For our main media
task we chose to create a music video that fitted into the electronic/dance
genre. When planning, filming and editing our video we continuously referred
back to our research to keep focus on how to make it fit in with the genre to
our best ability. One of the typical conventions we found when researching is
the use of young adult actors. We found that the reason for this is that the
young adult age range is the key target audience for this style of music.
Therefore, it has to appeal and relate most to this group of people. When it
came to planning and filming our video, we chose to follow this convention, as
it was a repetitive feature throughout our research. However, even though we specifically chose
young adult actors to feature within the video, what we frequently found within
our chosen genre is that many of the artists are not shown within their videos.
This was a frequent feature that we found throughout our research, artists like
Chase and Status and Daft Punk rarely show themselves in any video or
advertisement. We found that this made the videos focus more about the music
and the theme, rather than the fame of the artist. We chose to follow this idea
as it helped make our video more mysterious and dark, as it fitted in well with
our masked theme. Our viewers are then able to continue guessing whom the
masked creatures are, wandering if they are or are not the band.
Another factor
that was used and experimented with repeatedly throughout the music videos that
we had studied is the play with lighting. Typically many electronic/ dance
music videos are located within club or party scenes. As a result of this, it
is common to have effects used such as strobe and stage lighting. When creating
our music video we both followed the typical conventions, as well as pushing
the boundaries. When filming our video we chose to experiment with different
styles of lighting. For example, we filmed in both day and night light, as well
as used torches to create a more eerie and unknown atmosphere. Similarly, we
experimented with a variety of different editing to help follow the quick, fast
pace beat of the music. For example, jump cuts were found in almost every music
video that we had researched. Using a range of different editing styles helped
make our video continuously more interesting to help keep our viewers
attention. Using tools such as reverse helped follow the theme of entering a
new, bizarre world. However, what pushed the boundaries of typical electronic
music videos was our choice of location. We chose to move away from the
traditional club scenes and filmed in the forest. We found that this location
worked best for our style of video so that the viewer feels isolated away from
normality for a brief few minutes as they are drawn into a new world of mystery
and the unknown.
As previously
mentioned, typical electronic/ dance music videos are filmed as a club/party
scene, for example, Afrojack’s video for the song ‘Rock the House’. However, we
chose to follow a more abstract narrative, which is not often found within our
chosen genre. Our key idea for our music video was to make it creepy, eerie and
unusual. I think that the main feature of our video/ idea that helped us to
achieve this atmosphere is the use of the masked characters. What we found was
that it created an unnerving vibe, which we believed pushed the boundaries of
our chosen genre. Not allowing the viewers to see the actors gave it a more
sinister edge, which is unusual to find within electronic/ dance music videos. By
specifically choosing woodland animal masks allowed them to fit into the scene
and location as being ‘creatures of the
forest’. By taking away their human assets on their faces made them more
mysterious and as if they are all seeing and all knowing. Another effect in
which we used within our video that we hoped to entice viewers in is our use of
smoke. Our aim was to follow our theme of entering a new world and following
these creatures through a variety of unusual and quirky scenes. Therefore the
use of smoke was to both make scenes more visually appealing and interesting,
as well as to create disorientating scenes to keep the viewers attention. Many
of the videos that we had studied used smoke effects on scenes that were in clubs/
parties, but what makes our video push the boundaries is both the location and
style in which smoke was used.
To help promote
our new music video we created a music magazine advert. Our aim when creating
this piece of work was to keep it as simplistic as we could. When researching
ready made music advertisements, what we found was that the simpler the design,
the more striking and eye-catching it was. Basement Jaxx’s advertisement for
their new album ‘Rooty’ was a good example of this. As a result of our research
we aimed to keep our advertisement as simple as we could, with only having the
need to know information featured. All the typical written conventions found on
a music magazine poster we included into our own work, for example the artist,
album name, release date, and where to purchase the album online. The
typography that we chose to use also followed the typical conventions found on
any music advert. For example, we chose a striking and individualistic style of
font for our artist name, so that it became a signature font that’s
recognizable and relatable to the band. Then, for the rest of the important
information we chose a simple, and clear font so that it did not draw attention
away from anything else, to not clutter the page and to be easily read. Keep a
simple typography for everything other than the artist name was a common
feature throughout all of our research.
Although most of
our music magazine advert did follow the typical forms and conventions of music
magazine adverts for our chosen genre, when it came to our image we chose to
push the boundaries to stand out against others. When choosing our image we
wanted to keep to the theme of simplicity but also to make it both striking and
eye catching. I believe that the image that we chose achieved this. Featuring
only one masked character on the advert allows the viewers to be drawn into the
characters eyes and to keep the sinister vibe. The use of smoke within the
image allows the background to be blurred out so that the main focus is onto
that one masked character. This also helps create a more mystical atmosphere
about where they are, and who they are. What makes our image different to any
other within our chosen genre is how we chose to edit it. We went against the
norm of having bright, electric colours to represent the genre, and chose to
drain the different shades and tones so that it followed with our personal
theme of being more dark and bizarre.
The final piece of
work that we created was a digipack containing a front cover, back cover and
CD. When creating these three sections we followed the typical forms and
conventions that are found on almost every digipack, within every genre. These
included having, the artist name, album name, track list, barcode, record
company and copyright information. We chose to include all these features, as
it is what makes a digipack. Another area in which we followed was that we
chose to use the same typography for the digipack as we did for the music
advertisement. This is very common throughout any genre as it keeps all
products relatable to each other and stand out fonts become signature to that
particular band. For this reason, we chose bold and striking fonts that are
powerful so that it represents the artist and its genre. Another trend that we
chose to follow was by keeping the actual CD design as simple as we could. We
did not want to clutter the small surface area so we chose a simple smoke
effect that links all three pieces of our work together, the music video,
advertisement and digipack. A similar image was used on the back cover, as we
did not want to draw attention away from the track list. We wanted to keep
everything in focus and clear to the viewer as well as to keep in with our
theme of simplicity. However, when designing our front cover we chose to go for
a busy and quirky image that pushes the boundaries of most digipack images. The
idea for our front cover sprang from the effect that a kaleidoscope creates. We
admired the design and thought that it followed in with our theme of entering a
new, mystical and disorientating new world. We created the image by using an
app. Another area of our front cover that pushes the boundaries of typical
digipacks is the text placement of both the artist and album name. As a result
of our kaleidoscope style image, the artist name is at a variety of different
angles, repeatedly over the cover. We consider this to follow our general theme
of being quirky and disorientating. The placement of the album name was then
made smaller and contained in a solid black circle towards the side within the
image. Both the size and positioning of the name ‘Anonymous’ pushes typical
boundaries as it is usually centered, and made the main focus point.
When creating all
three pieces of work, our music video, advertisement and digipack we aimed to
follow certain forms and conventions that benefited our work so that it
appeared more professional and on a higher level. Many of the forms and
conventions we followed helped relate our work most to our chosen genre being
electronic/ dance; for example the use of young actors. This helps us to
attract our target audiences that are in the key age range that listen to this
style of music. However, throughout all sections of our work we did choose to
push the boundaries of what is typically expected within the electronic/ dance
genre. We chose to do this as we wanted to separate ourselves from the norm so
that we could stand out and be different, which is reflected within our general
idea. Although we want to experiment and use different styles to other artists,
we want to attract the same audiences as to those who we have researched,
therefore we had to stay within some boundaries, and push others.
