Evaluation Question 1

1. Evaluation Question 1
In what ways does your media
product use, develop or challenge
conventions of real media
products?

2. For the music video, when researching videos in the same genre (Indie) I found that there were a few
conventions. Firstly the main thing I noticed is that they usually will have a performance side to the
video, especially live performance. They do this to promote the artist more, and will therefore
create themselves more of an identity. However a lot of perform alongside a narrative story. The
theorist Joan Lynch stated that there are 3 main types of music video; performance, narrative and
concept. However in many cases at least two are combined to create a more engaging and exciting
video. Narrative videos are very popular in the Indie genre as they are seen to be more memorable
than just a performance video,which is why smaller artists use this technique; as well as usually
being directly related to the song. Occasionally the artist will actually be involved in the narrative
story line, as this makes the story feel more realistic and emotional for the audience. For example in
Jake Bugg’s ‘Two Fingers’ music video he decided to base the storyline on a past experience in his
life that influenced him to write the song, therefore receiving a more genuine emotion from the
audience. I decided to do a narrative music video, with elements of performance; as I chose quite a
down beat song I thought an emotional storyline would fit well. I decided to however still include the
artists singing in the video as I feel this is very common and helps promote the artist.

3. Andrew Goodwin’s theory states that music videos include many codes and conventions. For example
he said that there is a clear relationship between the lyrics and visuals, that there is either or both a
narrative and performance of the song, the editing style and pace is driven by the beat and that there is
a star image. I stuck to conventions on the majority of these things. Firstly I included both a narrative
and a performance element to my video, which overall created two separate stories, which could also
be linked if the audience wish to read it in that way. During the planning process of my music video I
decided I would leave the question of whether the artists and main character’s stories are linked in
some way. I decided I wanted the audience to read it in their preferred way rather than making it
completely obvious, therefore leaving people with different ideas and emotions after watching. I implied
that there could be some relation in stories; I purposely constructed similar shots of the artist and
character edit next to each other, for the audience to compare and contrast. For example I used
various shots of hands, to firstly emphasis the
contrast in age, but to also achieve a preferred
reading off the audience to see if they create a link
and decide the old man is the artists when he is old.

4. When designing my Digipak I researched into many
different Digipaks of various genres, to find the
conventions. Firstly, I found that Digipak front covers
conventionally use a medium close up shot or close up
shot of the artist, using direct gaze. I followed this to
some extent, I used a medium shot as I liked his relaxed
body language in the photo, therefore kept his hand in
the frame as I thought it portrayed more of a relaxed
chilled feel to the cover. However still used direct gaze to
make the sot more engaging. Comparing my front cover
to an existing Digipak cover, Lana Del Rey’s Born to
album. The overall effect is very similar using a centred
framed simple photo of the artist, which is a convention
followed by many. However, for the artists name I challenged conventions and put it in the bottom half
of the frame instead of at the top above his head, which is conventional. The placement of the album
name varies on Digipak’s I have looked at, however I
did notice the typeface or colour is usually different,
as well as size. The Album name conventionally is a
lot smaller and less obvious than the artist name, as
that is more important. Much like on the Lana Del
Rey cover, I decided to use the same typeface as
used for my artists name however, kept it a lot
smaller and also changed the colour, so it didn’t over
power the black. When it comes to the rest of the
Digipak, I found when researching that there
were various layouts and designs, therefore not a
very strong convention to follow.

5. I found Rhianna’s Digipak layout very effective, I especially
liked the inside panels where one picture is spread across the
three panels; I think this is an engaging and effective way of
filling the space. Therefore, I decided to take inspiration, and
cover my two inside panels with a landscape photo of the
artist. Unlike the photo used of Rhianna I decided to stick to
convention and use a photo with direct gaze, as I feel this will
grab the attention of the audience more when the Digipak is
open. Again, I stuck to this convention for my first inside
panel, as this is the first photo that will be seen when the
Digipak is opened. I used a medium shot instead as I wanted
to vary the shot types throughout. this is something I noticed
was very common in Digipaks as it makes the overall product
more visually appealing and exciting to look at. As for the CD
panel and back panel I feel I have broken conventions to some
extent. Firstly, when researching into existing Digipaks I found
that conventionally the back covers use a blank colour as the
background or a very simple image, so that all the focus is on the
track list. However, I broke this convention by using another image
of the artist. I did this as I wanted to promote my artist more by
using more pictures of him on my Digipak; as this is the whole
purpose of a Digipak. When taking this photo on the day of filming
I took into consideration that there would need to be enough
space for the track list beside him. Therefore, I framed the photo
with the artist to one side. I feel this works well and when I did
my focus group everyone agreed it broke the convention but

6. was successful. Overall when looking at Digipaks I found that the entire product stuck to a colour
scheme. example, Rhianna’s Digipak used a red based colour scheme, as this at the time was part of
her artist identity as she had her signature red hair., I followed this convention and tried to keep my
Digipak to a minimal colour scheme. I chose very earthy browns and greens as I felt this fit well with
the colours in the music video. When designing my promotional package, I really considered synergy as
I feel that when looking at existing products together this is what professionals do; so that all their
products are recognisable as well as working well together.

7. For the Magazine Advert, I mainly stuck to conventions and put as little
information on the page as possible to make it appear less crowded but
simple and effective at the same time. I looked at Lana Del Rey’s
Magazine Advert as I wanted to see how synergy was used from her
Digipak through to her Advert. Conventionally the same photo will be
used as seen on the front cover of the album, to make the album more
recognisable when released. When doing various designs for my Magazine
Advert I did experiment with using a different image for the Advert to
break conventions however I felt that I wanted to stick to convention
here as I thought It would overall make my promotional package more
effective and work together better as a whole. When doing my focus
group for both my Digipak and Magazine Advert, the majority preferred
the image used for my front cover as they
thought the framing was a lot more eye
catching, which is the effect and response I
want for my Magazine Advert. I carried on
the idea of synergy and used the same typeface for the artist name and
album name, as this is part of the iconography of the album cover. For the
information about the availability of the album, I found there was many
ways to advertise the album. When researching I found a few Magazine
Adverts that said ‘Available Now’ instead of a release date, I followed this
as I thought I would make the Magazine Advert more engaging and exciting.
Another convention is to say where the album will be available to purchase.
I decided to state which platforms it will be available on; I included that it
is available on Vinyl as I feel this would appeal to my target audience, as
they are part of the generation who are now buying Vinyl’s.

8. Overall I feel my promotional package as a whole works really well
together and challenges certain conventions for each product, however
still sticking to the majority of the codes and conventions, to best appeal
to the target audience. Overall I think synergy is something I really
considered as well as iconography so that it is clear all the separate
products work together and support and advertise each other. This was
mainly though the use of colour more than anything I feel, which is a very
strong convention artists stick to. To have a whole colour scheme running
through their album, to their adverting all the way through to their music
videos. For mine personally I felt
that the earthy browns and greens
was evident in all my products
which helped portray a clear link.