Question 1: In what ways does your media products use, develop of challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (in progress)

The genre of our music video is a hybrid of indie and synth. Utilising a synth sound and raspy vocals with dark undertones makes the genre stand out against the indie scene. Whilst planning our music video we were very conscious of the conventions of music videos, taking inspiration from "Chvrches'" music videos.

A shot of a few characters and outfits

The narrative structure of our music video is created in order to highlight underage drinking and how easy it is for the youth to acquire alcohol. Some of the characters in the music video are underage and although they are drinking inside a house they were still able to acquire the alcohol.
We included an array of character types formed from the media's stereotypical representation of a culture or clique. In the shot on the right the various outfits and personalities can be seen.

For example we have a jock character, inspired by the plain portrayal of Ryan Shay in the sitcom 'Surbargatory'. The characters are all apart of a smaller narrative within the music video, creating a multi-stranded narrative that interweaves with the other stories. An example of this is the scene of beer-pong where the jock character is present and is then once again seen upstairs with another character who has had their drink spiked. By using many character types we can conform to the indie genre by showing diversity. The indie genre is highly diverse and fights for equality between race, gender, religion and sexuality. We used the other jock character to represent sexuality with the preppy character and they are part of their own narrative where the preppy character becomes annoyed with the jock character as seen in the above photo. This narrative features within the main narrative following the protagonist; creating a multi-stranded narrative that interweaves the smaller narratives. The multi-stranded narrative develops the conventions of diversity within the indie genre.


We also used a cyclic narrative that opens entering the house and finishes by leaving the house. This cyclic narrative is used to show the repetitiveness of house parties. They are all similar and we used this narrative to separate the house party from the rest of the world. It is in its own time and begins as the protagonist enters and finishes when she leaves. This challenges the genre of indie as parties can be mainstream, especially so as our music video is inspired by the film "Project X".

Shows one of the party girls in a full black version of
the "Mean Girls" outfit

The costume in our music video was chosen by researching particular styles, stereotypes and representations of various character clichés. We researched preppy characters in mainstream media and the origin of the style to create a costume which was clearly preppy to illustrate the diverse character types. The stereotypical costume was useful to show the diversity of the music video and we later broke the stereotypes by portraying the jock character as careful and respectful to a girl and showing the preppy character as argumentative. Some of the costume for the female characters is completely black. We had planned to have the characters wear pink as they were inspired by the film "Mean Girls" however we chose to replace the colour with black to reflect the dark undertone of the song. The type of clothing is the same (short skirts for example) but changed the colour.

The party girl character passed out, rejecting the
dominant representation of the party girl type.

The character types we used consist of: preppy nerd, jock, party girl, scene kid, fashion forward girl and an indie-style girl. The variety of characters conforms to the indie genre as it shows diversity however the mix of mainstream characters challenges the genre. In order to stay within the genre of indie we broke the conventions for many of the character types by rebelling against the expected behaviour of the characters. For example,  one of the jock characters is gay which rejects the idea that jocks are always with a girlfriend. This twist breaks the stereotype and conforms to the genre as it is rejecting dominant stereotypes. Also, the party girl character is assumed to party all night however she is seen passed out in a bedroom alone, once again breaking conventions.

Most of the composition of shots we used were thought about thoroughly. We used shallow focus in some shots to show how myopic youths are as they care about the present not the future. This conforms to the indie genre as the genre focuses on having fun at a young age without caring about the consequences. We also use a focus pull of fairy lights to show the change of view in the music video. The change comes during the modulation of the song and it reflects the protagonist's shift in mentality as she wants to leave the party after seeing what is happening.
The shot to the right shows the shallow focus used on the lights, reflecting how youth act myopically.


We cut many of our shots on the beat as well as reversing some shots. The reversing of shots conforms to the indie genre as it is used in other music videos by indie artists such as Alt-J's "Breezeblocks" which is entirely reversed. We also cut back to one of our master shots of the wine bottles frequently as the shot is framed with fairy lights in the back making the shot aesthetically pleasing. The cuts back to this shot reinforce the amount of alcohol consumed and referring back to the main point of our video which is to highlight the danger of underage drinking. We also had performance shots interwoven with the music video which were cut to often. During the modulation of the song there are cuts to the artist on her phone. This is used as a statement to elicit this generation's obsession with phones as it is cut to often during the modulation. The cuts to the shot of the artist on her phone reflects this generation's desensitisation to parties and the events that occur.


In our music video we create representations of gender, age and sexuality.
We present youth as reckless and myopic; unconcerned by the consequences of the present. This is done by using a shallow focus to give the effect that only the closest things are visible. This causes for youths to appear as thought they have no care for the repercussions of their actions and just want to enjoy themselves. The audience are positioned on a young person's side and views the party as she does. However, the protagonist is the only one with a clear view (shown by the sharp focus when she is in the bathroom) which shows her clear state of mind. She is not drunk and can therefore see the dangers of the party. The audience watches the chaos of the party and develops a feeling of fear of young people as they are reckless, creating panic in the audience. This representation is somewhat regressive as it portrays young people as dangerous, reckless and short-sighted however the chaos is being blatantly shown through the protagonist's view.
The representation may seem hyperbolic however it is a very possible reality at parties. In a 2012 study of 1,082 young people 52% said they received an injury whilst drunk and 7% said they needed physiotherapy following a drunken injury. Also, a lot of people do not know the difference between someone passed out and someone who may have alcohol poisoning. These dangers need to be highlighted and in our music video we bring attention to these issues.

