In what ways does your

music video use, develop or

challenge forms and
conventions of real media
products?

Use of a Performance
The reason we decided to use this form as part of our music video is because its showcases the
artist and demonstrates their abilities as performers. This shows the audience who they are and
creates a marketable star image as a talented band that all work together to create their music,
rather than an artist that has to rely on the image e.g. appearance/costume and public
appearances. We decided to base this on Keith Negus notion of an organic ideology of
creativity. This is one way of thinking about promoting potential artists within the music
industry. This is when the band is promoted as naturalistic and when the seeds of success are
within the artists but are yet to be nurtured by the record company. So the use of this form performance element - helps to showcase the raw talent and potential this band hold. Negus
sums this up as the real act. The act that can just get up on stage and do it
An example of this form being used is by the band Busted who constantly used performance as
part of their music video to demonstrate their talent as musicians but also promote this united
band image of them all being important and not one dominate leader.

Use of Narrative
As the institution of this music video, Grounds for Divorce,
this form is useful. Narratives are normally used to help the
audience to link qualities to the band and help expand the
target audience. For example the performance element
clearly shows that this is a talented and music focused band,
so this may only appeal to people who are less mainstream
with their music choices. However, by adding the performance
element it additionally makes our band seem rebellious and
edgy.
Additionally, we decided to use narrative because we were
able to link it to the overall theme of the song - relationships
not working out very well.
Our narrative helped our main target audience - males
between the ages 15-25 - to connect with the band more for
it involves violence, guns and action which is normally what
this group like to watch and live vicariously through, (this
type of target advertisement is demonstrated in other media
e.g. music videos, games or movies).
Furthermore by adding narrative it makes the music video more rememberable and sets it apart from other
videos that may only use a performance which if not well done can become very boring after a while. It also
makes the viewer more invested to watch the entire music video to discover how it all unfolds and finishes.
Due to use using guns and special effects like the explosion, it makes the viewer more likely to watch the
video more than once; firstly to fully absorb in what has just occurred and also because it is entertaining to
watch. An example of a music video that uses narrative well is Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus for it links in
tightly with the lyrics and adds depth to what the singer is singing about and presents a story that is
entertaining and easy to understand.

Narrative Structure
Since we decided to use a narrative, the narratives structure (which is a form used in music
videos) was also a key element in shaping our music video. We choose not to show the
beginning - how the couples fight escalated to a gun fight. We left the beginning slightly
ambiguous. This is because we felt that it was not as visually interesting as a fight scene and
the ending - the kiss - so we focused on the stronger and more intriguing parts of the story to
keep the audience engaged. However we hinted that a fight might have occurred and escalated
to a gun fight due to the destroyed bedroom that is the setting for the performance element of
our music video.
Most music videos use a linear narrative with a clear beginning, middle and end, for example
Taylor Swifts You Belong With Me. This gives her the impression that she doesn't want any
different interpretations of what the music video is about, giving her the star image of her being
innocent and straight forward. However we wanted out band to be more edgy and less pop and
mainstream, therefore we started with an ambiguous beginning so the audience could interpret
how the fight started any way they liked and skip straight to the action sequences which made
our music video more impacting and gave the impression that this band gets straight to the
point and is slightly dangerous/dynamic. This has been used in other music videos like Stan by
Eminem to give it a more unsafe feeling to it.

Artistic Camera
Work

This convention was very important to our music video because we wanted to create a action
packed music video with the use of guns, explosions, running and fighting. Artistic camera
work was vital in creating these hectic, dynamic sequences because if we kept the camera still
through out then some of the energy would have be lost and in especially the fighting
sequences they would seem to be less realistic. This is why we used focus pulls and handheld
camera work to make the video as thrilling as possible and in an attempt to capture the anger
the characters in the narrative had towards each other.
This artistic camera work also complimented with the music very well, because its genre is
alternative rock it has strong sections where the bass drops and the music is then primary
about the drums and guitar and less about the singer. In these sections the music is more
chaotic and using handheld helped to make these scenes feel more alive.
This use of camera work helps to promote our band as more of a British alternative rock band
that is rousing and energetic. This type of camera work has also been used to help promote the
image or message that a band/artist wanted to promote to their viewers. For example Linkin
Parks song Final Masquerade uses a little hand held camera, tracking shots and focusing shots
which helps them to create a more alarming and unsetting image for their band, giving the
audience the opinion that they are more edgy.

Conspicuous use of
Lighting

This convention helps the audience understand

what type of music is being shown and that genre
it is. For example Katy Perry is usually in the pop
music genre so the lighting used is bright and
colourful suggesting that this is a happy, playful
song which is normally identified with pop music.
However, our music video used darker lighting and
more blues to create the image of a darker tone
than pop music have. We also used a single light
bulb to show that the room where the band is
performing in is not completely illuminated, hinting
that its no in the best condition and has been
destroyed. Plus the shadows and lack of light help
to create a more thrilling and tense atmosphere.
An example of this is used in Breezeboxes by Alt-J
that use a very blue colour palette and use little
lights so shadows are created. However this is then
contrasted with the outdoor scene which uses
natural lighting of the forest. Promoting an earthy
feel to this band instead of an artificially made
band.
This overall helped us to create more of a British,
rock band feel to the music video, so the audience
can guess what type of genre the music video is
visually.

Costume
Costume is important for us in helping to create a star
image. We wanted our band to appear more relatable to
its audience so we decided to dress them in ordinary
clothing that anyone can wear or buy. This is part of the
ordinary/extraordinary paradox which is important in
promoting a band, and its highlights what elevates then
above other people is their talent. This is similar to Ed
Sheeran who distinguishes himself with his music rather
than his style
But it does go against other artists who's star image is
more important than their music. For example Lady
Gaga who's more well known for her weird outfits.