Evaluation Draft 1 completed

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Location

During the preproduction phase of our video we were immediately inspired by the work of Wes Andersen. As the process continued we decided our main inspiration from Wes would be Moonrise Kingdom as we all found its style, themes and cinematography appealing. We then sought to recreate this throughout our production process and we frequently referred to the film and Wes Andersen to each other in order to keep the film fresh in our minds and its motifs present throughout the video. To mediate this inspiration, during the preproduction phase we chose to film in a forest or woodland location and we originally wanted to use different woodland settings to include in our video as we could use multiple settings to best connote the motifs at the heart of our video, which were adventure, journeys and lost youth. However, during the production process of the video, we ultimately chose Burbage Common as our main location with the bulk of the video filmed there, while Lutterworth was used as a secondary location for the video and an office was used at the beginning.

We chose these places because we decided it was the ideal location to capture the aesthetics of Moonrise Kingdom and the motifs we sort to imbed in the final video. We also chose this location because it was more practical and realistic for us to achieve as we were frequently constrained by the practicality of transporting all the equipment needed in a single car to multiple locations as well as the time restrictions and deadlines. It was also large enough for us to use multiple different shots throughout the area to avoid the setting becoming stale and boring to watch, which would also break the verisimilitude of the video. This choice also tied in well with the narrative style of the video because it allowed us to implement our ideas for the videos narrative fully, taking full advantage of Burbage Common to give the narrative element of the video a sense of scope and adventure. We chose Lutterworth as another exterior location because it combined both our woodland motif and our office motif, making it the perfect transition location for our narrative. We also chose this location because we could film outside the Lutterworth Scout hut, which tied in with our theme of Scouts and youth, which created an intertextual reference between our work and our inspiration.

Camera

Our video, which uses both performance and narrative elements throughout, made use of tracking, Steadicam, pan, long, medium and close up shots to create synergy between cinematography in conventional music videos and the cinematography used in Moonrise kingdom. An example of this would be the first 30 seconds of our music video, in which we used a medium shot followed by a pan to adapt the techniques used throughout the film and develop them into our music video using windows and reflections to create symmetry within the shot without breaking the verisimilitude of our video. This meant we were able to incorporate natural symmetry into a shot in the same way the film did, creating an intertextual reference between them. We followed the conventions of traditional narrative based music videos by using a variety of shots to connote feelings of progression in order to avoid the video becoming repetitive and boring to watch. Our range of shots were chosen during the production of our video to convey the journey our protagonist takes in the videos narrative, for example we used long shots to connote to the audience the distance he was traveling a long distance.

Theorists

During the production of our video we used Andrew Godwin’s theories in order to use and develop forms and conventions used by real media products. During editing we created a strong link between the music and the visuals by cutting on beats and phrases used throughout the song. The visuals of our video were amplified by our editing as we increased the frequency of cuts as the tempo of the song increased. This created a strong link between visuals and music which follows Goodwin’s ideas. However, we challenged the idea of a link between lyrics and visuals, and instead used the common convention found throughout indie music videos of excluding visual and lyrical links and retaining a focus on the narrative. We used a shot of the band together in order to satisfy record label demands which was another theory put forward by Goodwin. We used and developed Archer’s theory on narrative and performance based videos. Archer says that there should be a link between a videos narrative elements and its performance elements, suggesting the video must frequently cut between the two to create a coherent bond. Archer also said that a choreographed dance performance must also be included. We decided that we would challenge Archers choreographed dance theory and instead develop and implement his other theory into our video. This is because we thought that a choreographed dance performance would detract from the narrative of our video and break the verisimilitude.

Editing

Through the use of editing we were able to develop a clear link with the indie genre. Remo Drive’s I’m my own doctor was a big influence for us in terms of music video editing as it is a well-known video within the genre and encapsulates everything we wanted to achieve. With editing to the beat ,which mediates interest and heightened emotion, and cuts which were slightly slower than more conventional music videos we were able to challenge traditional forms and conventions while also adhering to the forms and conventions used by our own inspiration.

