Estelle Naughton

Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In my music video, some conventions that are displayed use, develop and challenge the existing norms for music videos and then the stereotypical expectation of an indie music video. Our music video tends to challenge or use the overall norms of music videos yet develop them in terms of the indie genre with the undercover meaning behind the use and how it represents the narrative. The title of my music video is the title of the track and the communal decided name of the band; The 1985. Despite all members of our group having a different version of the band’s name, we decided to name the band ‘The 1985’ as it is one of the members version of the band. The title and band name are at the end of the video as it flows and supports the fragmented narrative and would off throw the beginning of the video. We have included titles at the end including everyone who had filmed and produced it and the main characters starring in the music video, after the name of the band and the music video title. The title sequence at the end is choreographed alongside the music as the music is fading out and creates a powerful, structured ending to the music video. Due to the arrangement of the title sequence, it is slightly unusual as many music videos introduce the video before the music video plays. Our video somewhat challenges these conventions as not many indie bands concludes their music video by using titles, even the band themselves introduce their videos at the beginning. This suggests how as a group, we have tried to deviate from the stereotypical conventions of music videos, discarding the genre of the band. The text we have used is thin, white and in capital letters which reflects the band’s way in which they would go about ending a video with a title sequence. The background is black and the text is white which adds impact to the ending title sequence as well as the impact from the music matching the way we have edited the clips on the beats of the song, it is also powerful as our music video is in black and white so it continues the theme even when ending the music video. The text is simplistic which develops the conventions of the indie genre, specifically the band themselves as they would use a similar font and probably use white text against black background to reinforce the overall narrative even towards the end. The setting of our music video is based around Manchester, including some iconic areas, such as Media City. The main areas in which the footage has taken place include Media City, a teenager’s bedroom, Clifton City Walk, Manchester City Centre, the tram into City Centre and Fopp. Our music video consists of many destinations which challenges some media conventions as some indie music videos may occur in one place or a few places but one main setting, such as the band themselves. There is no main setting of the video apart from Manchester town and iconic elements of Manchester, this develops conventions as in many indie music videos the narrative is fragmented and this includes multiple locations which is apparent in my music video. In a clip used in the music video, it has been sped up and it is shots of the road, this continues the convention of indie music videos as a similar attitude is portrayed in The 1975’s ‘Chocolate’ video as the band is in a car and in black and white.

In my music video, no specific outfit or costume choices are established as we tried to enhance the realism within the overall narrative as it happens to real people, in real life which would add hyper reality to our video as it is staged. The clothing worn is casual and represents the characters; we tried to highlight the aspect of real life within the narrative. The use of nonspecific clothing represents the gender and age of the characters as it suggests that they are casual and young adults. The casual clothing links with the genre and exposition of the narrative; this indicates the somewhat laid back nature of the genre, song and the band. It adds an element of realism to the narrative suggesting that the behavior demonstrated within our video, that it happens in everyday life. Make up was used to create the bruises which are revealed towards the end of the video, to add a dramatic effect and to answer the narrative enigma which is established at the beginning of the video due to the narrative. No out of the ordinary props were used, just the mobile phone which brought out the violent side of the male characters which is used convention in many indie or genre music videos as the narrative doesn’t want to appear fake or over the top which is the style we aimed for.

We used a HD video camera to film the footage which was hand held whilst filming, we did have a tripod handy at all times but we didn’t want the video to be too static. This challenges some conventions of music videos as some music videos use professional cameras and a tripod to allow a stable shot. A canon camera was used to create the images for my digipack, alongside a tripod to ensure a stable and clear picture which is able to be used for my digipack. Some pictures were taken on an iPhone as it was convenient; however this may challenge or develop conventions as not many pictures on a CD digipack are taken on an iPhone which may reinforce the indie genre and trying to attempt to do things which aren’t always popular with others. Premier was used to edit the final video, which may challenge some conventions as music videos are usually edited professionally whilst our music video was created on somewhat amateur software. Photoshop was used to edit and manipulate the images to give an professional aspect to the images, this uses typical conventions as most images are adjusted in Photoshop which enhances an element of hyper reality within other CD digipacks and my own. The narrative as mentioned previously, the narrative is fragmented with is a typical convention of music videos especially the indie genre. Our fragmented narrative allows a deeper meaning to the narrative, allowing the narrative to be decoded in the way in which it was intended. One clip is inserted into the beginning of the narrative which is featured at the end which explains the order of the events. There are 2 main characters but the main focus point is on the female character as she is established right at the beginning of the narrative and within the first 30 seconds of the video, she is introduced. The secondary main character is introduced later on in the narrative alongside a scene and other scenes with the main female character. There are other characters when with friends but are to symbolise solidarity and unity yet they aren’t featured anywhere else within the narrative. In my music video, special effects have been applied to the footage such as having a black and white effect to depict a deeper meaning to the reason for using it. Some footage was either sped up or slowed down to correspond with the music and enhance certain elements of the footage. In conclusion, my A2 media products use, develop and challenge typical conventions of music videos as they are represented in my music video. Some of these have been implemented due to market research and the effectiveness of that applied to their media product.