Evaluation Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

 

In the title page of our music video we super-imposed our band name and logo over the video. It has been used in other video's such as Royal Blood's 'Ten Tonne Skeleton' and The Neighbourhood's 'Let It Go'. This adheres to Goodwin's theory by creating and enforcing an artist image in the video however, we decided to have the title sequence 30 seconds into the video instead of at the start like the other pre-existing videos i've studied. We decided that moving the title sequence 30 second into the video would intrigue the viewer but also give them an insight into the band before making any conclusions based on the group's appearance. The pre-existing artists already have an audience but since my video is for an EP the importance of introducing the band was prioritised. Also, from 'Ten Tonne Skeleton' we used similar shots of instruments as props such as a bass guitar. This show the audience the skill of the artist and helps idolise the artist.

 

 

 

The costume used on Simon Neil in Biffy Clyro's 'Biblical' accurately portrayed to us the look of the average man of the alternative sub-culture. We used a similar look in our video however, we developed the visual meaning behind the costume of our lead singer. The playing cards on his t-shirt, links to the playing cards that they are also using as props in the video, continuing the extended theme of game playing in the video and connoting that life itself is seen as bit of a game by our band.

 

 

Also, we noted that the progression from a dark set to a light set in parallel to the audio in 'Biblical' linked to Goodwin's theory around the audio relating to the visuals for the video. Lastly, the close-ups of props in 'Biblical' seemed to create a good atmosphere in the video by these props seeming to symbolise aspects of the protagonist, such as the phone denoting human connection, the cash denoting wealth and the fan suggesting that the set is hot and claustrophobic. To create similar impacts in our video on the viewer we also included close-ups of key props to create our image as a band.

 

 

We used shots of our artists having fun and smiling to highlight the carefree image that the band is trying to create. We saw this being used in The1975's 'Girls' and it fitted in really well with the visuals of the video. However, 'Girls' has a mise-en-scene composed of bright colours and a lack of seriousness throughout yet, we used these shots towards the end of our video after the progression from light to dark enforcing the idea of the bright and positive as opposed to the dark and oppressive set we have for the first half of our video.
We saw yet again how many close-up shots there were of the artists linking to establishing an artist image but the establishing shot of the band in 'Girls' was rejected for our video because 'Girls' is satire about stereotypical pop bands and therefore has an establishing shot of the group. Because of TheBlankAtlas's alternative genre we decided to not conform to stereotypes in the opening of our video by having an out of context, slow motion close up of a single band member laughing.

 

In 'Sweater Weather' by The Neighbourhood the modern setting yet use of a black and white filter as well as an old fashioned car as a prop  portrays a sense of detachment in society because, the vibrancy and wealth of stereotypical Hollywood cannot be seen in full instead it creates a stark contrast and highlights the melancholy nature of the lyrics. We expanded on the use of black and white filter in our main production as a symbol for the lack of freedom and expression that they have initially in the video which is why we change to colour when the band changes set to the outside to represent progression into freedom and happiness. Furthermore, we used the editing technique from 'Sweater Weather' where a shot flashes up every drum beat, we adapted this technique for use with extreme close ups of people's mouths every time the lyric 'feel good' was said in the beginning.