Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

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

Dora Nadine is generically a British Rock Band; aspects of my music video link to this certain genre but others also go against the normal conventions. It challenges certain conventions of reality and dreams.

The beginning stimulus for my music video was a poem by William Blake called "The marriage of Heaven and Hell". This is seen in our music video through the character of the girl, who is representing hell, and through the character of the male, who is representing heaven, being haunted by hell. The video is mainly focusing on the idea of the poem; that hell is dragging heaven down, and tormenting it.

I have used and developed William Blakes poem into a plot line for my music video. This shot illustrates that the girl (representing hell) is haunting and watching him, also the dissolve between him being in bed asleep, and her leaning over him, would signify to the audience that she haunts him in his dreams and is part of a big nightmare, questioning whether she is part of his reality of just an illusion of his dreams. From this poem, we have used the ideas discussed in it to create a starting point to our music video, and although the idea has altered slightly to the end product, I have developed this poem into a plot line. William Blake believed that everyone was born with a third eye; this eye was the eye of perception. He thought that we were all in chains because we could not accept our third eye, and therefore confined ourselves to the 5 senses "...there are things inside doors, outside of doors and in between doors"

By using this quote in my music video I have created the illusion that this man, is chained like William Blake said, and in those chains he is confined, however by accepting this girl into his life, when she is haunting him, he has opened up his third eye to see other things, whether it be evil (in this case the girl) or be it good (in himself) Blake said that the third eye acts as a "switch" which activates a higher state of conscious and also expands spiritual visions. This is linked to the male seeing the girl in his dreams; he has expanded his spiritual visions. These chains that we are trapped in are man-made in Blake’s eyes, therefore we are declining ourselves of the higher powers, and in other words he is suggesting that it is our own fault that we have isolated ourselves from this higher being and trapped ourselves to just the 5 senses rather than these spiritual visions. Blake says that if you can't imagine liberty (the third eye) then you will never be able to achieve the outcome. For example, in one of William Blake’s poems - "The chimney sweeper" it illustrates a difference between two people, one has achieved liberty and the other hasn’t. "Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm; so if all do their duty they need not fear harm" - this illustrates that this person has accepted the third eye, and is content in doing so. He has achieved a higher power and therefore he can be happy in himself. However the second poem illustrates a difference - “And are gone to praise God and his priest and king, who make up a heaven of our misery" Suggesting that those who don't accept the third eye and liberty, project themselves to a life of misery. The dream like experiences that the male lead has undergone in my music video acts as a release for this liberty, allowing him to see the spiritual visions, and although they may haunt him, he is liberated from his man-made chains.

Costume

The genre of my artists is alternative rock. This has been highly influenced and developed through the years, starting mainly in the 1960's. It was then, that the rock genre really influenced fashion. It began with the Beatles who sported mop-top haircuts and flared jeans, tight t-shirts and psychedelic shades.

In my music video I used a very 1980's fashion approach in the costume and used the generic conventions of high street fashion; which would allow the audience to connect with the main singer.

This was the time period when drain-pipe trousers (skinny jeans) and plaid shirts were popular. In my original music video I was going to have the band performing as well as the nightmare scenes. The bands costume took on this approach dominantly.

Also my main lead took on a very alternative costume, relating to the popular fashion of today. Again in my raw footage he was wearing a shirt and black jeans much like the band members above. Most British rock bands nowadays wear a plain t shirt and either black or blue skinny jeans, which is what I wanted my artists to look like so that they linked to the genre of rock that is today. For example, a band - "Your Demise" which links to artist can be seen sporting a white top, snapback hat and black jeans which is linked closely to the fashion of my artists.

Photos of my artist (above)



Your Demise "The Kids We Used To Be" 

Lower Than Atlantis "Beech Like The Tree"

You can see the similarities in their clothing, and the way they represent themselves. Tattoos are a very important signifier in the rock genre nowadays, which is why I wanted a male who had tattoos down his arm like the one in the screenshot of Your Demise and Lower Than Atlantis (This was linked back to the early rock fashion I mentioned before with the craze of plaid shirts, using them as a consumer product of the genre of rock to allow others to see that you are part of that movement). They signify that you belong to a certain subculture, and young people these days have them to fit into that generic crowd. Tattoos use to belong to a more violent/ anti-social group of people, but nowadays it is more common to have them. Through generations it has become more relaxed to have tattoos and not be judged as a rebellious young teen. Therefore I wanted to go with the generic conventions of the genre of rock, choosing an artist who would fit into the stereotypical aspects of rock fashion.

The costume of the girl within the music video is very different from what the male is wearing, he is conveying casual costume whilst her fashion items have put across a certain message about the type of person she is and what part she plays within the music video. The top is custom made as we wanted it to have a certain symbol about it, so that the audience can get connotations from what she is wearing.  The "666" symbol as always been a identification of hell and Satan  This was very important as we wanted her to be seen as evil and part of hell, linked back to the poem.

