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In what ways does your media product use,

develop or challenge forms and conventions of


real media products?
My music video used the established typical conventions of other music
videos as means of creating a visually appealing and engaging product for
my target audience. Through the analysis of a range of videos, and
exploring the conventions identified by John Steward, Andrew Goodwin
and Erik Davis I was gain insight clarity into the purpose of a music video,
that being a commercial advertisement for my Artist. However the song
selected belonged to the alternative indie genre and more specifically
garage rock. Subsequently it therefore would not appeal to a mass market
audience. It is for this reason that I was able to challenge some of the
conventions as my target audience responding positively to artistic
unconventional techniques. By pushing the established conventions would
make my final product stand apart from my competition due to its artistic
style and intriguing atmosphere.

My music video is in line with the theory of John Steward. Steward


highlight that above all else a Music video is a commercial product, with
the primary aim of promoting a profitable star image. This can be seen in
the final product; the artist is constantly filling the frame, with camera
moving in and pulling out at several stages throughout the video. This is to
fully show of the artist allowing her to dominate the frame.
The framing in the narrative parts also supports this, while the artist is in
character she is often presented in mid shots loose frame to emphasis
isolation, as the artist is being pulled away from the audience, this then
symbolises the distinction between the artist and the character she is
inhabiting. Thus it is in direct contrast to her studio performance, with a
faster editing pace and a lot more focus on close ups.
However my target audience would not respond to blatant self-promotion,
as they what to be treaty like individuals rather than faceless consumers. I
therefore attempted to achieve a balance between focusing on the artist
and providing a self-contained engaging visual experience. The digipak
and poster are also in line with this established conventions.
Another convention addressed is that of Voyeurism, As defined by Andrew
Goodwin. This involved the sense that the artist is being watched. This is
both addressed, with my artist being monitored in the office scene. This
implies an almost perverse fantasy of the artist constantly being watched.
However I also challenge this convention throughout the music video,
even though the world watches the artist, the artist responds by watching
the world, as shown by a series of over the shoulder shots of the artist
looking into the screen . This therefore challenges the theory because the
artist is actually watching herself. She is also not being exploited, as would
be the convention for more main stream genres such as rap and hip-hop,
while indie prefer strong character over fetish piece of eye candy

My digipak and advert also explore the theme of being documented. This
was inspired, by an exhibition at the Tate modern named posing for the
camera which focused on the relationship between artist and camera.
The way a camera effect the artist was core throughout digipak and
advert, the front of the digipak shows the artist breaking the rules for a
passport photograph, symbolising her rebellion against the status quo. The
advertisement also followed this view being a torn Polaroid image,
symbolising the fractured view that photography conveys.

There is also a subtle implicit use of intertextuality-references. For


example the opening to the music video is a visual homage to the
surrealist work of Luis Bunuel, in particular his acclaimed collaboration
with Salvador Dali in un chien andalou which uses surrealist images and
sound to visually disturb the audience. This is also the case with my music
video uses the same surrealist elements.
I also took more inspiration from the world created by Terry Gillian in
Brazil. In this dystopian future the main character finds himself trapped
in a bureaucratic office job.
As well as taking the washed out mise on scene used in the BBC version of
the office.
There are also more explicit references, such as the repeating text youre
dead being a reference to Staley Kubrick famous all work an no play
scene in the shinning.
All references present in the final product would be deeply appealing to
my target audience as they would consider themselves highly literate in
these artistic products

My music video also challenges conventional narrative structure. Todorov


states that a classical narrative followed a Heroes journey. That being' a
chronological series of events that blend seamlessly together, with music
videos having a beginning middle and end. I challenged this conventions
by using a montage cyclical narrative, as identified by Cameron. Thus my
music video suggest a routine, using key props such as the clock,
alongside a montage of different job roles. Which serves to capture the
monotony repetition of everyday life.
Due to the limitation of the medium, focused on tone and idea of the film,
as due to time constraints I was unable to fully flesh out a cohesive
narrative.
Another key focus was replay-ability, the screen is bombarded with visual
imagery with symbolic significance, hinting at a underlining mystery,. This
makes it reachable as, it is impossible to understand everything on screen
in one sitting, this will play of the audience desire to understand the
unknown, sparking fan theorys and speculation.

Steward noted that music videos allows access to the performers life
style, to a degree that would be unobtainable in a live performance.
However I developed this convention further, as typically this is used to

promote and aspirational lifestyle. Instead my artist is shown in a gritty


relatable setting. Shown thought the mise on scene, being set in low paid
work environments and wearing stylish but relatable clothing. This is
consistent with my promotional material, this is again to serve my target
audience, as they want to relate and understand their artist as flawed
human being, on par with themselves.
I also challenged the conventional proposed by Andrew Goodwin.
Goodwins observed the relationship within music videos between the
lyrics and the visuals, whether that be illustrating ,amplifying or
contradicting. My music video challenges this accretion by representing
not the lyric but the overall tone of the video. For me the song was the
definition of a depressing unforgiving world, a world that is bleak that your
only option is to stay dead hide your emotions and become part of the
inhuman race I therefore decided the best way to do the song justice
was to represent the bleak tone. This is due to the comments of Erik Davis
who point that Musical Synaesthesia only requires the mood to latch onto
to develop a narrative concept. This is achieved through the mise en
scene focusing on the harsh realities for low paid work environment.
Whether it be cleaning, working in an office or coffee shop, all these job
roles share the same perception for being low paid, no future and no
guarantee (due to the ever increasing use of zero hour contracts in the
uk). To further emphasise this I used a filter to saturate the colour,
creating a washed out look for the video. This all culminates in cold
emotionless environment which is in line with the tone of the music video.
In conclusion my media product addresses challenges and develops a wide
range of established conventions in the media. It tailors these conventions
to optimally suit my target audience, resulted in a highly commercial
engaging product that adeptly markets and represent my target audience.
.

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