1. In what ways does your media

product use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The development of our media products was focused around the indie-rock genre derived from our use of the song ‘To Anyone’ by ‘The Crystal Whites’. The indie-rock genre is that of generally recent recognition and creation having broken onto the global music scene in the 1980’s, it depicts a feeling of small, independent individual bands. Bands such as ‘The Strokes’ and ‘The White Stripes’ are examples of successful mainstream indie-rock bands. The Crystal Whites’ various influences meant that their sound is rather unique with distinct sounds similar to those of ‘The Libertines’ and ‘The Arctic Monkeys’. The band have played at numerous London venues such as the well-known ‘Troubadour’ in Earls Court, with an already formed target audience we had a general focus furthermore influenced by traditional conventions of the genre whilst adding our own distinct creative flair, to give the media products their own creative dimension and stand-out effect.

The Strokes

The Libertines

The White Stripes

The Arctic Monkeys

There are a wide number of conventions traditionally associated with the indie-rock genre. Image is a key element of any indie-rock band and is usually a main focus of their videos and posters etc. Indie-rock music videos tend to revolve around a performance element of the band, as indie-rock music usually depicts artists doing it for themselves and the love of music rather than self promotion and greed. Focus on instruments is a key focus of many indie-rock bands once again revolving around the fact that they are trying to produce real music and to show their passion for music. Although many indie-rock genre videos contain a narrative sequence it is unusual for a music video of this genre not to show a connection to the attitudes and live musical ability of the artist.

In terms of music videos, those of the indie-rock genre generally contain close up features of the artist to capture the emotional connection with the song. Artists of this genre usually write their own songs with specific individual meaning unlike the artificially constructed electronic sounds of the pop genre for example. Furthermore close up shots are also used to focus upon the musical instruments of the band such as guitars, bass, drums and maybe keyboard which are traditional instruments associated with the genre. Establishing shots usually consist of a performance shot showing all members of the band playing together.

Jake Bugg’s music video for his song ‘Broken’ provides emphasis on himself as the artist as well as focussing upon his guitar.

Narrative is also a key element to any indie-rock music video, unlike other genres such as pop, narrative of this particular genre usually help to tell a story and fulfil the emotional value and connection between lyrics and artist. Although it is rare that an indie-rock music video will consist of purely narrative it is usually used to explain the meaning behind the song. Whereas in for example pop or R&B genre female dancers may be used to attract the attention of a male audience it seems that in the indie-rock genre, narrative is used for the singular purpose of meaning and to connect its audience with the song and to not in the case of aforementioned other genres attract mass audience for the sake of fame nor money.

In terms of editing indie-rock videos tend to be cut to the beat of the song to emphasise the musical element of the video this may include fast paced cutting, or slow lengthy segments of film depending on the song. Although editing is a key process of any music video it is probably used least or less exaggerated in the indie-rock genre. Everything about the indie-rock genre is focussed upon the band and music and so overuse of editing would detach the video from its sole purpose of simply displaying the band, the song and their connection. Editing may be used to add affects such as out of focus and blurred shots to create a live atmosphere in parts of the video showing the band playing live to create the feeling of a live performance.

The narrative sequence in the Arctic Monkey’s music video for the song ‘Why’d you only call me when your high’ visually explains the lyrical make-up of the song.

Generic conventions of music videos:The style and layout of a music video can differ greatly depending on the genre and purpose, however there are various conventions which all videos contain according to Goodwin.

• On the most part music videos usually reference the artist in the video as a form of self-promotion and connection with the viewers.

• Music videos are usually either narrative or performance based with some containing both elements. Shots types vary a lot throughout different videos however long establishing shots and close ups to focus solely upon the artist are commonly featured in most videos.

• Editing is used within almost all music videos, and it is very rare that a video would be shot in one take unless on an extremely low budget. Editing can take on a number of various styles depending on the genre however one element of editing which is prolific throughout all videos is cutting to the beat, which allows the song and music to match and flow with the on-screen visuals.

• Lighting is also a key staple in music videos and it used in varying amounts depending on the budget of a video. Whereas natural lighting may be used in certain genres such as indie, artificial strobe lighting would be associated more with pop genres, used in scenes which contain dance routine etc. to help promote the artist as a brand.

In the production of our music video we used and displayed a number of conventions of the indie-rock genre, this allowed us to promote the band in a proven way to suit their music style, but also allowed us to add our own creative dimension and fulfil the individuality of the band which alludes to the theory of Turow who suggested that media can ‘encourage organisational continuity whilst not necessarily stifling creative dimension’.

