GENERIC CONVENTIONS OF A MUSIC VIDEO OFTEN INCLUDE A FEATURE OF THE ARTIST, AND VARIOUS ILLUSTRATIONS TO FORM A NARRATIVE CONCEPT THROUGH VISUALS.
Andrew Goodwin's Theory of Music Videos
1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.
(E.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with image.
(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music.
(either illustrative, amplifying, condtradicting).
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist, and the artist may develop motifs, which recur across their work (a visual style).
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc.) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
6. There are often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos, etc.).
CODES
Media products regularly communicate with their audience through codes to coney a particular message or a certain music genre, such as interpreting bright colour combinations for teen pop artists. These vary in forms of lighting, mise-en-scene, props, type of music and performance. All of these are purposeful to portray that specific style of the artist, earning them an individual identity in the media community.
APPLYING GOODWIN'S THEORY TO MY MEDIA PRODUCTS (MUSIC VIDEO, CD DIGIPAK, MUSIC MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENT)
My focus for this project was a British band named Glass Animals, who perform mainly indie rock, but their works can also relate to a variety of genres, such as trip hop, psychedelic pop, alternative R&B and indie-tronica. I think that because of this, I was able to explore many sides of music videos' forms and conventions, as well as apply some of these to my products.
I think that indie/rock artists are sometimes more passionate about their work, and the promotion is often designed to be memorable. I attempted to work with this sort of mindset throughout the course, focusing on how to express the lyrics within the music video, and also create a memorable identity for the band, but also considering their previous promotions as well as similar artists' works to ensure that my products appeal to the right target market.
In my music video, I decided to do a somewhat twisted concept, depending on what I deciphered from the lyrics. Like stated by the artist, their lyrics are often things that a child would say, and I think that this really allowed me to become experimental with the project. For this type of genre, music videos are commonly far from ordinary (featuring the artist performing the song alongside a dance routine) and the visuals are often symbolic. Because of my concept for the music video 'Flip' I have included symbolism in my CD digipak and magazine advertisement, and especially the music video.
Personally, I defined the song's title as 'flipping between two different things', and settled for the concept of subject morphing between forms. Additionally, the song's dynamics build up continuously throughout the song, and because of its sudden ending, I wanted to encourage adrenaline into my audience. I also hoped to get my target audience interested in the concept, and be able to enjoy the mystery in the product. Within my music video, the lyrics are illustrated in some areas, but can also be seen as amplifying by the visuals. The glass figures have broken loose for a certain amount of time before they feel the need to morph back into their solid forms, as when free to move ('liquified') towards the end they attempt to return to their original forms. However, only one survives, and I think that this sense of competition involved amongst the three characters allows the visuals to form a story that audience may enjoy to follow. I think that with this sort of storyline, my target audience in particular get curious of the ending due to its peculiar plot.
I interpreted mystery in my works by varying the effects I could achieve with the software (Adobe Photoshop, After Effects and Premiere Pro) I had available for this project.
I ensured that the editing matched the atmosphere of the song, such as lining up the cuts between the shots to the beat. I think that because the beat was constant, it allowed me to edit the music video and give it an overall harmony amongst the elements of the song and the visuals.
One thing that my products did challenge is featuring the artist themselves. For indie-based artists, they tend to focus more on their works rather than their own image, and because Glass Animals are praised for their unique music, they're not seen as role models because of what they look like, but they're looked up to because of their works and achievements.
A similar existing band that is a good example of this is Bombay Bicycle Club. As well as creating similar genre of music, their music videos are often art-related and illustrative to the song.
Because the promotional products have to reflect the genre of music that the artist produce, I focused on the elements amongst similar artists as well as Glass Animals's existing products. In doing so, I discovered that many underground artists depend on forms of art to promote their work, and I noted how my chosen band have had their promotional products designed by the illustrator Micah Lidberg. This has influenced my works too, as I wanted to produce similar illustrative products, so I took a rather graphical approach to the CD digipak and the music magazine advertisement.
I produced the art in a style inspired by Micah Lidberg as I believe that many of his works were appropriate for the band. I also enjoyed his simplistic method of drawing, yet the artist managed to interpret twists into his works. I hoped to achieve this within my CD digipak and music magazine advertisement, so for this process I referred to my music video's concept in order to create that connection amongst the three promotional products.
I took the idea of illustrating ordinary scenery, like Lidberg proves to do in many of his works, and decided to picture the environment of the three cats that are featured in my music video, which is a large dinner table with various things that can be found around average households, but also followed up the design with a few twists here and there, such as a chicken at the very top of the design, which wouldn't normally be found there. I believe that small mysteries like these interpreted into my products encourages curiosity in my audience, and thats akin to what Glass Animals and many other underground artists of similar genre tend to do with their works.
