THE MEDIA THEORIST ANDREW

GOODWIN IDENTIFIES 6 KEY ELEMENTS

OF MUSIC VIDEOS:
1. A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals which
illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics
2. The relationship between the music and the visuals
3.Genre related style and iconography present
4. Multiple close ups of the main artists or vocalist: the creation
of a star image to promote a recognisable brand image
5. Voyeurism and notions of looking
6. Intertextual references to other media texts may be present
We can conform or challenge these conventions within our
music video.
THE MUSIC
VIDEO

However, we did decide to
conform to the convention
twice because our narrative is
very free and does not follow
proper storyline. It is a day in
the life narrative. By
conforming to the lyrics we
bring some structure to our
video, but by only doing this
twice we make sure that our
narrative is not ruined.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
LYRICS AND VISUALS
Our music video conforms to this convention twice. The first
example on the top left hand corner, shows Lloyd eating. This
extreme close up cleverly links with the lyrics ‘Got another mouth
to feed’. As well as this the second example shows Will wrapping
tickets around him. This links with the lyrics ‘Is it coming’ as the
tickets are quickly coming out of the arcade machine.
We deliberately conformed to this convention, but we only decided
to do this twice because we did want to ruin the narrative of our
video. We did not want to focus too much on the lyrics, instead we
focused more on making sure that the shots matched up with the
music. As this is the most important convention. If the shots did not
match with the music the video would be out of time and would not
work or flow correctly. Whereas if the shots do not match up with
the lyrics this does not matter as much.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC AND
VISUALS
We also followed this key convention. This by far
is the most important and most used convention
which we have conformed too. When the music
and visuals directly link together it makes the
music video flow smoothly making it seem more
professional, well thought out and well put
together.
Examples of our music video following this
convention are seen to the left. The first example
shows us going down a hill on a skateboard. Quick
jump cuts are used in time with the music, going
through each characters turn going down the hill.
For our second example a montage is used
including snapshots from throughout the day.
Connoting the idea of looking back on the day for
our linear narrative. The tempo at this section of
the song increases and the speed the visuals
change directly link with the music. Changing at a
quick pace.
As well as this, throughout the video our visuals
continuously link with the music. Cuts are made
in time with the music. Such as the motivated cut
used at the beginning of the video and the part
when Lloyd skates in also directly link. He skates
into the shot on the beat.
 ICONOGRAPHY
This is one convention which we did conform too, but in different ways.
Our chosen song comes from an Indie/pop genre. So our video
connected aspects of each genre. Aspects of the pop genre are seen
within our video. Such as the vibrant colours we have decided to wear.
This also links to what the artists of the indie/pop genre wear- they wear
quirky clothes. As we have also done. The mise-en-scene here also links
to the lyrics which sing about the year 1960’s the hippie movement was
big at this time so we have also dressed in a similar way to the year
which is being sung about, this reinforces the narrative structure. As
well as this another element of the pop genre is seen when we dance at
the end of the video. Aspects of the indie genre on its own are also seen.
Indie Rock artists tend to wear darker clothes, as seen to your left Lloyd
and Amelia wore darker colours compared to me and Will seen on the
bottom right.
As well as this Indie/pop music videos
tend to be shot in simple locations such
as streets etc. We have also done this as
seen in these screenshots, we have
filmed down paths in a wood. However,
our other locations are not so simple such
as the arcade and bowling. Here we have
challenged the conventions.
Finally, Amelia keeps signalling the peace
sign throughout the video this links in
with the hippie aspect of the video.
 CLOSE
UPS
As seen here we also conformed to this
convention. 4 medium close ups are
used at the beginning of the music
video. This introduces the audience to
the main characters of the music video.
Allowing them to become connected to
them. The close ups focus on the action
of the characters as well as the location
in the background. This lets the
audience learn about who they are
individually as a person.
We included different type of close ups,
for example, we included an extreme
close up of Lloyd eating this
emphasises the direct link between the
lyrics and visuals. We also used
medium close ups, these made sure
that the characters were noticed clearly
but still made sure that the The close ups above bring across
Binary opposition is seen location/background were visible. This a feminine vibe. The female
through the use of close was useful for our linear narrative characters are accessorising
ups. As pictures above. which aims to focus on the individuals, themselves. Whereas the male
the locations and the actions through close ups bring across a male
the elliptical editing. vibe.
 INTERTEXTUALITY
This convention is one which we did not
deliberately conform too. However, when
looking back at our video we noticed one use
of intertextuality.
The long shot which includes all 4 characters
references other bands of this genre. For
example, other indie rock bands have taken
photos stood in front of a graffiti wall. As
seen to the left hand side, the band Blur also
did this. The indie/psychedelic band Coldplay
have also done the same. As our song ‘Feel
it Still’ comes from a similar genre we have
managed to reference a convention of this
genre. What is also noticeable
is the colours and
clothes worn by us and
the band members. As
mentioned previously,
this is intertextual as
our clothes reference
aspects of this genre.
 VOYEURISM
Finally, our video also includes aspects of this convention.
However, we do not use this a much, as the video follows a
narrative which portrays interactions between the characters.
Where they pay attention and look at each other instead of
looking at the camera. This therefore means that we do not
focus as much on engaging the audience. However, despite
this we do deliberately engage them twice at random points
throughout the video.

