evaluation question 1

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

2. Convention
of digipak
Use, develop or challenge? Evidence
Feature the
band on the
cover
Challenge – on my digipak I didn’t include images of the band members as i felt
that within the rock genre, physical image was much less important and so
finding covers where the artists were on them was much more rare.
Band name
and album
title on the
front
Use – I used this convention, as it is an obvious way to show who the band is
and their album. It is necessary to attract an audience who have heard of them
before, or for the existing audience to instantly recognise the band and their
new album. I used it on my digipak, making the name of the band the biggest
piece of text as they are the artists and the people who the digipak and music
video are branding and selling.
Track listing Use – I have listed all of the tracks on the back of the digipak so it includes all
of the content from an ordinary album, as well as including a music video on it
as well, as this is what sets a digipak aside from an album as it has other media
on it alongside audio. I have incorporated the track listing in the center of the
back cover, following the centre line set out by the points of the triangles. This
works to bring together the symmetry of the background with the layout of the
song titles.
Copyright Use – The copyright text is present on the back of every digipak and album as it
is essential for legal reasons from the record company as well as in general
terms of copyright. I created my own copyright text with the help of looking at
existing ones to make it as realistic as possible, the text included the band
name, the record company, and a list of prohibited actions in relation to the
content of the disk.
Barcode and
logo
Use – I used an image of a barcode onto the back of the digipak to ensure it
looks like a real, sellable product. The purpose of this was to make my product
looks as professional and realistic as possible. I also featured the logo of the
record company as it provides the necessary credit and reference to the
company of the band and of the company who produced the recording of the
album.

3. Conventions of an advert Use, develop or challenge? Evidence
Reviews Use – I included reviews from several publications that would normally
be interested in my genre of music to provide an accurate source of
reviews. I used reviews from Rolling Stone, Kerrang! And NME as they
all cover content on similar bands to my artist and so to an audience,
they would be reliable sources of information. I used a combination of
rating reviews and quotes to offer a range and to allow my audience to
see different views and gain an overall idea of the album
Band name and album
name
Use - I used the same fonts from the digipak with the band name and
album title to make links with the product it is advertising. The band
name is the largest text on the advert which would attract people’s
attention, and make their brand image instantly recognisable.
Additionally, as it has the album title on the poster as well, it signifies
that it is not advertising a concert or show, but the album itself.
Image of the digipak
cover
Develop – Usually, the cover of the album would be the full image on
the advert, however, I have used the band members as the main image
for the poster as a way of selling their image as well as the album.
Additionally, I did this because I hadn’t used images of them on the
digipak cover. As a way of linking the digipak with the advert, I featured
an image of the album cover on the advert to emphasise what the
advert is advertising.
Continuous font Use – I have continued my use of the ‘Hacked’ font for the name of my
band as this has become a key part of their image. It would also be
more recognisable to audiences as the font would additionally be used
elsewhere for promotion of the band.
Release date Use – I put the release date under the ‘THE NEW ALBUM’ text to
ensure that it is clear what is being released and when. This acts as one
of the most important pieces of information on the advert and so that
is why I increased the font size so that it stands out.

4. Forms and conventions of music
video
Use, develop or challenge conventions Evidence
Duration of video-usually roughly
3 minutes/ lasts no longer than
the song
Use - In indie rock music videos, the video hardly ever runs
over the duration of the song. This is most likely down to
the nature of the genre which is that music videos in the
genre are primarily to expose the song/new material of
the artist, not to sell the acting ability of the artist in the
video or to make the artist to sole focus, taking away focus
from the song itself. I used this convention by keeping my
music video to the set time of the song, not running over
with additional scenes.
Lip-syncing performance Develop - usually music videos feature the artist of the
song lip syncing , and rightly so as it is their song. However
I developed this convention as y video features three
people lip syncing, two of which were from the separate
narrative element of the song. This works to make the
video more lively and active, as well as bringing across the
sing-a-long vibe of concerts and festivals where indie rock
bands such as my artist would play their music.
(Genre) Instrument performance Challenge – Although my artist is a band who play their
own instruments, I did not use the convention of
instrument performance that is so common in the rock
genre. I challenged this convention as part of my aim in
creating the video was to connect to a wider audience,
specifically an audience who preferred pop music where
instrument performance is uncommon. I did this because
the song’s sound is quite pop influenced and so I tried to
appeal to this audience too in order to widen the appeal of
indie rock music which is usually confined to a segregated
fan base.

5. The first line of lyrics is
lip-synced
Use - Through my editing, I used clips of the artist lip syncing
the first lyrics of the song as it servers to immediately
introduce the artist to the audience so they can instantly
recognise them throughout the video. Also it acts to establish
the image of the artist if they are seen very early on the video
as a large presence. Additionally, lip syncing the initial lyrics is
vital as it makes the video look like a music video instead of a
film with a song over the top.
Close up of the artist Use - I used a variety of close up shots of the artist
throughout the video, mainly during the lip syncing
sequences as this allows the audience to connect with the
artist if they can see them properly. In addition, in a way it
sells their image and their appearance as they are so exposed
and visible. Despite appearance and image not being as
important in the rock genre, I still included these close ups to
make the artist seem likeable and relatable to the audience as
this would make video as a whole more appealing.
Voyeurism/male gaze Develop - there is an element of voyeurism in the music
video as the narrative is built from shots of the camera
following the two girls around on their day out. In terms of
the male gaze, this is used in the beginning sequence where
the audience watches one of the girls get ready for the day. I
feel I have developed the convention as I have not used it in
the stereotypical way of sexualising the girls or exposing them
in a provocative manner.

6. (Genre) bright
colours/artistic
Use - In the indie rock genre, artistic, expressive
elements are prominent as the values of the genre
are to be expressive and unique. I have used the
concept of colour to make my video stand out- in
the performance, the backgrounds of graffiti and
artwork emphasise the creative environment of
making music and the genre in particular.
Variety of shots Use - I used a variety of shots, most significantly in
the choruses to create a montage effect, in the
choruses I use close up shots and mid shots of
Jeremy, the singer, editing next to mid shots of the
two girls. Within the final chorus, I used acting kind
of performance in between the lip syncing of
Jeremy messing around, this further brings across
his personality and identity and allows the audience
to see who he is and to relate to his personality.
Editing to the beat of
the music
Use – I used the audio waveforms in Final Cut
Express to line up the video clips to cut at each
prominent beat in the track so that when the video
plays, cuts between shots happen on the beats
throughout the song. This is an effective convention
as it makes viewing more comfortable as there are
links with the visuals and the audio.