JP: Evaluation Question 1

When considering the key features of a music video, Andrew Goodwin, Dancing in the Distraction Factory (1992) identified a number of conventions that can be applied to music videos.

Firstly he stated that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. Our video for 'Escapee' by Architecture in Helsinki would be categorised as being in the indie pop genre. It is conventional in that the band members are all wearing stereotypical indie costumes and the video is very quirky and unusual, however being unusual has become usual for indie pop videos. This refers to Goodwin's second paradox, as he said that bands beciome extraordinary and ordinary simultaneously. The different camera techniques and actions performed by the band could be seen as conveying positive emotions and a happy atmosphere surrounding the video and song.

The performance shown by the artist is very conventional of indie bands, with their instruments being included in the video and their style of playing these instruments reinforce their indie pop genre. The fast cutting rate accentuates the positive feel of the video further, by making it upbeat to match the music. Iconography is evident throughout, very conventional of indie pop bands, who attempt to create an image for their band that makes it unique. The use of the visual motif of the crocodile is evident throughout our video and printwork, so we created a band image for Architecture In Helsinki that has a theme of the crocodile running through all ancillary texts as well as the main product, which shows a sense of continuity in our work.

The video employs an artistic/creative approach to conventions in that it exaggerates certain aspects of the song, including colour correction throughout the video to make the performance shots seems darker and colder, much like the advert, however the crocodile narrative shots have been edited to make the saturation much higher, creating a happy, colourful look to the video. This creates more of a sense of continuity with the ancillary texts, as all of our works relate to the music video in more than one way. We also decided to include reaction shots of members of the public breaking the fourth wall, as we believed it created an effect that the shot was in fact POV, as the members of the public look straight at the crocodile.

Goodwin discussed the relationship between lyrics and visuals. In relation to ‘Escapee’ it is clear that there is a moderate relation between the lyrics and visuals, however quite a lot of the lyrics are amplified in the music video, such as ‘taking me for a ride’ which is reflected in the crocodile running around or travelling in vehicles. Another example is the very first lyric of "this escapee was never gonna stay", which is played just after the crocodile's escape from the cage.

 He also considered the relationship between music and visuals to be an important convention. This can be applied to our video, as when the music is more fast paced, the cutting rate increases, but when the music slows, the shots are shown for longer, making the scene seem more relaxed in juxtaposition to the rest of the video, and this is mainly evident in the shot where the crocodile slows down and looks over the lake in Haysden park. The song has a fast cutting rate for most of the song, which is reflected in the video, so camera movement such as handicam and the action of running as a visual motif makes the video very upbeat and fun.

            Goodwin made reference to the notion of looking, however the crocodile or band do not ever really refer to this notion of looking, as there is no use of mirrors or anything like that. It could be referenced in the use of splitscreen, as the audience’s vision is split between the band and the crocodile, making them look twice to notice the band more. Importantly he discussed the voyeurism seen in most conventional video, referring to the lingering of the camera on the subject. With reference to music videos, prevalence is a huge part of voyeurism, and the fact that the camera lingers on the crocodile throughout the video and many different camera angles are used shows that the camera is trying to get as many looks at the crocodile as possible. The use of close ups and framing of the artist construes them as extraordinary for relating themselves to the crocodile.

           Music videos are a postmodern form, which implies that they often borrow and rework ideas from other texts and forms. ‘Escapee’ reworks the idea conveyed in videos like ‘Paradise’ by Coldplay and ‘The Bad Touch’ by The Bloodhound Gang through pastiche, in using an animal costume to make the music video seem much more humorous. However, there is not really any other conclusion that could be drawn in relation to the video having any similarities with other music videos. In terms of ideologies, we attempted to create an underlying message in our video that freedom is no longer present in our pluralistic society, and that despite how we are told that we are free, we are just living a monotonic life, and this is shown by the way in which the crocodile travels around on public transport and seems to be blending in just like anyone despite the fact that he is a crocodile, which shows how he is merely the same as anyone else when it comes to freedom. This is a dominant ideology as many people believe that freedom is a myth, and it is widely accepted that everyone should have a right to freedom.