This is A2 evaluation Question 1

1. Question 1
In what ways does your media product use,
develop or challenge forms and conventions
of real media product?

2. The MusicVideo
To make our video look realistic we looked at codes and conventions of real pop
promotions. I have discovered that Goodwin’s theory applies well to all the
music videos. I used primarily close up shots when filming to accentuate
attention on the artist as we are trying to promote her, which is also a record
label requirement. In post-production process we made sure that some of the
lyrics correspond with the visuals like the Isla sings ‘ears’ and the audience can
see her hair being tucked behind Isla’s ear. Also the relationship between music
and the visuals was clear as there is a tendency of cutting on the beat or on the
beginning of the new line of the lyrics which we have also applied in our video
when Isla sings ‘shame’ and it cuts to her turning to the camera.The notion of
looking is also vividly presented in Kate Nash's video 3AM where she is
surrounded with mirrors in her room but also watchesTV.As a result we used a
mirror in our music video as it is conventional of the genre.

3. Genre Characteristics
The main characteristic of an indie music video is the fact
that the music is produced independently from major
commercial record labels or their subsidiaries. Following the
real media product we have decided to publish our music
video autonomously via RoughTrade which is an
independent record company. Although RoughTrade is
independent, it is international so this mean global
distribution and cross media convergence in marketing of the
artist. RoughTrade is not a typical small independent records
label as due to its successes it grew much larger that other
independent labels, but its main focus remains independent
artists.
However, we have developed an indie convention by using a
dance element to develop the concept of our music video
and portray emotions that Isla’s character is experiencing.
Dancers are rarely used in indie genre but can be seen in Ellie
Goulding’s ‘Burn’, where the crowd dances to add the feeling
of happiness to the music video. We use the dancer to tell
Isla’s emotional story rather than as an addition to the music
video.

4. Demands of the Record Label
After conducting a research of the demands of record label
and analyzing numerous music videos we have found that
record labels require lots of close ups for promoting the artist
and introducing her unique style to the audience as a selling
point. I have used this typical convention when shooting close
ups of Isla the majority of time for her to create a relationship
with the audience and fulfill the record label demand. Also
strong eye contact during performance helps to establish a
artist-audience relationship.The use of close up shots shows
Isla’s melancholic and indie a style which is seen through
minimalistic use of make up which draws out her young age
and loose-fitted clothes that all indie genre artists wear,
opposed to pop genre where clothes tends to be tight
combined with bright make up.

5. Sound/Visuals
Another feature of a music video, identified by Andrew
Goodwin is the relationship between the visuals and the lyrics.
He found that the relationship between the visuals and the
lyrics tend to be either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting.
We have challenged this convention by using all three
conventions. For example, in Ellie Goulding’s music video
“Lights”, every time she sings ‘shining’, the lights are shining
directly into the camera. Also there is a direct link between the
name of the song and and the concept of the video which is
Ellie dancing in the rays of colorful lights.We have used this
illustrative feature in our music video. When our artists sing
‘ear’ the visuals show Isla’s ear and when she sings ‘forever’
they hold hands. We have amplified the sense of romance
through showing the couple playing in the park, Josh laying on
Isla’s lap and of course the kisses.The whole concept of the
video also relates to the title “Lost” as our artist’s character is
lost in her feelings after cheating on her, now ex-boyfriend.
Also we have used the contradicting convention when Isla
sings ‘drowned you out’ when the couple lays in bed and
instead of Isla turning her head away as the lyrics would
suggest, Josh turns his head away from her.

6. Editing
Some indie music videos use transitions such as cross dissolve.
Like in Paper Airplanes’ video ‘Safe Hands’ where they use a
cross dissolve to show the passage of time.We have
developed this convention to link the dance with the music
video to highlight the fact that the dance is a portrayal of
feelings and motions.You can see it when Eve dances on stage
and Isla’s face is being projected on the white background or in
a cross dissolve of close up of Eve into the medium shot.We
also tied this technique in to fulfill the demands of our target
audience. A cross dissolve of 2 shadows into Isla walking was
also used to show a shift in Isla’s feeling of wanting her
boyfriend back to letting him go.
We have also used a match on action cut when the artist is
performing in bed and turns her head keeping eye contact with
the audience. We used this editing technique as a tool in telling
the story , which is a typical convention of storytelling
including indie music videos.

7. Artist’s Image
It is important to establish artist’s authentic image and give
the real feel of the genre. After looking at numerous indie
music videos I have discovered that the majority of the
artists wear casual clothes like baggy jumpers and layers of
clothes because videos tend to be filmed outside. Most of
indie artist tend to look very natural and down to earth. For
example, Nina Nesbitt, who wears baggy jumpers has
minimalistic make up and always has her hair down which
creates a very relaxed indie feel. Birdy also follows this
convention where she is often seen with her hair down,
natural make up and baggy jumpers.We have uses this
convention by creating typical indie outfits with knitted
jumpers and a big heavy coat. Isla also has her hair down at
all times and the only make up we used was some gold eye
shadows hence her pseudonym. Our audience was able to
easily identify the indie genre just by looking at the artist
that suggests we have used and applied the conventions of
a real media product successfully.

8. Website
For Isla’s website we chose a template similar to Birdy’s website. Birdy’s website had the artist’
name at the top of the webpage with the horizontal menu below it and social media links on the
side.We have closely followed this form of website layout because websites of other indie artists,
such as Nina Nesbitt, have similar layouts .We have also used all the typical social media links;
Facebook;Twitter; Instagram;YouTube. Just like the other indie music websites, we have included a
photo gallery, reviews, about page, store and a page with behind the scenes videos and the official
music video. I have also photo shopped most of the photos for Isla’s website by putting a – 25 cyan
filter which adds a blue ish tint which is typical of the real media product. However, I have not photo
shopped the home page photograph as the original looks very effective and gives an indie feel. A
close up or a medium close up shot of the artist is conventional of an indie home page as seen on
both websites- Birdy’s and Nina’s so we have also followed that convention.The typical
merchandise of a real artist always includesT-shirts, posters and their albums/ singles.We have also
created these typical promotional product but have also added a wristband and hoodies.We have
not challenged or developed any conventions.

9. DigiPak
It is typical of a real media product to use one font for all of their product to create an image of the artist. We have
followed this convention and used the same font throughout our DigiPak as well as on the website and for text at
the end of the video. Many DigiPaks tend to have a double tile photo, so we used this convention. Front cover
tends to have a medium close up of the artist with a direct eye contact with the audience.The position and size of
name of the artist and the name of the album varies depending on how the artist wants to be presented so we
used a big bright font to attract attention as it is Isla’s debut album. However, I have kept the medium close up
shot and made sure that the artist will connect to her audience through eye contact.The back cover tends to be
framed specifically for the songs to be inserted in the blank space so I have used this convention in the process of
photo shopping. One of the most important elements of the DigiPak is the small print on the CD and on the back
cover. It states the copy right policy and the name of distribution company and sometimes its address too. I have
followed this convention to make our product look legitimate but it is also a record label requirement. Another
important convention is the relationship of photographs as they tend to be from 1 or 2 photo shoots. Following
the convention, I took these photos specifically for the DigiPak and picked them from 2 photo shoot only.
However, I have challenged the conventions by creating a collage of photos from the debut music video to give
the audience a real feel of the artist.The feedback on the collage was overall positive as the collage fits in well
with the DigiPak.