Q4 – In what ways does your product use,

develop or challenge forms and conventions

of real media products?

The transcript for Q4 Sound Cloud podcast

When we were creating our 3 promotional products including our digipak, webpage and music video, it was vital that we had to follow specific conventions that need to be followed because this is what would make our products appeal to the target demographic as without them they would not be enticed into wanting to read more or to buy the products. Following stereotypical conventions is also very important as they need to be able to link with the other products that are being marketed in the same industry however having their own individual style and branding which can be conveyed by breaking some conventions. It is important to subvert stereotypical conventions as well as following them as this would distinguish the features to be separated from looking similar with others. This may have an overall effect on the target demographic as it may entice them into wanting to know more about the product as it would be more appealing than the other products within the same market.

To make our chosen music genre more clearly to the demographic, we used all of the main conventions of the Indie genre as well as including more distinctive features to make our products appeal to our target demographic. We used many different types of distinctive features to make the genre seem more individual compared to mainstream genres as we used our specific brand identity to make our webpage, digipak and music video stand out from all of the other products in the same market. As well as making sure they stand out from other products on the same market, it was important that we made our products more unique as that is one of the main stereotypical conventions in the Indie genre – to be individual and creative. During each of the stages of the construction, we were consistent with following the main conventions of our music video with the specific lighting that was using, the costumes that our artists wore and the types of props that were used.

During the construction of our music video, we were inspired by Ed Sheeran’s music video ‘Thinking out Loud’ as this video was very successful with the demographic of our genre and we believed each of the conventions that were used worked well. As well as this being a success, the narrative of the lyrics related to our chosen song as we carried out a lot of research when we were analysing our lyrics during the planning stage of our coursework. We adapted to his music video by choosing to add studio shots of our artist dancing which creates a narrative behind the lyrics alongside filming the rest of the video in the natural environment such as Virginia Waters.

As a group we found that planning the Mise-en-scene for our music video was very challenging as we had to take into consideration all of the key conventions such as lighting, camera work, costumes and props to help create the narrative of the music genre. One of the conventions that was used in the video 'Thinking Out Loud' which we followed was the use of low key lighting. Low key lighting played a big role as it highlighted the artist when she was portraying the narrative between herself and her ex boyfriend through her dance moves as well as creating a dark mood and tension. To add to the dark atmosphere of these scenes, Ella C and her ex wore dark costumes which consisted of baggy black tops and black bottoms. We decided to change the costumes to darker colours and follow the conventions of the Indie genre instead of following the costumes that were used in Ed Sheeran's music video as this wasn't the typical stereotypical style that Indie bands would wear so we would want our target demographic to idolise with our artist instead. The representation of the artist through her costume shows she has control in her previous relationship as the colour black connotes her power as well as making her stand out in the bright white spotlight.

This can relate to Propps Theory of character roles as this can be seen as a typical stereotypical convention relating to relationships. This also connotes that she is more powerful as she is standing out as well as being the main character in focus. Besides the studio shots, the artist wears clothes that would distinguish herself from a mainstream audience as she wears ripped jeans, baggy shirts and builders boots which are all dull colours such as blues and reds which symbolises the sky and ocean which are natural land feature which again is another convention of the music culture. The purpose of having red clothing connotes the artists feeling of love as well as avoiding confrontations which is what the lyrics of the song is conveying. When we were planning our music video, we found out that many bands from this genre of music use many different camera positions to show different representations of the artists’ moods within the video and to help connote their feelings and moods through body language and facial expressions.

As well as the music video being a narrative between the two characters, the music video has performance elements where the artist sings the lyrics to her song using mid shots and close ups of her face to help portray the meaning behind the words she is saying. Another miss-en-scene convention that we followed was using a Point Of View shot when Ella is singing the lyrics of the song to help the demographic form ideologies with her so they can see the mood that is set within the scene. Her emotions are also portrayed through close ups to show her facial expressions which again is another convention we followed as we wanted the demographic to be able to be addressed by the narrative that the artist is playing. Following these conventions worked well for our group especially when it came to producing these products as we managed to challenge different forms of conventions including camera angle shots which wouldn’t feature in many music videos of this specific genre as we wanted to produce a video which would convey a different story of the theme ‘love and relationships’ so the target demographic can see the other side of the story of the music artist. This worked well as we involved this with the narrative of the video to make sure that breaking this convention would work successfully.