 

Location

I have used the generic conventions of location within the genre in my music video.  I have two main locations within my music video - The artist’s home and the asylum in which we mostly see the girl in the background. In music videos such as Lower than Atlantis the audiences' attention is mainly focused towards the band and the performance aspect of the video, where as I have created a plot line rather than using the band performing for most of it. This would then challenge the conventions of the rock genre, in the fact that I have included no performance footage and have gone with a story line for the song instead.

For example, in the Lower than Atlantis video, they have only included performance footage for their whole video. This band is the same type of music that I have chosen for my band; therefore by not going along with the generic conventions of what that genre expects, I have challenged the location.

Within many music videos I have noticed that the colours included are normally washed away (below is examples of this)

While She Sleeps - Be(lie)ve

Architects - Follow The Water.

The mise-en-scene looks quite chaotic. The location seems to be corrupt and run down. This connotes to the audience that this band is displaying Britain as a broken place. It signifies to the audience that it is run by chaos and anarchy. Both examples use a colour filter (sepia) to get that washed away effect, however I did not want that on my music video. I wanted to create a contrast to the normal conventions of lighting and juxtapose it with bright colours.

This goes against the normal conventions of the genre, by creating bright settings throughout the music video rather than making it washed out and darkening. Although I have used a black and white colour effect on the images of the girl, this is also quite bright in the sense that the white is a very harsh contrast to the grey tones which it is mixed with. Creating the illusion of delusions. Bright lights confuse people and make it harder to see, which is the effect I wanted to create for the audience so they feel slightly disorientated, like the male lead.

Architects - Follow The Water

Dora Nadine - Stay Young.

These two shots are very similar, with both artists being in the same genre of music. However there is a difference that the Architects music video again uses the sepia filter to add a darker lighting to the video, whereas my shot seems to be a lot brighter on the artist. My music video holds quite a dark plot and has a lot of negative connotations, but I didn't want to make the lighting dark as I think it would be too heavy on the audience and also creates a contrast for the audience, adding to the dystopian effect of the video. 

  

The asylum in which the girl is mainly filmed in has a very direct link to the insanity of the girl and the boy, and whether she is really there of just part of his illusion. The asylum, in which I filmed at, has been closed down for a long time and boarded up. This would add to the message that Britain is falling apart and run down. The boarded windows and smashed glasses everywhere signifies to the audience that maybe the place has been left to rot. This would connote a bigger picture in the end, that this would be the end product if we all stopped caring. A link to this can be made to a While She Sleeps video - Crows. You can see in the background that there is a broken building where they are performing.

I choose my location for the girl because I wanted to send a message to the audience that like the location she is set in, her mind is also broken. This links to mental illness which can be seen in both characters throughout the video. With the example of While She Sleeps, you can see that this genre connotes that Britain is a broken place; therefore I have followed the conventions of this genre by also suggesting this with the run down asylum.

Gender

In my music video I have challeneged the generic conventions of gender in music videos. Generically, most females are portrayed as weak and the dependent ones on males. Within the rock genre, it is mainly a male audience, and male artists that contribute.

Within the NME covers you can see the majority of artists displayed are male and only a few minority covers have a female model has the main focus. Even then Amy Winehouse is objectified to a sexual representation of herself with the minimal clothing and the revealing shot of her as the cover.

Within this Beyoncé music video, she is surrounded by males, and is seen to be more of an object to the men rather than a human being. She is wearing minimal clothing and wearing a lot of makeup. This is the expected generic stereotypical representation of women in the music industry. I wanted to go against this and challenge this convention. Also within my genre, you don't see many females within the music videos. It’s dominated by males. However I wanted to the female in control and switch the roles around. I don't think the music videos are taken as seriously within this type of representation. Therefore by putting the female in a higher position, it creates a stronger message to the audience.

 However I have included a female within my music video, featuring just as much as the male artist. I have switched the roles around for the genders. Normally in my plot line the male would have been haunting and tormenting the female, leaving the male in control. I have chosen to switch this around and use the female as the controlling and manipulative one. The girl acts as a misogynist representation of females within my music video, and making it easier for my audience to identify with the male rather than the female.  I have challenged the conventions as I wanted it too stand out to the audience that the female is in fact the one that has all the power in the music video. For example if you look at the presentation of most women in the music industry they are used as sex objects and not really considered valuable. They are mainly seen in music videos with minimal clothing; whereas I have dressed my lead girl in androgynous clothing which would allow the audience to see her as a more masculine woman.

