q1. How does your product use or challenge conventions and
how does it represent social groups or issues?
With the help of a guide map, I would like to divide my answer into several sections. firstly what are genre conventions, what are the conventions of my genre and lastly to what extent have they been challenged with the help of micro elements such as Mise en Scene, camera work and editing.
Essentially, genre conventions are the defining aspects of any genre or sub-genre.
There are tons of these conventions for each genre, and any given work doesn't necessarily have to include more than a handful of them; if there aren't any at all, the work may not ultimately fall into the intended genre.
In indie pop music most artists are clothed in fashionable and stylish outfits and are portrayed as happy, enjoying their life or the complete opposite, where they are dressed in black and white and a monochrome effect adds gloom around the scenario.
The lyrics are normally based around love or relationships.The genre is normally conveyed through the video dressing,, relationship between the lyrics and narrative and the setting.
Indie pop/rock music videos usually follow old fashioned, non- mainstream trends. The form the song normally follows a verse-chorus-verse structure and uses hook lines which are catchy therefore stays in the audiences mind. They are usually stereotypically associated with people in their teens as many people are used to such themes. There is also a lot of visualistation based upon partying as this is stereotypically what teens enjoy.
My music video follows many of the codes and conventions of the indie pop/rock gerne, including an indoor location, the band following a similar dress code, a narrative and house party ambiance. Taking into view voyerism and Laura Mulvey's male gaze, the main female protagonist is dressed in a sleevless floral dress with subtle makeup but stereotypes of femininity are broken later on as she fights another girl , taking viewers away from the soft female image she puts up.
Interrupted narrative/ performance helps keep track of the plot and keeps the audience's focus on the video and quick cuts are used as well as cut-to-beat shots that show close-ups of the instuments.
I also challenge the stereotypical all male band and add a female bassist, but make her follow the same dress code, portraying a sense of gender equality.
There are tons of these conventions for each genre, and any given work doesn't necessarily have to include more than a handful of them; if there aren't any at all, the work may not ultimately fall into the intended genre.
In indie pop music most artists are clothed in fashionable and stylish outfits and are portrayed as happy, enjoying their life or the complete opposite, where they are dressed in black and white and a monochrome effect adds gloom around the scenario.
The lyrics are normally based around love or relationships.The genre is normally conveyed through the video dressing,, relationship between the lyrics and narrative and the setting.
Indie pop/rock music videos usually follow old fashioned, non- mainstream trends. The form the song normally follows a verse-chorus-verse structure and uses hook lines which are catchy therefore stays in the audiences mind. They are usually stereotypically associated with people in their teens as many people are used to such themes. There is also a lot of visualistation based upon partying as this is stereotypically what teens enjoy.
My music video follows many of the codes and conventions of the indie pop/rock gerne, including an indoor location, the band following a similar dress code, a narrative and house party ambiance. Taking into view voyerism and Laura Mulvey's male gaze, the main female protagonist is dressed in a sleevless floral dress with subtle makeup but stereotypes of femininity are broken later on as she fights another girl , taking viewers away from the soft female image she puts up.
Interrupted narrative/ performance helps keep track of the plot and keeps the audience's focus on the video and quick cuts are used as well as cut-to-beat shots that show close-ups of the instuments.
I also challenge the stereotypical all male band and add a female bassist, but make her follow the same dress code, portraying a sense of gender equality.
Q2. How does your product engage with audiences and how would it
be distributed as a real media text?
My target demographic was young adults and people interested in new underground pakistani bands/ music.
The ideal age group is around 14-30 and geographical segmentation will be specific to urdu-speaking area as the song is in urdu. The genre would target males and females as it is a fun song for everyone to enjoy.
IDEAL VIEWER :
Zoha from islamabad, Pakistan from a upper middle class family. She wears minimalistic jewellry and thinks she is born a generation too late. She likes flower crowns and old romatic movies .She is a college/university student, who follows trends but has her own old indie twist, such as brown leather ankle boots . She is bright cheerful and loves colours, mostly earthy or pastel. However old at heart, she likes to be upto date with new trends and music. She enjoys when musicians play their own music.
If I were to choose a corporation to distribute this music video among the masses, I would have choose between the following:
The ideal age group is around 14-30 and geographical segmentation will be specific to urdu-speaking area as the song is in urdu. The genre would target males and females as it is a fun song for everyone to enjoy.
IDEAL VIEWER :
Zoha from islamabad, Pakistan from a upper middle class family. She wears minimalistic jewellry and thinks she is born a generation too late. She likes flower crowns and old romatic movies .She is a college/university student, who follows trends but has her own old indie twist, such as brown leather ankle boots . She is bright cheerful and loves colours, mostly earthy or pastel. However old at heart, she likes to be upto date with new trends and music. She enjoys when musicians play their own music.
If I were to choose a corporation to distribute this music video among the masses, I would have choose between the following:
- Coke Studio (Pakistan)
- Nescafé Basement
- Patari.pk
My distribution platform would be CDs or EPs as most music video and song releases popularly take place
through the official release of albums .
However I would also have an official release on Youtube which is a website popular for song distribution through the world wide web. The Band would have their own channnel, but not in the category of VEVO as indie artists avoid mainstream culture. But releasing it on youtube and facebook would be a great idea when I release my music video as my target audience and reach will be infinite. It would help reach out to not a single state or a country
but almost the whole world and people who use these websites. This is a great way to mass distribute my product.
through the official release of albums .
