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

1. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT
USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
Ashtynne Watts

2. WHAT ARE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF A POP MUSIC
GENRE?
➤ The song lasts for 3-5 minutes with a set structure
and a consistent beat
➤ Bright and colourful
➤ Very upbeat
➤ Provides narrative with a simple storyline
➤ Include extreme close-up and close-up shots
GOODWIN’S THEORY
1. Links between lyrics and visuals
2. Links between music and visuals(Complimentary,
Contradicting or Amplification)
3. Genre Characteristics
4. Intertextual reference
5. Notions of Looking (Objectification of women)
6. Voyeurism (direct gaze, other people looking as an artist,
insight into artist's life, scenes and mirrors)
7. Demands of the Record Label (representation of the
artists)
8. Performance, Narrative or Conceptual based music videos

3. FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF THE PACKAGE
Music Video
Digipak
Advert
Meanings being portrayed
through body language, mise-
en-scene elements and
technical techniques.
Stereotypical features of the
artist is notion of looking. For
example, in Boosting My Ego,
Serena Swan is looking for
true love.
Performance of the artist.
For example, Serena Swan
consistently engages with
the audience through the
camera.
Establishing a scripted
and creative narrative or
conceptual theme.
Use media components,
such as; camerawork,
sound, editing and mise-en-
scene.
Image of the
digipak
Clear, short reviews
from well-known
bodies, such as Brits
Awards or Sony.
Provide the release
date for the digipak is
provided.
Title of the digipak and
name of the artist.
Small images of the
record label logo and
shops where the digipak
is sold.
Barcode
Record label logo
Short statements of
copyrights
Lyrics
Booklet
Images of
the artist
Tracklist
Title of the digipak
and name of the
artist
Image of the artist
CD cover
Website link to
artist’s official
page
Website link to
artist’s official page

4. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA
PRODUCT USE CONVENTIONS OF REAL
MEDIA PRODUCTS?

5. MUSIC VIDEO: BOOSTING MY EGO
➤ Narrative Theme: In this music video, Serena Swan plays an unknown character who is heart-broken from her ex-
boyfriend, Jason. This storyline enables Serena to become more relatable to audiences, who have experiences in
being in an intimate relationship. I have constructed my music video into a narrative by inserting small flashback
scenes, whilst Serena was singing the song, Boosting My Ego.
• For instance, before the artist began to sing the song, she was getting ready for a date with Jason
and then she received a text from him saying, ‘Sorry babe, I can’t do this anymore’.
• The narrative is based on an unknown character who was recently heart-broken by her ex-boyfriend,
Jason. As time went by, she eventually heal from her broken heart by being in a new relationship.
However, the character finds it difficult to move on from her ex-boyfriend and has found a way to cut
him out of her life for good.
➤ Notion of looking: As my music video is based on relationships, I used a typical notion of women falling in love
with men, and women being vulnerable victims from their relationship. My music video showed these stereotypes
by using scenes of Serena being happy with her boyfriend and being held against the wall by Jason.
➤ Meanings: Serena’s feelings and relationship status was subliminally conveyed through mise-en-scene elements.
The three mise-en-scene elements that presented the general meanings were; lighting, costume and setting.
• Firstly, at the start of my music video, when Serena was sitting down on the floor, she was shown with a
high-angle shot along with blue lighting. The high-angle shot illustrates that Serena is vulnerable from her
broken heart and the blue lighting states a cold, unpleasant environment, which then reinforces her
reputation at the beginning of the music video.
• Secondly, Serena’s costume aided how she was feeling within her relationships. For instance, after Jason
broke up with Serena, she wore a white top and black leggings. This connotes that Serena was striped
from love and her personality was taken away from her. This outfit choice is then contrasted with the final
scene, where Serena was wearing a white and blue dress with a leather jacket. This illustrates that
Serena eventually found herself, she is confident, resilient and exudes femininity.
• Lastly, choice of environment contributed, significantly, to denoting her mind set and what stage is she in
the relationship. For example, when Serena was in an isolated room, it illustrated that she felt that the
world is against her and she is not confident in herself to fact the world on her own. However, when
Serena was performing in the natural environment, towards the end of the music video, it demonstrates
that Serena is now free from her previous relationship with Jason to enjoy what the world has in store for
her.
Serena being in a
relationship with a man
Serena being a
vulnerable victim
High angle shot of Serena
Serena performing in the
basement
Serena performing in a
natural environment

