The document discusses the forms and conventions of music videos in the indie/rock genre. It notes that typical elements include: - Performance footage of the band - Implications of drug and alcohol use - Relationships between boys and girls but without clear narratives The author's music video incorporates some of these elements, such as performance footage and implying drug use, but challenges conventions by including snippets of a relationship story and beach footage to imply life continues beyond the relationship. Overall, the author aims to be accessible to different audiences while still appealing to the target demographic.

1. In what ways does your media
production us, develop, or
challenge forms and conventions of
real media products?

2. Music Video

3. Main Forms and Conventions
The genre of the music for my video is
Indie/Rock.
The main forms and conventions for this music
genre are:
• Performance footage
• Implications of drugs and alcohol
• No real narrative or obvious storyline
• A relationship between a boy and girl

4. Performance Footage
‘Little Black Submarine’ – The Black Keys
In most of the videos I researched, they include performance
footage of some kind, whether it be from the band themselves on
some sort of stage, or the lead singer miming whilst they are part of
the narrative.

5. Performance Footage
I used performance clips throughout the video to, not only break up
the narrative in my video, but to fit the forms and conventions of my
genre. I think this was effective in my video because it kept the
audience engaged and intrigued to see what happens next in the
narrative.

6. Implications of drugs and alcohol
‘Chocolate’ – The 1975
In nearly all of the videos I researched, either the band or the
characters were seen drinking and/or smoking; these are meant to
go with their ‘image’, but sometimes it is to fit with the lyrics and
the message of the song.

7. Implications of drugs and alcohol
I only showed my male character smoking once during the video but in a prolonged
shot. I did this because I don’t portray his character in a positive light as the audience
immediately feel sorry for the female character as she looks vulnerable during their
argument, so using this one prolonged shot of him is enough for the audience to take
a dislike to him in the way I intended. Also, with this shot alone in my video, it is
unlikely that my video will be played on TV, but, from audience research, I found that
my target audience find and watch videos online rather than on music channels.

8. No real narrative or obvious storyline
‘Luna’ – Bombay Bicycle ClubThe music video for ‘Luna’ has no narrative, just lots of synchronised
swimmers, with different shots and angles used. However, it could be
a metaphor to imply that the guy is ‘drowning’ in his love for ‘Luna’,
hence the water. What I found from my research is that music videos
of this genre don’t tend to have much of a narrative, if they even have
one at all. This tends to be the case for bands with a lot of videos out
and are established artists, so they can experiment a bit more with
their videos, as they have a large fan base to be able to do this.
‘Luna’ – Bombay Bicycle Club

9. No real narrative or obvious storyline
In my music video, I used clips of a beach to break up the narrative of the
couple. I did this because I wanted to use a metaphor to show how life
elsewhere carries on even when it doesn’t for two people in a relationship
which is falling apart. In a lot of music videos from this genre, the
narrative focuses on just that one couple and doesn’t show life outside of
that relationship to the audience, which is a convention which I aimed to
break. However, I understand that some people might not see this and
will miss the deeper meaning to my video, but these will be people
outside of my target audience, so the video wasn’t aimed at them, which
is why they might not understand it.

10. A relationship between a boy and girl
‘Naïve’ – The Kooks
In every video from my research, I found that there was a
relationship between a boy and a girl in either the video or the
lyrics. This was a form of my genre that I didn’t want to
challenge as I knew it would appeal to my target audience
because of the relatability of it.

11. A relationship between a boy and girl
I used the story of a relationship between a boy and girl as the base
of my narrative because I knew it would appeal to my target
audience as it’s relatable to them; I deliberately used a young
couple for this reason.

