1. In what ways does your media
product use, develop or
challenge forms and
conventions of real media
products?
2. Conventions of narrative music videos:
the music video contains a series of events that
both make sense to the audience and appear to be
unified in time and space. So as to ensure
repeated viewings and the effective marketing of
the band/artist and song, the narrative code must
be “loose” or simply “suggestive” rather than
“realistic” or “detailed”.
Conventions of the band performance:
a degree of authenticity of the performance is
sought by the band and the director so we often
find lip-syncing close-up, mimed playing of
instruments, repetition of chorus shots to enhance
„repeatability‟, unusual camera shots and angles
(e.g. the micro camera shots attached to the neck
of a guitar, sweeping crane shots to film audience
reaction to the band playing etc.).
3. The developments of our media products was focused around the indie/pop
genre derived from our use of the song ‘London Love’ by Maliki. Bands which
share the same genre as Maliki are The 1975, Artic Monkeys, The Libertines
and Bastille. Maliki have performed at a numerous amount of gigs, at various
locations, including The Basement Door in Richmond, London. They already
have a formed target audience of teenagers from roughly the ages of 15-21 year
olds. This helped us create our media products, as well as the knowledge of
traditional indie/pop genre conventions, and brainstorming our own ideas for the
best possible outcome.
4. There are a wide number of conventions within the
indie/pop genre, one of the main ones being image.
This specific genre revolves around the performance
aspect as the focus point in the music video, as it
establishes the artist/band themselves. Although
many indie/pop music videos contain a narrative
sequence, it is unusual for a music video of this
genre to a show a connection to the attitudes and live
musical ability of the artist.
5. Also amongst the indie/pop genre music videos,
there are a lot of close up shots, to create a clear
focal point for the audience. It also creates an
emotional, personal connection between audience
and artist, which then creates more of an attraction to
the song and artist themselves. Close up shots are
also used to focus upon the musical instruments
used by the band, such as guitars, bass guitars,
drums and occasionally keys, which are all
associated with the indie/pop genre.
6. Another key element in indie/pop music videos is narrative. Unlike some
mainstream pop videos, narrative is extremely common in this genre, to
fulfil the emotional value of the video, and to create a connection with the
lyrics. Its also used to display the meaning of the song and make the
message clear to the target audience, in comparison to a genre such as
R&B, where female dancers are usually used to attract the attention of
male audience. The indie/pop genre usually use narrative for a singular
purpose/meaning, and create a connection with the audience.
