By Amelia Sommer

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions
of real media products?
What didyou learnabout what the conventionswere ofreal music videos?Whatmusic video
conventionsyou have included/ not includedand why?
Duringmy research,Ilookedintoa wide varietyof musicvideos,
rangingfromtextsinmy chosengenre (pop/pop-rock) fromartists
such as Demi Lovato,FalloutBoy,Starset and Panic!AtTheDisco to
textsinverydifferentgenres,suchasvideosfromK-POP [SHINee,
VIXX,TeenTop], J-POP/dance-pop[KyariPamyuPamyu], country/
popand a cappella[TaylorSwiftand Pentatonix].Fromthis,I
learnedaboutthe manydifferent
characteristicsinmusicvideos,suchas
trackingthe main female artistsinparticular(Andrew Good win’stheoryof
lookingandvoyeuristictreatmentof the femalebody,alsoLauraMulvey’s
theoryof the “Male Gaze”),Star Image
(RichardDyer’stheory- the
character/artistisgivenparticular
attention,includingfrequentclose-ups
and variousshots) andhow manyof the videosIlookedathad a
relationshipbetweenthe lyrics,visualsandthe musicinorderto
create a sense of narrative whichthe audiencecanfollow (Steve
Archer’stheoriesof five thingstolookforina musicvideo).In my
chosengenre,Irealisedthatthere isoftenanarrative which
conveysa message tothe reader- similarly,inmyownvideo,Itriedtoconveya message whichmy
target audience couldpossiblyrelate to.However,Ichose toinclude alot of narrative fuzzso that
there wasn’ta definitiveendingtomystory,makingthe audience watchthe videoagaininorderto
interpretthe message intheirownway.
One typical conventionof musicvideosare the camerashots
and movements-manyvideoshave alarge varietyof shots,
and include manyclose-upsandmidshotsof the artist.
However,thisdoesappeartovaryfrom videotovideo,but
inthe genre I’ve chosen,the videosdofeature alotof close-
upsof the artist or characters inthe video.Iincludedthis
convention,especiallysince mycharacterisgoingthrougha
crisiswhichshe wantsresolved- the close-upsare forboth
the actress’s“Star Image”and alsofor a visual effect,
emphasisingthe lyricsshe’ssingingandhopefullyconveying
the message more clearly.(Thetwo imagesto the right- the top one
is a still frommy video,the bottomoneis a still fromtheofficial
Girls/Girls/Boys music video by the original artist.)
Anothertypical conventionof musicvideosisthe editing-veryrarely
are videosall one shot,evenwhenthey’re live stage performances.I
made sure that all of mycuts were on the beatof the song,a
conventionof mygenre butalsoa conventionof many otherstoo.Thishelpedtoimprove the flow
of myvideo,notmakingitdifficultorconfusingtowatchandspeedingup(orslowingdown) the
tensioninmynarrative.Ialsotriedto include awide varietyof shots,includingestablishingshots,
[extreme]close-ups,trackingshots,craningshotsandothers.Thiskeepsthe videoentertainingand
not forcingthe audience toviewitfromjustone angle.

2. The mis-en-scene isalsoimportantinmanyvideos,withsettingand
locationbeingparticularlyimportant.Forexample, Infinite’ssong“Bad”
heavilyfocusesonthe use of itsmis-en-scene toconveythe scary,
“mental”setting- handsappearonwindows(a“WomaninBlack”
intertextualreference?) andthe photoframesappeartobe bleeding.It
alsousesverybright,neonpink,blue and
purple colours,almosttooharshly-
emphasisingthe overall negativefeel tothe
setting.Iusedthe settingof a school and the
character’shome to create an atmosphere
whichmanymembersof mytarget audience
can relate to,as well asperhapsrelatingtomy
character’ssituation.
