order to achieve a high level. When looking at all of these music videos, I analysed the key elements such as camera, editing, sound and Mise-en-scene and the way in which they use these elements to build narrative within any genre.

After looking at these music videos, I found out that they (and more specifically those that are based around a narrative) tend to adhere to a variety of conventions such as:

• fast paced with a lot of shots corresponding with the music
• narrative tends to be linear
• intertextuality, referencing to other films, movies etc
• mimic other TV genre, e.g horror, romance
• the story can contradict contents of lyrics
• the artist is part of the story line or completely separate to (shots of artist singing alongside images of an actor portraying a narrative)
• can feature the title of the song in a visual way

In terms of the types of media platforms that music videos use, one of the main platforms I came across and relied on throughout my research was YouTube. I did however look at some from television, vevo and artists own websites. The platform of Youtube allowed me to view the music videos for free and re-watch and pause them whenever I needed to.

Throughout my research, I looked at many examples of music videos. This varied from licenced music videos by record companies (vevo) and examples of music videos by other A-level media students that had uploaded to Youtube. This is because YouTube is a huge platform for online content that is accessible from all around the world for people to view and share content. It is free to use and upload, and many people with a big following can even use it as a source of income via ad revenue. This means that anyone can have the opportunity to use this platform to share products and gain attention from other users. You can view content from the website or app, but one of the main benefits is that many social media platforms allow you to access Youtube through their apps or embedded videos through cross-media convergence. This is significant to me as I can use Youtube to upload my content and share it across my social medias with ease - using it as a primary source of marketing. For this reason, I decided to use Youtube to upload not only my final cut of my music video but also any rough cuts and audience feedback for easy access for audiences to access, as well as my teachers.

As well as looking at conventions of music videos from different genres, I also l analysed music videos of the Indie genre to see how genre was portrayed through camera, editing, sound and Mise-en-scene.

Here are some conventions I found in music videos in the Indie/alternative genre:

·         Narrative: can be non-linear, many breaks in narrative as Indie genre is all about defying expectations. Montage effects can be used in order to intertwine two narratives.

·         Camera: variety of shots, close-ups are used for symbolism or to show significance. Canted, handheld, out-of-focus are also used to express spontaneity and carelessness.

·         Editing: shots are edited in time with the music, montage effect is very common and images fading into images. Black and white/low-level shots.

·         Sound: the original Indie genre is based around a simplistic approach to music. It has a unique sound that is associated with the genre usually consists of instruments such as strings or piano which is very similar to folk music. Contemporary or modern Indie music is heavily influenced by pop but keeps tones of original indie music.

·         Mise-en-scene: Lighting used can vary from light to dark depending on the environments, various coloured lighting such as blue and red are very common in the Indie Genre as well as the use of filters. Actors may not follow stereotypical roles as the Indie genre is based on defying expectations. Costume is based around urban and hipster fashion as well as having retro influences. Props that are very common in the indie genre are Polaroids, camcorders and anything that pays homage to the past.

Ancillary 1 - Digipak

I also looked into conventions for my ancillaries. I began by looking at conventional templates for both as well as doing my own analyses. Because I had already decided on and genre, my research was focused on products from the Indie genre.

The generic conventions of a Digipak are:

·         A colour scheme throughout the Digipak (typically darker colours or contrasting in indie/alternative)

·         Band/artist's name

·         Title of the album

·         A track list

·         Title of album and artist along the spine

·         Album art on the inside cover

·         Album art on the CD

·         Images of the artist on the cover

·         Imagery on the cover that relates to the lyrics

The conventions of Indie Digipaks I found, based on my analyses of Digipaks from 'The Balcony' by Catfish And The Bottlemen, Varsity and Katy Perry were:

·         Front cover is either album art photography

·         Designs tend to consist of drawings or illustrations

·         Simplistic calligraphy

·         Artist separates from the Digipak

·         Simple, minimalist design

·         Complimentary colours

·         Colour scheme only consisting of a few colours/simplistic

·         Capitalised font

Ancillary 2 - Magazine Album Advert

After looking into what magazine adverts are and the conventions of a magazine album advert, these were the conventions I found:

·         Name of artist/band

·         Name of album they are releasing

·         Available at...’ - on some of the magazine adverts it will say ‘available now on iTunes’. This is to show the audience how easily available the album is.

