The music video challenges conventions in several ways: 1) It does not include typical performance shots of the artist, but instead integrates shots of the characters at the artist's concert to further the narrative. 2) It uses a nonlinear, fragmented narrative structure to tell the story through the main character's reflections in the bath rather than a linear storyline. 3) It represents the main character as trying to cleanse herself of past mistakes by including scenes of her in the bath and burning words that represent her feelings.

1. 1 . I N W H A T W A Y S D O E S Y O U R M E D I A P R O D U C T
U S E , D E V E L O P O R C H A L L E N G E F O R M S A N D
C O N V E N T I O N S O F R E A L M E D I A P R O D U C T S ?
Question 1:

2. Before the title we included a quote by the artist- “we did this so that it would give context to the
video and explain the reason behind the song called “hold me down”. This challenges the typical
conventions of a music video because It is very rare that an audience would see this type of thing in a
music video- for example, Tori Kelly- Should Have Been Us. We also felt that by doing this it would
also help the video seem as though it is a real music video as it was actually said by the artist. Soon
after the quote the music begins and the title crossfades into the shot which overlays a shot of the
bath. We named the song ‘Hold You Down’ instead of Hold Me Down so that when we upload the
song we don’t have any copyright issues with the artist.
The title of the music video
Pays homage to Tori Kelly’s music video- Should have been us

3. For the music video we used various different locations, such as Manchester in Afflecks, on the Bus, in a
club and also in a corner shop and in a smoking shelter. We also had one main location which was a
house set in the bathroom. The reason we had several different locations was so that we could show
continuity throughout the video to establish a narrative. The bathroom setting was the most important as
this shows character 1 reflecting on her past. Within the song it states that “my demons are begging me
to open up my mouth”, therefore we used water due to its biblical significance of cleansing bad
objects/thoughts. This was so that we could represent the fact that the subject in the bath is trying to
cleanse herself of the bad things she has done, which is shown through flashbacks throughout the video.
We chose to shoot in town because other pop music videos show clips of the artist on the streets with
clips of street lights and cars and so we wanted to capture the same conventions used in other pop music
videos such as ….. However, our videos challenges some typical conventions of an alternative music video
because it doesn’t have any shots of the artist featured in the video. This was because we wanted to focus
It solely on the narrative. Although, we did include footage of the actual artist on stage but integrated it
into the narrative as though they went to see her on a night out.
Setting/location
We shot shots in the
bath to represent the
fact that she is trying to
cleanse herself of the
bad things she has
done

4. For the costume of character 1 we made sure that she wore causal clothes with natural make-up to
represent her innocence and vulnerability, as she is being influenced by character 2. For character two’s
make-up, we made sure she wore dark clothes and dramatic make-up such as the blood red lipstick which
connotes evil, to represent her rebelliousness. Near the beginning of the video there is a short crosscut to
character 2 pointing an arcade gun at character one, which she pretends to shoot in time with the drum
beat of the song. This connotes violence and the fact that character two is the villain and character one is
hero, which adheres to Propp’s theory of character types within a narrative. The video challenges
stereotypical representation of women through character two, as she is being represented as superior and
rebellious which we would see of a male character. In comparison, character two juxtaposes with character
one because she is represented as vulnerable and inferior which is a typical representation of the female
gender and therefore adheres to this stereotype. However, our video also challenges Propp’s theory of
character types because there is no heroine, donor or father figure within the video. Although, there is a
mid-shot of the subject who is made to look as though she is forcing character one to smoke which
therefore could be considered that this subject is the helper within the video. We also use fire to burn paper
in the bath which also signifies cleansing. The paper has words written on them such as regret, friendship
and hate which all reflect the feelings of character one to the audience to help establish the narrative
further. This was inspired by Skrillex and Diplo - "Where Are Ü Now" with Justin Bieber where all the words
are written around Beiber. However, we wanted to take the idea of writing words and burning them to make
it as if It is a reflection of character one’s feelings.
Costume/propps
We used cards with different
words written on them to
reflect the different emotions
and thoughts going on in the
music video
We used cigarettes
to represent the
rebellious attitude
of the characters,
which is
stereotypical of
this age group- 14-
18 year olds.

5. The gun is a
representative of a
phallic symbol
which is used to
indicate that
character 2 is
dominant and is a
bad influence on
character one.
The jewellery
indicates the bad
behaviour, which
the audience see
her spiral out of
control.
We included red
lipstick as this has
connotations of evil
and also promiscuity,
which reflects the
behaviour of the two
characters later in the
video where it is
suggested they go
home with the boys.
The alcohol
reflects the
rebellious attitude
of the characters
and is
stereotypical of
their age group.
The cigarette is used
to show that
character one is being
pressured into
smoking and also
acts as a phallic
symbol, showing that
character 3 has a bad
influence on her too.
We used a phone
as a way of
showing that
character 3 is a bad
influence on both
character 1 and 2

6. At the beginning of the video there is a direct-address close-up of character two, which crossfades into a
long shot of red bokeh lights that gradually focus’ into iconography of the Arndale building. We
introduced character two this way for the fact that it establishes a relationship between them, revealing
that it could be a bad relationship from the fact that red from the lights connotes danger, which later
reveals in the video that it is destructive.
How characters are introduced in the film/video
Character one is introduced as innocent and seen with character two which establishes a friendship
between the characters. However, during the course of the beginning character two is seen to bully
character one and indicates that she is a bad influence on her. Also, there is quick cutaway from the bath
to character one, which indicates the fact that she is trying to cleanse herself of the bad things she has
done.

