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

We have used a number of conventions in our music video, particularly in the fantasy shots. Some examples are:

* The water Lily.

* The trees.

* The sun.

For the fantasy shots in my music video I  have used very posed shots of Dalia, for example when she puts the water lily in the water and when she skips round the maze. This shows that we are not telling a story with Dalia in the fantasy land, there is no narrative structure. It also suggests that the fantasy land is an idea or belief not neccerssarily a real place. It is just a sequence of shots that are visually exciting. The music video flicks between domestic violence and fantasy, in the same way that the music flicks back to the chorus.

I researched a variety of music videos to look for inspiration for my own. One that really stood out was Beyonce's music video to De Ja Vu. It is a very summery video and a lot of the shots are in a forest, this inspired us for our summer fantasy shot; we shot these in a forest at our local university, UEA. We have used shots of Dalia spinning round, which Beyonce does in this video. We also used Gwen Stefani's music video to What You Waiting For as inspiration. We have used a scene of Dalia running round a maze, this was taken from a shot of a girl running through a maze in the Gwen Stefani video. I wanted to use it because I felt it as though I was being taken on a journey with the character in the video and this is the feeling I wanted to acheive with my audience.

I researched previously in to a text similar to the music video I wished to achieve, this was the music video to Love The Way You Lie. This video represents the same issue as my music video, domestic violence. However, I wanted to achieve a different representation than this video did, as I felt it glamourised domestic violence. I wanted to achieve a believable representation of domestic violence (as believable as possible on a low budget). I did this by creating a dull lighting in each domestic violence scene. I also added another element to the video to make it more exciting. This element is a fantasy land, as I felt that the video to Love The Way You Lie lacked the aspect of wanting to escape. However, it was extremely difficult to create dull lighting without having high tech lighting. We therefore had to experiment with a variety of torches to ensure the shot wasn't ambiguous when trying to look dull (as mentioned in a previous question).

The genre of Under China is Indie/Rock, this is represented in a number of ways in our music video. Firstly, the theme of domestic violence could be classed as 'Rock'n'Roll, as a lot of Rock videos represent true and serious issues that could be causing harm to others. The target audience for Indie genre is fairly young, we therefore have used young actors (Fraser: 15 Dalia: 18) so that the audience are able to relate to the characters in our music video.

There is a clear distinction between Dalia's body language in the two different scenes of her. In the fantasy shots, she looks beyond the camera, as if she is avoiding going back to reality. It also suggests that she is confident and happy with her new surroundings. However, in the domestic violence shots, Dalia looks down a lot and her body language is often controlled by Fraser. For example, Fraser pushes her in to the door and in another shot pushes her back in to a wall. When she is in the fantasy land, she controls her own body language and is very free with her movement. She spins around in a few shots and does very exaggerated movements such as, running and skipping. This contrasts with her small amount of movement in the domestic violence shots. The spinning shots (as shown below) are also used as a metaphor for Dalia's life spinning out of control.

There is a shot of Dalia in the domestic violence scene, where she looks directly at the camera. This shot engages the audience, as it is as though Dalia is looking beyond the camera to audiences looking for help to get her out of this situation. It also the moment in which self realisation hits Dalia and she decides that she can no longer lead the life she does and this is the first moment she escapes to the fantasy land.

We have used very colourful and strong mise-en-scene in the fantasy shots, this is because it makes the shots much more visually exciting. It also emphasises the contrast between the reality and fantasy shots. It shows the audience how Dalia's emotion has immediately changed from being very distressed and unhappy to feeling free and happy. This is represented in her facial expressions, in the reality shots she looks very unhappy and serious, but in the fantasy shots her expression changes and she has a constant smile on her face. An example of this is when Dalia steps away from Fraser and there is a close up shot of her face, she looks sad and unhappy and moves her eyes down to the floor to avoid fraser. It then flicks to another shot of Dalia waking up in her fantasy land . A close up shot is used, which emphasises the huge smile she has on her face, making it clear to audiences that she is in a happier place.

This image of Dalia shows the happy expression that she has throughout the fantasy shots.

In the reality domestic violence shots of Dalia, we have used much  more close up shots. This is because I felt it was important to capture the emotion of these scenes and the pain that Dalia is going through with her violent partner. This made the shots more believable, resulting in a more sympathetic audience. On particular close up shot that focuses on Dalia's emotion, is when she has just had a physical fight with her husband and she steps back and the camera zooms in on her emotion. This emphasises her hurt and how she wants to escape. The camera is also a metaphor for how Dalia feels as though her life is closing in on her and she is unable to cope anymore.

So that audiences are able to identify the difference between the two themes, we have used a shot of a spinning sky each time Dalia returns to her fantasy land. This is the refrain and it enables audiences to clearly see when Dalia is going to her fantasy land. The spinning sky connotes confusion and disorientation, this is how Dalia feels about her life and her mind spins out of control to her imaginary land.

