In what ways does your media product use, develop

or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

Narrative/Performance Music Video In order for our product to look like as highly-professional as possible, we decided that our

music video should be a performance video, with large narrative elements. A narrative is a story that is created in a constructive format (i.e. a music video) that describes

a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events. Whereas, a performance is the act of presenting a play, or any other entertainment, in this case, it is a piece of music

With this is mind, we decided to integrate these two types of music videos, especially given the fact that when we were researching different indie music videos, most of them included elements of narrative and performance in it.

Above (left) is an image of the performance element of our music video filmed on the school roof. Just like the original band ‘The Dykeenies’, we decided that our version of the band would also include four members. We did this so we could stay in touch with our target audience as most indie groups have four members in their band. Above (right) is a picture showing the protagonist in the narrative element of our music video. We felt that including a narrative element of our music video would make it easier for our target audience to relate to what’s going on and what the lyrics implied. As we were aiming to portray domestic abuse/relationship breakdown, a serious cultural reference in contemporary Britain, between a young couple, it would therefore be easier for us to target our audience

Performance element

Narrative element

Continued…… Furthermore, as the story of our music video links to cultural references (domestic

abuse/relationship breakdown), we believed that it would easily appeal to our target audience (16-24) because the narrative agents who are included in the video fit into that criteria.

One way in which we challenged the forms and conventions of a traditional indie music video was the way in which our story was structured. Our music video does not conform to the traditional narrative formula of a beginning, middle and end. Instead, our production conforms to a media-res formula. So the narrative was fragmented, with the body of the video shown at the start (the two main characters relationship already at meltdown). Then, we briefly go into the beginning of the narrative as the protagonist shows us a picture of the good times the couple had experienced. Finally we identify the end of the narrative as the girlfriend (who is innocent) walks out on her boyfriend (who is portrayed as the villain).

Our media production also followed the enigma code, a product or design that leaves questions in the end. In our case, the questions that were left at the end of the video were:

What happens at the end after the two characters meet? Do they fall in love? Has the innocent girl now formally ended her relationship with her boyfriend?

Continued…..

This is the start of the narrative where the couple’s relationship has been strained. In this low angle shot, the violent boyfriend is overlooking his spouse to demonstrate his prowess. Contrastingly, the female is positioned in a corner, defenceless, which also illustrates her innocence.

This is an image of when the couple’s enjoyed the good times, as shown by their facial expressions. This photo allows our target audience to easily identify what is going on in the story.

This is the final section of the narrative as it shows that the relationship between the abused girlfriend and the violent boyfriend is now over. The innocent protagonist walks out on him and seeks a new life.

The Performance element of our music video

For the performance element of our production, we decided to film our video on top of the school roof to make our film look as indie and different as possible.

We also decided to that our media product should stick to the forms and conventions of an indie music band by including a band that consists of four members, which is typical of an indie band

Each member of the band could actually play the instruments they were assigned to. This in turn, would help make our product look as authentic as possible.

This image shows the band as a unit whilst performing during the performance element of our music video. In the background you can see the roof which makes up the mis-en-scene. From our feedback, many praised us for filming our media product on the school roof as it looked unconventional.

Narrative charactersWe decided Umair should be the antagonist of our music video as he is considerably tall and muscular. Therefore, he would easily be portrayed as the dominant force in the relationship. In addition to this, Umair does not fit the stereotypical image of any member of our target audience so we would not find ourselves impersonating or offending anyone.

Whereas, Umair is tall and muscular, Veena is more of a diminutive figure so she would be seen as the vulnerable character in our music video. To help establish this, a series of high angle shots would be shown to emphasise her innocence. Furthermore, she fits our criteria because she is part of our target audience, therefore, she would be easy to relate to. Although Umair does not necessarily fit the indie genre, Veena does with her long hair, so typical of what the females possess when they listen to this genre of music.

This low angle shot we were looking to establish as it demonstrates how dominant Umair is over Veena, and it also shows how vulnerable the latter is to her spouse, judging by the look on her face.

Band members Another area where we challenged the forms and conventions of a typical indie music video

was with the members of the band as we tried to create the ‘minimalist’ look with the resources we had available. Anthony

Role- Lead SingerWe opted for, or rather Anthony volunteered, to be our lead singer of the band because he fits the convention of an indie band because of his age and stereotypical haircut, so it would be easy for the audience to relate to. He is also a more-than-able player of the guitar making a music video look much more professional as he will be singing whilst playing the instrument.JamesRole- DrummerThe reason why we decided James would be our drummer is because he plays the drums regularly, therefore, our music video would look more professional with him playing the drums in time with the best of the song. Furthermore he also looks indie, and as result of this, would appeal to our target audience.

EricRole- GuitaristWe included Erick in our band because he could actually play the guitar, therefore, making are music video as realistic as possible. In addition to this, his age enables our target audience to relate to him spontaneously, especially with the 'indie' clothes he will be wears in the music video.LaurenceRole- GuitaristJust as all the other members of our band, Laurence is an able player of the guitar, thus making our final product as authentic as possible. Laurence also possesses the stereotypical indie haircut, similar to Anthony, our lead singer. This in turn means, he would be easily identified by the audience as a member of the Indie genre.