The document discusses conventions used in music videos, digipaks, and posters for the indie folk genre. The creator analyzed existing examples to identify conventions such as natural settings in music videos. Their own media products used conventions like this but also challenged some, like including urban settings in the music video. Continuity between products was important, so the music video, digipak, and poster featured shared themes, colors, and characters to represent the brand identity. While conventions were generally followed, some were developed, like including more narrative in the music video.

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

2. Throughout my studies, my group and I created a
music video for the song ‘Youth’ by Daughter. This
song belongs to the hybrid genre Indie Folk. In order
to conduct a media product that was true to this
genre, it was necessary to carry out both primary
and secondary market research; analysing the
repetitive features that were included in successful
existing music videos, highlighting what we were
trying to achieve. As a result of this, I would be able
to assess the ways in which the conventions I had
recognised could be introduced in my own product.
In the construction of my ancillary tasks, I created a
poster advertisement endorsing the EP Daughter
was releasing as well as a digipak consisting of a
front, inside, cd cover and back design of an album.
Similar to the music video, I analysed current
examples of both poster ads and digipaks as
recognising the conventions of existing promotion
packages gives me an idea of what successful
examples within my chosen genre were including.

3. Initially, my primary market research
emphasised that natural settings are ideal
mise-en-scene locations for music videos
within the indie folk genre. For instance, the
music video for ‘Holocene’ by Bon Iver uses
this convention to represent the positivity the
young male protagonist is moving towards
with particular shots of beautiful skies
connoting a ‘brighter future’. Particularly areas
that are relatively isolated, generating an
ambiguous theme in which audiences
question why they are there and how it links
to the song. The open land also contributes to
escapism audiences may feel according to the
uses and gratifications theory as it forms a zen
like atmosphere that distracts people from
their own thoughts.
Music Video

4. Music Video
We decided to use this convention in our
media product, as we felt it reflected the
lyrics of the song well. The lyrics are based
on the struggles young people face and
what they turn to help them cope. Natural
settings such as parks with a heavy sense of
green imagery link closely to the
stereotype of young people being vibrant
and pure. In our own music video, we
decided to use a field setting and low angle
shots looking up at the sky with greenery
coming in the sides of the shots. This was
very effective as it meant we were directly
exhausting a feature that indie folk genre
music videos were including which
therefore recognises the music video we
were creating as belonging to the genre.

5. Music Video
Another convention we
used is the need for a
wide-angle shot. Wide-
angle camera shots act in
a way that allows a lot of
background details into
the composition of the
shot so audiences tend to
have more to take in
although the subject takes
up the full frame.
Many of the music videos I had researched included this specific feature involving the
Grizzly Bears music video for ‘Two Weeks’. This particular shot of the four group
members clearly allows audiences to take in the background and the colours in
cooperated in the stained glass. This innovative way of introducing the Grizzly Bears is
interesting as it is a simple way of attracting an audiences appeal, as they become
familiar with the group.

6. Music Video
When using this convention in
our music video, it was essential
that we used a wide angle shot
to first introduce our
protagonist. In this screenshot of
our music video, the protagonist
who is seated takes up the
majority of the composition of
the frame in terms of the rule of
third; majority of the left side of
the shot. The wide-angle also
depicts the isolated nature by
making the audience aware she
is alone. As a result the audience
then reacts by sympathising for
the young girl, drawing an
emotive response, hooking them
into finding out more about the
girls narrative. The audience also
finds themselves asking
questions such as why she is
alone.

7. Music Video
Additionally, my research identified that a solid
majority of music videos within this hybrid
genre are narrative based, however they seem
to be at a very slow pace of being progressive
and lack detail. This is the case in the music
video for Damien Rice’s ‘9 Crimes’; a slow build
up between his character and the balloon with
the face of a women eventually being popped
in the end. The lack of storyline was a
convention I wanted to develop as I found it
would be effective if my target audience could
have a physical interpretation of the struggle
young people go through. Therefore in my
music video, the character is seen in various
locations, that each contribute to her story
being told and the development of the
narrative.

8. Music Video
Although we did proceed to use natural settings as locations,
we decided to challenge the traditional convention of just this
type of location seen in my research; by in cooperating busy
locations. Even though it is unconventional to the genre, it was
important to vary the scenes as the music video is set in
contemporary London. This is associated with busy people.
Emphasizing how careless people can be about others. This
portrayed in the bus stop scene which was sot in Oxford Street.
The many people passing the young female character as she is
sat statically exaggerates how little she is cared for. This can
alternatively be seen as a metaphor for the people in her life
not paying attention to her. According to Andre Goodwin's
theory, there is a succinct relationship between visuals and
music. This demonstrated by the increasing pace of the
soundtrack amplifying in the music video of the people walking
past her quickly. As the audience witness this, they begin to
sympathize with her, identifying themselves as being in her
situation and being drawn in from the emotive imagery.

9. Digipak
My research depicted that most digipaks were a direct correspondent of the/a music
video. The convention of having a linking theme meant audience would be able to
identify media products as belonging together creating awareness about the brand
identity. This was achieved by having a colour scheme, a predominant house style and
lastly a prop/character/aspect that was repetitively attached to each component of the
promotional package. An example of this includes Bruno Mars use of gorillas, whether it
be cartooned, or introduced into his lyrics. This popular pop artist uses this concept to
cover a range of media products and platforms. This includes his album cover as well as
digipak, website, posters, in his actual music videos.
Music Video
Album
Cover
Poster Website

10. Digipak
This inspired my own ancillary text, using this
convention to portray the continuity of the media
product by selecting photographs presented in the
music video and a colour scheme seen in the poster.
This photograph of the the young girls legs in a dancing stance also relays into the music
video appears as the background image of the front cover of the digipak. The audience will
be appealed to this as they will distinctly remember seeing that image in the music video,
distinguishing the two media products as joined. Similar to Bruno Mars’ gorilla concept, we
have based out concept on the involvement of dance, particularly ballet shoes/outfit. This
significantly adds to our very own brand identity.

