The music video challenges conventions of the genre in several ways: 1) It includes titles at the end rather than the beginning and concludes with a choreographed title sequence. 2) It has no single setting but rather takes place in various locations around Manchester. 3) It aims for realism by not establishing specific costumes and using casual, everyday clothing to represent the characters. 4) It was filmed with a handheld HD video camera rather than professional equipment in order to seem less static.

1. Estelle Naughton
Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real media products?
In my music video, some conventions that are displayed use, develop and challenge
the existing norms for music videos and then the stereotypical expectation of an
indie music video. Our music video tends to challenge or use the overall norms of
music videos yet develop them in terms of the indie genre with the undercover
meaning behind the use and how it represents the narrative.
The title of my music video is the title of the track and the communal decided
name of the band; The 1985. Despite all members of our group having a different
version of the band’s name, we decided to name the band ‘The 1985’ as it is one of
the members version of the band. The title and band name are at the end of the
video as it flows and supports the fragmented narrative and would off throw the
beginning of the video. We have included titles at the end including everyone who
had filmed and produced it and the main characters starring in the music video, after
the name of the band and the music video title. The title sequence at the end is
choreographed alongside the music as the music is fading out and creates a
powerful, structured ending to the music video. Due to the arrangement of the title
sequence, it is slightly unusual as many music videos introduce the video before the
music video plays. Our video somewhat challenges these conventions as not many
indie bands concludes their music video by using titles, even the band themselves
introduce their videos at the beginning. This suggests how as a group, we have tried
to deviate from the stereotypical conventions of music videos, discarding the genre
of the band. The text we have used is thin, white and in capital letters which reflects
the band’s way in which they would go about ending a video with a title sequence.
The background is black and the text is white which adds impact to the ending title
sequence as well as the impact from the music matching the way we have edited the
clips on the beats of the song, it is also powerful as our music video is in black and
white so it continues the theme even when ending the music video. The text is
simplistic which develops the conventions of the indie genre, specifically the band
themselves as they would use a similar font and probably use white text against
black background to reinforce the overall narrative even towards the end.
The setting of our music video is based around Manchester, including some iconic
areas, such as Media City. The main areas in which the footage has taken place
include Media City, a teenager’s bedroom, Clifton City Walk, Manchester City
Centre, the tram into City Centre and Fopp. Our music video consists of many
destinations which challenges some media conventions as some indie music videos
may occur in one place or a few places but one main setting, such as the band
themselves. There is no main setting of the video apart from Manchester town and
iconic elements of Manchester, this develops conventions as in many indie music
videos the narrative is fragmented and this includes multiple locations which is
apparent in my music video. In a clip used in the music video, it has been sped up
and it is shots of the road, this continues the convention of indie music videos as a
similar attitude is portrayed in The 1975’s ‘Chocolate’ video as the band is in a car
and in black and white.

2. In my music video, no specific outfit or costume choices are established as we tried
to enhance the realism within the overall narrative as it happens to real people, in
real life which would add hyper reality to our video as it is staged. The clothing worn
is casual and represents the characters; we tried to highlight the aspect of real life
within the narrative. The use of nonspecific clothing represents the gender and age
of the characters as it suggests that they are casual and young adults. The casual
clothing links with the genre and exposition of the narrative; this indicates the
somewhat laid back nature of the genre, song and the band. It adds an element of
realism to the narrative suggesting that the behavior demonstrated within our video,
that it happens in everyday life. Make up was used to create the bruises which are
revealed towards the end of the video, to add a dramatic effect and to answer the
narrative enigma which is established at the beginning of the video due to the
narrative. No out of the ordinary props were used, just the mobile phone which
brought out the violent side of the male characters which is used convention in many
indie or genre music videos as the narrative doesn’t want to appear fake or over the
top which is the style we aimed for.
We used a HD video camera to film the footage which was hand held whilst
filming, we did have a tripod handy at all times but we didn’t want the video to be too
static. This challenges some conventions of music videos as some music videos use
professional cameras and a tripod to allow a stable shot. A canon camera was used
to create the images for my digipack, alongside a tripod to ensure a stable and clear
picture which is able to be used for my digipack. Some pictures were taken on an
iPhone as it was convenient; however this may challenge or develop conventions as
not many pictures on a CD digipack are taken on an iPhone which may reinforce the
indie genre and trying to attempt to do things which aren’t always popular with
others. Premier was used to edit the final video, which may challenge some
conventions as music videos are usually edited professionally whilst our music video
was created on somewhat amateur software. Photoshop was used to edit and
manipulate the images to give an professional aspect to the images, this uses typical
conventions as most images are adjusted in Photoshop which enhances an element
of hyper reality within other CD digipacks and my own.

3. The narrative as mentioned previously, the narrative is fragmented with is a typical
convention of music videos especially the indie genre. Our fragmented narrative
allows a deeper meaning to the narrative, allowing the narrative to be decoded in the
way in which it was intended. One clip is inserted into the beginning of the narrative
which is featured at the end which explains the order of the events.
There are 2 main characters but the main focus point is on the female character
as she is established right at the beginning of the narrative and within the first 30
seconds of the video, she is introduced. The secondary main character is introduced
later on in the narrative alongside a scene and other scenes with the main female
character. There are other characters when with friends but are to symbolise
solidarity and unity yet they aren’t featured anywhere else within the narrative.
In my music video, special effects have been applied to the footage such as
having a black and white effect to depict a deeper meaning to the reason for using it.
Some footage was either sped up or slowed down to correspond with the music and
enhance certain elements of the footage.
In conclusion, my A2 media products use, develop and challenge typical
conventions of music videos as they are represented in my music video. Some of
these have been implemented due to market research and the effectiveness of that
applied to their media product.