Eval 1

Eval 1

• 1.
  I N WH AT W AY S D O E S Y O U R M E D I A P R O D U C T U S E , D E V E L O P O R C H A L L E N G E F O R M S A N D C O N V E N T I O N S O F R E A L M E D I A P R O D U C T S ? E VA L U AT I O N Q 1
• 2.
  NARRATIVE One way inwhich my product conforms to traditional conventions of a real music video is by including a narrative. Having a music video that is based around narrative happens often, particularly for music within the indie genre. This is because it tends to hold peoples attention longer as they are seeing a storyline that is constantly changing so they will want to keep on watching in order to follow it. Typically, fans of the ‘indie’ genre are more matured are do not find more traditional music videos (such as ones in the ‘pop’ genre) to be intellectually stimulating. They prefer watching something they feel has a ‘meaning’ they might be able to work out through the combination of lyrics and imagery and once they feel they have achieved their discovery they can feel a large sense of success which again, brings about a bond between the audience and the artist. People will often feel they relate to the storyline and this in turn allows for a closer relationship/connection between the artist and its audience (uses and grats)
• 3.
  NARRATIVE • My narrativecontains characteristics that comply with Roland Barthes theory. This is that a music video should have elements of the hermeneutic code within it (which refers to any element in a story that is not explained and, therefore, exists as an enigma for the reader, raising questions that demand explication). I included this element in my narrative by showing baby photos in which the mother disappeared after also showing her lying on the sofa. • Doing this creates a mystery as it conveys the idea that her character is deceased, however never actually shows this and therefore leaves the audience with the question is she dead or alive? • Furthermore, I also conformed to Barthes idea of the enigma code. This is where you build up large amounts of tension, then release it near the end of the video. To achieve this I began to increase the speed of the cuts nearer to the climax in which he comes face to face with the cliff edge. This, plus the increase in tempo and volume in the song, create an intense ending (leading to his to his muted outburst).
• 4.
  NARRATIVE • Through myresearch I have found that narrative typically fits better to longer songs. This is because it allows for more screen time in which to include a story that is more in depth, which is why I chose to create a video from a longer song. Some examples of long songs that are suited to long videos are as follows; National Anthem – Lana Del Rey ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx DdEPED0h8 ) Grow Old With Me – Tom Odell ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r gHYP0dD_4 ) Call It What You Want – Foster The People (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p rhCWO_518 ) Lover Of The Light – Mumford and Sons (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n MJUbZrNnA8 )
• 5.
  Like I’ve saidpreviously, Indie music fans tend to be more mature and therefore they are very appreciative of the unordinary/unique. In recent times old film (traditional technology) has started to gain popularity again, mostly amongst fans of the Indie genre. People feel that it creates a sense of nostalgia (especially for the older audience) and allows people to appreciate how technology has developed. The aesthetic of film has become a lot more romanticised in recent years as it gives a very textured look with an ‘old timey’ feel. Audiences of the indie genre in particular prefer the stylistic look of film as well as the sharp HD quality of digital. Throughout these four Indie music videos there are many similarities, these include things like; cinematic effects, Goodwin’s theory and setting.
• 6.
  When it cameto post production I wanted to keep this convention in mind as my target audience was within the Indie genre. Before editing the video with my partner, we researched what the cinematic affects were and how we could achieve them in our production. I found that the stylistic look of film generally means your image was sharp and had lots of contrast. Additionally, I found something that it is very popular nowadays (in both fashion photography and film) is to have orange highlights and shadows with hues of teal and for the image to be slightly grainy. To achieve this look I put these filters throughout the video. These affects are particularly evident in the scenes in which Jacob is playing the piano. I did this as I wanted these scenes to feel a lot more nostalgic than the others, due to them being flashbacks.
• 7.
