A2 Evaluation - Question 1

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

The brief that my media group and I were given to complete constituted a production of a music genre of any genre, with the exception of "grime", "hip-hop/rap" or "R&B", with the addition of two ancillary texts: an advert to be featured in a magazine, as well as a digipak. The group I was with decided to pick the indie genre for our production brief, as we felt this would be the most effective one to make a more unique and exciting video. As a group we settled to use Gabrielle Aplin's song "Salvation" for our music video, and base our ancillary products on her music, as we felt both the artist and the song had real deep meaning we could use to be as creative as possible with.

Before beginning to plan out our indie music video, my group and I first began to research what a music video actually is, i.e. what elements make it up, such as the style of the video or the codes and conventions a specific genre may uphold. In our research we found that the original use of it was simply a financial or promotional tool for the artist to establish the artist. However, as times have progressed, as has technology, artists are now able to create more dynamic videos to appeal to a specific audience; perhaps even to express themselves personally. Music videos are now an effective way for an artist to establish their audience, whether they are new to the industry or as they feel like re-inventing their image (and therefore would like a new audience). Many artists use music videos to reach new audience, as depending on the style of their music video, whether it be performance, concept or narrative, the artist can connect to a set audience. For example, artists, such as Ellie Goulding, may change their genre over time as they would like to explore other avenues of the industry and creatively develop themselves. Ellie Goulding's music has changed from the indie genre to the pop to a slightly more electro-pop style of music. Indie music videos feature narrative styles to express a deep story, whereas pop will use concept-based videos, and moving more into the EDM genre, performance videos are used.

From doing extensive research into indie music videos to aid in my own production, I found a similar trend in the indie codes and conventions. One music video that I looked at in depth was "Panic Cord" by Gabrielle Aplin, which made perpetual use of these generic conventions all throughout her video. The first convention I picked up on was the use of both performance and narrative styles in the video, which I personally appealed to as it gave the video an overall more effective look. From researching media theories such as Dyer's Paradoxes, I found that the artist playing a musical instrument (a guitar) was useful in illustrating her as extraordinary, as Dyer claims. The use of this representation allows for a formation of a bridge between the audience and the artist so that the former can aspire to be more like the latter. Therefore the audience will actually be able to become active within the music video, taking something useful from it. The performance scenes were intriguing to watch as they contrasted well against the narrative aspect of the video, which showed different part of the artist's life; one where she is alone with her thoughts; therefore more intimate, and the other where you see the artist trying to express her feelings into a story. The use of watching other music videos as well as this particular one, I found that although I desired to employ both a performance and narrative style to my own video, the latter would be better served to dominate as it allows an arise of deeper meanings and connotations; particularly as indie lyrics are full of emotions and are more interesting when expressed in a story-like manner. I also found that having this narrative in "Panic Cord" allowed myself to understand the lyrics the artist was singing in the performance side of the video a lot more coherently; therefore I wanted to emulate the same effect in my own music video. Another convention that I picked up on was the use of natural lighting, mixed with high-key lighting. Throughout the music video of "Panic Cord", there is a lot of bright light, almost eerie, which helps with Gabrielle Aplin's narrative, as whilst she looks through her box of memories, the intensity of the light creates a dream-like effect. These almost transcendent connotations allow for the audience to actually feel as if they are genuinely watching a real-life memory. I found this style of lighting to be quite conventional of the indie genre as, a lot of the time, the artist reflects on happier moments in their life. It also helps to link in with the convention of using natural images, rather than artificiality; the natural light which streams in through the windows, illustrates how peaceful and natural the video is; this allows for a reflection upon the authenticity of the artist themselves. Through my research into other indie music videos, I discovered that many indie artists wear rustic/comfortable style of clothing, rather than clothes that would be deemed as "mainstream fashion". One example of a music video that quintessentially demonstrates such convention is Gabrielle Aplin's "Please Don't Say You Love Me". Not only does the artist adopt a indie style of clothing, with her casual dress, but as do the characters in the video; the clothing of baggy jumpers and jeans reflect the characteristics of the genre. Furthermore, the colors of the costume have been given considerate thought; the use of blues and whites for the artist help to connote a sense of innocence as well as there being something more about the artist, beyond the surface. Moreover, the neutral colors which the two protagonists adopt ties in with generic conventions as the indie genre disregards bright and bold colors, as they do not connote naturalness of the outside. In my own music video I really appealed to using this costume style; however, I developed the inspiration by actually changing the colors of the costume throughout, making them darker as the narrative progressed, as the mood changed. For example, at the start of my music video, the artist wore white to illustrate the innocence of the relationship and her happiness; however this juxtaposed with the later colors of greys and black the artist wore as the narrative developed and her feelings became a lot more negative.

For my own music video, my group and I actually decided to both conform and subvert to the indie genre conventions. We decided to start off by following the convention of using both a performance and narrative style in the music video as this way we would be able to firstly, show our artist as an authentic indie artist whom the audience could relate to; and secondly, we would be able to incorporate a deep and meaningful story which the audience can enjoy and use if they are confused about any of the lyrics. Despite it being evidently appealing for the audience to have performance aspects in the shots, as if they cannot see the artist live, it makes them feel like they have actually had the chance to do so, I still think it is more interesting to include a narrative. A narrative would actually appeal to a wider audience, which is a key reason my group and I decided to incorporate it, as even if the audience does not particularly like indie music, they can still appreciate a good storyline. In addition, members of the audience watching an indie music video will expect to be emotionally moved by it and therefore having a lot of performance will not do this as easily. However, my group and I also decided to challenge the indie conventions as we integrated settings of both the countryside and the city. Despite the fact we found that using the city was not particularly conventional, in a questionnaire we completed as part of our primary research, a substantial amount of people said they do prefer the city; therefore to make the video as unique and appealing to as many people, we decided to incorporate both types of locations. To do so, we used time-lapsed shots of the London city life. The purpose of using London as opposed to simply using a slightly busy town area, was that the city has a particular hustle-bustle and chaotic feel to it; in relation to the music video, using this setting would reflect the artist's busy and extraordinary lifestyle, as she is a celebrity. In addition, it would also add meaning to the video as the crowded city connotes a sense of suffocation and claustrophobia, which the audience can interpret stemming from the intensity of the narrative. Using both types of setting is useful in perhaps taking the audience by surprise, as it is quite an unexpected feature; they will consequently be more likely to enjoy the video as it is something fresh and unique, set apart form other indie videos. My group and I also developed conventions of the indie genre through the use of having both a happy and a sad narrative. As "Salvation" is a love song, my group and I wanted to make the video as emotionally intense as possible, to keep the audience absorbed in the tumultuous narrative. For example, the video starts off extremely happy, with their being cute and romantic scenes of the couple enjoying their relationship. However, through both the music and the visuals, the audience can see that the narrative takes a rather intense shift and the male protagonist goes off to war. Although nothing terrible has occurred to him yet, the audience can see through the visuals that something may occur; therefore they will feel a lot more engaged in the video as they feel genuine concern for the characters. When the male protagonist does die, the audience will emotionally feel it as they feel as if they have actually known the character and been a part of their life. This is actually a beneficial way of making the music video more realistic as if you can emotionally connect to the character, you feel as if the narrative is genuinely true. The audience would therefore be able to relate it to their own lives and therefore feel a closer connection the artist for portraying such real-life narratives.