Evaluation Q1

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

For my products I have used conventions from real media products rather than to develop or challenge them as my products were quite simple, and I feel that it is harder to develop or challenge forms and conventions due to the fact that to do this I would need  I researched the indie-pop genre and found out as much information as possible about the genre. I also looked individually at both indie and pop genres, this was to see the difference between the two and to make sure that I didn't have too much of one genre. For the three media products I have researched into existing products and then picked out things that I like, I then went about creating them for myself.

When looking at the digipaks and adverts I wanted to create something quite simple and not too full of information, but I wanted to do this using my editing skills rather than of images. I looked at existing covers for example The XX use very simple covers, and consist of edited images rather than pictures taken of the band, which is a popular convention used within indie-pop CD covers and adverts, which make it quite appealing. A lot of indie/indie-pop digipaks are quite simple, they stick to neutral background colours that don't make it stand out too much and they consist of a centre image that is usually linked to the name of the album. As I wanted to follow these conventions I created a digipak that was similar with a neutral background and a centre image that linked to the title of the album. For my advert I again looked at existing products an bits that I would be able to use for my advert. I found that a lot of adverts used the image of the CD on the advert, so I started by putting this image onto the same background that I had used for the digipak, I then added the band and album name to the advert and also the release date. After looking further into some more adverts across all genres I picked out pieces that I liked, for example the information about the album, I got this from Kings Of Leon's album advert 'Only By The Night'. I used this idea and put my own information onto the advert, the same concept is used on several other adverts such as Florence & The Machine 'Lungs' and Jessie J 'Who You Are'.

My music video also follows the conventions of real media products, I have looked at existing products to get a good idea of what conventions are used in indie-pop music videos. I researched into many different music videos of all genres, mainly indie-pop videos so that I could get a good understanding of what conventions are used within the product. It is extremely hard to develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products, so I did research into existing products so that I could get a good understanding of the conventions used in the videos.

One of the key conventions of an indie-pop music video is the use of a narrative alongside the performance of the artist, normally linking to the lyrics of the song, but doesn't always have to.

Another convention is the use of mise-en-scene to show the setting of the video (usually abstract, natural settings) with the artist showing through the use of setting that it is a fictional idea and is the narrative part of the video.

These videos also use camerawork to show a heavy focus on the artist and their performance, rather than the narrative that doesn't include them, which is a feature used in a lot of other genres, such as alternative rock.

Another convention that is used a lot in indie-pop music videos is the use of a mixture of close-ups and long shots. These are used to keep the video interesting and at a fast pace. The use of different camera angles is also used in indie pop videos, again to keep the video more exciting.

Overall I feel that I have used the main forms and conventions for my music video and my ancillary tasks that are included in real indie-pop products. I think that sticking to these has made my products safe but still look good. Developing or challenging these conventions can be very hard to do especially when it is not a professional video, and attempting to do so can make it the products look quite poor, so I feel that using the forms and conventions has worked out well for me and I have created products that fit well with the genre of music.