This document discusses the conventions of indie pop and R&B music videos and how the author's music video followed or challenged those conventions. It begins by outlining some typical elements of indie pop and R&B music videos such as lower production values, live performances, narrative storytelling, and sexualization of characters. It then analyzes how the author's music video for the song "Thinking of You" incorporated conventions like close-ups, slow motion, and layering videos while also subverting conventions by not oversexualizing characters and featuring various unique locations. The document concludes by discussing the conventions of indie pop/R&B album digipaks and how the author's digipak design fits those conventions with a close

1. WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR
MEDIA PRODUCT USE,
DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE
FORMS AND CONVENTIONS
OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
EVALUATION

2. QUESTION ONE
In question one, I am going to be focussing on my music video,
Digipak and poster. Firstly, I will be stating what the typical
conventions of my chosen genre are, and then I will look back
at my media products, and state whether I have
challenged the norm or have followed and developed the
conventions for them.

3. MY GENRE
My chosen genre is Indie pop and R&B. The reason I say ‘and r&b’ is because, the
song is not a typical pop song. The beats used create an urban style to the song,
resulting in it sounding r&b. Mabel, who sings this song originally, is known for her
urban and r&b style songs, making it come under this genre, also.
I decided to pick this song as I love Mabel’s style. She is very urban and has a current
indie vibe, which I like, along with her songs. When listening to ‘Thinking of you’, and
watching the original video to it, I knew I would be able to create something through
inspiration, putting in my own unique ideas. I had many ideas running through my
head and knew it was the right song choice for me to use for my own music video.
The majority of music I listen to ranges from indie pop to rap and r&b, therefore I
knew I already had an advantage, as I am familiar with this type of music and the
conventions that come along with it. After deciding which genre I was going to create
my music video to, and which song I wanted to use, I decided to brainstorm my initial
ideas, but also research into the typical conventions of indie pop and r&b music
videos. My reasoning for this was to take inspiration from these videos, but to also
decide on ways in which I could challenge them and create my own, personal style.

4. CONVENTIONS OF INDIE POP GENRE- MUSIC
VIDEO
The typical conventions for an indie pop music video are varied. In terms of setting wise, there is not much
‘production’ that goes into indie pop videos. They are low budgeted and shot in public areas such as parks
or public streets, etc. An advantage for this, is that it helps the audience really focus on the performance
without becoming distracted. Most indie pop music videos will feature a live performance. This will show the
artist performing in front of a band, to the camera. This will break up the music video which will also be a
narrative based video. This means there may well be a story going on throughout the video. This may
sometimes be accompanied by special effects to enhance the power of story telling to the audience. In terms
of Mise-en-scene, Indie pop videos are usually quite simple. The artist may be wearing their own,
comfortable clothing, minimal makeup and minimal use of props, etc, making the video very natural and
focussed on the music, rather than production. The clothing and makeup may also give us a clear
representation of the characters personality, whether it be wealth, age, status, etc. For example, Taylor
Swift’s ‘Love story’ video features young people in period clothing from the 1900s.
Dialogue may feature at the beginning or end of the music video to help tell a story or send a message to
the audience.
Throughout the video, there may be a variety of extreme close ups, close ups and medium shots used. This
helps introduce the characters and artist, showing an intimate side to them. There will also be a use of long
shots, either at the beginning or throughout, to help set the scene and give the audience an idea of the
person’s surroundings. Handheld shots and tilts and pans are also features of an indie pop music video
There is use of editing for indie pop music videos. This will be usually done by placing filters on top of the
video, making it look quite vintage or grainy, for effect. Slow mo and sped up shots will also make an

5. CONVENTIONS OF AN R&B MUSIC VIDEO
In R&B music videos, males are typically represented as looking appealing to the
female audience. They are almost always seen topless and when wearing clothes,
they are very expensive and fashion forward. An example may be showing off a
designer belt. Tattoos may also be seen on the male’s body. Tatoos represent a male
to be ‘cool’ and stylish, being very appealing to their female audiences.
Females, are represented through minimal clothing. They are seen as highly sexual
and there to please male audiences, also influencing younger female audiences. High
heels, jewellery, and large amounts of makeup are usually worn.
R&B music videos are mainly aimed at younger audiences. This is due to their sexual
nature. Colours such as greys and dark tones may be added to the video to add a
certain atmosphere to them.
The production is usually high, requiring a large budget, hiring out studios and large
houses to film the video.
Shots such as close up and medium shots will be used to create a sense of intimacy
and link between the audience and artist.