12. Critical Analysis
I tended to stick to the forms and conventions of my genre, as my video includes:
•Performance footage
•Implication of drugs/alcohol
•A relationship between a couple
•However, I made the storyline more obvious in my video so it could appeal to more people
than just my target audience, which is young adults. I included snippets of a story about a
couple, but didn't make it an actual story throughout the video, as I wanted the audience to
be able to make their own interpretations and conclusions about the couple and what
happened before and after the video, leaving it open for them and therefore making it more
likely that the video will be shared or talked about. Also, I wanted my video to be accessible
for more people than just my target audience, as I believe that the lyrics and message of the
song can be relatable to people of most ages, so I wanted people to be able to watch my
music video and believe it to relatable and realistic.
•I mainly got this idea from the tagline of the film '500 Days Of Summer' which is “this is not
a love story; it is a story about love”, which suggests that there may not necessarily be a
happy ending for the couple, but it is a true story and a relatable and realistic one, which
makes it more accessible to people.

13. Narrative
• In the videos I have researched, they don’t
have an actual plot or narrative – the videos
are made up of what are seen as ‘random’
images.
• Some videos don’t show the band, whereas
some do. I used performance footage so the
rest of the clips would fit together better.

14. ‘Handshake’ – Two Door Cinema
Club
‘You’re Not Good Enough’ – Blood Orange
‘Vessel’ – Dan Mangan + Blacksmith ‘What’s It In For?’ – Avi Buffalo
In these videos, for example, the visuals
don’t relate to the lyrics or the song
title. However, this makes the audience
more intrigued by the video and
therefore makes them more likely to
talk about the video and share it. Whilst
there is no obvious narrative, the bright
colours and obscure mise-en-scene
makes up for this, and is what captivates
the audience throughout the video.

15. Critical Analysis
• I decided to have a loose narrative in my video so that it
would appeal to more people than just my target audience.
After showing people outside my target audience my video, I
realised that not everyone would understand my video, and
they wouldn’t look at the deeper meaning, as they are used
to watching music videos that are simple to understand and
only have one layer. If I were to make the video again, I might
make it a bit simpler to understand so it appeals to people
outside of my target audience aswell.

16. Mise-en-scene
• In music videos of the same genre as mine,
the mise-en-scene tends to be quite simple
and plain, almost bare.
• This is usually done as a metaphor, to imply
that the couple have nothing left, as most
songs in my genre are written about a
relationship which has broken down.

17. ‘One For The Road’ – Arctic Monkeys
‘A-Punk’ – Vampire Weekend
‘Love Illumination’ – Franz Ferdinand
‘Things We Lost In The Fire’ - Bastille
‘Fiction’ – The XX
The bare background is mainly shown behind
performance footage as it puts all of the focus
on the band/artist rather than the
surroundings; hence also the lack of props.

18. Critical Analysis: I tried to keep the mise-en-scene in my video to a minimum (e.g. the shots of the
band on the stage all had a plain backdrop) so that it wouldn’t look too ‘busy’ and would fit with the
conventions of my genre. I also wanted to keep all of the shots quite simple to fit with my magazine
advert and digipack, so I filmed them all where I knew there wouldn't be people walking around and
where there wasn't much going on in the background. Moreover, I wanted the performance footage
to focus on the band members singing, which makes the audience listen to the lyrics more intently.
However, if I was to do this again, I might use some sort of visual effect which links with the song
and/or its lyrics to make the performance footage stand out more and make it more intriguing.

19. Styling
• The typical styling of people in indie music
videos is either:
- Some sort of denim or leather jacket, a plain top,
and jeans
- Vintage clothes
- Or more ‘artistic’ outfits

20. denim or leather jacket, a plain top, and jeans
‘Girls’ – The 1975
‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High’
– Arctic Monkeys
Music videos from the indie/rock genre generally have the band and/or characters in the
video wearing a denim jacket (The 1975 video) or a leather jacket (the Arctic Monkeys
video). They also tend to wear either band t-shirts (The 1975 video) or a plain, dark-coloured
t-shirt (the Arctic Monkeys video), with black jeans. These have become conventions of the
genre, but also characteristics of people who listen to this genre of music.

21. Vintage clothes
‘Electric Feel’ – MGMT
Some videos from this genre, mainly the ones
with no narrative and all performance footage,
have some sort of artistic visuals used to
intrigue the audience and get their video talked
about and shared online.

