In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

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

2. It was important to research existing music videos to understand the conventions of music videos and
the indie genre to improve my understanding of the forms and conventions necessary to meet audience
expectations.
My product uses conventions of the indie-rock genre to appeal to the target audience of 15-26 year olds
who look to indie music videos for identity and entertainment according to Blumler and Kats’ uses and
gratifications theory. My media product is an indie/rock genre music video for an independent indie band
called ‘Your Illuminations’, we thought this band was fitting to use in the production of our music video
as it consists of four young males which suites the conventions of the genre
Music videos Indie Genre
A range of camera shots which reflect
the lyrics of the song
Setting- low budget, simplistic and easily
accessible
Camera movement to follow the band
(pan,track,crane)
Performance- very typical to focus on
the talents of the band(e.g playing of
the instruments)
Mise-en-scene – represent the meaning
of the music
Narrative- tells the story to make the
lyrics more understandable
Editing- transitions link to the music and
song as well as narrative/performance
Sound- audiences should be able to hear
exactly what instruments are being
played
Props- create significance for the
characters and lyrics
Conventions of music videos and the Indie Genre

3. Costume
Real indie music videos feature a relaxed
male band within the performance of the
video, for example ‘The 1975’ and ‘Catfish
and the Bottlemen’, famous indie bands in
the UK consist of four stylish male band
members who all feature in their music
videos. Therefore, we decided to use males
as the role of band members to feature in
the performance aspect of the music video
as it is more relatable to the genre.
The costume of the band members was also
important as indie bands generally wear
minimalistic relaxed clothes or vintage items
such as shirts, hats and skinny jeans; the
band members within my media product
conform to this as each band member has
their own style with the lead singer wearing
a vintage Adidas top with skinny jeans and
the rest of the band wearing vintage shirts.
This is essential to the overall theme of the
music video as the performance aspects of
the music video reflect the band identity.
Real Indie bands (The 1975 ,
Catfish)
Our band ‘Your Illuminations’ and costume

4. Performance/narrative
• Most indie music videos stick to an all performance based or
performance with very minimal narrative as it focuses on the
lyrics and band and leaves the audience to make up their own
decisions on the story behind the lyrics. I filmed the band
performing a live gig and included a lot of this footage in my
music video as it is very conventional to the genre especially as I
filmed close-ups of the band playing the instruments and the
singers singing in time to the lyrics, this creates a sense of
reality for the audience as they may feel like they are part of
the crowd listening live. However, I decided to challenge these
conventions as Goodwin’s theory suggests that a narrative helps
an audience understand a music video as well as the thought
through lyrics and star image. My music video is half
performance and half narrative so that the video still meets
conventions but makes it simplistic for a passive audience with a
clear narrative. Established stereotypes and character tropes are
representations which allow the audience to decode the intended
reading of my music video’s narrative. The representation of the
male and female is shown through a strong narrative following a
break-up, the male is shown to be struggling to move on while
the female is shown minimally with her appearance in the music
video being one of independence. This is shown through long
shots of the female walking away from the male while he is
trying to make her stay, as well as close-up shots of her
laughing and smiling; this goes against the stereotype of women
being emotional and weak.

5. Setting
• I also conformed to the stereotypical setting of indie music videos. After
research into existing media products it was evident that the indie genre is set
in very minimalistic simple locations as the band and the lyrics are seen as the
main focus rather than an extravagant back drop/setting. The setting is most
likely to be anywhere where there’s an opportunity for the band to perform
for example; studios, stages, warehouses and empty buildings. Previous real
media products such as ‘Catfish and the Bottlemen’ singing 'Sound check’ is set
entirely in a warehouse to focus on the lyrics and instruments similarly ‘The
1975’ singing ‘Chocolate’ features the performance of the music video within
the lit corridor of an empty building while the narrative of the video between a
couple is in easily recognisable settings such as a car, a café and a house. I
conformed to this sort of setting as the location for the performance filming
was ‘The Night and Day Café’ Manchester as this was a natural setting for a
gig and for the band to perform on stage, the stage was well lit with lights
and instruments on stage. Similarly, the narrative it was important to make
sure that the location was relatable to the target audience, a house setting
was identifiable as most people spend most of their time here with friends and
family. An establishing shot of the front of the house is used, here the male
character will be seen to slam door and storm of, while the female character
will be shown in her bedroom, close-up shots show her smiling at her phone
depicting the relationship break-up and her desire to move on. This location
may be relatable to males and females who have gone through a relationship
break-up.

6. Editing
• Within the editing of the music video cuts
are used to show the contrast between the
strong use of instruments and the band
singing along with fades to the narrative
which links to the lyrics played over the
music video. These are conventions of real
media products as Indie bands use all of their
own instruments to create the sounds to
their songs meaning that they play a big
involvement within the representation of the
band and the song. Within my music video I
use close up shots of the guitar and use the
Ken Burns effect on Final Cut Pro X to zoom
in on the drummer throwing his drum sticks
mid performance. Not only that but the
lighting of the clips is altered to a lower key
lighting when it cuts to performance to
symbolise the relationship break-up being a
dull and upsetting time especially for the
male character.

7. Ancillary Tasks- Digipak
I researched existing Digipaks in
detail, it was clear that the images on
the digipaks have to be consistent
and stick to a professional theme.
The digipaks must have text and
titles as as well as a barcode and
record label logo. I used all of these
conventions to assure that the
product had all of the aspects
needed for a successful digipak.

8. Indie digipaks
• Once I understood the conventions of digipaks generally I researched into indie digipaks
more specifically to understand how they appealed to the audience. After research I
noticed that most indie digipaks stick to a simplistic theme which focuses mainly on the
band name and songs rather than a lot of images and colours this is reflected of the
genre and music videos as they tend to focus on the performance and songs. The digipaks
for the indie genre all use minimal colours with the use of black and white or dull colours
to achieve the minimalistic laid-back representation of the band. I researched a popular
indie band ‘The 1975’ and looked at a real text.
• The front cover of the album feature the Band name in white against a black illuminated
screen, the band name Is the key image making them recognisable to their audiences. The
use of a minimalistic front cover is used frequently by indie bands. I decided to use this
convention as it creates a strong band image and will be appealing to the target audience
who are very interested in music and instruments and will not be interested in
flamboyant images or colours.
• I decided the develop the convention of a black and white colour as although it is very
typical of the genre, my main product features the performance of the band under blue
strobe therefore I wanted my ancillary tasks to match this, hence why I used a dark blue
and black theme, developing the convention to keep a consistent theme.
• In addition many existing indie digipaks use images of instruments and venues as if proving
that performances are what define the band. I developed this by including images of
drums, guitars and stage as this is what and where they perform so its very personal to
the band and recognisable to an audience who know what the band stand for and where
they perform. Not only that but I included a key image of the lead singer on the front
cover however his face cannot be seen as he is playing the guitar again highlighting that
that Indie Rock artists are focused on the music rather than fame etc.

9. Magazine advert
I researched magazine adverts for Indie
bands and it became obvious that the
bands do not use a lot of images of
the band members instead they use an
abstract image of the venue they
perform at or an image from the
Digipak of the CD they are promoting,
I used and developed these conventions
as I used the full image of which is
cropped down and used on the Digipak,
I chose the image as it shows the
stage which is where the band spend
most of their time and features the
instruments which make up the songs
the band sing; drums and guitars.