In what ways does your media production us, develop, or

challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Music Video

Main Forms and Conventions

The genre of the music for my video is Indie/Rock.The main forms and conventions for this music genre are:• Performance footage• Implications of drugs and alcohol• No real narrative or obvious storyline• A relationship between a boy and girl

Performance Footage

‘Little Black Submarine’ – The Black Keys

In most of the videos I researched, they include performance footage of some kind, whether it be from the band themselves on some sort of stage, or the lead singer miming whilst they are part of the narrative.

Performance Footage

I used performance clips throughout the video to, not only break up the narrative in my video, but to fit the forms and conventions of my genre. I think this was effective in my video because it kept the audience engaged and intrigued to see what happens next in the narrative.

Implications of drugs and alcohol

‘Chocolate’ – The 1975

In nearly all of the videos I researched, either the band or the characters were seen drinking and/or smoking; these are meant to go with their ‘image’, but sometimes it is to fit with the lyrics and the message of the song.

Implications of drugs and alcohol

I only showed my male character smoking once during the video but in a prolonged shot. I did this because I don’t portray his character in a positive light as the audience immediately feel sorry for the female character as she looks vulnerable during their argument, so using this one prolonged shot of him is enough for the audience to take a dislike to him in the way I intended. Also, with this shot alone in my video, it is unlikely that my video will be played on TV, but, from audience research, I found that my target audience find and watch videos online rather than on music channels.

No real narrative or obvious storyline

‘Luna’ – Bombay Bicycle ClubThe music video for ‘Luna’ has no narrative, just lots of synchronised swimmers, with different shots and angles used. However, it could be a metaphor to imply that the guy is ‘drowning’ in his love for ‘Luna’, hence the water. What I found from my research is that music videos of this genre don’t tend to have much of a narrative, if they even have one at all. This tends to be the case for bands with a lot of videos out and are established artists, so they can experiment a bit more with their videos, as they have a large fan base to be able to do this.

‘Luna’ – Bombay Bicycle Club

No real narrative or obvious storyline

In my music video, I used clips of a beach to break up the narrative of the couple. I did this because I wanted to use a metaphor to show how life elsewhere carries on even when it doesn’t for two people in a relationship which is falling apart. In a lot of music videos from this genre, the narrative focuses on just that one couple and doesn’t show life outside of that relationship to the audience, which is a convention which I aimed to break. However, I understand that some people might not see this and will miss the deeper meaning to my video, but these will be people outside of my target audience, so the video wasn’t aimed at them, which is why they might not understand it.

A relationship between a boy and girl‘Naïve’ – The Kooks

In every video from my research, I found that there was a relationship between a boy and a girl in either the video or the lyrics. This was a form of my genre that I didn’t want to challenge as I knew it would appeal to my target audience because of the relatability of it.

A relationship between a boy and girl

I used the story of a relationship between a boy and girl as the base of my narrative because I knew it would appeal to my target audience as it’s relatable to them; I deliberately used a young couple for this reason.

Critical AnalysisI tended to stick to the forms and conventions of my genre, as my video includes:•Performance footage•Implication of drugs/alcohol•A relationship between a couple

•However, I made the storyline more obvious in my video so it could appeal to more people than just my target audience, which is young adults. I included snippets of a story about a couple, but didn't make it an actual story throughout the video, as I wanted the audience to be able to make their own interpretations and conclusions about the couple and what happened before and after the video, leaving it open for them and therefore making it more likely that the video will be shared or talked about. Also, I wanted my video to be accessible for more people than just my target audience, as I believe that the lyrics and message of the song can be relatable to people of most ages, so I wanted people to be able to watch my music video and believe it to relatable and realistic.•I mainly got this idea from the tagline of the film '500 Days Of Summer' which is “this is not a love story; it is a story about love”, which suggests that there may not necessarily be a happy ending for the couple, but it is a true story and a relatable and realistic one, which makes it more accessible to people.

Narrative

• In the videos I have researched, they don’t have an actual plot or narrative – the videos are made up of what are seen as ‘random’ images.

• Some videos don’t show the band, whereas some do. I used performance footage so the rest of the clips would fit together better.

‘Handshake’ – Two Door Cinema Club

‘You’re Not Good Enough’ – Blood Orange

‘Vessel’ – Dan Mangan + Blacksmith ‘What’s It In For?’ – Avi Buffalo

In these videos, for example, the visuals don’t relate to the lyrics or the song title. However, this makes the audience more intrigued by the video and therefore makes them more likely to talk about the video and share it. Whilst there is no obvious narrative, the bright colours and obscure mise-en-scene makes up for this, and is what captivates the audience throughout the video.

