Our music video follows conventional forms and techniques of real media products but with some postmodern elements. It references other artists' videos through intertextuality, borrowing shots and ideas from videos by Hot Chip and Cave Painting. While it includes a minor narrative, as do many music videos, ours aims to be more conceptual through its abstract visuals and surreal storytelling. By applying Barthes' theory of symbolic codes, our video constructs meaning through traditional filmmaking techniques even without dialogue.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our video follows two lines of action, the first is conceptual studio work, and the second is a surreal
and abstract way of presenting a narrative.
Andrew Goodwin
Andrew Goodwin (Dancing in the distraction Factory, 1992) created an
Idea that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. His theory
Identifies that there is a common theme found when creating a Music
video, still to this day his theory can still be applied to Music Videos for
example: One form and convention was “There is a relationship
between music and visuals” this is a technique that is apparent when
we watch our video. One example of this technique is when Chris is
shown in a mid-shot with characters resting their hand on Chris’s
shoulder, using fast paced editing and jump-cuts our shots matched
the tempo of the track.
Andrew
Goodwin's –
Book on Genre
Characteristics
His theory can
be applied to
our work.
Video Example of relationship.
However since the book was wrote the industry has dramatically
changed. Due to vast improvements to technology and the
availability for anybody to make videos and upload using Web 2.0,
forms and conventions have changed, and what was once conceptual
and “Indie” can now be seen in “Mainstream” texts. E.g. with
Bastille, the band have the availability to create conceptual based
videos despite recent found fame and being in the public eye. This
means our video can be viewed as post – modern.
Liam Bedford 7048

2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
A music video is part of popular culture and therefore it is post-modernism.
Two different factors that make piece Post-Modern; Style and Form. The form of our video is conceptual and therefore
borrows techniques and uses intertextual references as we borrow ideas from videos e.g. Hot Chip
Matt Hanson (Reinventing Music Video) based his theory on how a music video is perfectly formed. He believed it provides a
place where visual and narrative experiments can be distilled into a populist short film.
“With the proliferation of digital television, channels concentrating
different music genres and our online viewing of the medium
exploding, the audience have never been more enraptured by the
forms”
Intertextual Reference: Video Clip – Hot Chip, Paint Shot.
When looking at other examples of videos, we were inspired by
strong conceptual videos from artists “Hot Chip” these videos
had a very small narrative that were reinforced by conceptual
ideas and aesthetically visual interesting shots e.g. Paint shot
This was something that we wanted to by going with style over
form and make our video post-modern trying techniques and
interesting shots.
Liam Bedford 7048

3. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
A music video is part of popular culture and therefore it is post-modernism.
Another example of an intertextual reference was from the video “Rio by Cave painting” One technique used in this video
were “projection shots” These shots added an extra concept to the video e.g. Little girl running past holding balloons in the
background, from this we constructed a Pastiche of our character holding balloons (That were made on Photoshop) to link
with our narrative shots.
When looking at other Bastille music videos we found that performance was a convention that was used in the video,
however this was something we wanted to avoid as we preferred the idea of creating a conceptual video. Bastille videos also
included a minor narrative that was different for each video.
“Our minor narrative was a man who was fed up and angry at how his life
was as a normal and boring workingman. We expressed this by the use of
colour, our depressed character was shown in Black & White. He finds
himself in a new and wonderful forest shown with these mysterious
characters who attempt to bring back the soul and fun in the man who is
lost in the rat-race, through colour we try to show the life coming back to
the man who becomes happier in his life.”
Minor Narrative
Intertextual Reference – Video Clip
Thing we lost in the Fire
- Bastille
Liam Bedford 7048

4. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our video follows conventional and traditional film-making codes.
Barthes
Applying Barthes’s theory to our work
would show that our video is
conventional and follows traditional film
making codes. Barthes (Mythologies,
1957) created a theory about how
audience “Makes meanings” from text
and helps examine construct of myths
e.g. the ideology and values.
His theory can be used and applied to
music videos because of the small
differences between media forms and
texts. In our video, despite no dialogue
and a real narrative “fuzz” using codes
we are still able to construct a meaning.
Our music video is produced through
“Symbolic Codes” in which we see what
is happening and can connote what the
different meanings behind that may
be…
This may be read differently by the
audience.
e.g. In our video Chris is clearly in Black
& White with everything else in colour,
however what this signifies can be read
differently by the audience.
Liam Bedford 7048