3. Using
conventions
I filmed my whole video outdoors, in
multiple locations, but with a particular
focus on natural surroundings e.g
beach, forest, lake. This fits with the
indie-rock style of music video in the
way that they don’t focus on artificial
backdrops and extravagant music sets.
They are generally much more relaxed
and have a realistic feel to them.
By using
multiple
locations, I also
used the
conventions of
a typical
travelling video.
This shows
movement and
creates a sense
of journey and
time passing for
the audience.
For the outfit, I was inspired by a mix of 90s
rock grunge and the modern-day ‘indie’
style of clothing. I chose to style an outfit
that was casual to fit with the laid-back style
of the genre (hoody, jeans and casual t-
shirt). I also used layers as this is typical of
the ‘indie’ style for men. We chose to have
a preppy loafer style shoe for our actor to
add a certain edge to the outfit - this is
conventional for bands such as Mumford
and Sons who dress quite smartly. We kept
our actors hair messy and filmed him
running his hands through it as this seemed
appropriate for the style of artist we were
trying to portray.
We made use of natural lighting throughout
the shoot - luckily we had a sunny day for the
beach location. This is typical of the indie-rock
genre; videos in this style tend not to use lots
of artificial light as they are commonly filmed
outside in similar locations.
4. Using
conventions
We filmed a variety of different angles and frames for the bike shots in all locations
to portray movement - a common feature of travelling videos.
For the opening instrumental section of the
song, we only included shots that concealed the
actor’s face, and cutaway shots. This is not
necessarily a convention of the indie-rock genre
in particular, but whilst researching I did find
that this technique is commonly used in music
videos to build up mystery surrounding the
protagonist.
Using Adobe Premiere Elements 8.0, we added a ‘ghosting’ effect to one of our
panning shots of the sand, sea and sky. We also used the time stretch tool to
speed the clip up slightly. This created a dreamlike quality to the clip, which we
matched to an appropriate part of the song - an instrumental piece with soft
backing vocals faded in. This is a common feature of a music video as it
provides the music with a moving image that represents it.
6. Artist/band websites tend to stick
to a certain theme - in terms of
images, colours, fonts and logos.
In line with this, I chose a limited
number of colours to feature on
my website, which we inspired by
the music video and the choice of
outfit for our actor.
The bone logo which I designed
features on every page of the
website. This is a common
feature of an artist website, used
to strengthen brand identity.
I also included social
networking logos, feeds
and share buttons
throughout the website -
one of the most
commonly found features
of an artist website when
I was researching
conventions.
Most websites include plenty of embedded Youtube and
Soundcloud links, so under the ‘music’ page I decided to
follow this convention.
My website features links to purchase tickets and
merchandise for the artist - something that is becoming
more common in artist websites, allowing fans to
access products easily.
Using
conventions
7. Using
conventions
My website, similarly to those that I analysed in my
research, includes plenty of large, high quality images,
both of the artist, and the merchandise in the ‘store’
section.
A feature that I thought was particularly important
after conducting my research was the use of
dividers on each page to section out different parts
of the website. These usually consisted of bold,
horizontal lines. I used this feature in my own
website to make it easy to follow for the audience.
I included a fairly short and concise
information section about my artist, as I
found that artist websites don’t usually
include a full biography - they aim to
provide a brief overview of the type of
artist, musical influences and past and
future projects.
Most artist websites include a variety of ways to get in touch
with the artist, through management contact details, social
networking, forums, blogs or email dropboxes. I made use of
some of these features on the ‘contact’ page.
8. Developing
conventions
Some websites that I researched featured a ‘gallery’ or ‘photos’ page in the menu bar.
Instead of using the conventional and perhaps slightly old-fashioned way of organising
images on a website, I decided to use a slideshow to present my images of the artist.
This was inspired by the Bastille website, in which slideshows were a common feature.
I placed it on the homepage rather than create a new page for it, and I think it works
well - giving the website a uniqueness.
10. Using
conventions
In line with the conventions of a digipak,
I included a barcode, logo, credits,
record label information and copyright
symbols on the back cover.
I also followed the convention of a full
tracklist on the back cover.
The name of the artist and album title is
clearly displayed on the front cover.
I also followed the
convention of the spine
of the digipak. I
included the name of
the artist at the top,
then the album title,
and put the logo at the
very bottom. This
would be useful to the
audience for when the
digipak is stacked on a
shelf in a store, for
example.
My choice of image for the front
cover is conventional for my
genre in the way that the actor
is looking away from the camera
and also how there is a plain
white background (implying it
has been taken during a
professional photoshoot).
Images used on digipaks
are usually edited to
give them a more clean,
professional feel. I
edited both images
(back cover and inside
left panel) using the
same effect, so that my
digipak would stick to a
certain colour pallette.
