EVALUATION Q1In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge the forms and conventions of real media products?

Back to the beginning…

Looking back through my research before making my product I initially began with looking at Andrew Goodwin’s theory. I used this to help me plan and construct my product. I learnt what conventions would be appropriate for my genre by analysing different music videos to see what would and what would not work, in my music video. Further more this research helped me see what conventions were appropriate and used in real media texts whilst helping me see how different genres targeted different target audiences.

(Taken from my blog)

A few conventions of the indie/ psychedelic genre…

“psychedelic rock attempted to replicate the effects of and enhance the mind-altering experiences of hallucinogenic drugs”

- Surreal lyrics- Colourful and bold- A feeling of hallucination (spinning/moving

images)

How did I use conventions of the genre?

• Vibrant use of colour through using the ink dye

• “trippy” feel through creating a kaleidoscope effect and layering it over the footage

• Vary of pace throughout creating confusion and excitement for the audience

• Lyrics matching the video

How did I challenge conventions of the genre?

• I included actors to create a narrative for the video in comparison to using pure moving, hallucinating images

• I included a performance element, even though this is popular in indie music videos it is less popular in the psychedelic genre however I wanted to combine the two.

Conventions I developed….

• I developed the performance element in my music video as I felt it made my video stylistic and gave an artistic segment to my video.

Conventions explained…

• Use of colour - this helped to show the conventions of a psychedelic indie music video, I did this by using ink in water which I then changed the pace off and enhanced the colour with a filter. I also added a kaleidoscope effect, layered over my footage to give it that hallucination feel which my peers agreed with when watching the video.

• Lyrics matching the visuals – I chose to do this as I decided to use actors and interpreted the lyrics that they were going backwards in their relationship, therefore I reversed the whole of my footage apart from a few parts to give it the feel of going backwards, getting nowhere. I also thought the reverse made the footage interesting and again “trippy” for the audience. Furthermore I felt it was a unique way to go about my video which is another common convention as psychedelic indie videos tend to be very unique and individual.

• Variation of pace throughout – I decided to vary the pace of my footage as it’s a common convention of the genre. I felt that it would link to the moving images in Tame Impala’s video of how their images spin and move quickly which is why I sped up my footage at the end of my video.

Conventions challenged…

• I included actors to create a narrative for the video in comparison to using pure moving, hallucinating images – I decided to do this so it was more engaging for my peers and target audience as I feel that some psychedelic videos can seem to drag as they're very cyclical and follow the same pattern, I wanted mine to be a video with a unusual story behind it which is why I chose to focus it on a un-stereotypical relationship scenario and show the problems they’re facing my reversing parts of the footage to show their relationship is going no where.

• I included a performance element- this could be seen as a convention in the genre of psychedelic and indie, however the band I focused on “Tame Impala” don’t tend to use actors in their videos as their videos are full of graphically designed moving images to give it that hallucinating effect. I decided however to add a performance element and make the head mirrored and tilt to give it the same effect as the moving images but real life. I also thought it would fit well in my video and make it flow into the different sections such as the narrative, the performance element, the ink dye, the kaleidoscope effects and the fast pace reversed footage. This could also show the stages of their relationships as the video varied so much.

Conventions developed…

• I decided to develop the performance element I used throughout the video as I felt it was conventional of the genre as well as challenging conventions of the genre. I used a extreme close up of the male character to focus on his lips so the visuals in the video linked with the lyrics of the video as he was lip syncing. I also felt that it would develop my product by making it unique and individual as it’s a niche genre. I felt that it would be appealing to my target audience whilst putting my own spin on the moving visual effects.

In Tame Impalas video (feels like we only go backwards)

• Lots of psychedelic colours, very bold and prominent in the video• “trippy” confusing elements as the video zooms in enticing the

viewer• Slow motion and fast motion, change of pace is

common to create an impact on the viewers

emotions.

• No performance element• No bland surrounding which is common for indie

videos• Created through animation

and moving images, very original and unique in contrast to any other artist, however this

reflects their music style.• Bright moving images in

contrast to dull setting

Conventions used Conventions challenged

What did I conform to the most in my video?

• I feel that I conformed to the hallucination element, which then expanded to elements of confusion. I feel I achieved this as it was the convention that was most picked up on when I received feedback. Using the ink dye created by myself and kaleidoscope effects on final cut helped me to achieve this stylistic look on my video.

ANCILLIARY

PRODUCTS

Magazine advert and digipack

I researched digipacks and magazine adverts to see what conventions were common in the genre I was focusing on.

LOOKING BACK ON CONVENTIONS OF DIGIPACKS AND MAGAZINE ADVERTS

• Relevance to the genre/artist – it needs to link to the artist, for

example, heavy metal would be a dark theme with perhaps fire

themes where as pop maybe more graphical and colourful

• Colour scheme link with the artist? • Reviews/producers – show that

your product is in demand with names such as NME or newspaper

logos• Information regarding the album –

album title, album track list etc• Poster – to engage with fans some

artist include a poster in their digipacks as a keep safe for their

fans.

Rule of thirds – the layout of the advert is very important, its important to think where the

audience will look first at your product. Position the important

information in the centre primary optical area.

• Reviews- its important to show that your artist is in demand and

popular• Social media – show the audience

where to find more information or follow their favourite artist

• QR code – link to their new single to engage with their followers

Digipack Advert

Conventions I used…

• Relevance to the genre/artist • Colour scheme

• Reviews/producers• Information regarding the

album – album title, album track list etc.

• Rule of thirds• Social media • QR code

• Poster• Stickers

USED CHALLENGED

(Its clear to see I stuck the conventions here rather than challenging them)

Why did I use these conventions…

• Relevance to the genre/artist – my product is relevant to the psychedelic indie genre as it includes lots of bright colourful images over laid with the kaleidoscope effect to give it that bold look.

• Colour scheme – I used a very bright colour scheme in my digipack which I toned down in my advert and saturated the colours to make the advert appear different to the digipack however they still linked together as I used the male actor and surroundings in both of these products. I wanted the advert to provide the audience with information and not be distracted by the vibrant colours and make it more soft on the eye, where as I wanting the digipack to be bold and colourful so it would stand out on the shelf in a store enticing the public to purchase/look at it.

Conventions I challenged…

• Poster – I decided not to include a poster in my album unlike other artist such as Kanye west which is a complete contrasting artist to a band such as Tame impala which Is one of the reasons why I didn’t include this in my digipack. Furthermore tame impala are very much about their music and don’t include themselves in their videos which is another reason why I felt using a poster would have been inappropriate for my product.

Conventions I developed…

• I developed using the main images of my products such as the logo I recreated which tame impala use on their official products, I decided to use this in both my digipack front cover and magazine front cover as I felt it created visual links as well as linking to the artist. Furthermore I feel it’s a bold yet simple image in contrast to all the bright colours used in my digipack and video.

OVERALL…

• Overall I feel I stuck to conventions throughout all my products, therefore I feel you can see a clear visual link between the three of them. I feel if I hadn't of stuck to the conventions my products wouldn’t of seemed to work as they did as I feel after doing so much research, conforming to the conventions is what I was aiming for after analysing products and seeing what conventions they had used. I feel if I had challenged all the conventions it would have not attracted the target audience of teens/young adults which I had hoped for. To conclude I feel that conforming to the conventions made my products appeal to my target audience and create visual links which my peers gave me lots of positive feedback on. However I did enjoy challenging and developing the conventions as it gave me a chance to include my own style segment into my products. I also feel I have followed Goodwin's theory of making the audience included and connected with the product.