Evaluation

Evaluation

Question 1: In what ways does your product use, develop or challenge

forms and conventions of real media products?

As my chosen band, In Transmission belong predominantly, to the rock genre it was fundamental to research the genre

itself in depth. I began researching the genre to find its main characteristics, how audiences established products within this genre and how music videos are used to reinforce the sometimes heavy messages that the Rock genre explores.

This research proved vital not only in the success of my music video but my ancillary products too.

Researching conventions of music videos

I began researching general music videos using Andrew Goodwin’s characteristics of a music video. He notes that, despite genre, music videos typically demonstrate:• genre characteristics • A relationship between lyrics and visuals• A relationship between music and visuals• The demands of the record label• Frequent reference to notion of looking• Often intertextual reference

PEFORMANCE BASED

NARRATIVE

CLOSE UPS

EMOTION

EXPRESSION

PARTYING

INSTRUMENTS

SPOTLIGHTS

DARK

SEPIA

FAST PACED EDITIN

G

CONVENTIONS OF ROCK VIDEOS

These are nine frames from my video that I have chosen as I feel each represents a different aspect of my music video.

Introduces narrative of the video as well as the band collectively.

Close up, focused shot of lead singer- done to attract audiences and is often a demand of the record label- here we supported a typical convention of the music industry.

Again serves to introduce band in natural environment, not a staged shot.

Performance shot, conforming to Rock Genre

Close up on vocals, emphasises emotion of song and conveys feeling.

Explores a range of camera angles- enables a ‘backstage pass’ to audiences

1

1

Explaining my Nine Frames…This over the shoulder shot introduces the band as well as the beginning of our narrative. Audiences may feel that they are being given an insight into the band here and thus, audiences feel a sense of being in this scene with the band. The sepia effect given to this sequence enables audiences to identify with the different time layers created in the video. This shot acts to represent a typical ‘morning after the night before’ and the hung-over state of the band which is often associated with the Rock Genre.

2This second frame, a wide shot introduces the band’s on stage presence and the atmosphere automatically changes from sepia to bright and clear. The pop up text in the bottom corner acts as an indicator of time enabling the distinction from the two time frames of the video. Performance shots are once again are common element used in rock videos.

3 This side on close up shot emphasises the dramatic and strong first bold note of the song. This type of shot was used to reinforce and convey the expression of the lead singer whilst also creating a sense of verismilitude for our audience with the lip synching. The close up of the lead singer could also be used to meet the demands of the record label and to attract female audiences. The simple, plain background allows the lead singer himself to stand out and thus, this draws attention to his expression.

4This mid- shot establishes yet another time frame and setting. The band are shown to be acting recklessly and partying, another common association with the rock genre. This frame represents the band in a more natural environment in which audiences can witness and relate to them.

5This relatively close- mid shot frame represents how each band member and their role in established early in the video. Choosing to focus on each member separately as well as the band collectively allows for a range of camera angles to be used but also gives audiences insight into each member and could be said to attract fans. The down spot lighting in these frames emphasises the significance of each member.

6This frame represents our vast range of camera angles and positioning used in the video, this is done to create a sense of immediacy for audiences and also to allow for quick, fast paced editing so that one shot isn’t too long. This particular angle gives the impression that audiences are possibly given backstage access to bands performance and in turn, enables to band to be viewed from quite literally a different side.

7 This low angle shot of the lead singer, creates the impression of the importance of the person in shot or their significance. Typically in music videos, this type of shot is used to give importance and pay attention to the lead singer/ artist and so, this frame represents this aspect.

8Another over the shoulder the shot, this frame serves to represent the band once again in a natural environment as the shot is not staged. This type of shot enables audiences to feel a sense of time and place and like they are actually in the scene, with this atmosphere. The soft lighting here creates this warm environment and reinforces the notion of the band together, etc. This type of scene is common in videos of Bands in particular as it allows for the band to be shown together.

9 This closing frame, represents the end of the band’s stage performance. The stark lighting contrast then fades out and marks the end of the video. The lighting could be said to mirror that of a flash of a camera and thus, this shot ends the video but is like a photo being taken of the band as their performance ends. This is one of the only medium shots covering the whole band throughout the video and this is perhaps prominent as their final scene.

Comparing my music video to real media texts

Much like Pierce The Veil’s video for Caraphenilia which establishes a variety of settings/locations and time frames within its narrative, I chose a similar format for

my music video for In Transmission. This simple pop up text which was added during the post production stages helps to make the narrative clear to audiences especially

when using several narratives as to not confuse viewers. In this aspect we conformed to this convention of real media products as it was fundamental that audiences

understood the narrative and structure of my video and to end with a clear sense of progression.

In my video, I conformed to the convention of using close up and over the shoulder shots which are often used in videos of bands to explore each member and identify their role within the band. This convention often used in videos is typically present in those which are performance based. As my video centred around an unsigned, relatively unknown band and for their debut track , it was important that individually, the band members were established well solely for audience recognition.

My video Real music videos

A strong, focused close up shot often at several intervals in the song and for longer shots, focuses on the expression and emotion of the song is present in videos of the rock genre- we hoped to emulate this in our video.

In rock videos, much focus is given to performance shots of the band- almost inviting audiences backstage. We supported the convention of performance within our video.

My Magazine Poster Real Adverts

As we hadn’t used the main image from our digipak cover for the posters image, it was important to in some way, create a synergistic link between both my digipak and the poster for its release. By doing this, I subverted the typical convention of real magazine posters to use the same image for both products. I then researched other posters which had subverted this convention to

find how a link had been made to the digipak it is promotion. I found a few which included an image of the digipak itself and found this to be an effective way to link

the two products.

Examples of real media texts…

My Digipak Real Digipak’s

Whilst my choice of a more creative font than the often simple conventional ones used for the Rock and Alternative genre, I have opted to follow the theme of nature as my album artwork. Our idea for the bare tree stump came from the fact that this is the

band’s first album and so, as they grow and become more successful, the tree would flourish and bloom. The dark theme of the cover; black and red conform to the darker side that the Rock Genre explores, whilst some real media products tend to steer clear

of the conformity.

My Digipak’s insert panels could be likened to that of You Me At Six’s album artwork, their of identity report cards to introduce the band is similar to the pages I used with individual pictures of each band member to serve as an introduction to fans being their debut album.

Some album covers use simple font styles as to not take away from the image itself, others may use the band’s logo itself as this can be a synergistic link between all their products. As My

Chemical Romance as an example, sometime the font itself draws most attention to the album over the actual image. The

pulp-fiction- esqe text I have used is much more apparent than my image itself. This is because this text is the band’s

actual logo and thus, I wanted to familiarise audiences with the bands image.