6. Digipak Print Advert
➤ Images of the artist: I wanted the digipak to establish that
the songs are created and sang by Serena Swan. In order to
do this, I included medium shots of Serena in the costume
that she wore in her music video.
• In the digipak, she wore a white and blue dress with a black
leather jacket. This dress code is used for the audience to
associate the digipak with the music video, in order for the
audience to be familiar with the artist.
➤ Description about the copyright: It is included at the back
of the digipak, along with the tracklist. The details about the
copyright are used to ensure that Serena Swans digipak is
protected from being copied by other artists or being resold
by unlicensed sellers.
➤ Record label logo: I included an image of Serena Swan
in the advert in order to promote her as a serious artist
who is supported by a legitimate record label.
➤ Reviews about the digipak: It is included at the top of
the advert to illustrate that the digipak is the best seller
and it is worth buying from iTunes.
➤ Release date: The release date of the digipak is included
in the print advert, in order to let the audience know when
Serena Swan’s first digipak will be available in stores,
such as iTunes.
Copyright description
Record label
Release Date
Reviews
Images of the artist

7. JoJo
EXAMPLE OF A REAL
MEDIA PRODUCTJoJo’s music video (Too Little Too Late) follows
forms and conventions because her music video
used a simple narrative structure to perform her
song. Her music video is based on a woman
(performed by JoJo) who recently discovered
that her boyfriend was cheating on him and it is
based on the journey on her getting over him.
This enables the audience to have a close
connection with JoJo, as she is considered to be
more relatable from the storyline.
JoJo’s digipak (The High Road) also follows
forms and conventions, as it presented clear
camera shots (close-up shot on the front
cover and medium shot on the back cover)
of JoJo as her digipak. These camera shots
have been used to establish the JoJo’s
identity to her audiences, as well as creating
a personal connection between herself and
her audiences.
JoJo’s back cover of the digipak provide
details about copyright and record label,
Blackground records, which is part of forms
and conventions of digipaks. This has been
placed in the digipak, in order to present JoJo
as a professional artist and have the ability to
produce and release her music legally.
Close-up shot
JoJo’s storyline also follows forms and
conventions because JoJo’s character suited
the stereotypes of women. For instance, in her
music video, JoJo is portrayed as a
vulnerable woman after discovering that her
boyfriend was dating another woman behind
her back. Not only it makes JoJo relatable, it
also reveals a soft side of JoJo, which
ensures that the target audience will give her
respect for having the courage to do so in her
music video.
Long shot

8. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA
PRODUCT CHALLENGE CONVENTIONS
OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
My media product mainly follows
the forms and conventions of a
pop genre; music video, digipak
and print advert. However, there
are three elements that was not
part of forms and conventions of
real media products.

9. Serena pushing Jason
away from her
• Notion of looking: However, my music video also
challenges the stereotype of women being vulnerable
victims of their relationship at the same time. My music
video challenges this stereotype by presenting scenes of
Serena pushing Jason away from her and Serena putting
the petals back on the rose to symbolise Serena building
confidence in herself.
• Link to the artist’s website: My print advert only provide
links to the artists’ social media profiles, such as Instagram
and Twitter, rather than the artist’s personal website. I only
showed the artist’s social media links because it indicates that
the advert is targeting young audiences who are likely to
access to social media.
• Reviews: Inside my digipak, I included two
reviews, from Brit Awards and Rolling Stone
magazine, as part of the lyrics booklet. In order to
ensure that buying this digipak is the right decision,
as well as motivating the audience to listen to The
artist’s songs on the digipak.
Music Video Print Advert
Digipak

10. Lady Gaga
EXAMPLE OF A REAL
MEDIA PRODUCTDigipak
Within forms and conventions of a pop digipak, they typically
present the artist in bright colours, in order to target young
audiences. However, Lady Gaga’s digipak challenges these
forms and conventions because it only present colours light
blue, black and white. These colours illustrate that she is
target audiences who are into pop music based on themes
that may not be suitable for younger audiences. By not
using bright colours, it makes Lady Gaga’s digipak more
unique, compare to other digipak, as most of them may
have followed forms and conventions by using bright
colours, such as Taylor Swift.
Music Video (Poker Face)
Lady Gaga also challenges forms and conventions of
pop music videos. For instance, her music video does
not include a storyline and links between lyrics and
visuals. This is because majority of scenes purely
focuses on Lady Gaga’s performance, rather than the
context of the lyrics. However, by doing this, it enables
the music video to keep target audiences engaged with
Lady Gaga, while she is singing Poker Face.
Print Advert
All though the print advert has images of Lady Gaga,
these images are not revealing what her full identity by
concealing her face (from wearing a mask in the advert
and sunglasses in the digipak). This challenges forms
and conventions on the presentation of print adverts
because they typical present full identification of the
artist by revealing their faces to the public. On the other
hand, by concealing Lady Gaga’s face, it gives the
member of the public an impression that she is
mysterious and secretive, which makes Lady Gaga
very intriguing to her audiences.