Music videos are very important in the promotion of a band’s latest release, and this has been shown throughout history, starting with The Beatles’ release of Yesterday, which is one of the first ever music videos created, and can be seen above. They provide a visual identity for the song, and have become increasingly important in modern times, with new media, including distribution on the internet, changing the way videos are consumed, as they can now be shared on internet services such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, and also on TV Music Channels such as MTV. Music videos often ‘make or break’ the success of a single or album, with bands constantly striving to make their video different and unique so that it stands out from the crowd.
In modern times, websites have also become increasingly important within the promotion of the package. The image above shows The Beatles website, and their success in modern times can partly be attributed to the way that they have kept up to date with the use of modern technology. With bands that attract younger audiences, an internet presence is absolutely vital in attracting fans, as they will often refer to the website as a place for information, to purchase songs via online services such as iTunes, and also to purchase band memorabilia. Even older bands such as ‘The Beatles’ now have a website.
Digipaks are also important for band promotion, as people often feel as though they are being given something extra when they buy these products. Frequently released as limited editions, they are often seen as a ‘luxury’ collector’s item, which adds to the value of the product. Digipaks are often made for special releases of the product, helping to increase sales. Producers often like digipaks, as they are reasonably cheap to produce, yet can add lots of value to the package. Differing from traditional CD’s, a digipak is often produced as a cardboard product, and features four or six fold-out panels, which feature additional information about the band.
The genre of music has the ability to affect the conventions in a music video, as we found out when undertaking research and planning before beginning the project. In indie-rock music videos, audiences often expect to see fast paced editing, which is often cut with the beat to the music. In addition, a mixture of performance shots, which display the talent of the band, and show the band/artist performing their song, and narrative shots, showing a story which relates to the theme of the song are expected, and in our audience research, people expected a 50/50 split between performance and narrative. By using fast paced editing, the opportunity for a wide variety of camera shots and angles arises, as is shown in the shot from the Mumford & Sons video ‘I Will Wait’ above. People expect to see the artist making an appearance at some point, whether they are performing, or involved in the narrative, and often, they will appear in both. Furthermore, backing dancers and singers often feature in the video, and crowd shots can sometimes be included, to display to the audience the type of people interested in the band (often drawing on typical aspirations and stereotypes), and to show the band’s popularity. Indie-rock videos are often set in a performance-based environment, typically a stage/gig setting or in a rehearsal environment, and the nature of the genre encourages performers to advertise their skills in performing instruments, hence why this technique is chosen. The music video by Mumford & Sons which can be seen above were both highly influential for our project. Below, comparisons can be seen between our music video and the video above:
The comparison above shows the similarity between the shots of the vocalist that were used in both productions. The use of a side-angle gives a more observational view of the video, and from looking at this in the Mumford & Sons video, we felt that this would be effective to use in our production.
We can see above how the shots of the whole and are similar in both videos. We felt that it was effective to give a wide angle shot, as this gives more of an audience perspective, and the use of the low angle also reinforces the feeling of the performers being on the stage whilst the audience are lower down.
Shots of the guitarists are also very similar in both videos. Whilst our video, shown on the right, uses more of a low angle, they both have the effect of showing the down-lighting, reinforcing the live performance feel.
Before undertaking our project, we conducted a significant amount of research into the conventions of the indie-rock genre. The director's commentary below shows how conventions we identified influenced our video:
By looking at professionally-produced videos from the genre, including ‘I Will Wait’ by Mumford & Sons and Wonderwall by Oasis, we discovered that videos from this genre used lots of mid shots, allowing us to get a feeling for the environment and the scale of the performance that was happening, along with close ups of the musician’s hands playing the instruments, which displayed the talent of the artists. The videos also included some wide angle shots showing the crowd, again, displaying the popularity of the band. We also noticed the use of soft-focus shots, which make use of the depth of field technique, which gave the impression that the video was spontaneous, and that it had not been fixed.
By looking at professionally-produced videos from the genre, including ‘I Will Wait’ by Mumford & Sons and Wonderwall by Oasis, we discovered that videos from this genre used lots of mid shots, allowing us to get a feeling for the environment and the scale of the performance that was happening, along with close ups of the musician’s hands playing the instruments, which displayed the talent of the artists. The videos also included some wide angle shots showing the crowd, again, displaying the popularity of the band. We also noticed the use of soft-focus shots, which make use of the depth of field technique, which gave the impression that the video was spontaneous, and that it had not been fixed.
