Evaluation 1: Conventions of Real Media Products

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

Codes and Conventions of Alternative Rock Music Videos:

Costume -

• In an Alternative Rock music video, the character or band in the video usually wear clithign that is smart yet also casual. It means they will look nice however are not dressed up to the nines in a suit and tie. It could reflect how the band members dress normally.
• The colours worn are usually a bit on the darker side, they're like navy or black. Grey is also a popular colour in these types of videos. The darker colours help to conveu the themes of the song.

Lighting -

• In a lot of Alternative Rock videos, they are shot outside at a certain location. So there is a lot of natural lighting. However the performance sides of things will be bright with the studio lights depending on the colours of the studio and the backdrop.

Narrative, Performance or Abstract? - 

• The majority of Alternative Rock performers write their own songs so therefore they tell a story. This means that a narrative is the main thing in most videos of this genre. It is normally mainly narrative with some performance on the side.
• The narrative is normally a theme about something to do with sadness, anxiety or anger. This can then be paralleled at a more upbeat part of the song with some happy scenes. 

Shots -

• There are normally a few establishing shots in the Alternative rock video genre. This is because the video is generally set in some kind of location that either links to the song or is relevant to the band.
• There will also normally be a lot of close-up shots of the band and their hands playing their instruments.
• Handheld shots are another very popular type in this genre of music video. It helps us to see from the character or bands perspective of what they're feeling in the narrative.

Editing -

• When Alternative Rock music videos are editing, they are edited with the tempo of the song. There will generally be cuts to different scenes as the tempo changes throughout the song.

9 Keyframed Grid of my Music Video:

A shot that shows a link between the lyrics/song and the video:

• The lyric that plays at this point in the song is 'while you live it up i'm off to sleep'. In the shot my character is watching TV and then turns over to go to sleep. This matching the lyric with what could be considered a motivated cut.
• An example of this from another music video is Riptide by Vance Joy. The whole video uses the idea of motivated cuts. The lyrics are so specific and the video follows that. Every cut is a lyric in the song, from the opening to the end. The lyric for this shot is 'running down to the riptide'.

A shot that shows a way the record company will want their artist to be seen:

• This shot shows that the character in the video is friendly and he has does or has had other people in his life. As much as the video is portraying him as lonely, he has had somewhat of a normally friend/relationship.
• An example of this from another music video is I Bet My Life by Imagine Dragons. In the opening scene of this video, it shows the band who wrote and perform this song. it shows them fishing at a lake all together. They seem very happy, they look approachable and friendly.

A shot that shows the genre of the video:

• The main theme in this video is loneliness, the theme is something that is key in a music video in the Alternative Rock genre. This shot is showing the loneliness, the character is alone on the beach.
• An example of this from another music video is Oblivion by Bastille. This video also is in the Alternative Rock genre, much like mine. It also conveys a lot of sadness and loneliness. The character is similar to the one in my video.

A shot that shows some sort of intextuality in the video:

• There isn't a huge amount of intertexuality in this video. There was only really two I could find and this keyframe was one. The character is wearing a shirt with the famous Billie Jean King on it. One of her main missions has been to be more inclusive of people (especially different people) and us all working together, we all need one another in some weird way. I wanted this message to show.
• An example of this from another music video is Oceans by Seafret. The main theme of this video is a girl who is getting bullied. She puts on her superhero mask and cape, this gives her powers. She then scares away and stands up to the bullies. This links with the way a lot of superhero origin stories i.e. Peter Parker or Spiderman is being bullied at the beginning of the movie and manages to defend himself through his powers.

A shot that shows the use camera work:

• The shot shown in this keyframe is a panning shot. It is turning towards the right showcasing the beautiful beach. It is one of a few different moving shots.
• An example of this from another music video is Oceans by Seafret. There is a great long shot which follows the character in the video walking outside of the run down flat complex she lives in.

A shot that shows the use of lighting:

• The lighting throughout is very natural especially because a lot of the clips are shot outside. As it is natural, the majority of it is very light and airy, this could also be considered quite cold. However, the keyframe shows some back lighting where the scene looks a bit darker. This fit as it's a more angry, darker scene.
• An example of this from another music video is Focus by Ariana Grande. In this video there is a huge use of light. It also has a great use of shadows. It makes the video very unique as it uses bright colours however darker tones.

A shot that shows the use of mise-en-scene:

• The opening scenes of the video shows an angry scene as mentioned above. This is probably the set of scenes that uses the most mise-en-scene. It is in a bedroom and there are books, pillows, duvets etc.
• An example of this from another music video is Havana by Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug. They have used a great collection of mise-en-scene for the kitchen scene in the first part of this video.

A shot that shows something you have watched in another video

• This title sequence thing is something I had seen in a few music videos before. I really liked the idea and thought it was a great introduction to the video. It fit really well with that video clip. Also, the text used was the same as the one used on the Digipak and everything made for this project.
• An example of this from another music video is End Game by Taylor Swift ft. Ed Sheeran and Future. It is very simple with only white text and a black background. This is similar yet unlike mine because I have footage in the back.

A shot that shows something you have watched in another video.

• This scene is something you see in a lot of videos whether it being literal or metaphorically. You will see people alone in msuic videos (especially of this genre). But also, a lot of music videos also are filmed in beach locations.
• An example of this from another music video is 22 by Taylor Swift. In this video there is a few quick scenes that were filmed on Malibu beach. Although the video is a different tone I think the location can work for both.

Digipak Comparisons:

The front cover I chose to design is quite different, there seemingly aren't any 'real' album covers with LEGO figures on them. However a lot of fans re-create album covers whilst using LEGO figures as stand-ins for the band. Some examples of this are:

Credits: Sporcle.com