6. HOW I FOLLOWED AND DEVELOPED
TYPICAL CONVENTIONS FOR MY MUSIC
VIDEO 1My music video follows some typical conventions of an indie pop and r&b music video for a variety of reasons.
In terms of camera shots and angles, the video starts with transparent text, reading ‘NEVE’. This is the name of the artist,
introducing her, followed by the name of the song. The transparent text holds an extreme close up of Niamh’s face, panning
from one side to the other, in slow motion. This type of introduction is common amongst indie pop music videos. However, I
feel as though i have developed the idea, by adding my own touch to it, (adding a video behind the text). This shows intimacy
and gives us a first look at the artist, appearing to look alone and sad. It is soon followed by a long shot of Ronan, who plays
her ex boyfriend, and herself standing back to back. I did this in order to introduce the couple to the audience, with the two
appearing to be disconnected with each other, setting the mood for the whole music video, which is a break up song.
Throughout the video I added close ups of Niamh lip syncing to the camera, which is a typical convention of mostly all music
videos. She makes direct contact with the audience as well as looking away from the camera to create a certain type of emotion,
feeling lonely and sad. Establishing shots can be spotted throughout the video, to help guide the audience through the scenes
where Niamh is not lip syncing, and we are either shown her alone or with her friends or ex boyfriend.
I decided to follow the convention of the video being a lower budgeted, and natural looking video. Although much care and
precision was taken into consideration whilst taking the videos, I decided that I wanted the whole style to appear casual and
slightly un-staged, other than the lip synching which I wanted to be raw with emotion. I focussed on my characters positioning,
facial expressions, clothing, makeup and overall body language, to try and convey an atmosphere of being able to connect with
my target audience who are around ages sixteen to seventeen upwards, to early twenties.
Lip syncing, of course is a typical convention of any music video, which I decided to add to my music video, even though I knew
I had the choice of whether I would or not.
Through my editing of the video, I decided to add the technique of layering two videos on top of each other. I then lowered the
opacity of one, revealing the other underneath. Indie pop and even some r&b videos will use this technique in music videos, and
I feel as though I have followed this convention. The two shots were of ‘Neve’ staring into the distance and then Ronan, in the

7. HOW I FOLLOWED AND DEVELOPED
TYPICAL CONVENTIONS FOR MY MUSIC
VIDEO 2
In terms of Mise-en-scene, I decided to keep my characters in natural and casual clothing.
However, these did have to fit with the kind of style I wanted to convey throughout my
music video which was indie/vintage, urban style clothing. The characters also wore
makeup, however, it was their everyday attire, and they did not go over the top, which
although this follows conventions of an Indi pop video, it slightly subverts the typical
conventions of an R&B music video, where girls are oversexualised and dressed up. I didn’t
want this to be the main focus in my video, but the portrayal of a love, gone wrong, between
a young couple, hopefully relating to my target audience who are mostly made up of
teenagers.
I decided to add a vintage style/ grainy filter to my video which I feel looked effective in my
final draft. Although it did help display the style and theme of my video, it also slightly set a
mood of sadness throughout, linking to the title and meaning of the song, ‘Thinking of you’.
This is done in many of my genre’s music videos, therefore I believe I have followed a typical
convention.
Slow motion editing was also added to some parts of my video to enhance the emotion and

8. WHY I DID THIS
The reason I followed certain conventions such as Slow motion shots,
extreme close ups and long shots, was to get my main point across. This
was the strong emotion felt by ‘Neve’.
Lip syncing- I added lip syncing to my music video in order to break it
up with some natural shots I videoed of my other characters and Niamh
with her ex boyfriend. I think it looked effective adding lip syncing in
between scenes of the two as it clearly shows her emotions and how she
feels about this situation, helping the audience to understand and link it,
as a result being able to feel ‘Neve’s’ pain with her.
Layering of two videos- I did this in order to convey the subject of
‘Thinking of you’. I wanted it to be clear who Niamh was thinking about.
And through this technique, and typical convention, I feel as though it
helped me deliver this idea effectively.

