Our media products all develop and challenge forms of conventions in different ways. Here are six stills from my music video which display this.
This is a still showing the pre-roll in our video showing our main actress walking towards the house in which the video is set. It uses the formal element of having a strong narrative which can be seen in many music videos. This pre-roll scene is very different to the parts when the music starts, as there is no break to the continuity editing. This is however quite different as it is very common for the continuity editing to be broken in music videos.
Even though the pre-roll follows the formal element of a narrative, it isn't that common to have a pre-roll and therefore doesn't necessarily follow any of the conventions. In my opinion, this is what makes the pre-roll challenge the generic conventions. This cinematic effect works for the target audience, as the music video is self is very film-like and so the target audience of young adults who are quite arty, would be interested by this. Another video which does the same is Thriller by Michael Jackson which in itself is a very unconventional music video, yet it was such a classic.
This is our main stairway in the chaotic fairytale house. This is when it is evident who all the characters are as the costumes and characters are quite easy to pick out. As this fairytale idea was the theme for our music video, it uses the thematic formal element. There is a very strong theme to our music video throughout which is why it tends to follow the conventions for a typical music video. However, we mix the thematic element with a sense of reality which is less common in mainstream music videos. I feel this works for our music video though because of the indie edge we were trying to achieve with our band and the audience who the video is aimed at. Another music video which is similar in the cinematic sense is Panic At The Disco and their song I Write Sins Not Tragedies. It is very similar in the way that there is a very strong narrative and a strange Tim Burton style fantasy to it.
This is another still from the music video which is a mid shot of the main stairway in the house showing two of the characters. It shows props such as apples and pills and the mise-en-scene is very detailed. This uses the symbolic formal element as the apples and costumes symbolise our whole fairytale element by allowing the audience to immediately link it to something they know. The pills however, symbolise something crazy and a darker edge which is what we aimed for our music video. Our target audience wuold hopefully be able to link these symbolic themes together because of the young age and interest in art and indie music.
This still from my music video shows the dramatic lighting which we used. In terms of our thematic fairytale appearence, the use of cinematic lighting becomes very conventional. But in terms of a music video for an upcoming artist, it is slightly breaking the rules of convention because of the unnatural lighting. Many music videos use unnatural lighting because it is not only used for effect but there is also more control over the aesthetics. This however does fit in with our psychodelic atmosphere.
This is a still of the performance element from our video. We chose not to use the rest of the band and focus the performance element on the lead singer. This is conventional in the sense that the lead singer generally gets a lot of lime light, however an upcoming band or artist usually has a lot of performance element to promote the band's talent. But we focused more on our narrative as we thought it was important to the song, and also wanted to be slightly unconventional. By using the main character as our singer, this isn't seen as very conventional in a lot of music videos, however Panic At The Disco again, tend to use their lead singer in a very narrative way. I think our target audience can relate to this because it makes them feel engaged with the singer because of the eye contact with the camera, but he is then a huge part to the story as well.
This still shows parts shots we have used as intercutting to break up certain scenes. We used these to slowly edge the viewer into the teaparty scene. The use of intercutting is very conventional as it is seen a lot in many videos. This helps our audience to change to the teaparty scene gradually, without being suddenly drawn in and confusing them. It also adds a sense of mystery as why else would we suddenly introduce close ups of candy.
This distinctive tea party again is very conventional in terms of symbolism. We based it on a famous scene from Alice in Wonderland of the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. This mixed with the lighting and smoke represents the fairytale and mysterious element of our music video. As this is our final scene, it works as the grand finale. This is again very cinematic which slightly breaks the rules of convention.
These are two sections from the digipak which develop and challenge the rules of convention.
Our aim was to have a huge burst of colour and pictures inside the cover which is a huge sybolisim to our video. The reason for this was to make the viewer feel connected to the idea of fairytale and fantasy. As I edited the pictures on photoshop I made sure to make it extra psychodelic which has a close link to the idea of such crazy fantasy leading to some sort of "drug trip". In terms of matching our music video and genre of music, I would say the inside cover was quite conventional, however the use of such bright colours and no image of the band does break the rules.
This is the front cover of the digipak which is quite simple. This is quite a conventional album cover for this indie style music. However, a lot of new upcoming bands would have a picture of them or some way of recognising who they are which ours doesn't. Our writing is also quite small, but I think all of this works quite effectively as it makes the viewer engaged with the CD. This is why the inside cover is supposed to have such a huge impact. This front cover is quite similar to Red Hot Chilli Peppers cover for I'm With You which also features a drug on it. This was a design by Damien Hirst who is a very well known artist. The genre of music isn't that different so I would hope that the audience would link in to that arty culture.
This is our promotional poster for our band and how it develops or challenges the rules of convention.
This poster is very similar to our music video in terms of costume. As it is the lead singer, it is instantly relatable to the music video which makes it easy for the target audience to connect. I have put on tour dates and a link to the App Store because it gains easier access for the target audience to get involved. In terms of conventions, as it features the main band memeber it becomes quite conventional as most upcoming bands do. I also put a picture of the album cover to make it clear. I made sure to link the colours to the whole fairytale idea and I put in Alice In Wonderland to the clock to gain more mystery. The fact that the poster closely links to the music video, it becomes quite conventional and would make the viewer want to know more.