  GOODWIN’S THEORY INRELATION TO MY NARRATIVE • My product conforms to the codes and conventions of a generic music video in that it adheres to Goodwin’s theory of cutting at the time of the songs beat (so the beat dictates when a cut will be made to the next shot/scene). This theory is something I wished to put my own creative twist on as for my video I wanted the editing (cuts particularly) to parallel Jacob’s emotions. • In the scene in which Jacob finds his mum lying on the sofa, the cuts are not as in sync with the beat as they are throughout the rest of the music video. This helps to convey the disjointed confusion that was going on in his mind. When the music picks up speed, and Jacob runs out the house, the cuts start to again follow the beat which emotes feelings of things starting to come together and make sense psychologically. • I think this small alteration made to Goodwin's theory gives the audience a unique viewing angle that they will appreciate as it conforms to the Indie genre in which things are celebrated for individuality and innovation.
• 8.
  • For myDigipak I decided to conform to the sub-convention of having art work as the front cover although typically most Indie bands follow the convention of having a picture of a naturalistic scene. I decided to challenge this as I found that the convention occurred so often, it would probably make sales of the album decline due to it no longer being unique from other albums (which is what my target audience prefer). • This is why, for my cover, myself and my partner decided to have the main image of the album as a piece of art work (from Tate Modern in London) that can be interpreted in any way the audience see fit. • Inside the digipak I have followed the same font them and colours (as well as the artwork). This is so that there is continuity throughout. This is a typical convention for nearly all albums to follow. However, I decided to add a twist to my inside by having the titles ‘album featuring’ and ‘insert disk here’ – challenges codes and conventions as typically there will just be a place for the CD to go with no further instruction and the list of songs will only be present on the back of the digipack. I feel my target audience will enjoy this quirk as fans of the indie genre like uniqueness.
• 9.
  Examples of IndieArtist’s Album covers Album name Artist name Artwork as cover Artist on cover Block text used Abstract text Abstract cover
• 10.
  • The tablein the previous slide include some of the codes and conventions that I kept in mind when creating the digipak with my partner. When I made this table I came to the realisation that none of the Indie album covers ticked all 7 of the general conventions. This is because Indie artists know that their target audience doesn’t wish for the album they’re buying to look like others, they want something individual (this conforms to Goodwin’s theory that the demands of the record label are to be met). So generally indie artists will try to adhere to that convention (otherwise their albums wouldn’t sell as well). • I used this fact as inspiration and decided to combine elements from the album covers that I looked at to create a result that was also unique from the rest – I did this by combining the ‘abstract artwork’ idea, along with a large, bold font that was loosely influenced by the font in Bastille’s cover as it is very recognisable and striking.
• 11.
  For our digipakwe decided to create a leaflet which stereotypically follows the convention of having song lyrics from the album in it. However, we also included ‘notes from the band’ and their signatures. I feel this adds a more personal touch with the fan base as it creates a sense of closeness - this conforms to Goodwin's theory of uses and gratification
• 12.
  EXAMPLES OF INDIEARTISTS MAGAZINE ADVERTS Enlarged image of album cover Album name Artist name Date of due release List of featured songs Font colour coordinated with imagery
• 13.
  When it comesto magazine adverts for albums they mostly all follow the same conventions (as you can see from the table in the previous slide). I decided to also adhere to these conventions with my magazine cover. The conventions I adhered to are as follows: • Enlarged the album cover to be a portrait image – I found that a lot of artists do this so that the image covers the whole page, as it is a lot more aesthetically pleasing than having bars on the top and bottom on the page. • Included the Artists name in a large bold font that was a replicate of the digipak • Included time of album release as this helps cause a build up to the album and gives audience incentive to buy it (demands of the record label being met) • Had a small list of that songs that will feature on the album - typically the most popular ones are used in the advert (so I did this) as they are most recognisable and will therefore bring in a wider audience that might not know the band as well (but they might then want to look further into the album) • Text is colour co ordinated to imagery of artwork – more aesthetically pleasing
• 14.
  Additionally, I particularlyfavoured separating the text through lines (much like the Jake Bugg advert) as I feel it made for a neater look that was easier to read and came off as more. I challenged typical conventions by; • Having the lower text sit higher on the page - this then brought more attention to the artwork and keeps everything more condensed • Not including things like record company logos or reviews as I didn’t want to potentially clutter the advert (wanted to keep things as minimal as possible)