Forms and Conventions
- 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Music Videos Music videos are created for very similar reasons, involving both the band and the music itself. To ensure that a product is successful, many of these conventions are followed, but on some occasions they are also challenged. The forms and conventions of music videos are to : Show off the members of the band Make the song memorable to viewers Show viewers what the band is about e.g. personalities Represent the band positively Make the music genre of the band clear
- 2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Genres The forms and conventions that are followed usually depend on the genre of the music video. For example, videos for rap music will conventionally include storylines between a boy and a girl or feature scenes in a night club. Because of this dependency, the music genre you choose is very important when it comes to deciding on the conventions you follow and the conventions you break. For our advanced production, we decided to create a video for a band that creates music within the alternative pop/punk genre. The forms and conventions of this genre are; Bright colours featured within the scenes Fast cuts that synchronise with the track Band members shown to be acting childish However, they are also shown to be significant and powerful through high angle shots No clear narrative – video does not directly link to song High use of lighting – all scenes very bright
- 3. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Use of forms and conventions When it comes to the mise-en-scene of our music video, we have stuck to many of the conventions of this music genre. Firstly, the setting of the music video is a teenage house party. This location instantly portrays the age of the band and their target audience and it also illustrates the hobbies that the band enjoy.
- 4. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? There are also very conventional props used throughout the video. For example, extras can be seen to be carrying alcohol bottles and cans; anchoring the idea that the video is being a shot at a house party. There are also visible empty food packets when the camera takes us through the kitchen, again anchoring the idea of a house party. Alcohol can in hand.
- 5. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? We also stuck to the conventions when it came to the costumes that were worn by the extras in the video. By dressing the extras in specific clothes, we were able to ensure that the audience could easily recognise the genre of the music. For example, our extras wore clothes typically associated with the ‘rave’ and alternative genre, and this is the genre that our chosen music would come under. Flourescent tutus Glow in the dark fishnet gloves Glow in the dark bandana Flourescent yellow and black ‘danger’ tape
- 6. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? When it came to editing our music video, we also decided to stick to the conventions of our chosen genre. We did this by ensuring that the featured cuts were synchronous with the rhythm of the music. We believe that this made our music video much more aesthetically pleasing as the music and the video, effectively, complimented each other.
- 7. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? We decided to use very conventional camera shots throughout the video as we believed that this presented us with the opportunity to show off the band to the audience. Using close ups and mid shots allowed us to show the band in a lot of detail. For example, using a mid shot allowed the audience to see mainly the band member, anchoring the idea that they are the most important feature within the shot, but this type of shot also allows the audience to see the mise-en-scene within the shot, anchoring the fact that the video is set at a house party For example, through the use of a mid shot, Aaron's facial expressions are clearly visible, but the audience is also still able to see the mise-en-scene (his costume, instrument and extra props.)
- 8. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? We also represented the band, mainly the lead singer, in a very conventional way. By using many low angle shots on our lead singer, we were able to create an idea of power and importance around him. We also used angled shots to connote how the rest of the band is important, but not as important as the lead singer.
- 9. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Challenging forms and conventions In many ways, we decided to challenge the convention of the genre that our chosen music is categorised into. The main way we accomplished this was by ensuring that the band portrayed who they really were throughout the shoot, as this completely challenges the ideas of music videos, regardless of what genre they are from. This is because, many artists are shown in the way that their record company would like them to be shown, however, in our video, we have let the band take control and choose what they would like their audience to see them as. The band decided to use the heron as a ‘fourth member’ to show off their fun side and sense of humour.
- 10. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? We also challenged the conventions through the different types of editing that we decided to use. For example, throughout the video, every shot of the extras are sped up. We decided to do this as we felt this, again, anchored the genre that our music is categorised in to, and also because it ensures that the band is seen to be the most important feature within the video as all shots that feature the band are perfectly focused, yet it is difficult to make out the faces of the extras clearly. We also felt that the changes in speed kept the video interesting and this would therefore make it more successful.
- 11. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? We also decided to challenge the conventions of music videos when it came to the representation of the band. We decided to include props, such as the familiar, white, plastic garden chair seen propping up an amp, on the stage with the band. We believe that using recognisable props, such as the one mentioned above, signify how the band is unsigned, an upcoming new artist. However, it could also emphasise the idea that bands in this specific genre want to portray; that they do not care about the sales of their product, but rather the creation of good, new music. White, plastic garden chair with amp on top of it.
- 12. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? We also challenged the conventions through the representation of the lead singer. For example, Scott can be seen forgetting the words to his own song on a couple of occasions. This is not stereotypical of music videos, regardless of what genre they are, as record companies want to represent their band as powerful/better than other people, whereas, by including these clips, we have shown that the band members are just like the rest of us; the make mistakes too. This shot was taken from the final edit of the video and in it Scott can clearly be heard asking the extras ‘What’s the next words?’ whilst holding his arms up in confusion.
- 13. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? When evaluating our product, and looking at whether our music video uses or challenges conventions, we decided to look at the theory of Andrew Goodwin and evaluate our uses and challenges by looking at the ideas behind his theories. Andrew Goodwin Andrew Goodwin believed that there were six key points when it comes to the creation of a music videos. These key points were;
- 14. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals There is a relationship between music and visuals The demands of a record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs that recur across their work There is frequently reference to notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body There is often inter-textual reference to things such as tv programmes and other music videos.
- 15. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? However, we broke the conventions of this genre by setting our music video at night. We decided on the darker timeframe as we both felt that the bright costumes of the guests would be much more prominent in artificial lighting instead of natural. Also, the band members were wearing glow in the dark accessories and playing with glow in the dark instruments to emphasise the name of the song, ‘Techno Fish’, and these items would not have worked as well if the video had been shot during the day. Use of glow in the dark drumstick And glow in the dark fishnet glove
- 16. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? We stuck to the conventions when it came to the costumes within the video. We decided to use brightly coloured costumes and accessories that are typically associated with the ‘rave’ scene to emphasise the idea behind the song. We also chose to stick to this convention as we wanted to show that the fans featured within the video are just as important to the band as the song is, so by placing them in bright clothing we were able to ensure that they stood out against their dark background and caught the viewers eye. In this shot, extras can be seen to be wearing; Glow in the dark fishnet gloves All in one jump suits ‘ Danger’ armbands Glow in the dark tutus Glow in the dark face paint Glow in the dark bandanas
- 17. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? We also decided to stick to the conventions when it came to editing the video. We ensured that all cuts were quite fast and also synchronous with the music itself. However, we did not constantly cut the video at the same places as we felt the use of slightly more erratic and unpredictable cuts would anchor the idea behind the band members’ behaviour and personalities.
- 18. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? We also stuck to the conventions when it came to the representation of the band. We used many low angle shots to signify the importance and power of the band, mainly the lead singer. We have found that the use of low angle shots is frequently used throughout music videos, regardless of the genre that they fall under.
- 19. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? However, we also challenged the conventions and forms of the representation of the band. To do this we included clips of the band mucking around; for example, dropping their drumsticks and dancing, as we believed this signified that the band are just the same as the rest of us. We also decided to include clips of the lead singer forgetting the lyrics on a few occasions and even ended on a clip like this. We did this as we felt this would anchor the idea that the band are ‘normal’; no better than a ‘normal’ person. Aaron after he dropped his drum sticks.