The document discusses various conventions used in different media products within the genres of pop, indie/alternative, and discusses how the student's media products both develop and challenge some of these conventions. For the music video, it develops conventions such as dressing the artist casually to relate to audiences and having quick cuts between narrative and performance. It challenges conventions by having more narrative focus than performance. The digipak develops conventions such as prominently displaying the artist's name and image and using consistent text/themes. The magazine ad develops conventions like using a visual hierarchy but challenges displaying the release date. Inspiration is drawn from various artists like Rihanna, Olly Murs and Bastille.

1. QUESTION 1: IN WHAT WAYS
DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT
USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE
FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF
REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS
BY BEN CHAISTY, SAM PERCY, TOM BALDWIN AND MAX
KIMBERLEY

2. • BEN CHAISTY
• SAM PERCY
• MAX KIMBERLEY

3. MUSIC VIDEO
CONVENTION 1 – ARTIST IN THE POP GENRE ARE DRESSED CASUALLY SO THAT THEY CAN RELATE TO
THEIR TARGET AUDIENCES .
IN OUR MUSIC VIDEO WE HAVE FOLLOWED A COMMON CONVENTION THAT THE ARTIST IS DRESSED CASUALLY BUT
ALSO RELATING TO TODAY FASHION SO THAT THEY CAN RELATE TO TARGET AUDIENCES. BY OUR ARTIST DRESSING
LIKE THIS WE ARE RELATING TO A MASS AUDIENCE. THE OUTFIT FOR YOUR ARTIST CHANGED THROUGHOUT OUR
DRAFTS AS OUR AUDIENCES DIDN’T FEEL IT RELATED TO A MASS AUDIENCE AND DIDN’T FOLLOW ANY COMMON
CONVENTIONS OF OUR GENRE, SO BASED ON OUR AUDIENCE FEEDBACK WE CHANGED THIS.
WE FOUND INSPIRATION FROM ARTIST SUCH AS OLLY MURS AND RIZZLE KICKS IN THERE MUSIC VIDEO ‘HEART SKIPS A
BEAT’, BOTH SETS OF ARTIST ARE WEARING SIMILAR COSTUMES DO US, IN THE HOPE THAT THEY CAN RELATE TO A
MASS AUDIENCE, WHICH THEY HAVE DONE SUCCESSFULLY SINCE THE VIDEO HAS OVER 41 MILLION VIEWS.
AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THESE IMAGES, ARTIST IS DRESSED VERY SIMILAR TO RIZZLE KICKS AND OLLY MURS, WEARING
A T’SHIRT AND HAT, BY DOING THIS WE HAVE DEVELOPED OUR COMMERCIAL PRODUCT SO THAT, THE ARTIST LOOKS
MORE LIKE A CONVENTIONAL ‘ARTIST’ AND SO WE CAN RELATE TO A MASS AUDIENCE, WHICH IS THE AIM WITHIN THE
‘POP’ GENRE

4. MUSIC VIDEO
CONVENTION 2 – OUR MUSIC VIDEO IS MORE NARRATIVE BASED THAN PERFORMANCE BASED WHICH
CHALLENGES FORMS OF THE ALTERNATIVE/INDIE GENRE
OUR MUSIC VIDEO CHALLENGES A COMMON CONVENTION THAT ALL SONGS IN THE ‘ALTERNATIVE INDIE GENRE’
HAVE A HIGHER RATIO OF PERFORMANCE THAN NARRATIVE. HOWEVER IN OUR MUSIC VIDEO WE CHALLENGED THIS
CONVENTION AND HAVE MORE NARRATIVE THAN PERFORMANCE. WE HAVE DONE THIS BECAUSE AS A GROUP WE FELT
THIS WOULD MAKE OUR MUSIC VIDEO MORE INTERESTING AND REALLY CAPTURVATE THE AUDIENCES OUR
ATTENTTION.
AS A GROUP WE FOUND INSPIRATION FROM ARTISTS SUCH AS ‘FLORENCE + THE MACHINE’ IN HER MUSIC VIDEO ‘SHIP
TO WRECK’ AS LIKE OUR MUSIC VIDEO SHE ALSO CHALLENGES THIS CONVENTION IN HIS MUSIC VIDEO AS HE HAS
MORE NARRATIVE THAN PERFORMANCE. FOR THIS GENRE EDITORS USUALLY FOCUS ON THE ARTIST SO THAT HE CAN
CREATE A BRAND FROM HIMSELF OR HERSELF.
IN OUR MUSIC VIDEO WE FELT THE NEED TO CHALLENGE THIS CONVENTION, TO HIGHLIGHT THE COMEDY AND ’FUN’
ASPECT OF OUR MUSIC VIDEO.

