During the pre-production process, we
established our target audience fairly early on with no hesitations; acoustic
audience, young adult (between the ages of 16-25) and due to the artist,
predominantly female. With reference to our audience profile, other media
interests include creative activities such as photography, painting and social
gatherings to which the result is attaining some sort of personal memorabilia
or experience. In terms of consuming music, festivals and intimate gigs are
preferable. Establishing a target audience then enabled us to easily use,
develop and challenge certain forms and conventions of real media products in
order to strengthen audience appeal.
Firstly, it is necessary to consider
the general forms and conventions surrounding music videos. For example, when
planning and creating our product, we carefully considered Goodwin’s theory of
music videos. His theories include:
- There is a
relationship between visuals and lyrics
- There is a
relationship between visuals and music
- Genre conventions;
specific to our music video, this would be techniques and stylistic features
commonly seen within the genre of acoustic music videos.
- Voyeurism; either a
sexual depiction of women through the ‘male gaze’ or, a notion of ‘looking’.
- The need for close
up’s of the artist for marketing purposes
- Inter textual
references.
Regarding acoustic music, many of its
genre conventions derive from the mise-en-scene. For example, soft lighting,
focus pulls, casual but beautiful clothing and beautiful locations all express
a sense of aesthetical yet natural beauty, which is a strong theme throughout
the acoustic genre. This was important for us as our whole idea revolved around
the stylistic theme of nature, beauty and aesthetics. Therefore, we
predominantly used these forms and conventions.
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| Opening shot containing lens flare. |
Elli Goulding’s ‘Your Song’ exhibits
these conventions, but especially shots containing beautiful lens flare, which
in turn create warms colour tones. We used this convention at the start of our
own music video (garden shots) due to a number of reasons; not only does the
technique create a warm and welcoming tone, but it also assures the audience
that this is in fact an acoustic music video. As Christine Gledhill states,
‘genre permits the creation and maintenance of a loyal audience which becomes
used to recognising the conventions of the genre’. Therefore as lens flare is
so widely used within the genre (both Ben Howard and Laura Mvula use the
technique within their music videos), the audience instantly recognise and
become familiar with the genre.
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| The dog connotes the freedom which the location enables. |
In terms of location, many acoustic music
videos include both an outdoor and indoor location. Whether this is a park,
such as in Kodaline’s video, or a beach (Nina Nesbitt), the conventional vast
expanse of space connotes a sense freedom and adventure, as well as the obvious
theme of nature which is very strong throughout acoustic videos. Particular
influence came from Kodliane's ‘All I Want' video. Due to the conventional
location choice, combined with the use of slow motion, lens flare and a variety
of close ups and extreme long shots, the outdoor location is represented as
almost a place of release and safe haven for both the protagonist and his dog.
We also wanted to portray this sense of freedom, but developed this further
through the placement of arrows, spinning shots and a quick mixture of close
ups and long shots to connote a sense of intrigue, confusion and mystery
(similar to a ‘magic’ fairy tale wood). Usually, the natural location is
presented as the main focus within the shot, creating emphasis upon nature and
its beauty. However, Ben Howard’s ‘Keep Your Head Up’ cleverly combines a
somewhat industrial human activity against the idyllic woodland and field
location. This subtle relationship between prop and location was particularly
influential upon the placement of our arrows.
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| We also developed this convention further by including more shots of the indoor, ‘personal space’. Often a supplementary location, we decided to include shots of objects within the bedroom such as photos and personal objects. We developed this convention in order to establish a clear sense of character, due to our video being narrative based. |
However, when focusing upon performers, we challenged Goodwin’s theory of having close ups of the artist which would predominantly help ‘sell’ or market the artist, instead using performers/characters within own music video. We chose to use performers instead of the artist as it helps further establish a surreal, ‘fairy –tale’; being one of our inter textual references, by not referencing the artist, enables the storyline to be somewhat isolated from reality, like a fairy tale.
