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1. In what ways
does your
media product
use, develop
or challenge
forms and
conventions of
real media
products?
QUESTION 1

2. GOODWIN’S 6 FEATURES
One way of understanding whether my music video uses, develops or challenges forms and conventions of real media
products is to compare it with Goodwin’s 6 features of a music video. I used his ideas around music videos to see if my
version of Retrograde would conform.
Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics- the electronic genre is very diverse and I have found it difficult to spot
fixed conventions in (electronic) music videos. However, it appears common for videos of the genre to have narrative and
performance aspects combined. I have used both narrative and performance in my own video and so I could be said to be
demonstrating some genre characteristics. Despite this, I wouldn’t say that I could entirely apply this feature by Goodwin
to my music video. This is because there are other conventions that I have perhaps challenged. For example, many
electronic and trip hop videos that I visited during research have been conceptual and have been very ‘random’ e.g. the
music video for The Spoils by Massive attack focuses on distorted faces. So my video does not entirely conform to this
feature.
There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals- I would suggest this is very evident in my music video. The lyrics to
Retrograde are said to be about reverting back to something or someone you used to be. I built my narrative around this
concept: the male character is (metaphorically) looking for a girl he used to know; he wants to get back the person she
was before. My work would therefore conform to this idea by Goodwin.
There is a relationship between music and visuals- I planned to match shot transitions to the beats of the music so that
the video can flow and be visually pleasing. I am confident that I have conformed to this idea by Goodwin.
The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups- The artist is only featured in one style of shot
where he is shown lip syncing. This is a medium-close up, artist focused shot with a light that illuminates his face. However
the artist does not feature in the narrative; it is instead another male. It is difficult to say that my music video fully
conforms to this feature by Goodwin as I have not used multiple close ups of my artist.
Frequent reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages etc.)- I would say that this feature cannot
be applied to my music video. There is no frequent reference to the notion of looking.
There are often intertextual references (to films, TV programs, other music videos etc.)- This feature is not at all evident in
my music video.
In conclusion, my music video does use many of Goodwin’s 6 features whilst challenging some.

3. STYLE OF VIDEO
For my version of James Blake- Retrograde, I have combined narrative and performance aspects and research
has suggested that this is common in electronic and trip hop music videos. I have used this somewhat
conventional combination of styles as part of my own work; my video features both artist performances and a
narrative following one male’s search for a missing girl. We can compare this to other music videos of the same
genre to see how they also exercise these two styles. The video for James Blake’s Overgrown follows him on a
walk where he is intensely followed by his ‘demons’ who force him to the cliff edge. Performance is combined
when the video shows James Blake singing along with his track.
Although this is the case in a large majority of electronic and trip hop videos, there are also a lot of videos that
are entirely conceptual, narrative or performance. The genre and even sub genre are so diverse and as a result
we see a big mix in the styles used. For this reason, it is difficult to suggest a specific conventional style of video
for the genre, but I have used the common combination of narrative and performance. I am content that this has
been done to a good effect and the styles have combined well to do the song justice. I feel my artist performance
works well with the meaningful lyrics of the song and when combined with the narrative aspects is able to portray
the emotion needed.

4. ARTIST PORTRAYAL
The lip sync shots featured throughout the video shows the artist to be somewhat empty, vacant and sad. It is
important that he is portrayed like this since the song lyrics are so meaningful. In particular, I read them to be
focusing on the loss of a person or a person needing to go back to who they were. For this reason, my artist
needed to show emotion during the performance scenes where the lyrics are particularly emphasised. I aimed for
the lyrics and visuals to match and this is why I asked my artist to perform in this way. This is a common
convention for other electronic and trip hop songs. The Spoils by Massive Attack is said to explore ‘anxious love’
and has meaningful lyrics similarly to Retrograde. The featured characters adopt vacant looks to work alongside
the lyrics, similar to those shown in my video (compared below).
male character as he searches the streets. He is shown to be panicked and agitated, so much so that he gets
himself involved in a fight. Portraying the artist in a way that matches and works with the lyrics is a common
convention of electronic and trip hop music videos. This can be the case for trip hop videos in particular since the
songs are often slow tempo and have meaningful lyrics. I have created my music video with this convention in
mind. I ensured my artist portrayal remained consistent throughout the digipak and the poster too. Both the CD
cover and the album poster feature a shot of the artist illuminated by a red light (a link to the lip sinking shots
that play throughout the music video). Despite the slight distortion brought about by the light, the artist can still
be seen to be somewhat vacant. It is important that my artist appears like this as a lot of his music is slow,
emotional and meaningful, and so a cheerful front cd cover or poster wouldn’t be appropriate.
The portrayal of my main male character was just as important. We follow him as he
searches for a missing girl, and it is important that he displays emotion so we can
understand that she meant something to him. This is part of the idea that the
missing girl is someone he used to know; she has (metaphorically) lost herself and he
is trying to find her and get her back to who she was before, or the girl he loved. This,
in combination with the lyrics requires an emotional performance from the main

