Media evaluation

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

2. My final digipak is different to what I had first planned, due to problems with
scheduling and more than one actor/actress change while filming. Because of this,
my digipak challenges the conventions of my chosen genre, which was originally
pop-punk/rock. The band who’s song I used for my music video, and who’s
appearance I took inspiration from is an alternative rock band called Twin
Atlantic. Firstly, I have done this by ensuring that continuity is shown throughout
these tasks, in order for the audience to instantly recognise the connection
between them, so that they would be able to recognise my actors song just by
looking at the digipaks. The locations used in my music video were mainly natural
areas, involving fields, trees and leaves. Because of this, I have tried to incorporate
a natural autumn theme to my digipak, in order to show continuity between my
video and ancillary tasks. I felt that the easiest way to show continuity between the
two tasks, was to take images from within the music video itself, so that I was able
to show my actor in these locations. I then used images of leaves for the inside of
my digipak, to link it to the images of my artist. I further showed continuity, by
using the same font for the bands name throughout the tasks, so that it would be
memorable to my target audience.

3. I wanted to challenge the conventions of a
typical alternative rock music video. In order
to do this, I first carried out research into
what the general conventions of rock and
pop-punk videos were. I looked into videos
for other Twin Atlantic songs, in order to
see what their music videos are typically like.
From this I learnt that the majority of the
videos featured other members of the band.
I chose to show the singer in my video on
his own, in order to portray the sense of
loneliness he has been feeling since his
breakup, and to emphasize the sense that he
feels as though he is alone in the world.

4. I chose to name my Cd, after the song that I used for
my music video. I did this so that my target audience
would be able to easily recognise it, as they would
remember the song from the music video, and realised
that the two are linked.
I have also followed the conventions of a rock/pop-
punk digipak through my use of colour. The colours
that I have used a darker colours, such as black and
green, both of which are common features in my
chosen genre, as shown in the CD front covers from
other bands above.
However I have also challenged the conventions of a
typical rock digipak cover through my use of art work.
As demonstrated in the images above, it is uncommon
for the band or singer to appear on the cover, the
bands normally provide album artwork that relates to
one of the songs on the album. I decided not to do
this, as I felt that due to my singer not being famous, it
would be better to show his face on the cover, in order
for the audience to be able to link him to the music
video.

5. When I started the first drafts of my
digipak, I tried to incorporate the theme
of the colour blacks association to rock
music, as shown in the images on the
right, in order to develop the conventions
of real media products. It is shown in the
media, that typically many rock fans dress
in black and other dark colours, so I tried
to create a digipak that would fit with
this. However, I then changed the
design, due to audience feedback whilst
editing the images in the early stages that
although the song is by a rock band, the
dark colours on the digipak didn’t suit
the song I used for my music video. I
wanted to keep the theme of dark
colours, so I edited the images so that
they still portrayed the sense of hurt and
loneliness.

6. In my music video I added a narrative, in order to show the audience some of
the story behind the breakup the artist is singing about. These clips do not
show the singer, but show the story of a break up of another couple. I
decided to put these clips in black and white for many reasons. Firstly to show
a clear contrast between the couple in the video and the singer, but also to link
the singer to the clips, as it suggests that although it isn’t him, having a break
up in the clips, that he has lost somebody. Secondly, I wanted to use black and
white to emphasise the sadness of the relationship ending, and I used black
and white to do this, as they are normally colours represented with depression
and sadness. Lastly, I wanted the singer to be in colour to show hope, as I
thought that it would show that although the relationship has ended, things
can get better. The use of both black and white and colour, challenges the
conventions of a typical rock music video, such as Paramore’s ‘That’s What
You Get’ video, which is all in colour.