In what ways does your media product use, develop and challenge conventions of real media products

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real media products?
My music video and ancillary tasks use, develop and challenge codes and
conventions which are found in professional media products within the genre of
folk/indie music.
In my music video I have taken influence from my research into Andrew Goodwin’s
music video theory. He states that there is usually intertextuality links with
products from film and music videos. So I noticed there was a link between indie
films and the folk music genre. I have conformed to this convention as in my folk
music video, the focus is on young couples who appear to be in love and are happy
and carefree. I have expressed this through my use of mise en scene, I have
incorporated acoustic guitars, a straw hat, a flower crown and casual clothing
which are all connotations for the folk genre and the hippie culture which it
represents. There is a strong connection, I think, between my main couple and the
couple in the indie film ‘Juno’ through my use of characterization and mise en
scene accompanied by music. Films of this genre are meant to be heart-warming
and feel good, as well as relatable to the audience. I think I have made this link
successful and the majority of people in my feedback said how my music video had
a ‘happy vibe’ or it was ‘cute’ which was what I was aiming for.
This filmic style I used is supported by my technical use of the camera. I use
techniques such as match-on-action to make the transitions between shots fluid
and realistic, this keeps the audience in the verisimilitude of the video. I also use a
variety of different shots ranging from extreme close ups to extreme wide shots and
pans, this makes for a more captivating and interesting viewing experience.
I have also taken note of Goodwin’s mention of frequent reference to the notion of
looking in music videos. In many of my shots I have used point of view or over the
shoulder shots in order to make reference to one character looking at the other.
Contrary to Goodwin’s ideas and Laura Mulvey’s male gaze theory, there is no
particular or blatant voyeuristic treatment of the female body. However, there are
some shots when the camera is focused on the girl’s legs as they walk away, and
this could be perceived as conforming to the male gaze theory, as it is focusing on
their legs and rears which are highly sexualized in normal media products. Also
when the lesbian couple are kissing and looking at each other, some may argue
that this could fall under the male gaze category as this is something that appeals
to males and they would focus on it, however when creating this I did not have
males sexual desires at interest. I was purely conveying a love between two girls as
equal to the love between the young heterosexual couples. I did this because I
wanted to challenge how lesbians are portrayed in media products – they are
highly sexualised and seen purely as a male sexual interest. They are hardly

2. presented within music videos (among all the straight couples) but when they are,
they are usually shown as kissing or being sexual. I wanted to challenge this and I
think I was successful in doing so by showing one girl proposing to each other and
them laughing and hugging in an innocence and wholesome kind of way.
I have challenged conventions through my use of stereotyping and representation
in my video. I have in no way presented the female characters within my products
as being weak or subservient to the males, because this is something which is
highly common within real media products and in general within our patriarchal
society, and I think it only contributes to a negative stereotype. I have therefore
presented a video which I hope connotes equality and love in a harmonious and
positive way. I almost wanted it to be a kind of rebellion against the pressures that
young people often feel to conform to ‘normality’ within society as presented and
emphasised by usual media products.
I have also challenged the usual concept/ performance style of folk music videos by
incorporating a narrative into a mainly performance based video using the same
characters which are performing. I incorporated the narrative of the two girls in the
park and one girl proposing in order to add some structure into my video and keep
the viewer interested until the end. I did this as in my first draft there was no
narrative at all and this I think made for a boring viewing experience. Also,
incorporating this narrative concept in my final draft meant I could physical
embody the themes of love and happiness which I was trying to convey through my
video. This makes it more obvious for the viewer. Then using the two girls in the
performance aspect of the video I think was successful as it was like the girls were
singing about their emotions to each other, and were perhaps nostalgically looking
back to the day they got engaged. I think this allowed the audience also to get
closer to the girls and develop a relationship with them throughout the video.
Roland Barthes’s cultural code can also be applied to the hippie/indie style of
clothes and mise en scene that the characters in my video and products are
wearing. This is reflective of the genre and the youth sub culture which is
associated with it.
For my Digipak I developed and challenged codes and conventions of usual
products by incorporating my images in using the style of Polaroid pictures, instead of
just adding them on plainly. I think this makes for a more interesting and aesthetically
appealing CD cover. This also conforms to the idea of happy memories and nostalgia
which is running throughout my video. I think this would make the audience want to pick
up my CD off the shelf and look at it because it stands out. Or, because my target
audience are digital natives in the audience 2.0, they would see the Digipak on Edward
Sharpe’s website probably viewed off their smart devices, or for sale on iTunes, eBay or
amazon. They would be more inclined to buy it because it is different. However this could
easily not work as well in the real world because my Digipak could be made redundant by
the fact my audience would probably just buy the music off iTunes or listen on sound
cloud so they would only receive the album artwork and not the Digipak anyway.

