Kate Shaw evaluated her media coursework on creating a music video for the indie band The Libertines. Through researching The Libertines and other indie music videos, she found that they commonly use natural locations, portray the band's casual lifestyle, and include live performance shots. Her video incorporated these conventions to represent the genre while challenging traditional music video techniques through the use of shaky camera work. She carried these elements through to other aspects of the project like the band members' costumes, font and color choices for the album digipak, and composition of a band advertisement.

1. Kate Shaw A2 Media Coursework Evaluation
1. In what way does your media
product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions?

2. Through analysing a variety of music videos in the indie
The Video genre I found that the overall theme of locations was to use
natural street shots and shots of live recordings . The
Locations Libertines show indie conventions in their videos with their
attitude towards the music industry.
From analysing a variety of
indie music videos we found
that the general idea was to
represent attitudes towards
the music industry. This is
reflected through our choice
of locations as we chose
different areas around York
city centre. A representation
of the bands day to day
lifestyle are portrayed. Their
attitudes are shown through
the use of the pub and their
lack of respect towards public
transport, shops and people
around them etc.

3. The Video In researching the indie genre I found the general style
was to wear laid back casual clothes such as jeans and
Costumes band t shirts. I found this out through the use of our
audience research questionnaire and survey.
We choose a
stereotypical indie look
for our band members
which contrasts with
The Libertines look as
they are often costumed
in alternative
fashions, e.g. military
clothing.
Through looking at a
whole range of
indie bands in my
research I found the
most popular style
was laid back and
has a carefree
attitude

4. The Video Live performances in indie music videos are a reoccurring
theme and are used to reflect the bands ability to perform
Performance live with an audience reaction . It also represents their
attitudes to the music industry.
The use of the music
studio in college
allowed us to show
shots of live
performances
throughout our video.
This method is used a
lot in videos by The
Libertines as it reflects
individuality and their
stage presence and
audience reaction.
We found that
integrating live
performance shots
with naturalistic
shots portrayed the
indie genre and
lifestyle well.

5. The Video Shaky cam is a handheld technique in which you apply random
movement to the camera to create a distorted viewpoint of a
Shaky Cam situation, it is used in our video to show authenticity as it reflects the
indie genre.
We used shaky cam to
represent the rebellious
attitudes of The
Libertines. Shaky cam
challenges the
traditional style of
music videos as the
technique isn’t usually
used. The fast moving
shots reflect the lifestyle
of the band and their
care free attitude.

6. The Digipak
Fonts
The font used in the digipak has a The Libertines band logo has
newspaper style, this reflects the ‘do it significance as it is bold, recognizable
yourself’ attitude of the band. This also and stands out from mainstream
reinforces the authenticity of indie advertisements in the music industry.
bands such as The Libertines.

7. The Digipak
Colour
The colours used in our
digipak reflect the indie
genre. The use of black and
white show simplicity
whereas the red reinforces a
boldness and the rebellious
stereotype of indie bands
The colour scheme
represents authenticity
and draws parallels with
indie bands album
covers I found in my
research .

8. The Advert
Photography
The photography used in our advert
does not challenge the forms of the
indie genre as it draws parallels
with The Libertines adverts I
researched. The image shows two
band members in a natural
environment, representing a sense
of a care free band atmosphere
and lifestyle.
The bands style and
appearance is portrayed
through their clothing and
the use of photography
allows the audience to
liken themselves to the
band as they can idolize
them through their
advertisements.

9. In researching The Libertines The layout of the
The Advert advertisements I found the general theme advert also shows
to be of natural photos. This influenced our their signature band
Composition advert as we chose to use the same layout. logo of which is self
Two band members are features in a natural titled, ‘The Libertines’.
environment, their clothes and facial We chose to do this
expressions reflect their attitude and the on our advert also as it
overall indie genre stereotype. is recognizable to the
audience.