Our group constructed a promotional package for an indie rock band that included a music video, digipak, and poster. We researched conventions of the genre to incorporate realistic elements. The video included close-ups of band members, a live performance, and similar camera techniques and shots to existing videos. The digipak and poster featured tie-dye patterns, vintage photography, and bold text like other products. While some elements differed, overall the package used and developed conventions of indie rock media to effectively promote our fictional band.

1. Emma Steer- Evaluation

2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
As a group we constructed a promotional package that allowed the indie rock genre to be represented. The promotional
package included a music video, digipak and poster which all referenced similar features that represented product
placement and allowed for the package to signify Smith Westerns Band strongly. From our primary and secondary research
earlier in the project we recognised and noted forms and conventions of this genre. This allowed us to plan construct and
evaluate a promotional package well.
Camerawork Andrew Goodwin- a director of music at the Bangor Cathedral for 37
Editing years.
Mise-en-scene Goodwin has a theory that there are five key aspects an audience looks
Sound
out for when watching a music video:
 Thought beats- seeing the sound in your head
Special effects  Performance and narrative
 Star Image
Performance elements
 Relation of visuals to the song
Narrative structure  Technical aspects of the music video
Layout
Images Continued on next slide.
Language
Fonts

3. ought beat- seeing
Thought beats Narrative and Star image Relation of visuals to Technical aspects of
e sound in your head performance the song the music video
- seeing the
sound in your
the audience we Music videos Artists portray a There is a The demands of the
head
ocess three steps demonstrate genre certain appearance relationship record label will
our head: characteristics (e.g. in which to be between lyrics and include the need for
rst step- Focusing stage performance remembered or visuals (either lots of close ups of
n the chorus and in metal video, trendy. illustrative, the artist and the
rsus you interpret dance routine for In various Genres amplifying, artist may develop
e music. boy/girl band). artists are natural contradicting). motifs which recur
and wish to perceive Certain visuals are across their work (a
cond step- ‘Voice Narrative: the video themselves shown to show a visual style).
thin the song’ tells a story naturally in videos. message or the
Performance: the meaning of the lyrics Lighting and colour-
video is dominated Repeatability- helps set the mood
by live ore band meanings and effects
performance are manipulated and Mise en sene allows
Concept: there is a constantly reinforced us to justify what
theme or concept through the video and genre we relate it
behind the video is drummed into our too.
vision

4. My video, used, developed and challenged forms
and conventions of real media products?
Our video shared similarities with other indie rock genre bands such as Bleeding knees club and Wavves. We recognised some conventions
through our research in these existing videos that we hoped to insert into our video. For example:
Existing Videos Numerous close ups of the band members were shot evidencing there fun Our video
attitudes and care free nature which we felt represented the majority of teenagers
these days and intensely connoted other bands within the genre. This exaggerated
our previously decided target market and justified teenagers were our aimed
market.
Also with the research a prop list was developed which included similar mise en
scene to existing videos, for example a variety of hats, clothing and instruments. In
our video and especially The Bleeding knees Club video they both showed the
bands shopping so similar actions took place such as trying on hats, and looking at
cds.
The band members in our video had to be a specific talent and fit the style well.
We chose three band member all male as we felt this gender was most seen in
other videos of this genre. Also they had to have a slight cockiness to their attitude
and rebellious ways. So again using close ups and other camera angles detailed the
bands cocky facial expressions, evidenced by the second images either side.
We constructed a questionnaire using slide share where we interpreted fans would
want a live performance . We chose to film a live performance that was broken up
and small clips were inserted throughout the video. These clips contained camera
editing such as pans, tilts and zooms which allowed us to view the three bands
members at different heights all in one shot. The techniques used and shots
developed were greatly comparable to existing videos. Such as these images either
side that show the drum kit being played, the camera on both is at a high angle and
the instruments used in our video and again The Bleeding Knees were all the same
. These included the drums, bass and guitar.