22. More ‘artistic’ outfits
‘Spaceman’ – The Killers ‘Spectrum’ – Florence and the Machine
Some artists wear extravagant outfits in their videos to make
their video more interesting and exciting to watch. These tend
to be seen in more recent indie/rock videos as they hope they
will be shared online to increase its popularity, which they
hope will sell more records.

23. Critical Analysis: I made sure the people in my video wore
more plain clothes so it fit with the conventions of the
genre, but also so that their clothing wouldn’t stand out
amongst everything else, as the backgrounds are so plain.
I wanted the clothes of the people in the shot to contrast
with the colour of the background, which is why some
people are wearing dark coloured clothes and some are
wearing light coloured clothes – I wanted them to be
noticeable but not too ‘in-your-face’.

24. Representation of Band
The representation of bands in indie/rock music
videos is that they smoke a lot, take drugs, and
drink a lot of alcohol. The background for a lot of
performance footage in this genre of music tends
to be on either a stage, or in some sort of
abandoned or derelict building to create the effect
that they have nothing left, because the lyrics of
the song tend to imply a lost love.

25. ‘Robbers’ – The 1975 ‘French Montana’ – The Neighbourhood
‘Child of the Moon’ – The Rolling Stones ‘Yes, I Was Drunk’ – Twin Atlantic
‘West Coast’ – Lana Del Rey
Most of these songs are about taking drugs and
getting drunk to forget either a love they have lost
or a relationship which is breaking down, and so the
artists are regularly seen smoking and drinking to,
not only keep up their ‘image’, but to give a visual
representation of the lyrics.

26. Critical Analysis
• I didn’t want to represent my band in a particular way, as I
wanted to make sure the main focus of the video was the
song itself, rather than promoting the band. This is why I
didn’t show my band in a negative light, with them drinking
or smoking etc., and simply just showed them singing along
to their song.
• Also, I have the boy in my video smoking over a prolonged
shot which fits with the forms and conventions of the genre,
without over-using it. Moreover, my target audience are in
an age group where smoking and drinking is extremely
common, and I didn’t want my band to be promoting taking
drugs or ‘binge drinking’, which is why I didn’t portray them
in this way.

27. Editing
• The editing for Indie music videos can be
either over-the-top (large scale) or very
subtle (small scale) and the clips haven't been
edited much at all.
• Small scale editing sometimes includes filters,
coloured effects, or small changes to a small
part of the clip.
• Large scale editing sometimes includes large
changes to the background, or special effects
which are emphasised on screen.

28. Large Scale Editing
‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High’ – Arctic Monkeys
'Sweater Weather' – The Neighbourhood
In this video, the screen is flipped half way through the
song and the video is played upside down, which has the
wider metaphor for the life of the man being ‘flipped
upside down’ when his partner left him. This effect,
however, keeps the audience intrigued, and makes them
want to keep watching.
In the video, Alex Turner, the lead singer of the band but also the main character in the
narrative, takes drugs and has been excessively drinking throughout the night, and
consequently sees things that aren't there, just like his phone sinking into his hand. It keeps
the audience watching to see what happens next, but also shows the negatives of taking
drugs and drinking because of the damages you see happening to Alex in the video, which
promotes a good message to their target audience.

29. Small Scale Editing
'Something Good Can Work' – Two
Door Cinema Club
'Shades of Cool' – Lana Del Rey
'Carry Me' – Bombay Bicycle Club
As you can see from the screenshot, the video
is in black and white apart from the colour
green, and this theme carries on throughout
the video using several different colours,
which grabs the audience’s attention.
Throughout the video, different effects are used to change
the colour of her dresses, such as the effect seen above; it
makes the shots more interesting and keeps people
intrigued.
The video is very simple,
with only performance
footage throughout, and the
only effect is little drawings
appearing on the beat. It
catches the attention of the
audience and is a fun way of
making a simple shot look
more interesting.

