In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions

of real media products?

Daniella Johnston

TitleHere are some real media products that have title sequences for their music videos. After looking at various styles and genres, I found that this is used more frequently on genres such as RnB, dance and pop in comparison to indie and rock, although there are still a few that challenge the convention. Analysing three music videos that were of a similar genre and theme to my track, which also didn’t have a title sequence, influenced my decision not to use one on my own video.

Setting/location

The very first shot shows the skyline of Manchester. The camera slowly tracks/zooms forward getting closer to the buildings to create the effect of entering the city.

As you can see it is similar to the ‘Use Somebody’ and ‘Standing in the dark’ videos as they are both set during the evening we can see the New York skyline in both. We didn’t want to challenge this convention as we feel this type of shot establishes prime location effectively and begins to take you on your journey through the rest of the video.

We tried to use as little settings as possible in the video to make travelling easier and so we could make more valuable use of the time we had to film. Because of this, our video has 3 prime locations:

• College – on stage performances/backstage footage

• On the road/in a car travelling

• City centre

City centre• Urban look • Lively nightlife/bright lights reflect busy lifestyle of the band • Allows comparisons and develops the concept • Manchester is home to many rock bands

On the road• Rock videos usually feature some form of journey or behinds the scenes footage • Makes it more exciting for audiences and allows them to divert away from

reality – Uses and gratifications theory• We used this convention of real music videos of this genre. Our video allows

audiences to see a day in the perspective of the band – back stage and performing

• Exclusive feel• We challenged the convention of bands having drivers and living a life of luxury.

In our video they tour alone and are more independent.

College – backstage footage/on stage performances

• It is extremely common for a rock video to include live performances• We decided it was crucial for our video therefore we have used this

convention • All shots taken in the drama studio at college• Use of lighting equipment makes it look more realistic

Camerawork

Rock videos usually contain a variety of shot types from extreme close ups to long shots, with the use of handheld shots, heavy focus on the playing of instruments as well as lip sync. These are very important within a rock video and I have tried to use many different ones in my music video.

Low angle/tracki

ng

Medium

Extreme close up

High angle

Long

Close up

Still/tripod use

Moving/handheld

Wide

Panning

Zooming/establishing

Over the shoulder

Shots of lead singer

• Medium/close up/extreme close up//long/still/low angle/high angle

Inspiration from Lawson's ‘Standing in the dark’ as it has similar themes of loneliness and longing for someone.

Band shotsIn terms of the positioning in the frame, lead singers are always in the centre and closer to the front. Audiences will recognise the lead singer the most as rock videos tend to show vocalists more frequently compared to any other members of the band. Bands perform relatively close together to signify their unity. Another convention is showing male gestures of friendship e.g. laughing together, or in my video, dancing in the car whilst on the road. My video can be likened to all of the above therefore the band shots use and develop forms of real media products.

Wide/long/moving/medium

Here are some real examples

Editing

• Black and white• Fast paced and slow motion• Cross fade• Straight cuts• Continuity

Pace

Our video uses slow motion like the ‘Use Somebody’ one during a shot where a band member is sliding towards the camera. It gives the audience more time to take things in

Fast motion highlights busy life style, makes the video look more interesting and fits in with the pace of the song. It is used in a variety of real media products.

Black and white • Creates a mood that colour cannot achieve • Empathises the themes of darkness, being lonely and feeling ‘down or grey’

developing the concept

Fade

• Real media products of this genre tend to be incredibly performance based • Shots of the band with the vocalist being the main focus• Narratives are sometimes used showing a romance between the lead singer and a

girl/some form of current affair – they relate to the lyrical meaning of the song• Concepts can be developed • Our video is predominantly performance based with a slight concept behind it• Ideology ‘anybody can get lonely sometimes’

Genre

Narrative• Looking at narrative structure implies that we explore the the way in which the

information contained within a text is revealed to us

• Roland Barthes describes texts as “a galaxy of signifiers, not a structure of signifies; it has no beginning; we gain access to it by several entrances, none of which can be authoritatively declared to be the main one”

• Our video could has an unconventional narrative – it is elliptical

• A structure in which certain key pieces of information or events are omitted. It is up to the audience to fill in the gaps

• Audiences don’t know what he could use when he sings ‘Use Somebody’ but they are able to understand he is lonely

• This is established through the use of direct mode of address and close up shots of the lead singer allowing audiences to share the point of view with him and empathise with him

Introducing the characters• Uses conventions of

the actual ‘Use Somebody’ video

• Fade allows you to see where he is

• Makes it look like he is in the Hilton hotel in Manchester

• It introduces the lead singer for the first time whilst establishing the setting

There are only males in the video. We could argue that this challenges conventions of real media products but it also uses them too.

Examples:

Costumes

It uses and develops conventions of this genre as the characters in my video are wearing rather plain and casual clothing, all dark or dull in colour. For example, ripped skinny jeans, baggy t-shirts and laced trainers highlight the bands youth and the ‘care free’ messy stereotype associated with rock and indie music lovers. It’s almost as if bands of these genres over look their image, they don’t use this to promote their music like mainstream artists.

Real media products

My final product

Iconography/props• Instruments - they are a traditional rock band

consisting of guitarists, a lead vocalist and a drummer.

• Smoking/drinking – this develops the rock music stereotype of rebellion and allows audiences to see they are normal people.

• Car and busy road – highlights their busy lifestyle and how they spend a lot of their time travelling.

We pulled out some iconography and props from existing media texts of the same genre and used them in our own to make it a conventional rock music video.

One thing which we noticed is that many well known bands and singers wear sunglasses making them conform to our stereotypical representation of ‘stars’. This is evident in a variety of real media products.

• Challenged the convention • Highlights the band care less about their image and more

about the music • Creates a sense of closeness as it allows direct mode of

address

Image manipulation

• Darkness with high contrast levels – edgy tone • Altered the brightness and levels adding shadow to his face • Fits in with themes of loneliness and allows continuity • We didn’t use special effects – not common in rock videos

Ancillary 1 Conventions I have used and developed

Plain disc including label logos and information

Track listing

Barcodes

Consistency throughout both

Conventions I have challenged

No identity of the band included on the digipack e.g. no name/image

Different sized text on list to highlight well known tracks/singles

Same image on the front and the back

Ancillary 2Band name

Same images from digipack

Album name

Mention of known singles

Direct language and used of red to empathise the

text/make it stand out