1.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Joan Lynch and Jon Gow

Joan Lynch identified three main basic structures for music
videos. They were, performance, narrative and concept music
videos. Mine fits under the narrative structure as it has no
performance within it and just portrays a story all the way
through it. This then brings me on to Jon Gow, he identifies
six genres of music video. Mine fits under the antiperformance piece, this means the video doesnt contain any
performance of the song. (In other words, there is no dancing
or lip-synching involved the music video.)

Andrew Goodwin
Andrew Goodwin came up with some typical codes
and conventions that are shared by many music
videos. My music video covers the idea that there is a
relationship between the lyrics and the visuals and
the music and the visuals of the music video. This is
because my story follows exactly what the lyrics are
saying. In terms of the music and the visuals I have
matched my shots to the beat of the music. For
example they change to a different shot on any
obvious beat of the music.

Section 1 Used and challenged

generic conventions in my music video
First of all my target audience was
16 25 year olds; because of this my
genre was romance as I felt they
could connect with this more due to
the age they are at. To create this I
used some generic conventions and
some of them not so conventional.
For example for lighting I found that
in some music videos they edit the
light to look hazy. (I found this when
I researched Waves by Mr Probz.)
As you can see in the image above I did achieve this look in some of the shots but I didnt want
to edit the light in post-production so I used all natural light. This hazy look was achieved by
pointing the camera in the direction of the sun. By using natural lighting I felt it made it feel
more real and that meant the audience could relate to it more.

Location and Props

My main location was a park, I used this as it is
peaceful and quiet meaning there was no
interruptions and the audience could just focus on
and connect with the two main actors. Its also
just an everyday place where people can go
meaning they can also connect with this through
there own experiences. (David Buckingham,
researcher)
The only props I used was at the end where the
main actor is carrying chocolates and flowers.
This is a very generic and universal sign for when
someone really wants to make up with someone
else. Again many people would have experiences
of a boyfriend buying them chocolates and
flowers to make up with them, which is why it is
a generic convention of the genre, romance.

Costume
The costume used is very generic to there
age group, (18 years old), there age is also
why I choose them as they fit perfectly with
the target market (16-25 year olds) which
means the audience will be able to relate to it
more . Also this represents the genre of
romance as no person in those types of music
videos wears wacky costumes, also seeming
as it is a narrative music video it creates
verisimilitude; this is because it makes it
seem real, meaning the audience can identify
with it as this is real life to them.

I decided to make the second guys costume a

lot scruffier I wanted to make him look less
attractive than the primary boyfriend. This
goes along with the generic structure of the
genre of romance as the second boy is always
not up to scratch and this implies she may go
back to her original boyfriend.

Titles and use of colour

I used font for the title that looked like hand
writing. In a way this is a convention because
when you play it, it also writes its self across
the screen. I feel like this makes it look
personal and like someone is writing this for
you much like a love letter. But when the
credits come at the end I have used normal
standard font as I wanted to make it look
more like a short film in a way and make it
look professional.
In the genre of romance the lighting is
generally soft and bright which is what I have
tried to capture through the use of sun flares
and I didnt alter any of the colours at all,
they are natural which definitely develops
the sense of verisimilitude so that they can
easily connect with it.

Narrative Structure
My narrative structure is very straight forward and
conventional. The story of the couple goes directly
in order because I used continuity editing
throughout the video. I didnt feel that using
flashbacks would be relevant as nothing is referring
to the past. In a way though I could of used
flashbacks to show she is still thinking of him but I
wanted it to be unclear about whether they will get
back together or not. To go with the flashbacks I
could of used a fragmented narrative which would
mean the audience would be even more confused
about what is happening until the very end. A lot of
romantic music videos use this as they tend to start
from the end of the story and gradually build in
what happened in the past and it also jumps around
a lot to different people which is why it doesnt
come together till the very end. (Two music videos
like this, which I analysed when planning the music
video, are maps by Maroon 5 and Waves by Mr
probz, they both have fragmented narratives and
flashbacks included throughout.)

Narrative Structure Continued

But I did use the convention of compressing time
and space. This is very common and conventional
amongst music videos with a narrative structure.
This is because it allows for a whole story that may
be over days or weeks to be compressed in to 4
minutes for example. I have done this several times
within my music video. For example after the
girlfriend storms of, the story jumps to her at her
house which cuts out about half a day, also when
the boyfriend sees his girlfriend with another guy it
cuts another chunk of the day out. But the main
one is when it jumps a couple of days and he comes
to the house with flowers and chocolate to try and
get his girlfriend back. Following on from this I have
also used a closed ending meaning the audience
know how the story has ended and there is no cliffhangers at the end. This would of made it really
emotional and the story would of had to be told in
a lot more depth, which is what I wanted avoid.
Most people just want a simple love story like in the
movies so I didnt want to go overboard with the
storyline and potentially anger or upset people
because they dont know what the ending is or they
dont understand it all together.

Representation
I have one main contemporary issue
represented throughout my music video. This
is the issue of an unstable relationship. This is
a common issue among young people in our
society today which is why it is relevant to my
target audience (16-25 year olds). I have used
quiet a few close ups in the music video which
emphasises this more as you can see the
emotions in the actors faces; by showing this
the audience will connect with the character
and there for the music video as this will
remind them of their own experiences with
any unstable relationships they have
experienced themselves. I have also used the
slow motion effect when the boyfriend walks
away from the girls house. This represents the
struggle he is going through and the slow
motion effect reinforces this to the audience
as it gives them a chance to think about how
he is feeling and then apply it again to their
own experiences.

