1st question evaluation - Draft 19/01/15

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

I have learnt a lot about the music industry and the codes and conventions that music videos should follow in order for them to be well known and popular. The basic structure of a music video is a 3-5 minute song that plays over a live performance from the band whilst other things may appear on screen, like computer generate images etc. Music videos often contain a number of different elements: Performance based music videos which include clips of the band performing on stage. Could be shots of the artists in real life situations like warming up or joking around as a band before hand. There will also be lots of close ups of the artists to promote the individuals and to get the audience aware and familiar of the different band members. Performance based music videos often are the best way to promote a bands 'style', the impression we get as an audience will be viewed and based on their motif, e.g. the type of clothes they are wearing, their actions, props and type of images used on screen.

The idea of the music video being a spectacle. This is where the artists directly address the audience by looking directly into the camera etc and trying to connect with the audience. In the case for men, the male is seen to be addressing the viewer directly, as in he is trying to make it look like he is only singing for you. Whereas, the female figure is often an object of an 'erotic' gaze, where they are often dressed and posed in very sexual ways, to address to the males and to draw them into the music video.

Narrative based music videos, which either tells a story or that the lyrics relate to the happenings on screen. A narrative is usually like a mini film that relates to the lyrics, which can be very impressive when its done professionally. Narrative based music videos are usually very fast paced, with lots of shot and cuts, mimic other TV genres and sometimes the story can contradict what is seen for effect.

Thematic music videos depend on the genre of the song that the band are singing. Genre stereotypes include, pop songs which include lots of fantasy characters, bright colours with lots going on. Rap would include street views, with many boys and girls, fast cars and lots of 'Bling bling' jewellery.

Symbolic music videos which use lots of symbols to represent and link lyrics to the visuals. Lighting is often used to suggest moods and to create different atmospheres, pictures can either support or contradict the lyrics.

In our first draft music video we made it a performance based music video as we thought this would be the best idea for the song we chose, we included lots of close ups of our main actor singing and then we included a wide range of shots in different locations to make it interesting. However, once we handed it in and received feedback from Mrs dolby, we realised that our music video should be more narrative based and should include a story. Since our last set of feedback we have been refilming and readjusting our story board.

When it came to digipaks, whether it was designing my own or analysing others I needed to know the codes and conventions. The front and back cover of a digipak are the main promoters of the CD and digipak, they draw in customers and potentially persuade them to buy it. The inside cove of the digipak is used to promote additional information regarding the artist. And the other inside cover holds the CD where people can easily get the CD out. I have included all these codes and conventions with my digipak.

When it comes to designing a website for Sam Sparro, I will be following all the codes and conventions in order to make the website the best that it can be. The website will promote the artist by pictures, information and his name and the website will include all important information regarding the artist and his tour dates etc.

I have included all the main codes and conventions of a music video, digipak and website. I will be following them because in order for me to make the music video the best that it can be it has to be perfect, and by following the codes and conventions i will miss out any important points or information regarding the artist.