However I would also have an official release on Youtube which is a website popular for song distribution through the world wide web. The Band would have their own channnel, but not in the category of VEVO as indie artists avoid mainstream culture. But releasing it on youtube and facebook would be a great idea when I release my music video as my target audience and reach will be infinite. It would help reach out to not a single state or a country
but almost the whole world and people who use these websites. This is a great way to mass distribute my product.
Q3. How did your production skills develop throughout this
project?
Pre-Production
I had several struggles with the pre-production process. Hassam and I could not decide on a song. Once we did, the lyrics were difficult to work with and the over all locations we decided to shoot the video in had their own issues - distance, permission, extraneous variables, cooperation of passers-by.
We eventually decided on another song that had more workable lyrics. But the opening music suggested a 60s era party, and the mise en scene and props were difficult to arrange, and alot of lighting would be needed achieve the look I had in my head.
Hassam and I did alot of research to decide on a location that was easily available and we chose my house, which also helped us save money on rent which we put into getting studio lights and renting a drumkit.
Production
Production was easy but very time consuming. Directing the band as well of the protagonists was a tough job (as can be seen in the behind the scenes video in "Production"). As my actors were young adults between the ages of 15-20, they were very unprofessional about the whole project and kept breaking character. Alot of constant direction was needed.
Some angles would make the camera flare due to the shifting focus , and shots needed to be retaken from different angles to find the perfect shot.
Hourly loadshedding was the biggest problem as it would delay our shoot and as it got late, the female protagonists had to leave so we had to use our insight to shoot their scenes first.
Post-Production
Post production was by far the most time and effort consuming part of the whole ordeal. Editing the video and adding effects took longer than expected. Introducing the narration was an issue I faced as I did not want it to seem out of the blue. As the video was supposed to have a rustic vibe, barely any special effects were used, but quick cuts with alot of variation shots had to be contrasted and compared to decide which shot should go where.
Slight issues can still be seen in the final video but given the time frame we had and the fact that it took about 2+ weeks to edit, we decided to go for the best one out of all the ones we edited.
I had several struggles with the pre-production process. Hassam and I could not decide on a song. Once we did, the lyrics were difficult to work with and the over all locations we decided to shoot the video in had their own issues - distance, permission, extraneous variables, cooperation of passers-by.
We eventually decided on another song that had more workable lyrics. But the opening music suggested a 60s era party, and the mise en scene and props were difficult to arrange, and alot of lighting would be needed achieve the look I had in my head.
Hassam and I did alot of research to decide on a location that was easily available and we chose my house, which also helped us save money on rent which we put into getting studio lights and renting a drumkit.
Production
Production was easy but very time consuming. Directing the band as well of the protagonists was a tough job (as can be seen in the behind the scenes video in "Production"). As my actors were young adults between the ages of 15-20, they were very unprofessional about the whole project and kept breaking character. Alot of constant direction was needed.
Some angles would make the camera flare due to the shifting focus , and shots needed to be retaken from different angles to find the perfect shot.
Hourly loadshedding was the biggest problem as it would delay our shoot and as it got late, the female protagonists had to leave so we had to use our insight to shoot their scenes first.
Post-Production
Post production was by far the most time and effort consuming part of the whole ordeal. Editing the video and adding effects took longer than expected. Introducing the narration was an issue I faced as I did not want it to seem out of the blue. As the video was supposed to have a rustic vibe, barely any special effects were used, but quick cuts with alot of variation shots had to be contrasted and compared to decide which shot should go where.
Slight issues can still be seen in the final video but given the time frame we had and the fact that it took about 2+ weeks to edit, we decided to go for the best one out of all the ones we edited.
Q4. HOW DO THE ELEMENTS OF YOUR PRODUCTION WORK TOGETHER TO
CREATE A SENSE OF ‘BRANDING’?
The music video, digipak and website intervene with eachother, creating cross-media convergence.
All three media products are inter-linked and have been used to cross-promote each other. Similar themes; like color palettes, house style, the mood and tone, the fonts, Images have been used to create a sense of Branding; a recognition. The viewers would be able to relate the products in a way that would be unique to this Album only. The housestyle constitutes a lot in creating a recognizable brand for the audiences. The viewers should be able to connect to the product or identify it through a particular aspect of the product. For my media product, colorful traditional truck art is heavily used in the digipak and follows the colors in the music video and blog. The mood of the Music video is fun and rustic. So, in order to highlight both the mood and the tone the Mise en scene was created accordingly. There is use of bright tones of lighting. Even though the artists' performing area is well-lit and everything can be seen clearly, the extra fairy lights adds to a party ambiance and helps with the lighting furter. |
The research and Ancillary task analysis that we did concluded that most album covers for local indie artists contain digital art, as seen on the ancillary task page.
So I decided to use classic truck art to bring in the digital aspect and edit it into the album cover. The album cover isnt directly linked with the imagery of the music video but the colors used are similar and brings in pakistani culture in a modern way - which was our main focus. With all these aspects together, a brand image for JALEBI is created using font, color palettes, imagery and housestyle. |