1. Evaluation Part 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
(i.e.promo packages)
2. Digi-pack covers This album does not
feature the artists on the
cover, in this case it could
be suggested that the
Red, white and black colours
cover refers to the comical
used in the album cover, this is Image of artist used,
side of the band, and the
a motif of the band. common convention of
comedy features in their
album covers however
video.
not a necessity
The car being the main
Imagery represents the The album has a border image is similar to my own
theme of the album, the the whole way around it, image of a bench as central,
white stripes didn’t like this is a characteristic I this image is used
dealing with press and so have included on my digi throughout all of their
this is represented on the pack with my white promotional medias.
cover and in the music, the gradient surrounding the
title of the album, White edges of my cover The text used links to the
Blood Cells does not link to genre and is quite formal in a
No title is used on the front cover, the cover however links to calligraphic style as the music
the imagery needs to be strong other themes on the album. The album cover has a is quite mature and would
and easily recognised for this to link to a predominantly
be feasible. My album cover has similar watercolour effect which female audience.
ties to the music as these resembles the music
existing products. The video and also links to
image of the guitar links to the calm, and subtle style
the instrumentation on the of album
album. I followed the idea
that the image doesn’t Image represents the
necessarily have to link to underwater music video, Life In
the title and used the guitar Letters. The song has links to
rather than a ledge. the charity, Mycharitywater.org
3. Music video evaluation
I decided to use the artist in only the performance side
of the video, I still used the artist however to represent
parts of the song:
• Clothing was used to represent the time in which the
song was released, the music video was made in the
winter and therefore winter clothing was suitable,
this is a convention of music videos and is seen in
videos such as “Stay Now” by East 17. The clothing
featured in the video is fashionable which suggests
this about the artist, this clothing will also appeal to
Duncan's target market.
• I left a lot of empty space in the camera shots that
I've used during the performance represent the idea
of loneliness in the song.
4. • Not all instrumentation from the song is shown in
the video, this challenges the conventions of music
videos however this is not unheard of, Videos such
as Joshua Radin’s “I’d Rather Be With You” do not
show the full band featured in the however just the
artist who's name is on the album cover. The use of
instrumentation represents the genre of the music.
• The convention of linking the lyrics to the visuals in
music videos has been followed in Ledges. The
themes of the song focus on the loss of a loved one
and I feel as though the narrative I have created links
to this. Having a narrative itself conforms to a
convention of music videos.
5. Using a colour pass effect on the video links the
video to the mood of the song, it suits the dark
themes and also makes a connection between my
three forms of media.
• Ghosting was used in places to link the video to the
lyrics, the song ends with the lyrics “it’s always the
same”, this suggests that this story has happened
before and repeats time and time again, I therefore
used the ghosting effect to present this idea.
• I used a lot of fades when making transitions to
link to the softness of the song, this contrasted to
other parts in the video where the drums were
more prominent where straight cuts were made to
put emphasis on the beat of the song. The speed of
the song also increases as the song reaches it’s
climax, this links to Goodwins theories and
conventions of music videos.
6. • I used locations from the local area in my video because this will tell the
audience more about the artist which will make them feel more connected
to him.
• The locations used were relevant to the video and also
because it was winter and the trees were bare, linked
to the music in the sense of mood, for example it
would challenge conventions if something was really
depressing yet the trees were in full bloom and the
sun was out.
• Narrative has been indicated with the use of two
characters who do not lip sync with the song, the
narrative does not involve dialogue however
chronologically follows the two characters as the
performance carries on. The main part of the video is
focused on the performance however every so often
the video checks back in to see where the two
characters have got themselves to.
7. Ancillary deconstruction
My magazine advert is similar to the Florence and the Machine
advert in the way that the advert is split into thirds, this is a
common convention of magazine adverts as it is easy for the
audience to consume the advert. The style of text in both
adverts is serif,
this is because both
artists have similar
young yet mature
audiences.
8. The advert and cover are
almost identical to each
other with the exception of
the information displayed on
the advert, the images are
the same so that people can
recognise the products in
store.