30. Critical Analysis
• I didn’t use any large-scale editing because I didn’t
have access to the software or technology I would
need, but, if I had access to this technology, it
might’ve changed my ideas and I don’t think I would
have stayed with the same song.
• The small-scale editing I used in my video was a
greyscale filter, and I changed the contrast of the
clips so they would stand out more.
• I did, however, use a transition between some of
the performance clips, so the clips fade into each
other; I got this inspiration for the One Direction
video for ‘You and I’.

32. When I filmed this shot, I kept the camera
in the same position and put markers on
the stage so they singers would stand in
exactly the same position; I then kept the
camera rolling and they simply sung their
part and walked off stage. When it came to
editing, I simply cut the clip into sections
and used a ‘fade’ effect, where the
background didn’t change but the band
members changed. I really like this effect
and how it looks, and my audience told me
they also really like it and that it grabs their
attention, which was my intention.

33. Magazine Advert

34. Common Features of Magazine
Adverts
• The same picture that is on the album cover is used
for the background of the advert
• The release date of the album is featured
• The same typography as the album is used
• Either the artist's name or the name of the album is
the main focus of the advert
• They have the logo of their record label /
management at the bottom of the advert
• They name a few singles which are on the album

35. The picture on the magazine advert is exactly the same as that on the front cover of the album,
making them both immediately recognisable to fans of the artist, but also so that, when the
album comes out, people will hopefully recognise it from the advert. The typography is also the
same as that on the album, which keeps continuity.
The advert features the
release date of the album,
names two of the album's
biggest singles, the artist's
website, and the name of
the label he is signed to,
which can attract new
people to listen to his album
because they trust the
record label to sign only the
best artists.
Furthermore, most of the items in the picture feature in the video
for the single 'D.O.A. (Death Of Autotune), again, making the
magazine advert instantly recognisable to anyone who has seen
the music video and liked the song.

36. My advert appeals to my target audience as
it doesn’t single anyone out with the design
– it has a neutral colour (black), uses a
magazine which people of all ages and
genders use, and I have included a QR code
which younger people may be more
attracted to, but have also stated that there
is a vinyl edition of the album, which may
be more appealing to the older people
within my target audience.
I have kept the writing and text on my
magazine advert to a minimum, in order to
create a sense of mystery. My target
audience have identified that they like the
mystery that my advert creates, which is
why I have stuck with this theme
throughout my print products.
Also, I have done this so it keeps continuity
with my digipak, as there is no writing on
the front cover of the album, apart from
the band’s name.
I didn’t put any text next to the first date on
the advert, underneath the band’s logo,
because my research has found that it
intrigues people to find out more about the
date, and why it is so significant.

37. The focus point of the advert is the band’s
logo, which I have purposely placed in the
centre, as it draws your eyes towards it.
When I surveyed my target audience, just
like the text, they said they like the lack of
‘clutter’ on my advert, and it intrigues
them. Also, I like the fact that the advert
doesn’t give everything away about the
band, because it may make people more
likely to scan the QR code or look on the
band’s website.
The advert doesn’t make it fully clear what
the advert is for, although the writing “vinyl
edition coming soon” implies that it is
music related. However, this draws the
person reading this in, and will hopefully
make them more likely to find out more
about the band.
As I have researched in my previous blog
posts, I want my band members to be
almost ‘anonymous’ when it comes to
advertising the band, which is what I have
done with my advert; I haven’t used any
pictures of the band because I want to
promote the band and their music, and not
the band members themselves.

38. I have made the band’s logo the
focus of my advert. I have used
exactly the same font and image
as that on my album cover and
digipak, but, after getting
feedback from my target
audience, I have made the image
larger, making it even more eye-
catching for people flicking
through a magazine.
The logo doesn’t give anything
away about the band, which
keeps with the theme of mystery
that I am hoping to achieve with
my print products.