Critical Analysis

• I decided to have a loose narrative in my video so that it would appeal to more people than just my target audience. After showing people outside my target audience my video, I realised that not everyone would understand my video, and they wouldn’t look at the deeper meaning, as they are used to watching music videos that are simple to understand and only have one layer. If I were to make the video again, I might make it a bit simpler to understand so it appeals to people outside of my target audience aswell.

Mise-en-scene

• In music videos of the same genre as mine, the mise-en-scene tends to be quite simple and plain, almost bare.

• This is usually done as a metaphor, to imply that the couple have nothing left, as most songs in my genre are written about a relationship which has broken down.

‘One For The Road’ – Arctic Monkeys

‘A-Punk’ – Vampire Weekend

‘Love Illumination’ – Franz Ferdinand

‘Things We Lost In The Fire’ - Bastille

‘Fiction’ – The XX

The bare background is mainly shown behind performance footage as it puts all of the focus on the band/artist rather than the surroundings; hence also the lack of props.

Critical Analysis: I tried to keep the mise-en-scene in my video to a minimum (e.g. the shots of the band on the stage all had a plain backdrop) so that it wouldn’t look too ‘busy’ and would fit with the conventions of my genre. I also wanted to keep all of the shots quite simple to fit with my magazine advert and digipack, so I filmed them all where I knew there wouldn't be people walking around and where there wasn't much going on in the background. Moreover, I wanted the performance footage to focus on the band members singing, which makes the audience listen to the lyrics more intently.However, if I was to do this again, I might use some sort of visual effect which links with the song and/or its lyrics to make the performance footage stand out more and make it more intriguing.

Styling

• The typical styling of people in indie music videos is either:

- Some sort of denim or leather jacket, a plain top, and jeans

- Vintage clothes- Or more ‘artistic’ outfits

denim or leather jacket, a plain top, and jeans

‘Girls’ – The 1975‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High’ – Arctic Monkeys

Music videos from the indie/rock genre generally have the band and/or characters in the video wearing a denim jacket (The 1975 video) or a leather jacket (the Arctic Monkeys video). They also tend to wear either band t-shirts (The 1975 video) or a plain, dark-coloured t-shirt (the Arctic Monkeys video), with black jeans. These have become conventions of the genre, but also characteristics of people who listen to this genre of music.

Vintage clothes

‘Electric Feel’ – MGMT

Some videos from this genre, mainly the ones with no narrative and all performance footage, have some sort of artistic visuals used to intrigue the audience and get their video talked about and shared online.

More ‘artistic’ outfits

‘Spaceman’ – The Killers ‘Spectrum’ – Florence and the Machine

Some artists wear extravagant outfits in their videos to make their video more interesting and exciting to watch. These tend to be seen in more recent indie/rock videos as they hope they will be shared online to increase its popularity, which they hope will sell more records.

Critical Analysis: I made sure the people in my video wore more plain clothes so it fit with the conventions of the genre, but also so that their clothing wouldn’t stand out amongst everything else, as the backgrounds are so plain.I wanted the clothes of the people in the shot to contrast with the colour of the background, which is why some people are wearing dark coloured clothes and some are wearing light coloured clothes – I wanted them to be noticeable but not too ‘in-your-face’.

Representation of Band

The representation of bands in indie/rock music videos is that they smoke a lot, take drugs, and drink a lot of alcohol. The background for a lot of performance footage in this genre of music tends to be on either a stage, or in some sort of abandoned or derelict building to create the effect that they have nothing left, because the lyrics of the song tend to imply a lost love.

‘Robbers’ – The 1975 ‘French Montana’ – The Neighbourhood

‘Child of the Moon’ – The Rolling Stones ‘Yes, I Was Drunk’ – Twin Atlantic

‘West Coast’ – Lana Del Rey

Most of these songs are about taking drugs and getting drunk to forget either a love they have lost or a relationship which is breaking down, and so the artists are regularly seen smoking and drinking to, not only keep up their ‘image’, but to give a visual representation of the lyrics.

Critical Analysis• I didn’t want to represent my band in a particular way, as I

wanted to make sure the main focus of the video was the song itself, rather than promoting the band. This is why I didn’t show my band in a negative light, with them drinking or smoking etc., and simply just showed them singing along to their song.

