In what ways does your media product use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

By Usman Majid

Introduction

Heifervecsent “Chased by a cow” music video fits into a range of genres, all of which use,

challenge and develop forms of convections.

Music genre

• The music video is primarily based on a narrative, which is essentially what character/actor Usman performs to, for example, the plot is evolved around Usman who has a dream of a cow that has come to haunt him, peculiarly the cow has mentally effected the incentive of Usman through the belief of existence (image) and his actions further enhance this when the he is stood outside a cow store in “Arndale” and appears to be running away in the video whenever a cow is seen (Hence the name chased by a cow) with fate beyond destiny.

Conventions used

When thinking of a genre that is applicable to this video, the answer would be Indie, pop as well as alternative, however, Heifervecsent “Chased by a cow” can also be interoperated as an acoustic folk genre through the lighting. The sunlight reflects on the camera creating an ambient atmosphere for the narrative. It also connotes summer and the ideologies that fit in with it, such as running through plain fields, sun baving on tree branches, and cycling along the river.

Challenging Conventions

• Another way our media product challenges forms and conventions of real media text is through the relationship between the visuals and the lyrics as some of the visual illustrates the lyric according to Andrew Goodwin’s approach to music videos conventions.

Lyrics and Visuals: DisjunctureWe used this technique in a sarcastic way to keep up with the style of the artist and tone of the song. An example of this is the lyrics for1:22-1:24 are ‘welcome this fantastic day’ and yet the character’s body language contradict this as he looks as if it’s one of the worst days of his entire life and the image on the right is evident of this though the use of disjuncture.

Challenging conventions

Furthermore, the significance of the cow is highlighting both the dramatic swing in the music in terms of the beat used in the video, from upbeat to downbeat and at the same time portraying the cow in a “angry” manner, as oppose to typically a relaxed depiction. Meanwhile a tension looking character in Usman, furthermore implying to the contradictory in the course of playing upbeat tempo to a shot of a emotional character.

We felt the plot we had in mind would not be effective if we were to limit the genre to just one, instead producing a video that is versatile which in turn enables a range of genres to fit in, thus by allowing multiple genre’s it challenges new conventions, enabling the music video to be narrative based but also include quirky elements to it whereby it consists of both alternative and indie as well as some conventions of folk involved. For example, the use of cows and natural environments enhances folk genre to be a part of the conventions in this music video. Meanwhile, the narrative typically demonstrates the conventions of a pop genre,

Developing conventionsIn the beginning of the video (0:00-0:24 )we used a whitening effect to give the impression of a dream sequence. The dream being when he was free from the fear of the ‘cow’. From 0:35 to 0:43, he becomes aware of what is following him and tries to run away from his fate. However, as the video is for a song from the genre of Pop, upbeat and positivity needed to be included, dancing shows when our character feels like he has gone back to not fearing.

Developing conventions

The clothing fits in with this genre of pop but also of the indie genre through the use of colorful modern clothing (bego chinos, elbow patched jacket) and at the same time a combination of vintage clothing, such as the old school military boots. The lyrics and storyline convey the genre through the ludicrous imaginary relationship of a cow. This challenges new conventions of some genres- R’n’B and indie pop, in which the lyrics and video convey a superficial lifestyle that aspires the audience in perhaps a negative way of living their “utopia”. The digipak conveys the acoustic folk genre through the unique drawings which show the artistic element to the genre, which in turn connotes the themes of peace and an organic lifestyle. On the cover there is a picture of a cow which represents the countryside which shows the conventions of the folk genre. At the same time however, I decided to use the cow as a multiple feature, this is shown in the digipack when the cow is transformed in innovative was, through the use of the cow being portrayed as an object i.e. a lottery box but at the same time the cows head symbolizing it has more than one purpose, adding to the genre convention of alternative.

Developing Conventions

On the storyboard there were shots of the main character by the river; however in the shooting of the music video I decided against using too many shots and wanted to capture more shots of “The Abney Hall scene” and “Arndale” as this would make the location significant to the character (Usman) as it would show routine in his day-to-day life and create a sense of familiarity to the audience as he would become almost an intimate person in his life. Because the video is only three and a bit minutes the repetition it to be over a long period of time. To break up the emotional hatred and confusion I captured sequences of the main character Usman catching a train down East Didsbury train station, in Manchester, to represent change in the narrative and continue to focus the attention on him. To make the sequences more authentic I took shots from a distance, using a range of long and medium shots at various angles, behind character (Usman) and filmed.

This engages the audience to make them feel part of the film and also shows the themes of “vintage” and “homemade” in the genre. To represent the genre of the video more precisely the costume worn by characters were more alternative to the mainstream fashion. I looked into the costume of more indie music videos and to fit the genre Usman wore a, sunglass’s, with bego chinos and to convey the “past” memories Usman wore a deep blue knitted jumper. Even though I wanted the clothing to be a precise mirror of the jumper I didn’t want to stereotype and wanted to make the video ideology appealing to all audiences. I used a range of ethnicity to widen the audience, such as the main character Usman whom is of an ethnic minority background, Pakistani. The props however had to be generic to promote the diversity of genre values of the contradictory narrative, chased by a cow, train tickets, and dancing. The storyline in its basic form could portray students leaving home and moving to university and then become isolated with species that are within society.

Target Audience

However I wanted to make the storyline applicable to older generation who may have been through similar situations. Therefore predomately my target audience was older teenagers. This narrative is appealing to this audience who can identify with characters is conventional to the genre. There is definite representation of youth in the music video which stems from the theme of isolation of the main character, to the imaginary “cow” in a ludicrous world.