Evaluation 1- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge

forms and conventions of real media product?

Music Video:
Location:
We chose to take inspiration from a variety of different music videos for our final
video. Our music video features multiple differing locations. The sections which
are located within the woods have been influenced by the films Mama and
Hanna. Both films are within the horror genre and are set in a wooded exterior.
The woodland location connotes danger, mystery and horror, all of which we
desired our video to have connotations with. We developed the idea of a
woodland exterior, used by Mama and Hanna, by creating drama and a narrative
within the location. These sections progressively get darker until the peak with
the flares at 1:55-1:58. The progressive colour change is a visual representation
of the anger building within our gang members. Darkness has connotations with
threat and evilness, which is how we wanted the gang to be represented. Twin
Shadows Five Seconds video was also a huge inspiration for our wooded
sections. We chose to use sections of their video to guide us with what we
desired to create within our video. At 1:41 in our video, we recreated the action
which occurred at 3:46 in Twin Shadows video. We chose to use this section of
the bands video due to the violent effect that it created. We wanted the gang to
be seen as being forceful and aggressive, so therefore we chose to use Five
Seconds as an inspiration. A second exterior location used was the sections with
the fire. For these sections we were inspired by Sias Fire Meet Gasoline video.
We developed the idea of fire by choosing to have our band member Lily within
the shot. This added an element of fright and emotion as fire has connotations
with anger and passion. The mixture of fire and our band member Lily created an
emotional but chilling scene. The fire represents Lilys anger towards society and
the negative views that are portrayed throughout humanity. This emotion led
onto our bath scenes. By having the binary opposites of water and fire next to
each other, at 1:46, this can be used as a symbolic code to convey Lilys
emotion. We developed the water section shown in Radioheads No Surprises
music video by altering the diver helmet to the bath. The bath sections allowed
Lilys emotion to be shown clearly through the use of the screaming underwater
at 2:15. It could be inferred that this was a suicide attempt by Lily as a result to
her emotion towards society being built up throughout the video. Linking in with
the bath location, the shower scenes connote sadness along with frustration.
This echoing the idea that Lilys emotion is building up. The scenes within the
bedroom follow the same minimal style which all of our other locations adopt.
This allows all attention to be on Lily, resulting in her emotion being exposed.
Camera Angles:
Before filming our music video, we had knowledge on different camera angles,
however we looked for inspiration to consolidate our ideas and choose the angles
which we wanted to adopt. Twin Shadows video Five Seconds inspired a variety
of our shots. We chose to use the slow pan used in Twin Shadows video at 2:012:06 at 1:21-1:22 during our video. This pan allowed this aspect of our video to
have more movement, making the visuals interesting and professional looking,
but still keeping to the music due to the slow pace of the pan. Twin Shadows

video uses a large variety of differing angles; we also chose to adopt this style of
camerawork. A close up to extreme close up was used at 4:22-4:32 during the
Twin Shadow video, we used a similar shot at 0:36-0:39 in our video. This meant
that Lilys emotions could be mediated clearly through the use of a zoom to an
extreme close up. Twin Shadows video Five Seconds includes a lot of
movement conducted by the camera. We were inspired by the camera work at
2:13-2:14 in the Five Seconds video. We developed the mid-long shot at 2:402:43 by using all of our gang members and allowing the shot to run for longer.
We used the shaky effect, which Twin Shadows video adopted, this allowed the
shot to carry realism and emotion.
Theorists:
Throughout our video we desired to follow Godwins seven characteristics. The
link between our music and visuals is very strong. Throughout editing we
carefully cut to different clips depending on the phrases and beats in the song.
The beginning of our song starts fairly slow, so therefore there are less cuts used.
However, as the pace of the song increases, so does the cutting speed. Towards
the middle of our video, the pace of cuts is very fast due to the speed of the
song. We felt that this style of editing would allow us to follow Goodwins idea
about having a strong link between the music and visuals. Despite having a
strong link between the music and visuals, we challenged the idea of having a
strong bond between the lyrics and the visuals. Our song choice is emotional,
which is shown through the visuals, however there isnt a direct link between the
lyrics and what the visuals are representing. Even though Unknown Mortal
Orchestras Multi Love video has adopted a completely different style of video
to ours, there isnt a link between the lyrics and the visuals, demonstrating that
it is a common convention found in indie music videos. Due to Goodwin believing
that the record label demands close ups and motifs of the artist, we repeated the
shot of Lily looking in the mirror at 0:19. This shot incorporated both a close up,
the notion of looking and a motif, due to the shot being repeated multiple times
throughout our video. The idea of our lead singer looking through the mirror was
inspired by Ruby Roses Break Free video. This shot allowed emotion to be
conveyed, as well following Goodwins theory. Goodwin also states that there
should be a frequent reference to the voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
This is shown through our band member Lily featuring in our video. Her
appearance in the video allows the female body to be represented in a way
which is common within music videos. The slow pan used between 0:08-0:27
represents her body as being delicate and in vulnerable way. The use of the pan,
and angle used, allows Lilys body to be the main focus point. We were inspired
by Mulveys male gaze theory as we believed that her theory is relevant within
music videos. Her theory suggests that women are represented as being an
erotic object within humanity. At 0:00-0:07 in Peaces Lovesick video, a woman
is shown as being an erotic object due to the camerawork used. This suggests
how Mulveys Male Gaze theory is relevant within music video, demonstrating
where our inspiration came from for sections within our video.
We have challenged Archers theory surrounding narrative and performance
based videos. He suggests that there should be a strong and coherent bond
between narrative and performance and believes that there should be regular
cuts between the two. Archer says that there should be a choreographed dance

