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Makeshift label,

"Remedy Records"

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I use emotion-filled shots like in Backroads when the music becomes more intense.

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Transitions like Cross Dissolve are used when the pace of the video is slower/softer, whereas jump cuts are preferred otherwise, conventionally.

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Lighting changes to reflect time passing. Also, this shot is developing conventions by creating a "different" narrative to the more obvious one.

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Location map minus the 3 locations outside of the local area

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Main character Tom. This is also an example of matching music to visuals, as he turns on a beat

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Mise-en-scene creating meaning in the narrative

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Main actor Elliott. Also matching visuals to lyrics/ideas.

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Matching the lyrics to the visuals in my video

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Close-up images maintain Goodwin's "Star Image Motif"

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Intertextual Mise-en-scene in the form of band posters

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Audience Research Graph of Genres

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YouTube is the media platform I use

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An image of my artist, "Abandoning Sunday".

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I analysed Deaf Havana's "Hunstanton Pier" as an example of a narrative video in the genre

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Lonely The Brave's "Backroads" served as an inspiration for my video in conveying emotion

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The Hotelier's album cover

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I analysed Deaf Havana's poster for their Old Souls tour to discover conventions of a magazine advertisement and replicate these in my product.

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The inside cover of Real Friends' digipak displayed an interplay of various images

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The inside cover to my digipak.

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The inside cover of Old Souls was the inspiration for my inside cover.

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Deaf Havana's "Old Souls", that I analysed to discover digipak conventions

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Old Souls Back Cover

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Magazine Advertisement for "Struggle"

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The full Digipak design for "Struggle".

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The front cover of my Digipak for "Struggle".

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Typically, the music video is a form that is used to support the song, and is available to view on Music Video TV Channels for artists likely to chart and with the financial position to do so. However, my artist is unsigned and is not big enough to be played on stations like MTV. Due to genre, it would be more suited a TV channel such as Kerrang!, but this will not happen.

Instead, I used the media platform of the free, open medium of YouTube. Although the site is becoming more monopolised by music video channels like VEVO, an artist can still upload a video, for free, to a worldwide audience, and recieve "Likes" and comments on the video, and from there it can be shareed onto various web-based platforms via a link or being embedded, which makes it easy to share and spread on social networking sites, and easy to view at any time, anywhere.

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How have I utilised conventions of a Magazine Advertisement? 

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How have I utilised conventions of a Magazine Advertisement? 

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My magazine advert is quite conventional due to how I intended it to be simplistic, yet professional.

I first intended it to have strong links to my other products, the video and digipak, to create a sense of synergy between products, and a unique house style that could be easily associated with the artist- usually most apparent through the font, which remains the same. "Abandoning Sunday" takes up almost all of the top of the advert, with the album name below it, slightly smaller, as of convention. Below this, in the centre of the page, is the digipak front cover, which is typically in the region first seen by the reader. Hence, I decided to enchane this effect by placing a drop shadow at an angle that almost lifts the image off of the backdrop, which is a shot taken from further down from where the back cover of the digipak is shot, and is darkened to create a contrast and a clear background to read the text.

The next section down is reviews, as this would be close the eye-capturing image of the front cover, and a good review from a recognisable source of the genre, Alternative Press, which is well known in the magazine in which the advert would be placed, like Kerrang! or Rocksound. The quote places the album in good stead which would encourage the reader to support it. Beneath this are "Star Reviews" an easy way of conveying how a reviewer feels about a particular product. 4 or 5 star reviews are generally held in high regard, and having these from different sources, a web-based reviewer from the genre AbsolutePunk, and esteemed newspaper The Guardian, would mean a wider demographic would be reached through the advertisement, hence their inclusion.

A sleek division line separates the reviews from the next convention I utilise, the reference to tracks on the album- I use the previous singles "Words" and "In Your Dreams", as they are quite well known by the artists fanbase and both have accompanying videos/individual iTunes singles. The new single is for "Real Talk", the song I have used for my video, creating the link between the products. Real Talk is also track 2 on the album, after the 1-minute intro "Preface".

