The document summarizes how the media product uses, develops, and challenges conventions of real media products. Specifically: - The front cover uses a black and white background with colored image, similar to Arctic Monkeys, adhering to indie/pop conventions. However, it develops this by using a gradient background rather than plain. - Typography uses one primary font and red/white coloring for continuity and visibility against the dark background, unlike some real albums. - The back cover uses the full image of artists against a natural setting for authenticity, unlike Justin Bieber's album which only shows part of the image.

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

2. Ancillary Text Ours Real Media Texts
Front Cover Arctic Monkeys Maroon5
Back Cover Justin
Beiber
Magazine Cover Madonna Katy Perry
Inlay Maroon5 The Kooks

3. Ancillary Text – Front Use Challenge Develop
Cover of Album
In the Arctic Monkey’s front album cover, the background For our front cover of our album we chose to Instead of having a plain background to work
Background consists of detached houses on an empty street. The adhere to the main concepts of an Indie/Pop with like the black background used on the
background image is in black and white. Looking through the genre for example the contrasting of the Maroon5 album front cover, we decided to
window of the houses we can see 3 room windows with saturated black and white background with the develop the idea of using a plain background by
retro designs in them which are in bold pop colours e.g. green brightly pop coloured image. We chose to not only using the main image as the
,yellow and blue. Looking at our front cover we have chosen adhere to these conventions as we felt that if background but also having a gradient of dark
to use the black and white background effect (saturation) we changed the conventions for example using grey, light grey and black . We chose to have a
with an image of our artists on the canvas which is also in a brightly coloured background it would grey background( a canvas in an empty room)
bold pop colours. We chose to use the same concept as the remove the retro Indie look we were trying to amongst a bright pop coloured image of our
concept used in the Arctic Monkeys album cover as it gives a portray as our album is after all representative artists. We thought the contrast between the
quirky retro look. This convention was used in our front cover of the Indie Pop music genre. We also felt that dull grey’s made the image of our artist stand
as our music genre is indie/pop which is the same music if conventions were change audience would too out amongst the rest of the album, this is so the
genre as the Arctic Monkeys, therefore we thought by using get confused as to the genre of our album image would be mostly likely to catch the
a similar concept audience will be able to establish the genre therefore unable to relate to the band as audiences eye.
of our album as well as it giving the same quirky look as effectively as the album cover would send
mainstream indie/pop music albums. different signals . Say for example we chose to
use a bright florescent background , this would
not be representative of the music genre and
audiences would therefore perhaps think our
album was a Pop album. Therefore sticking to
conventions used in mainstream Indie/Pop
genres will help to establish our album.
We choose to use the font Cooper for all our ancillary texts , In the Maroon 5 album cover two different In the Marroon 5 and the Arctic Monkey album
Typography this is because we wanted to show continuity between all of fonts are used even though they are in the covers ,both use a single font colour . Even
our ancillary texts. As our background was black we wanted same colour. We chose to use on primary font though the names of both albums stand out as
to contrast the typography with the background so that the as we thought our audience would get the colours contrast , we wanted to go a step
typography stood out. To achieve this we used the colour confused with the different styles of font. In the further. To make sure our album name stood
scheme of red and white. We chose to use these two colours Arctic Monkey’s album cover their font is very out we decided to use a gradient tool . The
as they contrasted well with the dark backgrounds. hard to see as it is squashed together thus quite gradient tool mixed the white colour of our
difficult to make out the album name. We typography with a darker colour and made the
wanted to make sure that our audience are edges stand out. Amongst the rest of the
able to see our album name clearly so we background this made the typography and out.
choose to space it out. Audiences would therefore be able to see the
album name from a distance.
As our album is called Canvas , we decided to take a picture The fact that we combined two images: the Unlike the Maroon 5 and The Arctic Monkeys
Image of a canvas and use a image of our artists on the front of the image of our band and the image of a canvas album cover we also decided to use a gradient
canvas . We also gave the album image a rugged look so that together ,gave our album cover an authentic with the image as we thought it would stand
the actual album cover had a canvas effect. type of look. We did this so that the album out more. The Arctic Monkey’s image was a
name adhered to the image. black and white image of a house . Instead of
just using a black and white canvas to contrast
with our image of the band we used a gradient
so that both images blended well with each
other as well as also standing out.