Like manyvideoswhichhave anamplifyingnarrative tothem, the true ortotal storyis oftennot
conveyedtothe audience.Iattemptedtodothistoo,withmy character ‘changing’atthe end,but
it’sclearthat the girl/boyspiltstill existswithinmycharacter
eventhoughshe’snow tryingtobe who she wantsto be.To
achieve this,Iusedanoverlayof blue (forthe “boy” side) and
an overlayof pink(forthe “girl”side) toemphasise the split,
makingitclear to the audience thatthiswasmy intention.I
didn’twantto patronise the audience,soIleftthe true
resolutionof whathappenstomycharacter unclear,makingthe
audience decide forthemselveswhetherornotthe character is
happiernow thatshe can make herownchoicesand be who
she wantsto be.I usedprops(more specifically,the costume
designs) tohelpthe audience inferwhatthe narrative isandto properlyconveythe boy/girl sidesto
my character.
Withinmyvideo,IusedRichardDyer’sTheoryor
Representationtoengage myaudience.Iaimedtorepresent
my targetaudience withinmyvideo,again,usingsettingand
costumesthatwouldbe familiartoalmostall of my audience.I
wantedtorepresentmycharacter as the same as the
audience- oftendressingtoimpress,butstill wantingtobe
somethingelse.Whilemanymembersof mytargetaudience
wouldwantto “dressto impress”,it’salsotrue thatmanydon’t
like itat all and wishtodressin a completelydifferentway-
somethingIemphasisedwithinmyvideo.(The messagegoesbeyondjustdressingthe waysomeone
wants,but alsoactingand beingastheywant too.) To addto the realisticrepresentation,Imade my
character’sfriendsdressverycasually/fashionably,reflecting
modernfashionandthe typical school setting.Ichose notto use
a uniform, asa uniformtakesawaythe ‘individuality’of my
character and herfriendsanddoesn’tconveythe message thatI
wantto put across as well. Dyer’sTheoryof Representationis
alsopresentinalmostall musicvideos- itcomesthroughas
costume design,the representationof groupsof people andin
manyother ways.Inoticedthat the majorityof musicvideos
featuredpeoplewhoare wearingfashionable clothing;Idecided
to replicate thisismyownproduct.(The image onthe leftisfromGirlsGeneration’svideofor Gee
and isbasedina fashionshop- the song’sgenre ispop.)

3. What didyou learnabout real music genre conventionsand what genre conventionshave
you included/ not includedand why?
My chosengenre ispop/pop-rock- some of the pop
videosIchose to researchwere popboy-bandsandgirl
bandsfrom KoreaandJapan (KyariPamyu Pamyu (solo),
SHINee,Teen Top,VIXX andGirl’s Generation). Inmany
of these artist’svideos,there wasaclearconvention
that manyshotswere large group dancingshots- my
artistis a solosinger,andsince I wantedmyvideotobe
more of a narrative thana performance (sincethe true identityof myartistisunknown),Ichose not
to followthisconvention.Duringthe chorus,Ididfollow the
conventionof starimage byfocusingonthe singerand the
singeralone whileshe wassingingthe lyrics,usingasimple
blackbackgroundand lightingtobringoutthe character on
screen.However,the popgenre generallycallsformany
close-upshotsof the singers;eventhoughthe characterin
my videoisnotthe real artist,I still followedthisconvention
by usinga lotof (extreme) close-upshotsinanattemptto
instil the “starquality”of my character.I also made the
character wearfashionable,trendyclothing (typical
conventionof the popgenre especially) sothattheywere more relatable toourtargetaudience,
hence whymanyof our shotswere done ata school and in the character’shome so that the ideaof
conflictwasportrayedmore clearly.(Nomatterwhere the characterwas,theywere still
experiencingthe same problems!) Thiswasalsotoprovide the audience withalocationwhich
perhapstheycouldrecognise andrelate tomore easily.
The ideaof conflictinmusicvideoswas,forme,mostclearlyconveyed
throughTaylorSwift’s “Wildest Dreams”musicvideo.WithTaylorSwift’s
“Wildest Dreams”,the narrative isprettyclear- it’saboutan actresswho
fallsinlove withherco-star,thenfacinga breakupat the endof the video.
