A2 Media Studies evaluation question.

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

2. I feel my media products both use and challenge forms and
conventions of existing products in a number of ways. My music
video, digipak and album poster all have aspects which follow certain
conventions of existing ones which were successful, but they also
express their own conventions.

3. The music video is made entirely with stop-motion
photography, which, even though having seen use of it, I
don’t feel is commonly seen in music videos very often. This
in its own is convention that my video is breaking – that
music videos are shot with video footage. However, the shots
that I have used in my video I have researched from, learned
from and related to the different conventional camera shots
and techniques used in a lot of music videos today. For
example, shot-reverse-shots, wide-to-close-up shots, match-
on-action etc. have all been
carefully thought about and considered just as much as the
actual subject has. Being a photography student, I feel I have
been slightly more creative with the framing on some
shots, compared to what is commonly known and seen.
However, recently I have seen a lot of varying uses of framing
throughout music videos, and alternative music videos are
becoming more widely known and seen, so in terms of today’s
conventions I would say I have developed them in this aspect.

4. My print advert, the album poster, uses a lot of conventions normally
seen on successful posters. For example, I have included a release
date, the band’s name, the album’s name, the record label etc. But apart
from the basic things that should be seen, I have also included things like
a QR code, icons for social media sites and a limited edition online offer.
All of these things wouldn’t have been commonly seen on album posters
say a decade ago, so in traditional senses I have developed the
conventions. However, in the rise in significance of the internet in
modern times, online social media and digital music download sites have
become very widely used outlets, as opposed to the traditional hard
copies of albums. So in terms that are contemporary, my poster doesn’t
really challenge or develop conventions, but really just follows them. It
would be quite uncommon these days for an album poster not to provide
consumers
with online opportunities.

5. For my digipak, I would say that it mostly uses and
possibly develops the conventions of an album. For
example, I have included on the back cover all of the
things you would see on the back cover of almost any
album – things like a barcode, the band’s website
address, the record company’s name etc. On the other
hand, inclusion of the band’s website address again
relates to the fact that, maybe 10 years ago this would
not have been seen as conventional, but nowadays is an
essential aspect to have.