39. Album Booklet / Digipak

40. This was the 3rd album released by the band, in
2009, and is the first album cover which features the
band. It was the first real time that the fans got to
see and hear the band since their huge success in
America, and this was the start of the Arctic
Monkeys' 'rockier' sound.
The idea of the band being on the front of the cover
is unusual for their genre of music, because it's
usually either an artistic image, or just a simple logo
with a plain-ish background. The colours of the
album are very different than their other artwork,
mainly because it's not in black and white or full of
dark colours.
Even though at first glance the cover just looks like
the band have been caught off-guard when they
were standing around talking, a closer look will
reveal implications of drug use; for example, the fact
that Alex Turner is rubbing his nose, implying that
he's just taken cocaine possibly. Also, the image of
Alex has been duplicated above him, suggesting a
sort of 'trip' caused by the drugs.

41. I instantly liked the back cover of Sam Smith's album because it is so simple yet so
effective. It follows a black and white colour scheme, and the songs are the main
focus of the back cover, as they are placed in the centre; this shows the importance
of them to the artist. The logo of the artist's record label is at the bottom of the
page, and underneath it is the copyright information.

42. The main focus of the back cover is the tracklist, which shows that the songs are
the most important thing to the band in terms of the album. The background is
taken from the front cover, and is the wall behind the band in the picture. The
typography is consistent throughout the Digipack, and the logos of the band's
management an record label are placed above the copyright information, just
like the other digipacks.

43. The image of the storm on the back cover is the same picture that is on the front cover
of the album. The name of the album is on bold, making your eyes draw straight to it,
and then your eyes are diverted to the track-listing beneath it, which is in an usual
format. The logos for the band's management and record label are on the back cover,
along with producer credits and copyright information beneath that, which are
common features on the back cover of albums.

44. Drake’s Album Booklet -
Comparison
• When designing my album booklet, I took a
lot of inspiration from Drake’s ‘Nothing Was
The Same’ booklet, as it had exactly the style
I wanted to go for.
• Even though his music doesn’t belong to the
Indie/Rock genre, it still fit with the design I
wanted, which is why I looked at it for my
inspiration.

45. Drake’s album cover is so simple; a black
background, and white text in the centre of the
page. The typography is kept consistent
throughout the digipak, and everything is kept
similar to this cover. Because Drake is such an
established artist, he doesn’t need his picture on
the album for people to know it’s his, as they will
immediately recognise his name. Also, this is his
third album, so he isn’t trying to promote himself
anymore, but his music, and so he can get away
with this simple design a lot easier.
For my album cover, I always wanted to have a
black background with white writing as the
design. The logo will feature at the start of each
music video, making a link between the album
and the songs so people can make an automatic
connection between the two. The typography
features throughout the album booklet, and the
design is consistent.

46. Just like the front cover, the track list features the
same typography, and has the same simple design; a
black background and white writing in the middle of
the page.
The only thing on the page are the song titles, so it
draws your eyes towards them, highlighting their
importance.

47. Again, I wanted to keep the same
design throughout my album
booklet, and Drake’s track list gave
me the idea for this. I have centred
the text and numbered each song
simply to space out the songs a bit
more.
The songs are not only in
alphabetical order, which is another
feature I have seen, but is subtle
link to the Sweater Weather video,
which is the first single from the
album. The music video shows the
couple's relationship progress over
the course of a year, and the song
lyrics, in alphabetical order, show
the couple's entire relationship.

48. The music videos for each of these music videos will portray the lyrics and the title of the song,
and will each show a story of the couple's relationship.
Afraid - They're strangers and they're both afraid to make the first move.
Bad Blood - They're worried that their pasts may mean that the other mightn't like them or that it
may affect their chance of a relationship.
Carpe Diem - They're young and they want to act like it; they don't want to get into a serious
relationship, they're just looking for fun.
Deja Vu - There are constant arguments in the relationship and each argument is a 'deja vu' of the
last.
Gone - The arguments drive them apart and they're threatening each other with the end of their
relationship.
Kiss Me - They want to 'kiss and make up' because their relationship means too much to them to let
go.
Lovers - They're back together and they're stronger than ever.
Runaway - They want to run away and spend the rest of their lives with each other.
Sweater Weather - They're spending each day together in bed without a care in the world.
What We Were - Their relationship didn't last and now the guy is looking back at what was, wishing
they were the same again.

