Evaluation - Question 1

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

The video starts by using an establishing long shot of the beach, this is following the conventions set by the band in several of their music videos and one set by other artists in the genre, including bombay bicycle club. This actually closely mirrors the style set in the original video for 'Sun' and the their is a direct link between the visual image of the beach and the opening lyrics, paired with the title displayed on screen this helps the audience to connect with the media product.

The title font is also representative of the convention the band have set in which they use the same titling for their videos frequently. This is something that signifies from the start who the video is by and something many fans would instantly recognise.  The use of the yellow set against the background of the beach connotes summer, the lyrics also do this too. However this is set in contrast by the blue-ness and overcast look of the beach, which relates again to the lyrics of the song. The song talks about a long distance relationship falling apart, this is obviously a negative thing, and this is represented by the contrasting blue-ness of the setting just like the context of the lyrics contrast with the imagery used. 

The shot rotates 360 degrees back to where it started but now the band are stood in place. They are stood together with their instruments as if ready to perform, this foreshadows the live performance element of the video which is something that the audience will expect as it is a common convention of the indie genre. The use of this isolated location links with the style of genre. The indie genre promotes individuality and originality. The use of the isolated location suggests its a place not many people go, a place where only the band are and this emptiness reflects the exclusivity of the genre. Most of the shots in the music video lack any presence other than that of the band or the narrative character. Steve Neale argues that pleasure is derived from 'repetition and difference'. During the video their are several shot types that are used more than once. We constantly return to these shots, for example the shot with the lead singer walking along the river of the one set against beach huts. But you can also see that their are compositional similarities to these shots. The beach hut shots and the stone wall shots are set up very similarly following the rule of thirds and resigning each band member to their third in a similar fashion, thus making them easy to cut between smoothly and providing a visual match for the audience to follow. 

This brings me to the narrative, the convention of narrative inclusion in the music video is very common in the indie genre and something very present in tdcc's existing music videos. The narrative focuses on a relationship between the between the band a girl. The girl is aways shot as if the camera is the person she is talking to, so a POV shot. This removes the identity of the person who's relationship is with the girl. However the lead singer also has a lot of camera time where he is singing directly to the camera and this creates an unspoken link between the two.  Also, even though their is an obvious connection between the band and the girl there are no shots with them both in, this leaves the exact relationship to speculation and allows for audience interpretation, this means that they will relate to it in the way they best can and this widens the number of audience members who will relate personally with the video. 

The band are never pictured without their instruments and this links with the convention of the importance of the music and the lack of sexualised images in the indie genre. It is common for the most important thing in genres such as indie for the most important thing to be the music. Unlike the pop genre, where the main focus is normally the aesthetics and glamour of the artist and not the integrity of the music. The focus on the music is obvious throughout, like them always having their instruments, and even the cuts between the shots are timed to the beat and rhythm of the music, exaggerating its importance. 

I feel our video doesn't challenge the conventions of the indie genre but it does take some of them and develop them. The narrative is a key aspect of the video and this and it is taken directly from the lyrics of the song. The use of the two locations is representative of the distance in the relationship and the darker, gloomier shots of the lead singer contrast the lighter shots of the girl, this shows that one side of the relationship is unhappy and that the shots of the girl are the lead singer remembering the good times, they are untainted by his current mood. There is also the clear irony in the fact that the there is a lack of sun in the video despite that being the title of the song and this irony is representative of the fact that even though the song is called sun it isn't about anything happy as the audience might initially interpret from the name.