3. Also with my Digipak, I have attempted to challenge codes and conventions by showing
the band’s name and title of the album in relatively small font, so that on the front cover
the image of the characters are the main focus and not the text. I think this is a good
thing because again it makes my Digipak different to all the others, which is a good thing
as it means it would get more attention. However, in order to maintain a professional
looking product I had to comply with the main conventions for example I displayed the
track list on the back cover – this is so that when browsing in a shop my audience can turn
the CD over and easily read the track list. This will increase sales. I included a bar code,
the band’s website, the record label logo and a CD brand logo in the bottom corner of the
back panel. I did this as most other professional CD covers do so I wanted mine to look
just as good. However, one convention that I missed out was putting the bands title along
the spine of the cover. I did not do this because I wanted to maintain a minimalistic
design. However, retrospectively I should have included this because it means that when
my audience put their CD in a shelf they can see the title along the spine.
With regards to my poster, I complied with the conventions of including social media
thumbnails along the bottom right corner of my product. I think this adds to the
professional look and also makes my poster more appealing to my target audience, they
can easily look up the band on sound cloud, Facebook and twitter meaning they can
become involved and interactive with the band, which will increase popularity. However
one way that I developed conventions is by modifying these thumbnails so that they
fitted better with the aesthetic of my poster. I cropped them and modified the colour so
that it matched a shade of beige that was in my poster, meaning it was all more pleasing
to the eye. I conformed to the convention of having the band’s name and title of the
album in big font across the top of the poster. However, I also developed and challenged
this, by incorporating the name of the album in huge font and then the band’s name
above it in smaller font. I used a very plain, bold font for the album name in order to
convey the importance of the musical aspect, this conforms to the folk genre as putting
more emphasis on the instrument and music rather than the bands image as a whole.
Contrastingly, pop music posters more focus on either sexualizing the female artist or
putting across a brand and a face rather than the actual music. I then included the band’s
name in smaller, handwritten font which enforces a kind of laid back, carefree vibe
coming from the band. This information is extremely important for the product to be sold
because the audience will be able to notice the name of the band/album from the advert.
This is because they work symbiotically together. I have included the extremely
important copyright information on my Digipak, which gives credit to the record label by
including their logo. The compact disk logo is also present of my Digipak, and this is
present in pretty much every professional Digipak. So I have conformed to this as well. I
wanted my Digipak to look as much like a professional product as possible and I think
these finishing touches make it look more like one. Also, the record label logo is very
important as they are the company behind the band. With regards to my advert I have
developed codes and conventions by incorporating a photograph, as this is something not
seen in the folk genre. The folk genre posters always contain an intricate designed
illustration – I did not have the ability to conform to this so I replaced it with a

4. photograph which I edited to make look more vintage. I think my challenging this
convention is a good thing as it is important for me to incorporate my key signifiers on my
poster as they are also the key signifiers in my other products. This adds to the look of it
all being one campaign. One way which I think I could have been more advanced in my
use of conventions is using a QR code which my audience 2.0 could have scanned with
their smart devices which have QR readers installed in them. If my poster was a
professional product, this would link the audience to the bands website or to an iTunes
download option. This is therefore something I could have done to advance my products
conventionally. However, overall, I feel that I have successfully utilized existing
conventions in order to make a campaign that appears conventional and professional. But
I feel I have also successfully developed and challenged conventions in order to produce a
unique campaign that also looks professional.