Similarly to my own
magazine advert, the
artists name is much
larger than the album
title, this is because
people will recognise the
artist as opposed to the
album title.
9. Digi Pack back cover
Back covers come in a lot of different formats depending on
the concept or themes of the album. My album has sad
themes and therefore the colour has been removed to link to
this. The clear layout links to how mature the album is. The
soft colour is also a link to the calmer instrumentation used.
Similarly to the back cover of Joshua Radins “Simple Times”,
the conventions of album back covers are followed, necessities
such as barcodes and the record label are followed. Also
additional information used mainly for up and coming artists
has been used, things such as
10. Digi-pack front cover
I decided that I should choose an image and use that image in all three of the
medias that I am creating. The guitar seemed to be appropriate when
considering the instruments on the album. I decided not to relate to the title
and therefore not show an image of a ledge, this was because there aren't any
local areas which have suitable ledges. The lack of colours used in the front
cover also link to the quiet instrumentation of the album as well as the sad
themes, the colourlessness also helps to make the title stand out more so that
the audience can recognise the album.
11. • Duncan has been represented as quite mature through the use of colour in
the ancillary texts. An immature artist such as jedward would have a lot
more colourful advert or album to catch the audiences eye. Duncan's
mature black and white contrasts with his name being in orange. This shade
of orange is not too bold and still maintains his mature image yet will
effectively catch the eye of the target audience.
• The main image on both items is Duncan’s guitar, this is a direct link to the
instrumentation of the album and the way that it’s worn and a little
battered highlights Duncan's imperfections and points out that he still has a
lot to learn.
• The style of text in the ancillary tasks also indicates
the maturity of the album, the serif text does not
make the album out to be formal however suggests
that the album may be for an older audience rather
than children. The title is highlighted in orange so
that it catches the eye of the reader, the name of the
artist should be the first thing that the audience
notice when they look at an advert so that they know
who made the album.
12. • The written content on the magazine advert links to the conventions of
magazine adverts, it includes a rating from a popular brand who's opinion
would be important to the reader. The advert also includes the necessities
such as the album name and artist name, without these the reader
wouldn’t know who the advert was for which would be a massive flaw in
the advert. The text includes a release date so that the audience know
when the album will be available, it also includes a website so that more
information can be found. Text on the Digi pack also tells the audience the
album name and artist name as well as what tracks are on the album, I have
a section on the inside covers with a message of thanks, this is a convention
of digi packs and is more commonly seen in upcoming artists and therefore
it seemed relevant to include this.
• My advert suggests that the genre is acoustic through the use of an acoustic
guitar, the advert also links to the “emo” stereotype
through the use of the black and white effect. The serif
text also suggests that this album does not have childish
music on it which helps suggest that the genre is acoustic.
13. • My digi pack suggests the genre of the music through the
instruments shown on the covers, it is also shown more subtly
through the use of colour on the outside covers, the black and
white image could be seen as similar to Oasis which indicates
that the music is like Oasis, the use of serif in the text suggests
that the genre is not childish however more mature. The
images of landscapes tells the audience that this is quite a
simple album and there isn’t techno type sounds on the
album however much simpler
instrumentation and slower paced
music.
14. • The layout of my Magazine advert has been chosen to match
the conventions of music magazines, I have used the rule of
thirds, the top third having the main titles, the centre having
the main image and the lower third being the additional
information. It was my intentions to keep all of my text
alligned central however after deciding to use this picture of a
guitar that I had taken, I decided to place the text in lighter
areas so that it can be read easily, I took an
initiative in doing so and found place to put
information that was viewable but at the same
time not making the advert look clutterd.
15. • On the back cover of my Digipack I used a number of speciel
effects to make it fit in with the style of my genre. The first
effect I applied was the colour pass effect, this converted the
image to black and white and I like it until I came to add my
text and I realised that the text got lost in the shadows, so I
decided that I should apply a gradient effect coming in from
the left so that I could place my text there and so that it is
visible, this worked excellently and even gave the album a
wintery feel which is important because it’s when the digipack
would be released.