Question 1
16/01/14
Our first question is 'In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge the forms and conventions of real media products?'. To answer this question we are working individually writing in essay form for the answer. We planned a mind map together and then wrote our answers individually.
Before we produced our final music video, as a group we did a lot of genre research to find out what the general codes and conventions were for our chosen genre, acoustic. We looked at videos such as Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Ben Howard as these are popular artists in this genre and we were able to find a lot of general codes and conventions in these videos which we can add to our music video to make it fit the genre but also challenge some of these conventions to give it the unique selling point.
We found that most of the videos we looked at had a performance and narrative hybridism typology. We decided to use this convention in our music video because it is easier to help portray the story in the song while selling the artist at the same time and is also popular with our target audience. For the narrative we used ideas which linked with the lyrics of the song simply because this reinforces Goodwin’s theory of developing this link between the narrative and lyrics for example half way through the video the lyrics sing ‘and I’ll do my job’ hence why the character is shown walking through a field with a shovel. What he really does for his job isn’t explained or shown fully because we wanted to leave this to our audiences’ imagination to decide. We also reinforce this convention because the other videos we analysed in the same genre use the link between lyrics and narrative.
For the performance based typology we used a basic stage which enabled us to bring the attention on the artist and his performance rather than where he is. This was a convention found in a few videos we analysed which we chose to reinforce because some other videos just use the artist in the same surrounding as their narrative and only sing, they don’t show their musical talent and this was something we wanted to have pushed forwards in our music video. We did this because it helps the audiences’ understanding of the talent of our artist and that he the music is all his own. Also for the performance based typology we have used a black and white editing technique here. This wasn’t a general code and convention for our genre but was found in one video we analysed. We wanted to challenge this convention of having standard colour and using the black and white because I feel it separates the performance and narrative typologies but also so that it stands out from the other videos. The screen shots below (right) shows Munford and Sons – Babel performance black and white while on the next screen shot (left) shows a shot from our music video.
A further code and convention we found in acoustic music videos, especially with Ed Sheeran’s videos, was the use of mise en scene props. In the performance elements of the video the guitar was often shown as a recurring prop as this shows the raw talent of the artists and their musical talent. Not only did we want to show this in our music video but also in our magazine advert and digipak as the natural and organic talent of our artist was something we wanted to push forward most and therefore why we are reinforcing this convention of props in mise en scene and using the guitar in performance shots and magazine advert and digipak.
There are also references to the guitar throughout the video which combines the link between our main product and ancillary tasks also portraying the natural talent of the artist through synergy and how the music is his own also reinforcing what kind of genre our artist is instantly from these products. The use of the natural elements throughout the video such as the guitar gives the impression of the artist’s raw talent and casual sounds to the song. We have further reinforced this by getting our artist and characters to wear casual costumes making the link with the genre stronger. You can see our artist and male character are wearing similar costumes, with the casual jeans and shoes, a plain top and a chequered shirt over the top. The costume style is often related to the acoustic genre as it is very casual and laid back which matches the style of the genre.
In addition to this, the setting we have used also reinforces the natural elements of the genre which is also found in other music videos we analysed and something we wanted to push forward. We have consistently shows a natural setting in the narrative typology such as walking through the field and the shots of the old flower. These conventions come together to reinforce the natural elements of our genre and also reinforce the conventions found in other acoustic music videos.
You can probably notice that there is a different character used in the digipak and magazine advert in stead of our artist Francis Pennington, this is because we wanted to create a stronger link with the characters used in the narrative typology in the music video as we feel the story is quite strong. We are challenging this convention because we aren’t using Francis to sell te digipak and magazine advert however we have done it in a way that you can’t easily notice that it’s a different person because we have used long shots or mid shots of parts of his body that don’t show his face. We start off the video using Francis playing his guitar on the stage so the audience know he’s the artist rather than the other characters, this was sometimes found in other music videos of this genre however other music videos start with actors and then on to the artist so we aren’t really challenging or reinforcing this convention. However, you could say we are reinforcing the use of actors as well as artist as this helps put across the story in a more realistic way I feel, it also gives the sense of the artist looking back on his story for why he wrote the song. Not only this, the use of another character is challenging Richard Dyer’s star theory as we aren’t focusing on the artist, we are focusing more on the story and the link between the narrative and selling the product rather than using the artists’ recognition to sell the products.
A further convention is the use of editing techniques used after filming. We had looked into a range of different videos in the same genre so we had a good understanding of the types of conventions in editing which we either chose to challenge or reinforce. Some parts of the music video starting at 1:51, our editing is much more fast paced than through the rest of the video as it matches the beat of the music, this was a convention we challenged as most acoustic music videos are consistently slow paced and focus on the narrative rather than the performance and the link between the beat and the pace of editing. I feel this gives our music video an edge over its competitors as it makes it unique from the rest. We are also reinforcing the slow paced editing throughout which is a consistent convention found in all acoustic music videos. Our lip syncing throughout the video is very well matched with the lyrics of the song which is a convention used in every genre of music video, you can notice this most in the close ups and extreme close ups of Francis’ face as his mouth is clearer. As I mentioned before we challenge the use of normal colour as in the editing process we chose to use a black and white effect for the performance typology. Slow motion is also a key convention through acoustic music videos as it is another form of editing technique that matches the pace of the music, not only this but it gives a stronger feel of emotion to the audience and I feel looks more professional. We have reinforced this convention through our music video through various points especially where the male character jumps off the wall as this is generally a very fast clip we had to slow it down nurmerous times to fit the pace of the song but also the pace of the lyrics which we have matched to the video.
Not only this, but we have used an overlay technique in various points in our video which demonstrates a link between the narrative and performance typologies and the connection between the artist and the song. Here we are challenging this convention because not many videos we found used this overlay technique between the performance and narrative shots. I feel this is very effective and creates a stronger bond for the artist with the music video. The fade technique between shots from performance to narrative also reinforces the challenge of the convention as we are showing the link between the emotions of the artist along with the narrative of the video.
Common codes and conventions for camerawork we found in other music videos for this genre we found were the use of long shots, tracks and pans. We have reinforced this convention throughout our music video by using a wide range of camerawork techniques to make it more interesting for our audience to watch but to also give a better feel of what is happening in the shots and convey the emotion of the characters and artist in our video. We did however challenge the convention of the use of extreme close ups which promote the artist and his talent by showing an close up image of him singing and lip syncing. We used various close ups not just of his face but also the guitar and him playing as this reinforces his natural, raw talent which is something we are pushing forward through all of our media products and what we want to sell our artist on most.