2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My media products (Music promotion video, Magazine
advertisement and Digipak) all use forms and
conventions that would be used in media products
already on the market. For example; my Music
promo video, the music that that I selected to
create this video for is of the alternative rock
genre,and, after researching into the topic (see
previous blogger posts for research and
conclusion) I found that there are several things
that appear in alternative music videos and I had
made note to include some of them into my own
work (where appropriate.)
Such as: In my research I came across a theme which
run across almost all of the real media products that I
had used. There was a prominent use of the colours
black and white in the videos, digipaks and magazine
adverts; the colours would be used in production
sections such as location for the video shooting, the
costumes of the people acting in front of camera, use of
text in the videos, digipaks and so on and in contrasts
between light and dark. While this may only be a theme
for the alternative/ rock genre of media I feel that it is
very key is it was consistently used in the majority of
examples I viewed and therefore I would consider it a
quite important convention for the genre and perhaps
the different medium separately.
3. So, I made sure that when I was planning my own
music video and ancillary tasks (all the way in pre-
production from initial idea and sketching possible
shots, photos and text) the ways in which I could
incorporate black and white into my pieces. When it
came to filming my media piece and taking
photographs for my other pieces I had planned
various ways in which the colours would be
included and these include a number of different
places during production (Costume, lighting and
location.) I think that this worked well, however, when I look back
over the video there isn't much white included in the
character's costumes, just black. I think that this is
balanced by the white from the light outside and that
For the costumes of the characters I made sure that contrast which is shown in various scenes of the video
they performed two things and I planned both – One, – however, if I were to do it again, this is something that
that they were realistic outfits that would actually be I would definitely consider and rectify.
worn by teenagers and so it wouldn't stand out or look
odd. And two, that they were dark enough that it would
work with the black and white theme (See Lucy's dress
and Luke's coats and jeans in the video) and so that it
suited the alternative rock genre of the music.
4. The black and white them is also carried on with my
lighting and locations. The lighting is mostly natural
sunlight, and because of the overcast weather the
sky was naturally white/ light grey which I had
planned for and helped greatly with my production
as it created a great natural light which I could use
easily and effectively during the majority of my
scenes (See the final two shots of the music video
for an example of the contrast and black and white
theme that I was aiming towards with my
production, creating chiarscuro in my work.)
Location was also good as the outdoor has the black of
the character's costumes against the natural light of the
day, and indoor scenes I could control the amount of
light with indoor lighting and the use of curtains and so
on, these all helped to give the whole video a sense of
the black and white theme which is demonstrated in my
research materials (See blog posts.) and therefore
follow at least one of the conventions I found.
5. I personally think that I have either developed or
challenged conventions in one particular scene of
the music video, in which the camera is used in a
P.O.V (Point Of View) shot for the Luke character.
Now, this is a type of shot which, from what I can
tell from my research, is something which is
generally avoided in music videos of any genre and
yet I feel it is effective in getting across the mood of
the music video more than another shot could have
done in that particular instance.
So I support my use of that shot as I think it works very
well in the rest of the video, also as it is just one shot on
its own I think that it captures the mood even more. If I
were to redo my music video I think that I would
perhaps try and develop more interesting shots that
aren't particularly “popular” in the media as sometimes
it can have some interesting results in terms of
cinematography.
6. I think another convention that I have followed very well
is that there is a mixture between narrative and the
band member(s) performing in the video. I had this
idea from the very beginning of pre-production and
planning, in my research I found a few examples of
this from a variety of different genres so I feel this
is key in the production of music video, regardless
of genre or sub-genre.
7. For my magazine advertisement I have both followed
and challenged conventions I feel. I followed the
typical conventions and codes used in the industry
by having a style very similar to the other parts of
the promotion package (digipak and music video.)
If you look at all of my products there is a clear
theme that I have followed through between all of
them, the theme I was aiming for to create
consistency was that contrast and a significantly
“dark” image.
I did this first by having a primary colour of black (fitting
into my previous theme of black and white to suit
alternative genres) and then having only fine details of
lighter colours to draw a contrast and so that the
various images didn't become dull to look at. The white
lines and text I think have a very interesting effect and
has a very different look to it than most other
advertisements, and yet, it still works well and I think
would work well if used.
8. My challenge of convention I feel is from my choice of
images for my Advertisement and Digipak. The
image of an artist's doll is very distinct and doesn't
have a direct link to the genre of music, the song or
the band. However, I think that the combined image
of the doll and the protest sign give a very dark and
“creepy” look to it which would link extremely well
with the style of my music video which which would
be considered dark, and would link well to the
genre of alternative rock.
Also, I think that the originality of the image would work
as a metaphor for my target audience who are, in
essence, separated from the mainstream in terms of
music taste, and would work well as a basis for
advertisement as it hasn't been used before as far as I
can tell (Though postmodernism would suggest
otherwise, and in fact there is at least one other use of
this on the market somewhere)
