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 anti-performance 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

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.

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
The
only props
I usedBuckingham,
was at the end
experiences.
(David
where
the main actor is carrying
researcher)
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

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

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 cliff-hangers 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

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

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

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

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

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

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