Across all videos of the genre, fast-paced editing shots have been used, showing cuts in time to the music, and reflecting the fast tempo of the song. Whilst allowing the video to build up pace and momentum in appropriate parts of the video, the editing slows down in other parts, suggesting a slower editing pace, and that the narrative has slowed down somewhat.
Many of the videos that we studied showed performance shots and performance settings a high proportion of the time, which is very appropriate for the genre. However, in some videos, including the video by Oasis, this convention was subverted, by showing shots in more day-to-day environments and locations, and this can be done to make the video stand out from others within the industry. Furthermore, it was apparent to us that amplification of the song’s lyrics is used often in this genre, although again, the Oasis video broke this convention and instead used disjuncture, which was equally as effective for the band. This indicates that by its very nature, indie-rock often avoids the use of convention
When planning our video, we took inspiration from a variety of media texts. The Sabbapath cups inspired us for the opening of our video, where we wrote the name of the song onto some cups in black pen, and drained away some black ink to reveal the writing. We felt that this was an effective technique as it would help our video to stand out from other videos, and would make people want to watch the video more than once, whilst also allowing the use of appropriate visual effects.
We also took inspiration from the shot shown on the left, which is from the Oasis video ‘Wonderwall’. Although we challenged the convention by filming it in a different setting, the way the character is looking past the camera appealed to us, as it suggests that they are continuing with their everyday tasks without intentionally being filmed, adding to the realism of the video. 
Inspiration for many of our shots was taken from Mumford & Son’s video ‘I Will Wait’, which we hoped would be similar to ours in many ways. To the left, you can see how we have tried to recreate one of their performance shots, which features a close up of the vocalist with the microphone. The constraints of our project meant that we could not gather a large enough audience to enable viewers to think that the performance was happening to a real audience, and so showing a shot from behind the vocalist would not work. Instead, we chose to use a slight upward angle on the shot, to give the impression that it is taken from a fan’s perspective. It was also necessary to frame our shots very carefully, so that it appeared as though the performance was being given to a large audience, even though this was not the case.
Their video features a mixture of fast paced and slower editing, which we hoped to be able to integrate into our video, to effectively represent the pace of the narrative at the time. In addition, we very much liked the close up shots that the band used, along with the variety of shot angles portrayed, which we attempted to recreate in our video.
The video by Passenger was also a source of inspiration to us. This showed us how subverting the conventions of the genre, and by producing the whole video in one shot, can be very effective, and that small, subtle changes in the video can create a captivating video for the audience. Although we felt that this was perhaps not appropriate for our genre, we tried to take inspiration from this video, which shows how effective going against convention. The screenshot above shows that whilst the performer stays in the centre of the shot, the background changes around him, creating a very interesting video. In addition, the cartoon piano picture in the background is also animated, which engages the audience further. 
Following on from our research into conventions, we were keen to ensure that our music video conformed to these conventions as much as possible. For this reason, we chose our school’s stage as the environment to film the performance part of our video. This provided the ideal setting, and, by using our knowledge of stage lighting, we were able to transform the stage into a credible setting for our performance (see shots above). Because of this, we felt that it would be the ideal environment to film our music video. We therefore used the black curtains, lighting systems and amplifiers to ensure that the environment appeared as credible as possible.
Another key place for our music video was Peterborough train station, which was where we filmed a small part of our narrative. We chose to use a time lapse video effect to capture this as effectively as possible. In addition, our shots in the city centre were effective, as this is a location often used in music videos, and is where people may stereotypically associate a character who is leaving a bad life to come from. 
The final key location used within our video was at the beach. Within music videos, beaches often represent freedom and happiness, whilst also using the water as a platform for reflection by the character. Given that our character was to move from the city to the coast to start a new life, we felt that this location would be appropriate for our video. In addition, we carried out research from people who had visited Skegness previously to find the best location along the beach, as we wanted an area which did not appear too overcrowded, as this would give the impression of isolation. The location they suggested was perfect for our requirements, as it was away from the main tourist area of the beach, and was reasonably empty when we visited.
The costumes & props used within our video also helped to reinforce conventions of the genre. From the research that we had carried out previously, we identified that in indie-rock videos, the characters usually wear plain tops and jeans, which reflects their ‘middle class’ real life background, which is why we asked all of our performers to wear these items of clothings. Unfortunately, James, who was singing vocals, did not have, and could not go and purchase, a white top, and so chose to wear a blue striped shirt, which somewhat ruined the appearance of the band as a whole, although as he was the main vocal singer and the main member of the band, he justified his decision by saying that his different appearance from the rest of the band would help him stand out.
