Evaluation: Question 1

Question 1:

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

Throughout the course, I have followed and challenged conventions, from my Digipak to my music video.From my research into my chosen genre of Dance/Pop I found several artists that produce this style of music. Some of the larger artists I researched into were Swedish house mafia, David Guetta and Avicii. All these artists have made Posters, Digipaks and Music Videos to a very high standard, this is proven by the amount of views on YouTube they have.

                                                                                                                      

In my Poster I have challenged some conventions such as using the record label on the bottom of the poster, this keeps the poster and the Digipak linked. Another way I have challenged conventions is that I have used 3 faded out triangles, these look effective as they go along with the theme that my artist has. I have also followed conventions to make my product look good; I have almost gone along with a masthead similar to a magazine. I have also borrowed the splash convention from music magazines to advertise the digipak. I have also conventionally used the social media thumbnails at the bottom of my product to make the audience aware that my video can be brought on both app stores and is also available to stream on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.  I have also added the parental advisory logo on the poster as it will feature on my Digipak and keeps the theme of my product running.

My Digipak has kept the same theme as my poster, which contrasts the name of the song ‘Nights’ this is because my song lyrics tell a different story to the title of the song, the song is about ‘making the most of life’. I have carried over my conventions from my poster with the same recognisable text almost like a house style that my products are conforming too. On my album cover, rear cover and disc holder use the PRMD logo which is my record label for the song. This is a common convention on many Avicii and other artists’ album covers alike, this shows what background the album is from.  This makes my product look more like one you would see in a music shop. I have gone past the convention and seamlessly integrated it with my back cover and disc holder to link my products together.

On my Album cover I have also used a hashtag saying ‘TrueTour’ this is a original idea to take my product to the next level. I have done this to advertise the fact the my Artist is doing a Tour and in turn this will intrigue listeners and by searching the hashtag on Twitter which 80% of my target audience use it will bring up the official tour dates and extra info. On my DigiPak I have used several white lines to make my product look like there is a structure to the page, and just gives my product a finishing touch.  Conventionally I have also used very plain backgrounds on the inside pages towards the outside pages, this helps the listener to concentrate on the text and the disc on the inside.

On the main music video I have used locations that are similar to my Digipak, this conforms to the house style I have created.  I have conventionally used  visual links to improve understanding of the lyrics of my music video, many artists do this such as Rihanna in the song ‘Umbrella’ and Swedish house mafia with ‘Greyhound’ They both use the props in the title of the music video in the video its self. I have also used transitions on beat to make my music video look more professional. To make my music video look more interesting I have applied some transitions some linking to the song such as fades which is linked in the lyrics and some transitions just to make my video look better. I have also used a wide range of filers on my music video, this is done heavily in the industry to improve the quality of the music video for example I have used the ‘Hollywood’ Filter in adobe elements 10 to make my footage look more significant. My Music video uses some random shots and shot types, this is actually quite conventional to the Dance/Pop genre. I have also used Kinetic Typography throughout my music video, as it is a genre convention artists such as Avicii, Swedish House Mafia and Kendrick Lamar. This took a great deal of time to perfect and make to a high standard as the lyrics had to match the video simultaneously. 

   
A common convention I have also followed is the excessive use of visual links an example of this is where I used the lyrics 'Light a fire they can't put out' to show the fire coming from the hot airbloons burners. Another visual link was to the lyrics 'Shores' where I filmed surfboarding on location.  

Overall I have made my products to all follow a house style that I have created, this keeps my products recognisable to my target audience, many large companies do this and its proven to work my intention is to make my audience familiar to the product before they have even seen it and I believe I have archived this by using and developing my own conventions. 

Directors cut

In this video I have tried to explain my shooting location choices as well why I have included the shots I have and try to explain the thought processes I went through whilst editing.