4. Ancillary Use Develop Challenge
Text – Back
Cover
Background In our music album back cover we chose to use a natural setting in The Justin Beiber album back cover uses a Most indie/pop genres again have one
which the artists were ‘naturally’ posing against. As you can see from black background with a medium close up main colour for their background. This is
the album cover we chose a plain building wall in which our artists of Justin on the right hand side. Our album used so that it creates a strong contrast
posed in front of. By placing our artists in front of a natural setting it back cover opposes this as we used the with the other brighter images or texts on
gives an authentic casual look as well as emphasising who the artists whole image of the artists as the back the album, again our group chose to use
are. From this image audiences are able clearly see who the artists cover. We thought by using the full image the artists image as the background. This is
are. Using the background in this was also gives the back album cover instead of part of the image was effective so the audience can clearly see who the
a chick and contemporary look which also adheres to the genre of the as it looked bold and stood out. band are thus enabling them to easily
music. recognise. The Justin Beiber back album
cover uses part of this concept in that the
initial background of his album back cover
is black however a full medium close up
image of himself is used on the right hand
side of the cover. This like our album cover
takes the attention off the typography and
diverts it to the artist/s of which audience
are easily able to recognise if they were to
walk past it on a shelf in a music store.
Typography We decided to use the same typography throughout all of our We went along with typical typography We took a slight gamble by spacing our
ancillary texts. This is so it established continuity and brand identity. conventions of a music album as we typography out ever so slightly just to
The colours we used were white and red. We chose these colours as thought straying from these conventions make sure audience could read it . Even
we felt the contrasted the background particularly well. This works in may have confused audience. For example though we used a smaller font size I still
our favour as the audience are clearly able to read the information on using more than one typography may managed to place the typography in places
the back of the album cover. We chose to use the font size 14 as we result in the audience not knowing what where contrast between the background
felt size 12 was to small for audiences to read. Also having a smaller the album is clearly about as different and the colour of the font were significant
font created a lot of black space. Looking at cd covers in our research ways of using fonts. so that the audience were able to clearly
and planning tasks we knew that blank spots did not give the finial read it. In the Justin Beiber album cover a
product a professional look. light grey background is used important of
white typography . Our group felt that this
idea didn't fell great as the two colours
clashed making it difficult to read the
typography.
Image We chose to have an image of our artists faces so that audiences In Justin Bieber’s back album cover Justin is In the Maroon5 album back cover there
would be able to identify with them. The shot used was an a close up . standing in a neutral pose. We really liked isn't an image of the band only
We chose this as it created a ‘in your face’ statement. Maroon 5’s this idea of using natural images so we typography. As a group we didn't like this
album cover uses a similar concept whereby the artists faces are on chose to make the artists pose naturally. idea as we felt that audiences wouldn't be
the front cover . We also chose to have a close up image of the artists We also added vibrance to them image by able to familiarise themselves with the
as we thought having text around the image will make the image changing the saturation. This also made artists. We felt that using an image of the
stand out more. them stand out . artists gave the audience a chance to
familiarise with the artists and give them a
reminder when they are reading g the
information who the artists are.

5. Ancillary Text - Inlay Use Develop Challenge
Image In the Maroon 5 inlay the artists are In our inlay we decided to use a We also used the saturation
positioned in a natural position on a pile natural setting i.e. a park bench concept from The Kook’s album
of boxes with carpet underneath. The fact where our artists were cover. Instead of using the whole
that there all sitting at different levels positioned at different levels of image in black and white we
makes the image looks natural and the bench just like the Maroon5 decided to make the back
realistic and gives the inlay a inlay image. The level ground in black and white and
contemporary look. As a group we positioning is effective as it adopted the idea from the
thought using a image positioning like the takes the focus off the Maroon5 inlay of using the
positioning used in Maroon5 was background and brings the artists in colour.
effective, as a group we decided to use a focus on to the artists. In the
similar position for our inlay as it reflects Maroon5 inlay the dark
the artists relaxed posture. Audiences background contrasts with the
would be able to relate to this image as it artists thus making them stand
gives an insight into what the artists are out . In our inlays we developed
like in environments other than the music the concept of contrasts, for
setting i.e. warm friendly and relaxed. This example, we made the grey
is also the vibe the Maroon5 image inlay background contrast with the
gives. colours of the artists costumes.
This makes the artist
themselves stand out. The fact
that they are also sat at
different levels conveys a
natural realistic image of which
the audience are able to relate
to as they looked easy going
and relaxed.