Goodwins Theory

The first principal in Goodwin's Theory is that there is a link between music and visuals. I have stuck with this in my music video. The beginning of the song has a fast beat therefore I wanted to make the start fast also within the visuals to capture the audience, hence why  I have had quick shots between the boy distressed and the girl in his nightmare. I have kept the running theme of quick shots throughout to link to the fast pace of the beat of the song. I think this was important as it would create a connection between the song and visuals on screen.

Also within music videos there are a lot of mirrors that are used to create illusions or reflections. I have also incorporated this within my music video, with the boy looking at his reflection in the mirror. The notion of looking is throughout the music video, but not in a direct manner. I have dissolved the girl over the top of a shot of the boy, which may suggest to the audience that he is either thinking about her or imagining her.

As the male in my music video is the main artist of the song, I have used a lot of close ups within the video. This is suggested by Goodwin an influence by the record label to advertise the artist to the target audience, henceforth the use of close up shots and the direct focus on the singer. For example the record label would want the girl to be in the background of the main singer as she is not as important to the audience as he is. Therefore by dissolving her over the top of the male a lot of the time, I am suggesting that she is a part of the male, and is only seen with him the majority of the time and not on her own. If she is seen on her own it is only for a few seconds and there are not a lot of close ups on her, when compared to the close ups of the male.

Print Productions
I have used the generic conventions of the print productions by using the 4 panel design for my digipack.

I did not want to use any more panels as I think that would have overcomplicated the design. However for my magazine advert I wanted to focus soley on the artist as this would be using the influence of the record label to advertise the band. For example Music Adverts like Kerrang Music! feature their artist as the focus for the advert as they will attract the audience and act as the poster boy for the band, so the audience can identify the music with someone.

Question 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product with ancillary texts?

How effective is the combination of your main product with ancillary texts?

My digipack - Stay Young, by the new upcoming British Rock Band - Dora Nadine, links closely to its CD design. The themes - insanity, and surrealism are running throughout both products. 

The front panel to the digipack is the most captivating one of the design, and its going to be the one that attracts the audience's attention to it first.  I wanted the product to be illustrated as this creates the idea that the world the artists is living in, is not real. The colours are bright and vibrant which adds to the theme of disorientation and confusion to what is real and what is not, again shown in my music video through the fact that the main artists (lead singer) is having nightmares about an obsessive girl. The audience never find out whether what he is seeing about her, is real or not. This is illustrated right at the start with the shot of him tossing and turning in bed.

For example, one artist who links to my art design in the final product is Vladimir Kush. He is a Russian surrealistic artist and sculptor who's paintings seem dream like. Vladimir often refers to his paintings as a "metaphorical realism". I wanted to also get this effect in my Panels. As my music video was rather disorientating for the audience and for the plot line, I wanted to create interesting art that also went with this theme. 

The main feature in the first Panel, is that it is based on Mars. This planet has  always seem to receive a lot of popularity and media, the debate of whether there is life on Mars or not? Therefore by basing my front cover on that planet I have linked it to my question within my music video - Whether the girl is in his dreams or his reality?  Not only does it link to the running question; including Mars has added to the element of being within a dream rather than actually living in real time. It allows the audience to decide for themselves whether it is all in his head or not. 

Dali-esque Surrealist Art by Vladimir Kush

Although my video is quite a dark and depressing plot, I wanted the design to act as a juxtaposition towards the music video. Normally the design would reflect the mood of the music video, which in this case I would have used just the artist with a dark background, with maybe the obsessive girl in corner looking down on him. At first I was going to use this design but then I thought it would have a much bigger impact if I used something much more out of the ordinary to add another layer to the product and the music video. 

Another design that I was going to use was including the artwork of an all seeing eye. This was meant to represent the fact that an all seeing eye would protect whoever owned it, from evil. From the running theme of heaven and hell in the music video, I thought it be appropriate to include a design that would illustrate this quite strongly. The fact that all the way through the video, the man is haunted by this image of the girl chasing him. 

The writing in the first Panel is quite relaxed and not rigid like most fonts used in digipacks. I choose this because in the music video, the themes are quite serious and therefore by using a more cartoonist font, its creating a contrast between the two products.

This does link with other designs with the genre of Rock. For example, if you take a look at "A Day to Remember" album design you will find that they have just used illustration on all the panels. Granted it is much more professional that my design, it still shows the running theme within the genre of my single I have chosen. 

(Panel Design - Did not use. - All seeing Eye concept)

My Inside Panels again reinforces' the feature of the product that the music video is a confusion between reality and dreams. Inside the panels are the continuation of "aliens". Again these are made to look cartoonist, to take of the edge of the emotions, however they do represent the "monsters" in his life, which would refer to the girl. It could be argued that this isn't very direct as most would assume that they are just there to add to the theme of Mars, but they do have a reason. Its adding to the fact that the main singer is always being watched by this girl, but this is shown through these "aliens" in the panels. They are everywhere the singer goes, wherever he looks. In the music video, the front man is always isolated. He has no contact with any other human being, which is why I have made him the only person within the design. To create the theme of isolation within both productions.

