Towards the beginning of the year, the very first part of our planning and research was to look at existing music videos. This introduced me to the typical conventions.
One of which is through the use of links between visuals and music. We have achieved this by using cuts and a pace that best suits the tempo and beats of the song. One example of this is with the main character brushing his teeth. The segment lasts for the same duration as the fast guitar playing. This was inspired by the Green Day music video I deconstructed. A cut was used at almost every drum beat. I feel that this aspect of our video works well as there is a continuous flow of events making it interesting to watch and listen to.
To expand on this idea, we used our cuts (like Green Day) in time with the music. This is evident during the outfit change sequence. His outfit changes at each click of the song. It is also during the running montage, it cuts to a new shot of the running at each progression in the song. This was inspired by both existing products but also the music video questionnaire. Our target audience wanted to see cuts and a pace in time with the song and I feel that we have achieved this.
Although it isn't the most predominant aspect of our music video. We also reflect real media conventions through the link between visuals and lyrics. We only do this is some parts of the song as "you can find a sweater on the ocean floor" is quite difficult to recreate in keeping with a consistent story. "I can feel it coming" and "It's a line that's always running." We partially reflect these lyrics through the use of actions. For example, we have our character "running" and "coming" and going from places. More strongly,"In a house on a street they wouldn't park on the night" is expressed through our choice of locations. A house and a street. However, this is only a convention for some music videos, a lot don't do this such as Rhianna's video to "Rudeboy." Her lying across a zebra doesn't reflect the lyrics in the slightest. This is why we have reflected the lyrics only in some parts.
Another convention that we follow is lip syncing. A music video is not a live performance of the band/artist. Because the film track and music track are recorded separately during the creation of a music video, artists usually lip-sync to their songs and often imitate playing musical instruments as well. This makes editing easier but also, having a "fake" performance recreates what the artist/band may be like live, promoting them. Although we don't have a band, the fact that our main character sings along to the music suggests that he really enjoys their music, promoting the band in an alternative way. It is also the only element that does make our video a music one. Without lip syncing, it could be easily mistaken for a short film.
Our music video also uses a typical convention of humour. The first questionnaire revealed that our target audience liked humour and wanted the video to be entertaining. This is when we decided to plan out a series of humorous events that would take place. Evidence of this lies with the main character spilling his drink, the solo in itself is quite funny as he doesn't actually know how to play the instrument. Linking to real media products, some music videos use humour as a way to entertain their audience, it also creates the impression that the musician is a cool, fun person. An example of this is with the music video "White and Nerdy" by Weird Al Yankovic. You see scenes of the character playing chess, in a comic book store, on his lap top in the shower etc. This entire videos purpose is to generate humour. We hope that we have achieved a similar effect in our videos.
Another way in which our music video uses real media product conventions is through mise en scene and our use of locations and props. To make our story and ideas easy to understand and believable, we have used these elements. This is needed in music videos as stories and ideas heavily rely on the visuals. This is because there is typically no dialogue to explain why things are happening. Location and props act as the narrative. For example, our costumes make it clear that the main character is a business man and that the wife is a wife. This is through suits, dresses and rolling pins etc.. The majority of media products do this but one example is Katy Perry's "Hot 'n' Cold" music video. The audience is able o understand the scenario of a wedding as there is a bride in a wedding dress and a groom in a suit. This seems obvious but if this same group of people were stood in a school, wearing fancy dress for example, it would not make any sense at all.
Our music video uses the convention of product placement. Take Lady Gaga's music video to "Telephone." In that you see mobile phones and cultural references to films, TV etc.. For our music video, we sneakily included our digipak front covers. Mine on the outside and Freddie's on the inside. Here is a shot of our digipaks and just one example of the product placement in Lady Gaga's music video:
Another way in which we use conventions of existing media products is through our range of shots. To make the video more interesting to watch and to emphasize certain aspects, we used a range of shots an angles. Close ups help with drawing attention to a certain aspect and we used a high angle to match the view of a real CCTV camera. A real music video that uses these conventions is Blur's "Parklife." It looks more visually interesting with a high variety of shots, angles and movement.
Another way in which our music video used conventions of real media products is the combination of a story and a performance. The performance, as previously mentioned, was included to emphasize the guitar playing and to make it more like a music video. The addition of a story makes the video more engaging than simply watching someone sing/perform. It is also what our target audience wanted. Our story and performance combination is a man on his busy day, heading to work. This aspect is the story. When he reaches the office, starts singing and pulls out the guitar, the performance begins. In relation to existing music videos, Michael Jackson is renowned for combining his musical performances with a story. Take "Thriller" for instance. He was the first artist to create a music video of a length exceeding song length by making a mini-movie. I think our combination of a story and performance works well, the viewer has something to follow as well as being entertained.
Just as our music video uses conventions of existing media products, it also develops and challenges them. Usually, a format for a music is switch back and forth between A and B. Our music however is more progressive than than. Our story element means that our format goes A to B, and then on to C. Nothing is repeated unlike a normal music video. I think our music video works well like this, however, if we were to include a band or real artist, then the typical format would have probably been used. This leads me to my next point, our music video challenges the idea that we do not use a band/artist. The main reason for this was that it was difficult to acquire actors willing to participate. However, I don't think that we needed an artist/band. This is one element that I would have liked to have had but not including it hasn't affected our music video's content so it doesn't matter. Although it isn't a typical convention of a music video to not include an artist, some do use it. For example, Bob Sinclar's "Love Generation" doesn't include an appearance from him. Instead, he has a boy riding his bike, like we have a man running to work.
With new, modern technologies appearing in music videos. It could be argued that we are testing some conventions in the fact that we have not used amazing visual effects and use the simple, intuitive shots instead. For example, our memorable visuals of the many hands doesn't really compete with Black Eyed Pea's visual effects in "Boom Boom Pow."
Another way in which we challenge conventions is through the use of quite average characters. We do not include dancers, performers or have any sex appeal. I think this is more appropriate as our song isn't about sex, and also, the organic, up beat song works well with our music video. A typical convention usually consists of a bar, a nightclub, dancers etc etc...
Our music video uses and challenges many conventions of existing media products.
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