Question 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Stayed-clothing
-split screen
Developed-Performance
-band members
Challenged-introduction
-flashbacks
Stayed with the convention
A convention to the indie genre is the style of clothing and use of fashion. We felt that because this is such a significant convention in the Indie genre we would try and stick to it.
As the band is aiming to relate to the Indie audience we felt that sticking to the style of clothing and fashion in the Indie genre was important to help the audience to relate to the band. The clothing we used was smart but casual with our own individual variation, which is something that we found would appeal to our audience, we found this through various research into the audience of an Indie genre. We have represented these clothing choices through the band members and the actors in the video wearing the items, and this creates the images that they are ordinary people that wears clothes that are accessible to everyone. This is turn helps the audience to relate to the band, as it is something they can aspire to wear. Relating to their audience is something that is vital for Indie artists. This also links to star theory as by wearing clothes that gives the band members a look that the audience would aspire to have creates a marketable star of the members in the band.
Another convention of the Indie genre we found through our research was that of the split screen, we decided to use this to try and stick to the genre but also we found it useful because of practicability, as all the band members in our video are in separate locations it allowed us to bring them together, this was useful as we wanted to connote the idea that they were individuals but they also came together to form a band, this is the image we have wanted to create for our audience. We edited shots of the band members playing instruments together as it showed them as a band, and their musical abilities.
Developed the convention
We chose to develop the performance side of our music video, we did this by separating our band members, which gave us greater diversity in our performance, as it was not just the standard band playing together in a room, it gave something different to the video and it was more interesting for the audience to watch. The different images were one band member practising guitar in a room, which could appeal to our audience as through our research into audiences we found that a number of Indie Rock fans played an instrument. There was also an image of a drummer in a field, this is something that gave a natural 'out doors' look to the video. There was one of a busking guitarist on a street, this could appeal as it would be a relatively usual sight. There was the narrative of a lost love which is relate able, and there was an image of a pianist in a hall, which would also not be an uncommon sight for an Indie Rock fan to come across as through my audience research I have found that a large number of Indie rock fans go to live performances.
We developed the individual band members through where they were placed in the video. We did this by separating our band members, which allows us to give the impression that they are individuals and they are playing by themselves in different locations but at the same time they are playing the same song together. We chose the locations as we wanted easily relate able scenarios.
this image shows a still from the video 'We the Kings' by 'Check yes Juliet', in their video they make references to their performance in their narrative, as their performance is set just before the narrative takes place, and this is shown by the lead singer walking away from the house where the performance is set at the beginning of the narrative's story. We developed from their performance as we included aspects of our performance in our narrative. As our narrative was the lead singer walking away from a relationship, and we included this in our performance as we had various band members playing the song as he walked past. This enhances the viewers experience as it creates a story for them and to some degree allows them to make their own interpretations of what is going on.
Challenged the convention
We challenged the convention of Indie rock through the use of an introduction that introduces the video as a whole, something that is not normally found in an Indie rock video as they generally just start with the songs from the beginning and include the story through a narrative.
This is a still from 'Nelly's' video 'Dilemma' it has an introduction and is in the Hip-Hop genre which is how we challenged our own genres conventions. We decided to blend these two genres as it is something that is nor normally done, and would therefore create something new for the audience. We wanted something new for our audience as it would be different and more exciting for them.We developed the individual band members through where they were placed in the video. We did this by separating our band members, which allows us to give the impression that they are individuals and they are playing by themselves in different locations but at the same time they are playing the same song together. We chose the locations as we wanted easily relate able scenarios.
This image shows the band member in Amy Winehouse's Rehab video where all the band member seem to be playing their instruments alone and unperturbed by anything around them which shows their individuality, something that Indie Rock fans can relate to as they generally aspire to be individuals, the other image shows a still of our split screen which shows each of our band members playing in their different locations. The locations and mise en scene create meaning for the viewers as they connote common feelings such as 'lost love' and this is shown through how the characters progress throughout the video and how they move from one location to the next. Diversity is also created through the locations and mise en scene as there are a number of different locations, clothing and props (e.g. instruments) shown throughout the video.
Challenged the convention
We challenged the convention of Indie rock through the use of an introduction that introduces the video as a whole, something that is not normally found in an Indie rock video as they generally just start with the songs from the beginning and include the story through a narrative.
This is a still from the introduction to our music video.
In our introduction there was part of the set we used for the video, we used mostly long shots to give a broader image of where he was, and we used diagetic sounds such as the footsteps of him walking to the piano.We used the pre-music diagetic sound to help set the scene for the video. It is also used to make the video's narrative clearer as it is the same setting as the master shot and for the ending of the video which rounds the story off.
We also challenged the convention through the use of flashbacks,we thought it would be an interesting twist to the convention as it is again something that is not normally found in an Indie rock video.
This is a still from our music video show our flashback scene. We used the flashback scenes to help the audience understand our narrative and and the whole point to what we were trying to display in our video. It did this by showing the background to they story that was taking place, and shows the audience why the events in the video are happening.
Question 2
Question 3
We collected audience feedback from giving out questionnaires in our school and in our own time using websites like facebook, this gave us a broad range of comments about our video, both positive and negative. This has helped us figure out what our audience found interesting and have enjoyed about our video. Also we have been able to take on board the positive and negative feedback. This has shown to us what we could change in our video in aid to appeal more to our audience's expectations. Also our positive feedback has shown us that we have appealed to our audience and that it conforms to our genre conventions. This is effective because we know that we look like an indie rock band and that our audience will be happy with our image.
Question 4
