1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I have produced a music video for the song 'I Feel Forgotten by
Polly Howe. I am interested in the indie, psychedelic music genre and this song
fits the genre perfectly. My favourite artist/band of this genre is Tame
Impala, Who also have a slight electronic sound to their music. I looked
into the styles of music videos that their songs have for inspiration for my
own video. My personal favourite video is ‘The Less I Know The Better’
which is directed by CANADA Production Company. One video which caught my eye
in particular during my planning process was a short film which was directed by
the same company and group of people, which was called ‘Crème Caramel’. The
colours and strange style and content of the video worked really well with the
conventions that I found from a typical psychedelic, indie music video. The narrative
was strange and disjointed, yet it was still very clear due to the use of voice
over. Therefore my initial idea was to aim to achieve a music video of similar style
but instead of the voice over, use my chosen song. Originally I wanted to have
a pastel colour scheme similar to ‘Crème Caramel’ and as the lyrics of the song
included “overgrown and rotten” repeated in the chorus, I decided to have a
theme of plants and nature incorporated into the video.
I wanted to use pastel back drops and have well executed lighting,
however this was proved very difficult during my filming process. Due to poor
weather and narrow time scale to film, I decided to adjust my ideas to work
with the budget and resources I had available to me.
Therefore, I took inspiration from another music video directed by
CANADA, ‘Lose Control’ by a French band called Mujeres. The music video did not
follow a story line narrative and instead focused of the band and the colours and aesthetic.
They included a lot of shapes and graphics that followed the conventions of
Andrew Goodwin’s theory as there was a clear relationship between the visuals
and the beat of the music.
In relation to my final product, I feel I successfully followed
conventions of a psychedelic, indie genre music video. Once I had adjusted my
ideas, I used graphics and shapes similar to the ‘Lose control’ music video. I created
a large number of images using Photoshop, which were simple and only used 3
colours. I wanted my video to have a clear colour scheme and match the mood of
the music, therefore I went for 2 bright colours, turquoise and fuchsia pink
and then included white.
I took these images and arranged them in iMovie to change and move
to the beat of the music, supporting Carol Vernallis’ theory, that the visual editing
of a music video should match the beat and instruments of the music, it also
breaks and disrupts the rules of continuity. Once I had edited them, I projected
the now moving images onto my model; who stood in front of a blank backdrop. I was
very pleased with the overall outcome of my footage and how the colours looked
layered over my models skin and clothing.
The song ‘I feel forgotten’ has an upbeat clapping beat to it,
which gives the impression of a happy song. However, when you listen to the
lyrics it is clear that the intentions of the song are to display a sense of
heart ache towards someone. The juxtaposition between the sad lyrics such as ‘is
my mind mine and is my body real?’ and the bright music beat adds curiosity to
the track. I wanted to convey these two sides in the video through visuals and
body language.
Originally I had planned to feature the artist of the song, Polly
Howe in the video. However, I felt that by using a model in her place it reflected
the idea that she is hiding her true feelings behind her music. By having
someone else act as though it is their story to tell adds an invasion of privacy
and voyeurism, yet Polly had given me permission to do so. Therefore, I have challenged
the conventions of which Andrew Goodwin says music videos should include
close-ups and many shots of the artists. Many indie musicians and bands don’t feature
in their own music videos and will use actors or animation as a substitute. This
may be because often the indie genre is all about the music and there is less
focus on worshipping the artist or band like in other genres such as pop and
R&B.
In the video I have included shots which could be interpreted
though the male gaze. For example, there is one shot in which I used a portable,
moving camera to focus of the models breasts. However instead of this being
used in a way to sexualise my model, I wanted it to represent the appreciation
and beauty of the female body, this corresponds the beautiful aesthetic of the
video. Similar to the short film ‘Crème Caramel’ which features similar shots
which show off certain aspects of the female body.
Although the lyrics sometimes seem like the artist is begging for
a man’s attention through lyrics such as ‘I wish you would text me”, I think
she is saying it in an ironic way due to her singing ‘I don’t care’ in the
chorus. This gives a sense of ‘girl power’ to the song and I wanted to convey
that in the visuals of the video. Therefore, I used the conventions of Goodwin’s
theory of lyrics and visuals linking by projecting the words ‘I DON’T CARE’
onto the model as she stares blankly into the camera, mouthing the words. This contradicts
the classic and traditional representation of gender.
