Statement of Intent

For my products this year, I will complete a website and music video for a fictional band called Slumber of The Hilltop Banner. All creative choices will be made to appeal to a demographic of teenagers and young adults (13 - 25), specifically those who are fans of pop music, as well as appealing to a wider, mainstream audience as well. I have taken the time to research and analyse music videos and websites of popular bands, in the hopes of creating products that are true to life and authentic. 

My band, Slumber of The Hilltop Banner, is designed to appeal to pop fans through various methods. Most notably, features of my website and music video will align closely with the aesthetics of the pop genre, including: merchandise that is youthful and trendy, contemporary album art and a music video with a narrative that reflects the themes of the song. I have purposefully created the members of my fictional band in such a way that they would appeal to young pop fans, by including players of instruments that are popular in the pop industry (e.g. rhythm guitar, synth keys, drums). As well as this, I have been sure to include a goal for the fictional band, which is to bring young people together through the listening of pop music; this is a goal shared with a lot of pop music fans.

My music video was crafted to both fit the conventions of the pop-music-video. The narrative structure avoids all performance elements and allows the video to focus on the themes and messages of the song. In regards to the narrative, I took some inspiration from the aesthetics of abstract music videos, by placing the narrative in an abstract, dream-like setting. The story is ambiguous, but loosely follows a girl who is trapped in a reoccurring dream in which she finds a form of utopia, but is driven crazy by it. The locations I choose were meant to entice a sense of beauty and intrigue. A compelling narrative and intriguing visuals help to attract a larger, mainstream audience to the video as it has a wide appeal. The casting of a young female lead helps to attract a younger audience, who may be amble to sympathise with the protagonist.

My website was also made to attract a young audience. Emphasis on social media and fashion, both known interests of the younger generation, helps to gain the interest of this demographic. The website is colourful and attractive, featuring images and various interactive elements. These would be particularly appealing to a younger demographic (13 - 25). To further attract pop-music fans, there are various references to the pop-music industry, including a mention of the pop-music forum Popjustice and famous synth-pop band The Pet Shop Boys. I made sure to research and include elements from websites that were not focused on the "young pop fan" demographic, in order to appeal to a wider audience as well. For example, after researching and taking inspiration from the hard-rock band Metallica's website, I featured a colour scheme that could include different colours for each sub-section on each page, to make the website easy to navigate and consume for a wider audience.

In keeping with appealing to a wider audience, I wanted to ensure that representation within my band was as diverse as possible. I made sure to feature a relatively equal split of male and female members. As well as this, I aimed to make the backgrounds of the members as diverse as possible, with 2 members of the group being working-class (from a council estate in Gt. Yarmouth) and another member being upper-class (from Westminster). As for racial diversity, I felt that the band's origins in the East of England was a justified and realistic reason for their to be very little racial diversity within the band.