1) IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP

OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA

PRODUCTS?

The conventions that my music video follows

Camera ShotsMedium Shots, medium close upsDuring the process of filming and editing I used

existing music videos from artists Beyoncé and Jessie J to follow conventions. In Beyonce`s music videos Green Light and Countdown, she is centre frame and the background is white. I liked the simple look to the shots and I chosen to use this so that the main singer would stand out more in comparison to the other 3 girls.

Extreme Close Up

I followed conventions once again, drawing inspiration from Ciara’s music video ‘I Bet. I like how her face filled the screen really draws focus to the main singer. I also directed Jess, the singer in my video, to look directly at the camera to follow conventions, just like the I Bet video. I framed this so that it was mainly her face.

PerformanceThere is a part in the song where there is a guitar instrumental and I wanted the girls in the music video to air guitar to it. I drew inspiration from the McBusted video Air Guitar as when they are playing their guitars they disappear therefore they look like they are playing an air guitar.

Make-UpMake-up wise in my music video, Jess wore red lipstick which is used in a lot of music videos such as Taylor Swifts’ ‘Blank Space’, Meghan Trainors ‘Lips are movin’ and Rita Ora’s ‘R.I.P’. The red colour is a bold statement and really draws focus to the lips, especially in the close up shots.

CostumeI have picked out four artists from different music videos that wear similar clothing to what the girls wear in my video. The artists, from left to right, include Cher Lloyd, Jessie J, Ella Eyre and Jess Glyne. By following certain styles that existing artists wear in their music videos shows that I have followed conventions.

Green Screen/locationI used the studio to film my entire music video. I planned to originally use the green screen so that I could change the colour of the background although when it came to editing it would not work. After showing a number of peers about it, they said that the green looks good. Using a bright colour as a background reminded me of the ‘Love is on the Radio’ video by Mcfly.For the main singers background I chose to use a white background to contrast her to the other three girls. Also her clothes stand out well and go with the background well. I got inspiration from Beyonce's video Countdown.

Lighting

For my music video, I have used high key lighting to follow conventions and to give the video a light and happy feel to it. If I had used low key lighting, the music video would not have the same effect because high key lighting is light and makes people feel happy.

Editing

For the shot with four lips in different colours I drew inspiration from the music videos Green Light, Countdown (Beyoncé) and Wings (Little Mix). I thought it was a good effect to emphasize the lips and adding different colours made it more interesting.

The three way split screen is a really good effect that I have seen in a couple of videos such as I Bet by Ciara. Using this split screen looks and works really well with the music video.

I have used yet another type of split scree where here it is split into 9. I have seen this effect used in Beyonce`s Countdown video

I used a double split screen on a couple of parts in my video. I really like the look of them and I think the make the video more fun to watch. I took inspiration once again from Beyoncé's video Countdown.

Lip syncingOne of the most noticeable conventions in music videos is lip syncing which appears in a lot of music videos. The lip syncing shows the artist singing their song and looks like they are singing it right there. In my music video, Jess is lip syncing as she is the main artist. Achieving good lip syncing means that the track needs to be played through filming so that it is not out of syncing and look unprofessional. I have used Jess Glynne’s Hold My Hand and Beyoncé's Grown woman videos as examples.

How I challenged conventions

I would say I didn’t challenge as many conventions as I wanted my music video to look professional. However, I would say I did challenge conventions by the choice of the

location. I used the same, continuous location for the whole video which in the process of

planning I was worried about. I chose to keep the green screen because one; when I applied a different colour background, the keying tool on Final Cut Pro made the clothing on the go

funny which didn’t look good. Therefore I challenge conventions by keeping the green

screen as a background.

The conventions that ancillary texts

follows:

Digipak

The conventions of a front cover

After researching different front covers, I have picked out the conventions of front covers of CD’s which

helped my product look professional.

• A main image of the artist which takes up the majority of the frame with the artist looking directly at the camera. The shot used is usually a mid shot.

• The artists name in large font at the top of the page.• The album title either larger or smaller than the artists name, sometimes in different font or colour.