Above is a comparison of the narrative used in the indie/rock genre. Narrative is not always used within the indie/rock genre but can be used as an explanation to the reasoning behind the writing of a song. Unlike for example the pop genre which may use high profile stars dressed up in creative costumes to draw attention to themselves, narrative within the indie/rock genre is generally used to describe the feeling and emotion behind the song. To encapsulate this emotion within our own video we used the songwriter and lead singer of the Crystal Whites, Adam Ferguson. In two segments of my video Adam can be seen to follow the camera directly looking and singing at the camera, creating a relationship with an on looking audience. I took influence for this specific camera angle from the likes of Coldplay’s song Yellow which for the entirety of the song shows the lead singer and songwriter Chris Martin following a camera down the beach singing and looking directly into it, this creates a feeling of intimacy with the lead singer and helps to create a relationship between the audience and the feeling and emotion of the song. Similarly within my own music video I felt that the use of this specific shot would allow an audience to engage with the specific lyrics of the song and the emotions felt by the lead singer Adam Ferguson when he wrote the song.

During feedback sessions of my music videos it was noted that this style of camera angle related heavily to other bands videos such as the Verve’s song Lucky Man which much like my own video follows the lead singer Richard Ashcroft for the duration of the narrative. My individual use of Adam Ferguson in the narrative of the video compares to that of mainstream indie/rock genre where the narrative usually only displays the lead singer of the band. I did this firstly because Adam is the song writer of the band and so therefore can connect with the meaning of the song and secondly as the lead singer would engage an audience during the narrative. As aforementioned the indie/rock genre is all about the music and less about the idea of artificially forced self promotion as often seen in the pop genre and this can be seen through the use of the band playing within my video.

One key convention of the indie/rock genre is footage of the band playing, with key camera shots and angles displaying the musical instruments played. A key convention of the genre is the production of ‘real music’ using instruments and individual song writing rather than mass manufactured electronic music as seen in many songs within for example the pop genre.

Above is the establishing shot of the band scenes within my music video, these scenes add to the feeling of a live performance and the real base of the genre. This shot shows the whole band, showing the importance of each individual member contrasting with the usual individual focus of a pop or RnB artist.

The use of live band shots in my video took influence from videos of bands such as Oasis which nearly always use scenes of the band playing in their music videos. The use of these scenes is key as they show the intent of the band and the style of music they play. Footage of the band playing was an essential element of my music video because as with any indie/rock band the idea of playing live to an audience is a key aspect and drive.

In Oasis’s music video for their song ‘Whatever’ the entirety of the music video is focussed upon the band playing in live performance. There is no narrative in the video which creates a direct link between the musical intentions of the band and the audience. I had an idea of using solely scenes of the band playing however after research and feedback came to the conclusion that it would be hard to make the video of over three minutes entertaining. Furthermore the Crystal Whites are an unsigned band so unlike the likes of Oasis do not have the draw and presence of the like of the Gallagher brothers. I felt that to engage an audience a combination of both live performance shots of the band playing and a narrative explaining the context of the song would be the most successful combination.

The fact that The Crystal Whites are an unsigned band played a large role in the research into the conventions of the indie/rock genre. Furthermore, the young age of the band meant that I researched bands with similar style and sound to The Crystal Whites who have already developed the likes of music videos.

The Jungle Doctors are an example of a band who I took influence from whilst creating both the music video and ancillary texts for The Crystal Whites. Like the Crystal Whites, The Jungle Doctors are an unsigned band and so therefore deal with the same issues that we faced when creating the media material such as a low budget and maybe a restriction to venues and areas to film which signed bands with agencies would not face.

The influence of both signed and unsigned bands gave me a balanced outlook of professionalism and also what I could realistically achieve with the budget, equipment and time frame I had to create the media products. Furthermore the most important element was that all of my influences were of the indie/rock genre so I was continuously hitting the key conventions of the genre.

In the music video for the Jungle Doctors single ‘Falling’ the band are situated in a recording studio. I thought of this of as an option for my video as I thought that despite the small space and singular location in which the video was filmed the video was very effective with sound lip-synching and conventions on the indie/rock genre. The use of the recording studio was very effective, however I felt that this would involve finding a studio with adequate space and more importantly meant that we would have to book time slots which with two members of the band coming back from university was not an ideal situation. Overall I felt that despite the successes and key conventions of the indie/rock genre fulfilled in the Jungle Doctors video the use of a music studio would not fit the lyrics of the song ‘To Anyone’ and would not be diverse enough for a song over three minutes long.