6. Ancillary Text – Magazine Use Develop Challenge
Cover
Background We chose to use a black background for Whilst looking at other real media We decided not to adhere to a
the magazine cover so that it also texts as a group we noticed each conventional background as we felt
represented continuity with the rest of magazine cover had backgrounds that we could bring our the genre of
our ancillary texts. Although we used a which adhered to the genre of there our music through different things
dark background it worked well with the music . For example Madonna’s for example the typography and the
rest of the magazine cover as the colour magazine cover had a light purple main image.
schemes and images contrasted. background. This tied in well with
her genre as her music is
commercial pop.
Image We decided to use the same image we To make the magazine cover look In our magazine cover we decided
used as our background. Our inspiration different however we decided to to put a copy of our album on it so
for this idea came from Ellie Goulding ‘s emboss the image so that it looked that audiences could make cross
album and magazine cover as she used sleek and the colours of what the references between the two pieces
exactly the same image, typography and artists were wearing stood out. of texts. Other music albums and
layout in both texts. We did this Embossing the image reinforced the magazine covers did not have this
because our music is aimed at contrast between the colours red, feature so we thought by adding a
mainstream audiences therefore having white and black. This was a concept copy of the album our magazine
images of our artists that is repetitive we used throughout all of our cover will be unique.
will likely to stick into the audiences ancillary texts as it connotes
mind. continuity and brand identity.
Typography As with all our ancillary texts we used Because we decided to use the In terms of challenging
the same font Cooper . Again this same font and the same colour for conventions , we chose to adhere to
represents continuity . We also chose to all the typography we found it quite the main conventions such as a
texturize the name of the artists as this difficult to make certain pieces of common colour scheme throughout
made it stand out amongst the rest of information stand out against other and the same font. As our music
the magazine cover. information. However we managed cater’s for mainstream audiences
to over come this issue by changing we thought by opposing or
the font size of text. For example we challenging typical features we
chose to add in some text about the would be straying from the main
name of the song that was a special concepts of what our music was
feature. To make it stand out we about thus we decided to stick to
simply just increased the font size the features. This also helps to
which made the piece of prevent audience getting confused
information stand out. on what genre the music is.

7. http://www.youtube.com/watch? Katy Perry – T.G.I
v=KlyXNRrsk4A&ob=av2e friday
http://www.youtube.com/watch? Wheatus – Teenage Dirtbag
v=FC3y9llDXuM&ob=av3e
http://www.youtube.com/watch? Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend
v=Bg59q4puhmg&ob=av2n
Chris Brown ft Tpain – Kiss
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Kiss
v=eNII9PDlFJ0&ob=av3e

8. Use Develop Challenge
Similar conventions as the songs Narrative Based – We chose to tell a Challenged Race –Mainstream
Music Video story through our video as our aimed music bands who create Pop
Teenage Dirt Bag: Corridor Scene audience is teenagers we decided that music are white in ethnicity for
we wanted to explore issues that every example Artic Monkeys and The
Katy Perry: Slow Motion teenager goes through which is they way Cooks our band is a mixture of
Revealing of new look. they look and relationships. By exploring Indian, White British and Albanian.
these issues teenage audiences will be
Lana Del Ray: Stop Motion able to relate to them. We got this idea Typical mainstream boy bands
from Katy Perry’s TGI Fridays and also tend to go for the same
Chris Brown : Nerd vs. Geek Teenage Dirt Bag as they explore similar clothing look. For example JLS all
concepts. look similar due to what they
Avril Lavigne Girlfriend: Nerd vs. Geek wear. We wanted to give our band
Stop Motion- We chose to use stop members the own uniqueness and
motion to show specific facial individuality therefore we let
expressions of the artists in the video. By them decide what they wanted to
using stop motion it makes our video wear.
less simplistic and adds a contemporary
edge to it We wanted the audience to be
able to relate to each individual
Zoom- We chose to use a zoom when character in our video therefore
Najim was changing his look from nerdy we gave each of the artists a
to cool. We thought using a zoom here range of different looks. For
highlights the change . Audiences also example geeky, girly girl, cool guy.
get a closer view at the transition. As teenagers today follow these
mainstream trends they would be
Chris Browns video Kiss Kiss was set in a able to relate to them. In other
high school . We thought the idea of music video’s that follow the
using a high school setting was good as same narrative as our the teenage
our target audience are also in high actors are a lot older thus may not
school . High School is also a place were directly be able to relate to them.
teenagers spend majority of their lives For our video we chose actors
therefore are easily able to relate. who are within the same age
range as the audience therefore
will be more likely to relate.

