KT: Question 1 | Evaluation

Question 1- Forms and Conventions

Our music video ‘Here for You’ has elements of Goodwin’s theory (Dancing in the Distraction Factory, 1992) as the relationship between lyrics and visuals is largely illustrative as the video links up with the lyrics. The visuals reinforce the meaning of the lyrics, the term ‘here for you’ is repeated many times, and the connotations behind the two friends hanging out together displays that their friendship is strong and they are there for each other. There is pop genre characteristics in our video such as the use of bright coloured backgrounds, the fast paced cutting also reinforces these genre characteristics of pop music videos.  Our digpiak and advert also conforms to this due to the use of bright colours, however instead of bright backgrounds we used the desaturated images of Brighton to link to the other  intercut narrative in our music video so we could create a cohesive image of Brighton throughout all three products.

The form of the music video is apparent in the structure of the editing; we went for a fast paced montage style and cutting rate alongside intercutting a performance with a storyline narrative. We also used lip synching to create a generic mood for the video as this is very conventional for pop music videos. The black and white colouring effect of the footage of friendship also gives connotations of memories and the past, this is unconventional of pop music video’s as they are usually brightly coloured or desaturated footage. This gives connotations of a pop genre. This results in a happy atmosphere and has a positive residual which is also evident in our print work as the artist is pictured looking happy due to the colouring effect used on photoshop.

The campaign of our magazine advert and digipack conforms to the conventions of the pop genre as our front pane features a close up image of the artists face, immediately providing an emotional connection between the artist and audience. This is evident in Ella Henderson’s album cover, which features a close up photo of her face and the colour match scheme of the digipack suits the pop genre and provides a detailed aesthetic to match the style of music. The text used in our digipack and magazine print work is very minimalistic and simple, which is replicated in Ella Henderson’s digipack and magazine adverts which is where we drew inspiration from.

The conventions of the genre in terms of editing are to be fast paced cuts, cut on the beat of the music and close up’s of the artist. The performance of the artist is key in pop music video’s as the audience want to make a connection with the artist to know who they are listening to and purchasing from. The ideology of star image comes into play and has full effect when developing the relationship between consumer and music. The conventions of mainstream pop are challenged through the performance being intercut with a storyline narrative of friends, alongside the friendship part of the video being in black and white, while the performance in full, bright colours. The montage style editing is conventional of pop music video’s as it is fairly stereotypical for this genre of video to have multiple storylines and performance being intercut throughout. Star image is also present in our print products as the artist is photographed in a glamorous way to look like a celebrity so the audience would want to consume more of the artists products.

Our music video is polysemic, therefore there could be  multiple readings of the text. The audience readings could be preferred and negotiated, depending on how the audience consumes the video and meaning. Audience readings could be negotiated because they could associate the female performer with the friends and wonder why the performer is not part of the storyline and make connotations that they are no longer friends, therefore giving the video a negative message, rather than the preferred reading of a feminist, good vibes video.

The preferred audience reading for our music video is a happy vibes attitude, with friendship being the key theme throughout which the majority of the audience will understand it as. However, an oppositional reading may come from the male audience as feeling the video alienates males due to the all-female cast, and the strong, powerful female leads, therefore giving the video a negative message, rather than the preferred reading of a feminist, good vibes video. Our music video has an ambient viewing as it does not require focus from the audience in order to understand due to the montage style.

The narrative explores the narrative closure due to the montage based style we used, the storyline is simply a theme of their friendship and portrays simple actions that happen while the two friends are hanging out. As this is intercut with a strong, performance, the narrative closure was not necessary for our music video.

Binary oppositions are not evident in our music video due to the all-female cast and the similarity of attitudes and physical appearance of the characters. The characters are consequently on the same side of the binary, however femininity is explored in terms of voyeuristic viewing, this is untypical for generic pop videos as females are usually sexualised and viewed as fetishistic; this challenges the traditional stereotypes and conventions of generic pop music videos.   Power is shown through technical codes such as the performer due to their strong stage presence and attitude while singing. The female performer’s body language and gestures portrays a strong, independent image, meanwhile the two friends show signs of happiness and the atmosphere is more relaxed.

Semiotics are used in the video as meaning is create through the bright, gradient coloured backgrounds to signify a happy, bright, feeling which makes the audience captivated and happy. Meanwhile, the use of black and white for the footage of the friends connotes memories from the past and sets a calmer president. There is a paradigmatic relationship due to several factors such as the dance, the close up, smiling characters and the bright colours that all represent the same action code of happiness and friendship in the video.

Iconic signs such as the change of outfits and coloured backgrounds for the performer are iconic signifiers for the pop genre, and this is a common occurrence in many other pop videos, for example the character’s in the Glitterball music video.

The protagonist in our video’s performance illustrates the star image as youthfulness and beauty is evident and this creates a desirable image for the audience. The cult of youth and beauty results in the start image, meaning the audience want to consume more of the artist and their music.

The video has a postmodern style as the use of a blue screen uses state of the art technology to cut out the background and have artificial backgrounds and bright, gradient coloured backgrounds. It also has a narrative fuzz due to the montage style editing and lack of narrative closure.

There is discourse on the female gender as there are only female characters shown in the music video, meaning males are marginalised in this video due to the ‘feminist’ style of video and the message portrayed being a female based friendship.

The products reinforce the dominant ideology of female friendship, the act of going for a coffee being cliché and relatable to a young, female audience. The video has a emergent ideology.