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

Through research I have managed to gain a sufficient knowledge and understanding of the typical forms and conventions of music videos. I understand through analysis of Goodwin's theory what is expected and unexpected of a music video. Obviously music videos differ for different genres, some 'Hip-hop' or 'Pop' music videos might focus on images of the artists or a live performance suggested through Goodwin's theory, where as I chose to do the Gothic Metal genre, which often contains some sort of narrative. Often in music videos of this genre there is a strong narrative flow so I did choose to conform to this style of video. I wanted to make sure the narrative was the most important aspect of my music video, so I created a storyline that would reflect the genre its common themes and conventions. I gained this information through research, learning that common themes within the Gothic genre include: horror, romance, nature and fantasy, all of which I intentionally presented within my video.

Horror

Being probably the most important theme of the genre I needed to presented the theme through many different techniques and visuals, linking with the lyrics, style of music and the genre itself. I feel I emphasised the horror through the narrative and story, in which a girl explores a very surreal and nightmarish landscape, constantly being watched and followed by a monstrous, skeleton masked figure, dressed in black. Because the link is so strong between the horror theme and the Gothic genre, common genre characteristic can be automatically linked with horror such as the conventional Gothic clothing, dark and black cloths worn by the two main masked characters in my video. The masks themselves generate horror and a frighting and menacing atmosphere. In many shots I used the horror theme as my main focus, for instance the shot when the female character looks into a window and sees a horrific reflection of the skeleton character standing behind her. This was intended to be a strong emphasis on the horror within the piece and I feel it was successfully communicated to the audience.

Romance

The Gothic genre usually focus on the link between the themes of horror and romance, and by juxtaposing these two themes it creates a very individualistic and unique style. I intended to present this conventional combination to apply the expected to my music video. An important part of the story was the main focus on the relationship, the whole reason for the song was the female character trying to escape the problems of the real world and her dysfunctional relationship.The relationship is introduced at the beginning of the piece when we see a shot of the girl looking at a photo of her and her boyfriend, this specific shot makes it clear that the relationship will be a significant part to the story. After this introduction the relationship is later referenced when the masked female sees memories of her own relationship, images of the couples romance, showing the two, very loving and caring for one another, symbolising the beginning of the relationship. We then see tension between the couple and an uncomfortable sense of division. Finally the shot shows aggression and violence, we see the couple in an argument and then physically fighting to display the unhappiness of their relationship and emphasising her reluctance to wake up. The final reference is at the end when she wakes and her boyfriend is at the door, he steps in with an uncomfortable look on his face, creating the tension and we see the unhappiness in the girls eyes as she closes the door. This leaves the story on quite a negative view, but open allowing the audience to input their own thoughts on how the story really ends.

Nature

The theme of nature is very strongly connected with romanticism, since the 'Romantic Poets' of the second half of 18th century, showing poetry written emphasising the beauty and romantic side of nature and life. I strongly presented this view within my music video, because I wanted the character to find beauty in the Gothic and nightmarish surroundings, which we would see as very frightening. By painting this image of the female dancing an elegant and romantic ballet in the setting, I intended to communicate the view of the beauty of nature. Through the females love for the surroundings we understand her reluctance to wake and return to reality. Nature was presented throughout the piece, showing shots of monuments, hillsides and forest. One of the most impressive and surreal shots in my opinion was of the fallen tree, interestingly an unintentional idea that came to life. The shot fully expresses 'the fall of nature' or the end of such beauty, which reflects the Gothic style in an extremely effective way, linking nature to destruction and death, strong aspects of the Gothic genre.

Fantasy

Fantasy is another huge theme which recurs in the Gothic genre. From research I viewed many images presenting fantasy within them linked to the Gothic genre. The fantasy in my piece is a fairly straight forward and can be recognised in the title of the song 'Imaginary'. The imagination is the source of fantasy, and presenting dreams and nightmares allowed me to fully express fantasy elements in my imaginary world. The main fantasy elements are created through the use of modern technology, through colour correction I managed to make the direct link the lyrics in the visuals showing the 'purple sky' which is quite obviously fantasy. The focus of dream allowed me to create the fantasy, from the frightening masked characters within the dream to the series of surrealistic locations. The fantasy within my Gothic music video, were due to the combination of all these important narrative factors, through which I created a truly imaginary world, to reflect the state of mind of a troubled girl.


My Music Video In Relation to Goodwin's Theory

Andrew Goodwin has had probably the most influential effect on the theory behind music videos, the belief that all follow a certain pattern and include similar factors to communicate to their target audience. I specifically aimed to challenge as well as conform to factors of Goodwin's theory to reflect the individualistic nature of the band 'Evanescence' and the whole style and genre of music. I did not want to conform to Goodwin's theory of showing the artist or performance. Because of the fact that I wanted the narrative to be leading the video I did not want the combination of the two. Gothic music being predominantly based around narrative and theatricality through the music and lyrics, I felt that this would be accepted by the target audience as an impressive means of telling a story. The target audience would recognise the Genre and understand that the narrative is more important that actually seeing the artist/band.

However I did conform to Goodwin's theory in some ways. In many cases I applied obvious relationships between the lyrics and the visuals, and links between the music and the visuals. It can be seen in my previous planning, where I intended to make the obvious links directly between the common factors, such as the line 'I linger in the doorway' placed with a visual of the female lead standing in front of a large door, I also applied the 'Purple sky' constantly mentioned in the chorus through colour correction. Linking the visuals with the music consisted of cutting to the beat to create a sense of rhythm and pace, on some occasions on the hill for example the female character was crying, this links directly to the softness and the innocence of the piano playing in the song at that moment. There was an overall Voyeurism which is common in the Gothic genre when applied to costume and style of females. This is shown as the main character wakes up in the dream, she wears suggestive, black, leather clothing and through the ballet we see the delicate, beauty she portrays. In some ways I have challenged this theory, considering she wears a mask at all times during the dream sequence, which in some ways draws more attention to her body and asks the audience to see beauty beyond her physical appearance, in a more symbolic way.

The strongest aspect of Goodwin's theory that I supported and conformed to was the presentation of genre style and characteristics. I stuck closely to the expected within the Gothic genre, presenting common themes, iconography and style such as clothing and narrative structure. I intended to conform strongly to the genre to clearly communicate with the target audience of Gothic music, predominantly teenagers and young adults (information gathered from research). However no matter ages, all fans of this kind of music understand the genre and know what to expect from a music video presenting the genre. For those people unfamiliar with the genre and style of music, I believe that through my music video they would gain to clear understanding of the typical forms, convention, characteristics, themes and expectations of the Gothic genre.