The document discusses the creation of a music video and its adherence to and development of conventional forms found in real media products, particularly in the pop rock genre. It references Andrew Goodwin's theories regarding the relationship between lyrics and visuals and explores the use of narrative techniques and audience engagement. The document also addresses the consistency in branding across promotional materials like the digipak and magazine advert while noting some challenges to typical conventions due to budget constraints.

1. In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
When carrying out the research processprior to the construction of my music video,
it was key for me to carry out some key conceptual analysis, particularly that of
codes and conventions and micro analysis. From this I learnt a lot about various
conventions that were typical to music videos. For example, they consisted of a lot
of close up shots of the actor and key props featured within the video. I also carried
out research into the conventions of the pop rock music genre and the videos
produced for this genre of music. I found that they do follow some generic
conventions such as particular camera positions; however, some more distinctive
conventions might be darker lighting and more frantic camera movements.
When researching theorists for the exam segment, Andrew Goodwin’s music video
was very applicable to my genre and style of music video as I feel that there is a
clear relationship between the lyrics of the song and the visuals on the screen.
Goodwin argues that a successful music video should allow the viewer to visually see
the lyrics heard. A way in which I have used this convention highlighted is through
the use of the lyric cards which directly link to the words of the song. For example,
the first lyric “I miss the taste of the sweeter life” is stuck to the inside of a terry’s
chocolate orange box and the word ‘sweeter’ connotes the sweetness of
chocolate. Another aspect of Andrew Goodwin’s theory that features is that of the
three narratives in which I believe two apply to my music video – illustrative and
amplifying. An illustrativenarrative is wherethe music video has used certain images
and camera shots to illustrate the meaning of lyrics to their song and genre. Ways in
which I believe this is evident is when the actor in shot acts out directly what the
lyrics state – for example “I’m changing all of the stations” and the actor physically
changes the station on the car stereo. However, an amplifying narrativeis where the
images and camera shots are manipulated and shown repeatedly throughout the
music video. For example, there are a lot of close up shots showing the pictures
scattered over the ground as well as the scene where the actor rips up multiple
photos.
Another theory that I believe should be used to create something successful is the
Uses and Gratifications theory. It is important that the audience is able to form a
personal relationship with the media product and gain whatever they need through
watching this. For example, I believemost people will use the music video as well as
others for entertainment, identity, escapism and to be able to gain ways of
interacting with others who share similar ideas, likes and values. Overall, I believe
that this will be achievable through the varying shots and the ability to apply the
lyrics to the visuals on the screen.
When looking into other Maroon 5 music videos, I found that the majority of them
are heavily narrative based. For example “Sugar” features Adam Levine and the
other members of Maroon 5 turning up randomly and singing at people’s w eddings.
I believe that I used this convention of their videos and developed on this, as I too
have created something heavily narrative based. However, I have challenged this
convention also as many of their videos are quite large productions which are quite
dark – with the exception of a couple – and they seem to cost quite a lot of money.
Obviously thereis a near on non-existent budget for my music video, however I feel
with the equipment and props that I had, the narrative of the video worked out

2. quite nicely. Additionally, there is typically some lip synching in their videos, however,
this is not something that I chose to do as the actress was not comfortable doing so.
In terms of the Digipak and Magazine Advert, it was important that the two were
consistent and were obviously linked with one and other. This would be a typical
convention of advertisement and promotion for music artists and their work as
consistency is important otherwise the audience would not be able to recognise the
products. I believethat overall, I haveused and developed the typical conventions
of both of these products. Firstly, there is a house style of maroon, black and white
that is consistently seen on both tasks. Additionally, in terms of the magazine advert
that is used to promote the Digipak, I kept the design quite clean and simple as it is
important that the audience are able to understand what is being promoted, this
would not be possible if an illegible typography is chosen with too much colour as it
would detract from its main purpose. In terms of the Digipak, there were many
typical conventions that were followed. Firstly, it is important that the audience know
what songs are featured on the CD, therefore it was key that I included a track listing
on the back page of the Digipak. However, I challenged the typical format of just
listing the track names, and instead wrapped the text around a capital V to link to
the name of the album. Furthermore, on the front cover, it is important that there is
either the name of the album or the artist on their in some way so they audience are
aware of what they are buying. I did this by having ‘Maroon 5’ centred towards the
top of the page with the actor holding her hand out flat with 5 fingers showing
linking to the roman numeral V which means 5, connoting the fact that this is the fifth
album being released by Maroon 5. Another thing that I adhered to and used the
conventions of is the credits and thank you message inside the cover of the Digipak,
alongside the record labels and copyright information. This is typical as it allows the
artist to connect with its audience as they are able to thank them on a more
personal level.
Overall, I believe that all three of my products in some way, use develop and
challenge forms and conventions of typical real world products. It could be argued
that doing this is extremely important as not only do you know that typical formats
and ideas are successful with particular products, but you can add your own touch
to your own product, making it original and letting it stand out against other possible
products that have been created.