49. The back cover of Drake’s Digipak has a lot more writing than mine, and he doesn’t have the track listing on.
The large group of text on the right hand side of the page is a quote by Ross Valory, the bassist from band
‘Journey’. This quote is one which I have seen a lot online, and is one of my favourite quotes.
Drake then writes something himself; “They’ll never truly know but thank you all who try to understand.
Nothing was the same.” –This may have been where Drake got the name of his album from.
The quote reads:
“A lot of people get famous
and then don’t want to be
famous. You signed up for
this you gotta pay for it. A lot
of people just don’t know
what the price is when they
step up to the plate. The
wear and tear is not physical.
The wear and tear is a mental
thing. You really just let go of
a lot of relationships that
require presence and
constant nurturing. You say
goodbye to people, people
get sick and die when you’re
gone, and a lot of things just
go by the way side. Then
where’s all the strife, and
power, and money, and
control.”

50. He then has more
credits on the left
hand side of the
page, and has the
logos of his record
label, management
etc. in the bottom
corner, just like
mine.
Even though Drake’s back cover looks as though it has a lot of writing, the entire left
hand side is all credits of people who have helped work on the album with him.
The fact that he doesn’t have the song titles on the back could be because he wants
people to buy the album to find out what songs are on, but it could also be that the
people mean more to him than the title of the songs, which is why he prioritised them.

51. I used the logo of my band on the back cover so that each page features my band’s logo, and
placed it in the centre of the page so that it grabs your attention and is the first thing you see.
I designed the track listing differently because I have seen it on a few other album back
covers. I also thought it would help with the continuity of the album booklet as there is more
black background than writing on most pages, and this design helped me continue this. I put
the copyright statement in the bottom left hand corner, with the record label logo and
barcode in the bottom right hand corner as this is a feature I have consistently seen with back
covers of albums.

52. Comparing Print Products
• When I was designing my album booklet and
Digipak, I knew that it had to link to my
magazine advert.
• I did this by:
- Using the same font
- Keeping with the black and white colour
scheme
- Using the same logo

53. The typography on the magazine advert is the same as the album, as everything on the advert is written in
the same font, and the advert features exactly the same background as the album. The name and logo of the
band’s record label / management is at the bottom of the advert as well as the album cover.
The album name is the focus of the advert, just like the album cover, and the extremely bright, eye-catching
colours make it hard to ignore. The advert includes a pre-order offer at the bottom; you get their new single
free if you pre-order the album, which is attractive to fans of the band, and it guarantees album sales by
making sure they pre-order.
The advert mentions the names of the bands' biggest singles from the album, so people who aren't
necessarily fans of the band but like one of their new singles, may be more likely to buy the album if they
see that the song is on the album.
The consistency of the style of the advert and the album cover makes it easy for people to associate them
with each other, and therefore they can immediately link them together.

54. The picture on the magazine advert is exactly the
same as that on the album, and the font is the same
apart from it is bolder on the advert, possibly to
make it stand out more. The advert features a rating
from Kerrang! magazine, and mentions the biggest
singles the band have had which features on the
album, making the album more appealing to fans
who like certain songs by the band.
The name of the band and the title of the album are
in the largest font, making them more eye catching
and stand out more. The release date of the album is
towards the bottom of the advert; this is put on to
get the fans excited about the album coming out,
and give enough time for word-of-mouth to take
effect.
The pre-ordering of their new album also features
the offer that you will have access to “exclusive
footage” of the band, which, assumingly, no one else
will have. This makes it appealing to fans because
they will want to be the first to have exclusive access
to this footage, and so are more likely to pre-order
the album.

56. My three products link together as I have used the
same font (ISOCT) for everything I have written on
all my products, which I did to keep continuity
between them.
I have made sure that it is easy to link my print
products together by keeping the design simple,
almost minimalistic.
I used the same logo on all
three products because I
wanted it to become instantly
recognisable to people, so they
will see it and know that they
all belong to the same band.

57. I stuck with the black and white colour scheme in
all three products because I wanted it to feature
as part of my ‘Bandity’ (band identity).