That videocloselyfollowsAndrew
Goodwin’stheorythatthere isa
relationshipbetweenthe lyricsandthe
video(inthiscase,amplifyingit) andthatthere isfrequent
notionsto lookingandTaylor’sownindividual style.Italso
includesanintertextual reference;myfirstthoughtonthe video
was thatit was referencingIndianaJones.While “Wildest
Dreams”is notof exactlythe same genre asmy own(it’sa
“dreampop” song),it still hasmanyof the conventionsthatmy
chosengenre hasand doesitin a reallyeffective way.Similarlytothis,Iwantedtoinclude a
narrative inmy owntext- Idecidedthatitwas most
effectivetoamplifythe connectionbetweenthe lyrics
and the music,highlightingthe struggle thatthe girl has
withherself.TaylorSwift’smusicvideoincludeselements
of Levi-Strauss’stheoryof BinaryOppositions,whichthen
I includedinmyownvideo- Iusedthe classic“BoyV.Girl”
fightwithinmyvideo,asmycharacter hasto fightwith
herself overwhatshe wantstobe like comparedtothe
“girl”character that everybodyelseexpectshertobe.
Eventhoughthe fightisn’tbetweenaliteral boyanda

4. literal girl,Itriedtomake it clearwhyshe was fighting herself,hopefullyrelatingtoanissue that
some of my target audience maybe facing.(The ideaof beinga‘tom-boy’isn’treallydiscussedin
publicsoI feltthata goodway to communicate the ideaof appearance wasthrougha message ina
musicvideo!)
While,again, “WildestDreams” isnot of the exact same genre asmy
ownsong,I noticedverysimilarconventionsinmusicvideoswhich
were of the same genre,suchas videosby Panic!AtThe Disco,Starset
and FallOutBoy.In each of these band’smusicvideos,theyall include
elementsof StarImage,BinaryOppositionsandAndrew Goodwin’s
theoryof musicvideos- all conventionswhichIchose to follow in
orderto create an interesting,“new”narrative formyaudience to
follow.Ifeel thatnotmanyareas of the mediahave coveredthe issue
that I’ve raisedinmyvideo,soI thinkthatrepresentingitthe wayI
have isdifferentyeteffective.
Mis-en-sceneisacommonconventioninall genresof music
video.The environmentandsettingof the musicvideo can
affectthe overall feel of the text- Starsetoftenbase their
videosina futuristic,sci-fi settingwhichalertsthe audience
to the type of place inwhichthe videoisset.(Italsocreatesa
certainidentityforStarset- since all of theirvideossofarare
inthiskindof setting,itmakesaudiencesexpectsomething
similarfromtheminthe future.) Similarly(toachieve an
authenticfeel tomyvideo),Ibasedmanyof mysceneswithin
a school and inthe
character’shome.Thiswas sothat the locationwasvaguely
familiartothe audience,conveyingthe ideathatthe
conflicthappenseverywhere,regardlessof whetherthe
character’sfriendsare there or not.It highlightsthe
destructive nature of the girl’sconflict,tellingaudiencesto
be more acceptingof people inthatkindof situation.(This
isalso to getaudienceswhoare experiencingthatkindof
situationtosympathise more easilywithmycharacter.) The
lyricsamplifythis,tellingthe readerthat“girlslove girls
and boys”and that “love isnota choice”- Iuse close-upsandgetthe character to lookdirectlyatthe
camera so thatthe message ismore powerful andperhapspersonal tomytargetaudience.(The
lookingdirectlyintothe cameraisa recurringtrait of Panic!AtTheDisco musicvideos- italso
happensa lotinmost othervideos,mainlytoemphasisethe lyrics.Ifindthatdirectaddressismore
effectivewhenthe songisatitschorus- I triedtoreplicate thisinmyvideo!)