9. HOW I SUBVERTED TYPICAL CONVENTIONS
FOR MY MUSIC VIDEO
• Although I followed many typical conventions of my genre’s music videos, I also decided to
challenge some of them, making the video my own and unique. A main example would be in
terms of my video’s link to a typical R&B music video. I did not follow conventions such as
sexualising my main character, or making the male the centre of attention throughout. Also, I
decided that I did not want my main character, who is a female, to be presented in a
stereotypical way. For example lack of clothing, lots of makeup, and sexual mannerisms. I
wanted my characters to appear natural and highlighting their urban styles. Through my use of
Mise-en-scene, I picked out clothes from each of my character wardrobes, which I felt
showcased their style the best. The main character, ‘Neve’ had a selection of three different
wardrobe changes throughout the video, showing off her style but also as these shoots were in
different locations.
• In a typical music video there may be around three different location changes, however, for my
music video, I travelled to quite a few locations in order to shoot my scenes. My reasoning for
this, was to keep the audience interested and engaged In my video. These locations were urban
and aesthetic looking such as a cathedral garden, roof of two buildings, stairs, tunnels, graffiti
walls, etc. So instead of just focussing on the artist and storyline, I also wanted the video to be
pleasing to the eye, and look quite interesting to watch.

10. WHY I DID THIS
I didn’t over sexualise my characters as I did not feel as though it was appropriate in
relation to the topic I was conveying through my video. The song is about love and
heartbreak, and how she feels lonely and misses a certain someone. I didn’t feel that
having her act as a stereotypical pop/R&B artist was necessary for this kind of music
video, and wouldn’t draw the correct attention for my target audience who are a
young, predominately female, audience.
I took a variety of shots around London in order to help make the final product full of
different and unique clips, keeping the audience interested. Due to my target
audience being teenagers and upwards, it can sometimes be hard to keep their
interest in certain things, especially in terms of listening to a new artist for the first
time and watching their music video, first impressions count highly. I know this
myself as I am also a young adult/ teenager. I feel as though this was an effective
idea, as when watching the video, there is many things to entertain the audience, and
not many shots that stay the same for more than a few seconds.

11. DIGIPAK AND POSTER
• After completing my music video, I then had the task of creating an album,
alongside a poster in which will advertise it.
• I decided to name my Album, ‘U & I’. The album is predominantly about love and
heartbreak. It is about artist, Neve, finding her way through life and figuring out
who she wants to be and sorting out relationships with friends and her old lover. I
knew I wanted an album with this theme, therefore that is why I also believed
‘Thinking of you’ was a perfect song choice for me.
• This is not the correct way of spelling ‘you’, however, I took my target audience in
to consideration and knew that slang and deletion in spelling is very popular
nowadays, and in texting and social media, this has become the ‘norm’ in our
everyday conversations. This use of text will attract teenagers in to wanting to buy
the album. I also named my album this way as the pronoun, ‘you’ or ‘U’ gives a
sense of direct address to the audience. The album was made for the artist to the
audience. Although it can also be interpreted that the ‘U’ stands for a lover, in
which the love songs are written about.

