In what ways does

your media product

—ANDREW GOODWIN, ‘DANCING IN THE DISTRACTION FACTORY’

star
representation
 voyeuristic angles visuals

—ANDREW GOODWIN, ‘DANCING IN THE DISTRACTION FACTORY’

same editing technique

the same lyrics/beat

—ANDREW GOODWIN, ‘DANCING IN THE DISTRACTION FACTORY’

The artist’s previous videos depict a lot of quirky style within them. Each video is unique and has its
own style. In addition to this, I believe the content of each music video reflects the pace and content
of the music. For example, if the music is more upbeat, then Dodie will usually reflect this in her
music videos by adding some humour to them. This is largely evidential in the second music video.
The colour palette, effects and transitions used are usually consistent throughout the video.
 CHALLENGED
Usually, Dodie tries to highlights one style of music video in her work. The styles she tends to pick are either a performance or narrative base
music video. I attempted to challenge this within my work by trying to use a combination of both performance and narrative. I wanted to see
if it was possible to have a balance of a clear narrative, performance and an artistic vibe within my video. I think that I achieved this fairly well
as my music video shows clear evidence of performance when my actress is playing the guitar and miming to the camera. The idea for my
narrative was to depict the regrets of the artist’s youth, depicted by the song’s lyrics. I do think that I achieved this to a certain extent,
however I think that I could have outlined a clearer narrative within the video. Due to my narrative not having the most clear outline, I’d like
to think that my music video conforms with Carol Vernallis’ theory about codes and conventions of a narrative within a music video. Vernallis’
explains how a narrative within a music video can seem uncomplete or disjointed. The uncomplete/disjointed music video leaves the viewer
with questions or confusion about the narrative, hopefully making them want to watch the music video again. I think that this relates to my
music video as the visuals, such as the post it note with a letter from the character’s mum or the postcard she writes later on, gives hints to
the narrative and meaning within the music video, but does not completely outline the narrative for the viewer, hopefully making them want
to watch the music video again. Therefore, I feel like I have challenged the convention that a clear narrative is needed within a music video.
I am particularly pleased with how the artistic look turned out within the video. I think that I have challenged the codes and conventions
used in Clark’s music videos as her videos come across as quite naturally edited. The clips are not overedited, thus the footage looking quite
raw. Whereas I have looked further into editing by physically drawing on clips as well as overlaying them. I still think that my footage looks
quite raw, but I think that the doodle editing on top of the clips makes the video seem quite exciting.
 One of the apparent codes and conventions in Clark’s previous music videos is the use
of close ups. This is particularly evidential in the ‘Sick of Losing Soulmates’ music
video. In my opinion, the director uses these types of shots to depict a more personal
connection between artist and viewer. I have conformed to this convention by using a
variety of close up shots in my own music video.
USED
DEVELOPED