5. As a group we had decided our genres typical follower is a rebellious teenage boy aged
around 18 who is passionate about music and his style. As the genre has a recognisable
fashion description the style is extremely inspirational to teenagers within this age . The style
is vintage like to complete a unique and creative look which makes you seem a strenuous
individual who isn't afraid to express their personality and passion through style and enjoys
socialising. The dress sense is an over sized sweater with tight jeans and back packs ,maybe if
weather is cold a woolly hat and a large jacket. We chose to have members in the band that
also fitted this audience profile, so the band could relate to their fans and have a wider fan
base. The image to the right was used to demonstrate a visual image of our audience profile.
Our three featured characters were chosen due to there style ,age, and
look which fits well with the codes and conventions of the indie rock genre.
The characters are all male as most bands within this genre are all made up
of teenage boys .For example Wavves were made up of two male band
members .The main character within our band is shown in the image on
the left . Evidencing we tried to use similar mise en scene to existing media
products is highlighted especially in the clothing. These two images on the
right we found during research can be compared to our band member on
the left as the chequered shirt and skinny jeans are a shared item of
clothing. The long and dated hair cut is seen to be trendy and is common in
many existing bands within this genre and the bands we researched. Plus
the male figures are similar, a slim shape ,emphasised by the legs in the
skinny jeans and the oversized clothing on the top half slightly drowning
the top half of the body.
The band which we produced, in the image at the bottom left shares a similarity with the
real media products on the right again due to the common fashion and the wear of denim
nearly all band members are wearing denim and this style tends to represent vintage. Lastly
in the audience profile mentioned a back pack as a common accessorie which we happened
to feature in our video also.
With our video having similar band members ,similar attitudes,
clothing, accessories to existing videos more than likely means
our fans will be the same.

6. The Killers digipak folds out to be three averaged sized squares horizontally that protect and strongly hold the cds in place, the pak also contains
information and live performances similar to our constructed digipak. Again comparing the existing media product and our produced digipak
enhances the similarities, including the themed colour scheme the Killers digipak black white and red and ours is green black and white. The
green is mainly the tie die background that represents a common pattern seen throughout the poster, video and digipak and is a typical pattern
seen on clothing of indie teenagers. We thought this pattern was necessary to include however with a reduced opacity, so the images in the
layer underneath were clearly seen too this was all completed on photshop. Secondly, images of the band, that are seen as a professional
photograph are displayed in both products, we decided to use an image of the band due to other products also including the band. The digipak
cover consists of a type of art work, photography, we chose to use this art because on the survey monkey questionnaire, the results allowed us
to see the majority of people wanted to see artwork on the cover of an indie rock digipak, as a group we also decided this was the best option.
It did go against this Killers digipak but not our various other researched products such as The Smith Westerns album cover. They had artwork as
there cover too. The text we used was bold and easily visible, as the dark colour allowed it to stand out from the background, this was similar to
existing media products.
However we did have a number of features that went against the conventions within this genre, but as a group we decided these features
seemed more aesthetic or appropriate, and related best with the video and poster. For example within mise en scene: lighting, we used natural
light as we captured the images outside however, on the existing Killers digipak the images look to be taken in a studio or even edited to have a
greater contrast in the black and white so they seem stronger and powerful. We chose to slightly edit our image so the photograph was brighter
and the characters within the image bounced off the bright background, also we applied a vintage style filter to represent the genre and the
style of it being dated or even different. These little manipulations to the image left the image not drastically edited and still maintain a natural
feel. Secondly we chose to have two dics instead of one as it allowed us to have more information within the digipak about the band and we felt
as a group having two dics on the outer squares made the digipak look even.
The photographs used in the bottom right and left square of the digipak were used, as they contain an old style camera and cd. These images
represented the passion indie rock fans have for vintage items. We chose to put the tie die pattern over these images to maintain the
background and make the images and the tie die look more detailed and effective.

7. Our final product: The poster
It was hard finding existing poster advertisements for a
similar genre to Smith Westerns. However, we found a
limited amount that we analysed. We concluded the
indie rock genre has posters which are relatively simple,
with photography as the background and text over the
Existing products top advertising the new album.
Figure 1
Figure 2 is an original Smith Westerns poster, it features
a striped pattern that alternates between two images.
We thought this background looked interesting and
artistic. We chose to use this technique within our
poster and included a landscape sunset which looked
slightly tie die, which contrasts against the green tie die
background. The background of the poster relates well
to the digipak front cover, as the same vintage style
photograph, which includes the dated camera is used.
Also the tie die with a low opacity is placed over the top,
again tie die was used as it is a typical pattern seen on
Figure 2 indie fans clothing . Similar to the Magic Kids product,
our final product has a text which is bold a horizontal for
strong visibility. This allows people to remember the title
if it stands out. Plus the strong colour allows it to stand
off the page.
Although product placement such as itunes and the record
label Fat Possum was displayed on our poster, there was no
sight of them on existing posters , which we found odd
however , as a group we felt is was necessary to include
them.