·         A main image that will usually be the same as the album cover to ensure brand identity and further promote the Digipak.

·         Band/artist logo or title

·         Release date - the release date of the album will always be on the magazine advert because that is its purpose; to inform audiences when they can buy the album. Or if there isn’t a date it will say ‘Out Now’ Includes the single...’ Sometimes the magazine advert will say something along the lines of ‘includes the single...’ or ‘Featuring...’this is usually one of their best-known songs, again to further promote the artist

·         Record label logo - the record label that the artist belongs to will have its logo on the advert usually at the bottom and fairly small compared to everything else.

·         Artist and Label websites - again like the record label, the website of the record label and the artist website will be on the magazine advert, usually small and near the bottom.

·         Reviews - on magazine adverts there will be sometimes a rating or review from different companies to show how others rate the album.

However, after looking at some Indie magazine adverts, I found that Indie album adverts in magazines tend to differ from conventional pop adverts in a variety of ways. One of the main differences between Indie album adverts and pop adverts, is their simplicity in design and elimination of some of the typical conventions. They seem to focus more on the narrative of the music itself, and the meaning of the lyrics, as opposed to trying to market the artist forward of the music that they produce. For example, where a pop music advert would picture the artist and their style, an indie/alternative advert will depict ideas from their content (such as a motif). I translated this into my own work by using a digital image of the character on the digipak and magazine advert, as well as the motif of the plants dying with him.

These were the typical conventions of Indie album adverts in magazines that I found:

·         Name of artist/band

·         Name of album

·         Magazine art is similar or relates to the artwork on the album

·         Release date

·         Information about the album such as 'brand new album' or 'out now'. Phrases that tend to be very short and limited.

·         Overall simplistic design

·         Elimination of typical conventions such as institutional information or websites.

·         Only including critical information so that simplicity can be kept to.

I decided to use Blogger and pinterest as platforms where I could post my ancillaries. The reason for this is that Blogger and pinterest are easily accessible for anyone to view. Blogger is one of the largest blogging platforms on the internet and easily gains attraction from other users. My ancillaries were also made digitally so it was quicker and easier for me to simply upload them to blogger in their original format. This is also useful for when I was collecting audience feedback as my ancillaries were on my blog and pinterest so all I needed to do was to send a link for people to view and feedback to me. I was able to access the designs for the ancillaries and the final ones using any device with internet which was useful when tracking my progress and sourcing feedback.

Conventions used, developed or challenged?

Music Video

In terms of my media form, I followed most of the conventions of typical music videos. Because music videos can be of a clear majority of genres, there is not a certain restriction of music videos through camera and mise-en-scene as many genres tend to do this differently. I did however use shots that are common in music videos such as long shots when the teacher is coming in through the door and closeups of the bottles of alcohol and drinks to highlight the significance of alcohol. However, what distinguishes a music video from any other media form is mostly through the way it is edited and it's narrative. In terms of editing, most of the standard editing conventions you see in many music videos were followed. One example of this is the use of fast paced cuts of shots in time with the music, as well as shots that relate to the narrative/lyrics. I edited most of my clips in time with the music so that they would flow and appeal more to the audience. Editing to typical music video conventions can be seen in my music video through the variety of shots that follow a linear narrative. I used the effect of reverse to capture the movement of time. I used a reverse effect on the shots of the teacher coming through a front door to show how much time has passed. I decided to place these shots in time to the lyrics where it says ‘I give up, I give in. Just show me love, show me love’. These lyrics fit with the visual as it suggests that as time passes, he is giving up hope and just wants to feel some positive emotion (such as love), to stop him from drinking. The response that I got from this was very positive – the verbal feedback that I got was that the reverse shots emphasise the indie/alternative genre and make for a more interesting viewing experience. When I asked my target audience if they understood the meaning of these shots, they immediately knew that they were meant to show the passing of time and depreciation of his emotions.

