In what ways does your media product use, develop

or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

In order to establish how my media product uses, develops or challenges conventions, I have decided to compare the conventions used in my music video for the song ‘Like We Used To’ with the conventions of The Script’s video for ‘Breakeven’. Within this presentation I will reflect on the shots Kaylee and I used in our video and whether we have successfully used and challenged conventions of real alternative rock music videos.

Here The Script have used a close up of the lead singer performing; this shows his facial expression and emphasizes his passion for music. Within alternative rock videos it is conventional to use lip syncing and show a lot of shots of the band/artist performing as they put a lot of importance on writing music and lyrics, in addition showing them playing/singing reminds the audience that they are talented. Therefore we decided to use this convention to show Jono and a talented and passionate artist.

This screen shot of The Script’s video shows the lead singer from behind whilst he is performing; another band member has been captured from the side in the foreground. The use of different angle shots of the artist is a common convention within music videos as it makes each shot more interesting because they vary. For this reason we chose to include a range of angles of Jonny in our video so that our video is as appealing and entertaining as possible.

The Script’s lead singer is also the protagonist in the story. When his character is away from the girl, the shots are black and white in order to connote loneliness and sadness. This is a convention used by a lot of alternative rock bands in order to show a clear difference between two situations and the way in which the character feels. Within our video we decided to film the sad scene (where Jonny’s character wants to get back together with Jess’) in the rain because it connotes sorrow and can relate to crying, therefore we felt that it had a similar effect to use of black and white. In addition we changed the contrast, brightness and saturation to make the shots slightly more dull.

The Script’s video Jono’s video

How do the shots use, develop or challenge conventions?

Both videos contain many shots filmed in natural settings; this is a convention used in a lot of alternative rock videos, however compared to The Script’s video my video seems to focus a great deal more on nature, as the majority of scenes are filmed at locations such as the woods and the beach. In this way it could be argued that we have taken the convention to the extreme, I believe that this makes the genre very clear.

Videos with romance storylines conventionally tend to include shots where the couple touch one another and often are wearing revealing clothes or possibly nude. Despite the revealing nature of these shots, the main focus of these shots is not to make them look ‘hot’ and attract the male gaze, the shots are actually used to show a deep connection and passion between the couple. In The Script’s video they show a males hands touching a females skin which shows their trust and passion. In our video we have showed this through shots of their feet when they’re in bed together; this has connotations of sex, but does not actually show too much skin for our target audience.

Another key convention of romance music videos, particularly within the genre of alternative rock, is the use of eye contact between the couple which shows a strong love and connection. Within The Script’s video the couple look into each others eyes often; we chose to use this convention in order to present the love the new couple share. We asked the actors to look into each others eyes as much as possible, and we filmed many situations (such as lying in a park) where the couple could focus on eye contact.

Within The Script’s video they have used a shot of the couple lying in bed; they are very close to one another and are facing one another which shows they love each other, whereas it they were facing away from one another it would seem as though they are not interested in one another. We have included a similar shot within our video to the shot The Script have used; near the beginning of our video we have used some shots of the old couple in bed, these shots imply that they did have a good relationship before they broke up, but could also suggest that the love was one sided because Jonny is looking as Jess but Jess isn’t showing love by looking into his eyes. Following this we have shown the new couple in the bed, their bodies are facing on another and they are asleep; this could suggest a simple, loving and peaceful relationship.

Although it is not conventional for music videos to contain many props, the key props which are used usually have a lot of importance for the storyline. For example within The Script’s video they have used an over the shoulder shot which looks at a phone playing a video of the girl; this shows that he is thinking about her and also shows viewers what their relationship used to be like. Similarly in our video we have used on over the shoulder shot to show a polaroid picture of Jonny and Jess holding hands; this suggests that he misses her and also encourage the viewers to consider what their relationship was like, and could also imply that he is planning on getting her back. In addition the polariod itself fits with conventions of the genre as many indie/alt rock songs include polaroids.

