2. What genre is your production?
• My music video falls into the pop music genre. I changed
from my original genre of rock because pop music
allowed me to be more creative and colourful and would
allow me to use my artistic tendencies.
3. What are the codes and conventions of
the production?
• The typical codes that you would see in a pop music video are:
• Characters clearly enjoying themselves, usually in the form of a party
or a gathering of some kind
• Youthful teenagers/ people in their 20s, who are often conventionally
beautiful/attractive and live up to society’s beauty standards.
• A narrative held throughout with performance clips and often art clips.
• Alcohol, drugs and sex are common codes seen as this is seen to be
‘cool’ and what all teenagers are doing.
• Costumes are often loud and creative, like Lady Gaga or Katy Perry.
Or they are trendy and keeping up with the fashion trend of that time.
They people in the video are also often heavily made up.
• Andrew Goodwin says that there are a lot of close up shots of the
artist, something that is demanded by the record label. This seems to
be the case especially for pop music videos due to the genre’s
popularity at the moment. Artists need to get their brand seen by
consumers so that they have a chance at standing out against the
other numerous artists that are very similar to them in the pop music
industry.
4. How is the genre established?
• In my music video, I have followed some of the conventions of other pop music videos, but I
have avoided using some.
• In my video, the genre is mainly established by the song and its extremely upbeat and fun
tone.
• The upbeat rhythm is matched with fast editing, a conscious decision I made so that the fun
tone was seen clearly by the audience as the clips are cut to the very obvious beat.
• I also used the convention of youthful teenagers that can be viewed by society as meeting
the beauty standards. However, it did not go as far as to say that the Male Gaze theory can
apply to my video. My female character is more sweet and girly than seductive and
sexualised like most females in the pop genre. This was also a conscious decision I made as
I did not want to follow in the footsteps of voyeurism.
• I also used Andrew Goodwin’s theory of a lot of screen time for the artist. I made it clear that
the main character was the artist by having him the main piece in the narrative and the
visuals as he is shown in every location and is a recurring theme when he is moved around
by the girl.
• My two characters are also clearly enjoying themselves. The girl is shown laughing and
giggling to herself as she treats the boy like a doll and places him in various different
locations. The boy also begins to enjoy himself progressively through the video as he
realises what is happening to him and comes to terms with being transported around in
strange places. I played with this idea at the end of the video by using a lot of clips of him
dancing in all of the different locations and made it into a montage of shots.
5. How does the mise-en-scene support the
genre?
• Watercolour Paintings and Art Supplies: In the first section of the video, the
audience sees the girl sat at a desk full of paint, brushes, paper, pencils and other
stationary. The bright colours of the paint and palettes creates an extremely fun
and colourful atmosphere, confirming the pop music video convention of
happiness. The water colour paintings that I made for the transitions between the
real world and the different locations also support the genre as they are arty and
creative confirming the light hearted tone of the video.
• Canvases and Paintings: Again, in the first section of the video, the table she is
sat at is surrounded with paintings that’s she has previously done, creating an ‘art
studio’ vibe to help with the narrative of her being a arty, fun and mischievous
girlfriend.
• The Costumes: The girls outfit is typical of young teenager. It is not, however,
sexualised which is something I wanted to avoid purposely, so it does not really
support he genre, typically. The boys outfits change with each of the locations
depending on where he is. For example when he is in the football location, he is
wearing a football shirt, and so on. His outfits are generally trendy, conforming
with pop music video conventions.
• Bedroom: When the girl has taken her supplies upstairs ready to begin her
manipulation, the bedroom is revealed. The lighting is warm and a bit darker than
the beginning of the video, to symbolise the tone becoming more intimate. The
props in the room are typical of a teenagers bedroom, following the convention of
teenagers being used in pop music videos.
6. Have generic conventions been adhered
to or subverted?
• I used some of the conventions of pop music videos in my video
including teenagers, happiness, trendy costumes and a lot of artist
screen time. However I decided not to use the remaining conventions
for different reasons.
• Alcohol, sex and drugs: I decided not to use these because of the
constant repetition of these things in every pop music video. The only
thing I considered using more towards the forming of my idea was
alcohol, as I had recorded some footage at a party that was clearly
alcohol induced. I decided against using those clips because they
seemed completely irrelevant to my idea.
• Performance Footage: I didn’t include performance footage purely
because it would have interrupted the flow of the narrative. Because
of the nature of my narrative, it needed to be clear and not
fragmented. The audience may have gotten confused with the
transitioning between different locations if there was a separate clip of
him singing that was not relevant to the narrative. There are however
some shots of the boy singing along to the song (in the toilet location),
dancing to the song (every location in the montage) or playing an
instrument (ukulele).
7. How will the generic elements of the
production appeal to the audience?
• The audience of 16-20 year olds will be able to relate or
fantasise about the romantic but fun relationship between
the boy and the girl. I found it was something that
teenagers aspire to have, so by including an idealistic
relationship in my video, it would attract my target
audience.
• I chose attractive actors to play the characters in the
narrative, much like most pop music videos, which should
attract my target audience out of admiration.
• The general happy tone to the video can provide the
audience with a sort of escape from reality as they enjoy
being transported through the different locations with the
boy.
8. Laura Mulvey - Theory
• A feminist who believes women are objectified in all media
and are shown through the ideas of men (Male Gaze).
• She say that women are depicted in two ways: the virgin
or the whore.
• My music video does not conform to this convention as
my female character is not sexualised in anyway.
9. Andrew Goodwin
• Star Image: I have adhered to this convention as the artist
is the main piece in the narrative and is given a lot of
screen time.
• Intertextuality: I have not included any references to other
media in my video. This was not a decision I made on
purpose, it just did not enter my mind as an idea. If I could
to this project again, I would try to use my love for films to
make references.