12. CONVENTIONS OF INDIE POP AND R&B DIGIPAK
1
• Indie/ pop and R&B digipaks have a few things in common, alongside other genre type digipaks,
although there are a few differences in terms of conventions.
• Indie pop- An indie pop music album will feature either an image of the band/ artist or a
conceptual image relating to the artist. The image is original and stands out. Many artists who
are photographed and placed onto their album will be represented in a certain way, for example
Lana Del Rey and her cover image for ‘Born to die’ represents herself as an innocent, yet
mysterious woman. By representing themselves through their album covers, it gives the
audience a sense of knowledge and relationship with the artist, feeling as though they
somewhat know them, and as a result, buying the album. The image will almost always be a
medium/ close up.
• The image will not be enhanced very much so, and the artist will be wearing minimal makeup,
showing natural beauty and style through the image. The location will also tend to not be of a
studio type. It may be taken outside, or in a bedroom, naming a few examples.
• Overall, an Indie pop Digipak is simple, yet effective due to the representation of style of the
artist through imagery, etc.
• Font used will be unique and stand out. The colours used also tend to be quite dull and earthy,
in contrast to the font. The text and colour scheme will stay the same throughout the pages of
the Digipak.

13. CONVENTIONS OF INDIE POP AND R&B DIGIPAK
2
• R&B- On the front cover of an R&B digipak will include a close up shot, mostly
always of the artist. They will be looking directly into the camera, making direct
address, and therefore connecting with the audience. The back of the album will
tend to be quite simple, but will feature the track list, barcode and necessary
information about the album, including copyright information and the record label
logo.
• The same font and colour scheme will be used throughout the Digipak, showing
continuity. The disk may be plain, or feature an image of the artist. It may also
feature the name of both the artist and the album or just one of the two.
• Both Indie pop and R&B Digipaks feature some typical conventions in their
Digipaks, such as a title for the album, same font and colour scheme throughout
which may contrast each other in terms of their colours. If there is swearing in the
album, the digipak will feature a ‘parental guidance’ sticker on the front cover,
although some try to avoid this by sticking it at the back of their album. Things
such as a serial number and copyright information , along with information about
the record label and logo will be featured on the digipak also.

14. DIGIPAK EXPLANATION
• My Digipak overall is quite simple, however, I am happy with the
overall finished product. The cover displays a close up image of Niamh
from a slight side angle, and her eyes looking away from the camera.
The title of the album, ‘U&I’ can be seen in bold letters across the top
corner of the album alongside the title of the album, which I placed
next to the right side of neve’s face, going down the page. The font is
bold and in a dark red which stands out against the dark/ light purple
background of the digipak. Niamh’s hair also stands out amongst the
digipak, due to it being bright blue/ green. I chose these colours in
order to match and contrast well with her hair colour.
•

15. HOW I FOLLOWED TYPICAL CONVENTIONS
OF A DIGIPAK 1
My Digipak follows typical conventions of a digipak In a variety of ways.
One typical convention being the name of the album and artist being placed on the
front cover. I made sure to follow conventions of digipaks by making sure the font
was unique and stood out. This took me many attempts to find the right one, but I
am happy with the font I decided to choose. I made sure to use this for the rest of my
writing throughout the digipak, only changing it to ARIEL, when I needed to write out
the copyright information around the Disk and at the back of the album.
My colour scheme stayed the same throughout the making of my digipak, also the
colouring of the font. Many Artists add a personal touch to their albums, therefore,
on the inside left of my Digipak, I decided to add a signature by the artist along with
a heart. Making it personal and intimate between the audience and new artist.
I added a track list to my album with eleven songs on it, and two featuring artists. I
feel as though eleven songs is enough for a new artist, introducing herself as an
artist to her audience for the very first time, and introducing them to her style of
music, I didn’t feel as though there needed to be a huge amount of songs.

16. HOW I FOLLOWED TYPICAL CONVENTIONS
OF A DIGIPAK 2
My CD disk follows typical conventions of an indie pop and R&B digipak due to its
design. I decided to keep it plain, making an Ombre style background of light and
dark purple combining, this was also used on the spine of my album. The disk, along
side the spine features the name of the artist and the name of the album.
Around the disk I added copyright information in small, white font, going round the
disk circle. The majority of all disks have this, therefore I made sure to add it. The
disk and spine also features the logo and title of my made up record label, in order to
promote themselves and help promote the artist’s music.
In terms of Mise-en-scene, Niamh is wearing clothing which I believe represents her
style well. A vintage tank top, with a gold choker. The top is quite low cut so in terms
of typical conventions of an R&B digipak, this fits the idea of women being ‘sexy’ and
provocative in their clothing, setting a certain image for women in the music
industry, however this was not done purposely, as this is what Niamh felt most
comfortable in, and as an artist, she would feel comfortable wearing that.