Beneath this, at the bottom of the page, are the majority of the details. This is typically the last thing the reader will see and hence the least important to increasing the sales of the album. Here, I have the artists' website, along with logos to Facebook, Twitter and SoundCloud, all of which are actively used by my artist, which were edited to be white and match the house style in Photoshop. I also did this with the label logo, the "RR" of Remedy Records on the left hand side, next to the "Available on iTunes/Google Play" images, both conventions of the magazine advertisement that clearly tell the reader where they can buy the album- and, importantly, "Out now" is in a larger font at the bottom to make it more recognisable amongst the design so the reader knows that they can purchase the album at any point. I decided to not include full usernames for social medias to restrict the amount of "clutter" on the design and keep it to a a simplistic, professional design likened to what you would find in it's style model locations, Kerrang! and Rocksound.

See Magazine Advertisement post for more analysis.

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Simply, the magazine advertisement's purpose is to support the digipak itself, to achieve more sales. The advert will hence include, typically, the artist's name in a prominent position and large font, with the album title close by, typically in a smaller font with a supporting sentence. Any text is short, with minimal words, to convey the message quickly to the glancing reader.

If a single has recently been released, it is often referenced, with the advert proclaiming the new album "contains the singles..." or words to this effect. The advert will typically have the front cover of the digipak on it, to create a direct link between what is being advertised- this also allows for links between products. Images used may be taken from a supporting music video/shoot, to create further links.

Regarding other images used, typically the poster will contain the usernames of the artist's social networking accounts, usually Facebook or Twitter, along with the website, or a link to ticket sales sites that are selling for a supporting tour. The poster may also contain parts of a review or a rating from an official source to boost sales if a good review is obtained for a credible source. The associated record label's logo also features, along with where the album can be bought digitally, such as from iTunes, the most popular method of digital downloads.

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The actors were chosen for their accessibility. According to Althusser's theory, we see versions of ourselves in media products, and so by using more "ordinary", everyday scenarios that people, specifically the target audience can relate to, makes the product more successful in being accessible. For this reason, I have all young adults, of the ages 17/18, in my video- as I firstly cannot pay for an experienced actor, but also because it is practical to use people who I know and live locally, as they can film more easily, through easier logistics. The characters experience "ordinary" issues that most of the target audience would be able to relate to at some point in their lives, the very motto of the band itself.

The costumes, reflective of this choice of actors, were standardised- nothing overly formal or too casual, the styles were smart casual, with shirts and jeans commonly opted for. Elliot's character wears a dress shirt, coat jacket, skinny jeans and converse shoes. He appears very trendy and as a typical young male. Similarly, Tom wears Vans shoes, skinny jeans, a coat and a plain shirt, slightly less formal but still equally accessible by wearing everyday clothes- as if it were actually a scene from these peoples lives. This enhances Althusser's ideas about self-image, and is a typical convention of narrative music videos, where the characters are dressed "normally"- often in a concept video, the convention would be for the character to wear a strange costume, perhaps a mask or full body outfit.

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Lighting

As opposed to in my AS piece where lighting was used to create a particular suspenseful atmosphere, lighting was less of a conscious decision in my music video. The change in lighting more so reflects the time of day and location, showing passing time. The video begins in a room, and the lighting in the rooms remain similar, with a distinct beige colour. All shots that are outside during the day are on a clear, bright day, enhancing the colour and creating distinct lens flares. For the beach section, I filmed on a cloudy day to create a grey canvas to reflect the mindset of Tom's character at this point, as semantically grey is associated with sadness and issues like depression, "seeing grey", etc. Shots that are darker, are only due to the shot being at night, refelcting the time passing throughout the video- Tom is own his own in the day, and sees his friends. The only notable change in lighting is the perhaps slightly blue section of the video where Elliott leaves his house, where the light from outside was enhanced by the blue walls in the hallway, so I adjusted the levels to try to reduce this effect to make it more coherent between the room and outside. Lighting is not something as noticeable in music videos unless the video is conceptual, the use of lighting to convey time of day in a narrative is more conventional. However, unlike in vidoes with large budgets, they can use lighting devices to make sure the image quality is good, whilst I had to use a flashlight or light from lamp posts.

Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene is a more apparent feature in music videos, where the director can include specific props or intertextual references. For me, I used props, often intertextual ones, to convey different aspects of the video through the mise-en-scene. The Mobile Phones were pertinent to the narrative and hence contributing towards understanding the characters relationships and contact. Without conversation, as the sound in a video is almost entirely the sound, the phone indicates conversation occurring without the presence of both characters and the audience recognizes this. The Notepad & Pen are used to convey Elliott's character's state of mind, and the way in which he conveys his emotion, and they also are a fitting expression of his rage in the penultimate section of the video. The Posters & CDs in both rooms lend themselves towards the significance of intertextuality and allow the target audience from my audience research to identify with the characters through their music, TV and film interests. The Bible is a fitting prop in the Church section and fits in with the lyrical themes of losing hope, in the religious context of the song/band, and Elliott closing the Bible is perhaps indicative of a loss of faith. The Beer Bottle shown at the start is another interesting prop I use to create a sub-narrative- half drank, it is depicted during the lyric "I've got a real bad habit", indicating a potential drinking problem, discussing an issue of modern society which is alcohol abuse and the reasons for this, which, as conveyed through the other props and narrative, include hopelessness, depression and self-depreciation. Regarding Tom's character, the car is a useful prop as it resembles the lengths to which his friends will go to find him and also creates a link between locations. Regarding Ria's character, the textbooks and essay is shown before the last chorus as she discards them and looks at the vase of flowers, pertinent to the narrative, as by this stage we assume that they were given to her by Elliott's character and that she cannot concentrate due to the preceding argument. The props used throughout strongly aid the narrative and allow the plot and ideas to be clearly or subtly illustrated. A lot of these, particularly the use of phones in a video where the actual conversation cannot be heard, are typical conventions of videos, however I used some other props to challenge conventions as they were appropriate for my video. The decision to include the Bible to indicate a loss of faith is perhaps a less overt way to suggest an idea, and the posters are a development of a convention, as these bands are specifically relevant to my audience research rather than just being general to a "music fan", however most of the mise-en-scene simply utilises conventions of a music video.

Locations

Regarding locations in my video, I used 8 locations, as detailed in my locations blog post. Each of these locations are pertinent to conveying a theme or idea in my video. Conventionally, I use indoor rooms such as Ria's room and Elliott's room, similar locations to previous Abandoning Sunday videos, in order to establish a narrative. I developed conventions by using perhaps obvious locations, but in a different manner. Instead of using a forest for the aesthetic aspect that is commonly used in some videos, I chose this location for its pure isolation and the arguable intertextual interpretation of it regarding the religious themes throughout my products (c. Intertextuality post on the blog, Dante's Inferno). The location allows the audience to access the character and identify with them, which is ultimately a convention of music videos, and what Althusser argues in his theory about self-image in media. Furthermore, I use a more unique location of the Church to not only establish religious context, but with the interplay of props to create a theme of giving up, and losing faith, pertinent to the lyrics.

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The track I am creating a video for, "Real Talk", is a rock/pop punk track, and hence has sections where the pace is quite quick, dictated my the drum pattern of the instrumental. Hence, the style of editing required varies between the more upbeat sections and the slower sections of the introduction and first verse. For these sections, I used crossfade transitions, more typical of an acoustic track, as the pace is slower and tone much softer, meaning a sudden cut would seem unnatural and not fit in the track, unless at the end of a beat/bar of music. For the duration of the video past this, I mainly use jump cuts, as from my research I found that this was the most frequently used transition; almost all transitions between clips were jump cuts.

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Utilising forms and conventions in my media product

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Utilising forms and conventions in my media product

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How have I utilised conventions of a Digipak?

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How have I utilised conventions of a Digipak?

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My digipak is based around the image of a dog running across a field on a clear sunny day, with the images creating a direct contrast to the album title, "Struggle".