Costume

By using costumes we were able to effectively draw our audience in with believable and realistic looking characters which did not break the verisimilitude of the video. The costumes, such as a scout shirt and shorts, fit in with what the characters should wear while they also used traditional conventions such as the use of character costumes in a narrative based music video. We also developed the convention of the band all wearing the same outfit in a performance-based video. This is because the band members are seen wearing a shirt and tie throughout the course of the video which also tied in with the narrative element of the video and created a synergy between the two. The outfits we used also took inspiration from Moonrise Kingdom, mainly our scout uniform, as this was the main inspiration for our narrative and we wanted our character to look as believable as possible. We also wanted to connote to our audience he wanted to regain his youth and go on an adventure, and this was done through the removal of the smart office wear and the donning of the old Scout uniform.

Digipack

The design of my Digipack was based heavily on Teen Suicide’s “I will be in my own hell because there is a devil inside my body” and Josh Allen’s “For the world is hollow and I have touched the sky”. I took inspiration from there designs and tried creating my own design which made use of the forms and conventions established in their works. The simplistic design of my Digi pack is one of the biggest features of adhering to my inspiration’s forms and conventions as it makes use of a clean layout and minimal structure, making it easy on the eye and more appealing to my audience, which is a convention my inspirations used heavily and one I wished to develop. I developed the convention of using of a plain white background on Teen Suicide’s “I will be in my own hell because there is a devil inside my body” by using a solid black background with distorted white artefacts across it, which were used to create a darker and moodier tone to connote to my target audience. It also helped to draw attention to the image I used on the cover, which also adhered to the conventions created by the Digi packs inspirations. I used long distance photos shot in large, empty spaces to connote a sense of emptiness in the target audience. This also tied in with the music on the album which is eerie and expansive while the photos also tie in with the music videos narrative themes, creating synergy between the two. I used Photoshop to edit my images used on the Digi pack, which I made to resemble the editing and light effects used in Teen Suicide’s “I will be in my own hell because there is a devil inside my body” Digi pack images. The album was popular for its cover design and use of photography and this created its only convention I wished to develop on my own. However, during the photo editing process for my Digi Pack images I found that the process of recreating the light effects and aesthetic I wanted was very time consuming. I then decided I would only use the convention of edited photography in my Digi Pack and not develop it in order to finish my product on time. However, if I had more time I would have liked to of edited and created more photos for my Digipack, which would of adhered more to the conventions I was trying to follow as a dozen images are usually included along with lyrics for the inside of the Digi Pack. I decided to use a darker colour pallet in my Digi Pack as I wanted to follow the conventions of Josh Allen’s “For the world is hollow and I have touched the sky”. I did this by using a black background and simple white text, this had the effect of connoting a darker mood to the target audience through a moodier colour choice and the white text stood out upon the background making it visually appealing and drawing the viewer eye. My Digi pack design does not adhere to generic mainstream conventions and instead follows a less mainstream design which isn’t used often. Adjustments made after the second draft made the final design of my pack follow the conventions of the indie genre closer as I had removed distorted text which detracted from the overall visual appeal.

Magazine Advert

When creating my magazine advert I took inspiration for adverts I had seen in magazines such as Kerrang and old copies of NME. From this inspiration I decided the most effective advert would be the one which communicates the information (tour dates, gig dates, locations.) the clearest and fastest.  To this end, I used minimal typography in my design to minimise clutter on my poster as the magazine adverts which had drawn me in were the ones which had a minimal style. Using minimal typography kept the advert visually appealing and easy on the eye, making it more appealing to audiences. I made use of the same eerie photography I had implemented in my Digi Pack to create synergy between the two products, which would help to convey my own branding to my target audience, overall making the magazine advert more effective at drawing in an audience and being successful. The layout of my advert follows the forms and conventions of traditional mainstream adverts by using large font sizes and minimal typography to draw in the eye of the viewer, quickly conveying all the information the advert displays.