• Also, I have the boy in my video smoking over a prolonged shot which fits with the forms and conventions of the genre, without over-using it. Moreover, my target audience are in an age group where smoking and drinking is extremely common, and I didn’t want my band to be promoting taking drugs or ‘binge drinking’, which is why I didn’t portray them in this way.

Editing• The editing for Indie music videos can be

either over-the-top (large scale) or very subtle (small scale) and the clips haven't been edited much at all.

• Small scale editing sometimes includes filters, coloured effects, or small changes to a small part of the clip.

• Large scale editing sometimes includes large changes to the background, or special effects which are emphasised on screen.

Large Scale Editing

‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High’ – Arctic Monkeys

'Sweater Weather' – The Neighbourhood

In this video, the screen is flipped half way through the song and the video is played upside down, which has the wider metaphor for the life of the man being ‘flipped upside down’ when his partner left him. This effect, however, keeps the audience intrigued, and makes them want to keep watching.

In the video, Alex Turner, the lead singer of the band but also the main character in the narrative, takes drugs and has been excessively drinking throughout the night, and consequently sees things that aren't there, just like his phone sinking into his hand. It keeps the audience watching to see what happens next, but also shows the negatives of taking drugs and drinking because of the damages you see happening to Alex in the video, which promotes a good message to their target audience.

Small Scale Editing

'Something Good Can Work' – Two Door Cinema Club

'Shades of Cool' – Lana Del Rey

'Carry Me' – Bombay Bicycle Club

As you can see from the screenshot, the video is in black and white apart from the colour green, and this theme carries on throughout the video using several different colours, which grabs the audience’s attention.

Throughout the video, different effects are used to change the colour of her dresses, such as the effect seen above; it makes the shots more interesting and keeps people intrigued.

The video is very simple, with only performance footage throughout, and the only effect is little drawings appearing on the beat. It catches the attention of the audience and is a fun way of making a simple shot look more interesting.

Critical Analysis• I didn’t use any large-scale editing because I didn’t

have access to the software or technology I would need, but, if I had access to this technology, it might’ve changed my ideas and I don’t think I would have stayed with the same song.

• The small-scale editing I used in my video was a greyscale filter, and I changed the contrast of the clips so they would stand out more.

• I did, however, use a transition between some of the performance clips, so the clips fade into each other; I got this inspiration for the One Direction video for ‘You and I’.

When I filmed this shot, I kept the camera in the same position and put markers on the stage so they singers would stand in exactly the same position; I then kept the camera rolling and they simply sung their part and walked off stage. When it came to editing, I simply cut the clip into sections and used a ‘fade’ effect, where the background didn’t change but the band members changed. I really like this effect and how it looks, and my audience told me they also really like it and that it grabs their attention, which was my intention.

Magazine Advert

Common Features of Magazine Adverts

• The same picture that is on the album cover is used for the background of the advert

• The release date of the album is featured• The same typography as the album is used• Either the artist's name or the name of the album is

the main focus of the advert• They have the logo of their record label /

management at the bottom of the advert• They name a few singles which are on the album

The picture on the magazine advert is exactly the same as that on the front cover of the album, making them both immediately recognisable to fans of the artist, but also so that, when the album comes out, people will hopefully recognise it from the advert. The typography is also the same as that on the album, which keeps continuity.

The advert features the release date of the album, names two of the album's biggest singles, the artist's website, and the name of the label he is signed to, which can attract new people to listen to his album because they trust the record label to sign only the best artists.

Furthermore, most of the items in the picture feature in the video for the single 'D.O.A. (Death Of Autotune), again, making the magazine advert instantly recognisable to anyone who has seen the music video and liked the song.

My advert appeals to my target audience as it doesn’t single anyone out with the design – it has a neutral colour (black), uses a magazine which people of all ages and genders use, and I have included a QR code which younger people may be more attracted to, but have also stated that there is a vinyl edition of the album, which may be more appealing to the older people within my target audience.

I have kept the writing and text on my magazine advert to a minimum, in order to create a sense of mystery. My target audience have identified that they like the mystery that my advert creates, which is why I have stuck with this theme throughout my print products.Also, I have done this so it keeps continuity with my digipak, as there is no writing on the front cover of the album, apart from the band’s name.I didn’t put any text next to the first date on the advert, underneath the band’s logo, because my research has found that it intrigues people to find out more about the date, and why it is so significant.