We used effective props & equipment within our video to help it appear as realistic as possible. For example, we sourced a professional looking drum kit, as can be seen in the image above, which is not dissimilar to one that would be played in a real staging environment. Also, the guitar and amplifier that Matthew Jones, our guitarist provided helped to again made the video appear more realistic. Having learnt from A2 Music Videos produced in previous years that we have watched, we noted that paying attention to detail within the production environment was absolutely key, which is why all of the microphones were wired in with XLR leads and on stands, and why all electronic equipment, including the guitar and the amplifier was powered up, again adding to the sense of realism.
When choosing costumes for our narrative, we knew from the research we had carried out that the character needed to be dressed in ‘normal’ clothing, wearing nothing too extravagant or out of the ordinary. Therefore, we thought that the clothing pictured above was appropriate, as it is representative of something a person who was going on a long journey would wear. In addition, a person of this age-group would be likely to be listening to headphones on such a journey, which is why we decided that the character should have these hanging out of his hoodie. However, when he is going on a reflective journey, he may perhaps not be listening to music in order to absorb the silence and give him time to reflect. In addition, the character is carrying a rucksack in all shots, as we decided that it would be unlikely for someone going on a journey to go without having any form of bag. Furthermore, the character is seen holding the photo album in all shots - a prop which is absolutely key to the narrative of the story, and the character’s relationship with the photo album and its importance becomes more obvious throughout the narrative of the video.
When undertaking our research, we discovered that many videos of this genre used creative transitions and editing effects as a way of attracting the attention of their audience. In most videos of the genre, the straight-cut is the predominant transition used between shots, and so we were aware that the transitions used needed to be subtle so that it did not detract from the rest of the production. Also, some transitions can occasionally look quite unprofessional, so it was important that we chose the most appropriate transitions for our production. Straight cuts were used mainly although in some situations, we did use a fade to suggest a change in the time period within the narrative. Also, whilst we were experimenting with ideas when editing, we included a flashback of the journey at the end of the video, and although this did not make it to the final cut, we used a quick flash to white to signify the presence of a flashback. At the end of the video, a flash to white is also used, as this is often done within the genre, to signify the end of the video.
For the flashback photos that were used in our video, we chose to use a Black & white effect, as this creates the impression that the video is going back in time, and that this scenes occurred in the past in relation to the rest of the video. In addition, the black & white effect is typically associated with romance, and so this is appropriate for this point within our video. In addition, some videos, including the Oasis video ‘The Importance of Being Idle’, also use the black and white effect, and so by using this in our video, it helped to conform to the conventions of the genre.
We felt that it was important to include a mixture of both narrative and performance in our music video, as an appropriate mixture of both gives more for the audience to look at, adding to the amount of times they are likely to view the video. When we conducted audience research at the beginning of our project, our audience said that they prefer videos with a mixture of both narrative and performance, and so we were keen to take this information on board when creating our video. For this reason, we chose an equally even mix of performance and narrative within our video, to try and attract as wide an audience as possible.
In general, people expect to see some elements of performance, in order to show off the performer’s talents and abilities, which is why a video with no performance is extremely rare within our genre. Although videos with just performance do exist, these are often extremely rare, as indie-rock songs often have a message and meaning behind them, which artists are keen to portray within their video. This is why we felt the mixture of performance and narrative we created was appropriate for our project.
When creating a music video, it is important to consider elements of illustration, amplification and disjuncture, and which form the narrative of the video will take. Our video mainly used illustration, by portraying the key message of the song, which surrounded the theme of a relationship falling apart. From the research that we carried out, we discovered that illustration was the main narrative form that was used within videos from this genre, including the Oasis video ‘Why’d you Only Call Me When You’re High?
We also carried out work to research some media theory relating to narrative construction. In some ways, it can be considered that our video relates to Claude Levi-Strauss’ narrative theory, which focuses on the structure of binary oppositions - a set of opposite values revealing the structure of the text. Therefore, it could be agreed that our video reflects both happy & sad times, especially with the use of the still photographs showing the characters in a happy relationship, and then in an argument. There is also a stark contrast in the different settings used in our video - from the busy hustle and bustle of the city centre, in comparison to the calmness of the countryside and beach location. We felt that it was important for our video to have good structure to it, and by conforming to a narrative theory, this ensures that the audience will be able to relate to the narrative.
Below are some deconstructed stills from our music video, which show the links made to the conventions of our chosen genre:
We also carried out similar research when creating our digipak and website for our ancillary tasks, which form a vital part of any music package.