I developed typical conventions for the front cover of a digipak, but also utilised the key features. I opted for a simplistic image for the front cover that in it's composition presents many different meanings. The design lends itself to the Reception Theory, in that I, the author of the text, have encoded it with a desired, preferred meaning through taking the image, and my audience may agree with this or see it differently. Alternatively, the Uses and Gratifications model could be considered, as the image is relatively simplistic and the audience can make of it what they will, to fit their needs and what they are looking for in a digipak. I decided this was an apt image for my digipak by playing off of the album's name. The term struggle, relating to a time of endearment through a difficult period, due to whatever circumstances, is negative, but many believe that to have struggled shows strength. I decided I wanted to contrast the negativity of the album title, which would have a prominent position in the image, by juxtaposing it with a positive, uplifting image, which I could get from this shoot. The dog running connotes a sense of freedom- it is off it's lead, and is free to go wherever it chooses. By using a dog, I make it universally relatable, as it is so different to a person- no social bias is percieved, reaching a wider audience. The dog running through the field also  suggests that the "struggle" can be beaten, or that it in fact, isn't real. The design is inspired by the digipak I analysed, Deaf Havana's "Old Souls". This "preferred" reading is the one I have encoded, however as it is a simple image, the audience may see it how they choose, meaning it could be decoded in different ways. The front cover also contains the albums name and artist name in a clear font so it is easy to read and could be easily recognised in a shop, for instance.

I have utilised all features that would be expected for a spine of a digipak- the album name and artist name, as well as including "RR-001" at the base, from my makeshift label, Remedy Records, another convention of digipaks, as this is seen on the reverse and the inside cover. I also extended the image from the front cover using Photoshop to create continuity between the spine and the front cover.

For the back cover, the tracklist takes up most of the space, using the same font as the front cover and spine, "Please Write Me A Song", as I did in the video, creating synergy throughout my products. A barcode is featured at the bottom, as well as copyright details to the record label and artist.

However, I did not include much on the inside of the digipak. This is because I wanted the digipak to be similar to that of Old Souls, and create a large open image that the audience, by the Uses and Gratifications model, can make of it what they choose. Hence, I only included the artists' name and record label logo on the left panel and left the other two panels for the CD / DVD as required by the specification. The dimensions of the digipak are also that of a typical release, and I opted for a 6 panel digipak rather than a 4 panel to create a more interesting interplay of images and make it look more professional.

See Digipak post for more analysis.

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Digipaks, the alternative to the standard Jewel Case for CDs, share many conventions with that of the CD case, but also have unique ones.

As standard, Digipaks will contain the name of the artist and album on the front cover, although some more obscure ones simply just have an image, for example, The Hotelier's "Home, Like No Place Is There", which has the name of the album sprayed onto a derelict house. The front cover will resemble some sort of meaning intended by the artist that is pertinent to the ideologies of the band or the lyrical content of the album, i.e. the imagery in Real Friends' album. The spine of the digipak will typically have the same details, as well as a record of release, i.e. the numbered release of the record on that label, i.e. "XY-001". The rear cover will typically contain any copyright information, the record label, a barcode for use when purhcased, and the tracklist for the album. The inside of the digipak often contains an interplay of various images pertinent to the design of the product, with additional details such as "Thankyous", Band Members, lyric sheet add-ons and of course an area for the actual CD to go. I discovered these conventions were not only apparent in my two examples, Deaf Havana and Real Friends albums, but across almost all Digipaks.

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Media Theories regarding Music Videos - Applying Goodwin's theories and other ideas

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Media Theories regarding Music Videos - Applying Goodwin's theories and other ideas

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In his theories, Goodwin outlines several factors that he identifies as typical conventions of the music video. Throughout my video, I utilise these conventions, to make my product similar to that of a professional real product that could realistically be used by the artist.