Another similarity between my video and The Script’s is the use of the shots of the couple spending time together. Both videos feature the couple at the beach, which is conventionally a romantic setting; the couple are holding hands and walking away from the camera. As they are on a beach the shots could suggest that the couples do not need expensive things to do in order to have a good time, all they want to do is spend time together. By showing them walking away from the camera they are made to look as they’re walking forward, and could suggest that they are looking forward to the future ahead of them.

Conventionally, music videos have at least one twist or turning point in which the plot changes; these are often dramatic. Within The Script’s video this main point of drama is when we see the woman leaving the man and his desperate attempt to stop her. Within our video the break up of Jonny and Jess is shown at the beginning during the bed scene, however the drama actually takes place when he walks to her house in the rain and asks her to get back together with him. Jonny lip sings asking her if she is happy in her new relationship, and she then shuts the door in his face. We decided to use the convention of a dramatic scene as this moves the plot along and creates an interesting storyline.

It is conventional for music videos to fade to black at the end and the music usually fades with this. Both my video and The Script’s uses this convention because it makes it clear its the end and ensures it does not finish too suddenly. The endings of both videos are very similar as they both show the singer and ex boyfriend character walking away from the camera; as earlier on in both videos characters are seen walking away together, this emphasises the idea that once a relationship is over the ex boyfriend feels lonely. It could also show that the men are giving up and leaving.

Another convention which has been used to some extent in The Script’s video is . showing a fun side to the relationship, however the video is quite serious and the . only shots that could show them as fun is when they smile at one another. I have . noticed this amongst the majority of alternative rock videos; they tend to show the . could looking very deep and loving, as they aim to show the ideal relationship. . However I felt that we should challenge this convention of alternative rock videos . and include some shots of Jess and Tom laughing and having fun together as this . would make out video more unique and entertaining. It is common for music videos to become less gripping and entertaining during the middle, as the opening sequence is usually draws the audience in, but then people may begin to lose concentration and interest after this. Therefore we included three scenes which we chose specifically to add a humorous aspect to the video in order to keep the audiences attention; there scenes are the ice cream scene, the throwing leaves scene, and the scene where the hold hands and spin. When we showed the video to our audience the majority of people laughed at all three of these scenes, therefore I feel that we have been successful in adding some fun and humour to our video. The screen shots below show these three fun/humorous scenes.

Ice cream scene – fooling around, laughing, hugging, holding hands.

Throwing Leaves scene – fun, playful, smiling, natural.

Spinning in a circle – smiling, fun, eye contact, simplicity, laughing, holding hands.

Sound

It is also possible that the phrase may have been said in the past and that the man is looking back on times when she needed and loved him. Despite the ambiguity of the voice, it is useful in setting up the theme of love, relationships and heartbreaks as it encourages the audience to predict what will happen in the video.

“What would I do without you”

Conventionally music videos do not usually use any ambient sound or any speech, as the focus is on the music which is artificial. However The Script have subverted this by including some speech at the very beginning of their music video. This is unusual because it is often seen to distract the attention from the music and is not always aurally pleasing.

When done correctly using a voice can be very useful in explaining the context of the song or introducing a theme or issue.

At the beginning of The Script’s music video a female voice says “What would I do without you?”, which is repeated multiple times; this is quite ambiguous as it is not clear when she is saying it to him and she seems to be contradicting the storyline where the couple seemingly split up , therefore the audience cannot be sure of whether the couple are breaking up or arguing.

When the female speaks, the video shows the lead singer of the band and the main character in the video driving a car; he seems to be looking at the passenger seat which could imply that the girl is sat next to him and talking directly to him, however this again contradicts the storyline as she seems to be saying that they should talk together, when in the video they seem to be breaking up.

Within our music video we decided to use the convention of just playing the song, as we felt that a voice or any ambient sound is not needed to explain the situation because the bed scene shows that the ex-boyfriend is replaced by a new man.

The majority of alternative rock music videos to fade to black at the end, it is also conventional for the song to fade with this. This is more aurally pleasing because the song does not cut out suddenly.