 It adds to the effect that he has been rejected from society, maybe because of his madness? The delusions that he seems to be having, which again links back to the whole idea of Mars being one whole hallucination. Delusions and hallucinations are categorized as a mental health disorder belonging to the illness - Schizophrenia. They are slightly different in what they mean - Delusions are when you have a false belief or opinion about something, for example when you believed that people are talking about you behind your back, when they're not. However Hallucinations are when you truly see something that isn't there, and for example in this production, the main singer is seeing a girl who might not actually be there (its up to the audience to decide their own opinion on it), but from my view, she is not. He also may be seeing that he lives on Mars when really, he does not.  This illness normally develops when a person wants to convince themselves that something isn't true, for example when a big life event has occurred (death in the family) and they convince themselves that, that person is still there, then the illness develops. 

The Magazine Advert I have designed, would be included within an NME newspaper. The NME is a alternative music magazine that includes mostly British up coming new bands. This would suit my band that I have used. The Magazine Advert is quite different than my digipack in the sense that it does not include the illustrations, this was deliberate. I wanted the Magazine to more relate directly to the music video, compared to my panels. The background colour of the advert - black. This colour is normally identified with death, depression, etc. It is related to all negative factors, which runs with the themes of my music video a lot more than the digipack directly. I wanted it to be simple as the music video is quite chaotic and this would be a nice contrast for the audience and wouldn't over complicate the productions. 

Again the isolation is another theme within my magazine which corresponds to the digipack panels and the music video. The darkness behind him could be represented that he is surrounded  that he has no way back out of his illness and the obsession with the girl. The fact that the artist is looking into nothing, an empty space again links back with the isolation, that no one else is there to comfort and help him with his problems. 

Question 3 - What have you learnt from audience feedback?

What have you learnt from audience feedback?

Target Audience:

Gender: Male

Age: 18-25

Ethnicity: White Britsh.

Sexuality: Unspecified.

Genre of music: Alternative/Rock/Indie

Clothing brands: Topman, Shuch, H & M.

Festival of choice: Reading/Latitude.

MUSIC VIDEO - STAY YOUNG - DORA NADINE.

The feedback for my music video came through questionairres I have given my target audience.

Question One - How much did you enjoy the music video (1-5)

This questions enables me to see on a whole whether people enjoyed my music video or not. This is a good starting question as it does not have any specific details to my music video. On average the score for this question was 4. This reflects positively on my music  video as it suggests that my audience enjoyed my music video.

Question Two - Did it hold your attention? (1-5)

This question is really important as the answer people give me will allow me to see whether my music video captures the audience's attention. The average score for this question was 4-5. This suggests to me that I have captivated my audience and made my music video interesting enough for them to enjoy the whole product and not get bored. I believe the strongest feature for this was the beginning as a lot of my audience commented that they found the start captured their interest the most with the quick shots and editing.

Question Three - How do you rate the camera work and editing? (1-5)

For this question I was given on average 5. This suggests that the audience thought my music video was smooth with the editing and the camera work was up to a high standard. This question would help me improve my editing if I were to shoot another production. By getting the audience to rate my camera work, I can get an outside input to the standard of my music video which allows me to see what worked and what didn't.

Question Four - How do you rate the standard of mise-en-scene? (1-5)

On average this question was rated 5. This suggests that the audience can relate to my location. I tried to use locations that were related to the genre of my song - alternative rock. I wanted to place the artist in an industralised location. (City Centre)  With the theme of my music video being quite dark and depressing, the lighting was going along with this theme to create shadows and the rating of 5 shows that I have achieved this with my audience feedback.
I wasn't sure whether the mise-en-scene would compare to the theme of my music video as some of the shots are very bright and distant but I have learnt from this question that the contrast has worked within my production.

Question Five - Was the music video too short/correct length/too long/don't know.

My music video was the correct length according to my audience feedback. One of my main worries was that the music video dragged on and bored my audience to the ending of the video, however this question shows that it was the correct length and kept the audience's interest till the end. I was going to cut my song down as it is quite long, but as my audience said it was the correct length, I am glad that I haven't cut it down as this would have made it too short for the audience. This question responds to question two and reinforces what they said about holding their attention throughout.

Question Six - Would you watch the music video again?

All my audience's answered this question - Yes. This was a positive answer as it showed me that my music video was captivating to watch and wasn't too generic which would maybe bore the audience and make the video dull. The main reason as to why they would watch the music video again was that there was a lot of action within the production. It was also slightly confusing and had a deep plot to it which would suggest that the audience would watch it a few times to achieve the full meaning behind the video.