Another unsigned band which I took influence from was Pretty Vicious and their video for single ‘Cave Song’. The young band from Wales, like The Jungle Doctors are unsigned and of a young age, similar to The Crystal Whites. The ‘Cave Song’ music video uses footage from a live performance of the band, having watched the Crystal Whites live numerous times this is another angle I could have taken however firstly the venue sizes were not that large, secondly in a live set the song ‘To Anyone’ is only performed once meaning that we would not have the comfort to do regular takes, and would definitely need a number of camera and cameramen which we did not have access to.

As an unsigned band it was important for me to establish the home of the Crystal Whites so that if they eventually reach an international stage it is recognisable where they come from and the places which influenced their songs. One influence I took for this particular idea was from Jake Bugg and in particular his song ‘Two Fingers’ which in the video has reference to where he grew up and where he wrote his songs. The music video is has a very natural feel and is not forced like other genres.

This picture shows an insight into where Jake Bugg grew up and wrote his music, in Clifton Nottingham, unlike most other genres indie/rock bands take pride in showing their origins as much of the song writing takes influence from where the band grew up and experience the emotions present in their songs.

Similarly to the music video for ‘Two Fingers’ I wanted to incorporate the location of where the band grew up. On the left shows the establishing shot of the music video which displays a panoramic shot of the Southbank area of London, capturing main iconic sites such as St. Pauls Cathedral behind the lead singer Adam Ferguson.

The final scene of my video ends with the narrative and once again shows reference to the hometown of the band. This is shown through the iconic landmark of Big Ben.

The setting of the band playing was also of key importance. I decided to locate the live scenes of the band in Radnor park, Twickenham in a shack where the band used to jam and practice their songs. The ‘To Anyone’ single was the first to be released and also it is the first to claim a music video therefore I thought that it was the perfect opportunity to show the routes of the band and where they play their music.

A similar location can be seen in the music video for the song ‘Always Like This’ by Bombay Bicycle Club. Both locations are rather unforced and seem very natural, there is nothing impressive about the location of either video however this would only distract the audience from the music. The setting for both videos represents the places where music was practiced and written and so seemed an obvious place for me to set my music video. The success of bands such as Bombay Bicycle Club using simple locations gave me the confidence to stick to the true routes of the Crystal Whites and not have to show them as something which they do not stand for.

One main convention of the indie/rock genre is the use of close up camera shots and focus upon musical instruments. The genre takes pride in the creation of real music through the use of instruments and this is reinforced by the use of scenes of the band playing in most videos of the genre. Throughout the scenes of the band playing there are a wide variety of camera angles showing the different music instruments used, and I took reference and influence from a number of different bands both signed and unsigned. The influence taken from signed bands showed me a level of professionalism in shots and complete videos and the emergence of unsigned bands helped to show me the raw nature of the genre and what is included in unsigned videos.

To the left is a close up camera angle of the lead singer’s guitar, on the right is an example of the influence for this shot which came from a close up shot of Noel Gallagher’s guitar in the Oasis video for ‘Whatever’. The close up angle shows the importance of the electric guitar in the indie/rock genre. Throughout the duration of the song their was a multitude of similar shots as through research I found it to be a regular and repeated convention of the genre.

Here is another comparison of my video and that of Foal’s music video for the song ‘Inhaler’ which shows a close up shot of the bass guitar, another key convention of the indie/rock genre. The close up shots of instruments adds emphasis to the music they create. Furthermore visuals of the instruments whilst they are being played creates the feeling of a live performance for an audience.

Once again mirroring shots show the influence I have taken from key conventions of the indie/rock genre and incorporated them into my own video, this example is from Bombay Bicycle Club’s ‘It’s always like this’.

Another key convention that I placed in my video was extreme close up shots of the lead singer which allows the emotions of the vocalist to be expressed. I took particular influence from ‘The Strypes’ in this case.

Despite my use of many indie/rock genre conventions throughout the duration of the music video the use of a female figure in the narrative can be seen to contrast with this. On the most part videos of the genre contain mostly scenes of the band playing whether it be live or deliberately for the video and then may contain narrative which usually may be made up of footage for a tour or live gigs. The use of a female figure was in my opinion essential to providing a deeper insight into the lyrical make-up of the song.

The use of a female figure would tend to be found in a Pop or RnB genre music video, perhaps displaying ideas of the male gaze. However I incorporated the girl within the narrative because the song was written about a girl with constant reference to ‘she’ throughout the duration of the song and this alludes to Goodwin's theory that there should be a relationship between lyrics and visuals.

