Evaluation Question 1

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

Mise en sceneI chose to do an apocalyptic style music video, so the costumes and setting had to be both dark and set in an apocalyptic world. The lighting also played a large part in what mood the music video creates. My inspiration for the music video came from the film The Road which has a dark atmosphere and is set in an apocalyptic world. The weather also played a large part in how the music video looks. They grey sky and rain helps add the sad mood to the video. If the weather had been bright and sunny the music video would be too happy and not fit the story. Changing the colour correction also helped changed the mood as it created a darker atmosphere. The vignette also helps add this effect.

Costume The costume for the lead actor was very dark, reflecting the atmosphere of the film. Then

for the girl, the costume she wears is slightly lighter. This is to show she offers hope to the lead character in the apocalyptic world. To fit in with the song the costumes are not brightly coloured and this helps with the mood of the music video, as the song quite slow and not very up-beat, which reflects on the costumes. This is very much like the film The Road in which the costumes reflect the story and situation the characters are in.

Props The only prop used in the music video is the guitar. This is a convention for many music

videos. The actor also knows how to play the guitar so the music video looks a lot more authentic. However to make the music video more empty and apocalyptic this is the only prop used throughout.

Camera Techniques Throughout the music video I did not use a tripod. This is because the shaky camera has

a nice effect on the music video and fits in well with the atmosphere and character. Influenced by the film The Road establishing shots show the empty area and overgrown parts of the world. Establishing shots are a convention for many apocalyptic films, such as The Book of Eli in which these shots are used to show how empty the world is.

Editing Techniques

The song is very slow, so the cuts and length of each shot has to fit in with the pace of the song. This means the length of some shots are long, especially towards the start and end of the music video. The music video also has to have a dark tone and lonely atmosphere. To do this I filmed when the weather wasn’t sunny but also towards late afternoon so that the video doesn’t look bright and colorful. To help emphasise this I also changed the colour correction and added a vignette to help create the dark atmosphere.

Narrative

The narrative of the music video is the story of someone who is alone. There are hints towards the fact this person is living in an apocalyptic world, from the derelict house and overgrown surroundings. He travels around this world and finds a girl, which shows hope and the characters both look happy together. However the music video ends with the lead character waking up, done in the same style as the start of the video. This opens questions to whether or not the rest of the music video was a dream and if it had been real. I decided to choose this ending to add enigma and more emotion to the music video.

Many music videos will have a story throughout however some do not and just have the band performing at a concert of just playing their instruments.

PerformanceBoth lip syncing and acting are used in the music video. The lip syncing worked well however I’m not sure there are enough shots of the lead character singing the song, but I did manage to spread out the shots throughout the music video. Many music videos use lip synching as main parts of the video, sometimes it can be used to address the audience or just add to the story.

An example of this is the music video for Live Forever by Oasis. The lead singer Liam Gallagher, sings to the camera and it seems like he is addressing you.

However in the music video for Maybe Tomorrow by Stereophonics, the lead singer doesn’t look at the camera and just sings to add to the story.

ActingThe acting worked well in the music video as both of the characters are drama students. This helped because a lot of emotion had to go into the acting as the loneliness of the characters had to be convincing.

Many music videos will have actors playing different roles, however some bands will act themselves. James are a good example of this and the lead singer Tim Booth will almost always play a part in their music videos.

RepresentationThe band James are represented as both actors and musicians. This is mainly because the lead singer Tim Booth acts in many of their music videos. The videos they have are also quite serious and are not very bright or happy.

I wanted to keep the music video in the styles of other James music videos, so there are close ups of the lead character to show facial expressions. The colour correction and vignette also help emphasise this.

Target Audience

As the band are alternative rock the target audience varies from late teens to late forties. The fact the band formed in the eighties also plays a large part in the target audience. However as the actors are in their teens, so the music video will also attract a younger audience. However I have tried to tailor the music video to fit a wider range of audience, but as the narrative and style of the video are quite serious, this will restrict a younger audience.

Digipak Design

The main features of a digipak include:

• Cover Artwork – Many digipak’s will include artwork or a photo of something. However some can also be quite abstract, so they can range from different styles. The title of the album is also normally on the front cover and the band name.

• Inside Artwork – The inside artwork can also have different styles and show pictures, lyrics or photos of the band.

• Information – Some digipak’s include a leaflet of information, this can be lyrics of the songs or information about the album and band. There is also information on where the album is recorded and who owns the copyright of both the music and digipak artwork.

My Digipak DesignI chose to do a four panel digipak. The photos fit in with the apocalyptic style of the music video and song. The photos I have used are of the house featured in the music video, so this fits in well.

I have included the track list of all the songs on the album and they can all be clearly seen. There is also information on where the album was recorded and who owns the rights to the artwork of the digipak and music.

I took the photos while filming the music video so that I could use them in the digipak. This is because it will then have conations with the music video. The text fits well however I had to be careful where to place the titles as they only fit on certain parts of the photos. I downloaded the font from Dafont.com.

Website Inspiration

When creating my website I did research on some other band’s websites with the same genre. The two bands I focused on are; Embrace and The Killers. These band’s both have great websites which were both simple and easy to navigate. This gave me inspiration to create a website using similar techniques. The main focus was having the album cover on the front page large and easy to see. This gives great advertisement to the album and also informs you that the album has or going to be released. The websites are also not very cluttered so they are simple and easy to navigate.

My Website - Homepage

I chose to advertise the album on the homepage which shows the digipak front cover. The layout is simple and isn’t too complicated. I decided to put the titles and image in the center so that the main focus is on the album cover. Much of my inspiration came from the website research.

About Page

This is a page which shows information on the band including when and where they formed, they’re hit singles and what they are doing now. There is also a discography with links to the albums on Amazon. Many bands have about pages, which shows information and images of the band members.

News Page

This page shows upcoming news of the band. This includes tour dates, album and music video releases. I have also included the music video on this page so that it can be easily reached.

Contact Page

This is a contact page, which people are able to send messages to the band. This page is again very simple and a key feature of the website as audiences of the band, or fans are able to send messages or contact them. Many alternative rock websites feature a contact page and you are able to email or contact the band.