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1. In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and
Conventions of Real Music Products?
Main Task-
My main task both challenges and conforms to the ideologies of the pop genre
and Andrew Goodwin’s theory surrounding music video. The video itself also
follows a variety of the theories proposed by Goodwin. Goodwins’ notion of
looking is a element of the music video that I wanted to incorporate into my
video, however with my video being strictly narrative based this became harder
to achieve. I thought that it would reinforce the connection that my camera shots
had provided for my audience. I shot some scenes where I got my actors to make
subtle addresses to my audience but throughout the editing process this became
increasingly difficult, so I decided to challenge this convention toward the end of
the video. This can be seen in 2 specific shots where my actor makes direct
address to camera without intention. To me this is one of the most endearing
parts of the video as it sees the actors ‘as real people’ and although this does
challenge the typical use of the notion of looking, I used it to my advantage and
developed it to fit the tone of my video
He also proposed the idea of Star Image. This includes a high level of camera
shots i.e. close- ups in order to make the protagonist the centre of the attention. I
decided to use this convention very carefully; I personally believe there is a very
fine line between intimacy and invasion when it comes to the artist and the way
you portray them. In order to achieve the right level of this, I chose to shoot the
same scene twice; once extremely close up on everything and then the second,
still close up but farther than the original. Throughout the editing process, I
thought it would be most effective to alternate between the two types so the
audiences were able to both be a part of the video but also watch from an outside
perspective. This is also demonstrated in Taylor Swift’s ‘Mine’, which provided
great narrative inspiration for me. You can see the artist from a wider angle but
also very intimately, which worked effectively in capturing audience members.
One way to identify the way I either used developed or challenge conventions
are through the micro features of moving image, which include Mise-En-Scene. In
a high majority of pop videos you will see elements throughout the mise-en-
scene i.e. clothing or location and actors which make the video easily identifiable
as a pop genre. For example a lot of pop videos you can see the artist is dressed
in fashionable, stylish and mainstream outfits. As my video is set in and around
the 50’s, I made sure I had outfits that would have been popular in that era to
receive a sense of validity to the time period I was aiming for.
Additionally another pop convention that I wanted to follow is the idea that an
artist expresses a unity associated with teens. To me, this is the most accessible
target audience for this genre. Looking at videos that are surrounding the same
genre, Demi Lovato’s ‘Made in The USA’ along with ‘Give Your Heart A Break’ can
be brought to our attention. Lovato’s target audience is mostly teens; therefore
you can see a common theme of attractive, similar aged actors throughout her
videos. I decided to use the same convention by choosing two actors who would

2. be the center of the video. The actors are two attractive people who were around
the same age to myself. This was key in attracting the teen audiences because
they would be able to somewhat relate to the actors due to the similarity in age
making the video much more accessible.
Digipak and Advert
My digipak predominantly follows the typical conventions of what is required.
The front page follows the convention to sell the artist. The artist’s name is the
part of the front page, which the eyes are drawn to most. I chose to use this
colour because it was stood out amongst the dark tones of the picture and other
text on the page. Similarly the back follows the conventions also by having
administrative detail that is needed but is small enough so it does not dominate.
The track list can also be found on the back, which is common convention for
digipaks.
Another convention I wanted to use, which can be applied to the artist
specifically not just a genre is the use of Acknowledgements. I decided to utilize
the Internet and look for instrument players on the album, producers and other
factual information that sometimes is not featured. I decided to put that on the
inside sleeve, so it has dominance over other elements on the digipak. This is
because I want to portray my artist as someone who cares about the real music
and not the image solely.
One convention, which is common for a pop artist on their digipak, is a message
from the artist from the fans. If I had to redo my digipak, I believe I would choose
to feature a small message to connect with the audience once again. I decided to
not to feature it originally was I believe it would have made the digipak quite
crowded and up until now my products have been quite raw and bear which I
think was a good decision as it relates to the stripped back raw emotions of the
main product.
The advert also follows the simple conventions that you would commonly see on
an advert also. Similarly to the digipak I chose to stray away from the typical idea
of presenting the artist in blind light and again follow the theme of clouds and
gloom. I chose to match the advert picture with the front page of my digipak to
hold onto continuity. I thought it was also key for the advert that I included
reviews from well established music magazine as from previously studying that
in AS I know how influential a good review can be for an artist and their brand.