Question Seven - Can you suggest anything that could improve the appeal?

From this question I could see that the audience got what they wanted from the video and that it did not lack any features that they were expecting to see. This shows that I have achieved all the generic conventions of that genre within my music video and also highlighted some conventions that you wouldn't normally see in an alternative rock music video. This would link to the Reception Theory. That the audience act as decoders towards a production and the producer is an encoder, putting in what they think to be generic aspects of that genre. The decoders (the audience) then pull apart the production and analyse whether the production fulfilled their expectations of what that genre should entail. By everyone answering No to this question, I can see that my music video decodes correctly to what the audience think and I have encoded it to the right expectations of that genre.

Question Eight - Were there any aspects that you find offensive? i.e representation of race, gender etc.

Again my audience answered this question with No. Suggesting to me that my music video was not offensive to any aspects of culture or race etc. I did not want to include any sensitive issues within  my video in case some audience's did find it offensive which would rule out that certain group of people. Therefore by answering No it shows that my music video would appeal to anyone who would like that genre. If a participant answered Yes to this question it would show that I have wrongly used a convention of that genre and in doing so I have narrowed down my audience.

Question Nine - Was there any part you found confusing or hard to understand?

Some of my audience feedback answered yes to this question. This was because of the girl plot within the male lead. Linking back to Question Six, I would advise audience's to watch my music video a few times to get into the plot line and understand the underlining meanings. Ideally I would have liked my audience to answer Yes, which most did, however by answering No its highlighted that if I were to make another music video I would simplify the plot line or go at it from a different angle and show the plot through a different way.

Question Ten - What is the best part of the production?

The main answer was my editing. I think this is a great strength to have as within my genre the editing has to be quick and smooth and go along with the song, which is what I wanted to achieve. By the audience saying my editing was very good, It has been highlighted to me that I have achieved the quick editing that I wanted and that it goes along with the song and the beat and is not out of time.

Question Eleven - Does the video reflect the style of the music? Yes/No/Undecided.

Everyone answered Yes to this evaluation question which reflects positively on my music video. Within my genre, the generic conventions are fast flowing editing, performance based shots, deep plot line, dark lighting etc. This questions shows I have achieved the generic aspects of the genre and delivered a music video which greatly shows the genre of the music it belongs too.  For example if you take a look at this music video which links to my genre you can see the same aspects in that, and in my music video.



Question Twelve - Does the video successfully promote the artist/band/group? Yes/No/Undecided.

My audience all answered Yes to this question. This was because my whole music video was shots of the leading artist. He wasn't singing but through the close up shots of him you could see that he was the main front for the band. I had short clips of the girl within my music video who was not part of the band but she was only shown when the male was in the shot too, or if he wasn't she would only be edited in for a few seconds to highlight that the male was the main important character within the video. By  promoting my band I have shown the influence of the record label as they would want as much footage of the band as possible to act as an advert for them.

Question Thirteen - On a sale of 1-5 with 5 being the highest how do you rank the music video?

The majority of my feedback put a 4 for this question. This would relate back to the very first question which again got a average of 4, reinforcing that my music video was interesting to watch and captured my audiences attention throughout.


For evaluating my print productions, the questionairres were a lot similar  with the questions being related to one another. Therefore the answers will be a lot of the same for both productions. The questions that did not relate to the evaluation of my music video are:

Question Three & Four - How do you rate the standard of graphics, text and finish of the digipack and avert? (1-5)

This was on average given a 4-5 showing that I have used the correct layout to advertise my band. I asked my audience - "If you saw this advert in the street would you want to go out and buy that album" The question was nearly the same for the print productions. They all answered Yes, showing me that I have created a print production that would capture someones eye, and stands out from the rest of albums being presented. This is what I wanted to achieve, by using graphics that isn't normally seen on an album cover, I have challenged the conventions of that genre and stood out. I also did not want to use my artists on the print productions as I wanted them to remain slightly unknown as they are a new band and I wanted the audience to imagine what they would be represented like.

Question Five - How successfully is the Britishness of the package established?

From this question my package was given on average a 4. I found this to be quite high for my print productions as I did not want too in corporate a high amount of Britishness in my package as the band do not seem to have many politcal messages about Britian and they do not relate their songs to aspects of this culture. However some bands in this genre do relate to a political message, and if my artist had, then I would have created a much more British cover. For example "The Sex Pistols" - "God Save The Queen" album cover has a very hard hitting message within it. The use of the Queens face and the flag could be seen as offensive. However by using her face, it has a very sharp link to British culture.

