EVALUATION:QUESTION 1

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

USE FORMS AND CONVENTIONSWithin my music video my actors wore clothes that would be associated with the conventions of a the typical ‘indie rock’ genre to be able to appear to the audience, and due to the age that I have aimed my products at, I also used actors within the music video that would be around the age of my target audience, as they may be able to relate to the story line due to it being about teenage break up’s and their ‘first love’, which is a theme we focused on in relation to the song. Within our magazine advertisement and digipak, we used the logos of real labels that the artist we based our project on belonged to, to make our products seem authentic and follow the conventions of real media products. At the start of our music video we also introduced the title of the song, the band and the artist and record company, once again following the conventions of a typical music video.

DEVELOP FORMS AND CONVENTIONSMy music video develops the forms and conventions of Todrov’s narrative structure, as it follows a non linear storyline, although, there’s events within the video such as the equilibrium and the disruption of events that was mentioned in his theory. My media products also develop Mulvey’s Male Gaze theory, especially the music video as it focuses on the main male character within the video when he’s in the bath rather than using a female. This then allows women to have something to look at within a media product rather the other way round, although in my digipak I used to males as part of the band, so women also have something to ‘gaze upon’ within my media package. My media products also challenge gender stereotypes, as within my music video it’s the girl that appears as the stronger one in the relationship, quickly getting over her previous love, whilst the male character remains heartbroken. This is similar to that of the film 500 Days of Summer, which influenced the theme of our video.

CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONSIn some ways my products has challenged the forms and conventions of real media products is that I had adopted the diary style within my two ancillary tasks, which although can be a house style within products, yet we challenged this convention and made the album and magazine advertisment, aimed at a wide age range and both genders, seem although it is a females diary. Although this may make the male audience wary about purchasing the album, it can also make them feel as though they are getting an insight into a females diary, bearing in mind Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, as it may lead to personal growth. Another convention we challenged within our media products is that instead of using a band in our video, which was, as I found out from our textual analysis a common feature among music videos of the ‘indie rock’ genre, and instead used miming in some parts which we felt was more fitting to the theme of our video.