My media product uses and develops conventions of real music videos in the following ways: It includes a narrative to engage audiences, as narratives are commonly found in indie music videos. It also challenges conventions by leaving parts of the narrative ambiguous per Roland Barthes' theory of the hermeneutic code. Additionally, it manipulates Goodwin's theory of cutting shots to the beat of the music to parallel the protagonist's emotions.

1. I N W H AT W AY S D O E S Y O U R
M E D I A P R O D U C T U S E , D E V E L O P
O R C H A L L E N G E F O R M S A N D
C O N V E N T I O N S O F R E A L M E D I A
P R O D U C T S ?
E VA L U AT I O N Q 1

2. NARRATIVE
One way in which my product conforms to traditional conventions of a real music video
is by including a narrative.
Having a music video that is based around narrative happens often, particularly for music
within the indie genre. This is because it tends to hold peoples attention longer as they
are seeing a storyline that is constantly changing so they will want to keep on watching
in order to follow it.
Typically, fans of the ‘indie’ genre are more matured are do not find more traditional
music videos (such as ones in the ‘pop’ genre) to be intellectually stimulating. They
prefer watching something they feel has a ‘meaning’ they might be able to work out
through the combination of lyrics and imagery and once they feel they have achieved
their discovery they can feel a large sense of success which again, brings about a bond
between the audience and the artist.
People will often feel they relate to the storyline and this in turn allows for a closer
relationship/connection between the artist and its audience (uses and grats)

3. NARRATIVE
• My narrative contains characteristics that comply with Roland Barthes theory. This is that a
music video should have elements of the hermeneutic code within it (which refers to any
element in a story that is not explained and, therefore, exists as an enigma for the reader,
raising questions that demand explication). I included this element in my narrative by
showing baby photos in which the mother disappeared after also showing her lying on the
sofa.
• Doing this creates a mystery as it conveys the idea that her character is deceased, however
never actually shows this and therefore leaves the audience with the question is she dead
or alive?
• Furthermore, I also conformed to Barthes idea of the enigma code. This is where you build
up large amounts of tension, then release it near the end of the video. To achieve this I
began to increase the speed of the cuts nearer to the climax in which he comes face to face
with the cliff edge. This, plus the increase in tempo and volume in the song, create an
intense ending (leading to his to his muted outburst).

4. NARRATIVE
• Through my research I have found that narrative typically fits better to longer songs.
This is because it allows for more screen time in which to include a story that is more in
depth, which is why I chose to create a video from a longer song.
Some examples of long songs that are suited to long videos are as follows;
National Anthem – Lana Del Rey (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx
DdEPED0h8 )
Grow Old With Me – Tom Odell (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r
gHYP0dD_4 )
Call It What You Want – Foster The
People
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p
rhCWO_518 )
Lover Of The Light – Mumford and
Sons
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n
MJUbZrNnA8 )

5. Like I’ve said previously, Indie music fans tend to be more mature and
therefore they are very appreciative of the unordinary/unique. In recent
times old film (traditional technology) has started to gain popularity
again, mostly amongst fans of the Indie genre. People feel that it creates
a sense of nostalgia (especially for the older audience) and allows
people to appreciate how technology has developed.
The aesthetic of film has become a lot more romanticised in recent
years as it gives a very textured look with an ‘old timey’ feel. Audiences
of the indie genre in particular prefer the stylistic look of film as well as
the sharp HD quality of digital.
Throughout these four Indie music videos there are many
similarities, these include things like; cinematic effects, Goodwin’s
theory and setting.

6. When it came to post production I
wanted to keep this convention in mind
as my target audience was within the
Indie genre. Before editing the video
with my partner, we researched what
the cinematic affects were and how we
could achieve them in our production. I
found that the stylistic look of film
generally means your image was sharp
and had lots of contrast. Additionally, I
found something that it is very popular
nowadays (in both fashion photography
and film) is to have orange highlights
and shadows with hues of teal and for
the image to be slightly grainy. To
achieve this look I put these filters
throughout the video.
These affects are particularly evident in
the scenes in which Jacob is playing the
piano. I did this as I wanted these
scenes to feel a lot more nostalgic than
the others, due to them being
flashbacks.

