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

My Music Video had to follow a series of conventions in order to be seen and recognised as an ordinary Music Video. Music Video theorist, Andrew Goodwin, states that one convention of Music Videos is the fact that the visuals and lyrics relate to the song, and my research also stated that the tempo of the song usually reflects the tempo of the visuals, for example the cuts, and lyrics, of which I included in my Music Video. I contained this convention in my Music Magazine, in cases where lyrics flash in time with the lyrics, when there are quick cuts, especially towards the end of my video, which are in time with the fast tempo, and also where the song changes from the bridges and the chorus, I have changed the visuals to make it more understandable. A Music Video typically contains the artist in the video some way or another, whether they are playing the lead role, or maybe the narrator, either way it is unusual for the video not to contain the particular artist. I used this convention in my Music Video, as I included my artist in the video. Record companies normally request various close-ups so that the audience get to know the artist. From carrying out research prior to the task, I learned that Music Videos will usually relate to the lyrics in order to help tell the story of the song.

Artists can also use their Music Videos in order to display their characteristics, and what they are into. Also, researching Music Videos taught me that even if the song being used isn’t that great, the Music Video can make the song. I used this research to my advantage when making my Music Video, as I put footage in places where I felt that my actor’s actions or expressions suited best, as well as where the lyrics were in sync with the miming. Another convention of Music Videos, is the fact that they use a wide range of camera angles in order to benefit the music video. For example, close-ups are normally used during dramatic scenes, to express their emotions and facial expressions, however long shots are to set the scene and show the background, and mid-shots are used to show the artist and context. My song is very emotive, so I used a wide range of close-ups and some extreme close-ups, in order to show the facial expressions of my actor.

I used mid-shots in order to show the artist in more depth, for example she was wearing a Jesus band which shows she is religious. The audience learn a lot about the artist when mid-shots enable costumes and accessories to be seen. Due to new technologies in recent generations, green screen is now available for Music Videos, which enables a background to be edited, I planned on using a green screen but when I looked back at the footage, I realised that as I had included corners and various shots where she is leaning on the wall, the whole video would benefit greatly from me just changing the shots that I planned to use for green screen, to black and white and adding the effect “Levels” to enhance the brightness and contrast.

I decided to use black and white in order to express her being depressed and the video being colourless almost represents my actor as being emotionless, due to all of the pain she has gone through, due to blacks and greys being dull, and almost depressing colours. I contained lyrics in my Music Video, which were all typed up in formal English, no slang used, which is used to represent Becky being a posh, well educated teenager. The shots I filmed outside, were mainly when the relationship was on track, I chose to film these outside, so that there was hi-key lighting, which represents everything being out in the open, there being no secrets and white signifies innocence, which was the colour of the clouds behind them in various shots. For the shots of Beckie, I chose to make them black and white in order to emphasise her breakdown as a character, for example the shots of her on her own are all shot indoors, and I used “Levels” as well as “Black and White” in order to portray her depression. Black and grey are seen to be depressing and lifeless colours, black is worn for very sad occasions, such as at funerals, therefore she is displaying this type of emotion. I used the “Reel 8mm Film” in After Effects in order to differentiate the two types of shots regarding the relationship shots. When the relationship is going good, the reel effect is used which gives the feel that she is reminiscing on the good times and almost gives the feeling that she wishes these moments would last. However, when things are going bad between the couple, there is no reel effect, which shows that this is how things are now and they’re not good memories to hold on to.

The digipak I have created uses, develops and challenges forms and conventions of real media products. There are conventions of digipaks which must be considered and taken in to account in the making of my digipak. The digipak covers which I analysed all contained large central images of the artists face taking up the whole of, if not, nearly all of the digipak. Their make-up is bold and vibrant, and they usually represent the artist’s personalities.

The central image I used for my front digipak is a view of her with her back faced against the camera and her turning around. Her face and shoulders take up a wide range of the digipak. Beckie is wearing a fur jacket and an antique look ring, which shows off her unique style. Also, I changed the colour of everything to black and white except from the lips, which I used a lasso tool for. The black and white theme shows the depressing mood she is in, however the red lips show that she is unique and lady like. I have used the convention of using close-ups for the front digipak due to the fact she is perceived as an emotive character, therefore the black and white colour scheme was effective at showing her colourless and emotionless self.

The back page of the digipak is black and white and ties in with the colour scheme of black, white, grey and red. The back page of a digipak normally has a track listing. On the back of my digipak I included track listings, a website where they could refer to the artist’s music and a barcode for when it is sold in the shops. My back digipak is quite plain which enables the tracks to be easily viewed.

My thank you page contains a close-up of Beckie, however my inside pages challenge conventions because it is more than likely that there will be a page with no pictures on, however, I blended the picture into the back ground using the opacity tool, which allowed me to be able to place both text and a picture on the page. I deleted text from the photo layer which meant that there were imprints of words taken out of the picture, all of the words are emotive and relate to her feelings, which again displays that she is an emotive artist.

My institutional page differs from a normal institutional page, as all of the text is around Beckie’s head, whereas normally, digipaks contain straight lines and columns of text. Also, the publishing and editing company’s logo is in the centre of the page, but with an opacity of 16% which means it is visible but nearly see through, which enables me to be able to view my digipak effortlessly but also still recognise the logo. This is another example of me challenging the norms due to the fact that the logo would normally be in small text, or portrayed in a more traditional way.

My Magazine advertisement contains various conventions of a stereotypical magazine advertisement. For example, Andrew Goodwin’s theory can be applied as he states that the record label will want close photographs of the artist, and my magazine advertisement contains a picture of Beckie which takes up half of the page. Also, the fact that the advertisement contains the front cover of the digipak which also relates to Goodwin’s theory of record companies seeking the need for the close-up photographs in order for the audience to have an understanding of the artist’s character. The magazine advertisement itself contains a picture of Beckie smiling, and is a photograph of her with colour, which shows a side to her that the audience may not see when buying the CD, as the album is very emotive and they may see her as a depressing figure. This could be due to the dull colours used, and the fact she has a straight face in the photograph used on the front cover of the digipak. Magazine Advertisements are normally supposed to contain straight text; however I rotated my text slightly where I contained quotes from Music Magazines, in order for the readers to understand that this writing contains a different context than the other writing, which is just information about the album. The image used for the magazine advertisement engages the audience as she is happy, smiling and looks friendly, which is inviting for the audience, they will want to know more about her. This is a specific technique that magazines use in order to catch the audience’s attention. My magazine advert contains institutional and extra additional information at the bottom of the screen, which is what a normal magazine advertisement would more than likely contain. Also, I have used a linear tool to create a line that separates the whole music magazine from the institutional information in order to clearly set out the page.