In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Use: These are a list of generic conventions that we used in our products. (music video, magazine ad, CD cover)
Music video:- Andrew Goodwin's genre theory - relationship between music, lyrics and visuals for example Psy - Gangnam Style. This convention is incredibly important in the making of a music video in order to control the pace of our music video and to use as a platform to base our ideas. The effect is that the audience can follow the story and music video whilst being entertained.
- Andrew Goodwin's - Lot's of close up of the artist. For example Psy - Gangnam Style. Used because typically, the music video is to advertise the artist and appeal to their target audience. By following this convention, the music video is more popular because the fans support the artist and want to see him or her perform.
- Carol Vernalis - Narrative for example Eminem - Not Afraid. We felt a narrative plays a pivotal role in a music video to keep the audience engaged and establish a connection to the artist. The results of this is that the narrative gives the music video structure as opposed to solely a performance piece.
Magazine ad + CD cover + inserts:
- Unique font - For example, Eminem Recovery. In most magazine adverts + CD covers, the font is unique to the artist or band. This is to make sure the product stands out to the audience and so fans of the artist can immediately recognize their favourite artist in a printed product. The font also helps to promote the brand that the artist is making for himself.
- Images of the artist - For example, Eminem Encore. The artist needs to be in the print work in order to attract as much attention and fame as possible to promote their music and brand. The effect is that a symbiotic relationship is established that is developed between the artist and the print products.
- Release date - For example, Green Day. Release dates is a key feature in all print work products because the audience knows when to buy the CD therefore it's a convention of utmost importance to sell the artist. The effect on our music video is that the release that makes our print work more authentic.
Develop:
Music video:- Narrative - Carol Vernalis for example, Eminem - Not Afraid. We created two narratives in our music video, one about our main singer and the other about the girl. This was because we wanted to tell two stories that had one end in a conventional way, the other an unconventional way because it adds a layer of postmodernism subverts typical stories.
- Cinematography - Carol Vernalis for example, Eminem - Not Afraid. We developed of Vernalis' theory of cinematography in our music video by having over the shoulder shots, low angles and arc movements. We wanted to have a variety of shots, angles and movements because Steve Neil said that there needed to be variety along with generic conventions. Also we wanted to make our music video unconventional and as a result, more interesting to the viewer.
Magazine ad + CD cover + inserts
- Images of the artist - Eminem Encore, we developed on the convention of having images of the artist by also including other characters in our music video in our print work. Despite the music video being mainly about the artist, we felt characters in music videos should be credited and given recognition because it's a collaborative effort.
- Editing - Green Day, we developed on the editing of the print work especially the magazine advert with the polaroid effect. It creates a sense of irony and keeps our magazine advert unique from the typical edited print work.
Challenge:
Music video:
- Stereotypes - 50 Cent Straight to the Bank. We subverted stereotypical hip hop music videos by having a female lead lusting for men instead of the other way around. This subverts the male gaze and complies with postmodernism. By having the male gaze not be present in the music video emphasizes this point and we felt this was necessary in order to create a postmodern music video because it's such a drastic change and would severely surprise viewers with this change.
You can see how we challenged the stereotypes of the hip-hop genre by having a white female as the main character in our music video.
- Carol Vernalis - Diegesis - Eminem - Not Afraid. We created a fantasy world in the music video where most of the guys have a mask on. These are intertextual references to other pop culture in order to appeal to the widest audience. There is also a layer of hybridity with fantasy, comedy and romance which is also used to stay unique and trendy with today's internet culture. The 'randomness' is incredibly popular as demonstrated by Psy - Gangnam Style.
Magazine ad + CD cover + inserts:
- Typical editing - Eminem Recovery - Typically, the print work in today's society are rather similar in terms of layout and font. However we decided to take ideas from the past with the Chad Mitchell Trio magazine advert by splitting out frame into thirds and having our three main characters in each of them. This creates a much more postmodern magazine advert by using ideas from the past in today's society
- Editing of CD inserts - Jason Derulo - We used Twitter and turned it into a dating site to be used in our CD inserts. This act of cross media convergence appeals to a wide audience and adds a layer of 'simulation' with intertextual references to our CD inserts.