My music video represents the issue of domestic violence, this is represented in a number of films:

Title: The Promise
Director: Bethany Rooney
Country: USA, 1999
Plot: Based on a true story. A woman seeks justice after discovering that her sister was murdered by her abusive husband.

Title: Nil by Mouth
Director: Gary Oldman
Country: UK, 1997
Plot: Set in a working class London district, this film looks at the life of Raymond, who is a rough and violent person that leads to problems in the life of his family.

Title: Sleeping with the Devil 
Director: William A. Graham
Country: USA,1997
Plot: After a wealthy man helps out a poor woman, the couple eventually get married. But when the woman attempts to leave the marriage, her husband tries to murder her. This is a true story based on a book of the same title. 

Title: Dead By Sunset
Director: Karen Arthur
Country: USA, 1995
Plot: Brad is a charming, yet manipulative husband and father who hates women. As his marriage evaporates and divorce proceedings begin, he realises there is only one way to get full custody of his sons' -  killing his wife. 



Goodwins theory suggests that The Grand Narrative Structure is usually discarded in music videos, he said that the music video will tell a story but the issue isn't resolved. This is true in the case of my music video, as it shows Dalia being affected by a violent man and her way of escaping it is by going to her imaginary fantasy land. The video ends with Dalia in her fantasy land, but audiences will know that this is not a permanent place for her and at some point she will return to reality- a violent and corrupt life. The ending to my music video is ambiguous, as audiences do not know if this means that she has left her boyfriend to go else where or if she is just in her imagination. It is up to audiences to decide what they think will happen next (if there were to be another video).

The narrative for my music video is not linear, the narrative does not follow in a straight line. The narrative of my music video flicks back and forth, going from fantasy to domestic violence. This is in the same way that a song will flick from a verse to a chorus.

My target audience is males and females of the age 16-40, however the music may appeal more to females as the lead sing of Auction For The Promise Club is female. It may also appeal more to females and a wider audience in general, due to the issue of domestic violence that is portrayed in the video. People that aren't within my target audience may have been affected by the issue represented and will therefore relate to and enjoy the music video.The target audience will enjoy Indie/Rock music, as this is the genre of Under China. I am appealing to this audience in a number of ways. My album cover is quite feminine, as it has a photo of Dalia on the front and back in an elegant dress. The cover contains glitter and uses a delicate font. However, I have used natural colours such as, grey and blue. This keeps the cover unisex. Although, one distinctive colour is pink, which is Dalia's lipstick. I have used this pink to make the album more striking and to give a feminine feel to it.



This is a vdieo of Cage The Elephant- Shake Me Down. Cage The Elephant are an Alternative Rock band, so they fit in with the genre of our music video. This video initially gave me the idea to use a variety of seasons in my music video, as it has shots of snow and summer shots. When watching this video I found it visually exciting, as there was sucha a variety of shots used and this is what I wanted to avchieve with my music video.
The fact that this video used two different seasons and that their target audience are of Alternativ Rock genre, suggests that this aspect will also appeal to my audiences. I also felt that the variety of seasons was appropriate to the fantasy scenes of my music video. This is because, it's an imaginative land where Dalia is able to skip to her favourite seasons- summer and winter. The sun creates a bright mise-en-scene, with it beaming down in a lot of shots. The sun is also used in the snow shots, as it reflects of the snow creating a bright, beautiful and white image!
The theme in this video, however, contradicts the theme that I have used in my music video. They represent Romance, whereas I have used a violent theme. I could have applied a romantic theme to the fantasy elements of my music video, but felt it may be too confusing for audiences to see Dalia in a violent relationship to then being in a romantic relationship, this would have been a good juxtaposition though. However, it could also be seen that the romance element is in my music video, but it shows a very oppisite side to romance. It shows the pain and hurt it can cause. Dalia represents the fact that romance can have a hold on your life and although it's causing you hurt you still hold on to it.

I also used Florence and The Machine's video to 'Rabbit Heart' as inspiration for my fantasy elements. In a lot of their music videos, they use nature and outside shots. One shot in particular influenced me- when Florence is spinning round- I have used a shot of Dalia doing this in a fantasy shot. It connotes confusion, as Dalia is in an unfamiliar place. However, it also connotes happiness and freedom, as many people when they are free in an open space tend to spin round and take the moment in, which is exactly what Dalia does, as she feels so free from her real life.

 

I was also influenced by the shot of Florence placing a candle in the water, as I have used a shot of Dalia placing a Lily in to the water. I thought this shot was very delicate and calming, which is how I wanted Dalia to be represented. The flower was also used as a metaphor for Dalia- the flower representing her old life floating away with the water.

A lot of the shots used in this video have the bright sun shining through, in the same way that my music video does in both the summer and the winter elements, it creates a happy atmosphere. The white snow I have used connotes purity and innocence, as Dalia is both of these.