17. WHY I DID THIS
• Adding the name of the artist and album- This is important as it lets the audience
know who’s album it is, and what the name of the album is called so that they can
get an idea of what to expect, for example, my album connotes love and
relationships. Some artists do not add their name to the album cover, but this is
typically for artist who are known worldwide such as Madonna and Britney Spears.
However, the artist I have created, ‘Neve’, is a newbie, and may not be as well
known, resulting in it being a better idea to have the name of the artist stated on
the front cover.
• By using the same font throughout, this gives a sense of continuity, resulting in
the album looking to it’s best standard, and making sense, also being aesthetically
pleasing.
• By adding a personal touch such as a signature to my Digipak, this creates a slight
relationship between the artist and the audience. If there is a signature, it will feel
as though, to the audience, that ‘Neve’ is reaching out to them and wanting them
to get to know her personally, as this is her kind of personality, being a new,
urban artist.

18. HOW I SUBVERTED TYPICAL CONVENTIONS
OF A DIGIPAK
Although my digipak does follow most typical conventions of a digipak for my genre, there are a few which I decided to challenge, and
change into my own.
I feel as though my artist’s genre altogether is quite unusual, being a mixture of indie pop with an R&B feel to it. When creating my
digipak I knew I had a bit more freedom in terms of how I wanted it to look, etc.
The main image on the front cover is of ‘Neve’. She is looking away from the audience. This is not a typical convention as most artist are
known to make direct address with their audience. However, I decided to subvert this convention. I asked my model to turn her head
slightly to the side and look in to the distance, creating a certain atmosphere for the whole album, this being reflection, etc.
The photoshoot took place in my bedroom. I got my model to stand in front of flowy, white curtains, which I liked the look of. In terms of
my editing, I then manipulated my image, (brightness, contrast) and then picked my colour, being dark pink/ purple, and painted over it,
cropping out Niamh’s body. This is a convention of many indie pop covers, but less likely to be found on R&B albums which are took
place in studios.
In terms of mis-en-scene, I feel as though I have slightly challenged typical conventions such as the amount of makeup Niamh is
wearing. As my target audience are teenagers and young adults, they will be looking for someone to look up to, due to stereotyping, it is
known that a more glamorous looking person will grab the attention of an audience, therefore myself and Niamh agreed that seeing as
this is an album photoshoot, the artist should look their best. Niamh’s personality also enjoys wearing makeup so it felt natural for her
anyway, linking with her whole style.
Niamh’s hair coloured was changed to a light blue/green pastel colour soon after the making of my music video. Instead of then editing
her hair to be red again in my digipak, I decided to use this to my advantage in challenging typical conventions of artists appearance
staying the same. Artists such as Madonna, Nicki Minaj and many others are known for their change of appearance frequently. ‘Neve’ is
an urban artist and is known for being unique, as this is her star image.

19. WHY I DID THIS
• My reasoning for challenging certain conventions was due to
the fact I wanted my artist to be quite unique.
• Although most of my Digipak has followed the typical
conventions, I decided to make my album quite brightly
coloured and bold, representing Neve as an artist.

20. ADVERTISEMENT POSTER
• For my advertisement poster, I believe that I have followed the correct
conventions of an advertising poster. This includes adding when the
album will be available, which can be seen on the poster in a bold, light
colour, visible to see.
• I followed the same colour scheme as my Digipak. I have also used the
same style and colour font, and I included the logo of my record label.
• Along the bottom, I stated the website used to check up on updates for
'Neve'. This is helpful for my target audience who are mainly on the
internet most days. I have also included Instagram and twitter, as well as
platforms the album will be available to be brought on, such as iTunes
and Spotify. These ae mostly always added to modern day advertisement
posters.