The focus point of the advert is the band’s logo, which I have purposely placed in the centre, as it draws your eyes towards it. When I surveyed my target audience, just like the text, they said they like the lack of ‘clutter’ on my advert, and it intrigues them. Also, I like the fact that the advert doesn’t give everything away about the band, because it may make people more likely to scan the QR code or look on the band’s website.

The advert doesn’t make it fully clear what the advert is for, although the writing “vinyl edition coming soon” implies that it is music related. However, this draws the person reading this in, and will hopefully make them more likely to find out more about the band.As I have researched in my previous blog posts, I want my band members to be almost ‘anonymous’ when it comes to advertising the band, which is what I have done with my advert; I haven’t used any pictures of the band because I want to promote the band and their music, and not the band members themselves.

I have made the band’s logo the focus of my advert. I have used exactly the same font and image as that on my album cover and digipak, but, after getting feedback from my target audience, I have made the image larger, making it even more eye-catching for people flicking through a magazine.The logo doesn’t give anything away about the band, which keeps with the theme of mystery that I am hoping to achieve with my print products.

Album Booklet / Digipak

This was the 3rd album released by the band, in 2009, and is the first album cover which features the band. It was the first real time that the fans got to see and hear the band since their huge success in America, and this was the start of the Arctic Monkeys' 'rockier' sound.The idea of the band being on the front of the cover is unusual for their genre of music, because it's usually either an artistic image, or just a simple logo with a plain-ish background. The colours of the album are very different than their other artwork, mainly because it's not in black and white or full of dark colours.Even though at first glance the cover just looks like the band have been caught off-guard when they were standing around talking, a closer look will reveal implications of drug use; for example, the fact that Alex Turner is rubbing his nose, implying that he's just taken cocaine possibly. Also, the image of Alex has been duplicated above him, suggesting a sort of 'trip' caused by the drugs.

I instantly liked the back cover of Sam Smith's album because it is so simple yet so effective. It follows a black and white colour scheme, and the songs are the main focus of the back cover, as they are placed in the centre; this shows the importance of them to the artist. The logo of the artist's record label is at the bottom of the page, and underneath it is the copyright information.

The main focus of the back cover is the tracklist, which shows that the songs are the most important thing to the band in terms of the album. The background is taken from the front cover, and is the wall behind the band in the picture. The typography is consistent throughout the Digipack, and the logos of the band's management an record label are placed above the copyright information, just like the other digipacks.

The image of the storm on the back cover is the same picture that is on the front cover of the album. The name of the album is on bold, making your eyes draw straight to it, and then your eyes are diverted to the track-listing beneath it, which is in an usual format. The logos for the band's management and record label are on the back cover, along with producer credits and copyright information beneath that, which are common features on the back cover of albums.

Drake’s Album Booklet - Comparison

• When designing my album booklet, I took a lot of inspiration from Drake’s ‘Nothing Was The Same’ booklet, as it had exactly the style I wanted to go for.

• Even though his music doesn’t belong to the Indie/Rock genre, it still fit with the design I wanted, which is why I looked at it for my inspiration.

Drake’s album cover is so simple; a black background, and white text in the centre of the page. The typography is kept consistent throughout the digipak, and everything is kept similar to this cover. Because Drake is such an established artist, he doesn’t need his picture on the album for people to know it’s his, as they will immediately recognise his name. Also, this is his third album, so he isn’t trying to promote himself anymore, but his music, and so he can get away with this simple design a lot easier.

For my album cover, I always wanted to have a black background with white writing as the design. The logo will feature at the start of each music video, making a link between the album and the songs so people can make an automatic connection between the two. The typography features throughout the album booklet, and the design is consistent.

Just like the front cover, the track list features the same typography, and has the same simple design; a black background and white writing in the middle of the page.The only thing on the page are the song titles, so it draws your eyes towards them, highlighting their importance.

Again, I wanted to keep the same design throughout my album booklet, and Drake’s track list gave me the idea for this. I have centred the text and numbered each song simply to space out the songs a bit more.

The songs are not only in alphabetical order, which is another feature I have seen, but is subtle link to the Sweater Weather video, which is the first single from the album. The music video shows the couple's relationship progress over the course of a year, and the song lyrics, in alphabetical order, show the couple's entire relationship.

The music videos for each of these music videos will portray the lyrics and the title of the song, and will each show a story of the couple's relationship.

Afraid - They're strangers and they're both afraid to make the first move.

Bad Blood - They're worried that their pasts may mean that the other mightn't like them or that it may affect their chance of a relationship.

