1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
Our media product follows the conventions of the genre “rock”, we made this our
aim because it would be simpler to create and create a successful product. If we
challenged the conventions there would have been a higher risk that our media
product wouldn’t of been that good; following the conventions gives us a guideline
to follow.
Conventions:
- Abnormal videos
- Usually no narrative
- Shows the band performing
- Dark colours
- Strange settings
- Uneasy camera movements
Examples:
Prime example would be the band that originally plays the song we used in our
music video, Evanescent. Others are ACDC, Metallica and Blink 182 etc.
Chantelle and I watched other music videos that suited the rock genre and analysed
the conventions, narrative, mise en scene, shot types etc (These are shown on our
blog in the research section) to give us a general idea of what our video should
consist of to make it successful.
We sent out a survey to students that attend Hartlepool Sixth Form College, which is
the same college that we attend, to get their personal views and ideas. We used
their ideas to help influence what our music video was going to consist of, as it
would seem obvious, as we are more likely to please the audience. After analyzing
the results of the survey, we got a response that the majority of people wanted our
music video to follow the conventions of rock; this is significant as it is what we
initially planned to do.
To follow the conventions we knew there were certain features that had to be
accurate to the conventions. For example we had to choose a location that stood
out, that was cohesive to the theme and the music itself. Consequently we chose a
derelict building, which we believed, was a superb choice, it matched the emotional
feel to the song and the genre – it really did tick all the boxes.
When following the conventions it’s essential that you make sure all the small things
are suitable, for instance costume was even a key feature. It had to match the
setting, the music and theme – so we thought it was suitable our cast wore all black.
After receiving feedback from peers, they said that it worked well; it portrayed her

2. dark, negative emotions. We also decided to have shots that cut to the band
members in the music video; the shot consists of the drums and guitar being
performed. These shots occur many times throughout the music video, this was to
emphasize the intensity and pace of the song. In addition to this these shots are a
known convention of the rock genre music videos, so this shows that we’re following
the conventions.
Another convention we followed was having the dark colours and lighting
throughout the music video, this helped show the darkness and negative emotions
within the song, it help show how Emily felt whilst performing. It helps the audience
identify the feel to the song more easily, and this enables them to relate to it. Some
things work hand in hand with one another: for example the costume, setting and
lighting we’re all dark which helped form a dark theme.
We believe that due to the decisions we made and the things we used to feature in
our music video, that people will have no problem being able to identify the fact that
we followed the rock music conventions successfully
*Get two people to comment on their views of the success for following the
conventions*
Also part of our media product is the magazine advert and the digipak. Just like the
music video, chantelle and I looked at existing products that suited the rock genres
(Evidence of this is on our blogs) to give us some basic ideas to help influence the
ones we were going to create. We believed it was essential that the music advert
and the digipak were both cohesive to the video, otherwise it wouldn’t look right.
We had to make sure that the photo shoot was successful; in the sense that we got
the suitable photos that we needed as they were going to be the main feature in
both products. As you can see, the pictures and even the product themselves are
cohesive to the music video and the whole theme: the images of Emily show her
striking poses that portray her emotions and suit the genre very well. However if the
photoshoot consisted of images of Emily looking happy and showing positive
emotions, then it wouldn’t represent the theme at all and defeats the object of
following the conventions.
For the digipak we used effects such as a black and white effect, also we made it look
so the photo used looked old and damaged. It was essential that it was cohesive to
the rest of the media product. We named the album “Nyctophilia” which means for
one to have a love for darkness. When looking at other album cases, it was a
common feature that the artists/bands name was at the top in a large font, we
believe this technique is used because it is important for the audience to know what
they’re buying, in this case it is who’s music it is because it has to be who they want
to listen to. They don’t buy the album because of the name itself, it is primarily
because of the artist/bands of whom the music is being performed by. In retrospect
to this, we decided to put Emily’s name at the top of the album cover so the

3. audience know who the artist is. We believe that this was a great choice for the
name of the album, it suits the whole theme of darkness and negativity. With the
dark colour effect and the images of Emily we used and the name of the album, it’s
fair to say we followed the conventions whilst producing the digipak.
For the magazine advert we followed a typical A4 portrait layout. When looking at
professional magazine adverts, the star that is featured was often placed in the
center, however Chantelle and I challenged this convention by placing Emily slightly
more to the right. We also noticed that when looking at professional magazine
adverts they consist of reviews, for example if they are advertising a film or an album
then somewhere on the page you will find a critics comment. This could be a star
rating, quoted words from media sources such as newspapers, websites, other
magazines or it could be rating out of ten. We decided to follow this convention and
used quotes and comments from a media source along with a star rating out of five.
Consequently, our magazine advert looked more realistic and professional by using
these features, also it helped with the promotion of the album as it enabled the
audience to see that it had received good reviews.