Evaluation Part 1In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e.promo packages)

Digi-pack coversRed, white and black colours used in the album cover, this is a motif of the band.

Image of artist used, common convention of album covers however not a necessity

Imagery represents the theme of the album, the white stripes didn’t like dealing with press and so this is represented on the cover and in the music, the title of the album, White Blood Cells does not link to the cover however links to other themes on the album.

Image represents the underwater music video, Life In Letters. The song has links to the charity, Mycharitywater.org

No title is used on the front cover, the imagery needs to be strong and easily recognised for this to be feasible.

The text used links to the genre and is quite formal in a calligraphic style as the music is quite mature and would link to a predominantly female audience.

The album cover has a watercolour effect which resembles the music video and also links to the calm, and subtle style of album

This album does not feature the artists on the cover, in this case it could be suggested that the cover refers to the comical side of the band, and the comedy features in their video.

The album has a border the whole way around it, this is a characteristic I have included on my digi pack with my white gradient surrounding the edges of my cover

The car being the main image is similar to my own image of a bench as central, this image is used throughout all of their promotional medias.

My album cover has similar ties to the music as these existing products. The image of the guitar links to the instrumentation on the album. I followed the idea that the image doesn’t necessarily have to link to the title and used the guitar rather than a ledge.

Music video evaluationI 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.

• 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.

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.

• 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.

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 bothartists have similaryoung yet mature audiences.

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.

Digi Pack back coverBack 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

Digi-pack front coverI 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.