The most apparent of these is the link between lyrics and visuals, which is especially relevant to my track, which has several different representations to explore. Simple direct links such as "I've got some real bad habits" whilst showing a half-drunk Beer bottle, for example, create direct connotations. However, I develop these conventions by including more obscure references- for instance, "We've come way too far to give up and stop now", the hook lyric from the chorus, would typically be interpreted as a relationship, one of the plots of a narrative, but I also portrayed this through a group of friends- this lyric is sung at the end when Lee puts his arm around Tom and the group are having fun in the city. Also, "Promise me you'll keep believing" is shown but inversely, as Elliott puts the Bible down in the video, showing that he is beginning to stop believing. It is vital in a music video to create links between the lyrics and the narrative otherwise the narrative would seemingly have no purpose pertinent to the actual music. I also create links between the music and the video- creating a synonymous product that enhances the narrative- as the song progresses, so does the plot of the story. The video often cuts at the end of a bar of 4 beats, or jump cuts on a beat itself so the flow of the music is not disrupted by a sudden change. Conversely, where the beat of the track is less apparent from the absence of the drums, transitions are preferred, a softer change between shots to reflect the softer section of the track. This a simple convention of the music video that I have used.

Another one of Goodwin's ideas is the usage of close-ups and the "Star-Image Motif". Without the actual appearance of my artist in my music video, it could be argued that this convention is challenged- but this is more typical of the narrative video than the performance video. Instead, I develop this convention, by making the actors the "stars" in the video, or more so, the audience who see themselves in the actor, making the video more engaging for one. Furthermore, using actors still creates a star image motif as these actors will then on be associated directly with this video and hence Abandoning Sunday- one of my original ideas was to have someone playing the guitar and singing the lyrics, but decided against it as would seem to those that are unfamiliar with the artist that, through this idea from Goodwin, that they were actually the artist. Instead, I use close-ups to convey the emotion of the characters in the video, particularly apparent at the end of the bridge before the last chorus. I used Backroads as inspiration for this, using close ups to convey emotion, and similarly those skaters in Backroads are now synonymous with Lonely the Brave.

Goodwin also makes reference to Intertextuality and it's usage in the music video to establish further meaning. This is a convention I endeavored to include, and did so primarily in mise-en-scene (see separate section.) Goodwin also discusses, like Freud, about the notion of looking in music videos. As the viewer, we are enjoying looking at the music video and the characters, adhering to the conventions outlined in Freud's Scopophilia, the pleasure of looking. Voyeurism, another convention of videos, particularly the notion of looking that sexualises women, is one I decide to challenge, as personally I disagree with this idea and did not want my product to reflect this arguably outdated, sexist idea- Ria is the only girl in the video, and is not portrayed in this manner at all, challenging the convention.

Some other media theories I explored in my video were those of Todorov and Althusser. From my research into the music video, I found that narrative videos, again using Backroads as my example, adhered to Todorov's Narrative Theory, which states that in the narrative video, there is an equilibrium at the start, followed by a disruption, and then the disruption is resolved to revert back to an equilibrium. In my video, the video starts as an equilibrium in both narratives, more so Elliott's as Tom's is almost straight into the disruption, but come the second chorus, the disruption begins, where Elliott questions his faith and Tom feels lonely and lost, before these issues are resolved in the final chorus, when Elliott sees Ria and Tom is with his friends Ben and Lee.

Following off of this, Althusser says that we, the audience, see ourselves in real media products, which is something I try to make easier to make the video more accessible for my target audience, by presenting my characters as everyday individuals that the audience can see themselves as or see themselves in similar situations to them (see Actors/Costumes).

I also utilise theories such as the Reception and Uses and Gratifications models in my ancillary products, see below.

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Ostensibly, Music Videos are a form of promotion for an artist. They act as an "extra" for the song or album, that are tailored specifically to the single they are accompanying. With the rising popularity of music video channels over the last few decades, and more recently, the domination of sites like YouTube and the music video channels such as VEVO that begin to monopolise the platform, having a music video representation is vital for an artist, for several reasons. As a promotional tool, the music video gives an insight into the band and their ideologies- Goodwin states that videos often contain a "Star Image" motif, but even without the appearance of the artist, the video is still directly associated with the owner of the music, and the genre that they fall within.