In terms of narrative structure, our
music video has a very strong and clear storyline; any relationships made
between the music, lyrics and visuals surround the ‘love story’ of the female
protagonist. This is relatively unconventional as acoustic music videos are
often about the artist/band and their experiences; although they are presented
to be very casual and humble, they are often shown playing their instruments,
or being with friends, such as Ben Horward’s video. Therefore, we challenged
this convention due to our protagonist being a performer, but did not lose the
other conventions stated by Goodwin. For example, in order for the narrative to
be successful, we cut to the beat, creating a relationship between the visuals
and the music. This is also seen within ‘Full Circle’ by Half Moon Run, as well
as cutting to shots of instruments when you can hear them within the song.
This being particularly influential,
we both used and challenged many conventions shown within this media product.
For example, a genre convention of acoustic music is to have shots of the
artist playing their instruments; particular focus is on the instruments,
rather than the artist, portraying an organic tone and creating emphasis upon
musical talent. However, we decided not to include any performance element.
This is because we felt it would somewhat distract from the storyline, but would
also intrigue our audience. As Abercrombie states, ‘We derive pleasure from
observing how the conventions of a genre are manipulated’. Therefore we are
still appealing to our audience as they can evidently acknowledge this
‘manipulation’. Also, instead of using instruments, we used the prop of a bike
to signify musical movement in terms of dynamics as well as narrative,
furthering supporting this sense of ‘manipulation’.
Our media product also develops the
conventional use of editing effects such as slow motion and reverse. Not
heavily used within acoustic music videos, the reverse technique, such as in
Ben Howard’s ‘Keep Your Head Up’ depicts a sense of memory and worthwhile
experience. However, we decided to also add a reverse element within our
narrative. Often a technique used in sophisticated and complex
alternative/indie videos such as Breeze Blocks by Alt-J to express complex
meanings within the lyrics, the acoustic genre tends to focus more upon
simplicity, and the beauty of it. However, we decided to develop this
convention because it created an interesting structure to our narrative, as
well as portraying the protagonist’s feelings towards finding her new ‘love’.
Traditional
representations of females within acoustic music videos are a strong sense of
femininity, beauty and slight vulnerability. With this in mind, we have
conformed to this conventional representation, with our own protagonist being
heavily influenced by the representation of Gabrielle Aplin within ‘Home’.
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However, challenging Goodwin’s theory
that voyeurism is present within music videos, we have dismissed the
hyper-sexualised representation of women, instead including a sense of
voyeurism, but through the notion of ‘looking’; this creates emphasis upon the
protagonist’s beauty, without shooting through the ‘male gaze’ (for example,
there are no slow panning shots of her body). Instead, many shots and angles
are at eye level with the protagonist, portraying a sense of equality and
familiarity between the audience and protagonist, supporting this sense of
personal intimacy which is appealing to an acoustic audience.
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Initially, our main inter textual
reference was the rom-com film ‘PS I Love You’. This was subtly referenced
through the plot of the protagonist following arrows. However, throughout the
production process, we developed this reference further, using the conventional
‘fairy tale’ as is seen with Taylor Swift in ‘Love Story’.
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| Taylor Swift's 'Love Story' single cover. |
For both the Digipak and magazine
advert, we used the generic conventions of the 4 panel layout associated with
CD packaging, and the A4 poster. For example, the front and back panels have a
sense of continuity, as do the inner panels. The integration of text and image
is also conventional; the image being the focus of the panel, with the song
title and artist name complimenting the image. The font indicates the genre
through its simplistic style, very much reflective of the long trees within the
image.
The front panel is heavily based upon
Gabrielle Aplin’s ‘Panic Cord’ as well as Ben Howard’s ‘Old Pine’. Conventional
for many genres, the text is centred in the middle, to create focus upon the
music (song title), as well as an appealing composition. The distortion and
positioning of protagonist is also similar to ‘Old Pine’ by Ben Howard. The
long trees are overpowering, suggesting the immense beauty of nature, to which
I also adopted this technique.
In terms of the back panel, the image and text placement are rather simplistic, similar to ‘The Letting Go’ by Bonnie Prince Billy; positioned to the left, there is a construction of the rule of thirds through the text and the tree in the foreground, enabling focus upon both aspects. This is ideal as acoustic music is all about artist credibility which is expressed through the list of songs and, the nature.
The magazine advert is somewhat of a repetition of the front panel but, with a few adjustments. For example, whilst the layout is rather conventional such as a centred text placement with vital information directly underneath the artist’s name. The use of a quote also helps to enhance artist credibility.
