Media Evaluation: Question One

1. {
In what ways does your
media product use,
develop of challenge
forms and conventions of
real media products?
By Zack Quinn

2.  During my research stage of the course I
learnt a lot about the conventions of
music videos.
 A few of the conventions we found are;
Close ups of the artist to show emotion
and keep attention. Cuts synced to the
beat of the song to improve flow. A
variety of locations keeps it interesting.
Conventions of music
videos.

3.  The genre that our music video falls into
is a mix between indie-rock and is similar
to the music of Jamie T and Alex Turner.
 The genres music videos tend to have fast
paced editing and the focus of the video
is normally on the artist/performance.
Genre.

4.  After researching the generic conventions
of music videos and, more specifically
the indie-rock genre we decided to use
these as it would help to create an
effective piece.
 On the following slides I will show with
examples the various techniques and
conventions that Harry and I followed.
Conventions that we have
used.

5.  After researching Rat Boy’s other videos (Sign On
and Fake I.D) we saw that they were all performance
based. We then looked at videos like Jamie T’s
‘Zombie’ and saw that they followed this suit as
well. The problem which we made sure to address
would be keeping the audiences attention
throughout due to the lack of a storyline.
 To combat this we decided to use a variety of
locations which we could keep switching between
and this along with the fast-paced editing would
allow us too keep the audience entertained
throughout.
Entirely performance based

6. Harry and I represented the lyrics of the song with the differing
locations used throughout. We used locations such as Tovil skate
park and the underpasses in town to portray Rat Boy’s outlook on
his teenage years. These locations as Harry said when we planned
them needed to reflect the low socio-economic lifestyle that he had
grown up in.
A large amount of locations (which
were urban to reflect the style of the
music):

7.  In music videos of our genre it is very common
to see fast-paced editing with the cuts being
synced too the music. This technique allows for
the tempo of the song to be reflected in the edit
and Harry and I felt it was necessary as
explained earlier. This technique is used in the
Rudimental song ‘Not Giving In’ which I
analysed in my research stage. I think that our
music video has similar qualities to this piece
which I believe to be very effective.
Fast-paced editing which
was synced to the music:

8.  The costumes that we chose for our piece were very
conventional of the genre as shown to the right, we
had Joph wearing a Hoodie, skinny jeans and
skating shoes too appeal to the target audience and
to be an authentic portrayal of Rat Boy (also shown).
 We decided not to develop of challenge this
convention because we wanted it to be as realistic
and authentic as possible so we kept too the
guidelines that we had identified in our research.
Codes of Dress:

9. Development of
Conventions
Harry and I have developed conventions of real music videos in our
product. In real music videos it is common to see close-ups which
are traditionally straight and not canted. We tried to develop this by
using eye-line medium shots (as this was a common technique we
found in our research) but changed the angle. We tried to use
cantered angles as it suits the music we chose. The music and lyrics
are rough and jumpy so we thought using this would liven up our
piece and keep the audiences attention.
Close Ups of the artist:

10.  When looking back over our piece I believe that we either used of
developed generic conventions within our music video.
 When planning we did not want to challenge the norm as we
wanted to create a piece that would fit in with Rat Boy’s current
videos and therefore took influence from them, this is shown below
by us making the effort to find an underpass that would be lit
similar to ‘Sign On’.
 I do not think that by not challenging conventions that our piece is
weaker in any way.
Did we challenge conventions?

11.  During my research stage I also looked into the
various conventions of digi-paks, examples of
the conventions that I found are as follows:
 A theme throughout the digi-pak.
 Multiple photos of the artist in different
locations.
 A simple colour scheme.
Digi-Pak Conventions

12.  I have followed a simple colour pattern
throughout my piece. These themes are mainly
blacks and whites for the external parts of my
Digi-Paks and for the inside I used a mixture of
greys and blacks.
Conventions that I have used.
I decided to do this because it
allowed for synergy between my
Poster, Video and Digi-Pak. The
black/white/grey colour scheme was
also used for my Magazine
Advertisement so they link well.

13. Conventions Developed?
I believe that a convention that I developed
was the convention of having a photo of
the lead singer/artist in the Digi-Pak.
Instead of having a singular focal point of
the artist I decided to have 4 of the images
with Joph being the focal point. These are
shown on the slide and also on the Digi-
Pak.

14.  I do not think that I challenged many
conventions in the production of my Digi-Pak
however I did not make a lyric booklet too go
with it. This was out of choice because Rat Boy
has not actually released an album or many of
the songs that he has uploaded to YouTube so
there is not currently an official lyric booklet to
draw from. I do not feel that not including this
has weakened my piece as I feel that the design
flows how it is and the conventions that I have
followed and/or developed fit the genre well.
Conventions Challenged?

15.  During my research stage of the course I
identified some generic conventions of
Magazine Advertisements that I have seen and
that I researched. They are as follows:
 The name of the Artist
 The name of the album
 Release dateAn image as the main focal point
 Ratings and Reviews
Magazine Advertisement

16.  Some of the generic conventions were too
me inescapable as without them the piece
would make no sense, as shown on my
poster the ones that I believe follow the
conventions are:
 The name of the artist
 The name of the album
 An image as the main focal point
 Ratings and reviews
Conventions that I have used.

17.  A convention that I believed that I developed was
the release date. Instead of just having a release date
I decided to add in a Tour Date also, this is because
Rat Boy is an unknown artist and therefore the
greater exposure he gains the better.
 The general public or people of his target audience
may not know who he is but they will most likely
have heard of the Arctic Monkeys and therefore
adding their name adds a selling point to the
advertising campaign and if it was used in the real
world it could stimulate higher sales, which is what
advertising is for.
Conventions Developed?

18.  I only convention that I have challenged
partially is the focal point. I decided to have the
same picture in both my Magazine
Advertisement and my Digi-Pak. This is
because this will create synergy between my
pieces and Rat Boy would need as much
exposure as he could get, and if they had seen
the picture before then they would be more
likely to look at it out of memory of seeing the
image before, further enhancing the chance of
increased sales.
Conventions Challenged?

19.  In conclusion, throughout my pieces that I have
created I have used the generic conventions of real
media products that I had identified in the research
stage of the task.
 I developed conventions such as adding tour dates
to a new artist to increase exposure if the audience
were to be fans.
 However, I chose not to challenge many conventions
as I believe that I wanted to create a piece that
would coincide with Rat Boy’s existing work and
therefore it would be more believable.
Conclusion