An example of where Goodwin's theory can be applied.
The lyrics at this shot are "tick, tick, tick, tick"

Our music video does fit with some of Goodwin's points in his theory of music video. For example, there is a link between the visuals and the lyrics as the lyrics are "tick, tick, tick, tick" and at the same time 4 quick close-ups of a watch are shown. We also show genre characteristics in that the music video is heavily narrative based like most indie music videos.  We also have many close-ups of the artist, a key feature of Goodwin's theory.
Our music video also fits into Todorov's theory of narrative progression. We have an equilibrium of the protagonist passively observing the party which is followed by a disruption in the form of negative scenes such as the couple arguing in the living room. The recognition of the dark undertones of the party are shown when the protagonist discovers blood on her face in the bathroom. At this point there is a modulation to a minor key in the song where the events are reversed and the main character tries to leave the house. The attempt of repair is shown by the reversal; reflecting the main character's desire to reverse time and stop the party happening after seeing the chaos. Lastly, equilibrium is once again achieved once she leaves the party.

Chvrches' album cover. This is what
inspired my print productions immensely.

When creating my print productions I researched a lot of album covers to find a style that I liked and which fitted. I found Chvrches' album cover. The simple pixel effect used was effective and linked to the style of music.

My front cover is clearly inspired by Chvrches and offers a fragmented identity narrative. The pixels coming off of the character leaves her missing parts of her identity. This is done to present youth as an un-finalised self, supporting Bakhtin's idea of the un-finalised self. The pixels in the background of the sky create an unfinished effect too which links directly to the un-finalised self idea as everything is close to completion but is not there yet. The pixels and fragmented imagery of characters is a repeating motif over the 4 album panels and magazine cover as it relates to the indie genre's main themes of self- discovery. The front and back cover were also inspired by Chvrches' music video for Gun. The music video uses lots of glitching effects which I really thought would help convey the genre of our band.
The background over the print productions is the same picture of the sky I took whilst in a plane not too long ago. This picture was ideal as it had a really aesthetically pleasing gradient of of dark blue to white. The basic and simple picture worked out to be very effective.
 The characters used all are blocked to be looking away from the character to show guilt. The looking to the left of the character on the front is done as I want to present her as though she has a secret to create an enigma. In psychology studies when a person lies they look to the left side (the creative side) and can show when person is lying. This therefore presents her as being secretive and creating an enigma.

Initial picture of
character to  album
back

Initial picture of
character to be album
cover.

The lighting in the profile shots all used a flash initially so the image when edited will be clear. The shot needed a strong key light so that the facial features could all be clear.












The composition of the front album cover had the eye level of the character the same height on the cover as the skyline. The white is level with the eye making it more structured. In the magazine advert both characters are present with the text going down the two of them. Also, by using a white font the colour changed when behind a pixel, making the magazine look more interesting.

Editing was very important to achieve my album covers. The pixel effect on the background was created by using a square brush and taking a sample colour of the background and placing a large square there. Some squares I put a gradient on to as well. Each pixel was done individually to ensure the background was not too sporadic. The pixels on the characters was difficult to do initially but once I did a practice picture it was easy. I simply created various layers and masks in Photoshop and began to add pixels to give a pixel explosion effect. The initial idea was to have many pixels but after doing both covers too many pixels made the album art look too clustered and strayed away from the simplicity of the covers. I also applied a colour gradient to the character layers to have them fit with the background. The pixel effect is conceptual and therefore fits the genre conventions of high concept, avant-garde album covers within the indie genre.

This panel features a character wearing a dressed-down preppy outfit. The costume links to the music video as it is showing a character type. Also, the character is wearing a mix of a dark colour (originally black) and bright colour (white). This duality of opposing colours creates juxtaposition which is intended to create a sense of inner-turmoil. The idea of inner-turmoil is key as I want to present identity as more than just fragmented. I want to present identity as something that can be watched as it changes. This perceived identity shift is seen by the pose. The character is watching his hands turn to smoke, showing the change and the character's own observation of himself quite literally fading and changing.
The font used is the same font used throughout the print productions to show cohesion and consistency of the brand.
Also, the physical manipulative effect of the smoke links to the other physical manipulation effects on the other covers. This is because the indie-synth genre has an essence of fantasy due to the distinct synth sounds. Therefore there is a consistent, stylised brand created.

 This inside panel once again utilises a physical manipulation effect where instead of smoke I chose the opposite: water. This will then be opposing the other panel feature smoke. The water and smoke juxtapose each other which once again conveys a sense of juxtaposition. This juxtaposition is used to show the difference between identities within the character (as the character is the same). The duality of effects presents identity as much more tertiary rather than one dimensional.
The water effect is used to present identity as fluid and ever-changing.
The font used is the same once again and it features song lyrics to link to the music video for Bloodstream.

This magazine cover created combines features from two of the album panels. It uses the smoke effect and the pixel effect which creates an interesting dynamic between the medieval connotations of smoke and the modern connotations of pixels, once again indicating duality. The font is placed between each character to create a balance between the two characters.
Both characters are looking away from the character in different directions which suggests secrecy and creates an enigma. Enigma is a key feature of the indie music videos and this use of secrecy mixed with quirky effects fits the genre. I also decided to use the smoke effect to make the hair look like smoke. The smoke stems from the hair and causes the smoke to look like her hair. The exaggeration of this feature fits the genre as indie tends to go against the mainstream so by taking something such a a female's hair which is considered beautiful and making it so exaggerated and bizarre. The result is a puzzling image that is polarising- it can be considered beautiful or ugly but it still draws attention which is the main goal of an advert.