1. Evaluation Question 1
IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT
USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
2. Research
When researching other music videos within the same/similar genres, I was
able to pick out the key codes and conventions of the genre and see how
these music videos managed to either challenge or follow these. In A Day To
Remembers music video for ‘Paranoia’, I was able to see how they mixed a
strange gothic narrative into a music video along performance shots of the
band, showing me how to stick to the conventional structure of a
performance and narrative based music video. Similarly, Linkin Parks video
for ‘From the Inside’ showed me how special effects can assist a sci-
fi/supernatural type narrative. This music video was a huge inspiration for
me to use special effects to my advantage as well as inspiring me to
challenge the typical conventions of a metal music video by introducing this
supernatural theme.
3. Target Audience
The main way I initially wanted to appeal to my target audience was to feature a
protagonist of the same age and gender. Most of my audience will be able to relate
to the guy in my music video, as he looks like a pretty person with a fairly awkward
sensibility who wants to overcome his paranoia. I also tried to strengthen audience
appeal by featuring performance shots, as a lot of people who identify with the
metal genre are going to be very interested in the instruments themselves. The
narrative also does this, as it is very overdramatic and features a climax and an
enigma ending that will make audience members left asking questions and wanting
to watch the music video over and over again for the satisfaction of seeing these
events unfold.
4. Genre
I used as many conventions as I could to stick to the metal genre within my music
video. The most important way I felt I could do this was by crafting a narrative that
has very stereotypical elements of a metal music video. This involves the
supernatural theme featuring a man being stalked by a strange figure, the enigma
ending leaving the audience asking questions, the idea of the man ‘unveiling his
powers’ or overcoming something bigger than himself, nightmares and more.
5. Another way I tried to stick to the conventions of the metal genre was through the
use of micro elements- most of all mise en scene. The costume of the ‘figure’ was
designed to look gothic/supernatural which appeals to a large number of people
within my target audience. I dressed up my main character to look as though he
listens to metal, wearing a black t-shirt and a beanie. Even though these clothes are
very casual, I did not want to overdress him to put off people watching who might
not be into the ‘metal’ look, but still be relatable to those metal music fans out
there, challenging the conventions of a typical metal music video.
The bedroom the guy had is also fairly metal looking, with a Linkin Park and
Metallica poster on the wall and lots of black and grey colours. I planned to do this
because the colour black is often associated with metalheads and emos, mostly due
to the ‘dark’ nature of the music.
6. As well as the bedroom, I also used several other locations that fit under the metal
genre, such as the garage used in my performance shots. I chose this location due
to its gritty look, featuring dirty brick walls and dim, harsh lighting. This also adds a
very garage band feel to my music video, identifying with a lot of my audience who
might be in metal bands playing in similar locations.
Other locations I used include the alleyway and the woodland area. The alleyway is
fairly atypical of a metal music video as its in a very suburban location and doesn’t
look overly threatening; it is more friendly and welcoming. I chose this alleyway as it
links in with the narrative of the man running into the figure wherever he goes
(including his safe suburban neighbourhood) to show that he’s not safe anywhere,
challenging the conventions of a typical metal music video.
7. Narrative Structure
My narrative sticks closely to the conventions of most music videos in general, having in intro sequence, some action on each
chorus, and a climax for the ‘breakdown’ of the song. This is a linear narrative that ends on an enigma code, leaving the
audience questioning what happens next.
I chose to stick to a conventional narrative structure as I feel this best portrays the issues the protagonist of my music video
faces. By doing this I am able to foreshadow certain events, create tension by building up certain scenes (as seen before each
chorus) and easily tell a story through a linear narrative. Seeing as music videos don’t typically feature dialogue, I needed to
communicate with my audience exactly what was happening to avoid confusion. This is when a linear narrative comes in
handy, as I am able to cut from the ‘nightmare’ sequence during the introduction to the song immediately to morning,
showing the protagonist waking up flustered and looking around confused.
I chose to end my music video on what theorist Roland Barthes refers to as an enigma code; to put in simple terms, this is a
text that ‘portrays a mystery to draw an audience in’. By ending my video showing the figure behind the man, it leaves the
audience with a question and makes them think about the music video more and more. I think this is a fairly conventional
technique within music videos, as in a video I researched (Paranoia by A Day To Remember) it ended in a similar way.
8. Editing
Editing techniques were a key part of my music video, arguably
the most important. The most obvious piece of editing I used was
the ‘glitch’ effect I used throughout. The main goal of this piece of
editing was to represent the presence of the figure character, as it
would mostly occur whenever he was on screen, however it also
did occur for certain transitions. I think these fit well within a metal
themed music video as it adds a supernatural/paranormal feel to
the video, a theme that is more often than not found in music
videos of the metal genre.