In the video, I used fake cigarettes for aesthetic. Although
smoking is a disgusting habit, it is often still glamorised in the media and
seen used as a form of seduction in many films. Often, films set in the past,
e.g Great Gatsby and Pulp Fiction, are the films most likely to glamorise
smoking, as it was not seen as dangerous and was ‘fashionable’. Nowadays,
smoking carries bad connotations in films and TV and is often associated with
the villain of the text. However, in the indie music genre, it can often still
be glamorised. Artists such as ‘The 1975’ and ‘Lana Del Ray’ are seen smoking
in videos and print work. It is a form of ‘acceptable rebellion’, which is the
idea that people are attracted to a rebellious lifestyle, however they still
stay within rules and laws. Many indie artists take inspiration from past
decades, with their style and music. For example, Lana Del Ray has a very
vintage, 1960’s aesthetic, therefore the glamorisation of cigarettes works well
with the style of her music and entire image. Therefore, I wanted to convey
this similar style in my video by the use of cigarettes as a prop and form of rebellion.
This supports the theme of not caring and rebelling against society in the
song. Roland Barthes Cultural code supports this, as I have taken an object
which is given a contradicting platform in society and I have glamorised it, to
create controversy yet, the use of beauty.
In relation to my final Magazine advert and Digipak, I stuck to
the style which I followed in my music video. During my video shoot, I took
stills with my SLR camera, which I used in the print work, supporting and
promoting my video product. For my magazine advert, I looked at indie artists
such as, Lana Del Ray and Arctic Monkeys for inspiration. Most adverts which I looked
at were simplistic and were used to tease the ideas of an album, without giving
too much away. The Arctic Monkey advert was the most simplistic of them all,
yet I found it was one of the most effective as it was intriguing. Arctic
Monkeys have formed a brand for themselves, in which they do not need to catch
the attention of the public as they already have a fan base, this means they
can be more mysterious with their advertising, which can create an impact on
their audience, giving them further publicity. This contradicts Rick Altman’s
theory that an audience likes an artist to be predictable, as in modern days,
artists which break away from traditions and are unpredictable are the ones
which gain the most publicity due to the constant development and fast pace
world of social media. It is not intriguing for audiences if an artist is
producing the same things over and over, and audiences will most likely be
bored. This advert is very simple and just includes the album cover’s artwork,
which is now linked to the AM brand. The simple colour scheme and lack of
writing draws in attention, as it is easy to consume, whilst still getting a
message across. I wanted to use this simplicity in my advert however I had to
consider the fact that my artist in new and unknown therefore, will not have
formed a brand yet. As this is a debut album, I wanted to ensure the advert
would attract attention but not give too much away. The use of positive reviews
will let the audience see how other people feel about the album, and hopefully
make them gain interest. Instead of create a single page, A4 advert, I decided
to make it take up a double page spread. This means that the audience is unable
to ignore it, as there will not be an article or other advert on the opposite
page, to distract them. It also gives more of an impact, as the bright colours
will attract the attention of the audience and hopefully intrigue them. I narrowed it down to 2 different but similar adverts.
One takes inspiration from the simplicity of Arctic Monkey’s advert, as I just gave
the name of the album and the release date, whilst teasing a still from the
music video, so the audience is given an idea of the style which Polly’s music
follows. The other one includes a lot more information, as I showed reviews and
inserted a photo of the CD cover, to make it clear what is being released. When
I asked my audience for feedback, they all said that they preferred the one
which only showed the logo and date as the simplicity was intriguing.
For the CD cover and Digipak, I followed the colour scheme and
simplistic theme, by having as little text involved as possible. I wanted to
ensure that I included the leaves theme into the CD itself and digipak photos.
This once again sticks to the videos theme and gives the audience a glimpse of
what the style of the album is.
Overall, I ensured that all my products followed the same theme
and aesthetic, as a new artist needs to achieve a brand and sense of familiarity.
I attempted to create a motif with the colour scheme and plant references,
supporting Altman’s theory of artists using repetition to gain audience
loyalty.