9. Colour Scheme creates
continuity.
Logo’s used in the
ancillary texts create
Colour scheme used in brand identity.
ancillary contrasts with
the background and
makes the typography Quirky and
stand out. Contemporary
How Effective is the combination of your main product and
ancillary texts? Question 2
They all tie in well as all
of them have similar
elements that can be
seen in each individual Audience are able to
Main product appeals relate to the music
to the target audience product.
video.
( 13-18).
Ancillary Text doesn't really
adhere to the typical conventions
of a indie/pop genre. The colours
are a bit dark

10. The answer to question 2 is in the form of
quotes, these are from a range of people I
asked as part as audience feedback.

11. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research,
planning and evaluation stages? Question 4
Usage of Photoshop:
•Editing images for ancillary texts.
•Creating ancillary texts.
Usage of Serif Movie Plus:
•Editing and cropping vox pox’s
•Adding text to vox pox’s
Usage of Adobe Premier:
•Special effects to our music video.
•Cropping footage that was not useful.
•Synchronising the music with the film footage.
•Editing the music video

12. Usage of Microsoft Word:
•Laying out ideas for our ancillary text e.g. name of the artists, name of
band, name of music album cover.
•Copying and Pasting the lyrics of our song, so that it could be given to
the members of the band to rehearse and for my group to upload onto
our blog.
•Used as a place to keep all production logs and print screens of our
production stages.
Usage of Pen and Paper:
•Writing down a rehearsal schedule for the band.
•Things to do list e.g. by the end of the week complete a section of the
video editing.
•Putting down timings of what goes where in the video.
•Drawing up a story board of our video.
•Writing down ideas for our ancillary text e.g. type of font, colours to be
used.
•Delegation list e.g. what member of the group has to do what i.e.
completing the ancillary texts.
Usage of Microsoft PowerPoint:
•Brain storming ideas for video and ancillary texts.
•Used for research and planning i.e. all the research that we did we put
onto PowerPoint so that it was all neatly kept together.
•Used to put our story board on.
•Used as part of the evaluation process e.g. using PowerPoint to
summarise and justify actions we took as part of our production.

13. Usage of Camera:
•Take Pictures for the photo shoot of our band,
the images of which were to be used in our
ancillary text.
•Photo’s for research and planning, we took
pictures of our schedules.
• Used for stop motion of a love heart getting
scrunched up. The images were then used in our
music video.
Usage of Camcorder:
•Filming our music video
•Filming cut or unused footage
Usage of Tripod:
•Whilst filming in order to keep the camcorder
steady we used the tripod so that the footage
came out smooth and even.
•Making sure the framing of the footage is level.

14. Usage of Mobile Phone:
•Calling group members for various things such
as rescheduling things such as filming or editing.
Asking for help say for example when producing
the ancillary text or for clarification for research
and planning i.e. the final name of the album.
•Texting to confirm dates, times and places
where filming the photo shoot will be held.
Usage of Printer and Scanner:
•Scan our story board which was done on paper
into the computer.
•Printing up rehearsal schedule lists
•Printing pictures of the people in our video that
were to be used as part of the props in the video.
Usage of Apple Mac:
•Emailing group members for ancillary texts and
images from the photo shoot.
•Usage of editing programmes e.g. Photoshop
and Adobe Premier and Serif Movie Plus.