7. GOODWIN’S THEORY IN RELATION TO MY NARRATIVE
• My product conforms to the codes and conventions of a generic music video in that it
adheres to Goodwin’s theory of cutting at the time of the songs beat (so the beat
dictates when a cut will be made to the next shot/scene). This theory is something I
wished to put my own creative twist on as for my video I wanted the editing (cuts
particularly) to parallel Jacob’s emotions.
• In the scene in which Jacob finds his mum lying on the sofa, the cuts are not as in sync
with the beat as they are throughout the rest of the music video. This helps to convey
the disjointed confusion that was going on in his mind. When the music picks up
speed, and Jacob runs out the house, the cuts start to again follow the beat which
emotes feelings of things starting to come together and make sense psychologically.
• I think this small alteration made to Goodwin's theory gives the audience a unique
viewing angle that they will appreciate as it conforms to the Indie genre in which
things are celebrated for individuality and innovation.

8. • For my Digipak I decided to conform to the sub-convention of having art work as the front cover although
typically most Indie bands follow the convention of having a picture of a naturalistic scene. I decided to
challenge this as I found that the convention occurred so often, it would probably make sales of the album
decline due to it no longer being unique from other albums (which is what my target audience prefer).
• This is why, for my cover, myself and my partner decided to have the main image of the album as a piece
of art work (from Tate Modern in London) that can be interpreted in any way the audience see fit.
• Inside the digipak I have followed the same font them and colours (as well as the artwork). This is so that
there is continuity throughout. This is a typical convention for nearly all albums to follow. However, I
decided to add a twist to my inside by having the titles ‘album featuring’ and ‘insert disk here’ – challenges
codes and conventions as typically there will just be a place for the CD to go with no further instruction
and the list of songs will only be present on the back of the digipack. I feel my target audience will enjoy
this quirk as fans of the indie genre like uniqueness.

9. Examples of Indie Artist’s Album covers
Album name
Artist name
Artwork as
cover
Artist on cover
Block text used
Abstract text
Abstract cover

10. • The table in the previous slide include some of the codes and conventions that I kept
in mind when creating the digipak with my partner. When I made this table I came to
the realisation that none of the Indie album covers ticked all 7 of the general
conventions. This is because Indie artists know that their target audience doesn’t wish
for the album they’re buying to look like others, they want something individual (this
conforms to Goodwin’s theory that the demands of the record label are to be met). So
generally indie artists will try to adhere to that convention (otherwise their albums
wouldn’t sell as well).
• I used this fact as inspiration and decided to combine elements from the album covers
that I looked at to create a result that was also unique from the rest – I did this by
combining the ‘abstract artwork’ idea, along with a large, bold font that was loosely
influenced by the font in Bastille’s cover as it is very recognisable and striking.

11. For our digipak we decided to create a leaflet which stereotypically follows the
convention of having song lyrics from the album in it. However, we also included ‘notes
from the band’ and their signatures. I feel this adds a more personal touch with the fan
base as it creates a sense of closeness - this conforms to Goodwin's theory of uses and
gratification

12. EXAMPLES OF INDIE ARTISTS MAGAZINE ADVERTS
Enlarged image of
album cover
Album name
Artist name
Date of due release
List of featured
songs
Font colour
coordinated with
imagery

13. When it comes to magazine adverts for albums they mostly all follow
the same conventions (as you can see from the table in the previous
slide). I decided to also adhere to these conventions with my
magazine cover.
The conventions I adhered to are as follows:
• Enlarged the album cover to be a portrait image – I found that a lot
of artists do this so that the image covers the whole page, as it is a
lot more aesthetically pleasing than having bars on the top and
bottom on the page.
• Included the Artists name in a large bold font that was a replicate
of the digipak
• Included time of album release as this helps cause a build up to the
album and gives audience incentive to buy it (demands of the
record label being met)
• Had a small list of that songs that will feature on the album -
typically the most popular ones are used in the advert (so I did this)
as they are most recognisable and will therefore bring in a wider
audience that might not know the band as well (but they might
then want to look further into the album)
• Text is colour co ordinated to imagery of artwork – more
aesthetically pleasing

14. Additionally, I particularly favoured
separating the text through lines (much like
the Jake Bugg advert) as I feel it made for a
neater look that was easier to read and
came off as more.
I challenged typical conventions by;
• Having the lower text sit higher on the
page - this then brought more attention to
the artwork and keeps everything more
condensed
• Not including things like record company
logos or reviews as I didn’t want to
potentially clutter the advert (wanted to
keep things as minimal as possible)