Question 1In what ways does your media product use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

When carrying out my research into existing media, I made sure that I payed attention to the typical conventions that are found in Pop music videos. Some of the things that I noticed were:

• There is mixture between narrative and performance• Lip syncing is nearly always used and there is editing on the beat• Female artists have glamorous hair, costume and makeup• There are a variety of different shots used of the artist• There are usually two or more locations in which the video is shot

I also did the same when carrying out my research into ancillary’s such as the artist’s digipaks and posters. Some of the things that I noticed were:

• Digipaks are likely to have a picture of the artist on the front• There is a tidy theme using the same colour scheme and fonts throughout• On the front cover of the digipak, the only text include is usually the artist‘s name

and album title, and on the back cover, there is the track listing and a disclaimer with the record company’s logo included

• Posters contain an image of the artist, their album title and the date it is released• Posters also contain quotes from known music critics and Facebook/Twitter

information for the artist

When making my media products, all of these conventions were either used, developed or challenged.

Using the conventionsIn the making of my music video, digipak and poster, I used many of the conventions that I had found when researching existing media.

My music video contains a large amount of lip syncing the whole way through, which is a typical convention of music videos. I made sure that I took a lot of time into getting the lip syncing exact as I wanted to make my music video look as professional and realistic as possible. I also made sure that I used editing on the beat, so that the visual and audio matched. I noticed that in Pop music videos with solo female artists, the artists usually have perfect makeup and hair, and therefore I spent a lot of time on my artist’s appearance. I collected inspiration from the existing media that I had researched to create my artist’s look. As one typical convention of a music video is that it is shot in more than one location, I made sure that I also did this. I shot the video in front of both a white and purple wall, outside and also in water. The fact that I shot the whole song four times in these four different locations enabled me to create a fast editing pace because I had a large variety of shots to work with and was able to quickly cut between them, which matches well with the upbeat pace of the song.

I used many typical conventions in my digipak. The front cover contains an image of the artist, looking dressed up and presentable, which is a typical convention of digipaks within the Pop music genre. The only text on the front cover is ‘Belle’, which is the artists name, and ‘Swim’, which is the album title, which is typically the only

Using the conventionstext that you see on the front of digipaks. I also included a floral print on the fold in between the front and back cover of the digipak as I feel it matches well with the artist’s girly-like image. I matched this floral print on the fold with album name text ‘Swim’ by filling the text with the print, which shows there is a clear theme and colour scheme to the digipak. On the back of my digipak, I have included another photo of the artist, however only half of her face is shown, which makes her red lip colour stand out. I did this because it goes with the colour scheme, keeping it looking tidy and professional. I have included a track listing, a disclaimer, containing copyright information, and the record company logo, three things which are always included on the back cover of the digipak. I chose to include ‘Island Records’ record company logo, as I believe it suits my artist well, as this record company has been based in the UK for many years and signs artists of the same genre of the song used in my music video. On the inside of the digipak, I have made sure that I have kept consistent with the theme and colour scheme, by including a photo of the artist in a red outfit, also with red lips. I have included the same floral print on the fold on the inside of the digipak, and have also included a rose print behind the CD case. All of these things contribute to the consistency of the theme of the digipak, making it look tidy and professional.

I have also used typical conventions on my advertisement poster for the album. When making my poster, I had in mind that it was going to be a magazine advert and would

Using the conventionstherefore be A4 sized. I have included a large image of the artist, and the text that I included was the artist’s name, ‘Belle’, the name of the album, ‘Swim’ and ‘new album out now’, which makes it clear to the readers that it is an advertisement for a music album. Another typical convention that I used on the poster is the fact that I included the artist’s Facebook and Twitter addresses, in order to connect more with the readers. I have included both Facebooks’ and Twitters’ logos, as they are easily recognised by the audience which is why it is a typical convention of album adverts. I also included ‘Island Records’ logo, which also appears on my digipak, to show what record company the artist is signed to and to create a link between the poster and the digipak. I also developed the typical conventions of a poster by editing the image of my artist in a way which would stand out from other posters, by mirroring the image so that there is two images of the artist reflecting off of each other. This technique is not regularly seen on posters, however it does work well and looks professional. This mirrored image can be seen below on the final product.

Challenging the conventionsAlthough I used a lot of the conventions that are typically found in music videos, digipaks and posters, I also challenged some as well.

A typical convention of a music video is that there is usually narrative involved as well as performance, however, I chose to only include performance. This is because the only person that I wanted to star in my music video was the artist herself, and I felt that I could not think of a strong enough narrative that she could act out alone that would link to the lyrics. Instead of having a narrative link to the lyrics, I had an element of the performance link to them instead; as the song is titled ‘Swim’, I decided to place the artist in water and shoot her lip syncing from above. This technique worked really well and successfully created a link between the visual and audio, even though no narrative was involved.

I also challenged some typical conventions on my poster, as usually you would see quotes or ratings from known musical critics or titles of the artist’s most popular songs from their album on posters advertising albums, however, I chose not to do this because I feel as if it would have made the poster too crowded and untidy, because the image of the artist stands out so much and if I had added more text, then it would take some of the attention off of the image, which I did not want to do. Although I did not include these typical conventions, I still feel that the text that I have included on my poster is sufficient, and gives it a tidy and professional look as it is not crowded.