Carpe Diem - They're young and they want to act like it; they don't want to get into a serious relationship, they're just looking for fun.

Deja Vu - There are constant arguments in the relationship and each argument is a 'deja vu' of the last.

Gone - The arguments drive them apart and they're threatening each other with the end of their relationship.

Kiss Me - They want to 'kiss and make up' because their relationship means too much to them to let go.

Lovers - They're back together and they're stronger than ever.

Runaway - They want to run away and spend the rest of their lives with each other.

Sweater Weather - They're spending each day together in bed without a care in the world.

What We Were - Their relationship didn't last and now the guy is looking back at what was, wishing they were the same again.

The back cover of Drake’s Digipak has a lot more writing than mine, and he doesn’t have the track listing on. The large group of text on the right hand side of the page is a quote by Ross Valory, the bassist from band ‘Journey’. This quote is one which I have seen a lot online, and is one of my favourite quotes.

Drake then writes something himself; “They’ll never truly know but thank you all who try to understand. Nothing was the same.” –This may have been where Drake got the name of his album from.

The quote reads:“A lot of people get famous and then don’t want to be famous. You signed up for this you gotta pay for it. A lot of people just don’t know what the price is when they step up to the plate. The wear and tear is not physical. The wear and tear is a mental thing. You really just let go of a lot of relationships that require presence and constant nurturing. You say goodbye to people, people get sick and die when you’re gone, and a lot of things just go by the way side. Then where’s all the strife, and power, and money, and control.”

He then has more credits on the left hand side of the page, and has the logos of his record label, management etc. in the bottom corner, just like mine.

Even though Drake’s back cover looks as though it has a lot of writing, the entire left hand side is all credits of people who have helped work on the album with him.The fact that he doesn’t have the song titles on the back could be because he wants people to buy the album to find out what songs are on, but it could also be that the people mean more to him than the title of the songs, which is why he prioritised them.

I used the logo of my band on the back cover so that each page features my band’s logo, and placed it in the centre of the page so that it grabs your attention and is the first thing you see.I designed the track listing differently because I have seen it on a few other album back covers. I also thought it would help with the continuity of the album booklet as there is more black background than writing on most pages, and this design helped me continue this. I put the copyright statement in the bottom left hand corner, with the record label logo and barcode in the bottom right hand corner as this is a feature I have consistently seen with back covers of albums.

Comparing Print Products

• When I was designing my album booklet and Digipak, I knew that it had to link to my magazine advert.

• I did this by:- Using the same font- Keeping with the black and white colour

scheme- Using the same logo

The typography on the magazine advert is the same as the album, as everything on the advert is written in the same font, and the advert features exactly the same background as the album. The name and logo of the band’s record label / management is at the bottom of the advert as well as the album cover.The album name is the focus of the advert, just like the album cover, and the extremely bright, eye-catching colours make it hard to ignore. The advert includes a pre-order offer at the bottom; you get their new single free if you pre-order the album, which is attractive to fans of the band, and it guarantees album sales by making sure they pre-order.The advert mentions the names of the bands' biggest singles from the album, so people who aren't necessarily fans of the band but like one of their new singles, may be more likely to buy the album if they see that the song is on the album.The consistency of the style of the advert and the album cover makes it easy for people to associate them with each other, and therefore they can immediately link them together.

The picture on the magazine advert is exactly the same as that on the album, and the font is the same apart from it is bolder on the advert, possibly to make it stand out more. The advert features a rating from Kerrang! magazine, and mentions the biggest singles the band have had which features on the album, making the album more appealing to fans who like certain songs by the band.The name of the band and the title of the album are in the largest font, making them more eye catching and stand out more. The release date of the album is towards the bottom of the advert; this is put on to get the fans excited about the album coming out, and give enough time for word-of-mouth to take effect.The pre-ordering of their new album also features the offer that you will have access to “exclusive footage” of the band, which, assumingly, no one else will have. This makes it appealing to fans because they will want to be the first to have exclusive access to this footage, and so are more likely to pre-order the album.

My three products link together as I have used the same font (ISOCT) for everything I have written on all my products, which I did to keep continuity between them.

I have made sure that it is easy to link my print products together by keeping the design simple, almost minimalistic.

I used the same logo on all three products because I wanted it to become instantly recognisable to people, so they will see it and know that they all belong to the same band.

I stuck with the black and white colour scheme in all three products because I wanted it to feature as part of my ‘Bandity’ (band identity).