within the performance also. We have challenged this theory as we wanted to

edge away from the stereotypical conventions. Instead we have only a weak
bond between the two sections. We have more aspects of performance due to
the demand of the record label wanting the artist to be shown. Twin Shadows
Five Seconds video only has aspects of narrative, suggesting that a video can
be successful without following Archers theory. This is where our inspiration was
taken from for this style of video.
Costume and props:
The costume worn by the gang members was inspired by Twin Shadows Five
Seconds video. We used the idea of masks as we thought that this would
represent the band as lacking identity. This representation was also shown
through the use of the dark hoodies and jeans combination. This allowed the
gang be de-individualised and to be seen as one strong unit/cult. The black
clothing contrasts with the white shirt worn by Lily. We hoped to represent our
band member as being pure and vulnerable. The chose of makeup also conveyed
the vulnerability and mediated the verisimilitude. Our idea to use flares came
from Snow Patrols Run video. We used this idea because we thought that it
would be able to express the emotions which our video carries in a visual way.
Digipak:
The simplistic style which is conveyed through my digipak is a common
convention used by many. My main inspiration has come from The Vaccines
What Did You Expect from The Vaccines album cover. The use of a border
stimulated my idea for my own album cover. I developed this idea by placing my
main image off centre, so that only sections of the image had a border. I thought
that this would allow my cover to have a slight edge and stand out as being an
indie album. I continued the same minimal style onto my back panel. I used
Unknown Mortal Orchestra II as my inspiration for this panel. I was intrigued by
the lack of images and positioning of text on their back panel. I used this design
idea when creating my own digipak. This allowed my simplistic style to by
continued and convey the individual style I desired to create. My booklet panel
was inspired by Marina and the Diamonds Froot album. I developed the idea of
a booklet however. I changed the positioning and shape of the booklet slot. I
also added an image to the page, so that it directly linked to our video. This
allowing potential customers to be able to identity a clear visual relation between
the album and the video. This was also done by using the main image which has
been used on the cover. The main image used is a snapshot from our video. Red
Hot Chilli Peppers Dark Necessities video uses the same location as their album
cover image at 4:19. I developed this by not only using the same location, but
also using the same actor and an actual snapshot from the video- providing a
direct connection between the two. My colour scheme used was inspired by
Frank Oceans Blond album cover. Despite Blond being within a different genre
of music to mine, I developed the idea of using greys and blacks for my cover. I
believed that these colours matched my simplistic style and conveyed a visual
representation of the indie genre. A barcode, record label logo, legal information
and catalogue number are all generic conventions found on digipaks. Therefore I
chose to use all of these features to allow my digipak to look realistic.
Magazine Advert:

I continued the minimal style onto my magazine advert. Inspiration for this style
was taken from Oasiss magazine adverts. I chose to use a border like Oasis but
develop this idea by having it off centre. This would allow my magazine advert to
have a distinct look and follow the same conventions as my digipak. The
positioning of my text was inspired by Florence and the Machines magazine
advert for their album Lungs. I used this layout as it matched my simplistic
layout but still clearly shows all of the information which a magazine advert
needs to show. The colour scheme used on my magazine advert matches the
monochrome colours used throughout my digipak. At the bottom of my advert I
have added website links and our record label logo. This is a common convention
seen on magazine adverts due to legal reasons and a way of promoting the
band/artists online platforms.