Another convention that Clark typically uses in her music videos is light leaks. The
use of the light leaks compliments the style and colour palette that her music
video uses. I highlighted this in my own music video by using light leaks which
would match the colour palettes I have used. I did conform to this convention,
but I also challenged it as well. For example, in the daylight shots I used coloured
light leaks which would compliment the shots, such as light blues. However, in
darker shots I added warm toned light leaks, which would contrast against the
dark toned shot. I believe that this gave the overall shot quite a unique look to it
and made it stand out.
Typically in performance/narrative music videos, the character within the narrative is usually of
the same age, gender, race, etc as the artist. In Dodie’s ‘In The Middle’ music video, this particular
code and convention is challenged as one of the male characters in the narrative is acting as the
female artist and sings with a female voice. In this case, it adds humor to the music video. I
decided to conform with Dodie’s idea of challenging typical music video codes and conventions. I
did this by switching the race and age of the character within my narrative. My actress is a
teenager of a mixed background, whereas Dodie Clark is a twenty year old of a white British
background. Personally, I think that challenging the age/gender/race adds a more personal
aspect to my song, ‘Party Tattoos’, as it depicts that the song could relate to anyone and not just
the artist. I could have chosen an elderly woman or man to be in my narrative as it would have
given the same meaning/message to the music video. I think that by using a different person
with a different background to the original artist, it gives the impression that every person has
regrets about their life.
Another way I have used and developed the codes and conventions that Clark uses is by
following the same sort of narrative structure. Theorist Carol Vernallis, explains within her book
that people can have different interpretations of a song. However, it is ultimately up to the artist
to depict their own interpretation through the music video. I think that this theory relates to
Dodie Clark’s music videos as I don’t think that the music videos are what the audience would
interpret based off of the lyrics. Therefore, the music video comes as a surprise to the viewer,
typically making it more engaging to watch. I believe I have followed a same structure within my
video as when I asked my peers how they interpreted the lyrics, they weren’t really sure of the USED
clear message displayed within the song. However, when I shared my thoughts of how the song DEVELOPED
was about regrets of someone’s youth, they mutually agreed. In conclusion, I have followed
Vernallis’ theory of using my own interpretations to create the music video.
 GENRE INDIE
Dodie Clark’s music often fits into the Indie Pop/Alternative genre. After researching some of the codes and conventions of these genres, I
noticed that my music video followed a lot of them. One of the main codes and conventions within an Indie Pop music video is that they are
low budget. Therefore the locations and settings are quite minimalistic, ensuring the focus to be on the artist/character in the narrative. My
music video contained a lot of low budget locations, such as a field and a house. Due to Indie Pop music videos being low budget, I kept the
costume that my actress was wearing quite simple. I believe that this reflects the sort of music as well, I don’t think the audience would
interpret the music video to be glamourous. The choice of costume was important to me as I wanted it to reflect the connection between
artist and viewer, showing that the artist is just like the viewer and her clothes do not define her. The next code and convention I identified
was some sort of performance from the artist. I successfully accomplished this on two occasions by having the actress play the guitar and
mime to the camera. Another code and convention was having some sort of narrative within the music video. I decided to base my narrative
on some sort of journey through growing up and reconciliation. I thought that this was a good idea as some of my target audience might be
able to relate to the themes depicted within the music video. Quite a few Indie Pop music videos that I have studied illustrate the artist going
through a mental/physical journey. This is particularly evidential in Ellie Goulding’s cover of ‘Your Song’ and Birdy’s ‘Find Me’. In my music
video, the audience can see that the character is going on a physical journey – to the party, but she is also going on a mental one as well,
due to the disagreements with her mother and attempting to reconcile with her at the end of the video. In some Indie Pop music videos, a
voice over is usually used to give context of the music video. I am aware that this a convention that Dodie Clark has used in her own music
videos. However, I did not use this convention as I did not think that it was necessary for my music video due to the message depicted in the
music video being quite self explanatory.
In conclusion, I think that my music video has both conformed and broken codes and conventions. I believe that it has
typically conformed to the codes and conventions that Andrew Goodwin and Carol Vernallis identified. I think that the
reasoning that it broke quite a few of the conventions within their theories was due to the genre of the music video
being so specific (Indie Pop). Overall, I feel as if I have conformed to the codes and conventions used in Dodie Clark’s
videos. I wanted to use and develop most of the conventions she uses so that the audience could clearly link the music
video I created and her previous videos together and identify that it is the same artist. I also followed a lot of the codes
and conventions used in typical Indie Pop music videos. It was important that I did conform to these as Dodie Clark has
branded herself as an Indie Pop artist, therefore I would be breaking her branding if I completely changed the style and
editing of the music video. I felt as if I had to challenge some of the conventions used in music videos, such as a
voyeurism as it was something that definitely did not fit in with the sort of music video that I was creating. I wanted to
keep the viewer engaged as well by having a disjointed narrative, which is depicted in some of Dodie Clark’s music
videos.

CONCLUSION