5. DIGIPAK
CONVENTION 1 – THE ARTIST NAME IS PROMINENT ON THE FRONT COVER OF THE DIGIPAK.
THE EDITOR THAT HELPS PRODUCE THE DIGIPAK USUALLY FOLLOWS THE COMMON CONVENTION THAT THE ARTIST
NAME IS ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT FEATURES OF THE DIGIPAK. AS A GROUP WE TOOK THE DECISION TO MAKE
THE ARTIST NAME A PROMINENT FEATURE SO THAT WE COULD CREATE A CLEAR BRAND TO SO THAT AUDIENCES
COULD EASILY RECOGNIZE OUR ARTIST. BY DOING THIS WE ARE DEVELOPING COMMON CONVENTIONS OF OUR
GENRE.
HAVING THE ARTIST NAME AS A PROMINENT FEATURE IS A CONVENTION WE DECIDED TO DEVELOP AS IT ALLOWED
AUDIENCES TO EASILY RECOGNIZE WHO OUR ARTIST, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT ARTIST IS EASILY RECOGNIZABLE
AS IT WILL ALLOW HIM TO TARGET THEIR TARGET AUDIENCE SO WHEN MAKING THE DIGIPAK WE HAD THIS IN MIND.
AN ARTIST THAT ALLOW FOLLOWS THIS CONVENTION AND THAT WE TOOK INSPIRATION FROM IS ‘JUSTIN BIEBER’
AND HIS ALBUM ‘MY WORLD’. WE TOOK INSPIRATION FROM THIS ALBUM AS WE FOLLOWED A VISUAL HIERARCHY
THAT IMMEDIATELY DREW MY ATTENTION TO THE NAME OF THE ARTIST AND THEN THE IMAGE OF THE ARTIST.

6. DIGIPAK
CONVENTION 2 – THE ARTIST IS THE MAIN IMAGE ON THE FRONT OF THE DIGIPAK
A COMMON CONVENTION OF DIGIPAKS WITHIN OUR GENRE IS, MAKING SURE THAT THE ARTIST IS THE MAIN IMAGE
THROUGHOUT THE DIGIPAK, EPICALLY ON THE FRONT COVER. MANY FAMOUS ARTIST FOLLOW THIS IDEA SUCH AS
RIHANNA. WE AS A GROUP DECIDED TO THIS SO THAT WE COULD GREAT A BRAND AROUND OUR ARTIST AND MAKE
HIM EASILY RECONIZABLE TO OUR TARGET AUDIENCE.
WE DECIDE DEVELOP THIS CONVENTION BECAUSE WE FELT IT WAS AN EASY WAY FOR US CREATE A BRAND AROUND
OUR ARTIST. IT WAS ALSO AN EASY WAY FOR US TO SHOW CASE OUR USP TO OUR TARGET AUDIENCES SO THAT WE
COULD APPEAL TO THEM. DESPITE THE FACT WE DECIDED TO DEVELOP THIS CONVENTION, THERE ARE CERTAIN
ARTIST THAT WANTED TO CHALLENGE IT SUCH AS ED SHEERAN AND HIS NEW ALBUM ‘DIVIDED’ HE MAY HAVE
DECIDED TO DO THIS SO THAT AUDIENCES JUST FOCUS ON HIS MUSIC AND NOT HIM. HOWEVER FOR OUR ARTIST WE
WANTED OUR TARGET AUDIENCE TO RELATE TO OUR ARTIST, AND TO FOCUS ON HIS USP (THE CAP)
CHALLENGED THE
COMMON CONVENTION
DEVLOPS THE
COMMON CONVETION