7. At the beginning of the video there is a crossfade of the title that overlays a high angle shot of the tap
running through the door frame in the bathroom, which was to act as a frame for the subject. This gives it
the sense that the audience is looking into the room as though they are looking into character one’s life,
which is emphasized by the crosscuts to and from the bathroom and her flashbacks. We challenged the
conventions of a music video as some shots are filmed in first person- for example, the shots in town
where character two is running and dragging character one and also when they are in the concert.
Camerawork and editing
First person view
when character
two grabs hold
of character one.
Title crossfades
over the shot of
the bath, using
framing and tilt
shift to create this
effect
Overlaid the same video
playing backwards to
give the effect that she is
having a flash back.
Used focus shift to create bokeh
which focuses on a establishing shot
of the Arendale building which acts as
iconography for the setting.
Birds-eye-view shot
of character one in
the bath, which
pays homage to
novo amour music
videos for boats.
We used reverse speed on
the shot of character 4
smoking and on character
2 in the bath to show the
disorientation to indicate
that it is a flashback.

8. We overlaid the diegetic sound at the
beginning of the video and during the
video of the bath running to indicate that
it is the present and the shots of the
narrative are flashbacks in the past. We
drew this idea from videos such as Bruno
Mars- The lazy Song which includes
diegetic sound of the toilet and the car
horn in the video.

9. On most crosscuts/cutaways to settings/subjects we timed
it so that the drum beat is in time with each change. This
helps the video fit with the music and build tension within
the audience, especially near the end where there is a
series of quick cutaways in the bathroom during the
chorus to exaggerate the fast pace music. The tension is
stopped when there is a long shot of character one in the
bath and fades to black indicating the end of the song. We
purposely included the same shot type at the beginning
so that is looks as though character one is going to re-live
the story again- this is because at the beginning we had a
high angle shot of the tap running shot through the door
and at the end there is the same high angle-shot shot
through the door of character one leaning back into the
bath out of shot. We drew inspiration from music videos
such as Novo Amor- Anchor.for birds eye view shot of the
subject in the bath and mid shots of the subject in the
bath. Within the video we indicated a flashback by using
fast forward and reverse to indicate to the audience this is
a flashback and is the reflection of what the girl is looking
back on.
Novo Amor-
Boats
Intertextuality
with the bath
scenes in the
video
Our video
Pays homage to
the video

10. For our music video we came up with the narrative that
there would be two girl characters who are friends and
one leads the other girl (character one) into trouble and
the whole video is character one reflecting on her actions
that she regrets. It is filmed in a bath which we use to
represent the fact that she is trying to wash away her sin
and cleanse herself. The reason why we used water as
there is a lot biblical references In the lyrics of the song
‘Hold Me Down’ by Halsey such as “they told me I was
holy’. Therefore the song in the music video is the voice of
character one who gets dragged into all the bad things
and let’s character two ‘hold [her] down’. We have
challenged the typical conventions of an alternative music
video by not including performance shots of the artist but
instead ingraining shots of the characters at the artist
concert so that the audience can make sense of the
narrative easier. To set the narrative up it opens with a
high angle shot of the bath running and cutaways to
character one in the bath and then crosscuts to a direct
address close-up shot of character two which then fades
to indicate a flashback. We did this so that it establishes to
the audience a relationship and to help indicate that the
narrative is a reflection of character ones past. We
challenge the typical conventions of a flashback as instead
of making the video overexposed as though it is
Narrative and how the opening sets it up
(conventional/fragmented/elliptical)

11. The genre of the music video is alternative/pop and which is encoded through the use of typical
conventions such as coloured lights through bokeh of the street lights and cars and also slight
performance based shots. However, this challenges the conventions as It is filmed in first person
view as though character one is watching the artist perform. Stuart Hall theory of encoding a
message to an audience and they decode in different ways based on their individual background
and life experiences. Therefore with our music video we included the quote at the beginning of the
music video to tell the audience that they shouldn’t let anyone hold them down. However the
audience will decode this based on their background and life experiences- for example this video
will be most significant to people who have been in similar situations as character one. I believe that
people who would have been in a similar situation would be teenagers as they are most influential
with them being young and the stress of peer pressure in their friendship groups.
Genre and how it is encoded (Hall)
We overlaid an
establishing shot of town
over the face of character
two to suggest they are in
town.

12. For the title we used a sans serif font that is bold, which
overlays the shot of the tap. This type of font is informal
and therefore attracts a younger audience of 16-25 year
olds. Whereas if we used a serif font in a calligraphy style
it wouldn’t suit the genre of the music and also the target
audience as this font is more formal and used to attract an
older audience- such as The Times newspaper uses serif
font because it targets an older audience of 30+. We also
used the same font for the quote at the beginning of the
video in white as this helps it stand out to the audience
when it is placed on the black background and shot of the
sink.
Title font and style