Question Six and Seven - Would the covers and advert encourage you to buy/go to an event by this artist?

Both of these questions were answered Yes, showing that I have created interest through my advert and digipack within my audience. Suggesting that I have marketed the artist well and created a bigger audience for the band as they would go see them live and not just by their album. By answering Yes it has been noted that If I were to advertise the poster in the city centre, I might be able to create a bigger audience as most say that this would encourage them to go to their gig.


MY IDEAL TARGET AUDIENCE: 

• Age = 16-25. 
• Gender = Male.
• Ethnicity = British
• Media Interests = Independent films, alternative rock music, indie music.
• Hobbies = Creativity - e.g. arts. 

Another way I have recieved audience feedback is through youtube and the comment box. All together I have gotten 53 views at the moment and had one person like my video which indicates to me that they find the music video interesting to watch and enjoyed it throughly.

From YouTube you can get a different kind of audience viewing your video rather than just your friends and families who would fill out the questionairres.

One flaw of just using questionairres for audience feedback is having bias opinions of your music video as the participants are mainly going to be people you know and your relatives, therefore they would not like to give much negative feedback to not hurt your feelings. Therefore by getting feedback from YouTube too, they can remain anonymous and give a proper representative comment to you. Also you are not selecting a certain age group or culture from YouTube, therefore getting a more collective opinion.

Male Feedback
Most of my feedback was from a male audience, as my music video is more directed to a masculine audience. I could see slight differences in the genders when I recieved feedback. I found that males enjoyed the music video more, which could be because they can identify with the music video more than a female audience could. The song is also directed more to a male audience as the band consists of an all male cast.


Dora Nadine

Female Feedback

However, as my female in the music video is a stronger representative of females than many music videos e.g. - Beyonce. It may attract a wider female audience than if I had made the girl look weak and dependant as its desired for women to be represented as independent for themselves.


Audience Theory


Linking feedback to Stuart Halls Theory of Audience, when getting feedback from friends and family members. By using the recognized codes and conventions and by drawing upon audience expectations relating to aspects such as genre, I have positioned the audience and therefore created a certain amount of agreement on what the codes mean. Meaning the outcome was of the preferred reading. 

Another theory that was proposed was the "Users and Gratifications" theory. Quite the opposite of the hyperdermic needle theory, where the audience do not act passive but rather view media for different personal reasons. My music video was viewed for entertainment and feedback from most of my audience. Bulmer and Katz extended this theory and suggested that the audience chose a certain media text for either diversion - escape from daily routine and struggles, personal relationships (emotional distraction), personal identity (reflecting yourself within the media text) and surveillance - extract information from the media, most commonly this would be the news. Therefore my audience may enjoy the music video due to diversion from their daily routine, due to my music video being a contrast to everyday normal life, with dream like effect. The escape of the audience into my music video takes them into another dimension per say and it is not a reflection of everyday life, for example the most exciting element to my music video was the character of the girl. She created a nightmare effect for the music video and added an element of chaos and fear, without the girl in the music video I believe it would be boring to watch.

Question 4 - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Q2 EVALUATION - PRESENTATION.

 

Question One.

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

Dora Nadine is generically a British Rock Band; aspects of my music video link to this certain genre but others also go against the normal conventions. It challenges certain conventions of reality and dreams.

The beginning stimulus for my music video was a poem by William Blake called "The marriage of Heaven and Hell". This is seen in our music video through the character of the girl, who is representing hell, and through the character of the male, who is representing heaven, being haunted by hell. The video is mainly focusing on the idea of the poem; that hell is dragging heaven down, and tormenting it.

I have used and developed William Blakes poem into a plot line for my music video. This shot illustrates that the girl (representing hell) is haunting and watching him, also the dissolve between him being in bed asleep, and her leaning over him, would signify to the audience that she haunts him in his dreams and is part of a big nightmare, questioning whether she is part of his reality of just an illusion of his dreams. From this poem, we have used the ideas discussed in it to create a starting point to our music video, and although the idea has altered slightly to the end product, I have developed this poem into a plot line. William Blake believed that everyone was born with a third eye; this eye was the eye of perception. He thought that we were all in chains because we could not accept our third eye, and therefore confined ourselves to the 5 senses "...there are things inside doors, outside of doors and in between doors"

