Question 1

Vicky Stacey

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

(Video)• Credits and fonts • Match on action• Fading• Ladies man• Performance• Two couples

Credits/fonts Our use of credits use conventions of other media products as in many videos produced (such as Jason Derulo ft. 2 Chains “Talk Dirty To Me”) credits are used on bold colours to introduce ideas and artists to the audience. This is why we used the bright red colour which introduces the main artist and song title.If I were to improve our use of credits, I would suggest that we

use them for media convergence like in Thickes’ video “Blurred Lines” where credits cover the screen with hashtags to be used on Twitter. This encourages audience participation and feedback in social media, which can create viral advertisement.

Match on action

In our video, we used match on action shots, which uses a music video convention of creating a narrative. The match on action shot keeps the story easy to follow and naturalistic.

If I were to film these shots again, for specifically the shots above, I would make sure the lighting is constant as you can clearly see a change in colour between the shots. Although not clear in the video, the lighting being constant would give a more professional look.

Fading

This shot shows one of the numerous fades we used. I think this develops the convention of creating a narrative as it goes one step further than just the match on action shots keeping the action flowing. The fade represents time passing and links two shots directly to each other. We also used fades to end a chapter to move onto the next part of the narrative (when introducing the second couple) this looks a lot more proffessional than just a blunt cut.

Ladies manI believe we challenge some media conventions with our star persona, yet at the same time use some. We challenge the stereotypical “lady killer” male representation which is seen in many RNB videos. Usually, male rapper stars are seen in fast cars, with sexualised girls flaunting their assets around him/them and

expensive clothes and accessories. Our star is a romantic male who is seen on many occasions giving off displays of public affection. We did this because it attracts a large female audience as it appeals to their romantic nature.We also use the ladies man stereotype in our video by making him seem desirable, although not by the usual sexualisation, but through characterisation.

Performance

We used the convention of having our artist performing. This convention is seen in nearly 100% of RNB songs and many other genres of music at the same time. It allows the artist to speak directly to the audience, making them feel a personal connection with their favourite star. As well as this, it allows them to display their talent, justifying their fame.

Two couples

Originally planning to only have one, we had to adapt our piece quickly to have two couples featured. This challenges many RNB video’s conventions as most feature one narrative of one couple. Although it wasn’t planned, I feel that the use of two couples strengthens our piece and makes it more interesting and diverse to watch.

I don’t think I would go back and convert the piece back to only one couple. Although, I would direct the first couple to appear to be more openly in a relationship as in our feed back we were told that the second seemed more natural.

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

(Digipack)

• Text (front pane)• Text (back pane)• Youtube, Facebook and Twitter• Close up

Text (front pane)

Our front pane of our digipack uses conventions of this media type as it clearly introduces the artist’s name in the centre. The large text is slanted and reminds the audience of the star trek credits. The image relates to the name of the song and the white text contrasts nicely against the back ground.

Text (back pane)

It is conventional to have star ratings and quotes on the back of the digipack along with record label, QR code and barcode. We used a range of reliable sources (NME, The daily mail and The sun) to encourage the audiences purchase and maximise sales. The QR code introduces media convergence and enables the audience to gain further knowledge of the product online. This technique is commonly used in advertisement all around the world to encourage viral marketing.

Youtube, Facebook and Twitter

We use the convention of social media convergence on media products as it opens up an amazing amount of viral marketing and word of mouth advertisement. In the online age, the audience are expected to understand and know what the above symbols are, therefore they are likely to look up on Youtube, Facebook and Twitter for further information on the product. For example, some products have behind the scene footage released after the original release.

Close up

We challenged conventions of digipack’s by having a close up image of a character other than the star. We did this so that the narrative of the video is reflected in other media product's, which is crucial to make the audience remember and related the products.

If we had further time on the digipack, we would have added shots in of the second couple and it is confusing to the audience as to why they do not feature but scenes of nature do.

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

(Magazine)

• Artist• Relating• Out now• Media convergence• Eye contact

Artist

We had the artist feature in our piece which is a large convention of a magazine advert which is promoting a single or album they have produced. It is important to have a fluent character or recognisable icon for the audience; who better that the star themself?

Relating

The relation between all media products is definitely important to keep the audience recognising the products. We used this convention by keeping fluent use of the same fonts in the digipack and magazine.

We also used a Picture featured in the digipack, which keeps the audience remembering and recognising the characters.

Out now

We used a convention of creating excitement and limitability about our product. This is created by the “out now” sticker on the bottom left of our product, creating excitement for the audience when they realise they are now officially able to access the product. As well as this, it makes them feel rushed as the product being released creates a desire to want the product before everyone else.

Media convergence

Here, we have used text to introduce the audience to further online interaction and information online. This is a growing convention as we go further into the online age. We used the same white writing as the other media products so that they are fluent.

We used the most recognisable and popular (at this point in time) social networks ‘Twitter’ and ‘Facebook’ due to the fact that millions of users directly interact with them at least once a day. Our audience would be able to do this as a great percentage of the whole population have internet on their phone, as well as being able to access mobile apps.

Eye contact

We used eye contact in this shot so that the audience develop a relationship towards one of the girls featuring in the video. The relationship developed also helps the audience to relate to the story, as the eyes show her happiness of the boy holding her. The eyes facing the audience also emphasise the artist’s star being focused on her, developing his poersona to be sweet and romantic. All media products have the convention of developing and presenting a certain idea or representation of their star, therefore this makes this shot conventional.