Also, I followed another convention through the use of titles. Many music videos tend to introduce music videos with a title of the song and occasionally the name of the artist. I incorporated this in my music video with my title of 'They Told me it Rained' in the beginning whilst an audio played of children laughing and shouting. I used very simplistic text on a black background to adhere to the simplistic conventions of indie/alternative music videos.

Although I followed many conventions of a music video through editing, I both conformed and subverted expectations of narrative. I conformed to the convention of the artist typically being separate from a narrative and not usually in the visuals - (one example is Jamie T’s ‘If you got the Money’, where the artist is seen in some shots singing into a mic, alongside a narrative that follows people drinking in a club), as I didn't have an artist singing the song throughout the music video and instead used a narrative of a teacher with alcoholism. Also, I followed the convention of the narrative as linear as typical music videos tend to play on a narrative that is linear and straightforward.  I made sure to follow the teachers story from when he is happily teaching, to beginning to rely on alcohol and ending with him seeking help through an AA website. I decided not to follow all the conventions of a narrative as I didn't want my music video to come across as generic and I wanted to defy some expectations and shock my target audience. Therefore, I decided to follow a male through their struggles with alcoholism, when typically, only females are depicted in media forms as struggling with mental health issues and dependency. I made sure to depict this as difficult and unenjoyable so that it was clear that he was struggling and not just abusing alcohol as other media forms portray males as doing.

I also followed many conventions in genre. For example, I used a lot of shots that were filmed handheld. I used this technique in my music video throughout but really emphasised the use of them in the chorus part where it the song said 'I give up, I give in’ in order to emphasise the male’s relationship with alcohol as something which he is giving into. I took shots on a handheld camera and gave them to the male actor in my music video to record candid shots of him in the classroom and corridor throughout to really capture his perspective as well as the clear-cut shots that I took. The shots were handheld and had features of zoom in them as well as being a contrasting quality to the other camera shots. The use of handheld camera shots really emphasises the Indie genre as being rough to help to highlight his emotions as such. I also used the technique of reversing shots to again distort time. All of this editing is used to create a non-linear narrative in parts (such as him coming through the front door), which is a principle of the Indie Genre.

I also followed Indie conventions in mise-en-scene. For location, I used a messy looking room to show how his mental health was preventing him from looking after his basic needs. When looking at other indie/alternative music videos, it was evident that the locations that would be used would be quite rough looking. Typically, small bars, pubs, industrial sites and abandoned buildings would be used. For my narrative, these types of locations wouldn’t be appropriate and so I decided to take some inspiration from this by using a location which has the rough looking element but is believably belonging to a male teacher.

In terms of casting, I decided to use a young male. The narrative follows someone with mental health issues and a dependency on alcohol. The depiction of males with mental health issues in media is very small, and so I wanted to bring some individuality and exposure to a topic which not many media forms cover. The costumes that I had the actor wear whilst filming adhere to the genre. I used dark coloured suits, scruffy jumpers and beanies to show the contrast between when he was putting up a false image at school and when he was struggling at home.

Lastly, I followed lighting by using lots of low level lighting in my music video. I also used a lot of natural lighting when he was outdoors and when he was in the classroom. This was a conscious decision that I made so that the shots would look softer when placed next to the shots where I used harsh lighting to make the character appear to be in a clinical feeling environment where his actions were being placed under inspection by the audience. I used a vignette effect to add a darkness to these shots, but the central image (of the alcohol) would be highlighted with the bright lighting to draw attention to it. I also used a filter that was blue-toned on top of my clips as the Indie genre is all about the aesthetics of imagery and this was inspired again by Lucy Spraggan’s ‘Dear You’ music video. Overall my music video followed majority conventions of genre and used the basic conventions of my media form.

Digipak 

For my Digipak, I followed all the typical conventions you would usually see on a Digipak. The first convention I followed was in terms of a colour scheme, which is a feature of almost every Digipak. Although I did follow a colour scheme, it wasn't as extensive as typical Digipaks and only consisted of just four block colours: mustard, white, grey and black. On the front cover, the background was predominantly mustard, the hand drawing, text on spine and album title was black, and the foliage were white and black; all with aspects of grey. On the inside, both sides were grey however the inside cover had flowers that were white, black and mustard. The disc holder was grey, and the actual CD was mustard with white, black and grey flowers. The back cover followed the same colour patterns as the front, having a mustard background, black font and white, grey and black foliage. I tried to incorporate similar colours throughout and keep it consistent. This would allow an audience to easily recognise the digipak next to other CD designs, as well as create a link with the magazine advert. It also followed other common conventions such as the artists name (Jamie T), the title of the album (They Told me it Rained), a track list on the back containing the songs, the name of album and artist along the spine, album art on the inside cover and on the CD. All of which are common conventions of Digipaks, especially the ones that I looked at in my research.