7. MAGAZINE
CONVENTION 1 – ALL MAGAZINE ADVERTS WITHIN THE GENRE HAVE A VISUAL HIERARCHY.
HAVING A VISUAL HIERARCHY IN A MAGAZINE ADVERT IS A VERY COMMON CONVENTION WITHIN OUR GENRE.
HAVING A VISUAL HIERARCHY WILL ALLOWS TO SEE THE IMPORTANCE OF DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF THE MAGAZINE. AS
A GROUP WE DECIDED TO DEVELOP THIS CONVENTION AS WE BELIEVED IT IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR OUR TARGET
AUDIENCE TO FOCUS ON THE ARTIST, THEN THE TEXT AND THEN OTHER ASPECTS OF THE MAGAZINE. WE DID THIS
SO THAT WE COULD CREATE A CLEAR BRAND AROUND OUR ARTIST AND MAKE PEOPLE MAINLY FOCUS ON HIM AND
WHO HE IS AS AN ARTIST.
MANY ARTIST CHOSE TO DEVELOP THIS CONVENTION AS WELL SUCH AS ‘JUSTIN BIEBER’ WE FOUND INSPIRATION
FROM THIS WHEN CONSTRUCTING OUR MAGAZINE COVER. THE THING THAT ALLOWED US TO MAKE THIS VISUAL
HIERARCHY WAS OUR PHOTOGRAPHY, AS WHEN WE TOOK IT WE FOCUSED ON THE ARTIST AND MAKING HIM THE
MAIN OBJECT WHEN TAKING THESE PICTURES. PHOTOSHOP ALSO ALLOWED TO MAKE THE TEXT THE NEXT FOCUS AND
COME SECOND IN HIERARCHY.
OUR INSPIRATION COMPARED TO OUR ACTUAL COVER.
FOCUS 1
FOCUS 2
FOCUS 3
FOCUS 4

8. MAGAZINE
CONVENTION 2 – THE RELEASE DATE IS ON THE MAGAZINE COVER
A COMMON CONVENTION IN THE ALTERNATIVE/INDIE GENRE IS THAT THE ARTIST DISPLAYS THE RELEASE DATE OF
THEIR NEW ALBUM. THIS IS DONE AS A PROMOTIONAL TECHNIQUE SO THAT AUDIENCES ARE AWARE WHEN THEY CAN
PURCHASE THE ALBUM. HOWEVER WE DECIDED TO CHALLENGE THIS CONVENTION BECAUSE AS GROUP WE THOUGHT
IT WOULD CREATE A MYSTERY AROUND OUR ARTIST AND ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HIM, AND
BY THEM DOING THIS WE WOULD INCREASE THE AWARENESS OF OUR ARTIST.
ARTIC MONKEYS ANOTHER GROUP THAT ARE IN THIS GENRE HAVE ALSO DECIDED TO CHALLENGE THIS CONVENTION.
THIS MAY HAVE BEEN DONE BY THEM BECAUSE THEY FEEL THEY ARE FAMOUS ENOUGH AND THEY DONE NEED TO PUT
ON THE RELEASE DATE BECAUSE THEY CAN SHARE THIS INFORMATION VIA OTHER PLATFORMS.

9. MUSIC VIDEO
CONVENTION 1- THE MUSIC VIDEO HAS QUICK CUTS BETWEEN THE NARRATIVE AND THE
PERFORMANCE
WE DID THESE QUICK CUTS BECAUSE IT IS A COMMON CONVENTION FOR THIS MUSIC GENRE ALTERNATIVE/INDIE POP
AS THE FREQUENT AND FAST CUTS BETWEEN THE NARRATIVE AND PERFORMANCE KEEPS THE VIDEO INTERESTING
AND UPBEAT AS THE SONG IS A FAIRLY UPBEAT SONG. ITS ALSO ALLOWS THE MUSIC VIDEO TO SHARE MORE
INFORMATION WITH THE AUDIENCE IN THE SHORT SPACE OF TIME THAT THE SONG LASTS FOR.
WE FOUND INSPIRATION FROM ARTISTS SUCH AS ELLIE GOULDING IN HER MUSIC VIDEO ‘LOVE ME LIKE YOU DO’ AS
THIS HAS VERY FREQUENT AND FAST CUTS WHICH REALLY HELPS TO LINK THE NARRATIVE WITH THE PERFORMANCE
AND TO GET THE STORY ACROSS TO THE AUDIENCE.
AS YOU CAN SEE FROM OUR IMAGES EVEN THOUGH THE PERFORMANCE IS NOT SIMILAR OR EVEN THE NARRATIVE THE
CONSTANT AND FAST CUTTING FROM NARRATIVE AND PERFORMANCE IS THE SAME AS BOTH VIDEOS ARE TRYING TO
TELL A STORY AS WELL AS GIVE A PERFORMANCE OF THE ARTIST SO THE CONSTANT CUTTING IS ESSENTIAL.

