This document discusses how a student music video project for the band Bastille incorporates conventions of indie music videos. It outlines the group's initial research into typical conventions like dark or bright settings, inclusion of both performance and narrative elements. Their research also looked specifically at Bastille's conventions, like use of color over black and white. Their resulting video includes shots in day and night with a bonfire, slow motion walking, and limited shots of singing directly to the camera, matching both indie and Bastille conventions. Comparisons to other indie videos show similarities in shot composition and adherence to conventions like mixing light and dark performance shots. Overall the document argues the video successfully meets expectations for an indie music video genre.

1. Q1. Question 1 - In what
ways does your media
product use, develop or
challenge forms and
conventions of real
media products?
Taurus Records

2. Our initial thoughts
• For our music video we wanted to make sure
that we followed generic conventions of indie
music video’s. We knew from all of the research
that we had conducted that indie bands
normally go for a dark or bright setting. We
knew that most indie bands either focus on one
artist or the band on a whole and that it
normally has a mixture of performance and
narrative. We knew that to make our product
look professional we needed to incorporate and
follow the generic conventions.

3. Our Research
When we conducted our research we wanted
to make sure that we also had a look at the
artist we are trying to create the music video
for, in our case it was bastille. We wanted to
make sure that we stuck with their generic
conventions as well as the indie conventions.
From this research we had concluded that
most bands use a mixture of both light and
dark in their videos as well as some being
black and white. When we had gathered back
as a group we had concluded that we wanted
to stick with color instead of black and white
as again we wanted to stick with the
conventions of bastille. We had also found
that there aren’t many shots of bastille
singing into the camera compared to other
artists – which is something we thought we
should carry across in our music video. We
had also found out that slow motion is used
a lot in indie rock bands – something we felt
would look great in our video.

4. Our video
When we had started planning and filing our
music videos we had taken a laptop
containing all of the information we had
needed to shoot which was written up
beforehand. This had all of the shots we
needed and what sort of effect we were
going for. This really helped us when it came
to the generic conventions and sticking to
them. As you can see by the screenshots of
the music video we were lucky enough to
film in both day and night with the bonfire as
well as having access to a dark room in which
we were able to create a great effect of the
background being black and the main actor
(Kierann) lit up. By looking at the screenshots
of our media product you can see that we
have stuck with the generic convention of
dark and bright, which is evident in these
pictures. We had also stuck with the artists
generic conventions of him not singing in
front of the camera as much. In the second
screenshot down we had decided that a
slow-motion shot of Kierann walking would
look best for our product.

5. Comparison
When we compare our video to other indie
band videos you can see where both
products look similar in the way they were
shot and how the shots are composed. When
we compare the generic conventions used
again you can see that they both stick to the
generic dark and bright convention. When
we look at the first set of screenshots we can
see that both have lots of performance shots
– both in the light and in dark. We wanted to
make sure that we incorporated that and we
timed our filming to make our product fit the
generic conventions of bright. When we
compare the second screenshots we can see
that both have the lead singer singing in
front of the camera. The background is also
dark which fits the generic conventions of
darkness. Again on the third screenshots we
can see that there are shots of the lead
singer singing in a bright setting, and we
wanted to make sure we incorporated this so
we had our lead singer Kierann sing in
multiple locations at different times of the
day to get the perfect shot.
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6. Overall conclusion
• Overall when we have a look at indie generic
conventions and our media product you can see that
we have made sure that we include all of the generic
conventions of a indie music video in our product. If
we had failed to include them it could have a impact
on the look of our music video and could have make it
look unprofessional. By incorporating all of the
research we have gathered I feel we have created a
successful media product that met all of the generic
conventions of it’s genre.