This document analyzes how a media product for an indie rock band uses, develops, and challenges conventions of real indie rock products. Specifically, it examines the band's music video, digipak, and website compared to those of similar bands. While some conventions are followed, such as camera shots and fonts, conventions are also challenged, like the extensive use of the color red throughout the music video and combining band members' faces on the digipak cover, which creates a sense of mystery not seen elsewhere in the genre. The document provides examples to support how the media product borrows from, improves on, and innovates beyond typical conventions.

1. EVALUATION
TASK 1
IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR
MEDIA PRODUCT USE,
DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE
FORMS AND CONVENTIONS
OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

2. SIMILAR PRODUCTS USED
 MUSIC VIDEO
1. FOSTER THE PEOPLE- “Pumped Up Kicks”
2. THE KOOKS- “Naïve”
3. MUMFORD AND SONS- “Little Lion Man”
4. BASTILLE-”Fake it” and “Send Them Off!”
5. THE SMITHS- “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”
 DIGIPAK
1. GRAYSON GILMOUR- “Infinite Life!”
2. FOSTER THE PEOPLE- “Torches”
3. THE KAISER CHIEFS- “Stay Together”
 WEBSITE
1. ARCTIC MONKEYS- http://www.arcticmonkeys.com/
2. TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB- http://twodoorcinemaclub.com/
3. ALT- J- http://www.altjband.com/
4. KINGS OF LEON- http://kingsofleon.com/

3. INTRODUCTION
 I have created a music campaign for an
up and coming Indie Rock band, using
these three products I will explain how I
used, challenged and developed on
conventions of real Indie Rock products to
create something original

4.  A convention is a way in which something
is usually done. I have looked at how
conventions of the Indie Rock genre of
my band have been developed,
challenged or accepted through the
three products I created.
 Form is the particular way in which
something is created
What

5. MUSIC VIDEO- CAMERA
We have used the same conventions of camera work in many shots such as between
Foster The People’s music video for the song ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ and out music video.
They both are a mid shot of the lead singer. I found during research into the conventions
of the Indie Rock genre that mid shots were often used for the lead singer. This is to allow
an audience to feel a sense of closeness with the singer. However, I also found that due
to bands of the Indie Rock genre being mainly of organic ideology (according to Negus’
theory) few if any close ups were used of the lead singer. Therefore we thought it was
important as a group to use this convention.

6. However, we challenged this convention also by using a lot
more mid shots of the other members of the band not just the
lead singer, which worked with the convention that the band
are organic, due to showing all the band members on
camera, therefore highlighting they are all equal and like a
brotherhood. this was not done so much in Foster The
People’s videos. Below are examples of how we challenged
the convention, as can be seen from our music video to
Foster The People’s music video.

7. MUSIC VIDEO- LIGHTING
The Kooks’ music video ‘Naïve’ is similar in lighting to our music video. I found doing
research that red wasn't necessarily a common colour between the videos. This
can be seen in The Kooks’ music video, the red only features for a few seconds,
where as we used the colour red for the main theme to tie all three products of the
campaign together, therefore we challenged the convention of colour, by using a
constant theme, this was done for all three of the products as a reoccurring theme.
We did this to not only tie the three products together, but also as a deeper
meaning that the audience could then decode (Stuart Hall) and gather a
preferred meaning with the music video. The red symbolized the idea of
exploitation and violence which is what we encoded as the meaning of the video.
The red is also memorable so that the audience are unlikely to forget the video and
hopefully participate by spreading the video due to their understanding of the text
(Henry Jenkins)

8. As can be seen by the four photos and looking at the timings, the
Red is a constant theme throughout the video, challenging the
convention that Indie Rock videos don’t have a specific constant
colour scheme within their videos.

9. MUSIC VIDEO- COSTUME
Mumford and Sons’ music video ‘Little Lion Man’ is similar to our music video in
terms of costume. The characters seen in the screenshot above can be seen
to be wearing smart clothing (shirts, waistcoat and ties). However, the men in
our music video aren’t the lead singers of the band like in Mumford and Sons’
video. We dressed our lead singers in t-shirts and jeans to give a casual look.
This was to help the audience recognize that the band were according to
Negus’ theory organic and just “like us” and it is their music that is extraordinary
rather than the way they look. We developed the genre convention of
costume as we thought that it would be easier for our target audience to
recognize in the first few seconds of the music video that the band wearing
jeans and t-shirts fits better with the idea of the band being of organic
ideology, rather than wearing suits which could give the impression that the
band are slightly more rock orientated that making original music.

