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

By Jonny Smith

Real Music Videos

A shot that shows a link between lyrics and/ or other music and visuals

This shot is taken from Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s Can’t Hold Us music video.

In the shot we are shown a man crowd surfing under a large group of people with everyone's hand in the air. Whilst this shot is being shown “so we put our hands up like the ceiling can’t hold us” is being sung. This shot shows a clear link between lyrics and visuals presented to us in the video.

A shot that typifies the way a record company would want their artist represented.

This shot is taken from James Arthur’s Recovery music video.

From this long shot we can see the artist is dressed in a fairly simplistic and normal way with no obvious ‘bling’ or eccentric clothing being worn which can be un conventional for an artist of this particular genre. From this the artist is presented to us as a person who has been put into the public eye having had a complete career change but has still managed to stay grounded and normal. This idea is again backed up by the simplistic set in the background representing a low budget music video showing the audience that he’s not all about the money and glamour side of the industry but focuses more on the music. By the artist being presented to us in this way it can be very beneficial for himself and the record company because audiences find it attractive which means they will support him.

A shot that illustrates the use of music genre

This shot is taken from the Killers Human music video

In this medium shot we are shown all of the band singing and playing their instruments. From the shot it is clear that they are a band of the indie rock genre. This is illustrated through a number of different things:•Clothing – All of the band members are dressed slightly differently but all have that indie look to them from things such as leather jackets and dark looking clothing.•Instruments – In the shot we can see a full drum kit, guitar, bass guitar and microphone which are all conventional items in an indie rock music video. •Setting – From watching the music video it is set in what appears to be a deserted mountainous area which is fairly eccentric and random which can be typical of an indie rock band.

A shot that shows an intertextual reference

This shot is taken from the music video of Adele’s ‘Skyfall’. The video uses intertextual referencing throughout the video as the song was made for the opening of the movie Skyfall. The video is edited and shown in a way very similar to the typical opening of James Bond films. In this particular the famous bullet hole where Bond normally stands in the opening of a film is used to display part of Adele’s face.

A shot that demonstrates use of camera

This shot is taken from the 1975’s Chocolate music video.

The shot shows the four band members back to back having a spot light shone at them. This shot could represent how the four band members are all of a sudden in the public eye (represented by the bright light) having had a drastic career change. As well as all this the shot is very visually appealing which adds variety to the video keeping the audience entertained and interested.

A shot that demonstrates use of lighting

This shot is taken from Paramore’s Ignorance music video

The medium shot shows the lead singer holding a light. This light appears to be the only source of light in the video which shows its importance to both the audience and the band. The lights importance is represented through the lead singer looking up to it like a godly figure. By the light being the only source of light it creates a sense of mystery for the audience due to it being fairly un conventional.

A shot demonstrating use of mise en scene

This shot is taken from John Newman’s Losing Sleep music video

This shot is presented to us in a dark background with minimal light. This sets the scene as quite eerie and mysterious causing the audience to think what will happen next. The lighting used in the shot seems slightly distorted which adds to the eerie and mysterious atmosphere. The artist is dressed quite smartly for the surroundings he is in which appears to be quite odd again adding to the mystery of the video.

My Music Video

A shot that shows a link between lyrics and/ or other music and visuals

This shot is shown to us just as the lyric goes ‘Brian’. This is a clear link between the lyrics and visuals on screen. This allows the audience to understand who Brian is making the rest of the music video easier to follow.

In the music video Brian is supposed to be represented as a bit of a ‘douche’ and his body language and stance in this shot goes towards achieving this look.

A shot that typifies the way a record company would want their artist represented

In this shot we are shown the band performing. This is how the record company wants their artist represented because it shows they are a live performing band who do live concerts which is where record companies create a lot of revenue from. This shot also shows the band in their element and doing what they do best which ultimately is what the audience wants.

A shot that illustrates how your video uses music genre

Here we can see a close up of one of the band members playing the bass and in the background a drum kit. All of these instruments are typical of an indie rock band helping establish the genre of the music.

It is conventional for indie rock music videos to show shots of live band play so we thought it was important to include it in our music video as well.

A shot that shows an intertextual reference

We decided to display the name of the song in some form at the beginning of the video. We did this by using alphabet spaghetti to spell out ‘Brianstorm’. It is now conventional for music videos to display the name of the song at the beginning of the video. An example is the shot below which is from Coldplay’s ‘Paradise’.

A shot that demonstrates use of camera

For this shot we had Ollie (shown in the picture) hold a tripod down by his hips with the camera attached at the top to create a shot similar to a worms eye shot. Due to Ollie (Brian) being centre of attention in the shot it focuses the audiences attention on him which is what we wanted due to the video being all about him and snippets of his life.

I think this shot worked well due to it being slightly different which ultimately creates variation in the video helping ensure the audience stays focused and interested.

A shot the demonstrates use of lighting

In this shot the light is coming from the street light in the background. We moved Brian out of the light so that he is shown in the dark. This represents his current troubles in life and darker side to him which relates to what our music video is about. The use of showing him in darkness also shows his rebellious side by us seeing him drinking in a ‘no public access’ area shown on the sign next to him.

A shot demonstrating use of mise en scene

Here we are shown Brian and another person in a dark and grungy looking area. The other character standing by the bin has his hood up and is showing tense and secretive body language. This encourages the audience to believe that the character is up to something illegal which he wants to keep hidden. The idea of illegal activity taking place is again backed up by the location in which the shot is taken due to its isolation and lack of other life around.

Two shots which you feel demonstrate something which shows you have watched other music videos

Here is a close up shot of a band member plying the bass. It is conventional in indie rock music videos for you to see close ups of the band playing their instruments in performance scenes. A good example of a music video which has this in is Human by the Killers.

For this shot we added a ‘wavey’ effect to indicate to the audience that the character shown on screen may have just taken something. We got this idea from the music video ‘Why’d You Only Call Me You’re High?’ by the Arctic Monkeys who used a similar effect to suggest something.