Evaluation #1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?


Within our project we are working and filming with Naked Voyage, who are an Indie Rock 4 piece band, Tom Turner (Lead vocals and guitar) Tom Entwhistle (Base guitar) Dean Molenyeux (Drums)  Daniel Hobbs (Lead guitar). In the Indie genre, most music videos are more performance based and have the theme of lads messing around. Also focusing the style of an Indie Rock band, looking like they don't care, clothing links for the band members tend to be of similar nature so they look like they are they are together, but not so they look like a pop boy band. Indie Rock band music videos don't focus on being mainstream or effective, but mostly just the bands being themselves or performing.

We designed a music video based on the coventions we have with the  British Indie Rock bands. All the footage for our music video was just of the four band members of 'Naked Voyage': Tom Turner, Dean Molyneux, Danny Hobbs and Tom Entwistle. We filmed the lads as normal Indie bands do, a live performance contrasted with them messing around in everyday settings, just being themselves. By doing this, the music video had an element of humour, showing their personalities of doing day to day things together with slightly rebellious behaviour to enlighten Indie behaviour, which an audience of this nature like. We used a variety of props to pull of this 'look' of Indie rebellion which were: a mini telescope, cigarettes, vodka bottles all to give the connotations that the band are rebellious and like having fun. Many of the Indie Rock Bands also do this, such as Artic Mokeys another British Indie Rock Band, whom started of small making videos and broadcasting them on YouTube which then led them to fame. As Arctic Monkeys were a big influence on Naked Voyage, the two bands are very similar with quirky lyrics, an element of rebellion and a good chemistry within the bands and also the styling.

Similarities between the Bands, Naked Voyage, Arctic Monkeys.

When storyboarding our music video, we decided to use all the conventions on and Indie Rock video as we thought it would be more successful this way, and so we filmed Naked Voyage doing a live performance, practising and also messing around and just being themselves, with no gimics, we knew this would work also, as it does in many Arctic Monkeys videos.

When editing with Adobe Premier we speeded the footage up which made it humerous, fast paced and exciting, the video has quick cuts between the contrasting scences which I think from feedback and personal opinion makes it less boring. It also fits with the song as it is also a fast paced upbeat song. We also reversed some footage to make it look like on of the band members was jumping backwards...again for humour.
                                   


                                          

This shot works quite well as Dean runs on the roundabout in time with the music which is also quite funny.

These two shots from our music video and one of Arctic Monkeys have the same low angle looking up to the base gutiarists, show similarites in the practising side to the video.

When producing out music video we decided to do a live version to add the Indie atmosphere and give a full effect of being in the audience so these two shots of the lead singers are different yet still give emphasis on the lead singer.

To give an authenticity to the audience that our band were playing the instruments and it wasn't fake we, like Arctic Monkeys decided to use a close up of the guitarist playing the instrument, obviously to the beat.

In most Indie videos, the band members are in everyday situations and places which pulls off the effortlessness they have, as these two screen grabs show the bands just walking around:

As there is a big emphasis on the bands instruments, it seeming 'cool' we also decided to put singular shots of the band members doing what they do!

Although there aren't gimics in Indie videos, one of the band members brought along some props to filming, as he thought it could be funny, and with the use of his mini telescope we could fit it with part of the lyrics.

'almost as if she's looking right at me'

which works effectively, as well as being quiet funny.

The main way in which we wanted to challenge the Indie Rock genre was to do the live performance, this was because it isn't done within this genre, yet we thought it could make an audience feel the experience you would have at one of Naked Voyages gigs with the noise of the audience in the background enjoying the music, and also this is how people start off, uploading their live versions, giving the 'real' effect to listeners, creating a fan base whom like their music.

When doing the advertising poster and Digi Pack we didn't want to over do it with graphics of glitz as we wanted people to have the generic connotations of an Indie Band, so we decided to keep it simple, as do Arcitc Monkeys.

Yet a difference we had is that on our poster, we thought it was effective to use just a picture of the drummer Dean, whom is stood at the top of some stairs, not looking at the camera, we edited it on Photoshop to look dark and mysterious as thats what we wanted to pull of, we though it was a refreshing idea, rather than have a group band photo, which are already featured on the album art.

Simulary, we wanted to keep the DTP work, simple yet effective again, for the front and back cover to have a certain Indie 'moodyness' about it with the use of editing the colour to a kind of sepia tint, yet inside the album, the pictures would be vibrant and fun, as on one we edited in the trees, there is a lot of bright green colours as the members play fight, showing their fun side.

Most Indie bands do like simplicty on their album art, like Arctic Monkeys 'Suck it and See'


Although we didn't want to overdo it on editing so it wouldn't fit with the conventions of a generic Indie Rock album art, we chose not to keep it this simple, as our band were a new band and didn't have the same reputaion as Arctic Monkeys, and we wanted people to know who our band was, and thats why we used a group photo.