By using this quote in my music video I have created the illusion that this man, is chained like William Blake said, and in those chains he is confined, however by accepting this girl into his life, when she is haunting him, he has opened up his third eye to see other things, whether it be evil (in this case the girl) or be it good (in himself) Blake said that the third eye acts as a "switch" which activates a higher state of conscious and also expands spiritual visions. This is linked to the male seeing the girl in his dreams; he has expanded his spiritual visions. These chains that we are trapped in are man-made in Blake’s eyes, therefore we are declining ourselves of the higher powers, and in other words he is suggesting that it is our own fault that we have isolated ourselves from this higher being and trapped ourselves to just the 5 senses rather than these spiritual visions. Blake says that if you can't imagine liberty (the third eye) then you will never be able to achieve the outcome. For example, in one of William Blake’s poems - "The chimney sweeper" it illustrates a difference between two people, one has achieved liberty and the other hasn’t. "Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm; so if all do their duty they need not fear harm" - this illustrates that this person has accepted the third eye, and is content in doing so. He has achieved a higher power and therefore he can be happy in himself. However the second poem illustrates a difference - “And are gone to praise God and his priest and king, who make up a heaven of our misery" Suggesting that those who don't accept the third eye and liberty, project themselves to a life of misery. The dream like experiences that the male lead has undergone in my music video acts as a release for this liberty, allowing him to see the spiritual visions, and although they may haunt him, he is liberated from his man-made chains.

Costume

The genre of my artists is alternative rock. This has been highly influenced and developed through the years, starting mainly in the 1960's. It was then, that the rock genre really influenced fashion. It began with the Beatles who sported mop-top haircuts and flared jeans, tight t-shirts and psychedelic shades.

In my music video I used a very 1980's fashion approach in the costume and used the generic conventions of high street fashion; which would allow the audience to connect with the main singer.

This was the time period when drain-pipe trousers (skinny jeans) and plaid shirts were popular. In my original music video I was going to have the band performing as well as the nightmare scenes. The bands costume took on this approach dominantly.

Also my main lead took on a very alternative costume, relating to the popular fashion of today. Again in my raw footage he was wearing a shirt and black jeans much like the band members above. Most British rock bands nowadays wear a plain t shirt and either black or blue skinny jeans, which is what I wanted my artists to look like so that they linked to the genre of rock that is today. For example, a band - "Your Demise" which links to artist can be seen sporting a white top, snapback hat and black jeans which is linked closely to the fashion of my artists.

Photos of my artist (above)



Your Demise "The Kids We Used To Be" 

Lower Than Atlantis "Beech Like The Tree"

You can see the similarities in their clothing, and the way they represent themselves. Tattoos are a very important signifier in the rock genre nowadays, which is why I wanted a male who had tattoos down his arm like the one in the screenshot of Your Demise and Lower Than Atlantis (This was linked back to the early rock fashion I mentioned before with the craze of plaid shirts, using them as a consumer product of the genre of rock to allow others to see that you are part of that movement). They signify that you belong to a certain subculture, and young people these days have them to fit into that generic crowd. Tattoos use to belong to a more violent/ anti-social group of people, but nowadays it is more common to have them. Through generations it has become more relaxed to have tattoos and not be judged as a rebellious young teen. Therefore I wanted to go with the generic conventions of the genre of rock, choosing an artist who would fit into the stereotypical aspects of rock fashion.

The costume of the girl within the music video is very different from what the male is wearing, he is conveying casual costume whilst her fashion items have put across a certain message about the type of person she is and what part she plays within the music video. The top is custom made as we wanted it to have a certain symbol about it, so that the audience can get connotations from what she is wearing.  The "666" symbol as always been a identification of hell and Satan  This was very important as we wanted her to be seen as evil and part of hell, linked back to the poem.

 

Location

I have used the generic conventions of location within the genre in my music video.  I have two main locations within my music video - The artist’s home and the asylum in which we mostly see the girl in the background. In music videos such as Lower than Atlantis the audiences' attention is mainly focused towards the band and the performance aspect of the video, where as I have created a plot line rather than using the band performing for most of it. This would then challenge the conventions of the rock genre, in the fact that I have included no performance footage and have gone with a story line for the song instead.

For example, in the Lower than Atlantis video, they have only included performance footage for their whole video. This band is the same type of music that I have chosen for my band; therefore by not going along with the generic conventions of what that genre expects, I have challenged the location.

Within many music videos I have noticed that the colours included are normally washed away (below is examples of this)

While She Sleeps - Be(lie)ve

Architects - Follow The Water.

The mise-en-scene looks quite chaotic. The location seems to be corrupt and run down. This connotes to the audience that this band is displaying Britain as a broken place. It signifies to the audience that it is run by chaos and anarchy. Both examples use a colour filter (sepia) to get that washed away effect, however I did not want that on my music video. I wanted to create a contrast to the normal conventions of lighting and juxtapose it with bright colours.

This goes against the normal conventions of the genre, by creating bright settings throughout the music video rather than making it washed out and darkening. Although I have used a black and white colour effect on the images of the girl, this is also quite bright in the sense that the white is a very harsh contrast to the grey tones which it is mixed with. Creating the illusion of delusions. Bright lights confuse people and make it harder to see, which is the effect I wanted to create for the audience so they feel slightly disorientated, like the male lead.