Voyeurism is only seen twice at the beginning with me and

Amelia looking straight into the camera. This draws the
audience in making them focus on who the characters are
right at the beginning. This is seen on the bottom left of this
page.

Voyeurism is also seen again during the arcade section when

Will and Lloyd looking into the camera. This gives a point of
view feeling to the video making the audience feel as if they
are there with the group of friends. This again engages the
audience.
ADVERT
Another common convention is to
include the album cover. We decided
to follow this convention and used the
same images in the same order as we
did on our digipak. This creates
consistency and a recognisable brand
image.
We also included the release date and
brief information of the album. It reads
‘Available now’ so the audience know
when they can purchase the album. As
well as telling the audience which
song is included. The words ‘Number
one hit’ are also commonly used. This
helps persuade the audience that the
songs are good, so they therefore buy
the album.
However, we did not include social
media links or say where you can
purchase the album. This is because
we believe that the audience will
already know how to find the band
online as more people use social
media these days. We know that by
typing the artists name their accounts
and album will appear. So we didn’t
think this was a needed convention.
We have followed mostly all the
codes and conventions on our
advertisement. If we hadn’t have
done this then our advert would not
have worked effectively.
As seen we include the artists name
and the album name, this is a
common convention. Without it the
advert simply would not work.
As well as this the font, font style
and colours all link in with our other
media products. This consistency is
another convention we have
followed and allows the audience to
easily recognise our products.
At the bottom of the advert we
included reviews from well known
magazine Kerrang and NME. This
helps promote the album to the
audience as the album has been
given 5* by well known companies.
This persuades the audience to buy
the album.
DIGIPAK
 FRONT COVER
Like the advert, our digipak follows the forms and conventions of real
media products. Notably, our front cover links in with our
advertisement. We use the same layout for the pictures here as we do
for the advert. The images are the main focus of the front cover,
standing out against the vibrant background. This is a common
convention for digipaks. The eye catching layout of the 4 images
engages the audience, making them focus on the individuals. As well as
this, a hippie theme is also visible throughout all of our media products.
This helps to make the media products recognisable to the audience.

The hippie theme is noticeable here through the background. Which is

psychedelic and vibrant. As well as this the images used tend to have
some relation to the song/artist, this is another convention which we
have followed. The images link into the song as they show the
characters used within it, the clothes they wear also link to the song
which sings about the years the hippie movement happened. (60s)

The song and album title are also visible. Again this is another
convention we have followed. This allows the audience to know who’s
album it is. The font used also links to the band themselves and their
genre which is Indie Pop/ Psychedelic. Portugal. The Man’s album name
‘Woodstock’ references the festival. Which occurred in America in 1969,
this again links to the hippie theme. We deliberately chose a font similar
to the original ‘Woodstock’ font.
 BACK COVER
For the back cover we challenged many conventions.
However, we did comply to some conventions. That
being the track list. As seen to your right we decided to
make the track list the main focus of our back cover. By
doing this we allowed the audience to focus on the
songs included in the album, rather than focusing on any
images. This is why we used the same background
pattern instead of inserting an image, this would take
the audiences focus away from the music. Which is the
main purpose of a digipak- to listen to the music.

The conventions we challenged were:

Including the artists name and the album name. We
didn’t feel the need to include this as we felt the artwork
and fonts used spoke for itself. Indirectly, reinforcing the
idea of a hippie vibe associated with the band.

Another convention we challenged was including the

barcode and the record label. Again, we felt that this
would take the audiences attention away from the main
aspect of the digipak. We really wanted to make the
audiences attention go towards the band, their genre
and their music
 INSIDE THE
DIGIPAK
When creating the Inside of our digipak
we conformed and challenged the
conventions. As you can see to the right,
we conformed to the convention which
states that there are usually behind the
scenes pictures included. We decided to
follow this convention inserting 4 images
of the individuals posing behind the
scenes of the music video. This lets the
audience learn more about their
personalities and who they are as
people.
However, for the CD we did challenge
some conventions. That being the small
details usually including on the CD such
as the recording companies name, the
name of the name of the album and the
CD number. We decided against this as
we wanted our audience to focus on the
image used for the CD itself. We decided
to link in the CD and DVD with the music
video using a skateboard wheel and
bowling ball- seen in the video. This does
link to the convention of a recurring
theme throughout.