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

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.

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.

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.

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’.

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.

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’.

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.