Indie/rock conventions in the from of digipaks/posters

Key Points The first thing to notice about the Digipak front cover is that it is very simple, alluding to conventions of the Indie/rock genre. Through research I discovered that most Digipaks of the genre were very simple but visually stimulating the simplicity and uncomplicated nature is what makes them stand out on shop shelves. The bold white text and band image are in my opinion rather simple but extremely effective, the unsigned nature of the band meant that I felt it important to reveal the band members across both the Digipak and poster and this is also a convention of both products which I discovered during research.

Main Influences

One of the main influences for the front cover of the Digipak was The Strypes and their album ‘Snapshot’. The simplicity of the front cover really attracted me and furthermore is stereotypical of Indie/rock genre digipaks. There are numerous connections between The Crystal Whites digipak front cover and that of The Strypes.

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1. The first connection is the image of the band upon the front cover, this is a stereotypical convention of Digipak front covers in the Indie/rock genre.

2. The second connection is the name of the album, which is firstly smaller than the name of the band and secondly in a different colour to help it stand out.

3. The final connection is the large bold font of the title allowing a buyer to instantly know who the band are.

Other connections to real texts include The Charlatans ‘Tellin’ Stories’ and The Kooks ‘Inside In Inside Out’

Similarly to The Crystal Whites digipak front cover both The Charlatans and The Kooks covers consist of bold writing revealing the name of the band. This is a true convention of the Indie/rock genre and allows easy recognition of who the band are. Secondly another connection is the use of band members on the digipak cover, another key conventions of the genre showing band culture. A connection between The Crystal Whites and The Kooks digipak front cover is the use of a different colour font, in this case red to easily separate the name of the band and the title of the album.

The still image for the CD was taken upon filming the narrative section of the music video.

The use of Big Ben on the CD as well as in the video created a reflection of where the band are from, through research I found that many bands especially in debut songs and albums reference where they come from firstly to introduce themselves in a sense and secondly to provide a visual stimulant for the lyrics in their songs.

The main image on the CD is of the lead singer smoking. This shot was taken during a break when filming the narrative sequence of the music video however I felt it corresponded to stereotypes of the Indie/rock genre. Through research I found that many Indie/rock bands videos/Digipaks/Posters had reference to smoking and alcohol which relates to the attitude of the genre.

However, unlike other genres smoking for example is not glamorised nor forced in the Indie/rock genre but instead relates to the normality of the bands who create this type of music.

Influences

The front cover of the Arctic Monkeys album ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not’ shows an ambiguous man smoking relating to the Rock&Roll element of the genre.

The CD like the front cover of the Digipak has reference to smoking this time through the visuals of an ashtray. Furthermore joint ends may allude to drugs sometimes associated with the Indie/rock genre.

This image reveals Alex Turner the lead singer of the Arctic Monkeys taking place of the male figure in the first image furthermore revealing the stereotypes of the genre. This links to the lead singer used on the Crystal Whites CD.

Another artist which I took influence from is Jake Bugg the visuals of cigarettes in his video for ‘Two Fingers’ revealed the social side of smoking relating to the band culture of the Indie/rock genre. The use of smoking in the video related to the natural and unforced footage of the genre unlike for example pop and rap genres which may use a cigarette as a prop rather than a natural part of the artists life.

The cigarette is a key stereotype of the rock genre popularised by bands such as The Rolling Stones and more recently young artists such as Jake Bugg. I felt the visuals of the lead singer smoking would help define the Crystal Whites as an Indie/rock band.

Following conventions of the Indie/rock genre the lyric booklet is very simple. I used faded images from the ‘To Anyone’ music video revealing key conventions such as the band playing. The faded form of the images allowed the lyric text and song titles to stay prevalent and stand out.

I felt that it was important to use a lyric booklet within the Digipak because of the lyrical emphasis in the Crystal Whites songs. Furthermore in my research I discovered that most Indie/rock bands included a lyric booklet in the Digipak because of the emphasis placed on songs within the genre.

The Arctic Monkeys Digipak has similarities to that of the Crystal Whites, mainly images of the band and the simple layout of lyrics.

Both Digipaks use bold titles to show the name of the song, with the lyrics beneath in a standard font.

Whilst the Arctic Monkeys lyric booklet has pictures and text separated I chose to place lyrics upon a photo backdrop.