Comparing my album cover to existing productsHere is my album cover compared to a selection if pop album covers that I have picked out. These existing album covers are what I drew inspiration from whilst creating my own which feature artists such as Ariana Grande and Demi Lovato. I liked the style, layout and colour schemes of the album covers, especially Demi Lovato’s and Rita Ora’s. All covers have just the artist in a close-up/ medium close-up shot with most of them looking directly at the camera. I followed this convention, having my artist re-create this and taking her photo from a medium close-up. Whilst editing, I decided to make the theme black and white with red, like Rita Ora’s album cover. Overall I think that it looks professional because I followed the conventions of existing products.

The conventions mine follows

I have placed the artists name at the top, centre of the cover to follow conventions and because I think it looks good there. The text colour I chose is black because it contrasts well with the white backdrop and makes it stand out more as oppose to it being at the bottom of the cover. The font I used is off a website called Dafont.com and under the title ‘Basic Font’. I like this font because it looks

clean cut and it doesn’t look clustered.The main image is of the featuring artist, Jess Kelly. She is giving direct address to the audience which helps

connect the audience to the artist and is a good technique to catch someone's eye. I used a medium close-up to also follow conventions but also because it looks professional. I got the artist to wear black so that when I placed the red text on top of her it would stand out. The costume also goes well with

the colour scheme.Like the artist name, I have used the same font to show continuity on the

album title ‘Sexy Lady’. I used red for this text to connect with the lips on the

main image.

The conventions of a back cover

After researching different back covers, I have picked out the conventions of back

covers which helped my final product to look professional:

• The track list in clear font• Either, an image if the artist or an abstract

design which matches with the front covers colour scheme

• Copyright text at the bottom of the page• Barcode

Comparing my album back cover to existing productsFor my back cover I had one certain existing product that I really liked and wanted to re-create it. The product that I am talking about is from Demi Lovato’s album ‘Demi’ where there are lines that are scattered around the cover and text, following the colour scheme black and white. I used a similar style on my own product, adding red on the text to give it more colour.

The conventions mine follows

The track list is a convention of back cover. I have placed the list in the centre of the cover to be the main

focus. It is in a similar font that I have used on the front cover and is in red

to stay with the theme of black, white and red.

The background of the cover is a numerous amount of lines placed in

certain places. They are all black because, like the ‘Demi’ album, to look

good and interesting to look at.

Towards the bottom of the back there is the ‘compact disc’ logo,

barcode and copyright rights. These are conventional to have on the

back of a CD cover because things like the barcode allow the customer to buy the CD. The copyright text

informs the customer and any other people that this CD belongs to

artist.

The conventions of a spine

After researching different spines, I have picked out the conventions of them which

helped my final product to look professional:

• Artists name• Album name• Serial number

• Record company logo

The conventions mine follows

This convention is essential because it lets the audience know who’s album it is. It also connects the front cover to the spine as it includes the same text as the front. I kept the colours of the font the same as the front cover to ensure my product had continuity.

The serial number is a convention I

found from researching

existing spines. It gives the CD an

individual number of identity.

The record label is usually

included on the spine. This shows

the audience what record label

the artist is signed to. In this

case, I have chosen to use

Sony Music as a record label.

The conventions of CD disks

From my research on exsisting CD designs I have picked out

the conventions of a CD:

• Artists Name• Album Name• Disc Numbers• Copyright Texts

Magazine Advert

The conventions of a magazine advert

After researching different album magazine adverts, I have picked out

the conventions of magazine adverts:

• The name of the artists• An image of the artists

• Release Dates• How to purchase the album

• Social Media Icons• Reviews

Comparing mine to existing products

Here is my magazine advert compared to some existing products, including adverts such as Olly Murs and Ellie Goulding. They all have the same conventions applied to them which I have applied to my own. Jessie J’s advert gave me my main inspiration for my poster because I like how the main image is at the top and the text at the bottom.

The conventions mine follows Name of the artist and

Album title: I have followed a similar layout to Jessie J’s poster whilst considering the layout of the poster. I have put both texts in red to show continuity throughout the ancillary text

Reviews: Here, I have used 5 stars for the reviews which are from Q Magazine and Heat Magazine which informs the audience that this is a 5 star album and will make them want to buy it.

Main image: The main image here is of Jess and is an important convention to have because it lets the audience know who’s album it is.

Release Date: On my poster, the released date is ‘out now’ which informs the audience that the album is out now.

Social media icons: This is an important convention because it lets the audience know that the artist is on social media. I got the icons in black and white to match the colour scheme.

Where to buy the album: I have included the icons Google Play and iTunes because these icons inform the audience where they can buy the album or single from.