One Indie Digipak convention is the use of drawings or illustrations as album art. This can be seen in Catfish and The Bottlemen's album 'The balcony' where the main imagery on the cover are illustrations of a crocodile or two people. These are white line drawings that sit against a block coloured background. I used this method of drawings and illustration outlines throughout my Digipak as my main album art consists of an illustration outline of the actor looking semi-unconscious as well as various illustrations of flowers, foliage, hands, cans and cigarettes. Overall my design is very simple, consisting of only a few colours in its colour scheme and has a very minimalistic look to it. Although I only used four different colours, they were complimentary and gave the Digipak an indie aesthetic. Through my research, I was able to see the ways some colours are more complementary and aesthetically work best through looking at Varsity’s album cover in my research that featured pastel colours alongside black and red. The colours black and white are well used colours in any colour scheme, however I feel by adding the mustard and grey tones, it really emphasised the alternative genre. Mustard tones are uncommon in Digipak designs, so it really illuminates the idea that the Indie genre is independent, as well as mustard being a common colour in Indie fashion. The idea of a simple colour scheme was inspired by the ‘Varsity’ album cover that used pastels, and although it was only two, maybe three colours, they worked really well to give the album cover a professional and interesting look. 

The artist name is also separate from the other text and illustrations on my Digipak which I did purposefully as I feature no artist in my music video and not many Indie album covers feature artists as they focus more on creating the image of the artist without the artist actually being there through photography and illustrations. 

Lastly my font choice was also inspired by the Catfish and Bottlemen Digipak as it was capitalised and nicely spaced as well as the title and band name being combined under one text which again played nicely with the overall simple yet effective design. I placed a single black line between the artists name and the album name to emphasise it and make them appear as separate. I’d seen this used in other digipaks and thought that it would fit with the aesthetic of my piece.

Magazine Advert

I also followed many conventions of a typical magazine advert. The first convention that I followed was the structure, by using the template below:

In my magazine advert, I included the name of artist and album which was 'Jamie T' and 'They Told me it Rained’. I also included a lot of the same pieces of cover art as I had used in my Digipak. I did this to promote brand identity which is a common convention of magazine adverts that market a certain album release. Typically, an advert will cross promote the same sort of imagery across an album cover and advert so that the audience can easily recognise the two in relation to one another. 

I also followed the convention of including a release date. This is crucial in a magazine advert to let the audience know when the album is released so that they can purchase it. As well as this, I decided to include a cigarette packet to let the audience know more about the genre of the music, as well as offering something new from the imagery seen on the CD cover. Therefore, I kept the crucial elements of a magazine advert such as the imagery relating to the band, the band name and album name and release date.  However, I eliminated other conventional elements such as a magazine review, website, production company details, a slogan and institutional logo as I wanted to keep a simple and minimalistic design that was not too overcrowded with information. I’ve seen this style used across several indie/alternative albums to create ambiguity around the product so that audiences will be intrigued by it. 

In terms of following genre conventions for my advert, there was no elimination or subversion in any convention. I adapted the key elements of the design to better suit my product, yet I allowed myself to follow enough conventions that it would be recognisable as an advert. Indie magazine adverts tend to follow a very simplistic design, which I created by using the same simplistic imagery used for my Digipak, on the magazine advert. I used the same idea of illustrations but placed the flower outlines on the bottom left and right corners of the advert for some variation, so it didn't look too much like my Digipak. I also included a packet of cigarettes to further support the narrative and give some variation between the two. The font used for my advert is the same as the one used on the Digipak. My magazine advert and digipak both follow the Indie genre through their simplistic designs and elimination of unnecessary information.