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

forms and conventions of real media products?

Arfa Shah 4739

MUSIC VIDEOMUSIC VIDEO

Goodwin’s theoryGoodwin’s theoryIn my music video, my group and I constructed a performance element and narrative element that would demonstrate the main characteristics of music videos as identified by Goodwin.His theory states that all music videos:

1.Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics

2.There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals

3.There is a relationship between music and visuals

4.Close ups of the artist

5.Notion of looking

6.Intertextual reference

GENRE CHARACTERISTICSGENRE CHARACTERISTICSThe main genre characteristic of an indie music video is the inclusion of a performance element. The main point of a performance in an indie music video is to display the band’s authentic image and to further emphasise the indie “Do It Yourself” ethos.Another genre characteristic of an indie band is that they are very image orientated because they are seen as fashion idols to their fans. In the “You’re All I Have” music video, the band members are wearing casual, laid back clothing which stresses the indie look. Similarly, for our media production we did the same and made the band members where casual clothing. Also, we also made each band member wear some sort of blue clothing whether it be blue jeans or a blue top.

We used the performance and image convention because we know that performance and image is what makes up the band and makes them known to their target audience.

Snow Patrol “You’ve All I have” performance element

A2 Media Production performance element

NARRATIVE ELEMENTNARRATIVE ELEMENTThe inclusion of a narrative element is very sparse in indie music videos therefore we went against indie convention. Whilst conducting my research, I found that all of my music videos were based on performances. However, my group and I came to the conclusion that we should include a narrative element in order for our target audience to understand the band and their music. We wanted the target audience to know that our band can touch upon sensitive issues and still perform at the same time. Including a linear narrative element is mainstream however by creating a fragmented narrative in our music video, we went against indie convention. Also, my group and I made use of Barthe’s enigma code at the end of the music video to leave the audience thinking who handed the female the blue scarf. By doing this I believe we peaked the interest of our target audience and left them with something to think about.

The performance element fragmented the narrative by switching between the band and story.

Use of Barthe’s enigma code.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LYRICS AND RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LYRICS AND VISUALS VISUALS In my research, I found that some indie music videos tend to have a relationship between lyrics and visuals. In “You’re All I Have” by Snow Patrol illustrative lyrics are used, when the lead singer sings “electric shock on aching bones”, the audience can see an electric shock on the microphone.In my music video, there is an illustrative between the lyrics and visuals. Only some videos contain a direction relationship between lyrics and visuals therefore we went against typical indie convention.

Illustrative:

The song is about hope and strength therefore we used a colour motif of blue to symbolise this as blue represents hope and a fresh start. We used a blue scarf (above), blue door and the band members each wore a piece of blue clothing.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC AND VISUALS AND VISUALS From my research I found that indie music videos contained a very strong relationship between music and visuals. For example in Interpol’s “Obstacle 1” music video, when the lead singer is singing his actions are shown; when the drummer is drumming the audience can see this and also when the guitar instrumentals are introduced, it is displayed on screen. In my music video, when the lead singer is singing, he’s shown with the use of a close up. Furthermore, when the guitar is prominent, there is a close up of one member playing the guitar. Also, towards the end of the song, the drumming in the music is very prominent and therefore we chose to do a medium shot of James playing the drum to demonstrate this. We used the indie convention of illustrating the relationship between music and visuals in order to make our music video as authentic as possible. However the relationship is only illustrative to an extent, the narrative element fragments the performance element which makes the music video more diverse.

Close up of the artist Close up of the artist

Goodwin’s theory states that a close up of the artist is needed to meet the demands of the record label. I found that in all indie music videos, a heavy emphasis is placed on the lead singer. Many close ups of the lead singer as well as the band members are used to establish the band as a whole. We followed this convention and used many close ups, medium close ups and long shot to establish each individual member and the band as a whole. In my music video, my group and I also used close ups of the lead singer, guitarists and the drummer as well as shots of the group as a whole.

Notion of looking Notion of looking Goodwin’s theory states that is a notion of looking and voyeuristic treatment of the female body present in the music video. However, in indie music videos there is very little notion of looking or voyeuristic treatment of the female body. It was mainly in “Obstace 1” by Interpol where there was a notion of looking toward the female however no voyeuristic treatment.In our music video, there was a moment where the female looked at her phone and stroked the picture of her and her boyfriend during happier times. We decided to include this in order to make clear to the audience that the two leads had a romantic relationship. In a sense we went against indie convention because only very few indie music videos (from my research) displayed a notion of looking.

High angle shot of female dancing in “Obstable 1” by Interpol.

Close up of female looking at her phone in our A2 media production

Intertextual reference Intertextual reference Intertextual references to other media products were not common in media music videos. However, we went against this convention and made subtle intertextual references to various media products. We took inspiration from many non-indie media products and tried our best to turn them into indie products. For example the idea of domestic abuse came to us after much brainstorming and I showed my group a domestic abuse campaign advert in which Keira Knightley starred in- from there we got the idea for a violent relationship however we played this down in our music video by not showing actual violence, but only implying it (e.g. when the male lead knocks down the camera, he is actually knocking down the female).

Keira Knightley domestic abuse advert (above) with the abuse scenes in our music video (below)

Male lead hits camera,we implied that he hitThe female.

Male aggressively picking up the female.

Keira Knightley Domestic Campaign Link

Intertextual reference Intertextual reference We also looked at “Love The Way You Lie” by Eminem feat. Rihanna as it was another music video based on relationship abuse. We were inspired by Megan Fox’s eye contact with the camera in the music video therefore the female lead in our music video, Veena, looked straight at the camera in order to establish an emotional connection with the audience. We chose to go against convention because my group and I wanted to include more than just a performance element in our music video. We wanted to include a narrative that made subtle references to other media products in order to make our music video more captivating, memorable and emotional.

“Love The Way You Lie” music video

Veena looking straight at the camera in our A2 media production in

reference to Megan Fox’s character in “Love The Way You Lie” music

video by Eminem feat. Rihanna