The document discusses conventions of different media forms including digipaks, magazine advertisements, and music videos of the alternative R&B genre. It summarizes how the student's media product follows conventions such as using a narrative storyline focused on relationships and partying to express emotions. It also challenges some conventions by not sexualizing women and having a female main character rather than focusing on a male artist. Real media products that inspired the work include the music videos for "Marvin's Room" by Drake and "Nights" by Frank Ocean for their narratives and visual style.

1. Evaluation Question 1
In what ways does your media product use
forms and conventions of real media
products?

2. What are the conventions of the ancillary task
(Digipak and Magazine advert)?
The typical conventions of a digipak will include imagery of the artist, with a barcode, name of production
company, track list, name of the artist or band and also additional information. All of the aspects that are
included in the digipak design allows the audience to recognise the product immediately and be familiar with
what they have seen on other media products. Having imagery of the artist and the artists name allows the
audience to connect with the artist and feel as if they know them before listing to their music. The design of a
digipak is also important as it gives the audience a feel of what kind of music is on the disc and what genre, by
just looking at the imagery and colours used. Having a track list is an important aspect of a digipak and it allows
the audience to see the name of the songs before listening, as it will intrigue them more.
Some of the conventions used in magazine adverts are similar to the ones used in the digipak, which consist of a
main image of the artist, name of the artist or band plus reviews or response from other magazines or institutions
and where it is available to purchase. By using a main image of the artist shows a direct way of communicating
with the audience so they can identify and connect with the artist even before listening to their music. The name
of the artist features on the poster to emphasis who the artist is and is always in a different colour to everything
else to stand out to the audience. The album title is usually very visual on the poster which is promoting the artist
and is a meaningful piece of information as it allows consumers and fans to identify the artist with the album, and
have a feel what the music is going to be about. Magazine advert posters also introduce the shops that sell the
album so the audiences clearly know where to buy and order their copies, which helps the artist and the record
label receive as many sales as they possibly can through this promotion. Another important convention is to
feature the issue date or release date for the album and when it is available to buy or download.

3. What are conventions of the
music video?A main convention of music videos is the use of a lot of close ups of the main artists, which
supplies for the demand of the record label as it allows the audience to see what they have
came to see, which is the artist. The audience can also connect with the artist by seeing them
frequently throughout the music video, helping promote them and their music. There should
also be links between the lyrics and visuals which creates a stronger meaning to the music and
helps the audience understand what is going on throughout. It is also important to include
genre characteristics in music videos as this allows the audience to easily identify what type of
genre music it is through typical conventions used. As my music video is the genre of
alternative R&B I made sure I included conventions to make this clear.
There are three different types of music videos which are performance, narrative or a
combination of both. My music video will be a narrative based video, which will consist of a girl
who has recently broken up with her boyfriend and is trying to forget about her feelings, by
drinking and having fun with her friends. Some shots will be tracking shots of her, whilst we will
see other things from her point of view. This is so that the audience can relate to what she is
going through and feel as if they are the main character.

4. What are the conventions of your
chosen music genre?A narrative is commonly seen in this genre as it is used to tell a story throughout the video by using a
sequence of images and videos that relate to the song. This can be done in a way that it makes
sense to the audience so they can follow and link it to the lyrics. There are many different story lines
used to express a certain song and as we found that in Alternative R&B usually focuses on
relationships, love and lust between a male and a female character, who are usually having
problems. This is one way of making the music video stand out and make it popular with the
audience. There is also performance used in R&B music videos as the main artist which is usually
male is seen performing to the camera using single shots of them and close ups, which implies to
the audience that they are important and creates a connections between them.
Due to alternative R&B often having an urban look this can be created through the locations, props
and also their clothing. As we are usually shown the artist in nice locations such as beaches,
expensive houses with expensive cars. Always wearing expensive jewellery, with usually the males
in jeans and topless, whilst the females are sexualised wearing little clothing. The characters in R&B
music videos are mostly seen partying, drinking and taking drugs showing the audience that they
are living a good lifestyle with no worries.

5. Where have you followed
these conventions? Why?
Throughout my music video I have applied a range of conventions linking to the genre of
Alternative R&B. For example, the narrative of my music video follows a girl who has recently
broken up with her boyfriend, who tries to forget about her feelings by getting drunk and having fun
with her friends. I have decided to do this as many people interested in this genre expect to see a
narrative like this and is one of the reasons why they are interested in Alternative R&B, as they can
express their emotions through the song and its narrative by relating from personal experiences.
The idea of being able to forget about feelings by having a bit of fun and drinking also gives the
audience a sense of escapism and they feel they can do the same and enjoy themselves through
the songs narrative. This also fits the lyrics to the song I was doing and I did not want the audience
to lose the meaning of the song and become confused to what they are seeing, so I kept it simple
and original. Using props such as alcohol and cigarettes helped connect our video to the
conventions used in R&B as they are always seen drinking and smoking which is what the main
character in my music video is doing to forget about her feelings. My music video was also filmed
at night in a low key lighting which most R&B songs are shot in to create a more party feel, shooting
at night also links to the name and lyrics to the song.

6. Where have you challenged the
conventions? Why?
I have decided to challenge the typical conventions of R&B music videos as usually the women
characters are sexualised, seen in little clothing and just objects in the music video. However, in my
music video I have not sexualised women and the female characters are always shown fully
clothed, this is because I wanted to create a positive representation of women and that they
shouldn’t always have to be seen in that way. The main character in my music video is also female,
which also challenges the typical conventions as usually in R&B music videos the main character is
male as they are represented as the more dominate role whilst the female characters are
irrelevant. I have used a female as the main character as I wanted my music video to be more
diverse and less stereotypical. Also having a female main character connects more with the target
audience as they are mainly female and as we are using an alternative R&B song we thought it
would be a good idea to play with the conventions as it is not just normal R&B. I have also
challenged these conventions by not including performance in my video as usually in R&B we see
the main artist performing the lyrics to the screen, which I didn’t want to do as I wanted my music
video to be more of a story.

7. What real media products (music
videos, digipaks) have inspired you?
I researched a range of music videos that had a similar narrative of a break up, which led to
drinking and trying to forget about feelings. The music video ‘Marvin's room’ by Drake inspired this
idea as the narrative in his music video followed his relationships issues as he tried to solve it
through going out clubbing, drinking and trying to have fun. Which is the narrative I wanted to
create in my music video and I thought it was the perfect video to take ideas and inspiration from.
The low key lighting and use of colours also intrigued me and thought it would be interesting to do
this in my music video. Another big inspiration for my music video was the music video Nights (Enter
The Void) by Frank Ocean. What I liked about this music video is that it was shot in a point of view
perspective and handheld which made the audience feel as if they was there and I wanted to
apply this to my music video. This music video also has the use of a lot of bright colours which I
want to include in my music video. I also looked at different digipaks to get ideas for my own, the
ones I really liked were Frank Oceans cover for his album ‘Blond’ because it is very simplistic, with
just a focal image of him and the album name at the top which. I also liked Drakes digipak for his
album ‘Take Care’ as the colour scheme, props and imagery all linked together and gave a feel of
what the songs in the album were like, which I want to create when making my digipak, so the
audience know what type of music they are going to be listening to.