11. Digipak
Although there is a sense on continuity between each of the media
products that adds to the brand identity, we decided to challenge the
generic conventions of digipak's to include a photo of the artist. As
represented by Rihanna with the release of her Loud album, she is
captured in a close-up shot with a red tint which coupled well with her
thematic denotation of the red connoting love and passion reflecting the
context and conception of the records featured in the album. This was
effective as this same look is featured in certain music videos, such as
‘California King bed’.

12. Digipak
By not including the artist we allow the
audience to interpret whether they want
to purchase the CD Digipak solely on its
appearance. Arguably, even though we
decided not to use the main artist, which
in this case is Daughter to appear on our
digipak, our creation still manages to be
just as effective as it still conveys the
brand identity that was crucial for us to
achieve. As well as this, Daughter is not
widely known for their appearance as a
band. This due to the indie folk genre not
being relatively new in comparison to
other musical genres. Therefore they
would not stand out amongst other
artists in stores or across media
technologies.

13. Poster
The first convention we decided to develop was the use of
taglines that sell how successful the music is. Usually passive
audiences according to the hypodermic syringe approach end
up positively reacting the information being shared. Capital FM,
MTV and Billboard are all three credited sources that have a lot
of influence on young people as they tend to deliver what
young people enjoy. This combined with the actual purpose of
posters which is to promote an album that is new. Thus
encourages audiences interacting to the news.

14. Poster
In my research of Posters I recognized that
most adverts depict a physical representation
of what the music sounds like. Mumford and
sons for example, interpret their music by using
the silhouette of each of the instruments that
the band members play, more specifically a
violin, a cello, piano etc. As Mumford and Sons
are a musical group within the indie folk genre,
these acoustic instruments are used within the
creation of most of the songs within this hybrid
genre. This is effective as the direct mode of
address connecting the instruments and the
artists to demonstrate what was used in the
song informs the audience directly, letting
them know how it was made. Also, the white
silhouette of a man is used to shape around the
instruments. By stripping this masculine shaped
frame of this face from its eyes, nose, mouth
etc. allows the audience to focus solely on the
details in its place.

15. Poster
The previous convention acknowledged
reflects in our own media product as we
decided to directly in cooperate the
guitar. This was achieved by
photographing the main character in our
narrative seated on the ground crouched
down resting on the guitar. The
characters face is covered to add more
emphasis on the guitar and make sure
that stands out. Similar to the Mumford
and Sons poster, we decided by reducing
the facial features of the young female,
the guitar is more so the focus in this photograph. The guitar also takes up the majority
of the space in the composition of the shot to support this. This also correlates with the
digipak as back cover of the digipak design does not present the young girls face is also
not clearly seen. Continuing this on to the poster is essential in creating products that
are fluent together.

16. However, we further developed the
convention by ensuring we stuck to the
thematic colour scheme we aimed to pursue
in the planning stage of the design as brand
identity requires a package to be similar. This
was carried out by firstly using a pink guitar
prop. This light pink coloured guitar was
perfectly matched to the light pink filter we
introduced to the digipak. Audiences would
be able to identify the character mockingly
playing the guitar as the same character
within our music video and photographed in
the digipak as the same individual since we
made the purple ballet mise-en-scene
costume iconic as well as the ballet shoes.
Poster

17. Poster
In my research of conventions of general poster advertisements, it was evident that
most musical artists tend to model their on their own album digipak's and promotional
advertisements. According to the Andrew Goodwin theory, this is so their ‘star image’
remains intact, as the camera shot portrays the identity of the main person involved.
As a result of this, the audience is made aware of who the content belongs to. This also
helps create make someone more famous as a public figure as their face will be more
memorable to consumers, essentially putting a face on the music. This particular
convention was demonstrated in the exhibition of the advertisement Ed Sheeran used
to promote his popular ‘+’ album.

18. Poster
We decided to challenge this convention as we recognised
the artist is not shown in the duration of the music video
nor is she seen in any of designs for the digipak. Therefore
we realised it may be confusing for audiences to not have
seen the artist before hand and then later be introduced to
‘Daughter’ in the poster advertisement. Instead, we
featured the same protagonist character seen in the
ancillary product and music video on our poster. We went
further and also included a photograph of the front of the
album so the consumers were aware of what they should be
looking out for when wanting to purchase the accompanying
CD digipak for this EP.

19. Poster
A convention we realised would be very beneficial to use in our own ancillary task is
the sharing when the album will be available for purchase for our targeted
demographic. This ensures consumers are made ready for the sale of the EP and
informs them on where they may be able to purchase it from. This aspect is often
included in most poster advertisements in a variation of genres as it ultimately draws in
an audience leading to an increase in revenue, thus an increase in financial gains of the
EP selling.

20. Poster and Digipak
I also noticed that the combination of the main product and
ancillary tasks were often designed so that they each coordinated
together, using a repetitive font, font colour and size. Again, using
the example of Ed Sheerans ‘+’ album, the simplistic denotation
of the white plus symbol position in the bottom half of both the
digipak front cover and poster ad, is quite small. The same font is
also used throughout the creation of the poster. This convention
is interpreted also in my own products as they all remain the
same even though they are on different media platforms.