SF Evaluation Question 1

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


By using the framework devised by Goodwin it is posible to see that this is a music video as there is a distinct link between the visuals and the lyrics, with one of the key moments being the use of the lyrics 'burning on the inside' with fire overlapping images of the band and meat shots of the girl.

With this shot, it is directly illustrative of the lyrics as the shot appears with the lyrics 'burning on the inside' also dded more connotation to the lyrics as it is suggesting that there is an inner hatred being shown by the musician towarss the girl. This is also reiterated by the non verbal language used in the ECUs as the male character is using facial expressions to show his hatred and fear of the girl.


With the ECU shots where the singer is looking directly into the camera, by using the idea of the notion of looking devised by Goodwin, we can see that it appears as thought the singer is talking directly into the camera. The lighting in the video connotes a darker side to the male character as his face is partially engulfed by shadow, suggesting that he has this more sinister part of him that he was trying to keep locked away.



Intertextuality is used in the music video through the referencing of the silent movie genre, which is strengthened by the use of black and white make-up to help to make facial features more pronounced. The black and white colours are used to imply that there is an idea of foreboding and also as an indicator of an earlier time, to give the music video the effect of having been filmed and produced in the 1920s.


The train shot in the video helped to amplify the use of the silent movie genre with it hurtling down the track towards the girl, connoting danger as she appears to show no signs of getting out of the way.


The idea of dismemberment is used with the focus on the girls face at points but there is a challenge to traditional stereotypes relating to women as we chose not to introduce the girl from the ankle up. Full body shots were used instead as a method of providing the idea of male and female equality as the same shots are used for both the male and female characters and at points the camera is looking up at both characters, with an example of this being when they are both walking directly towards the camera.


The girl was still reinforcing stereotypes to an extent as she still had a look on her face that made her appear dreamy, connoting the idea that she is still weak and potentially using the idea of ignorance, especially with the shot where she is walking towards the train as she appears to have no idea of the impending fate approaching her as she walks down the track.


The myth of masculinity is challenged to an extent because:
• The male character appears paranoid about something, meaning that during some point of the video, such as the shot with the girl following him placing her hand on his shoulder and there being nobody there.
• Also when he meets his doppelganger, there is the connotation of an inner conflict, thus indicating more vulnerability.
• This is done through a face-off shot which is another intertextual reference as it uses ideas from the video for 'The Kill' by '30 Seconds to Mars'.
• This is a band in the same genre as Three Days Grace, which helps it to relate to other bands in the genre and conform to the conventions.



However, male stereotypes are also reinforced as during the performance shots, the male character appears angry, strengthening the idea that men are prone to anger. • The video is a combination of narrative and performance, although the narrative to the video is more of a reflection on the idea of asynchronous narrative fuzz, with more of a focus on performance, which is a common feature within our genre.


With the combination of the silent movie genre with the music genre, this provides an idea of postmodernism through the use of Intertextual references to work between the two texts.
• The post-modern effect has been created by blurring the boundaries between the two different texts.
• With this post-modern style, the narrative is asynchronous with there being a time lapse showing the male character singing and the character staring directly into the camera as a method of communicating directly with the audience.
• This involves utilising the first person mode of address to make it appear as if he was talking directly to the audience members.


This has been done by changing the colour of the narrative segments to black and white and making the video appear grainy to give the video the effect of appearing to be from another older era. The silent movie influence is only really evident when looking at the loose narrative of the video because the effects are only really used on the narrative section, with the black and white colouring giving the music video an idea of authenticity.


By using semiotics to analyse mise-en-scene we can see that:
• The use of the black shirts worn by the band and the red tie worn by the singer, the video conforms to the conventions of the genre as the costumes relate to similar bands within the same genre.
• These black shirts are symbolic of the idea of rebellion as it can indicate the idea of impending doom because it potentially goes against some of the typical beliefs in society.
• This is because it ignores the idea of optimism that many people in society appear to portray.
• The red tie provides the connotation of danger as it can be used to remind people of fire signals.
• It can be with the overlapping fire-effect shown in the video as it reiterates that there is something rather dark and demonic about the character.


The presence of microphones, guitars and a drum kit help to establish the genre and again conforms to conventions of the genre because:
• Almost all the bands in the genre show instruments in their videos.
• This is commonplace as it shows that the band is conforming to convention of the genre.
• With it having a performance part being on a stage, it conforms to the genre as the band are being shown off fully by the record label.
• This would ideally be portraying their ideas and also helping to identify exactly who wrote the track.




The shot of fire overlapping the girl’s face connotes the idea of danger and also amplifies the lyrics ‘burning on the inside’ with it also being illustrative at certain point in the song. With this, it connotes the idea of the femme fatale, meaning that she is dangerous but still has the dreamy and confused idea about her. This overlapping of fire is also used with a meatshot of the band, again as a portrayal of anger and danger.