10. MUSIC VIDEO
CONVENTION 2 – ARTIST LOOKS LIKE HE'S HAVING FUN
IT’S A VERY COMMON CONVENTION FOR UPBEAT INDIE SONGS TO MAKE THE ARTIST LOOK LIKES HE'S HAVING FUN AS
IT’S A LIGHT-HEARTED AND NOT A VERY DEEP SONG SO THERE IS NO NEED FOR HIM TO BE EMOTIONAL OR SERIOUS.
ALSO THE AUDIENCE WATCHING THE VIDEO WILL ALSO WANT TO SEE THE ARTIST HAVING A GOOD TIME AS THEY
WOULD NOT EXPECT THE ARTIST TO BE EMOTIONAL BECAUSE OF THE TYPE OF SONG.
FOR INSPIRATION FOR OUR VIDEO WE LOOKED AT ARTISTS LIKE OLLY MURS IN SONGS SUCH AS ‘DANCE WITH ME’
AND ‘HEART SKIPS A BEAT’ AS IN BOTH OF THESE SONGS HE IS CLEARLY HAVING A GOOD TIME WHICH IS PERFECT AS
THERE BOTH UPBEAT SONGS AND BOTH HAPPY SONGS.
AS YOU CAN SEE IN ALL THESE IMAGES THEY ARE ALL HAVING A GOOD TIME AND SMILING AS THERE SINGING WHICH
CLEARLY SHOWS THEY ARE ALL HAVING FUN AS IT WOULDN’T MATCH OUR SONG IF TOM WAS BEING TOO SERIOUS
AND EMOTIONAL WHEN PERFORMING.

11. DIGIPAK
CONVENTION 1 - CONSISTENT TEXT THROUGHOUT
IN OUR DIGIPAK WE USED THE SAME TEXT THROUGHOUT AS IT LINKS ALL THE PIECES TOGETHER TO MAKE THE
DIGIPAK. THE ONLY BIG OF TEXT WE USED A DIFFERENT FONT ON WAS THE TITLE OF THE ALBUM TO ENSURE THAT IT
STOOD OUT TO THE REST OF THE DIGIPAK AND THAT WAS THE FIRST THING THAT PEOPLES EYES WERE DRAWN TO.
THIS IS IMPORTANT AS PEOPLE MUST SEE THIS AS WE ARE TRYING TO PROMOTE THE NAME OF THE ALBUM TO THE
PUBLIC. WE ALSO USED DIFFERENT TEXT FOR THE QUOTE TO SHOW THAT ITS CLEARLY A QUOTE AND NOT PART OF
THE ALBUM ITSELF.
AS YOU CAN SEE WITH RIHANNA'S DIGIPAK THERE IS A CONSISTENT FONT AND TEXT THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE
THING EVEN THOUGH THERE ISN’T MUCH TEXT ON HER DIGIPAK THIS STILL GAVE US SOME INSPIRATION FOR OURS.

12. DIGIPAK
CONVENTION 2 - NAME OF THE ALBUM
THE NAME OF THE ALBUM IS THERE TO MAKE SURE THAT WHEN ITS PUBLISHED EVERYONE RECOGNISED IT AND
HOPEFULLY PAIRS IT WITH THE ARTIST SO THAT HE GETS SOME PUBLICITY AND GETS HIS NAME OUT THERE. THE
NAME OF THE ALBUM IS ‘ALL THIS BAD BLOOD’ WHICH IS GOOD AS IT’S A VERY UNIQUE NAME THAT PEOPLE WILL
REMEMBER AND RECOGNISE.
AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE IMAGE WE USED THE SAME FONT BUT JUST NOT AS BOLD TO SHOW THE LINK BETWEEN THE
ALBUM NAME AND THE ARTIST NAME SO PEOPLE PAIRED THE TWO TOGETHER WHEN THEY SEE IT.
WE GOT INSPIRATION FROM OLLY MUR’S ALBUM ‘IN CASE YOU DIDN’T KNOW’ AS YOU CAN SEE THAT IT CLEARLY HAS
THE NAME OF THE ALBUM SO EVERYONE CAN CLEARLY SEE IT AND ALSO HIS NAME STANDS OUT SO PEOPLE KNOW
WHO THE ARTIST IS WHO MATCHES WITH THE ALBUM.