Another significant piece of editing from my music video were the
eyes of the protagonist and how they change before he confronts
the figure. This supernatural themed effect and narrative ‘twist’
would be fairly conventional of metal music videos, which often
have fantasy type elements that differentiate the video from
everyday reality.
9. Representation
In my music video I portrayed both conventional and
unconventional representation of a teenage boy. On one
hand, my protagonist is quite generic looking and might
relate to a typical teenage boy, but on the other hand he is
portrayed as very insecure and has lots of anxieties.
During the events of the music video, my protagonist never
contacts another person, only the figure that haunts him. It
is quite conventional for metal music videos to feature
these lone protagonists who don’t have much contact with
other people, is it portrays them as unique. Most viewers
could relate to my protagonist in many ways, however
audiences from outside the genre would probably relate
less.
10. DIGIPAK
Front Cover
The front cover of my digipak features an illustration of my
protagonist with a glitchy type effect on him in the shadow of a
TV screen with static on it. The TV features a strip of the glitch
effect on it, linking in with my music video and creating a sense of
brand identity.
I think the cover of my digipak is fairly conventional of a metal
music video due to its dark colours and use of imagery and bold,
capital fonts. However, I feel that it challenges some conventions
too. Although most metal album covers feature illustrations, they
are often much more aggressive and brightly coloured. My cover
is more simplistic featuring a creepy-looking illustration that
perhaps links more with the rap of Linkin Parks music more than
the metal. This being said, I think my cover is comparable to these
two covers by Metallica and Anthrax, both of which are bands of
the metal genre. They both feature portraits of people and
simplistic dark colours.
11. Back Cover
The back cover of my digipak depicts the head of the figure in the
shadowy emptiness of the plain black background, as well as a strip
of the glitch effect from the music video. My back cover features all
of the typical things you would find there, such as the track list,
publishing information, and barcode.
I think my back cover is fairly unconventional, as lots of back covers
don’t feature much art besides the graphic of the bands logo. Mine
however includes another illustration that gives brand identity to
the product, and doesn’t feature the logo of the band. This is
because I feel that the audience will know the video so well that
they will be able to tell this is a Linkin Park product just by seeing
the white plague doctor mask of the figure character.
However, my back cover is very conventionally laid out, featuring
half of the track list on the left hand side and the other on the right
hand side.
12. First Panel
The inside panel of my digipak includes a simple illustration of the
figure character, with a neon coloured glitch effect behind him. This
panel is important to me, as it begins to really explore the colour
theme of the album; lots of dark colours such as black and grey as
well as lots of neon colours over the top.
I chose to go with this kind of colour scheme in my music video as
it really challenges the conventional colour scheme of metal genre
digipaks. Most digipaks in the metal genre typically feature lots of
dark gritty colours and overly detailed illustrations, however in my
digipak I use black as the primary colour of the digipak, yet feature
bright neon colours throughout to add a sense vibrance, similar to
how the glitch effects add this vibrance in sections of my music
video. Although the illustrations are very simplistic, they do still
have connotations of the metal genre, with a gothic and sinister
look to them that makes the album look quite creepy as a whole.
13. Middle panels and disc
I wanted to make these three panels link in some way so that when the digipak is folded out in front of you,
it creates a bigger picture than can be seen on a single panel (such as the inside cover). I think this idea is
quite a conventional layout of any digipak, as it makes the digipak look more whole.
The illustrations here link with the narrative; the two characters are staring across at eachother as though
they are rivals, and the tree silhouettes over the glitch effects represent the woodland location they are in
when they clash (this also adds quite a metal look to the digipak). The CD itself is surrounded entirely by
glitch effects in various neon colours to stand out from the rest of the digipak and create an even bigger
sense of brand identity. I think the layout of my middle section is very conventional of digipaks as a whole
and does a good job of bringing the narrative that fits under the metal genre into the digipak as well.
14. Magazine Ad
The layout of my magazine ad is intentionally very conventional
so that when readers of the magazine are flipping through, they
are able to recognise the ad. This also includes information as to
where you can download the song itself, as well as featuring a
tagline at the top to build up ‘hype’ for the products release.
I think the colours of the magazine challenge the regular
conventions of the metal genre, as it features lots of pinks and
purples. These colours are often not associated with the metal
genre however I chose to include these two colours as the
primary colours on my ad because they fit well with the neon
and black colour scheme of my digipak and also so that the
page will stick out well in the magazine. It also just simply adds a
nice aesthetic to the page. Although the album cover still looks
typical of a metal album cover, the ad looks very unconventional
as a whole and challenges the stereotypical ideologies of the
metal genre well.