What didyou learnabout real Digipak conventionsand what digipakconventionshave
you included/ not includedand why?
I learnedthatmanydigipakdesignsfrommostgenres(exceptfora
few) featuredatleastone image of the artistor a character related
to theiralbum/musicvideosinsome way. Ifollowedthe exampleof
FalloutBoy andthe Gorrilaz, whousedandfeaturedother
“characters” on the coversof theirdigipaksinsteadof photosof the
real artist. Of course,manydigipaksIlookedatalso usedimages
whichwere forvisual effect,suchasthe MentalDiscipline digipak
whichfeaturedspace photographyinsteadof animage of the band
or its members.Thatdigipakwaselectropop,anditseemsfitting
that imagesof space were usedtohighlight/emphasise the
MentalDiscipline digipak

5. “futuristic”connotationsassociatedwiththatparticulargenre of music.Inmy
chosengenre (pop/pop-rock),the artistorcharacter featuresheavilyonthe
digipak,aconvention whichIchose tofollow.Iusedmyowncharacter and the
recurringthemeswhichIpresentedinthe videoonthe digipak,conveyingto
audiencesthatthisisthe maintheme of
the entire album.Ialsousedthe character
fromthe videoonthe coverto lure inmy
target audience- if they’vewatchedthe
video,thenthey’ll quicklyrecognise the
character on the coverof the digipak,andhopefullybuythe
product.As such,the digipakfeaturesmanymediumshotsof the
character wearingclothesfromthe musicvideo;thismakesher
recognisable.Iusedthe blue andpinkcolourscheme fromthe
musicvideotohighlightthe girl/boysplitof the character,
emphasisingthe message of my videoandthe message thatthe
lyricsof the songconveys.(The songwe chose iscalled
“Girls/Girls/Boys”- Ifeltthata blue andpinkstereotypicalcolourscheme wouldbe effective in
emphasisingthe message thatthe lyricsconveyaswell asthe message thatI’mtryingto conveyin
my video.Pinkisstereotypicallya
girl colourand blue isa boy
colour,so I replicatedthis
throughoutall of my designs.)
Anothersimple conventionI
followedwasthe use of a barcode
and the record label’slogo.Thisis
so that fansof the label could
associate thisalbumwithacertaintype of music;generallyrecordlabelssignupartistsof the same
genre to the same label,creatinganimage forthemselves.Thisisacommon
conventionforpracticallyall digipaks,regardlessof genre.Ihope thatby
usingthe recordlabel’slogo,fansof otherartistswouldconsiderbuyingthis
albumwiththe view thatif theylike othermusicfromthislabel thenthey
mightlike thisalbumtoo.Iincludedthe name of the albumonthe spine of
the digipak,allowingaudiencestosee itevenif the coverisn’tdirectlyfacing
them.I made sure that my fontchoice andcolourchoice stoodout against
the background(butnot contrasted) andthat itwas alsothe same font as
whatI usedon the cover andthe advertdesigns sothataudiencesdon’tfind
it difficulttolookat. (I wantedmydesignstobe
consistent!)
However,one conventionIdidnotfollow
was the inclusionof the trackliston the
outside of the digipakforaudiencesto
read.I didthisso that there wasan air of
“mystery”aroundmy digipak;the only
track I listedwassongI usedto mymusicvideo.Thismakesaudiences
curiousas to whatother songsare in the album, promptingthemtobuyit
to findout.However,inkeepingwiththe typical conventionsof digipak
designs,Iincludedthe fulltracklistonthe inside- audienceswouldknow thatthe albumincludes
more than one song,as on the postersI advertiseditas“FeaturingGirls/Girls/Boys+9 other
exclusivetracks”. Iuseda ‘cheeky’image of mycharacter,lookingdirectlyatthe audience- almost
temptingordaringthemto buy the album.
