Question 1: In what ways does your media

product use, develop or challenge forms and

conventions of real media products?

Introduction to my production
The genre of my music video is a blend of folk and indie.
Similar to bands such as The 1975 and Bastille, as they
all use similar instruments to produce the same
spacious and mellow sounds.

Genre Characteristics in Aspects Of Mise-En- Scene

Location:
Goodwins Theory revolves around the idea of
music videos generating genre
characteristics.
One way our music video generates genre
characteristics is through locations. In many
shots we used the flowing river, which
emphasises the mystery of the narrative.
Not only that but we used many isolated
areas, where the character would be alone
and detached from everything else, which
supports the generic conventions or our
video, as the entire narrative is
predominantly a mystery. A intertextual
reference to this convention is Bruce
Springsteens- The River, which I found on
YouTube, which is similar to our music video
in many ways as it shows many isolation
shots with a natural setting, much like ours.
Bruce Springsteens- The River, isolated shot expressing
many emotions through the effect of the natural processes
surrounding him e.g. the river.

Genre Characteristics in Aspects Of Mise-En- Scene

Costume:
The costume for the two characters in our
music video was high market fashion, which fits
in with the generic conventions of our music
video as its the sort of clothing our target
market wears, which is younger people around
the age of the actors (16-18 year olds
especially). The outfits the actors wear arent
glamourized what so ever, which I think is an
accurate representation for a music video of an
Folk Indie genre of music.
In some aspects it does challenge the
representation of women through costume, as a
lot of the time they are shown in a voyeuristic
way, which relates to Goodwins Theory. An
example of this is Nicki Minaj- Anaconda, which
shows her presented in a voyeuristic way, to
give men in particular sexual pleasure. This
representation has only been created through
the revealing costume she has worn. So
therefore our video challenges the generic
conventions of women in our music video in
some aspects.

Genre Characteristics in Aspects Of MiseEn- Scene

Props and Objects:
The main props and objects in our music video is the use of a
car, an ambulance, and a placard. The use of the ambulance
especially helps to build tension in the video, leaving the
narrative open to interpret. Also the placard can link to the
main ideologies of the music video Betrayal. Which links to
Goodwins Theory of lyrics to visuals, as the lyric betrayal is
used at the time when the placard is shown.

Lighting:
The lighting throughout our whole music video is ambient,
mainly our locations were very open, meaning the sunlight
could be more noticeable in our video. Which has a link to
Goodwins theory of the relationship between lyrics and
visuals, the lyrics The sunlight, It lights up your face is
probably the most relevant to this theory, as many close ups
of the actors faces were evidently shown through the help of
the sunlight. Therefore in this sense, our music video
supports the generic convention of an illustrative music
video, as it tells a story.

Genre Characteristics in Aspects Of Mise-En- Scene

Titles:
For the titles and credits we used a very minimalistic font,
indicating the normalness of our music video, and how we have
avoided glamourizing our production, as that wouldnt fit in with
the Alternative/Indie/Pop genre which our video represents.

Mise-En-Scene:
Overall, the mise-en-scene in our video strongly relates to Gunther
Kresss definition of genre that music videos can give audiences a
sense of collective identity. Which therefore means that the genre
characteristics of our music video should be relatable in some way
to our target audience which is of the same age as the characters
in our production.

Narrative Structure
One of the main narratives of my production Summer Song was
the use of frequent flashbacks, which relates to Strausss theory of
binary opposites as many of the flashbacks contrast the present,
especially in terms of the colour difference which has been made
evident through the edit and the use of the black and white effect.
The use of flashbacks also indicates the thoughts of the male
protagonist throughout, as he is constantly experiencing flashbacks
of her. Indicating that something may have happened to add more
mystery to the narrative.
The flashbacks were also shown through a dip to white effect,
which indicates when a flashback/ past memory was to follow,
which allowed for the differentiation in shots to make the
flashbacks evident and clear.
This overall narrative suggests mystery throughout, through mainly
flashbacks and the binary opposition between past and present.

