Question 1

Music Video

After completing a preliminary task and carry out research we were asked to plan Promotional material for an album release of our chosen artist or band. Once planning had been completed we then had to create the actual products, these consisted of one at music video to a digipak and three and advert poster. The sole purpose of these three elements is to entice a potential audience for the band and genre for entertainment. It would also promote the artist’s work.

We chose the indie genre. To successfully fit the genre we had chosen we looked at existing music videos to compare the typical conventions.

Firstly we looked at the camera work in Indie music videos, camera shots tend to consist of close-ups and extreme close-ups with the range of mid shots. Close-ups show detail and give emphasis on objects and people this is typically used when the artist is seen performing. Mid shots typically show the actor/performer in the music videos narrative setting. Mid shots also portray the mise en scène to define the Indy genre that the band is trying to create. The mise en scène can’t be represented through the costume, makeup, lighting, props, and props.

Performance

Within the Indie genre Music videos will either represent a performance, a narrative, or a performance and narrative. For example if we had chosen a heavy metal genre we would have more likely Of chosen a performance based narrative for example if we had chosen a heavy metal genre we would of more likely I’ve chosen a performance based video as they typically consist of a performance to reflect their instrumental skills and their lively, energetic performance. In our music video we chose to use both a performance and narrative as we thought it would show more skill and entertain our audience further.

Editing

Editing in music videos most often consist of Fast paced and straight cuts. Artist often create visual effects to entertain the audience and give themselves a fun and creative appearance or to reflect the atmosphere and Mood of the song. We created and our music video a fast-paced tempo to reflect the beat of the song. This includes quick cuts of the narrative as well as the performance.

Mise en scene

The narrative of a music video is more than likely related to emotions and feelings, this includes the theme of love either In a positive or negative way. Within our music video this theme is evident.

 

Costume

The indie genre often includes a subtle common and every day wear, unless a specific costume is chosen to reflect the narrative. This could relate to a hipster style. In our music video we wanted the protagonists costume to reflect the narrative therefore we chose a casual look with the lead wearing jeans a top and a shirt. We felt that this was most appropriate because the chilled and casual settings and the narrative and themes of love were similar to everyday life.

Setting

As stated the setting for indie genre music videos are often casual and every day places. This is conventional to indie bands/artists as they are not glorifying war glamorising their profession by representing themselves on the same level as their fans/audience. The low-key settings are often local and are not tropical destinations as they are low budget and easy to film at. In a music video we chose the home as the setting as it is relatable, as well as a casual walk in the woods and a pub.

 

Lighting

The lighting in indie music videos differ. They are either hi lighting or low lighting depending of the tempo of the song, slow and sadder songs will use low lighting whereas up-tempo and happier songs will use high lighting to create the atmosphere and reflect the emotions within. As our song is more Up-tempo We used high lighting which is more natural as it is realistic and sets the mood.

 

Props

Our main prop was the blow up doll that represents the protagonist/performers ex-lover. This creates the disjuncture element and is conventional of an indie music video to include a random and wacky prop. The indie genre is often seen as alternative and unusual. One element of the mise en scene of an indie video will more than likely be absurd, whether it be the costume the setting the props all make up. This of which juxtaposes the theme of being relatable to the audience.

Ancillary Tasks

We also subscribed our ancillary tasks to the typical indie conventions.

The font we used adheres to the indie convention as it is simple and easy to read. The font also looks visually aesthetic as some letters are angled therefore the edginess adheres to the indie genre. We decided that this font would best synergies with the look the band was going for. As the lead singer for our music video is a boy we didn’t want the typography to appear too feminine. So we chose something that had sharp corners rather than a typography that is similar to handwriting and more flowing.

This font looks more feminine.

as opposed to this font that looks more masculine, which fits the image of the band.

The images we used for our ancillary tasks synergies with the music video. We use image screenshots from the music video on our digipak. From our research we analysed that the main single featured on an album would heavily influence the digipak and music poster. Therefore as the song we created a music video for would be the main song to be featured we reflected themes from our music video on our ancillary tasks. For example in our music video we used the idea of the protagonists “ex” (the blow up doll) as the main theme for our ancillary. The poster denotes a phone on a counter top with the tinder profile of “Samantha” the blow up doll on the phone. This image is also the front cover of the digipak. The theme of tinder is also featured on the lyric page. The lyrics can be seen exchanged between what reflects a tinder conversation. We went with the tinder theme as it is comical and relatable with subscribes to the indie genre because the audience can relate to it but isn’t too serious.

The other images we used on the digipak included screen grabs from the music video to create synergy.