My digipakcover
Two panels from my digipak (not placed next
to each other on the final product)
Fallout Boy’s use of their logo, a character
(not the artist), a barcode, their website,
colour schemes and themes.

6. I featuredthe name of the albumon the coverand on the spine of mydigipak
so that,from whicheverangle it’sviewedonfromthe shelf,the audience
knowwhatthe digipakiscalled.If they’re fansof myartist,thenthe
likelihoodisthatthey’llknow whatthe albumiscalledbeforehand- being
able to readit and see itclearlyisimportantandultimatelydetermines
whetherornot a possible audience picksupthe product.
I alsoincludedthe artist’sname onthe frontcover,
makingitidentifiabletomyartistand alsothe genre
(backedupby the type of image I’ve used,the colours
and alsothe record label’slogoonthe back- all indicatorsof whichgenre my
artistbelongsto.) SimilartoFalloutBoy and Katy Perry’sdigipaks,Iincludedthe
use of myartist’slogo,keepingthe style consistent.(If there were other
products,thislogowouldbe repeatedonthose too!)
I also includedalinktothe artist’swebsite.Withmostof ourtargetaudience (98% of people aged
between18-29 inthe US) nowowninga smart phone,theycancheck outthe artist’ssite online
before theypurchase the digipak-if there are demosonline,the audience canmake aninformed
decisionbeforebuyingthe product. Itcanalso be usedto sell merchandise andgive updatesonthe
latesttourdatesetc.,somethingwhichmanyartistsrelyon!(Fansfollowingthemonline.)
What didyou learnabout real Advert conventionsand what advert conventionshave you
included/ not includedand why?
Similartoothercommonconventionsof advertswithinmychosengenre,Iincludedanimage of my
character. Eventhoughsome of the advertsin mychosengenre
feature the artist,the majoritydon’t- Ichose to follow this
conventionsothataudiencescanrelate myadvertto mydigipakand
musicvideomore easily.However,manyof the advertsthatI looked
at includedasettingof some kind- Ichose to use a black background
to highlightandmake mycharacter standout.(I triedto geta “ghost”
feel tomyimagesand I feltthatwouldn’tbe easytoconveywitha
setting.Thiscame fromthe ideathat the “boy” versionwashaunting
the “girl” andit was somethingthatmycharactercouldn’tgetout of
hermind.) Generally,the theme of the album/songsare conveyed
throughthe advert,and I wantedtodo the same for mine.
I alsoincludedthe name of myartist
and the songwhichis the highlightof
the album.Thisis meanttodraw
audiencesin,asaudiences(bothnew
audiencesandreturning) whoare fans
of the one songmay be temptedtobuy
the whole albumif theyknowthatit’sincluded.
One conventionIchose notto include (asseenon Katy Perry’sadvertfor“One of the
boys”) isan image of the digipakitself.Eventhoughthisisoftencommon,Ifeltthat
by puttingthe image of the digipakonthe posteritwouldn’tbe veryeffective asthe
designsare quite similar(butnotthe same).If an audience knowswhatthe poster
lookslike,chancesare they’ll recognisethe coverof the digipakwhentheysee itas
the colourscheme andthe choice of fontand imagesare almostthe same.(I
thoughtthat the use of the coverof the digipakonthe adverttookaway fromthe effectof the
posterand vice versa.)

7. However,similarlyto TheScript’salbumadvertfor “#3”, I triedtoinclude aslittle
textas possible sothatitdidn’tsubtractfrom the overall effectof my
advertdesign. TheScript seemtouse a mainlyblackand white colour
scheme- Ichose to emphasise colourtohighlightthe messageI’m
tryingto convey.TheScript alsobelongtothe pop-rockgenre,the
same as the genre of the songwhichI’ve chosentobase my project
around. On bothof theiradverts, TheScript usesa repeatedlogo
design- mostlikelytheirbandlogo,andtheyalsouse the same fontfor
theirname too.I’ve followedthese conventionsonmyownposter
designs,usingbothmyownartist’slogoanda recurringfontchoice to
create an image for myartist whichaudienceslearntorecognise and
lookout for. The artist’sname and logoare recognisable acrossall
products,and (if there were others) these designswouldalsobe repeatedacrossthose
as well- thiscreatedabrandidentitywhichisveryimportantif the artistisgoingto
continue inthe musicindustry.
