In what ways does your media

product use, develop or challenge

forms and conventions of real
media products?
Evaluation Task 1
Phoebe Palmer

Forms and Conventions

The form of the product I have made is a music
video, which is made in video, it is around 3 minutes
and consists of a performance, lip sync and stylistic
element.

A convention is an established way of doing

something therefore a media convention in our case
is the way we made our music video and what it
consists of both technically and symbolically.

Conventions are usually followed because they are

safe. They are repeated due to success therefore if
you follow the convention of the genre/form you are
more likely to have success in your final product.

VIDEO

CAMERA CONVENTIONS

Tracking
Here I am comparing my video with London Grammar, the camera is tracking the artist while she
performs. This creates a relationship between the band members as we see how they collaborate
together. These tracking shots also add movement to the image which matches the slow pace music
present in both songs which is why they link. The tracking also shows the relationship between the
artists themselves and how their music individually connects together to create the band.

Close ups
Here the research I did on Birdys video people help the people helped construct some of the shots
for our video. The close ups help build recognition of artist which help build the star image of the
artist. Additionally, these close ups emphasise the link between the singer and the music to show
when the artist is singer specific lyrics. In our video there is a direct address therefore the audience
feel a connection to the singer.

Mid - shots
These mid-shots help the audience to understand the body language of the band and their costume. In both
our video and London Grammars video the costume is very monotone and very ordinary. This allows full
concentration on the music. In a pop video the band isnt just about the music it is about their image whereas
here the image is their music and they are not allowing anything to take the concentration away from the
music.

Here on the left the costume in the Little Mix video

is very complicated and there is a clear
constructed dance routine all of which take the
concentration away from the music.

EDITING CONVENTIONS

Overlaid shots
Here I am comparing my video with Bon Ivers video Holocene. They are both slow, relaxing songs
that have a slow tempo and dont have a strong beat. In music videos there is a limited time so the
editing must be expressive of the music. An overlaid shot has been used in Bon Ivers video in order to
emphasise the subject matter of the video, it draws the audience into the video. In our video, we used
the overlaid shot as it fits with the slow pace of the song but also it connect the two artists in the
band, it emphasises their relationship.

Black and white /

Slow Motion
This London Grammar video Wasting my young years the video is quite abstract, serial and dreamlike.
In their video the monotone lighting and the grayscale has given this shot an dreamy effect. The black
and white effect here runs throughout both my video and London Grammars and this removes any
distracting colour. The colour wouldnt fit with the music aswell as the video as the tone of the music is
dreamlike, slow and serial. The slow motion appears in both of these

SYMBOLIC CONVENTIONS

Performance
The performance element to a music video is quite essential, especially in an intimate band like ours.
In both my music video and Haims video the performer breaks the 4th wall by looking straight into the
camera, you cannot do this in any other media form. In our video the performance element is an ECU
whereas in Haims video it ranges from a CU to a MCU. Both the length of the shot and the slow paced
editing gives a feeling of intimacy between the band and their fans, the intention is to give a
connection and/or a message to their fans/audience.

Props
Props are highly symbolic in their own way. In Birdys video Skinny Love her music is her voice and
her piano therefore it is important to show the piano in the video. Pianos have connotations of
acoustic, calming music which is what Birdys music is. In our music video the guitar is another key
instrument of the band therefore it is important to show this being played, you feel a connection to
the music when you can see it being played.

DIGIPAK

COLOUR
Here we have challenged the convention of colour on our digipak. On Haims digipak there are photos of
them on the front, back and inside. The colour on each side is quite prominent with the green grass, this
attracts an audience when the digipak is on the shelf however we have challenged this convention and
decided to do our digipak in black and white. This matched our other products much better and we found the
colour too distracting and contrasting on the digipak.

FRONT COVER
The convention here on the front cover involves the band on the front cover. They are present because it shows
the audience what the band look like. Also, the band name is bigger than the title of the album and this is a
convention throughout many album covers. The front cover is quite simple and clear, the titles are obvious and
the text is quite modern. This attracts our younger target audience because it shows that the band is quite new
and modern.
We wanted our band to have a connection to their audience and we wanted a sense of intimacy, whereas London
Grammars front cover is more dreamy and weary.

DESIGN
The digipak designs are quite similar and we have followed the design on the back page as most
digipaks. It is essential to have to names of the songs in which we have put in a list instead of across
the page, there is also a barcode with is required for commercial purposes as well the legal
requirements. The tone across the back is quite monotone and gives a relaxed feel, you are not
distracted by bright colours that dont fit with the genre of the music.

WEBSITE

HOMEPAGE
WEBSITE
On the home page the menu bar consists of HOME . MERCHENDISE . SOCIAL MEDIA . MUSIC VIDEO
These seem to be the main running themes throughout multiple websites in the genre my band are in.
The title of the band is also very prominent and in very large letters. The music video is also on the
front page on the London Grammar video which we didnt do as it didnt fit with our front page however
we had a tab bar of it which you can click on to find the music video.