Representation
Traditionally the male character is the protagonist in many media texts, and in
terms of our video, we dont really agree or disagree with that statement. However
there are aspects of our music video that suggests that the male protagonist is
dominant, through assuming that he has attacked her. However, you could also
suggest that the female is the dominant character as she is always in his mind, and
controls most of his actions. Similar to Gramscis theory of hegemony, as the
female character is beginning to take control.
We do use the generic convention of voyeurism in our music video as the female
character wears very distinctive lipstick, which relates to Goodwins theory of
voyeurism and the notion of looking, as in many media texts the female is looked at
in a sexually pleasing way by males, which we use. However we dont show any
other aspects of voyeurism from the females costume. This has an intertextual
reference to Echosmith- Come Together, as the female singer is viewed upon by the
males in the music video in a voyeuristic way, due to the application of distinctive
lipstick, giving her voyeuristic features.
Representation in our music video is also relevant to Mulveys Theory of Male Gaze
as women can be viewed by males, females and themselves in voyeuristic and
jealous ways. Which supports the generic conventions of a music video and the
representation of females. An example of a music video which objectifies a female
is Echosmith- Come Together. Also many of Rhiannas videos involve her being
heavily glamourized including red lipstick, to give the male viewers voyeuristic
pleasure.

Recurring Motifs
One of the recurring motifs of my
production is the use of numerous
river/nature shots, which support the
generic conventions of a folk indie music
video. It also loosely relates to the title and
lyrics of the production Summer Song as
most of the shots can display the effect of
the sun on the water.
Another is the characters wearing the same
costume, which is effective as it allows for
the audience to relate to the music video
throughout, especially as they are wearing
the clothing which is most relevant to our
target audience.
Lastly, many of the male shots are
overlayed by either a siren or the female
which signifies the importance of
developing mystery in our narrative. It also
helps to identify the issues which the male
protagonist is facing.

Intertextual references
One of the first references that instantly hit me due to doing a case study on it
previously was Leftfield- Afrika Shox, which links to our music video in many
ways. It firstly references the potential uneasiness from both the male
protagonists, as the sirens on both the police car and the ambulance suggests
that the narrative of the story is partly unknown, and it indicates
danger/trouble. Even though the genres of the music videos completely
oppose each other, they still have similarities in terms of having a vulnerable
male protagonist, even though it may not be directly indicated in our video,
the flashbacks of the female character suggests doubt and possible stress.
Another reference is the male protagonist driving in the car, closely relating to
Long Road To Ruin by Foo Fighters. Which shows the male protagonist showing
his emotions for a girl, similar to our music video. There is a link to Goodwins
Theory here, as you could suggest that the music and visuals link, as the free
flowing music can show the fluent movement of the car quite well. Not only
that but the two videos are similar in the way they convey a relationship
where something has gone wrong/happened along the way.
Lastly, another reference which helped us to come up with the idea was one
of the opening scenes to the TV series Life On Mars. As it shows a character
who may be dead or alive, laying on the floor but with the use of a side shot,
leaving the audience slightly confused as to what may have happened. Which
is similar to our music video, as the female character may be dead or alive.

Digipak
For my digipak I decided to support the conventions of a CD case by using the classic 4
panel case. I chose to use the same image for my first panel as it enforced the narrative of
the video, which is predominantly betrayal. I only moderately changed the text for the
placard but the same message of vulnerability can still be portrayed and expressed.
For my 2nd and 3rd panel I chose to use a panoramic shot of the female character
presumably dead, which signifies the narrative of the story, as thats the main question in
our music video: has the male protagonist killed the female character? It challenges the
conventions of a digipak as not many artists use a panoramic shot of the 2 nd and 3rd panel.
For my last panel I used a rule of thirds shot of the male protagonist walking away from the
camera. This firstly supports the conventions of a digipak as the rule of thirds shot is
frequently used on a back panel to leave space for a track list. Not only that but the pack
panel represents isolation for the male protagonist which supports the narrative of the
music video.

Magazine Advert
I used bold white writing to show the artists name
and the name of the track, which is a common
convention of a magazine advert as it makes it
simple for the viewers to recognise the purpose of
it.
I also included a release date which is essential
for any magazine advert as it provides the
audience with essential information.
The use of social networking sites was also very
important as it suits the target audience of our
production (16-19 year olds) meaning the band
can be more discoverable online.
I also used star ratings from reviewers which is a
common convention of an advert as it means
audiences can identify the sort of music they want
to listen to and view, from the types of reviews it
receives.
Lastly, I made a loose reference to Goodwins
Theory of lyrics and visuals. As Summer can
relate to the sun beaming down on the male
protagonists face and body.