5. SETTING AND LOCATION
The characters search for the missing girl is set down a street, a location you’d expect to see locals and so an
ideal area to search. The location therefore has a narrative basis and is heavily linked to the storyline. Street
settings are seen in multiple music videos of the genre, but they wouldn’t be considered a common convention
and so my video could be said to be challenging this. However, a large volume of electronic and trip hop videos do
have settings that are heavily linked and relative to the narrative, and so from this perspective I would making
use of a convention. For example, the music video for Natural Blues by Moby is set in a location resembling a care
home. The video follows elderly characters and particularly Moby who has been transformed into an elderly man
and so this setting is entirely relevant to the narrative. Portishead, a trip hop group, also had a relevant setting for
their Strangers video. The video is entirely performance and so is set in a large hall filled with musicians and
performers.
A relevant setting helps to make sense of the narrative or style of the video and so it is an understandable
convention of the genre. Although street settings are not seen in a large majority of electronic and trip hop
videos, I am content that my location was necessary and worked well alongside my narrative. The outside setting
also allowed me to capture natural shadows that then looked great when edited into black and white on Adobe
Premier Pro.
Moby’s
‘Natural
Blues’
Portishead’s
‘Strangers’

6. CAMERA WORK AND EDITING
I have found it to be common for electronic and trip hop music videos to use handheld shots amongst a few static
shots to create a sense of distortion. A large majority of my shots are hand held, and a tripod was only used for
the slow motion shots so that they didn’t look unstable or messy when slowed right down. We cut back to static
shots of my artist lip syncing, hopefully creating that sense of distortion. I find this works really well with the
narrative, particularly when the male character is becoming confused and delirious after his fight.
I also found it common for videos of the genre to use long shots and/or establishing shots. I put this to use in my
video, not only to establish the setting but also to emphasise the isolation of my character. My panning long shots
at the beginning show the empty street he walks down alone. It was important to use camera work carefully; it
helped me to construct my character as lonely, something necessary since Retrograde is such a meaningful song
that mentions being alone (lyrics: ‘we’re alone now.’) I have found that many other trip hop songs with emotive
lyrics will use long shots to this same effect. Another heavily used camera movement in electronic and trip hop
music videos is forward and back tracking. It can denote loneliness, pace, panic/worry and a sense of ‘getting
nowhere’. I have used this movement as well as reversed shots (created on Adobe Premier Pro) to create these
feelings. Again, they are very relevant to the song and its lyrics, as well as the narrative that runs in my video. The
black and white filter that is used throughout also helps to create these dark feelings that are necessary to the
lyrics. Although the use of black and white is seen in many electronic and trip hop music videos, I wouldn’t class it
as a convention and some videos of the genre choose to go entirely against it.
All hand
held shots

7. NARRATIVE
Research has shown me that electronic and trip hop videos which feature narratives will generally ensure that the narrative
is relevant to the song lyrics. Knowing I’d use a narrative in my music video, I carefully studied the lyrics to Retrograde so
that I could make my narrative appropriate. For me, the title Retrograde suggests that the artist or a particular character is
going back in time, regressing or retreating. It could be that an individual needs to revert to the way they were before, or
perhaps they are convincing themselves to move forward in some way, not going into retrograde. I used this to develop the
idea that a character is searching for someone they used to know. In particular, he goes looking for a girl who he wants to
get back, as she is now a completely different person. The injuries he gathers signifies his failure in his search; she is too
far gone to come back now, and this becomes too much for him to handle. I would argue that this narrative can be linked
to the lyrics and so I would be using the convention of having a lyric related storyline.
Typically, trip hop videos will explore the theme of identity and possible struggles. This is particularly seen in the videos of
the slowest and darkest songs. For example, the video for 100% by Sonic Youth is about losing a close friend and Afrika
Shox by Leftfield follows a lost man who is broken by the smallest occurrences. The videos of the genre commonly explore
struggles and how we deal with them, usually relevant to the lyrics of that particular song. Many will end with the struggles
being solved, portraying the message that we can overcome the bad times. However I have challenged this in my own
video. The male character in Retrograde fails to find the girl he is looking for and there is no happy ending. This also goes
against Todorov’s narrative theory which suggests that the narrative should end in an equilibrium with all resuming as
normal. I decided to challenge this idea about narratives as Retrograde is such a meaningful song and it can highlight the
harsh realities.
MESSAGES/IDEOLOGY