13. MAGAZINE
CONVENTION 1 – REVIEWS
IT IS IMPORTANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE REVIEWS ARE CLEARLY VISIBLE IN A MUSIC MAGAZINE AND THEY ARE VERY
CLEAR IN THIS ONE. THE FONT IS CLEARLY DIFFERENT SO THAT THE READER CAN EASILY SEE WHAT COMPANY
REVIEWED IT AND ALSO EASILY SEE EXACTLY WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT IT. THIS IS GOOD AS ITS ONE OF THE FIRST
THINGS THAT THE AUDIENCE WILL SEE SO IT WILL MAKE THEM WANT TO PURCHASE THE ALBUM AS THEY HAVE SEEN
GOOD REVIEWS FROM BIG AND WELL KNOWN COMPANIES.
EVEN THOUGH THIS BEYONCÉ ALBUM MAGAZINE DOESN’T HAVE ANY RATINGS ON IT HAS THE SONGS THAT ARE
INCLUDED IN A SIMILAR FONT AND DESIGN TO HOW WE DID IT AS ITS VERY SUBTLE BUT PEOPLE CAN CLEARLY SEE IT
WHICH IS WHY WE GOT OUR INSPIRATION FROM THIS.

14. MUSIC VIDEO
CONVENTION 1- URBAN SETTING
When choosing the setting for our video, we felt we had to choose something
representative of our artist and genre.
Bastille’s music video
shows a stereotypically
urban setting of rooftop
which inspired our
In the indie-pop genre settings are commonly low budget to provide an authentic feel and to
appeal to the target audience. The use of urban locations such as rooftops, cities and parks
evoke mystery and allow the viewer to focus on the performance of the artist.
The killers use the
urban location of a
city to relate to
audience and focus
Bastille- Pompei The killers- Read my
mind
We chose to use similar locations to these
videos to develop the conventions of the
indie-pop genre and appeal to the target
audience.

15. MUSIC VIDEO
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES
As technology advances, directors of music videos have been able to create a wider
range of storytelling through the use of special effects. The videos have become a lot
more interesting and keeps the audience engaged in the video.​
By creating an interesting video you can help gain success and status of the song, to
attract a wider audience.
Imagine Dragons-
radioactive
A1- Take on me
Imagine dragons used CGI in
their video by showing a
puppet fight. This made the
narrative apect of their video
more intresting and appealed
A1 were one of the first groups
to use technology in their video,
this inspired many bands and
showed how you can use
technology to make the video
more exciing
We were inspired by these
videos to create a split screen
for our visual reality themed
narrative as we felt this would
make the narrative more
exciting and engaging for the
audience

16. DIGIPAK
CONSISTENT THEME THROUGHOUT
In our digipak we had a consistent theme throughout to create a brand identity.
This is a common convention of digipaks to grab the audiences attention and link
together all aspects of the album such as the music video. This is done through
the colour scheme and type of images in the digipak.
We took inspiration from both Rihanna
and The 1975 ‘s digipaks as they
maintained a constant colour scheme
and theme throughout. However we also
took inspiration from Bastille’s digipak
by using an urban setting.
Red colour
scheme and
artist is main
focus
Urban
setting We had a constant blue theme
throughout our digipak and
ensured the artist is the main
focus. The urban location
relates to the indie pop genre
and supports the consistent
urban theme across all

17. DIGIPAK
TRACK LIST
The track list is stereotypically included on the back cover of a digipak and includes all the
necessary information of the album. It is generally placed in the centre of the cover as the
aim is for it to be the main focus of the cover to entice the audience.
We took inspiration from both Rihanna and
Bastille’s track list. Firstly we liked the style of
centring the text similar to Bastille’s track list as
we felt this made it stand out and ensured the
viewers attention was focused on the track list.
Also by having a typically urban location this
would relate to the genre as well as the target
audience similar to our digipak.
In Rihanna back cover we liked the idea of
having the artist on the back cover as we felt it
helped promote them as the focus of the
digipak. Also it would capture the audiences
attention and immediately link the track list to
the artist themselves.

18. MAGAZINE COVER
SOCIAL MEDIA AND WEBSITE TAGS
Social media and website tags are a significant aspect of a magazine advert in the modern
world, as it allows artists to advertise merchandise on their websites, tour information as well
as gather a mass social media following.
Olly Murs and Jessie J are well known artists and both advertise their websites at the bottom of
the web page which is a common convention of a mainstream artist. We developed this
convention as our artist is relatively new and therefore needs as much publicity possible from
the poster, therefore we included a variety of social media tags.
However, we kept the tags relatively subtle to prevent taking any of the audiences attention
away from the artist who is intended to be the main focus.

19. MAGAZINE COVER
URBAN SETTING
In the indie pop genre artists commonly use images from an urban setting to relate to
their target audience and create a brand identity.
Firstly Bastille used a stereotypically urban image of a forest to relate to the genre and
create an authentic tone throughout the advert, we developed this into our advert by
using the urban location of a rooftop.
Mumford and Sons also portray an urban location by showing the band in a park, we
took inspiration of showing the band in the location and developed this into our advert.