EvaluationQuestion 1

In What Ways Does Your Media Product USE, DEVELOP or CHALLENGE Forms and Conventions

of Real Media Products?

Chris Joyce

USEOur media product USES many forms and conventions of real media products.

Our video draws many parallels with the music video for ‘Vlad The Impaler’ by ‘Kasabian’. This is due to the use of a single character which is the

focus of general humour.

‘Vlad The Impaler’ ‘The Detective’

USE Other comical characters in music videos include:

Cops in ‘Sabotage’ by Beastie Boys

The Milk Carton from Blur’s

‘Coffee and Tv’

Christopher Walken inFat Boy Slim’s video for

“Weapon Of Choice”

USEWe also gave the band their own specific set-up in the video, this made it easier to match lip-synching and to put them into the video at any time we wanted. Giving the band their own set-up and area of the video is

something commonly used in Indie music videos.

1984 – Green Eyed Monster

You Me At Six-

Liquid Confidence

USEWe USED:

Lip-SynchingSexuality

Extensive Editing

Instrument Shots

These are all common attributes of real music videos used mainly by indie bands.

DEVELOPOur video has also DEVELOPED some forms and

conventions of real media products. Most media products of a similar nature to ours use a

narrative/plot/storyline and this helps the video to flow and progress. Ours also does this, but with a bit extra –

we used multiple storylines.Commonly, the band are seen throughout the video, in a setting that suits the song and they play the instruments and lip0-sync along. For example – Blink 182’s video for ‘I Miss You’ does this to great effect.

Blink 182 -

I Miss You

DEVELOPOur video DEVELOPS this convention by having multiple storylines, that at times are shown simultaneously. This takes the original idea and progresses it a little bit.

The Boys On

Stage

The Detectiv

e out and

about

The Boys on Stage and The Detective out and about

SIMULTANEOUSLY

DEVELOPSome Bands, such as Pendulum, have their own logo. We have also done this, but have helped to further its use by making it a title to our video and putting it at the beginning. See Below;

Pendulum’s logo, stationary but makes the band easily distinguishable from others.

Great artwork.

1984’s logo, active and is put at the beginning of the video. Similar but different, developing an area of the music video.

CHALLENGEGenerally, in music videos that use a focal character

that is not linked specifically to the band, the character does not interact with the band. This is something that

we have challenged in our video.For example; If we look again at Kasabian’s video for ‘Vlad The Impaler’, the band members of Kasabian are not featured at all, and you do not see them playing. The entire video is focused on ‘Vlad’ and what he does.

CHALLENGEWe have challenged this in our video, with our focal character interacting directly with the band. This happens when he pulls out the wire from the amp, cutting all the music. The band then turns around to look at him and he quickly places it back. This interaction is unorthodox and is not customary for a music video, so this is challenging the forms and conventions.