Q1. In what way does your media product use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Jack Baird

Relationship Between Music and Visuals (and “Thought Beats”)

One of the conventions of music videos, according to Andrew Goodwin, is the use of thought beats. Thought beats are the manner in which editing is done, to match up the beats of the song with the visual elements on screen in terms of mood and style. One of the ways we tried to satisfy this convention, was by using a series of jump cuts when the protagonists are setting up their dance mats. We used the jump cuts to act an ellipsis of time so the narrative could progress quickly to their actual dancing. By synchronising this ellipsis of time with the beats of the song track it helps match the mood of the sound track with our music video. It creates a fast paced video which goes with the fast paced tempo of the song. Furthermore, it gives the impression that the visual and audio are linked; if we did not choreograph the music beats with the visuals it would create a dissonance between them which could be off putting for the viewer.

Relationship Between Music and Visuals (and “Thought Beats”) Continued…

We also had a montage sequence near the end of the music video. We put this in during the bridge of the song. Although this point in the track is relatively slow, it comes just before the fast paced chorus. By using the montage, it would intensify and increase the pace in anticipation of the chorus.

A series of shots used in the montage sequence

Relationship Between Lyrics and Visuals

The lyrics of the music track are about somebody in a relationship who breaks up with a woman and he is “begging” for forgiveness and for her to come back to him. However, we wanted to change the storyline to our own, in order to widen the meaning. Goodwin refers to this feature as “amplifying” the meaning. Therefore, we ensured that there was still a link between the lyrics and visuals, by focusing on the word “begging”, but taking a more literal interpretation of the word. We made our video quite literally about two homeless people who have to dance for money (a form of begging). Goodwin also states that music videos can “contradict” the lyrics, so we applied this convention to the narrative structure in order to provide a sharper meaning to our meaning. In the original song, there is no progression of plot as it simply circulates around the same idea of the relationship. However, we introduce a resolution to our narrative as the beggars end up with a dance crew in a professional studio.

Everybody Hurts by REM – similarly contradicted the lyrics of their song in their music video, showing people coming together when the song is about loneliness.

Star Image …Goodwin says the purpose of the star image is to “satisfy the demand of the record label.” We knew that this was important part of the branding and promotional purpose to advocate the performers themselves. Therefore, we also used a performance element in combination with the narrative. We used medium and close up shots of two actors lip syncing whilst facing the camera.

For this element of the music video we used a green screen to change the background so that the performers were in front of swirling graphic visualisations that looked similar to fireworks. We did this in order to emphasise their star image and imply their image is explosive to produce a striking impression of the artists.

… Star Image …Richard Dyer claims that “pop stars” are industry constructions that are manipulated to appeal to desires of the audience. He suggests that their persona is created through advertisement, such as magazine adverts or music videos, in order to sell an image and therefore promote the song or album. We considered this concept in the creation of our own music video, hence the use of the graphic visualisation to generate promote their image status.

Pop Stars whose image is constructed to appeal to audiences.Lady Gaga

Jamiroquai

Daft Punk

… Star ImageIn terms of Hip Hop and RnB, however, I felt that Dyer’s theory was only partially true, as a lot of the image and promotion of urban artists comes from their real life background (for example, 50 cent actually produced a true to life film called “Get Rich or Die Tryin’ ” about his lifestyle, background and choices).

Being aware that this was important in the music video production of an RnB track, we wanted to find a balance between the two ideas of a constructed star versus a real person. We did this by dressing our performers in suits, which was intended to construct an image of someone who is smart, intelligent, competent and earning a good living. We could see the value of this convention helping to promote sales, so we did not want to abandon it completely. However, we also wanted them to seem like real life people, so we kept the construction element subtle, adapting their suits in a casual manner. We also had the main singer, Joel, put a Afro comb in his hair to make him seem more like a normal person from an urban background.

VoyeurismVoyeurism is one of the conventions of music videos that we wanted to challenge. Often the people, particularly women, as depicted as sexual objects that are just there to be looked at. Broadly speaking, we did not feel that this representation was acceptable or appropriate, and felt that the music industry

should not be promoting such levels of sexism. We understood that there is a promotional purpose behind the voyeuristic elements, but believed that it could also create a bad image, especially as we were focusing on providing a significant social message in our video (to be determined and aspire to do well in life). If we had conformed to the stereotype and sexualisation of either men or women, then it would have undermined the style and mood of our production. Instead, we focused on trying to represent an image that was serious and business-like (hence the suits), and avoided voyeuristic elements as far as we could.

“Cookie Dance” by Chip Cookie is an example of a music video where there is an overt emphasis on the female figure.

Genre ConventionsHip Hop and RnB

Another concept that Goodwin focused on was that music videos have particular styles according to their genre: they all have conventions that are particularly associated with that category of music. “Aspiration” is a theme that is conventionally found in hip-hop and RnB music videos and songs. As our music track is a combination of these two genres, we decided that this would form and important part of the whole piece. The Music video is largely about the rise and success of two characters from an impoverished background.

Our central protagonists go on a typical “rags to riches” journey, where they start off dancing in a poor environment, but achieve their dreams and

end up with a dance crew in a studio

Genre – Hip Hop and RnBAnother convention of Hip Hop and RnB, is that the artist is often portrayed with expensive trappings and there is a strong element of materialism, such as fast cars or jewellery. However, we wanted to challenge this convention by making the aspirational goals of the individuals less materialistic based, and instead focusing on internal and self-development (i.e. they go from having to beg and dance on the street, to dancing in a professional studio). We felt that this would convey a stronger message as it is shows they have achieved a realistic goal in their life.

Poster of 50 Cents, with a heavy focus on his chains

and jewellery

Homeless people in our music video in their new dancing environment – less

focus on material success, and more on personal development.