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

Looking at Andrew Goodwin’s forms and conventions of a music video, it would appear that ours in rich in connotation. Goodwin’s first feature says that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics, which are recognisable throughout music videos belonging to that genre. Before we set about our creative process, we decided it would be a good idea to look into the generic conventions of a typical music video and found that for indie/rock videos, although there is great variation in the style of different videos – due to the individual aspect of the genre – this should include a stage or band performance, a sense of camaraderie and costumes typically consisting of jeans or chinos, pump shoes, normal shirts and jackets.

our photo

The Pigeon Detectives band photo

When we set about the planning of our music video, we felt that it would be crucial to include at the very least aspects of these conventions, regardless of which basing (performance, narrative or concept) we gave to the overall video, because we could then compare our piece to that of both our artist and others. Despite having four different locations, and therefore four different costumes, in each one we can be seen to conform to the genre through our clothing. Furthermore, the predominant footage in our video is band performance. Whilst we were reasonably happy with the original footage, after changing the brightness and contrast on the recording we found that an authentic band performance, perhaps at a concert or gig, was given out. This can be seen in videos such as that for ‘We Don’t Celebrate Sundays’ by Hardcore Superstar. Comradeship was also evident in our video, as can be seen through our jump cuts and opening shots, where we can all be seen in the car together. The performance, which constitutes the bulk of our work, is also evidence of band union because we are all performing together. The costume and camaraderie constituents of our work are also visible in our printwork – with a band photo on the inside cover of our digipak, which can also be seen in real band posters for The Pigeon Detectives.



There is also intertextuality within our work, as we studied a number of videos previous to our construction and used some interesting elements from those videos with a different take in our own. For instance, for our paint and water shots we were inspired by the work of Martin de Thurrah’s work (particularly in the video for ‘Human’ by Carpark North) and the music video for ‘No Rest’ by Dry the River. We incorporated the two styles across two different shoots, and successfully introduced them into our music video. A lot of Martin de Thurrah’s work includes the use of slow motion and liquids, which is exactly what we set out to film on our first paint shoot. Using a steadicam, we filmed Cameron at midshot distance on a 60 frames per second camera whilst paint was thrown at him. We also filmed him just afterwards and as he threw a paint pot. The end result when slowed down in premier was a fantastic shot – the fact that it was out of focus adding to the value – of paint splatting Cameron and dripping from his face. However, the fact that it was out of focus meant that we reshot the piece with a different style in mind. Having looked at the video for ‘No Rest’ we decided to imitate this and threw water and paint at him. When we played this back in Premier, it looked as if he was on a beach – and indeed, from some of our audience research we found that viewers though the same. To finish the piece, we combined de Thurrah’s use of slow motion with this, as can be seen.

In my opinion, the slow motion handi-cam tracking shot of Cameron throwing the paint pot is a great example of how camerawork connotes rebellion and anger. This is because it captures his movement and non-verbal language as he throws the pot, accentuating the maliciousness with which the normal speed shot was intended. The Camaraderie aspect of the genre is also captured by the inside car footage, which appears to represent a home video feel to the images, similar to the ‘lads on tour’ or group trip scenarios that youth or adolescents are often associated with. We also provided a number of close-up Meat shots for the consumer which conforms to the conventions of music videos in general.

In the studio, we used low-key lighting and this when combined with an alteration of the saturation and brightness gave our video an authentic, gig performance feel. The use of spotlights, instruments and performance helps to enhance this sentiment, and therefore made our video more genuine in its appearance. Furthermore, the use of a black and white effect has helped to emphasise the darker colours within our piece, thus making the mood of the track more apparent, connoting darkness alongside the minor key track.

As I stated earlier, there is a certain style of clothing associated with the indie rock genre. We have been successful in replicating this convention in our work, as can be seen in the pictures where we are dressed appropriately in all situations, with the instruments of a band further reinforcing this meaning. These are also similar to the costumes worn in some promotional material by The Pigeon Detectives.

We were also successful at conforming to generic expectations through our use of locations. Our use of a band performance on a stage can be seen in a number of indie/rock bands, such as Supergrass (Mary), Two Door Cinema Club (Something Good Can Work) and The Pigeon Detectives (Romantic Type). The use of woodlands also connotes the notions of freedom and distraction from everyday life, which inhibits the people and their actions, whereas here Cameron is free to exhibit his emotions, with no fear of being judged by society.

We were also inspired by ‘I’m Not Sorry’ by The Pigeon Detectives, as their low-budget video connoted the sense of rebellion, fretfulness and frustration. We therefore decided to implement this aspect within our piece, focusing on the frenetic behaviour displayed by the band, which reinforced the ideological interpretation. We also decided to look at some of their live performances before we did our band performance, which allowed us to make the performance more realistic. This was evoked particularly well through Cameron’s erratic movements.

In our video, the representation of young adolescent males conforms to the indie/rock genre. Because this is the only group present, we were able to connote restlessness and youth frustration, whilst when the restrictions of the ‘real world’ were removed the rebellion and freedom that then occurs was present in our video, as can be seen through our shots of Cameron throwing the paint pot, and myself and Cameron smashing some rubbish up.

Whilst there is a strong link between the music and visuals in that we are performing the track and therefore the action links in the parts where we are performing, where the track reaches a crescendo – during the guitar solo – we could have perhaps added some more footage to emphasise the point. The jumps cuts nonetheless work well in time with the music. There is also little emphasis towards the notion of looking, due to both the performance-based concept of the track and the genre of the song.