Evaluation Question 1

1. Rory Giddings

2. Goodwin’s Six Features
One way of understanding whether my music video uses, develops or challenges forms and conventions of real media products is to compare it with Andrew Goodwin’s six
features of a music video.
Music Videos Demonstrate Genre Characteristics
As dream-pop is such an experimental genre, (as well as being closely affiliated with alternative rock) it is difficult to spot ‘fixed’ conventions in music videos of this genre.
However, there does seem to be a blend of narrative, conceptual and performance elements in music videos of this genre. In my own music video, I incorporated multiple
narrative and conceptual elements throughout the video. Therefore, it could be said that my music video demonstrates genre characteristics.
There is a Relationship Between Lyrics and Visuals
I would say this theory could be applied to my music video; both the lyrics and title of the song are ‘Don’t wake me up’. This encouraged me to construct my narrative around
the concept of dreaming, with my protagonist being trapped inside multiple layers of a dream. For this reason, I believe that my video would conform to this theory proposed
by Goodwin.
There is a Relationship Between Music and Visuals
This is evident in my video. For example, in the underpass sequence, there is a scene where the transitions between cuts are timed with the beat of the music. Also, near the
end of the video there is a sequence of cuts used in quick succession to match with the repetition of the lyrics “Don’t wake me up”.
The Demands of the Record Label Will Include the Need For Lots of Close-Ups
It is difficult to say whether my video conforms to this feature, as there is no ‘star image’ used. There are however multiple close-up shots of my protagonist which would
suggest he is the main feature of my video, despite not being represented as the song’s artist.
There is Frequent Reference to Notion of Looking
I would say this feature can’t be applied to my video, because it wasn’t a performance-based video and so the camera wasn’t acknowledged at all, otherwise this would have
broken the fourth wall and defeated the purpose of narrative in my video.
There are Often Intertextual References to films, TV Programmes and Other Music Videos, etc.
This feature is not evident in my video.

3. In conclusion, my music video does use some of Goodwin’s
six features but also challenges some. I will now select nine
frames from my video and analyse them in further detail.

5. This is the first frame of my music video, which immediately engages the audience. This is
because there are a couple of seconds of darkness before the frame suddenly appears. The clip
is also synced with the non-diegetic sound of a loud/sudden opening beat from the song’s
instrumentals, which allows the clip to enter both dramatically and unexpectedly as the audience
aren’t expecting the image to suddenly appear. This frame is also significant in conveying the late
night setting to the audience, with the clouds gently passing over the moon making for engaging
visuals. Furthermore, the night setting is indicative of the dark nature of the events that follow.
This is the second frame, reinforcing the late night backdrop and the evening atmosphere of
zooming headlights, traffic, etc. The dual carriageway suggests that the events are either taking
place in/near a suburban environment. The blurred light dots suggest a sense of fatigue, almost
as if the viewer is too tired to focus their eyes. This links in to the late night setting, with the
passing cars representing the passing of time as the events of the video unfold.
This frame reveals the video’s antagonist, blocking the path through the tunnel. His dark costume
blends in with the black backdrop at the end of the tunnel, suggesting his dark and evil nature.
The fact that his hood partly conceals his face represents him as a possible threat to the safety of
our main character, causing the audience to side with our protagonist and subsequently engaging
them with the narrative.

6. The ‘Texturize’ effect became a key element in giving my music video it’s own distinctive look.
Many of my clips were merged with this effect throughout the video, creating a signature
aesthetic. This frame is one of many demonstrating the effect in action. Here, I used it to blend
my motorway time-lapse with a close up shot of the protagonist’s face, showing the passing of
time and hinting that this is a dream/journey taking place inside the character’s head.
This frame introduces the first conceptual element of my video, with the graffiti from the
surrounding walls suddenly appearing on the protagonist's face. This alters his normal
appearance, turning his skin a pale yellow and placing a ‘third eye’ on his forehead with black
paint dripping down from it, highlighting the video’s conceptual structure. I used the ‘Texturize’
effect on Premiere Pro to achieve this layering of clips. This frame makes it clear that my video
will be of the conceptual genre due to it’s stylised visuals.
This scene was transitioned through a smash cut, used to continue the narrative, with the
startling jump (from dying in the previous dream) causing the protagonist to suddenly wake up in
a dark red room. This is an unconventional narrative style for a music video, and so it would fit
into the conceptual genre, as it does not conform to the traditional format of a music video. This
is reinforced by the conceptual elements such as the stylised lighting (an intense red, which has
connotations of danger/anger) and the texturized clips which are used throughout the whole
video. The lighting is symbolic in suggesting a negative mood/emotion due to it’s aforementioned
connotations. Symbolic elements such as these are common conventions of conceptual music
videos, as they help to give the video it’s own distinctive look, making them more memorable for
the audience.

7. Here, the antagonist is shown blocking the end of the tunnel again, (similarly to the frame he
previously featured in) but this time he is surrounded by flames, presenting him as an even
bigger threat than before. The flames are merged into this clip from the previous campfire
scene with the protagonist, linking both the events and aesthetics together.
In this frame, I merged a grainy stock video of blood cell chemicals with a clip of Andrew’s face in
the middle. I adjusted the saturation and brightness of the surrounding areas, giving it a bright
greenish/yellow look, creating a nice contrast with the red lighting from Andrew’s clip. Many of the
clips in my video are visually-stylised, as I wanted to make the video more engaging for the
audience.
This frame is used to show the change in both style and pace of the video. Before cutting to this
particular clip, there is a dramatic build-up (montage) of previous frames used in quick succession,
before finally cutting to a long take of the glowing embers from the fire, signalling the end of the video.
Before the final cut takes place, the shots are jumpy, erratic and random, reinforcing the conceptual
style of the video; after the cut takes place however, the camerawork is smooth and steady,
juxtaposing that of the previous scenes. As this is the last clip in the video, the ending is
polysomic/interpretive since the previous frames suggest that there is no clear/fixed ending to the
video, leaving the audience to decide what happens next. This is another common convention of
conceptual music videos.