The Back cover Following on with the style of the digipak the back cover is again very simplistic yet creates in my opinion delivers key information whilst remaining aesthetically pleasing. The back cover consists of key aspects of all digipaks such as firstly a song list, secondly a production label and also a barcode for retail purpose.

Influences/Connections to real media texts.

All three back covers show the key information of the production company this is a generic element of any album back cover.

Another generic element is the inclusion of a barcode for retail purposes.

One comparison to real texts which I used as an influence for the back cover of the digipak was the band Foals and their album ‘Antidotes’. The reason I like the album I because it fills many conventions of the Indie genre, it is understated, simple but effective. One main connection to be noted is the handwriting like text on the back of both covers, I chose to use this type of text because the style makes it look as if it has been written. Through speaking to The Crystal Whites and songwriter Adam Ferguson I was able to look at the actual lyric booklet Adam used to write songs and I took this as influence for the text on the back cover. Like the back cover of the Foals album I tried to keep it uncluttered and minimalistic with just the barcode, production logo to accompany the generic song list and background photo.

Another link to real texts is the Arctic Monkeys album ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not’ which again fulfils conventions of the Indie/rock genre through its simplistic nature. Unlike many digipak back covers I chose to use an image as a backdrop for the song list and this can connect to a similar concept used for the Arctic Monkeys album back cover. Generic links to be found are the barcode for retail purposes as well as the production label logo.

Magazine Advert Generic Conventions

One generic convention of any artist magazine poster is the name of the band and promoting album.

Another generic convention is the background image, every poster has a main background image.

In the modern day social media sites are frequently used as a way of promotion and are usually found on magazine posters.

Positive reviews are often found on magazine posters as a form of positive promotion.

Websites are a generic feature of magazine posters another form of promotion.

Comparisons to real media texts can be made to both The Kooks and Arctic Monkeys magazine posters. The first comparison is that all three posters use a picture of the band as the base of the poster, the use of all members of the band suggests the unity of making music which the Indie/rock genre is well known for as opposed to the self promotion of image often seen is the pop genre. Furthermore all three posters use bold black font to make the name of the band standout, the simple fonts used once again responds to the simple conventions of the genre. Institutional information is also present on all of the posters with key information such a the bands website.

Another real text comparison which can be made is to Conduit’s album ‘Funeral for a Friend’. The most important link is the use of the digipak cover on the magazine poster, I felt this was important firstly as a method of promotion and because of the unsigned nature of the band. Furthermore the words ‘Out Now’ are not usually found that often on Indie/rock magazine posters so this is a borrowed convention from the likes of the pop genre. One main connection of the two posters is the use of band members once again, showing the importance of the group mentality rather than the forcing promotion of the artist as an ‘image’ often found in the pop genre.

Where would the magazine advert feature?

The indie-rock genre of the magazine advert would distinctly determine what type of music magazine the advert would feature in.

As well as researching into conventions of the indie-rock genre I felt that it was important to research into the genre of music magazine where the advert is likely to feature. Through previous research I had found that for example ‘Kerrang’ magazine was tailored to audiences of the heavy rock/metal genres and so therefore the magazine advert was unlikely to occur in such a magazine.

Through past research and based on the outcome of the magazine advert I feel that the New Musical Express or NME would be the best current magazine for the advert to feature in. There are a number of reasons why I feel that the NME magazine is perfectly suited for ‘The Crystal Whites’ magazine advert which I have produced, firstly the NME is a British magazine. The fact that the magazine is British is key to the indie-rock genre as there is a lot of focus of the background behind the band (such as the shots of London featured in the music video for ‘To Anyone’). Furthermore the NME focuses upon rock, alternative and indie genre which fits the genre of ‘The Crystal Whites’ perfectly, this means that readers of the magazine would be recognisable to the promotion of such a band and may be interested in buying their music because they are fond of the genre, hence why they purchase the magazine. I believe that the final magazine advert for ‘The Crystal Whites’ is very professional looking, however the look and aesthetics of such a product is pointless without the right placement and that’s why I feel that the NME would be the perfect place for my magazine advert to feature for maximum marketing potential.

Above shows a variety of NME front covers throughout the years, the most important factor being that each artist featured on the front cover I have taken influence from during the creation of my products in sync with indie-rock genre. I have taken influence from ‘Jake Bugg’, ‘Arctic Monkeys’ and ‘Oasis’ during the production process and all of these artists as well as similar artists feature heavily with the NME magazine reinforcing the view that the NME magazine would be ideally suited for ‘The Crystal Whites’ magazine advert.