We began by looking for influential websites that would help us to develop our product, to get a feel of the conventions of the genre, and to give us some inspiration. To start with, we looked at The Beatles website, which can be seen above, and this was particularly effective, as it uses a cover flow arrangement to show the latest news from the band. In addition, the website features a search bar, allowing visitors to search for Beatles music, and this is a good feature, as it would encourage fans to visit the website for information. Also, the website features an online store, which we felt would be good to incorporate into our site, as it is an effective way of raising revenue, whilst also creating brand recognition through the use of logos and house colours on these items. The website itself features pictures of the band and its members, which is a good technique to use, as it enables the audience to link the website to photos of the band members that they may have seen from other sources.
We also took inspiration from the Coldplay website, which portrays many conventions of websites from the indie-rock genre. The branding, including the background colour, font colour and fonts used, are similar to those used in other products by the brand, and this is a convention that we identified is used across many websites of the genre. Therefore, we were keen to try and incorporate this into our website. In addition, many websites from this genre have a latest news section, which allows fans to stay up to date with the latest news from the band, which is again something that we felt should be developed into our site. Furthermore, we identified that the majority of websites use their music promo as a way of displaying the skills and attributes possessed by the band, and the use of video is often really effective, as it is an engaging way for the audience to digest information.
After this, we went on to researching some of the conventions of a digipak, again, looking for inspiration. We began by looking at the Oasis digipak (shown left), which portrays many of the conventions of a digipak from this genre. In a similar way to the website, the designers have ensured that branding from other products is carried across into this one, in order to create familiarity for the audience. Furthermore, this digipak features a rather simplistic approach, and the focus on the image is rather effective helping it to stand out from competitive products, and would attract the attention of the audience, as because only the lower part of the guitar is shown, the audience’s imaginative minds may ask them to wonder what else is going on outside of the shot that cannot be seen. However, we felt that this digipak presented a somewhat older image, and that for a modern digipak, inspiration should not be taken from this. 
The Coldplay digipak, which is shown to the right, also displays some of the conventions of a modern digipak more clearly. The front and rear cover feature a grey background, inkeeping with other products, and some simple yellow text, and the minimalistic feel is consistent with other products from the genre, and we will consider using this in our product. The images used on the inside section of the digipak are also particularly effective, and are used to portray the talent of the artists performing. We felt that lots of inspiration for our digipak could be taken from the product produced by coldplay, as this was a particularly effective version of a professionally produced product.
We used many of the conventions that we had identified whilst carrying out our research in the final version of our website. When developing the site, we were keen to ensure that the brand image remained consistent across all products, which is why the black background is used in conjunction with the band’s logo. Furthermore, the fonts that we used have remained the same in both our website and digipak, which helps to create brand familiarity for the audience. When carrying out our research, we noticed that many of the sites we looked at featured latest news, which enables visitors to keep up to date with band information, which is why we chose to include this feature in our site.
On the ‘Idols & Upsets’ page of our site, we also chose to include our music video. This is one of the typical conventions of a indie-rock website, as it helps to display the talent of the band, whilst enabling website visitors to engage with the site in a unique and user-friendly way.
Going against convention somewhat, we have chosen to make a contact form a prominent part of the website. In most of the websites that we have looked at of established bands, they do not actively encourage people to contact them, with the link sometimes being hidden in the footer, but we felt that an unsigned band should welcome contact and feedback from their audience, which is why we chose to make this a key feature of the site.
Our final digipak also displays many of the conventions of a digipak. We chose to ensure that the background and font are the same as on our website, so that the brands link together well. In addition, we took inspiration from the Oasis digipak to use a cover photo that stood out, and for this, we edited a photo of an eye to include the stripes of a tiger within the eyeball, which takes reference from the name of the band and also the name of the album.
The rear cover of our digipak was also particularly effective, using a picture of our guitarist, and then adjusting the contrast and brightness to show just a white outline of the character. Again, this continues a black & white theme, helping the album to stand out in comparison to other competitive products produced.
When producing our digipak, we tried hard to ensure an appropriate text and image balance was found. We knew that it was important to include some text so that some information is conveyed, but also a minimalist feel, such as that from the Coldplay digipak, should be maintained. It was also important to integrate our product fully with social media services and our website, so that fans could go online to find out more information, and extend their experience and enjoyment of the brand. One of the conventions that we identified when carrying out our research was that the use of a photo focus on the front cover is often very effective, which is why we chose to use this on our front cover, again linking our product to competitive products from the genre.
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