10. These are two examples of heavy
Rock bands that were conically
known for their unusual costumes.
One being Kiss (left) and The Hives
(right). Both bands are heavy rock.
our band’s music is a lot more mellow and rather more individual
therefore dressing them this way like Mumford and Sons do wouldn’t
work.

11. MUSIC VIDEO- EDITING
I found that Bastille’s music video for the song “Fake It” shares a
similarity in editing, specifically the transitions of the shots. Both shots
share the idea of the TV and then moving into the image on the TV in
real life. This is an example of how we used the conventions of editing
in Indie Rock. The movement of shots from one to another. However,
we developed this convention with a transition (dissolve) effect from
the TV to the real band performance instead of just a cut from the TV
to the real life news performance in Bastille’s video. We challenged
this convention to entice our target audience further, I researched
that the target audience would be passionate about
cinematography. Therefore using advanced editing techniques
would appeal to the audience and therefore the audience would
seek the gratification of diversion as they are seeking escape from
their mundane lives through the use of advanced cinematography.

12. MUSIC VIDEO- LOCATION
Using Bastille as an example again, yet with the music video “Send
Them Off!” The locations are almost identical. Both of the locations are
in a dark sordid room with dim lighting and sofas. We used this
convention of casual and relaxed sets to encode our message of the
cruelty of the creepy men as they are relaxed in their setting adding to
the shock the audience feel of what is going on. However, unlike
Bastille’s video where their similar location only features for a few
seconds, our location is the main element due to being the narrative
of the music video. Therefore, we developed on this idea of locations
and used it as a major part of the music video. This also challenged
the convention as we only used three locations, where as the other
Indie Rock bands’ music videos used a lot of locations. For example,
using Bastille in their video they used eight different locations.

13. MUSIC VIDEO- CHARACTER
POSITIONING
The Smiths and their music video for the song “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” shares
similar character positioning to my music video. The lead singer is placed at the front and
center of the stage then the guitarist and pianist (two guitarists in The Smiths’ video) back
and at the sides and the drummer at the very back. We used this convention of the indie
rock genre to make it obvious to the audience that the group were a band with a lead
singer. There needed to be a distinct difference between the lead singer and the other
members of the band, which I found out when doing my research into bands of the Indie
Rock genre. However, unlike The Smiths’ video we developed this convention of the
genre by filming (mid- shots) each band member individually at points through out the
video. This was to highlight the idea that even though there is a lead singer, the band are
all equal which was important when using Negus’ theory. Bands of the Indie Rock genre
are predominantly organic, therefore we thought the best way to show this would be to
use shots of each of the band members. Hence showing the group are a band through
the positioning yet are equal due to each of their time on camera and so following
Negus’ theory of the band being of organic ideology.

14. DIGIPAK-DESIGN
I found an Indie Rock artist called Grayson Gilmour who has a similar distorted
image on his album artwork as I do. However, Gilmour’s work is a painting, it has
still been edited using Photoshop in order to enhance the colours. Where as we
as a group did a photo-shoot with the band and cut out each band member’s
face and edited it together to create one face. I found it difficult to find a similar
artist that had done the same, as I found through my research that none of the
artists of the Indie Rock genre had used their faces on the front of the album
cover. This is an example of how we went against the genre conventions of the
Indie Rock genre. However, we developed on the idea that no whole photo was
used of the band and cut and cropped Cigarettes After Sex’s faces together
using Adobe Premier in order to create a sense of mystery, which can be seen in
Dyers’ theory of the artists being present yet simultaneously absent, which other
artists have not done.

15. DIGIPAK- FONT AND COLOURS
Using the Kaiser Chiefs album ‘Stay Together’ I found that the fonts of our digipak’s are similar. Both
digipak’s use a bold font for the titles on the back of the digipak. This is an example of how we used the
conventions of the genre. We thought that we needed to make the fonts as easy to read as possible,
the bands face isn’t on either of the digipak’s, therefore to entice an audience an easy to read font
and simple track titles helps to create an identification with the music before the audience member has
even heard the track. However, there is nothing similar about the colour scheme of the two tracks. I
couldn’t find any digipak’s of an Indie Rock artist with a similar colour scheme to ours. This is therefore an
example of how we challenged the conventions of the genre. I thought that the bands music was very
mellow and soft therefore I thought the colour white best represented their music’s purity and originality
because there are so few Rock bands with a white background digipak. We used the colour red for the
font and the swans as it was a continuous theme in the music video and the design of the website.
Therefore this helped us to tie all three of the products together into one music campaign.

