a2 media evaluation

2. Comparing and contrasting our music video to other Indie music videos Music videos on the whole (not only indie genre music videos) tend to show many shots of the artist/band and emphasise their presence to promote them. We used this technique and tried to show consistent shots of the artist throughout the video, especially close ups, so we can identify closely with the main character. We wanted to make the artist the main feature of the video. The Artist - The Life of Riley Many indie bands are male dominated. It is very rare that you see a female indie artist. An indie artist stereotype is often a male with a mellow rock artist look. However, they tend to look like ordinary people, very genuine and simple. Compared to hip-hop and pop artists they are not very glamorous but have a down to earth and casual image. We found that the costume of indie artists is very basic; such as shirts, jeans and possibly leather jackets. As shown on the right hand side they all have very similar style clothing and very little colour. We aimed to conform to this stereotype so that our artist also fits this indie look. As shown on the left the clothing, colours and the hair style are similar to what you would find in a real indie artist/band. Throughout our products, this is the brand image of the artist. He is often wearing black shirts or hooded tops. He has a lower lip piercing and a swept hair style that we often see in indie artists. We felt that the image of the artist fitting in with the indie genre was vital part of the brand construction, otherwise the image of the artist would look out of place for the genre and not be accepted by its fans.

3. Indie music videos use different camera angles and there is a constant changing throughout the sequence. We decided to shoot each scene from different angles and camera lengths to give us a variety of shots. We wanted to make sure we used creative angles so that the audience do not get bored. During editing we found that some shots where the camera was still for a long period of time and if there was very little movement in the shot tended to bore us. We attempted to replace such shots with more dynamic shots or made the length of shot shorter. Our aim was the keep the scenes moving. In order to get some great angles and movement. Many of our shots were shot handheld to allow us to move around the artist (for example shots in the recording studio). We also tried to create some crane style shots that were taken from high angles looking down at the artist. This is similar to many other music videos. In music videos creative and distorted angles work well. Although our song was not very upbeat or lively we still attempted to use imaginative angles to create a artistic and creative music video. However, when we compare our music video to other indie music videos, our shots may be considered much slower but the pace of shots and editing matches with the beat of the song. There are certain times that the shots are changing continuously every second, whereas other parts are slower depending on the lyrics and the beat. The editing is similar to indie music videos such as ‘Somewhere only we know’ by Keane as the changing of the shots were slightly slower; therefore what we have created is not entirely alien to the indie fan. Comparing and contrasting our music video to other Indie music videos Cinematography

4. In music videos the artist at some point is shown in the recording studio or performing on stage. This inspired us to take performance shots in the recording studio. Many indie music videos showed the artist either playing in the recording studio or on stage to emphasise their genuine musical talent. Indie music videos often show the presence of instruments. As our artists instrumental speciality was playing the guitar we thought it was vital to show his talent. The guitar was a main part of the music video. This is similar to other indie music videos. On the right are a few screen shots from various videos such as ‘Kasabian – Underdog’ and ‘Oasis – Don’t look back in anger’ of performance shots. To prove similarity, on the left are screen shots from our music video of the artist performing with his guitar. Comparing and contrasting our music video to other Indie music videos Mise-en-scene – Props & Location

5. There is no definite narrative structure to follow as it depends on the song and lyrics. Some artists choose to have both narrative and performance in their music video. Others decide to only have one. When we carried out research, we found that the majority of indie audiences focused more on the artist and performance and the minority enjoyed a mixture of both narrative and performance. We decided to do both narrative and performance to give variety which will please both sets of audiences. Many narrative videos tell a complete story but we decided not to. We thought it would be a good idea to amplify and reflect the lyrics instead. The concept behind this was to show times that the artist has spent with his girlfriends, and to show his love and affection. The song is able to capture a feeling rather that a story and blends the visuals with the song effectively. This approach is not entirely new and is quite familiar. Comparing and contrasting our music video to other Indie music videos Narrative & Performance Ludacris ft Mary J Blidge Runaway Love shows performance (screen shot above) running alongside narrative (screen shot below) Different narrative and performance shots from ‘Talking About The Weather’

6. Comparing and contrasting our music video to other Indie music videos In terms of lighting, many indie music videos use dark and shadowy lighting. The Killers – Romeo and Juliet [1] Kasabian – Underdog [2] However, there are a few that use much mellow and warmer lighting as well as darker lighting Kasabian – Fire [3] Florence and the Machine – Rabbit Heart [4] We decided to go against the idea of using dark, shadowy lighting as we wanted the lighting to match the atmosphere of the song and the vibrant nature scenes. The majority of shots were shot outdoors in natural light. We did however attempt to use a mixture of tones of lighting. As you can see shots indoors of the artist performing are of a bright spotlight type of lighting; those of the artist and his girlfriend lying in bed have a much softer, warmer feel and those outdoor shots are very bright and sunny looking. This reflects the optimism of the lyrics and hopefully makes our video slightly different to the standard indie videos. Lighting [1] [2] [3] [4] Bright natural lighting Vs Softer warmer lamp lighting

7. Comparing and contrasting our music video to other Indie music videos Why we chose to keep some things familiar and alter other things… Artists all over the world use music videos to promote their music and to promote themselves. There are many independent and mainstream indie music videos that compete with one another to attract the indie audience. Therefore in order for our music video to be noticed it was necessary not only to use the codes and conventions of indie music videos that such fans recognise and like but to also add something new and different to make ours stand out. We wanted to keep our audiences interested. We didn’t however do anything extremely different as he is a new and upcoming artist and we cannot afford to alienate our potential fans or confine our potential focus. We felt that we should produce something that is largely familiar with the audiences and that we know indie audiences would enjoy. It was vital that during the construction of our music video we made the artist, his talent and his music memorable.