The genre is one of the biggest advantages for the artist, in that from the music video, they can broaden their fan base- people who are interested in a specific genre can easily stumble across an artist, but with a video the artist becomes infinitely more accessible. In turn, this will cause an increase in sales.

Music Videos typically follow three main "forms" - a Performance Based video, a Concept based video, or a Narrative based video. For reasons detailed at the very beginning of my blog, I could not acquire a British artist for my video, and hence I took on Abandoning Sunday- who would be, logistically, impossible to appear in the video, ruling out the performance idea. My audience research then indicated that they preferred a narrative structure with a specific story tailored to the lyrics (c. Genre Conventions) and hence I opted for this structure, adhering to the most basic convention of this type of media product. Hence, everything in the video, despite the absence of the artist, becomes directly associated with them and their music, aiding their promotion alongside their single. Within the narrative, I developed further conventions by integrating theories into my product, and then within the construction process.

As highlighted by Goodwin, videos typically contain several key aspects, almost all of which I utilise in my video, particularly the link between the lyrics and the visuals, as this is most prominent in a narrative video, as I learned from my analysis of "Backroads".

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Before I can utilise forms and conventions of real media products, I must first establish what the conventions of the genre I am working in are and hence how I can develop or challenge these conventions. My artist, Abandoning Sunday, is, broadly, a rock band, but with hints at other genres, including pop punk, acoustic, and alt/emo rock. On his website, Thomas (Abandoning Sunday) lists his musical influences to include bands such as Jimmy Eat World, Yellowcard, The Goo Goo Dolls, The Killers and The Icarus Account. As these bands are listed as influences, Thomas' musical style will bare some resemblance, and hence I geared my audience research towards fans of these acts/genres, in order to establish what it was that the public expected from these videos.

From my audience research, I found that, amongst my sample, the favourite genres were Indie, Rock and Acoustic, with Singer/Songwriter second and Pop Punk third. Thomas' does have several acoustic songs and hence fits all of these genres bar Indie- hence, the video itself is more tailored to the specific song, "Real Talk", which is a Rock/Pop Punk track. Hence, in its technical aspects, it will differ, in order to match the changed pace in the songs.

The genre itself, lyrically, deals with a number of issues, and tends to feature emotional and expressive lyrics with a meaning and story to each song. Hence, the videos that accompany these songs reflect the lyrical content of the song in order to create a visual aid to what the artist is writing about. For example, upon looking into Deaf Havana's music video, a likened artist to my act, I found their videos "Hunstanton Pier" and "Mildred" to be very different in content, but both videos explained a concept or story - the tribute to Hunstanton as a hometown and the loss of a childhood friend over time. In my video, I would hence use and develop this genre convention to connect with the audience and help deal with the issues that the genre typically deals with, in Thomas' case especially, depression, hopelessness and loneliness. The intricate ways in which these delicate issues are presented is one way I develop conventions in my product- the videos I looked at did not deal with such issues, and so I could not draw on research to demonstrate this. I used more subtle character movements, such as a look down to suggest deflation, and locations, such as the isolated forest location to imply loneliness and the Church, coupled with the lyrics at the time this location is shown, to suggest hopelessness and 'giving up', for instance the Bible shot.

An example of this from my research was Lonely The Brave's "Backroads".This video acted as my inspiration, with emotional riffs and a provoking, uplifting and empowering call in the flagship lyric of "You be the sky and I'll be the bird", in which the video creates many ideas of freedom whilst faced with adversity, and friendship. Davenport uses Imagery and impressive shots to enhance the meaning of the video and the theme of Freedom in the video to Backroads, and although they are not similar lyrically, the video deals with a huge variety of emotions and tries to encapsulate those in relation to youth, which is ultimately what I intended to do with my video, as the target audience for my video are young adults and teenagers, typically. I particularly liked the aspect of friendship and showing the uplifting emotions to do with being with people you cared about and wished to express this in my video.