16. DIGIPAK- LAYOUT
Foster The People with the album ‘torches’ has a very similar setting to our album
artwork. Both artworks have a plain white setting which makes the center piece
of the artwork stand out to potential target audiences. I found during my
research that most Indie Rock albums have a plain white background with
something eye catching in the middle of the frame. We thought that we would
use with this convention so that our target audience would be able to
recognize the genre of the album just by looking at it. This would be especially
important to follow this idea as none of the band’s faces are featured on the
front of the artwork due to the band being of organic ideology, therefore a
target audience has to recognize the album some other way

17. WEBSITE- COSTUME
Both the Arctic monkey’s and Cigarettes After Sex have a similar gallery of
photos on their website of the band. They both share the convention of relaxed
clothing that is seen throughout Indie Rock campaigns. We decided to dress our
band in relaxed clothing in order to accept this convention of the genre, as
someone might just find the website and can almost immediately tell from the
relaxed t-shirt and jean vibe that the band are Indie Rock. However, unlike
Arctic Monkey’s where some of the clothing is smarter and much more of
synthetic ideology due to them being a huge band, we decided that we
wanted our band to keep it casual in terms of costume and so we didn’t choose
to dress them this way, as they are supposed to be an up and coming band
rather than already stars, this is where we went against the convention of the
band having an edgy suit look like can be seen with the Arctic Monkey’s and
Two Door Cinema Club (among many more). (Look on next slide for photos of
this)

18. TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB
WEBSITE  GALLERY
ARCTIC MONKEYS-
WEBSITE GALLERY

19. WEBSITE-LAYOUT
I found that Alt- J had a very similar website homepage to the one we created. Both the
titles have been edited so that they are in the center of the page in order to tell the target
audience exactly what they are looking at. The positioning of the social media tab is also
very similar how it easily accessible near the main title that stands out. However, during my
research I found that they seemed to be a center piece of the website and then the rest
was minimalistic with a white background. We developed on this idea, as we had the idea
of a swan running throughout our video and digipak therefore we added it onto the
website in order to pull together the campaign and make it similar, it also adds something
interesting to an otherwise plain website. We went against the convention when we
created a GIF for the front homepage. I couldn't’t find any other Indie Rock artist's who
had done the same. This makes the website eye catching as it is the first thing you see in
the center of a white background. The changing colour also adds a sense of modernism
to the band. However, we still kept with Negus’ theory of the band being organic which is
the fundamental element of the Indie Rock genre.

20. WEBSITE- COLOUR SCHEME
The Kings of Leon have a similar colour scheme on the homepage of their
website. Both my band’s website and The Kings of Leon share a pastel blue
colour. However, I noticed doing my research that a lot of the Indie Rock bands
stuck to bright colours such as reds and blacks, this was so it stood out to the
audience. I challenged this idea with my website, I thought that light pastel
colours best matched the mellow tone of the music. I incorporated a red
element with the title “Cigarettes After Sex” this was so that the band name
stood out as well as working with the other two products. I wanted to challenge
the conventions of the colour schemes that go along with the Indie Rock genre
as I feel that the majority of bands in the Indie Rock genre have rather “samey”
websites. I wanted to create something that was original for the band, this was
due to the original music video and digipak. This is an example of how we
challenged the conventions of the genre.

21. CONCLUSION
 Using similar products in the research stage of my production was
especially helpful for creating something that was original and
unique. I used lots of conventions used by the Indie Rock genre in
order to aid the audience into knowing exactly what they were
watching/ looking at. For example, the character positioning of the
band in the music video immediately tells the audience the group
are a band. Yet we developed on this convention further by giving
each band member almost an equal amount of time on camera.
Therefore showing that the band are all equal and like a
brotherhood, this also showed that the band were of organic
ideology, which is a convention of the Indie Rock genre.
 We developed a lot of the conventions in order to make the
audience feel like what they were watching/ looking at were
original. Our target audience I predicted were male ages 25-30
and interested in cinematography and seeking new and original
ideas. Therefore developing the conventions actually enticed our
audience.