Goodwins’ theory links to Indie conventions in our music video as Goodwins theory has 5 aspects including a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, narrative and performance of the song, the star image as we have used many different types of shots to make sure Ella C is the main focus in the video and the technical aspect of the video. Throughout the music video we have made a link between the lyrics and the visuals as we conducted a lyric analysis during the planning stage of the coursework and we linked this together by using the set narrative of relationships. The body language and facial expression the artist is connoting represents the emotions behind the lyrics. We have used a range of different shots including long shots, mid shots and close ups to ensure that Ella C is highlighted from the narrative and the scenery to make her stand out and the main focus as she is the one who is conveying the narrative. We believed that shooting the different range of shots has worked well as the way we have structured the sequence of these in the right way.

As well as our music video, we followed many conventions for our mise- en – scene for our digipak and webpage. Firstly, we used close up images of our artists face to feature on our banner of our webpage as well as our digipak front page. This was because we wanted to show all of the detail of the natural makeup of our artist as well as her facial expressions.

The camera work played an important role in our music video as we used many different shot techniques to catch the right shots for each of the scenes. We used a variety of different shots including long shots, mid shots and close ups to make the scenes alternative and less boring to watch which is normally used in most music videos to keep the demographic entertained. Our group used many different types of camera equipment whilst filming each section to make sure the quality of the footage looked professional and to make camera shot techniques such as tilting and zooming look more effective as it wouldn't have been shaky and look unprofessional. During the planning stage, we researched into the different types of editing of each shot to see how we could be influenced and edit the cuts into our own video and so we came to the conclusion of dissolving the first two scenes to cut into the scene and to link the genre to the location of where the video is set. It was important to do this during the first few shots for an introduction so the demographic can have an idea of where the location is set as they are into the natural environment and outdoors.

The transition of dissolving the two scenes is slow to portray the different times and places. We have edited the shots of the clips in our video to have simultaneous timing during the shots of the studio, where the two characters are dancing and single shots of the artist at Virginia Waters. This editing feature was used so we could create flashbacks of the relationship to help portray the narrative of the relationship to how she was feeling then and now. This was another form of a Juxtopositioning shot.

The sound that we used in our music video followed the stereotypical conventions of the Indie genre like the example of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking out Loud’ follows the pinnacle of matching the storyline to the song and how fast the song flows. We have adapted to these representations as another key feature of the Indie genre is that the musical instruments that are stereotypically used as pianos, guitars and bass guitars which our song has at the very beginning. We broke this convention as our artist did not play any instruments throughout the music video and we did not include any instruments as props during the photo shoot for our digipak and our webpage. This convention is what differentiates our products from others that feature on the same target market as ours but if we were to complete this task again, we would use props for our digipak and webpage to make the genre more clear on the packaging.

Another typical convention that we followed throughout the construction of our print products was the specific layout we chose. We thought this was a challenge when we were producing the drafts for our digipak and webpage as there are many different layouts that successful bands have used who relate to the Indie genre however we needed to make sure our products differed from them and would stand out from being unique. Overall, we chose to stick to the clear and simple typeface which we linked with brand identity for all of our products as this is a stereotypical convention for ‘Indie’. This is because the typeface would not stand out and would be over powering as this could relate to the target demographic as one of the key themes is to be natural and simple and not ‘in your face’. We chose not to break this convention with the plain and simple typeface as would not overpower the main images and text that is shown. As well as this, the main image that is used on both of the print products consists of being a close up of the artists’ face that gives direct address where the demographic can idolise with Ella C. This is another typical convention that is used by many artists who belong to different music genres as well as Indie Pop. The idea of having a plain, simple background where the image is pasted on top of the background would make the image have the main focus on the page which many digipak follow. However, sticking to the simple layout, we applied a plain image on the back page of the digipak as many album covers use this convention to make sure the track list is clear and easy to read for the target demographic. We chose an image of the scenery to link to the two main conventions of natural and simple so that it looks effective and so that the typeface is a lot more clear on the image.

To conclude with, I believe that our group have produced three promotional products successfully by following the stereotypical conventions that were needed in order to help portray our music genre ‘Indie’ and to help appeal to our target demographic successfully. We also took the risk of breaking conventions which on the whole managed to work out effectively as our products link well with the target market we were attracting. If our group was to complete the coursework again, we could break smaller conventions which would allow our products to differentiate a lot more from the other products on the market as the conventions we broke throughout the products worked well and they still link with the specific genre.