Architects - Follow The Water

Dora Nadine - Stay Young.

These two shots are very similar, with both artists being in the same genre of music. However there is a difference that the Architects music video again uses the sepia filter to add a darker lighting to the video, whereas my shot seems to be a lot brighter on the artist. My music video holds quite a dark plot and has a lot of negative connotations, but I didn't want to make the lighting dark as I think it would be too heavy on the audience and also creates a contrast for the audience, adding to the dystopian effect of the video. 

  

The asylum in which the girl is mainly filmed in has a very direct link to the insanity of the girl and the boy, and whether she is really there of just part of his illusion. The asylum, in which I filmed at, has been closed down for a long time and boarded up. This would add to the message that Britain is falling apart and run down. The boarded windows and smashed glasses everywhere signifies to the audience that maybe the place has been left to rot. This would connote a bigger picture in the end, that this would be the end product if we all stopped caring. A link to this can be made to a While She Sleeps video - Crows. You can see in the background that there is a broken building where they are performing.

I choose my location for the girl because I wanted to send a message to the audience that like the location she is set in, her mind is also broken. This links to mental illness which can be seen in both characters throughout the video. With the example of While She Sleeps, you can see that this genre connotes that Britain is a broken place; therefore I have followed the conventions of this genre by also suggesting this with the run down asylum.

Gender

In my music video I have challeneged the generic conventions of gender in music videos. Generically, most females are portrayed as weak and the dependent ones on males. Within the rock genre, it is mainly a male audience, and male artists that contribute.

Within the NME covers you can see the majority of artists displayed are male and only a few minority covers have a female model has the main focus. Even then Amy Winehouse is objectified to a sexual representation of herself with the minimal clothing and the revealing shot of her as the cover.

Within this Beyoncé music video, she is surrounded by males, and is seen to be more of an object to the men rather than a human being. She is wearing minimal clothing and wearing a lot of makeup. This is the expected generic stereotypical representation of women in the music industry. I wanted to go against this and challenge this convention. Also within my genre, you don't see many females within the music videos. It’s dominated by males. However I wanted to the female in control and switch the roles around. I don't think the music videos are taken as seriously within this type of representation. Therefore by putting the female in a higher position, it creates a stronger message to the audience.

 However I have included a female within my music video, featuring just as much as the male artist. I have switched the roles around for the genders. Normally in my plot line the male would have been haunting and tormenting the female, leaving the male in control. I have chosen to switch this around and use the female as the controlling and manipulative one. The girl acts as a misogynist representation of females within my music video, and making it easier for my audience to identify with the male rather than the female.  I have challenged the conventions as I wanted it too stand out to the audience that the female is in fact the one that has all the power in the music video. For example if you look at the presentation of most women in the music industry they are used as sex objects and not really considered valuable. They are mainly seen in music videos with minimal clothing; whereas I have dressed my lead girl in androgynous clothing which would allow the audience to see her as a more masculine woman.

Goodwins Theory

The first principal in Goodwin's Theory is that there is a link between music and visuals. I have stuck with this in my music video. The beginning of the song has a fast beat therefore I wanted to make the start fast also within the visuals to capture the audience, hence why  I have had quick shots between the boy distressed and the girl in his nightmare. I have kept the running theme of quick shots throughout to link to the fast pace of the beat of the song. I think this was important as it would create a connection between the song and visuals on screen.

Also within music videos there are a lot of mirrors that are used to create illusions or reflections. I have also incorporated this within my music video, with the boy looking at his reflection in the mirror. The notion of looking is throughout the music video, but not in a direct manner. I have dissolved the girl over the top of a shot of the boy, which may suggest to the audience that he is either thinking about her or imagining her.

As the male in my music video is the main artist of the song, I have used a lot of close ups within the video. This is suggested by Goodwin an influence by the record label to advertise the artist to the target audience, henceforth the use of close up shots and the direct focus on the singer. For example the record label would want the girl to be in the background of the main singer as she is not as important to the audience as he is. Therefore by dissolving her over the top of the male a lot of the time, I am suggesting that she is a part of the male, and is only seen with him the majority of the time and not on her own. If she is seen on her own it is only for a few seconds and there are not a lot of close ups on her, when compared to the close ups of the male.

Print Productions
I have used the generic conventions of the print productions by using the 4 panel design for my digipack.

I did not want to use any more panels as I think that would have overcomplicated the design. However for my magazine advert I wanted to focus soley on the artist as this would be using the influence of the record label to advertise the band. For example Music Adverts like Kerrang Music! feature their artist as the focus for the advert as they will attract the audience and act as the poster boy for the band, so the audience can identify the music with someone.