Codes and Conventions of the Digipak

Integration of text/images
On every tab I have used has an image on it that
corresponds to the music video which were taken
after it was shot or whilst on set as taking stills
from the music video would have lowered the
quality of the images and I wanted to take some,
such as the bench image behind this block of text,
this implied they are to do with the music video
but where easily linked to it as well so that people
where not guessing why those images where
included in the digipak. This is a typical convention
of a digipak, for example, the katy perry digipak
album I analysed did exactly the same thing by
putting cakes and sweets in it which corresponded
with the main song of the music video. The text in
my digipak also matches the normal codes and
conventions of a digipak as I have left it to a
minimum. The text I have used is a list of songs on
the back of the digipak, a letter from the artist and
of course the name of the artist and album on the
front cover and on all of the spins of the digipak.

Fonts and use of colour

I have used fairly modern text within my
Digipak as the font is sans-Serif meaning
that at the end of each letter there isnt a
line coming of it just like this font here.
This is a typical convention of pop music
as it is very modern and generally appeals
to a young target audience such as mine
because the font looks modern and bold
instead of sweat and pretty which young
people are not interested in as much. An
example of a pop digipak, which uses
Sans-Serif is Katy Perrys Teenage
Dream. Digipaks also generally have a
colour theme which runs all the way
through it. For example in Rihannas
Loud digipak the colour theme is pink.
The convention applies to mine as well
has even though all the images are of
different things they all have the bright,
sunny hazy effect to them.

Conventions of each panel

On this panel I have put a letter from the artist. This is a generic convention of
most digipaks as they are only generally bought by the dedicated fans so
they want to put something personal on there to feel like they are being
talked to directly by the artist. This is exactly why I did it as it makes the fans
more likely to buy it as well. I also added another personal touch at the end
with the artists signature so that it actually feels like they wrote it
themselves.
The front cover of the digipak I feel fits the codes and conventions very well.
This is because generically there is a big image covering the whole of the
front or at least some kind of graphic design and then they normally just
have the name of the album and the name of the artist on the front cover,
(one at the top and one at the bottom).

Continued
Sometimes in a digipak the panel that holds the CD will have an
image behind the plastic and sometimes it will not. In this case
I went with putting an image behind the CD (even though it is
not a main convention) as then the owner, of the digipak, will
still have something interesting to look at even though they
are listening to the CD.

The Back cover I feel is very conventional as well. This is because

I have written the word song at the top in big bold letters
that explains the words listed below are of the songs included
within this digipak. Other conventions I have included is the
barcode at the bottom with the price along the top of it with
the artists website and the record labels logo along with the
copyright logo and information at the bottom of the panel.

Continued
In every digipak there is always a couple (or at least one panel) with
just a picture on it. These images are always relevant to the main
song and music video, in most cases. This is why I took these
images as I didnt want all of them to be of the actors, I took the
shots after we had finished filming without anybody in them but
they still represent the music video and song as they are both of
key scenes from the music video. In a way this will make it seem
more personal to the owner of the dipgipak as first of all, it will
reinforce in there heads that the story is real in the music video
and also they may feel like these images of the location where it is
filmed is unique to them and that not many people will have
access to them.
On every spine (inside and out) I have also included the name of the
artist and the title of the album. This means that when displayed
in a shop and has been put on its side people can still identify it
and spot it easily; what also helps with this is the hearts used and
the white background I put behind the text and hearts.

Conventions of the music

magazine advertisement
I feel like my magazine advert fits all the codes and conventions
and doesnt really stray far from them. First is, most magazine
adverts have a big image right across the page which is usually
of the artist/band or something the audience can identify them
with for example a logo. I have used the two actors from the
music video as the audience will be able to identify with them
as normally the main single will be released before the album
and therefore the music video as well, so they will already
associate them with Chaz Robinson and Love will come back
again as it is the name of the main song but the album as well.
Another convention I have stuck with is putting all the details
at the bottom of the page. Both magazine adverts I analysed do
this, (Jessie J and you me at six), this is because if you put it all
at the top or right across the page you will not see the image
and the advertisement may not stick in the readers mind. With
this it directs the readers eyes down the page and then they
see the information meaning they have time to take everything
in meaning it is more likely to stick into their brain as well.

Continued
In the adverts I analysed I also found they put the name of
the artist in big letters and the name of the album in small
letters underneath the name, I decided to do this as well
because in a way you want them to remember the artist
more than the album as they are more likely to buy there
past or future songs, in this case it would be future
songs/albums. They both also put the main information,
(debut album and out 30th Feb), in bold. I decided to put
them in a different colour as well as it will make the dates
stick into the audiences brains more, making them more
likely to remember them as well. This is also incredibly
important as this is his first album so he isnt well known at
the moment. Last of all in small print at the bottom I put the
copy right information, the artists website and iTunes
website so that the reader will know where the album will
be released, who the record label is and where you can find
more information about the artist, Chaz Robinson.