Evaluation Q1: In what ways does your media

product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions

of real media products?

As a group, we created a music video for Weezer’s ‘Undone – The Sweater Song’ as well as a digi-pack design and magazine advert for the album. Mostly we have tried to stick to the conventions of the alternative rock genre and more specifically the original band themselves.

MUSIC VIDEOAndrew Goodwin, author and media theorist, identified key elements of music videos within his book: Dancing in the Distraction Factory. One of these key elements was sticking to the characteristics of the genre. We have achieved this by including shots of the band performing (characteristic of music videos within the alternative-rock genre) as well as a narrative – which our audience said was preferable in our survey. We have also kept to the characteristics of the ‘alternative-rock’ music genre by carefully focussing on the mise-en-scene of the video. All the clothes chosen were selected because they fitted in with the alternative and geeky look that Weezer have as well as many other bands of the same genre (Pavement/Radiohead/etc.)

In addition to this, the setting of the studio fits within the genre conventions of an alternative rock band and also almost references the original video – as this was all completely set in a studio.

We also stuck to the music genre conventions in relation to the kinds of edits that we decided to use, such as the split screen (much like that of Weezer’s video for ‘The Good Life’) and the slow motion/fast motion split screen which was inspired by the music video for Radiohead’s Street Spirit (Fade Out) directed by Jonathan Glazer. This use of intertextuality also adheres to Goodwin’s conventions of music videos. The Good

LifeWeezer

Another convention of music videos that Goodwin identifies is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. In our music video, we took the lyrics ‘If you want to destroy my sweater, pull this string as I walk away’ and displayed them quite literally; the main character having to follow the string of his ‘unravelling sweater’. We agreed within our group that despite us thinking that imagery of the unravelling sweater within the lyrics was an extended metaphor for a relationship falling apart, we thought it we didn’t want to show this explicitly. By keeping the metaphor literal within the music video we have also adhered to the upbeat and light hearted feel of Weezer’s other music videos.

As well as this, at the moment when the main character goes to use the public phone, the sample of a girl talking comes in; illustrating to the audience that he is going to phone a girl that he is most likely romantically involved with. However he cannot find her number in his pocket, and it is at this point that the second verse comes in with the lyrics ‘Oh no, it go, it gone, bye bye’ and an image of the phone number is overlaid on top of the original shot, conveying to the audience clearly that he has lost the phone number, which we assume is of some significance, as well as the lyrics having a second meaning of the breaking down relationship (which may be between the main character and the girl he is trying to phone).

The way that we have used close-ups of the band performing also follows the conventions of existing music videos. This establishes the band’s celebrity status and reinforces their overall ‘brand’.

Goodwin also talks about the notion of ‘looking’ – to reflect the pleasure we get from watching the performer for our own entertainment. Related to voyeurism, the audience are given satisfaction by watching the music video. This is intensified by related objects placed within the music video such as mirrors, telescopes, screens within screens etc. We have not really followed this convention with our music video, however our use of split screen could act as ‘screens within screens’ and therefore reinforce this idea.

DIGI-PACKOur digi-pack follows most of the conventions of existing media products as we wanted it to appear as authentic as possible.

The way the track listing for the main CD is located on the back follows the conventions of most existing CD boxes. Because of this, the tracks included will be easily found buy the customer and they will be able to quickly decide if they wish to purchase the album. We have slightly strayed from conventions by including the second CD’s track listing and the information about the documentary on the inside flaps of the digi-pack, however by doing this we have avoided the back of the pack looking cluttered and clumsy – giving an overall better look.

We have also followed conventions by including a barcode and logos of the producer and the record label. In addition to this, we have added the website of the band (www.weeezer.com) at the bottom of the back of the pack, which follows the conventions of modern digi-packs (as most bands and artists will have a website to promote themselves).

The way that the name of the band is present on the spines of the digi-pack follows the conventions of existing media texts and is useful to the consumer so that when it is stacked on a shelf, it is still clear what CD it is.

We have included a band list and a list of everyone who would have been involved in the making of the album, e.g, producer, engineer, artist, on the back cover. This, again, makes the pack more authentic overall.

When designing the CD’s, we based the designs of the documentary and bonus disc on existing Weezer CD’s. By using the same layout of text, we have stuck to the conventions of the band (as most of their CD’s are laid out in a similar way).By including a red sticker on the

front of the pack, it is clear to the consumer that there is something different about the album. Red has connotations of alarm and important messages so the consumer will want to read it to see what is so special about the album, finding out that it is a deluxe edition album, including 14 bonus tracks as well as a documentary. This will encourage the audience to buy the album.

By keeping the main colour of the packaging blue, we are also referencing the original album deemed ‘the blue album’. In addition, the way we have featured the band on the front cover follows the conventions of many CD cases, and the awkwardness of the band’s stance specifically follows those of Weezer themselves. As well as this, the way that we have included a television screen on the front cover mirrors the ‘homely’ feel of the cover of Maladroit (another of weezer’s albums) as well as almost using Andrew Goodwin’s ‘notion of looking’. The audience is looking at the band on a television screen – enhancing their celebrity status.

MAGAZINE ADVERTWhen creating our advert, we wanted to keep it as simple as possible. Looking at existing adverts, they mostly included the album artwork, the title of the album, its release date and a little information. We have tried to emulate this within our own magazine.

The way that we have used a simple background mirrors Weezer’s use of colour within their albums (red, green and blue). We have kept to the conventions of existing media products by including an image of the album artwork – this way that album is easily identifiable to consumers. We have also included a rating on our advert. By doing this, it gives the consumer confidence that the album will be worth purchasing. In addition to this, the rating is given by Q magazine – a magazine that focuses on this kind of music and one that the audience will be familiar with. This is an example of the Two Step Flow Model, because Q have influence over their audience, the consumers of the magazine will follow the opinion of Q that the album is *****.