In what ways does your media product use, develop and

challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Rose Newbury

Video

Forms and ConventionsBefore I started filming my video I had to decide what the overall structure would be which I created in my storyboard and the structure of my video is that it has a narrative which also includes a performance element from the band and this structure is one of the most conventional unlike concept or performance based. I decided to create my video with this structure because it being the most conventional more people are going to recognise the structure because it is familiar. Also having a narrative and performance element means that the video will be more interesting for the audience and therefore more people are going to relate to the storyline and are going to want to watch it which will then give the band a good image. The narrative element of the video is also conventionally targeted at a teenage audience which currently most videos are because the main audience for the music industry is 1-25 year olds and by targeting this audience means that the video and song will become popular. The editing of the video is also conventionally created to fit with the genre of music and the song itself like shots put in time with the music and I have used short cuts and transitions to make the video fast pace like the song which can be seen in other videos of this rock genre such as the Paramore video Misery Business which is a video I took inspiration from among others I analysed for my research.

Developed In some videos that have a narrative and performance aspect they have conventionally the band being involved in the story and in the performance scenes like in the singers Kelly Clarkson’s videos but in my video I have separate characters in the narrative aspect of my video to the performance aspect. I have done this because I thought it would be more interesting for the video to have the separate aspects. I got the idea from the Paramore video Misery Business and I thought I would develop my own idea from this video because I found it to be effective and interesting.

Challenged The main element of my video that was challenged was the fact that the girls boyfriend is never shown in the video because his character is always seen through the camera as POV(point of view) so it is in the first person view which is the same as in my storyboard. I used this camera element in my video because I thought it was an interesting idea that hasn’t been done very much in other real media products and that it offered interesting angles for the viewers. It also meant that my target audience could project their own character and experience with a person into the video which would them make the video relate to other audiences.

Digi -Pack

The first stage of creating my digi-pack was to research other digi-packs on the market that could help me develop typical conventions from other digi-packs to place on my own. I chose various digi-packs and CDs to gain inspiration and to base my digi-pack on, they were various Muse Albums. For my digi-pack, which when created was different from my designs, I chose to include several forms and conventions which are as follows:

Song List- As seen on my digi-pack I included the albums song list on the back panel becausefrom my research and the other digi-packs it shows that they include the song list on the backwhich is the conventional place for the songs to be placed which means customer will no whereto find them when the pick up the pack.

Band and album name- Also included on my digi-pack is the band name and album nameas seen placed on the cover panel of the pack which are conventionally shown on all of thedigi-packs/CDs that I researched and I decided to placed mine here because it is where the aremost ,likely going to look for both names so they know who the band are when wanting to buy their music. Also the band name is located on the back cover of the digi-pack which is also aconventionally shown on other real media products which is why I placed it again here on mydigi-pack.Record Label- On the spine and back cover of my digi-pack I have also included the bandsrecord label which is conventional seen on other media products and is also placed where Ihave placed mine. To have this placed on the digi-pack means that not only do the bandreceive publicity but so does the record label if not well known.

Website – I have also added the band’s website onto the digi-pack which is seen on the spineand on the back panel , I have placed it in these places because it is where they areconventional placed on other real media products. This is also another form of publicity for theband because it means that a fan can visit their website and learn more about the band itselfand could for example buy other media products of theirs or gain information about tour dates.

Use of Conventions

Developed Forms and Conventions

Some elements of my digi-pack are also developed ideas and inspirations from other real media products and are as follows:

Lyrics

As seen on the other panels of the digi-pack I have placed lyrics fromthe song I used in my video and can be heard in the chorus and the first line of the song ‘Cast off my shackles break the chains’ I thought these lyricswould be best to be placed on the digi-pack because they best fit with all theproducts and the overall tone. Most digi packs have the lyrics included eitherin the booklets or maybe a line on a panel that relates to the whole album. Iwanted to place the lyrics on these panels because I thought it would be andinteresting idea to work with and turned out to look effective with the overalldigi-pack.

Challenged Forms and Conventions

A form and convention that was challenged for the digi-pack was that all of the 6 panels are based on the one song which is he name of the album where you can see the lyrics placed on the panels and the imagery all based on ‘Rise Up’ whereas on other digi-packs they base their digi-packs on the band themselves, other songs on the album or on the album as a whole. I decided to carry out my idea of basing the digi-pack on the song because it is a good selling image for the band and because the name of the album is ‘Rise Up’ and means I could relate the digi-pack to the song. I also thought that this idea would be effective because the name ‘Rise Up’ has many connotations that I could work with which means I could create different aspects of the word and create dynamic images which relate to the video like by including stills from the video.

Advert Poster

To create my poster I have used ideas and inspiration from a band called the ‘Muse’ and their album ‘Resistance’ which is shown below I chose this band because they are currently a popular band with the same genre of music as my band .

When creating my poster I started with placing the title on the page which is a traditional convention that can be seen on other posters and on my designs to ensure the viewer know what is being advertised and on my poster I have placed the name of the band at the top of the page which is ‘Poor Picasso’ and have ensured that this mast heading is big and bold so that it stands out to the viewers and would help draw attention. I have made the mast head stand out to the viewers by having the background white and having the heading a dark colour to make the two contrasts with each other and stand out on the page which is also done on the Muse poster where they have used a dark blue and a light grey background, which is the conventional way of having the band name on the cover and this is different from my designs because I thought this idea looked more effective.

Also on my poster I have placed the name of the album from the band I have used which is also the song I have chosen for my music video and like on most song adverts as shown below on this ‘Muse’ poster with their album name ‘The Resistance’ and also like this poster I have placed the album name at the bottom of the page because this is conventionally where they are placed and where the audience are going to see it. To create the stain glass effect as seen on the background of my poster I have used idea from the muse poster which is also shown as a stain glass effect and on this protect they have used various bright colours whereas on the poster that I have created I have used the same type of colours but I have used duller colours that have been inspired by Pablo Picasso’s famous painting periods.

Forms and Conventions

Continued......The other conventions that my poster holds are that I have included the bands website at he bottom of the page which is typically seen on band advertisements in magazines where they have shown their website so that new and existing fans can visit their website for more information about the band and this is another form of advertisement for the album and group.

Available on ITunes- As seen on my poster I have included the ‘available on iTunes’ text which from research of other related media products this was another conventional element that I thought I would add to make my poster look more professional and because currently music is being downloaded more than bought in a tangible form which means having this on the poster is also promoting the downloadable version of the song as well as the digi-pack.

The label of the band can also be seen on the bottom of the poster which was an idea that I developed from most of the real dig-packs and concert posters I researched like the ‘Florence and the Machine’ advert below and on them you can see they have placed the label of the band so that it is shown who the band are currently signed with.

Challenged forms and Conventions

The main challenged convention in my poster is that it is slightly different from the cover of my digi-pack . On most adverts that are shown in magazines show the CD cover or are the same as the cover but mine is slightly different which is shown by the background design of the stain glass effect which on the poster are all white whereas on the cover they are filled in with the different house colours. I have one this because I thought with the blank background of the advert it made the other elements of the poster stand out more which is needed for an advert but because there is only a slight difference the target audience will still recognise the cover as ‘Poor Picasso’ but it will be more interesting.

Poster Advert Digi-pack Cover