1. In what ways does
your media product
use, develop or
use
challenge forms and
conventions of real
media products?
Amelia O’Callaghan

2. Our Task
For our A2 Media Studies we had the task of
creating a Music Video along with two ancillary
tasks (Digipak and Poster/Magazine Advert). We
chose to create a music video from the ‘Pop’ genre
and made sure our ancillary tasks fitted the
conventions.
Generally I feel our music video and ancillary tasks
used and developed the conventions from the ‘Pop’
genre, however throughout this PowerPoint I have
carefully analysed each section of the music video
to conclude how my media products use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media
products.
Amelia O’Callaghan

3. Our Record Label
Within our genre of ‘Pop’ we researched what the most
popular record labels were, (below are the logos of
these companies) we found that the one used by Little
Mix, the group whose song we have chosen, was called
‘Syco Music’. Therefore we thought that this company
would be appropriate as it worked mainly with artists
from the ‘Pop’ genre. Therefore I feel we have use
conventions of real media products as many famous ‘Pop’
groups have a known record label.
Amelia O’Callaghan

4. Narrative
When researching ‘Pop’ genre music videos we looked at the types of
narrative that were used, we discovered that many didn’t include
narratives, such as Sugarbabes ‘Push The Button’, Stooshe ‘Love Me’,
and even our chosen song Little Mix ‘Wings’. We did however choose to
include a narrative within our media product as there are music videos
such as Taylor Swift ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’ and Carly Rae Jepson
‘Call Me Maybe’ that include them within theirs.
A clip of narrative from Taylor
A clip of narrative from our music Swift: 'I Knew You Were Trouble’
video music video.
Amelia O’Callaghan

5. Narrative
After deciding to add a narrative we decided what we wanted the storyline to
be. This is where I feel we developed forms and conventions of real media
products as we not only included a narrative but developed it in order to fit our
song lyrics. This also supports the theory of Andrew Goodwin that ‘music videos
are simply an extension of the lyrics’. The storyline we chose was of a young girl
getting bullied. The majority of narratives within the ‘Pop’ genre include the
artists themselves, however we went against this as we felt by presenting the
song to be aimed at younger girls and applying this in our music video we will be
able to able to create a rapport with the audience.
A clip of narrative from our music A clip of narrative from The
video Saturdays: ‘What About Us’ music
video.
Amelia O’Callaghan

6. Costume
When it comes to the costume I feel this is where both our music video and
ancillary pieces challenged the traditional forms and conventions of real media
products. Whilst researching the ‘Pop’ genre we became aware that the clothes
worn tended to be revealing and provocative. We had already decided that we
wanted to aim our song at young girls an therefore we have challenged the
stereotypical outfits of pop and gone for outfits that would be considered
suitable for young girls to follow after. Here and on the next slide you can see
the comparisons between real media products costumes and our own.
The Saturday’s ‘What About Us?’ Music Video Our Music Video
Fashionable tops,
Crop tops (lots of yet not revealing.
flesh on show)
Trousers
Accessories (hat, Short Jewellery
necklace, bracelets shorts/skirts
etc.) Amelia O’Callaghan

7. Costume
A picture used in Pixie Lott's Digipak A picture used in our Digipak
Hair style looks dyed Lipstick
and have extensions Hair style is apparent
natural and but
achievable for generally
an audience a natural
Lots of (rather than look.
make up extensions)
applied
Fashionable
clothes, yet
not
provocative
Male Gaze – Although wearing a skirt, leggings
cleavage visible Lots of flesh on are also worn – not as much flesh
show revealed.
Amelia O’Callaghan

8. Shot Types and Camera Movements
Shot types that are used within the ‘Pop’ genre can vary from long shots to
extreme close ups. We wanted to use a variety of shots in our own music video
which I feel use the conventions of real media products but also develops them.
For example when researching we found the music video ‘Jar of Hearts’ by
Christina Perri that has a camera movement on a narrative section. We decided
to use this and progress it by making the camera move along the group whilst
we were singing. Although I cannot show the movement the arrows represent
the movement of the camera:
‘Jar of Hearts’ by Christina Perri Our Music Video
Amelia O’Callaghan

9. Shot Types and Camera Movements
We also used shot types such as close ups, extreme close ups and mid shots,
the use the conventions of a real media product as they are commonly seen and
used within music video’s of the ‘Pop’ genre. Here are some screen shots
comparing shot types of real media products and our music video.
‘Do It Like A Dude’ – Jessie J Our Music Video
Extreme Close Up
‘Die Young’ – Ke$ha
Mid Shot
‘Fight For This Love’ – Cheryl Cole
Close Up
Amelia O’Callaghan

10. Location
Throughout our performance shots of our music video we kept them to studio
shots. I think that this both uses forms and conventions of real media product
but also goes against them as the ‘Pop’ genre does include shots of artists
singing outside of the studio, for example ‘The Saturdays – What About Us?’.
For our narrative shots we used the school location as it fitted with our
narrative. I believe this does conform to the genre as most narrative are
filmed in cohesion with their location. Below are the shots of our performance
and narrative shots along with some professional media products.
The Saturday’s ‘What About Us?’ –
Performance Shots Outside of Studio
Our Performance
Cheryl Cole ‘Fight For This Love’ – Shots in the
Performance Shots in a Studio Studio
Amelia O’Callaghan

11. Location
For our narrative shots we used the school location as it fitted with our
narrative. I believe this does conform to the genre as most narrative are
filmed in cohesion with their location. Below are the print screens of our
narrative shots along with some professional media products.
Lady Gaga ‘’Bad Romance – Narrative
Shot
Our Performance
Shots in the
Taylor Swift – ‘I Knew You Were Studio
Trouble’ – Narrative Shot
Amelia O’Callaghan

12. Poster
The poster we created stays very much true to the conventions of ‘Pop’ magazine advert.
The colours, fonts and pictures are all very stereotypical of Pop and I think help to
represent our new group. We have kept the ongoing theme of pink present and the
picture clearly shows a young group. The poster contains the key ingredients of a advert
right down to the critic reviews which I believe gives it a professional feel. We have used
a gradient background for the poster which again continues onto the Digipak, creating a
sense of continuity throughout our ancillary tasks. Below is our final poster, beside some
real media products:
Our Final Poster
Poster Advertising:
The Saturdays
Poster Advertising:
Rihanna
Amelia O’Callaghan

13. Digipak
I believe that our Digipak uses the forms and conventions of real media products
extremely well and the result of this is a professional looking Digipak. We did lots of
research before creating the Digipak and I feel that this has paid off. Through the
research of ‘Pop’ Digipaks I found that they had a ‘fun’ appeal to them and also included
lots of photos of the artist. We chose a colour theme for our Digipak which was pink as
we felt this was appropriate for our target audience of girls aged 11 -16 years old. Here
are some images of what ‘Pop’ digipaks/CD covers look like and how ours compare.
Mariah Carey CD Cover
Our Final Digipak
Little Mix CD Cover
Taylor Swift CD Cover
Amelia O’Callaghan