I includedthe date of release (“Outnow”inthiscase) andthe artist’swebsite andwhere audiences
can buy/downloadthe albumforthemselves- thisissothattheydon’tget boredhavingtosearch for
the product.While thisseemsprettysimple,if audiencesaren’ttoldwhere theycanfindsomething,
unlessthey’re serioushard-core fansof the artist,chancesare theywon’tgolookingforit.
I alsodiscoveredthatall advertdesignsare visuallypleasingtolookat- I attemptedtoreplicate this
by notmakingthe colourstoo brightor harsh to lookat. I alsotriedtomake the colourscheme go
together,sonothingcontrastedorwasdifficulttolookat. Many of the advertsin my chosengenre
(the advertsIresearched) donotfeature anykindof significantbackground,thereforeIdecidedto
take the photosin a dark room soI had a verybasic background.
How does your use of conventionspossiblyattract or appeal to an audience?
Have you adapted any conventionson any of your three products and if so, why?
I noticedfromgatheringmyoriginal audience surveyresultsthatmanymembersof mytarget
audience wanttosee a gooduse of colourand narrative (aswell asshottypes) withinmyvideoand
otherancillarytexts.Iputthisfeedbackintomindwhencreatingmyproducts,hence whyIusedthe
variouscolours(blue andpinktorepresentthe girl andboysidesof mycharacter).Because I asked
membersof myaudience fortheiropinions(Igotalarge amountof responseswhichwasvery
helpful!) I’mconfidentthatmydesignideaswill appealtomytarget audience.Manyaudience
membersalsovalue alinkbetweenthe lyricsof asong andthe videoandothertexts,something
whichI have incorporatedintomydesignwiththe use of coloursandthe same costume designs.The
use of repetition(inthissense) isappealingasitallowsthe audience tomake connections.Evennew
audiencesmaybe attractedto the videoordigipaksimplybyviewingthe poster;especiallyif it’sthe
type of designwhichtheylike.
To furtherattract my audience,Iattemptedtoconstructa brand identity whichisreflected inall of
my products.Thismakesthe productsrecognisable,meaningthatthe audience don’twanttowork
too hard to understandthe relationshipbetweenthem. The use of the same font,coloursand
costumeshelptocreate thisidentity,inthe same waythat The Script usesthisto create theirs.
On all three of my products,I usedsimilarcolourschemesandfontchoicestoinvoke asense of
continuityandsynergybetweenmy products,whichisacommonconventiontoalmostall adverts,
digipaksandpromotional musicvideos.
Withinthe musicvideo,Ichose notto use the Male Gaze- thiswas because
the pointof the videowasnotto emphasise the femininityof the actressbut
to highlightthe conflictwithinthe narrative. The Male Gaze appearsto be
commonin some of the videosrelatingtomychosengenre butnotin others;
for example, Panic!AttheDisco’s“Victorious”frequentlyusesvoyeuristic
treatmentof the female body,butStarset’s“Halo”doesnot,despite there
beinga conflictwhere the womanisanobjectto be wonby the male

8. protagonist. Panic!AttheDisco’s“Victorious”isanothervideowhere the narrative isveryclear,and,
inthe end,he endsupwitha newgirl of hisdreams(afterhisworldwasdisruptedbyhislast
girlfriendleavinghim). ThissupportsTodorov’sEquilibriumtheoryandLevi-Strauss’stheoryof
BinaryOppositions;Iattemptedtodothe same withinmyownnarrative,however,withoutthe
voyeuristictreatmentof the female bodyorusingMulvey’sideasonthe Male Gaze.